To answer the question on many readers' minds after my Nick Coleman post: Yes, Katherine Kersten is taking the buyout. I'm told she filed the paperwork yesterday and cleaned out her desk.

But will her "Think Again" blog live on at startribune.com? In a morning post, Kersten flirts with a downsized version:

A question for Think Again readers: As you comment on the following post, please add your thoughts about the potential survival of the blog after my role as a metro columnist ceases.

Would it make sense to continue Think Again if I do just one or two posts a week? Do you believe that you and others would keep reading without a new post every day to spark discussion? How might readers take a role in raising new topics? I look forward to your thoughts.

It's a fact that management has offered (Kersten and Coleman) freelance work in their opinion section if they take the buyout. Perhaps a continuing "Think Again" fits that description.

After all, risible observations such as "Cultural relativism — the West’s dominant worldview today — teaches that all cultural cups are simultaneously half-full and half-empty" can drive up hits. This might be a way for the Strib and Kersten to keep a piece of the ideological action.