Despite our culture’s reflexive reverence for things that are “natural,” we should all be mindful that just because something is “natural” does not necessarily mean that it is good.

The word “natural” has deep cultural and psychological cachet, and the association of nature with goodness has been a recurring idea throughout human history -- especially during times of rapid scientific and technological change: at the height of the Hellenistic period in classic Greece, for example, Aristotle and his disciples were parsing the pros and cons of “appeals to nature”; as the Industrial Revolution took root in the 19th century, leading thinkers like Henry David Thoreau rejected industrialism by founding the back-to-nature Transcendentalist movement.

Given these historical patterns, our culture’s infatuation with naturalness seems only, well, natural. But our predisposition toward the “natural” can blind us to the darker side of nature.

Deniers of global climate change, for example, often explain...

This past weekend, American Studies Assn. members held our annual conference in Los Angeles, with the theme "The Fun and the Fury." Those familiar with the ASA mainly because of news about our year-old academic boycott of Israel might be surprised by our sessions ranging from "Vanguardist Jazz in the Seventies" to "Selfie Nation" -- all engaging topics that are intrinsic to the field of American studies.

The conference, drawing 2,300 scholars, was the first to follow our resolution last December supporting the call from Palestinian civil society for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. The boycott is a form of nonviolent resistance that proved its value during the successful fight against South African apartheid.

Writing in The Times last week, Brandeis University American studies chairman Thomas Doherty charged that the ASA "ventured outside its natural borders" and wondered why Israel should be considered "singularly toxic."

But if Israel's horrific F-16 fighter jet attacks on...

Christmas Day is a federal holiday in the United States, and children in public school traditionally have the day off too. That will be true on Friday, Dec. 25, in Montgomery County, Md., schools. But the  C word won’t be mentioned. In a development that will surely revive complaints about a “war on Christmas,” the school board voted this week to eliminate references to religious holidays from its published calendar.

And as if this story weren’t already Bill O’Reilly bait, the genesis – we’d better say “origin” – of the new policy, according to the Washington Post,  was “a request from Muslim community leaders to give equal billing to the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha.”

The Post explains the new policy:

“In practical terms, Montgomery schools will still be closed for the Christian and Jewish holidays, as in previous years, and students will still get the same days off, as planned.

“Board members said Tuesday that the new calendar will reflect days the state requires the system to be...

Somewhere in Washington, there are committees of bureaucrats assigned to assess which American icons are most likely to be attacked by terrorists. At the Federal Aviation Administration, there is such a task force that looks at national landmarks to guess which ones wannabe evildoers are most likely to attack from the air, whether it comes in the form of a 9/11-style airplane-as-bomb or something else.

"National defense airspaces" are officially designated "no fly" zones. Yes, as in Iraq under Saddam Hussein . Pilots won't get shot down for crossing over them. But they might be intercepted by Air Force fighter jets and grilled by Very Angry Fed People. Violators are subject to a hefty $10,000 fine and a year in the pokey. It's serious business.

Anyway, it turns out that among America's special terror-proof, no-fly places is the air over the houses Walt built: Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney World in Orlando.

What happens if you cruise over Disneyland Paris ? Will clusters of Mirage...

Let’s be honest: When a woman bares her breasts for public viewing, she’s doing it for one reason: because she wants the public to view her breasts.

That means you, Keira Knightley.   

The 29-year-old actress announced, in an interview with the U.K. Times, that she allowed herself to be photographed bare-breasted for the September cover of Interview magazine as a form of protest against what she called media “manipulation” of women’s bodies. She agreed to the topless shot only on condition that the magazine not Photoshop or otherwise retouch the image. “I think women’s bodies are a battleground and photography is partly to blame,” she told the Times.

So high-minded of you, Ms. Knightley. It’s impossible not to notice, though, that Knightley’s social-protest pronunciamentos were nicely timed to coincide with the pending release of her new movie, “The Imitation Game,” due in theaters later this month. It’s also impossible to notice that – ahem -- Knightley looks fantastic on that cover.

...

Watching the live feed from the European Space Agency has been a bit like being the wallflower at a cocktail party. Lots of chatter of varying intensity (snippets of German through the speakers), people milling about, folks popping up here and there with a camera to take a snapshot.

But then there were other people speaking into headsets, zipping from a desk chair to a monitor or a printer and back again. The tension didn't quite seep through the computer screen, but it was there. 

Then the moment came, 8:03 a.m. PST, when the Rosetta's landing module, Philae, was supposed to send its first signals from the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. And, a minute later, it did. A few smiles swept across faces, then cheers swept across the room, followed by hugs and handshakes and fist pumps.

How this mission eventually plays out, of course, is unknown. As I write this, the scientists are assessing how well the landing went as the Philae anchors itself to the comet. But the initial...