Recent Comments

1. 1 day ago on Cornered

   I love the cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds of summer. I like to imagine they are giant floating rococo basilicas, with thousands of niches for unknown saints.

2. 1 day ago on The Fusco Brothers

   He’s not paying attention any more.

3. 1 day ago on In the Bleachers

   “Can’t we all just get along?”

4. 1 day ago on In the Bleachers

   In the long run, you’re much better off being there for your team and paying the fine. The league minimum is $555,000, and the average is $4 million; a $2,500 fine is not really a deterrent. Most of these “fights” are mostly pro forma anyhow.

5. 3 days ago on Fred Basset

   … and with similar restrictions for humans.

6. 3 days ago on The Fusco Brothers

   An unexamined life is worth living, but only for the beer and pizza.

7. 3 days ago on Rubes

   He’s not holding a whip. He’s holding a club with about 2 ft of string on the end. A whip would have to be more substantial and much longer.

8. 3 days ago on Scary Gary

   The truth hurts, doesn’t it?

9. 4 days ago on Agnes

   For a variety of reasons, I think we should concentrate on practical fusion before going to Mars. In the meantime, we need to make sure there are no native microbes before we make it our septic tank away from home.

   Your suggestions are not bad, but they won’t be happening in less than 20 years, either — especially the nuclear engine. The problems with that are 5% technical, 20% environmental, and 75% political.

10. 4 days ago on Agnes

    The clock is ticking loudly for both of them, and you underestimate the medical risks involved in several months in zero g outside the protection of earth’s magnetic field. He has yet to do what the Soviets did in 1961 — put a man in orbit. I suppose I could, at age 50, learn basketball and be drafted by the NBA, but the odds are long against that, too.

    What MIGHT happen is, in 20 years or so, he sends crew of younger, fitter people — people with engineering backgrounds who would have a chance of fixing problems as they occur. They might, as his employees, conquer Mars. Edmund Hillary conquered Everest as a subject of Queen Elizabeth 66 years ago, so by that standard, she’s won the race.