Category: modern life

And I Thought We’d Reached Peak Insanity

     Before I saw the image below – shamelessly stolen from Kenny Lane’s place – I’d have said that there isn’t much in the way of untried yet marginally imaginable lunacy left to explore. But here we are:      Yes, it’s possible. But it’s also a manifestation of genuine insanity. If you’re inclined to dispute …

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The Loss Of Simplicity

     [I’m still afflicted by some sort of upper-respiratory torment, and expect to spend the day under about a dozen blankets, so have a reprint from Eternity Road of fond memory. It first appeared there on July 28, 2007. Sadly, some of the embedded links no longer work. Sixteen years is long enough to lose …

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Compare And Contrast

     The mysteries of the Future Columns folder continue to ramify. When there are a lot of entries in it, I have trouble selecting one to write about. But when there are only a few…I still have trouble selecting one to write about. Probably incipient Alzheimer’s Disease or something. What did you say my name …

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Hard On The Brakes Won’t Do It

     Before I begin this screed, I’d like to express a thought that has often risen to mind but has seldom made its way through my fingers and into the sacred pixels of Liberty’s Torch: Thank You, Gentle Readers.      Whoever and wherever you are, including those of you who read my crap to laugh …

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Marriage And The Loneliness Epidemic

     There have been some articles and videos on “male loneliness” recently that have struck a chord with me. (Yes, I’m male; don’t let the androgynous first name fool you.) I sense that the problem is both real and extensive. I’ve known men of all ages who suffer from it. And while there are some …

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Beyond Parody

     Please click through and watch the video. It left me speechless. Who wants to tell her? pic.twitter.com/ksgZXzmp2z — aka (@akafacehots) September 7, 2023      The young woman in the video is either completely sincere or an actress of such quality that producers should be battering down her door this very moment. I incline toward …

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Conversations, Unfunny Category

     There are a number of news and opinion sites that put a paywall between the reader and “premium content.” It’s their perfect right, of course; how could one who sells his fiction claim otherwise? Among those sites are several I’d like to patronize, both because I deem the site worthy of reader support and …

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Sexual Disjunctions

     Sarah Dawn Moore, with whose oeuvre I’m largely unfamiliar, has posited five major reasons for the trend of “men going their own way:” Marriage: An Unattractive Proposition for Men      Men are questioning the value of traditional marriage, given the increasing divorce rates and financial risks they face. With no guarantee of stability and …

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Homelands Part 2

     Everyone is born somewhere. Well, today at least; that might change if we ever become a spacefaring species. But for the moment, each of us has a birthplace in some Earthly land. The majority of us live our whole lives in that land, vacations and business trips notwithstanding.      Some striking fiction has been …

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You Are Not Special: A Defense Of Normality

     The early-morning hours often bring me to a strange place. It’s not a particularly comfortable place. Yet from that vantage point I can see things that are not apparent at other times, when time itself seems speeded up and a welter of necessities press. And being who and what I am, I’m moved to …

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A Coordinated Attack On Homeowners And Homeownership

     By now, we in the Right should be accustomed to seeing our political adversaries colluding on their most important initiatives. It’s certainly happened often enough already. One particularly threatening such collusion has been coming to light in recent weeks – and if you own a detached home in a district zoned for single-family residences, …

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Social Deterioration In Real Time Dept.

     As long as we’re looking at signs of the Apocalypse, have another: Walmart has taken the racist step of protecting their inventory. pic.twitter.com/eOXhFE4sJP — Dane (@UltraDane) March 16, 2023      Well, yes, she’s an idiot. The cloth mask is a dead giveaway. But not only is she mumbling through a completely unnecessary mask, she’s …

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Your Papers, “Please” Part 2

     I know most Gentle Readers disdain to watch videos – and the longer the video, the less likely you’ll watch it. I can’t criticize that; I’m that way myself. But I hope you’ll make an exception for this one:      If you don’t have the time or the patience, here’s the whole thing in …

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Your Papers, “Please?”

     As a thumb rule, one can say that any time a planet starts developing cities of more than one million people, it is approaching critical mass. In a century or two it won’t be fit to live on. [Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough For Love]      When a place gets crowded enough to require …

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Trends In The Sociopsychology Of The Fairer Sex

     I have no idea whether that’s a recognized field of study. Well, perhaps it is now, as I’m a scholar of sorts, and I’ve been studying it. And I have found a “red thread” that runs among the angriest female voices in American life:      They have nothing to offer us but their anger. …

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Offhand Truths Of Staggering Import Dept.

     I stumbled over this in Weird Dave’s Friday Night ONT:      I don’t think men in general get complimented enough, and I think men and women react differently to compliments.      Well, yeah. But remember, Gentle Readers: obvious really means overlooked. And as the late, great Ron Popeil liked to say: But wait: there’s …

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What Is The Diminutive Of “Snark?”

     Occasionally, I experience a spike of irritation that briefly deflects my train of though onto a semi-humorous side track. I think that henceforward I’ll indulge myself at such times. Like just a moment ago.      Here’s “how it goes” in this Year of Our Lord 2022; Speaker 1: Why aren’t your pronouns in your …

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