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Trump DOES Represent American Values
This video is intended for Americans (and only Americans) expressing the sentiment that ‘this is not the America I know’ or that ‘Trump does not represent American values’. To the Americans expressing these sentiments: where have you been all your life? Why only Americans? Because they should be familiar with the history of their country,…
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Voting Third Party is Letting the USA Burn
On November 8th, the American people are going to cast a relatively unimportant vote that nevertheless will tell us 1) how bigoted they are, generally, and 2) whether they understand ‘logic’ and ‘opportunity cost’. While the former should be fairly self-evident, I’d like to talk about the latter a little here. If you read around…
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If You Can’t Do Your Job Well, Work For Forbes
Every so often, a sponsored Forbes post will pop up in my facebook feed, and it’s usually just some crappy clickbait title with some bullshit advice that only someone with a business degree would be tricked into thinking it’s useful. But the latest one is just amazing. It’s the same old Buzzfeed-bullshit, where you have to…
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Trigger Warnings and ‘Hardening Up’
There’s a deep and profound irony that the people who insist that those who wish merely to be warned prior to being exposed to potentially triggering content are ‘weak’ and ‘need to be challenged’, while that the same time merely pointing out that the argument that they’re presenting is merely echoing factfree, right-wing talking points…
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LGBTQ Identity and Me
It’s currently Vancouver Pride weekend here, and that’s as good a time as any for self-reflection, especially with regards to self-identity and orientation. This article is entirely about me and how I see myself with regards to the LGBTQ labels, and no opinion about how I do (or do not) see other people should be…
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Beliefs Don’t Change in “Real-Time”
An acquaintance of mine sent me a link to a conversation between Dan Dennett and Sam Harris, wherein Dennett attempts to explain the holes in Harris’s puerile arguments against the concept of “free will”. In any case, this particular post isn’t about Harris, but a particular point he reiterates repeatedly: that we can (and should)…
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Anxiety and Hunger
Here’s a thing that I attribute to my anxiety, but perhaps other people (not suffering from anxiety) deal with it too. I’ll get engrossed in reading articles/playing games that time passes and I get hungry. Not “omfg, I’m going to die if I don’t eat”-hungry, but the pangs aren’t minor. Noticing them, bringing them into…
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Brexit: Britannia’s Stumble
“Left out in the cold, cobbling our own shoes” or something like that. I don’t remember the exact phrase, but my father’s words to me leading up to the vote on the Maastricht Treaty left an impression on my 14yo self that has not left me, not for one second, even though it was over 20…
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Physician Assisted Dying and the BC Catholic
Physician assisted Dying (PAD from here on, aka active euthanasia) is currently being legislated in Canada, so it’s being discussed by a number of outlets, with a variety of opinions being put forward. This is a topic that has a storied history within philosophy, and I think it’s important that we have informed conversations on this topic…
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Boundaries and Abuse
I’m going to start with a recent pair of conversations in my life, and use that as a jumping off point to talk about who gets to define what abuse is, and who gets to set boundaries. People in my local community may well recognise the people involved from their behaviour, and while backlash due…
