Recent Comments

1. about 2 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   — Buffalo (technically, American Bison) are a perfect illustration. Prior to the arrival of barbarians of European descent, they roamed the western plains in the tens of millions.

   Then, the barbarians hunted them, solely for sport, to the point of extinction, until just a handful were left, leaving unused carcasses and rotting meat to spoil on the landscape. Thanks to the valiant efforts of an enlightened few, their numbers have been brought back, though nothing remotely equivalent to what was here prior to the great slaughter.

   Sadly, the passenger pigeon, the pigeon species native to this continent (unlike the widespread European Rock Dove which is ubiquitous, especially in cities today and known as the common pigeon), which once numbered in the hundreds of millions, with large flocks of thousands that could blot out the sun, was not so fortunate. They were hunted to the point of full extinction, with the last confirmed bird dying on September 1, 1914, in the Cincinnati Zoo.

2. about 2 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   — My reference was to the need for humans to “thin the herd” in the comment I was responding to.

   I was not referring to the natural balance of nature — also known as the “circle of life” — that existed among the native species to this continent long before the arrival of humans, first from Asia via the Bering strait (when there was a prehistoric land bridge), with the First Nations of indigenous Americans who maintained a stable balance with nature, hunting only what they needed for food and fur, and later the arrival of barbaric Europeans who engaged in wanton, massive, large-scale devastation of nature for devastation’s sake, celebrating their blood lust with animal heads mounted on plaques as trophies.

3. about 4 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   — Several problems with your comment.

   1. I did not mention deer. I mentioned trophy animals. I am talking about the “big game” hunters who go off to Africa in search of exotic animals like lions, giraffes, rhinos, elephants etc., many of which are endangered, and which are often herded into pens to make it easier for “sport” hunters to shoot them like fish in a barrel (of course, in Dick Cheney’s case, he ended up shooting his friend in the face after overindulging in too many beers, and then the friend apologized for being in his way).

   2. I am clearly differentiating between hunting for food by those who actually depend on it as a major food source and hunting purely for the joy of killing magnificent creatures that never harmed them in any way.

   3. Deer lived for tens of thousands of years in North America without ever having to have their herds “thinned.” Thinning of herds is only necessary because of the extent to which humans in the urban industrial age have encroached on habitat that was once theirs, and in which they were here first.

4. about 5 hours ago on Non Sequitur

   Killing trophy animals — fellow sentient earthlings of different species — for “sport” is an outrageous crime against nature.

   I am all in favor of hunting — but with a CAMERA instead of a gun. Kind of a painless version of “catch and release” for critters not in the water.

   All the elements of the sport are there — tracking, following, living with nature, pointing, shooting and getting a trophy.

   The ONLY element missing is the bloodlust, and that is not a valid reason to take a sentient life for “sport.”

   That blood lust is a symptom of deep pathological cruelty — mental illness that presents a clear and present danger.

5. 6 days ago on Doonesbury

   I don’t post if I don’t have anything to say. Everything on Prickly City in the last two weeks was submitted before the election results were known, so he is just dealing in generalities, knowing that by the time readers see his submission, they will know the outcome, even though he doesn’t when writing the material.

   Cartoons that appear in the comics pages have to be submitted two to three weeks in advance.

   The editorial comments are in a different department, for which comments have been disabled, and they are updated in real time so they can remain topical and current.

   Liberal policies got us out of the Harding / Coolidge / Hoover Great Depression, won World War II and created a vibrant, prosperous middle class that continued until the trickle-down, anti-labor, anti-consumer policies of Reagan, the Bushes and Trump dismantled it resulting in widespread wealth and income inequality.

   Your way has been tried before.

   In 1933, the people of Germany willingly and eagerly chose a very similar leader. It didn’t end well, and it won’t work this time around, either. You’ll find out the hard way.

6. 8 days ago on Doonesbury

   I have no interest in debating gardening and composting. I don’t have the slightest experience or knowledge of the subject and certainly have never disputed the claims of a self-described, self-taught mud-dweller, especially in a ten-day-old thread that has no relation to that subject.

   Clearly the self-described high-school dropout mud-dweller is a stalker who is trying to start arguments rather than discuss serious subjects, something of which he is incapable.

   As for John Thune, it is a refreshing sign that the senate is going to try to re-grow the embryonic beginnings of something resembling a backbone.

   There were three candidates for senate majority leader:

   Trump’s preference — the MAGA preference — who promised to kowtow to any- and everything Trump demanded, including allowing recess appointments, Rick Scott.

   There was the independent moderate (what passes for that in today’s TrumpubliKKKlan cult), John Cornyn, seen as a possible consensus candidate.

   And there was the one Trump LEAST wanted: Mitch McConnell close ally John Thune.

   Trump’s pick, Scott, got the boot in the first round of voting, which was done by secret ballot so they could vote how they really felt. In the runoff, the one Trump did NOT want, John Thune was seen as a kick in the pants for Trump from his own party.

   So a recess appointment for child molester Matt Gaetz, who Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and several others have also expressed opposition to, seems unlikely to pass and, since he has already resigned his House seat in a stunning display of overconfidence, he could soon be out of government altogether, and good riddance.

7. 14 days ago on Doonesbury

   After I cited the examples of how Democrats who lost elections…

   1. Conceded as soon as results were verified

   2. Cooperated and participated fully in a smooth transition

   3. Transferred power peacefully and without even the hint of violence or an insurrection

   4. Participated in the inauguration of their successors…

   … a troll provided no opposing example to contradict a single thing I said and only confirmed that he cannot tell the difference between expressing disappointment with questions about the moral legitimacy of being able to “win” an election in which someone else gets the most votes and actually refusing to do any of those things and instead fomenting a violent attempted insurrection.

   The examples I cited were detailed and accurate.

   Appreciation to the troll for confirming them.

   The only thing worse than a sore loser is a sore winner.

8. 14 days ago on Doonesbury

   Apparently, America decided it was ready for a convicted felon president before it was ready for a woman of color president.

   But notice the difference in class.

   In 2000, when Al Gore won the actual vote of the people and Dubya Bush clearly cheated with voter suppression to block over 200,000 qualified voters in Democratic demographics in Florida from voting, he nevertheless CONCEDED as soon as a final determination was adjudicated, the Clinton/Gore administration had a fully cooperative transition, and on January 6, 2001, sitting Vice President Al Gore presided over the certification of his own defeat, including snuffing out a brief attempt by five House members to block the certification. There was no riot or insurrection and, on January 20, 2001, Gore and Clinton attended the inauguration of their successors in a peaceful transfer of power.

   In 2016, when Hillary Clinton won the actual vote of the people, the Obama/Biden administration had a fully cooperative transition, and on January 6, 2001, sitting Vice President Joe Biden presided over the certification of his own defeat. There was no riot or insurrection and, on January 20, 2017, Obama and Biden attended the inauguration of their successors in a peaceful transfer of power which defeated candidate Hillary Clinton, as a former First Lady, also attended.

   In 2020, when Donald Trump LOST both the actual vote of the people by seven million votes AND the Electoral College in a landslide, he refused to accept the outcome, threw a tantrum, incited a riot and refused to cooperate in a peaceful transition (as required by law) and didn’t even attend the inauguration.

   In 2024, when Vice President Kamala Harris lost the election, she immediately conceded, the Biden / Harris administration has begun a peaceful transition and on January 6, 2025, Vice-President Kamala Harris will preside over the certification of Donald Trump’s victory and there will be no riots or insurrections.

   Democrats have grace, class and dignity.

9. 18 days ago on Doonesbury

   — And Trump was reportedly a frequent flyer on Epstein’s private jet, reportedly often to his Pedophile Paradise on his own private island.

10. 19 days ago on Doonesbury

    — I live in California, where most energy on the grid is powered by green, renewable sources.

    But in any case, our house has been powered by SOLAR since 2007. No monthly electric bill in 17 years.

    I guess getting free energy from the Sun God could seem like magic to those who don’t understand it.