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).

Global affairs

GULF WARS   Episode II     Clone of the Attack

Bush Shoots for "Jaws," Delivers "Jaws 2" Keith Olbermann, Truthout.org, January 30, 2007 President claimed to stop four terror plots, but where is the evidence?

Decoding Mr. Bush's Denials Editorial, The New York Times1, November 15, 2005 To avoid having to account for his administration's misleading statements before the war with Iraq, President Bush has tried denial, saying he did not skew the intelligence. But the reports about Saddam Hussein's weapons were old, some more than 10 years old. Nothing was fresher than about five years, except reports that later proved to be fanciful.

What I Heard about Iraq Eliot Weinberger, London Review of Books, February 3, 2005 I heard that the president said to the television evangelist Pat Robertson: "Oh, no, we’re not going to have any casualties." I heard Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi foreign minister, say: "American soldiers will not be received by flowers. They will be received by bullets." I heard the prime minister of the Solomon Islands express surprise that his was one of the nations enlisted in the 'coalition of the willing': "I was completely unaware of it."

Dancing the War Away Bob Herbert, The New York Times3, January 21, 2005 Incredibly, with more than 1,360 American troops dead and more than 10,000 wounded, and with scores of thousands of Iraqis dead and wounded, the president never once mentioned the word Iraq in his Inaugural Address.

Ho Hum, More War And Death Mark Morford, SFGate.com, January 19, 2005 All protests, in the wake of BushCo's nauseating fear-based win last November, have become pale and moot and limp. We are numb and resigned to the steady stream of lie and abuse.

Concern grows that U.S. policy is fueling more, not less, terrorism Edward M. Gomez, SFGate.com, September 16, 2004 Policies like Bush's in Iraq, Putin's in Chechnya and Sharon's in the occupied Palestinian territories each seem to be so separately and so stubbornly pursued that they have served only to "radicalize the extremes" and foster more terrorism, with little sense of common purpose.

"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

Because Dubya Said So! Mark Morford, SFGate.com, June 23, 2004 "The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda is because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda."

Addressing Bush's state of disunion James Carroll, The Boston Globe1, January 20, 2004 The president set a rigorous standard last year, constructing an apparatus of lies it will be hard to match tonight.

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.

Cheney's Long Path to War Mark Hosenball, Michael Isikoff and Evan Thomas, Newsweek2, November 17, 2003 The inside story of how Vice President Cheney bought into shady assumptions and helped persuade a nation to invade Iraq

Saving face, losing a war Harley Sorensen, SFGate.com, August 25, 2003 "Bring 'em on," the man said. He is not a brave man, but he plays one on television.

Bush's Mis-State-Ment Of The Union Fiasco Arianna Huffington, AlterNet, July 16, 2003 Cherry-picking convenient lies about something as important as nuclear war is bad enough but the administration's attempts to spin the aftershocks have been even worse. They just don't seem to grasp the concept that when you're sending American soldiers to die for something the reasons you give -- all of the reasons -- should be true.

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.

Why The Anti-War Movement Was Right Arianna Huffington, AlterNet, April 16, 2003 The whole pretext for our unilateral charge into Iraq was that the American people were in imminent danger from Saddam and his mighty war machine, but as it turns out, far from being on the verge of destroying Western civilization, Saddam and his 21st century Gestapo couldn't even muster a half-hearted defense of their own capital.

The monster of Baghdad is now the hero of Arabia Robert Fisk, Independent Newspaper UK, April 1, 2003 This is now a nationalist war against the most obvious kind of imperial power.

Bay of Pigs Meets Black Hawk Down Robert Parry, Consortiumnews.com, March 30, 2003 Instead of recognizing their initial errors and rethinking their war strategy, Bush and his team are pressing forward confidently into what looks like a dreamscape of their own propaganda.

Bush reportedly shielded from dire forecast Warren P. Strobel, Charlotte Observer, March 29, 2003 Dissenting views "were not fully or energetically communicated to the president, . . . As a result, almost every assumption the plan's based on looks to be wrong."

Ritter Speaks on War in Iraq Scott Ritter, former United Nations chief weapons inspector, speaking at Cornell, March 28, 2003 Ritter stressed that no matter what the U.S. does, it will not win this war.

BushCo Wants You Stupefied Mark Morford, SFGate.com, March 28, 2003 Please remain mesmerized by grainy live footage, ignore appalling larger schemes. Thank you.

Things to Come Paul Krugman, The New York Times1, March 18, 2003 A British official close to the Bush team says, "Everyone wants to go to Baghdad. Real men want to go to Tehran." In February 2003 Under Secretary of State John Bolton told Israeli officials that after defeating Iraq the United States would "deal with" Iran, Syria and North Korea.

Firm linked to Cheney wins oil-field contract Edward Epstein, SF Chronicle, March 8, 2003 There are lots of business opportunities embedded in this war.

Bully Bush Fred Kaplan, MSN Slate Magazine, March 5, 2003 The president is botching the Iraq crisis with his clumsy, naive unilateralism. If the administration lacks the acumen or persuasive power to deal with such familiar institutions as the U.N. Security Council or the established governments of France, Germany, Turkey, Russia, China—even Canada—then how is it going to handle Iraq's feuding opposition groups, Kurdish separatists, and myriad ethno-religious factions, to say nothing of the turbulence throughout the region?

Bush Gives You The Finger Mark Morford, SFGate.com, February 21, 2003 Millions worldwide rally against Dubya's oily little war -- not that he gives a damn.

The Will of the World Jonathan Schell, The Nation, February 20, 2003 The peoples of the world have examined the case for war against Iraq and rejected it.

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.

The Road Better Not Taken Jack Beatty, The Atlantic1, February 5, 2003 A war against Iraq could be the most catastrophic blunder in U.S. history. It will be the first war in our history in which success is as fearful a prospect as failure. When we "win," our troubles will just begin. How  we win will determine their gravity.

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.

Time to stop the hawks David Harris, SF Chronicle, October 13, 2002 Dec. 7, 1941, was a "date that will live in infamy" because it was a pre-emptive strike. Sept. 11, 2001, is infamous for the same reason. To assault Iraq with no justification other than our perception that it is governed by a bad guy, who seeks the same weapons that we and our allies already possess, is the same kind of act that occurred on both those infamous dates.

The Baghdad I Knew Lorraine Ali, Newsweek2, September 23, 2002 Iraqi-Americans want Saddam toppled too, but not at the expense of their loved ones.

"George W. Bush, Principal Agent of Osama bin Laden" Immanuel Wallerstein, Binghamton University (SUNY), September 1, 2002 The arrogance of the hawks in the U.S. is amazing.   (from Wallerstein's commentaries)

The coming crisis of American imperialism Gabriel Ash, YellowTimes.org, March 6, 2002 Like British and French pre-war imperialism, Bush's imperialism is unabashedly and openly nationalistic. "America first" became the motto of foreign policy, as Bush rejected international cooperation, arm-control treaties, the Kyoto protocol, and the very model of using the U.S. military as "world police."

	Fighting Terror at Home: Rough Justice Adam Cohen, Time, December 2, 2001 (via Shrubbed!)
	Mr. Ashcroft, let's not repeat past mistakes Molly Ivins, The Boston Globe1, November 21, 2001
	How do we defend an open society? John Shattuck, The Boston Globe1, September 23, 2001

Evil Evildoers Of Evil Mark Morford, SFGate.com, October 19, 2001 How to feel calmly patriotic and yet not the slightest bit reassured by Bush & Co.

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.

Bush Lies, America Cries Mark Morford, SFGate.com, April 22, 2005 If BushCo doesn't like what comes out of their own hobbled agencies and their own funded studies, they do what any good dictatorship does: They annihilate it. Now that's good gummint!

For Bush, science is a dirty word Tristram Hunt, Guardian Unlimited, March 22, 2005 In America's right-to-die controversy the facts were not allowed to get in the way of evangelical populism

A Puzzling America Roland Merullo, The Boston Globe1, September 20, 2004 And so we lurch toward what promises to be another close election, two Americas enduring a war that seems designed to highlight our differences. Two Americas, standing side by side, and – for reasons that remain a mystery – viewing the same landscape through very different filters.

Mother Nature, The Hate Crime Mark Morford, SFGate.com, February 27, 2004 More than 60 world-class scientists agree: BushCo just really, really loathes this planet

Are Parallels To Nazi Germany Crazy? Harley Sorensen, SFGate.com, January 26, 2004 With Bush leading all branches of government around by the nose, there's a question whether parliamentary democracy still exists here.

Bush Goes AWOL Eric Alterman, The Nation, April 17, 2003 Even though our government now has a "Department of Homeland Security" dedicated to protecting the interests of the country's national security, America remains dangerously unprepared to prevent and respond to a catastrophic terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

The Arrogant Empire Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek, March 24, 2003 America’s unprecedented power scares the world, and the Bush administration has only made it worse.

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.

First Tuesday of Huh? Anna Quindlen, The Last Word, Newsweek1, December 24, 2007 Every four years Americans select a president. Given our crazy system, it's a miracle that we manage to seal the deal. We need what she describes in her article as "approval voting."

Left Turn - the political pendulum swings back Ted Rall, Boise Weekly, June 13, 2007 Now that they've won acceptance of pre-emptive warfare, torture, elimination of the estate tax, and spying on American citizens, Republicans are fresh out of new ideas.

A Formal Intervention with a Dry Drunk President Katherine van Wormer, CommonDreams.org, December 30, 2006 The long-anticipated report of the Iraq Study Group has been likened in some media reports to the classic treatment Intervention provided to drug users and alcoholics who have "hit bottom."

It's Not Bush's Fault! Mark Morford, SFGate.com, August 23, 2006 It's so wrong of nasty libs to blame every social ill on Dubya. After all, he means well. Right?

Bush Gropes, Planet Cringes Mark Morford, SFGate.com, July 19, 2006 Knead a German chancellor, banter dumbly, reveal global ignorance. It's Dubya abroad! Not only does he scare us, he embarrasses us.

Hiding Incompetency - Secrecy and the Curtain of Oz John Graham, COUNTERPUNCH, July 12, 2006 Both President Bush and Vice-President Cheney all but accused the New York Times of treason last month when the Times and two other papers published an account of a secret government program to track bank transfers that might involve terrorist groups. Was their ire justified?

George W. Bush Is Dead To Me Mark Morford, SFGate.com, July 7, 2006 The nation cringes as the worst president ever continues long, painful slog to the end.

Was the 2004 Election Stolen? Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, Rolling Stone, July 1, 2006 Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House.

Bush using a little-noticed strategy to alter the balance of power Ron Hutcheson and James Kuhnhenn, Knight Ridder Newspapers, January 6, 2006 Bush has slapped his signature on over 500 signing statements (documents that define how a president interprets the laws he signs), reserving his right to disregard the law more times than all former American presidents combined.

Bush, The Spoiled Man-Child Mark Morford, SFGate.com, June 3, 2005 What causes the fall of empires? Why, stubborn leaders who speak like toddlers and never admit mistakes.

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

The Oblivious Right Paul Krugman, The New York Times3, April 25, 2005 Since November's election, the victors have managed to be on the wrong side of public opinion on one issue after another: the economy, Social Security privatization, Terri Schiavo, Tom DeLay. By large margins, Americans say that the country is headed in the wrong direction, and Mr. Bush is the least popular second-term president on record.

A Party Inverted Bill Bradley, The New York Times3, March 30, 2005 Five months after the presidential election Democrats are still pointing fingers at one another and trying to figure out why Republicans won. Before deciding what Democrats should do now, it's important to see what Republicans have done right over many years.

The Robber Baron's Party Thom Hartmann, CommonDreams.org, January 20, 2005 Shall we have a government of, by, and for We, the People? Or shall we be governed by a powerful elite made up of the super-rich, multi-national corporations, and well-paid shills who do their bidding?

The bitter aftertaste Brian McGrory, The Boston Globe1, November 5, 2004 How did we reelect a sitting president who inherited a record budget surplus and turned it into a record deficit? How did we reelect a president who waged a war against a nation that never attacked us on pretenses that ended up being indisputably wrong?

The Cheney myth Dan Kennedy, The Boston Phoenix, October 22-28, 2004 The veep’s reputation is that of 'the evil genius.' His record at Halliburton, though, reveals him to be nothing more than a corrupt, incompetent hack.

GOP Faces 'Civil War' over Bush's Faith-Based Rule Ron Suskind, The New York Times 4, October 17, 2004 This article illustrates how incompetent and out-of-touch with reality Bush is, and how rigid and closed-minded his faith-based presidency is.

Appealing To Our Lizard Brains: Why Bush Is Still Standing Arianna Huffington, AlterNet, October 13, 2004 Thanks to the Bush campaign's unremitting fear-mongering, millions of voters are reacting not with their linear and logical left brain but with their their more emotional right brain.

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

Love Masochism? Vote BushCo! Mark Morford, SFGate.com, September 15, 2004 Could four more brutal years of the Dubya nightmare actually be good for America?

George W. Bush: Presidential or Pathological? Arianna Huffington, AlterNet, July 13, 2004 You don’t make it as far as W. has without some psychological defenses of your own – especially when it comes to insulating yourself against your own fears and insecurities.

President Bush: Flip-Flopper-In-Chief Center for American Progress, July 7, 2004 From the beginning, George W. Bush has made his own credibility a central issue. But President Bush's serial flip-flopping raises serious questions about whether Congress and foreign leaders can rely on what he says.

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

All the President's Suckers William Saletan, MSN Slate Magazine, April 2, 2004 Flip-flopping is the last stage of trusting Bush. Once you vote with Bush, serve in his cabinet, or spin for him in a classified briefing, you're trapped. If you change your mind, he'll dredge up your friendly vote or testimony and use it to discredit you.

Crimes Against Nature Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Rolling Stone, December 11, 2003 Bush is sabotaging the laws that have protected America's environment for more than thirty years.

Anyone But Bush William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t, October 22, 2003 George W. Bush has lied about September 11, the Iraq war, the economy, his record as governor of Texas, his relationship with corporate criminals, and his own military record. In short, he has lied day after day after day about all of the issues he and his administration claim to hold dear.

Losing without class Harley Sorensen, SFGate.com, August 11, 2003 Whenever there's a winner, there has to be at least one loser. In a competitive society such as ours, learning to lose well is as important as learning to win well.

Like Father, Like Son Harley Sorensen, SFGate.com, July 21, 2003 So the elder Bush, who spent most of his adult life plugging away at one political job or another, wants us to believe he doesn't spent much time discussing policy with his son the president? Ha! Ha! And ha!

How Will Bush Deal With the Deficits? Connecting the Dots to Iraq Robert Freeman, CommonDreams.org, January 5, 2004 George W. Bush, who inherited a $127 billion fiscal surplus and ran through it in his first year in office, has turned a $5.6 trillion 10 year forecast surplus into a $3+ trillion forecast loss––an almost unimaginable reversal of $9 trillion in only three years.

Which lies matter most to the American public? Joan Vennochi, The Boston Globe1, June 17, 2003 Hillary Clinton took $8 million from a book publisher and possibly didn't tell the whole truth about the Lewinsky scandal. George W. Bush took the armed forces of the United States of America, put lives at risk, and shook the world order to wage war against Iraq. Maybe he told the whole truth about why we were going to war and maybe he didn't.

Sacrifice Is for Suckers Robert L. Borosage, The Nation, April 10, 2003 Neither the war on Iraq, nor September 11, nor the precipitous decline in the nation's fiscal health has had the slightest effect on the President's overriding priority--cutting taxes, primarily for the "haves and have mores" that he calls "my base."

Budgetary Shock and Awe Editorial/Op-Ed, The New York Times1, March 25, 2003 While the American public is transfixed by the unfolding invasion of Iraq, the House and Senate, led by the Bush administration, are about to march under the public's radar screen and lead the country into a decade of budgetary disaster.

How Affirmative Action Helped George W. Michael Kinsley, Time, January 21, 2003 The President might ask himself, "Wait a minute. How did I get into Yale?"

Suppose it said 'under Allah' Libby Adler, The Boston Globe1, June 30, 2002 Some say it is making a mountain out of a molehill, but others are disturbed by those two words in the pledge.

Is It OK To Hate Bush? Mark Morford, SFGate.com, June 6, 2002 The president's carefully orchestrated dumb-guy shtick proves hollow and dubious.

Forgotten, but not gone H.W. Brands, The Boston Globe1, December 9, 2001 Liberalism may receive a surprise lift from the shifting winds of war.

Is Bush trying to protect dad? Helen Thomas, Hearst Newspapers, November 8, 2001 The handy excuse of "national security" is being used to cover any past, current or future questionable government activities under a new order Bush has signed.

Why Did He Do It? Tom Lowenstein, The American Prospect, May 23, 2001 Senator Jim Jeffords from Vermont leaves the Republican party because it has strayed from his values.

Blinded by Bush's science Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe1, April 8, 2001 Dubya says many policies, some already approved, need more studying before implementation.

A betrayal of trust and abuse of power John Kerry, a speech at Brown University, September 19, 2005 This horrifying disaster has shown Americans at their best -- and their government at its worst.

Haunted by Hesitation Maureen Dowd, The New York Times 4, September 7, 2005 The man who benefited more than anyone in history from safety nets set up by family did not bother to provide one for those who lost their families.

Katrina's Truths James Carroll, The Boston Globe1, September 5, 2005 Hurricane Katrina was more than a natural disaster. It was a political epiphany, laying bare difficult truths from which, mainly, the United States has been in flight.

Katrina's Assault on Washington Editorial, The New York Times3, September 3, 2005 Do not be misled by Congress's approval of $10.5 billion in relief for the Hurricane Katrina victims. That's prompted by the graphic shock of the news coverage from New Orleans and the region, where the devastation catapults daily, in heartbreaking contrast with the slo-mo bumblings of government.

"No One Can Say they Didn't See it Coming" Sidney Blumenthal, Spiegel Online, August 31, 2005 In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.

None Dare Call It Treason Vincent Bugliosi, The Nation, February 5, 2001 The Court majority, after knowingly transforming the votes of 50 million Americans into nothing and throwing out all of the Florida undervotes (around 60,000), actually wrote that their ruling was intended to preserve "the fundamental right" to vote. (This article received the biggest response from The Nation's readers in the 136 year history of the magazine and was the basis for a Bugliosi book, "The Betrayal of America".)

How Bush Took Florida: Mining the Overseas Absentee Vote David Barstow and Don Van Natta Jr., The New York Times1, July 15, 2001 The Times study of the Florida balloting reveals some dirty tricks by the Republicans.

All the President Meant Ronald Brownstein, The American Prospect, February 25, 2002 The unappreciated Clinton legacy gets some attention.

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.

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.

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

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    The Atlantic
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    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