Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler is not your average climate denier. Unlike President Donald Trump, he’s admitted that global warming is real and caused by humans. And unlike many Republicans in the House and Senate, he’s admitted that its effects will be dangerous if warming continues unabated. But when it comes to admitting that swift, aggressive action is necessary to slow the dangers of climate change, Wheeler is just like most Republicans: He denies it. In aninterview with “CBS This Morning”on Wednesday, the former coal industry lobbyist said that global warming is simply too vague and distant a threat to focus on. “ On the climate change issue, it is an important issue that we have to be addressing and we are addressing it,” Wheeler said. “But most of the threats from climate change are 50 to 75 years out.” Instead of climate change, Wheeler argued that t he EPA’s efforts would be better spent … [Read more...] about The Seductive Stupidity of Andrew Wheeler
What came first: all-seeing gods or large societies?
HORUS, AN ANCIENT Egyptian sky god, was often depicted as a sharp-eyed falcon. Lord Buddha’s eyes are supposed to be able to look in four directions at once. The god of Abraham sees everything, always. A “Big God” of this sort—a supernatural “eye in the sky” who cares whether people do right by others—is a feature of most of the world’s top religions. But it was not always so. Anthropological research suggests that the gods who watch over small societies tend to demand only that people show deference to them. Big Gods come later. One theory holds that this is because small societies do not need a supernatural policeman. If everyone knows everyone else, antisocial elements are easily managed. But as societies grow, and especially as they absorb ethnically and culturally diverse groups through conquest, a different policing mechanism is needed. What could be better than an all-seeing eye that enforces co-operation between friends and … [Read more...] about What came first: all-seeing gods or large societies?
Chicago’s Long-Running ‘#DateMe: An OKCupid Experiment’ Musical Comedy Makes Off Broadway Date
EXCLUSIVE: Chicago’s long-running #DateMe: An OkCupid Experiment is finally making a date with New York City: The offbeat blend of improv, scripted comedy and musical theater will begin performances at Off Broadway’s Westside Theatre this summer. Related Tom Sturridge Can Hear The Sobs: The Actor Talks About Off Broadway's Heart-Wrenching 'Sea Wall' - Deadline Q&A Performances begin June 20 in New York, following a three-year Chicago run. Created by playwright Robyn Lynne Norris, who wrote the show with Bob Ladewig and Frank Caeti, #DateMe is based (loosely, most likely) on Norris’ “social experiment” of creating 38 fake “undateable” profiles on the OKCupid dating site. The results were then used as source material for a one-act limited engagement show called Undateable at Second City Hollywood. Encouraged and assisted by producer Diane Alexander to expand the idea – and apparently getting a go-ahead from OK Cupid – the show … [Read more...] about Chicago’s Long-Running ‘#DateMe: An OKCupid Experiment’ Musical Comedy Makes Off Broadway Date
UTA Tries To Reframe Packaging Dispute Narrative With Data Ahead Of WGA Vote
With a week to go before WGA members begin voting on a new code of conduct that act as a fatal silver bullet through the heart of the agencies’ lucrative packaging plans, UTA tried to strap on a new Kevlar vest of data Wednesday. Related WME's Ari Greenburg Says WGA 'Not Interested In A Real Negotiation' In Packaging Dispute In a pithy 10-page TV Writing Data Analysis released this morning seeking to shatter the guild’s narrative in the fiery dispute over a new franchise agreement, the Jeremy Zimmer-run agency declares that “UTA TV writer clients earn more money, on average on shows that UTA packages than on shows that the agency does not package.” This tailored report (read it here) comes one day after WME president Ari Greenburg sent out a PR salvo of his own to clients proclaiming that sit-downs with the guild weren’t going anywhere. In another attempt to lure writers away from guild doctrine, the exec also promised more town halls with writers in … [Read more...] about UTA Tries To Reframe Packaging Dispute Narrative With Data Ahead Of WGA Vote
Shapiro Launches New Book At Reagan Presidential Library With Stirring Speech
On Tuesday evening, the day that Daily Wire Editor-In-Chief Ben Shapiro’s new book, “The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great,” was released, the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California hosted a speech by Shapiro in which he spoke about his book, delivering a powerful and stirring call to return to the founding principles that created America. The evening started with an introduction from John Heubusch, the executive director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, in which he charmingly related the story of driving his children to school each day and their decision to stop arguing over which radio station to listen to once they found Shapiro on radio and later, on his podcast. Heubusch commented of the radio show: When I first discovered it by accident, I found it featured, in part, a fresh, new, remarkably bright and deeply thoughtful conservative voice I had not heard before. His name was Ben Shapiro … when … [Read more...] about Shapiro Launches New Book At Reagan Presidential Library With Stirring Speech