I have finally made sense of this contradiction — and it’s all thanks to the Taliban. I was at a burlesque show, one of many shows I have attended. Also attending were a couple, mutual friends of mine and a few of the performers. It came up that this was the first burlesque show they…
Category: Philosophy
The Counter to Voter Suppression
Here’s a glimpse into just how cynical I am. Among the new COVID-19* cases coming in, most of which are of the Delta variant, only a small portion involve vaccinated individuals. Additionally, the cases among vaccinated individuals are mostly proving to be mild and not life-threatening. Thus, the COVID-19 deaths we are seeing are somewhere…
Men Only Want One Thing
“Men only want one thing.” Corollary: Men must constantly make it known to any woman with whom they interact, through obvious and overt means, that sex is among the things they want, to prevent women from classifying them as “just a friend.”
Incel and Feminism
Ever since the Toronto van attack brought the Incel movement into public awareness, people around me have periodically made statements expressing bafflement at their violence, rationale, and rhetoric. Indeed, their violence, rationale, and rhetoric — or at least the sensational bits pounced upon by the media — are illogical. However, it has occurred to me that…
Bump Stocks
The Justice Department, under the direction of the NRA’s boy, President Donald Trump, has moved to reclassify bump stocks as machine guns. I should begin by saying that I do not own any bump stock, and I have never fired a weapon equipped with one. I think they are a silly toy, and I have…
Armistice Day
Today is Armistice Day, the centennial of the end of the first World War. My thoughts about the violent nature of our species have evidently settled into my gut, because my reaction to events today is one of sadness over our futile waste of life. World War I was particularly dehumanizing, because it was the…
Being Single on Television
As a single guy in the real world, I am surrounded by couples, married and unmarried. Among my friends, I can’t name anyone who doesn’t have a significant other. It’s obviously a factor in why I’m alone. In fiction, it’s never like that. I have long been aware of this problem, the laughable improbability of…
Incel
The last few days have been uncomfortable for me after social media has reacted to the motivation of the perpetrator of the Toronto van attack, who is an incel. The topic is uncomfortable for me because, though I hadn’t previously heard of the incel subculture, I see right away that I identify with some of…
Dougieeeeeeeeee!
The Arnold City Library has removed all of their signs prohibiting firearms. The signs in the parking lot, which had no legal standing, have been replaced with visually similar signs declaring it a tobacco and smoke free campus (after all, there must be signs prohibiting something). Given the conservative, gun-friendly electorate of the city, it…
Is Open Source the Vehicle to Reach the Automated Economy?
I had a brilliant idea in the shower this morning. A couple of them, actually. I was thinking about my idea for a robot lawn mower. Think Roomba for your lawn. I was thinking about how there are several components needed, requiring innovation from several areas of expertise: mechanical, motors, energy storage, computing, sensing, etc….