Bob CollinsA union struggle begins to fizzle, the answer to Rodney King, find yourself in the Rock the Garden crowd, the birdman of the U.S. Open, and what’s underneath the water you spent all weekend on top of?
The Monday Morning Rouser:
“Alone” – Trampled by Turtles from Trampled by Turtles on Vimeo.
1) END OF THE LINE
It’s been a long time since a labor union took a stand and won in these parts, at least convincingly. For example, the 2005 mechanics strike at Northwest Airlines ended with lots of mechanics out of work. There were other people willing to do their jobs and keep the airline flying.
Strikes usually start the same way, with enthusiasm, determination, and an intent to be sure the company realizes it can’t get along without the workers. These days, they seem to end the same way, too. Others are able to keep the company afloat and the company waits out the starving workers.
In Moorhead, a familiar scene is playing out asstrikers workers who were locked out of American Crystal Sugar consider whether to revisit a deal they rejected 10 months ago by an overwhelming margin. Seven-thousand people applied to take the jobs of 900 strikers workers.
On Saturday, they’ll vote on the old deal.
Greg Cant, dean of Concordia College’s Offutt School of Business and a labor relations expert, tells the Fargo Forum that the longer disputes last, the harder it is to accept reality. “It’s hard to get your head around, ‘We really lost this,’ ” he said. “That’s a hard pill to swallow.”
2) RODNEY KING’S ANSWER
“Can we all just get along?” Rodney King’s famous question following his beating at the hands of police in Los Angeles in 1991 will live forever. But it’s the answer that should be getting more attention. It’s “no.”
That much is clear in the 24 hours following the discovery of King’s body in a swimming pool at his home.
The barometer for the answer comes from the nation’s comments sections today.
The Los Angeles Times:
amazing, Equating Mr. James Meredith and Ms. Rosa Parks to a drug addict and a drunk is beyond me….The FOOL got what he deserved , Don’t try out run a Police Car,,All the money he got from the city of L.A. went up his big NOSTRILS.Had the people seen the whole video ,they would have a differant view of this FOOL.
“What happened on that cool March night over two decades ago forever changed me and the organization I love. His legacy should not be the struggles and troubles of his personal life but the immensely positive change his existence wrought on this city and its Police Department,” Los AngelesPolice Chief Charlie Beck said in a statement.
Fat chance.
From the Chicago Tribune…
Only the black community could possibly make this drug-addicted career criminal into some kind of hero. I actually did see on Twitter that numerous black people were reminscing about all the things they stole during the L.A. Riots after the Rodney King verdict.
And the Pioneer Press:
My heart still goes out to the innocent white truck driver.
And NPR…
50+ people died in the LA riots because of this one trouble maker…
Can we all just get along? No.
3) A FACE IN THE CROWD
Find yourself in the crowd at Rock the Garden.
Who had a great seat? Zoom all the way to the back. These people.
Over the next several days, the excellent Local Current Blog will be posting videos of Saturday’s event, which — by the way — provided a perfect example of why there’s no value in fretting about the things you can’t control.
We all saw the forecast for Saturday from mid-week on and it wasn’t very good. Saturday morning dawned and the prospect of standing in the rain was accompanied by disappointment that so many people would have to. Then, a funny — if occasionally common — thing happened. The weatherpeople got it wrong.
While there was a descent sized storm to the south just as things were getting underway, it turned out to be nice in Minneapolis and, indeed, there’s a claim to be made that the weather was perfect.
Minnesota is like that. Perfect.
4) THE THINGS YOU MISS IF YOU TURN OFF THE U.S. OPEN BECAUSE TIGER WOODS ISN’T LEADING
It enlivened an otherwise typical Bob Costas interview.
5) MINNESOTA MOMENTS: UNDERWATER
What’s going on under that water you spent all weekend on top of? The answer is in this latest video from Curtis Lahr.
Bonus I: A man in England tripped and fell as he exited a bank. He was holding about $1,500 in cash, but it went flying as he hit the ground. Then the wind whipped up. He went back to his car with only about $100 after he saw (mostly) teenagers grabbing all the money. The young people recovered the money for him.
Bonus II: Let me suggest that the hardest working person in the world was the photographer who was able to capture this picture in a way that allowed its publication in stories about the Naked Bike Ride. Meanwhile, in Madison, the ride was something of a bust.
TODAY’S QUESTION
Last week, President Obama announced a relaxed enforcement policy toward young illegal immigrants who arrived as children with their parents. Some Republicans accused the president of trying to go around Congress. Today’s Question: What do you think of President Obama’s new immigration policy?
WHAT WE’RE DOING
Daily Circuit (9-12 p.m.) – First hour: Greece, Egypt, and the G-20 summit in Mexico.
Second hour: Joy Reidenberg of PBS’ “Inside Nature’s Giants.”
Third hour: Author Alexander McCall Smith .
MPR News Presents (12-1 pm): Gov. Dayton issued a proclamation making this “Minnesota Women Veterans Day.” We’ll rebroadcast Gary Eichten’s Midday show with Vietnam War Army and Navy nurses and the author of a book about Minnesota Vietnam War nurses.
Talk of the Nation (1-2 p.m.) – The future of Greece and the European Union.
All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) – We hear a lot about how baby boomers will put a strain on everything from the state budget to social services in the coming decades. But for the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota’s largest private employer, more old, sick people means growth. In fact, Mayo is currently pouring millions of dollars into several expansion projects in downtown Rochester. New hotels and short-term rental apartment are also under construction around town, and that makes the business-development types quite happy at the growth projections for Minnesota’s third-largest city and Mayo’s growth sends ripples to other businesses. MPR’s Elizabeth Baier will have the story.
