Friday, Jul 25, 2008
Pittsburgh Newsweekly, July 7-14
"The Feel-Good Solution" by Marty Levine
In last week's column, I lamented the paucity of smart, insightful coverage of alternative medicine. Lo and behold, as though a higher spiritual entity saw the wounds festering in my pressure points and wished to renew my faith in alternative journalism, a few articles on non-conventional medicine have surfaced that are worth a read. Particularly noteworthy is Marty Levine's extensively reported and clearly written piece exploring the theory that the growing popularity of alternative treatments can be attributed to a need for personal contact no longer granted by doctors and HMOs. Levine talks to experts, believers and skeptics alike and undergoes hypnosis, acupuncture and several other treatments himself. "Alternative medicine for the majority of Americans is not chasing down to Mexico for a faddish cancer cure," Levine writes. "It's looking for the cause of illness in every facet of one's own life. And it is simple human contact. In this HMO-ridden age, that's invaluable. "
Shaila Dewan's disturbing piece in the Houston Press, on a Shiatsu therapist who was penetrating his patients with both fingers and his penis, highlights the need for more scrutiny of this industry, as does Mark Boal's critical report on a growing religious trend called Falun Dafa.
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Austin Chronicle, July 2-8
"The Score" by Lisa Tozzi
Any writer who can write about sports without making me lose consciousness has accomplished the nearly impossible -- and the Austin Chronicle does exactly that in its freewheeling, unorthodox special sports section. From Lisa Tozzi's introduction advising how to give moral justification to your sports fanaticism to Clay Smith's elegant profiles of five Olympic hopefuls, the writing gets beyond play-
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Seattle Weekly, June 8-14
"Graduation altercation" by Doug Collins
Mumia madness entered a new stage of absurdity when students at the notoriously granola-y Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., invited convicted murderer and writer Mumia Abu-Jamal to give a recorded commencement address. Doug Collins does an excellent job of illuminating the tensions in the state capital that's both a hotbed of '60s-activist nostalgia and '90s Republican legislators.
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S.F. Bay Guardian, July 7-13
"Roommate Roulette" by Stephanie Groll
There was C. in Paris who never left the room, did all her laundry in the sink and draped it on every available countertop. There was V. in Seattle who was dating two men -- one an obnoxious, racist, chain-smoking trucker -- when she lost her Prozac prescription and started talking to herself. And I can't forget T., the ex-marine, Republican law student who alternated between yelling at me for no apparent reason and trying to get me in bed.
Admittedly, articles about navigating roommate hell are sophomoric -- as in, you really needed to read this your sophomore year of college and if you didn't learn then how to deal, you never will. However, since everyone has at least one tale of the roommate from hell lurking in their memories, it's always a voyeuristic pleasure to read about other people's shared-housing mishaps. Chop off all the tiresome advice, and you've got yourself an enjoyable piece.
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New Times Los Angeles, July 8-14
"Fish Story" by Victor Mejia
Reporter Victor Mejia gives us several more reasons to hate "Titanic." Yippee!
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