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I can’t believe I’m saying this: Give Tebow a Chance
Tim Tebow is getting screwed, and the kid doesn’t deserve it. Now let me say hastily I am not a Tebow fan, and it’s not because he used football to sell his religion. Kurt Warner did that. Jon Kitna. Danny Kanell. June Jones. Reggie White. There’s an almost endless supply of great football players (and [...]
At least being railroaded isn’t as bad as being waterboarded
Could the charges on which former C.I.A. agent John Kiriakou are being jailed be any flimsier? You may have heard that John Kiriakou, who worked undercover and as a terrorist logistics specialist for the C.I.A. before retiring, took a plea and admitted that he violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. Scott Shane of the New [...]
Tournament of Rock IV: And the winner is….
The the final round matchup between #10 seed Meat Loaf and unseeded upstart Duran Duran saw more than 12,500 votes cast, a new Tournament of Rock record. Thanks to everyone who showed up to voice their support. Along the way we’ve had some laughs, traded some barbs, shaken our heads in disbelief at some of [...]
Evan S. Connell, RIP
Evan S. Connell, one of our best writers, passed away this past week, age 88. Connell was around for a long time, and came to some prominence on the back of the Mr. and Mrs. Bridge novels, some of the first incisive novels about American suburban life. But he had a broad reach and an [...]
S&R Honors: Ivan Toms and Lawrie Schlemmer – what we were we still are
Waiting for a miracle “How long are you prepared to wait?” I asked. It was 1991 in the Eastern Cape city of Port Elizabeth and I was in my final year of high school. Nelson Mandela had been released in 1990 with me hovering over the television, my camera on a tripod, in a futile [...]
Uganda Journal: making matooke
Because he’s back home from secondary school for the holiday, Simon is in charge of the kitchen at the Bethlehem School this month. Although only seventeen, he’s easily one of the best cooks whose food I’ve ever eaten. “In Uganda, it’s considered a disgrace for a man to cook unless he trains to be a [...]
Tournament of Rock IV FINALS: Duran Duran vs. Meat Loaf
In our second semi-final we have…no surprise whatsoever, as the Duranies just keep on coming. This time around they scored 85% of the vote to absolutely crush REO Speedwagon. We’ll see if they can now muster one final assault on Corporate Rock Mountain. And don’t tell me you had unseeded Duran Duran and #10 seed [...]
Uganda Journal: a walk to the well
The well at Nakagongo sits in a low valley, with a web of trails that lead down to it from the surrounding hillsides. It’s not an especially grueling walk and not especially steep, but it’s a five-minute hike downhill from the road. On days like today, when it rained for a couple hours in the [...]
The Earth has been heating since 1998
Recent media reports are falsely claiming that global temperatures haven’t risen for the last 16 years. They have, but it’s being masked, as a Skeptical Science-produced video illustrates.
Toilets of the world
Between August and December of 2012, I traveled from the United States to six different countries. Before I left, several people asked, “what will the toilets be like where you’re going?” I decided to let you all see for yourselves. These are the toilets I used around the world:
Uganda Journal: the double tragedies of Kasensero
The Rwanda Genocide Memorial in Kasensero sits high atop a limestone bluff that overlooks Lake Victoria, which shimmers gray-blue against the horizon a half-dozen kilometers away. In 1994, the bodies of more than 10,000 genocide victims washed up on Victoria’s shores after floating nearly a hundred kilometers downriver from the killing grounds in Rwanda. The [...]
Uganda Journal: the safari (part two of two)
The second of two parts The first thing we see on our boatride along the shores of Lake Mburo is a pair of African fish eagles, which look like streamlined bald eagles but with the white extending from the head and neck down to the chest. Our park ranger, Moses, tries to fill us in [...]
Tournament of Rock IV: REO Speedwagon vs. Duran Duran
And the Meat Loaf Express just keeps on rolling. We could look at the string of results and wonder whether he’s been so successful due to the enthusiasm of his fans or the indifference of those of his opponents. In any case, AC/DC is his latest victim and we’ll see Meat Loaf in the finals, [...]
Dr. Sammy’s Best CDs of 2012, pt 2: the Platinum LPs
It should come as no surprise that my Platinum list covers a lot of stylistic territory. Or that most listeners out there probably haven’t heard of a number of these acts – most of the best music being made these days plays for far smaller audiences than it deserves. Still, artists are going to express [...]
Uganda Journal: the safari (part one of two)
The colonial King of Ankole, Omugabe, loved his impala. The capital of Uganda, Kampala, had been named for the graceful antelopes—but the growing population in the city began to squeeze the impala out of their habitat, and they were being hunted relentlessly. The king knew he had to protect the impala he so dearly loved. [...]
A roundtable: Is the Taliban losing?
A panel of experts looks at the U.S. and NATO end game in Afghanistan. Cross-posted from the Foreign Policy in Focus Blog Focal Points. Recent coverage of Afghanistan by Newsweek-slash-the Daily Beast has been illuminating. On December 30 Sami Yousafzai and Ron Moreau wrote: A shroud of anxiety hangs over the coming year in Afghanistan. [...]
