A free press is supposed to be one of the necessary ingredients in a free society. It is how the citizens can make informed choices and hold the elected officials accountable. That sounds nice, but a free press only gets us part way there. We are currently experiencing a lot of the problems that a…
I just read Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert. I have two ongoing goals. One is to read all of the Great Books. I know all of the complaints about the Western Cannon, and I’m not following the Western Cannon exactly. I’ve read plenty of non-Western Great Books. But, I do tend to think that the…
Philosophy Phridays is a series where each Friday, I go to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, click on “random entry,” and then write about whatever comes up. This week’s random entry is the Repugnant Conclusion. Today’s topic is from the realm of population ethics. Population ethics poses questions such as, “Should we procreate?” “Is there…
Liam Kofi Bright wrote a fascinating article called “White Psycodrama”. (Available here: White Psychodrama Final Version (philarchive.org)) In it, he describes three archetypes involved in the culture wars: Repenters, Repressors, and PoC Intelligentsia. He argues that the culture wars make us all worse and that the only way to improve things is to opt out…
Your One & Only is the debut novel by Adrianne Finlay. It was released on February 6, 2018. It’s young adult, post-apocalyptic sci-fi. I have to say the standard shpiel about spoilers, so in this opening paragraph I’ll just say that I really liked it. I recommend the book, five stars, etc. If you’re worried…
I like to watch live sports. One of the drawbacks of watching live sports is you’re kinda stuck watching the ads. Two ads running a lot lately are for Wells Fargo and Facebook, and they are basically the same ad. They say, “We screwed up. We might have lost your trust. But, trust us, we’re…
I really wanted to get a new mental health post out today, but it’s not going to happen. I started a post about insomnia. I just don’t have it in me to finish. I just wanted to post this in case anyone was wondering where the Monday post was. Sorry.
“Is cereal a soup?” has become a common question on the internet. It bugs me a bit. I know it’s a gotcha type of question, but that’s not my problem with it. I kind of like pondering gotcha questions. It bugs me because I can’t seem to answer it. Every instinct I have says that…
I was lucky enough to attend the final Allman Brothers Band concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. When I first found out I was going, I thought I might write a review and post it here. But, I soon realized that to write a review correctly, I would need to take notes…
In the news surrounding Freddie Gray’s murder and the ensuing outcry in Baltimore, one thing has shocked me. It’s really sad that only one thing has shocked me. It ought to shock me that the police would arrest someone without cause and then kill that person while transporting him to jail. It ought to shock…
