I wouldn’t want to pay taxes to any state that would have me as a resident. Got an urgent email alert from The Taxpayers League of Minnesota today urging me to call my legislator and let them know I was against the proposed increase in the cigarette tax. The rationale given was that, according to … Read more
Here are your waters and your watering place. Drink and be whole again beyond confusion. —Robert Frost, “Directive” I am looking back into a world now gone forever. Thinking of a time that will never return. A book of photographs is looking back at me. Twenty-five years of looking for the right road. Post cards … Read more
Our friend Molly Priesmeyer notes that three key curators at the Walker Art Center have announced that they’re leaving, along with the Walker’s chief operating officer. Both WCCO (who reported the news yesterday) and Preismeyer are worried about what this might mean, and they point out the alarming cost overruns of the new digs on … Read more
My cousin was in the Army, stationed in Germany during the cold war. His duty for a while was commanding an anti-aircraft battery. He described it like this: “I commanded a $58 million missile launching system. I had a lifer sergeant, who really knew his stuff, but the men who actually had to aim and … Read more
A crazy day around here, but lookit: We hear Washington City Paper has decided to take their paper to the streets, in an apparent effort to staunch their lightly bleeding circulation numbers. The approach is simple: Put twenty real, live human beings on the streets handing out the paper to passersby (much as D.C.’s two … Read more
Watch out for the gay married terrorists Bad news today in the NY Times for all the religious nut cases. It seems there are gay fruit flies, and they may be after your sons and daughters. Ok, I’m kidding about your sons and daughters. But, scientists have discovered that they can implant a certain gene … Read more
God bless good spellers. We’ve been watching the national spelling bee with some interest, and we’re proud of our two local finalists. But it should be no surprise that we’re somehow able to find something mean to say about it. Like energy drinks, bike riding, and deep-dish pizza, spelling bees have gone extreme. Just read … Read more
I’m headed out of town for a brief spell. I’ll be back early next week. This seems as good a time as any for a breather, since we seem to be basically recycling plotlines the last several days. I’ll leave you with some fine links to explore (and I’d encourage you to investigate the links … Read more
I’m headed out to Montana to read and take some pictures. Here are the CDs that travel with me wherever I go, whenever I go someplace that qualifies as somewhere else: Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music Creedence Clearwater Revival, Willie and the Poor Boys Minutemen, Double Nickels On The Dime Louis Armstong, The … Read more
Apropos of last week’s post on this month’s cover story, we received a thoughtful comment from Christian Dude. He took issue with our casting Sen. Dean Johnson as a possible candidate to head up a putative “Christian Left.” He wanted to hear more about what Sen. Johnson has to say about the role of religion … Read more