Recent content from David Banks
He's back, and better than ever, in his way
It's not a way I particularly care for, but we'll need to weather this again. It's almost an imperative to have hope.
Banks: Tools, schools and rules: The risk of squelching curiosity
Smartphones are a scourge and one we can make excellent use of if we try.
Reflections on decades spent working for a decent person
Scott Gillespie fostered a work environment that took some of the stress, but none of the demands, out of daily journalism.
David Banks: Say what about small towns?
I was raised in one during what I guess were less fearsome times.
Nikki Haley's prejudice against aged politicians
She wants to depreciate those older than 75 by subjecting them to a cognitive test, whether they need it or not.
Sometimes it melts in April
And sometimes Minnesota's shifty seasons (made you look twice) offer moments of perfection.
No stranger to guns — just not good with them
That goes for me, a dilettante, and it goes in a different sense for our nation of devotees. So how to go from here?
Let's just keep changing the clocks
Arguments for one time, year-round, fail to consider how the sun shines on Minnesota.
The death of George Floyd, and the frustration that nothing ever changes
We seek to end racism and injustice. How might we measure progress?
Gallery: The best of Steve Sack's editorial cartoons from 2019
Documented here: We're still wrecking the planet. We're still awash in guns and violence. As always, someone somewhere is avoiding accountability. And a certain cartoonogenic leader is still in office. (No, it's not a word. But said leader wings it. Why can't we?)
In case you missed it: Ilhan Omar on Israel and her motivating values on foreign affairs
Israel's decision to block her visit to the West Bank is neither constructive nor friendly to the people of the district she represents.
Forwarded with comment: Altered video from 'Forrest Gump' to today
It all started innocently enough.
Forwarded with comment: Who does what and how in federal government?
Starring Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar.
Forwarded with comment: The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and their violent end
Recollections of that time and hopes and fears for the future.
![St. Thomas place kicker Paul Graupner missed a field goal attempt in the first half. ] JIM GEHRZ • jgehrz@startribune.com / St. Pau](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/DSTFGMSTLMSH5LUU52LB5PGIKI.jpg?h=120&w=180&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)
In case you missed them: Opinions on the St. Thomas/MIAC dispute
The school is indeed getting the boot from the conference. Here's what people were writing as the issue unfolded.
Forwarded with comment: 'Econ 101' in political arguments (updated with additional response)
A D.J. Tice column on the perceived burdens of taxes and tariffs is up for further discussion following a rebuttal in MinnPost.
Artificial intelligence: Now taking the words right out of our mouths
And putting them in there, too.
Forwarded with comment: Generation X marks a spot
Now roughly halfway through adulthood, the demographic cohort is having a moment.
Forwarded with comment: Constitutional crisis, yes or no?
An article at Slate helps frame the question.
Forwarded with comment: Amy Klobuchar's Fox News town hall
A few responses from around the internet.
Green New Deal: Reject neither bold ideas nor scrutiny. Rejoice in the deliberations.
Good policy takes both. Popular support matters, too.
A view of Howard Schultz from a tiny political subset
Nobody wants what he's selling? I don't buy that, but we may like independent ideas more than we do independent candidates.
Random ruminations, 2019: On cascading controversy and clear comprehension
Welcome back to the Star Tribune Opinion feature you hardly knew you were missing.
Messages for men and boys, then and now
As the high court fight and #MeToo era unfold, my mind goes to times when I needed girls and women to, point-blank, show me the way.
Town mouse, country mouse — always, the tension for an urbanite facing density
"I am large; I contain multitudes," wrote Walt Whitman. But it's another poet's death that has me contemplating love and loss, bucolic seclusion, and lively growth.
The adoption equation
A birth mother's story confirms adoption as an act of love, while an older adoptee finds obstacles to knowing his own origins.
Speak up, slap down: A fight for expression
Including some "hows" and "whys" behind letters to the editor.
Journalism: A midcareer retrospective
It takes all types to produce a newspaper, but reporting is the skill every publication needs.
The best of Sack, 2017
One might say this has been a once-in-a-career kind of year for a cartoonist. But Steve Sack has been drawing lessons from the news for decades. For a full retrospective, see "The First and Only Book of Sack," published in August (available at shop.startribune.com).
A lot of men are reflecting on their pasts
About mistakes vs. characteristic behavior.
Immigration policy: Every arrival begins a legacy
We talk a lot about contributions. They don't have to be spectacular to be constructive and meaningful.
In a complicated, difficult world, unity is uneasy
Justice and tolerance really do involve many sides.
A reasonable reaction to an unreasonable action
In the arc of understanding that follows a tragedy like this, don't be distracted by easy explanations.
As a principal, this man was a remarkable teacher
With wisdom and fortitude, Garry Purvis turned a generation of kids into better people.
The Trump presidency: Remember — in this country, the wand still chooses the wizard
There should be no hesitation in checking President Trump's autocratic tendencies.
United Airlines incident: Law and order inside a jam-packed metal tube
Just because rules can apply, should they, always? And is this, by chance, like eminent domain?
My jump-the-gun top 10 list of incongruous thoughts for 2017
OK, it's still 2016, but here are 10 scattershot thoughts for the next year, on everything from immigrants to Lake Wobegon.
How to survive (even thrive) in the Age of Trump
Get out of your seat and off the sidelines. Politics is a rowdy participation sport.
Colin Powell hacking: This cat's out of the bag, and he's got claws
A former diplomat's private e-mail goes public — with revelations and implications for all of us.
Hillary Clinton: The comparisons
The Trump convention may have collected people it needed. For those still on the fence, consider Clinton alongside some flawed but productive pols, or as a happy medium, or even as the devil you know.
What does it take to become a public enemy? Time.
Sometimes that's enough. And sometimes people self-destruct. A third method: Do something debatable from a position of authority.
For a nuanced debate, change the setting
The one I attended in 1988 was memorable, but not the raucous kind of affair we see today. Which inspires an idea.
The best of Sack 2014
A collection of Star Tribune editorial cartoonist Steve Sack's best work of the year.
New White House security structures may be inevitable, but must they be ugly?
Maybe it could be made to look like it was meant to be.
Adoption: Choosing to search is a complex decision — some prefer to take it slow
The law and culture don't favor adoptees who may be curious but reticent to go all in.
![Sharon Potter (left) of Minneapolis shovels her walkway as construction has started on a teardown next to her home on the 5100 block of York. ] JOELKO](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/MLIVVLSMINMETBCD64NCZ6HDVQ.jpg?h=120&w=180&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)
Teardown and tribulation: Living next door
While Minneapolis' moratorium may be a step too far, the discussion is needed.
Dashboard navigation: At the next intersection, turn … off
We're very fond of the assistance, but just remember: You can go your own way.
The year in cartoons
The best of 2013 from Pulitzer Prize winner Steve Sack.
Food for thought: Give money online
Getting food and other assistance where it needs to go is a matter of both logistics and cash.
From Boston to bitcoin: How change catches us off-guard
We know it's coming, but it has a way of always sneaking up on us.
Mayo proposal: Hard to oppose, but for the laws of nature
Often, development is what happens when you're busy making other plans.
Never too soon to plan for long-term care
Such care will be a significant driver of the nation's health care cost burden.
Mitt Romney -- a performance review
Romney has presented his Bain experience as evidence that he is a skilled manager. Can we find out if he was?
At last, a clash of credible candidates
One voter has waited decades for a race with no top clunker candidates.
Why we speed
In addition to the reality that not all drivers are alike, there can be, paradoxically, a pursuit of safety.
NIMBY hits close to home
In my part of southwest Minneapolis, it's not unusual for older, smaller houses to vanish one day and be replaced within weeks by the framework of a much larger dwelling
A platform for the partyless
On Tuesday, a number of Minnesota voters will dive into the proceedings at their precinct caucus. But it will be a relative few. Here's something for the rest of us to ponder.
Logical extremes
Rhetoric, when convenient, carries ideas to their logical extreme, wherever that may lead.
David Banks: Of bongs and bad vetting: Oh, the humiliation
Is it really as bad as all that? Or do we just like to see other people fail?
David Banks: Bear with me
A small-time trader explains why profiting from decline is not necessarily evil -- nor greedy.
