Quick Rants!

Bill Cosby has been set free by a hung jury - temporarily. He may never be convicted on any of the more than 50 allegations of sexual misconduct brought against him. This is due largely to the time that has passed between the alleged crimes and the investigation as well as due to a lack of physical evidence to support the accusations.

One thing is certain however, regardless of what Cosby's publicist states, he has not been vindicated, nor is his "power restored". Bill Cosby, America's dad, was a lie. He lived a lie for decades, coming across as a respectable, wise, caring man who was morally upstanding, when he appears to have been a monster. Many have stated that Cosby must be innocent, that these women are looking for a payday. I might believe this if it was one woman, but when 50, by some counts 100, have come forward across five decades to accuse America's Dad of assault, at least one is probably not lying, and one is all it takes. 

American's don't want to accept a man they trusted and believed in could be this much of a monster, so they don't, they rationalize away the allegations and blame the victims, because it is easier and because as much as Cosby appears to be a monster, he was also a leader, a loved figure, role model and noted philanthropist who almost always said and did the right thing, in public. The truth is unpalatable to many Americans, so they choose not to believe it. 

Marketing gurus are amazing at manipulating us. Men are now buying products that were traditionally only purchased by women, scented bath soaps, facial moisturizing cream, hair products, candles, yogurt. The newest entry into this field is "The Man Can" which is, canned wine. 

Yep, someone decided that if you put wine in a can and market it as manly, men will start drinking wine. The sad thing is they are probably correct, as history has shown this tactic to work smashingly. 

Side note, I am not above this manipulation. In my fridge currently is the "official yogurt of the NFL" that Cam Newton was pitching and I have some Old Spice body wash in my shower. Marketing gurus, insidious and dangerous. 

Kathy Griffin thought it was funny to take some photos holding a bloody head that clearly looks like Donald Trump's.  She can't understand why American's are angry at her and seems to think it is because she is woman.  Kathy is angry and playing the martyr stating that Trump is trying to end her career over a joke.  Sucks when it happens to you huh? 

For years liberals used the tactic of targeting sponsors and massive public outrage to attack right wingers with opinions they felt to be abhorrent or incorrect. Recently this has started to boomerang back on the lefties and now they don't like it. 

Maybe this is what we need. The Salem Witch Trials didn't end until the inquisitions started taking down leading members of society and looked like it was about to bring everyone down.  Maybe now, when even the sacred keepers of correct societal thought, the lefties, aren't safe from repercussions.  It is pretty clear Bill Maher and Kathy Griffin are not racist or intolerant white nationalists, but none of that is going to save them, they expressed bad thoughts and society is going to take them down. 

Free speech is essential to a nation. We as a society have been eroding that right for years by trying to codify what is and is not acceptable thought and we are nearly on the verge of it getting completely out of control. 

It has been almost seven months since Hilary Clinton shockingly lost the Presidency to a cartoon character running a campaign based on fear, hatred and intolerance. It has been almost seven months since the left was gut punched with a rebuke from the great majority of America they stopped caring about years - essentially all of not within 50 miles of an Ocean. It has been seven months since America voted Donald The First into office. The left, and HRC, still can't understand how this happened. Let me simplify it for you:

1. Your platform does nothing for anyone not living in a major city or within 50 miles of the Ocean

2. People disliked evil, despicable, immoral, dishonorable Washington insider Hilary Clinton more than they did Donald Trump. 

These facts are evident. The left needs to offer something to the people that live in the Red States that make up the majority of the occupied land in this nation. However instead of acknowledging where the platform and candidate failed they are blaming the loss on sexism and racism. Good idea, never complete a self examination, the results are usually hard to deal with. 

Minimum purchase amounts.  I hate them.  They piss me off.  So much so that any business that has a minimum purchase amount in order to use a credit card, or a fee for paying by credit, is instantly a company that I will never purchase anything from again. 

Why you ask? Why don't I just carry cash? Why do I hate small business so much that I would refuse to purchase things from them? Quick Rant 33 explains my dickish opinion on this one, and my anger is directed at more than the just the business owner who charges these fees, I also have some vitriol for congress and the big national banks. 

Science is losing a war in this country.  It seems unthinkable but what was once revered in this nation is now dismissed as mere opinion. With the current focus on making America great again many seem to have completely what actually made this nation great - scientific advancement. 

America and American businesses have long been the worlds technological leaders and innovators, dragging the world forward one invention at a time. Lately though there are troubling signs that America is starting to use the power and wealth at its disposal to prevent the world from moving forward technologically, whether that is with limiting investment in NASA or not being a leader in the development of clean and renewable energy in favor of coal and oil. 

Embracing science, mastering it, investing in it and following where it led us made this country great. A scary trend is developing where people feel science is either lying to them or just simply invalid or not right. Science is complicated. If it was easy everyone would be a scientist. It takes years of research and work to become and expert in a field of science, and that is why to most of us scientific findings are only understandable on a basic level. That doesn't mean we should dismiss as no more valuable than our own opinion. We have to go back to trusting science and following where it leads. 

In last week's Hail Hydra rant I made the comment that next people would be banning Resistance is Futile shirts because the Borg assimilate entire worlds. Well, little did I know that a man in Canada would be forced to give up his novelty license plate because the term assimilate had offended a couple people. Literally a couple; two people complained. 

While I agree completely that the treatment of native cultures in North America has been horrible and that indigenous Americans and Canadians are under intense pressure to assimilate into the prevailing majority culture, when placed in the context of Star Trek, the license plate assimilate is not offensive to anyone. If anything the story of the Borg in Star Trek honors those who fight against all odds to preserve their culture. However, context aside, both Canada and America respect free speech, and that means that everyone has the right to express themselves and their views, not just people who have popular views. 

President Trump apparently loves Andrew Jackson. He also seems to think that Jackson was alive for the Civil War and that it angered him. 45 further believes that Jackson could have prevented the Civil War. Well probably, as the South was not likely to secede from the Union had a southerner who owned 150 slaves been elected President instead of Lincoln. 

Regardless of whether or not Jackson could have averted the war this week the nation was given another frightening example of Trump's complete ignorance of history and his complete inability to understand basic concepts, such as why the Civil freaking War was fought. No one wonders this Donald - they either say slavery or states rights. Some are wrong or are lying, but no one, literally no one, aside from you, wonders why "that one couldn't be worked out". 

God help us. 

#BoycottMarvel is a thing on twitter.  Why? Well Captain America is a Hydra agent now and you see, Hydra is essentially the descendants of the Nazis in the Marvel universe. The angry activists are demanding Marvel fire the writer of the Secret Empire story, Nick Spencer, because he has made Captain America a Hydra agent, which must mean Spencer is a Nazi.  No, no one has read the full story arc, so no one actually knows what the conclusion will be or what Spencer's entire vision is, we just have rumors and episode zero of the Secret Empire comic book, but certainly we can try and convict him based on a single episode and a fragment of what the finished product will be. Who needs context? 

Time to discuss America's favorite insane conspiracy theorists again.  That's right, Alex Jones.  Alex is in the news again for denying a claim his lawyer made that his on air persona is just a character. That denial will save Alex's radio career, but it may cost him his children.