MetaFilter posts tagged with Salon

People (Not) Eating Tasty Animals

Halloween Jack — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:29:02 -0800

Natalie Portman has been a vegetarian for twenty years, but was recently inspired to become a vegan by Jonathan Safran Foer's first nonfiction book, Eating Animals. Portman wrote an essay for the Huffington Post in which she compares the book favorably to Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (previously on the blue), and makes this specific criticism of the latter book:

But he reminds us that being a man, and a human, takes more thought than just "This is tasty, and that's why I do it." He posits that consideration, as promoted by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore's Dilemma, which has more to do with being polite to your tablemates than sticking to your own ideals, would be absurd if applied to any other belief (e.g., I don't believe in rape, but if it's what it takes to please my dinner hosts, then so be it).

Salon's Broadsheet blog takes umbrage.

"We dragged your sorry ass through the Underground Railroad."

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:47:55 -0800

Are the ties that bind gay men to straight women beginning to fray?

Why We Say Yes to Drugs

empath — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:44:59 -0800

"It takes about seven years," Grim writes, "for folks to realize what's wrong with any given drug. It slips away, only to return again as if it were new."

Why We Say Yes To Drugs -- an interesting review of This Is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High In America. Previous article from the book's author: Who's Got the Acid?

fear of flying

lalex — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:41:19 -0800

Ask the Pilot. Columnist Patrick Smith explains why you shouldn't be afraid of flying. For the past several years, the invaluable Patrick Stewart has been answering common passenger questions, including: Is turbulence dangerous? What are the safest airlines? No really, what are the safest airlines? How dangerous is in-flight decompression? Too hot to fly? A plane crossed in front of us? WHAT?? What does a runway near-miss mean? Will using an electronic device really down a plane?

Obama administration's blackmail diplomacy over torture evidence

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:58:11 -0800

The Obama administration has repeatedly threatened to conceal future information of terrorist threats from the British government, unless the British government disobeys the High Court ruling requiring them to release information about the US government's acknowledged torture program. This may be a breach of the Convention Against Torture. Glenn Greenwald has new evidence. Previously.

Now you read it, soon you won't.

adamvasco — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:16:48 -0800

The death of the news.

What is really threatened by the decline of newspapers and the related rise of online media is reporting -- on-the-ground reporting by trained journalists who know the subject, have developed sources on all sides, strive for objectivity and are working with editors who check their facts, steer them in the right direction and are a further check against unwarranted assumptions, sloppy thinking and reporting, and conscious or unconscious bias.

I can haz hooman condishun?

grapefruitmoon — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:28:01 -0800

I Can Has Cheezburger... and pathos? : Salon writer Jay Dixit discusses the link between LOLCats and the human condition.

God-Man

milestogo — Thu, 15 May 2008 08:27:51 -0800

The Adventures of God-Man an occasional feature of Ruben Bolling's Tom The Dancing Bug strip

Edwards on Edwards

hermitosis — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 08:40:58 -0800

Elizabeth Edwards: the Salon interview. An earnest, candid conversation with one of the most interesting figures in the 2008 candidate cadre.

Donald Knuth, Computing's Philosopher King

Ethereal Bligh — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 04:34:37 -0800

“I wanted to try to capture the intelligence of the design, not just the outcome of the design.” “In 1977, [Donald] Knuth halted research on his books for what he expected to be a one-year hiatus. Instead, it took 10. Accompanied by [his wife] Jill, Knuth took design classes from Stanford art professor Matthew Kahn. Knuth, trying to train his programmer’s brain to think like an artist’s, wanted to create a program [TeX] that would understand why each stroke in a typeface would be pleasing to the eye.”—from a profile of Knuth in the Stanford Magazine (May '06). Salon calls him “computing’s philosopher king” (Sep '99). NPR’s Morning Edition interviews Knuth as “the founding artist of computer science” (Mar '05). Perhaps a MeFite somewhere has one of these? (Previously)

Paglia, all y'all

staggernation — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 21:41:44 -0800

Paglia's back. "I had certainly assumed the Web was surfeited with more than enough material, but evidently many others beside myself find the partisan polarization of the blogosphere numbingly predictable and its prose too often slapdash, fragmentary or drearily prolix." If you like that sentence, you'll love the return of Camille Paglia to Salon.com.

Bestest best of the web?

feelinglistless — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 09:07:58 -0800

Websites that changed the world? This Observer piece lists fifteen websites that aught to be considered the best of the web. It's a bold claim and although the potted histories are excellent, I'm wondering the extent to which it mostly includes website that have broken the public recognition barrier in the uk rather than changing the world. How many are simply pioneers in their field? Where for example is flickr?

Downgrading the Fourth Estate

digaman — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 12:58:04 -0800

Rollback. Media critic Jay Rosen rises above the McClellan/"shake-up" foofaraw to put several pieces of the puzzle together and show how the Bush administration has significantly altered the long-standing relationship of the press to the White House. (More from Rosen here.) Another piece that fits: Donald Rumsfeld's bold, frequent, and rarely-challenged assertions that the American press is being expertly "manipulated" by Al Qaeda "media committees" in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Salon Video Dog: Bad Dog! Bad Dog!

MaxVonCretin — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 13:49:57 -0800

Salon Video Dog: (Reg. Req'd.) After squandering an entire decade on all-too-often embarrassingly cerebral journalism, online publishing pioneer Salon.com has clearly decided to finally get serious, making a concerted push to join the ranks of the internet's pillars of innovation and originality. Good thing too, because it's all too hard these days to find quality mirrors for the Star Wars Kid, the Exploding Whale, and freshly ripped clips from last night's Stewart/Colbert broadcasts. Thanks, Salon!

So She's Holding Out?

John of Michigan — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 08:09:35 -0800

Why Your Wife Won't Have Sex with You. That quack Dr. Phil says that while sex is only 10% of a marriage, it's 90% when you're not getting it. Or words to that effect. There's some truth to that. This site discusses, from woman's point of view, why a wife might not feel like sex--often for years at a time. She also goes into greater detail (with insights taken from her own life and experience) such issues as some causes and what a man can do.

Soft target attacks

spock — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 09:26:39 -0800

What's next — Soft Target Attacks : Aerosol mists of biohazards in public places, like shopping malls. Or the National Mall in Washington DC on Sept. 24th of this year (see also: Salon story). Coincidentally (?) the University of New Mexico and Cerus Receive $23 Million to Develop Tularemia Vaccine (the agent detected on Sept. 24th). More terrorism scare released now to distract from the Plame indictments soon to come?

Good Night, and Good Luck

spock — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 16:55:11 -0800

Next month, I'll be paying to see a black and white movie for the first time since 1974's "Young Frankenstein". This time the subject this time is slightly more serious: Edward R. Murrow vs Senator Joseph McCarthy. Listen to Walter Cronkite recount the historical (and historic) events of 50 years gone by. The jury is still out, but after just his second film we can venture that George Clooney might have the makings of a pretty good director (as well as one who can raise the level of debate regarding whether fear should be used to take away civil liberties). A recent Salon interview with Clooney and (of course) you've got to see the trailers (Windows Media and QuickTime).

Blog people, Wikinewsies, and other citizen journalists

reflection — Sat, 23 Jul 2005 16:32:53 -0800

Blog people, Wikinewsies, and other citizen journalists are coming together to provide new and timely sources of information in the continuing Digital Revolution. OhmyNews swung the election in South Korea, Wikinews published 9 stories on the London bombings, and NowPublic aims to combine murmurs in the blogosphere with a sleek, media-filled interface. Indymedia has been publishing citizen-written news since 1999 and in the same year Salon first penned the idea of Open-source Journalism. OhmyNews continues to be the mold-breaker, combining open-source with revenue. According to CyberJournalist, to the tune of $500,000 a month. Now hiring too.

* FREE PENIS ENLARGEMENT *

sid — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 08:25:03 -0800

Salon interview with Mike Salvini of Size Matters A look into a bizarre internet subculture of men who spend hundreds of hours doing exercises to get a bigger wang. Requires premium membership or day pass.

interview with Satrepi (author of Persepolis)

Tlogmer — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 02:13:46 -0800

Great Salon interview with Marjane Satrapi (author of Persepolis). via

Gwen Stefani's appropriation of Japanese stuff

Tlogmer — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 02:19:01 -0800

Salon (with letters) on Gwen Stefani's clueless appropriation of Japan-ness.

Social Secuity Propaganda

schambers — Fri, 25 Feb 2005 07:48:55 -0800

Beware the Coming Propaganda Juggernaut...Social Security Under Siege Salon.com's Joe Conason examines the coming wave of administration proganda aimed at social security. (Watch a commercial to read Salon for free.)

Plan B

delmoi — Wed, 23 Feb 2005 12:42:40 -0800

Of course, the ultimate problem was that [my] script didn't have an ending. It didn't until I received a fax from the studio instructing me that Jo Maloni would die by being eaten by an alligator. _{Salon, so, you'll need to jump through hoops. I think it's worth it}

The man who thinks about thinking without thinking.

allan — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 18:55:44 -0800

Blinked is Malcom Gladwell's latest short, concept driven book about how instant judgements are often correct, but equally often dangerous. Two reviews on S****.com and S****.com [ad thingie to watch] make for great reading themselves. Gladwell's long been a favorite of mine, and I don't think I'm alone here. Previously cited works include one of the best essays I've ever read, about the ultimate pitchman.

Hot Dog!

braun_richard — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 21:37:54 -0800

Why Pottersville is better than Bedford Falls. Merry Christmas you old building and loan!