Note: This is a guest post by Hannah WilliamsThe 2008 presidential election of Barack Obama was one of historic precedence; for the first time in the history of the United States Americans entrusted the governing of their nation to an African-American. Despite America’s reputation as a melting-pot of ethnicities, all...
This year, I decided to give up playing Fantasy Football and listening to sports talk radio during my commute, and was able to read/listen to the following 21 books instead. Never going back. Asterisks* note my top recommendations.*A Farewell to Mars – Brian Zahnd*Money – Tony RobbinsDavid and Goliath –...
Blanketing any writer/philosopher/scientist/artist/politician as “right” or wrong” is entirely unhelpful. Are they a 'Rebel' or of the 'Empire' is a false dichotomy. Like the rest of us, they are mere men and women, deeply shaded in gray. Let us judge only their ideas, and one at a time. Quick to...
There is beauty in the act of reading a local newspaper cover-to-cover each morning. There is psychosis as well. For while this once may have been, this habitual act no longer offers an efficient way to become informed – no matter what your intellectual interest. We continue to do ‘noble’...
The "cynical optimist" is not a contradiction of terms, but a real understanding that while the human heart is undeniably corrupt, the breakthroughs and inventions of a few will make the entire world better, all without us needing to become better people at all – a “rising tide lifts all...
The final episode of 30 Rock aired last night. Don't worry, no spoilers.You see, I can't spoil the show. Because in its seven year history, 30 Rock never gave us a single story line TO spoil - nor one to root for.In fact, 30 Rock was far and away the...
My adamant refusal to let my daughter believe in Santa Claus is one of my least popular belief systems.For the small minority of us whose childhood trauma resulted in parental resentment, it couldn't be simpler. We don't want our children to similarly resent us.But for those who transitioned out of...
The United States does indeed have the most gun violence and least restrictive gun laws out of any developed country.However, individual states and cities in the United States with the most restrictive gun laws (see Washington D.C. and Chicago) tend to have the most gun violence. For instance, my home city...
I'm still stuck on my recent discovery that while I no longer find the same jokes funny that I did at the age of 13, new 13-year olds do.It makes me want to add comedy to my theory of transitional art. That one needs to get through slapstick comedy and yo...
People's diet choices, their political choices, we fight them on.We question the nutrient density of a vegan lifestyle if we believe differently.We question the long-term fiscal responsibility of a Keynesian agenda if we believe differently.Yet, if they're Buddhist, we respect that without question. If they're Mormon, we respect that without question. Oh, you...
