The Rake Magazine

For our first issue of 2008, we succumbed to a natural impulse of media organs throughout the land: list-making. But what type of list? Hosannas, top-10s, “best-of”s? Snazzy dressers, notable news, or stories you should have paid attention to but didn't? We set all that aside and came up with our first annual "Over the Coals" list: a recounting of idiotic, inane, and utterly inexplicable local doings from last year.

If you're inclined to overly complicated metaphors, it's kind of like we took the lumps of coal from the stockings of those who deserved said lumps, dragged the Coleman out of the garage, and set up a nice, toasty blaze for those self-same recipients of the aforementioned coal lumps.

If you're not inclined to such metaphors, forget you read that, and consider instead our feature on Sam and Sylvia Kaplan. You know their names, you might even recognize their faces, and you probably have a vague idea about how they are linked with Paul Wellstone, Keith Ellison, and now Barack Obama. In fact, they are essential to almost any Democrat who wants to to get elected in Minnesota. We set out to discover how that happened.

Elsewhere in our January issue, you'll find stories about the hot new thing to huff (it comes in cute, very portable cans); the end of the world, Mayan style; and another Darfur that is just a short drive from the Twin Cities.