mrpattersonsir Everywhere you look, especially as a teenager, the world is full of others. Of people “not like me.” And though teenagers feel this most intensely, few do not feel it regularly. Just look at the latent antipathy that exists in this country toward Iranians. Or Arabs. Or Mexicans. Or even the French. Surely these […]

IowaPolitics.com It’s chaos. It’s a circus. It’s a money parade. It’s undemocratic. It’s pointless. It’s cheap drama. It’s the real American Idol. That’s right everyone, it’s the middle of America’s presidential politicking season. I could make a list, but I doubt I need to. You know that many people—in America, but especially in stable parliamentary […]

Rparle Everywhere I see people who don’t understand how the world works. This includes, but is hardly limited to, when I’m standing in front of the mirror. To my limited understanding, the world is wonderfully complex place full of wonderfully interesting people doing their absolute best to live the most useful lives they can. And […]

Since my early years of high school, I’ve become more and more convinced that comics published in the local newspaper are little more than bland space fillers. Foremost in my mind among these problematically bad comics—which are also those I used to like most—are Garfield, The Family Circus, and Dilbert. Garfield always mixes the loser, […]

Something a little—OK, almost completely—different today. I just wanted to do something before I come back for 5-a-week. This is a little song I came up with a few months ago. I decided that it’s a good present for the start of the new year. About the song… it’s (hopefully) not news to anyone who […]