(Ironing) Bored with the Strib

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I have to finish this so I can make the hubby a nice dinner Probing every day for a new low in journalism, the Strib doesn’t let us down today. One of my female colleagues brought this to my attention. Right before she vowed to call and cancel her subscription. I never look at the … Read more

Repeater Towers

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The announcement yesterday about the Village Voice and New Times merger was interesting. All concerned parties–that is Mike Lacey, Jim Larkin, and David Schneiderman–are awfully defensive about charges of “selling out,” but then they’ve been hearing that for years, so their protests have always landed on my ear just a touch too loudly. I personally … Read more

Bertie Rathbun's Soul

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From the moment she was finished, shoved in a box, and buried under a shower of styrofoam peanuts, Bertie Rathbun understood that through some accident of God she had been given a soul. As she had been dangled in the air at the inspection station, and as her strings were jerked each in turn, jiggling … Read more

You, too, can win your very own body armor

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Lucky at cards, unlucky at war This story yesterday from the NY Times depicts a new low in how we treat our soldiers. Actually, it’s not a new low, since it has been going on for many years. We’re running casinos on military bases. So, we’re not only asking our men and women in uniform … Read more

The Rum Life

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You might have thought I was in Puerto Rico at that glamorous American Magazine conference, but no. I don’t think I could afford the gas to get to the airport, much less leave the country. But I see my old friend Wonkette is there stirring things up a bit. It’s been a few months since … Read more

Billy's Lighthouse

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This small-town lakeside joint is quickly becoming a small-town lakeside dining destination. Billy’s dramatically upgraded its almost twenty-year-old self with the arrival of chef Casey Leick, formerly of the 510 Restaurant. While the classic prime rib dinner and Lighthouse burger remain on the menu, they’re now joined by sauteed calf’s liver with onions and smoked … Read more

Forests in Turmoil

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In regard to the article in your October edition “Newspapers in Turmoil,” if daily newspapers are in trouble, first and foremost they should be in trouble for destroying old-growth Canadian forests. Most newsprint used in the U.S. comes from Canada, and ninety percent of all logging in Canada is done with clear-cutting. Newsprint, which is … Read more

The Long Decline

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I read with amusement the hand-wringing implicit in the article “Newspapers in Turmoil” by Brian Lambert [October]. What is noteworthy is that this is newsworthy at all. I have been avoiding the likes of the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press since 1985, when I first moved to Minneapolis. Even by the standards of American … Read more