@cluelessneophyte:disqus Your reasonable and willingness to defend your interpretation while acknowledging another is completely unacceptable for the internet! Yes, still friends.

African-Americans represent 17% of the military, which is a bit more than their share of 12.6% of the general population. That's declined; it peaked at about 20.4% of the military twenty years ago.

@cluelessneophyte:disqus  I don't think @avclub-c099e468717d7f2501b9538dd6bdf97b:disqus is making the equivalency that you worry about. He says that Card is a closet-case AND ALSO "has some sort of physical attraction to preteen boys." It's pretty clear that those are separate things.

@avclub-c156902f5b20b572848be18c11634dfb:disqus , Prepare to be unpleasantly surprised.

@avclub-9ff7c9eb9d37f434db778f59178012da:disqus , Why not just buy him some Japanese "rice wine"?

Yeah, I could've worded that better. I was just trying to say that we all do things that interest us much less than the people we're with, but it's fun to hang out, so it's still worth it. An old friend of mine loved fishing, and IDGARA about fishing, but it was fun sitting and chatting with him, so I got a cheap-ass…

I was a bit snappish at first in my earlier reply to you, so I edited. Apologies.

That sentence needs to start with "Going" to make sense.

(1) is not a major issue, which is why I said little about it. I just think it could be telling that what he wants to do most is historical research, which is generally done alone. It's hard to make friends while reading a thesis in the library. Again, it's great that he likes his studies and is doing well, but it…

I can't decide whether to regard your post as sarcasm, a Turing Test, or
a genuine question (on the AVClub, it could easily be two of the
three), but I'll answer you sincerely because I seem to have insomnia
tonight.

And that kind of behavior will, of course, not alienate his younger brother. Wait, that might not be right.

The hilarious part is that American women say in surveys that circumcised penises look "more natural."

If you liked that episode, make sure you watch the special NOVA did on Swissair 111. It's absolutely fascinating, and the Canadian TSB let NOVA's team film right alongside them throughout the investigation.

@avclub-99b410aa504a6f67da128d333896ecd4:disqus You said, "well, going by a GIS, the other cover article subjects were Willie
Nelson, Arctic Ice Melt, Jay-Z's new album, Robin Thicke, and Gary
Clarke Jr.

@avclub-9ff7c9eb9d37f434db778f59178012da:disqus Yeah, we did have a member of the commentariat by that name, but I think he was perma-banned and his comments expunged. With good reason, as I recall.

I'm not speciesist, but…

@avclub-011d0b4fe6835bb3d37ef4e0ea713de6:disqus From the point of view of the apartheid government, Mandela was certainly a terrorist, using force and the fear of force to weaken their system and stiffen resistance among the non-white populace. That's a pretty standard definition of terrorism. Ultimately, though,…

I have to disagree — vociferously — with @avclub-84ca205fe6bc691c41c3bfe5a2820a15:disqus and @avclub-774c4a3e756c4d8f28b15a27ed4408c7:disqus . You're her friend. You know that she would not be happy about her boyfriend's activities. Even if she were okay with it — if the straight-laced traditionalism is only a facade,…

@eric827:disqus It shouldn't, but it does in Florida. There's no burden to retreat, even in public. The Republican lawmakers, of course, framed it as a matter of defending women against rapists. Zimmerman's attorney's are using a traditional self-defense…defense, rather than relying on "stand your ground," but they…

@avclub-3c23902822283144c09d87f123545c87:disqus: I have to agree with several others of the commentariat. There's no way that, in your hypothetical, the African-American shooter of a white youth would not have been arrested and charged, and given a fucking sobriety test at a minimum, based on the evidence available,…