The Republic

Critical reflections on the issues of our republic (and a few others).

Please Pardon the Mess (Under Construction)

April 14, 2010

I am playing around with a new look to try to streamline this site and make it a lot more appealing. I know a lot of you really liked the look of the last one but I think, once I put the work in, this new version will look and feel a whole lot better. [...]

Why Organ Donation Wont Kill You

April 12, 2010

Given the recent articles about problems with the donor registry in England, I thought I’d address the most common reason people say they aren’t sure about donation from what’ I’ve heard in America and the American system. There’s a lot of great reasons one might have to not sign up to be an organ donor. [...]

Messing With Other People’s Porn – The Backlash From TittyCity

April 9, 2010

I think I might have hurt their boners. I’ve pissed a bunch of dudes off on a website/blog called Tittycity.com, which features a lot of exceptional photos of naked girls. Now, there’s a lot of argument. The expression of their anger can be summed up in one of two ways, “you’re not funny,” and “you’re [...]

What Is This Website About?: You Help Decide

March 15, 2010

I need help people. I’ve read loads of advice on “getting read.” I’m asking for submissions, ideas, suggestions, clues on what works best on ModernSophist.com. I’d really like to take this website to a new level but I’m having a difficult time with a key issue that will affect my future marketing: What’s It [...]

Movies That Scared You Growing Up: And Still Do

March 11, 2010

This is about the movies that scared us. As a kid there were certain movies, certain scenes, that made a huge, scary impression, an impression that didn’t quite leave. Take Jaws, for example: How many people avoid swimming in any large body of water, even as adults, for fear that lurking beneath is something large, menacing, and very [...]

Domestic Disturbance or “Reality on Pine Street”

February 24, 2010

My neighbors are fighting. It’s 2:38pm when I check the time, but I can’t be certain how long they’ve been yelling. This is what goes through my mind, noting the time, picturing myself in front of police officers, on the stand, in news reports: “Area Man Notes Domestic Dispute in Blog: Predicts Murder.” Put a [...]

Turtle:Upside-Down as Limo:Bottom-Out

February 17, 2010

In nature, all kinds of animals get stuck: the turtle on its back, the whale on the beach. We don’t get enough of this hilarity in the City. That is, unless, you happen to be driving by the 24.8% percent grade of Jones between California and Pine. I live just by there, and paused, mid [...]

“Party Genealogy”: How We Fix Everything in Politics

February 15, 2010

What if your party affiliation, Democrat, Republican, whatever, were treated like your personal ancestry? This is my plan for how to fix everything partisan. Just change the language. I want it to be like you’re asking somebody where their family comes from. It’s a perfect model, because coming from somewhere else is a very American trait. Every American carries a [...]

How Twitter is Making Me Famous

February 3, 2010

I have been tweeted by Diora Baird. Now, fame is not my ultimate goal though, to be clear, I have no well-defined, ultimate goal. Instead, my goal is to be read (“fame” being a natural, though unlikely inevitability). I started ModernSophist.com because I have lots of interesting little ideas that want to be written out [...]

Is Obama Being Unreasonable?

January 29, 2010

Is it possible that Obama is full of shit? I wouldn’t go that far. But I do wonder if it’s possible that some of his policies and agendas might not be the best way forward. What I really wonder is if a lot of really reasonable people are blind to perfectly good arguments against his [...]

Salinger Is Dead: At Last

January 28, 2010

J.D. Salinger has died at 91. I, for one, am relieved. My relationship (if you can call it that) with the infamous recluse has been one of abandonment: I’ve wanted more. I’ve waited for a sign. Picture the kid who doesn’t know if his father is alive or dead. His life goes on, sure, but there’s always [...]

You’re Not Depressed: Your Parents Are Immigrants

January 26, 2010

Are you depressed? You’re not the only one. Maybe it’s not depression. Maybe it’s Chronic Immigrant’s Plight. I just coined that, but I’m pretty sure it’s real. One or both of your parents are immigrants, and it’s gettin’ you down. I was chatting online with a friend of mine who used the phrase “usual depression,” and [...]

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