Out of curiosity, would they ever make exceptions for a real tragedy? Like, if your kid died, would they transfer you to a surface ship so you can get back, or would you really just not find out for a couple months?

Well, even if that were in all cases true, the myth is incorrect, even according to you. The color of your car wouldn't be the important factor, just the *original* color of your car. You could buy red cars all day long, and insure them for less, just so long as their original paint wasn't red. And since the oft…

I'm friends with several old teachers on FB. The one who is chattiest is my 1st grade teacher. I can't for the life of me see how that is inappropriate. She was last my teacher 30 years ago...what boundaries could *possibly* be getting crossed?

That's sort of the train of thought I got on when I saw this article. I don't understand how he managed to be rich and famous given that his photos, while not terrible, aren't that unique. It's this virtuous cycle of fame-take photo of famous person, prompts other famous people to let you take their photo, rinse,…

I have to disagree. I think there are people who have no definable "mental illness" who do horrible things, including kill—even children, every day. Given what we know now of this situation, sure, there were serious mental issues; but I don't think you can leap to that conclusion simply because children get killed. …

Mine did. Same melody, different words. I'm pretty sure all the alumni still remember it, we sang it a LOT. Moved my last year of elementary school, and while I think that 2nd school did have a song, we never sang it and it wasn't 'a thing'.

That is true. It does not, however, mean we shouldn't work to help people reduce unplanned pregnancies and do a better job providing support when they happen. Contrary to what some might believe, there's no divine mandate that we should strive to have unplanned pregnancies.

Well said. And I don't think it's right to expect people to be selfless martyrs either, they shouldn't have to give up being human just because they have a disturbed child, and being human means having complex emotions, such as simultaneously loving and dreading someone. Maybe this mother could be faulted for…

Freedom of speech means the government can't suppress your speech. Freedom of speech does not mean your employer has to continue to employ you no matter what you say. Maybe it would be nice if the rules for what employers can & can't fire you for saying allowed for more private freedom of speech...but they're not.

That line of reasoning is idiotic. As someone who has been attacked, by someone carrying a gun (which he helpfully did not fire), I can tell you that all my having a gun would have done is got me dead. Unless I had the gun in my hand, with the safety off, prepared to use it, it would have been useless weight, at…

Why do you believe people are incapable of choosing to hurt or even kill other people without being mentally ill?

I hadn't stopped to consider it before, but it makes sense. You want your leader to be mature and adult. Children pretty uniformly have higher pitched voices; thus, voices that more measurably distance you from being a child would tend to inspire the sort of confidence people want to have in their leaders. It's a…

Very well done...and great image to pair with it. Bravo.

Laura, when you do that sit down (I did it las year, it was *excellent*), make sure you follow an episode guide after you get through with season 3 of Buffy, so that you can do the appropriate switching back and forth between Buffy and Angel. Such A Good Series, I'm sad that Joss hasn't been able to get any of his…

I don't think there's any *sane* reason to think it's unconstitutional. But that doesn't stop people from making the argument: http://marriagepolicy.org/2011/11/why-same-sex-marriage-is-unconstitutional/ (laughably tragic) I think Scalia is the only justice that I could imagine trying to dream up a reason to find…

I have no idea what their reasoning could be. I do have my suspicions that if Scalia got to write the majority opinion, he'd try to find something, though. My point isn't that I think it's likely (I said unlikely, in fact), but that that power exists. I have lots of respect for the power the SC wields, and I also…

That's my point. I'm not saying there's a valid reason, just that there is nothing preventing them from doing so. While I'm not sure there are examples which would be that extreme, there certainly have been opinions which have been overly broad and set precedent which had consequences far beyond the actual case at…

So, I'm guessing the "make in October" ties to the "several times before ...." How many several times are we talking about that you have to start in October?

That's not true. There's that "judicial activism" thing. Basically, they could reject the law with a rationale which would preclude laws permitting same sex marriage being valid, anywhere. It wouldn't immediately "invalidate" other laws elsewhere, but since Supreme Court precedent applies everywhere, any such laws…

[valley]Steee-phen! Steee-phen![/valley]