The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Michael Wolraich's picture

    What's the Matter With Mormons?

    By Michael Wolraich on Thu, 01/26/2012 - 4:46pm | Politics, Religion

    Last week, blogger MuddyPolitics wrote a piece that took a swipe at Mitt Romney for his Mormon faith. The article provoked a passionate debate, one that is likely being repeated in various forms across the country this election season.

    The question is this: Should we consider Romney's religious beliefs when assessing his fitness for the presidency?

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Religion
    Donal's picture

    New #1 After Australian Final

    By Donal on Thu, 01/26/2012 - 10:45am | Sports

    Women's tennis will have a new #1 next week, and the current top-ranked player, Caroline Wozniacki, will drop to #4 in the WTA rankings. A lot of scenarios were possible before the semis, but now that third seed Victoria Azarenka and fourth seed Maria Sharapova are to play the finals, the winner will also secure the #1 ranking.

    According to a contributor at Yahoo, if Azarenka wins, the points will stand at:
    1. Victoria Azarenka 8585
    2. Petra Kvitova 7690
    3. Maria Sharapova 7560
    4. Caroline Wozniacki 7085

    Topics: 
    Sports

    The NY Giants will win the Super Bowl

    By HSG on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 11:27pm | Sports

    If I were a betting man, and I'm not, I'd bet the house on the Giants beating the spread which currently has them 3 point underdogs versus the Patriots.  In fact, I'm very confident that they will win the Super Bowl.  For the life of me, I can't figure out how the Patriots are favored.  Okay, I can.  Tom Brady. 

    Topics: 
    Sports
    Michael Maiello's picture

    America's People Can't Have Jobs Because They're People

    By Michael Maiello on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 6:20pm | Politics

    Today, in my purely masochistic Thomas Friedman reading ritual, I followed a link to a long (and well written) article called "Apple, America and a Squeezed Middle Class," that I recommend to you because of the truth that it quietly reveals:

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Ramona's picture

    Out with the Good and In with the Bad: It's Just So Yesterday

    By Ramona on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 5:32pm | Politics
     

    Here it is nearing the end of January and at long last, after 17 Republican debates--count 'em, 17!--we're down to two actual contenders and a couple of valiant bench-warmers. While Ron Paul and Rick Santorum work hard to make some headway, it looks like it's Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, neck and neck, fighting it out for a chance to clobber the current White House occupant and show this country what a real president looks like.
     

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Donal's picture

    Operation Plowshare

    By Donal on Mon, 01/23/2012 - 11:58am | Technology

    I just added Operation Plowshare to the long list of stuff I never knew about.

    Following links, I ended up at 1967 Recklessness in PA Equals Destruction? at How Should We Do the Mountain blog:

    In hindsight, the plan seems impossibly audacious: Explode a 24-kiloton atomic bomb in the thick shale beneath the Sproul State Forest near State College to create a massive cavern for storing natural gas. Known as Project Ketch, it was a partnership between the Columbia Gas System Service Corp. and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, which was hungry to find peaceful purposes for nuclear technology. (Another commission brainchild of the era: to nuke its way across Panama to create a second canal.)

    Back then, Harrisburg had the red carpet out for any nuclear project, no matter how bizarre, and the proposal caught on. Why not put all that empty forest land to good use? Pennsylvania could cash in big, because the industry and the AEC hoped to detonate as many as 1,000 nuclear bombs to allow gas storage in the Northeast.

    While the plan had the blessing of lawmakers from downstream districts along the Susquehanna, the reception wasn’t as enthusiastic upstream. Among those opposed were the residents of Renovo, which was ground zero for Project Ketch.
    Topics: 
    Technology
    Doctor Cleveland's picture

    Gingrich and "Protecting Barack Obama"

    By Doctor Cleveland on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 10:42pm | Politics

    So, Newt Gingrich is getting all kinds of media love after blasting the media in Thursday's debate, and saying that he's "tired of the elite media protecting Barack Obama by attacking Republicans," for example by reporting on things that Republicans running for President have actually said and done. I mean, the "elite media" hasn't fact-checked anything Barack Obama has said in a Presidential debate since before he was elected!

    Topics: 
    Politics
    William K. Wolfrum's picture

    Stop Animal Abuse in Brazil – Crueldade Nunca Mais – Sunday, Jan. 22

    By William K. Wolfrum on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 3:43pm | Social Justice

    On Sunday (Jan. 22), we’ll be attending the Crueldade Nunca Mais rally in Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. This is not just a nation-wide rally, but an international one, dedicated to strengthen extremely weak laws in Brazil against animal cruelty.

    Topics: 
    Social Justice
    Ramona's picture

    It's Our Anniversary, Barack's and Mine. I Hope it's not our Last

    By Ramona on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 12:23pm | Politics
     

     January 20, 2012.  Today marks the beginning of Barack Obama's fourth year as president.  Three years ago today he stood out in the cold and said, "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America."  He promised "an open government" and "a new beginning."   I've been around for many televised inaugurations, starting with JFK's when I was but a mere child/adult and, for me, this one equaled or migh

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Donal's picture

    The Man Who Fell for Fusion

    By Donal on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 12:03pm | Technology


    Back in the 1980s, no one could replicate Pons and Fleischmann's claims about cold fusion, and the idea of controlled fusion without tremendous costs became a sort of atomic snake oil. ITER's tremendously expensive controlled "hot" fusion is still decades away from practicality, but the hydrogen bomb seems to suffice as proof of concept. Cold fusion has crept back into the news, but not into peer-reviewed discussion. Skeptics attack the few articles published with a fury. Peak Oil guru Tom Whipple is used to doubt, and has followed the issue dispassionately in a handful of articles. His Cold Fusion Update discusses the current claims of Italian entrepreneur Andrea Rossi:

    Topics: 
    Technology

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