Category Archives: United States

Everything Wrong with this Country in Ten Seconds or Less

Posted on 04/03/2017 by

I came upon a most perfect example of civic disintegration today. Perfect not just because it exemplifies the brazen meanness of people with power, but also because the incident is so inconsequential, the only reason it could possibly occur is … Continue reading →

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Make Mass Violence History

Posted on 07/06/2016 by

When I was eight years old, in 1963, I gave my parents an ashtray for their anniversary, a ceramic swirl of dusty coral with gilt trim. They displayed it on the coffee table. Boyhood satisfaction glowed when my mother pulled … Continue reading →

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Audiobook Orgy Part 4: American Theocracy

Posted on 03/26/2015 by

Kevin Phillips has a grand, sweeping thesis: three interrelated factors are bringing America down. First there is oil. The energy that drove the unlimited aspirations of the American Century is showing its limits in the 21st. Second, there is religion. … Continue reading →

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Audiobook Orgy Part 3: In Defense of Food

Posted on 03/19/2015 by

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” These seven words address everything Michael Pollen has to say in defense of food, but seven words does not a book make, and so he continues on for 200 more pages. Mr. Pollen … Continue reading →

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Hampton Inn Art

Posted on 03/16/2015 by

I know, I know, it’s a cookie cutter hotel chain with ubiquitous facilities. When I wake up in a Hampton Inn, which I have in half-dozen cities, it takes a few minutes to remember where I am. However, among its … Continue reading →

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Audiobook Orgy Part 2: Green Metropolis

Posted on 03/12/2015 by

What is the most sustainable place in the United States? Boulder, Colorado? Davis, California? New York, New York? David Owen, New Yorker writer and master of counterintuitive arguments advocates for the latter. Per capita energy use in New York City is … Continue reading →

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Spring Forward Yoga

Posted on 03/09/2015 by

We set our clocks ahead for spring on Sunday. But with the ground covered with several feet of snow, the roads covered with black ice and temperatures below twenty degrees, I couldn’t bike to yoga. So I walked. A single … Continue reading →

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