Category Archives: Clips

On Orangutans

In a college course a long time ago, I wrote a paper on orangutans. They are the smartest primates, aside from humans. They can watch humans and use tools (washing clothes, cutting, sawing, hammering, etc) and have even been known to use tools to get out of their cages. Their main limitation with tools is that they cannot make the tools. Apparently, they can even recognize themselves in mirrors.

On Coffee

Jurgen Habermas, famed critical theorist and German sociologist once said that the Enlightenment may not have happened without coffee…and Voltaire is rumored to have had dozens of cups himself per day…

2 billion consumed per day today…

Male Inequality

Videos like this are pretty eye-opening. Men lag behind women in several critical educational attainment areas, from primary school up to college. Part of it has to do with the female brain developing sooner than the male brain on average, and so men do less well sooner in school, and then, once they fall behind, the disadvantage tends to compound over time. There is a 15% gap in college degree attainment between men and women now (men being behind).

Not to mention, men die sooner, six years on average, have higher homelessness rates and more. Moreover, industrial jobs that used to employ mostly men have been moved overseas in the US at high rates and there hasn’t been the same investment in educational/training programs focused on these areas.

As well, health related and teaching related jobs strongly tend female, even though men and boys can benefit greatly from positive male role models in these areas.

Fatherlessness and children born out of wedlock also deprive boys of important role models, making them less likely to do well in school and later on in life.

Moreover, and this is the concluding point: encouraging men to develop their purpose and find their purpose is important, and currently our society is failing men in this way.

Lots of popularly-overlooked information that is important to consider when thinking about inequality.

Not Cool Enough But…

I am not cool enough for shows anymore (my hairline is too receded, and I think far too much about retirement savings and grad school) and you’d be hard-pressed to find me anywhere, but sometimes…

Also, this is just about the friendliest guard dog ever

On Janeane Garofolo

I always appreciated a Janeane Garofolo appearance. Always very laid back, perennially cool, collected and confident in whatever role. She always seemed very-90s to me with her aesthetic, which I appreciated. She featured in dozens of live action and animated films, tv shows and more and continues to do comedy, having started as a stand up comedian. She even had a funny role as Jerry’s almost-fiancé on Seinfeld.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janeane_Garofalo