Interesting to consider that the Christian Right may begin to use its powers for good–by lobbying President Bush not just for wicked ends like prayer in the schools, but for causes that someone on the port side of the boat can get behind. The New York Times reports today about an exhibit at a Christian … Read more
I was sitting in this hotel bar in Sacramento one night a few months ago. It was early in the evening and the place was empty. Some friends of mine were out on a golf course somewhere and I was bored out of my mind and wished like hell I’d never agreed to come along … Read more
He asked Emilie to leave the curtains by this window undrawn at night, in order that, when people were asleep, the fish might look at the moon. —Isak Dinesen, “The Dreaming Child” What is the theme? he shouted at me. I’m sorry? I said. Your point! he bellowed. What is your point? Things are slippery? … Read more
I was just thinking we haven’t had a good excommunication since Galileo The only reliable bit about the Star Tribune, other than Katherine Kersten will provide some laughs to anyone who can think, is the cartoons of editorial cartoonist Steve Sack. This guy has gone too long without a Pulitzer prize. Today’s cartoon does the … Read more
If we ain’t bums, we’ll certainly do ’til some real bums come along. –Bugs Baer If a tree falls in the woods…. What is the sound of one hand clapping? If you can’t say nothin’ nice…. God only knows…. Words seriously fail me, but I’m going to try to thrash a few out of the … Read more
Over at Slate’s media desk, Jack Shafer has developed a little sub-speciality in debunking investigative stories about various social diseases. It’s wicked, thankless work. Shafer got into a very nasty little donnybrook with New York Times magazine after he nitpicked an extensive story by Peter Landesman on a covert sex-slave ring in New Jersey. Shafer’s … Read more
So ain’t we all inanimate, George? —Jim Thompson, Pop. 1280 I saw you spinning that greeting card rack at the truck stop. I saw the look in your eyes. You eventually moved to the next rack and bought a cheap pair of sunglasses instead. You’re tempted, aren’t you, always tempted to add some helpless contribution … Read more
You, yeah you. After we’re done with Iraq, you’re next. I don’t care if you are the U.S. Senate. Well, now we’ve entered the Bolton years. Imagine you are a country to which this guy has been sent to represent the United States. The first words out of his mouth are “We could cut off … Read more
The desire to innovate is powerful and intoxicating–and without judicious dosage, stupefying. We’ve been checking into MPR’s cutting-edge new program called “The Loop,” and so far we like what we see. It looks like an interesting attempt to mobilize what Chris Lydon has for a while been calling “open source radio.” (Those smarties over at … Read more
My heart of silk is filled with lights, with lost bells, with lilies and bees. I will go very far, farther than those hills, farther than the seas, to beg Christ the Lord to give me back the soul I had when I was a child, ripened with legends, with a feathered cap and a … Read more