The Demagogues Are Here (and They're Smarter Than Trump)
The demagogues of 2021 have been watching. They've been fine-tuning their approach to power and are constructing their own Big Lies to spread. Unlike Trump, they aren't supposed captains of industry and have no designs on public office. They've seen the constraints of political power and know those obstacles are not the clear road to dominance.
There Are FOUR Lights, Douchebag!
Like Madred, Trump simply keeps repeating his completely unfounded conclusions as fact over and over. I wonder if Rattensperger at some point in the conversation started to believe that maybe there were five lights. I wonder how tempting it would be to cave in just to get the man to stop talking.
I Like to Watch | Gerard Butler Movies
Less enchanted by the romcoms in his IMDB (P.S. I Love You, The Ugly Truth, or Playing for Keeps) or even his super badass phase (300, RocknRolla), my Gerard Butler jam happens once he gained a bit of weight, got the slightly droopy underchin, and did his level best to do one of the least convincing American accents since Kevin Costner tried an English accent in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
![I Believe... [Ted Wheeler is a Bit Late]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1609633349648-2QLT8LO0QJEWXTGHQPL4/IMG_1879.JPG)
I Believe... [Ted Wheeler is a Bit Late]
I believe... that after ten months of the Antifa crowd burning Portland to the ground at the drop of any ideological excuse, Mayor Ted Wheeler’s admonition for the continued vandalism under the guise of persistent protest seems a bit late to the game.
Advice Unsolicited | Misinterpreting Rowling
I want to let my youngest enjoy the world of Harry Potter without supporting a bigot and disappointing my oldest.
I Like to Watch | True Crime Television
True Crime is not so much a genre of how terrible some people can be. It is a genre that acts as the mirror to society as it is rather than as we hope it is.
The Throwing Caution to the Wind When Caution is Warranted
As we stand on the precipice of 2021, maybe it's time to look hard at those risks and determine to throw caution to the wind. I mean, seriously, what have you got to lose? Death is inevitable, life is a choice.
![I Believe… [Bitcoin Slots]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1609020708688-SSLFB9FDMQ52IDFI99OB/IMG_1692.jpeg)
I Believe… [Bitcoin Slots]
I believe... that cryptocurrency, the stock market, and throwing money into a slot machine are all identical processes for gaining wealth without working.
Conspiracy Theorists Are Simply CosPlaying to Avoid Crushing Reality
Conspiracy theories grow during times of institutional failure. If you can't have the life you were promised by your personal and flawed interpretation of the "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" clause at least you can paint yourself as a hero struggling against a greater evil. You can be a knight or a superhero or a great revolutionary.
Unforging Marley's Chain: Redemption is Possible
For me, it's those fucking chains of Marley that give me pause. Link by link, and yard by yard. The chain we forge in life.
![I Believe... [Bisexual Marvel]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1608231367782-YZO2C0UABN87AGV84EHT/fullsizeoutput_11dc.jpeg)
I Believe... [Bisexual Marvel]
...that making Starlord from “Guardians of the Galaxy” bisexual presents a conundrum for Chris Pratt: continue to “act” the role or do some method preparation and fellate at least three dudes for some sort of ideological purity?
The Highest of All Arts and the Path Away from Trump
The highest of all arts, indeed.
Compromise is about building something rather than destroying something. It is about looking past the obvious differences and finding the more substantial similarities. It is humanist rather than racist or sexist. It is a stretch of the perspective to encompass all of us rather than some of us. Compromise and the commitment to do so is a rebuke to othering, aversion, and moralizing.
![I Believe… [Why Parler Failed]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1607903119075-491YYU25E0WJ6LEVC865/IMG_1879.jpeg)
I Believe… [Why Parler Failed]
...that it turns out people who troll on social media are not addicted to sharing ideas but to calling each other names. Hence, the rapid rise and rapid fall of Parler.
The Pandemic Was Foretold by the Wachowskis
This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more.
I Like to Watch | I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
“I’m Thinking of Ending Things” is the most Charlie Kaufman film in his canon.
![I Believe... [Who’s Fragile Again?]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1607191679425-FBP3SEAKPZ4AHAL40U37/IMG_2541.JPG)
I Believe... [Who’s Fragile Again?]
I believe... that it’s interesting how people who are enraged, offended, and describe everything they dislike as ‘violence & harm’ believe that it is everyone else who is showing ‘fragility.’
Silence Most Definitely Does NOT Equal Violence
What ‘silence = violence’ really means is “...you’re free to agree, but disagreement or neutrality are expressly violent acts. And since I have every right to defend myself then maybe I’ll just break some windows and burn up some stuff.”
![I Believe… [Racial Cannibals]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1606580524318-45U4NS3M9T1ESPTOMKVF/IMG_1692.jpeg)
I Believe… [Racial Cannibals]
I believe... that when white people say things like “White people are the worst” it reminds me of cartoon cows advertising the deliciousness of beef.
Stomping Our Feet Into Oblivion
“Eat shit, haters!”
Gratitude in an Ungrateful Year
I spend most mornings, in between the first and second cup of coffee, pondering what I am grateful for in my daily grind and so it is on this day as well.
On Thanksgiving 2020, I am thankful that:
...that intense and deep aren’t the same thing even if you’ve convinced yourself they are. Intense is momentary and fleeting; deep is the result of time and energy.