I Believe… [Vapid Pursuits Leave Us With No Heroes]
…that in a period when our heroes are labeled heroic because they are wealthy, famous, or both it’s no wonder we live in a perpetual state of despair.
I Believe… [The Difference Between a Classy or Trashy Neck Tattoo]
I believe… that instead of banning neck and face tattoos from their casino and hotel, The D Las Vegas should instead ban trashy neck and face tattoos. You know, encourage Suicide Girls to come gamble but discourage White Power Cletus from swinging by.
A Shock to the System: Can an All Encompassing Revolution Sustain Itself?
“This is not going to go the way you think.”
- Luke Skywalker
Hostility is NOT Violence — Hurt Feelings Are Not a Broken Jaw
I learned a lot of things being bullied consistently for seven years in a row.
I Believe… [Equal and Opposite]
…that Twitter has devolved into the FOX News for the Left.
I Like to Watch: The Rock (1996)
But the sheer out-of-body beauty and over-the-top ridiculousness of 1996’s Nicholas Cage/Sean Connery spectacle The Rock is the pinnacle of machismo Michael Bay genius.
Being Against Things is Easy; Finding Reasons for Hope is the Challenge
Sitting in the 109 degree heat in the desert, contemplating my own mortality in the wake of climate change, civil unrest, the looming economic cesspool, and, oh yeah, a pandemic causes me to gaze hard into the abyss of my soul. I find it wanting of less to be against and more to be for.
Neither Left nor Right: Eventually Embracing Ethical Universalism
I, being the Traditional Liberal I am (maybe I should start a bowling league?), favor ethical universalism, that is the position that there is a universal ethic which applies to all people, regardless of culture, race, sex, religion, nationality, sexuality or other distinguishing feature, and all the time.
How Americans Learned to Despise Learning
For three generations the benefits of completing a high school education became less obvious. The best and most well-paying jobs required a college diploma and the halcyon days of graduating with solid grades in high school decayed year after year.
I Believe.. [DiAngelo’s Fragility]
…that Robin DiAngelo looked in the mirror, saw that she was deeply racist, and decided that she was looking into a mirror of society instead of just herself.
Ditch the Desktop and the Laptop and Switch to an iPad
Keep in mind, if I needed high-powered graphic design or video making technology, this set up would not do. When I recommend you ditch your computers for the iPad Pro, I advise from the perspective of my own specific workflow.
Training People to Expect Reward for Outrage
Sometime in corporate culture overseeing the idea of customer service, it was decided that the customer is always right and that very powerful framework has slowly infected all aspects of our culture.
Everyone Has Magically Transformed Into Lenny Bruce
Bruce was fighting for his right to say things that could be taken the wrong way at a contentious time in the country’s history. His often brilliant but off-color observations were shut down by a moralistic authority who deigned his language and ideas were unacceptable. Sound familiar?
A Society That Values Quantity of Life Over Quality of Living is Just Churning Out Chicken Farms of Humanity
The ethical dilemma is presented as thus for we myriad chickens.
I Believe… [We Are All Florida Man]
…that the United States has officially become the Florida of the world. Blindingly stupid, naked, snorting bath salts and screaming at each other about getting that ‘gator off my property.
I Like to Watch: Hamilton
I sat down and prepared myself to be blown away and embarrassed by my snobbery at the few songs I had heard and my natural inclination to be suspicious of hype.
I wasn’t wrong.
Competing Visions of the Future Society
Five blind men encounter an elephant. Each touches a part of the animal but, due to the limited exposure to each element, misidentifies what they are interpreting. The guy who touches the ear thinks they have stopped at a palm tree. The guy who grabs the trunk thinks it’s a python. And so on. Until the five confer with one another, they can’t know the bigger picture.
We are blind men and the pandemic is the elephant.
I Believe... [Choose Love But FUCK YOU!]
I believe… that when you post things like “Choose Love” and follow it up with a strident hatred for someone you disagree with, you have clearly demonstrated how completely full of shit you are.
The Speaking of the Truth of the American Experiment
While America is far from dead and the Grand Experiment in Liberal Democracy far from complete, Independence Day should be a celebration as well as a recalibration.
Trial by Instagram and the Cynical Wielding of New Power
In practice, this guy was almost a poster boy for the entire concept of allyship. He was the fucking Tom Cruise of white allies. There were two problems with Harrington that his work and effort could not overcome. He was white and his business had an Instagram account.
Our society is becoming so reliant on systems that we’re inadvertently making ourselves less capable, less self-sufficient. Dumber. Hell, I don’t even wipe my ass anymore. I have a bidet do it.