Categories
American Culture

Hill of Beans

And I feel like a beetle on its backAnd there’s no way for me to get upLove’ll get you like a case of anthraxAnd that’s something I don’t want to catch— Gang of Four, “(Love Like) Anthrax,” 1978 Copyright 2011 Ben S. Pollock JUST AFTER ELEVEN — Two hundred eighty-something million Americans had nothing on […]

Categories
American Culture

Axis of Nice

The following is my president’s column for the May 2011 edition of the monthly newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Had a bizarre dream the other night, that World War III had started. I saw Dianne Feinstein, she having moved up from senator to secretary of state or vice president, holding a news […]

Categories
American Culture

Stances with Wolves

The following is my president’s column for the February 2011 edition of the monthly newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists Columnists get labeled as opinionated. This was brought home again after the Tucson shooting. Americans saw on the air and online — come on, paper? — as many pundits as politicians (and rarely […]

Categories
American Culture

Lightening Up

On my most recent big trip, I was struck by lightening. Right, not lightning. I walked hours through a city I did not know with my trusty laptop carrier. It was after a daylong conference. Compared to most briefcases, day packs or messenger bags, the canvas Domke Reporter’s Satchel is lightweight. After years of refining, […]

Categories
American Culture

Thank You for Your Coverage

The defenders of our country — Thank you for your service — must be made of tough stuff. That’s what military service means. Yet elements of the media worry, presume service personnel and veterans have thin skins. “Garfield” on Veterans Day ran a routine cat comic strip. Many comics just did their daily gag, though […]

Categories
American Culture

Drafty: Barn Door, Cracked Window

Copyright 2010 Ben S. Pollock Now that the Republicans have done so well in the 2010 elections, they should use their momentum to enact the next sweeping measure for our time: Universal conscription for all American youth. A measure of Democrats would support this as well. Reviving — and broadening and updating — the draft […]