My Culture, Arts, and Faith Archive: 163 Articles, Blog Posts, Essays, and Reviews from 2011-2020

When I graduated from Ball State University in 2006 I did so with two majors – English with a creative writing emphasis and Political Science. And ever since then, so have I remained, largely split between exploring the realm of film, fiction, art, culture and faith versus fighting in the political ideology contests. To see my writings on the latter subject from 2011-2017 please click here, and to see my newer writings from 2018 through the present (with regular updates) click here.

As one would hopefully suspect, I have grown and my views evolved over the years, so not everything in these articles is necessarily a position which I still hold. However, I have tried to not include those which are simply too far from my current perspectives.

Also, given the age of some of these articles, many do not have the same correct formatting and complete images as when they first appeared. In some articles this is not very consequential, whereas in others the images were custom-made by me and more consequential for the article. Oh well. Caveat emptor.

2011: 28 Pieces

A 5-Part series at Breitbart’s Big Hollywood blog:

10 Articles and Book Reviews published at FrontPageMag: 

That Summer I began contributing to PJ Media before joining as associate editor: 

2012: 32 Pieces

(Unless otherwise noted all articles between 2012 and 2015 were published at PJM)

Continue reading “My Culture, Arts, and Faith Archive: 163 Articles, Blog Posts, Essays, and Reviews from 2011-2020”

My Archive: 50 Counter-Islamist Articles from 2011-2017

[Image above: the late Barry Rubin, Middle East scholar, prolific writer, and intellectual mentor to me and many others throughout the conservative blogosphere, seeding his approach to understanding the tumults and challenges of the Middle East.]

While this ongoing collection of articles and reports I’ve written for the Counter-Islamist Grid will grow with each new piece, I though it might be of interest to pull together another collection documenting the previous articles and blog posts I wrote in years prior while first as a contributor to PJ Media, then as associate editor, and next as coordinator of Islamist Watch:

 

2011

1. June 29 at PJ Media: Sinking the Flotillas with the Weight of the Law -My first ever article at PJM

2. July 25 at PJM: Larry David’s Curb Confession… – An early example of writing on the interaction between Hollywood and Islamism

3 December 13 at PJM: Saudi Arabia Reminds Us We Are All Jews

2012

4. September 11 at PJM: 9/11 Rewrote Our Lives in Ways We Are Only Beginning to Comprehend – Writing 9/11 reflections each year is a longstanding tradition among conservative bloggers

5. November 4 at PJM: The 15 Best Books for Understanding Barack Obama’s Mysterious Political Theology [See titles 9-13 here] – Developing a list of books and authors to recommend has been an ongoing project

Continue reading “My Archive: 50 Counter-Islamist Articles from 2011-2017”

Welcome to Atlantica: April’s Solo Art Show at Fullerton College

This past week April has been in Fullerton, CA as artist in residence, part of the program which has brought years’ worth of her artwork to the college. Here are some Instagram photos and videos from April’s account of the exhibit and in preparation for it:

Pieces in the garage ready to be transported:

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DONE 🥵

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Loaded up:

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Opening March 5th @fcartgallery

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A sneak peek of the exhibit as it was being set up on the Sunday before opening:

Continue reading “Welcome to Atlantica: April’s Solo Art Show at Fullerton College”

36 of the Best Recent Maura Videos and Photos

It’s been a little bit since I’ve done a collection of pics of our beloved Siberian Husky Maura. Here are some of my favorites:

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🤷🏽‍♀️

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#bookworm

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Continue reading “36 of the Best Recent Maura Videos and Photos”

Plenty of Hilarity at the November 20 Democrats’ Debate

I again chose to Live-tweet my reactions to the Democratic debate, illustrated by Rick and Morty gifs and others. This is what blogging has become today. Social Media rules.

I hope you enjoy:

Continue reading “Plenty of Hilarity at the November 20 Democrats’ Debate”

My Gif-Fueled Commentary on Last Night’s Democrat Debate Clown Show

I decided to live-tweet last night’s Democratic Party presidential debate. We watched it streaming on Hulu and I unloaded with these barbs, observations, and a few retweets too:

Steyer actually did fairly well.

The level of conservative affection for many of the way-out-there-no-chance Democratic candidates is one of the amusing aspects of this cycle. They are largely appreciated for their quirkiness and for occasionally pointing out the BS of the leading candidates.

Biden’s used this “drum” line a number of times already. I’m not sure how many more times he’ll be able to use it before it starts to seem weird.

This is now the big danger of putting up Warren as the nominee. Apart from her Hillary 2.0 qualities it’s so easy to poke holes in the flimsiness of her “plan.”

Continue reading “My Gif-Fueled Commentary on Last Night’s Democrat Debate Clown Show”

My Counter-Islamist Work: 33 Articles, Photo Essays, and Reports

*January 8, 2021 Update and Project Conclusion: I decided last month that for 2021 I would focus on some of the other projects I’ve been developing, so I chose to step down from my position as Southern California Associate of the Counter-Islamist Grid. I do intend to still write more articles in the future about the subject, and wish my CIG colleagues the very best in their efforts. 

******

Here is a collection of events I’ve covered and the articles I’ve written in my work as the Southern California associate of the Counter-Islamist Grid, an initiative to monitor and counter Islamist influence at the local level.

*August 12, 2019 Update: Now expanded with some new pieces and a few I’d forgotten to include previously*

*September 25 Update: Now updated with 2 more CIG articles and 2 other recent, related pieces, one for Campus Watch and another for Islamist Watch, my first article as a fellow for the project.

* November 21 Update: My second Islamist Watch article since I began as a fellow is now included, as are two more CIG articles: my first reporting on the Institute of Knowledge’s recent convention (there are more to come…) and an article about what I saw when a group of Kurdish activists protested CAIR’s Los Angeles branch for being sponsored by Turkish Airlines.

* December 5 Update: Just added a new Daily Wire piece on another Islamist leader in Southern California whose influence is rising. Now up to 25 articles this year between the Counter-Islamist Grid, Islamist Watch, and Campus Watch.

* January 3, 2020 Update: A new article for Islamist Watch about Islamist security forces potentially receiving taxpayer money now published at the Daily Wire

* January 16, 2020 Update: A new Counter-Islamist Grid article published at PJ Media about a misguided Muslim comedian supported by Islamist influence group MPAC, and a report at the CIG website featuring expanded interviews and photographs from the Kurds’ protest against CAIR.

*January 29, 2020 Update: On my 36th birthday a new article at the California Courier revisiting the counter-Turkey protests

*February 5, 2020 Update: My first article at the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD), the organization of leading Muslim Reformer Dr. Zuhdi Jasser.

*May 20, 2020 Update: I’ve written fewer articles these past few months because most of my time has been spent on a larger, in-depth research project. However, now there are two more recent articles (my final article on the Institute of Knowledge conference and an article on Islamists exploiting the COVID-19 Crisis) and I have six more in varying stages in the pipeline…

*September 18, 2020 Update: Publications have continued to slow down this year. I’ve now added a new article about a Nickelodeon/Netflix cartoon which bungles its efforts at a first Muslim cartoon character. Continue reading “My Counter-Islamist Work: 33 Articles, Photo Essays, and Reports”

Some Spring Maura Doggo Photos

Continue reading “Some Spring Maura Doggo Photos”

Ending Two Seasons of Silence

As is apparent, I have neglected regular posting at the MAD TAB Blog for most of the year. For this I have often felt guilty or even hypocritical – here I am telling the novelists I edit that they should be keeping a regular blog and other social media to connect with new readers and yet I am falling short in one of the important categories myself. Continue reading “Ending Two Seasons of Silence”