Category: Current Events
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Minimum Wage Robots
Does mandated federal and state minimum wage increases help those struggling on low paying jobs? Or does it simply give more jobs to robots? In this opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal, The Minimum Wage Should be Called the Robot Employment Act, Mr. Pudzer makes the case that the increasing minimum wage will do nothing…
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Trump’s Order on Immigration: Constitutional or Not?
Trump’s executive order on immigration has set the Internet afire in a dizzying array of memes and vitriolic rants about the president’s bold actions. Those who are dishonest will call it a “Muslim ban” predicated on religion. Of course, that’s absurd for those who actually read the executive order. On the other side, Trump’s supporters…
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I’m Heading On-Stage. Yes, I’m Nervous

I’m super excited and super nervous for January 21. Penang Performing Arts Centre is sponsoring a staged-reading of my brand new full length play “The Last Bastion.” The purpose of the event is to get some audience feedback for the play’s development. I want to eventually send it on to some theatre troupes and festivals…
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Is this satire? – Santa Sent for Counseling
I can’t tell. I don’t think it is, but this article is so funny that I think it must be satire. And if it isn’t, it should be. Santa Sent for Counseling If you don’t want to click on the list, here’s the short version. A small girl asked a mall Santa who was on…
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Taleb’s “Intellectual Yet Idiot” Article
I just came across this article today. It’s terrific on many different levels, and I was happy to see that it can be re-published by anyone if it is in its entirety and specifically mentions that it’s an excerpt from the book “Skin in the Game.” Duly noted. This article, in a way, reminds me…
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No, The Presidential Election Process Does Not Have a Legitimacy Crisis
Ms. Katy Collin in an article in the Washington Post goes on to state how the electoral college is not fair and disenfranchises millions because it gives certain voters a disproportionate amount of say in the process of choosing a president while the voice of other voters are given much less weight. One of the…
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A Boy from Pennsylvania Weighs In
Pennsylvania did it. It ruthlessly defied the odds and pushed Donald Trump into the White House. Everyone is still in shock. Both Republicans and Democrats. Something was afoot, and everyone (or nearly everyone) missed it. I grew up in Butler County, western Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh. It has a series of small towns, rolling…
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Happy Election Day!
New Hampshire’s Dixville Notch kicked off the 2016 US Presidential Election by casting their tiny vote for Clinton. Other small precincts in New Hampshire cast their votes for Trump as America settles in for what will likely be a long and interesting day and evening at the polls. Here in Malaysia, our small school held…
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This Election Cycle: A Gift from the Political gods to the Political Junkie
I mean, like, really? Oh, my. 2016. “You mean I can’t directly quote the candidate?” This was a question asked to me by my student who will be participating in our school-wide presidential debate. He asked me this question because I asked him to refrain on using certain anatomical references in the debate, even when…
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Everyone is as Smart as the Polls. And That’s Pretty Dumb.
I get a kick out of so-called experts calling the U.S. presidential election while we are still in August, nearly a month away from the first debate, with an already unprecedented, topsy-turvy primary season behind us. I heard someone say basically this yesterday: “Oh, look at the polls! Clinton is going to win. It’s over.”…
