The governance, or lack thereof, of the great republic.
As campaign season rolls on, we are being treated to the usual colorful fall display of Republicans showing off their economic policies. Well, it’s actually not all that colorful; in fact, it’s downright monochromatic. The G.O.P. doesn’t like to talk about economic policy very much, because they don’t really have …
Today is the United Nations’ International Day of Peace. You would be forgiven if you think this is another fake celebration of high ideals cooked up by public relations interns, and, in truth, a lot of it is. Hashtag marketing, pointless celebrity endorsements, feel-good concerts and media events, and related …
Well, that was edifying, wasn’t it? Last night, CNN gathered a bunch of rich assholes together to pretend that Barack Obama is Stalin reincarnated and to explain in vague terms about how they would restore America to its vanished glory by taking medical care away from women and poor people …
Straight Outta Compton is in theaters as I write this, and like just about everything the former Andre Romelle Young touches, from subpar headphones to white dingbats from Detroit, it has turned to gold, raking in over $100 million at the box office so far. What exactly this means for …
The internet has been aflame this week following a lengthy article in the New York Times about the corporate culture at Amazon. (A follow-up on Gawker, arguing that tech money in general, but Amazon in particular, has helped render Seattle unlivable, made some good points, but was undercut by having …
The long-awaited first debate from the comically overstuffed field of Republican candidates for the presidency took place last night, and it was a grand old time for all. At least, I assume it was; I didn’t watch it because I’d rather chew on hot coals than watch these horrible assholes …
The minimum wage went up in San Francisco and, blaming the cost of doing business, the overrated burrito hucksters at Chipotle hiked up their prices. Predictably, conservatives popped their collective gaskets, and everyone on the right started screaming “ENJOY THE BITTER FRUITS OF YOUR COMMUNIST WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION, LIBTARDS”, as if …
Today is the Fourth of July, the day the United States celebrates its independence and the day we all celebrate a nation founded as an ideal, a project, an attempt at changing the rules by which nations were governed. On the Fourth of July, I have always followed the advice …
To commemorate his unceremonious dumping by a wide range of belatedly embarrassed corporate entities, I have been thinking a lot about the man who will not be our next president, Donald “Mayonnaise” Trump. Young people today may only know him as the talentless, egomaniacal clown behind The Apprentice who has …
It doesn’t take a genius to know that this country is in trouble. Which is fortunate, because I am not a genius. Mass murders, police brutality, economic turmoil, terrorism at home and abroad, a constantly shifting social landscape, even the degradation of the very air, land, and water we need …
There is a clip from yesterday’s Daily Show circulating around in which Jon Stewart, devoid of his usual joking manner, laments the Charleston church massacre while dreading that once again, faced with a mass murder, America isn’t going to do anything. And that’s probably right. But the problem isn’t so much …
FIRST AMENDMENT (12/15/1791): This one is generally very popular especially with loudmouths. The only part that causes trouble is the part where we can’t impede the free exercise of religion, because somehow those lunatic Muslims got their shit rubber-stamped as a religion instead of what it is: a crazy murder …
Every week brings a new division. As I write my annual May Day sermon, division is everywhere I look. Following the death of another black man at the hands of the police, a number of Baltimore police officers have been indicted for his murder, causing division between those who think …
As I write this, I am sitting in an apartment in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Six months ago, I was writing from an apartment in the University District of Seattle, Washington. There are many things that make the two places distinct, but today I am thinking about …
In terms of my own cinematic preferences (which, after all, are the only ones that really matter, right?), no genres, styles, or movements have made more of an impact on me than American film noir and Italian neo-realism. I am hardly unique in this regard. These two particular filmic interpretations …
