Matthew Arnold Stern's Blog, page 3

What if?

If Kamala Harris were president, we wouldn’t be talking about tariffs. Or a $400 million “gift” from Qatar. We wouldn’t make enemies of our friends or try to make friends with our enemies. We wouldn’t fear a loss of Medicaid. Or freedom of speech. Or habeas corpus. (Without due process, the regime can deal with […]Related posts:Why I’m voting for Kamala Harris for president2015 Parody: American PieIf you change your mind

We’re more than Auschwitz

You probably heard about Dave Portnoy, the Jewish owner of Barstool Sports, and the antisemitic sign at one of his bars. His solution was to send the hateful young men (but not the “bottle girls,” who he fired)  to Auschwitz as a “learning experience.” He since rescinded the offer to at least one of the […]Related posts:“You are the man!”Look what I found at the 99 Cents Only Store!When do you become an adult?

Listen to your readers

The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show fell on the same bookish weekend as the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and Independent Bookstore Day. I still got to do what all authors did, give talks and sell books, but I had the added bonus of playing with technology from my youth. Here’s my novel Amiga next to […]Related posts:The Eight of Swords, captivity, and freedomIs there a right way to write a novel?White Lies and broken men

White Lies and broken men

As another part of preparing for the Commodore Los Angeles Super Show, I dug up the first novel I wrote. It was a project for a novel writing class at Cal State Northridge taught by Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes. Not only is she a New York Times bestselling author and winner of a number of […]Related posts:The day Commodore diedThe Great Man’s FuneralA Commodore 64 of my own…again

Don’t confuse history with nostalgia

To prepare for my presentations at next weekend’s Commodore Los Angeles Super Show, I’m relearning the first word processor I ever used, PaperClip for the Commodore 64. I was amazed by how many features of this over 40-year-old program I still use today. Cut, copy, and paste. Search and replace. Shortcuts for boilerplate phrases. Spell […]Related posts:40 things I learned in 40 years about technologyA Commodore 64 of my own…againThe day Commodore died

I’m not surrendering the Dodgers to MAGA

When the Dodgers visited Trump at the White House, I posted the following message on social media: As a Dodgers fan, I now know how everyone who bought a Tesla before 2024 feels. I wasn’t kidding about the Tesla part. Just like a Tesla owner who’s stuck in a long-term lease, I had bought tickets […]Related posts:Why Tesla deserves all the scornDodgers versus AngelsWhen winning means more

Trump Means Freedom!

I’ve been highly critical of President Trump since he first took office in 2017. Perhaps I’ve been too unfair towards him. In the spirit of complying in advance shown by many politicians and media outlets, I’ve seen the errors of my ways. I realize what President Donald Trump really means. He means freedom! Freedom to […]Related posts:If you change your mindEvaluation: Donald Trump’s Acceptance SpeechTo fight for freedom there, fight for it here

Why Tesla deserves all the scorn

When we shopped for an EV two years ago, we had our heart set on a Chevrolet Bolt EUV. As due diligence, we wanted to give Tesla a try. We had seen plenty of them around our neighborhood. It became a default for EVs, the same way iPhones are for smartphones. So, we test-drove a […]Related posts:What the oil crisis taught me about driving an electric vehicleThe best cars I’ve ever ownedMade in the USA

We didn’t learn a damn thing

Five years ago, I drove home from work. With the exception of a few trips, I haven’t worked at an office since. We are marking the fifth anniversary of when the COVID pandemic locked down the world. It took millions of lives and continues to cause deaths today. It affects our world in ways we […]Related posts:Cosmos and Inherit the WindWhen it’s all over2016 Parody: All We Talked About Was Trump

The antidote to doomscrolling

Stop scrolling. Seriously, stop scrolling. What’s worse than being stuck in a bubble of your own version of reality is being stuck in a whirlpool of despair. In eight months, our idea of hopecore has gone from a Charli XCX song and political convention roll call to wishing an inevitable news headline would come sooner […]Related posts:Only empathy can save us nowMy message to our new representativeWhat the Federal budget crisis teaches us about power