Joe Janes 3/31/21 Joe Janes 3/31/21

I’m Not Anti-Vax. I’m Anti-THIS-Vax!

I asked to speak to a manager and was rudely told to move along.

David Himmel 3/31/21 David Himmel 3/31/21

The Nine Circles of Offense

Offense is hell. It’s angering and frustrating and confusing and sometimes it feels eternal. Like the actual Hell, which is real because people who trust the Zombie God say so (happy Easter, by the way), there are a variety of meeting places for those who have been offended. And so, I present to you the Nine Circles of Offense. And if you’ve ever been offended, you’ll understandably recognize a few having visited that circle or circles before.

Don Hall 3/30/21 Don Hall 3/30/21

Advice Unsolicited | Ignore Your Social Circle

In this current McCarthyist state we’re playing around in, when met with your self-determined opinion (as opposed to following some strident party line) your social circle will likely turn to hyperbole and scorched earth rhetoric to both shame you into falling in line or paint the podcaster you listen to as evil.

Don Hall 3/29/21 Don Hall 3/29/21

I Believe... [It's the Guns, Morons]

...that the “needs of the many” are answered in bans on automatic, semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns.

Elizabeth Harper 3/28/21 Elizabeth Harper 3/28/21

Happy Birthday to Me. I'm 53. I Feel Old.

This past year, the year of the pandemic, is the year I grew old.

Elizabeth Harper 3/28/21 Elizabeth Harper 3/28/21

Authority is Always Wrong

Don Hall 3/27/21 Don Hall 3/27/21

Ten Things Harder to Acquire Than an Assault Weapon in America

I went to Walmart. No lawn darts. I went to a few sporting goods stores. Not a single fucking lawn dart to be had. Not even one that I could get stabby with or re-use thirty or forty times.

A guy at the counter of the Home Depot told me that they were called "Jarts" and they were illegal for purchase. Turns out a couple of kids got injured by lawn darts and they were banned for sale.

What the H, E, double hockey sticks!?

David Himmel 3/26/21 David Himmel 3/26/21

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of March 21, 2021

If equity, equality, diversity, and inclusion infringe on your religious beliefs, you and your religion are wrong. Or, you’re an asshole.

Don Hall 3/25/21 Don Hall 3/25/21

Before You Go All-in on Antifa, Try Becoming Antifra First

The term fragile is very popular in 2021 but I'm not certain the people who use it as a political label have an understanding of what it means. The redefinition seems to be a synonym for defensive but that isn't even close to the original so it doesn't play. Considering how loaded the term has become politically, I'd suggest we take a look at the pre-DiAngelo meaning and embrace it some before we continue forcing the evolution.

Joe Janes 3/24/21 Joe Janes 3/24/21

Zoom! Pow! Splash! How I Became More Productive Working at Home During a Deadly Pandemic!

I am doing number two while talking to my number one client.

Don Hall 3/23/21 Don Hall 3/23/21

The Age of Faux Horror Embraces the Pearl-clutching of Ages Past

Is the hyperbole justified? Perhaps. With so much information swirling up around our necks like those quicksand pools in 1930’s movies set in Africa, maybe the only way to be heard in any form is to be over-the-top. There is, however, a razor’s edge between injustice revealed and complete silliness.

Don Hall 3/22/21 Don Hall 3/22/21

I Believe... [GenX Bliss]

I believe… that one of the current thrills of being GenX today is that I couldn’t give two shits about what’s going in any university, with Teen Vogue, or the Grammies.

Don Hall 3/22/21 Don Hall 3/22/21

I Like to Watch | Zack Snyder’s Justice League

To be fair to Whedon (something few are willing to do as he is now being castigated not for racism or sexism but for being mean to people) having him come in to throw in some levity and Marvel-esque color to Snyder's Wagnerian pomposity is like hiring Huey Lewis to lighten up Pink Floyd's The Wall or getting Douglas Adams to rewrite Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

Paul Teodo 3/21/21 Paul Teodo 3/21/21

People Gotta Eat

“I bought a store.”

His father stopped mid-scoop, spaghetti and neck bone dripping with sauce dangling only a few inches from his bristly chin. “A what?” Sounding as if the neck bone of the pig slaughtered for the family was now lodged deep in his throat.

Elizabeth Harper 3/20/21 Elizabeth Harper 3/20/21

Unity is Not on My Wish List of Abstract Ideals to Strive for

Unity at what cost?

The indignity of going along to get along?

Freedom is on the top of my wish list.
But different elements come to mind.
Freedom from what? Freedom to do what?

David Himmel 3/19/21 David Himmel 3/19/21

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of March 14, 2021

Feelings are your facts. Yours and yours alone. They are not hard evidence for anyone or anything except yourself. They do matter, just not with the kind of absolution you want them to have.

Wayne Lerner 3/18/21 Wayne Lerner 3/18/21

The Donation

“Thank you, sir,” Dr. Carton replied. “No one likes to be held hostage, but the size of your donation and the good it will do for the University, faculty and students is just too overwhelming.”

Joe Janes 3/17/21 Joe Janes 3/17/21

A Stern Letter of Complaint to The Magic Castle

Rolando set the braised short ribs on Belinda’s plate after pulling them out on a string one rib at a time from his gaping mouth.

Don Hall 3/16/21 Don Hall 3/16/21

Four Words That Will Change Your Life (and the Internet)

The change Churchill decidedly did not make note of (but note was made, that can be certain) is a sign of evolution. Not growing gills or something bizarrely nineties as all that but a personal evolving from a stupid twenty year old to a slightly less stupid fifty-five year old. In the grand scheme of things, less stupid may be a low bar to clear but it's at least a goal.

Don Hall 3/15/21 Don Hall 3/15/21

I Believe... [Time for Some Old Fashioned Filibuster Reform]

...that bringing back the “you have to talk the whole fucking time” filibuster is the key to bipartisanship. Put your mouth where that dirty money was, ass-to-mouthers.