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State of Play
I think most of us for most of our lives have been mostly unaware of politics. By that I do not mean we’ve been ignorant, and obviously it doesn’t apply to people who live and work in that world. We all want lower grocery prices and charges at the gas pump, reasonable health care costs,…
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The Test
80 years ago today, a man died. He has long been a hero of mine, though I know him only from history books. He was a disabled man who, at the age of 39, began experiencing symptoms of a paralytic illness that would confine him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. At…
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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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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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The Fall Classic
As today marks the first game of the 2024 World Series, I thought it a good time to share my time-tested and remarkably successful betting scheme. But before I do, can we just acknowledge the arrogance of calling a sporting contest played exclusively by American teams a “world” series? I am reliably informed that there…
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What have Corn Flakes got to do with sex?
I like spicy food. Mind you, I don’t want to have to be taken to the ER over the spiciness, but it’s fun (and satisfying) when it presents you with a little bit of a challenge. You know who didn’t think so? John Harvey Kellogg, brother of Will Keith (better known as “WK”) Kellogg. John…
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Yankee Doodle mistakes feather for pasta?
We all know the Revolutionary War of Independence ditty Yankee Doodle, how it was, originally, a taunt made by the British soldiers of the revolutionary fighters, and how the Americans appropriated it and made it their own, in much the same way as the founders of Bitch magazine for feminists gave their publication a title…
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Selling Happiness
Awhile back, I was watching an old clip on YouTube from the Dick Cavett Show, which originally ran from 1968-1975 on ABC as a sortof thinking person’s Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, being more focused on current events and thinkers/newsmakers than entertainment and celebrities, though celebrities featured occasionally. In the clip I was watching, Cavett…
Your mileage may vary.