Shot in the Dark

Speaking Of Shots In The Dark: Welcome To the New Design!

  • The Standing Army

    As I’ve watched the ongoing militarization of American policing, I’ve become fairly convinced that law enforcement is the “standing army” that our founding fathers were worried about. A new documentary, Do Not Resist, doesn’t make that exact point – but it’s a short jump to it. The New York Times reviews the movie. One of…

  • “Suicide” Prevention

    Probably the best explanation for this.

  • For Those Who’ve Never Heard…

    …and for those who’ve never understood why, and for those who’ve never gotten a hint of it from the media?   Here’s why Hillary’s email hi-jinx actually matter.

  • Conundrum

    Joe Doakes from Como Park emails: Indian tribes claim a pipeline company should not be digging on certain lands because the written easement has not yet been signed and verbal permission to proceed is insufficient. They also claim the easement should not be given at all because the tribe recently discovered the lands in question…

  • Everyone’s Deplorable

    If you don’t vote for the Democrat party nominee “your best interests”, Democrats get just a little peevish. Ohio seems to be swinging GOP uncharacteristically early this election, according to some polls. …left-leaning media appears to be treating the development as sour grapes. On Monday, one article appeared in TIME magazine and one was published by the AP,…

  • Let That Cycle Spin

    Leftist parties in Europe are facing declining membership, electoral routs, and a general malaise: The sick list is headed by Britain’s Labour Party, where veteran radical Jeremy Corbyn last week easily won a leadership challenge by centrist MPs angry at his part in the shock Brexit vote. But political analysts say the venerable party —…

  • No Pain…

    Joe Doakes from Como Park emails: Social Security admits outgo will exceed income in four years, as older workers retire and start taking money out instead of paying it in.  They think they can stave off disaster until 2034, if the General Fund will repay the IOUs it has written over the last 40 years. …

  • We’re #25!

    24/7 Wall Street calls Minneapolis the 25th most dangerous city in the US, based on FBI stats: Minneapolis landed on the 25th spot on the list, with a violent crime rate of 1,063 incidents per 100,000 residents. The website noted that robbery is especially common in Minneapolis, with 459 reported incidents per 100,000 residents –…

  • Do What They Say…

    …while ignoring what they actually do. That’s what the Minnesota DFL would have people do on most “ethical” issues. Government employees with cadillac health plans pushing Minnesotans onto MNSure?  No problem. DFL legislators with guns in the house pushing anti-2nd-amendment legislation?  Par for the course. Decry racism and preach “diversity” and “inclusion” out of one…

  • “We, The Undersigned…

    …group of actors – people who earn an intermittent living acting like people we’re not, who almost universally live in a place and culture, Hollywood, that has no bearing on the objective reality most Americans live in – who are mostly famous for playing roles in a series about a fictional, utopian, creepily big-brotherish universal…

  • Farewell To Cults

    Another baseball post-season is upon us.  And if you’re a Cubs fan – and they are my National League team – it’s another season to anticipate how epic this season’s choke is going to be.  Notwithstanding the fact that this season’s Cubs team is perhaps the best to ever take to Wrigley field, with the best record…

  • In Play?

    It’s something Republicans have whispered hopefully to each other ever since I started watching Minnesota elections, 28 years ago; could Minnesota flip? “Pshaw”, goes the conventional wisdom. “Not so fast, and who the hell actually says ‘pshaw’”, say some polls: Populism is at the heart of Mr. Trump’s economic and anti-establishment message. It’s also the…

  • Utterly Fearless Predictions

    Assange’s Infodump On Hillary will be utterly devastating – to a regular citizen.  The media will bury it, developing a sudden and utterly transient interest in storm damage in Haiti. Black Lives Matter will be a huge force in the 2020 election, as George Soros and other plutocrats with deep pockets continue to fund it with gusto.…

  • Time Off

    Joe Doakes from Como Park emails: If you qualify to live in public housing because you are poor, then you can’t afford to go on vacation.  Unless you’re a Somali refugee, then the taxpayers will pay your rent while you’re gone. Joe Doakes I’m sure there’s a reason for this. Not sure it’ll make any…

  • All About The Ugly

    Opposition researchers are pretty much paid to be ugly, catty and anal-retentive. The City Pages would have you believe that the oppo-research battle in the House race in Apple Valley is worse than most.  And in its way, it is – although not for the reasons the City Pages wants you to believe. It’s a…

  • This Is DFL Government

    You, the DFL voter, wanted a government-managed healthcare market?  You got it! And we’re all paying for it! Health insurers are hiking premiums and limiting enrollment in Minnesota’s individual market next year, with regulators saying the emergency measures were needed to avert a market collapse. The moves are a clear sign that the market for…

  • Illiteracy

    Sometimes it seems like Americans are the most culturally illiterate and oblivious people in the world. So this story is to remind you there’s always one more level to sink.

  • A Matter Of Trust

    Joe Doakes from Como Park emails: This guy was sitting in the car reading a book, Tasered four times, then shot.  Or he got out of the car with a gun and threatened the officers.  Depends on who you believe.  On the one hand, a certain group of people Whose Lives Matter have a history…

  • I Heard It On The NARN

    Jon Heyer is running for Minnesota House in District 66A.  Here’s his website; please try to give him a hand. And of course, ♫  today’s music playlist

  • Return Of The DFL Dictionary

    One of the features that originally put this blog on the map was “The DFL Dictionary” – a list of the Democrat party’s perversions of the English Language. It occurs to me – the feature hasn’t been updated in close to eight years. So today I’m going to start working on an update New Terms:…

  • When Did You Stop Beating Your Wife

    In the past, we’ve spent some time beating up the group “Minnesota Gun Rights” – a group based in Iowa, affiliated with the National Association of Gun Rights.  NAGR’s affiliates nationwide have a fairly cohesive strategy: Lead with a lot of no-compromise rhetoric – often on non-issues – on cheap social media. Use that rhetoric…

  • Pre-Written

    Did Chelsea Clinton take a private jet to a “clean energy” conference that was a mere five hour drive (or one-hour commercial flight) away? Oh, what do you think? The Clinton campaign promised during the Democratic primary that their entire operation would be “carbon neutral” and had some friendly reporters write stories about how even campaign…

  • Brawn

    You don’t screw with shooters.  Even if you’re Smith and Wesson 

  • Misplaced

    President Obama unveils an unseemly snobbery: On Sunday’s season premiere of Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown,” the president discussed food and foreign policy over noodles with the celebrity chef in Vietnam…“Is ketchup on a hot dog ever acceptable?” Bourdain asked the leader of the free world in an episode taped in May. “No,” the president quickly…

  • La Generalissima

    On her Twitter page, Minneapolis city Council woman Alandra Cano refers to herself as a “Third World feminist” – or did, before she blocked me for questioning her thuggish ways last winter, when she published personal addresses, emails and phone numbers of her critics who had written her on the city of Minneapolis website. I couldn’t…

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