Earlier today, I ran across an old (obviously) interview with Michael Jackson where he discussed his outrage and disappointment over how Eminem portrayed him in his “Just Lose It” video. The infamous moment featured the Detroit-based rapper parodying the even more infamous moment that MJ’s hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial. It’s a moment that also featured prominently in the biopic, “Michael,” where we learn just how horrible of an experience it was for the Pop King.

But you know what? When it happened, we laughed at that shit. We thought it was the funniest thing we had ever heard. And this isn’t coming from some white-bread kid from a mono-cultural background. When I use the word “We,” I’m talking about kids of African American heritage. There was me, the biracial one and a ton of what would be considered fully Black kids laughing their asses off when MJ’s Jheri Curls lit on fire thanks to too-close proximity to a stage light. And then, to make it even more ricockulous, the image of him with his sequined thumb up for the camera to reassure fans he was okay struck us as pretty damn hilarious as well.

This isn’t me bragging about our clearly inappropriate and insensitive reaction to the incident which I shall henceforth refer to as Hairfire-Gate. No? Okay, fine.

However, what this is me doing is pointing out a bit of good old-fashioned hypocrisy when it comes to the Eminem portrayal. Again, without defending the amused reaction of millions of Black GenXers who suddenly decided the shit was never, ever funny when they grew up, it strikes me as interesting to revisit the reaction to Em’s apparent faux pas.

In the interview, Jackson mentions how upset Stevie Wonder was on his behalf, apparently describing Eminem as “bullshit.” Fair enough; Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson are legendary performers who should indeed stick together. The move was described as (inner groan) “punching down,” an interesting choice of words, considering the influential and powerful subject of the parody.

In all honesty, Jackson’s reaction was entirely appropriate in light of how much he suffered after being burned during that commercial shoot. This isn’t about him. It’s about the reaction of millions of Black and white Americans who knew damn well they laughed when it happened, suddenly acting like Eminem was an immortal from the “Highlander” movieswho had instigated a fight on Holy Ground. Jackson’s feelings about other artists not insulting one another aside, don’t suddenly become all high ‘n mighty when a white guy portrays something you most likely laughed at when it happened.

Having said all that, learning just how bad the damage was has made me feel like absolute shit for laughing at the time. I was a kid, of course, and the idea of burning hair seemed like something out of a Three Stooges short to me in those days. So, I don’t place too much of a regretful eye on my younger self.

Then I think about the lady in the Nineties who was burned by the hot coffee she purchased from a McDonald’s Drive-thru. We laughed at her, too. In fact, she became the subject of many a latenight comedian’s monologue, all of us chortling at the idea that this stupid, blatantly opportunistic woman was claiming she didn’t know hot coffee was hot when first served.

Except, that was all bullshit. The jokes and the dismissals were all part of a well-coordinated PR campaign to diminish the very real events the woman endured. In reality, the coffee was served so far above the acceptable temperature that contact with her skin caused immediate burning and peeling. She spent months being treated for severe burns and McDonald’s, evil, soulless corporation that it is, set about making her look like a scumbag con artist while quietly adjusting their practices to avoid future lawsuits.

The saying, “Comedy is tragedy plus time,” is often true but, sometimes our outrage is stage-managed while our amusement is manipulated.

Just something to think about it.

If you’re anything like me, and you’re probably not, you’re just goddam tired. Tired of all the bullshit being passed off as true. Tired of the actual truth being dismissed as opinion or bias. And, most of all, you’re probably tired of being treated like an easily fooled idiot who just accepts absurdity as long as you can still eat your favorite junk food and insult people online.

Rump’s latest attempt to rewrite history landed like a brick hurled from on high because even those who believe him aren’t that stupid and gullible…

Nah, I’m only kidding! These dumbasses ate it up like a buffet at their local greasy spoon. But there is a slight difference this time around; they are also somehow disillusioned with their Mango Messiah because he hasn’t followed through on the ultimate promise yet: Stopping The Great Reset.

If you’re too gloriously lazy to read the article linked above, I’ll give you a brief and sexy overview: Conspiracy theorists, i.e. nutjobs, hijacked a term that referred to an economic recovery plan proposed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) by a bunch of out-of-touch rich Europeans. They probably meant well but never got around to providing concrete examples of how using the COVID-19 pandemic as a launching pad for a more prosperous future would work. Sadly, that lack of clarification was all the extreme rightwing needed to seize upon the term and decide what its true meaning was.

This might come as a surprise, but it involved leftwing elites doing nefarious things to control the masses because, as we all know, rightwing elites would never do such a thing. And how can I prove it? Simple. Anytime information is provided to the contrary, right-wingers simply move the goalpost and claim those instances were actually conducted by left-wingers. These people live in a world where Fascism, a corporate-friendly dictatorship, is viewed as liberal.

As the BBC reports, “In this narrative, lockdown restrictions were introduced not to curb the spread of the virus, but to deliberately bring about economic collapse and a socialist world government, albeit run for the benefit of powerful capitalists.”

Read those last six words three times fast. Socialism is somehow the tool of powerful capitalists. And Trump, capitalism’s poster child, was the one who was going to prevent it from taking place. Framed differently, a man whose only desire in life is to enrich himself at the expense of others somehow magically gives a shit about normal everyday Americans and wants to save them from people just like him to stop socialism.

What’s really going on here is a technique involving subversion of reality. The author describes this best when she writes, “By constantly shifting the criteria for truth, even down to the (very meta) extent of changing the definition of the word ‘fascist’, authoritarian regimes create an alternative reality where dissent is impossible to pin down. This creates a culture of uncertainty, where only the regime’s ever-changing narrative holds authority.”

She goes on to demonstrate how the Rump regime’s intentional misuse of the term “fake news” has been instrumental in convincing millions of people that everything they hear that isn’t approved by the regime is false. And, for whatever reason, Rump has chosen his 2020 election loss as the springboard for the New Reality due to a combination of megalomania, resentment, embarrassment and a desire to control the truth. All of this has resulted in a nation where no two individuals view the same events and incidents the same way.

Every time that mumbling, dementia-addled assclown stands in front of a camera and spews his nonsense, an idiot nods enthusiastically and a puppy dies. It’s true! I seen it on trustmebro.net! You’re not going to believe the evil libtard media, are you?

One wonders how the 2020 election was supposedly fixed against Rump but somehow not against any of the Rump-friendly Republicans who won that year. How does that work exactly? OH, right. Pattern recognition only works when it favors the desired outcome. And that’s what this is really all about, isn’t it?

Many, many Americans are like simple-minded children whose entire perspectives are informed by what wish fulfillment. They don’t want to do the hard stuff, like facing reality and being as objective as humanly possible. They want reality to conform to them, especially if they feel like the alternative is too frightening to entertain. Rump knows this because he’s a manipulative piece of sewage and it will get him what he wants, at least in the short-term.

Sadly, these people vote when they’re told to and they vote for who they’re told to support. And that, dear reader, is the harshest and least comforting reality of them all.

Confusingly pro-Nazism yet Jewish-run propaganda site the Daily Liar has officially proclaimed that young white directors have returned to helm motion pictures in Hollywood. After years and years of non-white oppressors daring to tell their stories and share their visions, homogenous, by-the-numbers Western European-influenced tropes have come back to save the day!

To understand why someone, anyone, would print such a ridiculously tone deaf article, one must first take a look at who founded the site in the first place. It was none other than squeaky voiced man-child Ben Shapiro, a frustrated screenwriter who takes out all of his resentment on successful filmmakers. Alongside Ben was a man whose name says it all, Jeremy BOERING.

Jeremy is clearly the smart one, considering he stepped down as co-CEO in 2025, citing shifting priorities and a desire to focus more on entertainment and less on bullshit and media manipulation. Of course, he does have a podcast…

The “article” is written by Matt Walsh who is somehow an even bigger piece of shit than Shapiro. Don’t believe it’s possible? I hear you but, check out the many allegations against him from deceived participants in his so-called “documentaries.”

While I refuse to post a link to the article here, I will liberally(see what I did there?)quote from it to make my points. So, let’s descend into the sweaty, unwashed, mold-encrusted armpit of rightwing bro culture:

He starts off by referring to DEI as “insanity,” thereby creating a blanket description of a complex concept because he doesn’t like people who are different than him getting stuff he thinks he deserves. To prove both his and my points, he then goes on a several paragraph tirade about a Latina whose behavior got her fired from a high-level job at JP Morgan. Apparently, her stealing garbage is Walsh’s attempt at a clumsy parallel involving how the film industry works?

“White men have been driven out of the film and television industries solely because of their skin color and gender,” Matt Walsh.

That’s a rather dramatic charge filled with frightening implications and must surely come with it a ton of non-anecdotal evidence. I mean, this is Matt Fucking Walsh we’re talking about here! The paragon of integrity. Brilliant voice of the Always Correct and Never Suspect Rightwing, godammit!

Walsh’s “proof” comes from telling us how non-white male directors excelled and that no white men were nominated for Emmys in 2021.

‘Kay.

Let’s not take into account that the white men in the industry might not be all that great or that voices that were once less likely to be heard are coming into their own. Nope, it must be evil gatekeepers who don’t like his little buddy Benny! That’s easier to accept. But he isn’t finished there because now comes the pivot to end them all.

Using Complex Magazine’s article as his one and only source for this information, Walsh used the following pull quote:

Between 2004 and 2013, over forty Gen-X white men received Academy Award nominations for screenwriting. In the following decade (2014-2023), more than fifty Gen-X white men were nominated—alongside just six white male millennials.

Hey, facts are facts. But Walsh is never content with mere facts so, of course, he decides to indulge in pure conjecture as if he’s sharing the sage wisdom of an insider. In his biased view, this means, “They’re pulling the ladder up behind them…” and have decided to, “punish up-and-coming screenwriters and directors for being white.”

Never mind that these white male millennials might actually suck. Or perhaps they’re mostly journeyman directors, competent but they don’t stand out in their craft. Walsh would never even consider those points because then he’d have to admit there are non-whites and non-males with more talent than people who look like him. Don’t worry, however. He isn’t finished making himself look like a bigoted dumbass yet because the ever-hovering specter of Ryan Coogler hasn’t been mentioned.

Here is where Walsh does what he does best. No, not write incisive, well-argued essays. That would be me. Walsh indulges his bigotry by calling others bigots while still somehow emerging as the real bigot. How, you ask? Through the type of cluelessness his boss Ben Shapiro has turned into a character trait.

Now, before I start this next part, let me preface it by telling you I am not the biggest fan of Coogler’s. I was underwhelmed by “Sinners,” as I have mentioned in two previous posts, especially the way it portrayed its one biracial character. However, Walsh goes for broke and refers to it as “explicitly anti-white,” completly missing any subtext, context, or just plain historicity of the film. I’ll not go into all the reasons he’s wrong because that isn’t the topic here but, knowing he has no idea what the fuck he’s watching, Walsh has already surrendered all possibility of being taken seriously outside of the blinders-covered eyes of the MAGA cult.

No good racist rant stops at mere media illiteracy. Walsh digs both feet in and attacks Coogler’s reputation with the kind of aplomb one would hope he’d have for school shooters. I won’t dignify his words here but suffice to say, Walsh views Coogler as some sort of funnel for white liberal guilt while, at the same time, admitting he is a good filmmaker.

Now that he’s made his non-points, Walsh decides it’s time to extoll the virtues of young male whiteness by pointing out the surprise successes of the movies “Obsession” and “Backrooms,” two indie, low budget movies that have made lots of money and put simultaneously released blockbusters to shame. Why are these films so popular and profitable? Is it because they captured the cultural zeitgeist or maybe franchise fatigue has set in or because they offer an alternative to the mainstream? Nah, according to Walsh, “Audiences are tired of woke slop and want something radically different.”

Radically different as in returning to the days of white male homogeneity? After all, as Walsh insists, it’s not just white males being “excluded” from an industry they still dominate. It’s because “white males who aren’t deranged Leftists” aren’t being allowed to play in the sandbox.

So, now we finally get to it. The real reason Walsh is whining like a scared puppy. It’s the Great Replacement Theory for wanna-be movie moguls and directors. Guys like Walsh and Shapiro are afraid because their attitudes are going the way of the dinosaur except a lot less interestingly. These people are holding on to something that’s already slipped from their grips and any sign of a return to so-called greatness gets them all hot and bothered.

Sorry, Matt. The vast demographic shift is still coming and people whose voices and experiences you find repugnant and not at all interesting are still going to be heard. Nobody is preventing young white males from making their impacts on film history, you just don’t like the mentalities of the ones that are doing it.

I’m going to enjoy watching people like you fade into obscurity. In the meantime, there’s always “Birth of a Nation” for you to watch and ruminate on the good ol’ days.

Despite well over a century of Herculean efforts to be seen as just another Christian denomination in America, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormons, were dealt a major blow this past week by Pete Kegs-breath’s Department of Defense (Or War, as he likes to call it) removing Mormonism from its list of approved religious faiths. Why exactly did they do this? Let’s start with the official non-explanation before discussing the actual reasons:

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said, "This decrease in religious affiliation codes is not designed to make any claims on the legitimacy of any faith or religious belief, nor is it intended to provide a list of 'officially approved' religions. Rather, it is designed to allow chaplains to quickly look at the religious composition of their units and determine how they structure resources to best provide for warfighters of all faith groups."

Where have we heard this type of reasoning before? Oh, that’s right. Whenever corporations start downsizing. Whenever someone wants to deemphasize the importance of a group or individual, it automatically gets labeled as a “service.” Well, the Mormons of Utah aren‘t taking this sleight lying down!

Senator Curtis of that fascinating state Tweeted the following on X: "Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country. They are also unequivocally Christian—just look at who is in the name of the Church. It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets.”

So, what exactly is going on here? Why are these inarguably devout followers of Christ being excluded from the listing of Christian denominations available to the “Warfighters” of ‘Murica? What is it about them in particular that seems to prevent them from joining the Old Boy Network?

In order to understand that, we must return to the early days of the LDS’ founding and look at what it is these people actually believe. That means we need to take a road trip to:

Mormonism is the only uniquely American-born religion. It began in early 1820 when church founder Joseph Smith claimed to have experienced a vision wherein God and Jesus appeared before him and told him the “true church” had been lost. Three years later, Smith was guided by an angel named Moroni who appeared like a white human to the location of a set of buried golden plates. On these plates were inscribed the tales of history of an ancient civilization that had lived on the North American continent. I know what you’re thinking but, nope! Not Native Americans. They apparently came later.

By 1830, Smith had translated the writing on the plates and published the first Book of Mormon, the purported additional story of Jesus’ divinity and resurrection and, wait for it, it all took place in the Americas. To this new fledgling religion started on the frontier by a new prophet, the Book of Mormon stood alongside the Holy Bible as the revealed word of God. Naturally, mainstream Protestants had a problem with that and the resultant backlash gave rise to a “Mormon War” and a standing execution order, the latter being the only one of its kind in all of United States history.

As if they weren’t already full enough of themselves, the Mormons emulated the Biblical Exodus, only instead of reaching land in the Middle East, they went to Utah. I’m not sure which is worse but they were able to establish a genuine toehold there, building a beautiful temple and forever contributing to the white shirt and tie industry. What a happy ending for a wonderful group of people.

Except…

To paraphrase a funny comment I read on Threads recently, Scientology was created to make Mormonism look less insane. Despite a preponderance of evidence to the contrary, they continue to insist that a missing tribe of Israel traveled to the Americas around 600 B.C.E. This tribe eventually split into two people, the devout Nephites and the naughty Lamanites, who were not so coincidentally the ancestors of Native Americans. Guess which group was “Cursed” with dark skin.

Yep, Native Americans are apparently the descendants of awful people who rebelled against the all-powerful white male God of whom Smith spoke with such reverence. And if brown people are cursed with the Mark of Cain because Cain slew his brother and God don’t like ugly, you can only imagine the curse Black people had to endure. However, there is a surprising twist to this tale I only recently learned of thanks to the audio version of Joanna Brooks’ incredibly well-researched book, “Mormonism and White Supremacy,” the inspiration for this post.

The truly shocking shocking revelation I experienced was finding out that LDS founder Joseph Smith, who I had always dismissed as a racist asshole and a charlatan, was in favor of including Black men in the priesthood! He went as far as to ordain them. It wasn’t until Brigham Young took over following Smith’s bizarre death that the “No Darkies” rule was implemented. That rule lasted from 1852-1978.

During that century-plus, other people of color were allowed to be ordained, just not Black people.

So, what I once inaccurately viewed as a religion steeped in white supremacy, was actually turned into one after its founder was no longer around. Mormon laypeople and officials have danced around the ban for decades, usually falling into the ever-comfortable, “Well, that was in the past and now you people are accepted so look over there! It’s the Tabernacle Choir!”

But mainstream Protestants, their own churches dripping in white supremacy, don’t care about that. What they care about is that the LDS is viewed as a false church, a distinct irony considering it was founded with the idea that all other religions were false. Below are some of my favorite intolerant viewpoints from Christian pastors:

“Mormonism is not biblical Christianity. A false gospel, a false prophet, and a false view of Jesus don't lead to truth; counterfeits may look real, but they're still counterfeit.” - Pastor Mark Driscoll

“The Mormon gospel is contrary to one Paul preached... 'Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.' Joseph Smith was a demonstrably sinful person.”

“Mormonism is not Christianity because it teaches a different God. The God of the Bible never became God. He is God. Before any hill rose, He was... He is not an exalted man who climbed into glory. He is the eternal Creator who made all things…” - Pastor Rich Bitterman

And these are the friendlier versions of the criticisms levied at the Mormon religion. It’s often referred to as a cult as well. I’m not even going to go into the amount of scientifically impossible claims made, such as that the mythical Garden of Eden was located in the Show Me State (Missouri, for our non-American friends). I consider Mormonism to be the first science fiction religion with its tales of other planets and men ascending to godhood. It would be pretty cool if not that pesky racism.

The White Christian Nationalist movement may find them useful in many ways, not the least of which is their full-on embracing of all things White and American. However, the LDS is ultimately seen as an abomination and now that these Evangelicals feel emboldened to enact their Dominionist agenda, there’s no room for them in their Theocratic World Order.

One wonders how “supreme” they’re feeling now.

This is the story of two people, one a writer of fiction and the other a writer, editor and publisher of same. It’s a story that centers around a fledgling online publication that eventually grew into something pretty impressive and the writer of fiction’s lengthy association with it. It is also the story of an association that was abruptly ended over butthurtedness of the highest order. It is at once inspiring and baffling and, when it’s over, you will be crying out for a sequel that will probably never come.

Let’s go back over a decade to the year 2011, when the writer of fiction finally decided if he was going to become published, he’d better get writing or get dying. It had occurred to him not too long before that epiphany that it might be a good idea, if he wanted a body of published works, to start writing to suit. What does that mean, you elitist prig, you ask? Well, I certainly wouldn’t expect one of your ilk to understand but I digress.

Writing to suit is a fancy-schmancy way of describing an approach where the writer tailors their work for specific markets and/or publications. In my case, I went ahead and started reading the requirements from various mostly horror anthologies and writing stories to fit that specific subset. To my surprised delight, it worked. Not every single time, of course, but more often than not, stories I wrote for particular collections wound up getting published. For a while there, it became like a well-oiled machine, resulting in my having published several stories by the end of 2012.

I didn’t always get paid, of course. Why “of course, you cryptic polyp?” you ask.

Well, Virginia, there might be a Santa Claus but he doesn’t always come bearing money. Sometimes he offers “exposure,” which sounds much sexier than it is. Somewhere along the way, people who wish to be publishers and editors decided it was enough to “pay” talent by not actually paying them at all. For you see, the intangible, unquantifiable form of compensation that presupposes famous people will read your work and say, “That’s our next bestselling author, by Jove!” is almost as good.

Honestly, I didn’t really mind at first. I was building my back catalog and I made some really positive connections in those early days. But as one does, I eventually reached a point where I felt I had a proven track record and deserved even the smallest monetary compensation for my blood, sweat, and remarkably clear urine. So, as time wore on, so too did my patience with the concept of FTL; sorry, science fiction fans, that doesn’t stand for “Faster than Light” travel. It stands for “For the Love,” i.e. you love working your ass off so much, you do it for the love of the artform and happily give it away so others can make money.

Funnily enough, once my decision to no longer submit stories to non-paying publications was official, my publishing credits diminished. Not altogether unexpected but I felt it necessary to take a stand for my own professional dignity while still being open to the occasional giveaway to publishers I respected or who I felt had treated me well over the years.

And then it happened. A particular publisher and editor I had been submitting stories to over the years and who had been a long-time Facebook friend suddenly and without ceremony dropped and blocked me over a comment she clearly did not understand. And guess what it was about?

Yep, that damn bear!

You may recall the thought exercise that was a viral sensation a few years ago where women were asked if they would choose to be lost in the forest with a wild bear or with a man they didn’t know. Many, many women said they would choose the bear. Many, many simple-minded, literal men missed the whole point and assumed these women really thought they would be safer with a wild bear instead of the fact that men in general are frighteningly untrustworthy when it comes to women.

To me, the bear choice made total sense but there was one, as always, missing component and that was how men of color might choose in a similar situation. Although well-intentioned, the bear exercise is a fallacy when taking into account the historical awfulness with which white American women have conducted themselves in regards to black men in particular. My point was a simple one that only the most sheltered and privileged person would either miss or resent: You can’t square off and act like you would choose the bear when there are men of color who would do the same to you for fear of persecution.

This was apparently too much for this individual to handle and before I knew it, she had left a pissy comment and her profile was no longer viewable to me.

One comment that made her uncomfortable and exposed her willingness to remain in a bubble and a decade-plus-long professional relationship was severed.

Now, I don’t really give a fuck about the publishing aspect. I’d long ago grown tired of seeing my work prop up somebody else’s vanity project but I do care about being dismissed for having an alternative, relevant point of view by someone who pretended to be a kindred intellect. But, when someone decides to get all up in their feelings instead of listening, professionalism gets tossed out into the garbage where, presumably, a kind and loving bear will feast upon it.

Maybe it’s happened to you but it definitely happened to me some time back. You’re doing your job, performing it as required and staying out of as much drama as you can, when your supervisor/manager/director tells you that you don’t seem like you want to be there. On its surface, that sounds like someone who is concerned about job performance or engagement and, in some cases, that’s precisely what it is. But what about when there have been no write-ups or negative evaluations? What about when you’re damn good at your job and that person knows it?

In such a case, it sounds like that particular boss is trying to convince themselves for any number of reasons. Perhaps they find your lack of ass-kissing threatening, for instance. Bosses who require constant validation often react with pure hostility to those who do not find their achievements impressive. And God forbid you don’t find their terrible attempts at being funny humorous. You might as well have de-pantsed and taken a massive dump right there in the middle of your workplace.

Putting all that aside, however, let’s examine the phrase at its most basic essence. “You don’t seem like you want to be here.” I’m sorry, am I supposed to want to be stuck in a place for eight or more hours per day, wasting my most vital years and having to obey the whims of people I wouldn’t sit next to at a movie theater? Am I supposed to want to spend all of my awake time dealing with potentially awful human beings for money that doesn’t even help me survive in this economy?

How many Americans hate their jobs with an unbridled passion? Depending on which poll you choose to believe, it’s anywhere from 60-80%. This is readily available information. Knowing this, who the hell in their right mind would presume to tell an employee they don’t seem like they want to be there? You’re goddam right, we don’t! How clueless or tone deaf are you?

Instead of asking people who are most likely miserable at their jobs, maybe the intelligent thing to do is assume they are and let them do those jobs anyway. It’s so easy to make your whole life revolve around your workplace, especially when you’re in charge of the place or some significant aspect thereof.

Years ago, I took an Environmental Science class in college. I didn’t do well but it wasn’t until I spoke with a counselor that I understood why. This person told me that professor had left the college to pursue other, more environmentally focused endeavors. According to them, this instructor left because they felt the college wasn’t doing enough for the environment but, the counselor had a different take.

“You shouldn’t be teaching a first level class as if everybody is going to become an environmental scientist.”

I couldn’t have agreed more! There are two lessons to be gleaned from that story, I think. Firstly, the instructor was miserable and decided to get the hell out. Secondly, her misery came from assuming others wanted to be there and to become what she was.

Most people take jobs because they need them, not because they want them. Only a person who is completely cut-off from common people wouldn’t know that, let alone refrain from making such an astoundingly dumb comment.

Feel free to gift them the mug pictured above if you tell them this and they still don’t get it. And, y’know, box up your things right after.

A company known as Classic Book Dot Com (I refuse to provide a link) has taken it upon itself to take well-beloved works of classic literature and “remaster” them for current readers. In other words, all of the character, uniqueness and charm of books such as Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” can now be read in versions that come off like a sub-literate person’s Instant Messenger conversations.

I ran across their ad a few days ago. It looked like this:

Unable to resist the tagline regarding a version I’ll “actually finish” presumably because I’m stupider than a box of old gym socks, I began reading the universally disgusted comments, all of which echoed my still to be expressed sentiment. We had finally reached the pinnacle of Idiocracy and this company was rushing full bore into the moronic abyss. Initially, all I decided to write was, “This isn’t the Bible. Classic works don’t need modernizing.”

I was, of course, referring specifically to novels, not film and TV adaptations.

Prior to my comment was one from a gentleman whose revulsion at this bastardization was expressed rather pointedly. By the time I’d read his comment, I had also taken the liberty of looking at the so-called “remastered Moby Dick” on the company’s website. I only read three or four pages to get a feel for the approach, enough to know where this was all going.

I replied to the disgusted man’s comment by writing that the modernized version read like text messaging. Little did I know what butthurtedness the company’s spokesperson and/or owner would experience at my comment, the only one they chose to address directly, I might add.

While referring to me as “buddy,” the company’s point of contact (at least on social media) took offense at my comment and informed me I was making myself look bad by expressing disdain for their ethically bankrupt approach to the classics. We went back and forth for a while with them demanding some examples of sentences from the so-called “remastered” version that read like texting. I had to wait until I could sit still for more than a minute to do it, which gave them the false impression I was bullshitting and had no examples to provide.

Here’s where things got a little interesting.

Firstly, I would love to provide screenshots of our conversation except for the fact that it had vanished from the comment section. Now, I’m always willing to accept wrongheadedness on my part when it comes to making snap judgments. So, instead of immediately assuming that was what had happened, I told myself it was possible that the originator of the thread had done it, maybe because he found the constant alerts annoying as all hell. Fair enough if true.

However, I chose to test that theory with another, separate comment mentioning that my comments had been removed immediately after I provided two prime examples of the terrible, texting-era narrative the company was passing off as readable. And guess what, dear reader? That’s right.

That comment vanished, too!

Apparently, the moment they realized I wasn’t a troll, they tucked their lacy undergarments into their nethers and retreated.

Funnily enough, they have not replied to anyone else’s comments, probably because nobody else made a specific claim for them to try and refute. But since I did, one would expect them to come back with an arsenal full of denials and claims to the contrary. That obviously didn’t happen but here’s what did…

In a blatant bid for the First Place Award for How to Alienate Potential Customers, the company posted the following comment for all to see:

Author

Classic Books Remastered

Thanks for exposing yourselves as not having clicked on the actual ad to visit our site. Every single book comes with the full original version, link to that original version in audio form, with the remaster as an option for those that struggle to understand the original. Not sure why everyone automatically defaults to being upset about something rather than seeing what is being offered, but if this upsets you then stick to the originals. Literally nothing wrong with that and we offer access to over 60K free public domain books with reading progress tracked in the cloud so you can read on all your devices and not lose progress all completely for free. Amazing how quick everyone is to cry about something without even seeing what it is.

And if you want to gatekeep the story behind language that’s hard to understand over 100 years after its release that’s fine you can still read your version, but to tell someone they don’t deserve to read the story unless they struggle through the language is an insane stance to take and you should really give up the elitist mentality over it. The same people complaining that people don’t read as much anymore and the next generation is ruined from technology are the same people trying to keep these stories as inaccessible as possible. Maybe if you took the minute to explore what our site actually does rather than spending that minute writing a comment based on something you haven’t even looked at yet you’d be a little bit more productive than, Idk, making Facebook comments.

In keeping with the ideals espoused by the Dealmaker-in-Chief, if someone disagrees with you, whine and insult them and make a show of it because that really gets potential customers on board!

Indulge me as I touch on some of their more ahem salient points. They continually harp on their belief that nobody who commented bothered to look at the alternative versions but I did exactly that and wound up having my comments deleted. They also feel strongly that anyone who insists literature should be read in its original version is “gatekeeping language,” completely ignoring how incredibly insulting it is to the authors and their use of language. This isn’t translation, this is rewriting without permission. How do I know that, you ask? Pay special attention to the phrase, “Public Domain.”

This company is taking novels and other literary works that are no longer copyrighted and doing whatever the hell they want with them all while pretending it’s for altruistic purposes. The fact that they are stunned by the response shows just how in the clouds they are mentally. They also appear to have an anger management problem, in spite of their attempts to make it seem like I was the angry one.

My favorite part of all of this was their insistence that I don’t know what “remastered” means because I objected to its use in regards to printed media. According to them, it is merely an updated, often improved version of something. Since they apparently deal in half-truths, here is the actual definition of the word “remastered”:

“The process of updating an existing piece of media—such as music, film, or video games—to enhance its quality for modern consumption while preserving the original content. It typically involves repairing audio/visual issues, increasing resolution, and adjusting sound to modern loudness standards.”

Do you see anything in there about the written word? Exactly.

This is a shameless money-grab that displays a woeful disrespect and ignorance of what makes a work of fiction timeless. They have the right to make as much money pulling this swindle as they wish but they should also expect those of us who know better to point out what they are doing.

I don’t have a whole lot to say anymore, which explains why it’s been so long since I posted anything here. You would think, with so many absolutely awful things happening in the world, I would be filled with inspiration. Alas, uh-uh.

Sometimes it’s easy to tell ourselves there’s no such thing as a sign or a message. Denial is a powerful, unceasing force that bears down on us like increased gravity on some alien planet. But it’s impossible to ignore all the ones I’ve received, especially in regards to me needing to accept all the things I have pretended weren’t weighing me down all these decades.

I’m not trying to be vauge, although I realize it probably looks that way so, permit me to be as blunt as I can. I have all but given up. Whatever is still inside of me that provides the tiny spark of continuance is rapidly burning out. I’m so very, very done.

This isn’t a suicide note so don’t be alarmed, assuming you’ve read this far and actually have more than a casual, passing interest. It is, however, a note of almost total surrender. I have been beaten down, worn down, and pushed down one too many times. Where once there stood a person with a modicum of hope, there now sits a shell that finally realized what a fool he always was.

I’m not crying out for help. I’m just chronicling my inevitable decline.

Oh, yeah…

Happy New Year.

Like all well-rounded individuals, I get my political news from a comedy show because if I ain’t laughin’, I ain’t payin’ attention because I’m too busy sobbing like a freshly plucked Midieval virgin…male or female, take your pick. And what’s not to cry about these days? Unless you’re an unrepentant sociopath and/or malignant narcissist, the entire state of human affairs should have you contemplating looking into how to get permanently abducted by aliens, probing various orifices no longer being a dealbreaker (assuming it ever was, of coruse).

However, once in a while, something happens that is so unexpected, so against the grain that it nearly makes me think humanity is worth preserving. No, I’m not talking about Mitch McConnell’s tumble to the floor when a voter asked him his views on deporting children, but that’s a good guess. I’m also not referring to this furious old MAGA bastard trying to tough-guy his way through a group of “No Kings” protestors who hit the concrete twice like a dumb-ass although, who am I kidding? That actually was it until this latest revelation came my way.

This morning while catching up on “The Daily Show,”I was surprised when John Stewart pointed out something I had no idea was happening because I don’t subject myself to Fox “News” except in the form of the occasional clip. Stewart mentioned something that, at first listen and glance, I did not fully process because I could hardly believe it.

Fox “News” had gone from “Warning” us all that the ultimately peaceful, incident-free No Kings protests around the U.S. were going to result in terrorist attacks by AntiFa and BLM to criticizing the amount of white Boomers they were seeing at the events. That’s right, dear reader, Fox has a problem with old white people!

You can’t make this shit up! The entertainment channel posing as a news network that made its billions off of scaring elederly white Americans now has a problem with them because they oppose everything Trump stands for! It freaked them out!

All that hard work they put into scaring the absolutel crap about one of the easiest to manipulate demographics in the nation wasn’t enough to prevent millions of them from marching against fascism. So, what do you suppose Fox did when presented with this stunning reality?

1. They immediately started investigating the issue like real journalists in order to represent the situation objectively.

2. They sent reporters out to interview these people to get their stories so a well-rounded story could be told.

3. They jumped into action, insulting white Boomers by making them seem irrelevant, insane, and an indication that the No Kings protests were a joke because old white people made up a significant number of protestors.

No hints will be provided but I’m pretty sure you know what they did.

It official. Orange Man who can’t pronounce “Acetaminophen” say Tylenol reason for Austims. Him also say pregnant ladies should no take pills because them kids wind up all different and make patriots uncomfortable. Him smartest man on planet with biggest brain so him must be right. If don’t believe him, listen to other smartest man with worm in brain who sounds like him is gargling glass.

Oh, and fuck you, Big Pharma!

This is how I and many of you imagine the inner workings of the MAGA/Anti-Vaxx mind when it comes to the supposedly stunning revelation the president revealed yesterday without a trace of irony or self-reflection. Tylenol is the root cause of Autism and Autism is bad because it’s Autism. That’s the takeaway, people.

So, what the hell is their problem with something that isn’t even considered a disease by any reputable physician or scientist? It is a disorder, however, as is evidenced by its official name, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). For those who might be unware of what exactly it is, below is a breakdown:

• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain.

• Some people with ASD may have advanced conversation skills whereas others may be nonverbal.

• Some people with ASD need a lot of help in their daily lives; others can work and live with little to no support.

• There is not just one cause of ASD. Many different factors have been identified that may make a child more likely to have ASD, including environmental, biologic, and genetic factors.
  *Source- The ever-villified (by the Right) CDC

Now that we’ve established that it’s a mental disorder whose most common cause is genetic, that brings us to why in the name of Lord Vishnu these MAGA types are so consumed with coming up with causes that are due to benign medications like Tylenol? Isn’t the already accepted reason enough? Nope.

Here’s why: We are dealing with people whose every moment in life is filled with conspiratorial thought. Nothing happens without a nefarious cause and always by people who believe the opposite of whatever they believe. When one’s entire worldview boils down to “Us Good/Them Evil,” gross oversimplification is the order of the day. It’s much easier to accept that something out of our control is being manipulated by unseen, uncaring forces. It’s also comforting to believe there’s a simple fix to every percevied problem once they’re “in the know.”

The adorable child pictured above is not a problem or a sufferer of a disease. The so-called parents who find him to be an embarrassment or an inconvenience are the disease and the only cure for them is, sadly, too extreme to take seriously. Although, it would be nice if they stopped birthing babies for a decade or so.

There’s also the too-tragic-to-be-laughable reality of so-called “American Exceptionalism” at play here. Obviously not every anti-vaxxer is white or American but so many of them are that it would be irresponsible to not take note of the demographic. It should be obvious to any thinking person that the notion of superiority whether racial or national plays a huge part in all of this. In their minds, these people are being robbed of their birthright by evil, swarthy, conniving money-grubbers. They are owed a perfect life with perfect children who don’t challenge them or cause them to have to be seen in public with kids who don’t maintan the nuclear family illusion.

Let’s change the word “disease” to “inconvenience” and the word “cause” to “scapegoat” and we begin to understand the MAGA mindset on this issue.

Anti-vaxxers in general see a world where their precious, unique children are being preyed upon by profiteers who are gatekeeping the ancient methods of keeping healthy. After all, people lived a lot longer when they relied exclusively on herbs and their God-given immune systems to survival. Just look:

Who needs a vaccine when you can live to the ripe old age of 42? The ancients had all the answers!

It’s sad but simple. Conservatives have an extremely narrow view on how people shoud live, act, think and look. Autism flies directly in the face of all of that by forcing them to pivot away from conformity in often discomforting ways. They’re not upset that Autism exists, they’re upset that it keeps them from being perfect.

In response to the by-the-facist-handbook demand for Jimmy Kimmel to be cancelled because him upset orange man real bad with him meanie-rat words, people on the Left are responding with some record-breaking cancelling of their own.

The Disney+ website actually crashed due to overwhelming demand to cancel subscriptions from millions of people. So far, Paramount Plus hasn’t suffered a similar fate but the cancelling has been pretty consistent there, too. Leftists are voting with their money, as they should if they believe a great wrong has been committed. Lord knows people on the Right have done so with righteous causes such as non-white people in movies and the removal of an old southern white man from a restaurant logo. Those are vital issues, too!

But pushing someone off the air because they offended the President and his drool-cup using followers? That’s pretty big, too. And the outrage and fear and anger that have resulted are all justified but, is it all being directed to the right places?

Sure, the fact that Disney and ABC are run by feckless, groinless little money-hungry cowards is disgusting, but when hasn’t that been true? I’d venture to say that, since the Nineties, there hasn’t been a single individual running those companies with balls bigger than nickels or an ounce of integrity. In spite of this, they hadn’t really been tested until recently when the crybaby-in-chief threw yet another fit over someone’s accurate comments about his terrible personality.

This time, it was latenight host Jimmy Kimmel whose apt observations about how the president had seemingly already moved on from Charlie Kirk’s assassination a mere day later that caused the Con to fill his diaper with rage and McDonalds. The proof is on video. When asked about his “good friend,” the Con rushed through an obligatory mention of how sad the sudden murder of Kirk was so he could start talking something even more tragic: His plans for turning the Rose Garden into a discoteque.

So, what did Kimmel say that was wrong? Nothing, which is why the Rightwing manipulation machine went into overdrive reframing the monlogue as an attack on Charlie Kirk which, with even a cursory glance, makes absolutely zero sense. In other words, the Rumpers are repeating it like it’s Gospel because they get to own a lib.

Meanwhile, Kimmel’s show is on indefinite hiatus and people on the Left are rightly pissed off. That brings us back to the Big Beautiful Boycott. Is it the right thing to do?

We live in a murky reality where what appears to be so is often, if not usually, not. On its surface, Disney/ABC’s response to the White House’s demands is a repugnant, dangerous, frightening moment in the history of a country that has at least pretended to give a shit about Freedom of Expression. And maybe this incident would make more sense if there were consistency across the board, yet Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade got off with a half-assed non-pology after suggesting the killing of homeless people to eradicate the problem. A comment, by the way, that caused nary a reaction in his doe-eyed co-hosts.

Obviously, corporations have the right to do whatever they want to and so do individual American citizens. Economic boycotts are often the one and only effective way to force a company’s hand when it comes to unfair practices. I’ve engaged in a few myself but…

BUT!

In this one case, aren’t we playing right into the administration’s hands? These people have been at war with Disney for years, attempting to boycott them for “Going Woke” with limited results. But if they can get the Leftwing to do it in a coupe of supreme irony, then what’s left? PBS, which is already defunded and hanging on by the thinnest of threads?

I have seen people claiming they cancelled Disney/Hulu/ABC and started donating to PBS and NPR. Now, that actually makes sense. If you’re going to boycott someone who refuses to stand by you, put your money in the hands of those who will.

I’m not telling anybody not to use their conscience when it comes to spending their money and time. I am urging people to consider who might ultimately benefit from how you choose to do it. Don’t fall for the okey-doke, dear reader.

I have been a wage slave, an entry level worker, a team leader, a supervisor and a manager and, with perhaps a single exception, I have never once fallen for the BS claims that my workplace was some sort of family. And you shouldn’t either because it’s little more than one more tactic to keep you docile, unquestioning and willing to accept heaping mounds of crap in order to maintain your position amongst the other dysfunctionals.

If your workplace is the military and you are at war or the police department where you depend on others for your lives or even the local fire department where you literally live together and keep one another safe, you can call your co-workers a family and you will receive no criticism from me. Those are fields that call for intense interpersonal relationships in ways the average person cannot begin to comprehend.

Working for a bank or a retail giant or any other fucking office-type environment is most certainly not any of those things. These are places designed to maximize your workflow via proactive synergy where the paradigm is a vital part of the optics and our bandwidth causes us to circle back while also focusing on the low-hanging fruit that is opportunity all while keeping our family of co-workers in the loop regarding any action items including any that need to be put on the backburner for those with insufficient buy-in and core compentencies while we take a deep dive to reach our goals.

Now, if that made even the slightest bit of sense to you, that means you are more likely to fall for the “we’re a family” scam than someone who stopped reading that slice of meaningless corporate drivel well before the end. Stare at the image below for a few seconds:

Is it penetrating that shield of mental conditioning you’ve been subjected to for who knows how long? Do the words of Brian Fink published in an issue of Medium mean anything to you? “Let's cut through the corporate wellness fluff. Your company isn't your family; it's a legal entity designed to maximize shareholder value.”

Perhaps what’s needed here is a standard defintion of family. According to my favorite Dictionary, American Heritage, a family is defined as NOT YOUR FUCKING CO-WORKERS!

I don’t care how well you all get along or how much you like each other. I don’t even care that you hang out and have formed real, lasting friendships at work. Within the context of the workplace and its dual functions as wage-generating and profit-motivated, you are merely a cog in a vast, interconnected and often exploitative machine. “We’re a family here” indeed. Try an experiment the next time you hear this nonsense spoken aloud.

Look around at who is saying it, who is sitting back looking pleased, and how often it is said. Follow the money trail; there’s always one. Pay attention to who benefits most from the lie and, equally as important, who doesn’t. Watch those who have totally bought into the mentality and notice whether or not they reap any rewards from feeling that way that are in any way tangible.

Feel free to comment on this post and let me know what you notice.

The shocking murder of Charlie Kirk was not something to celebrate. It was represenative of a larger problem that has always been present in the U.S. and is the logical end result of a patchwork culture that believes its own myths, fetishizes force and violence, and has reached the conclusion that any form of disagreement must be eradicated for the so-called “greater good.”

Why does something like this happening in a country whose origins can be found in a killshot surprise anyone? Yes, I know Crispus Attucks was black but there were white guys killed that day, too. Surely that warrants some attention from white America?

Okay, I guess not. America is a study in short attention spans and self-denial, particualrly among its dominant population. It’s a blatant coping mechanism and it has led to what we are now having to endure. We are a nation of adolescents desperately trying to assert our individuality at the expense of all others because we are ruled by our Id.

I’m not going to debate the supposed merits of conspiratorial thought regarding Kirk’s killing. There’s nothing to be gained there unless you’re someone who feels the need to be “in the know” regardless of how many facts you ignore. No, what I choose to focus on is what MS Kohut above put so succinctly; the clear and aggressive gaslighting taking place in light of the rightwing pundit’s death.

If you found Kirk repugant, you probably also found the outpouring of revisionist horseflop to be even more so. Suddenly, this extreme racist/sexist/homo/transphobe was a faith-filled young man who showed respect to those whom he chose to debate. He never raised his voice or called anyone names, so how could anybody have a problem with someone who advocated for the abuse of the trans community, openly hated the concept of empathy, and claimed highly educated black women didn’t know how to do their jobs because they were Affirmative Action hires?

To be fair, the bar for reasoned political discourse has been lowered pretty much to the ground thanks to a certain orange felon’s inability to engage with contrary ideas without acting like an angry toddler. Anybody speaking in measured tones can seem respectful to the average, unquestioning person who doesn’t look deeper into the subtext of what’s being said.

Honestly, to hell with Charlie Kirk and his hateful diatribes. He was an awful, pathetic excuse for a human being who deserved censure but not to have somebody cause blood to pour from his neck like a fountain in front of his family. The trauma his kids and wife are dealing with and will continue to suffer is immeasurable and I feel for them in this time of extreme grief and loss. But I will not be forced to grieve this twisted, unconscionable scumbag because the conservative White American power structure insists on it.

I saw it mentioned elsewhere and I will echo the sentiment here: Being made to feel guilty for not joining in the deification of someone who refused to even acknowledge your full humanity is a form of gaslighting designed to keep those in the underclass compliant and to remind them of their place.

Perhaps it’s a specious comparison that violates Godwin’s Law but, did anybody ever ask Jewish people to feel bad when Rudolph Hess finally died in 1987? Because they are, along with the rest of us, being asked to mourn the death of Charlie Kirk. Why? Because he was American? Because he wore his hatred beneath a veneer of civility? Because it’s different when you agree with someone?

None of those are good enough reasons to celebrate the life and accomplishments of a person whose very existence helped usher in the darkest period in American history in centuries.

Also, why the fuck are we supposed to be so concerned with some ultimately forgettable rightwing mouthpiece when there were literally more killings and incidents of gun violence in the past 24 hours than fit onto one page!? That includes a school shooting, of course, because that has become a big slice of American life. With all that going on, why aren’t we at least focused on that?

Oh, I know:

What the hell, people? I take a month off because my life is crashing down around me and infamous shit-spewer Charlie Kirk gets popped in the middle of an anti-trans diatribe? Seriously? Is this how I needed to be brought back?

Well, in the words of Internet sensation Chit, “Back to it.”

Lets start with the more important issue at hand: Me. Where have I been? Why was I gone? Why is there always room for Jell-O?

That last one is easy to answer; it’s not the fact that it’s like, 98% water, it’s our natural human urge to feast on animal bones and hooves and bug excrement. This can be found in any science book approved by the tRump Administration, especially if you live in Florida. Now, on to the more complicated questions posed in the previous paragraph.

Where I have been can affectionately be referred to as the pits of Hell. Why I was gone was because I couldn’t seem to find my way back out again. Without getting too “pacific” about what happened to me, I will vague-book some interesting and painful observations I made because of these horrific experiences. Below is a short list of my takeaways:

• Never trust a jovial middle-aged white woman when it comes to your livlihood.

• Evil is not just an explain-away for terrible human behavior. It exists in the most banal ways and people.

• Hardly anybody is ever who you think they are and they will happily demonstrate that when it’s a “you or them” situation.

• Power hungry individuals do not give a rat’s ass about other people starving, losing their homes and dying from recurrent diseases if it gets in the way of their ambitions.

Anything else I add to the above list would be far too revealing and right now it is not to my advantage to do so. It is, however, a list that causes me great pain and righteous anger. And even though what ultimately occured took me by surprise, I’m not on my first go-round on Earth; I could sense change on the breeze. I just never thought it would place me in such dire straits, nor did I expect the heartless, smug reaction these facts caused in the deliverer of bad tidings. (You can probably guess from the list who and what this person was)

So, here I am starting over at the tender age of fifty-something, each day a testament to my ability to endure being diminished and disregarded like a mule with a broken leg. It’s a scary time in my life and I have no idea where things will lead but I can tell you there are certain moments where one realizes it’s better to stand up for yourself and what’s just than to make things easier for others.

That’s how I hold my head up high.

As far as the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, I am incredibly conflicted on how to respond. I take no delight in the murders of others but I also will not mourn such a hateful, bigoted individual. The whole “he was a young man with deeply held beliefs who expressed them peacefully” routine is little more than what Noam Chomsky referred to as manufactured consent. We are suddenly expected to rally around this “tragedy” while apparently ignoring the shooting deaths of a Minnesota senator and her husband mere months back. Is it because they were Democrats, therefore undeserving of basic human compassion, the “empathy” that Charlie Kirk said he hates and doesn’t believe exists? How about his absolute dismissal of accomplished, highly educated black women as Affirmative Action hires lacking the intellect to do their jobs?

How am I, a biracial man whose black mother received a full academic scholarship to college in the early Sixties long before the existence of Affirmative Action and went on to become a PhD in Psychology at her own expense, supposed to feel about this racism-spewing waste of space? Would he consider her one of the "rare, good ones" or some type of anamoly? Why was he so arrogant and self-entitled as to assume his relatively uneducated opinion meant anything? Should I shed a tear for a man whose entire schtick was based around antagonizing college students and targeting their professors if they disagreed with his white supremacist diatribes? Don’t believe me, ask Doctor Stacy Patton what she is still dealing with.

I have never been against using guns for self-defense but assassination is a whole other deal. We're supposed to be the example to the world of how to resolve differences through legislating and voting, the 1960s notwithstanding. I won't celebrate his murder because violence begets violence and it usually ends on some innocent person's doorstep.

I have always rejected the idea of terrible people becoming saints we can no longer criticize when they die but this is about something larger than one person.

Now, can we talk about why we're not talking about the most recent school shooting? Is it because they didn't have the president's ear?

By the way, yes, he said this:

Memento- An actually very good movie with an insanely clever twist, this film, written by Nolan’s brother, is his “Sixth Sense,” meaning the auspicious beginning that sadly influenced everything that came after.

Batman Begins- If “Meh” were a comic book movie, it would look and feel a lot like Nolan’s first so-called Batman film. Focusing on Bruce Wayne’s early days, its first hour is pretty good. But once Christian Bale puts on the costume, the whole affair descends into one moronic set piece and plot after the other as Bale chews scenery and displays a woeful ignore of what makes the caped crusader a compelling character.

The Prestige- Nolan’s first truly pretentious film, the whole thing feels like an experiment without a clear objective. No amount of hammy acting or detailed set designs can save this convoluted mess.

The Dark Knight- This garbage dump of a would-be arthouse film with a big budget was laughably awful in every conceivable way. The convoluted plot, the overacting, even the stilted action sequences fail to deliver. This movie made it obvious that Nolan had no interest in the source material and was focused more on making a movie about some rich douchebag who dressed up as his favorite comic character and had zero control over his emotions.

Inception- One of the few Nolan films I actually liked, even it suffers from idea overload. However, the actors ground it in a semblance of reality.

The Dark Knight Rises- Fans of the Nolan trilogy refer to this one as the worst of the three when, in reality, it’s no better or worse than the rest. This time around, Cosplay Batman actually retires after only a few short years, something he would never do. It was obvious Nolan was ready to move on to more serious filmmaking.

Interstellar- This is Nolan’s one truly good film of the ones I’ve seen.

Oppenheimer- Perhaps this movie was a victim of its own press but man, what a mess! Sequentially, it’s all over the place. The acting is mostly wooden and even Robert Downey Junior’s performance was undeserving of the Academy Award. Neither was Heath Ledger’s but he died so it was a given, I guess.

Now Nolan is working on an adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey. I can’t wait to not see that one!

I’ve always been suspicious of people with two first names, especially when it turns out not to be their name at all. Such was the case with out-of-seemingly-nowhere country warbler Oliver Anthony in 2023. Somehow, some way, the singer’s self-penned, “Rich Men North of Richmond” became an online powerhouse ballad many saw as a clarion call to overthrow the powers-that-be and replace them with…something or other, who the hell knows?

For some, it was a revelation of Biblical proportions, this red-bearded Millennial standing in a forest, decrying the sorry state of affairs in this here great nation with lyrics such as:

It's a damn shame what the world's gotten to
For people like me and people like you
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true
But it is, oh, it is

Yeah, I know. I stopped writing lyrics like this when I turned fifteen but this is Country music we’re talking about here, not art rock. Profundity is not the same for fans of this genre and so we must force ourselves to judge it by that criteria. After all, this is the same musical genre that gave us the thought-provoking, “That’s my girl but it ain’t my truck.”

Perhaps it’s the cynic in me but Anthony’s emergence and timing seemed a tad too fortuitous to be coincidental. It was too much like a scripted moment in a crappy movie to be taken seriously by anyone who hates movies like that. I mean, check this out:

From the forest of Farmville, Virginia emerges a young man with flaming red hair, a guitar and a raspy voice. He stands before a microphone and begins signing about the sad state of affairs in his country, all while his friend records him so he can upload this momentous occurrence to YouTube. The video goes viral within hours as rightwing sycophants glom onto this startling new discovery, assuming he speaks for them and against the libs who are ruining the country by demanding equality and preferring diversity over homogeneity. And there was some indication they were right, although much of it was blown out of proportion by people like me who view Country music as a gateway to jingoistic, racist claptrap and terrible songs.

Not all conservatives loved the song’s message. The National Review’s executive editor basically felt that any able-bodied man working for “bullshit pay” needs to find another job, presumably located in the same ether as trickle down economics. Left wingers, on the other hand, were rather unimpressed and less than enthusiastic. Below are some examples of their reactions:

“…depending on your politics, [Anthony] is either a voice sent from Heaven to express the anger of the white working class, or he is a wholly constructed viral creation who has arrived to serve up resentment with a thick, folksy lacquering of Americana." ^{Jay Caspian King, The New Yorker}

“…based on a number of regressive and gross stereotypes that are filtering into mainstream music in a frightening way" Emma Keates, the A.V. Club

Anthony definitely hit all the right wing talking points. Rich fat cats in D.C., pedophiles on an island “somewhere” and Welfare recipients who are overweight, which apparently means they’re eating well rather than malnourished by stuff that barely qualifies as food at all. But Oliver Anthony, he’s a well-meaning good old boy who just wanted to speak his piece.

Claiming the song was “Weaponized by the right and the left,” Anthony portrayed himself as being “straight down the middle” when it comes to politics. Never mind his QAnon dog whistles or callbacks to Reagan-era demonizing of minorities on welfare. He read from the Bible during one of his concerts, for goodness’ sake!

I sometimes wonder if Oliver Anthony was a brilliant, well-timed ruse so that the real guy, Christopher Anthony Lunsford, could put himself out there without damaging his own reputation if things went sideways. I doubt even he could have anticipated the enormous groundswell of support and the slightly less enormous negative response he received. It didn’t hurt that he appeared to have buttloads of integrity as he refused recording contracts and providing endorsements for a well-established celebrity. The fact that the celebrity in question was Beyonce, a black woman whose foray into country music enraged white country fans to no end, was surely not a cynical plot at all, right?

No, of course not. And neither was his even more well-timed embracing of God just as the heat was turned up really high. Guess what happened next?

“I’m in the process of getting out of the music industry. It’s a big joke,” Lunsford told Rolling Stone in 2024. “I don’t know what I am,” he went on. “I guess I’m a conservative. I am a conservative because I believe in the first and second amendment. I don’t know if I’m a Republican or what the hell I am. I am just somebody who thinks the whole way we live is so ass-backward and so stupid. It serves no one than people at the top of a hierarchy that we no longer really need to serve.”

Well, he ain’t wrong. The ruling elite in this country has grown worse by all logical measures. Lunsford has decided to dedicate himself to something called the “Rural Revival,” aimed at helping people grow their own sustainable food. Nothing wrong with that either. One wonders if this was his plan all along.

Is the artist formerly known as Oliver Anthony a reluctant revolutionary or was he just manipulating a passing fad for a greater, more mundane cause? We may never know. What we do now is he’s apparently in the middle of a divorce from his wife Tiffany, about whom he wrote a new song called, “Scornful Woman.”

Looks like Taylor Swift has competition in the pettiness department.

Enough of all this controversy! Let's take a break and check out some cool shit from my camera roll.

Herr DMX ist in der haus!

Somewhere a stripper is missing their bubble machine

When historymeans ahistory

Ummm…I got nothin’

okay breaks over. Next up: whatever happened to that fake hillbilly fuck?

Even by the standards of the pervasive insanity of the second tRump Era, it’s been one hell of a week. From a blue jeans ad to the outing of an unapologetic white trash asshole with far too much power over the lives of brown people, it’s become abundantly clear that those of us who still retain some semblance of morality are in a struggle for the soul of ‘Murica. God, I wish that was hyperbole!

But it ain’t and here’s why: Hooterific *ahem* “actor” Sidney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans ad has some on the Left up in arms over its perceived white supremacy dog whistle. What’s the criticism, exactly? The slogan, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” is on full display as Sweeney stands before a poster of herself. The issue some have with it? The word “genes” is crossed out. Get it?

Okay, so what’s the real problem here? Is it the substitution of the word designed to elicit a response that a blond, blue-eyed white woman is considered the hallmark of excellent genetics? Are the accusations of white supremacist dog whistling appropriate or are people overreacting because they’ve been primed to do so by much more real, important situations involving white supremacy? Is there a “there” there?

Despite or maybe because of my mutt-like status, I was inclined to dismiss the claims of Nazi propaganda in favor of a more nuanced take on institutionalized racism and the power structure it protects at all costs. Then I got bitch-slapped by reality as Right-wingers began hailing the ad as an “end to Woke.” Never mind their constantly demonstrated ignorance of what the hell Woke means, what matters here is what they mean when they use it.

As NBC reports, “In recent years, those on the online right have often praised media that unapologetically upholds traditional white American beauty standards, especially when it doesn’t come with any attempt to be inclusive.”

In other words, they fucking hate when we uphold the beauty of non-white women and it literally enrages them to have to see it because it’s viewed as an assault on the truth. This is that institutionalized racist hierarchy I mentioned a couple paragraphs up. In order to maintain the power structure from which they benefit, these little detours into inclusiveness are a threat that must be exterminated.

But enough about Sidney Sweeney. More pointedly, an attorney named —I swear to God, I’m not making this up!— Joseph Rodden has been revealed as an unrepentant Nazi. Not only is he a hateful piece of rancid dogshit, he’s also the owner of an X account called “GloamResponder” where he has shared his views in unmistakably bigoted prose. Below are some of his real gems/pearls of wisdom:

• “America is a White nation, founded by Whites. … Our country should favor us.”

• “All blacks are foreign to my people, dumb fuck.”

• “Freedom of association hasn’t existed in this country since 1964…”

• “I’m not a commie, I’m a fascist. Fascists solve communist problems.”

• “Nobody is proposing feeding migrants into tree shredders… Yet. Give it a few more weeks…”

An attorney publicly posting crap like this is a real problem but guess why it’s even worse than you thought? Give up?

He works for ICE! Rotten Rodden is an assistant chief counsel for ICE who represents the agency in immigration hearings in the Dallas area. He’s also been seen using his smartphone during hearings at times that coincide with his hateful X posts. This guy is literally the whole white trash package.

Thankfully, Rodden only has 17,000 X followers, although that’s hardly the point. He needs to be removed from his ICE-related duties poste haste. So far, the only response from ICE has been a by-the-numbers, “Notwithstanding, ICE holds its employees to the highest standards of professionalism and takes seriously all allegations of inappropriate conduct.”

Yeah, I’m sure they’ll get right on that. ICE is nothing if not a bastion of professionalism and ethical conduct.

So, on one hand we have the advertising world slowly and not-so-subtly reminding us that white women are the objective standard or beauty because of their superior genetics while on the other we have public servants infiltrating government in order to establish the policies that coincide with that mentality.

Nobody is overreacting, not anymore~

Is that so? How are those all-white hospitals treating you? What’s that? No such thing? Oh, I see. You’re equating yourselves to genuinely oppressed peoples again. Sorry, didn’t mean to harsh your buzz!

White women need to stop trying to equate the admittedly awful discrimination they often face with what people of color endure on a minute-by-minute basis. Seriously, cut the shit. I know you won’t but I had to try.

Right now, somebody can’t click out of this post fast enough. How dare I trivialize white female oppression? Who am I to do such a thing? I must be in favor of *groan* patriarchy and stuff. Seriously, find a new buzzword. You sound just as ridiculous as white conservatives calling everything “woke.”

I am not blind to the inherent elevated status bestowed upon white women in the U.S. As a member of a teensy weensy minority, biracial people, I have witnessed it from afar and, to my own detriment, from a’near as well. Sadly, with such a status comes an often nauseating amount of arrogance in the form of thinking they can relate to and/or understand the struggles of people who have barely been considered human. At worst, white women have been viewed by misogynists as lesser humans who are still desirable and even necessary. Imagine being viewed as neither of those things. Imagine being viewed as little more than inconvenient vermin.

For some reason, many white women desire the ability to relate to that. Maybe it’s guilt or a need to identify with people they secretly admire but it’s not only obvious, it’s also harmful. After all, it’s no secret that people of Western European ancestry are well-known for stealing the experiences of others for their own gain. Obviously they’re not the only people guilty of this (see K-Pop) but it’s been mainstreamed into white American society on a level that is astounding in its powerfulness.

Without getting too deeply into the racist systems designed around slavery in the early days of the U.S., it is not unfair to say it all hinged on the perceived high value of white women. “White women have been used to make Black men the condemnable and the most immoral beings in a patriarchal white supremacist society because white womanhood is thought to be the origin of morality and virtue itself,” says Tommy J Curry, author of The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood.

Even when this mentality isn’t openly espoused, the mentality seeped into American society so long ago it was taken as an unspoken truism. Forget about the part where black men are seen as the serpents in the white female Garden of Eden. Focus instead on the portion of that sentence that places them above all others as the very birthplace of virtuousness. You’ve seen it played out so many times, even if you haven’t been paying attention. There’s a reason they’re referred to as “magical white girl tears.” The slightest appearance of moisture in the eyes and white men come running to their rescue!

White women know this, even the ones who find the very idea repugnant. They also benefit from it, including the ones who find the very idea repugnant.

There is no comparison to be drawn between someone who is held up as the penultimate prize and someone who is considered execrable vermin to be dismissed whenever they become viewed as a threat or worse, an inconvenience.

Are there horrible men who mistreat women by raping, beating and emotionally abusing them? Are many of those women also white? How many of them are treated that way because they’re white?

Surely, there are statistics. After all, white conservatives claim that blacks and Latinos are just lying in wait, hoping to snatch up a white angel and have their ways with her. Since the current incarnation of the FBI headed by self-loathing biracial man Dan Bongino is as untrustworthy as a hungry rat in your toilet, crime stats are an unfortunate victim of the fascist takeover. Therefore, we must go further back.

The FBI’s crime statistics estimates, based on reported data for 2023, show that national violent crime decreased an estimated 3.0% in 2023 compared to 2022 estimates:  

Murder and non-negligent manslaughter recorded a 2023 estimated nationwide decrease of 11.6% compared to the previous year.  

In 2023, the estimated number of offenses in the revised rape category saw an estimated 9.4% decrease.  

Aggravated assault figures decreased an estimated 2.8% in 2023. 

Robbery showed an estimated decrease of 0.3% nationally. 

But wasn’t Sleepy Joe still president then? Wasn’t he letting in millions of illegals on a daily basis so they could eat the dogs and pets of the people that live here? Okay, tangent, sorry. But crime stats showed a steady decrease. What about discrimination?

According to the National Institute of Health, “… discrimination and harassment are widely experienced by women across multiple domains of their lives, particularly those who are a racial/ethnic minority or LGBTQ.” (Emphasis mine)

Yes, white women absolutely face discrimination and poor treatment but it is different and nowhere near as severe as what non-white women experience. No matter what is between their legs, white women are the other half of the assumed default human being in the U.S. Everybody else is “Other” and, by extension, lesser.

White feminists can whinge and whine about equity all the live-long day; the truth of the matter is the vast majority of them will never experience anything even remotely close to what so-called “people of color” endure. Nor would any sane person wish something like that on people who already have enough shit to deal with.

But they really, really want to.

(To be Continued)

Pandering is to politics what creepiness is to youth pastors. Fortunately for tRump and his acolytes, they embody the traits of both, therefore making it astoundingly easy to bullshit their idiotic cadre of mental midgets with the slightest manipulation tactic. And man, did that come just in time what with that whole non-existent Epstein client list that was somehow on Pam Bondi’s desk and never there at all.

Schrödinger, take note! That’s some quantum physics-level bullshittery right there!

Take special note of the date of the above statement. The joke of an Executive order designed to make ‘Murican English the official language of the land was signed on May 1st. That means Pam Barbie waited two and a half months to decide to post this virtue-signaling post decrying virtue-signaling. Why? Don’t Rumpers want this to happen? What conceivable reason could there have been to wait?

We all know the “ass-imilation over division” phrase is right out of the project 2025 playbook. The whole point is to disguise their own brand of divisiveness by reframing it as a method for fixing what’s wrong with the country. Ve must all be vone people! No more of zis foreign-born influence in our everyday conversations! Our form of bastardized English is the only language to be spoken!

Except…nothing really came of this order until Spam Bondage decided to post the above. Hmm. Head-scratcher. Wasn’t she the one who declared the Epstein client list was on her desk, awaiting her perusal? Wasn’t she supposed to unveil the names of the perverts and reprobates who hung out with America’s premier pedo? Wasn’t that one of the main things the LowIQAnon folks were demanding? Remember that “Sound of Freedom” movie where Jim Christviziel saved all the kids from those wicked Hispanics? Well, wasn’t Epstein’s client list the supposed epicenter of all of that?

What about all the evil libturds who were assaulting the poor, sweet, innocent chir’en? Surely their Orange-hued savior would release those names so the arrests could begin! So what if Elon Musk Tweeted that the president’s name was on the list? We only loved him until we hated him and he’s a goddam foreigner anyway. All of this holy victoriousness was so we could finally stop the reptile shapeshifter pedo cult, right? So, why did the administration say the following?

• Investigators found "no incriminating 'client list' " of Epstein's, "no credible evidence ... that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals," and no "evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties," the memo adds. (Axios July 7, 2025)

• In a statement posted on his Truth Social account on Saturday, Trump wrote, “Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration? (Global News July 14, 2025)

• July 7, Attorney General Pam Bondi backtracked on a narrative that the Trump administration helped promote, saying Jeffrey Epstein did not maintain a “client list,” and that there were no more files related to the wealthy businessman’s sex trafficking. (Global News July 14, 2025)

Even Dan Bonvagino, the world’s worst in denial biracial person, who led the charge to get to the *cough* bottom of the Epstein case has now claimed it’s all over, nothing to see here, the same way he does about his ethnicity. The same goes for self-loathing crazy-eyed man-child Kash-Money Patel. I’m so confused and feeling let down. There’s really only place left to turn.

I don’t know about y’allz, but I don’t decide shit until Easter island-size foreheaded Charlie Kirk tells me what’s up. What you got for us, homey?

“Honestly, I’m done talking about Epstein for the time being. I’m going to trust my friends in the administration, I’m going to trust my friends in the government to do what needs to be done, solve it, ball’s in their hands.”

Yes, balls in their hands are the main problem. One hand was on those while the other was on one of Epstein’s special guests. Does this mean the Rump-man’s name is on that list? The evidence would indicate absolutely not. Disregard Epstein’s own comments about being close friends with him and the mountains of photographic and video evidence backing this up. Ignore Rump’s own creepy comments about his own daughter, teenage beauty contestants and the ten year old girl on the escalator. They never met! And if they did, they never met while meeting! He’s not a sick, diaper-filling sack of monkey shit! He’s just not!

Except…

When even Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones think there’s chicanery afoot and they’re both talking and making sense at the same time, what conclusions are we to draw?

Carlson: “The whole thing that this tape shows that [Epstein] didn’t kill himself is like a joke, but worse than that it’s a joke that we all get. I feel like we’re at a dangerous point now.”

Jones: “Now, by coming in and becoming part of the coverup, the Trump administration has become part of it. You cannot see it any other way. So, I just got to the office, I’m going to throw up actually. This only happens every few years when something really, really bad happens, I’m physically going to puke probably right now.”

When Alex Jones’ reasonable response outshines all others, how fucked are we?

Don’t answer that~