Recent Comments

1. about 7 years ago on Candorville

   He’s a producer, screenwriter, and director. I think the reason this is getting any traction is because Joss is supposed to be a feminist. And though I find Kai’s claims unclear for the most part (other than he cheated on her), many seem to believe this means Joss was abusing his power to exploit the actresses who worked for him (or at least needed him for a job) though this isn’t explicitly stated. Typical internet outrage.x

   Personally, I think Joss’s tweets are far more damaging to his rep as a feminist or someone who respects women than Kai’s claims (even if Kai’s claims turn out to be entirely true), but I’m usually not with the popular crowds (and I’ve already offended both those who want to vent their fury on Joss to those who want to defend Joss come hell or high water).

2. over 7 years ago on Non Sequitur

   “Boy in a Band” made a surprisingly good song called “Don’t Stay in School” about how schools fail to teach what you need to know while filling your head with things that you don’t need. Some teachers commented and were sympathetic saying the state set the standards, not the teachers.

3. about 8 years ago on The Dinette Set

   I’ve helped prepare meals for the homeless and we ate with them (even though most of the food was stuff the farmers and stores threw out as they couldn’t sell). One of the places that served daily meals also had some of the homeless willing to volunteer as it not only combated boredom and kept them out of sight of the police who would otherwise hassle them, but got them extra (and the best) food and often other minor benefits as well.

4. over 8 years ago on Calvin and Hobbes

   I heard about altar boy(s) who thought it would be hilarious to put popcorn in the censer, so as the priest was using it bless the people, popcorn was coming out. As they attribute deep spiritual significance to the rite, everyone ignored the popping kernels as much as they could. But the one telling me of that wasn’t about to say what consequences the altar boy(s) involved faced.

5. over 8 years ago on Calvin and Hobbes

   The Russians I’ve known tell a very different story. But then they were told stories about life in the USA (and how the USA was to blame for the harsh conditions that did exist in the Soviet Union) that were just as ridiculous as our propaganda about what their lives were like (both with a grain of truth, just heavily distorted and exaggerated). And Brezhnev was seen as more of a joke than a monster.

6. about 9 years ago on Calvin and Hobbes

   As if the faculty and class wouldn’t chip in for his ticket if they thought he would.

7. over 10 years ago on Calvin and Hobbes

   For what it’s worth, I can share my experience that, for me, the punishment was irrelevant but rather if I respected the said authority figure or not. I never respected my alcoholic parents and the only regret I ever had when being punished even when I actually earned it was “I got caught” rather than “I shouldn’t have done that.” My granny, OTOH, was loving, fair, principled, and consistent, I DID respect her and a mere look of disapproval could make me cry, and with her I’d feel shame at doing wrong even if she didn’t catch me at it. And the very few spankings I got from Granny don’t bother me at all today.xRespect shouldn’t be confused with fear. Respect is maintained by walking the talk, living up to their own professed values, being able to give reasons and show fairness and consistency and about any type of discipline can work then. But parents who are “do as I say, not as I do” hypocrites, unfair, and who impose punishment (be it spanking or anything else) based on their own moods rather than the child’s behavior (so that it seems random to the child) aren’t going to have the respect, and though the fear might keep them somewhat in check it will generally only be while in reach (and once a teenager even that might not work, the teen might return violence for violence, too).

8. over 10 years ago on Non Sequitur

   If you think that’s bad you should look up when a father hacked his daughter’s Donkey Kong game to make it so the princess saved Mario because she asked him to. She was 3. So many insecure males went ballistic, one even wishing the toddler dead so there’d be one less “feminist” in the world (naturally they confused feminism with gender since technically it would be her father who was feminist, assuming he’d done so for political reasons than out of the love of a father for his little girl).

9. over 10 years ago on FoxTrot Classics

   I recall getting spammed with some really obnoxious political letters and magazine offers, fake charities, and worse, all of them very political and/or religious (the bad kind no decent Christian wants to be confused with). One was relentless phone calls to switch to a “charity” phone service (if you define charity as “fighting the gay agenda”) and I had to get EXCEEDINGLY rude (as not even “to the point bluntness” work with them) before they stopped calling me. Not sure if it was coincidence or others my name got sold to but I even got spammed with “prayer scams” (they give you blessed handkerchiefs or something if you send in a “donation”) which at least weren’t political, just sordid (and even a little amusing). But no one else was troubled with such things, and it all went to my PO Box, not my home address.xAnd then I got my friend signed up at the same gun range I’d gotten signed up before the spam started and she got the same exact thing (I’d given my PO Box rather than home address on my membership form to the range as well which is where all the insane spam was being sent). We both talked to the manager there who both denied the range had sold our names to anyone but also couldn’t understand why anyone “who cared about the 2nd amendment would mind.” That was the beginning of the end for both our memberships there.

10. over 11 years ago on Calvin and Hobbes

    Not an atheist myself but I do know that most atheists are simply skeptics (as one famous one said, there are many gods that are disbelieved and they just believe one less than than Christians), not that they’re trying to justify doing anything. Plenty of Christians sure have no problem doing the most horrid things and then saying Jesus forgives them so if they just wanted to “avoid responsibility” then they wouldn’t have to reject God, and by claiming to be religious people would trust them more which would make it easier for them to hurt or be forgive by a jury of their peers for “finding Jesus” (creating the true moral nihilism because morality no longer matter, but rather belief). xAnd while atheists have their share of sociopaths right along with the religious they still see actual consequences inherent in THIS life and therefore tend to adopt a “golden rule” of their own (just as nearly every religion has done, especially modern ones). Many such atheists would call themselves “secular humanists” which are run by enlightened values, and you can find such secular humanists helping in organizations like Amnesty International, Save the Children, and Doctors Without Borders (including in Africa where they try to cure the sociopathic evil inflicted on society inspired by religion, typically Christianity and Islam).

    xTherefore I see it as only fair to measure people by their actions and motivations rather than by what gods they believe or don’t believe in (as there are plenty of good people of all faiths & skepticism just as there are rotten apples).