A jittery week at the polls, huh? One measure of our political anxiety is that liquor sales spiked this week. Also, it’s probably not a coincidence that a new breakthrough in drug legalization was made on Tuesday, when 56 percent of Oregon voters said YES! to sanctioning the use of “magic mushrooms,” which are said to relieve anxiety and depression. Continue reading →
One word in particular, one sound, one horror that I can’t get out of my head is this: George Floyd crying out “momma,” as his life was cruelly and senselessly crushed in yet another brutal, White-on-Black murder by a so-called “officer of the law.” This can’t be America, can it? Continue reading →
America lost one of its best public interest agitators last week, and I can’t let him go without a tip of the hat. David Freeman was not a household name, but he certainly was a household hero – a smart, tenacious champion for consumers, clean energy, and common sense over the price gouging, pollution, and general greed of Big Energy. Continue reading →
Just when you thought this political year couldn’t get any weirder, along comes the entire Democratic Party establishment rushing en masse to the cliff’s edge, hurling themselves head-first into the presidential contest. What has spurred this gaggle of political operatives, fat cat donors, and former presidential hopefuls is a collective impulse to unite behind the very worst candidate the party could possibly put up against Donald Trump in November’s election: Joe Biden. Continue reading →
Trump Flees Afghanistan, but US still there
It’s over. Donald the Dealmaker says that he has ended America’s long nightmare in Afghanistan, finally terminating 18-plus years of grinding war (the longest in US history). After more than 2,400 Americans killed (another 20,000 wounded), more than 100,000 Afghan citizens killed (countless more maimed), and roughly $2 trillion wasted – Trump is crowing that he’s negotiated an end to that ridiculously expensive and pointless military adventure.
Editors’ note: The following is the column that was rejected by the Creators Syndicate, who feared reprisal from the corporations mentioned in the article. Read more about the controversy at the Austin Chronicle; for more information, contact Deanna Zandt, [email protected].
A two-panel cartoon I recently saw showed a character with a sign saying: “First they came for the reporters.” In the next panel, his sign says: “We don’t know what happened after that.” Continue reading →
After Hightower’s longtime partner, DeMarco, took her leave of us from this crazy planet, our staff and the board of the Lowdown decided to have a little dinner together in her honor– she didn’t want any kind of public memorial– at hers and Hightower’s house. Laughs, love, and food abounded. Here are our photos and a few of the recipes we shared with each other.
Some are born with good luck, but Lady Luck didn’t bless me until I was 30 years old. She arrived in the form of a petite bundle of feistiness, inherent smarts, political savviness, personal warmth, playfulness, and beauty– named Susan DeMarco. Continue reading →