The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

When I saw the name Scarlett Johansson trending on Twitter the other day, I knew it couldn't be good. She was being taken down by the cyber-mob due to something she said in a recent interview with artist David Salle of As If  magazine. Here's the back-and-forth which got her into trouble. Salle: "Are we seeing an acting trend today?" Johansson: "Hmm... We live in such a weird time that is sort of identity-less in a lot of ways. I don't know if there's a trend in performance, but there's certainly trends in casting right now. Today there's a lot of emphasis and conversation about what acting is and who we want to see represent ourselves on screen. The question now is, what is acting any way?" Salle: "Right. Who gets to play what roles..." Johansson: "You know, as an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job." Salle: "Yes. Mus...

It's really quite the sad sight, to take a step back with a clear mind and see what we've become as a nation. Sure, I could sit here and say I'm surprised at our current state and how we arrived here, but I'd be lying. I've seen this coming for a long time and here we are. Of all the times I wished I was wrong but wasn't, this one tops the list. In many other industrialized countries, the people took control early, didn't let up, and the government ended up fearing them. Every election year, the attack-ad season was short, and with a handful or more of legitimate parties from which to choose, only a small percentage of people felt left out, like there wasn't a candidate whom represented them and their beliefs. This led to higher voter turnout. False ads were either rare or completely barred. With so many parties involved, this forced them to compromise in order to get things done and move forward. Otherwise, they'd pay the price on election day. P...

Stephen Moore, "distinguished visiting fellow" for the conservative Heritage Foundation (yes, that's his actual title name), just published an article on the conservative Washington Times  entitled, "The lunacy of the left," to which I felt the need to respond. First off, to illustrate just how incredibly biased to the right Stephen Moore is, here are the titles of a few of his articles: - "The Fantasy That ObamaCare 'Is Working'" (Hmm, I went from uninsured due to preexisting conditions to insured, so... Where'd I put that invisible health insurance card again?) - "The Lie Obama Keeps Repeating About the Poor in America" (When it comes to honesty, let's compare President Obama with the two GOP frontrunners to replace him. According to Politifact , of the 577 graded Obama statements, 278 of them have been ruled as true or mostly true (48%), while 146 have been ruled as mostly false, false, or pants on fire (26%), for a n...

While the Republican Party has, largely due to gerrymandering, the Citizens United decision, and enhanced voter ID laws, made the most of midterm elections in garnering control of both the House and Senate, they've regularly failed in the general election the past several cycles. Over the past 24 years, the Republican Party has won the popular vote just once, when George W. Bush defeated John Kerry in the 2004 election. If the Supreme Court had ruled differently in the 2000 election, it would have been possible for the Democratic Party to have reeled off six consecutive victories in presidential elections. While history dictates the eventual Republican nominee would have a 50.1%+ chance of winning this coming election due to the fact we've had a Democratic president over the past 8 years and Republican voters are likely to be more energized to vote than Democratic voters, the GOP is finding a way to set themselves up for disappointment yet again in the general election. The G...

As I often do on Twitter anymore, I was busy poking fun of Donald Trump last night. One of the top trending hashtags was #5WordTrumpSlogans. I posted approximately ten such hashtags, one of which was, "Offending Everyone Without Any Consequences." To this, I heard from a self-described constitutional conservative, who said, "They only people offended are anti-white #RadicalMarxists like you," later adding, "Anti-white muslim supporters." That's right, ladies and gentlemen; I've been busted. As a white person myself, I'm apparently anti-white, and therefore anti-self. Yes, it perplexes me as well... It's ironically hilarious this man describes himself as a constitutional conservative, yet labels me as anti-white and pro-Muslim, for while I don't adhere to any religion myself, I believe everyone has the constitutional right to believe in whatever faith they so choose, including Christians, and yes, Muslims. Apparently, this constituti...

My crazy week and a half on Twitter continued last night, as one of the top trending hashtags was #PickUpLinesForRepublicans. It wasn't one of the top trenders for too terribly long, but I had fun with it along the way. Here is a list of the tweets: 1) "What do I like?  Shooting guns, long walks on the beach, taking away your rights. Wait, where are you going?" #PickUpLinesForRepublicans 64 Likes, 50 Retweets 2) "Has anyone ever told you that you're as hot as Kim Davis?" #PickUpLinesForRepublicans 39 Likes, 30 Retweets 3) "Hey baby, how you doin'? The name's Rush. How would you like to be lucky wife #5?" #PickUpLinesForRepublicans 23 Likes, 15 Retweets 4) "You're thinking, 'Is that a gun in his pants or is he just happy to see me?' It's a gun & I've got 9 more." #PickUpLinesForRepublicans 18 Likes, 13 Retweets 5) "If you were the pyramids of Egypt, I'd like to store my grain in yo...

I was again busy on Twitter with a trending hashtag yesterday. I may have had bad timing in posting my 26 tweets with the hashtag #GOPDebateDemands, but in any case, several of my followers and I had a good time while it lasted. Here's the full list: 1) "Moderators cannot ask about our past decisions, where we currently stand on issues, or about our plans for the future." #GOPDebateDemands 39 favorites, 40 retweets 2) "Midway through every debate, each candidate will get to throw a snowball at the moderators to disprove global warming." #GOPDebateDemands 29 favorites, 17 retweets 3) "Fact-checking is strictly forbidden." #GOPDebateDemands 16 favorites, 14 retweets 4) "If he gets really angry, Ted Cruz is permitted to shut down the debate by reading Dr. Seuss books." #GOPDebateDemands 16 favorites, 11 retweets 5) "At the close of each debate, every candidate shall raise their right hand & shout, 'Rich lives matte...

I had a bit of fun on my Twitter account over the weekend. Due to many conservative politicians and commentators complaining about the CNBC debate last week, the moderators' questions and tone in particular, #NewGOPDebateQuestions trended on Twitter for about a day and I decided to kick my sarcasm meter up a notch. A couple of my tweets were even mentioned on the following two websites: http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/_newgopdebatequestions_gop_candidates_declare_civil_war_against_rnc_so_twitter_responds_hilariously http://www.comingoffaith.com/2015/10/30/news/politics/lailaalawa/23-hilarious-new-questions-gop-debate-needs-respond/?hvid=WAIO0 Here now is a full list of the 28 tweets I posted: 1) "Mr. Carson, what's one thing you dislike which you've never compared to slavery or the Holocaust?" #NewGOPDebateQuestions 149 favorites 123 retweets 2) "If it were possible, would you be in favor of allowing fetuses to purchase and ow...

Those familiar with his quotes of the past shouldn't be at all surprised by this, but RedState editor-in-chief, Fox News contributor, and man with the most redundant name this side of Jar Jar Binks - Erick Erickson - decided to strike the head-up-his-own-ass pose once again when being recently asked by Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) president Russell Moore about America's culture wars and whether or not they were over. He responded with this: "No, I don't think the culture war is over primarily because the people who appear to be the victors right now are the least likely to procreate, so we will eventually breed them out of existence demographically. So the culture war continues and will continue. And I don't mean to be flippant by that statement. But if you look at the demographic trends in this country, in the next 50 years, the country will be filled with young Christian Hispanic families who listen to country music, and that's just - de...

Most importantly, as I've written about previously, the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling in 2010 was awful for this country. Think people were fed up by big money in politics before the ruling? Of receiving seemingly countless fliers in the mail? Of seeing nothing put campaign commercials during dinner? Of thinking their voices meant little to nothing? Well, after the ruling, things just got worse on all of those fronts. Campaign spending increased, and with that, so too did the release of fliers and television ads, not to mention people's voices began feeling even smaller than before. But, while the ruling was awful for the country as a whole, it's also been awful for the Democratic Party. The Republican Party wasn't phased a great deal by the ruling. They've increasingly become the party of the top 1%, so to them, what would better give them a chance come election day than providing that very top 1% unlimited contribution capability? For the Democratic P...

I hate a love-hate relationship when it comes to the Internet and the social media. While I love the idea of being connected with the rest of the world, keeping in regular contact with friends both new and old, and being able to share and promote my written work, I also don't like how online interaction is taking the place of face-to-face interaction, how many seem to value sharing the appearance of a great experience over simply enjoying it, and how many seem to be becoming more narcissistic with these growing online trends. I may start sounding like an old fart in this post and perhaps slightly hypocritical, given the fact I have this blog, a Facebook page, as well as Twitter and Tumblr accounts. However, in my defense, I am a writer, so that's what I use this blog for, as well as my Twitter and Tumblr accounts - to write, share my work, and market it. I just use my Facebook page to keep in touch with friends and family - new and old, near and far. First off, it seems as ...

With each and every election cycle, I begin to increasingly wonder if the Republican Party will change its name to the Oligarch Party. For as pro-freedom and liberty as their rhetoric typically is, it amazes me how anti-democratic the Republican Party has become. Allow me to compare the two parties on this front: Democratic Party - Wants to overturn Citizen's United so that corporations are limited in their campaign donations - Doesn't believe corporations are people - Wants to expand voting efforts to maximize voting on election day - Believes a strong economy is build from the base up - Doesn't believe in repressing certain demographics of voters Republican Party - Wants to maintain the Citizen's United ruling so corporations aren't limited in their campaign donations like people are - Believes corporations are people - Wants to restrict voting on election day - Believes in trickle-down economics - Believes in repressing certain demographic...

While I am officially through day 53 of the 63 insanity beachbody workout and have noticed some nice changes, I still feel the need to poke fun at it a little bit. In these workouts, the leader - Shaun T - has the tendency to say and do certain things throughout each and every one. For example, I can't count how many times he says the following (okay, it's not that I CAN'T count; I just don't want to): - "Dig deeper!" - "You can do it!" - "I'm watching you!" - "I'm right here with you!" - "Come on, people!" When it comes to his actions, he shows the following tendencies: - To either do 10 seconds of an exercise at the start of it or at the very end, meanwhile everyone else tries to do it for the 30 or 60 seconds he sets. - When he walks around and talks to people and points out what they're doing, 4 out of 5 times he does this with a woman, and doesn't shy away from touching her (a lot...

It's common for unhealthy cycles to bound in people's lives. Whether that be alcohol abuse during difficult times, finding oneself in abusive relationships, or becoming promiscuous after break-ups, even if we know deep down the cycles aren't healthy for us, it's often times very difficult to break these very cycles. As difficult as it might be to do this, however, if we don't eventually break these unhealthy cycles, it becomes increasingly likely that these unhealthy cycles will take control of and ultimately destroy our lives. Unfortunately, Minnesota Vikings Pro Bowl running back Adrian Peterson and his children find themselves in a similar situation. Based on friends' and family's testimonies, it seems about as likely that Adrian Peterson's father beat him as a child as it does that the earth revolves around the sun. Since Adrian feels this harsh form of discipline helped him become the person he is today and he is ignorant of any alternatives, he...

I admit, I'm kind of old-school with phones. I typically use them for, well, calling people, and for answering others' phone calls. I'm crazy like that. I admit, I will check my email once in a while if I'm out and about, may take a picture of something I find to be amusing or interesting, and may play a word game or two, but that's about as far as I go. To this point in my life, I have never taken a selfie. You don't believe me, do you? Check my records. Not one selfie. I've also never partaken in these silly photo trends. You know the ones. I'm talking about: Planking, duck-faces, fake mustaches, and I'm not sure what else. I know - I'm no fun. Because, let's face it, when most people think about "fun," the first four things that pop into mind are: 1) Taking pictures of themselves (we're suddenly all professional photographers), 2) Laying out like you're a plank (Captain Hook would be proud...), 3) Making a face only a duc...

Since the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was signed by President Obama in 2010, the Republican Party has been on a mission to ultimately destroy it - through negative ad campaigns, talking points and promises leading up to election day, 50+ failed repeals, the government shutdown, etc. However, while these seemingly constant attacks on the new healthcare law had gained some traction when it came to public polling, it didn't impact the Supreme Court's decision to uphold it nor any component of the law itself. ...and not only that, unfortunately for the Republicans, since surpassing its goal of 7 million sign-ups by March 31st, Obamacare has been receiving much more positive press, and this can be seen in recent poll numbers. While the Republican Party may have been able to win over some voters during late last year with healthcare.gov's gliched site and botched roll-out, the tide appears to be turning, and GOP candidates may need to find something else to run on in the comi...

I received a kind comment on my blog yesterday, but this individual also made note that when logged into Internet Explorer, he/she noticed some overlap in my blogs perhaps due to a compatibility issue. This isn't the first time I've heard such a thing - both with regard to this site and many others. It's one of the main reasons I no longer use Internet Explorer and have opted to go with the likes of Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. I started having major compatibility issues with a host of different sites. Also, Explorer is fairly notorious for not protecting people very well from viruses. That's another reason I made the switch. So, if anyone is having compatibility issues when using Internet Explorer, I'd highly recommend making a similar switch. Heck, even if you're not having compatibility problems, I'd probably recommend making the switch anyway. No browser is perfect, but I've had far fewer problems on Firefox and Chrome than I did on Explore...

I recently made a comparison between the 24-hour cable news networks and the radio. Like with the radio and hot new songs, these "news" networks tend to run with a story for as long as they possible can until it results in a handful of people going crazy and jumping off buildings. The latest such story is Obamacare - the glitchy website and the less-than-anticipated enrollment numbers for the month of October in particular. Here's how this has played out in the media, and yes, I may slightly exaggerate: "Was Michele Bachmann right? Is this a sign? Is Armageddon upon us? Will Christ be returning soon to save us from the certain demise of our civilization because of Obamacare? It's been a full month! Young people aren't signing up! The enrollment numbers aren't very high! If people don't sign up within 31 days, they'll never sign up! When I was without a car until the age of 17, I was certain I'd never have one and I was right! For another c...

Why do some people think the world needs to know about their love lives via Facebook statuses? I might be in the minority on this anymore, but I just don't understand that. Wouldn't it come across as more heartfelt, spontaneous, and genuine to tell a significant other what you feel for them face-to-face or at the very least, over the telephone (no, not through texting)? Doesn't spreading that very message to hundreds of friends and family members through Facebook kind of detract from the sentiments coming across as genuine? These statuses just come across as phony to me, which is why I'll never post them. If I truly want to emotionally touch a person I love, I'm going to express those feelings directly to them and not just hope that they read it along with hundreds of others.  Also, what is with people "liking" some of these statuses? Is it just the thought of, "Well, he'd/she'd probably like that I 'like' this, so I will." or ...

I've discussed this subject before, but in more of a general sense than I will be doing today. Why is it that Democrats have won 4 of the past 6 presidential elections (more like five), are expanding the blue area of the electoral map, and it appears as if the younger generations are becoming more and more liberal, yet when polled, many more Americans identify themselves as conservatives rather than liberals? A Gallup poll, which was released last year, showed that 40% of Americans consider themselves to be conservative, 35% consider themselves to be moderate, and 21% consider themselves to be liberal. How can this be? Many Republican politicians and conservative talking heads alike point to such polls and say, "This is a center-right country. These numbers show if either party should be compromising, it's the Democrats." I've held the belief that this country is actually more liberal than these polls lead us to believe, but that due to the bastardization of...