The Sierra Nevada mountains are nowhere near as old as they look; geologically, they're shockingly young. That's the news from David Perlman, a science writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. The mountains of the Sierra Nevada are still rising, and they're a lot younger than most scientists previously thought. That's the conclusion of Earth scientists inContinue reading “The Sierras: A lot younger than they look”
Category Archives: thinking out loud
How to salve the pain of long-term unemployed: Retire
Could early retirement be even better for the long-term unemployed than marriage? A new study by a team of German economists tests a theory that suggests so. The thery posits that we all have a "identity utility," and thus the unhappiness we feel due to unemployment — which in countries like Germany and even theContinue reading “How to salve the pain of long-term unemployed: Retire”
How to live forever: become a pop music star
This year at Coachella, the late great Tupac Shakur performed live with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. You can see it for yourself: Okay, yes, it's digital trickery, employing unimaginably vast quantities of data, but still — it's pretty awesome. I'm ready to see the Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain versions, which are promised soon.Continue reading “How to live forever: become a pop music star”
The feminism of The Hunger Games: Katha Pollitt
It's cultural news when an esteemed writer/critic/poet goes head over hells for the latest in pop culture. Expresses his or her love for a work's artistry, even if a million other people love it too, even if it's making a gazillion dollars. To a believer in democracy, this ardency speaks for itself. Philosophers such as PlatoContinue reading “The feminism of The Hunger Games: Katha Pollitt”
Elizabeth Taylor: The accidental feminist
A new book titled The Accidental Feminist: How Elizabeth Taylor Raised Our Consciousness and We were Too Distracted by her Beauty to Notice argues that the movie star's explorations of gender in (National Velvet) desire (in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) and rage (in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) changed our understanding of women andContinue reading “Elizabeth Taylor: The accidental feminist”
Not everyone on the right likes Marco Rubio: Rod Dreher
Rod Dreher, a true conservative who holds some crunchy values (such as a faith in local foods, architecture respectful of traditional values, and nature) has sharp words for Marco Rubio, the young Florida senator who at a glance seems to be the veep choice most likely to help Mitt Romney: This guy, Rubio, is supposed toContinue reading “Not everyone on the right likes Marco Rubio: Rod Dreher”
Condors recover, feast on roadkill near Ojai
In an Earth Day editorial this past Sunday, the Star noted that the captive breeding program that brought the California Condor back from near extinction has become so successful that condors in Ventura County are no longer even newsworthy: It was 25 years ago this month that the last free-flying California condor was plucked fromContinue reading “Condors recover, feast on roadkill near Ojai”
Country music helps mourner find father’s ghost
If there's one thing you learn working with story ideas in the movie industry, as I did for many years, is that people, ordinary people, desperately want to hear from the realm beyond life. ("The undiscovered country," as Hamlet memorably put it, "from whose bourn no traveler returns.") Here's a spooky, memorable example from PostSecret: Continue reading “Country music helps mourner find father’s ghost”
If Barnes and Noble collapses, it’s the death of books
So argues Ted Rall, who knows a thing or two about media today and publishing: Borders and Barnes & Noble killed independent bookstores. Amazon killed Borders. Now Barnes & Noble, which sells more than 20 percent of pulp-and-ink books in the U.S., is under siege. If B&N collapses: the death of books. Cultural apocalypse. Neo-feudalism.Continue reading “If Barnes and Noble collapses, it’s the death of books”
Still w/the Midwest heatwave: Climate Change? Yes or no?
Probably yes, the recent heat wave in the Midwest can be attributed to global warming, write Stefan Rahmstorf and Dim Coumou for RealClimate. They conclude their statistical discussion with: …let’s take the most simple case of a normal distribution that is shifted towards the warm end by a given amount – say one standard deviation. Then,Continue reading “Still w/the Midwest heatwave: Climate Change? Yes or no?”
Kit Stolz 