The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Social media is a fascinating entity. It's allowed us to connect friends and family, no matter where they may reside. It's allowed us to interact with complete strangers on the other side of the world. It's helped limit total control of what would otherwise be dictatorial governments. It's helped bring people together to fight for equality and progress in other areas. Where there are pros, there are cons, however, and one of the most frustrating aspects of social media has been a certain mob mentality, which has infected both sides of the political spectrum. For as much as I hate to say it, the left is just as guilty as the right (if not more so) on this issue. If one person, typically of the celebrity variety, makes a controversial comment on a social media site, there seems to be an instant horde of people condemning him/her. There have been times when the original poster has been able to ignore such vitriol, but other times when said vitriol has led them to close t...

Is it just me or does it seem as though, for whatever reason, we often times hold comedians to a higher standard than authority figures? When Late Show host Stephen Colbert referred to Vladimir Putin as Donald Trump's "c*ck holster," many were calling for his removal. Even more recently, Kathy Griffin partook in a photo shoot which included a picture of her holding what appeared to be a bloodied doll head which resembled President Trump. She's received a great deal of blowback since the release of that photo, including CNN telling her she wasn't going to be a part of their New Year's Eve show. So where do we draw the line between appropriate and inappropriate, is that even possible considering its subjective nature, and why don't we hold people in power to such high standards? Whenever a joke becomes a story of controversy, I first ask the question, "What was the intent?" Some claimed Colbert's "c*ck-holster" joke was homophobic. ...

I personally don't care whether a majority of women find "dad bods" sexy or not, but I do care about the apparent societal double-standard regarding the matter. The term "dad bods" has been trending the past couple of weeks or so. According to my translation, it can be defined as "a man who isn't obese, but doesn't take care of himself a great deal either. He may do five sit-ups daily, lift 1-lb. dumbbells (remote controls) off and on for weeks at a time, and knows when to cut back from drinking ten beers to five beers in a sitting, but besides that, he's pretty much a lazy bum, and his beer-belly shows it." Ever since this started trending, guys have been celebrating, saying, "This is great news for us! We can be slobs and women will find us attractive for it!" Honestly, though, I'm not going to place much faith in the trend until I read such numbers from a reputable polling firm. Whether the trend has any validity or not...

I find it kind of funny that many Americans, Republican politicians in particular, seem to feel this country is on the "wrong track." While we certainly have our share of problems in this country (and overseas), do these people remember where we were 6 years ago? Remember how many jobs were being lost toward the end of Bush's presidency and at the start of President Obama's first term? How can these people look toward another with a straight face and say, "We're worse off today than when Obama took office"? According to FactCheck.org , here are the numbers from the time President Obama took office in late-January of 2009 to July of 2014: - Affordable Care Act Exchange Sign-ups: +8 million - Affordable Care Act New Medicaid Sign-ups: +6.1 million - Jobs: +4.8 million - Unemployment rate: down to 6.1% - Corporate Profits: +184% - Real Weekly Earnings: +0.3% - U.S. Crude Oil Production: +67% - New Car MPG: +21% - Wind & Solar Power: ...