Speaking of retro relief, my wife and I had drinks and dinner at Jiamen recently. It’s the newish Asian restaurant at 5400 Edgewood Road NE.
Dinner was not as “innovative” as the sign outside promises and as I hoped, but we’ll go back and try again. I’ll reserve judgment on the food for now. The place has lots [...]
Entries from March 2009
March 31, 2009
Today’s Column – Retro Relief
Our past has a very strong pull when the present is so scary.
You don’t have to look hard to find proof that jittery Americans are seeking elusive comfort in nostalgia. We’re clinging to shards of the so-called good old days to get us through bad new days.
Maybe we think the only way to see a [...]
March 30, 2009
Snowman Death Baffles Investigators
MARION — Was it the wife, or the sun?
Only Mr. Frosty “Daddy” Snowman knows. And he’s not talking.
Not anymore.
Snowman, age undetermined, was found expired on the front lawn of a home in a north Marion subdivision Sunday afternoon. Foul play is suspected, but natural causes have not been ruled out.
He is mourned today by his young [...]
March 30, 2009
Monday Reads — Buyer’s Regret
Did you ever have buyers regret?
Sure, you drop a chunk of cash on something and later wonder whether it was the smart play. It happens.
Say you’re a Cedar Rapids city official, and you read this morning’s on-the-scene report form The Gazette’s Adam Belz on temporary flood barriers failing twice in Fargo along the Red River, [...]
March 27, 2009
Deductibility Spawns Creativity
There’s a part of me that’s tempted to wade boldly into the fight over whether the state should finally dump federal deductibility, or the ability of Iowans to deduct fed taxes from what they owe the state.
It’s a big issue. But, honestly, I sent that part of me out to get kolaches.
In Prague.
So if you’re [...]
March 27, 2009
Friday Reads — Abbreviated
Technical problems at home. So I’m late and brief.
Mainly, I wanted to point to The Register’s story today reporting that U.S. Rep. Steve King’s tax property break was a clerical error, according DC officials. He plans to pay it back.
The big story is the partisan tax reform battle firing up at the Statehouse. Dems want [...]
March 26, 2009
Today’s Column — “Pork” and Bonds
In the “Tower of Invincibility,” Republicans think they have found an exploitable weakness in Gov. Chet Culver’s big bonding plan.Instead, they’re showing emptyheaded, inchdeep partisan politics.
The tower is a 12-story office building planned by folks in Vedic City, the southern Iowa town built on the principles of transcendental mediation.The governor’s office told communities to submit [...]
March 26, 2009
Thursday Reads — Give the King a Break
The Sioux City Journal and Iowa Independent each follow a report in Roll Call naming U.S. Rep. Steve King as one among four members of Congress wrongly benefiting from property tax breaks on their second homes in the District of Columbia. From Iowa Independent:
The exemption allows people who own homes in Washington, D.C., to receive a $67,500 reduction [...]
March 25, 2009
Newspaper Bailouts
Area bloggers are concerned about my troubled industry. I had no idea they cared. But they do.
Blog for Iowa carries an interesting piece from The Nation by media reformers Bob McChesney and John Nichols, who advocate government action to save the news media and newspapers from collapse.
Please, read the whole thing. But here’s their idea for giving newspapers [...]
