Recent Comments

1. 3 days ago on Brewster Rockit

   Not sure the full origin of the name, but apparently the ‘correct’ pronunciation is more ‘Ooh-ran-us’…

2. 2 months ago on Brewster Rockit

   I remember a period when a few companies would throw in a discount code or a means to get something for free somewhere in their T&Cs (usually buried near the end), as a reward for actually bothering to read them!

3. 4 months ago on Phoebe and Her Unicorn

   We should demand the government repeal the law of gravity, it would take such a load off us! (Tries adding tongue-in-cheek emoji before remembering he can’t add them)

4. 4 months ago on Brewster Rockit

   Poor mayfly man. By the time this appeared, his day would have been all but over!

5. 4 months ago on Phoebe and Her Unicorn

   It is so uplifting that to see attempts at reasoned discussion on here. I have occasionally tried it, but felt like any attempt would prompt exactly the reaction you got. I try to be a good and reasonable person, but accept I am not perfect. I disagree on maybe one or two of your points (in details rather than the main ones), but am happy to accept my research might not be as good as yours and you could well be correct.

   I would add I am not above letting some of the more vocal ones exercise themselves for the purpose of entertainment, but I tend to leave the flat-earthers to their own devices, primarily on the grounds it presents as a harmless belief that doesn’t particularly affect others :)

6. 4 months ago on Calvin and Hobbes

   General fact about face masks for consideration: as the Japanese (who wore face masks long before the rest of us) and others already know, the wearing of a face mask is not, and never was, intended to protect the wearer. They are frequently used in such things as surgery (where there is ample evidence of their effectiveness) to protect OTHERS against YOU. In a number of countries, it is considered polite to wear a mask if you have a cold, to stop you spreading it unnecessarily.

   Unfortunately, this got confused by a great deal of people, including the media, who erroneously thought they were protecting themselves. This misunderstanding has led to a number of claims they ‘don’t work’, leading to people refusing to wear them and promptly infecting others.

7. 4 months ago on Calvin and Hobbes

   I do so enjoy watching things like this play out. There’s a lot of words there, nothing on things like companies paying ‘influencers’ to promote their products, or how this isn’t always made clear (as wonderfully parodied in a comic strip as ‘thank you random strangers on the internet, I will buy what you say I should’), but hey, if I’ve given you the space to present your agenda, along with a healthy amount of you ‘are right and will present random and tangential arguments that barely touch on the subject discussed’, then you are welcome.

   Your comments have been thoroughly entertaining, and probably far more revealing than you intended. Thank you. It must feel good to be so sure you are right in your opinions and views and nothing anyone can say will ever change that. Please enjoy the sense of superiority they give you, I know I will :)

8. 4 months ago on Calvin and Hobbes

   One additional thought: most of the actions of elected governments are designed to keep a country running, with efforts made to make things safer and better for the people. While self-interest and personal gain will always be a factor (people in power tend to enjoy the trappings of such, whether in politics or life), but it is propaganda o the highest sort to be gulled into believing any electable governments are organised enough to have grand plans to ‘control the people’. They are far more focussed on the short-term term goals of being re-elected to consider anything so long-term.

   You are more than welcome to disagree with whichever government is in power at any one time, that’s the advantage of living in a democracy, but it is vaguely depressing to see the largely American perception of your political opponent being and doing ‘evil’ beginning to become entrenched in other parts of the world.

   Trump is the master at ‘advertising’ and convincing people that lies are true and the truth is a lie (He incited a thankfully small number of people to attempt insurrection, deal with it), while Biden’s lot want to molly-coddle you and protect you from yourselves (even when you don’t need it, and occasionally against your wishes). In short, all governments and politicians are as bad as each other, just in different ways. Hating others for disagreeing with you only feeds division and makes everyone poorer.

9. 4 months ago on Calvin and Hobbes

   You seem to have read an awful lot into my comments, many of which were off the cuff. Some of your leaps feel somewhat forced: one of the basic premises of advertising (and propaganda) is that you, the ‘advertiser’ is attempting to “program” if you will your audience into buying/believing what you are selling/saying. Note the use of the word ‘attempting’ – billions is spent across the world to try and work out how to achieve this, and that it doesn’t always work doesn’t mean they aren’t trying.

   You are more than welcome to substitute “must” with “appeals to”, however I used quotes to indicate the term “must” is paraphrasing; people DON’T need to buy the product, they are just manipulated into believing they do. Why do people believe they “must” (note the quotation marks) have vastly over-priced trainers and fight over them, despite their only additional value being their deliberately enforced ‘limited’ status?

   Tesla uses one of the most subtle and insidious means of advertising: word of mouth. They largely reply on users/devotees of their product telling everyone else how wonderful they are, to sell product. Social media ‘influencers’ have become very much the front line for advertising in the 2020s, both for products and politics.

   You seem to consider that propaganda works and advertising doesn’t, although the two have significant similarities. “Fake News”, “Alternative facts” and other propaganda relies on the ability to influences large numbers of people. Individuals are generally intelligent, considered and thoughtful, but when you start to group them together, their interactions and influence on each other tends to create a situation where people begin to believe something that a moment’s pause and consideration would realise is ridiculous.

10. 4 months ago on Calvin and Hobbes

    Really, fascinated by this chain of thought: the whole point of advertising is to persuade people that they “must” buy your goods or services. The only reason advertising remains legal is because it doesn’t work all the time. The only reason it is used is because it frequently DOES work.

    While you have quoted some good examples of when advertising failed, what about Fanta? Or Tesla cars? Or of course, those endless hit shows/books/films that are frequently, absolute garbage, but incredibly successful?

    Capitalism relies on freedom of choice, and part of that freedom, is the freedom to make stupid decisions, to be tricked, to be fooled, and as mentioned above, to persuade people that they apparently ‘need’ something that they have managed to live their entire lives without.