From The Daily Beast, the best story I've seen on the remarkably successful Bank Transfer Day action, which went from an idea to billions of dollars in accounts transferred in a matter of weeks: Kristen Christian was feeling more than a little fed up with the county’s big banks when a month ago today sheContinue reading “Bank Transfer Day: The Insta-Protest Pays Off”
Monthly Archives: November 2011
Prediction fulfilled: Keystone probably delayed indefinitely
As predicted a couple of days ago: Obama administration "considering a move" to delay decision on the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The hope, apparent in this Los Angeles Times story, is that the pipeline proves too controversial to survive a transparent vetting. From Neela Banerjee's story, which should make the front page. "TheContinue reading “Prediction fulfilled: Keystone probably delayed indefinitely”
Glee: Best TV show ever? A neuroscientific perspective
About ten years ago, while pursuing a story on the roots of depression, I tracked down the great scientist Jaak Panksepp, originator of the field of affective — that is, emotional — neuroscience, and he kindly let me interview him over the phone for half an hour. Panksepp has spent years studying the physiology ofContinue reading “Glee: Best TV show ever? A neuroscientific perspective”
Now with the forecast tonight, our new weatherman — Tennessee Williams!
True story: In an attempt to stir up interest in Small Craft Warnings, one of his best late plays, in the l970's Tennessee Williams not only resorted to playing a character on stage, but made appearances around the New York, to attract attention and spread the word. This didn't always go well. [From Dotson Rader'sContinue reading “Now with the forecast tonight, our new weatherman — Tennessee Williams!”
Why Occupy Wall Street made Francine cry
Francine Prose explains: As far as I can understand it myself, here’s why I burst into tears at the Occupy Wall Street camp. I was moved, first of all, by what everyone notices first: the variety of people involved, the range of ages, races, classes, colors, cultures. In other words, the 99 per cent. IContinue reading “Why Occupy Wall Street made Francine cry”
Obama takes responsibility for Keystone XL: Why?
Maybe Obama isn't as calculating as he sometimes appears. Or maybe he's fighting for his political life. This impressive story by a reporter for Huffpo relates how the Keystone pipleline became a trainwreck inside the administration after the State department screwed up the environmental review. Hillary Clinton's State Department has now spent more than threeContinue reading “Obama takes responsibility for Keystone XL: Why?”
A third-rate cartoonist we just can’t forget: James Thurber
From Roger Ebert's spectacular Twitter feed, in memory of the incomparable James Thurber, classic essay/set of drawings, via the Library of America, called Lady on the Bookcase. Goes something like this… One day twelve years ago an outraged cartoonist, four of whose drawings had been rejected in a clump by The New Yorker, stormed into the office ofContinue reading “A third-rate cartoonist we just can’t forget: James Thurber”
The frustration of the long-term unemployed: The Onion
From the Pew Research Center [pdf link], the General Accounting Office [pdf link] and the Washington Post, the hard news about older unemployed people: Bad news…55 to 64-year-olds have fared worst in the recession than any other demographic. But from The Onion, the same kind of news — Matt Millen on TV simply too muchContinue reading “The frustration of the long-term unemployed: The Onion”
We are the new PETM: National Geographic
Their headline is a little less wonky: Hothouse Earth. No matter — it's still a typically great National Geographic story. Just how much carbon was injected into the atmosphere during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM, as scientists now call the fever period, is uncertain. But they estimate it was roughly the amount that wouldContinue reading “We are the new PETM: National Geographic”
Kit Stolz 