praxitas's Comments (386)

“nice try dick.”

“hi ralph. don't be so thin skinned.”

“he will continue to lower his sights till eventually he is elected county dogcatcher”

“nonsense. i lived in england for close to 5 years and as an foreigner became conversant with the immigration laws by necessity. if the policies have created a growing climate of unease, much of this could have been anticipated, they are policies and should be tweaked or overhauled if necessary. in any case, this was not the main point in my post. my concern has more to do with the perception (and maybe fact) of an increasingly vocal right wing extreme, and the weak pushback from mainstream politics. i hope this is more a lapse than some kind of misguided strategy.”

“most of them are saving lives often at considerable personal sacrifice. in most cases, they do not have to do this. i consider this heroic. it does not always have to involve a burning building or gunfire. having said that, i will agree that the word is overused and has lost much of its meaning.”

“as cynical as i have become, i must admit that the show was excellent. all these stories moved me deeply.”

“europe is playing with fire. there seems to be a rise of ultra right wing parties pretty much across the continent, and the impression one gets is that they are more tolerated now even by mainstream politics than they were even 10 or 15 years ago. if europeans fear that a growing muslim population threatens to change the character of their societies, they should not have been so reckless with their immigration laws. i read about all sorts of literate clerics from remote villages in pakistan, etc. preaching angry and dangerous nonsense. how or why did they get visas in the first case? on the orther hand, if politicians think that a lax attitude towards neonazis etc is an appropriate remedy, like i said, god help europe.”

“a zappa fan. good one.”

“no. they were riding a modified ICBM like the cowboy in dr strangelove. i think that is even more out there. and eventually it worked.”

“i think this is good. maybe if the media are as scared of the democrats as they are of the republicans they will grow a pair and fulfill their expected role”

“people died before we made it to the moon. were those near darwin awards too?”

“that will be a long commute. and i don't know if an in-flight movie will be possible or even a good idea.”

“in 1902 this headline would have read wright brothers FAIL. get up and offer something more than snark”

“i guess 911 was not a terrorist attack in her mind then”

“she should. it comes from trying to have it both ways”

“how about a man... is that ok? there are male prostitutes too and they are arguably more pitiful”

“couldn't have liked the republicans that much either or he would have switched parties. besides this current admin is actually a little right of center (not that i care for a midpoint between reason and the insanity espoused by the right)”

“my comment re: not interested in curing such illness is not quite accurate. my mother was a psychiatrist and i was actually delivered in the staff clinic at the facility where she worked (she was pretty committed to her work) i spent a lot of time with patients, some my young age in these facilities, and have a fair amount of empathy for the difficulties they struggle with. i look forward to the day we can detect and fix these even before they become problems. (of course when there has been no crime committed there will be those arguing that the cause underlying the trait is simply a different ability etc). problem is forsomething like serial killers, we are not there yet and may never be. i don't just want to kill people but i have also seen twisted people inflicting hurt often enough to form the view i hold. i am very pro innocence project, baffled by the mess and injustice of our criminal justice system, but my view on this have been fairly consistent. serial killers are hardly human even if they look it.”

“i agree and i am aware of all you say about soccer. i grew up on it and still play 2 or 3 times a week 41/2 decades on. i just wasnt sure what sure what clearpepsi meant. i agreed with the earlier part of his post but the end was less clear.”

“no one cares about soccer, or no one cares about keeping lists of this sort? not quite clear.”

“i am not interested in curing her mental illness. as a matter of fact the chances of curing serial killers (as she seems herself claims to be even though she appears to have been caught early) and child molesters is next to zero. the debate then becomes one of warehousing, always with some possibility of release and at the expense of the same society she terrorized, or destroying a dangerous animal.”

“"I don't go to 'Star Trek' conventions, I don't wear the fake forehead" yet we have a picture with photoshoped (?) foreheads”

“just when you think you've lost all hope, you find out there is still more to lose.”

“hypocrisy knows neither faith nor creed. it just is.”

“how do you know i am not already in teheran? the internet is outside america too.”