by Jane Briggs-Bunting Poor Detroit. Still reeling from a decade when the three auto companies, formerly known collectively as the Big Three, imploded with two of them taking federal loans to survive, the Motor City lost almost 25 percent of its residents, according to U.S. Census figures released this week. In its heyday in the […]
Tag Archives: public interest
America's wild horses and burros need your help!
by Jane Briggs-Bunting This year is the 40th anniversary of the Wild Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act that guaranteed some level of protection and humane treatment for the nation’s mustangs and burros. These canny horses and burros are under scrutiny once again as equine advocates are embroiled in yet another skirmish with the […]
The painted kipper (pt. 5): an end note
Part 5 in a series. In a piece about the American cult writer David Foster Wallace, who committed suicide on September 12, 2008, James Ryerson writes:
The painted kipper (pt. 3): public service vs. the brute force of money
by Michael Tracey Part 3 in a series. On 20 July 1925, Reith’s 36th birthday, the British Post-Master General, Mitchell-Thomson, informed the House of Commons that there would be a committee of inquiry into the future of the BBC chaired by the 27th Earl of Crawford and Balcarres. Reith had already raised the question of […]
Cookie sales ban lifted at Girl Scout founder's Savannah home
by Jane Briggs-Bunting Savannah’s acting city manager found a loophole in the city’s ordinance banning local Girl Scouts from selling their cookies in front of founder Juliette Gordon Low’s historic home. The loophole is another city ordinance that allows the city manager to permit sidewalk sales at city residences. Common sense did prevail. Local Girl […]
The painted kipper (pt 2): John Reith, the melancholic optimist
Part 2 in a series. The original thought in writing this piece was to “resurrect” Reith, better to point to the problems that beset the BBC today – problems that are not just about politics but more importantly about philosophical purpose and the walking away from some fundamental ideas laid down by Reith and his […]
The future of libraries, part 2
The town of Hull, Massachusetts, is a comfortable blue-collar town on the tip of a little cape off of Boston’s south shore. At one time a fashionable resort, more recently it has been dealing with a declining tax base and an increased demand for services. Still, it’s a pleasant enough place, especially in the summer, […]
For 20 years, big-time political money still flowing from the same sources
We do not know the amount of invisible money injected into politics that resulted from the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in January that permitted anonymous corporate political spending. But we can count the visible money, campaign contributions that the law requires be reported. No matter what the hot-button issue is on the public’s (er, […]
The government’s checkbook too screwed up to audit, says GAO
You know the company’s in trouble when the auditor tells the company that its bookkeeper can’t manage the company’s finances, reconcile balance sheets among different departments, or prepare credible financial statements. And you know it’s real trouble when the auditor can’t even do an audit and provide the company with a statement of its financial […]
A fond farewell to all my friends
by Terry Hargrove As 2010 draws to its dark and inevitable end, I would like to take this opportunity to say farewell to all my friends and readers at Scholars and Rogues. It was a great run, far better than I ever deserved, but it’s over now. I cannot fight the Ouija board. Let me […]
Time for America's Freddie Mercury moment: there are more than 100 gay pro athletes in the US, and the sooner they get out of the equipment closet the better
In a recent discussion on one of my political lists Sara Robinson (easily one of the brightest folks in the blogosphere) made an important point about what often causes people to migrate from socially conservative perspectives to more progressive points of view. In describing her experiences with a particular activist group that helped people leaving […]
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”
