Recent Comments

1. 26 days ago on Luann

   Because Chewy got lost on his way to Tatooine?

2. about 1 month ago on For Better or For Worse

   Not everyone does have turkey for both. Some eat ham or chicken (or even lunchmeat for big gatherings). But it’s whatever the family wants to have, and since Thanksgiving and Christmas are both special holidays, turkey is often considered a valid choice. The are a month apart, which is plenty of time in between to have other types of entrees.

3. about 2 months ago on JumpStart

   Then why’d you write one? ;-D

4. 2 months ago on Michael Ramirez

   Sure there were “barbaric actions of a few miscreants” in the history of the Indigenous Americans, but for them it was the exception, not the rule —

   Such as slavery or the human and child sacrifices practiced by some Native American tribes? All humans are flawed, and hopefully we have all learned from the sins of previous generations, whether they are Native American, European, Asian, African, or of a particular religion or government. Power corrupts, no matter the source of that power.

5. 2 months ago on Michael Ramirez

   They absolutely disagreed with the “established religious authority” (the King and the Church of England). Their own community also was built on the notion of being able to practice their religion freely. It was a new concept of limited religious freedom, but a step toward full religious freedom nonetheless. They were raised in a culture where religion and government were the same. They didn’t know anything else except that they did not agree with the King and the Church of England. They were Separatists, and they themselves were persecuted for their beliefs back in England. They were not the same as the Puritans, who were more devoted to and only wished to reform the Church of England from within. According to Sarah Crabtree, a historian at San Francisco State University, “The Puritans and their ‘City on a Hill’ explicitly rejected religious freedom and never attempted to adopt the Pilgrims’ initial, fleeting cooperation with American Indian peoples.” Eventually, the Separatists themselves were outnumbered by the Puritans and were absorbed into Puritan communities. The Separatists (”Pilgrims") simply wanted to practice their faith without harassment. They had tried to do that in Holland but were unsatisfied there for practical reasons, i.e., they also found it hard for them to retain their English identity in a Dutch country and it was also hard for them to make a living there. The Plymouth Pilgrims and the Wampanoags set up a mutually beneficial alliance that lasted over 50 years.

6. 2 months ago on Michael Ramirez

   Wow. If you judged all Native Americans on the barbaric actions of a few miscreants (like you just did with European Christians), someone would call you “prejudiced” and “bigoted.” Certainly, there were barbaric actions committed by Christians. Those are rightly condemned. But there were barbaric actions on the part of the Natives too. Human sacrifice, and even child sacrifice, were practiced by some Native cultures. And many Christians just wanted to live and practice their faith in peace. Keep in mind that acting in self-defense does not constitute barbarity, whether we’re talking about the Natives or the Europeans.

7. 2 months ago on Michael Ramirez

   No doubt, the Pilgrims were inexperienced. They were newcomers in a new and strange land. Their fortitude and determination is to be praised, as is the help they received from the Wampanoag tribe. All they wanted was a small piece of land to raise their families without the harassment and persecution they received because of their religious convictions back in England. They basically starved through that first winter but they were able to put up enough shelter to protect them. It was a long while before they saw any other people, though. When they finally did come across the Native Americans, it indeed was a blessing that there were a few of them who spoke English. The Wampanoag were extremely helpful to the Pilgrims and helped them to get established in their settlement. It is almost certain they could not have survived much longer without that assistance.

   The later wars and killings on both sides are certainly to be lamented. Some of the children of those first settlers were guilty of intolerance against their neighbors. But the Native Americans were not totally innocent either. Some Native Americans built up such resentments to the settlers that they could think of little else than to rebel. And with Metacom (King Philip), this all came to a head. To say that the English were guilty of “genocide” and not say that the Natives also killed innocent people is too simplistic. I doubt that anyone thought, “Hey, let’s make them sick so they’ll all die off.” Remember: Sickness was unintentionally passed among the settlers themselves as well as to others around them. Although what followed years later is a disgrace, the Pilgrims and the Natives initially got along fine and that should be the model we should be thinking of on Thanksgiving Day. We could all learn from their example of cross-cultural cooperation and assistance.

8. 2 months ago on That is Priceless

   “A-ha, Nellie… According to my new invention, you’ve lost your purity just within the last year.”

9. 2 months ago on Michael Ramirez

   If reproduction is the goal of nature, to keep species going and surviving, then yes, we begin as females in the womb but develop into females and males. Female eggs need male sperm in order to reproduce. Nature, all on its own, sees that females births are accompanied by male births so that our species, and others, can reproduce. The default template of nature is male and female. Males are not abnormal. Uncommon variations in both physical and psychological sexual characteristics are abnormal, just as undesired brain, heart, or limb deformities are abnormal. The person with any of these traits is certainly human but if the abnormalities can be treated and help lead to a longer, fuller life, they should be. It is delusion to think that all variations are equal or healthy.

   I stand by my statement: While we all start out as females, through our natural design and development we don’t all stay that way. By the time we are given birth, the overwhelming majority are either male or female in design, designed for sexual reproduction, not just for sexual desire and pleasure. Male (XY) and female (XX) are the default template for human beings. Sexual behavior or belief does not always dictate anatomical or physiological reality.

10. 2 months ago on Michael Ramirez

    and @neocon: “Male and female is the default template.”

    Prove me wrong.