Symbols give people something to cling to that doesn’t require much thought. It’s a lazy option for performative belief. Which is why symbols are so easy to co-opt (ie, the US flag becoming a symbol of “the troops” and “freedom” rather than representing a complex governmental philosophy and the diverse collection of…

I’ve never been expected to bow to a circus animal. 

I grew up in Massachusetts, one of the last states to allow civilian flaggers at roadwork sites. However, even after they passed the law, the police union had so much stroke that they made it so flaggers had to be paid equivalent to cop wages ($44/hr vs $28/hr what the average civilian flagger makes nationwide), which…

Yeah, that’s in there. The book basically follows the lives of six people who ultimately became significant figures in the gay rights movement leading up to and in the aftermath of the Stonewall Riot. I’m currently in the mid-Sixties portion, where Mattachine has begun public action and the resulting schisms in the…

It’s the place the found the robot in Return to Oz, right?

Yes. That massive weight you feel leaving your shoulders is thanks to the realization that you don’t have to care about this shit anymore. It was fine when you were young and had no responsibilities to occupy your time, no taste to help you discern quality entertainment, and no self-confidence to give you the courage…

I’m currently reading Stonewall by Martin Duberman. In it, he talks about how early “homophile” organizations, such as the Mattachine Society, were initially VERY conservative in their membership and operations. They did not believe militancy would solve anything. They were primarily focused on how to best assimilate…

And friggin’ Squi didn’t bring his section like he said he would. Just like that time in college when Squi said he was going to bring the piss balloons to throw at the lesbian chicks at the Take Back the Night March and then he bailed and Brett and PJ were stuck standing there having to listen to those broads bitch…

This is what I’ve been doing and I was wondering if it’s actually effective/sanitary/etc.

Ooh, I hope they name one after that general who caught Rambo trying to free POWs in Vietnam. Because if that guy hadn’t caught Rambo, then Rambo wouldn’t have gotten the chance to radio Murdock and tell him that he was coming for him. What a great moment for America!

In the interest of actual “political correctness“:

My favorite was one that referred to NASCAR as “the mayonnaise races.” I lost my shit. 😂

Well, I tend to like films that . . . Wait a minute! I’m not falling for that one again!

I know it runs counter to capitalism, but why not just release movies like this to libraries for free with a PSA or documentary attached? Birth of a Nation, Song of the South, etc. These should be preserved for historical context and teaching, but continuing to make money off them is at best bad PR, at worst gross and…

The U.S. military has bases named after Confederate generals? Do they also have bases named after generals from Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Iraq?

I was temping at the time (fall 2000), and the interview was in the afternoon, so I basically had to tell my agency I was unavailable for the day. So I lost out on a day’s pay at least and any longer-term gigs that came in that day at worst. Which would be fine if I was in legitimate running for the job. And if I…

I know studies have shown that rich people have diminished empathy and increased sociopathic behavior*, but there has to be a point where you walk into someone’s house full of murdered endangered species and think “Oh shit, I’m in the home of a psycho” and immediately start strategizing the quickest way to make your…

“The subway? Isn’t that that filthy train thing under the street that the common people who can’t afford a driver use when they go home to places like <shudder> Queens?”

My one experience with Condé Nast was a weird one. I was brought in to interview for some entry level position and met with an editor (I don’t remember what division). After our meeting was done, I was told the publisher wanted to meet with me. I was sent into a big, fancy office where I was promptly told “Forget…

You would think my mom would’ve been all about that seatbelt life. A couple years before I was born, she was in a major car accident that resulted in her getting metal rods put in her leg, left her hospitalized for months, and caused mobility and pain problems that lingered the rest of her life. Nope. Even after Mass…