AltWeeklies Wire
Breeding Trouble in North Texasnew
In the August heat, more than 500 dogs sweltered in un-air-conditioned kennels on a farm near the town of Mabank in Kaufman County. They panted in wire cages stacked atop one another, fleas swarming, many of the dogs sick, most of them filthy. Near the gate across the gravel drive, part of a dog's skeleton lay like an omen.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Sarah Perry |
02-03-2010 |
Animal Issues
Wells Tower's 'Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned': Short Stories to Pillage Bynew
There’s a great moment in Retreat, a new short story by Wells Tower. Two brothers have been out deer hunting on a chilly island in Maine. They haven’t bagged anything, and they’re wet and cranky. But just as they’re packing up for the day, one spies an enormous moose.
Willamette Week |
John Minervini |
02-03-2010 |
Fiction
Eight Relentless Watchdogs Who Hound Public Officials in Pursuit of Answersnew
On good days they’re known as citizen watchdogs. On bad days, they’re civic-minded pains in the neck. If you’ve been to a public meeting in process-happy Portland, you know the type. They’re the activists who testify time after time at City Council - and elsewhere.
Willamette Week |
Beth Slovic |
02-03-2010 |
Civil Liberties
Dirty Dozen's Fight to Stay Relevant Echoes Their Hometown's Strugglesnew
If there’s anything post-Katrina that New Orleanians have come to value, it’s stability, familiarity, and tradition. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band have kept these concepts deep within their grooves for more than three decades, but the musical tradition is much older.
San Antonio Current |
Nicholas Hall |
02-03-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Middle East Pieces: Obama Gets Schoolednew
Barack Obama had worse failures to address in his State of the Union message, but a few days earlier he owned up to the most foolish miscalculation that his administration had made in its first year. He confessed that he had not understood the obstacles to an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement.
San Antonio Current |
Gwynne Dyer |
02-03-2010 |
Commentary
Dan Buettner's Blue Zones Teach Nine Secrets of a Longer Lifenew
Dan Buettner says he's found the secret. He visited the ragged cliffs of Sardinia and the fertile gardens of Okinawa — global hotspots of longevity, dubbed Blue Zones — where people live to be 100 at astonishing rates. He identified what they have in common and distilled their secrets into a recipe he says could add a decade to your life.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Erin Carlyle |
02-03-2010 |
Media
Man Sparks 'Louisiana Watergate' After Allegedly Gaining Access to Senator's Phonenew
A man arrested for his involvement in a bungled Watergate-style phone-tapping of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office was once the editor of a monthly conservative publication at the University of Minnesota-Morris. Joseph Basel, 24, was arrested in connection with the bizarre incident.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Kevin Hoffman |
02-03-2010 |
Politics
How Are Schools Handling Truancy? Ask the Kids Smoking Pot Near Campusnew
In the late morning of the first day of the new semester at John O'Connell High School of Technology, two boys stage their finely choreographed escape. While the security guard's back is turned, they scamper out the front door onto the sidewalk.
Surfers Think City's Exposed Sewage Tunnel Warning is a Bunch of Crapnew
Though less famous than its San Diego–area namesake, San Francisco's Ocean Beach is anything but unknown to surfers: Its three miles of coastline provide "a world-class surf spot," says surfer Josh Berry. However, the recent spate of storms means surfing there could soon get shitty.
SF Weekly |
Chris Roberts |
02-03-2010 |
Environment
Will a Big-Name Dem Run Away With the Attorney General's Race?new
You might intuit Rep. Jackie Speier, the frosh congresswoman from the Peninsula, doesn't like her new job in Washington, D.C. - if, before her first full term is even up, her name is appearing in a poll for another elected office.
After 40 years, The Residents Ditch the Scriptnew
Even if they had closed up shop 15 years ago, the Residents would go down as some of rock's most prolific pranksters. They aped the Beatles on their 1974 debut, Meet the Residents. In 1979, they almost snagged a Grammy for a record of fake Eskimo folk tales.
Boston Phoenix |
Matt Parish |
02-02-2010 |
Reviews
In Memorium: Karen Schmeer, 1970-2010new
Karen Schmeer, the brilliant local film editor whose work on Errol Morris's documentary The Fog of War helped win it the Best Documentary Oscar in 2004, died January 29 in a tragic accident, struck by a getaway car as she was crossing a street in Manhattan. She would have turned 40 on February 20.
Boston Phoenix |
Peter Keough |
02-02-2010 |
Commentary
The Contrarian Manifesto
Acting like Chicken Little proven right — this time, the sky really is falling — government and business are making decisions that are the exact opposite of the right ones.
Maui Time |
Ted Rall |
02-02-2010 |
Commentary
Utah's Unstable Oil Refineries: Preventing the Next Blastnew
One loud explosion knocked pictures off Judy Averett´s walls. When she ran outside her Woods Cross home on Nov. 4, 2009, she saw black clouds rising from the ground directly in front of her, to the south and to the north.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Jesse Fruhwirth |
02-02-2010 |
Environment
Eight Roles For Sen. Chris Buttars After His Performance in '8: The Mormon Proposition'new
8. Lead in the Coen Brothers’ sequel No Country for Old Queens. 7. “Mr. Thistletwat” in the touring production of Avenue Q. 6. Cranky police chief in the Neil Patrick Harris/Eddie Murphy buddy-cop flick 40 Gay Hrs.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Bill Frost |
02-02-2010 |
Commentary
