“If you can make a woman laugh, you’re seeing the most beautiful thing on God’s earth.” Who said it?
Tag Archives: society
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, […]
Reverse graffiti? Emerging art medium raises all kinds of interesting questions…
Okay, this is brilliant. I never heard of it until this morning and now I learn that there’s apparently a whole movement afoot, with a project and everything.
Who owns the story of the future?
Back to the British Library this evening for another interesting panel discussion as part of their Science Fiction series, this one on “Who owns the story of the future?” Given the extent to which we’ve seen the media get compromised by corporate ownership over the past two decades, at least in the US, this turns […]
“How to build your own industrial civilization”
So, what sort of machines do you need to create an industrial civilization—kind of like the ones we have now, but more sensibly sourced. I remember taking a sociology course years ago where we started out with a similar question, although we conceived the question more broadly—what does civilization as we know it rely on? […]
It hurts to be Left Behind–just ask the "base"
The comedian Colin Farrell has astutely observed that people always are quick to claim personal characteristics that are the exact opposite of who they actually are. Gregarious party-types often say, “But really, I’m very shy.” Lazy people talk about how hard they work. And of course, racists are forever making sure everyone knows that some […]
American mobility: all the places I've lived – 2011 update
If you’ve been around awhile, then yes, you have seen this item before, a couple of times. It originally posted on Jan. 25, 2008 and was updated on April 19, 2010. Unfortunately, I tend to move a lot, and it’s about to happen again. So every time I pull up the tent and head off […]
For a fine thing gone: goodbye to Jamal Place
I am heartbroken. We just got a letter from a small charity we support in Chicago, Jamal Place. Jamal Place provided social and vocational services for underprivileged young men, many of whom had some level of disability. They are closing their doors due to lack of funding. Today I am supposed to be doing what […]
A royal wedding
So, like two billion other people around the world, we’re still watching this on television. Imagine. Two billion people. That’s like, what, nearly one third of the world’s population? We have some Republican—i.e., anti-Royal—friends who are probably wondering what the appeal of this is. This is an outdated institution in this day and age, right? […]
The Geek Manifesto
This hit my email a few minutes ago, and as a proud geek myself, I just had to share. The Geek Manifesto We are geeks, and we are proud to be. We are rational; we understand cause and effect; we understand consequences; we understand loosely-coupled distributed self-organizing systems with multiple redundant communication channels.
Hard times for the pure of heart: is it possible to live ethically in modern society?
I think we’d all love to live every phase of our lives in happy accord with high moral and ethical principles. We’d love it if we were never confronted by logical contradictions and cognitive dissonance, by cases where our walk was at odds with our talk. But the truth is that we live in a […]
In Defense of "Jesus Glasses"
The facts of my case are fairly simple. Chad Farnan, a 15-year-old self-described Christian fundamentalist student in my AP History class, sued me for a “pattern” of statements unconstitutionally hostile to religion. His claim was based on hours of illegal and surreptitious recordings. In my attorney’s opinion, the law was on our side, so he advised me to seek a summary judgment. I now believe that was a critical error…
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 painted kipper: Reith, the BBC, facing Modernity (pt 1)
Editor’s Note: S&R is broadening its reach and mission so as to present our readers with more in the way of thoughtful cultural fare. Today we launch part one in a series by University of Colorado Media and Cultural Studies scholar Dr. Michael Tracey. This essay presents a critical reconsideration of the BBC’s John Reith, […]
The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter with Twain's Huck Finn
Mark Twain is rolling over in his grave. I should know: he’s buried not too far from where I live. NewSouth books has announced that it will publish a censored version of Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, paired with Tom Sawyer, that eliminates “the N-word.” That’s “nigger,” in case anyone doesn’t get it. I find the word […]
S&R Honors
Click here to learn more about past honorees...- Scholars and Rogues 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”
-
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 …
