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David McElroy

making sense of a dysfunctional culture

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David McElroy

Briefly: Knowledge is worthless if those who need it can’t hear

By David McElroy · May 4, 2019

I often feel like Professor Faber from Ray Bradbury’s brilliant novel “Fahrenheit 451.” He understood what had happened to his society and culture. He understood the intellectual and psychological way out of the mess, but he lived alone and watched in fear and despair as his society kept sinking deeper and deeper into an abyss. He saw and understood what many others needed to know, but he had no way of communicating the message to them — because he couldn’t compete with the shallow entertainment which had buried serious thought by those such as him. That doesn’t mean I have all the answers, any more than a scared and despairing Faber did. It just means I know how people could choose to dig themselves out of the shallow and emotionally empty world they’ve created for themselves. But they’re too busy laughing at the White Clown to pay attention. (Please read the book and think about it. The book isn’t about censorship, despite what your English teacher might have once told you. It’s about modern life and your choices.)

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Filed Under: Briefly

Cop’s murder has me pondering why humans kill those they love

By David McElroy · May 4, 2019

I didn’t know Andy Kimbrel. I don’t know his widow, Stephanie Keller. But I can’t help but stare at this Facebook picture of them from less than a year ago — and wonder why she killed him Thursday night.

Kimbrel was a police officer in a safe and affluent suburb of Birmingham where I drive almost every day. I had never heard of either of them until police announced today that he was the victim of a murder in a domestic incident last night — and his widow has been charged with murder.

I have absolutely no idea what happened between them, so I have no opinion about whether it’s murder or if it’s justified in some way. I’m not even especially interested in that part of it right now. Instead, I find myself looking at this pair — who have been married only a couple of years — and wonder how it is that two people who seemed deeply in love could come to this.

Why do we humans tend to hurt or even kill the people we love?

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: love, marriage, murder, psychology

Does change really come quickly? Or do we finally accept the truth?

By David McElroy · May 3, 2019

When change happens, it can seem like a bolt out of the blue.

It can seem as though we’re heading in one stable direction in life and then something changes without warning — suddenly upending all of our plans and assumptions and hopes.

But is that the way it works? Is the dramatic moment of change what we think it is — a shocking thing we didn’t see coming — or is it just the moment when we finally accept what should have been obvious long before?

I met a young woman earlier this week who really impressed me. When I was eating at a restaurant where I rarely go Monday evening, I kept noticing an attractive server and thinking she looked familiar. I finally invited her over and asked if we might have met.

As far as we could figure, we had never met, but we talked for 10 or 15 minutes. She was delightful. She was intelligent, charming, funny and beautiful. She was tall and had dark brown hair that made her bright blue eyes all the more striking.

Keep Reading

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  • When love finally dies, it’s like a fever breaks and the pain is gone

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: acceptance, change, love, reality, romance

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Donald Trump has figured out who to blame for the Donald Trump has figured out who to blame for the the D.C. Reflecting Pool turning green. The dastardly deed was carried out by a specially trained squad of Antifa cats trained by the Far Left. It’s not his fault. Arrest all the cats! #satire #parody
This was the sunset that faced me as I left Walmar This was the sunset that faced me as I left Walmart near my house just a few minutes ago. It was a beautiful light show for just a few minutes.
Here’s proof that reality and satire are indisting Here’s proof that reality and satire are indistinguishable these days.
This was the sunset I saw from the parking lot out This was the sunset I saw from the parking lot outside of the Walmart near my house just after the sun went down Friday evening.
This little parody was inspired by my trip to buy This little parody was inspired by my trip to buy gas a little while ago. Even at a no-name brand, the price was $4.09. If I remember correctly, it was $2.29 a gallon at the same station on the day the war started. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of winning. 🤣
For the best and most sophisticated in lawn care, For the best and most sophisticated in lawn care, check out the sponsor of one of my upcoming YouTube video episodes. 🙃 #parody #threestooges
Have you felt as though you’re living through Grou Have you felt as though you’re living through Groundhog Day lately? Me, too. Here’s a quick-and-dirty political satire I made this evening for fun and stress relief.
About three minutes before sunrise, vibrant color About three minutes before sunrise, vibrant color is poking through the skies to the east of my back yard.
The lights and color might have been more spectacu The lights and color might have been more spectacular a couple of minutes before this, but this was the best view I had of the Monday afternoon sunset from a bridge over I-20 in Moody, Ala.
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Critter Instagram

Remember that time machine that I told Sam has? Th Remember that time machine that I told Sam has? The one that took him back to the 1970s a week or so ago? Well, he used it again, this time to go back to the late 19th century. He accidentally changed art history when he looked in a window where a famous painter was busy creating a masterpiece. And this is what The Starry Night looks like now. 😺
From the CritterCam: I’m not at home, but I just c From the CritterCam: I’m not at home, but I just checked and found Alex quite relaxed and comfortable without me. These are low resolution since the camera is so far away from Alex’s bed, but I liked them enough to ignore that.
I made the mistake of letting Oliver watch some ne I made the mistake of letting Oliver watch some network news this evening. He was traumatized, so he painted a self-portrait to represent what he experienced. What do you suppose it means?
When I got home Wednesday evening and wanted to us When I got home Wednesday evening and wanted to use my desk in the office again, Oliver didn’t seem prepared to give it up.
When I left the house, Alex was looking over the e When I left the house, Alex was looking over the edge of the top level of the castle to stare out of a nearby window — because a strange man was riding a loud machine all over the yard. It was a lawn mower, but he doesn’t seem to understand that.
Just after midnight, I’m working at my desk and Ol Just after midnight, I’m working at my desk and Oliver thinks he should help. The only light left in the office is from one desk lamp and the screen of my MacBook.
Alex has been asleep on my desk for most of the af Alex has been asleep on my desk for most of the afternoon. It just started raining hard, so he climbed out of his bed and walked to the other side of the desk so he could watch it rain through a window on that side of the room. He doesn’t look fully awake yet, though, so I suspect he’ll be back in bed in five minutes.
Sam is the only one of the three cats still awake Sam is the only one of the three cats still awake and hanging out either me in the bedroom just few minutes before 1 a.m. I continue to be very pleased with the progress he’s making in his long socialization process. It’s taken awhile.
Don’t make Alex mad. This is what he looks like wh Don’t make Alex mad. This is what he looks like when he pounces on you from above. Scary. 😃
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Briefly

It turns out that the radical far left has been training “Antifa cats” to sabotage anything important to Donald Trump. Everything he did was perfect. Honest. It was all the cats’ fault. Arrest all the cats! This is the latest of my ridiculous satirical shorts. Please go watch it. Then “like” it and subscribe. Please. I’m begging you. (Too much?) Although a couple of the previous videos have had views in the hundreds, most have still been seen by fewer than 20 people. So I seem to be having trouble letting people know that page exists.

Here’s the latest of my ridiculous parody shorts. It crossed my mind Tuesday to wonder what a slick and fast-talking car dealer might do right now to try to turn the high price of gasoline to his advantage. So I conceived of a fat and lovable character who tried to sell cars that don’t use any fuel — and then I started wondering if it would be funnier if all the characters were felines. Designing the King Cashpaw character took about four hours, but the rest took only another four hours, so this was a relatively quick piece that virtually wrote itself. I know it’s almost impossible for these parody videos to find a larger audience, but at least they amuse me — and there are 19 of them on my YouTube page now. The first few were very limited, but they’re getting more complex.

The Republican Party is dead. It still exists in name, of course, but it’s nothing but a shell. All that’s left are idiots and stooges and con men of the MAGA party. When Donald Trump is gone — which won’t be long — those populist idiots and pragmatic fools will have no one to follow. Democrats will thrive. They will take more power than ever and they will push the federal government further to the radical far left than ever. When that happens, don’t just blame Trump if you’re a conservative. Blame every person who has claimed to be a conservative and has given up on principles, character and everything else that Republicans once claimed to stand for. As someone who worked as a GOP political consultant for many years, this is disgusting and disturbing to me. Those who have enabled Trump to have almost unchecked power are going to be shocked when they see what they will unleash in the long run. It’s been plain all along what this narcissistic con man is. It’s your fault that you chose to pretend not to see what he really is.

We are ruled by the dumbest and most incompetent people among us — and we have a system which allows stupid and irresponsible people to force the costs of their idiocy onto smarter and wiser people. Can we get away with that? Yes, for quite some time. But we eventually reach a point at which the dumbest of the dumb — who are habitual liars and mentally ill fools — lead us to the disasters and destruction that some of us have seen coming for years. We are approaching that point. And yet most of the idiots around us still wave their rhetorical banners of support for the evil people who are leading us to ruin — and all of them point their fingers at someone else, never noticing that their own enthusiastic support of evil is to blame. When things finally fall apart, blame yourself for your blindness to the evil, not whoever happens to be in power when it happens.

I’ve been making some changes to the site lately and there are more changes coming in the days ahead, so don’t be surprised if you some small differences. This is not a wholesale redesign, but rather the addition of some features. Since they’re smarter than I am, I’ve put Oliver and Alex in charge of the technical work, which you can see in this action photo from the control room of our media complex. I recently added a series of landing pages for readers who randomly discover the site from an Internet search. I’ve also changed the YouTube link at the top of the page to go to the new YouTube channel for video essays that reflect things I’ve already published here. (Here’s a little bit about both of the YouTube channels I’m working on.) In addition, I’m trying to move away from using Instagram, so I’m experimenting with photo plug-ins that will eventually allow me to host the pictures — cats, dogs, sunsets, whatever — that I often take. So don’t be surprised to see more changes. Thanks for your patience. Let’s hope Alex and Oliver know what they’re doing.

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