James B. Barnes

Colleges Declaring War on YOLO

All the alcoholics I know became alcoholics in college, joked about it as if it weren’t true through their early twenties, and then had breakdowns in their late twenties or early thirties.

A 20 Something’s Guide to Living Passively In A Passive System

We currently live in a system of commerce that requires very little input from ourselves outside of negative choices, not that, not that, not that. I’ve written on aspects of this before a bit but think about it, when was the last time you made a positive, affirmative choice? Yes, Starbuck’s?

10 Year Old Girl Rapes 4 Year Old Boy, Huh?

There doesn’t seem to be a common wellspring from whence this maniacal charge could arise. Then I remembered that I happen to be naive. What’s the answer to most questions of culture that you can’t answer? Money. It’s almost always money.

Syrian Gas and Mirrors

Eleven years ago we got the Weapons of Mass Destruction scare. As a result, we invaded Iraq, needlessly, and thousands of Americans died fighting a war that no one but they and their families had to pay for on a daily basis. Taxes went down, not up. No one had to pay anything. The worst part is that it was all built on scare tactics that Republicans and Democrats alike went right along with. Now I see we’re replaying that film.

Dogs And Gentleness For Gentleness’s Sake

People put themselves in danger and hurt themselves saving dogs and I have to wonder if that isn’t some implied recognition that to so many of these animals we are gods for good or ill. They count on us. They look to us.