It has long been rumored that somewhere in a remote part of the world there survive at least a few remnants of a pack of laughing dogs. The existence of these dogs has never been conclusively proved (or so I am told), but what is purported to be the distant, haunting sound of their hysterical, … Read more
Yesterday Radar magazine closed–again. And true to established pattern, editor Maer Roshan is not conceding defeat, he’s just back to trying to find another financial backer. Roshan has managed to be gainfiully employed in launching his magazine for three years now, while putting out a total of five issues. Nice work if you can get … Read more
I feel like I need to explain myself. The aliens drilled a hole in my soft palate and inserted an energy depleter that uses my saliva to deliver a continuous feed of a stupefying agent into my bloodstream. Do you feel this rough spot behind my left ear? That’s an even more sophisticated negative energy … Read more
I’ve been meaning for awhile to write a bit about the Minnesota Wild, and how nice it is to have the NHL back this season. Well, not nice exactly. Just another demand on my time, actually, but at least there is TiVo. I wrote last year that there were no truly great hockey writers on … Read more
Another big hand for MN Publius for outing Pat Shortridge, Mark Kennedy’s campaign manager. No, he’s not gay…he’d cost too many Christian votes. He was a lobbyist for Enron and a participant in the secret energy policy talks with Cheney that made sure the world was kept safe for big oil. This is the second … Read more
Here’s last night’s MPR commentary, for those who have asked. I’d warn you when they’re coming, but I often find out after you do. (They’re prerecorded–thank gawd. Live radio is truly for the professionals.) Bike Commuter For the past five years, I’ve been a bike commuter. But last year was the first time I gave … Read more
We’ll teach those Japanese not to attack us. Let’s invade Kamchatka. Bob Herbert in the NY Times weighs in today with a good idea, one that I advocated obliquely just yesterday: that we reinstitute the draft. After all, if this war is really in the national interest, we should all have to fight it, no? … Read more
Every Christmas when I was a child much of my extended family would gather at my grandparents’ farm outside a small town in Illinois. We’d all trek there from various points around the Midwest. My own family would usually arrive early in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, and many of my other aunts and uncles … Read more
Would you give up your Starbucks latte to buy body armor? I was walking in downtown Minneapolis today and noticed some posters from World War I in the window of a bookshop. One was made up of an illustration of a knife cutting a loaf of bread and the caption was “Save a loaf a … Read more
The secret word is “laundering” Lots of whoopin’ and hollerin’ in Texas yesterday as a judge dismissed one of the three charges against Tom DeLay. The one dismissed was for conspiracy to violate election rules. Two charges related to money laundering were left standing. Here’s what happened, in case you haven’t been paying attention. DeLay … Read more