Baltimore

Okay, if you have to be told that Baltimore is a dangerous city and one you should avoid at all costs, stop reading this right now. For the rest of you (99% of the population) let's talk about what the president said.

First off, yes, the Trump was rude, blunt and crass. I hope you aren't surprised by this. Imagine this-Beto O'Rourke says "Those rural Kentucky people live in trailers, are addicted to meth, and are white trash. Why doesn't James Comer do anything?" The left would get on their knees and praise Beto for "keeping it real" and "telling it like it is." They wouldn't care about his language or his rudeness. They'd say "Hey, rural Kentucky is still poor after electing nothing but republicans. Look at those hicks!"

Well guess what? Baltimore is still a mess, and they haven't elected a republican mayor since 1967. Beto would have some truth behind him if he said what I imagined him to say in the previous paragraph, and Trump has some truth to what he says.

Miss Michigan controversy

Miss Michigan was stripped of her beauty crown because of some controversial statements she made.  First off, to my readers, both of them, I want to apologize for the political content of the last several blogs. Been a political mood lately.

I'm not saying that I agree with her comments, I'm ambivalent to them. She probably shouldn't have said it, after all in her position you have to sort of rise above partisan comments, at least for the time you are holding the crown. So yeah, she lacks common sense and should have known better. But I have to ask, if she was an out liberal who talked about how Trump voters are white trash or racist, I'm confident that she wouldn't have been forced to resign. In fact, the story might have been ignored.

There's a blogger who recently made a great point. He said he never wears his MAGA hat when he goes out to eat because he's afraid of what cooks or waitresses might do to his food. He mentioned that if he wore a Bernie shirt, he wouldn't fear anything. Correctly, he said that that right there tells you everything you need to know about the left. He is correct. While we don't know for sure what would have happened if she was a leftist and said offensive comments, I think we all have a good idea.

Disabled girl badly beaten

A disturbing video shows three teenage girls badly beating up a disabled girl. It's disgusting and vile to watch, so only do so if you have a strong stomach.

The level of cruelty these girls have is disturbing. I hesitate to use the term psychotic because it's so vastly overused, but if these girls aren't psychotic than I'm not the sure the word has much meaning. Oh sure, we all make mistakes and sometimes we hang around with the wrong crowd and they can influence our actions. But there is a huge difference between making a mistake because you listened to the wrong people and beating the Hell out of a girl with special needs.

Our society likes to think that only men are capable of such brutality. Our society is incorrect. Human evil doesn't skip genders.

Scripture Sunday Alma 22:15

This is another passage I don't really understand. Are we to give up everything we possess in order to achieve "great joy"? After all, Christ Himself said that it will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle before a rich man enters Heaven. So it seems that only the poor and meek enter into Heaven and no one else does.

But no, I don't believe that is the case.

We sometimes think  with poverty comes authenticity, and there is a phoniness or fraud to all of those who are wealthier than we are. Remember though-envy is also sinful, gravely so. I believe that the majority of people who complain about others riches suffer from this sin. If it's true, that only the poor enter Heaven, than the leadership of all churches, from LDS to Jewish to Catholic to Protestant, are in serious trouble.

The New Yorker and Al Franken

I like to read the New Yorker, and yes, I'm the only non-liberal who reads it. In fact, I'm stunned that the New Yorker hasn't found out and ordered me never to read again. I also follow them on Facebook, and I'm stunned to see their latest story about the former senator, Al Franken. Remember him? He was the one who sexually assaulted more women than Trump has and, at the beginning of the MeToo movement, he was forced to resign from the senate. A cynic would say he was only forced to resign because he was from a safe seat, Minnesota being fairly democratic and the democrats wouldn't lose anything. Now, his resignation is being re-evaluated. Some of the comments are: 

Further down the list people are calling it a witch hunt, on par with the Crucible and the Red Scare of Hollywood in 1940's. I actually, amazingly, agree with many of the posters. And The New Yorker. But I take it a step further. I also agree that Kavanaugh was the victim of a witch hunt, and I'm quite certain that 99% of the posters on this article do not agree with me. Once again, politics trumps truth and logic. We are supposed to believe women when a conservative is being accused, but any liberal democrat that is accused is the victim of a witch hunt. 

Album of the Weekend

D Generation -Self titled

This is a band that didn't go as far as some people thought they would. Eddie Trunk mentioned on his program that they should have gone further than what they did, and after hearing this album I can see where Eddie Trunk is coming from, though it's not as good as he might think. In fact, it's only a solid C. The lights are on, but no one is home.

"No Way Out" and "Stealing Time" do stand out, and they are the best songs on the album. But I've heard them before-they seem dated and tired. True, I'm listening to them for the first time in 2019, but even back then other bands did the punk sound better and other bands did the glam-rock sound better. One part of this band wants to be Social Distortion, the other part wants to be the New York Dolls.

And that's the fundamental problem with this band. They try to walk the line between glam and punk, but instead of making it interesting they don't seem to fully commit to either genre. It's not that it's bad. In fact, I'd like to hear them commit to one specific style.

More vigilante justice

A father shot his daughters boyfriend for smoking weed at a party. The kid died. I feel mixed feelings about the death penalty, but if anyone deserves it, it's this psychopath for killing a 17 year old for the "crime" of giving his daughter weed. And if you don't see the problem here or think the father was justified in any way, shape, or form, you have some things to "work on". I'm not a parent, but there are many parents who are appalled and disgusted by the actions of this one.

No, giving your daughter weed doesn't mean you should be murdered. This kid was just 17 and the father decided to play judge, jury and executioner. Which is still illegal in this country. The father will oddly demand a trial by jury-which I find odd, because the kid he killed didn't get one. So the father obviously thinks he is above the law while no one else is.

I have zero compassion for this piece of human garbage. Your rights as a parent don't include getting to murder other children. Even if they do things you don't approve of. This guy will probably get a slap on the wrist, but he deserves to spend the rest of his life in a cell with a homicidal gang member who hasn't seen a woman in twenty years.

Macy's plates

Macy's had to pull some plates because they, in their own words "missed the mark". I actually agree that it was a stupid business move because their market is easily offended, the society we live in is easily offended, and everyone is easily offended. Macy's should have known better-so yes, they shouldn't have tried to sell the plates in the first place. In 2019, you can't make a joke, you can't do something politically incorrect, basically you have to be as vanilla as possible.

All humor is based, to some degree, in cruelty. In fact, sometimes the more real the joke the funnier it is. In theory anything can be funny and often times we use humor as a defense mechanism or a coping mechanism. Our society today, in the name of political correctness and sensitivity, has lost that ability. Calling for Macy's to be boycotted (that's only a matter of time) or, perhaps, shut down (yup, that too) is indicative of how thin skinned we've become. It's just a plate everyone. Just. A. Plate.

I'm adopted. I wonder sometimes if I can make jokes about being adopted without getting called politically incorrect, insensitive, or monstrous and inhuman. I'm also very short. Can I make jokes about being short? Probably not. I feel sorry for comedians. Any joke they tell, no matter how plain and boring, will be misread by SJWs on both sides of the aisle.

I just watched Chasing Amy...

Last night I had this strange urge to watch a movie I've seen before many times, but it will always be one of my all time favorite movies. Chasing Amy. Here are some thoughts I wrote down while watching it.

This movie gets it's own tagline wrong. Holden loves Alyssa for who she is, how he loves her is irrelevant.

This movie (And Clerks/Clerks II) could make an A+ play. There are only a few different settings and they could easily be put on a stage. They are also dialogue heavy, require a small cast and all those things would translate well to a staged version.

I want them to stay together but I know they shouldn't. Alyssa is clearly more attracted to women than men. Sad that Holden had to learn the hard way that people don't change. I take that back. People do change (after all, Holden himself does) but they have to choose to change themselves.

Banky may love Holden but he isn't attracted to him. There is such a thing as friendship and not every relationship is sexual in nature. We already know that Banky has strictly dated women and he doesn't seem overly repulsed by homosexuality or overly comfortable with it. In other words. he seems like a normal guy.

Jay and Silent Bob might provide the wisdom and revelation that Holden needs but the movie would have been better without them. I get it, all his movies take place in the same universe (or at his point in his career, they did) and they do provide funny lines, but the climatic scene with Holden, Banky and Alyssa still could have existed without them. Thought I admit that Silent Bob is dead on and totally accurate in his description about men when talking about his relationship with "Amy".

The ending scene can make me cry (which isn't hard, I routinely cry at movies) and is heartbreaking and incredibly realistic. From Bankys reaction, the super fan that Banky is dealing with-and especially, the interaction between Alyssa and Holden. I remember watching it and praying that they'd get back together but I admit it's probably not how the situation would play out. Alyssa is a lesbian and Holden didn't really blow his chance with her-it never would have worked out in the long run.

Kevin Smith has only made three good movies. Chasing Amy, Clerks, and Dogma. Virtually everything else he has made (yes, including Mallrats, which does not age well) isn't very good. 

The first ________ president

Bernie Sanders said that it would break down a barrier if he was elected the first Jewish president. He's right of course, and that's a pretty cool barrier to break down. Same with Hillary being the first female president, same with Obama being the first African-American president. All of us would love to see those barriers broken down. In fact, I'd love to see a female president. How about Joni Ernst? No? Michelle Bachmann? No? Susan Collins? No. Okay. How about a hispanic president? Marco Rubio? No? Oh yeah, we only care about having the first _______ president if they agree with our values.

It's politics, so I expect it to be shallow and for people to not understand the big picture. We love talking about bi partisanship when our side loses, but when our side wins a majority, it's shut the Hell up and roll over. We love talking about the pride of having a president with the same skin color as we do, but when we disagree with them, then the candidate is pandering or a sell out. It blows my mind how few people actually see this. Our political blinders are on, and they'll never be taken off.

Scripture Sunday Mosiah 2:41

Keeping the commandment is a difficult thing to do, and often times we might ask ourselves why we bother doing this or that thing-or, in many circumstances-not doing something, even if everyone else appears to be doing it. Sadly, people have the misconception that Christians and LDS are unhappy or boggled down by rules that make us miserable to follow.  While it's true, depression effects everyone even those who are religious, I do think that having an faith based outlook on life does give you a more positive outlook than the alternative.

We don't know much about what Heaven will be like. In fact, all we can do is speculate based on certain passages, and this is one of them. The faithful will, according to this passage, "dwell in a never ending state of happiness." Our faith in Him will clearly be rewarded to some degree.

Ocarina of Time

Recently I've been playing the spectacular Ocarina of Time for my 3ds. Sure, the game is over twenty years old and this is "just" a remake, but it's easily one of the greatest games of all time and to play it now is just as thrilling and breathtaking as playing it for the first time back in the 1990's. It's a little easier than I remember, and apparently the remake changed some things from the original. The iron boots needed to navigate the water temple have been tweaked, making the legendary level simply difficult instead of frustrating.

I noticed that the Ocarina of Time tells a story better than almost any other video game in history. Even though I remember the story I found myself engrossed in what Link would do next. Sometimes staying up late, missing a tae kwan do lesson and such just to advance the storyline. I also noticed that I don't miss micro transactions. If you don't beat a certain boss, you can't pay an additional 5.99$ to get a stronger weapon on the spot and try again. Back then, video games required skill.

Album of the weekend

The Scorpions-Blackout

No one will ever accuse The Scorpions of being heavy metal, but this album does seem to have darker content and a bit of a heavier sound. Start with the title track, Blackout. It starts with a great guitar solo and goes into a "Look What the Cat Dragged In" kind of story that lets the listener know that the speaker has had several hard nights of partying. Sure, the Scorpions are sort of a party band (yes, like Kiss) but this song tells the crisp, clear story of someone having one too many.

The Scorpions are one of those bands that has sold millions and millions of records but seems to have few fans. While I'm not their biggest fan and don't know their entire discography very well, this one seems to stand out. 

Little Mermaid

I don't want to say "no one cares" about the casting changes in The Little Mermaid. I'm sure there is someone out there who is shocked and appalled that the real life movie of the Little Mermaid is a person of color. However, the people making the most noise about this are the people claiming that everyone is offended. No, not everyone is offended. In fact, it's not a big deal to 99% of people out there. The bigger deal is a deeper question-why does Disney keep remaking movies that were already wonderful to begin with? True, my dislike of remakes is notorious and this is going from a cartoon to a real life movie, so those are different.

Back to the race issue.

Leftists often forget what year this is. In 2019, race isn't a big deal to the overwhelmingly majority of people. Inter racial couples are commonplace. There has been an African American president. A Hispanic person is running for president now (several of them, actually). Leftists love to see the world as a much more racist place because it makes them feel like they are fighting against injustice and for harmony. 

Is there racism in the world? Yes, there always will be. However now, if you are a racist, you better be really, really quiet about it because society doesn't accept it like it did back in the 1950's. So yeah, virtually no one cars that the Little Mermaid won't be white.

*amazingly, Spectrum internet is working, but my cable is still down. So no Big Brother for me tonight or last night. 

Spectrum update!

It's hard to a pay a bill every month when the service is totally unreliable. Spectrum, looking at your direction. I'm posting tonight because, shockingly, the cable is out yet again and the internet is fading. If I don't post for a few days, everything is fine and I'm alive, but without internet. 

Area 51

1) You aren't going to storm Area 51
2) You don't want to.

I'm actually a fan of social media activism because I think if properly used, it can change the world. Google "Arab spring social media" if you think I'm wrong. Regardless of how you feel about the cause, social media can unite people who agree on issues and bring them together. Hopefully those people will form relationships and bonds, then they can go out and engage in whatever form of protest they want to. I've actually done it as well. Both down here battling a new highway (A battle we "won") and up north battling the local police getting military equipment (a battle we lost).

But this storming Area 51 social media trend is a terrible idea. The military won't allow you to come knocking on their door and no matter how big your group is, up against the military you will lose. That's why I think Johnny Boy and his militia won't do a damn thing if the government ever turns on the people. It's the same thing here. In the rare, rare case the military opens fire on these idiots there will be mass causalities and yes, the civilians will lose. You don't want to be a part of that.

Black bear video

There's a video going around that shows a guy dancing with a mother bear right near her cubs.  Go and watch it, and then spend two second wondering if what this jackass did was a good idea. If you think it was, then go do it yourself, and hopefully you'll get attacked and die off before you pass off your horrible ideas on anyone else.

If you really love wild animals you'll do the right thing and leave them the Hell alone. If you decide to do things like this and you get your dumbass mauled, you'll die-and even more tragically, the bear will have to be put down too because of your stupidity. So it's a win for society because you'll no longer be around (someone this stupid is bound to do other things that are dangerous and put others lives at risk as well) but a loss for nature because the bear, and probably even her cubs, will have to be destroyed.

The same thing happens with alligators. Contrary to popular belief, 99.9% of alligators just want to be left alone. Many alligator attacks come because people bother them or worse, feed them. The alligator can't change it's nature, it's going to be an alligator-so when it attacks you because you've been feeding it, I blame you. Not the alligator. Sadly though, the alligator has to be put down because it now associates people with food.

A true animal rights activist doesn't try to become one with the bears or alligators. Instead, they understand how nature works and perceive the habitat, and the lives, of those they claim to love.

WWE Next

On Saturday night the WWE came to my town, which is actually very small. I'm not complaining, I prefer it that way. If I could rule by fiat I'd stop all construction in my town and keep it rural. So it was very surprising when their B-team came by. I've mentioned before that I don't watch the WWE on television and while I used to be a big fan, I no longer really care about the sport.

But I'm fascinated by how it's treated in society. WWE fans are considered illiterate people living in trailers. In fact, the it's cool to look down on WWE fans. After all, they don't know it's fake, right? Here's a newsflash: 85% of wrestling fans know it's scripted but want to suspend their disbelief and be told a story. It's almost like, gasp, watching a movie. We know that the actors are acting but if Tom Cruise broke character in Mission Impossible 5 and said "Hey everyone, this actress is a slut. Just wanted you to know that. Ha ha Ha." it would ruin the narrative. So is WWE "fake"? Sure is. Just like the movies. Oddly though, no one calls a movie buff "white trash".

Class snobbery shows up again.

Scripture Sunday Alma 27:28

From the dawn of time, humans have accepted the inevitability of death. After all, when you see your loved ones pass away it becomes sort of hard to ignore the reality that you will pass away too. It's obviously far more complicated than how anyone could describe it. The best quote about death comes from the writer William Saroyan who said "Every man dies, but I always thought an expectation would be made in my case."

This passage asks us to "not look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it." All Christians believe this, and it's fundamental to our belief in Christ. After all, putting aside His social teachings the entire life of Christ is rather meaningless if He didn't promise His followers everlasting life.

Confirmation bias

Confirmation bias is a funny thing. Generally speaking, all of us, regardless of our views, suffer from it. We often times find what we are looking for because it affirms our already held beliefs. This happens all the time, but it's most prominent in religion and politics. We'll seek out the "answers" that we wanted to find. It happens as well in scholarship. Catholics find a Shakespeare who is sympathetic to Catholicism. Atheists find a Shakespeare who was sympathetic to atheists.  Protestants find a Shakespeare who...well, you get the picture.

Why don't people like to challenge their already held beliefs? Simple, because we don't want to admit we might be wrong about this or that. After all, nothing is more difficult than admitting that some of our deeply held beliefs might be wrong.

To combat confirmation bias all of us should question ourselves and continually look at sources that we don't agree with. If for no other reason it'll strengthen our beliefs and we'll come out stronger. Nothing is worse than someone who only reads what they already agree with all the time.

Album of the Weekend

Kiss-Hot in the Shade 

The 1980's Kiss albums are mostly forgettable, with the exception of Creatures of the Night. It appears that Kiss taking off their make up was terrible idea, and Kiss losing Ace Freehley, Peter Criss and going through 7 other guitarists really sapped the energy and creative spirit from the band as well. This album isn't very good either, but it has two Kiss songs I really like-"Boomerang" and "Little Caesar". 

"Boomerang" is as close to metal as Kiss ever gets. No, it's not metal it's more like very fast rock, but it's still a good song. I'm not sure if it's a stand alone good song or just so unlike the regular Kiss songs that it makes it more distinct and memorable. "Little Caesar" is a fun song that, upon second glance, gives the world the ultimate punk feeling-it's about someone not fitting into the world and having no problem with that at all. The entire rest of the album is mediocre, and these songs might not be your thing, but they are worth a listen on Youtube, no doubt. 

Saved by the Bell test

A good prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich. That's been true forever. In the real world it leads to devastating consequences because some prosecutors will abuse the system and prosecute people who they know to be innocent just for their own career goals. Think I'm wrong? Google "Mike Nifong." Yes, it does happen. It happened in the Duke lacrosse case and it's probably happened before, happening now, and will happen in the future.

So I've developed a test. I'd like to take someone who has never seen Saved by the Bell before (if that person even exists) and convince them it's rated R. Convince them that it's dirty, vulgar, filthy, and should be on late night Cinemax. Than, I'd have them watch the show. If they agree with me, I'm going to go to law school and become a prosecutor. Let's face it, anyone who thinks Saved by the Bell is dirty, filthy, or vulgar doesn't have a clue.

Can an LDS be liberal, libertarian or basically not conservative?

As mentioned before, LDS are mostly conservative. Yes, there are exceptions and of course "conservative" doesn't mean you agree with the republican party on every single issue. Yes there have been democrats who have been apostles and Harry Reid is a member and he's a democrat. I'm fully confident that there are democrats who are bishops, stake presidents and other church leaders.

But can an LDS be in favor of gay marriage, legalized marijuana and pornography? Yes they can. 

It's important to remember that "legalization" doesn't mean approval. CS Lewis said that living in a theocracy would be the worst kind of government because it forces virtue instead of letting people freely choose it. He was right about that, as he was about many things. When you force someone to make the right choice, you are stripping them of their agency and thus the choice they are making is not their own and it loses it's virtue. 

The South

The south is bashed by people who have never been there. These are people who live in New England, the upper midwest and the Pacific Coast. As always, these people love to think of themselves as bastions of tolerance, but in reality they are as close minded as they come.

Basic manners are a plus down here. Sure, even the south is sadly changing, but people don't look at you funny if you use "Sir" or "Ma'am". Up north, obnoxious and sad people with chips on their shoulder think if you use those terms, you are inferring that they are old. 

"Unity" is a buzzword and it's also the trendy thing. Instead of valuing diversity and individuality certain people in our culture want everyone to be the same. I don't want people and places to be the same, I want them to be unique and quirky in their own ways. Hopefully the south will stay polite and mannerly. 

Religion and animals

A few of our prophets (leaders of the church) have made statements on how we should treat animals. David O McKay, a president and prophet said "A true Latter Day Saint is kind to animals, is kind to every living thing, for God created all." There are other quotes on the subject too. Lorenzo Snow, a prophet from the early days, mentioned his distaste of the sport of hunting. Joseph F Smith said, "it is an unrighteous thing to treat any animal cruelly." So many prophets have spoken out in favor of animals and against their mistreatment.

I like it when prophets and church leaders talk about our responsibility to animals. Too often Christianity views animal welfare as a distant priority. Are humans more important than animals? Yes, of course. But does than mean animals should be mistreated or we should just ignore the subject of animal welfare? Of course not. Even my feeble mind can handle dealing with two things at once. Too often people who are concerned about animals are written off, and in fairness some animal rights activists do take it to the extreme. The wonderful Dennis Prager had a great quote about this. "Cruelty towards animals leads to cruelty against humans, but those who care radically about animals often don't care the same way about humans." He is correct, which he is often. That might not be a direct quote, so I apologize. 

Religion is critiqued for many things right now, and sometimes that critique is with justification. However it's religion that in many cases demands fair treatment of animals. It could be the prophet Mohammed talking about fair treatment of his cats, or it could be Jewish rules for humane slaughter of animals. Whatever it is, religion deserves credit for this. 

Scripture Sunday Alma 1:26

I love this passage. It reminds us that all of us to some degree are equal-because "the priest, not esteeming himself about his hearers, for the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal, and they all did labor, every man according to his strength".

There is a strong sense of democracy in the LDS church. I'm not naive, yes, I know that it's hard for a retail worker or a bus driver to advance in leadership. Yes, I wish that we had some GA's with grease and oil on their hands. However, I'm very happy that our local leadership has leaders who work in less glamorous jobs other than lawyers, doctors and wealthy businessman. No, there is nothing wrong with those jobs-it's just nice to see mechanics and people who work on garbage trucks be equal to men who wear a tie every day.

The Book of Mormon reminds of this. Equality is what God orders in His church.

Green Iguanas

Like many people are aware of, Green Iguanas are an invasive species in my home state of Florida. As cute as they might be (and they are) they are a massive pain in the ass in the southern part of the state.  I live about two hours north of Tampa so it's officially "too cold" for them to live up here, though I've heard rumors of people seeing them in the wild up here.

They have a nasty reputation of attacking small dogs and even people. Not to mention the harm they do pets and our families, they also destroy gardens, eat through houses, and burrow into attics. They also create a huge mess for obvious reasons. Oh yeah, one thing they like doing is moving into the homes of the Burrowing Owl, which I think is endangered (not sure about that). In other words, they are annoying pests who need to be eliminated.

Oddly, that's controversial, to say we need to kill them. And yes, we need to kill them. Some people think it's "heartless" or "cruel" and of course they shouldn't suffer. But it's not heartless or cruel. Simply put, the well being of my family and my own pets, not to mention my property and the states natural resources, come before a wild animal that can be quite dangerous. Everyone wants to save the animals and no one wants to be cruel, but when an iguana attacks your Pug, you want to kill the bastard.

Happy Fourth everyone

Happy Fourth of July everyone. I'll be off until Saturday, so no Album of the Weekend this weekend.

We are all so blessed to live in the greatest country in the history of the world. 

The Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien test

I don't particularly like either comedian. I'm not cool and hip enough to like Conan (though I loved the Simpsons episodes he was involved in) and Jay Leno has absolutely no appeal to me. I do have some funny memories of watching him with my dad while growing up-but stupid jokes about gender differences and newspapers having silly headlines were never my thing. I'm still fascinated by the late night drama that occurred so many years ago because in my view, it shows a deeper rift in our culture.

It's between the hipster elite who loves Conan and the regular, red state American who likes Leno. (No, this isn't about there personal political views of Jay Leno). Ask yourself-who likes Conan and who likes Leno? Odds are that the quirky humor of O'Brien appeals to a much different type of person than who likes the broader comedy of Jay Leno. Remember how many people supported Conan back in the 2010 Late Night controversy? 95% Conan-5% Leno. The quickest way to lose friends back then was to Tweet your support for Jay Leno.

It's the same reason why people dislike Nickelback and like the Jesus and Mary Chain instead. Most people have never heard of the Jesus and Mary Chain but only drop their name to appear cool. Most people who dislike Nickleback (and I don't particularly like them) would probably have a less passionate opinion about them if they heard a song by them and didn't know it was Nickleback singing.

Fox News movie

The New Yorker recently released a review of a recent movie whose topic is Fox News. I have never heard of the movie and no, I won't be seeing it. I don't care about Fox News even though I think they are over bashed. To the surprise of no one over 7, the New Yorker praises the movie and bashes Fox News. Also to the surprise of no one, the New Yorker is unable to understand that, like Fox News, they largely preach to already converted and are just as biased as the network they love to hate.

Ask yourself one question. Who reads the New Yorker? For the most part, it's the same audience that listens to NPR, joins the Sierra Club and discusses wine at the cheese shop. In other words, clearly your average Fox News viewer. Ask yourself another question. Who makes movies? 99% of the time, it's the same people who join the Sierra club, take private jets from Malibu to New York City, and lecture the rest of us about our carbon footprint. In other words, the average Fox News viewer. Fox News doesn't stand a chance in this battle. An objective and fair movie about Fox News will never exist.

I wish I liked Fox News more than I do, just to bother people on the coasts who make movies like this.

Donald Trump urban legends

No, Donald Trump didn't pay off the mortgage of someone who helped him when his limo broke down in New Jersey. In fact, variations of that urban legend have been said about virtually every single rich person and monarch since the dawn the time. No, Donald Trump didn't jump into floodwaters to rescue people during a hurricane and no, he didn't go to the ruins of the Twin Towers and pay for rescuers to find victims. Yes, you are naive if you believe these things.

I love social media in general and I love Facebook in particular. Meeting new people, yes, even through a computer, is a great way to form deeper friendships. Some of my closest friends I've met through social media, some I've known for over a decade. The drawback however is that stupid things  like this are posted:

And the other drawback is that stupid people believe these things.