Weird

Dispatch from the War on Christmas: Atheists make fools of themselves in Olympia while violence breaks out at Wal-Mart. The sacred season is now a very, very sick season.

Sarah Palin, comic book heroine

Posted Tue, Oct 28, 4:33 p.m.

By Bob Simmons

A Bellingham publishing entrepreneur sees force and fortune in the Palin story, no matter how it turns out.

Indiana Jones, meth addict

Posted Sun, Oct 12, 4:09 p.m.

The strange link between looting Indian artifacts and methamphetamine users.

Pit bulls, bears, and lipstick: more attacks involving animals

Posted Tue, Sep 16, 4 a.m.

Lessons learned from the places where people, animals, and politics collide.

Sidewalk crack addict

Posted Mon, Aug 4, 11 a.m.

By Steve Clifford

As a public service, we bust a few myths. Suffice it to say that all roads do not lead to Rome.

All the rage

Posted Mon, Jul 28, 4 p.m.

What's to blame for all the anger as cyclists, drivers, and citizens fight over their rights on the streets? Is it $4 gas? Young punks? Class warfare? Poor urban design? It's time to theorize.

Vanity profanity! The 600 license plates banned by the state

Posted Thu, Jul 24, 8 p.m.

By Peter Lewis

Try as they might, some motorists can't outsmart officials when it comes to custom license numbers. On the other hand, sometimes seemingly illicit alphanumerics are actually demonstrably proper.

More fun than Deliverance!

Posted Fri, Jul 18, 5 a.m.

Spend your summer vacation in Eastern Washington, an exotic locale where lakes are slippery, the Scablands surprising, and wheat farmers are smashing stuff for fun.

When animals attack, and also when they don't

Posted Mon, Jun 30, 5 p.m.

It's the time of year when animal-human encounters are on the rise. Bears are picnicking on hikers, moose are invading trailer parks, and muskrats are blamed for destroying entire towns. You could be next.

The animal-waste problem is, and is not, a load of crap

Posted Tue, Jun 10, 10 a.m.

By Bob Simmons

Researchers in Snohomish County estimate that pets there account for waste equivalent to a city of 32,000. That's a lot of nasty bacteria in surface-water runoff.

The case of the doomed diner

Posted Wed, May 21, 11 p.m.

Seattle's Landmarks Board greenlights the demolition of Ballard's Googie landmark. The decision leaves a lot of wreckage in its wake.

Annals of Northwest secession

Posted Tue, May 6, midnight

A primer of regional separatist movements, real and imagined.

Did I assassinate Garfield?

Posted Thu, Apr 17, midnight

When it comes to pissing off rural America, I think I'm one up on Barack Obama.

Hey, what about an Absolut Ecotopia?

Posted Tue, Apr 8, 5 a.m.

A vodka ad stirs anger and nationalism, tapping a history that links to the fight for the Pacific Northwest.

Secret to a happy marriage: 'Yes, dear'

Posted Mon, Mar 31, 5 a.m.

By Steve Clifford

Our humorist explains why active listening is overrated.

Hey, Yahoo: Looking for a white knight? How about Exxon?

Posted Sat, Feb 2, 11 a.m.

By O. Casey Corr

As Microsoft gears up for a takeover battle with Yahoo, there could be an Exx factor.

Advocating death with dignity – for the human race

Posted Tue, Jan 15, 5 a.m.

Would the world be better off without us? An Oregon teacher thinks so. In fact, allowing mankind to go extinct, he says, would be the greenest thing we could do.

Score one for Googie

Posted Thu, Jan 3, 7 a.m.

While three charming old Capitol Hill buildings are sentenced to be razed by Sound Transit, two modern buildings get approval from the Seattle landmarks board: a sleek International-style office building and a quirky Ballard diner.

2007 in review: Mossback hunts down the wildest animal stories of the year

Posted Tue, Dec 25, 1 a.m.

Giant swimming rats, seducing Sasquatch, and bear-hunting at the Vancouver Olympics.

Other media

Study: cities are bad for your brain Just a few minutes on a bustling urban street and your brain reels.

BOSTON GLOBE

Russian intellectual predicts U.S. will split into six nations in 2010 Alaska goes to Russia, the Midwest to Canada, and the West goes to China.

WASHINGTON POST

New Year's Eve: time for the droppers' sweepstakes New York's big ball is nothing compared to what other cities are dropping at midnight. Annapolis, for instance, is dropping a whole sailboat. A short essay on droppage.

WASHINGTON POST

Snowzilla, banned in Anchorage, makes a comeback The giant snowman, such an attraction that neighbors complained, has reappeared shortly after being declared a public nuisance.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Huge snowman in Anchorage ruled a public nuisance Snowzilla has got to go, the city rules, after neighbors complained it was drawing too many gawkers.

ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS

Blog posts

Happy Nazi New Year

Posted Thu, Jan 1, 4:50 p.m.

2009 starts with a bang in terms of Nazi stories, which were a strong theme in 2008 too. In addition, we gained insights into the similar reading habits of Bush and Hitler.

Filling the polling void

Posted Wed, Dec 3, 3 p.m. 2008

by Mike Henderson

The story of the Federal Way kid who returned $10,000 he found in a bathroom makes its way into the national mania for polls. Are you ethical? (Yes or no.)

Can we please dispense with the clichés when the campaign is over?

Posted Fri, Oct 31, 11:13 a.m. 2008

by Clark Fredricksen

Joe the plumber, game-changer, maverick, in the tank — the list is seemingly endless. Whatever happened to a good old Swiftboat?

Snohomish bank robber figures out new use for Craigslist

Posted Thu, Oct 2, 11:06 a.m. 2008

by Jonathan Hiskes

Someone's got to be hashing out the film rights to this right now. In a heist reminiscent of The Thomas Crown Affair and the Joker's crew of lookalikes in the Dark Knight's opening bank robbery, a thief in southern Snohomish County apparently recruited unwitting decoys on Craigslist to aid his escape.

Police told the Everett Herald that a man who robbed an armored-car guard in Monroe Tuesday posted a job ad on Craigslist to flood the scene of his escape with hopeful workers. According to a witness, the man dressed in a blue shirt and dust mask. After pepper-spraying the guard, he fled toward a nearby creek, where he may have used an inner tube to escape in Woods Creek, toward the nearby Skykomish River.

Sarah Palin's socialist 'sandwich'

Posted Sat, Sep 27, 1 p.m. 2008

Gov. Sarah Palin, commander of Alaska, mans the thin snowy line that lies between two hostile socialist countries: Russia and Canada. Weeks after the GOP convention, Palin still maintains that sheer proximity to these powers is evidence of her foreign policy credentials.

Bigfoot hunters must change tactics

Posted Thu, Aug 21, 4 a.m. 2008

I'm sure you were stunned by the headline: "Turns out Bigfoot was just a rubber gorilla suit." Hard to believe, I know. If you are looking for answers, however, don't despair. Instead of wondering aloud, "how can this be," turn to your home Mossback library. I'm sure tucked in there somewhere is a copy of the book that has all the Sasquatch answers.

Wine bust in Yakima

Posted Sun, Sep 14, 7 a.m. 2008

by Harris Meyer

Teenage movie ushers bounced three people in Yakima this week who were drinking a bottle of wine while watching Bottle Shock, a film about the early days of California winemaking.

Sausage Links, Obama waiting game edition

Posted Fri, Aug 22, 5 p.m. 2008

by Clark Fredricksen

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Has Barack Obama texted you yet? He sent me a text message two days ago that read: "Barack Obama is proud to announce Wash. Sen. Patty Murray will be his VP nominee in the November elections. Yes We Can." But it was not to be. ...

Amazing Bigfoot discovery!

Posted Sat, Aug 16, 12:01 p.m. 2008