Recent Comments

1. 2 days ago on Jeff Stahler

   I’m against the death penalty but in favor of abortion rights. Maybe that’s inconsistent, but I can accept that.

2. 3 days ago on Ted Rall

   Yes, that they did. But there’s more to be said. It’s possible to create awareness, for instance, to bring a situation to light, and to inspire people to act. Timing remains crucial. I was a few years too young to be part of the civil rights movement, but I knew people who were in the thick of it. I knew a number of the Freedom Riders, for instance. They made a huge difference. They changed history. I knew people in the SCLC, people who were active in the Nashville movement, and so on. I became an activist in 1966, in the anti-war movement. I believe that the anti-war movement did a pretty good job of educating people about the war and then organizing opportunities for them to express their opposition.

3. 4 days ago on Chip Bok

   I guess Bok is happy to see the world head towards a climate crisis.

4. 4 days ago on Ted Rall

   Back in the 60s, when there were lots of demonstrations, some of which were pretty close to rebellions, there were people on the left who advocated armed revolution. The Weather People, for instance. I knew several of those who eventually became weather people, and some I considered friends. I used to argue with them, however, because I thought they were just dreaming when they thought that the US was ready for a revolution. They wanted to be the armed vanguard of the revolution, but they were just foolish, and their foolishness turned them into criminals. Change is possible—usually too slow and not enough, I grant that, but perhaps better than most revolutions, which, after all, don’t have a great track record.

5. 4 days ago on Clay Jones

   There are lots of laws about driving. You have to pass a test and have a license. Those under a certain age can’t drive. You can’t drive if you’ve had too much to drink. You can’t drive faster than the posted limit. You can’t drive on the wrong side of the road. Up here in Canada your optometrist can pull your license if you can’t see well enough. I would say there are lots of laws and regulations about driving.

6. 6 days ago on Gary Varvel

   You can criticize the people who fly to the conference all you want, it doesn’t change the fact that the climate is changing faster than we (and the ecosystem we depend on) can possibly adapt.

7. 9 days ago on M2Bulls

   I think Marty is saying that in order to escape extinction we have to adapt. Well, of course we have to change our behaviour (that means our whole economic sysstem) but we have to recognize that human beings are part of a vast network of organisms, and even if we can somehow “adapt” (by intentionally changing our behavior) these other organisims can’t adapt (in biological terms) quickly enough to make a difference. A plant or an insect or an amphibian or a reptile or a mammal (or rather, a whole species) can’t intentionally decide to adapt to new circumstances. Once these other parts of the network start to fail, then as a consequence we will feel the effects. I’m not saying we’re doomed. I have hopes that some kind of human civilization will manage to survive, but the world our grandchildren live in will not be nice and cosy.

8. 12 days ago on Two Party Opera

   You have a good memory. I helped him throw money to the floor at the Stock Exchange, and I helped him plant a tree on St. Mark’s Place.

9. 12 days ago on Two Party Opera

   I’m all in favor of pointing out the sins of Republicans, but this cartoon is a critique of the Democrats.

10. 13 days ago on Jeff Danziger

    And people ask me why I’m a pacifist.