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I'm a business journalist and a fiction author. My novels "Mute" - "Silence the Living" and "Famous After Death" are available now from Silver Leaf Books.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

A Thank You Letter to the Miami Dolphins

As the Miami Dolphins embark on a epic tank job this season, I have two words for them: thank you.
For most of my adult life, I devoted three hours of my Sundays (and sometimes Thursday or Monday nights) to watching Dolphins football. I’ve scheduled my day around plopping down in front of the TV and watching the Fins fight. They usually lost, but at least they made it entertaining.

My family would go to the mall or to a restaurant. I’d be home watching the Dolphins. When I went with them to family parties, I’d often sneak into a room to watch the game, or check the score on my phone every two minutes.
When the games were close in the fourth quarter, my palms would get sweaty. I’d sit on the edge of my sofa, tapping my feet frantically on the tile. I'd shout at the TV, and my wife would remind me the players can't hear me.
When the Dolphins fell short in the end (as they usually did), it would put me in a horrible mood the rest of the day. Everything in life could be great, but the Dolphins lose and I can’t fake a smile.
Those days are over.
The 2019 Miami Dolphins have no business on the NFL field. This team is on a quest for 0-16. Their only goal is to earn the top draft pick.
I can watch losing, as long as it’s a fairly competitive game. After two blowout loses, it’s clear this team can’t compete. There’s no fun in watching a one-siding beating.
Thank you, Dolphins. I’m free.
I no longer to sweat over whether the team can win. I no longer have to block off three hours on Sundays when my family is out having fun. I can relax at parties and leave my phone in my pocket, not concerned with whether the Dolphins lose by 20, 30 or 40.
There is one date I absolutely will circle on my calendar: April 23, 2020. That’s when the Dolphins will have the first pick in the draft, and I can start caring again.

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Millions of people helped New Zealand mass murderer go viral

A common refrain after the horrible mass murder of 50 Muslims in New Zealand was to criticize Facebook and YouTube for failing to block the killer’s video from spreading online. While that’s a valid point, I have a bigger question. Why did millions of people repost this bloody video?
According to CBS, Facebook said it deleted 1.5 million videos of the shooting in the first 24 hours after the attack, which was posted in real time on Facebook Live by the killer. It prevented 1.2 million videos from being uploaded.
YouTube hasn’t said how many times the New Zealand massacre video was posted there, but it’s been struggling to remove the video as fast as people are reposting it.
Both Facebook and YouTube removed user comments in support of the murders, as sick as that sounds.
That’s the bigger issue here. Millions of people want to see a white nationalist slaughter innocent people. Is it morbid curiosity? A desire to share breaking news? Maybe for some people, but I fear it’s worse than that. 

Social media has become a potent platform for spreading hate and violence. The difficulty that some of the world’s biggest and most advanced companies have in pulling these videos demonstrates how determined the supporters of hate are to voice their message.
The killer made this video to immortalize his deeds and find meaning in his trivial life by going viral - similar to the fictional characters in my novel “Famous After Death.”
Sharing the video is exactly what the killer wanted. Don’t give him that pleasure. Don’t say his name.
Don’t let him have the fame he seeks.