Community is back, and Dan Harmon is too.
Wednesday was the first day of Obamacare with respect to the individual mandate. The negative stories have continued unabated.
This is an interesting corollary to the Duck Dynasty story (if you missed the ending, Phil Robertson's suspension was revoked after about 9 days and everything is back to the status quo ante). Chris Kluwe, former punter of the Minnesota Vikings, has alleged that he was cut from the team at least in part because of his activism in favor of gay marriage. The allegations have been disputed by the primary coach in question.
In other news, still more people think that Gravity is the best movie of 2013.
When I mentioned TED Talks to a friend, she told me she wasn't a fan. Many of her criticisms were similar to what was mentioned in this TED Talk.
I've temporarily suspended my new music quest, in part because I heard this song - Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart." I forgot how much I love Neil Young, and I tend to think that there's a lot of old music I still haven't discovered. I heard part of this song in a podcast and immediately searched it out and bought the album, which is one of Neil Young's best. The song has a lot of things I like - Young's slightly off but earnest and affecting vocals (I've never been a vocal purist), simple but nice harmonies, efficient arrangements, and focus on the guitar. But there's something more intangible - I first heard the song on December 29, but it's pretty much describes my 2013.
Responses:
1. I thought this was going to be another juice cleanse. I briefly cringed... Upon reading, it might be a nice idea for this blog to change things up, but only if you're willing to commit to it.
2. Nope. Some of what the author said is interesting, but in my view, this minimizes the important roles of free will and judgment. Take the rape example, for one. There are tons of situations where men take advantage of women sexually, and they should be punished accordingly. But there are also situations where the facts suggest not male aggression, but something different. So how does society as a whole weigh in? Well, sometimes we want to throw the book at someone, and sometimes we need to remember the idea of innocent until proven guilty (the social principle, not the legal one), and sometimes we should remember that, while being the victim of a crime is something that is squarely the fault of the criminal aggressor, there are things we can and should do to reduce our chances of being victimized. If I have a daughter, I'm going to make sure that she knows how to defend herself, but also that she understands risky situations and knows to avoid them whenever possible. In sum, the author has an interesting narrative, but I'm not persuaded that it describes actual reality.
3. This story didn't bother me that much. I mean, I tend to think that the joke was in poor taste, but I don't know if it's a sign of something more sinister.
4. You're showing surprising discipline in light of Tony Gonzalez.
B
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