Top 5 — What’s Scaring Us This Week?

5. Miley Cyrus — Lot’s of folks are very worked up about the cultural implications of the 15-year-old pop star’s bareback pose in Vanity Fair. Great. So will someone from the National Association of Easily Outraged People please confiscate my daughter’s singing Hannah Montana doll? If I simply can’t stand to hear “This is wicked [...]

Awkward (Parenting) Moment

Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Awkwardness level: Moderate
Last night, my wife and I were catching a few moments of TV while the children played and bedtime approached. We heard out youngest daughter yell the word “sticky” repeatedly in a tone that suggested distress. Upon investigation, we found that she had rifled through our kitchen junk drawer, found an old tube of [...]

Gov. Rants?

House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, stopped by this morning to give his take on the 2008 legislative session. In response to a question, he said he’s thinking about running for governor in 2010. But he insists that’s not big news.
“Sure. I’d be stupid not to think about it,” said Rants, who served as [...]

Scouting Report

I’ve joined The Headliners (team 1), the newsroom’s rec league softball juggernaut. Sunday was our first practice, the first time in several years I’ve worn a glove in combat and the first time I’ve rifled through the medicine cabinet looking for ibuprofen since snow-shoveling season. Based on my performance, here is my own clear-eyed preseason scouting [...]

Never Ending Dems

So just how long has the campaign for the Democratic nomination lasted?
From the New York Times Caucus blog:
For perspective, consider America as it was when the battle effectively began – Oct. 22, 2006, when Mr. Obama said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he had changed his mind and was considering a bid for the [...]

Top 10 — Legislature-inspired Prom Themes

A celebration of the convergence of prom season and the end of the Legislative session.
10. Be My Big Taxin’ Nanny State Tonight
9. Stairway to Healthy Habits
8. Property Tax Reform Fantasy Land
7. Let’s Party, but Only After Our Classroom Achievement has been Thoroughly Assessed
6. Bargaining Collectively for Your Heart, Arm and Leg 
5. Midnight at the Manure Study
4. Dime [...]

Today’s Awkward Moment

Anyone who knows me well knows that nearly every day, I have what I call an “awkward moment.” Some are minor and barely noticeable to anyone but me. A few are moderate and cause several minutes of embarrassment. Others are large and may require therapy down the road.
I used to share these regularly with my colleagues at the [...]

Grub — Villa’s Patio

When I asked a few people recently to give me the name of their favorite Mexican restaurant around these parts, the No. 1 answer was a shrug. Few had a favorite. Some claimed there isn’t a good one. Others gave half-hearted endorsements.
But, undeterred, I pressed ahead. My wife and I tried Villa’s Patio on 7th Ave. in Marion.
It [...]

Healthy Irony Update

I received an e-mail from House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, giving a broader explanation of Republicans’ distaste for the Healthy Kids Act, which is stuck in the House.
Rants contends that the GOP’s opposition is rooted in the failure of majority Democrats to, so far, approve other, more meaningful, education bills, including statewide curriculum [...]

Fan Mail Friday

It was a light week for mail, and what I did get was mostly slamming or praising me for defending Barack Obama’s infamous “bitter” comments. I argued that his crime was telling the truth. Others disagreed.
Among them was Gary, who did not give his full name:
I read your puff piece this morning in the Gazette……Then [...]