Orange County conservative activist Kenneth Strawn—who uses his social media outlets to routinely rant against “retards,” “snowflake Jews,” “blacks,” “lesbian hobbits,” “senile idiots,” “illegal aliens,” “losers” and “intellectually lazy cowards” while championing Donald Trump—has filed a federal lawsuit alleging his constitutional rights have been trampled by people who “dislike” his YouTube videos. Strawn claims a […]
Virginia
Parachute
Virginia’s Parachute make pop music that probably sounds better and better as the sound system gets bigger and bigger—this is mass-market rock that’s more about the mass than the market, with gigantic songs designed to pretty much cruise-missile right into the Top 40, or at least the hidden speakers in the mall ceiling. New single […]
Will Untapped Latinos Sink Mitt Romney?
You may have missed it on the tele, but apparently Latinos are being counted on to play a huge role in determining who will be elected president in November. To that end, the liberal Center for American Progress is singling out the top 10 states with the most unregistered eligible voters and non-citizens who are […]
Mae
An indie band that beautifully mixes a shoe-gazey blend of piano and crunchy guitars accompanied by sweet vocal melodies is an indie band that gets it. Hailing from Virginia, Mae has been at it since 2001. The elements of this group are reminiscent of some of the great indie and alternative bands from the last […]
Teeny Bop Panty Drop
Accused child molester Jeffrey Ray Nielsensent a 14-year-old Westminster boy an email seeking “something quick” in the middle of a school day when the boy’s mother was at work. The boy testified that the quickie Nielsen was angling for meant sex, which they had on his mother’s bed. After all, he noted, the two had […]
Teeny Bop Panty Drop
Accused child molester Jeffrey Ray Nielsen sent a 14-year-old Westminster boy an email seeking “something quick” in the middle of a school day when the boy's mother was at work. The boy testified that the quickie Nielsen was angling for meant sex, which they had on his mother's bed. After all, he noted, the two […]
A Controlled Performance
Editor's note—This is the final installment of our three-part series, leading up to Sunday night's Oscars, on actors whose 2006 performances were unjustly denied consideration this awards season. Midway through last April's press screening of Paul Greengrass' United 93, I made a mental note to watch the end credits for the name of the actor […]
'Our Thing'
Things have been looking up for accused child molester Jeffrey Ray Nielsen, the 36-year-old Christian conservative activist and lawyer with close ties to Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and Scott Baugh, head of the Orange County Republican Party. Police say Nielsen took a 14-year-old Westminster boy as his sex partner in 2003 and maintained a huge cache […]
Death Row Defender
William Thompson is thinking about the troubles of a man he's never met, and it won't be the first time. Curtis McCarty sits on death row in Oklahoma, convicted of the 1982 murder of Pamela Willis, the 18-year-old daughter of a police officer. Thompson doesn't know McCarty but is intimately acquainted with his DNA profile. […]
American Girl
Photo by James BunoanYou know what they say: Wyoming is for lovers. No? That's Virginia? Oh, that's right: Wyoming is for bigots. During my fabulous summer trek throughout the western United States and the tackier parts of Canada, I had not one but two epiphanies: border crossings are just plain no fun when your son […]
Hey, OJB!
Illustration by Bob AulIt's tough to decide whether the life of Orange County Congressman John Schmitz was more Greek tragedy or Shakespearean farce. Schmitz died of cancer in January. Though an OC native, he'd been making his home in Virginia since being driven from political life. He was 70 when he died, and we are […]
We Respond
>>>VOLUME ONE We cannot publicize Richard Wagner because he inspired Adolf Hitler, who caused that annoying Second World War thing. . . . Why, that's a little trick called irony; look it up, and then you'll realize I wasn't calling myself a guy. Nor was I necessarily knocking faux knockers. . . . Humor is […]
Letters
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