Collateral damage
“Zero Dark Thirty” 3 stars Rated R 160 mins. Action Starring: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt Kathryn Bigelow’s cinematic version of the U.S. military’s absurdly protracted 10-year hunt for [...]
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Posted January 02, 2013in Film Review
Posted January 02, 2013in Belly Up To...
Joker’s brings comic relief to a serious club vibe
For those of you who weren’t alive in 1989, the first Batman movie epitomized — before Christian Bale’s throaty rendition of the hero and the late Heath Ledger’s demonically demented [...]
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Posted January 02, 2013in Rap Sheet
On the Clock
Published arrest charges are obtained from official law enforcement records, which are available to the public. All who are charged are innocent until proven guilty. Play the “Name that Crime” [...]
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Posted January 02, 2013in Joe's Neighborhood, Recent Posts
Good closing argument
OK, it is the dark and dreary days of January with the bulk of winter ahead of us. I know what you’re thinking. Yup, I overheard your conversation. You’re beginning [...]
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Posted January 02, 2013in Featured Story, Political Mercury
Do you want armed guards in schools?
It’s the National Rifle Association’s Big Solution. And Iowa Department of Education Director Jason Glass says it’s an idea worth considering. We are talking about armed guards in our schools. [...]
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Posted January 02, 2013in Civic Skinny, Featured Story
Sabbatical: diction in Scandinavian songs; and a losing lawyer shows some balls
Hell hath no fury like a lawyer scorned. The Iowa Supreme Court last week ruled — unanimously — that a Fort Dodge dentist did not unlawfully discriminate against his dental [...]
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Posted January 02, 2013in Locker Room
Monster Jam comes to Wells Fargo Arena
The first monster trucks emerged as sideshow attractions at tractor pulling events at places like the Iowa State Fair. In the beginning, they merely drove slowly over old cars, thrilling [...]
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Posted January 02, 2013in Featured Story, Food Dude
New World Café is all vegan
In this post-New Year’s season of diets, resolutions and purges, even a meat-eating sinner such as I figured it was time to try out New World Café, Des Moines’ first [...]
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Posted January 02, 2013in The Sound
The Queers are the last of punk’s depraved, old guard
Founded in 1981, The Queers are one of the last holdovers of the east coast, melodic pop-punk sound typified by the Ramones. The Queers were heavily influenced by “da brudders,” [...]
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Posted January 02, 2013in Cover Story
Cole Smithey’s Top 10 Films of 2012
The year 2012 was an extremely eventful one in cinema. Expanded distribution channels meant more film titles being released than ever before. The growth of Video-on-Demand allowed movie audiences to [...]
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