The Republican Mid-Term Election Strategy...

The Monday Morning Show for October 27, 2014...

The Monday Morning Show for October 20, 2014...

Brown people...

When we see scary people in the middle east, our armed forces carpet bomb them indiscriminately.
When we see scary people in Ferguson, Missouri, our police forces shoot them indiscriminately.
When we see scary kids in hoodies, our Zimmermans murder them.

... and they are all brown...

If you really believe in the commandment, Thou Shall Not Kill... what's the difference between these?

It's the Monday Morning Show for September 29, 2014...

It's the Monday Morning Show for September 29th, 2014! Join me as I talk about young people changing the world and the old people who are trying to stop them. Young people are on the streets in Honk Kong and in Colorado while we're busy wondering if our iPhone's going to bend.

The Monday Morning Show for September 22, 2014!...

Jackemoff Forest, episode four...

Facks News reacts to Obama's handling of the Islamic State?...

Just another sign of corporations having too much power…

So, I was out on my morning jog this morning when I passed by a local concrete foundry pumping out tons of toxic smoke. The smoke was so bad, I had to stop jogging because I was coughing so hard. I was coughing so hard, I nearly threw up!

The smell was pretty bad where I lived, a couple of miles away, too.

Vicky suggested I call the AQMD (the Air Quality Management District) to register a complaint, which I did. What I didn’t expect, though, was the lesson I received in just how powerful corporations are in relation to how much they can pollute.

Here’s what I found out.

In order for the AQMD to even speak with the foundry and ask them to please cut down on their smog, they need to have six different homes on the same block all register complaints within the same hour. Then, they have to remain at their home for an AQMD representative to come to their home and verify the smell. This AQMD could take as much as three hours to get there, by which time the wind could shift and the smell could move on.

Can you imagine how difficult that would be to pull off? Six residents from six different homes all have to call at about the same time. Then, they can’t leave their home. They have to wait there – not go to work – and hope everyone else stays put as well. They have to wait for hours, all in the hopes that the wind doesn’t shift!

And this won’t even get them definite action. The foundry could ignore the request. When I asked the AQMD rep what the requirements were for them to take definite action, such as a fine or a court order or anything, she just shook her head and said, “Well, let’s try to get this first. This is hard enough.”

Meanwhile, the foundry owners sit back and laugh at us little people. They’ve made us powerless.

And the sad truth is, so many of us defend our corporate overlords despite all that. And, in the grand scheme of things, this is nothing.

It's the Monday Morning Show for September 15, 2014!...

So Dream Something: Where Dreams Will Take You...

It's the Monday Morning Show for September 8, 2014...

I give you the Breakfast Shake!...

I was out driving around this morning and came to the realization that plenty of fast food restaurants give you a breakfast menu but none of them – not a single one (that I know of, at least) offers a Breakfast Shake!

Why is that?

It’s not like they have to resort to something as disgusting or nutritious as putting eggs or sausage in their shake. They don’t even have to resort to putting a frittata in your shake.

Listen: I’ve actually had a Cap’n Crunch Shake at a Carl’s Jr., many moons ago. They have the template. Now, they just need to take it to its next, logical step. Hell, make me a Franken-Berry Shake or a Boo-Berry Shake. Make me a Waffle Shake with real waffle bits and syrup. Make me a Pancake Breakfast Shake with bits of pancake and bacon! It can be done!

It can be done!

It must be done!!!!

… then again, maybe I’m just really in the mood for a shake…

The Monday Morning Show for August 25, 2014...

5 Brief Minutes... I am a terrorist...

The Monday Morning Show for August 18, 2014...

Take the Journey in this month's episode of So Dream Something...

We bomb at midnight... or whenever...

This morning's headlines keep reading - or, at least, I do - that we're bombing Iraq again to help save lives.

Now, you might find this cynical but look at the bright side. We're one of the few nations in history ever to save lives with high explosives, and we're certainly in the minority as far as thinking we can.

You can't solve every problem by throwing money at it, the Republicans have told us all these years but as it turns out you can solve them by throwing bombs... or dropping them. I say, let's solve more of our problems. Bad transmission? Drop a bomb on it! Melting glaciers? Drop a bomb! Heck, I think we should fix Congress right about now. Don't you?

(This rant brought to you by the Peoples Who Ain't Been Bombed Yet For the Bombing of the People not there anymore because we have...)

Busy at home at work at home together apart together…

I’m sitting at my desk on a muggy, summer afternoon, thinking about my marriage and what a strange place we’re in.

And I thought, What the hell! Let’s write about it!

We have so many friends and people in our families who live “traditional” lives… you know, the marriage, the house, the kids, the crap… I know Vicky likes it because she gets to enjoy it on a “visitor” basis but it’s downright annoying to me. I don’t know why but I’m not that keen on the traditional setup.

Vicky and I don’t have kids and I have grown comfortable like that. Not only is it okay, it’s just fine by me. I don’t think Vicky will ever be completely comfortable and that makes me sad but that’s not how things have worked out and I, personally, am happier going with the flow, accepting what is rather than wishing for what isn’t.

In a way…

You see, as much as many of those we know have gone the traditional route, Vicky and I have surprisingly… not.

We don’t have kids. We’re not really big joiners. We aren’t especially attracted to material objects.

The two of us found what we love long ago and recently – in the past year, at least – things have really begun to take off with what we love. In case I’m being too vague, I’m talking about our jobs.

Yep.

Vicky and I are workaholics.

We both love what we do. Vicky loves running her company’s paralegal team and teaching college courses, etc. etc. etc. I love writing books and recording audiobooks and creating new videos and hosting my podcasts, etc. etc. etc.

I don’t think either of us have ever been so fulfilled in what we do.

… and yet, I’m sitting here at my desk on a muggy, summer afternoon… and I’m considering all of these things… and what does not escape me is the fact that Vicky is about 10-15 miles across town right now, doing her thing.

This strikes me as so weird because there’s no one I love being with more than Vicky. I love taking adventures with her. I love laying in on a weekend morning with her and watching a race. I love going to Target with her to buy Q-tips. I don’t know why this is. I’m just smitten.

And, all the same, we’re spending our days apart. We spend many of our days apart. Because we love what we do.

And we love each other.

I suppose it’s not “traditional.” It may not even be healthy.

But I’m proud of her and she’s proud of me and though I hate when she’s away I love when she comes back. It may sound strange to say we love our lives spent working most of the time without kids and without each other that much… but we do.

And I probably wouldn’t trade it for the world.

The Monday Morning Show for July 21, 2014...