Recent Comments

1. 4 days ago on Non Sequitur

   “Gold-standard, non-partisan polls do tend to lean a little left. Maybe there is a reason — possibly non-partisan’s view the Democratic views more focused on people issues and human rights and Republican views more focused on economic issues and personal rights [more of a “ME” view than an “US” view].

2. 4 days ago on Non Sequitur

   Does anyone know if he has actually read it? I remember when President Obama was elected there was a HUGE controversy about what church he would be attending. Where was the brouhaha when Trump was elected? Did no one care what church he would be going to? Has anyone ever seen him attend church [other than for political rallies and fund-raising]?

3. 4 days ago on Pluggers

   And then there are the pluggers who wander into the kitchen an hour before meal-time and grab a “little” snack [e.g., chips and dip, cereal, crackers and cheese, ice cream]. Then they only take one [heaping] helping. Dessert is eaten later, just before bed. And, no, it doesn’t really matter what time the meal is set for.

4. 4 days ago on Matt Davies

   Unfortunately, the news reported today that some of the big internet providers are lobbying against the bill because they don’t want to provide low-cost internet to low-income households — Virginia is evidently one state that backed down. Another instance where “free enterprise” isn’t.

5. 4 days ago on Matt Davies

   “One day, making tracks in the prairie of Prax,

   Came a North-Going Zax and a South-Going Zax.

   And it happened that both of them came to a place where they bumped.

   There they stood. Foot to foot. Face to face.

   “Look here, now!” the North-Going Zax said, "I say! You are blocking my path. You are right in my way.

   I’m a North-Going Zax and I always go north. Get out of my way, now, and let me go forth!"

   “Who’s in whose way?” snapped the South-Going Zax. "I always go south, making south-going tracks.

   So you’re in MY way! And I ask you to move and let me go south in my south-going groove."

   Then the North-Going Zax puffed his chest up with pride. “I never,” he said, "take a step to one side.

   And I’ll prove to you that I won’t change my ways if I have to keep standing here fifty-nine days!"

   “And I’ll prove to YOU,” yelled the South-Going Zax, "that I can stand here in the prairie of Prax for fifty-nine years!

   For I live by a rule that I learned as a boy back in South-Going School. Never budge! That’s my rule. Never budge in the least!

   Not an inch to the west! Not an inch to the east!

   I’ll stay here, not budging! I can and I will if it makes you and me and the whole world stand still!"

   “Well … Of course the world didn’t stand still. The world grew.

   In a couple of years, the new highway came through and they built it right over those two stubborn Zax

   And left them there, standing un-budged in their tracks."

   [The Zax, from “The Sneetches and Other Stories,” Dr. Seuss, 1961]

6. 5 days ago on Non Sequitur

   Law of the Jungle (as pertains to wolves) [2nd Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling, 1895]

   “NOW this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.

   As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back;For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

   Wash daily from nose tip to tail tip; drink deeply, but never too deep;And remember the night is for hunting and forget not the day is for sleep.

   The jackal may follow the tiger, but, cub, when thy whiskers are grown,Remember the wolf is a hunter—go forth and get food of thy own.

   Keep peace with the lords of the jungle, the tiger, the panther, the bear;And trouble not Hathi the Silent, and mock not the boar in his lair.

   When pack meets with pack in the jungle, and neither will go from the trail,Lie down till the leaders have spoken; it may be fair words shall prevail.

   When ye fight with a wolf of the pack ye must fight him alone and afar,Lest others take part in the quarrel and the pack is diminished by war.

7. 6 days ago on Non Sequitur

   Unfortunately, this may be the only green space available in the city. Happy Earth Day. May we have many more.

8. 6 days ago on Pluggers

   Filling ice-cube trays falls into the same category as putting a new toilet paper roll on the roller — untouched by male hands. One of the classic scenes in the movie, Independence Day 1996, is when Jeff Goldblum, the environmentally-conscious computer whiz, staggers over to the refrigerator, swings open the freezer door, pulls out the ice-cube tray, stares at it [it’s empty], and then puts it back in the freezer and shuts the door.

9. 7 days ago on Pluggers

   There are a couple of ice-maker things that need long arms and-or extra height : changing the water filter [upper right-hand corner and has to be angled in evenly or from slightly above] and unsticking the mechanism when it gets frozen up. The little plastic gizmo is worn so some of the water drips over the side, freezes, and has to be knocked off [gently] so the mechanism will work. [It would be an easy fix, but they don’t make that particular plastic gizmo anymore.]

10. 7 days ago on Non Sequitur

    And many would prefer a slightly different flag — one with seven white stars on a blue canton with a field of three alternating stripes, two red and one white.