In our first match of round 1, Baron Bane eases past Able Archer and advances to the second round. Many thanks to Matt Huseman and AA (a and we really love a lot, by the way) and best of luck with the new CD, which is one of our favorites of 2011. Our second match […]
Archive | November, 2011
Thank you, Bobby Davis
We now have two scandals in college involving coaches using their positions to prey on young boys. They are different in degree—Sandusky apparently set up an elaborate system to deliver young victims to him while the allegations against Fine (he is uncharged and unconvicted) make him appear to have been more opportunistic. And they are […]
An open letter to Senator Max Baucus (D-MT)
Dear Senator Baucus: I appreciate your thoughtful response. However, it confirms for me the worst of my suspicions of how exactly you “support” Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. As one of your constituents, I am deeply concerned about your positions on these issues. Again and again, polls and policy experts are in the news indicating […]
Final verdict on The Sing-Off season 3: A thing not worth doing is not worth doing well (and the bad things that happen when you hand your show over to record label A&R idiots)
The Sing-Off was a bit of a disappointment this year. Last season was the show’s high water mark to date, with four or five legitimate A-level contenders and two acts – Committed (the winner) and Street Corner Symphony (runner-up) – that stand head and shoulders above everybody else in the show’s three seasons to date. […]
Three cheers for GOP moderation
By Robert Becker The key to unabashed cheerfulness, like mine, is moderating expectations. Set low enough standards, as some ancient codger must have mused, and you’ll never be disappointed.
Tournament of Rock 3: Baron Bane vs. Able Archer
Welcome to the long-awaited third installment of the S&R Tournament of Rock. This competition will pit 16 bands and solo artists against each other in a standard single-elimination format. The rules are simple: Selection criteria were informal: we picked 16 acts we liked that released new music in 2011. Then we drew names out of […]
Newt Gingrich has "family values?" WTF?!?
From Michelle Goldberg at Newsweek: Like many evangelicals in Iowa, Steve Deace, an influential conservative radio host, is wrestling with the possibility that Newt Gingrich may be the most viable standard bearer for family-values voters in the next election. It’s a conundrum, he says, that many others are also grappling with. “Maybe the guy in […]
Scenes from a Denver sports bar
From earlier this afternoon: Tim Tebow, late in the first half, finally completes his first pass. Guy at next table, vibrating with excitement, says to friend “they talk about Tebow being a football player, but that’s the great quarterback!” Tim Tebow runs for a couple of yards. Nearby fan to companion: “They should let Tebow call […]
Cop Killer 2011: Police, power and the case of Lt. Pike
I think at some point in our lives, most of us imagine that it might be cool to be famous. But perhaps…perhaps not like this.
Tom Wicker's legacy: Tell them a good story
Tom Wicker, an exceptional journalist, writer, and thinker, is dead. I doubt my students have heard of him. That’s my fault; I should tell them more about the journalists past as well as present. His obituary in The New York Times recalls his brilliant career. Wicker wrote good stories and abhorred the practices that produced […]
Does contemporary poetry lack heroism and commitment?
In an article in the September issue of The Writer’s Chronicle, poet Tony Hoagland traced the legacy of the New York School’s poetics. That legacy, he argues, has left contemporary poetry infused with “distractedness and haplessness,” which lowers the stakes and makes poetry “harmless in itself, quirky-cute, a sherbert-flavored course of hallucinogenic dessert art.” There […]
It was 20 years ago today…and I still miss Freddie
Freddie Mercury was my John Lennon. I remember when Lennon was killed. I also remember the reactions of his fans. I liked The Beatles, of course, but they were a few years ahead of me. And Lennon’s solo work underwhelmed me. So it’s fair to say that I really didn’t get his importance to Baby […]
How much context is in the Climategate emails? (updated)
The illegally hacked and published CRU emails do not contain enough context to draw any firm conclusions about much of anything – real investigations, where complete records are examined and the principles are interviewed about meetings, phone conversations, and white-board conversations are required. And all such investigations have found that the so-called Climategate emails show no evidence of misconduct or conspiracy.
S&R Honors
Click here to learn more about past honorees...- The Rest is Noise (6)—Descent into the Maelstrom
- I hate handguns, but I have still considered owning one
- Redneck jokes are racist
- Largest study of peer-reviewed literature to date finds overwhelming climate disruption consensus (UPDATED)
- Boehner: Oh, so now you’re angry?
- Mystery Unraveled: How a white, moderate, married, churchgoing, middle-class, middle-aged woman could vote for Obama
- An open letter to Burt Rutan, regarding his WSJ commentary on human-caused climate disruption
- Meet the men of Match.com: Really, guys, are you serious?
- Climate scientists still besieged
- Pelosi on Bush: “He’s not worth impeaching”
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satanicpanic: I've thought about this myself. Other than needin…
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Otherwise: 1. this whole collapse of order stuff is nonsense.…
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Otherwise: yes, technically you're correct. bigotry would ha…
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Samuel Smith: Even if I agree with every point you make, we're n…
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Frank Balsinger: We might disagree on some of the not-so-fine point…
