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About me - robertsloan2

Robert A. Sloan, 53, is disabled and lives in Lawrence, KS with his daughter's family, their Siberian husky puppy and his faithful Siamese sidekick, Ari Cat. He writes fantasy, science fiction, horror and art instruction. His novel Raven Dance is available

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Politics, News & Issues > News Industry Do mainstream media outlets favor bad news over good news?: 1 of 44

Of course the mainstream media outlets favor bad news over good news. Bad news is conflict. Conflict makes good story. Violence, disaster, bad weather, controversy all grab people's interest and often are what people think of as "news." Good news has to be significantly dramatic to affect the ratings. When the Berlin Wall ca...
Arts & Humanities > Philosophical Concepts Is the concept of freedom overrated?: 1 of 36

The concept of freedom is hardly overrated. It's been severely underrated all my life. Yes. Laws do curb certain activities that nearly anyone would agree ought to be curbed - threats to life, property and health are pretty natural things to want to defend. But are you aware entire groups of people do not have any right to s...
Society & Lifestyle > Lifestyles Life-altering decisions: 1 of 21

The worst life altering decision is to not make your own life altering decisions. It's possible to dissipate an entire life in too much planning, too much nervous worrying about consequences and freeze into indecision when confronted with something as trivial as deciding what to get for the week at the grocery store. I've li...
Creative Writing > Memoirs Good-bye: True gardening stories relating to love, life and gardening: 15 of 257

What I remember most about my grandfather was the way he did things. He was an old German craftsman who owned every tool known to man, could make or fix anything, and though he spent long hours at his job as a welder for Commonwealth Edison in the Chicago area, he loved his family and devoted every minute of his free time to...
Relationships & Family > The Single Life The risks of remaining single: 1 of 15

The risks of remaining single are isolation, financial risk, health risks and shortened lifespan. Depression, lack of stimulation, insecurity and anxiety can all deepen over time in a single person's life. The longer someone's single, the easier it is to stay single and keep to the habits that seem to work. The risks of rela...
Society & Lifestyle > Social Values & Norms Should society measure "progress" not just by increases in GDP, but rather through a set of more precise quality of life indicators?: 1 of 8

A country's progress cannot just be measured in its GDP, because wealth can be concentrated in the hands of a few while the country as a whole is deep in poverty. Many times throughout history, a few in the government or supported by the government wind up taking enormous profits, while destroying the country's people and ev...
Society & Lifestyle > Ethnicity & Gender (Other) Do victims of racism or sexism suffer more?: 3 of 23

I voted racism, but I might as well have flipped a coin. My real answer is not available in an either-or question, this is not a yes or no issue. Discrimination is wrong. When you say that one minority is more oppressed than another, and the term 'minority' itself is a misnomer because if you look at women, they're the major...
Arts & Humanities > Making Art Watercolor, oil or acrylic: Deciding what's best for beginners: 2 of 12

Of these three, what a beginner chooses should be the one that they like best - what moves them most. More than anything else, taking up art demands a lot of time and practice. So don't foist off a substitute medium on someone who's inspired by a particular type of painting. If they want to do Bob Ross style oil painting tha...
Politics, News & Issues > Energy Issues Should individuals take voluntary action to curb their energy consumption?: 2 of 11

Yes, individuals should take voluntary action to curb their energy consumption. Global issues of population, resources, climate change and potential ecological collapse are not going to go away. So there are broad ethical reasons why individuals should curb their energy consumption. There are also good sensible personal reas...
Society & Lifestyle > Social Values & Norms Should hanging a noose in public be considered a hate crime?: 4 of 20

Let's look at the context of the noose for whether it's a hate crime. I'm familiar with the recent case in Louisiana that prompted this question. A particular shade tree was used for congregating by white students, some black athletes decided to use the tree and deliberately break an unspoken segregation line. There were no ...