I’ve written several appreciations of Lord Byron, our first Scrogue, over the years for S&R. In one of these, entitled, “Byron’s Birthday,” I mentioned that his lordship’s heart was buried in Greece. Today I received the following comment on that post: Kathryn January 22, 2013 at 1:36 am As current Rector of the Church where Byron is buried, I […]
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Two years adrift in the blogosphere and no land in sight
We have just marked my second anniversary as a blogger. It’s not clear what I thought I was getting into when I approached S&R for a tryout. But over the last two years I have produced 85 posts. An average post is about 800 words, so that’s close to 70,000 words, a respectable book. It […]
Welcome to the new Scholars & Rogues
You’re probably noticing that we’ve painted the place and put up some new drapes. The migration to our new host (actually, our old host – we’ve moved back to WordPress.com where we started in 2007) has been in the works for months. But it’s been a bit of a task, and I’d like to offer massive […]
Oh, how far telephones have come: remembering life in 14th century Hooterville
By Patrick Vecchio The most underappreciated aspect of cellphones is that they provide today’s communications students with real-time demonstrations of how far telephone technology has evolved. Take long-distance calls, for instance. A generation or two of cellphone users don’t know that you used to have to make such calls through an operator—a faceless woman (always […]
Quick note on the Aurora shooting
As some of our readers are aware, several S&R staffers live in the Denver area, and Managing Editor Mike Sheehan in particular lives very close to the site of the theater shootings in Aurora. I’m guessing most of my colleagues here have been hearing from friends and family around the country wanting to make sure […]
Giving 'quote approval' to politicans an act of editorial surrender
Reporters learn their craft in several ways. One is imitation. Another is instruction by a teacher. Another is instruction by experience. The lessons taught by each may be widely dissimilar. But lately, imitation and instruction by experience, unleavened by common sense, have produced poor journalism. That ill serves readers. Much harrumping by media critics has […]
How to be a five-star commenter
When I told my friend Marcus, who edits a major magazine, that I’d signed on at a blogging site, he shook his head. “OK, but the first thing you better do is to uncheck the box that says ‘Allow Comments.’” “What do you mean?” I protested. “That’s the beauty of the blogging. Instantaneous feedback. A […]
Instant analysis: Amendment One passage in North Carolina is the battle that lost the war for conservatives
Let’s go ahead and call it. It’s 9:47 on the east coast, and with 54% of precincts reporting, North Carolina’s anti-LGBT Amendment One is passing by better than a 60-40 margin. “Pro-marriage” social conservatives are undoubtedly hailing this as a major victory for the “family” and the “sanctity of marriage,” but from where I sit […]
Zombies vs. Cheerleaders
Science fiction is full of tales of unfettered research gone awry. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. H. G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Invisible Man. Them! The Fly. Help me, help me! For me, it’s Zombies Versus Cheerleaders. My research has led me into the realm of comics, and so far, it’s been fruitful territory. […]
Scholars & Rogues turns five: thanks for joining us
On April 16, 2007, Scholars & Rogues went live, featuring a post by Gavin Chait (Unlearning helplessness: how donors reinforce poverty and dependency) and one by me on Joe Wilson’s speech at the Conference on World Affairs (where he said that Fred Thompson belonged to the “treason faction of the Republican Party”). Some highlights: We […]
Mark Twain and public discourse
The prevailing argument among our brilliant crew of writers here at S&R lately over our public discourses v. those of our opponents goes something like this: some of us want to take the high road in public discussion of the issues; some of us want to go into the same attack dog mode that our […]
S&R and the marketplace of ideas: yes, Dorothy, sometimes people disagree…in public, even!
Earlier this morning Chris offered up a post entitled “Why are environmentalists missing a mild-weather opportunity?” It raises a pragmatic point about how the climate “debate” plays out in the public sphere and is well worth a read. Go ahead – I’ll wait. Predictably – and by “predictably,” I mean that last night I e-mailed […]
Kerry grandstands; The Boston Globe cheerleads
Sen. John Kerry’s decision to not meet with “a whole bunch of lobbyists right now” and not fundraise while serving on Congress’ deficit-reduction “supercommittee” fails to impress. And the story by his hometown cheerleader, The Boston Globe,” equally fails to impress. The Massachusetts Democrat may have scored a few points with voters. But his decision […]
S&R Honors
Click here to learn more about past honorees...- “Where Girls Grow Strong” – and Boy Scouts follow
- Atheists in heaven? Vatican spin machine leaps into action
- I-5 bridge collapse: reflecting on our crumbling infrastructure
- UPDATED: Pope Francis says atheists can go to heaven: Sweet Jesus! The College of Cardinals done elected a hippie
- Magic Hat vs. West Sixth brewhaha: will MH win the battle that costs them the war?
- 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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dmitry solovyev: I am russian and about because of two cruel war be…
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Lex: That's what i say when people quote the Bible, sin…
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geral sosbee (@gsosbee): Thanks for the report; pls see a few of mine which…
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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 […]