AltWeeklies Wire
Ecoholic: Winning the Water Bottle Waste Debatenew
"My roommates buy highly packaged products and bottled water. How do I address this in a completely non-patronizing way?"
NOW Magazine |
Adria Vasil |
10-26-2009 |
Advice
Clemency for Six Colorado Prisoners Could Serve Justice and Save Millions -- So Why Won't the Gov. Try It?new
To date, Gov. Bill Ritter has issued just two pardons and not a single commutation, a situation that frustrates prisoner advocates.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
10-26-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Ultra-Low-Budget Horror Flick 'Paranormal Activity' Hits the Marknew
How does a film from a first-time director, with a budget that matches what some studios would spend on a single ad in a trade magazine, manage to connect with so many people? Simple: It's scary.
Post-Punk Pioneers Mission of Burma Still Have Fuel to Burnnew
They've been together now longer than they were the first time around and they're back to making music that's equal parts forceful and fun -- they sound like no other band but themselves.
San Fran Bedroom-Pop Brats Girls Deliver a Killer Debut Discnew
Indie pop is the new indie rock, as evidenced by the recent popularity of bands like the Postelles and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Add to that list the San Francisco band Girls, who wrap their bedroom pop in many-colored paper without obscuring the classic sunny-day melodies underneath.
Pearl Jam Steps Back, Goes Pop -- and Makes One of the Best Albums of its Careernew
With Backspacer, the "grunge" godfathers seem intent on rewriting their story. It's their best record since 1998's Yield, thanks to the presence of producer Brendan O'Brien, who was allowed by the band to have a hand in picking apart the songs. The result is an economical and wholly replayable Pearl Jam album.
The Flaming Lips Return with a Dazzling Double Albumnew
The Oklahoma psych-rock vets have finally made their Dark Side of the Moon, and yet there are no obvious singles among the 18 tracks. In other words, Embryonic is a true Album, in that no one track can easily be taken out of context.
How the Health Care System Brought Me to the Brink of Madness and Bankruptcynew
Like many Americans, my fiance, Dan, and I, have been silently destroyed by the behemoth known as the American health insurance industry. And if wanting affordable, quality health care makes us communists, socialists or flag-burning anti-patriots, then so be it.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Carrie Ann Eldridge |
10-26-2009 |
Science
In South Florida, Dogfighting Rages on Despite Tough Lawsnew
What seemed like a straightforward case in Boynton Beach would ultimately evolve into an expensive and drawn-out legal quagmire that would serve as a test case for Florida's new laws targeting the clandestine world of dogfighting.
Miami New Times |
Michael J. Mooney and Tim Elfrink |
10-26-2009 |
Animal Issues
Journo Ann Louise Bardach Publishes Exposé on Castro While Feds Seek Her Testimonynew
Without Fidel cements Bardac's stature as America's best-informed and most insightful writer about Castro's 50-year reign and the fervid passions, plots, and politics of Washington and South Florida aimed at destroying it.
Santa Barbara Independent |
Jerry Roberts |
10-26-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
The Sound Sucks at Cowboys Stadium -- but the Bands Aren't Helping Mattersnew
Here's the thing: In the wake of all the original excitement over the enormodome out in Arlington, a funny thing's started popping up: discontent.
Dallas Observer |
Pete Freedman |
10-26-2009 |
Music
Relocalization May be the Key to Not Exterminating Ourselvesnew
What happens when humanity is hit by a big challenge, such as depletion of fossil fuels, global climate change or a prolonged economic crisis? A growing number of people believe the answer lies in relocalization.
Boulder Weekly |
Pamela White |
10-26-2009 |
Culture
Climate Change Activist Bill McKibben is on a Moral Quest to Literally Save the Worldnew
McKibben meme is easy. It's simply a number: 350. Three hundred and fifty, the amount of carbon parts per million in the atmosphere that NASA's top climate scientist Jim Hansen has counseled will most closely support the earth upon which human civilization arose.
North Bay Bohemian |
Gretchen Giles |
10-23-2009 |
Environment
All Sides In L.A.'s Pot Wars Agree: City Hall is Incompetentnew
The disparate groups in the pot debate agree on one thing: Los Angeles City Hall has been almost comically inept at complying with simple state deadlines for municipalities to create rules for medicinal marijuana.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald and Jill Stewart |
10-23-2009 |
Drugs
The Controversial 'Antichrist' Is 'Saw VI' As Told By Carl Dreyernew
I'm torn between dismissing the film as gross-out juvenilia and regarding it as raw religious mythmaking. Either way, you won't find a livelier time at the movies these days, if only because of the outraged groans and dumfounded gasps from the audience.
Boston Phoenix |
Peter Keough |
10-23-2009 |
Reviews
