Why “All Lives Matter” is Unhelpful
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June 4, 2020
The phrase may be well-meaning, but it dismisses the issue at the movement’s heart.
Category: Politics
Does Daylight Need Saving?
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March 15, 2020
What’s the golden ratio for golf games to heart attacks?
Dawn of the Bernie Bro
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March 7, 2020
Bernie’s supporters are young, rowdy, and, worst, they know how to meme. Is that reason enough to disavow him?
Our Democracy is Dumb
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November 23, 2019
Democracy is important. The ancient Greeks knew that. Everyone else forgot it for a couple thousand years, and then America remembered. Suffering beneath the widespread paw of the British tea-and-taxes machine, a spunky bunch of would-be American patriots found common ground in vanquishing the evil empire and building atop its ashes a democratic nation. Similar …
The Case for a Bigger House
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October 25, 2019
The United States House of Representatives is a cornerstone of the American Democratic system, a piece of living history, and a real shitshow.
A Brief History of “In God We Trust”
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July 26, 2019
South Dakota’s getting ornery again. A new Rushmore State law mandates the display of the United States motto, “In God We Trust” in every one of the state’s 697 public schools. Displaying the motto is required by law, but, schools are allowed to get fun creative with the new rule, which gives school principals the …
A Tale of Two States
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July 3, 2019
On November 2nd, 1889, Benjamin Harrison, ranked #30 in C-SPAN’s ranking of US Presidents, probably sneered as he drove a knife into the heart of Dakota Territory, dividing it forever along an East-West meridian. When he signed the documents formally creating two new states, the President famously (and cutely) shuffled them, preventing onlookers from knowing …
Bde Maka Ska: My Stupid Opinion
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June 17, 2019
In 2017, the City of Minneapolis changed its map forever (maybe — facts disputed) by renaming its largest lake. Overnight, Lake Calhoun, as it’s long been known, became Bde Maka Ska, a name previously attributed to the body of water by the native Dakota people. This change resulted in fairly immediate controversy between advocates for …