Don Hall 8/28/21 Don Hall 8/28/21

I Like to Watch | The Chair (Netflix)

The fact that there are thinkpieces out in the ether complaining that the series doesn't skewer the teachers, the students, Melville, or any of the other popular demons but centers its criticism on all involved indicates the thing has legs.

Don Hall 8/26/21 Don Hall 8/26/21

How About Some Upbeat News for Fuck's Sake?

Among the most shrill in our daily discourse is a small group of Utopians suffering from utopian idealism. Utopians compare the present with what might be called the future perfect, not the past imperfect. Instead of seeing the present as a vast improvement on the past, they see the present as failing to live up to some sort of an imagined utopia.

Don Hall 8/24/21 Don Hall 8/24/21

I Like to Watch | Mrs. America (Hulu)

If there's one source of joy I embrace in film and television it's superhero shit. No johnny-come-lately, I loved that stuff before I had pubic hair so the fun I have watching any show featuring super-powered characters is incomparable. A close second is historical political dramas. I love 'em.

Don Hall 8/23/21 Don Hall 8/23/21

I Believe... [OnlyUptightFans]

...that OnlyFans banning pornographic material is like Texas banning beef or Grindr banning gay men.

Don Hall 8/19/21 Don Hall 8/19/21

What Happens When Everyone Gets Bored with the Scolds?

We're bored out of our everliving skulls with the hysteria. The faux outrage has worn us right the fuck out. We're fed-up with Bob Dylan being accused of doing something in 1965 and moving on with life. We're nodding off every time we hear someone (usually young but not always) crying wolf every moment of every day.

Don Hall 8/16/21 Don Hall 8/16/21

I Believe... [Go to the Beach!]

...that the ocean is an abstract concept for millions of Americans. Wanna get people to take cleaning it up seriously? Get ‘em to the beach for a day and experience it once.

Don Hall 8/12/21 Don Hall 8/12/21

Carpe

His dad used to tell him (when the man was sober) that life gave you three choices: fail and wallow in it, coast and be unfulfilled, or swing for the fences and maybe—MAYBE—do something notable.

Dad seemed to be OK with the first.

Swing for the fences. Seize the day.

Don Hall 8/10/21 Don Hall 8/10/21

The Suicide Squad Solidifies the Genre-Crossing Brilliance of Comic Book Films

While his is not the first genre film featuring comic book characters, The Suicide Squad is so good, so fun, and so well put together, its very existence puts concrete to the future of all superhero projects.

Don Hall 8/9/21 Don Hall 8/9/21

Introducing XwhyZ Podcast!

Jackie Brandenburg is young. She’s a Zoomer. She is frightfully Woke. She also just received her college degree in Politic Science so she knows a thing or two about both the ills of the world and some ideas on how to solve them.

I have more life experience than Jackie. She’s already smarter than me.

Thus, XwhyZ.

Don Hall 8/9/21 Don Hall 8/9/21

I Believe... [Poisoning the Public Well]

I Believe... that the lack of civil discourse and thoughtful debate is a result of a poisoning of the public well that sickens everyone who drinks from it.

Don Hall 8/5/21 Don Hall 8/5/21

No Fly Zone the Unvaccinated

Remember the film 12 Monkeys?

Don Hall 8/3/21 Don Hall 8/3/21

The Orwellian DoubleSpeak of Anti-

We're now entering the DADAist stage of American dysfunction as we are all desperately trying to communicate ideas to others who simply aren't using the same language. It sounds the same but meanings are changing and it fuels more frustration and anger and results in an almost non-stop confrontation.

Don Hall 8/2/21 Don Hall 8/2/21

I Believe... [Lemmings Die Together]

...that, perhaps it’s shitty of me, I mentally place every single COVID death due to refusal to get a free vaccine in the Darwin Awards drawer. Sort of like thousands of idiots taking selfies on cliffs only to fall to their death. Lemmings be lemmings, bro.

Don Hall 7/29/21 Don Hall 7/29/21

The Power of Selective Care: How to Survive the Wave Pool of Everyone Else's Causes

Refuse to be distracted by anyone else's bullshit and spend your time and energy running one race at a time. If your issue is important enough to you, everyone else's cause can slide into the background.

Don Hall 7/27/21 Don Hall 7/27/21

The Life of Zealots and the Refusal to Play Well with Others

Locke and Rousseau argued that we gain civil rights in return for accepting the obligation to respect and defend the rights of others, giving up some freedoms to do so.

Don Hall 7/26/21 Don Hall 7/26/21

I Believe... [Vaccination Passports]

...that vaccination passports to gain entry into any public place or gathering outside the home should be required nationwide. No vaccine for you, no fun for you, fuck-o.

Don Hall 7/24/21 Don Hall 7/24/21

The Double-Edge of Propagandistic Journalism

"Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." becomes "Condemn them, Father, for they know not what is true."

Don Hall 7/19/21 Don Hall 7/19/21

I Believe… [Universal Sociopaths]

...that when the vast majority of Americans are on the spectrum of sociopathy, calling someone a sociopath is sort of like saying “He’s just like most of us.”

Don Hall 7/17/21 Don Hall 7/17/21

Acknowledging Privilege and Bias Without Shame

It’s possible to recognize that in-your-face racism exists in the United States and to also believe that the “white privilege” framework is misleading and a counterproductive way to discuss it among intelligent humans. In fact, the harder the DiAngelo model of self flagellation is pushed, the less traction for actually finding meaningful solutions to racial disparities in both outcomes and equality of opportunity is gained.

Don Hall 7/15/21 Don Hall 7/15/21

Commie Puke-Faced Panty-Waisted Girly Man

In 236 words, you manage to include some excellent Trumpian putdowns (soyboy, MANGINA, thong-wearing pajama boy, hocker that manages to crawl all the way up the side of a toilet bowl, and the classic Commie Puke-Faced Panty-Waisted Girly Man), you also adhere to some fantastic (but erroneous) GOP talking points like a champ! "Kavanaugh was framed." "Biden is an illegitimate president because Trump really won." "The Chinese are defrauding our elections (as opposed to the Russians)."