Banal Hemorrhage

Having iron-clad thoughts written in stone is not as laudable as it seems. For some reason, people seem to idolize personalities with unwavering opinions. I feel it's a dangerous thing to celebrate. We should be ready to update our opinions with the introduction of new evidence. Like most Venezuelans that escaped that socialist dystopia , I was a libertarian when I came to the United States. I believed that all people needed to do was to work really hard and they could make it in a place like the USA. I have learned a lot since then. I have learned that we are definitely not all in equal footing. I came across evidence that hiring practices were racist against black sounding names ( This is a recent  meta-analysis);   redlining has deprived many communities from prosperity and even children are disciplined differently in school . Over time, African Americans also get longer prison sentences . All this paints a picture that is particularly harrowing for black males in th

This weekend my brethren were literally in the dark. It’s hard being here and speaking for the ones that are left behind, but this is what it feels when people tell me Venezuela should fend for itself. Inspired by a talk with my friend Raquel. English Version:

This experience makes me think twice about giving my opinions about countries I have no part of. Sorry Britain, for calling you an imbecile for Brexit! Sorry Spain for saying the Catalan exit was misguided and ridiculous. Sorry Saudi Arabia for saying you were a backwards country whose stranglehold on women's rights is such that we were forced to celebrate the small win of letting women drive! Ok maybe I'm not so sorry. But I promise to research more and more when I cross international lines.

His last tweets are like some mad scramble to hold his base.

If you had already demonized the Covington kids before reading. If you laugh at "we need us some climate change up in here".  If your feeds include the Huffington Post or the Drudge Report. You may be addicted! Some tips: -Every once in a while, read an article from a smart person you don't agree with (Yes, they exist). -Don't read articles whose title are meant to excite you: "Trump is a conman" "Climate Change Scientist admits he's wrong" -Look at the sources when broad claims are made. Don't assume they are right just because you agree with them. We've all screwed up in this world of information overload. Be aware of what you do when you repost, or even click on an article. May we be cleansed! Bonus: Look how this post in reddit created a massive backlash!

My money is on her in this twitterfight!

The last one is killing us.

I'm really tired of the debate, so I'll just poke fun at it. Everyone who knows me knows that I am biased against the careless and wild adoration and accumulation of guns. There's an emotional aspect to this, as I have been the victim of gun violence. In my case the only thing that would have helped is less guns, not more good guys with guns. The one thing that frustrates me is the reluctance to do anything. The arguments against universal background checks from the NRA are repetitious as ever . Their argument goes a little like this: "We shouldn't compel a universal background check for all sales of all weapons because it wouldn't stop all crime and people could still get guns from the black market". However, they tacitly acknowledge that it could have stopped some. Over 3 million denials since the Brady act in the nineties. Not all of them found their way to the black market. Lives have been saved, guaranteed. The link from the NRA also shows how weird t

One of the most interesting anecdotal characteristics of the impostor phenomenon , is that it never seems to occur on those that would benefit the most from it: like autocrats and dictators. It is always adored and revered people like Neil Gaiman who mention their experiences with it. In that journal entry he writes a line that always resonated with me. “And I felt a bit better. Because if Neil Armstrong felt like an imposter, maybe everyone did. Maybe there weren’t any grown-ups, only people who had worked hard and also got lucky and were slightly out of their depth, all of us doing the best job we could, which is all we can really hope for.”

This will hurt. It hurt me. When I came to the United States I was pretty libertarian. Success was everywhere for those who put on bootstraps, I thought. I was handed the white supremacist robe when I learned about redlining , job searches , criminal sentencing , health disparities , gun ownership disparities and black people's own perceptions of themselves . Denying that these things exist is not only false, but it creates stagnation. We have a lot of work to do, but it starts with realizing our part of the problem.

Okay. Even if you are a centrist, as I aspire to be, you have to wonder. This bill passed in the Michigan house last night along party lines. It is a 2 pager with a massive legislative scope. It states, very succinctly:  "THE LEGISLATURE AND EACH HOUSE OF THE LEGISLATURE IS HEREBY AUTHORIZED AND EMPOWERED TO INTERVENE IN ANY ACTION COMMENCED IN ANY COURT OF THIS STATE WHENEVER THE LEGISLATURE OR A HOUSE OF THE LEGISLATURE DEEMS SUCH INTERVENTION NECESSARY IN ORDER TO PROTECT ANY RIGHT OR INTEREST OF THIS STATE, OR OF THAT BODY. " I'm not smart enough to prove without a shadow of a doubt that it is a bill to protect people's asses now that the three blue ladies are in. However this bill really muzzles the power of our Attorney General elect (Dana Nessel, pictured above), who had the right to intervene in these matters prior to this bill. It passed last night 58-50 in the house.  It feels like even if you assume the best intentions of the bill, which

I’m a hypocrite for sure. I don’t know why I have never been invested in sports. My mom, dad some of my siblings really seem into it. I mean, there’s got to be something to them, so many people around the world embrace other people’s athleticism as if it was their own life goal! It’s one of those things I could never even fake.

The principle of conservation is hard for 5 year olds! I feel like the person in this comic (I still can't use the word president) may have some developmental issues. Failures in Object Permanence: Just because he doesn't see the constitution doesn't mean it doesn't exist.  Failures in Conservation : The people crossing the border for asylum are of the same species as the ones he plays golf with. But with a much harder life. His thinking is extremely egocentric , which is still preoperational (<7 year olds).