Originally posted December 27th, 2009
By Michael Konik
I must confess to something that might scandalize those more thoughtful and assiduous than I: despite having all sorts of strong opinions about the omnibus healtchare bill presently making its historic way through Congress, I have not actually read the 2000+ page document.
I have, however, read what other people have said about it — people who also may or may not have actually read the thing. Whether they’re minions of the liberally biased, Jewish-controlled Media or patriotic gadflies from the fair & balanced school of vitriol, one conclusion seems inescapable: our devout wish to provide “affordable” healthcare for every citizen of our great republic is antithetical to the imperatives of market capitalism.
Perhaps I’m better suited to residency in Canada or France, but socialism, it seems, is the only system properly prepared to take care of everyone. Capitalism — at least the brand practiced . . . → Read More: The Healthcare Fiasco and Market Capitalism
Originally posted November 21st, 2009
By Michael Konik
In the golden days of hardcore punk rock — yes, there was such a period; it ran roughly (very roughly) from 1979-1985 — a “movement” emerged called Straight Edge, which was an edgy way of saying Straight.
Straight as in, “I don’t do drugs or drink. I’m a thrash-metal-loving cutural outsider who doesn’t defile his mind or body with toxins.” Sexual preferences remained optional.
One of the leading proponents of this quasi-puritanical ethos was the D.C.-based band Minor Threat. Aside from their well-meaning politics, the lads could play their instruments pretty well, and their frontman was a good lyricist and convincing angst-ridden screamer. They shredded and they spoke to elemental discontents. A very cool band.
Minor Threat had a memorable song called “Out of Step With the World,” which elegantly summed up how most teenagers feel about life. Lately, though, it seems to be my marketplace . . . → Read More: Out of Step With the World
Originally posted November 15th, 2009
By Michael Konik
For Americans drowning in super-sized sodas, bursting with high-calorie fat bombs from the Dollar Menu, and dying from generally too much of everything except self-discipline, it may be hard to understand that a large portion of the planet’s population doesn’t have enough to eat. If the projections are to be believed, it’s only going to get worse. According to an advertisement from Monsanto, the agribusiness behemoth, to keep pace with accelerated demand by 2050 the world’s farmers will have to produce twice the amount of food they presently grow.
Monsanto views this startling assertion as a compelling reason to invest in (and not be frightened by) genetically engineered foods. I see it as another compelling reason to stop making babies.
We decry overbreeding in what we consider the “natural world,” the place where rapidly multiplying populations of rats, mosquitos, suburban deer, rabbits, wild dogs, and even . . . → Read More: Underfed and Overpopulated
Originally posted November 8th, 2009
By Michael Konik
For the first time in the history of this space, we have a guest author. This person, who must remain anonymous for reasons that will soon be clear, has written what he calls “a report” about extraordinary events in the place where he lives. We’ve read the whole memoir, and it made us cry and laugh and wonder about this thing we call “the human spirit.” We’re honored to share. Please enjoy this sneak preview of what we can envision being one of the most talked about books of 2012, or whenever it gets published.
CHAPTER ONE
I understand that writing this down on paper without first obtaining the proper license is not permitted.
I will be dealt with appropriately. You could say this report will be my suicide note. But at the risk of displaying what might seem like a horrible lack of appreciation, I . . . → Read More: Guest Author: “Chapter One”
Originally posted November 1st, 2009
By Michael Konik
What the world needs now, aside from love, sweet love, is doers: People who, like everyone else, enjoy talking about big plans and brilliant ideas; people who, unlike everyone else, aren’t content to merely talk about big plans and brilliant ideas, but feel compelled to act. Such folks are rarer than you might imagine. It is exponentially easier to not try than to try, since the latter invites the real possibility of failure and all the icky feelings that tend to accompany it.
Without doers, great things remain theoretical, and safe. Without doers, the world stays static, or, worse, inexorably decays.
Everyone benefits from the toils of doers who dare to dream big; few comprehend the magnitude of effort required to make dreams come true. Hooray for those unafraid of doing. We need them.
Originally posted October 24th, 2009
By Michael Konik
After the excessive optimisim of youth, the impressive energy of young adulthood, and the confidence of being all grown up, those of us who are fortunate enough to make it to our Forties generally look forward to an incremental and inexorable decline in just about every meaningful area of life — and not just health, romance, and adventure. Your work, your career, if you’re lucky enough to still have one, changes. For some, it ends. If you are, say, a professional athlete, your days of glory will either be in steep decline or finished. If you’re a model, you had better start looking for judging jobs on third-rate televsion programs.
These are extreme examples, of course. Few of us rely solely on the magnificence of our body (or the feats we can do with it) to earn a living and leave a legacy. But all . . . → Read More: Art After 40
Originally posted October 18th, 2009
By Michael Konik
With each day’s news comes further affirmation that it is entirely possible to be reasonably intelligent, highly educated, and specially trained while also being utterly ignorant of what’s commonly understood to be reality.
No, I’m not speaking of the funny folks with advanced degrees who denounce the Theory of Evolution in favor of loopy fairy tales such as “intelligent design” and “creationism.”
I’m referring to people like Mr. Gary Norton, the district attorney in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, who believes it his duty to prosecute residents of his jurisdiction for playing poker in their homes. Pennsylvania is one of 37 states where a game of skill doesn’t qualify as a game of chance, and in January of this year a judge there dismissed charges against a man accused of running a poker game out of his garage, noting that when skill predominates it’s not gambling. . . . → Read More: Unfortunate Misapprehensions
Originally posted October 11th, 2009
By Michael Konik
Folks who haven’t seen me for a long time have been looking at me quizically, slightly startled. One lady who previously had encountered my visage only on an old video archived on the Internet said when she met me, “I didn’t recognize you. I thought you were, you know, a big guy.”
At one point, I was — if you can call someone who is only 5’9″ a big guy. Now I’m not. I’ve lost more than 25 pounds.
On purpose.
About sixteen months ago, I had a physical examination. When I was weighed, I felt shame, disgust, and concern. I was as heavy as I’d ever been in my life, the consequence of middle-aged metabolic changes, careless eating, and general sloth. I was more than 190-pounds. I was fat.
As a former marathon runner and multi-sport athlete who wrestled in high school in the 145-pound . . . → Read More: Losing Weight: How I Did It
Originally posted September 28th, 2009
By Michael Konik
What do writers read when they’re not writing?
Good writing. Great writing. Stuff that earns professional admiration and profound consideration. Thoughtful poetry. Arguments constructed elegantly. Wit.
Lately I’ve found myself increasingly turning to the work of three writers, all different, all ingenious in their own way. If you’re a regular reader of this space, you’ll dig these cats.
1) Mark Slouka. The novelist’s recent essay in Harper’s about the decline of the Humanities in favor of mathandscience is one of the most marvelous, enlightening, provocative, smart, and necessary documents I’ve read. Ever. What an artist — and what a mind!
2) Derek Sivers. The guy is not a master stylist. He’s a masterful thinker who’s able to distill profound ideas into simple concepts. The founder of the iconic indie-music site CDBaby, Sivers offers consistently worthwhile mini-essays on his site. Music, art, relationships, work, innovation — when he has . . . → Read More: Recommended Reading
“I welcome that debate.” — President Barack Obama, reacting to the disclosure of a secret domestic surveillance program operating under his watch.
“I welcome that debate,” I said to my wife. She had just discovered that I’d been having — actually, that I am currently having and intend to continue having — an affair with one of the hot flexible chicks in my yoga class.
Some bitter friend of my wife’s knows the girl I’ve…
We’re like every other patriotic American: when our beloved country is under attack, as it is at this very moment and every other moment of every day, we’re delighted to sacrifice our constitutional rights.
Whatever gets the job done, that’s our view. And if beating Islamic terrorists means being spied…
The time we’re living in is being called the Technology Revolution. It’s given us personal computers and cell phones and devices that, we all agree, make our lives altogether better. Everything is more efficient, more connected. Things can be ordered to appear at your door, getting lost in your car is…
Luckily for Barack Obama, news of improper shenanigans at the IRS stole attention from the week’s biggest story: that the President’s Justice Department had secretly seized call information from at least 20 phone lines belonging to Associated Press reporters, including personal cell phones and the main switchboard of the AP’s…
News comes from Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, that a disastrous fire swept through a garment factory there, killing eight people. A factory fire in November killed more than 100.
The garment industry in Bangladesh is euphemistically called “loosely regulated,” so, regrettably, these things (fires and so forth) tend…
Finland’s Don Johnson Big Band is an ironically named collective of modern hip-hop artists. They’re not big and they’ve got nothing to do with the former star of “Miami Vice,” but they are a band. A funky one. With percussion and a flute-and-sax man. They’re extremely groovy and unabashedly weird — klezmer gangsta rap, anyone? The best [...]
