Sunday, November 30, 2008

Encountering the Third World

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Mack Hall The week of Thanksgiving was one of horror, with televised images of terrorism, horror, panic, murder, and blood. And that was ju...
Sunday, November 23, 2008

Who Are You?

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Mack Hall The Duke of Norfolk: “What sort of foolery is this? Does the King visit you every day?” Thomas More: “No, but I go to Vespers mos...
Sunday, November 16, 2008

Poverty Professionals

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Mack Hall As the advertisers inflict The Christmas Season (formerly known as Advent) upon us with all the subtlety and elegance of a back-al...
Sunday, November 9, 2008

The Benefits of Being a Boomer-Geezer

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Mack Hall The Benefits of Being a Boomer-Geezer Boomers don’t make very good geezers. After all, growing old was not part of the plan. But...
Sunday, November 2, 2008

Who's Up for 2012?

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Mack Hall Who’s Up for 2012? After a honeymoon for the President-elect lasting a seemingly eternal ten minutes, the 2012 presidential campai...
Sunday, October 26, 2008

Cell 'Phones, Water Bottles, and the Ballot

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Mack Hall Cell ‘Phones, Water Bottles, and the Ballot Uncountable kazillions of electrons have been blasted into the universe questioning wh...
Sunday, October 19, 2008

What Would Mrs. Jesus Do?

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Mack Hall What Would Mrs. Jesus Do? An editor at Smith College, a college which you can’t afford, has written a piece in the stunningly misn...
Sunday, October 12, 2008

Only $25 Million, or, Larcenous Nerds in Chains

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Mack Hall Only $25 Million Michael Cieply, an entertainment writer based in Los Angeles, ...
Sunday, October 5, 2008

Bolivar and the Coast -- To Be Continued

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Mack Hall Mhall46184@aol.com Bolivar and the Coast – To Be Continued Have sight of P...
Thursday, September 25, 2008

This Week Your Bank's Name is _____________

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Mack Hall Today I visited the drive-through window at a familiar building in order to cash a small check. I say building instead of bank be...
Sunday, September 21, 2008

Don't Worry; New Orleans is Safe

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Mack Hall This is my audition script for a job with National Public Radio: After weeks of brewing at sea, mighty Hurricane Ike, bearing Moth...
Monday, September 15, 2008

My Favorite After-the-Hurricane Things

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Mack Hall My Favorite After-the-Hurricane Things (apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein) Dedicated to Jasper-Newton Electric Co-Operative Swe...
Monday, September 1, 2008

Jill, Will, Sophie, and the Hurricane

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Mack Hall As Wodehouse might have said, young men and women often ask me about my successful career in fleeing hurricanes and how they might...
Thursday, August 28, 2008

Take That, You Rascally Republicans!

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Mack Hall All the world turns its attention to the upper midwest this week, because when you’re talking about Republicans in Minnesota, you’...
Saturday, August 23, 2008

Down From the Door Where it Began

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First printed in 2001 Mack Hall The road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began Now far ahead the road has gone And I must fo...
Sunday, August 17, 2008

Roderick Spode Goes to the Olympics

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Mack Hall Dictators are not as sartorially formal as they used to be. Wodehouse’s fictional Roderick Spode practiced dictator-poses before a...

Roderick Spode Goes to the Olympics

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Mack Hall Dictators are not as sartorially formal as they used to be. Wodehouse’s fictional Roderick Spode practiced dictator-poses before a...

The Secret Jail for Democrats

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Mack Hall To read that Denver has built a secret jail for the detention of Democrats (activists say so; it must be true) is a thought so hea...
Sunday, August 3, 2008

Preabsolutely

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Mack Hall Perhaps the excessive use of the prefix “pre” began with advertisements by funeral homes: we were urged to preplan preneed for our...
Sunday, July 27, 2008

Beijing, We Have a Problem

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Mack Hall The 19th was the British century, and the 20th was the American. The 21st is said to be the Chinese century, but beijing has a pr...