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Cotillion
As a young boy I showed little interest in the things boys generally show interest in. But if there was one thing I was fascinated by, it was kitchens – the cupboards, the appliances, the counters. While Chris, and Dave, and Brock were out riding skateboards, I was usually in my mom’s kitchen. I would…
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Proclamation
“Coming out” is not a one-and-done deal. Throughout our lives, LGBTQ+ people are faced with “the dilemma” – over and over – of when and how much to share about themselves. As a physically disabled man, I require assistance just to accomplish many of the things that make up my day. I need help taking…
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Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity offers us a way to understand the “hold” MAGA has over so many people. It is important to note at the outset that by “stupidity” he does not mean “dumb.” Rather than a lack of intelligence, he was describing a psychological state where facts don’t matter, where contradictions aren’t recognized,…
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A Movie Review
I’m not in the habit of doing movie reviews, here or anywhere else. Mainly because people like what they like, they have their own tastes which may or may not match mine, and de gustibus non disputandum est, a Latin maxim meaning “in matters of taste, there can be no disputes.” So my telling you that I…
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Buyer’s Remorse
I have been horrified to watch the wholesale attack on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) that has engulfed the federal government since the new administration took office. It is about the most un-American impulse possible. E pluribus unum, meaning “out of many, one” in Latin, is the motto of the United States, recalling the union…
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Let’s talk about porn
It’s our third rainy day of the year here in the desert, and if the 17 years I’ve lived here are any indication, it will probably be our last. Gordon is quite unhappy with it; not only is he frightened of the raindrops when they fall on him, but it is cold out (48 degrees)…
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The PEPFAR Crisis
Nine days after the new President of the United States took office and unleashed an unelected billionaire to wreak havoc in American institutions and programs with little or no thought to the real-life consequences for millions of people both in this country and worldwide, I wrote about the impact this clown car of an administration…
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Et tu, Brute?
You know, up until this last week, I was very proud of the governor of my state, Gavin Newsom. He has long held a place of the highest honor and regard in the gay community for being the first politician, in the entire country, to use his considerable authority as the then-mayor of San Francisco…
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Potato Meetings
I’d like to start today by talking about the potato. It is most often associated with Ireland. The Irish were first to adopt it as a staple of their diet in the 18th century, and by the mid-19th century, “reports describing the appearance of a mysterious disease on the potato crops in various parts of…
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Better living through chemistry
If you know me IRL (“in real life”), and if you have known me for a while, you know at least two things about me. One is that I used to smoke – a lot. After a major incident in 2013 that landed me in a pulmonary ICU unable to breath for 15 days, I…
Your mileage may vary.