about

The Oracle answers tough questions

glass marbles with swirling colors

Standing there and meeting people where they are. All in a day’s work. The Oracle can speak at length for which the questioner doesn’t want to stand. Or at brevity upon which the Questioner realizes they could’ve written it.

AI is trolling us

Non-realist art of piranha-like creatures showing enormous teeth. Words in red: IT CAME FROM THE COMMENT BOX

Are we prepared to tell it to go away? It’ll spread out the tarot cards, ask you to turn some over, read them for you. You picked the cards. It wants to blame you for the options it spread out.

The Legend of Canselation

Armored knight stands near three running unicorns. In the background, a huge glowing stone structure, aka a dolmen, with a fire-breathing dragon on top.

Arise, Dame Canselda! Arise, Sir Canseld! Only they who are crucified can be resurrected. Only they who die can be born to eternal life. Only a canseled program can rake in a million dollars.

Two things ‘cancel culture’ refers to

two hands almost touching against a sky backdrop with glowing sun between their fingers

On ‘speaking first’ and the meaning of ‘engagement’. You can decline to “engage” online. Think quietly somewhere else. That’s not “cancel culture.” Rewarding someone for being wrong serves no one’s interests.

High school debate judges have their own opinions

Clip art of short-haired person on left, long-haired person in middle, finger pointing on right. They're holding papers.

They want an inclusive, non-hostile environment. Oppression can be systemic. We know our own experiences. These are obvious facts. How can we pretend not to know them when we make any judgment whatsoever?

A hostile critic isn’t impartial

two cartoon guys argue face-to-face, hands overlapping, against a backdrop of a city in flames

They complain about our greatest strengths. In real life, when our enemies point out our ‘faults,’ we don’t always need to take it to heart. They don’t have our best interests in mind.

Quit Twitter?

Swampy forest with little fires everywhere

It’s been a Fire Swamp, and it’ll get worse. Here’s where you can go. If it isn’t Trump who’s given free rein to make Twitter swampier than it already is, it’ll be someone like Trump. Maybe a hundred Trump figures.

We may not have Twitter tomorrow

Letting go is a complex process, and there’s no one right way to do it. Sometimes good things can’t be saved. We can be sad and frustrated. But, even not wanting to let go, we can give ourselves permission to actually let go.

We mortals must combat hate speech

candle flame seen blurred in triplicate

Starboard buys Parler, and it looks like strange fire. This is all kinds of strange fire, except for the queer kind that we like. It is instead made of strange fires that deserve to be scrutinized and judged.

If you’re told your position is harmful

A car is crossing the trolley tracks in a city, perpendicular to all other traffic. Nearby, pedestrians are standing.

Someone’s mad at your car. Did you almost run them over? I can pause and apologize. I care about others. I recognize that their perspectives are valid and their observations about my behavior might be correct.