Heartland Institute senior fellow James Taylor’s tries – and fails – to discredit the draft National Climate Assessment by attacking a small minority of the Assessment’s authors.
Archive | January, 2013
China changes its mind on food
In something of a Big Deal, it has emerged that China no longer will pursue the goal of being self-sufficient in food. According to the South China Morning Post, Chen Xiwen, who is the director of the rural affairs policy-making committee of the Communist Party, and who therefore presumably knows a thing or two, the […]
Not by Fire, but by Ice – thinking through the politics of now
Ice is the Rodney Dangerfield of basic elements. It gets no respect. “Is there a Greek god of ice?” someone posted on Ask.com. The answer came back, “Are you kidding me? Have you been to Greece? Why would they have an ice god?” It’s easy to understand why Greece might not have an ice god, […]
President Obama expresses optimism: now in super-sized gibberish
”…when it’s that easy to get these high clip magazines that can fire off hundreds of shots in a few minutes…” *blink* In a nutshell, this is why I remain opposed to gun control at this time. When the political leaders that advocate for it cannot even address the subject intelligibly, this is not the […]
Egyptian protesters eat their own
Two years after the Lara Logan assault, women continue to be attacked at protests in Tahrir Square. Remember the Tahrir Square attack on Lara Logan two years ago while she was covering the demonstrations for CBS News? It seems that women — even protestors — continue to be sexually assaulted. At the Egypt Independent, Tom […]
Wilderness worth getting lost in—a review of Lance Weller’s “Wilderness”
No Civil War battlefield offers a writer more metaphoric possibility than the Wilderness. Not only was the Wilderness a virtually impenetrable second-growth forest—“the dark, close wood” and “one of the waste places of nature,” as soldiers called it—but the very idea of “wilderness” suggests a place and a time of being directionless and lost. One […]
New NRA enemies list provides great ideas for people and companies to support
I am not anti-gun. I am, however, anti-NRA, which isn’t pro-gun so much as it is the advocacy wing of the arms dealer industry. Anyway, the organization has now released a compilation of National Organizations With Anti-Gun Policies (aka an enemies list). In their words: The following organizations have lent monetary, grassroots or some other type of […]
What. The. Fuck.: Gays shouldn’t be allowed to have children because they plan?
I … I … ummm. This is a joke, right? Marriage should be limited to unions of a man and a woman because they alone can “produce unplanned and unintended offspring,” opponents of gay marriage have told the Supreme Court. By contrast, when same-sex couples decide to have children, “substantial advance planning is required,” said […]
CNN commits journalistic malpractice. Again.
Remember Richard Jewell? He was accused of placing a bomb in Atlanta’s Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympics. He endured a horrific trial (and conviction) by media and had his life destroyed. Turned out he was innocent. The guilty party was anti-abortion terrorist Eric Rudolph. Jewell sued several media outlets (including CNN), reaching settlements in […]
Just when you think they can’t give us any more wtf moments…
Well, first, Reagan appointee Justice Antonin Scalia says the Constitution is “dead, dead, dead.” Then, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) says that Atlas Shrugged is alive in today’s America. And thus my title becomes self-explanatory….
Unsolicited book review: First Class—A History of Britain in 36 Postage Stamps, by Chris West
What a cool idea! How come I didn’t think of this? West has written an engaging history of Britain from around the time of the early post office system—the early 19th century–to the present day, with 36 stamps as the leads for each short chapter. So we learn about the growth of the mail service […]
An unexpected Hush
I bought Hush one of those new life-blogging collars about a month ago. It’s the version with a GPS and wifi transmitter and takes a picture every half-a-second of whatever happens to be in front of him. I thought it would be something to remind me of the day going on outside my studio. I’d […]
Remembering my son
Guest Scrogue Kaye Lynne Booth is a Colorado-based book reviewer and writer. Her son Michael took his own life in 2008. I’ve always been drawn to amethyst, perhaps because of the vibrant purple coloring. Purple has always been my favorite color. Although it is associated with Pisces, my March 3rd birthday falls three days after […]
Children, baseball bats, and foreign policy
The boy, bigger than the rest, strode into the schoolyard, carrying a shiny, new, 34-inch Louisville slugger. He saw groups, some large, some small, of other boys. In darker, shady corners, lone boys lingered. The big boy looked around, here, there, everywhere. Everyone noticed that. Some of the other boys had bats, too, but none […]
Drones on their own at home and abroad
Drones are becoming simultaneously more fantastic and more ordinary at the same time. At the Atlantic, Brian Fung writes: Nothing is inevitable, but over the next few decades, it’ll be very hard to avoid the moment when autonomous drones make their way to the battlefield. … Such machines are worth worrying about not because of the […]
S&R Honors
Click here to learn more about past honorees...- Republicans perpetuate myths to keep Cold War alive
- S&R Nonfiction: “The Nobodies,” by Jennifer Pocock
- “See You in Hell” and the dominatrix garage: The Lost Patrol drops a new video, and btw, the CD is fantastic
- Iran’s election nuclear, but not nuked
- More light! More light! Reviewing Fred Chappell’s Brighten the Corner Where You Are
- 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”
-
Frank Dilatush: The Israelis might dispute your foundation argumen…
-
My final word on Oakwood? | Lack of Environment: […] theScholars and Rogues website, Brian A…
-
wilywascal: Excellent summary. 1) You weren't the only one…
-
-
A Walkaway: Then Satan must care more about justice and truth …
S&R makes major change to commenting policy
by Samuel Smith on January 28, 2013 in Internet, Telecom & Social Media, Scholars & Rogues
Once upon a time I could be counted on to say something like “the comment thread is often the most important part of a blog post.” When you have an intelligent community of good-faith readers and commenters, the initial post need not be fully baked and comprehensive – it can instead be treated as a […]