October 2014 - The Texas Observer

Most Recent in Politics:

1This Week: Texans’ Health Under Attack by Republican Lawmakers

2Who Really Gets Government Benefits In Texas?

3Lo que Necesitas Saber sobre la Batalla Legal de SB 4

4How the Texas Legislature Reached a Dangerous Stalemate on Vaccines

5Is Competence Enough? Mike Collier is Counting on it in Race Against Dan Patrick

6How Texas’ Anti-Abortion Lawmakers Win Even While Losing in Court

Most Recent in Environment:

1Getting Wise to Bad Air: North Texans Take Smog Monitoring Into Own Hands

2Mean to Green: How the Texas Legislature Took its Toll on the Environment This Session

3Governor Abbott’s Beef with Tree Ordinances Has Its Roots in a Pecan Tree He Destroyed to Build a New Home

4After 17 Years, EPA Settles Racial Discrimination Case Against TCEQ

5Texans Could Soon Be Jailed for Flying Drones over Oil Facilities, Animal Factory Farms

6Endangered Science

Most Recent in Border:

1Lo que Necesitas Saber sobre la Batalla Legal de SB 4

2What You Need to Know About the SB 4 Legal Battle

3After Five Years in Exile, Mexican Journalist Fears He’ll Never Be Able to Go Home

4Both Sides of the U.S.-Mexico Border Want to Renegotiate NAFTA

5Attorneys Who Halted Trump’s Travel Ban Will Take on Senate Bill 4

6Photos: SB 4 Protesters Flood Capitol to Jump-Start ‘Summer of Resistance’

Most Recent in Criminal Justice:

1Attorney: Matt Rinaldi’s Call to ICE Will Likely Be Used Against SB 4 in Lawsuit

2Indicted Senator Carlos Uresti Exchanged Campaign Funds with Alleged Co-Conspirators

3Texas Republican Called ICE on SB 4 Protesters, Threatened to Shoot Colleague

43 A.M. ‘Sanctuary’ Protest at Governor Abbott’s Mansion Blares Mariachi Music

5Texans Could Soon Be Jailed for Flying Drones over Oil Facilities, Animal Factory Farms

6Texas Bill Could Send People to Jail for Driving a Woman to an Abortion, Lawmaker Says

Most Recent in Education:

1After Freedom Caucus Kills Her Legislation, Lawmaker Announces Anti-‘Lunch Shaming’ Campaign

2Texas’ ‘Lunch Shaming’ Problem and the Fight to Fix It

3CPS Caseworker: Lawmakers Are ‘Shifting the Blame’ by Privatizing Child Welfare System

4‘Academic Freedom’ Bill Provides Cover to Teach Creationism, Climate Denial in Classrooms

5‘Another Book, Another Month, Another Day Closer to You’

6Dan Patrick Offers Vouchers as Solution to Special Ed Failures that He Helped Create

Most Recent in Health Care:

1This Week: Texans’ Health Under Attack by Republican Lawmakers

2Who Really Gets Government Benefits In Texas?

3How the Texas Legislature Reached a Dangerous Stalemate on Vaccines

4Getting Wise to Bad Air: North Texans Take Smog Monitoring Into Own Hands

5How Texas’ Anti-Abortion Lawmakers Win Even While Losing in Court

6Governor Greg Abbott Vetoes Women’s Health Committee Despite Ongoing Crises

Most Recent in The Interview:

1The Interview: Joaquin Castro Says Texas Democrats are Poised for a Comeback

2The Interview: Beto O’Rourke on Trump, the Border and How to Revive the Democratic Party

3The Interview: Tom ‘Smitty’ Smith

4The Interview: Lupe Valdez

5The Interview: Paul Quinn College’s Michael Sorrell

6The Interview: Judge John Dietz on Texas’ School Finance Crisis

Most Recent in Books:

1‘The Potlikker Papers’ Wants You to Eat Your Grits with a Side of Discomfort

2We Were the Safety Net

3‘Cornyation’ Celebrates San Antonio’s Most Fabulous Fiesta Tradition

4Valeria Luiselli’s ‘Tell Me How It Ends’ Is the First Must-Read Book of the Trump Era

5In the Age of Trump, the First All-Latino Sci-Fi Anthology Hits too Close to Home

6In ‘Blue Texas,’ a Historical Blueprint for Texas Activists

Most Recent in Postcards:

5Feathering Their Nest

6The Business of Burying Horses

Most Recent in Essay:

1Going It Alone

2The Observer’s Founding Editor: ‘Bring the Fight Back’ to Texas Politics

3A Texan’s Political Guide to Resisting Trump

4The Resistance Against Donald Trump Begins in Texas

5What a 1940 Novel Can Teach Us About Fighting Trump

6A Single Mom’s Search for ‘School Choice’ in Texas

Most Recent in Eye on Texas:

1Eye on Texas: Runners Take on 170-Mile Race in Big Bend

2Eye on Texas: Liberty Hill Hosts Texas Firearms Festival

3Eye on Texas: TX Open Swim

4Eye on Texas: Blessing of the Hands in San Antonio

5Eye on Texas: Austin’s Chapels

6Eye on Texas: Portico Tejas

Most Recent in Poetry:

2Poem: ‘Resistance’

3Poem: ‘Screenplay for a Homemade Movie’

4Poem: ‘To Be One with the All’

5Poem: ‘Whitewashing’

6Poem: ‘Rice and Beans’

The Magazine: October 2014

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March 2015, Texas Observer cover

COVER STORY

Forgetting How to Read? Stop Reading Online

by Michael Agresta

Mon, Oct 13, 2014 |

If we want to maintain the kind of thoughtful, reflective, curious minds that engineered the Internet in the first place, it’s time to face up to what reading online is doing to our brains.Read More

In this Issue

State of Texas

State of Texas: Why Can’t Texas Democrats Win?

Loon Star State

Ben Sargent’s Loon Star State: Pocket Greg Abbott

Eye on Texas

Eye On Texas: Michael O’Brien Collects the Faces of Texas

by Michael O'Brien