In a recent post, Sammy made the insightful argument that Richard Nixon was our last liberal president. You could make an equally good case that he was also simultaneously our first Tea Party president. That the twisted labyrinthine soul of Dick Nixon was a scale model of the schizophrenic society we have now become.

And the real question is: Did Dick make us what we are today, or was he simply a portent of a future we now live in, or perhaps even worse, was he somehow a political version of the Terminator, a creature sent back into the past to shape that future, now our current world?

I know what you’re thinking. “Brother, don’t eat the brown acid. I repeat, don’t eat the brown acid.” Don’t worry. I am sitting comfortably in room 925 at the Westin in Wheeling, Illinois, straight and sober. The brown acid, what’s left of it, is stashed in the back of the freezer of the editor that let Dick Cheney have the front page of USA Today to flog his sorry book. So hang with me here. Full story »

The land between two cities sometimes makes for the most interesting places to explore. Though the 427 miles of land along the route between Little Rock, Arkansas and New Orleans, Louisiana may require a more intense search to support this theory, my brother, Dan, and I found ourselves still entertained by these lonely miles of countryside.

It all started during our hour-long exit from Little Rock. Because of the detours and lack of road signs, we found ourselves driving down a wooded backroad with not a soul, car or house in sight…not a soul, that is, besides a brown, mid-sized dog trotting down the road toward us wearing a collar and leash around his neck. Full story »

Last week, Sady Doyle published a protracted rant against George RR Martin’s Song of Ice & Fire series at TigerBeatdown.com. My initial reaction was that while her piece was certainly stylishly composed, the level of intellectual rigor informing it was lacking. Acacia Graddy-Gamel, commenting in an online discussion thread earlier this afternoon, put it this way: “the Doyle piece is everything I absolutely hate about feminist or postmodern critique in that it is just as insular, smug, narrow-minded and condescending as the hegemonic structures they’re railing against.” I don’t want to be that harsh, but I can understand her frustration.  Full story »

Sounds like a dream ticket, actually. The Kew Bridge Steam Museum, one of London’s little treasures, has been having an exhibition of Steampunk art, which ended this weekend. After this, the bulk of it will be heading up to Lincoln for the big annual Steampunk festival there in September. Actually, much of it looked familiar, and indeed, quite a bit of it was also at the Steampunk exhibit up in Oxford last year we wrote about.
Full story »

by Hannah Frantz

I am safely in Kigali, Rwanda.

I’m sitting here in my room at the hotel listening to soft thunder and watching pouring rain drench the city that spreads out in front of me. I spent the last two days in a guesthouse connected with St. Paul’s, a small church in Kigali. I say guesthouse mostly because I don’t know what else to call it. I suppose if it was in the United States we would call it a motel, but considering it’s connected to a church I’m not sure how to describe it. Anyway, it was definitely a simple set up – very small beds with a sink and communal showers/ toilets. Now we’re at Moucecore which is basically the same idea, but a little bit nicer. Both here and at St. Paul’s they’ve kept detailed logs about who enters/exits the compound, and there are regularly guards that remain at the gates and keep them locked. Today the rest of my program arrives, and we will stay here through orientation and then meet our host families on Thursday. Full story »

I think my feelings about Tim Tebow – the man and the quarterback – are well established by now. It may therefore come as a surprise to hear me say this. But I believe the Denver Broncos should make #15 their starting quarterback for the 2011-12 season and should commit to sticking with him, no matter what happens. Here’s my reasoning.

Let’s begin with an assumption: it is the goal of an NFL franchise to win the Super Bowl. As quickly and frequently as possible. I think most of us who aren’t Mike Brown can agree on that. Given this assumption, the Doncs’ brain trust of John Elway, John Fox and Brian Xanders have a task that revolves around a lone consideration: How soon can they plausibly expect to compete for a title? Full story »

I only enjoy adventurous travel with a few people, but my brother, Dan, is one of them. We travel well together, because we can change plans last minute, make no plans at all, and get pulled over on a famous Central Tennessee parkway then laugh about it while forging ahead to find an alternate route.

Upon leaving Nashville during our week-long adventure south, we received a recommendation to drive the Natchez Trace Parkway, a 444-mile scenic route we had never heard of and spent all day learning to pronounce (turns out, it’s “Na-chiz” if you talk like a true Southerner). Though we already had plans to see Memphis later that afternoon, the Parkway seemed well worth a three-hour detour along the way. Full story »

by Andrea Breemer Frantz

A semester isn’t a lifetime.

But it is enough time to change a life.

***

I put my only child on a plane this morning—the first of three flights that will take her to Kigali, Rwanda, where she plans to study community building and social justice issues for a semester.

Hannah is 20, an English major at a small, liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, and among the more mature, independent women of her age I’ve known. And yes, I readily admit I’m not objective on that issue.

Nonetheless, my equilibrium felt decidedly off when I watched her disappear into the crowd beyond airport security this morning. Full story »

I’m heading out for a friend’s all-day bachelor party event here in a few minutes. Back when I was DJing I did a lot of wedding receptions, and I always made sure to play three songs. Somehow, I never got punched once. So in honor of my buddy’s upcoming nuptials, here’s a matrimonial threefer.

First, I knew the bride when she used to rock and roll.

Full story »

First in a series

As a result of the illegal publication of CRU climate emails, the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) conducted an inquiry and investigation into allegations of research misconduct by Professor Michael Mann. The University exonerated Mann of all four allegations in July 2010, but the National Science Foundation Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews such investigations for completeness and correctness. On August 15, 2011, the OIG released the results of their own review, agreeing with all of the conclusions of the PSU investigation and subsequently acquitting Mann of all the allegations of research misconduct made against him.

PSU published the results of an their internal investigation into alleged research misconduct by climatologist Michael Mann on July 1, 2010. As S&R reported, the university’s conclusions were that Mann did not falsify data over the course of his research, that he did not destroy any emails in possible breach of the Freedom of Information Act, that he did not misuse his position or abuse confidentiality agreements, and that he did not deviate from accepted practices of conduct for his field. Full story »

It’s 95 degrees and humid. We cannot stop sweating. I’m in shorts, a tank top and flip flops, so I cannot imagine what the people wearing cowboy boots must feel like. Maybe they’re all just more accustomed to this Nashville, Tennessee weather than we are.

Nashville may be the happiest place on earth for someone whose favorite things include alcoholic beverages and country music. Most of the city’s entertainment revolves around bars and live music, so anyone who enjoys this combination has a good chance of enjoying Nashville. Non-country music fans can still enjoy relaxing with a cold beer (or double jack and coke, as the middle-aged gentleman next to me ordered yesterday) among the various age groups of bar visitors along Lower Broadway, a four-block part of town lined with bars, restaurants and businesses. Full story »

We all have our favorite artists and songs and albums. Even those of us who listen to a lot of different styles and have thousands of CDs in our collections undoubtedly have a few we keep coming back to more than others. While I have never really had this discussion with anyone, I imagine that there are all kinds of reasons why certain songs and collections draw us back.

The albums I have listened to the most would surprise most people, I suspect. Those who know me would probably think I’ve spun U2′s War or Unforgettable Fire the most, or REM’s Reckoning, or maybe one of the Police’s CDs. Maybe even something by Queen. And they’d be close, because I have in fact played the hell out of those albums. My original copy of A Night at the Opera - back in the days of the vinyl LP – was so worn I was expecting the needle to carve completely through the record at any moment.

Full story »

by Hannah Frantz

Editor’s Note: Hannah Frantz is a junior at Gettysburg College. This semester she is studying abroad in Kigali, Rwanda and has agreed to share some of her experiences with the Scholars & Rogues community.

_____

Today I get to start taking my malaria pills, which means that I’ll be flying out to go to Rwanda in two days! Yesterday I finished my assignment and today I finished my shopping, so I suppose that means that I’m ready to go. All that’s left is actually putting everything into a giant suitcase! Hm…it sounds so simple…

I’ve noticed a couple things as I’m getting ready to go. Full story »

The accents and humidity are becoming thicker. Words are becoming both shorter and more drawn out. Odd stares have led me to believe my vegetarian habits are becoming less common. We are approaching the South.

Today’s trek began at our cousin’s home in Louisville, Kentucky and ended at a $60 Days Inn in Knoxville, Tennessee. We stepped foot in three states today – the third on a drive through Cumberland Gap National Historic Park at the juncture where Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia meet. At one point, we straddled the state line between Kentucky and Tennessee while overlooking the Appalachian Mountain region in Virginia. I never imagined Kentucky to stretch so far east. In fact, our road trip through the Midwest has kept us on east coast time most of the journey so far.

We hit many of the hotspots in Louisville, including the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, Steamboat Belle along the Riverwalk and Churchill Downs, an establishment that left me nearly speechless just from staring at its impressive size from the parking lot.

Full story »

This just in:

CBS Sports game analyst Randy Cross believes Tebow haters are bashing him for his outspoken Christian opinions.

“People, especially the media, root against him because of what he stands for,” said Cross.

The 3-time Super Bowl champ added: “My personal belief is there are people in the media, people in the stands, who are predisposed to see a guy like that fail…Just because he’s so public about the way he feels.”

My gut response is to mock Cross for being a barking gongbat. Full story »

It’s official. I no longer live in Chicago. I currently don’t live anywhere, actually. For the next week, I will be homeless, bouncing around from couches to hotels to spare bedrooms. Last night, I even slept on couch cushions (minus the couch) on the floor of my own empty Chicago apartment. As it turns out, moving sometimes brings unexpected twists to set plans.

Today, my brother, Dan, and I set off for our road trip south from Chicago to New Orleans. Since neither of us have seen any land between the two cities before, we decided to make my city-to-city move an adventure. And what an adventure it has already been.

In the past two days, I have learned that my life fits on a 12-foot Penske truck, condo building rules annoy me and my cat does not like other cats…particularly other male cats named Sparkle.

Full story »

I am in the room where I teach. You stop at the door and knock.

“Come in,” I say. You stride in and sit in the chair next to me. The phone in your hand chirps. You glance at it, then at me. I frown. You sigh and put your phone in your pack.

“What can I do for you?” I ask.

“I want to write well,” you say. “How do I do that?”

I nod. “How much do you read?” I ask.

“Not a lot,” you say.

“Why do you not read more?” I say.

“I do not like to read,” you say. “It takes too much time.”

“That is too bad,” I say.

“Why?” you ask.
Full story »