Letter to the President, 7/15/11: On Congressional Negotiations

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Danny Willis

President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC 20500

July 15, 2011

President Obama,

By the time this reaches you the situation will likely be over, or at least one would hope, but since a similar situation is almost certain to come up again sooner rather than later I’d like to share my thoughts with you about the negotiations to raise the debt ceiling.

In some regards you’re doing an excellent job.  You’re acting like the bigger man and staying above the fray, working to build consensus and compromise despite near-impossible odds.  That’s good, I respect that and I know millions of Americans agree with me.  However, when building consensus you must keep in mind who you’re attempting to build a consensus with, what their goals are and who, in the end, is being represented. Continue reading →

Posted in Letters to the President |

I’ve Decided To Start Writing Letters to the President

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Danny Willis

I’ve decided to start writing letters to the President.  You know, of the United States.  Like, actual letters, on paper, in envelopes.  And mailing them the old fashioned way, with a stamp and a mailbox and whatnot.

What inspired this?  Did I suddenly age 65 years?  Am I suddenly so delusional I think the leader of the free world cares deeply about what I think?  (Though he should.  I pay his salary!)  No, I recently learned that he occasionally writes back. Continue reading →

Posted in Letters to the President |

Google+, Facebook and Stupid People’s Privacy

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Danny Willis

I swear I didn’t intend for these things to be months apart and also all about Facebook, but this is when I have time and this is what I’ve got to rant about today: Why is this focus on social networking privacy even a thing?  Google+ is already being hailed as a great Facebook alternative because of its improved privacy options but the whole concept is a contradiction.

Social networking is, by its very nature, making yourself less private.  You’re voluntarily posting all your personal information, manually typing in lists of your favorite books and movies, intentionally uploading pictures of you doing embarrassing things.  Nobody is forcing you to do any of this, it’s an opt-in system as a whole and all information they have is because you put it there. Continue reading →

Posted in Incomprehensible Ranting |

Mark Zuckerberg Is A Sociopath

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Danny Willis

Not to start off too Seinfeldian, but what’s up with Mark Zuckerberg?

For those who aren’t up to their eyeballs in news every moment of every day Mark Zuckerberg only eats animals he kills.  Not Ted Nugent, survivalist, only eats deer he shoots with his homemade crossbow style.  Oh no, what he does he personally slashes the throat of farm-raised animals, with a knife, slashes its throat, then sends the carcass to a butcher.

The ABC News article linked above frames it as a matter of responsibility, a matter of knowing where your food comes from, of accepting that things you eat used to be alive.  (It also compares it to 2009 when he wore a tie every day.  I’m sure the goats love that.)  Other articles frame him as a charmingly eccentric billionaire or a model for sustainable living.

I consider it monumentally, legendarily creepy.  I have no problem with slaughtering animals for food, that’s certainly a thing that happens and there’s nothing wrong with it.  My issue is when a billionaire takes time out of his busy day to slash the throat of an animal then take part in no other stage of the process until it’s time to cook.  That’s just someone who actively refuses to eat anything that he didn’t watch die.

Continue reading →

Posted in Rambling Commentary |

So Apparently I Have A Blog Now

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Danny Willis

Well it seems the time has finally come.  The planets have aligned, the fates have…fated and the long-awaited day has come.

I have a blog now.

Please, please, hold your applause.  I know you’re excited.

You see, I’ve had a case of the writing yips recently.  The whole putting words in order thing has eluded me to various extents.  I’ve decided that part of the problem is that I don’t do it with enough regularity, at least outside emails and IMs, and in more than 140 characters.  So here I am.

I’d go on about what I’m going to write about except odds are everyone reading this are people I know, and none of you are going to believe that I have that concrete a plan, so I’ll lay out the plan as it stands: I’m gonna write stuff when I have something to say.  Tell your friends!

Posted in Uncategorized |