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New York Times Discovers Marfa. Again. And Again. And Again.

Jake — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:23:20 +0000

The New York Times is hopelessly addicted to stories about how cool Marfa is. Like this one. Or this one. Or this one. Or this one. Today’s story is about how much of a foodie town Marfa has become. At the weekly farmers’ market the next morning, housed under a gigantic shade pavilion downtown beside the [...]

Bush Library Plans Unveiled! Commence Crackpot Design Analysis!

Jake — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:24:45 +0000

The plans for the Bush Library are officially unveiled today, which means it’s time for everyone to put on their architectural critic hats and pretend to be able to read symbols and hidden messages in the size or shape of the plazas and the number of columns leading up to the front door. David Dillon, [...]

A Sneak Peek At Our December Issue

Jake — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:19:58 +0000

The December issue hits newsstands this week. Here’s the gorgeous cover–a couple dancing at the Quihi Gun club and Dance Hall, one of the great old spots on our tour of classic country dance halls this month. A note on the rest of contents: We closed this issue the Thursday before last around noon. Two hours [...]

In Memoriam

Jake — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:11:55 +0000

The stories of the 13 men and women killed at Fort Hood last Thursday are incredibly moving. The pride, diversity, and commitment to service–service not just to the abstract idea of country, but to the very real people around them, on bases, overseas, and in their private lives–should stand as an inspiration to everyone. Here’s [...]

Muslim Excuse vs. Crazy G.I. Excuse

Jake — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:30:11 +0000

Lilyea ’s shorthand. The Times today has a story in each category, both of them disturbing. This one about the FBI’s monitoring of Hasan’s emails with radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. And this one about stress and violence at Ft Hood. In both cases the theme is failure of oversight/monitoring on behalf of the authorities that are [...]

Portrait of the Killer

Jake — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:46:36 +0000

Lots of disturbing and compelling new details in this NYTimes story. The tick-tock of the shooting itself is horrifying. And I don’t know what to make of this: An uncle who lives in Ramallah said Major Hasan chose psychiatry over surgery after fainting while observing childbirth during his medical training. The uncle, Rafiq Hamad, described Major [...]

More On Major Hasan

Jake — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:12:15 +0000

Good DMN story trying to piece together who this guy is. Seems like it’s going to emerge as we learn more about him that Hasan’s actions were, unfortunately, intricately tied up in his conflicts about the war and his ideas about his faith. Rep. McCaul certainly thinks so: U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul of Austin, a senior Republican on [...]

Military Blogs on Fort Hood

Jake — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:52:28 +0000

The AtlanticWire, to which I have become hopelessly addicted, had a good rundown yesterday on what a few military blogs have been writing about the massacre at Fort Hood. Military bloggers have rightly been incensed at the meme that PTSD or more generally the “stress on the military” had something to do with this. It [...]

Raymond Jessop Guilty

Jake — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:04:37 +0000

Emily Ramshaw at the Texas Tribune is reporting that jurors have returned a guilty verdict in the first trial of the 12 members of the FLDS sect charged with underage marriages. If the 12 men are all found guilty, the state’s handling of this case will have to be re-evaluated. Katy Vine suggested as much [...]

Shooting at Fort Hood

Jake — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:32:02 +0000

MSNBC is reporting 7 dead and 12 injured. Still not clear what happened.

Road Trip

Jake — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:51:21 +0000

Sterry Butcher of the Big Bend Sentinel in Marfa has an excellent piece today about the new DHS plan to re-route illegal immigrants captured in Arizona through the Big Bend. Tuesday was the third day of the program and the Presidio office of Mexican Conul Hector Raul Acosta Flores was busy. Upon their arrival in Ojinaga, [...]

Whatcha Talkin’ Bout, Willis Willis?

Jake — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:51:36 +0000

My favorite new detail about the bizarre case of Willis Willis, the maintenance man whose $1 million lottery winnings were gaffled by the clerk at the store where he went to redeem his ticket–I mean, my favorite part aside from the fact that the poor guy’s name is Willis Willis, or that the store clerk [...]

Ay, guey, that’s a lot of groserias

Jake — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:00:49 +0000

A Mexican polling firm asked people how many times per day they curse and found that…teenage girls in Mexico City have potty mouths. The New York Times is on the case. (h/t Cecilia) If the estimates are true, the survey noted that Mexicans use 1.35 billion curse words daily, or 500 billion annually. The study’s authors, [...]

Should Bonfire Return?

Jake — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:08:06 +0000

I was on Michael Berry’s show in Houston a couple days ago and he asked me this. Now, I’m not an Aggie and Michael’s not an Aggie, so what do we know? But his question was: “You’re president of A&M. Do you bring Bonfire back?” This is pretty much the last question you want to [...]

Good Luck With That One

Jake — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:27:58 +0000

Jury selection begins today in the first trial of polygamists from the FLDS compound in Eldorado. How on earth are they going to find 12 jurors in Schleicher County who haven’t heard of the Yearning for Zion case? Katy Vine’s excellent story about the sect in our October issue laid bare some of what went on [...]