Author: J.K. Trotter

Boy Scouts Vote to Allow Openly Gay Members

AP

The National Council of the Boy Scouts of America passed a resolution permitting openly gay youth the participate in scouting activities on Thursday afternoon at a national meeting in Grapevine, Texas. Passed by a vote of 61% among 1,400 members, the resolution will go into effect in January 2014, and overturns more than century of organizational precedent.

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 25, 2013

Harvard and the Question of Quiz Bowl Cheating

You probably saw this coming: Andrew Watkins, the former president of the Harvard quiz bowl team that was stripped of four championships for allegedly cheating, is denying that he actually cheated. But did he?

Comments | 1,219 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 25, 2013

Today in Research

Gay Parents Are Judged More Severely than Straight Parents

Discovered: gay parents get viewed negatively; people support politicians who are vague about gun control; prostitute-seeking men are not, in fact, very common; excess choices increase risky decisions.

Comments | 1,044 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 25, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Monday Columns

Will Portman on coming out, Reuel Marc Gerecht on the C.I.A.'s interrogation tactics, Ross Douthat on the Iraq War and Obama, Jonathan S. Tobin on the liberal reaction to Fox News, and Glenn Greenwald on racism's influence on the War on Terror.

Comments | 870 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 22, 2013

Today in Research

Men's and Women's Bodies Heal Differently

Discovered: Men and women heal differently; doubling up on algebra improves learning; ears are flawed; revising financial statements indicates poor governance.

Comments | 4,681 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 22, 2013

Timothy Noah Is Out at The New Republic and Twitter Wants to Know What Happened

Timothy Noah, formerly a senior editor at the newly-relaunched New Republic, sent the political sector of Twitter into a confused frenzy Friday afternoon when he tweeted the magazine had unexpectedly fired him.

Comments | 2,427 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 22, 2013

Harvard Has Sullied the Integrity of Quiz Bowl

According to a "security update" posted earlier this week by the National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC (which holds and judges quiz bowl tournaments), a member of Harvard's quiz bowl team will be stripped of four quiz bowl championship titles after the company caught him illicitly accessing official quiz questions before the tournaments were held. 

Comments | 1,381 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 22, 2013

What Harvard's First NCAA Win Says About Harvard

Last night's victory of fourteenth-seeded Harvard Crimson over the third-seeded New Mexico Lobos, 68-62, drew predictable displays of celebration, and, at the same time, pretty serious accusations that Harvard, in its desire to raise the stature of its athletic program, had recruited academically ungifted (but athletically phenomenal) student-athletes.

Comments | 4,506 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 22, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Friday Columns

Paul Krugman on the dominoes of Cyprus, Mark Joseph Stern on the shifting tactics of gay marriage opponents, Ken Tucker on the joy of ScandalJohn R. MacArthur on Obama's political failures, and Jonathan Cohn on the rising star of Dr. Ben Carson.

Comments | 2,079 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 21, 2013

Today in Research

Massive Volcanoes Caused Widespread Extinction 200 Million Years Ago

Discovered: Massive volcanoes caused widespread extinction 200 million years ago; men don't want to cheat with the wives of their friends; obese people share an altered gene; we remember things using social patterns.

Comments | 1,731 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 21, 2013

Stat of the Day

PETA Euthanized 1,675 Animals in 2012

The often-controversial animal rights group, known for staging provocative protests involving human props, considers euthanasia "a tragic necessity."

Comments | 2,249 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 21, 2013

Obama Heckled at Jerusalem Speech, but College Kids Still Love Him

Barack Obama knows how to work a crowd. While speaking to a group of 600 college students at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, the President was briefly heckled by a lonestudent speaking in Hebrew. Here's the video of Obama's reaction.

Comments | 3,459 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 21, 2013

A U.S. Secret Service Agent Almost Shot Ahmadinejad

He is no stranger to assassination attempts — both real and potentially imaginary — but according to a piece in the new issue of The Atlantic the Iranian leader's closest brush with death was entirely accidental.

Comments | 1,557 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 21, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Thursday Columns

Dianne Feinstein on the trial of Sulaiman abu Ghaith, Richard Florida on misunderstanding the creative class, Mehdi Hasan on anti-Semitism among British Muslims, Roy Bourgeois on the call for female Catholic priests, and Irin Carmon on rehabilitating rapists.

Comments | 1,384 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 20, 2013

Today in Research

Books are Becoming Less and Less Emotional

Discovered: the emotional content of books is declining; men dominate in the post-recession economy; olive oil wards off Alzheimer's; sleep helps us retain 'competing' memories.

Comments | 3,283 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 20, 2013

Obama Paints His Red Line on Syria

President Obama faced a simple question: Did the dueling accusations about chemical weapons in Syria cross his supposed line to engage or not? Well, in a press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, he said the line is still there, and chemical weapons are a "game changer" — he's just not sure who crossed it yet. But he's "deeply skeptical" the opposition did.

Comments | 1,727 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 20, 2013

Bill Clinton and the Democrats Have an Ashley Judd Backup Plan

Judd's rumored run for Senator of Kentucky isn't just rousing Republicans — it may be scaring big-time Democrats, too.

Comments | 691 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 20, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Wednesday Columns

Matt Yglesias on the new news media, Jonathan Chait on getting Iraq wrong, Mark A.R. Kleiman on intelligent crime policy, Avik Roy on the GOP's minority outreach, and Joel Kotkin on the failed promise of the creative class.

Comments | 1,196 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 19, 2013

Today in Research

Here's Proof That Soda Kills — a Lot

Discovered: Soda is deadly; you're bad at sports gambling; nice people do better in school; teamwork can be traced back to chimpanzees.

Comments | 3,852 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 19, 2013

Stat of the Day

Perfect Bracket Odds Are Between 1 in 128 Billion and 1 in 9.2 Quintillion

With March Madness play-in games beginning in a few hours — starting with Liberty University and North Carolina AT&T — you may be wondering: what are my chances of predicting a perfect bracket? Your answer awaits.

Comments | 2,414 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 19, 2013

The Case of the Chinese NASA Scientist and a Carry-on Bag Full of State Secrets

Why was Bo Jiang, a Chinese national and NASA researcher, arrested at the airport by the FBI? And should you be worried? Here's what we know so far.

Comments | 6,207 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 19, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Tuesday Columns

D.J. Hoek on the price of public libraries, Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry on the narrow worldview of economists, Geoff Mulgan on the upside of financial crises, Max Boot on (not) apologizing for the Iraq War, and Kyle Wiens on the necessity of digital ownership.

Comments | 1,724 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 18, 2013

'Yes, He's a Happy Dog' Proven by Science

Discovered: Humans know how dogs are feeling; health professionals are abusing propofol; massive bird nests function as socialist societies; male lions ambush their prey.

Comments | 2,759 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 18, 2013

More Evidence That Lawyers Paid Women to Tell Fake Menendez Prostitution Tales

The credibility of The Daily Caller's report that New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez had sex with prostitutes during a junket in the Domincan Republic took yet another blow on Monday afternoon as The Associated Press reported that police in the Dominican Republic have determined that an attorney named Melanio Figueroa paid three women a couple hundred dollars each to make the claims on camera.

Comments | 345 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 18, 2013

After Walking Over Niagara Falls, Wallenda Looks to Cross the Grand Canyon

Nik Wallenda, the highwire acrobat who in June 2012 traversed Horseshoe Falls (the biggest waterfall of the Niagara Falls), has announced his plan to cross the Grand Canyon, presumably above one of the Arizona canyon's more dramatic drops.

Comments | 862 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 18, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Monday Columns

Peter Feaver on Iraq war myths, Juliette Kayyem on remembering war, Eric Boehlert on the war and Twitter, Lewis Dvorkin on the economics of online media, and Ross Douthat on the challenges facing the Catholic Church.

Comments | 1,552 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 15, 2013

Today in Research

Bee Venom Could Prevent HIV Infection

Discovered: Bee venom can be used to neutralize HIV; gambling sites seduce people with free trials; dating in middle school is tied to truancy; a 'dirty blizzard' compounded Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Comments | 7,249 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 15, 2013

Bobby Jindal Gives a Familiar Speech at CPAC, Without the 'Stupid Party' Part

That was quick: The governor of Louisiana apparently no longer thinks his party is stupid. He reused lengthy portions of a January speech on Friday at CPAC, but left out the most controversial remarks, like calling his own party "stupid."

Comments | 2,210 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 15, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Friday Columns

Peggy Noonan on the new Pope, Rob Portman on marriage equality, Charles C.W. Cooke on Al Gore's evangelism, Ana Marie Cox on the GOP's youth movement, and Jonathan Alter on the man who filmed Romney's "47%" comments.

Comments | 1,379 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 15, 2013

Mitch McConnell at CPAC: We Lost on Obamacare

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has some news for Paul Ryan and House Republicans: Obamacare was a losing battle.

Comments | 20,229 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 14, 2013

Today in Research

Birds Once Had an Extra Set of Wings

Discovered: ancient bird species had four wings; milk is good for college students; texting errors can indicate a stroke; breast milk contains stem cells.

Comments | 1,379 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 14, 2013

Benghazi Suspect Reportedly Caught, Conservatives Definitely Not Giving Up

Even when answers seem to arrive on the controversial Benghazi attack, the questions never fade away: Faraj al-Shibli, a man thought to be involved in the September 2012 attacks on the American consulate, has been captured in Libya, according to two sources speaking to CNN, as Republicans back home refused to let the issue fade.

Comments | 1,207 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 14, 2013

Rand Paul at CPAC: The GOP Has Grown Stale

The marathon filibusterer brought his invigorated libertarian stump speech to an enraptured audience (and Metallica), inveighing that the GOP needs to change by returning to the classical principles spelled out in the country's constitution.

Comments | 1,378 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 14, 2013

Rubio at CPAC: Republicans Don't Need Any New Ideas

Explaining that he wanted to preempt liberal critiques of his speech, one of which (he predicted) was his lack of new ideas for the Republican Party, Rubio declared, "We don't a new idea. The idea is called America, and it still works." Also: water joke.

Comments | 2,414 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 14, 2013

How to Make a Fake North Korean Propaganda Movie

Yes, Kim Jong-un's state news agencies have been even more absurd than usual lately. But, no, North Korea did not film, produce, and distribute a four-and-a-half-minute propaganda film depicting the harrowing lives of Americans forced to eat snow and live in tents as the country around them collapses.

Comments | 22,777 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 14, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Thursday Columns

Daniel W. Drezner on GirlsJosh Barro on CPAC, Richard Kim on wealthy asceticism, Floyd Abrams and Yochai Benkler on the prosecution of Bradley Manning, and Douglas Rushkoff on our relationship to computers.

Comments | 1,552 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 13, 2013

Today in Research

Punishment is Good for You

Discovered: Punishment works; traditional Chinese medicine works, too; people think the future is closer to them than the past; you really, really shouldn't text and drive.

Comments | 1,679 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 13, 2013

Stat of the Day

After Catholicism Reached South America, It Took 520 Years for a South American to Reach the Papacy

Today's election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the papacy is notable for two big reasons: he's the first non-European, and the first ordained member of the Society of Jesus, to occupy the highest seat of the Roman Catholic Church, both of which upend millennia of precedent.

Comments | 172 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 13, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Wednesday Columns

Adam Briggle on fracking politics, Jessica Valenti on the discourse of rape, Justin Green on the GOP's entitlement trap, Ben Smith on New York's soda ban, and W. James Antle III on Rand Paul's foreign policy.

Comments | 2,414 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 12, 2013

Today in Research

Babies Are Evil, Just Like Us

Discovered: Babies are very calculating; political turmoil affects HIV treatment; another Earth is out there, probably; gender stereotypes affect the advancement of women in science.

Comments | 2,890 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 12, 2013

Meet George P. Bush, the Latest Bush to Run for Office

The 36-year-old son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush — and nephew of former President George W. Bush — announced his run for Texas land commissioner on Tuesday afternoon, making him the latest (and youngest) Bush to set his eyes on political office.

Comments | 1,724 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 12, 2013

Did Harvard Just Make It OK to Spy on Employees?

In scanning the email of its resident deans in order to suss out the source of a leaked letter, Harvard may have made history — in setting an example for how to spy on employees in "blanket" fashion: Search 'em all to find just one, and don't tell anybody about it.

Comments | 2,931 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 12, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Tuesday Columns

Ryan Chittum on the housing crisis, Emily Bazelon on the definition of bullying, Mark Seidner on the baby supposedly cured of HIV, Andrew Ross Sorkin on how to prosecute big banks, and Adam Gopnik on America's writing culture.

Comments | 1,207 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 11, 2013

Today in Research

Just a Few Facebook Likes Can Reveal Sexual Orientation

Discovered: Your Facebook likes can indicate your sexuality; frustration can make you seek out violent video games; HIV, if controlled, presents no increased risk of death; ancient humans suffered from heart disease, just like us.

Comments | 2,759 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 11, 2013

Stat of the Day

Americans Drink 44 Gallons of Soda Per Year

Tell that to the judge in New York who just stopped the soda ban.

Comments | 1,035 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 11, 2013

Do Democrats Really Want Ashley Judd?

Judd knows she needs to convince party leaders that her perceived vulnerabilities — her Hollywood career, her outspokenness — can be turned into strengths in an expensive race. So she'll need the Democratic establishment to believe in her as much as she believes in herself... just as soon as both sides are ready.

Comments | 1,724 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 11, 2013

Harvard Says It Spied on Its Teachers to Save One of Them

Harvard isn't sorry for snooping through the emails of more than a dozen of its own deans. On Monday the university issued a length statement explaining its secret probe into last year's massive cheating scandal, and, well, the explanation is pretty thin.

Comments | 2,069 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 11, 2013

Today's Best

Five Best Monday Columns

Chris Hayes on judging foreign leaders, Jody Greenstone Miller on Sheryl Sandberg, James Temple on Silicon Valley hype, Paul Krugman on Washington's deficit obsession, and Glenn Greenwald on progressive reactions to Rand Paul.

Comments | 1,502 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 8, 2013

Today in Research

Alcohol Boosts the Human Brain — if You Drink a Lot

Discovered: Alcohol helps accelerate the brains of heavy drinkers; Self-image affects self-expression; Antarctic lake hid evidence of never-before-seen life forms; Ancient humans liked to hike.

Comments | 21,881 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 8, 2013

Jon Stewart Has Some Advice for Donald Rumsfeld

No, Jon Stewart didn't deliver one of his signature rants against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Rather, the Daily Show host's advice is set to appear in Rumsfeld's forthcoming tome of advice, Rumsfeld's Rules.

Comments | 4,483 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Mar 8, 2013

Ashley Judd May Actually Run for Senate and Make Those Attack Ads Meaningful

It looks like the dirt-digging campaign might not have scared her off after all: According to an "insider" interviewed by Fox News, the actress is seriously considering running against Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell in 2014.

Comments | 2,586 Views

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