If my boyfriend refused to put a mask on the moment he left his condo, he would not be my boyfriend.

Unless your mandatory age is going to be 80, that’s just insane. You are inviting ageism, and ageism is a form of bigotry just as ugly as any other.

Fortunately you are incorrect! Dementia afflicts between 25% and 50% of those over 85. A good half or more of the very elderly are sharp as a tack. While age is a risk factor for the diseases that cause dementia, it is still disease and not age that causes dementia. A rigorously healthy lifestyle, including…

She actually sponsored none of that legislation, and most of it was opening post offices. She reminds me of Bernie Sanders, who is infamous for not really accomplishing anything. She is a baby legislator and a member of the progressive fringe of the party. She will likely never have a leadership role due to being…

Being reelected in a heavily blue district is no accomplishment.  People like incumbents.

They are trying to protect the power of the caucus, and that requires keeping a grip on the leftist fringe. That serves everyone. Without that, not only will progressives be unable to compromise with the centrists and therefore will have *zero* influence, but also we cannot accomplish the basic tasks of government,…

Agreed. Pelosi is fantastic at her job. She’s brilliant. She’s effective. And she corrals a large and diverse caucus into getting things done. That job cannot be done by anyone under 40, at minimum. And you have to earn your stripes and be around for years to really gain the experience to be effective at the…

People over 65 can stay in their homes and have no risk of infection unless they live with essential workers. So, no; it makes sense to vaccinate the essential workers first. I realize retired people want to resume dinner parties and bingo night and book clubs. Social interaction is important for well-being. But…

No, an algorithm would still perform this task more quickly.  We’re talking about thousands of employees at each location of a hospital group.

I don’t think it makes sense to limit it to the service industry. It should be everyone whose job is essential and requires contact with the public. In addition to the hospitality industry, like restaurants (which by the way is not even fucking essential) it needs to include social workers who must work in the…

I am an essential worker. I spend 8.5 hours in an office every workday. Clients come in for hour-long appointments in our tiny, cramped, unventilated space 5-7 times a day. I am the only employee who wears a mask when clients aren’t present. Everyone else refuses to. And corporate will not allow us to serve…

I completely understand your story. I’m 36 as of now, but spending years waiting for this or that man to wake up one morning and be unafraid of adult life has more or less been my dating history. I am sick to death of it. I was with my grad school boyfriend for 5 years, until I was 32, and I used to tell myself maybe…

My parents dated seriously for five months before getting engaged. They were 36 and 33 and knew exactly what they wanted. They have been blissfully married - no really - for 38 years. They are deeply, madly in love. I have never seen them fight. They are compatible in every way. They just work. You don’t need…

I really appreciate the points you raised.  You’re right; this is a complex question.  I was referring to the finding of a consultancy firm that had studied it in depth.  But perhaps they did not take into account some of the issues you mentioned.  It would be really interesting to see their analysis.  You could be…

You can Google it if you would like, but yes, they are a net-positive cash flow tourist attraction for the Treasury. They bring in millions of pounds spent on tourism and tacky merchandise. I’m not a British citizen, just an American of exclusively English and Scottish ancestry, but if I were a Brit, I wouldn’t want…

That surprises me. The one Trumper I know (colleague with no education and essentially no understanding of politics or history; I was crying at my desk when RBG died, and she said “who is that?”) certainly doesn’t know a thing about the British monarchy or British history or American history or the British government…

Do I believe that Jesus was half god? Of course not. That sounds unhinged. I believe he was a very human nomadic spiritual teacher who preached some pretty radical things. Actually, I don’t “believe” that. I know it to be true because there’s a plethora of historical evidence.

Devout Christian here. Heaven and hell are very obviously fairytales, and anyone who tells you differently is under the age of 10 or deeply delusional. I’d put the chances there’s an afterlife at infinitesimally small.  That really doesn’t matter, however.  Christianity, in its actual practice, is simply modeling…

There is NO reason for any protestant to attend in person services. Period. I’ve been attending my progressive Presbyterian USA church since March in the safety of my home and the comfort of my pjs. It’s grand. We haven’t had any drop in attendance - 350-400 people per service - and there’s been no dip in…

They are gas guzzlers and deserve snark.  If you’re choosing higher carbon emissions for no justifiable reason, you are an asshole.