news news news.

There are SO many crazy things going on in the world. Most of those will not be covered here, but I would love to talk to you about them in real life, if you wish. Anyways, here's my rendition of news time. (slash what I would click through to read if I was looking at some silly girls blog.)

Minneapolis/St. Paul has been announced the fourth smartest city by The Daily Beast. See here. (I posted this on my twitter - twitter.com/janaetime - last week, but I thought everyone should know.) And while we're loving on MSP, let's take a quick look at the fact that MSP is #2 in the city that makes up the largest percentage of commuting by bike. Portland is #1!
Globalization is officially taking over the entire world, even the super old-fashioned and pompous of the art world. A McDonald's is to open at the Louvre in Paris. Read more here.

A justice of the peace in Louisiana would not grant an interracial couple a marriage license last Thursday. His reason? "I just don't believe in mixing the races that way." Story here.

Disney stores are getting a new look. The brand wants to be even more of an "inhabitable text" (something that you not only see, read, etc, but can also experience - i.e. theme parks). They are now redecorating their stores in order to make them all into a theme park. I've been doing a little research on Disney lately in one of my classes, and the fact that they are putting more money into their brand at a time when others are cutting back is actually incredibly typical for Disney, and one of the main reasons why they are so successful. I can elaborate more later, if anyone wants me too. News piece here.

This one is just because I'm proud of my friend and the budding journalist she is. MK's story on programs for breast cancer survivors is here.

This is a little bit more topical and of-the-moment than the others, but a Wisconsin man has officially enlisted into the army because he lost his job, meaning he lost his health care coverage, and his wife has ovarian cancer. This was the only job he could get that would have health care coverage to support his wife. The trade-off is that he will no longer be around. Story here.

More real-life talk soon. I'm dying to share everything from the recent community service trip I helped lead!