If having a heart threatens our way of life, then it’s a way of life that is doomed to failure anyway. Having a heart is a feature, not a bug, for the denizens of this country. It is why we are so prosperous, not in spite of it.

While facts can be interpreted differently depending on one’s unique inherent life experiences, confirmation biases, etc., traits that we ALL have and must face, there is and will always only be one set of verifiable facts. For that, the much-maligned “mainstream” media is the only media that at least pretends to hold themselves accountable to journalistic standards, some baseline degree of ethics, and a minimum level of integrity.

In an era of brazen political lies, Mr. Mugica has emerged as an unlikely figure with the power to put the genie back in the bottle. Last week, his lawyer sent scathing letters to the Fox News Channel, Newsmax and OAN demanding that they immediately, forcefully clear his company’s name — and that they retain documents for a planned defamation lawsuit.

No, we can’t (or shouldn’t) shop till we drop at big department stores, nor can we (or should we) hit big Holiday parties. At least not this year. We can instead celebrate the silver lining of this moment in our lives. We can rise to the moment to revel in Christmas’s true meaning by giving to others and practicing goodwill towards all our fellow humans.

Though my thoughts on religious ideology have expanded and evolved immensely as I’ve grown older, this basic fact is what I still believe. We are all imperfect but are tasked with striving to be better every day. I would add that we should strive to leave our fellow humans in a better place when we leave than when we entered.

For weeks after 9/11/01, I smelled the burning embers and flesh. But when I went uptown, it was as if it never happened. Folks went about their lives, eating out, laughing, having a good time. I wondered about how humans can do such everyday things when near so much suffering of neighbors.

Roman’s collaborator was tortured by the current Venezuelan regime and escaped to live to tell the horrific tale. He now has a message of hope for all Venezuelans living through unspeakable darkness for so many years. He survived, he is fighting, and is still optimistic, a lesson for us all here in the USA, as we struggle through these dark times in our own country.

…corporate leaders are making responsible decisions for their employees to keep they and their families safe by ordering non-production staff to work remotely through the end of 2020.

Everyone was skeptical and slow to react appropriately at first, but then conspiracy theories lit the internet on fire and gave people an excuse to be ignorant.

Personal responsibility means taking control of your dignity, character and morality. Stand tall and do the right thing and if you still get sick, you will be mentally strong enough to overcome it. Or if not, at least you can bravely face what God has intended for you.

This is what the Fox News photo should have looked like.

For those who scream “fake news” for any info that challenges their ideological world view, and for those who support folks in power who rage “enemy of the people” because the media are doing their job, and even for those who just those take freedom of an independent press for granted, please consider where we’d be if the only news we received were from the government.

I’ve noticed that pandemic downplaying or wild conspiracy theories tend to propagate mainly from right and left extremes and often, from otherwise intelligent people.

Truth doesn’t know a party or a political leaning. Life is tough for EVERYONE. Don’t like it? Take it up with your Maker, not the other political party. I’ll say it again, YOU ARE WHERE YOU ARE BECAUSE OF WHO YOU ARE. Can you look in the mirror and tell yourself that without flinching? Do you like what you see? If you don’t, see someone, get some help. You tell me that if I don’t like the USA I can leave it… I tell you that If I don’t like the USA I will work to change it.

When I would get frustrated with the rigors of trying to be an independent media entrepreneur, I’d often call Dan and we’d end up talking for longer than we both probably should have given our respective “to-do” lists. Mainly we’d laugh and complain about how business ethics and “doing the right thing” just didn’t seem to resonate with some folks like it did he and I. We were full of righteous indignation and we loved it and we regaled each other with stories of crooked characters, shady shysters and incompetent, puffed-up, insecure people in a business renowned for them. It got me through a lot of frustrating moments and we never took what we said or ourselves too seriously.

When I worked there, I felt that Univision’s upper echelon of management (Gringos and a few token 1% ruling-class Latinos from wealthy Latin American families with lots of wealth but little talent) was never about anything but the money anyway.

Andres Ocampo is a well-known musician from Medellin Colombia and a friend of mine. He also composed the theme music for the show Raw Travel TV and has contributed other tracks to the sound design over the years. His band, Los Suziox (The Dirty) was the first act I signed for my digital record label Punk Outlaw Records back in 2010.

I’ve been a little tough on Charlie Daniels of the Charlie Daniels Band as of late and I wanted to explain why. Like Charlie, I grew up in Tennessee and remember hearing his music and thinking “this is different” and I liked it. Now I wasn’t a massive country music fan but “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” was a classic and back then, believe it or not, country musicians rarely used fiddles in their music (they used slide guitars and such). Charlie has always struck me over the years as Johnny Cash-like, in that he seemed to be going his own way, which I respect.