Recent Comments

1. 3 minutes ago on Rubes

   I own a “space pen” that does indeed write while upside down (or in no gravity, so I’m told).

2. 7 minutes ago on Non Sequitur

   One of the really GREAT things about being retired: I can drive along and not be in a hurry. Mostly. Of course there’s also the “old bladder syndrome”.

3. 29 minutes ago on Robert Ariail

   Alas, it’s not the President’s job… nor is it possible that he has the power to do it.

4. 32 minutes ago on Phil Hands

   That is exactly what Bibi and his gang do. Because, just like the US far right, they do best when people are angry, uncertain and doubtful.

5. 33 minutes ago on Clay Bennett

   That would be funny if it weren’t maddening. This “court” leans so far Trumpward that it’s a wonder they can stand up by themselves.

6. about 3 hours ago on Frazz

   I think we’re bound to disagree about this. I know with utter certainty that the names-dates-places emphasis in my high school history classes were a TERRIBLE way to get me interested. And by the way, I was very much thinking abstractly by that point in my life. In fact, by the time I was in 8th grade we WERE being taught algebra and pre-calculus. Before that, I agree that “In fourteen hundred ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” has stuck with me. And the fact that he “discovered America” . But what I think about now isn’t so much the trite little rhyme, it’s the economics and religious fervor of the time.

7. about 3 hours ago on Joel Pett

   Every corp wants you to be TIED to their system. Because if they know you, they can offer deals you have a hard time refusing that are none the less profitable… and because if you’ve made the effort (or paid the money) to join their club you’ll feel the need to redeem your sunk costs by using their stuff more often.

8. about 3 hours ago on ViewsAfrica

   The individuals are various. The leadership on BOTH sides is basically evil.

9. about 3 hours ago on Views of the World

   Terrorists almost always invoke a religious motive, but they are always and entirely wrong to do so. Truly religious people are not terrorists. It is very well to avoid conflating them: That buys into the terrorists’ story… and it is simply not true.

10. about 21 hours ago on Frazz

    Well sure. But all the facts I need can be anonymized (I don’t care what NAME the actor had, just what the action was). And they can be seen without regard to exactly when: what matters isn’t that it happened in 1955, but that it happened BEFORE some things that it may have influenced and AFTER some things that probably influenced it.

    And I though we were talking primary school history. They’re not supposed to be on the cutting edge, they’re supposed to be learning how to think about historical things. For which purpose memorizing the name of the person elected President in 1952 is irrelevant, but the fact that he was a General who fought in the first atomic war does matter.