Dan, have you seen Garrison Keillor's response?

Keillor had a good run, but now he's washed up. Lake Wobegone is a fascinating place and should live on.

Remember, the antics of Michael Richards hasn't hurt Seinfeld syndication.

Nagin suggested his chance at reelection in the mayoral race had seemed slim because "they dispersed all of our people across 44 states with one-way tickets."

No, you barely got reelected because the people of New Orleans were fed up with you. It's been my understanding that Nagin hasn't exactly made low-income housing a priority in reconstruction. That's how you get the black people back, doofus. Thanks to the third-world status of your city, far too many African-American New Orleanians live in poverty.

Jeff, comparing this to the Michael Richards brouhaha is idiotic. The only thing Keillor had to apologize for was unclear satire. And while it's obvious that there are plenty of Stranger readers who don't get his humor and don't like Prarie Home Companion, I would say his popularity is at something of a peak, especially on the heels of the Altman movie.

Gabriel, the movie was a bland fairy-tale about death, an uninspired denouemment for Altman, and telling of Keillor's tired fate as a celebrity. I hardly think it expanded PHCompanion's popularity much beyond his core fans. Even with that, it was just celluloid bells and whistles clinging to the true homespun essence, an innovative live radio show.

As for the comparison to Michael Richards, a comment on this queer blog addresses that question,

"Garrison Keillor? Dont we have far more menacing enemies to get enraged about?"

The funny thing about the bad pet food is that all these dozens of brands, from the highfalutin Iams and Eukanuba to generic store brands, are all the same exact shit made by the same giant factory in Ontario.

@6

I was enjoying that as well. I'm waiting for the first announced cases in humans, whether from school or military meals or maybe Taco Bell. Ah, the horrors of the modern food industry...

Why are you "Unpaid?"

Is the Stranger a nonprofit organization? And you feel the need to volunteer to help spread whatever word you think they are spreading?

I am so long out of college that I no longer even use the expression "When I was in college." But I notice that The Stranger seems to have a lot of "Unpaid Interns." Or is there is only one unpaid intern? And the rest get some salary? Is this some new trend in the work-force? You work hard and they don'ty pay you because you are supposedly so incompetent? But you don't seem incompetent at all.

Just curious: why do you do it? You seem pretty adept and if you are the ONLY Unpaid Intern right now, you have done some pretty good stuff. What does the union think? I assume that the Stranger -- an a bastion of enlightenment is unionized.)

What puzzles me is that they keep you wrapped in a blanket of annonymity. Why? You don't even get the benefit of a byline -- pretty cheezy of Management i.e Dan, I think; the least they could give you is the chance to collect some clippings with your name on them.

Anyway, it would be nice to hear -- once you are out of their grip and they can't bully you with a bad recommendation -- your thoughts on the identity and reality of "Unpaid Intern."

David, a lot of places have interns work for a short period, like a semester, to gain experience or college credit. It's quite a common thing in journalism and for all I know has been for decades. Some interns receive a small stipend (less than a legal wage); others don't. It's unusual for an intern to stick around as long as six months. If you look closely you will occasionally spot the Stranger interns using their names, almost as if they were people. This one might be "Sage Van Wing". How many interns does the Stranger have at any given time.