One of the most fascinating things about the Amy Coney Barrett hearings is how passionate people’s opinions are about a woman they knew nothing about a month ago. …

It’s been awhile since I’ve written, and it feels timely to share what I’m reading, intend to read, and things I think Americans would benefit from reading. Most of the following will focus on the social issues of the day, largely because this consumes what I think about, but also…

We all know the infamous “fake news” slogan. It’s sometimes an acknowledgment of news that’s actually false, but often a way to delegitimize information that doesn’t fit a political narrative. The “fake news” tag is usually a right leaning way to shut down debate, but the left has their tricks…

I did not vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, and as of today, I am undecided on who will win my vote in the 2020 election. Though it’s a heresy to say anything positive about the guy — at one point even saying his name seemed to draw…

Note: I wrote this, other than the updated intro in italics, on 4/15/2016 after Kobe had his historic career ending game. I haven’t renewed the domain that it used to live on, so it’s shared here via Medium. It’s a funny thing how people you’ve never met can impact your…

I’m grateful for each passing day. Another day obviously means I still have life, but it also means I’m getting older. And I like getting older. I know getting older gets a bad rap with some people, but — God willing it includes decent health and a functioning body —…

I’m reading Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen’s American Nietzsche. It’s a book less focused on an in-depth examination of his philosophy, but more on how Friedrich Nietzsche’s ideas have shaped American culture. There are mixed feelings with a character like Nietzsche. One one hand, this intense German known to “philosophize with a hammer,”…

Post Note: These thoughts are thanks to things I’ve learned via Nassim Taleb’s Incerto series (in this instance, especially Antifragile), from Peter Thiel’s Zero to One, and from interviews with Peter Thiel, Rene Girard, and other people talking about Rene Girard’s theories. Via Negativa I have a love-hate relationship with self-help material…

Much of life is risk mitigation. In a practical sense, the game is to survive, not necessarily to flourish. (The two aren’t always linked. …