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FX’s ‘Fargo’ just as worthy as original

Nestled among the frozen plains of the snowy American landscape is a locale as foreign to some as it is familiar to my corn-growing, cheese-loving roots. The inhabitants of this region bundle themselves in fur hats and down parkas and express themselves with an abundance of “Oh ya”s and “You betcha”s. Their daily struggles range from whether or not to make meatloaf for dinner to how to best cover up a botched attempt at kidnapping your own wife for ransom. This is the Midwest, or at least the Midwest envisioned by a pair of goofball filmmakers known informally to us as the Coen brothers. Yah der hey.

Democrats still alive in 2014 midterms

Iranian ambassador deserves US visa

According to the United States Constitution, Article II, Section 3, “[The President] shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers…” This means that the president of the United States can either accept or deny the incoming ambassador of a foreign country. However, in accordance to the 1947 agreement that the United States signed, the United States is obliged to grant entry visas to representatives of United Nations member states. Thus, the United States and more specifically the president of the United States, has no right to deny a visa or entry to the country. Nor does the U.S. have the right to pass a bill that blocks entry if the individual is an incoming ambassador of the United Nations.

Column: North Carolina academic scandal grossly exaggerated

I’m going to make a claim: Mary Willingham can’t read.

Self-identity breeds marginalization in issues like same-sex marriage

I feel like ninety-five percent of the things that one can possibly say about the debate on same-sex marriage have been said too many a time, and will be repeated over and over again. And like most things in American politics ( or all politics in general), the debate on same-sex marriage in Utah has a glaringly obvious, commonsensical answer that really isn’t as difficult as everyone is making it out to be—just legalize it.

Record Routine: New Aimee Mann and Ted Leo collaboration fails to impress

What do you get when you combine a modest indie pop star and a pop-less alternative punk star? Aimee Mann and Ted Leo’s The Both comes to mind. The two music veterans joined forces in the last couple of years to find the right harmony between their starkly different voices and make an album reflecting the results. The self-titled debut album combines the gritty, distorted punk sound Leo is all too familiar with, and the niche feel-good acoustic pop sound Mann has grown to master. While some of the songs blend into one another, the album as a whole sounds refined, polished and what one would expect from two people who have been writing music their whole lives. However, their age might be catching up with them, as this album offers nothing new. It’s a safe, easy-sounding record that differs from their individual work, which embodied traits of painstaking effort and all-out emotional commitment.

University of Wisconsin-Madison lacks initiative in diversity planning

Although it is my exceptional privilege to be on a scholarship that covers my cost of education here at UW-Madison, I often feel that this campus has cost me much more than the $26,000+ in tuition I would otherwise have to pay. Following my heart and pursuing my student community’s rights has literally cost me my health. I’ve witnessed students of color with beautiful dreams and intentions be bullied by malicious people at this institution and on multiple occasions be pushed to withdraw or drop out of this university.

Final Four: The legacy of Ben Brust

Two hundred and thirty-one. That’s the number of 3-pointers senior guard Ben Brust had in his career, four more than the 227 that was Tim Locum’s team record for 23 years. Record breaking No. 238 came with 3:52 left in overtime in the Elite Eight win against Arizona. This shot put the Badgers up 57-54, forcing the Wildcats’ backs against a wall. Two hundred and twenty-eight couldn’t have come at a better time.

ASM committee highlights Diversity Plan draft with whiteboard campaign

The Associated Students of Madison Diversity Committee embarked a whiteboard campaign March 31-April 4, aiming to give students a voice in the committee's progress towards a more inclusive campus.

Almanac $1,000 Final Four Giveaway

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the men?s basketball team, and for a limited time only, YOU have the opportunity to win $1,000 in Almanac?s ?rst-ever NCAA March Madness Final Four cash giveaway!

Language exploration expands cultural knowledge among learners

To a New Yorker, there's nothing better than Billy Joel

On Friday I was lucky enough to see Billy Joel for the second time. The last time I saw him, it was a part of his 12-night run at Madison Square Garden—which involved some really sketchy counting as to how it was a 12-night run, but that’s neither here nor there. The last time I saw him, I was 11, and whatever Billy Joel songs I had heard were force-fed to me by my parents.

Willful ignorance is not a valid excuse

Last summer, I enrolled in a philosophy course here at University of Wisconsin-Madison entitled “Contemporary Moral Issues.” The course, as its name suggests, involved students reading academic papers about rational arguments for the ethical permissibility or unacceptability of a number of policies, such as capital punishment, abortion, voluntary active euthanasia and the consumption of meat produced by factory farms. I came into the class with fairly strong beliefs about most of the subjects, with little expectation of having my mind changed.

Column: MLB grossly overvalues relief pitchers, especially closers

The closer, for all intents and purposes, is a lot like a kicker in football. Come in at the last minute and, under immense pressure, either go out in a blaze of glory or fade into defeat.

State Senators introduce campaign finance legislation

The state Senate plans to take up legislation in the coming months that would make major changes to the state’s campaign finance laws.

Campus Wordsmiths: ‘Awake, arise, or be forever fallen’ part 3

“What now?” Foster asked in the front seat.

Record Routine: Real Estate return with simple yet addictive album

There’s a reason why Real Estate haven't hit the mainstream since their 2009 debut. The sound they have grown to master denies the characteristics of popular music, instead embodying subtlety mixed with ease and a dash of somberness. With Atlas, their third album, Real Estate continue this refined subtlety and add distinctive craftsmanship to make Atlas their strongest.

'House of Cards' showcases television's cinematic potential

Last summer, I holed up in an air-conditioned room and didn’t resurface until I had binged the entire first season of "House of Cards," Netflix’s first successful stab at original programming. The opening scene is still as vivid in my mind today as it was those many months ago—we hear a dog get hit by a car offscreen and an impeccably dressed Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) arrives at the pitiful scene. While wrapping his bare hands around the neck of the whimpering dog, he looks directly at the camera and delivers the first of many monologues in a quaint, southern accent. He squeezes until its cries become faint and, after a few seconds, they cease altogether. We get the sense that Frank Underwood is the epitome of a ruthless pragmatist and a perfect spokesperson for the political underworld.

Celebrating the insanity of fictional characters

Books and literature have never been just about entertainment. To say that one merely reads “for fun” would be nothing short of the kind of travesty only previously seen when someone fell asleep during Star Wars. Just so you know, they never find the bodies.

Letter to the editor: Madison’s Diversity Plan since Plan 2008 ended

Your news report (Ad Hoc Diversity Planning Committee releases UW-Madison Diversity Draft plan, Feb. 20, 2014) is wrong in repeating the assertion that UW-Madison has gone without a diversity plan since Plan 2008 ended more than five years ago. That incorrect assertion was first made by the co-chairs of the Ad Hoc Diversity Planning Committee during their Diversity Forum presentations last fall.