Toby Barlow is a writer who lives in downtown Detroit. His critically acclaimed novel "Sharp Teeth" is currently available from Random House in the U.K., HarperCollins in the U.S., and a few other countries whose languages he doesn't understand.

Blog Entries by Toby Barlow

The Power of Protest

20 Comments | Posted September 12, 2009 | 10:33 PM (EST)


My heart sank when I saw the thousands out protesting health care reform in the Washington today. While I would love the idea of us joining the rest of the civilized world with a policy of universal health care, I now know this is just a dream. Thanks to that...

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"Deathers" Expose Canada's Health Care Secret

8 Comments | Posted August 3, 2009 | 04:46 PM (EST)


When Obama and the Democrats try to explain how America's health care crisis can be fixed, they often point to our neighbors to the north.

"Canada provides health care to all its citizens, we can too," say the optimists.

Sounds good until you consider this scary fact: at some point...

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If You Don't See The Hurt Locker This Weekend, You're Weak.

19 Comments | Posted July 31, 2009 | 02:14 PM (EST)


Not that there's anything wrong with that. Butterflies are weak and they're very beautiful. Babies are weak and cuddly and adorable. Weakness is not inherently a bad thing.

Also, trying to act strong just for the sake of acting strong can lead to all sorts of problems, just look...

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Alert: Redneck Nation's Making a Power Play

50 Comments | Posted July 21, 2009 | 01:45 PM (EST)


This week those classical paragons of state's rights, the august senators of Utah, Oklahoma, Texas, etc, have all lined up behind something called the Thune Amendment, a bill which -- of course -- tramples all over state's rights.

Now why would they do such a hypocritical thing? Especially at...

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When Fiat Met Chrysler

28 Comments | Posted May 2, 2009 | 01:34 AM (EST)


The meetings occurred behind closed doors, there are no transcripts, and we'll never know exactly what transpired, but through the art of simple deduction we can logically piece together a likely scenario of Fiat and Chrysler's discussions.

(It helps if you imagine Fiat being played by Marcello Mastroianni, and...

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How Stupid Is American Apparel?

Posted April 16, 2009 | 02:38 PM (EST)


Of all the things that shock and awe me these days - and there are so many - for some reason this little piece of news blew my freakin' mind. In response to the 10 million dollar suit Woody Allen filed against American Apparel for the unauthorized use of...

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For Your Consideration: Counterfeit McCartney

Posted December 30, 2008 | 01:50 PM (EST)


I've had this tune stuck in my head for two weeks. "Love Take Me Down" is a pitch perfect parody of a Wings song that plays at the end of the movie Role Models. Now, you will swear to yourself it's a Wings tune, but it ain't. The real story...

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How Those Indians Doing Anyway?

Posted November 27, 2008 | 01:34 AM (EST)


Somewhere between the stuffing making and the gravy sipping, I'd like to propose we pause and consider our continuing relationship with the Native Americans.

Because centuries after we broke bread on that first day of thanks, and despite all our continual promises to do the right thing, we still, of...

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Romney's Idiotic Plan for Detroit

Posted November 20, 2008 | 11:22 AM (EST)


For the past couple of weeks I've been pontificating that Obama would have had trouble winning if he had run against Mitt Romney. Unlike McCain, Romney had serious economic credentials and, as a Washington outsider, he wasn't as tied to Bush's record. The past week, however, has reminded me why...

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Stop the Last Big Lie

Posted November 3, 2008 | 12:52 PM (EST)


There's a last minute ripple of inflammatory rhetoric churning round a radio interview Obama gave last winter. As it's currently being spun by the right, Obama supposedly said he "wants to bankrupt the coal industry."

Well, not surprisingly, that's not what he said.

I wouldn't care except that Obama...

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A Message from Missouri

Posted November 1, 2008 | 11:21 PM (EST)


When this election is finally over, after I've finished writing my long heartfelt thank you note to Sarah Palin for all she has wrought (Oh my god, thank you Sarah! Thank you! Go ahead, keep the clothes as a consolation prize!) after I'm done rewatching the incomparable genius of Tina...

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Is Bush Actually Smarter than McCain?

Posted October 23, 2008 | 12:24 AM (EST)


For months, Obama has been arguing that a McCain presidency would be just a continuation of the failed policies of the Bush administration. Now that sounds pretty bad, but what if it's actually worse than that? It's nearly impossible to imagine, I agree. How could we sink any lower? Well,...

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Okay McCain, Let's Put Everything On Hold

Posted September 24, 2008 | 05:27 PM (EST)


Just after McCain announced that he was putting his campaign on hold due to America's economic crisis, I called my boss and said that -- due to America's economic crisis -- I too would be putting things on hold for a bit. I told him not to expect me in...

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Alaska, Land of Lies

Posted September 8, 2008 | 05:16 PM (EST)


I know how she feels. Back in 1989, I lied in Alaska too. A lot.

I got up to Juneau broke and in dire need of a job. I was underage, so I added on a few years onto my resume. Then, just to make sure I was hired, I...

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Candidate McSwervy

Posted September 2, 2008 | 12:18 PM (EST)


It says a lot that McCain initially wanted either Lieberman or Ridge but - when opposed by the far right- he didn't use his power as the party nominee to force them into line and he didn't look for a reasonable compromise, say someone more acceptable but with similar credentials....

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Oh, He Has the Experience

Posted August 29, 2008 | 10:26 AM (EST)


There will be a lot of very expensive hard hitting advertising and a lot of long-winded rhetoric about whether Barack Obama has the "experience" necessary to be president.

Actually, he has plenty of experience, after all, he has just aced the ultimate test for any politician of the 20th...

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The Great Elementary School Conspiracy

Posted August 26, 2008 | 07:41 PM (EST)


Watching the convention today, I saw a shrill blonde protester lady with a skull shaped head shrieking about how, when Obama was a young boy living in Indonesia, he went to a Muslim school. Muslim school. Think about it. Sure, this theory has been "debunked" by "experts" like "CNN."...

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My Choices vs. Obama's

Posted August 23, 2008 | 10:19 AM (EST)


If I was running and people said I was weak, I would pick the Incredible Hulk. If they said I was stupid, I would pick Stephen Hawking. If they said I was boring, I would, of course, choose Snoop Dogg.

Together, we would offer a whole package, a team people...

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Saving a Real Field of Dreams

Posted July 2, 2008 | 04:37 PM (EST)


Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too. -Greg, age 8

There's a beautiful baseball field in Detroit.

One surrounded by ruins.

Old Tiger Stadium is being torn down. And justifiably so, it's an absolute wreck of a place.

But the field at...

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Katherine Harris Goes to Zimbabwe

Posted June 25, 2008 | 03:58 PM (EST)


Robert Mugabe and Katherine Harris held a joint press conference Wednesday to announce Congresswoman Harris' new role as Zimbabwe's Secretary of State.

"As you know, we have an election coming up." said President Mugabe, "I need a credible state official to guarantee that our election ultimately reflects the will...

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