John Oliver's Show is a Gem!

John Oliver embodies, with actual success, all of my failed comedic endeavors. I've praised him before, but I still don't think he gets enough credit.
I grew up thinking I was going to be an "artist," but slowly learned I was no good at that. The creatives I looked up to always taught me that artists have a social responsibility to comment on the world around them. I hope I was able to capture that sentiment with whatever I did. John Oliver & Team does it with nuance, intelligence, humility, care, and while being incredibly funny.
In this episode he interviews Monica Lewinsky. How she was able to put her life together after going through a meat grinder is beyond me — I know I am not strong enough to have withstood what she went through. What an incredible individual with a great sense of humor.

Privilege & Fraud — Academia Is Still Important!

Academia is still a very important institution — it's a place where we: test ideas; gather & share knowledge; challenge each other; and give people the tools to navigate the complicated world around them. That is why the recent news about admissions fraud is even more disappointing. Those that value academia need not turn their back on it, but should be critical & honest about the ethical failures of these schools.

My parents worked multiple jobs and saved for years so that we could move to a nicer school district. In the end, I wasn't able to attend Wayzata High School because they re-did district borders (because you can't have the poorer part of Plymouth coming to such a pristine school). It all worked out for me because I met some of my best friends and had some of the best teachers at Osseo Senior High School. But this is why my professional career will be about breaking down barriers, giving people more access, and helping people to see privilege.

Donald Trump: A Catch 22

I really wanted to see Donald Trump succeed as president because we all thrive if he does a good job. I remained pretty quiet during the onset of his tenure because even Donald Trump deserves a chance. Also, it’s not like I have any real influence on a large, or even moderate, scale. However – minus Nazis, Klan members, and members of the alt-right – I think we have all seen an immense degradation in morality and ethics in the White House and the political space due to President Trump. This is to say I support and believe we need to strengthen the resistance against this failed experiment. But there is a catch 22 to keep in mind when correcting President Trump’s wrongs – even when we win, we lose.

Politics is often a game of optics. If we let President Trump and his team do what they want and we let them run this vehicle into a burning ditch then we get to point at the wreckage at the end of this and feel validated. Yes, we’ll have to put the fire out and clean the mess up, but at least we get to say, “I told you so.” We’ll have some cleaning up to do to a certain degree regardless – we have a lot of apologizing to do in the international space, marginalized groups domestically, and to the future generations of this country and world. However, if the resistance is successful and we are able to mitigate the damage this administration plans to enact history will be able to claim Trump’s efforts weren’t so bad. History will also be able to claim that the resistance overacted. Even if we win, we lose.

Hitler gets a lot of ink in your high school history book. What doesn’t get a lot of ink are the numerous alternative timelines that did not occur because a good group of people prevented a tyrannical leader from burning the house down. A negative occurrence – present & absent and not benevolent & malevolent – doesn’t get any ink because it’s a non-occurrence. You might prevent the ship from sinking, but you won’t get any credit for it because a floating ship looks like business as usual.

So should we prevent President Trump from enacting horrible ideas? Of course, but I wouldn’t expect a lot of praise for doing that work because most of it will be invisible. This notion will be disappointing to some, but it’s important to keep in mind. Cheers to a better tomorrow.

Millennials Need To Step The F Up

Fellow Millennials,
Like with any failed episode there ought to be a sound exit strategy in place. We are going to have to answer a lot of questions and do a lot of cleaning up after Trump. We better start planning how we are going to mend our relationships with the rest world, with marginalized groups, and how we are going to explain all this to our children. I doubt, "I thought grandma, grandpa, and my cranky neighbor knew what they were doing," is going to satisfy our children when they see the world they have inherited. Let us organize.

The Quality Under Pressure Podcast

I started a new podcast and it's been great fun.
Please check it out if you have time.

Story of the Year - "The Black Swan"

In my opinion, Story of the Year's 2008 release, "The Black Swan," is the best album they put out. "Page Avenue" might have had more commercial success, but I do not think it stacks up against "The Black Swan." It's an album that looks at human existence while touching political and social topics. The album also has an interlude that includes an excerpt from Carl Sagan so that already scores many points in my book.
The album was released towards the end of the W. Bush era and it captures the tumultuous times in 13 beautiful tracks. The album begins with Bush speaking and the first word we get from frontman Dan Marsala is "liar." The album continues by urging listeners to wake up, think, organize, unite, and take action.
I still come back to this album 10 years later and it's still great. In fact, the album seems to have taken on new meaning considering the actions our current president is taking.

Growing Up Really Poor - Wage War Against Poverty

A little over a month ago I applied for the Krusell Fellowship. It's a program that helps people in developing communities with housing and other needs. In a portion of my application statement I shared a bit of my history growing up in South Minneapolis. I never felt poor growing up, but I learned later in life that my family was indeed very poor. My parents immigrated to America with almost nothing, and they could not find much traction here early on due to cultural and language barriers. There was virtually no way we could not have been poor during the early years of our family. Now that I am an adult, I better understand that we lived well under the poverty line, but I did not understand exactly how poor we were until recently.

There were only two occasions I ever felt poor growing up. I remember feeling poor after winter break would finish and all the kids would meet up at school and brag about their Christmas gifts. My friends would have a laundry list of gifts the received, but I hardly ever got more than one gift. The lack of Christmas gifts stopped bothering me when I entered junior high. I had to quickly overcome the envy because we moved to affluent Plymouth when I entered junior high. There was no possible way my parents could get us gifts that matched the gifts of my suburban friends. The only other time I remember feeling poor was when I was around second grade age. A friend of mine had me over for dinner one night. Milk and macaroni and cheese was served that night. That must have been the most, middle-of-no-where-Wisconsin-white-meal I have ever had up to that point. I thought it was delicious. I remember going home and bragging to my parents what was served for dinner at Kevin's house. It must have been a few weeks later that my parents weren't able to even put food on the table at home. I remember being especially hungry that night, and all we could afford was a slice of bread for dinner. I remember vocalizing my disappointment and frustration with my parents. I compared what we were having for dinner to what I had at Kevin's house only a few weeks prior. I know I can claim youthful ignorance, but it breaks my heart to think about how my parents must have felt in that situation as their first born child sat in the middle of the kitchen crying and complaining.

My father, mother, and 2 siblings shortly after we moved to Plymouth

My parents did a wonderful job shielding us from the a lot of the craziness that life throws at families (especially at families in need). They exposed us to the stressors of life in small doses to insure we weren't overburdened with concern while not missing out on important life lessons. I am forever grateful for their masterful balancing act. It is a bit strange researching your own family's history though. I asked my parents about programs we utilized to help us get to the place we are today. One of the greatest things to have come out way was a program my father had access to. It was a program that reimbursed his tuition at a technical college if he worked full time and kept his grades above a B average. It gave my father the economic mobility our family needed to pursue a decent standard of living and more educational opportunities. Our family used that program and food stamps to stay afloat, and I feel a bit of regret now as I feel as though I have not vocalized my defense for welfare enough after learning how food stamps helped my family tremendously. I have a lot of Republican friends (I did, after all, grow up in Plymouth) and I consistently see their anti-welfare posts on social media.

Why should people have access to an education if they can't afford it? Why should people get food stamps when they are just going to abuse the system?

I cannot say I have ever agreed with their sentiments and I do believe a social safety net is important (especially in a nation as wealthy and as "Christian" as ours). I am ashamed that I didn't defend the people who aren't that much different than my family more vehemently. To be negligent of their needs is to fail morally. Henceforth, when I see people bashing social programs that work and that saved families like mine, I will take it as a personal affront. To take these programs away from people in need is to create a vacuum is misery, and certainly you have a little more compassion than that.
Our application statements for the Krusell Fellowship were limited to two-pages. I dedicated a paragraph to my family's history. It took forever to write and it was heartbreaking. Imagine me in my dimly lit room hacking away at my keyboard with vision blurred from the tears running down my face. I have it exponentially good because of my parents, but also because there is a community and system that is willing to lend a hand. I cannot begin to summarize the level of malice some people must have to want to deny people access to these programs of mobility. There are families out there that are treading water and all they need is a little assistance to find solid ground and run inland. I am hoping to soon be in a position to search the sea for these people.

Oh, one last thing. I did not get the fellowship, but life goes on.

Encryption: The F.B.I vs. Apple

Lunch + Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. It's a great combo until you're taking a sip of your drink and Mr. Oliver drops a funny line.

Encryption is a concept that's been in the public light lately due to the F.B.I vs. Apple debate. I saw a lot of people post and share Apple's defense of their position when it was released. It was almost as if the F.B.I was completely out-of-bounds in this case. I, however, saw nuance in this discussion.

I can see why so many people voiced their support for Apple. The tech giant is much sexier than the F.B.I and viewed favorably. Aside from style, there is substance to support Apple too. If someone held a gun up to my head and forced me to completely side with Apple or the F.B.I, I, too, would assemble on the Apple side of the debate. But this is not that easy. The conversation about security vs. privacy is a long and ongoing talk. I'm positive that the same people that swiftly and firmly sided with Apple would be equally outraged, at Apple, if a follow up incident occurred that the F.B.I could have prevented with encrypted information. You can't have both absolute freedom and absolute security.

Mission Accomplished! So, What's Next?

I sleep with my cell phone charging on my lamp stand. I do that so I have a fully charged phone to start my day, but also because I use my cell phone as my alarm clock. During weeks I abuse the snooze button, I will set my alarm song to something really aggressive. Imagine waking up to the sounds of Slipknot, As I Lay Dying, or Cradle of Filth. When I wake up, I normally shut my alarm off, and I check my e-mails. I have this horrible fear that I'll wake up and I'll have e-mails from people at work telling me I talked about something on-air that I wasn't supposed to talk about, or that I completely missed something. It's probably not a healthy thing to always be concerned about, but I'm not totally confident in my radio ability. In fact, feeling insufficient is probably an issue I will carry around with me for a long time. I guess the silver lining is that it always keeps me on my toes and open minded.

I move onto my personal inbox after I finish checking my iHeartMedia inbox. Yesterday, I had my usual spam, an e-mail from the Bernie Sanders campaign, and an e-mail that stuck out. It was from The University of Minnesota Graduate Admissions and the subject line was titled, "Subj: University of Minnesota - Application For Admission Decision". I locked my phone, stared at the ceiling for a second, and re-opened my phone. The e-mail was still there, and I didn't know what to do. A normal person might've quickly opened it, logged into their U of M account, and uncovered the University's decision, but not me. That lack of confidence slowly crept in again, and I thought, "Wouldn't it be awful to start your day with a rejection letter?" It's the sad way I approach everything that involves an appraisal of me (My job, girls, sports, etc).

I rolled out of and made by bed, started my morning routine, but I couldn't get that e-mail off my mind. I booted my computer up, because everything on desktop is better than mobile. I'm not here to brag about my computer, but I have some pretty sweet specs, and my operating system is on a solid state drive, so I only have to wait seconds to use my computer. I opened the e-mail, logged into my U of M account, and clicked on a link to open the University's decision. I decided before I did all of this to not raise any expectations. That way the fall back to reality would hurt less on impact. How incredibly shocked I was when the first word I read was, "Congratulations."Well, technically, I first skimmed over the date, my name, my student ID, and then congratulations.

The feeling of being lifted away on cloud nine is not something you feel every day, and difficult to describe. If this gives you something to compare it to, it's the opposite of having your heart broken. That's a feeling I know better. Heartbreak starts in your chest, and you feel a ripple work its way out from there. It feels like your blood is being drained, your body temperature drops, and your soul feels heavy. I quickly picked up my phone and called my mother. She had been pressuring me over the last week to send an e-mail to inquire when a decision might be made on my application. In typical fashion, my call went to my mother's voice-mail. I followed that up by telling my dad, texting people that helped me with my application process (recommendation letters, proof reading my statement letter, etc.), and I thanked a few teachers that helped me with this journey. It was actually my high school civics teacher that put me on a path to public service. There was no way I could have appreciated his teaching methods at the time as my mental capacity wasn't all there yet. His non-indoctrinating, nurturing, and engaged way of teaching really unlocked my desire to connect to and help the world.


This idea of applying to the Humphrey School of Public Affairs started about a year ago at church. It was a couple of months into the new year, and like I do every year around that time, I assessed my life and attempted to project what the next year would look like. I shared some of my concerns with a lifelong friends. In actuality, she's more of a sister as I've known her since she was in elementary school. I listened to what she wanted to accomplish in 2015, and I told her how I felt about my prospects. I hit a wall at work, I was underemployed, I wasn't engaged in any creative freelance projects, and I really wasn't working toward anything. I felt like an idiot, but she peeked my interest by telling me that the Humphrey School of Public Affairs might be a good fit for me. Although I've known my friends for many years, and I adore her, I never deeply talked to her about politics nor policy (although I should have considering she had been attending the Humphrey School of Public Affairs). She probably assumed the school might be something that matches me because I can't seem to stop commenting on social issues on Facebook. The more she told me about their Master's in Public Policy program, the more I was intrigued. I took some time to think about all the information she had shared with me, and I followed up one day. After receiving more input from her I decided to at least apply. I mean, what's the harm in that? I e-mailed the fine people working in admissions, and of course the deadlines for the year had all passed. I was encouraged to still apply, but also warned about the limitations. My ignorant little boy mind also didn't factor in all the time, effort, and money that went into the application process. What's the harm in applying? Studying for the G.R.E exam after not doing anything school related for years, paying for the expensive test, reaching out to people for letters of recommendation, and crafting an application that gloats about your attributes without sounding like a jerk. I have never been all that good at self-promoting. When it was all said and done, it was too little, too late. I was told to try again in 2016, and I fully intended to do that.

What I lack in confidence, I might make up in determination. Confidence totes a line with arrogance, and determination a line with stubbornness. Given the option between arrogance and stubbornness, I take stubbornness every time. There is no way to disguise arrogance, but at least I can claim my stubbornness is conviction. I took a fresh approach, and started the entire process again. Things got a bit rocky in November with the passing of a close friend. My G.R.E exam was creeping up, but I had no desire to prepare for it as I tried to sort out the concept of death. It's the closest I've ever dealt with death, and I couldn't make sense of it for a long time. In fact, I still haven't, but I have gotten to a point where I can compartmentalize it enough to function.


Fast forward to yesterday. After learning I had been accepted to the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, I thanked everyone I needed to thank, and I skipped out the door to work. When I graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2009, I thought I would never call myself a student again. I'm always a student of life, but I never thought I would be a student in an institutional setting. Well, here I am gearing up to return to the University of Minnesota in the fall of 2016. So what's next and what I am I expecting? I guess I don't really know. I know it's going to get really crazy with work, school, and trying to get involved in anything I can. I foresee my social life shrinking, decreased visits to the gym, and unless I can tie my creative side into my school work, I don't see that getting a lot of attention either. That might not sound great, but I am really looking forward to it. For so long I've been spreading myself thin, and I longed for something to put all my focus into. This feeling of excitement and focus is something I haven't felt since my first boss at Cities 97 hired me.

My focus for the next couple of years will be to gather the tools and knowledge to better myself so I can better the lives of the people in the communities around me and the communities itself. I will chase a life of academia and social work. Clearly I can toss that dream of becoming a millionaire into the trash bin now. Some of my church members recently suggested that I go back to school to study business. Given the options of business school or social work, I think, Jesus would have chosen social work. I'm of the millennial generation so a job that makes you happy takes priority over a higher paying job. My family is of the proletariat class. It is a class of people I admire and value, and hopefully it will soon be my duty to protect the proletariat class.

 

Is Bernie Sanders Too Smart For Us?

One of the most influential books I have read in my lifetime is "Looking Forward" by Jacque Fresco (A new hardcover copy of the book is going for $448 on Amazon). The book was published in 1969 and was way ahead of its time. One would assume having that sort of foresight would be a good thing, but I think it would be burdensome (Look at what they did to Jesus Christ). Jacque Fresco was quickly deemed a fringe thinker, and I see many doing that with Bernie Sanders. I would love to see someone with a prophetic like vision drag the rest of us knuckle-draggers into a more prosperous future. Many critics claim that Sanders is clueless on foreign affairs, and that may prove to be true, but he has the right outlook on war and wasn't wrong about the Iraq War.

"The Big Short" Review

I'm on a hot streak, and although that luck didn't carry over to the Powerball drawing, I did catch another fantastic movie. The Big Short will make you confused, it'll make you laugh, and terribly depressed. It is a very important film to watch before this year's election.
The movie shows you the horrendous underbelly of capitalism and deregulation. You see what happens when the greed of our species, a species that mostly evolved during times of scarcity and is hardwired to hoard, is handed a system that allows greed to act without impunity.
The movie moves swiftly and is mostly reckless, much like the financial sector. There are hefty temporal and spatial jumps, but you are never lost. The cuts are quick and disjointed. You are given shots for fractions of a second and the jump cut is utilized often, but all the coverage is worthwhile. There a many scenes shot with a long lens that gives the film a very voyeuristic feeling. The fourth wall is not only broken in this film, but it is knocked over with a wrecking ball and jackhammered to pulp. You are in the movie, and you are an accomplice to the greatest financial failing in the history of mankind.
There is no shortage of names attached to this film. Brad Pitt is not only in the movie, but helped produce it. Christian Bale, Steve Carell, and Ryan Gosling all put on great performances. I have a feeling most people will rave about Carell and Gosling, but it was how Bale handled his character that struck me. His character had very distinct characteristics, and he owned and gave life to all of them. There are no prominent actresses, and I that is only a poor reflection of Wall Street. It seems to me that any institution that is void of a female presence fails to hold any moral standard. For example, religion.
See you at the Oscars, The Big Short.

Marco Rubio's New Ad

I'm positive this will play well with most Republicans, but please keep in mind that it offers absolutely no substance. Not a single policy was offered or even suggested. Approach on education? Nope. What are we to do about climate change? Who knows. Should America be so involved in the Middle East? Try again. How should we handle gun violence? Maybe next time.
Everyone is allowed to have faith and practice it. As an agnostic/atheist/anti-theist, I tend to think faith is a detriment to intelligent thinking. But who cares what I think. If you have sound policies, and faith is an important part of your life, then so be it. You at least still have sound policies. In this case, Marco Rubio's faith took up the entire spot, and we learned nothing (Well, something, but probably not what Rubio had intended).

Racism Is Alive And Well

This video has been popping up in my feed a lot lately. I've been reading the comments and it's very apparent we approach racism the same way we approach illness. We're very adept at recognizing the symptoms and remedying them, but in our fervor the cause(s) often slithers by out of sight. I wrote an op-ed for a blogging site a few years back where I touched on how racism is much harder to clearly show to others these days. I described it as a "Veiled Racism". Racism in the form of physical and verbal harassment, relatively, aren't as prevalent these days. I believe racism has become more crafty, and it has found a cozy home within systemic racism. Mr. Pisone has failed to keep up with the evolution of racism, and now finds himself in hot water. What I find troublesome is when racism of Mr. Pisone's nature is documented, we can get everyone on board. But when evidence about systemic racism is presented, it is often written off as "Liberal Sympathy". Don't be distracted by how raucous the symptoms of racism are, but focus on the cause.

John Oliver + Edward Snowden Interview

Finally got around to watching this. I am so glad people are getting excited about Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

•I hope when we are all dead and gone, and some future civilization tries to piece together what kind of species we were, that they will find the clip of msnbc cutting away from a congresswoman to cover Justin Bieber. I also hope they have the context of Justin Bieber before they do. I foresee, at that point, them picking up all their gear and saying, "Let's get the fuck out of here! These idiots clearly deserved to die!"

•I think Oliver might've been harder on Snowden than most journalist. If journalists need a distancing tool like comedy to be tough, then all our journalists should be comedians.

•How sobering it must've been for Snowden to see that people only wanted to engage in a conversation about the NSA and surveillance when it came to dick pics. And how aware of Oliver to understand that we are all idiots.

Disgusting New Animal Cruelty Video

I don't really got bothered by extreme video content, but I can never make it through an animal cruelty video. I have seen some pretty bizarre things without flinching, but animal cruelty videos send the worst emotions shooting through me.

Students Ask Obama About Education In America

I've had some amazing teachers in my life, and I've even tried teaching for a bit. It's an insane job, but incredibly rewarding and you feel good because you feel like you are making in impact on society and lives. I have no doubt that education is the great equalizer.
"Society has just gotta make an investment." He's right, but I'm afraid it won't. So, is this something we drag people along with, knowing it's the right path? Or, do we turn away from education because society isn't ready to prioritize it correctly?

Inequality For All - A Must Watch Documentary

An amazing documentary! A must watch for all. One of the most meaningful and important ones I have seen in a long time. I have had it on my list for a while and I finally got around to watching it.
I'm sure my Republican friends wanted to go on a shooting rampage after watching it. It pretty much demolishes the Republican economic outlook (This myth of "Trickle Down Economics"). The evidence is simple and difficult to argue against. I haven't studied economics since high school, and I am handicapped when it comes to that topic. However, even with my minimal knowledge, I like to think I have constructed a mildly reasonable outlook. My point is, if someone as stupid as myself can grasp these concepts, any idiot should be able to understand how this works.
The only disappointing part about the documentary is that it only looks at how to make capitalism a better system and bypasses a larger view of the system itself. What if the system at its best is still not up to par?? We could strengthen the middle class and make things more efficient and better, but that doesn't change that capitalism is a system based off of constant consumption. Why do you need a new iPhone every year when the one you are using now works perfectly fine? What are we paying in social and environmental costs to keep this flawed system afloat? Those issues aside, it is a great look at the economic issues we face within a specific scope.

Sam Harris & Cenk Uygur Discuss Religion

This was a lengthy, but very fun conversation to watch. I shared the video on my Facebook page, and this is my text that went along with my share:
That's what Sam Harris gets for trying to deal with and sort things out in the nuance. People want to paint with a larger brush. It's quicker, it's easier, and you get the bigger picture faster. It's not his fault he is misunderstood, it is our fault that we can't keep up with him. He is absolute behemoth of a philosopher and a genius. 
I really, really admire Cenk, and I think he made some good points. I think I even agreed with him over Sam Harris on maybe 1 or 2, but it got very annoying when it seemed like he tried to play devil's advocate just the play devil's advocate. 
That ending Sam Harris dropped was amazing. Easy to understand, but certainly a concept that only a wise mind could craft (Don't let your hindsight bias fool you). How we treat thought crimes is such a touchy subject, but his example of what we did to Bin Laden was spot on.

Debate: Does Science Refute God?

This was a lively debate that I had never seen before. 
The Christians (D'Souza + Hutchinson) didn't say anything that shifted the core of my stance, but I found myself nodding yes to a couple of their points. Especially when they discussed morality. I'm glad that the Christians didn't fight the notion that Christian morals are good morals because they are not. However, my nihilistic side did agree with the Christians that we do not know why we decided kicking a dog is wrong (I am glad that we did, but dogs are amazing creatures). Morals don't intrinsically exist in the cosmos. We constructed them so that we wouldn't have to live in fear every waking and resting moment of our lives.



This is pretty cool format for debates. It's quicker and I'm glad the speakers can step on each other from time to time and address each other like they are in the same room (Because, well, they are). I prefer it over formats where someone gets 5 minutes to address an opponent as if they were in another room. It really forces a debater to to clarify and support their stance. 

Only Business People and Lawyers?

A couple of weeks ago Audrey Britton, or one of her canvassers, left some information about her campaign on my door. This is not an article about Audrey Britton, but after reading over her “résumé” I was reminded of something that annoys me a bit about politicians and elections.
It seems to me that most politicians brag endlessly about how good they are at running businesses. It seems that most politicians are either lawyers or business people. However, if politicians are elected to represent and reflect the public, where are the teachers, the doctors, the dentists, the engineers, the scientists, and the technicians? When I step out into the world, I’m not surrounded by only lawyers and business people. There is a vast mosaic of professions and ideas. Should our government not reflect this more? Now, I’m not saying that being a lawyer or a business person should dismiss you from becoming a public servant, but I am saying that maybe this shouldn’t be a prerequisite. The first bullet point on Britton’s handout is “small business owner”. Again, this isn’t an article bashing Britton, she just had the misfortune of leaving her résumé on the door of a thinking skeptic.
When Fox News and Republicans claim that Barack Obama has very little business experience and that he was only a community organizer, I don’t see this as a criticism. I say good, because serving the public isn’t only about business. Considering the well being and happiness of people is a bit more complex, so let’s not purpose simple solutions to complicated issues.