The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Here's a running list of sites I've been mentioned on (if you find any others, please let me know): Addicting Info AlterNet American News X American Upbeat Ashley Muller Blog A Wood Blog Baz Online BBC The Berry The Bharat Express News Big Rigs The Bipartisan Report Biz Pac Review Black to Live Blavity The Blemish Blue Politics BPR Brain Charm Brands Authority Buffalo News Business 2 Community Bustle BuzzFeed Carborated.TV Charlotte Observer Cheat Sheet Cheeky Wiki Chicks On the Right Citizen Slant Cleveland.com Comic Book Comic Sands Concise News Global Cosmopolitan Crooks and Liars CTV News.ca The Daily Beast The Daily Dot Daily Kos Daily Sound and Fury Deep State Nation Digit.in Distractify DNA India Droolin Dog Edmonton Journal Emandlo Ewn Expresso Fan Sided First to Know Front Page Live Front Row Seat at the Circus Fundesco The Gaily Grind GMA News God Daily Dot ...

I'd say roughly once a month I read an article which is titled something along the lines of, "What not to say to someone who is transgender" or "Ten questions you should never ask a transgender person." Now, granted, some of these comments and questions are so insensitive and ridiculous, even Ben Carson opened his eyes for a change to roll them. However, some questions which were mentioned came across as genuine and like the person simply wanted to learn more about the other and to understand them better. So, where do we draw the line between asking a transgender individual a question to learn more about him or her and yet do so in a way that doesn't leave them feeling uncomfortable? Is there a way? As my long-time readers should know by now, I'm rather progressive on most issues. The large circle of people I regularly associate with are quite diverse in terms of: Gender (well, duh), age, race, religious beliefs, political affiliation, orientation, etc...

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...

Following Elliot Rodger's recent shooting rampage in Santa Barbara, California,  Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday wrote an article, entitled, "In a final videotaped message, a sad reflection of the sexist stories we so often see on screen," which has gone on to prompt anger in some and fist pumps for others. I'll focus on three paragraphs from her article and comments about it from two people with differing viewpoints. In her article, Ms. Hornaday wrote this: "Indeed, as important as it is to understand Rodger's actions within the context of the mental illness he clearly suffered, it's just as clear that his delusions were inflated, if not created, by the entertainment industry he grew up in. With his florid rhetoric of self-pity, aggression and awkwardly forced "evil laugh," Rodger resembled a noxious cross between Christian Bale's slick sociopath in "American Psycho," the thwarted womanizer in James Toback's ...

Until the NFL completes its investigation on the Miami Dolphins and offensive linemen Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin, I won't be commenting on the case directly. However, in light of the stories coming out about the Dolphins, I have found some of the public's commentary regarding it to be quite disturbing and thought I'd comment on that. While I don't feel it's wise for me to fully conclude on the matter yet, the story has caught my attention; I've read several articles about it and have also read people's comments below the articles. Many of the comments read as follows: - "Be a man! Stand up for yourself!" - "Crying home to mommy again, I see..." - "Punch him in the face!" - "Fight!" - "You're, what, 300 lbs.? Get into the guy's face and take care of it!" - "This is football! Be a real man!" - "Pansy!" - "Deal with him and he won'...

Of all sports, football is definitely my favorite. I prefer college to pro ball, but will still watch NFL football most Sundays and Mondays during the course of the season. Rarely do I ever watch pre-season football, however. I've said for a while that the only purpose for pre-season games is to see which 5-10 players will complete the roster at the start of the season. While that's going on, coaches and owners pray to the football gods that their star player(s) don't get hurt in the process. As a fan of football, but not necessarily any particular team, there really is no point for me to watch pre-season games. The games are next to meaningless (unless a key player gets hurt). With all the substituting that occurs, it's difficult for most teams to find a rhythm suitable for a regular season game. One would be more prone to find this in practice than at a pre-season game, because all the first-teamers will be on the field together and on the same page with things. With ...