Author: Gnerphk

I am The Gnerphk, writer extraordinaire, opinionated, radical, and extremely humble by nature.

Dog Bites Man

There’s an old tale of a newsroom editor educating a copy boy thus:  “When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.”  Another, pithier version runs as follows:  “You never read about a plane that didn’t crash.”

The average reader of modern news would be stunned to realize just how rare it is that planes actually do crash, or that the world is about to end, or  even that people get killed by rogue policemen.  That last is actually quite a remarkable statistic:  The odds of someone’s (more…)

The Not Fake News Update, 16 June 2020

During these fraught times (and when exactly are times not fraught?) it’s easy to lose track of major happenings in our country and the world around us.  Plus, sometimes it’s nice to just leave the television turned off and ignore the news.  It can get overwhelming.

So whether you just want to catch up on anything you might have missed or have instead gone out of your way to miss everything you could, here’s today’s update of the actual news — nothing fake — with special focus on what’s not being talked about by major media.  It’s only been a couple of days since our last update, but they’ve been busy ones. (more…)

Predictions, June 2020

Monday the 15th is the 20th anniversary of the North–South Joint Declaration in Korea.  Reunification hasn’t been accomplished, and many outside observers believe that the government in the North is about to do something fairly radical and possibly even rash.  They’ve been ramping up their public pugnacity for the past few weeks, so it’s not an unreasonable supposition.

But presuming they don’t and nothing else horrific happens over the next week, I have a prediction to make — something that will be of great interest (more…)

Voting Is Not Enough

Every four years like clockwork there’s a major campaign designed to guilt people into going out to vote.  And every four years like clockwork we’re presented with a choice between two of the most detested humans on the planet.  In 2020, it’s more of the same.

Even the exceptions (more…)

Tuscon and the First Amendment

It’s been floating around all weekend, and early this evening the Arizona ACLU announced a flyer campaign.  Apparently they’re hoping for protests, if America’s protesters can fit anything else into their busy schedule.  Our money’s on the whole story getting lost in the shuffle; the public has gotten pretty protest-weary — but we’ll see what happens.

On April 21st, during one of a series (more…)

It’s Not The Cops

There’s a slogan:  A.C.A.B., or “All Cops Are Bastards”.  The premise is, if you’re a good person you don’t join the side of the oppressor.  You don’t don jackboots and riot gear.  You don’t swing the club, and you don’t launch tear gas.

It’s a good slogan; effective, it’s viscerally appealing.  It speaks to us where we live.

And yet it’s wrong.  Not completely, as you’ll see, but fundamentally. (more…)