A vision of students today: the out-of-touch geezer perspective
Our friend Ubertramp sent along this little video, which certainly provides food for thought: There’s much to empathize with here.
Read moreNew polls revive electability questions for Hillary
I’ve been saying for months now that Hillary Clinton is the only chance the Republicans have in 2008, and some new polls raise the electability question all over again. First, a new Zogby online poll “shows Democrat Hillary Clinton of New York would lose to every one of the top five Republican presidential contenders.” Her main opponents at present, Barack
Read moreThank god for Wal*Mart
Wow. How bad are things in Cleveland, anyway? As the world’s largest private employer, Wal-Mart is used to being greeted by large numbers of applicants almost every time it opens a new store. But the 6,000-plus people who applied for jobs at the new Supercenter in Cleveland’s Steelyard Commons took everyone, even Wal-Mart, by surprise. “We had to recount [the
Read moreSatuday Video Roundup: Chicks That Rock, part deux
Three weeks ago we devoted Saturday Video Roundup to “Chicks That Rock.” Then we did an edition on some of the top male artists of 2007. My wife wanted to know why I included a number of male vids but only three from female artists. Good point, that. So today, here are some more Chicks That Rock v.2007. We begin
Read moreA poll for your amusement
Verse Day: an ode to banality and the poetry of consensus
We live in an unfortunate age artistically. There is more freedom than ever, more tools for creation, more outlets to publish and display, but we have largely used this freedom to fetishize banality. The great leveling, as it were – everybody is an artist, everything is poetry. When I entered my Master’s program at Iowa State the prof who would
Read moreThe Daily Brushback: excuse me, Sen. Clinton?
Today we introduce a new feature at S&R. In The Daily Brushback we’ll pose a question to a person famous or infamous that we wish someone in the mainstream media actually had the cojones to ask. We don’t expect answers, of course, but that’s never a reason not to ask. And since we have no “access” to risk losing, we
Read moreThe Net Neutrality debate gets fugly
I’m not 100% sure whether this is an argument for Net neutrality or against it, but it has to be seen. I have to go scrub my eyeballs with Clorox now. Thanks (?) to Lara Velarde for passing this on.
Read moreThe banshee screams for loon meat: Warren Jeffs heads to the bighouse
The gig is up for Warren Jeffs. ST. GEORGE, Utah (Reuters) – U.S. polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed “prophet” of a sect of breakaway Mormons, was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 years to life in prison for having forced a 14-year-old girl to marry her first cousin.The leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or
Read moreThere is no opposition party in Washington
In describing the Democratic response to Bush’s sabre-rattling toward Iran, Power of Narrative’s Arthur Silber summed things up neatly: They don’t object because — they don’t object. The only thing wrong with Silber’s assessment is that it was limited to Iran. In truth, you could just as easily use those seven succinct words to characterize the Democratic Party in general.
Read moreSaturday Video Roundup: ’tis the (shopping) season
Welcome to another edition of Saturday Video Roundup. This week we take a look a holiday gift ideas. Specifically, bad holiday gift ideas. Let’s start with by reviewing the #1 item on my Do Not Want list.
Read moreThe sorry state of skepticism in St. Louis
A colleague has notified me that I’m under indictment by a previously unknown blog calling itself the St. Louis Skeptical Society, a site that “was founded on October 11, 2007 by a handful of physics graduate students in order to promote skepticism and science.” These enterprising students have taken exception to my earlier thoughts on democracy in America, concluding that
Read moreReal heroes refuse to shut up and sing
A few weeks ago I watched The US vs. John Lennon, a documentary chronicling the extraordinary lengths the American government went to in order to silence an artist who had the audacity to speak out against corruption and injustice. Of course, Lennon came from an age when artists did that sort of thing, and he wasn’t the only musician to
Read moreSaturday Video Roundup: All the young dudes of 2007
Last week on SVR we looked at some of 2007’s top female artists, so this week it seemed appropriate to offer props to some of the guys responsible for outstanding CDs this year. We’ll start with CD of the Year candidate The Good, the Bad & the Queen, fronted by former Blur and Gorillaz auteur Damon Albarn, who’s shaping up
Read moreAre Americans smart enough to vote?
I recently offended some people, quite unintentionally, with my modest suggestion that perhaps it wasn’t in the best interests of the nation to hand over so much decision-making power to people who aren’t informed about the issues and their own system of government. (Responses ranged from “thoughtful disagreement” to what I believe is referred to as a “galloping hissy fit.”)
Read more
