I am now experimenting with Patreon, the crowdfunding service, in order to see if I can ease some of my financial stress by creating meaningful units of consumable Content™. I feel a little weird about it, and I’m a little uneasy about the idea that there might be people who want to give their money to support my extracurriculars. But I already have one patron (thank you so much, Lisa Boban!), so maybe there are more who are similarly generous.... Read more
At Wired, Issie Lapowsky summarizes some research that tells us something that is not surprising, that more or less no one is ever persuaded to change their mind about a political position because of a post they saw on Facebook. I suppose people do actually think that their social media posts are badly-needed ammunition in the political war of ideas, and that their fierce, impassioned, and ironclad arguments will surely win over the misguided. I assume they really do think... Read more
I have never felt like I belonged in this species. Now I know why. Read more
I don’t care you if you blaspheme. You can take whatever lord’s name in vain that you please. You can desecrate any holy book that tickles your fancy. Heck, you can even bad-mouth Star Trek. Whatever. But, in the name of all that is good, how dare these people sully the pure, incorruptible symbol of novel delight in pleasant moderation that is PEZ? Via Lindsey Bever at the Washington Post: An Easter egg hunt in Connecticut turned dark over the weekend... Read more
This piece by Darya Rose is about indulging in things that are bad for you, but that you think are making you happy, like alcohol and junk food. But it speaks to me in terms of what I have come to need from my creative pursuits: attention. Dopamine fools your brain into mistaking reward for real pleasure. In the heat of the moment you believe that following your dopamine urges will guide you to certain happiness, but more often than not... Read more
Political parties aren’t the government, even though the Democrats and Republicans have so entirely weaved their parties into the machinery of government and the electoral system. Constitutionally, the two major parties are no more “official” than the Natural Law Party or the Rent is Too Damn High Party. They are nongovernmental associations that organize to field candidates for public office around the shared positions and values of whatever coalition of interests they can cobble together. As such, they can choose... Read more
I shouldn’t be surprised, but I can’t help it. No, I’m not shocked that there might be someone who wants desperately to attack Donald Trump. I am taken aback, however, by the Secret Service. Wait, taken aback isn’t right. Watch this. I’m moved. Did you see what those guys did? When a threat to their charge was perceived, they didn’t hesitate even a second. They used their bodies to shield Donald Trump. Control had been momentarily lost, a likely attacker... Read more
Mitt Romney is trying to be president. When Mitt Romney took the stage yesterday at the University of Utah to inveigh against Donald Trump, there was a widely shared sense (if my Twitter feed is any indication) that he was making a noble attempt at saving his party, and perhaps the country, from self-destruction. Selflessly exposing himself to a fresh set of volleys from Trump, Romney sought to awaken his party to the danger ahead if it continued to allow... Read more
Ben Carson, who for some reason believes himself to still be running for president, made what I have to assume was an accidentally astute observation about the GOP presidential race. In Irving, Texas on Saturday he said: We’re just trying to entertain people. It reminds me so much of ancient Rome — everyone wants to go to the Coliseum and somebody stabs someone with a sword and they go, ‘Yeah, this is great.’ And a tiger tears somebody’s head off,... Read more
I’m a sucker. I used to think that there was some modicum of integrity within Chris Christie. Yes, his brand was based on bluster and boorishness, and yes, he played the game of politics and sacrificed principles when necessary. But I always presumed that there was something honest underneath it all, something true, a genuine desire to do right by people, even if I utterly disagreed with his priorities or positions. Remember how he defended his appointment of a Muslim... Read more
iMortal
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