AltWeeklies Wire
Investigating an Imaginary Crisisnew
Stephanie Mencimer has written a bracing narrative of who, how, and why "tort reform" became law in Texas and elsewhere.
The Texas Observer |
Suzanne Batchelor |
12-03-2007 |
Nonfiction
The Power of Drug Courtsnew
People who complete drug-court programs rarely tumble back into substance abuse. But as drug courts become more widespread, it appears that -- like the narcotics they were created to fight -- the courts can be abused.
The Texas Observer |
Dave Mann |
12-03-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice
Booming Carbon Credit Market Hits East Texasnew
While the promise of fortune is great, many landowners are waiting to see what influence government regulation of industrial greenhouse emissions will have on the market.
The Texas Observer |
Stayton Bonner |
12-03-2007 |
Environment
Tags: environment
Give Me Shelternew
For a citizen turned drug-addict turned killer, Lady Justice doles out penance through the same vein. Murder ... is just a shot away.
The Texas Observer |
Andrew Papke |
11-19-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice
The Cuban Enigmanew
Ismaelillo, Before Fidel: The Cuba I Remember, and Closed For Repairs plot a trajectory in the tormented life of Cuba, the island at our back door and one of the great enigmas of the American political imagination.
The Texas Observer |
Paul Christensen |
11-19-2007 |
Books
Texas Needs to Break the Chains of Too-Large Prison Systemnew
If all the people in the Texas criminal justice system lived in a single community, it would be the fourth largest city in the state.
The Texas Observer |
Editorial |
11-19-2007 |
Commentary
Preserving Black Gospel's Golden Agenew
The Black Gospel Music Restoration Project hopes to identify and acquire black gospel recordings, primarily from the music's mid-20th-century golden age, and digitize them to create a virtual encyclopedia of a musical style unparalleled in its religious zeal.
The Texas Observer |
Michael Hoinski |
11-19-2007 |
Music
A Simple Mind Run Amoknew
Greenwald identifies the victims of the Bush presidency, the harm they have suffered, and how that harm continues to be inflicted. He discusses the accomplices who have made it possible for a president with no electoral mandate to use the irrational, and now seriously diminished, support he gained from the events of 9/11 to do so much damage.
The Texas Observer |
Thomas Palaima |
11-19-2007 |
Nonfiction
Confessions of an Ex-Protesternew
I used to go to protests for the sense of community, for reassurance that I'm not alone, and for the feeling that I'm doing something for peace. I rarely go to protests anymore, but I still move through my life with the knowledge that every stranger is a potential comrade, and every day is a barricade.
The Texas Observer |
Emily DePrang |
11-19-2007 |
Commentary
Life and Death in a Cold, Lonely Cellnew
Cells like the one I sit in are designed to confine prisoners for extreme terms of isolation in harsh, inhumane, and animalistic conditions.
The Texas Observer |
Sid Hawk Byrd |
11-19-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice
A Mexican Steinbeck's Work Resurfacesnew
More than 80 years after it originally appeared, this novel's themes resonate, for then as now, the United States and Mexico are wrestling with the consequences of record migration under a system that marginalizes the lowest-skilled workers.
The Texas Observer |
Michele Wucker |
11-05-2007 |
Books
Too Much Hot Air on Climate Changenew
An unassailable majority of the world's scientists believe that climate change is real, that human activities contribute to it, and that the consequences will be devastating. Yet our president and our governor -- such learned men as they are -- insist it's not true.
The Texas Observer |
Editorial |
11-05-2007 |
Commentary
Sticking Pointnew
International treaty obligations are keeping Jose Medellin off the death house gurney.
The Texas Observer |
Anthony Zurcher |
11-05-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice
Back in the UAEnew
I know what I am supposed to say about Dubai. The superlatives are supposed to fly. Biggest, tallest, best, astonishing, miraculous -- and on and on. But
that wasn't what impressed me.
The Texas Observer |
Ruth Pennebaker |
11-05-2007 |
Travel
Tags: travel
Studs on Studsnew
This is a book about the working life of a man who has defined his long life by his success at getting other people to tell their stories.
The Texas Observer |
Steven G. Kellman |
11-05-2007 |
Nonfiction
