"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
by wj In today’s Washington Post: War With Iran Is Probably Our Best Option. The author, Joshua Muravchik, might be the poster child for the movement from the far left to the far right. Going from National Chairman of the Young People’s Socialist League in the late 1960s and early 1970s to a board member … Read more
by Doctor Science Dammit. Terry Pratchett, one of the greatest writers of my lifetime, just died. Age 66, of early-onset Alzheimer’s. By baalakavii, based on the announcement on Pratchett’s twitter account: AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER. — Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015 Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the … Read more
by russell A week or so ago, I went to my niece's son's 4th birthday party. He's a great kid, anything he thinks or feels immediately translates into enthusiastic chatter and facial expressions and some kind of 4-year-old interpretive gymnastics. I think the term of art is "expressive". When I go to my niece's, I … Read more
by liberal japonicus Stunning. Discuss.
by wj I think it more likely than not that Hilary Clinton’s candidacy will survive this latest contremps over her using a private e-mail account during her tenure as Secretary of State. (Unless evidence turns up of a significant security breach. At that point, all bets are off.) There’s just too much history of the … Read more
by wj I don’t know when the talks with Iran over nuclear weapons will conclude. Maybe they finish by the latest deadline. Maybe they go thru some more extensions. But eventually they will end. And there are only a few ways that they can end. In rough order of probability (as I see it): They … Read more
by liberal japonicus Let me give a welcome to regular commentor wj, who will take up the gauntlet and do whatever one does with gauntlets. He'll probably be taking over the weekend open thread. Anyone else interested? Write the kitty!
by Doctor Science This article about Finnish traffic tickets has been viral on tumblr in the last few days: Finland’s speeding fines are linked to income, with penalties calculated on daily earnings, meaning high earners get hit with bigger penalties for breaking the law. So, when businessman Reima Kuisla was caught doing 103km/h (64mph) in … Read more
by Doctor Science
A lot of people have talked very movingly in the past few days about how inspirational Leonard Nimoy and the character of Spock were in their lives. For me, Spock is a culture-hero on the level of Moses or indeed Abraham. My chosen subculture is transformative media/SF fandom; media fandom began with Star Trek — and Star Trek fandom began with Spock.
by Ugh Well, today's the day of the big speech. 10:45am Eastern I believe. Do I bring popcorn? As much as I find the U.S.-Israel relationship mystifying, peculiar, and ultimately a large net loss to the United States (IMHO), and as much as I find Netanyahu infuriating generally and his interference in U.S. politics even … Read more