Author Archives: oddmanout215

Halloween songs (I DO believe in spooks!)


Swamp Rabbit wasn’t happy with my new playlist. “You’re a sick pup, Odd Man. Most of these songs ain’t got nothin’ to do with Halloween.” I shook my head and pressed the “Play” button on my phone. “Au contraire, my … Continue reading

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Media soft-pedals speaker’s role in coup attempt


I was complaining that the mainstream media’s peculiar notion of “fair and balanced” news was on display last week in some Washington Post stories about newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson. I asked my neighbor Swamp Rabbit if he knew … Continue reading

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Holy moly! Climate deniers ignore the pope.


I was telling my neighbor Swamp Rabbit that scientists just sounded a new alarm about ice shelves in the Antarctic. “They’re melting a lot faster than the experts used to think, but nobody seems to care,” I said. “Ice shelves … Continue reading

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The media gets lost in the fog of war again


Swamp Rabbit and I were re-reading a New York Times story posted shortly after the October 17 Gaza hospital explosion that killed scores, or perhaps hundreds, of civilians. The question of who’s responsible for the explosion is still up in … Continue reading

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‘Bibi’ remains bad news for Mideast peace seekers


From an op-ed in Washington Post, a few days after Hamas fighters massacred more than 1,300 people in a surprise attack on Israel by land, sea and air: For many years, Israel has been governed by a populist strongman, Benjamin Netanyahu, … Continue reading

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A new first in social media ‘influencing’


My neighbor Swamp Rabbit has a plan. “If I gotta go back to work, I want to be one of them social media influencers,” he said. “That’s where the money is these days.” “Not really,” I replied. ” But it’s … Continue reading

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A bigoted Earthling with interplanetary dreams


My neighbor Swamp Rabbit and I saw a news report about Elon Musk, who wants to direct the course of wars and launch billionaires to Mars. He owns a big chunk of social media and is in the electric car … Continue reading

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Jann Wenner’s R&R ‘masters’ are all rich white guys


Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner’s book of interviews he conducted with famous rock ‘n’ roll artists will be published next week. It’s called The Masters, and its subjects are Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Jerry Garcia, Pete Townshend, Bono … Continue reading

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No existential catastrophe (author lays 6-to-1 odds)


The heat goes on, breaking records. Time has become a slow-motion blur that flattens everything I say and do. Incidents that should matter are like river flotsam, here one minute, gone the next. But the river, visible from the dirt … Continue reading

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Global warming or global boiling? What about floods?


We were discussing the weather, a popular topic these days. My neighbor Swamp Rabbit told me what the UN secretary-general had said: “The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived.” “Great quote, but what … Continue reading

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