Recent Comments

1. 30 minutes ago on Rob Rogers

   We have a constitutional republic. It is also a democracy. Some people are so simple of mind that they think use of one term is exclusive of others. We have a constitutional democratic republic. I like the sound of that! It is more comprehensive.

   I have no objection to the term “constitutional republic,” which is accurate.

   The word “democracy” is not in the Constitution, but the whole of the document, with its many references to voting processes, voting rights and elections, is detailing a democracy for the federal government.

   The word “republic” is not in the Constitution as to the federal government, but the whole of the document, with its many references to the form and structure of our government is detailing a republic.

   We are a democracy. We are a republic. We are governed by a Constitution.

   We are a constitutional democratic republic.

   I wonder why some people hate the right of the people to choose their representatives in elections so much that they cringe at the use of the word “democracy” which is accurate.

   Not complete, but accurate.

2. about 9 hours ago on Lisa Benson

   Most people don’t understand what “herd immunity” means. It does not mean that enough people survive an illness and develop immunity from that survival while many others die.

   Real “herd immunity” is based on PEOPLE GETTING VACCINATED.

   It means that, say, 80% or more of the people get VACCINATED. As a result, it is enough to stop the infectious agent from spreading (not enough hosts), and thus the remaining >20% who either cannot get vaccinated because they don’t qualify (age, immunocompromised, whatever) or are unwilling (smaller numbers of the hesitant than we are, sadly, currently seeing).

   The 80%+ have vaccinated immunity.

   The >20% are protected by the fact that others — the “herd” — cannot transmit the virus. THEY are the ones who are protected by “herd immunity.”

3. about 11 hours ago on Lisa Benson

   I’m old enough to remember when the Salk polio vaccine (injection) came out. Like many in my generation, I went to school with the “lucky ones” who had survived polio — they lived, didn’t go on an iron lung (anyone remember those?), but they were permanently disabled.

   I lined up for the Salk injection (no one was anti-vax, anti-science in those days), and later the Sabin oral vaccine (on the sugar cube — the one that literally inspired the Mary Poppins song “Spoonful of Sugar”) and was thrilled to get it. [The music for Mary Poppins was written by the Sherman brothers, Robert (Bob) and Richard (Dick). They were struggling to come up with a song for the nursery, when Bob’s young son, who was notoriously needle-phobic, came home from school after getting his polio vaccination. Dad asked how it went, and he said that it was great — no shot! Just a drop of medicine on a sugar cube. Bob quickly called his brother Dick, and a classic song was born.]

   If Trump had been president in the 50’s instead of Eisenhower — a very different kind of Republican — we would still have kids dying, going on iron lungs, or losing the use of limbs from polio.

4. about 11 hours ago on Lisa Benson

   How utterly predictable. How utterly, pathetically predictable.

   The conservative media (all of whom got vaccinated themselves) discover there is a ton of money in peddling false, anti-science Qonspiracy theories (kind of like religion), turn a medical issue into a political football, tell their gullible, stupid suckers that the vaccines (which they inappropriately credit Trump for developing) are a hoax (though Trump [secretly] got his), and profit off the deaths of their Qool-Aid drinking Qult worshippers.

   And because these anti-science gullible scam victims are too stupid to protect themselves, they also spread a deadly virus to others, INCLUDING INNOCENT CHILDREN who are too young to get vaccinated (so much for that “pro-life” lie), cause a new wave of an even more transmissible variant of the virus, and the ones who whine the most about masks are the ones who are forcing the return of mandates and possibly shutdowns. These crybabies whine most loudly, but they are the ones causing that which they dislike so much.

   All of this is completely preventable, but stupidity snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

5. about 13 hours ago on Rob Rogers

   Again, refer to the actual United States Constitution.

   We are BOTH a REPUBLIC and a DEMOCRACY. We are a Democratic Republic.

   Neither the word “democracy” or “republic” is in the Constitution as to the federal government.

   But the actual text of the Constitution, as written and amended, provides for government through representatives (republic) and those representatives are also elected (democracy).

   While the actual words “democracy” and “republic” are not in the Constitution themselves as regards the federal government, voting, elections, voting rights and representation are there extensively, as well as Constitutional safeguards to ensure that, while we have a democratic republic, we are protected from the excesses of a “tyranny of the majority.”

   I realize that some conservatives, especially of the impaired TrumpubliQan variety, have a hard time holding two aspects of the same issue in their tiny brains at the same time, it really is not that complicated. Sheesh.

   Now certain trolls are going to try to push us further down the rabbit hole, further through the looking glass, into their alternate “reality” — anything to drive the thread further off the actual topic of how so few Republicans continue to actually defend conservative principles. Truly willfully blind — those who will not see.

   Κύριε, ἐλέησον — “God help us!” “Lord have mercy!”

6. about 16 hours ago on Rob Rogers

   — So true. @Kyrie Eleison (Κύριε, ἐλέησον — “God help us!” “Lord have mercy!”), like many conservatives, often uses words he doesn’t understand.

7. about 19 hours ago on Rob Rogers

   — in fairness, I just finished reading The Genius of Birds about avian intelligence, and it turns out that pigeons are actually quite intelligent. Of course, when they congest in large numbers in cities instead of being raised for racing or communication, they can become quite a pest. Crows are also very intelligent, but can also be very annoying pests that can do a lot of damage (including driving out many other songbird species).

   As for all that “flying around, flapping and crapping, knocking over all the pieces…….and then strutting off acting like they won the game” that @TimBenzedrine referred to, when the strutting starts, just call out the peregrine hunters. These lightning-fast falcons have a special fondness for pigeons, and the plump strutters won’t even know what hit ’em.

8. about 20 hours ago on Rob Rogers

   — I do not reply TO @Kyrie Eleison (Κύριε, ἐλέησον — “God help us!” “Lord have mercy!”), I respond ABOUT him. I would never waste my time trying to carry on a one-on-one with him. I respond for the benefit and entertainment of others in the thread, although I gotta admit, he is low-hanging fruit — so easy to have fun with.

9. about 21 hours ago on Rob Rogers

   … and the guy criticizing a widely-respected source is the one who cites “sources” that can’t be verified. How predictable.

   But it is true that the co-founder of Wikipedia, who left twenty years ago over disagreements about how the site should be managed, has been whining about it ever since.

   This is nothing new and hardly compelling.

   The fact that @dstarkey thinks this is something new or a big deal or a great “gotcha” says more about him than about Wikipedia.

10. about 22 hours ago on Rob Rogers

    Oh here we go again, another right-wing Qonspiracy theorist saying that any source of information that doesn’t support their right-wing wacko theories has a “left-wing media bias.”

    His big gotcha? The co-founder of Wikipedia sez so.

    Boo hoo. Old News. Larry Sanger left Wikipedia in 2002 on unfavorable terms because they wouldn’t do everything the way he wanted and he has been a loud and vocal critic for lo these twenty years. Nothing new. The same old whining we have seen for the last two decades.

    In any case, Wikipedia is only a secondary source. One of the improvements made since crybaby Sanger left is the increasing demand for sourcing of material. Most articles include extensive footnotes. One can read the information, check the source and, in most cases, click on a link to get the primary source.

    Since Sanger left, the site has thrived and gained greater credibility and oversight to reduce trolling and misinformation and to require stronger documentation — the very things that drive right-wing trolls even more bonkers than they already were.