That’s a good idea. I really like the idea of bringing back civics class. Half of the class doesn’t know the preamble to the Constitution anymore. They think Ben Franklin was president once. It’s painful.

I live in Ohio, and this concerns me. We are home to the faux rednecks with trucks their fathers bought with the money they didn’t have, and the “country” people who haven’t seen Amish country, let alone stepped foot on a farm or drove a combine. We also have the wanna be hipsters who bought an Arcade Fire vinyl and…

Yes, that would be interesting. It’s also the whole “physical vs mental” argument. Eighteen year olds are probably more fit than 25 year olds, so there’s the argument for able-bodied men and women in the armed forces. OTOH, I have run into so very few 25+ people (myself most definitely included) who don’t cringe at…

Apparently, the smoking age is being raised to 21 in some places. It was an article here on Gawker Media the other day.

The difference is that in those cases, people just can’t vote because they’re not old enough. In the case of those eligible for the election and not the primary, they’re sort of half-enfranchised, which is problematic.

I don’t think it’s an argument so much as basic math and fairness.

If your birthday is in January, under the old law you could vote in the primaries/caucuses because you’re already 18.

This would actually be a cool piece to read: the determination of adulthood.

That would be akin to picking some obscure belief from a pagan group in Europe and ascribing it to both the Romans and the Norse, not to mention the British Isles.

Sorry, but you can almost hear the ‘I want to be offended in that’ piece.

I’m offended by people pretending to be offended on the behalf of other people being offended just for attention. It’s offensive.

As someone who’s half-German and half-French living in the United States, I encounter some portrayal of “lowest common denominator stereotype about [my] ancestors” several times a week at minimum, but I somehow manage not to be a whiny little baby about it.

Actually, picking an obscure belief and ascribing it a context in the Roman mythology was what the Romans actually did.

Please note that 99.9% of us Americans don’t either. We just have an extremely vocal minority on a soapbox that reaches across the world.

“Sacred tradition” is just another way to say “things my imaginary friends tell me to do.”

what exact cultural context is owed to an alternative world where there are wizards?

Why should she? It’s her book. Other people can write their own books.

“Real” Skinwalker? As opposed to the kind made up by humans?

These creatures (apparently, as I’m far from an expert) draw power simply from the fear inspired by their existence, so even talking about them (with rational, intelligent people, anyway) makes them stronger.

I take it all as an alternative reality. This doesn’t take place in our world but rather a world in which there is magic users who live their secretive lifestyle.

At least this article is filed appropriately. It starts out re-iterating already-discussed problems with J.K. Rowlings generalizations of Native Americans, lumping them all up as a single group, etc, etc.