tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post8446759907349649084..comments2024-03-18T21:52:45.757-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: The Basic Human Dilemma - and Some "Brin Classics"David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70435293680680608152018-03-09T17:06:53.853-08:002018-03-09T17:06:53.853-08:00David, there's a difference between a squat to...David, there's a difference between a squat toilet and "squatting in the bushes". (As I know you know.)<br /><br />I've used squat toilets, and actually prefer them. I find defecation easier with them. Sadly I can't find one over here.<br /><br />But he didn't say "squatting is healthier than sitting", he said "squatting in the bushes is healthier than sitting on a toilet" which is entirely different. Call it a little test of either truth-telling or intelligence, whichever you prefer. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9763829454138000972018-03-07T14:39:13.861-08:002018-03-07T14:39:13.861-08:00Anon, he's doing typical confed cherry-picking...Anon, he's doing typical confed cherry-picking. There are a few (a few) article suggesting that having your knees elevated above the hips (as when squatting) makes the poop path a little straighter. Beee... effff... deee...<br /><br />They leap to cite -- and misunderstand and misquote -- cherrypickled anecdotes that don't prove the thing they claim. Because they are dolts.<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onward<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86401963256038915892018-03-07T14:23:03.442-08:002018-03-07T14:23:03.442-08:00apparently squatting in the bush is healthier than...<i>apparently squatting in the bush is healthier than sitting on toilets, so this right here is a good example of progressive delusionalism.</i><br /><br />Citation?<br /><br />Have you ever been anywhere where there are no sewage, so people just dump in the bushes? Not terribly healthy places to be, with high rates of transmissive diseases and parasites. <br /><br />Do you use a toilet yourself, or do you squat in the bushes? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74824962094279565812018-03-07T14:10:36.320-08:002018-03-07T14:10:36.320-08:00How many deaths do we tolerate statistically by al...<i> How many deaths do we tolerate statistically by allowing white Christians to own guns? Scott didn't address that one.</i><br /><br />Roughly 4000 per year for homicides. So over a 9/11 WTC attack a year, crudely. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44971376560030559172018-03-07T13:58:43.996-08:002018-03-07T13:58:43.996-08:00¿North American Free Trade Agreement?
That does no...¿North American Free Trade Agreement?<br />That does not worry me much.<br />If Donald Trump decides to close the treaty with Mexico, we Mexicans can continue with free trade agreements with South Korea; Taiwan; China; Indonesia and Japan; countries with which Donald Trump does not want to do business. After all, it does not matter if we buy Mexicans in the United States. 90% of the time, when reading the product label, you can see the phrase "made in china" or "made in Taiwan". So, if we Mexicans buy the goods directly from the Chinese, we are probably going to save 60% of the cost.<br />If Donald Trump wants to isolate himself economically, in the same way that the Germans were isolated during the Hitler government. That's the Americans' business. The Chinese also decided to isolate themselves for centuries and the only thing that they obtained with this strategy was to be atrociously behind in technology. Then the English arrived and it turned out that they had bigger ... their guns. And China fell.<br />Go It seems that every day that Donald wakes up, he immediately tries to find a way to get the Americans into more trouble. <br />Donald Trump is like a cruel two-year-old child; with a hammer in his hand. He prefers to destroy things for fun. For him, to build a beautiful future for humanity, is not something fun. Trump enjoys in the process of destroying everything. ¿For whose benefit?<br /><br />In spanish:<br />¿Tratado de libre comercio de américa del norte? <br />Eso no me preocupa mucho. <br />Si Donald Trump decide clausurar el tratado con México, los mexicanos podemos continuar con tratados de libre comercio con Corea del sur; Taiwán; China; Indonesia y Japón; países con los que Donald Trump no desea hacer negocios. Después de todo, no importa que compremos los mexicanos en los estados unidos. El 90% de las veces, al leer la etiqueta del producto, puedes ver la frase “hecho en china” o “hecho en Taiwán”. De modo que, si los mexicanos compramos las mercancías directamente a los chinos, posiblemente nos vamos a ahorrar el 60% del gasto.<br />Si Donald Trump desea aislarse económicamente, del mismo modo que se aislaron los alemanes durante el gobierno de Hitler. Eso es asunto de los estadounidenses. Los chinos también decidieron aislarse durante siglos y lo único que obtuvieron con esa estrategia, fue el quedar atrozmente atrasados en tecnología. Luego llegaron los ingleses y resultó que ellos tenían más grandes sus… cañones. Y china cayó.<br />Vaya. Pareciera que cada día que despierta Donald, él de inmediato intenta encontrar el modo de meter en más problemas a los estadounidenses. Donald Trump es como un niño cruel de dos años; con un martillo en la mano. Él prefiere destrozar cosas por diversión. Para él, construir un futuro hermoso para la humanidad, no es algo divertido. Trump goza en el proceso de destruirlo todo. ¿Para beneficio de quién? <br />Winter7<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43661589486903315642018-03-07T13:38:12.886-08:002018-03-07T13:38:12.886-08:00I go back to the jibber diss. Defending the utterl...I go back to the jibber diss. Defending the utterly evil, stunningly grotesque-lying, oppressive evil-in-absolutely-all-ways Confederacy is equivalent to yowling "I'm a cretin!" The South owned the federal govt for the 30 years before Lincoln and used its power to bugger northern states, sending platoons of irregular cavalry rampaging at will, protected by US Marshalls and then federal troops, as northerners finally got fed up, restored their militias and radicalized enough to elect Lincoln.<br /><br />You are traitor-liars, sir. And facts never support you. Ever. David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-38807854876588831892018-03-07T12:39:32.810-08:002018-03-07T12:39:32.810-08:00Anyone who has been a victim of pinworm might disa...Anyone who has been a victim of pinworm might disagree with you. And yes, I'm aware of people intentionally infecting themselves to deal with allergies, but I don't have allergies and I don't want the anemia.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87328367399887347272018-03-07T12:11:59.889-08:002018-03-07T12:11:59.889-08:00Tim H., apparently squatting in the bush is health...Tim H., apparently squatting in the bush is healthier than sitting on toilets, so this right here is a good example of progressive delusionalism. Treebeardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64431204227693841612018-03-07T11:55:14.539-08:002018-03-07T11:55:14.539-08:00Remember David Brin's advice to college freshm...Remember David Brin's advice to college freshmen to randomly walk into faculty offices to ask what they did?<br /><br /><a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/3/6/17072380/slime-mold-intelligence-hampshire-college" rel="nofollow">https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/3/6/17072380/slime-mold-intelligence-hampshire-college</a><br />sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89912756326880136292018-03-07T11:48:01.948-08:002018-03-07T11:48:01.948-08:00Larry, "nation of slimeballs" is basical...Larry, "nation of slimeballs" is basically Morris Berman's thesis (morrisberman.blogspot.com), you might want to check out his work. I especially enjoy it because he loves to mock progs, who think they're going to save America when Americans don't want to be saved, they just want to hustle, shoot up Burger Kings for shorting them bacon, have sex with goats, etc. (to put it rather crudely). His ideas are dangerous though, because you risk being recruited into the growing army of WAFers ("Why America Failed" (WAF) is one of his books).Treebeardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-58217843553236112632018-03-07T11:46:21.396-08:002018-03-07T11:46:21.396-08:00Without progressives you'd still be squatting ... Without progressives you'd still be squatting in the bush, hoping you didn't grab the the three leafed shrub to wipe with... again.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32947463454860897982018-03-07T11:17:44.977-08:002018-03-07T11:17:44.977-08:00Locum, constructing ideological ratchets and tight...Locum, constructing ideological ratchets and tightening them around your own head is the whole game of progressives. History goes in one direction, toward whatever the utopian vision du jour is, or evil is winning, everything is going to hell, heads explode and the bombs must start dropping. I don't know where this bizarre mentality originated, maybe some ancient Kabbalist creation-fixers or Christian Millenialists or Hegelian dialecticists or whatever, but it has quite a powerful grip on the Western mind. It's the kind of mental straightjacket that probably only ends with the demise of the civilization stuck in it and the end of the age.Treebeardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66635466557994376152018-03-07T08:14:14.031-08:002018-03-07T08:14:14.031-08:00It's quite ironic how progressives simultaneou...<br />It's quite ironic how progressives simultaneously ignore & over-emphasize the principle of ongoing consent. From trade to immigration to woman's rights, what was once agreed on by our grand parents quickly becomes involuntary.<br /><br />Less than 100 years after the voluntary creation of the US Constitution, the North decided to unilaterally change the rules because of their particular vision of the future, <b>committing frank breach of contract </b>while simultaneously demanding that South abide these new involuntary contract terms.<br /><br />When the South refused, a violent North promptly bent the South over a metaphorical barrel like hillbillies from Deliverance & buggered them into submission, only to add a federal Supremacy Clause <br /> to a new & improved US Constitution in order to ensure that the South (or any state) could never again refuse another unilateral contract change at risk of federal buggering.<br /><br />Now, flash-forward another 150 years, and we quickly see that what was once voluntary is now mandatory, <b>for according to our progressive contingent, consent once-given can NEVER EVER be rescinded.</b><br /><br />The federal court now insists that US Borders can NEVER EVER be shuttered again because once-was the US consented to liberal immigration policies. It insists that trade agreements like NAFTA must continue in perpetuity because once-was the US consented to disadvantageous trade policies. It insists that gun ownership rights are now a privilege subject to background checks, licensure & revocation because once-was the US consented to a tiny bit of gun regulation.<br /><br />And the list goes on & on.<br /><br />Now imagine if some Evil Menz enforced similar federal policies on the Poor Wimminz like they do in Hollywood, by bending those Poor Wimminz over a barrel & buggering them to death because consent once-given can NEVER EVER be rescinded on threat of violence.<br /><br /><b>Get the picture, you Blue Union Kepi-wearing Rapists, you??</b><br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10881291671173691302018-03-07T08:08:29.307-08:002018-03-07T08:08:29.307-08:00Alfred Differ:
Hummm Maybe my comment was heard as...Alfred Differ:<br />Hummm Maybe my comment was heard as a threat? It is not my intention.<br />What I am trying to do is warn the Americans that the next logical phase in the evolution of a tyranny is the use of thugs against the dissenters (I am dissatisfied with the tyrants). I've seen it again and again for decades throughout Latin America. Consequently, if the dissenters can take countermeasures to crush the power of the thugs, I suggest that they carry out whatever needs to be done. Starting with tougher laws against acts of political hatred; religious and racial. If the member of a political party uses thugs to attack opponents, in those cases, punishments must be severe and without bail (politicians may have access to a lot of money to pay bail).<br />I am not suggesting that you stop being critical. What I suggest is to be cunning and malicious critics. (Some malice is good, especially because tyrants broke the rules of the game brutally)<br />The translation failed? It's the fault of Google's automatic translator!<br /><br /> “Knowing that a trap exists is the first step in avoiding it” – Frank Herbert, Dune <br /><br />Winter7Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11882645177137048972018-03-07T07:15:37.313-08:002018-03-07T07:15:37.313-08:00LarryHart, it takes effort to not be "A proct... LarryHart, it takes effort to not be "A proctologist's work day" the GOP is saying is sloth is okay.<br />Another thing, the proposed tariffs, has he who invites ridicule lined up investors to build state of the art heavy industry? If not, all we'll see of it is retaliatory tariffs passed along, with a mark up.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-91984301347091418002018-03-07T06:45:46.901-08:002018-03-07T06:45:46.901-08:00Paul SB:
You don't have to wear your politics...Paul SB:<br /><i><br />You don't have to wear your politics on your sleeve. Get to know people first and find the common ground, then work at having reasonable discussions.<br /></i><br /><br />In real life, I don't wear my politics on my sleeve until the particular social group is already well aware of my politics. With this group here, we're already well past that introductory phase. When I talk politics here, I don't presume I'm starting a fight, but continuing an ongoing conversation.<br /><br />In the car this morning, I listened to Bill Press's radio show, and a guest was talking about the problem Democrats have with certain Republican constituencies--that rather than trying to get these people's votes, we write them off with derogatory dismissals. It made me consider that that's exactly what <b>madtom</b> has been saying here. And they're correct--to a point. As a candidate, rather than go, "You're just a racist, gun-fetishizing fascist," what you want to do is <b>offer</b> them something of value. Bernie Sanders probably did that better than anyone (maybe because he's not a Democrat?).<br /><br />What you also have to recognize, then, is that that big-tent inclusive strategy separates the wheat from the chaff. Because, as Hillary correctly noted, a certain percentage of Republican voters really <b>are</b> deplorable. They vote Republican because they are racists, or because they like and respect bullying, or because they don't think the benefits of being American rightfully belong to minorities. We Democrats are simply not going to get those people's votes, and there's no point selling our soul in the futile attempt.<br /><br />I grew up on comics, so I do tend to see things in terms of what good guys do and what bad guys do. And what bothers me about the current incarnation of the Republican Party is that they openly appeal to people's bad guy nature. Take racism as an example. Bad guys practice racism. Good guys try to convince them that doing so is not a successful strategy. Republicans, otoh, <b>appeal to</b> that racism, fighting back against the idea that it is anything to be ashamed of. "If you want to be racist, do it loud and proud! We've got your back." They've decided that bad guys are an untapped source of votes that they've decided to pursue.<br /><br />What worries me most is not that they're making that attempt, but what it says about America if that strategy is a successful one. It may be that Treebeard is correct is assessing us as a nation of slimeballs. I don't want to believe that, but as Dave Sim once put it, the part of my brain that doesn't accept it hasn't yet convinced the other part of my brain that it's wrong.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-54398361789608032762018-03-07T05:46:38.972-08:002018-03-07T05:46:38.972-08:00Looks like Blogger can't deal with keeping thi...Looks like Blogger can't deal with keeping things separated by spaces, for some reason. I originally set the rows of Xs with the one runty little y as two separate sections. Let's try separating them again.<br /><br />XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX <br />XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX <br />XX XX Xy <br /><br />XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX<br />XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX<br />XX XX XXPaul SBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31920571015890272932018-03-07T05:45:02.060-08:002018-03-07T05:45:02.060-08:00TCB, some of my ancestors fled Germany in the 17th... TCB, some of my ancestors fled Germany in the 17th century for religious reasons, apparently being on the outs with Catholics and Lutherans. Makes Eric Flint's 1632 series more interesting.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32666913076473654182018-03-07T05:11:46.843-08:002018-03-07T05:11:46.843-08:00Larry,
The "Then a miracle occurs" step...Larry,<br /><br />The "Then a miracle occurs" step looked funny on paper, and I am sure that if the rhetoric ever does subside back down to a level of sane civility and productive dialogue it will be seen that way by many. But it won't take a miracle, it will take a concerted effort. As long as people react in horror to one another's positions, the gulf between them will grow. Finding common ground helps to bring the sides closer together. Here's an example: when I taught genetics I understood that most people are very (mistakenly) deterministic about how they see genes, so I put this string of characters up on the board - <br /><br />XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX <br />XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX <br />XX XX Xy XX XX XX<br /><br />Then I ask, "How genetically different are men and women?" Once they start talking, I start telling them about the ways differential expectations and differential nutrition makes men and women more different than what is actually natural. Any place where you find that the women average more than 4 inches shorter than average men, what you have is parents giving more food to their baby boys than to their baby girls, which screws with the natural development of young girls, even to the point of causing mental retardation and death. <br /><br />Of course there are lots of kids who don't believe a word that come soft the mouths of their teachers, and tons of them don't believe anything that comes from Caucasian lips, but more of them were accustomed enough to the routine power differential that I heard quite a few rethinking their biases. You can almost hear the gears turning in their heads. <br /><br />Not everyone has the position of being an official teacher, but we teach with every word we speak, in some sense. You don't have to wear your politics on your sleeve. Get to know people first and find the common ground, then work at having reasonable discussions. Both sides have mostly failed to do this, preferring to shout their egos at one another like rap stars. Not very mature. You can be more like the closeted gay people who quietly assert the value of human decency and don't let anyone know until it becomes clear that their attitudes are changing and they are growing up a little.<br /><br />It isn't always easy, though. When someone attacks you, your natural reaction is to fight back, freeze or run, neither of which help in a battle of words, facts and ideas. <br /><br />I have noticed that lately the Trump Trolls and Gun Trolls on FacePalm are starting to type the word "fact" in all caps, as if shouting something makes it a fact. When you read their crap it becomes obvious that what they are calling FACT are nothing but opinions, and I have called them out on this. It tends to shut them up, and if it is shutting them up, perhaps it is persuading some of the onlookers. A couple weeks ago one was claiming that it is a FACT that all the nations of Africa are shitholes. That's a fact? So I told him my friend from Nigeria recognizes that his country has huge problems, which is why he came here to study medicine so he could go back and be part of the solution. I got crickets after that. <br /><br />Paul SBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59621531550481540122018-03-07T04:48:03.716-08:002018-03-07T04:48:03.716-08:00"If you're looking for some more good boo..."If you're looking for some more good books, I'd recommend Susan Pinker's The Sexual Paradox, Karen Ho's Liquidated, Mike Davis' Late Victorian Holocausts, and Rebecca Solnit's A Paradise Built in Hell for starters."<br />- The list grows ...Paul SBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-46563717897330987522018-03-07T04:33:20.646-08:002018-03-07T04:33:20.646-08:00madtom:
And I think that we help those guys get s...madtom:<br /><i><br />And I think that we help those guys get stronger by acting as if their followers are all stupid and unprincipled, as well as hostile. I can testify first-hand that it ain't so. And I wonder how many followers (perhaps currently non-voting, like so many Dems) would actually listen to reason and change their positions if the emotional energy level subsided.<br /></i><br /><br />Thanks for keeping it civil.<br /><br />If I act as if they're all stupid and unprincipled, then I go too far. What they are--the ones who complicit but not stupid or hostile--is dangerous, to us and to their own selves as well. You are correct that if they could be convinced that their party is hurting them rather than standing up for them (and that our party isn't trying to destroy them), they might abandon their Republican leadership and come over to the light side.<br /><br />I just don't see a method for convincing them as long as they believe everything from inside their bubble. And what I take issue with you on is that <b>just saying that</b> is the kind of hostile act that it is incumbent on Democrats to refrain from.<br /><br />If they're willing to tolerate fascism in order to get tax cuts and deregulation, it may be true that the fascism isn't their primary motivation, and that some of them could be peeled away from the fascists. But that's not happening. And how long does that have to keep not happening before it is legitimate to recognize? <br /><br />I'm not philosophically opposed to what you are describing, but I don't see the way forward that doesn't involve a Garry Larson "Then a miracle occurs" step to get there.<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11948177158191252082018-03-07T03:37:50.925-08:002018-03-07T03:37:50.925-08:00I think this is one of the main reasons we see so ...I think this is one of the main reasons we see so much rigidity in a range of religious attitudes. Historically, the Savonarolas declare their doctrinal opponents to be heretics and send their RWA followers to purge as many as possible. Often it's the moderates and mystics who get murdered, sometimes to the last beating heart. (This happened to the Cathars, for instance).<br /><br />After such purges and crusades, it can take generations for the clampdown to soften and moderates re-emerge. Victims of a religious purge, should they survive, often do it by moving someplace new and out of reach. This is how a good many people came to the Americas (remember, though, that the religions of the native Indians paid the price for that).<br /><br />Incidentally, my name is Tom (C.) Buckner, I don't recall why I chose TCB as a handle here. Convenience, maybe. I stand by everything I write online everywhere, and have long assumed I had no real anonymity in the face of any really determined effort to unmask me.TCBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08153506222271955110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-19339104220919715352018-03-06T22:42:50.540-08:002018-03-06T22:42:50.540-08:00@David | The snark is appropriate I think.
Alteme...@David | The snark is appropriate I think.<br /><br />Altemeyer made it pretty clear that the RWA followers are allowed to beat up on the folks at whom their leaders point. That means you.<br /><br />He also made it clear that they don't have to be rational. They don't need to use facts that hold together in a coherent package. They need only be able to cherry pick something and craft an analogy that makes sense if only to them. Locumranch and Treebeard display the technique well.<br /><br />Altemeyer also pointed out that the technique is actually cowardly in the sense of bullies beating up weaker people or hiding behind a mask of deniability. If either of those two revealed their actual names, I'd have to reconsider the connection I suppose. Ain't gonna happen, though, I'll bet. 8)Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6527933027831139222018-03-06T22:32:31.809-08:002018-03-06T22:32:31.809-08:00@madtom | I’m with you in recognizing that our ‘op...@madtom | I’m with you in recognizing that our ‘opponents’ are not monolithic. I usually take up that point when emotional responses get to thick, but after the recent school shooting I’ve waited on the sideline to avoid joining one side or another in their indignant responses.<br /><br />They aren’t monolithic. Neither are we. Peace is achievable if cooler heads prevail long enough to recognize the things on which we can agree. That’s all true.<br /><br />Unfortunately, my experience has taught me that when cooler heads prevail, they don’t vote in large enough numbers to counter the hotheads. I’m currently angry enough at some of our elected officials that I want more voters at the polls in November so we can collectively kick their butts as if they were monolithic. I recognize that will marshal forces against us who might otherwise not vote. My calculation, though, suggests it is a trade-off for which we win right now.<br /><br />I have a lot of friends who voted about every way possible in 2016. Some of my relatives are still annoyed at each other. There are no monoliths out there among them, but THIS time I think we have to stand against what happened and in the loudest voice possible proclaim NO! YOU MAY NOT! This has gone far beyond tribes. It is about our vision of a future.<br /><br /><br /><br />NO! YOU MAY NOT!<br /><br /><br /><br />(That doesn’t mean we have to ratchet up our anger every time “they” do, though. I still get along with my friends and relatives. I just take a break from them now and then.)Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59044851355118380222018-03-06T22:16:54.158-08:002018-03-06T22:16:54.158-08:00Apologies for the "jibber-drool" snark. ...Apologies for the "jibber-drool" snark. It really comes down to this. Most of the things I say are at least glancingly related to true, because I use modern methods - contrariness, evidence and paying close heed to the competitive ferment of rivalries in fact-using communities. The confederates like locum and the ent spew enmity on all such people, rejecting any and all challenges for them to support comfy assertions with verifiable fact. That means - whether they are liars (often) or delusional (almost always) or innocently mistaken... or even sometimes glancingly right(!)... any correlation or overlap with actual reality is at most accidental.<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.com