Last Modified: 10/10/2018

Articles

(Please click on PENCELAND.com above to go to my main page.) I stopped updating this page in 2018 so it may get outdated, and it has been removed from the menu bar on the main page.

	Sometimes I read an article that impresses or amuses me so much I want to share it with others. (Now I would probably do this on Facebook!) Here are some of those articles, arranged (usually) in reverse chronological order in each of the above sections, sometimes in sub-categories. I have re-ordered the categories since I created the page because the War on Terror is not the top news story anymore and perhaps our dealing with the new technological advances is. 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 they are on the Bush is gone! page. But I did create a Trump section under National policies, which might become equally good! (It appears I haven't updated this page since Trump was in office.)

We shouldn't keep families out of hospital rooms. Here's why. Sushrut Jangi (a gastroenterology fellow at Brigham and Women's Hospital), Boston Globe Magazine, May 1, 2018 Historically, doctors and hospitals have tried to keep families out of the way. And as recently as the 1970s, American mothers were separated from their newborns for hours after delivery. Yet it turns out that we've been mostly wrong about all of this. Families ultimately can also offer something that doctors really can't: comfort. Relatives might be the best allies that patients (and doctors) could ask for.

The onslaught of spam calls will keep getting worse Janelle Nanos, Boston Globe1 staff member, May 11, 2017 When you receive a call on your phone that says, "Hello? Can you hear me? Oh, sorry, I was just adjusting my headset..." the caller isn't a clumsy marketer, but a spam recording.

U.S. government agencies are still using Windows 3.1, floppy disks and 1970s computers Grant Gross, IDG News Service May 25, 2016 Your tax dollars are keeping ancient computers alive.

Hospitals turning a 'pager' on data hardware Priyanka Dayal McCluskey, Boston Globe1 staff member, February 2, 2016 Doctors and drug dealers are the last people to have pagers—and even drug dealers have moved past pagers.

It's time to banish carry-on luggage Christopher Muther, Boston Globe1 staff member, August 19, 2015 Like many airline travelers I avoid the possible lost or damaged checked baggage by packing all my clothes in my carry-on. Airlines would like to change this.

My First Home Kim Ablon Whitney, Boston Globe1 correspondent, August 2, 2015 I really related to this article as my wife and I are selling our house that we lived in for 33 years and raised 2 boys in. We are in our sixties and have always tried to decorate in a contemporary fashion, but I image some 20-something house shoppers will see something looking very dated.

Designing the perfect app icon, a tiny square that means a whole lot Scott Kirsner, Boston Globe1 correspondent, July 19, 2015 On today's smarphones, one of the main tools is the under-appreciated app icon, a half-inch by half-inch square of screen real estate.

10 ideas that could change the world By Brandon Griggs, Doug Gross, Jose Pagliery, Heather Kelly, Todd Leopold, all CNN Contributors, December 19, 2013 I particulary like the U.S. having only 2 timezones.

Products fade away, not American workers By Bob Greene, CNN Contributor, September 1, 2013 We're so good at making stuff that we forget that the thing to be most proud of is not the ephemeral products, but the labor that renews itself each generation.

For many, remotes are out of control Beverly Beckham, Boston Globe1 correspondent, July 14, 2013 Press power, press source, press play—and it doesn’t work.

The DNA in your garbage: up for grabs Kevin Hartnett, Boston Globe1 correspondent, May 12, 2013 Drop a hair? Anyone can legally sequence your genetic material—and privacy experts want to close that gap.

Vulnerability in an open city Stephen Heuser, The Boston Globe1 staff, April 21, 2013 Openness and security, we're forced to remember, are a trade-off.

E-mail a thing of past for business, young Michael B. Farrell, The Boston Globe1 staff, March 30, 2013 With billions of e-mails shooting around the world every day, clogging accounts everywhere, many are recoiling from the torrent.

Instant gratification is making us perpetually impatient Christopher Muther, The Boston Globe1 staff, February 2, 2013 The demand for instant results is seeping into every corner of our lives, and not just virtually.

Keeping the birds out of South Station Scott Helman, The Boston Globe1 staff, November 11, 2012 Simulated predator sounds are designed to scare away pigeons, sparrows.

Why I bike without a helmet Nick Olender, The Boston Globe1 contributor, October 21, 2012 As the Hubway bicycle-sharing system expands in Boston and beyond, an enthusiastic user explains his bare head.

Say goodbye to the tie Tom Keane, The Boston Globe1, August 19, 2012 My office went business casual in 1998 and I haven't worn a tie to work since.

When computers listen to music, what do they hear? Leon Neyfakh, The Boston Globe1, July 8, 2012 A new generation of scholars is turning music into data—and uncovering truths beyond human ears.

Missed Connections in our digital lives Joseph P. Kahn, The Boston Globe1, April 15, 2012 As screens and gadgets increasingly claim our eyes and time, shared family experience is feeling the squeeze

Steve Jobs, designer of a generation Glenn D. Lowry, Special to CNN, October 7, 2011 The way Apple treats the design of its products transcends any simple notion of branding.

Too Much Information Joan Wichersham, The Boston Globe1, January 7, 2011 I'm not sure I agree with this but it is an interesting article.

The first GPS Renée Loth, The Boston Globe1, August 14, 2010 The lost art of giving directions

Please do not change your password Mark Pothier, The Boston Globe1, April 11, 2010 You were right: It’s a waste of your time. A study says much computer security advice is not worth following.

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 Grass Isn't Greener Tom Keane, The Boston Globe 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.

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 lesson of the 'Broward Coward' Alex Kingsbury, The Boston Globe1, February 28, 2018 Who is a coward and who is just being a human? The actual science behind this physical and psychological conditioning is controversial and not well understood, yet it has come to dominate the way we train the Americans whose job it is to carry guns.

Anti-intellectualism Is Killing America David Niose, Psychology Today, June 23, 2015 Social dysfunction can be traced to the abandonment of reason.

Memory and the Proustian power of bad music Carlo Rotella, The Boston Globe1, March 9, 2015 The songs that generate the most powerful and uncontrolled time-traveling momentum are not the songs on which you grooved deeply back in the day, but the ones you thought you hated.

The power of common ground David DeSteno, The Boston Globe1, September 18, 2011 Surprisingly tiny factors can warp our judgments of other people. What can we do about it?

As they hit 65, boomers redefine aging Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe1, January 1, 2011 The 60s generation — the children of the 1960s now in their 60s — have been the culture's change agents. In this first frame, older Americans are a valued population re-upping to use our experience and wisdom to change society once again.

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?

Pay to Play Joan Anderman, The Boston Globe1, June 9, 2010 Strict enforcement of copyrights jeopardizing live music in small venues

I've got baggage Patrick McVay, The Boston Globe1, July 25, 2010 Can a vacation with children be carefree and fun?

How facts backfire Joe Keohane, The Boston Globe1, July 11, 2010 Researchers discover a surprising threat to democracy: our brains

Angry indeed — at candidates who kowtow to Tea Party Letter to editor, The Boston Globe1, September 29, 2010 An angry voter states some opinions that I agree with.

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.

Why do we torture ourselves so for fashion? Loretta LaRoche, Patriot Ledger1, May 16, 2005 Looking sexy and scintillating is now much more important than considering the fact that you will probably have twisted feet when you're old.

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.

Urban Scrawl Robert Campbell, The Boston Globe1, January 10, 2003 Is Boston's obsession with history stifling new architecture, making it timid, dull, and sometimes downright ugly?

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

Nine Myths the Right Loves to Believe about Welfare Wes Williams, IfYouOnlyNews.com, March 8, 2015 Americans who receive welfare benefits or food stamps are regular targets of right wing memes and attacks on Facebook or other social media.

Conservatives, don't despair David Frum, CNN Contributor, November 12, 2012 We are all "makers" and "takers" at different points in our lives.

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.

For Trump, truth is just another rule made to be broken Michael D'Antonio, Boston Globe, July 23, 2018 "For the most part, you can't respect people because most people aren't worthy of respect."

Trump's Lies vs. Your Brain Maria Konnikova, POLITICO, January/February 2017 Unfortunately, it's no contest. Here's what psychology tells us about life under a leader totally indifferent to the truth.

Would my immigrant grandparents (and yours) make it into the US today? Neil Swidey, Boston Globe1 staff member, September 18, 2017 Yes, my grandparents came here legally, through the front door. But in the early 1900s, the front door was wide open. The federal government turned away only a tiny percentage of arriving immigrants. You didn't need a passport or a visa to come here, because they weren't required until World War I.

The Simple Truth on Trump: He's Dumb as Rocks Amanda Kerri, The Advocate, May 17, 2017 Some people have said that if he wasn't born a millionaire, he would be a used car salesman in Queens. That's far too generous; he would be selling "Luke Vitton" bags from a card table off Canal Street, because he was the only three-card monte dealer in the city to actually lose because he didn't know how to throw the cards.

Authoritarianism Is Trump's Only Governing Philosophy Robert Reich, ALTERNET, May 1, 2017 After more than 100 days into his presidency, it seems fair to ask: What is Donald Trump's governing philosophy?

The Psychology Behind Donald Trump's Unwavering Support Bobby Azarian Ph.D, Psychology Today, September 30, 2016 The Dunning-Kruger effect explains that the problem isn't just that they are misinformed; it's that they are completely unaware that they are misinformed. This creates a double burden.

Donald Trump's airline went from opulence in the air to crash landing Matt Viser, The Boston Globe1, May 27, 2016 In a highly competitive business, one in which Trump had no experience, the new boss had tossed decorum to the wind and made claims he had no evidence to support..

Dear Republicans: Your Support for Trump Proves Liberals Were Right About Your Hypocrisy Allen Clifton , Forward Progressives, January 24, 2017 There's absolutely no way the very same people who are so eagerly supporting Donald Trump would ever let a Democrat get away with many of the horrific things he's said and done.

The Government Secrets Trump Is About to Discover Garrett M. Graff, Politico Magazine, January/February 2017 While much attention has been focused on Trump's access to the nuclear launch codes and the President's Daily Brief—the classified intelligence report delivered inside a locked briefcase each morning to the Oval Office—those represent only a tiny sliver of the massive top-secret universe that Trump personally will suddenly be privy to. The whole point of these laws and procedures is to grant the president power the public doesn't even know he has—and might not know until it's unveiled in a crisis.

Trump's Lies vs. Your Brain Maria Konnikova, Politico Magazine, January/February 2017 The sheer frequency, spontaneity and seeming irrelevance of Trump's lies have no precedent. He seems to lie for the pure joy of it. A whopping 70 percent of Trump's statements that PolitiFact checked during the campaign were false, while only 4 percent were completely true, and 11 percent mostly true. Unfortunately, the repetition of his lies serves to solidify them in our minds.

Trump's Intelligence Can't Easily Grasp More Than 140-Characters Allen Clifton, Forward Progressives, December 29, 2016 Unless you're one of the millions of mindless sheep who've been brainwashed and conned into believing that Donald Trump is competent enough to be president, it's very likely that you're absolutely ashamed and embarrassed that someone as mentally inept as he is will soon be our nation's leader.

Only in America Election Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair, November 11, 2016 Do not tell me America is no longer a land of opportunity.

The Democratic Party's Awful Year, By the Numbers Ellen Carmichael, Opportunity Lives, December 15, 2016 2016 was not a good year to be a Democrat in the U.S.

Donald Trump is a unique threat to American democracy Editorial Board, The Washington Post1, July 24, 2016 To the extent he has views, they are wrong in their diagnosis of America's problems and dangerous in their proposed solutions. There is nothing on his resume to suggest he could function successfully in Washington.

Concerns about Trump play into global debate over fascism Peter Baker, The New York Times1, May 28, 2016 Trump's campaign has engendered impassioned debate about the nature of his appeal and warnings from critics on the left and the right about the potential rise of fascism in the United States.

Global affairs

Here are a couple of excellent conflicting articles about this terrorist group

What ISIS Really Wants Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, March, 2015 Where did it come from, and what are its intentions? The simplicity of these questions can be deceiving, and few Western leaders seem to know the answers. What The Atlantic Gets Dangerously Wrong About ISIS And Islam Jack Jenkins, ThinkProgress.org, Feb. 18, 2015 The core issue is the inaccurate trope that ISIS is an inevitable product of Islam, mainly because the Qur'an and other Islamic texts contain passages that support its horrific acts.

Why there are Muslim ghettos in Belgium, but not in the US Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe1 staff member, March 27, 2016 For Islamist imams and terrorist ringleaders, such neighborhoods like Molenbeek in Brussels — heavily Muslim, densely populated, with high unemployment and crime rates — have proved fertile territory for recruiting violent jihadists.

Understanding Islamic State and its End-of-Days vision Editorial board, Chicago Tribune, February 23, 2015 Following takfiri doctrine, the Islamic State is committed to purifying the world by killing vast numbers of people (all non-Muslims are infidels). According to Bernard Haykel (a noted Islamic scholar), the fighters of the Islamic State are authentic throwbacks to early Islam and are faithfully reproducing its norms of war.

"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.

The $2 Billion UBS Incident: 'Rogue Trader' My Ass Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com, September 15, 2011 There is much hand-wringing in the financial press today as the UBS incident has reminded the whole world that all of the banks were almost certainly lying their asses off over the last three years, when they all pledged to pull back from risky prop trading.

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.

    The Boston Globe
    SFGate.com (San Francisco Chronicle)
    The Washington Post
    Common Dreams
    The Atlantic
    The American Prospect
    The Nation
    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