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Monthly Archives: October 2010
ABC News as Conservative Media Bias
I watch network TV these days only to keep an eye on what mainstream media bullshit is being tossed about, and the last week or two have seen several doozies: Last night their “White House correspondent” (nitwit in D.C.) Jake Tapper … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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Stephen Graham Jones's "It Came From Del Rio"—Is that Jack Nicholson or a Chupacabra?
So Stephen Graham Jones is at it again, offering us a new, seriously weird novel with the kickass title of It Came From Del Rio. I just started it and don’t want to give too much away, but it’s not … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
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You Give Me Planetary Fever: On China's Coal & Global Warming
There’s a good piece in today’s Scientific American about China’s coal use/addiction, located here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-china-avoid-the-carbon-trap-of-coal It has some excellent quotes, including this one: “Described with a little poetic licence, global warming is a planetary fever caused by burning too much … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change
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Corporate Shills Screwing Democracy, Plus Tattoo Publishing
It seems everyday brings a new (at least ‘recent’) low to our wobbly democracy: the Republican-dominated Supreme Court aka Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Scalia et al have rigged the campaign finance laws to be now meaningless, allowing huge corporations … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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Kent Haruf in the House and Thomas McGuane in the News
For the last two days I’ve had the good fortune of a visit from novelist Kent Haruf, who gave a reading on our campus last night. Kent’s a natural raconteur (I’ve been waiting years to use that word) and told … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
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Review of Bruce Machart's "The Wake of Forgiveness"
Here’s my review of Bruce Machart’s debut novel, The Wake of Forgiveness, which appears today in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/books/stories/DN-bk_wake_1017gd.ART.State.Edition1.333f06a.html It’s a good novel, and I could have written much more about it, but there’s a short word count … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
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On Timothy Egan's "The Big Burn" & the Obligatory Fall Foliage Photo
I recently finished Timothy Egan’s The Big Burn (2009) and rank it as one of the best nonfiction books I’ve read in the last few years. His analysis of the fight between conservative and progressive politics of the era, which … Continue reading
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Malcolm Gladwell on Facebook & Twitter, or Making the World Safe for Wall Street Brokers and Their Cellphones
Since I’ve taken several jabs at the Brave New World of Facebook, I feel obliged to post Malcolm Gladwell’s excellent critique of Facebook & Twitter activism in a recent New Yorker. He’s reasonable, level-headed, and not nearly as shrill as … Continue reading
Posted in books, Social Networking
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On Heather Sellers' "You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know," Ken Kesey, & Those Amazing Miners
First off, on this day of all happy days, how can you not be thrilled and chilled by the rescue of the Chilean miners. Like everybody else, I watched on TV and on websites. I was even made proud to … Continue reading
Posted in books, Weird Science
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Another Reason to Hate Facebook & Twitter
Frank Rich in today’s NY Times has a good summation of the role of “social networking” in the current Most Disgusting Midterm Campaign Season Ever: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/opinion/10rich.html?hp Friends (the real kind) tell me I really need to get with it, get … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Social Networking
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