This is why I love politics! Every so often, someone will do something you don't expect and leave everyone scrambling. In this case, it is Obama, and he has decided to call on Congress to debate and vote on military intervention in Syria. Apparently he has the authority (I guess as Commander-In-Chief??) to pursue action without Congressional ( Read more... )

Things over there in Syria are getting really intense really quickly. It's really alarming on all accounts- the fact of chemical weapons use, and the sheer scale of death and refugee creation in general, Iran and Israel's posturing (most people seem to ignore the roll Israel and its rhetoric plays in the constant brinksmanship over there), Russia's ( Read more... )

You've no doubt seen Miley Cyrus's performance at the VMAs, or at least heard about it to the point of nausea. She's been called "sick," "disturbed," and diseased. Diseased really gets me- she must have some sort of STI if she's acting like this. Because of course her actions on stage, at an event long known- and even anticipated- for its ( Read more... )

The New York Times posted this today. The 4th Circuit Court (the federal court) ruled that journalist James Risen can be forced to testify against a source. The case shares many elements with more well-known ones, noticeably Snowden (I had been trying to get a post about him together for weeks now) and Bradley Manning, whose court martial is ( Read more... )

With the Sarah Murgahan situation concluding, I just wanted to pop in and give my personal opinion. Obviously I have a fair amount of bias, just as a warning/disclaimer ( Read more... )

Tonight* was the biggest sporting event of the year for my college. The stadium was filled to bursting. Alumni traveled back to campus to cheer on our boys. And at the end of the night, we lifted high the trophy, victorious. A fantastic cap to my senior year ( Read more... )

This is my final project for my 'American Environmental Writing' course. It's cross-posted from my class blog (obviously). But I legitimately really like it, enough that I've worked with it some more since and even submitted it for a contest! I have presented things in the opposite order than I did initially; the text is first, with the "preface" ( Read more... )

This is cross-posted from my class blog.Lawrence Buell ascribes four characteristics to environmental writing: nature is more than just a framing device but is intricately connected to human history; the human interest isn’t the only legitimate one; human accountability to the environment is explored; and the environment is (at the very least ( Read more... )

cross-posted from my class blogMany of this week’s readings deal with the concept of the outsider. Native Americans, Mormons, African Americans, and magicians lend their voices in support of the environment against the prevailing culture that devalues and destroys it. As members of marginalized groups themselves, it is easy to see how the authors ( Read more... )

As soon as I read the word “polarized” in Wendell Berry’s essay “Preserving Wildness,” I thought of the current political climate. The election is fast approaching, and although environmental issues aren’t at the top of either candidate’s agenda, they are a consideration for voters. Although written decades ago, some of Berry’s points are still ( Read more... )