- April 2026
- March 2026
- February 2026
- January 2026
- November 2025
- October 2023
- September 2023
- September 2021
- April 2020
- September 2019
- May 2019
- August 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- October 2017
- August 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- November 2016
- October 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- December 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- May 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
Recent Posts
- Review of “DTF St. Louis” Episode 5: David Harbour Deserves an Emmy
- The Year Without a Winter Over, Wildfire Season Begins
- On Pekka Hamalainen’s “Indigenous Continent”: Finnish Historian’s View of Native American History
- The Year Without a Winter Ends: It’s Spring!
- Review “War Machine”: Glimpse Our Future Wars Against Invading Robots
Recent Comments
No comments to show.
Author Archives: williamjcobb
On Paul Gilding's "The Great Disruption," With a Nod to Eugene Linden's "The Future in Plain Sight"
So I’m a sucker for ‘big vision’ books about the future and the myriad problems we face with climate change and resource depletion, and right now I’m reading Paul Gilding’s The Great Disruption. It manages to be at once peppy … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, The West
Leave a comment
A Great Divide: Attitudes About Climate Change Remarkably Different Around the U.S., With Sharp Divide Along East/West
So one thing I’ve noticed the last few years in my peripatetic life of inhabiting both the Eastern and the Western U.S. is a noticeable division in attitudes about Climate Change. In a nutshell, it seems as though the West … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, The West
Leave a comment
On the Illegal Immigration Debate, Tim Egan's Savvy Op-Ed, and How It Appears in Novels
So Tim Egan has a blistering attack on the scapegoating of Latinos in the latest Republican presidential debates, and the whole issue of illegal immigration and migrant workers, here: I grew up in a predominantly Latino area of South Texas … Continue reading
Posted in books, Politics, The West
Leave a comment
In Praise of "Boardwalk Empire," Season 2, & Bad Horror Movies on Netflix, Like "The Awakening"
So I’m home sick today, and one of the few pleasures for a working stiff on these sick days is catching up on mindless TV. It beats trying to figure out why in the world so many people are transfixed … Continue reading
Posted in Bad TV, Good TV
Leave a comment
On Prophecies in "The Bird Saviors": Dust Storms in Texas
So my forthcoming novel, The Bird Saviors—due out in (what’s left of) bookstores in May/June—opens with a dust storm in southern Colorado, and when I began writing it some five years ago, I imagined it set in a fuzzy ‘near … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, Politics, The West
Leave a comment
Seven Billion Humans & Jared Diamond's "Collapse"
So various news organizations are reporting that our planet is now home to this mythical number of seven billion humans, mythical in that we don’t know that for sure, but it’s a good guess, and all its implications. I still … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change
Leave a comment
Warren Brussee's "The Second Great Depression" & Herman Cain's Nutty Economics
So one of the truisms that is sometimes voiced about our current Great Recession is that “Nobody saw it coming.” Which is nonsense, a myth propagated by dimwit media types who would like to believe this fiction, or who actually … Continue reading
Posted in books, Politics
Leave a comment
Pete Dexter in the New York Times!
So it’s a good day when you stumble upon a book review of a Jim Harrison novel written by none other than one of our best living novelists, Pete Dexter, here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/books/review/the-great-leader-by-jim-harrison-book-review.html?ref=books&pagewanted=all My favorite paragraph, about fiction: “Put together, these … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West, writing
Leave a comment
Reading Daniel Yergin's "The Quest" & a Witty Post About Truthiness
So I’m reading the much-talked-about new tome on energy and the future, Daniel Yergin’s The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World, just published. So far I’m not particularly impressed, especially after Dwight Garner’s rave review in … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, The West
Leave a comment
Australian Horror on Netflix: "The Reef," "Arctic Blast," and "Primal"
So I was at first excited by the streaming-video options of Netflix months ago, but the charm actually rather quickly wore off and I agree with some of the popular grouching about it—basically that Netflix has a rather limited list … Continue reading
Posted in Film
Leave a comment