Articles

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Global affairs National policies The modern age Life in general
(Sources:  Publications Columnists)

	Sometimes I read an article that impresses or amuses me so much I want to share it with others. Here are some of those articles, arranged (usually) in reverse chronological order in each of the above sections, sometimes in sub-categories. See my Publications and Columnists sections for more articles from the same sources. As you can see, my views are very liberal (see Where I stand for more on this).
	Since Bush left office many of the articles I had on this page became irrelevant so I have removed them, but if you still want to read them go to Bush is gone!

Global affairs

GULF WARS   Episode II     Clone of the Attack

"Fahrenheit" On The Brain Mark Morford, SFGate.com, July 7, 2004 Who cares if Moore's flick is flawed, shameless propaganda? At least it makes America think

Saddam, So Not Worth It Mark Morford, SFGate.com, December 17, 2003 Long after his political usefulness to us has expired, we up and invade his unhappy nation and lay waste to the entire region for no justifiable reason, and we inflate his global stature into this massive inhuman Hitler-esque monster when in fact he was really just an old, tired, small-time thug.

Terror's myriad faces Jason Burke, The Observer, May 18, 2003 Al-Qaeda, conceived of as a tight-knit terrorist group with cadres and a capability everywhere, does not exist in that form. Instead, it can only be understood as an ideology, an agenda and a way of seeing the world. The threat will remain and it will grow.

The U.S. proves its arrogance, and the world is disgusted Mark Morford, SFGate.com, February 7, 2003 There is no real evidence. There is no smoking gun. There isn't even a smoking spit wad. There is only, basically, a smoking middle finger.

This looming war isn't about chemical warheads or human rights: it's about oil Robert Fisk, Independent Newspaper UK, January 18, 2003 Along with the concern for 'vital interests' in the Gulf, this war was concocted five years ago by oil men such as Dick Cheney.

Happy Imbeciles At War Mark Morford, SFGate.com, January 10, 2003 Massive U.S. military buildup, billions of dollars, a useless enemy, and no one seems to know why.

How do we defend an open society? John Shattuck, The Boston Globe1, September 23, 2001

The Politics of Rage: Why Do They Hate Us? Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek2, October 10, 2001 This comprehensive article says a lot about the culture that produces terrorists.

Treating the roots of terrorism Jonathan Moore, The Boston Globe1, September 29, 2001 It's going to take compassion, not just military might, to eliminate terrorism.

Big Oil and the war in Iraq Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe1, June 24, 2008 While the American taxpayer is being turned inside out by the war, and while families bury the brave, the corporate colonialists get all the resources.

Goering Up to Leave the Country Harley Sorensen, SFGate.com, August 19, 2002 Not everyone thinks that America is the land of "superior citizens, superior leadership and superior morality".

Patriotism: Too Much Of A Good Thing Andy Rooney, 60 Minutes, February 17, 2002 Our media coverage of the Olympics treated it as an American event, not an international event.

War is Just a Racket Major General Smedley Butler, USMC, in a speech in 1933 I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.

What JFK might tell our leaders Theodore C. Sorensen, The Boston Globe1, May 28, 2005 Lessons about idealism and fairness.

Why is 'liberal' a 4-letter word? Bob Ray Sanders, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 13, 2004 Old political labels have little meaning.

Enough With Reagan Already Mark Morford, SFGate.com, June 16, 2004 The Gipper's true legacy? Making the GOP as it is today: nasty, brutish and shortsighted. Good riddance

Globe was right: no White House vandalism Jack Thomas, The Boston Globe1, May 28, 2001 The reported trashing at the White House by the departing Clinton people did not occur.

Pardons in Perspective EDITORIAL | Special Report, The Nation, March 6, 2001 Clinton's last minute pardon activity was not unique for a retiring president.

Bah, Hummerbug Derrick Z. Jackson, The Boston Globe1, December 3, 2005 It was always absurd for giant American flags to fly over our most visible wastelands, car dealerships strewn with gargantuan gas guzzlers. With the United States once again refusing this week in Montreal to participate in the Kyoto climate change accords, it is time to question the meaning of those flags flying above America's testament to environmental destruction.

Attack of the light drizzle! How weather was taken over by the hype machine Robert David Sullivan, The Boston Globe1, February 21, 2010 It’s not because something has changed about the weather. It’s that something has changed about its packaging. Weather, especially on TV, has exited the realm of straight news, and even of entertainment, and entered the realm of marketing.

The downward spiral of progress Tom Scocca, The Boston Globe1, May 31, 2009 It can be very frustrating when things you have liked for a long time keep disappearing from the marketplace. "New and improved" is not always new and improved.

Why our 'amazing' science fiction future fizzled John Blake, CNN.com, May 29, 2009 We're still waiting for those congestion-free highways -- along with the jet pack, the paperless office and all those "Star Trek"-like gadgets that were supposed to make 21st-century life so easy.

Will the Blackberry Sink the Presidency? Sharon Begley, Newsweek1, February 16, 2009 Distraction, interruption, addiction: there is evidence the iconic handheld can change the way we think. But it all depends on how you use it.

The Real Greatest Generation Tom Keane, The Boston Globe1, July 27, 2008 Boomers did more than give us tie-dye and ABBA. They changed society monumentally.

Please Remove The Boob Tube Allison Wood, My Turn, Newsweek1, November 12, 2007 Note to merchants: I don't need a TV to baby-sit me while I wait. Daydreaming is just fine, thank you.

Lick My Silent Sports Car Mark Morford, SFGate.com, August 2, 2006 How much has Big Auto lied? Take a drive in this four-wheel electric orgasm, and find out.

Merchants X out A, E, I, O, and U Jenn Abelson, The Boston Globe1, March 19, 2006 Shorthand product names designed to woo instant-messaging generation.

This Is Your Brain On Tech Mark Morford, SFGate.com, January 13, 2006 With a mind crammed with gizmo jargon, where's the room for sex and love and deep, earthly knowing?

Google Search and Seizure Robert Kuttner, The Boston Globe1, December 3, 2005 Unless we pay attention, the technology is so seductive that we become enablers of our own enslavement.

Remembering Netscape: The Birth of the Web Adam Lashinsky, Fortune.com, July 12, 2005 Picture a world without Google, without eBay or Amazon or broadband, where few people have even heard of IPOs. That was reality just a decade ago.

Hang Up Or Get Off The Plane Mark Morford, SFGate.com, May 6, 2005 Using cell phones on flights: Great idea, or the last, horrible gasp of human decency?

Inching Along Mark Feeney, The Boston Globe1, May 2, 2005 Thirty years later, we're still taking measure the old English way

Now With 147 Blades That Sing... Mark Morford, SFGate.com, January 21, 2004 Every possible need and every possible craving is so insanely overfulfilled that our culture creates ridiculous products to meet needs it doesn't actually have.

Big and Bad - How the S.U.V. ran over automotive safety Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker, January 12, 2004 S.U.V.'s are replacing station wagons and minivans, but in reality many of these "family vehicles" are just trucks with extra doors and seats, which allows them to bypass the stringent safety and fuel-efficiency regulations applied to passenger cars.

Have computers left penmanship for the history books? Laura Pappano, The Boston Globe1, December 22, 2002 Cursive writing suffers as typing skills improve.

What it's like to live in a 'dumb home' Ingrid Shaffer, The Patriot Ledger1, November 20, 2002 Appliances conspire against owner.

Unspooled Hank Stuever, The Washington Post, October 29, 2002 In the digital age, the quaint cassette is sent reeling into history's dustbin.

I Was a Wi-Fi Freeloader Steven Levy, Newsweek1, October 14, 2002 Small wireless networks are everywhere in the city. Some Net activists want you to know where the free zones are. Is it ethical to access them?

Time to bring back etiquette rule book Kristine McKenna, The Boston Globe1, April 5, 2002 When occupying public spaces - or even when within earshot of others - we would do well to remain respectful of issues involving body space, eye contact, sound, and smell.

Cell-sufficient Irene Sege, The Boston Globe1, December 15, 2001 Many mobile-phone users are deciding that they don't need a land line at all.

Serenity is scarce in orbit Marcia Dunn, Associated Press1, November 22, 2001 "It's sort of like being in maybe a factory." - NASA astronaut Jim Voss, on the noise aboard the space station.

New and Improved? Not Necessarily. Richard Todd, My Turn, Newsweek1, July 30, 2001 Not everyone is in love with hi-tech.

Olden glow John Yemma, The Boston Globe Magazine1, April 8, 2001 As the cutting edge gets dull, stuff that shows its age is looking good again.

The upside of a downturn D.C. Denison, The Boston Globe1, April 1, 2001 The dot-com revolution is a bust. Or is it? Putting dot-coms in perspective.

The Physics of Gridlock Stephen Budiansky, The Atlantic1, December 2000 What causes traffic jams? The depressing answer may be nothing at all.

The Heavenly Jukebox Charles C. Mann, The Atlantic1, September 2000 The real threat of MP3 music piracy – to listeners and, conceivably, democracy itself – is the music industry's reaction to it.

The Grass Isn't Greener Tom Keane, The Boston Glove Magazine1, January 27, 2008 The writer makes a good point about replacing the Central Artery—instead of creating a greenway build across, filling in the emptiness with the kinds of buildings that exist on both sides and knitting the two halves together.

Standing in line James Parker, The Boston Globe1, February 7, 2010 Waiting in a line is a standing affront to the Age of Information: Why wait, with swelling feet, when you could be flying along the data stream in your Staples office chair?

Your brain in drive Drake Bennett, The Boston Globe1, July 26, 2009 What happens when an older driver takes the wheel -- and what we all can learn from it

How the city hurts your brain Jonah Lehrer, The Boston Globe1, January 2, 2009 Scientists have begun to examine how the city affects the brain, and the results are chastening. Just being in an urban environment, they have found, impairs our basic mental processes.

Traffic jams Megan Woolhouse, The Boston Globe1, November 23, 2008 With the help of portable players and their favorite music, drivers sing away the stress of their long commutes

Camp deluxe Linda Matchan, The Boston Globe1, August 16, 2008 Some vacationers seek the great outdoors – without the dirt, the critters, or the wilderness

Tofu Will Make You Gay! Mark Morford, SFGate.com, January 10, 2007 This just in: Soy will turn your kid into a fey girly man with a very small penis. Also: God hates vegans

Commuter Rail's False Promise Tom Keane, The Boston Globe Magazine1, December 31, 2006 Why more rail lines won't prod more folks to take the train - and why we should make peace with cars.

Gay Marriage Is Still Evil? Mark Morford, SFGate.com, November 15, 2006 Because the funny thing is, despite all the frantic state bans, no one can really say why.

Real Death, The Final Frontier Mark Morford, SFGate.com, September 22, 2006 From Steve Irwin to U.S. soldiers in Iraq, there's still one video you ain't gonna see on YouTube.

Survival of the harmonious Drake Bennett, The Boston Globe1, September 3, 2006 Mounting evidence suggests that human beings are hard-wired to appreciate music. What researchers want to know now is why our distant ancestors evolved music in the first place.

All Women Are From Zorkon 9 Mark Morford, SFGate.com, May 26, 2006 Forget Venus. Women are from someplace far weirder, and more wonderful. Mark Morford has proof.

Long Needles For Large Butts Mark Morford, SFGate.com, December 7, 2005 More obesity means even syringes aren't long enough anymore. Every single airline is now burning a great deal more fuel to fly due to all the excess weight. All part of the wider trend: larger caskets, heavy-duty toilet seats, thicker mattresses, and industrial-strength office chairs, and they're altering the design of cars to fit fatter American butts. What the hell are we so hungry for?

I'm an Artist, But Not The Starving Kind J.D. Jordan, My Turn, Newsweek1, September 19, 2005 We have as much training as other professionals. Imagine if we had their business sense, too.

Man of the hour David Mehegan, The Boston Globe1, April 2, 2005 It's time to spring ahead. But why? The author examines the history of Daylight Saving Time.

Aerosmith Sells You A Buick Mark Morford, SFGate.com, December 10, 2004 Rock music has lost perhaps its most vital ingredient. It is no longer about rebellion. It is still, gratefully, perhaps eternally, about sex, and drugs, and money and power and girls and depression and loneliness and sex and angst and sex. Which is why ad companies love it.

Licensed to Drive? Fuhgeddaboutit!  Most New Yorkers Do Without Wheels Michael Powell, The Washington Post, August 19, 2003 Lawyers, doctors, day laborers, actors, psychotherapists: New York City has more able-bodied, non-licensed, car-phobic adults than anywhere in the United States.

One Tall Cappuccino Conundrum, to Go Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post, August 11, 2003 Going to Starbucks is one of the most challenging and worrisome things an urban person can do. It is not for the faint of heart or the indecisive of mind. It is an exact science, like human space flight. The slightest misstep can mean disaster.

Clash of generations in workplace Alan R. Earls, The Boston Globe1, August 10, 2003 Baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, still buy into the system, even though they were raised on rock 'n' roll and rebellion. GenXers, born between 1965 and the late 1970s, are more interested in their own autonomy, irritating some boomers who see them as disloyal and work-averse.

The Great San Francisco Bubble Mark Morford, SFGate.com, May 9, 2003 San Francisco still reins as the funk epicenter, the winking liberal stronghold, the ecstatic 69 to the nation's droning missionary position.

The legend of Dylan at Newport Sam Allis, The Boston Globe1, July 28, 2002 What really happened the night the music changed?

Fund high-speed rail, lose airport gridlock Robert Kuttner, The Boston Globe1, July 15, 2001 If you have taken short shuttle flights, like Boston to New York, you'll find this appealing.

'A surprising and cruel blow' Bill Orme-Johnson, The Boston Globe1, April 8, 2001 This is a moving, first-person account of a person with Alzheimer's disease.

What's in a name? Plenty of confusion if you share one Sharron Kahn Luttrell, The Boston Globe1, April 8, 2001 Interesting situations arise when you and your co-worker have the same first name.

No deterrent, no closure - just more victims Carroll L. Pickett, The Boston Globe1, April 1, 2001 Read what a former prison chaplain has to say about the death penalty.

Public toilets symbolize inequality Derrick Z. Jackson (Globe columnist), DailyBreeze.com1, July 15, 2000 Nothing symbolizes male privilege so obviously as do men's and women's public toilets.

	Parental hopes vs. a child's space Rea Killeen, The Boston Globe1, July 8, 2001
	Not easy, teaching responsibility Rea Killeen, The Boston Globe1, March 11, 2001
	Raising a Perfect Child Beth Wolfensberger Singer, The Boston Globe Magazine1, March 26, 2000

    The Boston Globe
    SFGate.com (San Francisco Chronicle)
    The Washington Post
    Common Dreams
    The Atlantic
    The American Prospect
    The Nation
    Shrubbed!
    Newsweek
    Independent Newspaper UK
    Time
    t r u t h o u t

• Mark Morford, SFGate.com - I love his newsletter, The Morning Fix
• Harley Sorensen, SFGate.com
• Arianna Huffington, AlterNet and The Huffington Post
• Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe
• Derrick Jackson, The Boston Globe
• Joan Vennochi, The Boston Globe
• Robert Fisk, Independent Newspaper UK