Man Of Jackistan: Reason and Truth's Time and Place

"Symptoms of Infection--and I Don't Just Mean Coronavirus" Rant # 10 (Opinion) Originally March 12, 2020 The coronavirus (COVID-19) dominates the news cycle this week, though not only viruses infect the people of earth: we as a species succumb to many different kinds of infectious and fatal waves. The World Health Organization (WHO) has just classified the coronavirus as a global pandemic. Several thousand people have died all across the world, with that number rising in the United States. Colleges have instructed students not to return from spring break--many will facilitate classes online instead. New York City has cancelled events with over 500 people. And it will only get worse before it gets better. Major indices point to this outbreak causing a recession. On Monday, oil prices fell dramatically. That sounds good as a consumer: paying less at the pump, what's not to love? However, a drop in oil prices is a bad omen for the markets. Stock prices drop...

Q&A: "What Countries Are Still Communist Today?" Originally January 16, 2019 No country on Earth today can tout a true system of communism. The Soviet Union had a socialist system; its leaders claimed that before converting to pure communism, the country would have to endure a transitionary stage of government called socialism. Thus, when most people think of communism, they think of the old USSR and other governments modeled after it. Rather, real communism exists only in the writings of Marx and Engels.  Nowadays, only a handful of sovereign states call themselves anything close to communism, be it the Soviet style or real kind. Usually, their governments actually look very different than what communism entails. This goes along with how red countries often call themselves things like a “democratic people’s republic.” Freedom has no place in these nations, ruled by tyrants... For example, North Korea--formally named the Democratic People's Republic of K...

Q&A: "Were The Dark Ages Actually A Time of Cultural Regression Outside of Europe?" originally composed January 14, 2019 Question: "Were the Dark Ages actually a time of cultural regression outside Europe?" Defining and then measuring culture is tricky. For this answer, let’s say that the hallmarks of a civilization include economic prosperity, trade and material wealth, urbanization, safety/security (no invading armies, no rebellions, lower rates of starvation, etc), scientific achievements and prowess, advanced construction and production (be it huge monuments, state-of-the-art boats, or whatever), and artistic achievement. So, based on that measure: No. Actually, while the eurocentric viewpoint teaches us that after the Fall of Rome—the Western part, containing Italy, France, England etc—marked a sudden decline in science, culture, commerce, art, that simply doesn't hold true across the entire globe. The Visigoths, under Alaric I, ...

SICILY Original draft composed August 10, 2018 Sitting between the shores of Tunisia in North Africa and the toe of Italy's boot, the island of Sicily sits in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea-a body of water the name of which already means "middle of the world." Thus, Sicily rests in the middle of the middle of the world. Based on the position that it has historically occupied among the nations of the Mediterranean, one could argue that strategically, it was exactly that at one point. But many people don't know much about this curious land beyond it having outsourced the mafia and the volcano that erupted two decades ago. To understand this unique place, we must look to the past. For millennia, any mind thinking politics in the Mediterranean Sea area knew the most important island in order to dominate all of its shores: Sicily. From the ancient Phoenicians to the Allied invasion of Sicily in World War 2, rulers have sought to secure this island in the Medite...