You have to date your friends

What’s the fastest way to shut someone up? Call them a fascist. Works every time. The universe conversation ender. This pejorative epithet has been used against a range of people, political movements, governments, and institutions for over one hundred years now. And it’s fair game for all. People on both the left and the right have accused their opponents of being fascists at once point or another. Orwell himself famously wrote, fascism is a smear word more often used to...

It hasn’t hit me yet. The experience is still settling in. I haven’t comprehended or emotionally processed a significant event, situation, or piece of information. I’m sure it’ll hit me eventually. It’s only a matter of time before I wrap my brain around this thing. But for now, it just doesn’t feel real. Seems like a dream. Now, maybe it’s denial. Or fear of acceptance. Or a delayed response defensive mechanism after being in shock. All I know is, there...

Stay away from the extremes. Avoid having only one center of gravity, but also make sure you don’t have too many. In the case of the former, it’s unwise it is to turn a single entity into the center of gravity of your universe. Dependency on a single source for your identity can be risky when that aspect of life inevitably changes or diminishes. Think of it this way. Have you ever had only one friend? Or worse yet, have...

In the world of psychics, the center of gravity is an imaginary point in a body of matter where the total weight of the body is concentrated. It’s where the distribution of weight is equal in all directions. Our football coach used to talk about keeping our center of gravity low during plays, bending our knees and keeping our head and chest over the ball. This form helped us adjust our position and direction and speed at moment’s notice. He...

Prohibition didn’t arise because of some puritanical moralist disdain for alcohol use. The temperance movement was a plight against domestic violence. It started to protect women’s safety, because drunk men were more likely to beat and sexually harass their wives. Even one hundred years later, today the consumption of alcohol has been linked to increased violence against women. It’s so simple. Men who drink are more likely to hurt women. Period. Now, this is interesting to me, since youth education...