The independently minded political animal always wrestles with times of transition, and the changeover from the Bush to Obama regimes has been worse than most. During the Dubya years it was easy to identify the enemy and to hate him with a blinding passion. Sweet Jesus, George II and his sidekick, The Dick Cheney, played their roles with less nuance
Read moreWhen teaching writing and communications, you always stress a basic lesson: show, don’t tell. In the spirit of showing, not telling, what I mean by show, don’t tell, I offer the following two examples. First, from TPM:
Read moreCNN reported last week on a new study showing that liberalism, atheism and sexual exclusivity in males are linked to higher IQ scores. The findings are intriguing, for all the obvious reasons. Evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa at the the London School of Economics and Political Science correlated data on these behaviors with IQ from a large national U.S. sample and
Read moreThe move is afoot to add pole-dancing to the Olympics. No, I’m not making that up, and no, I’m not talking about what happens every Saturday night in clubs all over Warsaw. If you’ve suffered through “athletic” competitions like synchronized swimming (Busby Berkeley choreography in water), curling (there’s a pregnant woman on the Canadian team) and ice dancing (really, wouldn’t
Read moreIn case you missed it, Toyota seems to have developed a little public relations problem. And, like most PR issues, this one ultimately has very little to do with PR. Instead, the company, which was once famed for quality, seems to have fallen into one of the most common traps in the book – it grew too fast. At least,
Read moreComplete this sentence: “When opportunity knocks, _________________.” I was pretty hard on Bode Miller after his no-show in Torino four years ago, about as hard as I’ve ever been on anyone who wasn’t in a position of political authority. Looking back, I don’t regret a word of it. He established himself as the archetype of American sports marketing, and his
Read moreFinally, after all these months, Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods is going to apologize. To you, to me, and to all the other people around the world that he cheated on. I know, I know, it’s not really his fault. He has an addiction. To cocktail waitresses (I think this is on page 486 of the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual V,
Read moreOne of our original scrogue colleagues has passed away. Martin Bosworth, who helped us found Scholars & Rogues in April of 2007, was a central member of our community for our first year. He wrote frequently and energetically about progressive political issues of all sorts, and had a particular expertise in Internet policy issues. His death is a significant loss
Read moreColorado is a beautiful place and it always ranks right at the top of those most desirable places to live rankings (heck, a new poll says the People’s Republic of Boulder is the happiest place in America), but be clear about one thing before you pack up the family to head this way: a consistent voting majority of our citizens
Read moreOkay, help me out here. Last night I was watching the Men’s Moguls competition from Vancouver. Absolutely fantastic fun, lots of drama, the thrill of victory, apeshit Canadians, etc. But this particular event, probably moreso than anything this side of parkour, drives me bonkers. (No, figure skating and synchronized swimming aren’t sports. Anytime you can trigger controversy because your tutu
Read moreAnd even though It all went wrong I’ll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah In Saturday’s tribute to Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili I noted the heartwrenching beauty of kd lang’s rendition of “Hallelujah” at the Olympic opening ceremonies in Vancouver on Friday night. I’ve long thought Leonard Cohen’s masterpiece, which binds together untold
Read moreOkay, help me out here. Last night I was watching the Men’s Moguls competition from Vancouver. Absolutely fantastic fun, lots of drama, the thrill of victory, apeshit Canadians, etc. But this particular event, probably moreso than anything this side of parkour, drives me bonkers. (No, figure skating and synchronized swimming aren’t sports. Anytime you can trigger controversy because your tutu
Read moreThere’s a train rolling to a stop just outside of town. It’s a long train, and each flatbed carries 20 dumpsters. Each dumpster is filled to overflowing with nuclear waste and flaming grease. As the copter shot pulls away the final credits roll over the first few bars of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” We can
Read moreWelcome to a special Valentine’s Day edition of TunesDay. Today, let’s celebrate the glory of love (although, if it’s all the same to you, we’ll do it without celebrating “The Glory of Love”). First, The Fabs remind us what really matters.
Read moreThere is no good way to die, especially when you’re only 21.
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