Lives ruined. Blood shed. Epic.

The French laws I was thinking of were the bans on hijabs and burkas that were passed a few years ago—which were essentially motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment. But I think there were also some labor issues/laws in place as well, weren't there? Because weren't the race riots a few years ago sparked because Muslim…

It's both. We absolutely have the sense that people from other countries (not just EU countries—but certainly them included) feel that US citizens are backwater hicks—and we've internalized that criticism—and we, of course, have issues with our government's/fellow Americans' shortcomings. So, there's both genuine…

First of all, no one in this discussion thinks that Europe is one country—but the fact is, that these issues occur again and again in several countries. People love to cite the progressiveness of the Scandinavian countries, but they forget to mention that 95% of the population in those countries is white. And 90% is…

Yep. I backpacked across Europe for 2 months in 2004—and experienced the same thing. People would basically shun me when they found out I was from Texas.

Exactly. I can let JT off the hook—but his team has no excuse.

Exactly. They're basing it on an outdated idea of what a comedian is. 20 years ago, everyone was a standup comedian—but now none of the top echelon of comics, either men or women (save Louis CK), does regular standup performances.

Jerry Seinfeld hasn't been a comedian in 15 years either (just recycles the same jokes from 1995 and charges hundreds of dollars a seat for his shows), but he's on the list. I've never found Ellen Degeneres particularly hilarious, but she's writing and performing comedy for a live audience 4 or 5 days a week. Just…

I agree that Vergara can't truly be considered a comedian, but Poehler, Fey, Kaling, Wiig, Rudolph, Chelsea Handler, Kathy Griffin, etc. all can and should be. A comedian is someone who makes you laugh with their words AND their delivery. These women are all writers who write their own stuff, and perform their own…

I've seen this argument—and I don't necessarily disagree with it, but I tend to think it's a little lacking in nuance. I am a nerd and I hang out with a LOT of nerds, and I don't know one person who is offended by the portrayal of nerds on the show. (I do know mathmaticians who are annoyed by the way the show…

I don't know about other animal populations, but I just recently read about female deers controlling the actual sex of their offspring. Deers, like wolves, have a social hierarchy in their herd—so the alpha lady deer has the best access to resources like food and water. Since male offspring require more resources to…

Jeesh. Someone needs to investigate that doll's manufacturer. That thing burst into flames like it was made of gasoline. Think of the children.

It's true that they only meet once every 2 years, but I used to work for the Texas legislature—trust me when I say—they're working all night long. I would semi-regularly leave the office at 7 in the morning after being there all night when the legislature was in session. And these guys ain't spring chickens. That…

Ah. I was relying on the graphic above the post, which implies that the couple went to an adoption agency, and then the pastor stepped in.

Oh, okay. I misunderstood the nonviable comment.

It doesn't sound like the woman is being coerced. According to the story, she contacted the adoption agency first. So, it seems like she didn't want to terminate unless it was her only option.

People also get super defensive about their carnivorous habits, which makes me think they have underlying doubts about the morality of their choices and feel confronted by the mere existence of someone who doesn't eat meat.

True dat. I know an asshole vegan, and he's an asshole about everything—not just dietary issues. I'm half convinced that he became vegan just so he'd have one more thing to be an asshole about. If I really thought that supplementing his diet with animal products would improve his temperament, I might consider…

I swear I've seen one ad where the woman looks at her pregnancy test and then she looks totally relieved—like THANK JEEBUS THERE'S NO BUN IN MY OVEN. And then the tag line for the ad is something like—we're there to give you an accurate answer, no matter what. Or something.

The article is about the application and interpretation of science. Not the science itself. Those are, by their nature, social endeavors that require a context—that context being how this information will affect human lives. That is what Lindy is writing about. This is not a science article. It's an article on…