Bits & Pieces
Articles with unfiltered opinions
It’s Up to the States of Our Union
It’s a new year, and with it a new crop of House and Senate representatives have just been sworn into office. But with a divided Congress, meaningful legislation on gun reform and abortion rights will be all but impossible to enact on a federal level. In typical fashion, the Grand Opposition Party will dig...
The Rise of Hate Crimes
Hate crimes in America have soared since 2016, the year Donald Trump was elected. His dog whistling to white supremacists—“There are good people on both sides,” after the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally—propelled bigoted extremists out into the open, and they’ve been rampaging ever since. According to the FBI, the number of hate crimes...
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Actions speak louder than words. Never has that old adage rung truer than right now! It’s a new year, and after another contentious election, tempers are feverishly high. Increasingly extreme rhetoric on both sides is only fueling the flames and increasing the partisan divide. What Democrats need are actions to prevent this country from...
This Is the Presidential Election
Turnout for the midterms is always lower than for main elections with POTUS on the bill. This could help the Republicans in two ways, if Democrats don’t counteract with a massive turnout in November: First, low turnouts almost always favor Republicans, who vote in higher-percentage numbers. Second, the party of the incumbent President historically...
Greedflation Drives Inflation
As citizens around the world suffer from rampant, runaway inflation and ever-increasing costs of living, some corporate honchos and Federal Reserve officials have pointed to a small rise in overall compensation to American workers as the problem. These are the selfish, hypocritical voices of oligarchy. It’s been well established that “real wages” for American...
Pro-Choice Not Completely Aborted
The once unthinkable has happened: The conservative cabal on the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, and many states’ trigger laws now make it unlawful or impossible for women to get a legal abortion. Eight states have even banned the abortion pill mifepristone. Only 13% of Americans wanted to see Roe overturned, according...
Let’s Get Serious About Gun Control
Gun violence has exploded with a vengeance in tandem with our growing anxieties over the global pandemic. The horrific mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, in May dominated the headlines, but the incredible 17 subsequent mass shootings through Memorial Day weekend garnered less attention. In fact, by the end of May,...
Happy Anniversary, HUSTLER!
HUSTLER Magazine is celebrating 48 wonderful years and the positive growth we’ve seen in the XXX industry through these years. Adult entertainment has matured to new heights of professionalism. Today’s performers take pride in their brand and control of their careers. They connect with fans and create and market their own content. We are...
Corporate Greed Is Exploiting Inflation
It’s long been a truism that Americans vote their pocketbooks over most other issues. That’s why recent polls show inflation as the number-one concern for a majority of us. At over 7%, inflation is eating into all of our budgets and making life especially hard for those on a limited income. There are many...
No Escalation to World War
With the exception of China and a few other outliers, the whole world has condemned Vladimir Putin’s horrific illegal invasion of Ukraine and imposed the most severe economic sanctions ever levied against a rogue nation. The Russian people, many of whom have protested against the war and been arrested, will surely suffer more than...
Big Brother’s Spying Eyes
Several senators have reintroduced a bill (defeated in 2020 after huge opposition) to turn the U.S. into a mass surveillance state like China. Ostensibly designed to fish out CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) on the internet, The EARN IT (Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies) Act, “doesn’t target Big Tech,” states Joe...
The War on Voting Rights Heats Up
President Biden is urging all Americans to support the Democrats’ new voting rights package before Congress, including the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. These measures are critical to counter the flood of voting suppression laws enacted by Republicans in 19 states this past year. One such law even...
Governor Newsom Turns the Tables
As we discussed in the December 2021 Publisher’s Statement, our ultraconservative Supreme Court recently upheld the draconian Texas law that outlaws most abortions after a “fetal heartbeat” is detected (at about six weeks). The law allows private citizens with no legal standing—meaning no personal interests involved—to sue any doctor or individual who participates in...
Another “Go Slow” at Glasgow
The latest attempt to do something serious about climate change at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow was a mixed success. Some progress was made, including nearly 200 countries adopting the Glasgow Climate Pact, but given the increasingly dire nature of the problem, it wasn’t nearly enough. On the positive side,...
The Terrible Waste of Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies are all the rage now, with investors large and small around the world playing the game. Some have made fortunes. The foresight to buy ten Bitcoins in 2009, when they were selling for $1 each, would yield the tidy sum of approximately $600,000 today. There are currently hundreds of...
