Somalia's civil war claims another Minnesotan.

​A suicide bomber who blew himself up in Mogadishu yesterday in an attack that killed 10 had traveled to Somalia from Minneapolis in 2008.

Abdisalan Ali had emigrated to Minnesota with his family when he was 2 years old, but was among 20 local youths who returned to the war-torn land to fight in its civil war back in 2008. He is the fourth American to kill himself in a suicide attack in Somalia.

In a clip posted by an Al-Qaida-linked militant group on Somalimemo.net today, the man alleged to be Ali urges fellow Muslims to conduct attacks in Western countries.

"My brothers and sisters, do Jihad in America, do Jihad in Canada, do Jihad in England, anywhere in Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in China, in Australia," the suicide bomber urges.

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Michele Bachmann is a witchy woman

​This week's new issue of City Pages features a presidential portrait of Michele Bachmann that is stunning in its realism and ability to capture her inner soul.

The official portrait by Scott Anderson, commissioned by CP for the issue on stands tomorrow and online now, shows Bachmann dressed as the Wicked Witch of the Midwest.

Reached for comment, Michele Bachmann said, "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!"
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Michele Bachmann watched Roots and is now an expert on the slave experience.

​Michele Bachmann's campaign is trying to back away from signing a pledge claiming African Americans were better off during slavery than under the Obama presidency.

But in issuing the quasi-apology, the Bachmann campaign remained unable to relinquish the main underlying point: that black people are better off as free citizens than they were during slavery.

In fact, Bachmann spokesman Alice Stewart purposely drew yet another allusion to slavery on Sunday by describing life under Obama as a form of "economic slavery."

"In no uncertain terms, Congresswoman Bachmann believe[s] that slavery was horrible and economic enslavement is also horrible."
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​The scandal-savvy St. Paul Saints have jumped on Weinergate with the ball club's latest bizarre giveaway.

This time, the first 1,501 fans who are 18 or over will receive a snazzy pair of boxer shorts that commemorate Weiner's most famous photo--the one with the bulge.

While we normally enjoy the sardonic sensibility of the scrappy minor league club's marketing department, this one feels like a whiff.
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​Tim Pawlenty unleashed a rank straight out of 8th grade when he called President Barack Obama a "doofus" on CNN.

This bust is so old school  it doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry.

So what exactly is a doofus, anyway?

Does Barack Obama resemble a doofus?

And should a doofus who lives in a glass house cast the first stone?

All these questions and more will be answered if you join us on the flipslide!


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​Osama bin Laden is dead. His body was buried at sea. The White House and the Pentagon have photos of the U.S. raid on his compound in Pakistan, but they haven't released the pictures to the public.

There's obviously a huge demand to see a photo or video of bin Laden with a bullet through his skull. But if you see an e-mail, or a tweet, or a Facebook update that offers you a link to those grisly images, DON'T click on it.

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A story too good to be true?

​The story of the killing of Osama bin Laden at the hands of Navy SEALS would have been compelling stuff in its own right. But it turns out the story ain't quite what it used to be.

Here are the big headlines you probably thought were true about bin Laden's killing -- but aren't -- and one that's up for debate. The 24-hour news cycle beast spat them out before journalists got down to the business of fact checking.

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​Heading off what we assume will be the inevitable attacks from right field about American Muslims not rejoicing in a sufficiently patriotic manner over the death of Osama bin Laden, the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a formal statement today from the group's national office, applauding his death at the hands of American forces:

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Gregory Seftik grew up in Minnesota.

​Teton National Park, Wyo., rangers dug the bodies of Gregory Seftick and Walker Kuhl out from under 13 feet of avalanche debris on Sunday morning.

They were in their tent, which had been pitched in an avalanche runout zone in Garnet Canyon at about 9,000 feet, just south of the Grand Teton. Backcountry bloggers reported the pair had planned to climb the 13,770-feet mountain.

TV and newspapers here in the Twin Cities have been quick to localize the story by pointing out that Seftick, an ER doctor who lived in Columbia Falls, Mont., was an Afton native who went to Stillwater Area High School. Kuhl was a Treasury Department worker from Salt Lake City.

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Twitter

Nick Denton tweets that he has six months to rebound before he loses the bet.

​Nick Denton may have just issued a long mea culpa to readers apologizing for problems with Gawker's much-maligned redesign, but that doesn't mean he's ready to give up on it.

I asked rhetorically on Twitter if it was time to pay up on the famous bet with MnSpeak's creator, who wagered $1,000 that Gawker would lose pageviews with the more TV-like design.

I was surprised to get a prompt response from the head of Gawker Media himself.

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