The effects of the pandemic and returning to the world

Aside from the social, economic, and medical consequences, many of us have learned that we’ve been duped all along. All this work, commuting and small talk at the office, and 99% of it was and is completely pointless.

Now we’re on the cusp of returning to the status quo, which is irresponsible, insulting, and cruel. We’ve shown we can work from home, which is bad enough without the commute. …

Chapter 15 of Iron Manimal III

The bartender dimmed the lights and an aerial view of a megachurch came onto the screen.

“Live from Park City, Utah! It’s your half hour of power with The Jesus Christ Superstars!”

The camera panned down and faded into an internal view of the church. Lights flickered over a dark stage and pyrotechnics spewed as “Y’all ready for this (Space Jam Theme)” erupted from Marshall stacks and the crowd roared.

“With The Flying Sweeney Sisters!”

A jumbotron behind the stage flashed a quick montage of the Sweeney sisters twisting and tumbling through the air…

To be indoors

The scene outside my window looks something like the picture above. As I sit here drinking my coffee, I can’t help thinking that it’s the perfect day to lie in bed reading. Unfortunately, I have to work, but at least I’m indoors.

So my plan is to do as little as possible, keep drinking coffee, and read at my leisure.

Days like this were a curse as a paperboy. Like the mailman, rain or shine, sleet or snow, out the paper has to go. …

Chapter 14 of Iron Manimal III

When someone you like breaks up with you, you look for any excuse to call or visit. At least in the beginning. Once you start to get over it you want to stay away from the person so you can keep getting over it. With Lulu I was stuck somewhere in the middle. I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk to her, but I was sure I didn’t want her involved in this, and I was 100% sure Leon wouldn’t want her anywhere near him. She was unstable, at least as powerful as him…

Chapter 13 of Iron Manimal III

When I finished my shower he was waiting for me with his shirt off. He took a hold of his left elbow and started squeezing it.

“You have to relax once you feel it coming loose.”

His forearm began to sway and collapse like a warped clay vase on a pottery wheel.

“Then you concentrate. I am the arm. I am the arm.”

His forearm crackled and bristled into a freaky white owl. It detached from his elbow and Jon’s eyes went blank.

“It takes a lot out of you. Your brain isn’t so…

It’s awful and easier

If your average Trump supporter saw a hippie get hit by a car, he or she would run over to help.

Compassion is a deeply ingrained part of our nature. People save strangers all the time, sometimes taking insane risks to do so, and when asked why, they invariably answer that they don’t really know — It just seemed like the right thing to do.

But move one degree away, and all of this compassion vanishes. And we’re all guilty.

This is why we’ll help a well dressed person who asks to borrow a phone or…

You're adding "god" to words and phrases that don't require it, and attempting to reframe the definition of god.

The reason a lot of atheists don't mutually respect or want to have dialogues with the religious is because the arguments are not equal. There is no evidence for the existence of god. Absolutely none. It's literally like arguing with a kid over the existence of Superman.

Not everyone's opinion is valid or rational, and religion has helped to bring us to this dark place where everyone is entitled to "their opinion," or to "agree to disagree," regardless of how ignorant or wrong they are.

Objective reality exists, and our standards for evidence rule out the belief in god just as they do the belief in Smurfs.

Chapter 12 of Iron Manimal III

We moved to a parlor or entertainment center and sat down in front of a large flat screen television. Jon removed a phone from a pocket and tapped at it and the television flickered to life.

“I’m going to take it for granted you haven’t been watching the news.”

I nodded.

“If you had been, you probably could have put this together yourself.”

I drained my glass and signaled for the decanter. Jon passed it to me and cued up a video.

“This is a news clip from two months ago.”

The sound was…