The mythos of American exceptionalism plus the ever-worsening quality of public education is a helluva drug.

10,000 Mentos, artistically raining onto the floor and bouncing in slow mo, possibly while doves took flight from the shelves.

That is terrifying. We purposefully choose cops on the “dumb as a box of hammers” end of the spectrum, because intelligent people might get bored? While that doesn’t excuse the lack of judgement, logic, or non-trigger-happy, racist behavior, it sure underscores not to expect much critical thinking from them, either. 

Not the heroes we deserve*, but the heroes we desperately need.

Eh, you can establish that something is part of a copyrighted larger work as “intellectual property.” 

As an artist and writer myself, I’ve been thinking and talking about this very topic with various people. It started when discussing literature. I caught myself saying, “Hemingway was a crappy person, but a hell of a writer.” — not that I am aware of Hemingway being guilty of sexual misconduct, merely that he seemed…

No. If you think that “making a threat of war” was what the Nazis were on trial for in Nuremberg, may I humbly suggest you spend a little time at the nearest library, the Holocaust Museum website, or a History Channel WWII marathon, whichever is most convenient for you. (I’ve linked you to the number of estimated dead…

You can’t just say this and not tell us more. The rest of us need hope, too. And maybe some pointers?

Thanks. It took a while to articulate something more (potentially) useful than my general surprise and discomfort at this article and some of the comments.

Very off topic (and fuck that racist waste of a manicure): I had a funny experience not too long ago re: “911 is for emergencies,” which I know. I needed to get ahold of the police for a non-emergency, so like any vaguely competent nerd, I started googling for what the local non-emergency phone number might be. And…

While it is good advice, it’s also scary (though I hope I would be brave enough to do it anyway) — because what’s the other “new normal”? Mass shootings.

That is a solid life goal which I endorse.

...I’m all for women getting more power, equal pay, etc etc but remember and sorry to quote a comic book but with more power comes more responsibility, meaning think things through ladies, before you brush a guy off for whatever meaningless reason put yourself in his shoes, think about how many other women have…

Dear Internet Stranger,

I didn’t say, “media,” I said, “culture.” There’s a difference:

As if any of them are smart enough to know to use “may” and not “can.”

And if you were even faintly clever, you’d make that monthly “retainer” something just under $10k, ‘cause guess what pings in the banking industry for investigating money laundering? Oh, yeah, $10k and up.

Whole swaths of our culture tell men they’re entitled to a woman. You fight your way through the 392 levels of the game, you get the princess. You fly your spaceship through the astroid field to save the planet, you get the blue-skinned space babe. You deliver the inspirational speech in front of student counsel, you…

Texas also has maternal mortality rates that rival 3rd world countries.

Thank you. I’m terribly sorry you had to endure and learn from such an experience.