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	<title>Wordiness</title>
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		<title>Wordiness</title>
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		<title>Romneybot Outgingriches Pincushion Gingrich in Florida</title>
		<link>http://joehager.com/2012/02/01/romneybot-outgingriches-pincushion-gingrich-in-florida/</link>
		<comments>http://joehager.com/2012/02/01/romneybot-outgingriches-pincushion-gingrich-in-florida/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:03:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Hager</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Election 2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politicking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2012 election]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida primary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GOP primary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mitt Romney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newt Gingrich]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://joehager.wordpress.com/?p=20</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Romneybot, the distinguished robot from the future who has been sent here to win the hearts of Republicans with awkwardness and boredom, has finally made a move. Romneybot, having recently updated his drivers and defragmented himself, has SUCCEEDED despite the dastardly schemes of Pincushion Gingrich. I call him that because he looks like a pincushion, [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=joehager.com&amp;blog=32010825&amp;post=20&amp;subd=joehager&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Romneybot, the distinguished robot from the future who has been sent here to win the hearts of Republicans with awkwardness and boredom, has finally made a move. Romneybot, having recently updated his drivers and defragmented himself, has SUCCEEDED despite the dastardly schemes of Pincushion Gingrich. I call him that because he looks like a pincushion, and he can take brutal stabbings like a champ. Did you see the debates? Tons of stabbings. Immeasurable offenses. Lots of sharp, needling points. Pincushion Gingrich turned them all into chocolate molasses for the masses. But in the state of Florida, he couldn&#8217;t hack the Romneybot and now he&#8217;ll go home to lie with his wife (correction: lie <em><strong>to</strong></em> his wife) to watch the rest unfold. Actually I kind of doubt Gingrich is ready to return home to his wife, so he may stick in the race just for the pure fuckin&#8217; hell of it. Meanwhile, Romneybot finally surpassed the stage he (it?) was stuck on for so long: he finally caused people to react with something beyond just A) mild satisfaction and/or B) mild dissatisfaction. He&#8217;s not even <em>close</em> to causing any real passion or excitement of <em>any</em> kind in anyone anywhere, but then again he wasn&#8217;t <em>designed</em> for it.</p>
<p>Despite his few upgrades, I think Romneybot will still lose the general election in November and eventually slip back into his energy-saving hibernation mode. I kind of liked Gingrich, though, and I&#8217;ll miss him and his boisterousnesses and his grandiosities and his theatricalities. I hated his ideas, but they were at least really, really entertaining. I do hope that he keeps pushing for that moon colony because when I eventually retire, I&#8217;ll be wanting to get as far away from adults, children, animals, and all other forms of life as possible. I think the moon may be my Florida someday. Maybe I&#8217;ll play bridge with Newt and his future ex-current-ex half-wife.</p>
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		<title>Celebrity This</title>
		<link>http://joehager.com/2012/01/26/celebrity-this/</link>
		<comments>http://joehager.com/2012/01/26/celebrity-this/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:04:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Hager</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[celebrities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[celebrity gossip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charlie Sheen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kardashians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[morbid curiosity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://joehager.com/?p=16</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I read an interesting blog post a few weeks back that seems to have snagged itself in my brain. I agreed with it totally, but still have some unsaid thoughts. The blog post, written by John Avlon of The Daily Beast, described how the entire culture surrounding celebrity gossip is making us stupid and dangerously [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=joehager.com&amp;blog=32010825&amp;post=16&amp;subd=joehager&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I read an interesting <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/01/01/charlie-sheen-s-winning-streak-celebrity-gossip-is-making-us-stupid.html">blog post</a> a few weeks back that seems to have snagged itself in my brain. I agreed with it totally, but still have some unsaid thoughts. The blog post, written by John Avlon of <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com">The Daily Beast</a>, described how the entire culture surrounding celebrity gossip is making us stupid and dangerously unaware of the world around us. He&#8217;s right. Too often I try to start conversations with people about current events, political maneuverings, the war(s), and in return I receive nothing but disinterest and the old change-of-topic. Like yesterday, I asked someone what they thought about our <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203806504577182422284560592.html">Navy SEAL team extracting some hostages</a> from Somalia. I assumed this would be an interesting story for any of us, as it involves not only some badass military action but also the secure recovery of fellow citizens.</p>
<p>So I was all like &#8220;isn&#8217;t that awesome?&#8221; and she was all like &#8220;Somalians? Aren&#8217;t they pirates and stuff?&#8221; And I said yes and then she said &#8220;When is Pirates 4 coming out? Or is it 5 now? Did you know that Johnny Depp just broke up with his girlfriend?&#8221; and the conversation went to shit. The focus was immediately switched from this pretty heroic true story of our military to Johnny Depp, and his French-french model girlfriend, and all this. Why?</p>
<p>Now I understand that there are a lot of people who like to keep a distance from the news. It&#8217;s true; the news is often just a slew of terrible, depressing, soul-crushing stories that serve to shock people more than just inform them. Spending too much time reading news can often leave a guy like me feeling kind of down on the world. I understand it. But to have so many people engage totally in this truly meaningless world of celebrity gossip (see: Charlie Sheen, the Kardashians, etc) while ignoring most everything else that happens is plain scary. It confounds me that people get all up in a bluster over who in Hollywood is breaking up, having kids, and the latest leaked photos, and who is getting all depressed and drugged-out, and blah blah. We&#8217;re obsessed with these people, for no real good reason other than our own morbid curiosities.</p>
<p>I wouldn&#8217;t mind so much if the attention went to those celebrities who are truly enriching the world with their talents, their work, and their philanthropy. There are plenty of celebrities worth talking about &#8212; but Charlie Sheen? I don&#8217;t feel like wasting a second of thought on a guy like him, it&#8217;s meaningless garbage. It&#8217;s like watching a dying lizard in a cage &#8212; yeah, it&#8217;s kind of interesting in a creepy way, but isn&#8217;t there anything better to be thinking about? It&#8217;s too bad that when we do focus on celebrities, we seem to choose the worst kinds.</p>
<p>I wonder which celebrities Charlie Sheen obsesses over and gossips about&#8230;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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