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American Gargoyle: A Cloven Hoof in the Homeland (The Script)

I started a new podcast on July 18, 2016 called “David Boles: Human Meme” and I have had some great luck with episodes like Of Wealth and the Starless Eye and Omne Trium Perfectum: The Rule of Three and De Anima and the Demon Soul, but today’s podcast — American Gargoyle: A Cloven Hoof in the Homeland — has taken off on a life of its own, and that’s precisely what you hope to have happen in a podcast about human memetics and the how and why we learn and share knowledge!

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A Great Black Moment in White House History: May I Touch Your Hair?

A great bit of human drama unfolded in the White House last week and it was a simple and stunning moment that proved the humanity of our current president and the unfettered charm and inquisitiveness of an eager mind.  Barack Obama allowed a young boy to touch his hair.

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Preeclampsia, Fatherhood and Reflections on a First Birthday

One year ago, I unexpectedly became a father earlier than I thought I would be — my wife was due toward the end of January and the weather was looking more and more brutal every day. A few days before she gave birth, Elizabeth started complaining about really bad headaches and her doctor had her come in for some tests. It turned out that she had preeclampsia and it was preventing proper growth in the womb. The doctors were undecided whether to induce labor or not but when it became clear that the yet unnamed baby was in danger (We decided, in the spirit of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, not to find out the gender of the baby — it was good enough for generation after generation and it was good enough for us!)

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The Diddling Priest Strikes Again

On July 16, 2007, we wrote about the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles having to pay $1.3 million dollars to each child molested by priests in the largest diocese in the USA.  508 victims were paid for their religious suffering.  If that wasn’t galling enough, we now learn about the disgraced Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, who molested children over a 33 year career in the Church.  His specialty, as reported by the New York Times, was taking advantage of Deaf boys.

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Corey Haim Finds Fame in Death

Corey Haim died yesterday, and while we don’t yet know the cause of his death, we do know during the last few years of his life he was desperate, lonely, and out of socket.  His sad reality show — “The Two Coreys” — only elevated his mistakes and his worrisome life as evidenced in this flyer he paid to have published in a Hollywood trade magazine in an attempt to reignite his fading career:

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Woe of the Child Actor

There’s nothing sadder in entertainment than watching a child act on stage or on screen because we know that media adventure can and will only damage the future adult in the child.

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The Real Face of War

This horrific image — a true Urban Semiotic — is making the rounds of the Internets today along with lots of breast-beating and self-immolation over the appropriateness of showing this child killed in a car-bomb explosion in Baquba, Iraq yesterday.  15 people were killed, including seven policemen.  Twenty others were wounded.

Continue reading → The Real Face of War