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To quote Kallend: "The last people to recognize that they've been conned are the marks themselves. And even then they're reluctant to admit it."

That's why it doesn't happen. Sometimes if they are very insistent they are allowed to begin. Allowing is not the same as encouraging.

Kamala Harris is for sure one of the R party's favourite scare tactic boogeymen. (is boogeywoman a thing?) The reality is she would be far better than the recycled dotard they are offering up.

I am so long away from that I hesitate to say anything! Back in the sixties Bill Gibson, Robt Howren, and I (at Wendel Johnson Speech & Hearing) tried to devise a sorting program looking for syntax indicative of the language acquisition period - in children. We examined a large amount of text taken from recordings of children etc. We had a number of people looking over our shoulders as we tried to develop this 'algorithm' - people in linguistics, neurology, education, ed-psych measurement etc. My wife was doing her student teaching at the Area Development Center in Davenport, Ia at the time so I went went with her and began recording the speech patterns of handicapped children. I was interested in comparing that population with samples from 'normal' non-institutionalized children. The fit was good. I decided to compare that data with a large sample of data from Downes clients, ages 2-25, and was surprised by the results. Our program suggested that the Downes clients were engaging in 'acquisition like' speech patterns skewed to ages 18-25! I consulted with the director of the center and she smiled and said: 'yes. its a syndrome we've seen for years...it usually stops by age 25'. A colleague Bob Wachal noted that he thought he had seen similar linguistic 'experimentation' in patients trying to recover from brain injuries... obviously there must be a neurological basis for anything like this regardless of the age and condition of people entering such a phase ? The whole thing became an interesting academic exercise. Bill Gibson and I were using PL1 ... about 1968. Work of this kind has advanced light years beyond where we were in those early years using PL1 ... I think Bob Wachal went further with his work on Aphasia. Its a neurological issue of importance for anyone who has a brain injury affecting language skills ...

"Alert to injustice in society" is toxic? Maybe, if the person using it has an issue with being aware of what's going on. (Which I know many people do; ignorance is a very comfortable place to live.) But I am less and less worried about the antis on this one. I was judging at a robotics competition this weekend at a local high school. They had a bunch of flags up - their team flags, the California flag, a pride flag, some flag that looked like it was from Germany. No one cared. The kids were about half and half male and female, with three or four nonbinary kids. Again no one cared. They have unisex bathrooms. And yet again, no one cared. (Other than some of the older judges, who were perplexed for a minute by the layout.) The next generation is simply not going to care if someone is trans or nonbinary, and they are going to be a lot more capable in terms of figuring out which bathroom to use than conservatives are.

His obvious decline aside, it is his is policies with which I take issue. That said actuarial tables say he will not serve out his term and that will leave us with this…

Aw, come on. You'll enjoy it.

No. Look it up.

Yeah, and the Mike Tyson joke about who's the 'husband' and who's the 'wife' applies.

Some people are clueless.

Divorce tends to be ugly. When someone is in denial about the split and reestablishes 'spousal rights' by force of arms, that is generally considered felonious and frowned upon. It is ironic that many of the people who laud the virtues of reabsorbing the Confederacy at bayonet point are all in favor of backing breakaway republics hither and yon (Kosovo et al.). Suffice it to say that I find slavery of any type to be repellent, and have a much better track record in working with people of any description than, say, Abraham Lincoln (read his actual writings on the subject). What is 'good' or 'bad' rather depends upon who you ask, so I make no such claims either way. I have found, however, that the study of history often provides a vastly different picture than is widely accepted. As Asimov pointed out, the sound of scientific discovery isn't 'Eureka!,' it's 'that's funny...' The same is often true with historical records. BSBD, Winsor

While I don't think it represents the majority, there are a LOT of cops who are Trumpettes, and authoritarian bullies. Don't forget that Kyle Rittenhouse, after killing 2 people and severely wounding another, walked up to the cops while holding a loaded rifle. They told him to go home. OTOH, the guy who shot & killed a Trumpette at a protest, in what could well have been legitimate self defense, was shot and killed 'resisting arrest while armed', yet a weapon wan't found. And don't forget about the Biden bus that the Trumpanzee assholes tried to run off the road in Texas. The people on the bus called the cops, but they 'couldn't be bothered' to respond.

“President Trump’s history of support for the men and women of Law Enforcement is unmatched,” IUPA President Sam Cabral said in a Feb. 6 statement. “His policies and actions were directed at improving safety in our communities and the men and women who provide that shield. He has earned and deserves our wholehearted support.” Obviously fomenting insurrections, riots, street brawls, committing rape, fraud, or simply encouraging your moronic followers to bash cop's in the head doesn't matter a twit when you stand to be rewarded with being on the sharp end of a Police State come 2025. Of course in the aftermath of the insurrection, there was nary a peep from Americas Finest, in particular the 375,000-member Fraternal Order of Police, which represents the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., and the Capitol Police. For reference, those are the two agencies whose officers were attacked on January 6, 2021. At this point I think it's time to wonder if we haven't simply leap frogged past banana republic and went directly to failed state.

Not half of the country or even half of those who identify and Republican or conservative. More like a third of Republicans and 10-15% of America. It just seems more since they were given a social club and a uniform.

Not to failed state yet, but I think the thin blue line is strong here; it's just that the non-MAGA-heads are seen as being outside that line by too many people here. All this deliberate division of people is so damaging. Wendy P.

Indeed, I've had a hell of a good run, opened in 1988. Crazy. I'm lucky to have fantastic staff and awesome jumpers who know I want to be gone a lot but must have the same or better safety etc. so it's easy to keep it going. Also, I really thought we'd be part 135 a decade ago and set up for the possibility, although the op's manual is probably too out of date. I can tell you with certainty that some big operators are going to have a lot of engines to overhaul and a lot of SB's and SIL's to accomplish if we go 135. They might also have some 'splainin' to do about how many hours since flight school their pilots have.

Hi folks, The Catholic Church continues to remain in the Stone Age: Pelosi will be denied Communion over her stance on abortion : NPR And, people sometimes wonder why I am an atheist. Jerry Baumchen

Every school my girls have attended have required proof of vaccinations.

Hi Joe, Re: I'm not sure if I agree with vax mandates or not I am firmly in the NOT category. That is the first step down a slippery slope that I want nothing to do with. I want ANY situation/discussion/treatment to be between my doctor & I. Re: I AM in favor of not allowing unvaxxed people in certain places, to do certain activities and putting them at the 'back of the line' for medical care. I agree totally. I also feel that if a person is not on an organ donor list, they should not receive an organ donation. Jerry Baumchen

Hi Jerry, An embryo can be frozen for a very long time, then used to create a living baby. The current record is 27 years, with the baby being born in Oct 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55164607 Can't do that with a baby. OTOH, as far as vaccines go, a pregnant woman won't make other women around her pregnant. I'm not sure if I agree with vax mandates or not (none exist at the moment). I AM in favor of not allowing unvaxxed people in certain places, to do certain activities and putting them at the 'back of the line' for medical care.

I don't think anyone should be forced to get a vaccine. MOST (not all) people on the left agree there. I do think that if you don't get vaccinated, or you don't want to wear a mask, there are things you won't be able to do. Go into a NICU or a hospital room, for example.

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