Fake News is everywhere, including apparently, the USA Today. Recently the USA Today turned the front page of their June 4th weekend edition into an advertisement for Sweet Tooth, a TV show on Netflix about human/animal hybrid babies. The problem with the ad is that it was disguised as a legitimate news story instead of a traditional ad. In an era where the public does not trust major news outlets, this was beyond stupid.

Has it really been over a year? It has. What, or who, could bring me out of my retirement? You guessed it, The Orange Emperor.

Sorry, another three week hiatus. Better than 3 months. This week’s rant is focusing on the article by The Financial Samurai which tries to make you believe that a couple living in New York City making $500K a year is nearly broke and struggling to live an average life. Spoiler, nothing about their life is average. They are living the dream and most people would considering doing dishonest or horrible things to have their life. Yes, the absurd budget makes it seem like they need every bit of their $500,000 to get by, but in the end, they aren’t even close to living check to check and this article is nonsense.

https://www.financialsamurai.com/scraping-by-on-500000-a-year-high-income-earners-struggling/

Somethings are better left in the past. Maybe though somethings could help make society a better place? This week I ask the question, would bringing back dueling with pistols solve some of the jackassery that goes in society?

***Disclaimer and spoiler*** - maybe it would. No, we shouldn’t do it. It is just said that we are so hideous to each other that maybe dueling is the only thing that could make people treat each other decently.

Clarification - Yes I know that Aaron Burr’s shooting of Alexander Hamilton was not considered legal in New York or New Jersey. He was charged with murder. As the Vice President he had immunity. The point is that dueling was socially acceptable and often people did not have any legal repercussions from it, if the forms were followed. See Andrew Jackson.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/duel-code-duello-rules-dueling/

Captain Marvel. Is it going to be a tour de force and another jewel in the MCU crown? Or is it a bomb waiting to happen because the creators have lost touch with the base? Or is it a great movie that is going to be unfairly shouted down by crying man baby toxic fans who can’t handle a lead that isn’t a white male?

Captain Marvel has brought the toxic fandom debate into the center stage again. Are fans resistant to change because they have come to identify with a character and feel protective of it, or are they resistant to change because they just don’t want to watch movies with diverse casts and political messages? Have creators lost touch? Is it all of these things? Is it none of these things?

In this Sci-Fi Malady/Quick Rants! crossover I attempt to answer these questions.

Spoiler - everyone is right and everyone is wrong.

President Trump has declared a national emergency along the southern border in order to fund his wall. He is somehow still maintaining Mexico is paying for it through the USMCA and admitted in his speech that he didn’t need to do this. Anytime the President can say he didn’t need to declare and emergency that should be proof enough there isn’t an emergency. This action usurps the power of Congress and was taken simply to make Trump look strong to his base. That endangers our Republic.

The truth is that the situation on the border has been getting better for years and we have a better handle on it today than we have in some time. I have linked articles below to support some of the positions i take in this rant.

I also know that I said “litigate” when referring to Congress. It should be legislate. I suck.

I know, its all fake news!!!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/16/fact-check-mike-pence-donald-trump-drugs-crossing-southern-border-wall/2591279002/

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/jan/04/donald-trump/no-usmca-trade-deal-wont-pay-border-wall-despite-d/

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/15/695203852/many-presidents-have-declared-emergencies-but-not-like-trump-has

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/us/illegal-immigrants-population-study.html

Well, oops, I took another month and a half off. Then I saw the anti vaxxer mom who wanted to know how to keep her child safe from the measles outbreak in American. There’s a sentence I should never have to say. Measles outbreak in America. Never should have happened. But then, who’d have thought the term Anti Vaxxer Mom would be a thing either. Here we are. We eliminated deadly diseases with vaccines. Then a small percentage of people decided vaccines didn’t work and now they are coming back.

Nope, I didn’t go away again for months. I was asked by Thomas from Sci-Fi Malady if I was doing another war on Christmas rant last week and I said no. I really thought I wasn’t. Then I was sent a story about a woman getting a self righteous note from her neighbor that her dragon Christmas display was inappropriate and she needed to learn the true meaning of Christmas. So, that of course led to this installment of their is no war on Christmas.

Disclaimer - I was raised Baptist. I consider myself a Christian who just avoids the hypocrisy of the Church. I still think there is no war on Christmas, just people who want to celebrate secular Christmas without have Jesus jammed down their throat. It doesn’t mean you can’t make Christmas all about Jesus. Them celebrating secular Christmas doesn’t diminish your religious Christmas.

ABCDE. It is not just the first five letters of the alphabet anymore. It is apparently a child’s name. 328 children apparently. Scary there are that many parents who can’t think about anything but themselves.

Last week Southwest Airlines employees made fun of a five year girls name. That is terrible. What is worse is a mother who names their child ABCDE. Even worse than that is a mother who knew the pain it would cause and did it anyway, because, reasons.

Back to back weeks with a rant. World is ending. Cat’s and Dog’s living together.

Holy Shit, I stopped doing these in April. It has been that long since something got me angry enough to rant. Well, it happened, finally. The left is upset over Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. It’s not a joke. It is true. The far left sees this as a tale of bullying, exploitation and sexism. And this is why the far left loses. This is why Trump won the election and may win again. The left doesn’t get it, or at least the far left doesn’t and the moderate lefties don’t understand why they have to denounce these guys but they do. You lose moderate liberals and conservatives when you seriously try to convince people that Rudolph is a tale of oppression. Rudolph was progressive for its day. It told a story that said your differences are valuable and no one should be shunned because they are different. It taught kids that ostracizing hurts and that people different from them have their own intrinsic value. Sure, viewed through today’s ethical lens the special fails to send an ideal message, but the thing is, you can’t go viewing popular works of fiction, history, religion or philosophy through the lens of today, because ethics changes.

I think this marks a return to ranting. You may see the channel change names to I Have Issues because I think I am finally ready to launch a youtube channel and honestly, Quick Rants! was a working title and a semi horrible one at that. I say I think because I could get busy and say F it, I don’t have 3 hours a week to write, edit and record these things. But I think this starts the return to ranting.