AltWeeklies Wire
The News Wars Are Comingnew
If it's fight or die on the new media landscape, does anyone think traditional media won't fight? The classic portents of serious battle are converging.
Chicago Reader |
Michael Miner |
08-17-2009 |
Media
Alt.Health: Make Sure Your Bike Seat is a Perfect Fitnew

Seat, saddle, whatever. Those things can get uncomfortable for your delicate bits. In rare cases, women can lose sensitivity and swell up. For men, it can be more serious, and there's even talk that too much of that long-term pressure on the penile region can make the little admiral stop saluting.
NOW Magazine |
Elizabeth Bromstein |
08-17-2009 |
Advice
How Federal Restrictions Created Colorado's Medical Marijuana Industrynew

The friction between federal and state law has created a booming industry in Colorado, with enterprising men and women stepping in to provide services physicians can't. The rest of the state may be in a recession, but Colorado's medical marijuana industry is thriving.
Boulder Weekly |
David Accomazzo |
08-17-2009 |
Drugs
'Adam': Star-Crossed Loversnew
Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne co-star in this love story about a guy with Asperger's Syndrome and the girl who lives next door.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
08-14-2009 |
Reviews
Guitar Heroes Talk Axes, Licks and Other Euphemisms in 'It Might Get Loud'new

This compelling documentary explores the inspirations, techniques and creative processes of three of the music world's best-known living axmen, each chosen to represent different generations and sonic approaches.
L.A. Weekly |
Lina Lecaro |
08-14-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Suzanne Simons Gives Us a New -- and Timely -- Biography of the Man Behind Blackwaternew
Heroic in Master of War's opening pages, Simons ends her portrait with Erik Prince sputtering in impotent rage against a media he believes has unfairly maligned his company.
INDY Week |
Gerry Canavan |
08-14-2009 |
Nonfiction
Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper Defends His Work on Health Care Reformnew
Cooper's touting the legislation known as Wyden-Bennett after Senate sponsors Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Bob Bennett, R-Utah. Among its co-sponsors is Lamar Alexander. Cooper describes it as "a beacon of hope out there." He sees it as a Third Way harnessing both the Democrats' dream of universal coverage and Republican love of market forces.
Nashville Scene |
Jeff Woods |
08-14-2009 |
Politics
Try As He Might, Glenn Beck Can't Turn a Paperback Book into a Flat-Screen TVnew

Glenn Beck is great on TV; he shouts, he scoffs, and he cries. But when he writes, one thing becomes clear: The man has absolutely nothing of consequence to say. In Common Sense, Beck uses every trick in the book to cover this up.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Rick Lax |
08-14-2009 |
Nonfiction
U.S. Rep. Brad Miller Stumps for Health Care Reformnew
While opponents took to the streets to attack the specter of socialism and the possibility that big government could deny them critical care, reform's defenders, including Miller, tried to focus public attention on the denials of care that private insurers are getting away with right now.
Why 'Mad Men' is the Must-See Show of the Summernew
AMC's show about advertising executives in the 1960s, which has gone from a cult hit to the most acclaimed show on television, returns for its third season on August 16, and TV critics everywhere are salivating in anticipation. So is it worth the hype? You're damn right it is. Here's why.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Josh Bell |
08-14-2009 |
TV
Taxidermist Rick Nadeau Has a Lot of Fun With His 'Little Buddies'new

Nadeau specializes in "characters": military squirrels in brightly colored felt berets clutching M16s with lit cigarettes dangling from their lips. There was Secret Squirrel who huddled in a trench coat and fedora, and a fiddler in railroad overalls.
Riverfront Times |
Aimee Levitt |
08-14-2009 |
Culture
Bye-Bye, Bill Brattonnew
Media coverage has been filled with praise for Bratton, but some are questioning how he could so readily accept a job right after Michael Cherkasky played a key role in helping to hand Bratton a historic career and political victory -- the lifting of the consent decree.
L.A. Weekly |
Jill Stewart |
08-14-2009 |
Crime & Justice
New Mexico's White Supremacists Keep the Hate Alivenew
The national climate is spurring racist organizations to regroup and reinvent themselves by latching onto "birther" conspiracy theories, homophobia and immigration fears, while promoting new philosophies of semi-tolerance and non-violence.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Dave Maass |
08-14-2009 |
Race & Class
Is Eco-Art a Fad or a Necessity?new

The Big Green (as in money) of the now, eco-art is exploding and has a fancy new critical theory to back it up. But is the eco-art "game" -- as one artist refers to it -- sustainable or even interesting?
North Bay Bohemian |
Gretchen Giles |
08-13-2009 |
Art
Fajardo's Fight: Taking on Big Oil in Ecuadornew

Pablo Fajardo is the David in a David and Goliath-esque case pitting Ecuadorian Indians and mestizos against major American oil companies.
Eugene Weekly |
Natalie Miller and Camilla Mortensen |
08-13-2009 |
Environment
Tags: Amazon, Pablo Fajardo, rainforest, Texaco, environment, business, pollution, international, Chevron, Ecuador, Big Oil