Spout

This site is full of ideas. Some of them might make you cringe. They may not align with your worldview, perspectives, or experiences. That’s a great thing.

Selling transgender

Marketing isn’t just an advertisement telling you to buy this detergent. Marketing is culture. It’s the stories we hear and the stories we tell. It’s what people are talking about. It’s cultural influencers setting the tone and setting the narrative. If you think there’s no push to sell kids on being transgender, you’re thinking too literally. It’s far more subtle than that. Consider these two examples: It’s 20 years ago. There’s a teenager in the Midwest who doesn’t fit in. He gets picked on at school. He doesn’t have many, or any, friends. He doesn’t like or wear the…

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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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Knowing more vs knowing

In my charitable work, I spend a lot of time with young adults. One thing I do quite intentionally is challenge them. I challenge their thinking. I challenge what they think the know. I challenge what they’ve heard. I make them justify what they perceive and what they say. When you do this, either one of two good things can come from it: They either realize their perspective has some holes in it, and I give them something new to consider, or they make a good case for their perception, and they walk away with an affirmation that they…

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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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Memorial Day in a blue state

Over the course of United States history, millions of men and women have given their life to fight for the ideals of freedom and liberty we all, to varying degrees, take for granted. They made the ultimate sacrifice. For what? Here in the State of Washington, they made the ultimate sacrifice so we could sit home and fear getting together at organized Memorial Day commemorations because we may all get COVID and die even though the majority of states across the country have lifted mask restrictions and essentially gotten back to normal. While we “follow the science” (which is…

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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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