Columnists

Dispatches From The Edge: Shadow Wars

By Conn Hallinan
Thursday June 04, 2009 - 07:10:00 AM

Sudan: The two F-16s caught the trucks deep in the northen desert. Within minutes the column was a string of shattered wrecks burning fiercely in the January sun. Surveillance drones spotted a few vehicles that had survived the storm of bombs and cannon shells, and the fighter-bombers returned to finish the job. -more-


UnderCurrents: Old Conservative Political Correctness Extends to Sotomayor Debate

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday June 04, 2009 - 07:09:00 AM

You have to admire the ability of our conservative friends—don’t you?—to continually create these rice-calling-cotton-pale moments in order to deflect attention from their own transgressions and, thus, to avoid criticism. -more-


Wild Neighbors: The Baptista Tapes: Why Sparrows Change Their Tunes

By Joe Eaton
Thursday June 04, 2009 - 06:56:00 AM
White-crowned sparrow songs track changes in habitat.

Here’s a story that should gladden the hearts of all packrats and stringsavers. Sometimes there are good reasons not to throw stuff out. -more-


About the House: Hydrostatic Pressure And Why Your Basement Leaks

By Matt Cantor
Thursday June 04, 2009 - 06:58:00 AM

It might appear to be over-reaching to attempt a discussion of something that sounds as high-handed as hydrostatic pressure in a lay essay, but if you’ll bear with me, you’ll quickly see how this is both relevant and conceptually accessible to just about everyone. -more-