FRIDAY, February 29
HEADLINES
Making a living in Iraq
by Sami Rasouli, TC Daily Planet
Most Iraqi families still depend heavily on the DPR (Daily Personal Ration) of food they get through the Oil for Food Program, which has been operating since the 1990s. The ration, which includes sugar, flour, rice, tea, shortening, chick peas, lentils, soap and detergent, is supposed to supply the minimum daily caloric requirements, but what is actually delivered has been reduced to about half of what it was during Saddam’s regime.
The sound of two jaws flapping: Bachmann and O’Reilly on the scourge of criminal aliens
by Steve Perry, Minnesota Monitor
Last night on Fox, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann engaged in a cheerfully fact-free five-minute colloquy with Bill O’Reilly regarding the case of Olga Franco, the Guatemalan woman who caused the southern Minnesota school bus crash that killed four children.
Budget deficit nearly $1 billion, Minnesota has a revenue problem
by Jeff Van Wychen, Minnesota 2020
Today Minnesota’s budget picture became considerably bleaker with the release of the February budget forecast. The state’s budget deficit for the fiscal year 2008-09 biennium grew from a manageable $373 million-as projected in the November forecast-to $935 million.
The Heart of the Beast gets wet
by Jennifer Holder, TC Daily Planet
Do you know where your drinking water comes from? In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre (HOBT) would like to educate you with its lively, humorous, and interactive production Beneath the Surface.
INSIDE THE DAILY PLANET
Interview: Sam ‘the Man’ Kuusisto
by Dwight Hobbes, TC Daily Planet
I was sent a Sam Kuusisto demo sometime ago and my eyebrows almost flew off my forehead. What in the world, I wondered, was this white cat doing taking on material by James Brown, Van Morrison and The Isley Brothers? So, I put it on the box and promptly got my mind blown: white, black or green with polka-dot stripes, this boy was bad as he wanna be!
Food and Restaurants
Acadia relocates, redesigns and recycles
by Justin Flower, Minnesota Daily
The café moves from Nicollet to Cedar-Riverside and opens a new set of doors.
Brasa succulent southern dishes bring comfort
by Bruce Schneier and Karen Cooper
Cabin fever. Some fight it by getting outdoors to ski or skate, and these build up a good appetite. Some give in and nest, all the while craving the warm richness of comfort foods. Either way, we recommend visiting Brasa to get you through the long dark of winter.
NEW IN VOICES
The bookworm, discovers that sometimes books don’t have all the answers
by Shannon Drury, Minnesota Women’s Press
Anger, bitterness, disappointment and grief: like unwelcome guests they parked themselves on our couch.
NEW IN BLOGS
Our Thai wedding
by Paul Schmelzer, 2/28/08 • While this kanom, a sticky-rice dessert with custard wrapped in banana leaf, was tasty, the more important part of this shot is the series of bands of string on my wrist. On Sunday, Mok and I were married in a traditional Thai ceremony, part two of a process that started with our October 2006 wedding in Wisconsin.
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