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When President Donald J. Trump made his now infamous statement about their being "good people" on both sides of a protest that included white supremacists and civil rights groups, I was, quite frankly, shocked. However, I was not shocked in the way that most liberals were. Most liberals thoughts to themselves, "how could he possibly say such a thing about Nazis? This is America"! I, on the other hand, was not so surprised by that. Many presidents or potential presidents have promoted white supremacist philosophy as a part of their campaigns; Trump is by no means the first, so that did not surprise me at all. What was more surprising was that people did not see that coming, that people were still assuming, even years into King Trump of Orange's reign of terror, that he would somehow tone it down, that he was not really that bad, that the liberals were, once again, exaggerating. Everyone saw the car plow through a whole sea of civil rights activists. Everyone saw the deadly deed, yet people still were trying to make everyone get along with each other. They were still looking for a way for us all to "come together", as if we live inside of a John Lennon song or some nonsense. It was at that moment that I realized just how far gone Americans are, that they are so obsessed with rationalizing the behavior of bad actors that they simply refuse to see that, sometimes, common ground is not so common. The nations has not changed much at all since then. Many people still believe, even as these same Trumpers are currently planning a September attack that will rival or surpass the January sixth riots, that, if liberals like me would just die a slow and painful death, that everything in this country would go back to normal, and that they would be allowed to never have to think about politics again. See, human beings assume, incorrectly, that most people are good, including Donald Trump and other nut balls like Rand Paul or that dude with the pillows. But that is not true. Everyone would at least try to be good, if goodness was, in some way, rewarded. But goodness is punished in American society. I am living proof of that. I am good to people all the time. I listen to them when no one else will. I cook for them when everyone else buys them fast food. I make films and podcasts about the struggles of people the wealthy media has no time for. I make it a point to talk to people when I sense they are feeling ignored. I tell stories about people that no one else seems to care about. But I have received no rewards, and everything good that I did received was taken away from me by Trump, who all of the good little rich people that we are supposed to emulate, could not wait to vote for. In the end, being "good" gets you nothing. Goodness is repulsive to people. And, though the calls for world peace continue, Donald Trump's ratings continue to skyrocket. Wow...good people. 

Denial is a key component of a "successful" human life. In order for one to obtain great power and success, it is necessary for the human being to deny who they are. Instead of "self-improvement", as it is often promoted, this process is much more like self deception. We deny the ourselves and the uncertainty of our futures in order to feel comfortable, to snuff out feelings of anxiousness and fear. But fear is not the bad guy, nor is anxiousness. There is not real "bad guy" per se. It is just us continuously fooling ourselves that humankind is a naturally "good" species that will ensure safety for all. But this has never been true. Humans are selfish and, as the moderate politicians have shown us time and time again, only interested in improving life for themselves, to hell with anyone who happens to suffer in the process. But denialism is somewhat new. Denialism is a worldview that encourages people to abandon truth altogether, and to create a new, better truth. This involves a simple process of blinding oneself to reality and choosing to only see things that make us feel good. It also involves the basing of professionals and experts to the point that all factual answers become irrelevant. It means prioritizing concepts over people. It means choosing fantasy over science. It means choosing narratives over history. It means denying that subjects like mathematics can have irrational outcomes, instead focusing forever on the "rational" answers that one prefers. It means the blind respect of authority figures, simply because it is easier, not because they have proven themselves worth of respect. It means ignoring unsavory facts of life, such as climate change, racism and moral hypocrisy. It means wearing a dark pair of sunglasses twenty-four hours a day, shouting a few charismatic sayings and racing at a break neck speed toward futility. It means lofty words that have no practical use like "utopia" or "divinity" or "destiny". Denialism causes us to throw caution out the window, along with the need for sound evidence, so that we can again lead the lives of children and ignore whatever responsibilities to the betterment of our species we may have. Denialism does not care about you or your feelings; in fact, it does not even recognize that your feelings exist. But, most importantly, denialism never recognizes itself as denialism, instead opting to present itself as the most moral and rational authority that so called "reasonable" people listen to.  

People defend harmful social norms, such as the mocking of LGBTQIA members or the exclusion of black people from the work force, because they are afraid, not because they are "rational". Have you ever noticed that those who attest that they do not get offended easily tend to get extremely offended when others take offense to hatred or ignornace? This is, of course, extremely hypocritical, and it begs the question whether or not calls for an end to all critique have a much more sinister goal than just keeping unfunny B comedians employed. Well, it turns out that everyone gets offended. It is in our biology and we cannot control it. In fact, some people may be more prone to taking offense than others. Some humans display high moral outrage, while others experience practically none. Neither of these are preferable so we must learn how to have an adequate amount of outrage at particular actions when the time becomes necessary, such as when people are being illogically judged or oppressed for "immoral behavior" that has been proven to be scientifically safe. Instead of using moral outrage to defend science, those who complain about things like "cancel culture" or "virtue signaling" tend to use moral outage to defend cultural tradition and social norms. These people are the same people you hear in restaurants complaining because their precious meals are being interrupted by a child throwing a temper tantrum. Instead of making the decision to just stay home and cook their own food if they want to have peace, they still venture out to eat and then complain when they get there. Then they will go on some rant about the evils of modern day parenting and how we have lost our way because we do not beat our children to death like to good old days. Do you see the hypocrisy there? They know children exist and they know that parents take their children out to eat, yet they still went to the restaurant in the first place. The same can be said about modern arguments for "cancel culture" and "virtue signaling" arguments. These people already knew that, by saying offensive jokes in front on a large audience, that people would be offended. They already knew that. But they say it anyway, and then when someone does get offended, an outcome they already knew would occur, they become so butt hurt that they will rant about it for years. Bill Maher has been telling the same "liberals suck because they won't let me talk shit about them" ever since Obama was elected. He's really just trying to protect his cultural norms in a very primitive, unfunny way. All purveyors of "cancel culture" do the same. They are simply rejecting those who are different from them and continuing the oppression of people they view as diseased. This is also why you hear people diagnosing each other with mental disorders as if they are Sigmund Freud on a bender. You do not agree with them, and they view themselves, incorrectly, as more rational than others.  So they view you as sick or not smart enough to see their point of view. Humans are terrified of things like diseases and during an emergency like a pandemic, people resort to tribalism. Anyone who challenges their cultural norms, which provide them with comfort during times of distress, will be mocked and even persecuted. This primitive response fuels anger and hatred between people. So, really, telling someone not to get offended is just another way for scared little humans to evoke control over others because they are too terrified of things that they cannot comprehend. How rational...

During the Salem witch trials, members of the Salem community fed on a type of grain, that, due to the climate, developed a fungus with the same chemical composition as LSD. Of course they would not have known that at the time. While small doses of LSD over long periods of time may not be so bad, eating huge portions of rotting fungus in the forest that happens to also contain the drug as well probably is not the best idea. But that did not really matter, did it? They proceeded to hallucinate ghostly apparitions, and view these hallucinations as "reality". This is how easily, and, far more important, how stealthily madness infects the human brain. But is that really what we would call insanity? After all, they were not aware that the drug did such things, nor were they aware the drug was in their food at all, nor were they aware that bad conditions could lead to food poisoning. Is that crazy or just unlucky? Then add to this their religious fervor. They believed the holy scripture wholeheartedly, so much so that their hallucinations justified said text, acting as a kind of proof of the spiritual realm. Most everyone was having essentially the same hallucination, so they were even able to confirm their biases with one and other. Since they believed spiritual warfare was at hand and they were living in a state of prolonged panic and fear, they began to behave more and more irrationally by the day. Even those who initially denied the existence of these other worldly beings eventually admitted they could see them. Did they really see them? Was it just peer pressure? Or was it a combination of both, dual delusions working together in perfect synergy to destroy reality and goodness? Is that really crazy? Or are we just living in a mad, mad world?  

Providence is most often associated with god and spirituality, however it can represent many things to different people. And, if there is one thing the United States is good at, it is reinterpreting art and turning it into its own. There is nothing wrong with this at all. Younger generations, in a desperate search to define themselves, often do this to form their identities. However, through this process the original meaning, in a sense, becomes meaningless, at least to the subconscious observer. You don not have to take my word on that. Just try having a discussion with different people on what politically charged words like "woke" or "feminist" means; you will get a different definition every single time. This is because we assign meaning to things with our own emotional interpretations. In a way, this is what the founding fathers may have wanted to happen. They did not know the original meaning of hieroglyphics and they spent a lot of time assigning their own meaning to these symbols. Years later, we now know that hieroglyphs are a language, not an exercise in mysticism or artistic expression, as many had imagined. But providence does not have to be spiritual at all. Many of the founders were also thoroughly grounded in the age of reason. The all seeing eye, as it has come to be known, has been used as a representation of rational thought in countries like France. In Britain it was scrawled on an authoritarian styled prison, which was in circular shape so people could be watched at all time. Then there were many Christians who used the Eye of Providence to symbolize the eye of god watching a fledgling nation, which is why you will see on many churches in the modern day, a remembrance of culture more than anything else. Very few church goers even see the symbol unless you point it out to them. But what of the pyramid? If you notice, it has 13 columns, representing the 13 original colonies. Pyramids are strong; they endure. Why not connect the eye to the pyramid? Because that would be putting an end on the American experiment and, as a result, would no longer be America. Remember, you only put the capstone on the pyramid once it is complete. We, my friends, still have a lot of building to do. And no, I'm not a free mason. I'm too broke for that...Get it? 

This week, the nation watched in horror as idiots across the nations united to stage a full on assault on public health. ICU beds were unavailable in numerous states, not just the south, though the south did manage to tack on the most deaths. I suppose they really did rise again, eh? They are proud of it too, so much so that their various governors were forced by morons to deny mask and vaccine mandates for fear that they will lose their dumb voting bases. Several health workers staged walkouts throughout the country, protesting the carelessness of the so-called "vaccine hesitant", which is super duper top secret conspiracy theory code for "dumb ass". But instead of calling the dumb asses dumb, the media continued to stroke their egos, stating that we can still find "common ground". Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Uh... Sorry, I just cannot take anyone seriously who continues to believe there is room for debate during a state of emergency. But what do I know? I just want as many people to live as possible and, you know, according to idiots, that is "selfish". It is interesting turning on the news and hearing supposedly "concerned" journalists continue to blame people who are following protocol instead of blaming the conspiracy theorists for the harm they are causing. Most of our journalists are spineless cowards. To hell with them for making that claim, for continuing to blame the innocent for the actions of the guilty. This will only prolong the pandemic. Meanwhile, a lackluster group of anti-vaxxer hesitant trash protested outside of a hospital because the hospital they work at mandates covid vaccines. Huh? It's a hospital! What the hell are these idiots protesting? The end of the pandemic? Go work at a private school if you want to be an asshole. Then there was the jeopardy debacle. They hired an antivaxxer to replace a sexist and I'm pretty sure this caused a rip in space and time. I mean, what more will Hollywood do not to employ talented, capable black people? Speaking of idiots, Kanye managed to weasel his big ass forehead in the headlines again. Mayor Lightfoot allowed this idiot to do an unmasked "reading" (probably reading a manual on how to turn everything into auto tune) in Chicago while having all the lesser folk continue to mask up, which totally sends the right message to young black people...if your message is idiotic that is. What the hell is Kanye reading anyway? The Little Engine That Could? Apart from that, idiotic parents complained about teachers trying to keep their children safe. They yelled at parent teacher meetings, spread disinformation and assaulted innocent people to protect their right to threaten and kill others. Also, the great intellectual philosopher of our times, Sir Busta Rhymes dropped his own stinking time bomb of stupidity on poor black people by spreading the deadly lie that masks don't work, which they do. Apart from that, Joe Rogan still sucks. It was an extremely dumb week folks. Oh, the irony and the idiocy! 

The pain of social rejection is more real than you feel it is. When we are rejected by others we feel actual, physical pain, as clearly demonstrated by a series of studies done by the APA. Excluding others causes them real harm. This is not to say that this is not sometimes necessary; we cannot live with abusers after all. But when we reject people who have done us no harm, we have done a great injustice. Equality cannot be achieved in this way, and peace will remain a boisterous fantasy. People who experience social rejection are more likely to feel potentially dangerous emotions, such as jealousy, sadness and anger. One or even a few of these instances will likely do no harm, but are we really naive enough to believe that the accumulation of such experiences could not possibly cause a few of us to snap? Just look at the conspiracy theorists of the world, completely engulfed in rage every time someone so much as suggest that they may be incorrect. Such behavior is very much related to social isolation, which very easily turns into radicalization. It is not as simple as blaming a computer or even social media. The real reason America has so many conspiracy theorists may be directly related to our culture of rejection, our constant, never-ending rat race to the top of a hill of beans. 

If vultures did not exist, the entire world would stink...literally. The stench of rotting flesh would climb the highest mountain, piercing the nose of every human with its rancid odor. Vultures can consume up twenty percent of their own weight in decaying flesh, so they make for a very easy way of getting rid of unwanted odors. The acid in the stomach of a vulture is so strong that it can even kill deadly substances such as anthrax and cholera, which can take humans out quite quickly. Such is the way of the mighty vulture. Most people likely do not think of benevolence when they think of vultures, but they are wrong as wrong can be. Just look at this bird's resume: a quiet disposition, never pushy unless threatened, only comes in for the kill when the prey is clearly, at least to the vulture, going to die, and, it is even a social animal, which is the reason you generally see these birds feeding in venues, one of the terms for a group of vultures. This is a bird that has a lot to offer humanity, but not many people pay attention to them. They are sort of the outcasts of the bird world. People like birds with colorful coats and sing song chirping, none of that practicality bullshit. And who needs talent when you got looks? I mean, have you seen the wings on that dove. Hubba, hubba! Am I right?! Such is the cruel superficiality of the human world: either flap like a blue jay or shut the hell up. I see a lot of myself in vultures. I provide practical information for people that may help them in the long run, not appeals to emotion, but reveals of life in motion. The thing is, vultures are not aware that they are helping other animals; they are just trying to survive on the planet. So, there is no competition between who will regulate and sell the different vultures services. They coexist in a way that they are almost oblivious to. People, on the other hand, are so oblivious of the vulture's services and peaceful traits that they mock the vulture and associate it with everything bad in the world. No one is knocking down my door to to appreciate anything I've done either. No one wants to pay for my services anymore. Such is the life of a performer: they love you one day, they hate you the next...Such is the way, and so on, and so forth. But I will never be a vulture, no matter how much I yearn to be. I will never have a group that stands up for me, not really. I am too different. I am not enough like other people to be deserving of their empathy. That has been communicated to me quite well by the way people vote, and the way people are willing to not give back to the people they walked all over to get to where they are. See, vultures don't think about things like revenge or rejection or fairness or justice or equality. They do not have to. They are just birds. But people do...people do. And, unless you start appreciating the benevolence of the vultures in your lives: the people cleaning up after you, the people waiting on you, the people teaching your kids, the people staffing your businesses, the people healing your illnesses, and so on, and so forth; I can assure you that you will find that out soon enough...

Why is a raven like a writing desk? Do you know the answer to the age old riddle? Like many great works of art that have stood the test of time, most people will tell you that there are many different answers to the Mad Hatter's riddle. But, then again, most people believe that Mad Hatter is insane. But is he? The truth is that it is difficult to tell whether of not this was Lewis Carol's intention for the Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. Though it is true that hatters often suffered from neurological conditions because of the lead based compound they used to make felt hats (hence the phrase mad as a hatter), the term "the mad hatter" is never once uttered in the novel, Alice In Wonderland. Though Alice seems annoyed by the Hatter, she never once calls him crazy. The only character who ever does is Chesire, the Cat, who also admits that everyone in Wonderland is mad, including Alice. But back to the raven and the writing desk. Do you know the answer? It is a lot more simple than it may seem. Lewis Carol was asked time and again to reveal the answer to the Hatter's famous riddle and he did just that in a special edition of Alice in Wonderland. He wrote, "Because it can produce a few notes, tho they be very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front!" Do you get it? A raven can only sing flat notes and a desk is flat as well. The second part of the sentence is not a typo, though the publisher thought it was in the original print of Carol's answer to the riddle. Carol intentionally spelled nevar incorrectly because nevar spelled backwards is raven. Carol was a master word smith, who understood the importance of perception and how it can alight a kind of fancy in people, a curiosity that would spark a love of learning, and therefore a love of life itself. Because, after all, what else is life but a series of difficult, and often rather hilarious, questions? Once we think we have all the answers, we no longer have any need for questions. Children ask questions all day long. They never stop asking questions. Adults become annoyed with them because of this. I still find myself becoming annoyed when my son asks questions, but I recognize it and am actively learning to change that. It bothers us when we do not know things and we really have to try to prevent that from happening because this destroys the child like instincts in us that we actually need: adventure, imagination, curiosity, wonder, and so much more. So, why is a raven like a writing desk? I don't know. You tell me this time...or should I say...ask me this time. Now, begin at the beginning! Then go on, until you come to the end: then stop.