My post  a few days ago on Pacifica Radio’s plunging audience numbers stirred the usual hornet’s nest. Except that these hornets don’t carry very much of a sting.  I was peppered with objections to my piece from various Pacifica apparatchiks and national board members who –in private emails to me and among themselves– accused me [...]

My daughter Natasha does some great front-line reporting and picture snapping at this past weekend’s rally for health care in Los Angeles for the new blog, The Awl. Well, not, exactly a rally. Just thousands of people lining up for free health and dental care, as if in Uganda, except  –of course– in our own [...]

During last year’s presidential campaign, both publicly and privately, I found myself second-guessing Barack Obama on how he should move ahead. Sometimes I kept my thoughts to myself. Sometimes I put it in print, laying out a playbook for him to follow, offering a counter-strategy to some grievous mistake I thought he was making.On at [...]

Readers know that a couple of times a year I call out the collapsing institution known as Pacifica Radio. It’s that time again, now that new ratings numbers show that local affiliate KPFK has reached an historic low in listenership levels. The slow-motion demise of the five station “progressive” network is one of the primary [...]

Here’s my Nation cover story on the Failed State of California. An excerpt: Let’s make it easy to understand. California might be suffering its worst drought in decades, but the entire Golden State is underwater. Goodbye to those timeworn, bubble-gum-colored fantasies of the Endless Summer, California Girls and gleaming, pool-pocked suburbs. Hello to a new [...]

The Brilliant Daughter has wrapped up her four part series on the murder trial and conviction of Jesse James Hollywood.  I gotta say, with no objectivity whatsoever, it’s a compelling piece. She was there for the final arguments. Here’s her report and the links to the entire series. She’s also been doing some Gawking by [...]

This is the chart the GOP has come up with to trash Obama’s health care proposal. They make an excellent point.  Its way more complicated than the Republican plan. Here’s their plan: