So I was browsing the movie collection at my online DVD rental site and feeling so very tired and bored with movies by men, about men, for men. My request list had dwindled to almost zero, and I wasn’t finding anything I was interested in. So I decided to check out the “Alternative” section for …
Category: uncategorized
Dec 28 2013
Being Josh
[Another old one, but it still applies…] It’s Monday night basketball, an all-comers pick-up game, supposed to be fun and a good sweat. But week after week I steel myself against the anger, the frustration of not knowing how to correct the problem, and the despair of not being able to even begin to do …
Dec 19 2013
Why do you read the paper every day?
Why do you read the paper (or listen to/watch the news) every day? Certainly not for an objective account of events. Because surely you’re aware of editorial bias – what gets in (or not), where it goes, and how much space it gets there. And reporter bias – who gets interviewed, what gets asked (or not), …
Sep 05 2013
Is it true that some people can’t think?
I watched The Shawshank Redemption recently and was struck by the scene where the guy says that in solitary confinement he had Mozart to keep him company, and they all express surprise that he was allowed to have a record player, and he says ‘No, in here’ and points to his head—and they all look …
Aug 23 2013
Taxing the Rich
Of course the rich people should have to pay higher taxes. Not because of some sacrifice for the common good principle or some trickle down principle or some from each according to their ability principle, but because they don’t deserve their money. There, I said it. They don’t deserve their millions. Even if I worked …
Aug 11 2013
Better than Speech Codes
Instead of prohibiting ‘hate speech’, we should just prohibit all claims made without reasons. Oh how our society would change! If we were legally compelled to provide reasons, justifications, evidence, for every claim we made in public… No exemptions for politicians – every speech, every statement to the press… No exemptions for business – every …
Jun 23 2013
PTSD and Ethics
[an excerpt from The Blasphemy Tour, written as Jass Richards] “We hope you’re enjoying Texas?” the show’s host said, after he introduced Dylan and Rev as his first guests of the day. “Well, we’re a little puzzled by all the American flags. Outside on people’s houses and their lawns—we’ve even been seeing them sticking …
Mar 06 2013
The Problem with Democracy
The problem with democracy is that it’s just an appeal to the majority. And most people, the majority, simply want whatever’s in their own, personal, best interest. We are a nation of egoists. Average life span what it is, personal interests are necessarily short-term. Average intelligence what it is, personal interests are also immediate and …
Feb 21 2013
Asking the Right Questions
Never has it been more important to ask the right questions. Not as philosophers, in the clearest, most explicit, terms, but in terms most likely to be used by the arrested-development minds of computer programmers. Because phone conversations, for example, aren’t with people anymore; they’re with AI programs that are, let’s face it, stupider than …
Dec 27 2012
Assholes or Idiots (take your pick)
Every now and then I hear something really insightful on tv. What recently caught my mind was an explanation of the behavior of one of the alphas on, of course, Alphas. Rosen says that Marcus can see twenty moves ahead and doesn’t understand why others can’t; so when what they do harms him, he believes …
fiction
