The Most Powerful Word in the English Language

This film critic says there’s a problem with white actors playing giant blue aliens because of racism or something, according to a post over at Not the Bee by Holly Ash, if that is her real name. Yet I, wanting to avoid being as annoying as the folks who see racism under every rock, and around every corner, won’t camp out on this story.

Just say ‘No,’ and that this is just plain silly, and that we all need to know that, then move on.

Speaking of, James Cameron Already Shot ‘Avatar’ 3 And 4 To Avoid ‘Stranger Things’ Effect, Teens Who ‘Look Like They’re 27’, per Amanda Harding at The Daily Wire. And this is a smart move, actually, unlike Cameron’s comments about testosterone being a toxin, or how he wants to see women who are six months pregnant portrayed as warriors. That is dumb.

Again, as with the supposed cultural appropriation concerns, just say ‘No,’ and move on.

For something happier to move on to, and to say ‘yes’ to, consider ‘Hide the Pain Harold.’ His real name is András Arató, and in real life he’s actually a retired electrical engineer from Hungary. If you haven’t yet, you should really check out the TED Talk he gave a few years back. It is delightful.

Moreover, I think his story is a fascinating one to consider, in relation to how the internet changes the way we think about identity, and what it can do to either bolster or destabilize ours, as well as any subsequent relationships we have with one another as a result, or in connection to our identities.

Remember that, on the internet, anything you say or show may end up becoming a meme known the world over for its application to just about anything under the sun other than what you had originally intended or expected. Consider carefully what you are putting out there.

Speaking of things that are already out there, I should have mentioned in yesterday’s episode perhaps the most important thing Senator Frank Church is famous for, whose 1975 interview with Meet the Press I played some audio from for you. The Church Committee, which took its name from Frank Church, also in 1975, looked into what American intelligence agencies were up to in the name of defending our national security. Some of what they found was downright unnerving. For instance, MK Ultra and Operation Mockingbird, to give just two examples.

And while we are on the subject of unnerving things involving our government, as well as my occasionally missing what I should have said, a few days ago, after discussing spicy ramen and Twilight Imperium, I talked briefly at the tail-end of my episode about the yet-again delayed release of the JFK files concerning the assassination of a sitting U.S. president in 1963. While I was on that subject, I misspoke, and said that JFK was shot in Houston, Texas. That was not accurate. He was actually shot in Dallas, Texas. You have my sincerest apologies.

As an aside, while I ponder my mistake, it occurs to me that Houston comes more easily to mind for me because I have, for over a decade now, worked in the Oil & Gas industry, which has a lot of company headquarters in Houston. There is more to Texas than Houston, however, and it is good for us all to remember that, regardless what we are talking about.

But let’s do move on, and talk about how our government spends our money, since it is also good to not think that all there is to America is Washington, D.C.

Tim Meads at The Daily Wire summarizes the recent goings on in our Congress in ‘Season’s Greetings From The Swamp: Support Our $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Bill, Pay Your Taxes, And Kick Rocks, America.’ Consequently, I have an honest question for those whose eyes glaze over at such things: How much is too much?

If this $1.7 trillion is not that number, is there any amount of our money our government could spend that we would say was too much? Methinks they, at least, do not have a number in mind; but this is probably because we do not, and thus we really ought to rectify that.

On a related note, it really is too bad we don’t know what happens historically when countries devalue their currency. If only we had some examples, like perhaps the Weimar Republic, or Zimbabwe, to enlist in understanding this abstract idea, that the more money there is in circulation, relative the finite quantity of desired goods and services, the more of that money it will take to purchase the desired goods, until things just get plain silly and your dollars aren’t worth the medium they’re printed on.

But now here is a fun fact for you: nestled amidst the multitudinous things our money is being spent, or more technically devalued through inflationary printing, to support around the world, is funding for border security in Arab nations, according to reporting by Joseph MacKinnon at The Blaze.

And here I thought limiting who comes into your country was racist. Or maybe it still is, but only when we Americans do it.

Speaking of borders, and what can happen when a country isn’t able to control its own, ‘Ukraine Will Get What It Needs to ‘Defend Itself and Succeed on the Battlefield,’ Biden Tells Zelenskyy,’ according to Jeff Louderback at The Epoch Times. And, forgive me, but can someone please remind me again why the former comedian from across the world keeps making demands of the American tax-payer? It’s almost like he thinks we owe him something.

But maybe we should look a little closer to home. For instance, Brandon Drey’s story, ‘Colorado Nurse Accused Of Drugging, Sexually Assaulting And Recording Lewd Images Of Unconscious Patients For Ten Years.’

For your consideration, I give you Exhibit A relative why not everyone who puts on a uniform, of the kind of person in society we should be able to trust and be vulnerable with, can actually be trusted, as well as the critical importance of watchfulness and accountability, even for the most supposedly altruistic among us.

For Exhibit B, The Denver Post is publishing Sam Tabachnik’s series, with even just the title of one of the entries enough to give you the gist. In ‘Looted: Stolen relics, laundered art and a Colorado scholar’s role in the illicit antiquities trade,’ we learn that, in the academy, as in the medical field, not every serious or credentialed person who says their motives are pure and scientific can be relied on to resist temptation, particularly when exploitative opportunity presents itself in conjunction with a lack of oversight or vigilance.

Yet lastly, to prove that nothing is sacred, Charlotte Pence Bond is here to tell us the tale of ‘Chick-Fil-A Owner Fined, Had To Give Back Pay For Giving Workers Food Vouchers Instead Of Pay.’ Looking closely, it was only a few hundred dollars in back pay. And the food there is still really good, so I personally would not have been so upset to get the vouchers in lieu of pay. But then such rationalizations are how these things usually start. Besides, it’s good that a bigger scandal was not allowed to fester in the seedy underbelly of American fast food, where it is their pleasure to serve.

In sum, as it turns out, in all of these stories, as well as so many more besides, the most powerful word in the English language is ‘No.’

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