The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I'm getting a little tired of the us-vs.-them rhetoric we hear so often nowadays, especially with regard to law enforcement and the Black Lives Matter movement. The two aren't mutually exclusive. It's perfectly rational to be both pro-cop and pro-Black Lives Matter.  First off, no matter who we want to pin the blame on, I think many have misunderstood the intent of Black Lives Matter (BLM). BLM activists aren't saying only black lives matter; they're simply saying black lives matter too. Many black-Americans feel like their voices have been ignored and like their lives mean less than those in other demographics (perhaps 3/5 of a person), to the point where they've decided to stand up and say, "Hey, our lives matter too!" So for those who like to counter chants of "Black Lives Matter!" with "All Lives Matter!" while that's technically true, it illustrates your lack of understanding for the BLM movement. Allow me to provide an ...

As long-time readers should know by now, I'm a progressive, a strong ally of the LGBT community, and tend to play it in the middle when it comes to the concept of political correctness. While I think many conservatives have blown the alleged issue of (over)political correctness out of proportion, I do think some take PC matters too far at times. Similarly, while I may satirically tackle subjects in what some see as an unPC manner, the intent of these writings is to showcase the ridiculousness and/or hypocrisy of those whom tend to see political correctness as a bigger issue than it actually is. Having said all that, while I have often times defended political correctness, I do think it goes too far at times, and saw this first-hand a couple days ago. A couple days ago (or so) the hashtag #ItsNotRadicalToSay was trending on Twitter, so as I tend to do once or twice a week, I had a little fun with it. I took this opportunity to make fun of the modern-day GOP, including many lovely ...

I've heard a lot of ridiculous anti-gay arguments from the religious community, but now we can add one from the science community to the ever-growing list. Well, I should probably re-phrase that and refer to it as the wannabe-science community. Chibuihem Amalaha - a postgraduate student at the University of Lagos (Nigeria) - told Nigeria's This Day   Live  that gay marriage is "eating deep into the fabric of our human nature all over the world." He then talked about his scientific findings based on experiments he conducted, which he believes showcase homosexuality to be wrong, saying: "A bar magnet is a horizontal magnet that has the North Pole and the South Pole and when you bring two bar magnets and you bring the North Pole together you find that the two North Poles will not attract. They will repel, that is, they will push away themselves showing that a man should not attract a man. If you bring two South Poles together you find that the two South Poles ...

I hate to come across as condescending and I honestly hate the thought of needing to explain this to people, but I've reached a point where I feel I must. I feel that approximately 78.43% of people don't know the difference between fact and opinion. That number I provided, for example - what was that? A fact? An opinion? Neither. It was complete and utter bull honky. I pulled it from an area that stinks even when the sun is shining. Let's allow Sir Webster to be our guide on this. First off, Sir Webster, what is an opinion? "o-pin-ion (uh-pin-yuhn) noun 1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty. 2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal. 3. the formal expression of a professional judgment. 4. the format statement by a judge or court of the reasoning and the principles of law used in reaching a decision of a case. 5. a favorable estimate; esteem." Now, Sir Webster, what is a fact? "fact (fakt...

So, I've attempted to spread word about my writing, two books in particular (Seasons Come, People Grow and The Kind-Hearted Smartass), to 11 difference social networking-type sites: 1) Facebook, 2) Google, 3) Blogger, 4) DirectFolk, 5) Kiwibox, 6) Tumblr, 7) Lafango, 8) WattPad, 9) WritersCafe, 10) All Poetry and 11) GS Poetry. All of the commentary I have received thus far, mainly regarding my poetry, has been very positive. I did receive one strange comment on GS Poetry. The poem this person commented on is called "The Shield" and he/she didn't comment on the poem at all, but went on a tangent about what love is. Yeah, that was strange. I wanted to ask, "Soooo...? Did you like it?" However, I did just receive my first criticism and it's with regard to a poem I wrote recently, entitled "Fear in Question". The person critiqued it as having not clear enough a concept. I then discovered this person to be 15 years old and after reading some of his...