Unavoidably, I have written my strongly held opinions about politics, current events, and politicians many times over the past 6 years. Less frequently, I’ve shared a few political opinions online on Reddit and even more rarely, on the solo forum and in comments on Youtube. In real-life conversations I’ll occasionally share my political opinions when…
A History Of Violence Part II*
I am currently reading “Eyewitness to History” by John Carey. This book is a compilation of “Civilization’s most momentous events come vibrantly alive in this magnificent collection of over three hundred eyewitness accounts spanning twenty-four turbulent centuries — remarkable recollections of battles, atrocities, disasters, coronations, assassinations and discoveries that shaped the course of history, all…
You Had To Be There
Back in the old days when I was a teenager hanging out with my friends, we’d share hilarious (to us) stories about getting drunk, doing silly stuff or seeing something that made us crack up with laughter. Occasionally, when the storyteller was out of breath from laughing so hard, he’d look up to see his…
The Motivation Behind All Things
A large number of podcasts that I listen to attempt to ascertain another person’s reason for doing something. This spans everything from politics to relationships to violence to charitable contributions to every other human behavior. Sometimes it cracks me up to hear pundits trying to parse the hidden meanings behind a politician’s tweet or, even…
Say Goodbye To Privacy
Privacy is over. It’s an outdated concept that no longer applies in modern society. With the proliferation of persistent data tracking from the internet, cell phones, smart home devices, digitally connected cars, web browser cookies, “personalized marketing preferences”, shared databases, insurance companies and hackers, your personal information has been compromised, sold, distributed and published ad…
Put Two Hands On The Dog
A few months ago I read the book, “Love Is All You Need: The Revolutionary Bond-Based Approach to Educating Your Dog”. The author is a service dog trainer with decades of experience. I liked her philosophy and approach to training. Several things she wrote have stuck with me: With the first, she recommends sharing your…
Reading Is Fundamental
Reading books might not make you smart, but I’m convinced that not reading makes you dumber. I am no longer shocked when I hear someone say they haven’t read a book since high school (or ever). Usually that same person has already demonstrated a lack of wisdom, an ignorance of history, a limited vocabulary and…
Austerity For Thee…But Not For Me
“There might be a little bit of pain.” “I’m just saying your daughter doesn’t need to have 30 dolls. She can have three. Your kids don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.” “American people will understand … because the American people understand shared sacrifice.” It’s revealing that anytime austerity and shared sacrifice…
Self-Diagnosed Excuses
For someone looking to escape accountability for their own poor behavior, our society today offers a plethora of ready-made pseudo-psychological excuses. Just self-diagnose yourself as a victim based on what you’ve heard on a podcast or TikTok and you can now blame your “disease”/parents/ex/society…anyone but yourself. I don’t think people are much different today than…
No Endpoint
On a recent Solo podcast, the topic was how the Covid pandemic affected solos. Having lived through the pandemic as a solo, I was interested to hear how others experienced the pandemic and societal isolation now that we’ve just passed the 5 year anniversary of lockdowns. Peter McGraw, the host said something that stuck with…