Sports
What to expect from the SEC Media Days
By RICHARD JOHNSON | July 13, 2014HOOVER, Ala. — Welcome to the Hyatt Regency Birmingham, better known as The Wynfrey.
Opinion
Sports
Remembering a friend, a bet and the 2010 World Cup
By RICHARD JOHNSON | July 9, 2014I was reminded of 2010 a few nights ago. My memory was thrown back there thanks to an article in The Atlantic about friends who have died, yet still live through Facebook. It is an interesting take on a phenomenon that is now all too real for our ultra plugged-in generation of millennials, including myself. The story prompted me to read back through wall posts and messages of a friend I’d lost, and that brings me to where this summer intersects with that one.
Opinion
Darts & Laurels 7/9/14
July 9, 2014If you’re reading this, congratulations: You haven’t been struck by lightning! But then again, the summer is young, and many more sudden thunderstorms are waiting to ruin your shoes/hair/day.
Opinion
Truck drivers need a chimney sweep
July 9, 2014A bizarre and nearly inexplicable trend is spreading across the country, and it’s destined to deal a blow to progressives and environmentalists throughout the U.S. It’s known as rolling coal, and it might the dumbest protest movement in the history of our great nation.
Opinion
Drivers: Share the road with cyclists — it’s the law
July 7, 2014On June 29, an older man in a red Jeep laid on his horn behind a Jimmy John’s bicycle deliverer on University Avenue.
Opinion
Texting while driving is a social problem
July 7, 2014In 2006, Florida voters showed overwhelming support for Article X, a state constitutional amendment that granted funding for a comprehensive tobacco education and prevention program. Article X would later birth Tobacco Free Florida, a hugely successful anti-tobacco campaign whose ads continue to make us cringe. If you haven’t seen the TV spots or billboards, the campaign uses graphic imagery — a girl drinking a beaker of formaldehyde, another girl peeling the skin from her cheek as payment for a pack of cigarettes and testimonials from cancer-stricken adults who were lifelong smokers — to drive home the message that a small action like smoking can harm yourself and others.
Opinion
NSA needs overhaul, culpability check
July 7, 2014Two months ago, PBS’s “Frontline” chronicled the conception of the National Security Agency and how the institution continues to affect our daily lives in a must-see documentary called “United States of Secrets.” While watching this special, one automatically envisions the Orwellian future illustrated in “1984.”
Opinion
Language, power and the politics of gay slurs
July 7, 2014Words have power. This power is the reason “f**k” needs to be censored. It’s the reason being called a “whore” hurts. It’s why phrases like “That’s so gay,” and “Don’t be such a f****t,” are offensive.
Sports
Column: Embrace the bandwagoners
By JONATHAN CZUPRYN< | July 2, 2014A week prior to the start of the World Cup, I may have been able to name three players on the U.S. men’s national soccer team. And one of them would have definitely been Landon Donovan (oops).
Opinion
Suing Obama: Symptom of DC insanity
July 2, 2014In an effort to save American democracy from the evil tyrant, “King Obama the First,” Speaker of the House John Boehner revealed that he plans to sue the president for overstepping his constitutional authority.
Opinion
Darts & Laurels 7/3/14
July 2, 2014It’s Summer B 2014, and freshmen desperation is in the air: You can find them moving in herds of 50 across Midtown, clogging the Starbucks on campus and wearing head-to-toe orange and blue. This isn’t a dig, though, class of 2018. We were in your (brand-new) shoes at one point, and we’re imparting some wisdom to you: Nobody is too cool for an umbrella. Carry an umbrella. And call your mom once a while.
Opinion
Hobby Lobby case filled with hypocrisy
June 30, 2014Christian conservatives call the Supreme Court ruling granting three family-owned businesses the right to refuse to pay for certain forms of contraception for their employees based on their beliefs a victory for religious freedom.
Opinion
Late Periods: Keep calm and carry on
June 30, 2014I always look forward to my annual doctor’s appointment. I went to one a couple weeks ago, and it was a welcome reminder that my blood pressure is good and my allergies still suck. It was enjoyable, that is, until my doctor insisted on running a pregnancy test.
Opinion
America should stay out of Iraq — among other things
June 30, 2014America is suffering from what political scientist Greg Weiner calls “narcissistic polity disorder.”
Opinion
Before adopting, consider all possibilities
June 30, 2014Two weeks after adopting Archer, our eight-week-old boxer puppy, my boyfriend and I came home from the UF Small Animal Hospital without him.
Opinion
Darts & Laurels 6/19/14
June 18, 2014Here it is, y’all: Your Summer-A-is-over-and-all-I-have-is-this-stupid-editorial edition of Darts & Laurels.
Opinion
Time to reflect on history of Iraq War
June 18, 2014Iraq, a country that for mind-boggling reasons the U.S. invaded in 2003, is in a state of disarray. In recent weeks, a terrorist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has taken control over large swaths of the country, including Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
Sports
Patent office ruling a step in righting Washington’s wrong
By RICHARD JOHNSON | June 18, 2014Appealing to Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder’s pathos was never going to work. You can make commercials and documentaries that tug on the heartstrings and you can even use surveys to get your point across that the nickname is offensive, but you weren’t going to get through to him.
Opinion
Florida abortion bill is irresponsible, regressive
June 16, 2014On Friday, Gov. Rick Scott passed HB 1047, which stipulates that pregnancies may not at any time be terminated in the state of Florida if doctors determine that the fetus could survive outside the womb.
Opinion
Reacting to Cantor loss: Conservatives stuck in the past
June 16, 2014A house divided cannot stand. If this is true, why should a homeowner, in order to strengthen his or her house’s foundation, rip out its beams, floorings and piers?
