PicoBlog

I had trouble learning how to read as a child in the 1960s.  I was not dyslexic. I had to work harder than other students but eventually learned to read well. I’m sure some teachers considered me lazy. Math was also a sore spot. I’ve always wondered if I could have been a case of undiagnosed ADHD.  The phrase "Why Johnny can't read" was popularized by a book of the same name written by Rudolph Flesch in 1955.

On Monday the outrage machine was in full force on social media, especially Twitter. It happens every year in January on the day that Alabama and Mississippi set aside to celebrate the birthdays of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert E. Lee. They are the only two states that continue to do so, but they are not the only two that honor Confederate leaders on the state calendar throughout the year.

Fresh and real Charlotte business news that makes you smarter. Delivered to your inbox for free three days a week. Need to subscribe? Sign up here. Good morning! Today is Wednesday, March 20, 2019. Here are today’s big stories in Charlotte-area business news: North Carolina retailers are pushing the General Assembly to overhaul the way the state distributes liquor. It’s a contentious debate that could have big effects on public health, state and local tax revenues and businesses — not to mention on the price of that bottle of Captain Morgan.

Dear Rethinkers, Hello and welcome to all new subscribers. And a very big thank you to those who have upgraded to become paying supporters. Paid subscribers get access to deeper thinking, research, and insight from me (as you’ll see further down this newsletter) - and can join the conversation on every article. I was teaching recently, and a leader of a large brand asked me a great question: “Can you have loyalty without trust?

“Amoral leaders have a way of revealing the character of those around them,” wrote former FBI director James Comey in 2019 of how former president Donald Trump corrupted his associates, turning them into "co-conspirators." Comey had an indirect role in Trump’s success; he revealed Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server just before the 2016 election. Comey served Trump before being fired in 2017 for refusing to engage in improper actions on Trump’s behalf.

Footballers are people too. It seems like an obvious statement, but I think we as fans lose sight of it sometimes, believing their heightened prestige and large pay packet elevate them above the limitations caused by normal human emotion. We can perceive them as superhumans, part of the 0.01% able to rise above the rest of us, mere mortals. This can lead to fans idolising them… but also resenting them.

This post is part of Kool Stuff, a companion book to Long Live Mortal Kombat: Round 1 (now on Kickstarter!) that contains interviews I was unable to do before hitting Long Live MK’s deadline. Subscribe to Episodic Content to keep up with news on Long Live MK, and to follow along with Kool Stuff as new chapters are published. Take a stroll down memory lane with me. It's September 13, 1993.

This is a passage straight taken out of my upcoming manifesto which summarizes the opposition of Right Wing Progressivism towards authoritarian organization of politics. It comes within a context in which I establish how selection and organization dynamics work in synthesis to produce progress that I refer to as an open system, contrasting it to a closed system in which selective pressures are not working properly henceforth not stimulating self-organization to become efficient.

I’ve decided to start this because I’m constantly in search of…or curious about…or want this… or need this…or have to share this… or I’ll add this to my wishlist… You may have seen me in ncis, a show I worked on for seven and a half years. Or many years ago in the Sopranos, and about 25 or so other acting jobs that neither of us remember, including a skit about the OC on David Letterman in possibly 2004.