Wednesday

Hit 'em When They're Vulnerable

A man goes into St. John and Bernard Parish to pray. A guy walks in, puts a gun to his back, and demands his money. The robber got away with $55. It happened at 2:00 in the afternoon. Link.

Disturbing stuff, but it happened in Benton Harbor. For those unacquainted with the SW corner of Michigan, Benton Harbor is a rough place. It's nickname is "Benton Harlem." Jesse Jackson went there a few years ago, trying to heighten racial tension between BH and its mostly-white (and very affluent) neighbor, St. Joseph. He didn't succeed, but the crime and poverty are still there.

Dictators

I've been more active on Facebook recently. I don't like my new "hobby," but in light of its forceful presence in our society, I decided to establish my law firm's Facebook presence, as well as increase my own presence.

A lot of people complain about the banality they find at Facebook: "Baking cookies today!" "Sitting in my truck in the rain!" " Can't wait to use the bathroom!" I kind of shrug when I see such things. I have no idea why people seem compelled to share such mundanities with 300 of their "friends," and I don't know why they'd think others care, but no matter. They don't affect me or make an impression on me, and the majority of posts aren't (quite) that banal.

But what does get under my skin are the over-the-top feel-goodisms. The statements vary, but I've seen these actual words put out for Facebook consumption. "I love you, I love you, I love you." "You're the most awesome daughter in the whole world, and I love you more than I can express." "You're so wonderful and awesome; thank you for being my friend." The latter comment was uttered after the recipient of the effluvium merely posted a picture of her new shirt.

Where does that type of sentimentalism come from? Where does the need to put it into the public sphere come from? I honestly don't know, but Elizabeth Scalia published a piece yesterday about the "Dictatorship of Sentimentalism" that got me thinking about it. The piece hasn't really given me much insight into the Facebook emotionalism, but once I began to think of it in terms of a dictatorship, a few things occurred to me.

Consider, for instance, what would happen if I responded to one of the sentimental bullets with "Get real. Don't put that crap out here for everyone to see." I suspect I would be de-friended and blazed off the web. Dictators aren't tolerant, after all. Dictators also don't keep things to themselves. They assert themselves, no matter the audience. Maybe that's kind of the way the sentimentalists operate.

I don't know. They're just a few random thoughts triggered by Scalia's piece. Input from TDE readers is appreciated.

Beer Man Update

Sales of The Adventures of Beer Man have slowed down, but I have laid off the marketing lately. I'm starting a new campaign in a few weeks. In the meantime, any kindly recommendations you can pass along on your blogs or in emails are greatly appreciated. Also, if you bought it, I'd appreciate it if you can post a review at Amazon.

If you haven't read it yet because you don't have a Kindle application, here's a reminder: Go Here to Download Kindle for PC. There's also Kindle-for-Mac software, if you're using Apple.