The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

When out last night, I was invited to sit with a group of people at a bar patio. They had always been nice to me, but I didn't know them a great deal. The banter was light for a few minutes, but then the topic of vaccines arose, and my, oh, my, that was something. Apparently, they're all anti-vaxxers. Here's how that portion of the conversation went. MAGA #1: "Did any of you get the flu vaccine? It's so useless. I'm proud to say I never got any COVID vaccine." MAGA #2: "Same here. I don't trust the government. Did you get one?" MAGA #3: "Oh, heavens, no. Nuh uh. Did you?" Me: "Heck yes!" MAGA #1: "I just read that there's a link between the COVID vaccine and ADHD." Me: "That's false. :: shows him a study, debunking his claim ::" MAGA #1: "That's your opinion. I feel differently." Me: "No, it's been debunked. Your opinion is wrong." MAGA #1: "Whatever, dude. I kno...

Why are you voting for Donald Trump?   “Because he’s one of the greatest businessmen in history and the country needs to be run like one of his billions of successful businesses!” False. Donald Trump basically got started with his business career through inheriting $413 million from his father, after his passing, which he had made via fraud and tax evasion. What did he do with this money? Well, he bankrupted 6 companies (thus far). As reported by John Cassidy of the New Yorker: “Based on Internal Revenue Service transcripts of Trump’s tax returns from 1985 to 1994, the Times report said that Trump’s core businesses racked up losses of more than a billion dollars in a ten-year period. During 1990 and 1991, the story said, Trump’s losses were so large that they ‘were more than double those of the nearest taxpayers in the I.R.S. information for those years.’” He added: “They show that, between 1985 and 1989, a period when the economy was forging ahead and Trump was bus...

Ever since the British rock trio, Muse, released their debut album, Showbiz , in 1999, they've been dogged by claims that they're nothing but a rip-off of fellow English rockers, Radiohead. While some critics have since declared that Muse has developed their own sound, others have not been so generous. Well, I'm here today to debunk that claim for good.  Radiohead, led by lead-singer Thom Yorke, released their debut album, Pablo Honey , in 1993. Muse, meanwhile, started jamming approximately one year later - in 1994. At the time, the Muse band-members (Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard, and Chris Wolstenholme) were 16- to 17-years of age. At that time, they were impressionable lads, trying to find their identity. So, as all bands do around that age, they experimented with different sounds, and in so doing, were largely inspired by a host of bands they were into at the time. Looking back, drummer Dominic Howard said, "When we were 16, Radiohead was one of our major influence...