The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

It really amazes me the kind of BS people will believe simply because they want to believe it. Case and point - a political chain email. If you've received one concerning President Obama, there's approximately a 90% chance that it's at least partially false (around a 70% chance that it's completely false). That trend continued with the latest such email I came across. It's been updated over the years, but I was fortunately able to come across a detailed analysis of all the email's claims so I didn't have to do the job myself. The fact-checker is Matthew at Barnson.org, who I will be using as my reference to keep a running tally of the accurate and inaccurate claims (his full analysis can be found at this link - http://barnson.org/node/1880). Without further ado, here's the chain email: "QUIT BASHING OBAMA - by COL. ROBERT F. CUNNINGHAM and PATRICK RISHOR, The Gilmer Mirror Quit trashing Obama's accomplishments. He has done more than any ot...

I can't remember a time when we had so many candidates lined up to run for president as we do in the Republican Party leading up to the 2016 election. It seems almost once a day I read a headline which states that yet another Republican candidate will either be running or is thinking about running for next year's election. To this point, sixteen such candidates have officially announced their run for the presidency. If many more get added to the list, we may start seeing tournament brackets being filled out much like they are during March Madness season. While I may not label myself as conservative nor Republican, I've paid close attention to the stories surrounding all of the before-mentioned announcements and thought I'd rank the candidates as I see them. 16) Donald Trump - There are times I can't tell if his run for the Oval Office is a big joke, part of a bet he made with someone, or if he's 100% serious about it. In any case, he's currently leading i...

I'm frankly getting tired of writing about "religious freedom" laws and arguments, yet it seems that at least once a day, I read a new headline and story regarding the matter. The latest such case involves Linda Summers, a former deputy clerk at the county clerk's office in Harrison County, Indiana, who was fired from her job for refusing to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple due to her religious beliefs. In light of this, Summers has decided to fight back against her employer's decision and take the matter to court, as she's filed a lawsuit, contending that employers whom force employees to issue same-sex couples marriage licenses are the bigoted ones in this scenario. I'm going to try and condense this response as much as possible, because, as I just stated, I'm getting quite tired of reading and writing about this topic. Freedoms are not absolute. While we may be freer than most people in the world on a fairly regular basis, those freed...

Here's the URL to my Facebook business page. I update it fairly regularly, but still haven't put forth a great deal of effort yet in researching matters and attempting to make the most out of it. In any case, it can be perused here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigRozniecki?ref=hl Up next is my Twitter page. I'm still not 100% certain what I'm doing on there yet, but feel I'm gradually getting the hang of it and am up to 25,222 followers. I update it daily with many of my own tweets, but also by retweeting some others'. It can be found here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Lastly, here's my Tumblr page, which I've neglected quite a bit recently, but if you're at all curious, you can find it at the following link: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rozzy81

For new readers (and regular ones, I suppose), here's some information pertaining to my books. All twelve of my books can be purchased in paperback form at the following site (and others): http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=craig+rozniecki&x=7&y=5&sitesearch=lulu.com&q= The ten books I've written and released in the past 4 years (yes, I've been on a roll) can be purchased for much cheaper in Kindle form at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=craig%20rozniecki%20kindle&sprefix=craig+rozniecki+kindle%2Caps%2C228&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acraig%20rozniecki%20kindle

Approximately two out of three times I write about technology and trends, I start to feel like a grumpy old man. It's even reached a point where, after writing such a blog, I look in the mirror to make sure I haven't transformed into Jack Lemmon or Walter Matthau. The latest such case is with regard to Facebook and people whom feel the need to share everything, and I mean EVERYTHING about their love lives. I can understand wanting to share certain events with close friends and family, such as a wedding or baby announcement, but there is such a thing as too much in my opinion. I don't need to be taken on every date of a couple's journey, like it's some sort of reality series. As a matter of fact, that's what it often feels like to me - a phony reality series. Why does there seem to be a need for people to crave others' acceptance of their romantic lives, even those they may not have seen for 10-20 years? Are Facebook "likes" and comments really of...

I read a strange article the other day concerning long-time  Daily Show host Jon Stewart and former Daily Show contributor Wyatt Cenac. In less than two weeks, Stewart will be ending his 16/17-year reign as host of The Daily Show , and seemingly everyone from President Barack Obama to businessman Donald Trump have weighed in on the matter, complimenting Stewart and his show, saying he'll be greatly missed. So it came as a bit of a surprise to read the following headline over the weekend: "Wyatt Cenac: Jon Stewart told me to 'f*ck off' after I challenged him on racially charged impression." While I've never met Jon Stewart face-to-face and don't know the man personally, I have greatly enjoyed his show for a majority of the 16+ years he's been the host and would be lying if I said he hasn't been one of my biggest comedic and literary inspirations. It should also be noted that I largely enjoyed Wyatt Cenac's appearances on the show when he was a...

I think it'd be nice if music reviewers were designated with material they either enjoyed or were at least curious about and didn't despise. With increasing frequency it seems, I'm reading album and concert reviews from critics whom obviously despise the band and/or genre they're working with, and the final result comes across like a Fox News segment on President Obama. Once in a while, the authors despise the music or concert experience so much, it makes for a somewhat humorous review. However, even a blind person can see the critic's biases, that he or she likely had a migraine from the first to final track of the album or concert, and it'd probably be in everyone's best interests (including the bands themselves) if they didn't have to write the review in the first place. That's all. This is probably the shortest blog I've ever written, yet I still felt the need to write it for whatever reason. Go me!

When it comes to religion, I don't pretend to have all the answers. However, regardless if the answers are impossible to fully deduce while alive on this earth, I find it fascinating to ponder about such matters, because I'm a creative nerd whose mind likes to constantly be in overdrive. I grew up in a Christian household, have studied multiple religions throughout my life out of pure curiosity, and would today label myself as a humanist and/or an agnostic. While I believe many of these sacred texts provide interesting story material, which can help teach us many of life's important lessons, I'm hard-pressed to take them all literally, and have reached a point where I feel that, while I can't fully disprove the presence of a higher power, I can't fully prove it either. Due to this, I simply try to stand by the Golden Rule, acknowledge my mistakes and flaws, and continually try to improve upon them to better myself as a person, regardless of the potential reward ...

The Internet is apparently abuzz about a rant unleashed by 22-year-old conservative news anchor Tomi Lahren of the independent One American News Network. During the "Final Thoughts" segment of her show, Lahren laid into President Obama, as she said the following: "President Obama, if you won't say it, I will - radical Islam. This is not workplace violence; this is not a criminal act with motives unknown - this is terrorism. Was he linked to ISIS or al-Qaida or Hamas, or any of the other 15-plus offshoot terrorist groups? Does it matter? I'm sorry, but radical Islam is becoming the rule, not the exception. Yesterday's moderate is today's terrorist. I care that this S.O.B. killed four of our United States Marines. And I care that our commander-in-chief is more concerned with Muslim sensitivity than the honor and sacrifice made by these Marines." This was of course in reference to the recent tragic shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where 24-year-o...

At least once a week, I stumble upon an article so atrocious, I have to double-check to make certain it wasn't written by someone at the satirical site, The Onion . Today, I may have stumbled upon the most ridiculous article I've read this year, if not my entire life. The article was written by Victor Davis Hanson at the far right-wing site, National Review , and entitled, "Obama and Trump: Two of a Kind." Yes, you read that correctly. Not being the biggest fan of National Review  and having not been too familiar with Victor Davis Hanson's previous work, I thought I'd research a few of his other articles. Judging by some of his other work, perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised by how ridiculous this article was. Here's a snippet of Mr. Hanson's other articles: - "Progressive Elites Ignore Human Nature at Everyone Else's Expense" (yes, he's subtle) - "The Four Horsemen of a Looming Apocalypse" (subtlety, take t...

Here's the URL to my Facebook business page. I update it fairly regularly, but still haven't put forth a great deal of effort yet in researching matters and attempting to make the most out of it. In any case, it can be perused here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigRozniecki?ref=hl Up next is my Twitter page. I'm still not 100% certain what I'm doing on there yet, but feel I'm gradually getting the hang of it and am up to 25,001 followers. I update it daily with many of my own tweets, but also by retweeting some others'. It can be found here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Lastly, here's my Tumblr page, which I've neglected quite a bit recently, but if you're at all curious, you can find it at the following link: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rozzy81

For new readers (and regular ones, I suppose), here's some information pertaining to my books. All twelve of my books can be purchased in paperback form at the following site (and others): http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=craig+rozniecki&x=7&y=5&sitesearch=lulu.com&q= The ten books I've written and released in the past 4 years (yes, I've been on a roll) can be purchased for much cheaper in Kindle form at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=craig%20rozniecki%20kindle&sprefix=craig+rozniecki+kindle%2Caps%2C228&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acraig%20rozniecki%20kindle

Businessman, wannabe politician, and future president of Rat Hair Club For Men - Donald Trump - has always been loved by those with short-attention spans and small vocabularies, due to how condensed and limited his seem to be, and loathed by English and Critical Thinking professors for this very same reason. Even activist mimes are often times so flabbergasted by the billionaire's commentary, after hearing Trump speak, they typically blurt out, "You've got to be f**king kidding me!" Well, Trump's linguistic eloquence was on full display this past Friday night, as he stood up front and center on open mic night at the Manhattan poetry club, "Like So Poetic and Sh*t." For the night, Donald Trump recited three poems. The first appeared to be an ode to both himself and the band the Divinyls, as the billionaire uttered these romantic words: "I don't want anybody else, When I think about me I touch myself, I don't want anybody else, Besides ...

I personally have nothing against Washington Nationals' right fielder Bryce Harper. He's one of the game's most exciting and promising young stars. Harper's having a breakout year at the plate, is improving defensively, and is on his way to leading his Nationals to another playoff appearance. However, every now and again, Harper makes me shake my head when listening to a post-game comment of his. Such was the case yesterday, after the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Nationals by the count of 5-0, as Dodgers ace Zack Greinke extended his scoreless innings streak to 43 2/3, lowering his ERA to a major league best 1.30 in the process. After the game, Harper said, "For me, I don't think he (Greinke) was very tough." He also said, "...when you're getting 6 inches off the plate, it's tough to face him." Lastly, Harper added, "I don't want to give him too much credit because I gotta face him again." For the game, Greinke a...

This morning, I clicked on a Columbus Dispatch letter-to-the-editor, entitled, "Statistics don't support view of immigrants." I figured the piece dealt with Donald Trump's controversial comments regarding immigrants and were highly supportive of them. Since widely regarded fact-checkers ruled Trump's statements as "false," I was curious just what "statistics" the author was going to cite. Well, to my surprise, as soon as I began to read the letter-to-the-editor, I could see the headline was quite misleading, as it omitted one key word: "Trump's," so that it would read, "Statistics don't support Trump's view of immigrants." Here was the writing in its entirety, authored by Tom Baillieul of Columbus: "A Monday letter to the editor made the claim that billionaire Donald Trump’s 'statements about disporportionate crime committed by illegal immigrants is factually correct' (' Trump’s critics deny ...

No, I wasn't sure what it was either until just recently. That was before reading a Huffington Post  article by Dementria Lucas D'Oyley, entitled, "Cultural Appropriation Isn't Okay, Neither is Attacking Kids." This article was reference to 17-year-old Kylie Jenner posting a photo on Instagram of herself sporting cornrows, which is typically associated with black culture. In response to that, 16-year-old actress and Hunger Games star, Amandla Stenberg, harshly criticized Jenner, claiming she was guilty of cultural appropriation. Then on the Bravo show Watch What Happens Live , host Andy Cohen referred to Ms. Stenberg as his "Jackhole of the Day" for her criticism of Ms. Jenner. I'm in complete agreement with the author of this article that Mr. Cohen shouldn't have gone after the 16-year-old Amandla Stenberg like he did, for which he later apologized. However, I was still a bit puzzled by the whole "cultural appropriation" side of th...

There was a great deal of controversy and debate surrounding the recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at last night's annual ESPY awards ceremony, as former Olympic champion Bruce Jenner was presented this award for coming out as a woman, Caitlyn Jenner. Regardless of whether a person believes someone other than the former decathlon champion should have received the award or questions her true intent of coming out as Caitlyn Jenner, there can be no denying that Ms. Jenner's speech was a very important, timely, and powerful one. Caitlyn Jenner's speech largely centered around her struggles in coming forward as her true self, fearful of her family's reaction, and building off that to illustrate the larger problem in the transgender community. In a very emotional end to the speech, she thanked those closest to her for their love and support, said some transgender individuals aren't so fortunate, and wind up being beaten, killed, or killing themselves due to the...

When a person attempts to begin a conversation by saying, "I'm not racist, but...," there's roughly a 98.257% chance he or she is about to say something which could be construed as racist to almost every person with even a half-functioning brain. For some reason, such individuals can't seem to admit they're racists, and wrongly feel they're fooling all those around them when they make such prejudiced remarks. Blatant racists are frustrating as it is, yet closet racists whom deny they're such, even after making racists statements, may be even more frustrating. Such is the case with Airway Heights (Washington) Mayor Patrick Rushing, who recently posted the following message on his Facebook page: "Gorilla face Michelle (Obama), can't disagree with that. The woman is not attractive except to monkey man Barack. Check out them ears. LOL." After receiving some criticism for the remarks, Rushing said that it was "just playful back and ...

It's quite the coincidence that, earlier today, I posted a blog regarding Republican candidate and businessman Donald Trump, how he's a much louder reflection of the current state of the GOP than the party is accustomed to, and that the longer he stays in the race, the more potential he has to damage the image of the Republican Party, and a poll was released not long afterward which echoed those very sentiments. In an ABC News/Washington Post poll that was released today regarding the two current leaders in both the Democrat and Republican Parties in the run up to the 2016 presidential election, here's how the four candidates fared as far as favorables and unfavorables go: Hillary Clinton: 52% Favorable/45% Unfavorable/4% No opinion (net +7%) Jeb Bush: 38% Favorable/47% Unfavorable/14% No opinion (net -9%) Donald Trump: 33% Favorable/61% Unfavorable/6% No opinion (net -28%) Bernie Sanders: 27% Favorable/28% Unfavorable/45% No opinion (net -1%) That's right,...

This just in: Donald Trump's name has been mentioned more in the news these past few weeks than the word and has appeared in news articles in that same time-span. While most in the media have agreed that Trump is loud, oddly entertaining, and good for sound bites, not many seem to be in agreement on just how seriously we should take the businessman's presidential run and how serious of a contender he is for the 2016 election. Late-night talk show hosts have loved every minute of Trump's presidential run to this point. His big announcement even brought David Letterman out of retirement for a single night to read off a Top Ten List at the Republican candidate's expense, and had The Daily Show 's Jon Stewart pondering whether it was the right decision to leave the show just yet. To such personalities, Trump is comedy gold, nothing more, nothing less, and they'll milk his often times comical campaign for as long as time will allow. However, I've heard more se...