Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Dec 7, 2009, 8:04 am
I do 99 percent of my Xmas shopping online. In fact, once Thanksgiving arrives, I make a concerted effort to steer clear of any shopping area unless absolutely unavoidable. And, of course, given my ...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Dec 5, 2009, 1:52 pm
At various times in their careers, lawyers see motions or other pleadings that, for one reason or another, strike them perhaps beyond unmeritorious. Whether because of boundless judicial restraint or...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Dec 5, 2009, 12:05 pm
Bulletin Board Although it’s been part of my Reader Pledge for a long time, I loved the FTC disclosures for bloggers Louis Gray came up with so much I’ve added one to the right sidebar. ...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Dec 4, 2009, 12:40 pm
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia: Constitution does not ban “stupid laws.” Here’s another of those legal ethics matters that would seem to be a no-brainer. A “couch of resti...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Dec 2, 2009, 8:06 am
You know those annoying Alltel “My Circle” ads? Today I’m wondering why the chubby guy who represents Sprint in the ads hasn’t lost a ton of weight. The question arises becau...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Dec 1, 2009, 1:09 pm
Although I grew up hunting, I don’t own a gun. In fact, unless you count the .22 rifle and 20-gauge shotgun I used as a teenager that were still in my dad’s gun cabinet when he died, I ha...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Dec 1, 2009, 7:55 am
At first, I thought I wouldn’t have a lust list this month. I believed, for some reason, that a lot of new stuff hadn’t really grabbed me lately but checking my library hold list and Amaz...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 30, 2009, 7:58 am
How does your reading (or your blogging) fare in the holiday months? Do you read more or less? Do you have to actively make time to read? I generally get quite a bit of reading done over the holidays...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 28, 2009, 10:17 am
Blog Headline of the Week Cinema Is Doomed: New Moon Most Successful Opening Ever Worthwhile Reading in the Interweb Tubes How our brains learned to read Come, Study, Learn, and Leave: Why Our Imm...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 27, 2009, 10:27 am
A day late but here’s the top 10 reasons to be thankful there were no lawyers on The Mayflower. Fondling breasts is outrageous conduct in prostitution investigations. Earlier this month, Taiwa...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 25, 2009, 12:26 pm
I’ve never understood Black Friday or our seemingly insatiable urge to be the United States of Buy. This year I’m formally joining a movement I’ve unknowingly participated in for ye...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 24, 2009, 12:05 pm
Normally, “fog of war” refers to the ambiguity and confusion encountered by military men, from commanders through ground soldiers, combatants during a war or battle. Yet the fog can envel...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 21, 2009, 11:09 am
Bulletin Board My friend Michael at The MinusCar Project is partnering with the Sioux Falls Green Project to bring the documentary No Impact Man to Sioux Falls. The movie, which tells the story of C...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 20, 2009, 1:04 pm
A Russian court reduced by several months the sentence of a man who murdered and ate his mother — and dismissed a cannibalism charge against him — because “I was so hungry, I had to ...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 20, 2009, 8:04 am
There’s a certain rhythm and inner warmth when you see an old friend after a number of years. While I’ve never spoken to Leo Kottke in my life, seeing him perform Thursday night at the Or...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 19, 2009, 12:56 pm
In the scheme of life, the universe and everything, it’s no big deal. But it does kind of piss me off so you’ll have to forgive this rant as I vent a bit. When I post a bunch of links in...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 19, 2009, 7:49 am
I mentioned when they were announced that I hadn’t read any of the finalists for the National Book Award. Lucky timing is going to help me out with reading one of the winners. Taking a look at...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 18, 2009, 8:04 am
It’s always somewhat surprising when you read something and realize not only that you wish you’d said it but that, if you had, you probably wouldn’t have said it quite as well. The ...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 17, 2009, 7:54 am
Even during the height of Communism, Albania was an outlier, a dystopia seemingly little noticed by most of the world. Here was a country whose dictator, Enver Hoxha, broke ties with the Soviet Union...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 14, 2009, 11:02 am
Bulletin Board Two of my favorite things — books and jazz — come together tomorrow at the local B&N. With this voucher (which will also be available in the store) a percentage of your pu...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 13, 2009, 7:56 am
It’s been too long since the last installment in this series and the celebrations this week over the fall of the Berlin Wall create a perfect opportunity to talk about Good Bye, Lenin!. While t...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 11, 2009, 2:40 pm
Start the debate. The Sioux Falls School District has removed a graphic novel from student access at two middle school libraries. The book, Stuck in the Middle: 17 Comics from an Unpleasant Age, now...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 10, 2009, 12:39 pm
How pervasive is the power of politics? About as pervasive as you can get, as evidenced by word that Sarah Palin is going to be at the local B&N for a book-signing on December 6. Palin is unquestion...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 10, 2009, 7:51 am
Book blurbs often seem the equivalent of movie blurbs. Skepticism seems justified when a publisher puts a blurb smack on the front cover just below the title — especially when it says, “M...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 9, 2009, 12:08 pm
Does your house have a communal bookshelf? If not, is your bookshelf centrally located so everyone has access to it? Our house is a divided country when it comes to bookshelves. Actually, it’s...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 9, 2009, 7:52 am
With the Cold War being waged for more than half my life, I was among the many millions fascinated with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Twenty years ago today, the East German government — intenti...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 7, 2009, 10:10 am
Bulletin Board I had the pleasure of speaking about blogging this week at the Newspaper Writing: Critical/Editorial course offered by Augie’s English/Journalism programs If only I’d know...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 6, 2009, 1:53 pm
Sometimes the headlines (and subheads) say it all: Man caught nude in truck uses the “explosive diarrhea” defense. Woman Calls 911, Says Boyfriend Won’t Marry Her Same Person Call...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 6, 2009, 12:26 pm
There was an uproar in the interweb/blogosphere/social media worlds this week when someone noted that Publishers Weekly’s list of the Top 10 Books of 2009 did not include any female authors. Fr...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 5, 2009, 12:12 pm
I’m one of those who always rants about how early Christmas stuff shows up each year. So it may be somewhat hypocritical for me to join a new book blogger effort called Buy Books for the Holida...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 3, 2009, 7:58 am
It was an era more than half our population knows only through history. It was an era in which the United States went from being the only nation possessing nuclear weapons to facing the reality that ...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 2, 2009, 8:05 am
Of all the constitutional guarantees, one most Americans are familiar with is the Fourth Amendment. In its entirety, it states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, p...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Nov 1, 2009, 11:34 am
It seems like much of the last month has been devoted to reading not-yet-released items for review. That also impacts the bibliolust list because the ARCs, proofs and the like often show up far enoug...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 31, 2009, 2:43 pm
You may recall I posted last month about how a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee amendment to legislation creating a federal “reporters privilege” appeared to require that a person work for ...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 31, 2009, 12:21 pm
Bulletin Board The Rapid City Public Library is going to be posting podcasts of some of the events from this year’s South Dakota Festival of Books. Worthwhile Reading in the Interweb Tubes Ho...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 30, 2009, 1:30 pm
I’m thinking a $16.5 million verdict isn’t unexpected when jurors ask for a 10-digit adding machine. Woman arrested for offering sex for World Series tickets gets 800 new Facebook “...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 30, 2009, 7:38 am
Do real private detectives read detective novels? Do police officers read crime fiction? I wonder because, as a practicing attorney, I don’t usually read novels dealing with lawyers. Even whe...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 29, 2009, 8:09 am
Ranging a bit far afield from the usual topics of this blog but dealing with a subject of professional interest, a couple recent items reinforced this country’s problem with immigration. It isn...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 28, 2009, 7:42 am
True, Harry Nilsson’s Son of Schmilsson was released in the summer of 1972. But with the cover, on which Nilsson appears as Dracula, and the B-horror movie sound effects between the first and s...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 26, 2009, 7:33 am
Sometimes a book leaves me puzzled. Sometimes that’s good. Sometimes that’s bad. Sometimes it’s both. Paul Auster’s latest novel, Invisible, falls in the latter category. ...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 24, 2009, 11:05 am
Worthwhile Reading in the Interweb Tubes Vaccines & Autism: A Deadly Manufactroversy (Via.) Fifteen Things More Important Than Money (Via.) Blog Headlines of the Week Marijuana legalizers do vic...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 23, 2009, 12:37 pm
North Korea has amended its constitution. In inimitable North Korean style, the “contents of the revision have not been made public” by its government. “Miss California USA officia...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 22, 2009, 12:49 pm
If you could ask your favorite author (alive or dead) one question … who would you ask, and what would the question be? Sorry, but I can’t resist making this like asking the genie from the bo...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 22, 2009, 12:19 pm
No one is immune from genre-bashing. What’s come to be known as historical fiction is one of those genres at which I tend to look askance. I’m guilty of often considering it little more ...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 21, 2009, 12:24 pm
A couple things are luring me over to the dark side — an e-book reader. If you weren’t under a rock the last 24 hours, you know Barnes & Noble is releasing an e-reader, which Wired immedi...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 21, 2009, 7:55 am
War has broken out in the book retailing world. First, Wal-Mart last week said it would offer preorders of 10 top books to be released in November for $10 each online with free shipping. Amazon, of ...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 20, 2009, 6:14 pm
From a photographer who’s spent the last five years on the Pine Ridge Reservation: “I think I honestly want these photos to hurt the viewer.” (H/T Prof. Newquist.) And while it doe...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 19, 2009, 7:59 am
Given our history, Americans tend to think of political prisoners as those who actively oppose the political policies or government of their country. Yet in totalitarian societies even aesthetics are...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 17, 2009, 10:11 am
Bulletin Board As indicated by the new graphic in the right sidebar, this blog was one of about 50 selected to become new members of 9rules, a collection of blogs providing “the best content fr...
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Tim G. posted an article on A Progressive on the Prairie - Oct 16, 2009, 12:43 pm
I wonder if this will pop up if South Dakota’s smoking ban referendum moves forward? A Canadian truck driver was arrested and fined for smoking in the workplace — his truck. (Via.) Poli...
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