While I went into quite a bit of detail on the Mayor story, there was just so much more that’s worth exploring, including the obvious: did the punishment fit the crime?
Kids/Teens
Performative Motherhood
Online “influencers” seem to me to be a fairly clear example of a job that shouldn’t exist.
Round Trip
A story in this week’s issue stirred up some emotions, taking me on a trip. I’d love to take you along with me.
Deepfake Education
There is a lot more to be said about the top story this week:
Engineering the Future
I’ve Had a Lovely and Slow conversation with Craig in Georgia, a retired Engineering Professor who, last year, “finally decided to do the ‘right’ thing and not be such a cheapskate & finally subscribe to Premium.”
When Co-Sleeping with a Baby Is a Bad Idea
I “had to” look up more details on a story. While “I Hate This Story” does reflect my feelings, I do think it’s important to occasionally bring to light how horrible people can be, even to their own children, because we can and should learn from them.
Florida Book Censorship
There needed to be a place to comment on, and get more info on, a truly moronic Florida story from this week’s issue. This is the place.
Two Court Orders
The first two stories this week have brief summaries of two different court orders: you might utter a distressed “You can’t be serious!” on one. The other could be described with the same words, but with an opposite emotion.
Texas Zero Tolerance
I Still Get So Angry at Zero Tolerance stories! Let’s start with the story that made me angry this week:
093: The Best Books were Never Written
In This Episode: I still feel his pain, and I will until I die. But strangely, feeling that pain led me to resolve, not fear. That taught me that my pain could be a good teacher.
When Scams Become Deadly
by Paul Myers
©2022 by Paul Myers, excerpted with permission from his Talkbiz News newsletter.
“He Kind of Groomed Me to Get to My Son”
I wrote a story for the 12 September newsletter, put it aside to await further details — and forgot about it. I happened across it again after writing this week’s stories. It’s definitely not a “fun” addition to that week’s lineup, but it’s got a very important message: How two parents saved their child (and others) from being the victim of a pedophile.
Black Crayons
I got this in 1997 from a friend. It was written by Deirdre Sholto-Douglas*. I’ve discussed it with her and she assures me it’s a true story, and gave her permission to publish it. I originally ran it on December 9, 2000, when Randy’s Random was a long-form joke email publication; she originally posted it in the Usenet newsgroup alt.peeves in 1994.
She did a very good thing for her daughter.
My Niece The Scholar
She doesn’t read this site, so I should be safe — yes, this is a true story.
Language Arts
This is an absolutely true story: I was in the class.
What It’s Like to Lose a Child Patient
In early 2021, I started a new online project called What It’s Like To… to tell stories that other people might want to know about.
Kill the Messenger
An item in this week’s newsletter is the tip of the iceberg of a much deeper problem: how bureaucrats so love to kill the messengers. First that item, from the 9 August 2020 issue — the Headline of the Week:
075: Leveraging Thinking Tools
In This Episode: A profound bit of advice isn’t necessarily usable just for the situation it’s created for. In fact, that may be what makes it profound, because sometimes you end up with a nice tool for leveraging your Uncommon Sense. This episode offers a great example of that.
074: “I’ve Learned to Never Give Up”
In This Episode: Previous episodes have pointed out that children can indeed have Uncommon Sense. So much so, they can truly contribute to society. So this week, I’ll tell you about Nora Keegan. She’s 14, and has been doing something extraordinary for five years now.
060: Uncommon Sense in Kids
(How to Help Your Kids be Millionaires …when you aren’t rich.)
In This Episode: Can children have Uncommon Sense? Let me tell you the story of Colin Flynn, and then see what you think.