Northern Minnesota is under a new alert until Friday at 7 p.m.

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

If states seceded,  what Duluth doesn't get,  the kid who puts 'special' in special ed,  the true cost of our clothing,  and a cop, a homeless man, and a new pair of boots.

From time to time, I play a game with friends and suggest there could someday be another Civil War. They usually look at me in an odder-than-usual way and I ask, "why do you think it 

If every state in the Union declared war on every other state in the Union, who would win? In the wake of some of the political puffed-up talk about secession after last month's election,  

Slate has a fascinating (fictional, we think) story of the war between the states

, including a battle-by-battle look at how things shake out.

Minnesota, as it turns out, doesn't put up much of a fight against the Midwest Alliance, which was eventually defeated by the South.

Eventually, four nuclear weapons were detonated. Chicago was obliterated. The cities were emptied. Ethnic cleansing took place.

reports that Adam Stoningpot of Duluth says he was trying to open a discussion on race by  dressing as a minstrel in blackface at the Pizza Luce employee costume party in October. Makes sense, right? Because a Halloween party at a bar is the perfect place for an intelligent conversation about race.

The revelation comes just a week or so after several University of Minnesota Duluth students got in trouble for their black face video. Duluth has had more than its share of racist incidents of late and this appears to be the latest one.

The bar where the party was held tried to throw Stoningpot out, but he stayed until the place closed, apparently still searching for someone to talk about race.

Several community leaders in the city want to meet with Pizza Luce's management in Minneapolis about the incident.

3) THE KID WHO PUTS THE 'SPECIAL' IN  SPECIAL ED

Annie Schaefbauer, 12,  of Willmar, wants to be a special education teacher when she grows up. That should tell you something about Annie Schaefbauer. So should this:  She could win an iPad if she sold items in her school's recent fundraiser -- cookie dough, pizzas and wrapping paper. Linda Vanderwerf at the 

 reports she sold $2,400 worth of stuff and was rewarded with an iPad2 on Tuesday. She turned right around and donated it to the special ed department, which needs them badly.

 unaware of the conditions in  which our cheap clothing is made, right?

The fire in Bangladesh that killed more than 100 workers has spawned complaints to the conglomerates here that import the clothing. Bangladesh is the second-largest exporter of clothing. More than 500 people have died in factory fires. The factories usually only have one exit and it's usually locked.

Taslima Akhter knows all about it. She specializes in photographing factory fires in Bangladesh. She's profiled today in the 

Several of the Western companies whose clothing comes from the factory 

 The Wall St. Journal said employees, who take home about $50 a month, didn't know how to use fire extinguishers.

  An early 1900s a photographer called Edward Curtis had a big idea: 

to capture on film the last remaining American-Indian tribes before they disappeared completely

. It cost him his marriage and left him broke. (BBC)

5) A COP, A HOMELESS MAN, AND A PAIR OF BOOTS

Consider this picture. It's the viral hit of the week.

Here's the story via the woman from Arizona who snapped the picture  and posted it on the NYPD's Facebook page.

Two groups of women serving in the military have filed lawsuits to force the Pentagon to change its policy banning women from combat roles. The women argue that they are serving in dangerous roles already, and that the ban on combat positions hurts their careers. Today's Question: 

Should the military ban women from combat roles?

 - First hour: How immigrants become "American."

Third hour:  When biblical literalists clash with science.

 (12-1 pm):  Live broadcast from the Westminster Town Hall Forum, featuring  political commentator and Democratic presidential campaign strategist Donna Brazile.

 -  The newly re-elected President Obama faces an immediate crisis in Syria, a looming confrontation with Iran, and a strategic challenge from China.  Talk of the Nation originates today from the Wilson Center center for a discussion on Obama's foreign policy.

-  NPR looks at the next round of changes to Facebook's privacy rules. Facebook users have complained for years about the social network's complex privacy policy:  who can see your pictures, what information apps can collect about you and so on. That's why the social network eventually gave its users a vote on policy changes. But now, it's trying to take that vote away.

Bob Collins

Author

If states seceded,  what Duluth doesn't get,  the kid who puts 'special' in special ed,  the true cost of our clothing,  and a cop, a homeless man, and a new pair of boots.


The second Civil War (5×8 – 11/29/12)

Go Deeper.

Like this?