AltWeeklies Wire
Will a New Vermont Free Speech Law Protect Website Owners from a Powerful Religious Sect?new

The Exclusive Brethren is suing the owners of a website that serves excommunicated believers. Will Vermont's new anti-SLAPP statute protect them?
Seven Days |
Andy Bromage |
11-04-2009 |
Religion
Dick Valentine of Electric Six Wants to Put the Fun Back in Rock 'n' Rollnew
As frontman and lyrical/musical force behind the deliciously over-the-top Electric Six, Valentine has been delighting those who get it, and confusing the hell out of everyone else.
East Bay Express |
Kirsty Evans |
11-04-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Kill, Electric Six
California Dopes Out Marijuana Bill as Legalization Petition Gets Passed Aroundnew

Two serious bids to legalize marijuana in California are moving forward simultaneously. And while decisions won't be made for months, both efforts have generated interest from around the world.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Rebecca Bowe |
11-04-2009 |
Drugs
Can a New Publisher Reverse the Slide at The Oregonian?new
N. Christian Anderson III began his job this week as publisher of The Oregonian at one of the more harrowing times in the daily’s 159-year history.
Willamette Week |
Henry Stern |
11-04-2009 |
Media
A Father and Son Connect by Way of the Summer Game in 'The Opposite Field'new
The Opposite Field blends Jesse Katz's both painful and comic struggles as a single dad to remain connected with his growing son through baseball. And like a crafty pitcher, Katz is deft at mixing speeds in his book so that readers are always surprised at what's coming next.
Willamette Week |
Henry Stern |
11-04-2009 |
Fiction
Understanding North Koreanew
For years, the activists at the Korea Policy Institute have been trying to influence US policy toward North Korea. Finally, Washington may be listening.
East Bay Express |
Kathleen Wentz |
11-04-2009 |
International
'What Are You So Mad At?': Tea Partiers Go Grassrootsnew
With the Christian Right and the Obama Left having reinvented personal politicking for the 21st century, the old wizardry is making a comeback. After the tea parties are over and the Fox News van has skipped town, American Majority is training activists to win elections at the grassroots.
The Texas Observer |
Josh Berthume |
11-04-2009 |
Politics
Could the Upcoming Census Give Oregon Another Seat in Congress?new
Election Data Services says that makes Oregon one of at least seven states poised to add another seat after the decennial count. But Oregon is not alone -- every state faces the 2010 census and is trying to maximize its own count.
Willamette Week |
Sasha Ingber |
11-04-2009 |
Politics
'The Men Who Stare at Goats' Falls Short of Strangelovian Laughsnew

Grant Heslov's film is so intent on being funny and ironic that it erodes any audience investment in the characters and their plights. We spend so much time laughing at their travails that when it's time to root for their victory, it's just too damn late.
Charleston City Paper |
Felicia Feaster |
11-04-2009 |
Reviews
The Dutchess and the Duke Break Hearts on Acoustic Stringsnew

Sunset/Sunrise is permeated by a much darker mood than the band's debut, She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke, but the follow-up succeeds by using the same simple arrangements.
SF Weekly |
Jennifer Maerz |
11-04-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Boots On the Ground: A Day in the Life of a Border Sheriffnew

Sheriff Arvin West and his 17 deputies patrol a county nearly twice the size of Delaware on the Texas-Mexico border. And West, chair of Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition, has traveled to Washington, D.C., 13 times since 2005 to testify about border security.
The Texas Observer |
Melissa del Bosque |
11-04-2009 |
Immigration
Graham Reznick Ventures into the Genre Woods and Twists Out the Unique 'I Can See You'new
I Can See You takes its characters out to the woods for the scare of their lives, but it isn't overly concerned with subtext. Reznick draws on the non-narrative avant-garde for inspiration; ultimately, his movie has as much in common with David Lynch's weirdest moments or Stan Brakhage as The Blair Witch Project.
Baltimore City Paper |
Steve Erickson |
11-03-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Graham Reznick, I Can See You
Professor Pellom McDaniels Wants to Move Kansas City's Black History Beyond Entertainmentnew
Most black school kids, he says, view entertainment -- being a professional athlete or a performer -- as the only form of success available to them. McDaniels, who happens to be a former NFL player, sees history as the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and opening a wider future.
Bop and Swing Give Way to New Percussive Influences in Jazznew

Almost no one disputes the achievements of bebop and swing percussion. The big argument today is whether that's the way jazz drumming has to sound or whether it's just one of the ways jazz drumming can sound.
Baltimore City Paper |
Geoffrey Himes |
11-03-2009 |
Music
Breast Cancer Mortality Rates Fall as Prevention Efforts Rise ... but What About Other Cancers?new
"We know breast cancer gets all the awareness, but what about prostate cancer or colorectal cancer or ovarian cancer? They're kind of like the orphans just out there."
Pasadena Weekly |
Sara Cardine |
11-03-2009 |
Science