Golden Let-Downs
There's something ironically reminiscent of the Obama years, in the expressions of outrage and betrayal by formerly loyal supporters. We should not be too hard on them -- or on…
Alt-Right, Alt-White, Alt-Lite
Sargon of Akkad has already accurately reported that the Alt Right is not an ideology, but an idea space, containing a variety of many different, and even incompatible views. But it…
Audacity’s Price
In the world of annoying and meaningless titles, it is hard to beat Obama's semi-autobiographical book The Audacity of Hope. Hope is well and good, but in a world of social…
Fascism and Antifascism
Friday the 20th marked the second time in about a year in which I nearly went to a political event, and got diverted by some personal obligation... only to find…
Individualism and Collectivism
In ordinary political parlance, the political divide is normally framed in terms of "right" and "left." There is a solid foundation for why these labels are helpful, but the terms…
#PizzaGate: Conspiracies, Conspiracy Theories, and the Retention of Aristocratic Power
"We must, indeed, all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." —Benjamin Franklin I read a novel about a year ago called Conspirata, a semi-historical account of the…
It’s All A Metaphor: Dreams, Memory, Language and Stories (Part I)
Why care about dreams? Dream interpretation has been a mystical art for thousands of years, and yet dreams, as they appear to us (when we remember them), look absurd. They…
Media, Loyalty, and Dylann Roof’s Truth
"In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it's impossible to…
Sex and the Soul
I posted this picture from Bellevue College on facebook a while back as a sarcastic example of "tax-dollars well-spent." But there are many ways that tax-dollars are misused, particularly in…
On Wolves, Sheep, and Sheepdogs
Fool, prate not to me about covenants! There can be no covenants between men and lions, wolves and lambs can never be of one mind, but hate each other through…