Quick Rants!

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. Quick Rants RSS

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. Quick Rants RSS

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/ Quick Rants RSS

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/ Quick Rants RSS

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. Quick Rants RSS

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-hashttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/us/illegal-immigrants-population-study.html Quick Rants RSS

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. Quick Rants RSS

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. Quick Rants RSS

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. Quick Rants RSS

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. Quick Rants RSS

Well, its been almost a month. This week it is another edition of Don't Be These People. This week we have people who yell their food orders, slow drivers and a special kind of captain obvious. We are all flawed. We all do annoying things. I do annoying things, many annoying things, my Facebook page attests to that. We can all help each other by pointing behaviors we should all lose. Don't be these people and make the world a little bit better.

So, sorry to disappoint but there is nothing in this rant about someone famous being caught with a hooker. Nor is there really a Hookergate scandal going on. There is however a Massachusetts State Representative, Michelle Dubois, who is irate that the State House honors Civil War General and hero Fighting Joe Hooker with a sign over the main entrance that says "General Hooker Entrance". It was for years called "The Hooker Entrance" because there is statue of Hooker on his horse nearby. Due to reasons you might suspect some years back they replaced the original sign that said "Hooker Entrance" with "General Hooker Entrance". Dubois wants the sign taken down. She asked Facebook if they were "General Hookers" which apparently is a slang insult term I have never heard. She says the entrance insults women and is tone deaf and a ploy of the patriarchy. Garbage. We have to start considering context again as a country. There is no intent to debase women or insult them here. The war hero's last name was Hooker. He did more for his country than almost any of us will ever do. He is vilified for losing a battle when before and after that he was an excellent soldier was wounded in action. I won't sit here and say we should take down something honoring a war hero because someone with an agenda went looking for something offensive. The "General Hooker Entrance" can only be offensive if you ignore all context and are historically ignorant. The other problem with this nonsense is that the next time there is something that is truly tone death that needs renamed or taken down people will push back and refuse to accede because they are afraid if they do it will lead to nonsense like this. Pick your battles people, this one is a bad one. Quick Rants RSS

Sometimes Quick Rants! gives you thoughtful Scott. Sometimes it's just my attempt to be comedic, like Don't Be These People or The Legend of Willy O'Dallum. Sometimes, it is angry Scott. This week is an angry Scott rant, maybe as angry as I have been in a while. Pharma Bro, Martin Shkreli, has been sentenced to seven years in jail. I am not angry that he got only seven years, although I do think it was too light a sentence. I am not angry that he was convicted for securities fraud instead of trying to murder people by jacking up the price of needed medication for profit. What really has me enraged is that he had the nerve to ask the court for mercy and claim he is a good person who has a lot to offer society. Pharma Bro is the scummiest of the scum. Quick Rants RSS

Gun owners, this is not a rant about guns being bad or repealing the second. It is not even about new gun laws. This is a rant about gun owners and Christians in Pennsylvania joining a cult because the cult leader was willing to bless their guns as "rods of iron" and how insane this is. Apparently a major tenet of Christianity that I have always missed was killing your enemies and striking back with superior force. The media is also at fault here. Many media outlets refused to report that the "church" in question is a cult and the "Christians" in question were cultists. Why? Because cultists blessing guns does not serve the media agenda that all gun owners are crazy and Christians are all crazy right wing psychopaths hating everything that is different or does not follow their dogmatic view of the world. So what is this a rant about? I am not sure. It is a rant about something, media failures, people failures? I don't really know. I just hope it is entertaining. Next up - Pharma Bro says he has learned his lesson. Bullshit. Quick Rants RSS

Apparently the race to Mars is really just about men wanting to control and dominate women. I know, I thought it was about resources and exploration and adventure to. Nope. According to Marcie Bianco, its all about sexism. Marcie is insane. Yes, gender inequality is a thing. Some men still see women as objects to control and dominate. The work is not nearly done on that front. Going to Mars however, is not a stand in for sexism. It is also not the same as Columbus and Spain killing indigenous American's by the millions for gold and land, because there is no one alive on Mars. Expansion into the solar is 100% essential for the long term survival of humanity. It is a question of when, not if, we do it. The real question is can we learn from the errors of our past expansions and from the way we over used the resources of this planet when we expand. Essentially can the collection we of humanity learn from our collective mistakes. I think yes. Marcie's article can be found here. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/patriarchal-race-colonize-mars-just-another-example-male-entitlement-ncna849681 Quick Rants RSS

So in what is becoming a bad habit I missed last week's upload. I am going to try to get back onto a schedule of weekly uploads going forward. This week it is time to discuss confirmation bias and the inflexible rigidity of the modern American mind. How best to do this? By talking about the Sociology professor who attempted to fail a student because the professor was adamant that Australia is not a country. Quick Rants RSS

I don't mind giving feedback as a customer, when a business has earned that right by providing such a great experience that I feel others need to know about it. I don't mind giving feedback when a business is honestly trying to make its product better and is seeking customer engagement to fulfill that goal. I do, absolutely mind, when a company is threatening its employees if I don't complete the survey. Stop doing that business. I am your customer, don't put that on me. Quick Rants RSS

Tide Pods! They are what's for dinner! So yeah, kids are eating laundry detergent pods in an effort to impress other kids and the media is freaking out. Based on the reaction in recent days you would think every kid across America has filmed themselves eating a Tide Pod - well, they haven't, only some kids. The media, in an attempt to get mouse clicks, um, head off an epidemic of stomach pumping at local hospitals, have gone out of their way educate the nations youth on why they should never eat laundry detergent - ensuring more than ever now will, um, I mean won't even consider eating a Tide Pod. Kids will be kids. This too, shall pass. Quick Rants RSS

Apparently most Americans are routinely risking their lives. How you ask? By pumping their own gas. Apparently, in Oregon, the idea of having to pump your own gas is terrifying. A new law was recently passed in the Beaver State letting gas stations in counties with less than 40,000 residents offer self service gas pumps, and Oregonians are crapping their collective pants. Fears range from transient attacks, to gas fires, to the inability wear skirts to work to smelling like gas. Seriously, this is a thing, some people in Oregon do not believe they are capable of filing up their own gas tank. I give you, Quick Rants! 58, You Want Me To What? Quick Rants RSS

If I had the audience I someday hope to have, this one would generate the nasty emails and comments. It is Christmas time, which means someone you know is probably very upset about the war on Christmas. Yes, the war on Christmas as evidenced by City Hall not being able to put out a Nativity Scene, or schools no longer having Christmas Break or Christmas Parties or decorations, or not telling the story of the Birth of Jesus in classrooms, or even Star Bucks infamous Red Cup from a couple years ago. This year, the brave patriots fighting to save Christmas have a new champion as the President is saying Merry Christmas to everyone, including those who don't celebrate that particular holiday, because hey, that's the American way, adapt to our culture or get out. Spolier - there is no war on Christmas, those who truly believe there is are insane. Quick Rants RSS

By now most of you know the story of Keaton Jones. He is the 11 year old child whose mother filmed him tearfully explaining his heartbreaking experience with bullies. What happened next was incredible as celebrities and regular people across the nation reached out to tell Keaton that they had his back. What happened next was the spiral. Keaton's mother is possibly, (probably, almost certainly) a racist. Some rumors say Keaton may have been using racial slurs at school causing the bullying. The mom is taking heat. If you want to go after Kimberly Jones for her possibly racist posts on Facebook and photos with the confederate flag, a symbol many associate with racism and white nationalism, go ahead, but Keaton is 11 years old. To him, the bullying is real and the scars are real. Social media is asking why this kid gets support and not victims of racism. I say why can't we support both? Even if Keaton's mom does turn to be intolerant garbage, and even if Keaton has been influenced by her, an 11 year child can be reached and taught that racism is wrong and abhorrent. Aside from all of that childhood bullying and its psychological impact is real and can impact a person for years, even as an adult. Our personalities are formed as a child and can impact our decisions as adults. There is a national discussion on bullying going on again, and that is a good thing, even if the messenger (Kimberly Jones) may not be a good person and even if Keaton may need to have his world view widened. Side note - I am not in any way excusing the mother's racism, or if true, Keaton's. Nor am I saying bullying is a more serious issue than the clearly existent racism issue in America. I am saying we can solve more than one issue at a time and that an 11 year child should not be excommunicated from society because of his parents.

Consumer review sites are good right? They give the consumer a voice against the power of big business. Maybe. Maybe they are also were loud blowhards who are too ignorant to know what they purchased or what the warranty actually covers go to bitch. Today I am looking at three review from angry furniture purchasers and discussing the problems inherent in consumer review sites.

Well anyone who has known me for a long time knew that this podcast was coming eventually, they just didn't see me taking this angle. I meant to have the posted earlier on 11/22/17, but it will still be topical on 11/23/17. Today it is time to discuss my personal favorite conspiracy, who killed JFK. Time to answer this question once and for all. And yes, I know 30 minutes is not a quick rant.

I know, I am shocked as you are, it's November and its getting cold outside. It is even snowing. Somehow the changing of the seasons catches everyone by surprise. To help you out I have created this RavingLunaticMedia public service announcement.

It's time for another round of "Don't Be These People". Today's exhibits of failed evolutionWomen who wear too much perfume (and men who wear to much cologne) Driver's who won't let you mergeAnd a special shoutout to the dumbass I saw thinking the semi would back out of its half completed turn instead of her backing up 10 feet. Don't be these people, don't be so self absorbed you think it is all about you.

This rant is a little late but it still applies. Everyone is still worked up over NFL players kneeling and disrupting our country, flag and military. Somehow, the same people are enraged that monuments to confederate leaders and generals are being removed. What? So on hand we are angry players are disrespecting the military and country but yet we want to honor men who actually fought against this country and led armies that killed loyal Americans. We want to honor actual traitors? Here is episode 51 discussing confederate monuments.Also, before you tell me Lee was not a traitor - go look up the definition, his picture should be next to the word.

Liberals ruin everything. Nothing is sacred, not even the Boy Scouts. I mean it says Boy in the name, you have to be a Boy to be in the Boy Scouts. Until now. Thing is, the dirty hippies didn't take this one from you traditionalists. The Boy Scouts let girls in to make money, plain and simple. They weren't forced, the feminists and liberals did not demand entrance, the private club that is the Boy Scouts decided they needed a new membership base to draw from, so go blame them this time.

It seems everywhere I look I see a tip jar, or a fundraiser or a crowd funding request. Enough is enough. Certain jobs warrant tips, others do not. Certain things should be crowd funded, like research or disaster relief efforts, others, like your fun time hobbies, should not. Episode 49 addresses why everything is crowd funded and tip jars are more prevalent than ever and whose job it really is to make sure labor earns enough to buy the consumer goods and services business is selling. Hint - its not societies job.

So I have had a lot going on. Right, no one cares that I got busy. Quick Rants will return with new episodes over the weekend but for now, here is a repost of one of my favorites, Your Cat Is Not a Child.

Hurricane Irma is an example of the dangers of the "Fake News" slander campaign against the mainstream media. Rush Limbaugh has told his listeners that Irma was not going be as bad as the media claimed and that they were only doing so to drive up ratings and sales of essential items. He also implied liberals go along with it to further a global warming agenda. Rush is playing politics with people's lives. A hurricane is a weather event, the prediction is based on facts and the media is presenting the worst case possibility so that people realize what could potentially happen (death) if they don't evacuate Irma's path. For Rush to imply otherwise is irresponsible. For Rush to tell his listeners it is a hoax and then evacuate himself is cowardice.

For any society to function people have to follow the rules, even if they don't want to. This doesn't extend to laws, or major things, but to little things, like not littering, obeying traffic signs and yes, parking properly. The parking has yellow lines and you are required to park within those two lines, regardless of whether your car is a POS or brand new Porsche. There is no rule that says people rich enough to buy luxury cars are entitled to two spots, one car, one spot. Today's rant is about the entitled dickbag who for whatever reason feels that his or her car is so special that they don't have to follow the rules. Enjoy. Quick Rants RSS

Everyone at this point is aware that there is a heroin epidemic in this country. It has got so far out of hand that 1st responders are carrying $5000 doses of Narcan in an effort to save lives. This has many people very angry who see it as wasted tax payer dollars to save the lives of criminals who made a poor choice. Rant 46 is all about why this is not only cold view utterly lacking in human compassion, but hypocritical.

There are certain people who just ruin everything with their self-centered oblivious nature. Todays rant addresses two people who make shopping a nightmare - the extreme couponer and the person who buys way to much stuff at the gas station. Shopping is simple, find your stuff, buy your stuff, get out of the way so other people can find and buy their stuff. People have lives to lead, just because you don't doesn't mean you should waste everyone else's time at the checkout line.

This rant is something a little different than what I have done before. I am not raging about politics or commenting on societies failings. I am simply telling a story about the greatest one upper I have ever met. The man is a local legend, someone that anyone who frequented a certain Ohio pool hall will never forget. Willy O'Dallam was one of kind and his antics are legendary to the few that know him. So here you go, my retelling of my encounters with greatest one upper ever to walk the Earth.

I am a little late on this rant, but I felt it needed to be done. Michael Phelps raced a shark and people are angry it wasn't a real shark but a CGI shark. Of course it was. Did you really think that Phelps was going to get into the water with a real shark? More importantly, the people who feel their anger over this is justified are the same people telling you not to discuss politics because its pointless. This is the place we have come to in this country, we get angry over discussing political or social issues with real world impact, but we feel justified in getting angry an olympian didn't get eaten by a shark. Start learning Mandarin people.

Eventually I had to discuss the Trump Jr emails and today is that day. What astounds me is that even though we have the emails and Donald Trump Jr admits to meeting with Russian agents offering incriminating information pertaining to Clinton, 45% of Republicans do not believe the meeting occurred. The meeting Don Jr. admitted to attending. At first that blew my mind. Then I got to thinking about why when presented with facts Trump voters chose not to believe them and it made sense. Trump voters want to believe that he has a clear mandate and the majority of American's believe that Trump's policies are the best thing for America. To accept that a Russian propaganda attack occurred would be to admit that there was some impact on the 2016 election, which while not legally invalidating Trump's win, at minimum castes doubt on the so called Republican mandate from the voting public.

Well, it has happened. They have gone to far. This insult must be accounted for, we must gather our strength and send a message that certain actions cannot be tolerated by men of good conscious. No, not Trump Jr meeting with Russian hackers, but the BBC must be told that Jodie Whitaker is #NotMyDoctor. Seriously, this is absurd. People are mad that a progressive TV show on a progressive network mad Dr. Who a woman. This is a great thing. It is an excellent statement for women's rights and gender equality and fits perfectly with the BBC's stated mission statement to enhance diversity in their workplace and on air. Science fiction always leads the way forward in terms of social progress and Dr. Who is an excellent vehicle for a statement like this.  

Remember the good ole days before cell phones and the internet? When people wrote letters instead of sending emails, or when the only phone in the house was chained to a wall and the whole family got to hear your private conversation? I do and let me tell you, they sucked. The good ole days weren't better. Not even close. The good ole days sucked and I could take Doc Brown's Delorean and transport you there after about three days you would be ready to come home. There is a crazy nostalgia movement where people think everything we have today is terrible and everything from the past is so much better, its inanity. They same people talking about how great the 90's were will be missing the 20teens in 2040, because time plays tricks and makes you think what you had is better than what you have.

So I can't ignore 45 any longer. I took a short break from discussing the successful real estate investor turned failing President. With his recent posting of a video of himself attacking a person portrayed as a CNN reporter, and admitting he has no agenda set for his meeting with Putin, I felt a Quick Rant on 45 was mandatory. 45 despises the media. His favorite topic is how the fake news is out to get him. Either he is deranged and ill equipped mentally to handle the spotlight of being President or it is the greatest misdirection act in history. MemeGate has successfully focused American attention on Trump's twitter account and the fake news instead of on N. Korea's belligerence and the United States inability to resolve the issue and bring N. Korea to heel, and that is what the administration wants. Trump's crazy public antics keep the country focusing on his personality and overlooking the fact that he has accomplished nothing in 180 days, in fact, less than nothing. No one is paying attention to the a situation where the United States will be forced to get help from China and Russia, on their terms, to reign in a rogue nation that isn't following instructions. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. America the Great and Powerful is as strong as ever and the world trembles before our might. No go focus on Islamic Terrorists that haven't pulled off an organized attack on US soil in 16 years and fail to notice we can't dictate foreign policy to the world or even N. Korea and that all of our senators and representatives, even the President, are bought and paid for by our true rulers - big corporations. Happy day after 4th of July.

Michelle Carter has been convicted for involuntary manslaughter in the suicide of Conrad Roy. You did read that correctly, it has been determined that Carter, by sending text messages and most damningly telling Roy to get back in the truck after he got out if, is guilty of killing Conrad Roy. This is simply untrue. Carter is guilty of being a terrible human being, but she did not kill Conrad Roy. Roy had a choice to make and he chose to end his life. It is always tragic. It is senseless. It is terrifying and devastating that a person can become so hurt at 18 that they end their life. It was however, Roy's choice to take Carter's advice. No one forced Roy back in the truck, no one forced him to rig the generator, no one but Conrad Roy chose to commit suicide. Michelle Carter should have helped Roy find a reason to live. She should have informed authorities and she should have informed Roy's parents. By convicting her though the judge has abrogated Roy's responsibility for his action and placed it squarely on Carter and that is symptomatic of our current society. Our actions, our failures, our lot in life is always someone else fault, never our own. Nothing is further than the truth. Whatever your spot in life you are solely responsible for it. You made your choices, whether by acting on your own or reacting to others actions that impacted you and only you are responsible for the results of your life. Quick Rants RSS

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. Quick Rants RSS

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 Ocean2. 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.   Quick Rants RSS

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. Quick Rants RSS

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. Quick Rants RSS

#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? Quick Rants RSS

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. Quick Rants RSS

Married With Children turns 30 this year. The show was always a magnet for controversy and even now 30 years later that remains the case. Recently Katey Sagal was quoted as saying the show was sexist. No way, not Married With Children, not Al Bundy, he was a always a class act. Yeah, MWC was tactless and devoid of class. Al was pond scum and honestly so was Peg. They were supposed to be. The show was never meant to taken seriously. It was supposed to show the worst possible husband/father, wife/mother and children that you could ever encounter. The Bundy's were supposed to be the worst and most dysfunction family in America. If you actually felt this show was a social commentary on how things should be in America that is on you for being a dumbass. Married with Children was supposed to show a life so terrible that no matter what was going on in your own you could say at least I am not a Bundy. Quick Rants RSS