-
The Truth about Torture and Trump
TORTURE IS THE FIRST TOOL OF THE TYRANT The New York Times reports today that the government has declassified some transcripts from torture victims at Guantanamo Bay. Predictably, the transcripts remain heavily redacted, limiting their value. However, some new information does come to light based on an analysis of the documents. Equally predictable, the new release… Read more
-
Getting Past the Mass Shooting Carousel
APPLYING REASON TO THE IRRATIONAL During a Facebook conversation with a right-wing friend of mine (yes, I do have right-wing friends), he pointed out “while we prayed for the victims, you prayed the shooter wasn’t a Muslim.” I have to admit, he wasn’t entirely wrong. I’m not one for prayer, and clearly I had deep… Read more
-
Is Trump a Magnet for Violence?
THE SIMPLE SOCIOLOGY BEHIND TRUMP RALLY VIOLENCE In sociology we have a useful tool called the Thomas Theorem. It’s really a quote from the sociologist W. I. Thomas, “If men[people] define situations as real, they are real in their consequences,” that has become a sociological staple. This simple sentence really is a valuable tool for understanding… Read more
-
RIP: Muhammad Ali–Activist
ALI’S MOST DARING FIGHTS WERE OUTSIDE OF THE RING Ali the Athlete All right. I have to admit to a singular guilty pleasure–boxing. I love boxing. I love the visceral intensity of this most brutal of all sports. Two men enter the ring, each having been trained to do three things and three things only:… Read more
-
A Mad Sociologist Prediction Dangerously Close to Fruition
BEING RIGHT ISN’T ALWAYS A GOOD THING I was going through some old posts on the Original Mad Sociologist Blog. I’m planning on publishing some retrospectives and I’m compiling some of my work. That’s when I stumbled upon this post from December 2014. The post is a response to a Facebook conversation that I had… Read more
-
Rachel Maddow Recaps the GOP Primary 2016
YES, IT WAS THAT BAD Rachel’s recap of the 2016 Republican Primary shows the Keystone Cop influences on the party. Read more
The Mad Sociologist Blog 