In the wake of the obscenely contentious 2020 elections, I have tried to commit myself to never blindly taking a position on an issue for partisan reasons. I mean, is Matt Gaetz really that bad? (Just kidding, he’s horrendous.)

If I’m going to criticize all of the MAGA people for believing everything they hear on Fox News, shouldn’t I apply more skepticism to what I’m watching on CNN or reading in The New York Times?

I now find myself having fewer knee-jerk reactions to the headlines and doing a little more due diligence before deciding how to feel about an…

It’s hard to find a “bright side” to a year trapped in the house while half-a-million fellow citizens are killed by a virus. But there is at least one highlight:

America went a full year without a public mass shooting event.

Now the days are turning warmer and we’re being vaccinated by the millions. Grandparents are seeing their kids and grandchildren again. Restaurants are opening. Doctors and nurses are catching their breath.

And then Atlanta happened. Then Colorado. …

There’s a saying, attributed to Maya Angelou, that goes like this:

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

I’ve been thinking about this quote since Senator Mitch McConnell promised a “scorched-earth ” Senate should Democrats eliminate the filibuster.

If Mitch is to be believed, removing the filibuster will force him to — hold on to your hats — obstruct legislation, block Democratic nominees, and grind the business of the Senate to a halt. This sounds awful.

Then, when Republicans are back in the majority, McConnell’s “revenge” tour will kick into high gear. …

Maybe it’s the pandemic, or maybe it’s the fact that I’m closer to the end of my work life than the beginning. But, lately, I’ve become acutely aware of the work habits most of us do to get ahead that are of almost no benefit to our careers or our employers.

Our intentions are good — we want to be viewed as invaluable to the team, we want our boss to be happy, we want to build a professional reputation. But we waste so much time and energy (emotional and otherwise) doing things that don’t meet any of these goals.

…

What are you looking so miserable about? There’s an ocean of love beneath our feet!

I’m Daniel Plainview and when I’m not drilling for oil, I help people find love. Let’s get to your questions.

Daniel, where do you stand on using toys in the bedroom? My wife has been hinting about it but it makes me a little uncomfortable. (Larry — Reno, NV)

Let’s just say I like to do my own drilling, Larry. BOOYAH!

Shortly after the quarantine started, I encountered a strong sense of deja vu as I stared at the gray day outside my window. I was working remotely. Or I should have been working. But there was something eerie about the sense of dread in the pit of my stomach.

And then it hit me.

All the talk of ventilators and hospitals, all of the time I spent watching an endless month of March through a window was familiar to the same time five years prior. …

If you write content about how to monetize content on Medium, you may be entering a new tax bracket.

Medium announced today that, effective immediately, the site’s paywall will be reserved exclusively for content about creating Medium content. The new guidelines dictate that, going forward, the only way to make money on Medium is to write about making money on Medium.

“This was a no-brainer for us,” said Chip Guildersleeve, Medium’s director of content curation. “Writers get the most visibility from articles about getting visibility on Medium. …

The cancer that is Donald Trump has been surgically removed, but the long-term prognosis is not good: it seems the tumor was malignant.

The words and actions of GOP leadership during the early days of the Biden presidency indicate that the United States is not done with its authoritarianism flirtations. Conservatives are in the initial steps of a dark journey.

In embracing Donald Trump and normalizing his twisted worldview, the GOP finds itself faced with two options: reject Trump and reestablish itself as the party of small government and fiscal responsibility, or pick up the MAGA baton and continue on…