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Martin Owings

Saint Paul, MN
Commenter for
5 years 27 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 04/25/13 at 10:46 pm in response to Digital bits

Let's hope we don't have to read that last will & testament for many, many, many decades in the future, but just in case I got dibs on that cable bill credit.

Posted on 04/22/13 at 09:04 pm in response to Catholic Church ramps up opposition to Minnesota anti-bullying bill

Clearly this is yet more evidence that the Church has lost it's way. I'd think the last place they'd want to go right now is someplace that deals with sexuality. I agree with many experts who believe the Pope quit because of the massive scandal at his door and the Church has a lot to answer for that it still has not. It's continued stonewalling on the sexual abuse tragedy and failure to confront the monsters who perpetrated those acts should be it's first and only concern when it comes to...

Posted on 12/20/12 at 04:11 pm in response to Fall 2012 radio ratings: What's going on with talk?

David, great analysis and even greater question? What's going on with talk radio is multi-facetted in my opinion.

1. It's all about the personalities and changing tastes.
2. People can get good content anytime from multiple platforms.
3. Some of the radio in the Twin Towns isn't that great.
4. The elections just ended and I think people were burnt out.

At the risk of sounding unkind, I tend to avoid some of the programming even though the content might be good...

Posted on 12/20/12 at 03:00 pm in response to Fighting for relevance, 1500 ESPN shuffles lineup

Thank you for the thoughtful response David. I know you have the experience and insight to articulate the strengths and weaknesses of radio personalities and I really do appreciate it. For my money Beirerro and Mischke are the most entertaining radio guys in the Twin Cities, for different reasons of course.

Posted on 12/18/12 at 12:52 pm in response to Fighting for relevance, 1500 ESPN shuffles lineup

David - Good take on the local sports radio scene, except when you get to comparing Barreiro to the rest of the radio landscape. Lumping Barreiro's show in with Paul Allen and Dan Cole, which I agree are more, "bit" focused, is akin to comparing Meatsauce (KFAN's Paul Lambert) with Dan Patrick. No offense to Meatsauce, but DP is on a whole different level and so is Dan Barreiro's show.

Barreiro and side kick Justin Gaard are heads and shoulders above the competition regardless of...

Posted on 12/20/12 at 03:04 pm in response to Fighting for relevance, 1500 ESPN shuffles lineup

Ken - Great points on Barreiro and the 1500 website which is better than KFAN's. I like the KFAN morning show for the most part, but am less interested since they sacked Mike Morris.

Posted on 09/28/12 at 12:27 pm in response to 'What is it to be white,' and other thoughts from Keith Ellison

Dennis - When you start off by using the words, "alleged historical wrongs" your argument immediately loses some of its credibility. Removing the word, "alleged" might add more weight to your argument, unless you're disputing factual historical records. In which case I think the burden of proof is upon you to dispute those specific historical records within the context of your argument.

If you want to look as far back as the Atlantic Slave trade you might also make the argument that...

Posted on 09/28/12 at 12:48 pm in response to 'What is it to be white,' and other thoughts from Keith Ellison

Gary - It's not a, "small percentage" it's actually around 40% or slightly greater. That's about 16.8 million people.

Census data show that up until about 1960 most black Americans were decendants of slaves. Beginning in about 1960 immigration began to effect those numbers. In addition, the number you used, "600,000" is a Wikipedia number and doesn't take into account the somewhat poorer record keeping of the 17th and 18th centuries. Historical records suggest that slave ship...

Posted on 09/07/12 at 03:53 pm in response to Departure of Common Cause's Mike Dean a big loss for campaign watchdogs — and public

Very sad to see Mike Dean leaving his post. I had the pleasure of getting to know Mr Dean over the years as I interviewed him about various government/election issues. Mr Dean exemplified what it means to put little "d" democracy at the forefront of the public consiousness. He was a strong advocate for clean and fair elections and for transparency in our system of government. In an age of deflection and deception, Dean was one of the very few trying to cut through the noise and hold people...

Posted on 01/11/12 at 03:09 pm in response to Should I stay or should I go?: The question that plagues Minnesota artists

Max- I've heard it said often that for a Minnesota artist to be appreciated they have to be appreciated elsewhere first. It was true when Wanda Gag, Frances Greenman and Grant Wood were artists and it is today. Minnesotans seem so insecure about appreciating and celebrating their own that they'd rather import lesser quality art than to recognize what's in their own back yard.

I think practicing art here is both frustrating and humbling for many. If you do get recognized as a, "...