Engaging Life with Courage and Intelligence
Welcome to Veritonia — a totally fictional modern nation where truth is flexible, confidence beats correctness, and memes count as peer-reviewed research. This short cinematic satire explores how facts get “professionally improved,” arguments replace thinking, and news guarantees certainty — not accuracy. But some people still dare to ask the most dangerous question: “Is this…
How do smart people fall for confidence tricks like grandparent, lottery, and romance scams? How do smart people buy into Ponzi schemes and crypto-ATM cons? How do smart people believe totally unfounded theories about vaccinations, ethnic conspiracies, the Denver Airport is the Illuminati’s headquarters, a pizza shop in Washington, DC, is the center of a…
The central premise of this website is based on the belief that political, economic, and religious extremism forces those on the boundaries of reality to circle their wagons, irrationally defend their extremism, and create painful mental states for themselves. Many of these folks are “tag-along” extremists. While “true” extremists proudly display their extreme beliefs, “tag-alongs”…
How about a little satirical humor to start the new year? The video takes place in the quiet mountains of Kentucky, where two time travelers from the 19th century are relaxing on the porch of a mountain cabin. The peaceful evening is interrupted when a silver craft lands nearby, and a gray extraterrestrial visitor arrives….
America loves competition — but what happens when one side starts the game with all the money and all the advantages? From 1923 to 1968, the New York Yankees didn’t just win — they dominated Major League Baseball. This episode explores how financial power, unequal markets, and the absence of salary caps helped shape one…
The Two Main Types of Liars Type 1 liars require no further explanation. They are hucksters, entertainers, politicians, or salespeople who everyone expects to exaggerate and embellish. They are like entertaining carnival acts. In fact, many celebrate the whoppers told by these type 1 liars. They create alternate realities that allow others to enjoy a…
I continue to be puzzled by America’s collective failure to uphold the values embedded in our Constitution. Virtually all Americans once believed in the rule of law, the separation of powers, the separation of church and state, and other foundational assumptions. This post introduces the fundamental question: “Why and how are we destroying ourselves?” and…
Making difficult decisions is hard for any person or group. They are particularly challenging in a democracy. However, history has shown that our most outstanding American leaders stood tall yet humbly as they made difficult decisions. George Washington did it, and so did Abraham Lincoln, the first standard-bearer of the Republican Party. Will the lack…
This short video is about the “sudden” increase in beef prices at grocery stores and restaurants. President Trump has criticized American ranchers for the high cost of beef and has directed the DOJ to investigate meatpackers for price-fixing. However, tinkering with tariffs, importing beef from Argentina, and other “fixes” are unlikely to solve the problem….