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The Death of Hulkamania

  When I was younger, I never really got into wrestling. Sometimes I would watch. I knew who most of the big names were. But I was not really a fan. However, I loved Hulk Hogan. I had one of those stuffed Hulk Hogan dolls. I think I won it at the fair. I watched him in Urban Commando and Mr. Nanny. He was just part of the cultural zeitgeist.  Earlier this week, the wrestler Terry Gene Bollea passed away. Across social media people are talking about it. Many are mourning the loss of a wrestler they loved. Others are pointing out his deep flaws, including racism and union busting. If I had been a more passionate wrestling fan, I wonder how I would feel about it. It is not easy to see someone, especially someone from your youth, become the villain. And in this case, I don’t just mean turning heel and becoming Hollywood Hogan.  By a lot of accounts, Terry Bollea was not a great person to work with. He snitched to management when other wrestlers were trying to form a union. Re...
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Thinking of the Children

  Let’s talk about protecting children from harm. I like to think that is an idea most people can get behind. In particular, I want to talk about one of the biggest dangers facing young people these days. It isn’t drugs or tiktok challenges. It is suicide. Can we all agree that young people killing themselves is a bad thing? Seems like a pretty low bar to clear saying that children and teens committing suicide is universally bad. Really, if you can’t agree to that, just stop reading now. For the rest of us, I just want to start at a very basic premise: anything that stops a young person from killing themself is a good thing unless you can show evidence that it somehow creates a greater harm.  Suicide is a pretty multifaceted issue. There are many causes, and not all can be treated the same way. Some people have deep seated mental health issues. Others are dealing with trama. Others are suffering the effects of socio-economic issues. I am not going to try and tackle all possibl...
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The Power of Words

Let me present you with a hypothetical. Senator Robert Kelly holds a campaign rally. During the rally he states that the greatest threat to the United States is mutants. He goes on about how they are ruining America and cheating hard working people out of their jobs. He derides them as untrustworthy and criminal in nature. A week later a man from that rally kills a mutant that he believes took his job. When asked about it, Senator Kelly condemns the man and any form of violence. He then goes on the campaign trail, still making caustic remarks about mutants. He accuses them of being rapists and murders. A month later a man opens fire at a mutant support group. Senator Kelly declares on TV that there is no room for violence. At his next rally he introduces the Mutant Registration Act to protect Americans from criminal mutants. Any outside observer would be pretty skeptical of the senator’s condemnations of violence. There is a pretty clear line from what he is saying to what happens. Sur...
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