October 2014 - The Texas Observer

Most Recent in Politics:

1The Good News (and the Bad) for Beto O’Rourke in that Quinnipiac Poll

2Beto’s Not the Only Texas Democrat with a Big-Dollar Haul

3Who is Mary Street Wilson?

4Payday Lenders Are Working Hard to Keep Texas the ‘Wild West’ in Trump Era

5Parsing Governor Abbott’s National Guard Charade

6Trump Nominates Austin Attorney Who Stymied Investigation Into Trump University

Most Recent in Environment:

1Despite Trump, Water Agency Fosters Cross-Border Cooperation Between U.S. and Mexico

2Trump’s Border Wall Lands Rio Grande on List of Nation’s Most Endangered Rivers

3Alleging ‘Environmental Racism,’ El Paso Activists File Civil Rights Complaint Against School District

4‘The Natural History of Texas’ Celebrates the State’s Lesser-Known Critters and In-Between Places

5How the Fate of Texas’ Endangered Mussels Could Affect Water Usage Statewide

6Investigation Finds Culprit in Panhandle ‘Chemical Drift’ Case, State Yet to Take Action

Most Recent in Border:

1Trump’s Border Wall Lands Rio Grande on List of Nation’s Most Endangered Rivers

2Militarization of Texas-Mexico Border a Sign of Complacency, but Not From Border Residents

3Elecciones presidenciales en México. ¿Finalmente puede ganar la izquierda?

4Will Mexico Elect its First Leftist President Since 1934?

5Courts: Police Can Shoot and Kill People As Long They Are Across the Border

6I Grew Up on the Texas-Mexico Border, but Now I Barely Recognize It

Most Recent in Criminal Justice:

1Galveston Lawsuit Is Writing on the Wall for Other Counties that Haven’t Ended ‘Wealth-Based Detention’

2Bail Lawsuit Accuses Dallas County of Violating Poor People’s Rights in Secret Hearings

3Courts: Police Can Shoot and Kill People As Long They Are Across the Border

4AG Opinion: Texas Cops Under Investigation Can Watch ‘Any’ Body Cam Footage Before Answering Questions

5Texas Prison System Sheds Men, Swallows Even More Women

6A Prison By Any Other Name

Most Recent in Education:

1Texas Teachers ‘Blow the Whistle’ After Conservatives Accuse Them of (Gasp!) Getting out the Vote

2Nazis Go To School

3‘I Would Have to Drop Out’: 200 Texas Grad Students Walk Out to Protest GOP Tax Bill

4Homelessness in Texas Public Schools is a Suburban and Rural Problem, Too

5Another Strikeout for Mexican-American Studies in Texas

6Amid Anti-Confederate Push, San Antonio School District Changes Lee High School … to LEE High School

Most Recent in Health Care:

2What’s Going on with Texas’ Maternal Mortality Rate?

3In Her Own Letter to Trump Officials, Texas Republican Fact-Checks Ken Paxton’s False Claims on Women’s Health

4Texas AG Ken Paxton is Very Angry About Women’s Health Programs He Doesn’t Seem to Understand

5Anti-Vaxxers are Claiming Victory After Texas Primaries. Will Their Influence Grow?

6‘Get High With Ricki Lake!’: New Film on Medical Marijuana Leaves Out Texas Families

Most Recent in The Interview:

1Meet Nueces County’s New DA, a Self-Professed ‘Mexican Biker Lawyer Covered in Tattoos’

2The Interview: Joaquin Castro Says Texas Democrats are Poised for a Comeback

3The Interview: Beto O’Rourke on Trump, the Border and How to Revive the Democratic Party

4The Interview: Tom ‘Smitty’ Smith

5The Interview: Lupe Valdez

6The Interview: Paul Quinn College’s Michael Sorrell

Most Recent in Books:

1On Giant’s Shoulders: New Cinema History Dissects Texas Tropes

2In ‘God Save Texas,’ Lawrence Wright Explains the Lone Star State to Outsiders

3‘The Natural History of Texas’ Celebrates the State’s Lesser-Known Critters and In-Between Places

4‘The Red Caddy’ Is Charles Bowden’s Pithy, Witty Posthumous Tribute to Edward Abbey

5Houston Poet Analicia Sotelo’s Debut Smashes Latino Stereotypes

6‘BANG’ Offers a Dark Look at the Human Cost of Mexico’s Drug War

Most Recent in Postcards:

3Field Notes from Santa Ana

4The King of Pulp

5Ride Like a Girl

Most Recent in Essay:

1I Grew Up on the Texas-Mexico Border, but Now I Barely Recognize It

2Somewhere It Hides a Well

3Drinking the Kool-Aid at the Garden of Eden

4The Road to Huntsville

5The Impossible City

6Dear Governor Abbott: The ‘Bathroom Bill’ Endangers Trans Texans Like My Son

Most Recent in Eye on Texas:

1Eye on Texas: Gentrification in East Austin

2Eye on Texas: Transgender Youth in Texas

3Eye On Texas: Hurricane Harvey

4Eye on Texas: Fantastical Taxidermy

5Eye on Texas: Runners Take on 170-Mile Race in Big Bend

6Eye on Texas: Liberty Hill Hosts Texas Firearms Festival

Most Recent in Poetry:

1Houston Poet Analicia Sotelo’s Debut Smashes Latino Stereotypes

2Parallel Planes

4Poem: ‘Resistance’

5Poem: ‘Screenplay for a Homemade Movie’

6Poem: ‘To Be One with the All’

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