Book review: The past and future of work
on Feb 7, 2010 in ArtSunday Book Reviews education technology Arts Arts and Crafts movement Boing Boing books Cory Doctorow crafts David Noble Forces of Production Front Porch Republic George Anders Hannah Arendt Matthew B. Crawford Makers Merchants of Debt reviews Richard Sennett shop class Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work The Craftsman The Enlightenment Wendell Berry The Craftsman, by Richard Sennett Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work, by Matthew B. Crawford Makers, by Cory Doctorow Years ago, when we lived in the middle of New Jersey, I managed to get myself elected to the local school bo...

S&R asks: What are your 2010 gardening plans?
on Feb 6, 2010 in environment food and drink gardening gardening advice S&R asks Those of you living in the South may already be at full speed in putting your garden out, but with D.C. predicting 20 inches of snow (which apparently requires apocalypse level preparation) and the still non-robotic groundhog predicting six more week...

Competition
on Feb 4, 2010 in humor sports Competition ping pong Not long ago, a reader (not my therapist) asked me why I am the way I am. “What do you mean?“ I asked back. “Because like everyone, there are two of me: the good me and the evil me. Which one are you interested in?” “The evil you first,”...

Exclusive: How corporations secretly move millions to fund political ads
on Feb 4, 2010 in Supreme Court advertising business campaign finance corporate governance elections free speech journalism news policy public interest Brad Jacobson chamber of commerce Citizens United corporate money laundering disclosure provisions express advocacy ads FEC investigative reporting issue ads Raw Story trade associations The Supreme Court’s seismic January ruling that corporations are free to spend unlimited amounts of their profits to advertise for or against candidates may have been the latest shakeup of campaign finance – but gaping holes already allow corpora...

Three of four misconduct allegations against Michael Mann found to be without merit (updated)
on Feb 3, 2010 in ClimaTweet environment global warming media new media news politics science American Spectator Anthony Watts climate disruption climateaudit climategate conspiracies CRU DeSmogBlog Eli Rabett Fox News Gerald North hockey stick Huffington Post james delingpole Kevin Grandia media spin Michael Mann Michelle Malkin National Academy of Sciences NRDC Penn State University Pete Altman PSU Science Magazine steve mcintyre Steve Milloy Swifthack Union of Concerned Scientists University of East Anglia Washington Examiner Wattsupwiththat Update: I’ve added a few more examples of spin and accusations of bias against PSU as well as some good reporting examples that were not posted as of last night. After the CRU emails were released in November, 2009, there was widespread accusat...

What’s It Wednesday
on Feb 3, 2010 in What's It Wednesday ...

Carlyfornication
on Feb 3, 2010 in advertising campaign finance politics California Carly Fiorina Sarah Palin Hoo boy – if this is a sign of campaign ads to come, Californy is the place you oughta be… Click here to view the embedded video. By the way, all that bitchin’ great stuff that Carly Fiorina has done (vaguely alluded to right there...

Climate disruption will likely be worse due to insufficient soil nitrogen
on Feb 2, 2010 in ClimaTweet Nature environment global warming science AR4 carbon dioxide climate change climate disruption CO2 crops CSIRO ecosystems extratropics fertilizer fixed nitrogen forests greenhouse IPCC nitrogen nitrogen fixation phosphorus plant food plants potash potassium soil nutrients tropics WG1 Ying-Ping Wang When you plant a garden, you need good dirt, seeds, water, and some kind of fertilizer, whether it be manure, compost, mulch, or granules you buy from your local nursery. Anyone who’s gardened for more than a few years knows that it’s go...

The madding crowd
on Feb 2, 2010 in politics bullshit Chicago School David Boaz Elaine Kamarck free markets Milton Friedman Milton Friedman's dementia neo-liberalism Obama The Economist unicorn farts Oh god, if this is what The Economist is going to pass off as informed debate then letting my subscription lapse was an incredibly wise financial and emotional decision. I have to wonder if people like Boaz and Kamarck get their jobs because of or in...

Scott McCarron needs to run for office
on Feb 1, 2010 in sports golf PGA Phil Mickelson Scott McCarron USGA wiretapping File under “T” for “thanks for clearing that up”: Despite reports to the contrary, Scott McCarron would like to clear up his thoughts on Phil Mickelson: He never called his fellow player a “cheater.” In a statement...