Now, let me get this straight. Vogel says she hasn’t made personal attacks just before making a personal attack. Okaaay...

RE: It’s not much of a conflict, considering he asked her to stay on. Why does it need a central conflict?

Did Little Richard say anything in the interview about hating gay people or persecuting gay people? If not, I don’t care that much about his personal struggles except to know that it has obviously been a struggle, and obviously something that he has had to wrestle with his entire life.

The distinctions between budget and premium when it comes to smartphones is artificial and more marketing than anything else. “Premium” has little to do with reliability or even performance.

I would strike off Dune and Battle Royale and add The Fifth Element and Men In Black instead.

No, the Pixelbook is not a good value at all. Ultimately, Chrome OS and the available apps are inferior to an Apple laptop or a laptop running Windows. Even compared to high end tablets, the Pixelbook is simply not a good value.

One test of an AI’s ability to tactfully deceive will be to ask it to answer the question, “does this dress make my butt look big?”

Maybe it’s the lighting, but the characters on the keyboard don’t seem to stand out. And I don’t mind about the lack of old style USB ports, but having all the USB ports on the back is not very practicle.

No Powell and Pressburger? Not much of a list, then. To the films mentioned, I would add “I Know Where I’m Going.”

My turn to be terse. You keep trying to justify your statements by using the Declaration of Independence. Sorry it doesn’t work. It’s a fancy way to justify breaking away, but is useless for guidance after a new and presumably government has been formed. Also odd that you would bother referring to it if the judgments…

Let’s focus on the US. There is no right to secede, not even in principle. The Constitution provides for a republic. There is no right to reconfigure the US into, say, a anarchic Nirvana. The idea that states are sovereign is a useful fiction, because there are limits under the constitution. Individuals can leave and…

so, apart from another poster’s argument that assault rifles are fun to shoot and to customize, what other compelling reason is there to continue to allow these weapons to be easily available?

RE: Because all people have that right? It’s literally the preamble of the Declaration of Independence.

Would you allow the states of the old Confederacy here in the US to have a test vote for independence just for the hell of it?

Thank you very much for your insights. Previously, about the only thing I knew about this situation was that one of the characters in the “Master and Commander” series of novels had a soft spot for Catalan independence.

We don’t know each other, so you have no idea whether my outrage is sincere or “feigned.” You don’t even seem to clear on what I am upset about.

I’m falling out of love with “Discovery.” I can forgive the weird timeline, even though I agree with those who say that the show would make more sense if set later in the future. I can almost forgive the pointless connection to Sarek and the lame implication that Michael and Spock knew each other.

This is insane. The Las Vegas shooting would have been even more horrific if the police had not been able to quickly determine where the shots were coming from, and had not at least some of the people been able to take some kind of cover.

You make good points when you note that the science is actually pretty good, and about the serialized aspects of the show. Thanks for your insights here.

I agree that “The Orville” is not slipping into mediocrity. That would actually be an achievement. The show cannot even rise the level of mediocrity.