by Ryan M. Leach

I understand the world is burning down around us because of Trumps, but I need to talk about this “Cats” trailer.

This hot mess.

Yall, where do I begin?

Problem 1: They are trying to make these actors look like literal cats except for the one thing that is essential to cat costumes — human noses. Like, the nose, mouth and whiskers is the most important part of a cat costume. When people dress up like slutty cats at Halloween they do the nose first. It’s even more important than the ears. …

By Ryan M.Leach

When the news broke that actor Jussie Smollett had been attacked by two men in Chicago, I was shocked. Reports shared that the attackers jumped Smollett around 2 a.m. near a Subway, where he had gone to get a late night bite. The two men beat him, doused him with bleach and left him with a noose around his neck. Then, according to the Smollett, said without irony in Obama’s hometown, “This is MAGA country!”

To quote President Trump, I thought to myself: “ It’s horrible. Doesn’t get worse .” Also without irony.

As an American I…

The 2018 elections have stirred up record turn out for a mid term. Both sides are energized, but the same question keeps popping up in the heads of centrist Democrats everywhere. “Should I still vote for one of the ‘good” Republicans in my community?

The short answer is NO. Here’s Why:

There is no such thing.

Even in red states like Texas there are blue spots in the major cities like Dallas and Austin and Houston, where I live. For years Houston/Harris County has enjoyed a sort of purple atmosphere. Even I, a centrist Democrat, have voted for Republican leaders…

I wasn’t originally going to buy a ticket to the Kathy Griffin stand-up show in Houston on August 20, 2018. Not because of any political reason related to her now infamous photo of her holding up a Trump Halloween mask covered in catsup. I just hadn’t really followed her since about 2011 or so. I thought Kathy was funny and was a fan, I just wasn’t interested in going to see yet another comedy show that sounded more like a resuscitated Us Magazine. No shade to Griffin. She earned a lot of my money with that schtick.

I changed my…

In the final act of film, The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West stood in her tower window and ordered her flying monkeys to capture the character Dorothy and her band of misfits. Toto too. She screamed at her minions, “Fly, my pretties! Fly!”

And they flew. They lifted Dorothy, mid-step, and delivered her to the Witch to be held in captivity until she gave up her magical ruby slippers. In the end, things did not turn out well for the Witch. Turns out she wasn’t as powerful as she thought. But man, those flying monkeys were…

So let’s talk about free speech and the difference between hate speech, offensive speech, racism, and criticism. I am not sure when people got these so confused, but I think it was in November 2016.

Whatever the nature of your speech is (hate, offensive, racist or critical), almost all of it falls under the First Amendment which states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a…

There are a lot of things that are unrelatable to audiences of Love, Simon, the gay teen rom-com/coming out story directed by Nick Berlanti and starring Nick Robinson as the titular, Simon Spear. First, there is the affluent neighborhood where the weather is light-jacket-optional all year round. Next, there is the perfectly diverse high school populated from the politically correct catalog at Central Casting. Despite the Disney-esque backdrop, the gravity of the story still carries some hefty emotional weight that makes Love, Simon worth seeing.

The screenplay by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker is based on the young adult novel…

I was reading an article in the New York Post about an eighth grader from New York who was presented with the opportunity to pose with House Speaker Paul Ryan. He, along with what the story describes as about half of the class, declined the photo op. The child said he did not agree with the politics of Trump and Ryan. According to the article, he texted his mom about the dilemma. She said that it was fine if he did not want to pose as long as he was respectful. I can’t say I blame the kid.

Some conservative…