In the immortal words of Reese Bobby, if you ain’t first, you’re last. He isn’t the only one who thinks that, either. I once listened to a radio interview as the host tried to engage Tiger Woods on the topic of his legacy, with the general thrust being “what if you don’t break Jack Nicklaus’s record for most majors?” Repeatedly
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Amendment I No political party representing at least five percent of the electorate shall be denied direct representation in the legislature. All legislative bodies shall be comprised proportionally according to the populations represented and all elected officials shall be selected by direct vote of the people. Rationale American politics is built on a two-party system, despite the fact that there
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Tomorrow morning I begin my New Constitution series, in which I set forth a blueprint for a more just, free and prosperous future for the citizens of the United States. The project is audacious, perhaps, but I have always felt that if you’re going to complain, you should perhaps offer some ideas toward a solution. And I have complained loud
Read moreIn February of 2005 we lost Hunter S. Thompson, one of the brightest lights of his generation. In eulogizing him, I concluded this way: Although I never heard him say it in these words, Hunter S. Thompson I think understood the artificial Red/Blue, Conservative/Liberal divide that most Americans seem to have bought into for the cynical construction that it is
Read moreWe launched Scholars & Rogues in April of 2007. In the six-plus years since I have been responsible for over 1,500 posts, with more than 500 of them touching upon politics (see them all here and here). Before that I led the charge at S&R’s now-defunct predecessor, The 5th Estate, and probably was doing about the same volume there that I have over the past
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Our buddy Greg Thow (one of the mainstays at S&R’s sister site 5280 Lens Mafia) and I were guests on episode #28 of the E Wilks Show last night. Okay, mainly Greg was the guest. I tagged along because I had nothing else to do. Eric and sound engineer/sidekick extraordinaire Tony are genuinely funny guys and it was an absolute
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WikiPedia’s List of Hobbies page is a long one – over 170 entries. Included are some you’d expect: cooking, birdwatching, knitting, stamp collecting, all manner of sporting activities, etc. There are also some you may not have thought of. For example: Chainmail making Conlanging (artificial language construction – think Esperanto and Klingon) Locksport (the sport or recreation that aims to
Read moreIf you haven’t see this video yet, strap in. Hilarity is a’fixin’ to ensue. SFGate has the gory details here. The key, it seems, is this part: KTVU Channel 2 News owned this breaking news story with a number of firsts! – First on-air. – First on-line. – First with alerts to mobile devices. – First on Twitter & Facebook.
Read moreEdward Snowden issued an official statement today in Moscow, and I think it’s worth a read. It begins: Hello. My name is Ed Snowden. A little over one month ago, I had family, a home in paradise, and I lived in great comfort. I also had the capability without any warrant to search for, seize, and read your communications. Anyone’s
Read moreThis post originally ran on June 6, 2011, and is being reprinted as part of S&R’s ReligionWeek series. Well, Tim Tebow’s new memoir is out, and it’s being joyously welcomed by those who think that sanctimonious 23 year-old jocks have something important to say about life. I got to hear some deep thoughts on the book and on the admirable
Read moreMayer Hawthorne’s new CD, Where Does This Door Go, is set to drop next Tuesday. Thanks to NPR, I’ve been streaming it for a few days now. If you recall, I loved his last disc: How Do You Do made my Platinum list for 2011. Okay, well, that may be overstating the case a tad, but as fun, can’t-get-that-song-out-of-my-ears ’60s
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Sometimes I have no clue what the WWE Creative team is doing. Which is appropriate, because I don’t think they do, either. Case #1: Recently the WWE made a token donation to Chris Nowinski’s organization, which is dedicated to studying and preventing Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. The gift is being made to the Sports Legacy Institute, a Boston non-profit with a mission
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Some time back I queried my network of Facebook friends with a tricky question: is it possible to be both spiritual and atheist? The discussion thread was intelligent and beyond fascinating, yielding a wide range of answers. There was a yes or two, a no or two, and quite a few it depends and qualified maybes. Ultimately I think it all
Read moreLet’s play trivia. Q: Who are George Scott, Mitchell Page, Van Kelly, Rocco Baldelli, Mike White, Hector Rodriguez, Warren Newson, Ron Jones, Ken Harvey, Gail Harris, Yasmani Grandal, Brian Giles, Bobby Darwin, Joe Cunningham, Thad Bosley, Oscar Azocar, Gus Zernial, Dan Walters, Taylor Teagarden, Dick Stuart, Shane Spencer, Dwight Smith, Bob Smith, Ryan Shealy, Kevin Roberson, Will Rhymes, Irv Noren, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Kevin
Read moreA few days ago I offered up Art Pope and Pat McCrory leading North Carolina into the 19th century, a collection of thoughts on the state I was born and raised in. The comment thread wandered a bit, as they tend to do when you say things other people don’t want to hear, and eventually one commenter – a Stan
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lullaby pit 