Do people really hate grad school that much? I got my PhD in (bio)physics a few years ago, and I remember actively avoiding the grad student self-flagellation, because it was such a bummer and so unconstructive. In fact, hearing it still makes me cringe because I'm not sure if people actually hated grad school that…

This is mostly right, but the States' Rights thing gets to me. If anything, it was about Northern state rights. The Northern states were being forced to return freed slaves to Southern states by the Southern-dominated federal government. In fact, the Secession was in part a reaction to Southern states feeling like…

I'm totally behind exposing more young girls to the sciences and tech at an early age, but is an HBO comedy series the right vehicle for this? The lack of women in the show might turn some grown women away from it, specially if it's like most of Mike Judge's stuff, but I doubt this is going to influence children. I…

Yeah, Jesus H. Christ. Men who are frightened by women holding doors are idiots, and laughing at them is not gonna make me lose any sleep. I want nothing to do with an ethical system that doesn't let me ridicule people with antiquated beliefs—-people who should know better!

Depends. Some foreign fighters are doing very well for themselves, like some Chechens and Iraqis. In a war like Syria, where everyone is afraid to leave their neighborhood out of fear of retaliation, foreign troops are a good way to play up your offense.

Is it? Do you have any evidence of this effectiveness, because that'd be interesting to see.

But 16 of 22 is not really statistically significant. You're making a mountain out of nothing.

I mean, that's fine. If you don't like it, you don't like it. I wasn't trying to talk you into watching it, just saying that the people who watch Mad Men because they like the Don Draper lifestyle are chumps. I also have no idea what you mean by your second sentence, i.e., that the subversiness is wishful thinking in…

Ah, those people are idiots. "Mad Men" is great, and it has spent the last few seasons punching you in the gut over the consequences of that lifestyle. I think you needed to be pretty tonedeaf to not notice the critical light cast on the men in that show in the early seasons, but even if you were, you'd have to notice…

I agree with most of what you said, and I think it's generally a question of taste. For cultural and political reasons, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but hey, some people love pickles, and others hate them. It's not the pickle's fault. I do have more objective problems with Facebook the company (and concept, but…

I have a few problems with it. The first is a more general problem with books written by those who "made it" to those who are trying to to "make it." No matter what the field, or time written, it presents immutable rules based on one person's experience as to how to achieve success, broadly and inconsistently defined.…

Why is it classy? This obsession with needing to see people be "genuinely apologetic," with bonus points if they squirt a few, is so goddamn weird. Do you feel better after watching that, like wrongs have been righted? I feel like a Martian who just landed on Earth here, because I don't understand the reason for these…

Here's how fucked up Chechen history is: They've been fighting off the Russian Empire since Peter the Great, and following Czars waged terror campaigns against the Chechens, with generals like Alexei Yermolov, a true bastard.

This is such an oversimplification of the situation. The Alawites are fighting so desperately because they know what will happen if they lose. They will be wiped from the face of the earth. They are a small, hated minority, and the world has seen many such small minorities be extinguised forever. Since the days of…

Americans have such a weird history of food fetishism, from Reverend Graham to Dr. Kellogg to this gluten-free shit. I have no idea why this is. Maybe its the sort of Puritanical belief in purity, that good things come from living a "purer" life, from denying yourself certain things. Or maybe it's because the food…