The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

It's becoming increasingly more common for people to boycott certain companies, products, or even celebrity names. They don't like the thought of their money going to these people with whom they strongly disagree on a matter they feel is important. While I can understand and often respect such financial protests, the following questions immediately fill my head when I hear about such boycotts: 1) At what point do we draw the line?; 2) Are these boycotts at all effective (and if so, how effective are they?)?; 3) With uber-wealthy individuals and companies owning so much, are boycotts of all their products even possible?; and 4) As far as celebrities go, is it really fair to boycott a person's talent due to a mistake in their personal lives, especially since they're afforded much less privacy than the general public? I don't really have answers to these questions. I just find the matter to be interesting and am curious to hear people's stories on their own boyco...

Just recently, I got into a conversation regarding pornography. I've personally never been into the genre, so I've never held a strong opinion on it one way or the other. Based on the discussion I had, however, I began doing some research on the matter, because there appears to be wildly differing opinions on whether or not viewing pornography constitutes as cheating when a person is involved in a serious relationship. Also, there often times appears to be an assumption by some women that "all" men regularly watch pornography, so it simply has to be accepted by whomever they're with. Through this research, I found that the consensus amongst professionals (shrinks and the like) was that while viewing pornography in isolation doesn't necessarily constitute as cheating, it can definitely be construed as cheating when other factors are taken into account. Amongst commentators of these articles, it appears as if a solid majority of them don't feel pornography...

I stumbled upon what I found to be a somewhat interesting, yet perplexing conversation this past weekend. While I've often times said that it seriously seems as though men and women are from two different planets, there are other times I have to wonder if we're more similar than many like to believe. When it comes to relationships, most people seem to have a mental set of rules or guidelines, and as I've stated before, I think one essential criteria for a happy, healthy, long-lasting relationship is for a person to find another with whom their rules or guidelines match. Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling things won't work long-term if a guy only thinks sexual intercourse is cheating, while his girlfriend feels anything physical is. When the man starts kissing another woman, while he may not see it as cheating, his girlfriend will, and chances are the two will either split up right then and there or soon thereafter when another such event takes place. Since there ...

Following the Vice Presidential debate last night, many members of the Republican Party lambasted Joe Biden for being "rude," "disrespectful" and "a bully." Many Democrats have since scoffed at the notion. Some  people have responded to all this by saying, "Wasn't it the Democrats whom were saying Romney was being rude, disrespectful and a bully after last week's debate? Weren't they saying the same things then?" If we want to look at this from a black and white perspective, then yes, the Democratic Party largely reacted to the presidential debate in a very similar manner - in referring to Romney as rude, disrespectful, etc. However, if we want to look beyond that, I don't think the matter is quite so clear cut.  In the presidential debate, moderator Jim Lehrer had absolutely no control of the situation and while President Obama did run over on his allotted two minutes a few times, what stood out most to me was Romney's in...

I'm as much a lover of the arts as just about anybody. I enjoy anything from music to cinema to theatre to literature to painting to comedy (yes, I'd consider this an art, unless you're Dane Cook and then I'd consider it a migraine-in-the-making) and beyond. Like anybody, I have my likes and dislikes in the arts. I'm a big fan of Salvador Dali's painting, of Alfred Hitchcock's film-directing, of Kurt Vonnegut's writing, of George Carlin's comedy, while I'm not so fond of Adam Sandler's acting (and humor), Limp Bizkit and Nickelback's music, Larry the Cable Guy's comedy and Nicholas Sparks' writing. These aren't so much facts as they are my opinions. I may be able to make valid arguments in certain cases to better prove my opinions and more so than the opposing side of the debate. However, grading the arts isn't as black and white as is mathematics. While most critics believe Casablanca to be one of the best films in the ...

In light of the recent Chic-Fil-A controversy, I've read comments from many far-right evangelical conservatives that while liberals like to preach for others to be tolerant, they themselves don't practice this, which the Chic-Fil-A incident has showcased. Where does one draw the line? Is it hypocritical for liberals to preach that others should be accepting or at least tolerant of homosexuals, but to not be accepting of those who aren't accepting of homosexuals?  If one were to look at things from a black-and-white perspective, then I think it'd be safe to say that these conservatives would have a legitimate point. They could say, "Well, you say to accept people regardless of their beliefs, but you don't accept me of mine! ...so there!"  If one doesn't look at things from such a perspective, then I think liberals have a point, as they could say, "I understand what you're saying, but what you and some others are spouting is prejudic...

I had an interesting on Friday. I thought I was feeling better (I was wrong), so I headed out for a bit.  This REALLY drunk guy, Dick, asked this woman and I if we believed in God. I was thinking, "Ohhhh crap... Let's not do this."  The lady, Melissa, immediately said, "No." He asked her why and she said because there's no physical proof.  He asked me and I said, "I don't know. I don't believe anyone can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is or isn't a higher power."  I could tell he was bothered by what Melissa and I said, so I just said, "Alright. We have three different perspectives here - an atheist (Melissa), an agnostic (me) and a deist (Dick). Hooray for differences of opinion. Let's drink! Cheers!"  Nope, that didn't work. So Dick started preaching. He was so wasted. He was slurring, repeating himself, etc. He was talking about, "It's all about good and evil. There's good an...

Over the holidays, my brother and sister-in-law flew into town to spend a few days with the family. At a pub in the afternoon, we sat down to eat and were approached with a question from my brother, as he asked, "Do you think God has a reason for making people ugly?" I responded with, "Well, it's all rather subjective, don't you think?" He fired back with, "Yeah, I guess so. But, I mean, people that most everyone would consider ugly, do you think God has a reason for making them so?" I kind of stared in disbelief and said, "Well, you point to any one person you may find unattractive and while the vast majority may agree with you, I can guarantee you that someone will find them appealing." My mother talked about Fred Astaire and how he wasn't kind to the eyes, but was extremely talented and his talent is what made him attractive. I talked about Larry Bird and Kid Rock and how I know women who find them good looking and he res...

Those were the exact words I heard today when discussing movies with someone. He brought up some films in which he felt there was ultimately no point, such as: "Lost in Translation," "The Life Aquatic" and "The Royal Tennenbaums". I was going to explain the "points," but he was reluctant on listening. What's the point of any movie or work of art? To entertain, to bring about emotions, to provoke thought, open minds, bring about laughter and tears, to teach, to inspire, to let one escape, to provide a cathartic release, I could go on and on. Now, after viewing a film so awful that it made your parents' home movies look like Oscar-contenders, is it logical to then ask the question, "What was the point in the making of that film?" Yes. But, is it logical to ask, "What was the point?" As in, what message is the movie trying to relay onto its viewers? No. Because, sadly enough, even the worst of films probably have some...