The Olympics have “demonstration sports.” Why shouldn’t the Pulitzer Prize — awarded annually to the best journalism and writing in 21 categories — embrace blogs, if only on a provisional basis? In fact, in December 2008, the Pulitzer began considering content published in online-only news sources. Adding a category — or several — for best...Read More
The “RoboCop Solution” to the Financial Crisis When it comes to holding the citizenry hostage, owners of pro baseball and football franchises have nothing on Wall Street. The former, of course, have refined to an art form the practice of extorting tax dollars from cities and counties to build ever more expensive (and grandiose) sports palaces. The pitch?...Read More
No, Twin Cities residents can’t make that boast in January, March, December, July, or most other months on the calendar. However, the last week in the Twin Cities has featured a spectacular confluence of arid sunshine, warm nights, and a riot of Fall colors (especially brilliant this year because of the dry conditions). And a full moon...Read More
Shackling the Bond Vigilantes In a world where pundits divide into those who think the federal government should be doing more to help the economy, and those who think it’s already done (way) too much, economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman lands squarely in the former camp. In fact, you might say that he is...Read More
A Brief Accounting (& Parenting) Primer As a former accountant (my first post-college job was as a CPA), I learned these inventory terms: FIFO: First in, First Out LIFO: Last in, First Out Weighted Average method: what it sounds like. To those, I’d add one more: FILO, for “first in, last out.” Specifically, that’s what harried...Read More
I first reported the phenomenon in a post more than 18 months ago (“Where’s the Rest of Me? The Phantom Cellphone Vibration“): you’re standing in the shower — presumably undressed — and you feel your left (or in my case, right) hip vibrate. You think you’re wearing your phone — until you realize you aren’t. It...Read More
