The Inner Monologue

I have a small favor to ask. If you have ever read one of my posts and thought, “Huh. That wasn’t a complete waste of four minutes,” please share it. That’s it. That’s the entire sophisticated marketing strategy. I currently make absolutely nothing from these posts. No advertising empire. No lucrative sponsorship deal. No yacht…

America only gets one 250th birthday. Congress began preparing for it a decade ago. In 2016, it created the United States Semiquincentennial Commission to oversee the celebration and the public-facing America250 effort. Congress later appropriated $150 million for activities commemorating the anniversary. Then Donald Trump returned to the White House, and something peculiar happened. A…

It begins as a bruise on the horizon—a greenish, spinning smear above the skyline. By the time the sirens wail, millions are already watching radar apps, seeing the red hook echo bloom like a curse. They tell themselves the same lie people always tell: It won’t hit here. But this time it does. And when…

We live in an age overflowing with beneficial practices. Science has verified that regular exercise lowers blood pressure, meditation reduces stress, community connection extends life, and a balanced diet protects the heart. These are not mysteries; they are measurable, repeatable, and as reliable as sunrise. And yet—over and over—we see these simple truths overlaid with…

Everyone remembers the Wicked Witch of the West as the villain of The Wizard of Oz. But watch the 1939 movie again and consider a more unsettling possibility. What if Glinda was the one manipulating everything? When Dorothy arrives in Oz, she accidentally kills the Wicked Witch of the East. Glinda immediately appears and places…

There is a peculiar assumption underlying much of the debate over Donald Trump’s second administration: that whatever one thinks of his transformation of the federal government, a future president can simply change it back. A regulation can be rewritten. An agency can be reopened. Scientists can be rehired. Federal property can be reacquired. Grants can…

When Donald Trump first emerged as a political figure in 2015, his rhetorical style was already controversial: bombastic, insulting, hyperbolic, often employing demeaning language toward immigrants, women, media, and political opponents. Over time, that style has not simply persisted — it has intensified, embedding darker themes of violence, civil conflict, and executive force, nudging against…

For years, the MAGA movement has thrived on a caricature of the left: weak, divided, cautious, addicted to committees and consensus. They mock Democrats as toothless technocrats, or as doddering elites unable to harness passion or conviction. But lurking behind all the noise is a prospect that genuinely terrifies them, one they dare not speak…

To the leadership of the Department of Veterans Affairs, I respectfully ask the Department to consider a policy initiative that could profoundly improve the lives of many disabled veterans without increasing benefit payments by a single dollar. Today, a veteran may receive disability compensation for injuries or illnesses directly attributable to military service, only to…

Premise A group of strangers arrive at a mysterious location — an abandoned retreat center in the woods. Soon, they realize they’re trapped in a time loop: when someone dies, the loop resets. The only way out is for everyone to experience death once. Until then, they’re condemned to relive the same day in escalating…