The American Spectator

(March 7/14, 2011)

The Progressive

The Progressive’s Buttery Fly columnist Terry Tempest Williams employs all she has learned from the writers’ workshop at Southwest Northeast South Dakota State University to once again weigh in on how Art & Beauty makes her lonely life bearable and even saves her several Tylenol capsules a day:

The migration of the pronghorn in Wyoming is not just a physical migration, but a spiritual one, a migration of our imaginations. This is the sacred territory of art that makes life bearable in the midst of pain and loneliness. Beauty is not optional or peripheral, but a strategy for survival.

Richard Ford writes in his short story “The Communist”: “A light can go out in the heart.”

Art has the capacity to reignite our hearts. In a world where powerful industries such as Big Oil….

(March 2011)

The Progressive Populist

Prompted by the shootings in Tucson, Arizona, columnist Ted Rall delineates proper etiquette for the next public tragedy prior to announcing his next exigent column:

So, as a public service to the grievers of the future, I hereby offer my Basic Etiquette Following a Massacre:

When interviewed on television never say that your “heart goes out to the victims and their families.” We have heard that hoary chestnut a million too many times. Keep your heart where it belongs, inside your ribcage.

If you are a public official holding a press conference about a school shooting/workplace shooting/terrorist attack, refrain from thanking a long list of local and state officials for their help. This isn’t the Oscars. You haven’t won anything. You are not going to meet Joan Rivers.

Whether attending a memorial service or actual funeral, leave your hoodies, baggy pants and tanktops at home. No baseball caps. No T-shirts. Don’t wear anything with a team logo. Appropriate clothing is formal, black or very dark blue. Men wear suits with ties. Women wear long dresses. Don’t got ‘em? Stay home. You don’t get to be on CNN….

Next week: Toilet etiquette. How to wipe. How to flush.

(February 15, 2011)