The I-5 bridge has collapsed in Washington and there are “vehicles and people [in] the water.” No word yet on casualties, and here’s hoping there are none. Meanwhile, as bad as I hate to say we told you so, we told you so. Various S&R writers have written about various infrastructure issues in the past, […]
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London Underground: Happy birthday to the Tube
After a year in which the celebrations never seemed to end—the Queen’s Jubilee, the Olympics, and lord knows what I’ve already forgotten—the celebrations have barely paused for breath in the new year. Because 2013, it turns out, is the 150th birthday of the London Underground—The Tube. This is a big deal. Residents in larger cities […]
Getting ready for the next disaster
One of the many surprises resulting from the carnage inflicted by Hurricane Sandy was how ill-prepared the US northeast—well, the entire US East Coast, for that matter—was in terms of defending what passes for its infrastructure. New York City has yet to take any initiative whatsoever on any plan to deal with rising oceans from […]
Tell pols to step up: Time to invest in fixing infrastructure woes
We have failed to invest. That phrase should haunt elected and appointed officials in state and federal governments — especially those who made decisions based on political ideology rather than common sense and the needs of the electorate. The latest utterance of this phrase came from James E. Hall, a former chairman of the National […]
Did Romney just promise to end all federal subsidies — including oil and farm aid?
Once again, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has taken to task the president of the United States. This time, it’s over the federal subsidies provided to A123 Systems, a manufacturer of batteries for electric cars. A123, report Bill Vlasic and Matt Wald of The New York Times, is supposed to be “a centerpiece of his […]
Preparing for Doomsday my way
Southern Indiana, 5:30 a.m. My wife and I each schedule one drill per month, and do not tell each other when it will be. On this cold, February morning, the alarm goes off and she sits straight up in bed, confused. “It’s time,” I say, “Plan B. Go.”
What will America look like after the apocalypse? Not what you think.
Recently, a left-wing colleague described his vision of where America is headed over the next forty years–breakdown of government, mass starvation, roving bands of marauders, etc. It’s interesting that this is exactly the same vision shared by those on the far right who star in the new TV show Doomsday Preppers, about people who are […]
Romney: As ye sow, so shall ye reap
“I will be with you on your wedding-night.” – Frankenstein’s Monster Well, it looks like Romney has caught up with Santorum in one way. The website http://www.spreadingromney.com is working to introduce a new word into the language. Just as Santorum in now best known as the frothy fecal matter accompanying anal sex (or something like […]
Eager Keynesians vandalise and loot stores across Britain in order to stimulate economy
Samuel Maynard Hicks is a skinny and shy-looking youngster, yet his eyes burn with fervour in a face mottled with ash and dust. His fingers are blackened; soot and grime mark out his fingernails as his hands twist a dog-eared copy of “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money” by John Maynard Keynes. “It […]
NASA, American exceptionalism, and me: older, and less viable
Fourth in a series As a child turning teen in the late 1950s, the black-and-white RCA in the living room received only three channels … well, four, but we didn’t watch PBS. So I read. Newspapers, of course (after Dad finished sports and Mom finished news). And books. The library was only two blocks away, […]
The nation's 120,000 dams: Much more inspection, repair needed
As Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin sang solo in the nearby Dodge Theatre, 750 million gallons of water from the 16-foot-deep Tempe Town Lake near Phoenix roared through a burst dam at up to 15,000 cubic feet per second. Fortunately, no one died; no significant property damage occurred. Eight dam sections made of inflatable rubber […]
Drive with care over those 151,394 obsolete, unsafe bridges
Each day that I drive the 11 miles from my house to the university, I cross nine of America’s 601,396 bridges (as of 2008). Those nine are not likely to collapse. I have seen each replaced or rehabilitated in the last 10 years. But you may not be as fortunate. You may need to drive […]
S&R Honors
Click here to learn more about past honorees...- S&R Fiction: “The Treehouse,” by Aimee Stahlberg
- 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
- 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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wilywascal: Overcoming the knee-jerk reaction using logic may …
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Frank Dilatush: The Israelis might dispute your foundation argumen…
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My final word on Oakwood? | Lack of Environment: […] theScholars and Rogues website, Brian A…
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