What then is required? Light! Light! Light in floods! –Victor Hugo, Les Miserables “Hold that thought,” he said, and disappeared into the dark part of the house. The dark part of the house was pretty much the whole house. He had a couple of kerosene lanterns in the living room, but otherwise he was living … Read more
In another of the many victories for the good guys on Tuesday, all eight members of the Dover, Pennsylvania School Board who had voted to mandate the teaching of “Intelligent Design” in the district’s schools were defeated. As one voter put it, “Now you have to take our city off the laughing stock list.” And, … Read more
Gopher Bush supporters have decided they’ll only come out in disguise Don’t ask me why, but I made a stop today at Power Line, the blog that supposedly brought down Dan Rather. I was looking for their explanation of the St. Paul mayoral election. But despite extensive searching, I couldn’t find one. I was talking … Read more
I’ve had a few requests to post my commentary which aired at MPR yesterday, but is not archived over there. This isn’t precisely the final cut–sometimes the perfect word on paper just doesn’t work out loud. Actually, that happens a lot. Anyway, here it is: Coming around the lake the other day, I noticed there … Read more
I have a lot of time on my hands, and I recently discovered a new trick with (I like to imagine) some radical implications. I’ve always wanted to be either a saint or at the very least some kind of hero, but the older I get the more it looks like I just don’t have … Read more
Hey, Toto, I bet we can fool those Kansas rubes with a story about scarecrows and wizards. Auntie Em will never suspect we were just out behind the barn smoking a fatty. It seems the Kansas Board of Education voted today to make Intelligent Design part of the curriculum in Kansas biology classes. Thank God, … Read more
What Iowa looked like before genetically engineered corn I’ve been hanging out lately with a young economist who’s been making a study of the history of economic thought. The conversation is a bit one sided, because, while I’ve heard of economic philosophers such as Keynes, Mill, Smith, et al., he’s actually read them. Sunday night, … Read more
As soon as I get done kissing you, I’m going to scare some Minnesotans You read it in the Strib first. Katherine Kersten tells us today, “A proposal to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman in Minnesota’s Constitution is one of the biggest issues our state will face in the … Read more
Our friend Deborah Caulfield Rybak reports today that Garrison Keillor is apparently not interested in renewing his show’s handsome permanent lease at the Fitzgerald Theater. As DCR notes, the reasons are not entirely clear, and both Keillor and MPR chief Bill Kling expertly deflected questions about what might have really gone down. (Kling: Keillor makes … Read more
Again and again we put our sweet ghosts on small paper boats and sailed them back into their death, each moving slowly into the dark, disappearing as our hearts visited and savored, hurt and yearned. —Jack Gilbert, from “Kunstkammer” There are other things besides monkeying around with words that are necessary, require commitment and discipline … Read more