Category: Controversy

How I Became A Detective Tracking Down Poison THC Vape Cartridges

I’m Just As Surprised As You Are!

Somewhere in my online journalism career, winging into its third decade, I must have come to think of myself as a member of the counterculture. Certainly, the “geek culture” beat I’ve been pounding on is no longer underground, but part of the mainstream and transformed into a hyperthyroid monster of its own. So much so that we enablers sometimes wish we’d saved the cork to the genie’s bottle in case it gets out of control. Ever since undertaking to branch out into swampier horizons, I’ve sought new catacombs of popular culture. There has to be a skull or spiderweb or two here sufficiently gruesome to hold aloft and fascinate some of you.

And then they legalized weed.

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New at Spookwire: Exploring the Denver Airport’s Wacky Conspiracies

Ah, Denver International Airport! Nothing adds spice to the most controversial – and most expensive – public works project in history like decorating it with Nazi murals, demonic horses, grimacing gargoyles, and Freemason symbols. Join me on a tour of DIA, as we delve into the mysteries surrounding this nexus of nuttiness.

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New at Spookwire: What’s in Area 51 worth storming?

Aliens, you say? That’s not confirmed, but there’s plenty of other weird stuff going on at Area 51 in Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, even without aliens. Join me as I get to the bottom of what’s hiding at Area 51 and why – the answers may surprise you!

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New at 123ish: Reluctantly Covering the Democratic Primary Zoo

Look, folks, I don’t always get to pick the topic, OK? Clients want stuff, I give them stuff. So when political season inevitably reared its scab-encrusted head, I did my painful duty. So here’s a scorecard of the current contenders for Democratic president 2020.

Bottom line: Front-runner wins, everybody else GTFO! I dress it up in my characteristic snark, of course, but the nut of the matter is we lost 2016 because the only thing a Democrat seems to hate worse than a Republican is another Democrat. When Republicans are onstage, all I hear are people ripping up Democrats. When Democrats are on stage, all I hear are people ripping up Democrats. We need allies, not saboteurs.

I don’t care who’s polling at the top, if it’s a fireplug, everybody else needs to bow out, shut up, drop out, and throw their support behind the fireplug! This is the easiest election to win ever! All you have to do is present a united front.

Bill Maher points it out: “All the Democrats have to do is come off LESS CRAZY THAN TRUMP and of course they’re blowing it!”

Please, people, save your petty little tent agendas for some other year. This is a life and death election. We are amidst a Cold Civil War. Our nation’s soul is at stake. The Titanic is sinking and Democrats can’t stop fighting over how to redecorate the underwater ballroom.

 

New at 123ish: Items of Devotion for Alternative Religion + Join My Cult!

So this was a weird experimental post based on my starting an argument in which I held the position that you can make an Amazon product list out of anything. “Anything?” they said. “Anything, just pick something,” I said. So they said “something for the spiritual category.” And then I was naming the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Bob J.R. Dobbs and they went “Wait a minute, maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” But I said “Too late! Things have been set in motion which cannot be undone!”

And that’s how we got a list of Best Devotional Items For Alternative Religions. With a bonus section where I introduce my own alternative religion: the Cult of the Temponaut! I hope one day to have my cult grow to a world-wide viral phenomenon, just like all the wacky cults we deal with already. I mean, mine is mostly benevolent and nobody can get hurt in it, right? Ah well, we’ll find out, omelets and eggs.

Just remember, physicists have reversed time already using a quantum computer. That’s how you get Temponauts! Start showing them respect before you have to deal with them all at once.

New at Spookwire: History of Witch Torture

For your leery-eyed, lurid entertainment, we round up some of the historic ways kinky Catholics used to torture random women accused of witchcraft.

Since it didn’t make the cut in the article, I HAVE to rave about this TV commercial from the 1980s, Time-Life Books’ Enchanted World series, narrated by the Prince of Horror himself:

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New at Suggested Reads: HP Lovecraft Books That’ll Give You Nightmares

So apparently, the late H.P. Lovecraft has gained new-found popularity with younger generations, even though he was about as politically correct as Archie Bunker. Over at Suggested Reads, a new site for discovering quality literature, I had the opportunity to at last dive into the works of Lovecraft and ink out a map for the first-time Arkham tourist.

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Spookwire: The Eerie Mystery Of Phantom Social Workers

Hold onto your prayer beads, late-night browsers, because I’ve got a new gig that’s destined to scare the wits out of you! I’ll be blogging for Spookwire, a new site dedicated to the creepy, unexplained, and paranormal. From horror movies to conspiracy theories and every real-life intrigue in between, if it’s spooky, we do it!

So to one of our opening posts: The Eerie Mystery Of Phantom Social Workers. This has been a real-life event in the UK and US, and was related to a media circus on both sides of the pond. I touch on the US Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 1990s, with the McMartin Preschool “trial,” and the gigantic Scotland Yard investigation over in the UK.

In brief, parents have reported home visits from people claiming to be social workers, who examine the home and threaten to take away the kids. But later calls to the government reveal no such persons worked there and no social welfare visits scheduled. So where do they come from, and what do they want? It’s a chilling question with some alarming theories to answer it.

 

You know what I haven’t blogged about in awhile? LINUX!

Anybody out there remember the elder days of yore on the web, when I was one of the few bloggers to talk about Linux and FOSS? I figured it’s time to update distro recommends for a new generation. So here’s the top five Linux distros for every kind of user.
As usual, I dodged the trendy meme distros in favor of time-honored practical systems for anybody from the most clueless newbie to the salty veteran power user. Wow, it has been a long time!

Follow on for one of my classic Linux essays, the final battle report of the Microsoft vs. Linux wars:

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New at 123ish.com: Is Disney A Monopoly, And Should We Be Worried?

Disney has recently raised some harrumphs in the geek community for becoming the owner of both Lucasfilm and Marvel properties. Is that enough to make Disney The Mouse That Roared? I discuss that question in the context of the big picture: In 2019, what media company isn’t a gigantic, world-crushing monopoly? As I demonstrate, hardly any.

As an addendum, literally the day after I posted this, rumor has it that Disney may shut down Marvel Comics right after acquiring it. If so, my prediction there:

“And here Disney just acquired two properties which – hold your fire, please – may prove to not be so valuable in a few years’ time.”

…proved more prophetic than I intended. Oops.

Other Disney-related things I’ve had to say over the years:

  • The Cult of Don Bluth – Former Disney animator, he struck out a career on his own and briefly beat the Mouse that Roared at his own game. Now fighting to get the classic arcade game Dragon’s Lair realized on screen.
  • Forgotten Gems Of Disney’s Dork Age – Disney put Generation X through hell in the 1970s, but these were its least stinky turkeys during that creative holocaust.
  • Best Disney Villain Figures – Paying tribute to the best of the baddest in Disney, with handsome collectible figurines.

Seriously, I don’t say much about Disney because it overall sucks.