Essential

Must-reads from the Bubbler

That dog has the most adorable bark

If you’re going to own a dog, especially in a suburban or urban setting where you live close to others, you have to train them not to bark. It’s simply selfish and thoughtless to think your neighbors aren’t going to notice or mind the constant barking coming from your house when you leave your dogs out. I’m most impressed with those who leave or put their dogs out to bark at 5:30 or 6am in the morning. The entire neighborhood can hear your dog barking, but somehow, you’d think the owner cannot hear what’s going on right outside their…

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Stop making it personal

On my short list of things I wish everyone would consider when they speak is this one: You don’t know what you think you know about anything, when it comes to what motivated another to do or say something. One of the greatest sources of division in our society stems from people thinking they know why another person said or did something. For example, in the world of politics, it is not at all uncommon for a Democrat to tell you that a Republican does this or that, “because they hate blacks/immigrants/gays/women/transgenders/children/etc.” It’s not enough to just say a…

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The luddite party

Obviously, our current two party system, and the two parties that occupy it, aren’t getting the job done. Neither can unify the country. In fact, neither is even fighting for this country. Republicans. Democrats. Either way, they’re in it for themselves, while the country burns. Both exist to enrich themselves at the expense of Middle Americans who make this country work. It’s time for a new party. The Luddite Party. In the last month, parts of America were halted by a simple cyber attack. Someone. Somewhere. Some underground tech professional. Perhaps just a kid who knows how to hack…

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10 masks and 3 vaccinations

Like many people, I’m not taking any chances during the COVID pandemic. When I heard some experts suggesting that two masks are better than one, I quickly took the logic out a bit further and decided I’m going to start wearing 10 masks at once to guarantee I’m virus-free. Similarly, I figured that since more masks are better, I decided to get all three of the vaccines available to the general public. It only required five shots, and I was only deathly ill after four of them, so it wasn’t that bad at all. People who are worried about…

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The racism is no consequences

As blue cities around the country pull back on enforcing the law, they reveal their true racism. The premise of defunding the police is that black people can’t stop themselves from breaking the law and that the real perpetrators are those who apprehend them and lock them up when they’re committing a crime. More specifically, the premise is that black people will be black people and can’t help themselves from breaking the law. We can’t expect them to behave like civilized people and follow our laws, so it’s inherently racist to enforce the law because to do so necessarily…

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Season four: episode 789

Yesterday, we found ourselves scrolling through DirecTV when we happened upon the game show “Wheel of Fortune.” A look at the program information included the season and episode. I never thought of game shows in the context of “episodes,” but this most recent episode was season 38, episode 185. That’s more than 7000 episodes over the span of the show. In this binge-watch culture, I wonder if anyone undertook the chore of binge-watching all 7000 episodes of Wheel of Fortune? If you’re looking for something a bit more enlightening and simple, try reading through the archives of The Bubbler….

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Tracking your child

This past weekend, a couple I know asked my opinion of putting a phone tracker on their child’s phone. They were thinking of using an app like Life360, which would allow them to follow where their child’s phone is at any one time (which hopefully corresponds to the whereabouts of their child, as well). When my kids were younger, my wife and I had the same conversation, and we concluded it was unnecessary. First off, there’s the very predictable: we never had trackers when we were growing up, and we not only survived, but ended up just fine. But…

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Sore need of grace

As America slowly tugs itself into pieces and divides itself based on how evil we assume people with opposing views to be, there’s one thing sorely missing: grace. Because we don’t have enough division and angst in this country, there are always people out there actively scouring social media and other digital records looking for anything various people may have written or posted that would warrant cancelling them from culture. And I’m not just talking about people who are still alive. We are looking through historical records and judging all people, past and present, against the cultural “norms” of…

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Top seven stressors

My friend, who’s a mindfulness professional, was telling me that one of her resource books list the top seven sources of stress as (in no particular order): Getting married or divorced Chronic or serious illness Moving Changing or losing a job Going to prison Death of a loved one Significant financial obligations It struck me that one of these stands out from the others: prison. Unlike the others, going to prison equals a loss of freedom. Unlike the others, you don’t get much say in going to prison (after you made the decision to do whatever it is that…

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The devil I know is content

There’s an old saying: “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” It speaks to the advantages of working or dealing with a person you don’t like but know well versus someone who is unknown and unpredictable. I think it is this kind of thinking that is largely responsible for the state of the United States today. People are so risk-averse and so afraid of being challenged or uncomfortable that they’d rather just suck it up and deal with what’s happening to them rather than putting their energy toward finding something better. Sitting and suffering is the…

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