Examining Christian-Conservatism’s misguided and dangerous cultural and idolatrous attachment to guns and the mindset supporting it. — I follow a Christian pastor, not because I’m Christian but because I appreciate what he’s attempting to do, which is to challenge the thinking of evangelical Christians. …

But it wasn’t really about the race of the dolls, it was about an American Girl book geared to transgender youth — Did you hear about the Newsmax host complaining that the American Girl store is ‘wokified’ and did not have enough white dolls? Despite his faux outrage being utterly mock-worthy — you can literally order the doll your kid wants; skin, hair, eye color, etc. …

It’s not what many want to hear, but it’s the truth. — I keep seeing people ask, Why are 50+ men so hard to shop for? or What do you get Dads for Christmas? The short answers are, we’ve got everything we want and nothing. I know that’s not what people want to hear, but we don’t like the pressure of having…

Of course we care, but over-reactions could lower participation and we need every vote — The headline said: Sinema goes rogue. And I’m thinking, “This is new?” She’s been doing her own brand of stupid ever since she entered the political arena. But the outrage over her leaving the Democratic Party only serves her ego. I have some empathy for the outrage. I find Kyrsten…

But sometimes you just can’t win as local business interests and politicians fault the decision — The news that Whole Foods has decided not to sell Maine lobster brings two thoughts to mind. One, why do people even like lobster? It’s expensive, messy to eat, and doesn’t taste very good. …

Do you mourn, or do you look for what’s next? — If you click on the wrong thread, it feels like Twitter is burning to the ground. Emboldened by a megalomaniac, gleeful assholes sure seem determined to disrupt and offend. …

One simple line in ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’ points out the fallacy of our bootstrap ideology. — The tributes have subsided, but not the impact of Loretta Lynn. An undisputed great of country music, her influence went far beyond music to our broader American culture. …

I've muted writers who showed up on my feed for no apparent reason, or kept showing up on my feed again and again. This is what I don't like about algorithms. Even if I liked an article, or even several, it doesn't mean I want an endless stream of the same author. I've muted one of these authors, and I've never followed them. They just kept showing up on my feed.

Health care is drowning in policy, is anyone listening? — A pediatrician with a multi-generational clientele who regularly rave about her in their feedback recently posted that she is “under performance review, for failure to click boxes.” She received plenty of validation and, a lot of pushback. Idealists want the doctor to be able to focus on the patient. …