Monday, July 30, 2007

Bobcat


Bobcat is probably the only North Dakota-based corporate acquisition that can make international news, at least since Microsoft bought Great Plains Software. Reuters picks up the North Dakota angle.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Baseball, Again


The Twins are trying to keep their heads above .500, but here's an old ESPN SportsCenter commercial with Joe Mauer and a Fargo mention.


Friday, July 27, 2007

Hemp for America


Stephen Colbert covers the North Dakota hemp fight, then gets someone from a not-really-related cause to talk about it. Munchies jokes follow.
Link to the segment on VoteHemp.com. (Thanks to NorthDecoder.com.)

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Trouble on the Reservation


NPR reports from Standing Rock on authorities' inability to respond to rape and other violent crimes. Blame goes to incompetence, indifference and underfunding. Whatever it is, it makes for a grim story.





Tuesday, July 24, 2007

We're On the TV!



Things we can learn about North Dakota by searching YouTube:

Whatever the hell emo is.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Legalize It, Or: Don't Worry. We're Republicans.



More coverage of those unkempt young radicals and their quest to be hemp farmers.

NY Times: Sober North Dakotans Hope to Legalize Hemp

OK, but how do the stoned North Dakotans feel about it?

Friday, July 20, 2007

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Little Mosque on the Prairie


As seemingly unlikely as Satchel Paige pitching in Bismarck, Ross, N.D., is reported to have been the site of the first mosque in the United States. Voice of America produced an article on it in 2005. Sure, VOA is fairly propagandish and the message here is that "Muslims have long been accepted in America," but interesting nonetheless, especially the revelation that someone named Hassan Abdallah can look like your typical old North Dakota farmer.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Talking Baseball (Still)


We're still in a baseball mood here.

It's not commonly known, but North Dakota in the 1930s was one of the first places where integrated baseball flourished, thanks in part to ambitious car dealer and team owner, Neil Churchill, who signed some of the best Negro League players of the time. Roger Maris isn't in the Hall of Fame, but Satchel Paige is.

Here's a long article on the state's baseball glory days.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Pronk!

Travis Hafner, AKA Pronk, Sykeston native and Cleveland Indians DH, re-signs for a giant crap-load of money -- $57 million, or 1,000 times the annual economic output of Sykeston. Good for Pronk.
I once tried to figure out an all-North Dakota baseball team. The Maris-Erstad-Hafner part seemed pretty good, but when I realized the starter would be Rick Helling, I kinda lost interest.






Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Roll Out.






This summer's biggest toy-related blockbuster aimed at 30-year-old men, Transformers, includes actor and Minot native Josh Duhamel. According to his entry on the Internet Movie Database, he owns a restaurant in Minot and is engaged to Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas. Not bad, as long as that damn "Humps" song doesn't drive him insane.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Bar-ry! Bar-ry!


Fargo man, Andrew Clapp, puts North Dakota on the map as home to hairy drunk dudes.

Barry wasn't afraid, though. "I felt safe with him . . . he had no shoes on. If you come at me one-on-one, you'd better come with a lot, Jack. "