Monthly Archives: December 2009

Joosed: Ventura County takes on caffeinated alcohol

From my cover story this week in the Ventura County Reporter: In his presentations on the hazards of alcoholic energy drinks around Ventura County, administrator of the Behavioral Health Department Dan Hicks likes to show a photograph of the aftermath of a horrific accident in 2007. A car driven by a young man hit aContinue reading “Joosed: Ventura County takes on caffeinated alcohol”

Only in poetry can we really talk…

…about what the sense of being lost in life –useless — feels like. (And, by the way, it's not all bad.) Here's what I mean, from "Li Po" by Martha Ronk: There is the watery, uneasy feeling, that one has been there before, has encountered that reservoir of emotion, some other year, under one's fingertipsContinue reading “Only in poetry can we really talk…”

Palin vs. Gore on Climategate

Super-blogger Andrew Sullivan has an intriguing feature on his site called The Odd Lies of Sarah Palin in which he catalogues the way the most popular so-called "conservative" in the country today lies seemingly reflexively, even about topics which are not the least bit controversial. (For instance, whether or not she consulted her daughters aboutContinue reading “Palin vs. Gore on Climategate”

John Lennon on your Dreams

A couple of months ago the interesting LA Times book blog Jacket Copy for some inexplicable (but wonderful) reason put up the late great rock critic Lester Bangs' thoughts on the death of John Lennon. Bangs was, of all critics, the truest of believers in rock and roll and, for that reason, the man mostContinue reading “John Lennon on your Dreams”

Why Resistance to the Idea of Global Warming Is Rising: The “More So Syndrome”

This morning Richard Harris of NPR's Morning Edition filed a typically excellent report on why, according to polls, substantially fewer Americans believe in global warming than believed just two years ago. According to the (unaffiliated) Harris Poll, now only 51% of Americans believe that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will cause the earth's temperatureContinue reading “Why Resistance to the Idea of Global Warming Is Rising: The “More So Syndrome””

Global warming scientific consensus reaffirmed in popular press

In response to a hacked theft of thousands of emails from a British research center, an attack which implicitly challenges the idealism of scientists studying climate, three of our most popular science publications have rushed to reaffirm the scientific consensus on the subject. Yes, global warming is a reality on the planet today, unfortunately.  It'sContinue reading “Global warming scientific consensus reaffirmed in popular press”

Men Driving Us Mad: George Packer Explains the Fascination

George Packer of The New Yorker, editor of the great collection of Orwell non-fiction called Facing Unpleasant Facts, explains why Mad Men is so frustrating…and so fascinating. He writes on his blog Interesting Times: So the question is obvious: what’s so interesting about this annoying show? Beneath the mesmerizing retro sheen lies the inversion ofContinue reading “Men Driving Us Mad: George Packer Explains the Fascination”

Palin: “A String of Cliches” or “A Figure of Historic Consequence?”

The Economist on Sarah Palin's book: On policy, Mrs Palin’s book is negligible. Her call for “commonsense conservatism” is a string of clichés. She favours free markets and a robust defence, but other than that she offers few specifics about how she would grapple with the big problems America actually faces. She sometimes says thingsContinue reading “Palin: “A String of Cliches” or “A Figure of Historic Consequence?””

On “Climategate”

Those who refuse to believe in climate change have ginned up the so-called Climategate scandal to obfuscate the inescapable reality of global warming; for more, see David Roberts at Grist, or RealClimate, or (my favorite), a letter writer to Andrew Sullivan (below).  In a recent post, you get to the true insanity of the wholeContinue reading “On “Climategate””