ChrisR

I've watched this clip several times now, and find a mixed message. He acknowledges right at the start that ISIL would be soundly defeated if they had to fight a real battle against a united world. But he then goes on with "puppies and flowers chat" about how we really shouldn't do that, but we should all love one another. Blech. Defeat them. When any group of people declares war on civilization, it is incumbent upon civilization to give them what they want: clear, decisive war. Not some paltry half-baked response to "contain" them, which, according to Mr. Obama, has now suffered a "setback" in Paris. Unless, of course, we don't mind our jetliners being blown out of the sky, nightclubs dissolving in automatic weapons fire, and boys in the ISIL territories being machine gunned. (Note that the "fierce" French response was to drop 20 bombs on ISIS facilities -- the bomb capacity of a single B-17 in 1944.) Confederate General Robert E. Lee is credited with saying, "Indeed it is good that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it." Well, ISIL is reminding us that war isn't an endless conflict between drones operated out of an air conditioned office thousands of miles away. It's ugly and horrible. Let's end it once and for all. Then we can love one another in peace.

In this case I agree with you completely, in both senses of "Trump's" ... Trump's (possessive) and Trump Is (contraction). Sadly, it's more than just 'out there' Christians who seem to agree. There are members of numerous religious organizations who've expressed their concurrence and quite a few atheists who've latched onto opposition to radical Islam as the opening gambit in an effort to shut down churches universally. What really concerns me is that a lot of folks have an understanding of politics that's more akin to watching "reality" television than dealing with the real world. In less than a year we'll be voting for one of the current class of clowns to take the responsibility for providing leadership over this place. That's a scary thought. As for Muslims who can report on their brethren and help dial things down, I'll believe it when I see it. Fear is a mighty powerful weapon in the hands of those willing to wield it. Those who know things will have to be beyond heroic to come forward. But I hope that you're right.

For the record, Chris, I don't own any stock in Monsanto or any other chemical company. So if I'm at a Monsanto stockholders meeting, I sneaked in. We can agree on one thing you said: "ees are trying to tell us something important..." No argument there. Nature has all sorts of methods for slapping us up against the side of the head. But to jump from that to "[T]he Koch Brothers are killing the source of your food supply..." is pretty sloppy logic. You point out, for example, in your discussion of mosquitos and bees that "There must be some chemical imbalance that kills them off and makes them poisonous because not even the lizards will eat the dead bees." Rather alarming, unless you visit http://www.whatdolizardseat.info/where you can learn, " It's important to remember that lizards love a good chase and will often reject food that is already dead." Oops. Have you contacted the local health department (or whomever sprays for mosquitos) and asked what they use? Asked them whether it has an impact on bees as well as skeeters? Asked them if they could use something else? Or told them you would be content to live with the mosqitos if it means one less poison in the environment? Do you have proposals that can provide alternatives to chemicals in food production? Let's hear them. We have some local stores that carry organic food products, but they generally cost at least 50% more (often much much more) and frankly lack the appearance that is at least one component of good eating. Can you solve the issue of producing quality products without blasting prices into the stratosphere? Do tell. You credit the government as responsible for being our protector, which they are. But the greater threat to government doing its job is not the lobbyist, but a self-caused ill-informed populace willing to accept earnest but wrong arguments. It pays to become informed, lest we fall victim to every Chicken Little argument that the sky is falling.

Thank you for the reference. It's good to know that some studies are going on somewhere in the world! Your reference has two points, however, that seem to support the need for additional research before we can categorically blame or not blame anybody. Specifically, it says: "Our data contribute to the growing body of evidence highlighting the need for a large scale field-based experiment to determine the real-world impacts on pollinators of the use of neonicotinoid seed coatings on mass flowering crops." and "Our data would support the suggestion of Cresswell41 that published experiments attempting to link neonicotinoid usage with poor honey bee health40,42 lack the statistical power to discover similar population level effects on colony mortality." [emphasis added] All of which rather harkens back to the fact that headlines such as "The Koch brothers are killing our food supply" are unnecessarily alarmist, seemingly politically motivated, and in the long run counterproductive to improving the quality and methodology of our food processing industries. Oh yeah - and feeding the people of the world.

What an utterly fascinatng story! As an aficionado of the Soviet era, I'd say its detail is breathtaking, and the 'itty bitty' liberty it takes with history is downright mind-blowing. The story could even form the anchor chapter in a Russian alternate history book akin to Turtledove's Guns of the South. Thanks ever so much.

I live in rural America, literally across the dirt road from several 1/2 mile crop circles (corn). Sadly, no alien carvings yet. So I had a chat with a friend after church today, a man who happens to be an independent agricultural insecticide consultant and a beekeeper. He suspects your concerns are a bit overblown. He acknowledges that nicotinoids are one of several suspects in colony collapse/abandonment, but only one among many, and that there is nothing approaching proof yet. The biggest controlled test was at Harvard and involved 12 "tainted" and 6 "control" hives located fairly close together, so any results could not be extended beyond that. Apparently there have been no studies that actually identify where the bees have gone who abandon their hives. That said, he also pointed out that nicotinoid sales were actually halted in the US as of last Friday because some of the tests during their approval stage have to be done/redone. (Sounds like irregularities to me, but I can't point to the Koch Brothers by name.) Farmers can use their existing stocks for 2 years. At the same time, however, Europe recently rescinded their ban on usage, so it sounds like no real net change. Bottom line is that the jury is still out on cause and effect of the decline in bee population. And while it's popular among activists to demonize certain players (i.e. Koch Brothers, ISIS, Obama, Trump, etc.) as the respective roots of all evil, it's not really that simple. In the case of bees, scientists and farmers all have a vested interest in determining what's going on with the world's bee population, but focusing on a single cause and specific persons at this stage, when we don't even know if it's the right cause, could do more harm than good.

I still don't quite understand relativity, but at least he makes studying more fun. Does he teach biology too?

How many months did they give the poor secretary to learn how to open his desk without killing himself?! I laughed at the end when the guy had to jump back after opening the easel.

What I find fascinating is how many of these traits are considered when assessing kids for their place on the autism spectrum.

No joke! Every 15-year-old should have friends like these. Might just cut down some of the BS in schools. Right now, my only problem with the tale is it seems so LONG to be presented. Might have to force myself to ignore it for a while and read multiple chapters at once. But I'm looking forward to it.

Funny thing is that it has been 40+ years since anybody was drafted, but it's still a federal offense if you don't register for the draft. And even if they don't charge you with the crime, you're ineligible for student loans, most scholarships, etc. And women aren't affected by it. Sort of smacks of sexual discrimination.

Reduces likelihood of car theft?

Thanks very much for pointing this one out, Lugnutz. Slightly different from most, and worth every moment, All 7 chapters have been posted, and it's definitely worth the read.

You've nailed it, Chris. If it's a teachable moment, then TEACH for goodness sake: It's a SCHOOL! I'm not fond of classroom distractions, particularly when they are contemporary "culture-of-the-week" related, but a hair style reflecting the boy's native heritage is a super message for his classmates - and, obviously, the teachers and administration. But I guess it didn't incorporate a question on the standardized testing program, so it has to go. Educational equality. Keep them all equally ignorant.

To be fair, it's not completely limited to an American audience or American productions. James Bond doesn't quite swagger in with a Kentucky twang (or a Kentucky long rifle). And Darth Vader's antics are filmed in some foreign country too. (Or is it another planet?) Neither is particularly known for resolving conflict through peaceful discourse. And at least it's, as you say, "America... hands up OR I will shoot." Try the middle east (Arabic) with its AK-47s (Russian) where it's "hands up THEN I will shoot." Oddly enough, some of the more violent books/films for kids are the Harry Potter series, which proved that if you switch out the 9mm Glock (Austrian) for the 9mm Ollivander (Diagon Alley) you can kill as many as you'd like and nobody notices, even as you line up the bodies of the dead children.

I do hope that the producers of such animated programming take note as well. Kids will mimic what they see, for better or for worse. If children's programming is filled with good and hope and useful stuff, we can expect our younger generations to learn it. But if children's programming is filled with trash, we can expect our younger generations to learn that instead. Too many shows that have been on for many years seem more interested in keeping their existing aging fan base and getting 'older' topics than keeping them as kids' shows. Then again, I'm still ticked off that Mr. Snuffleupagus moved from imagination to reality, so what do I know.

So that's a Tardis, eh? Here I thought it was a British Port-a-Potty.

Well thank goodness SOMEBODY is keeping those little monsters at bay!

That, sir, is what YOU think! Nobody owns a cat. You are merely granted, in its benevolence, permission to care for it.

Indeed a charming story. Maybe didn't solve ALL the world's problems, but reminded us that cats are here to do just that -- whenever they are so inclined.

Sermons on sexual behavior are essentially like speed limit signs on highways -- kindly placed there by the authorities to remind us we are all scofflaws!

They are not only fearless, but they challenge everybody around to try to scare them! It oft leads to them becoming ... what's the word? ... oh yeah: FUN!

Thanks for pointing it out! Great music and great fun are things always to be treasured.

Thanks so much for this, Chris. I never followed the show, but this young gent has one talented classical voice. Some of the key change transitions aren't easy and he nails them. The little grin as he finishes the last sung note tells you everythng you need to know about whether he knows it or not!!

The Aussie presents no difficulties for us, but I do understand the difficulties for less advanced cultures. (sarcasm) Wait a sec -- there are less advanced cultures than Australia? Who'd'a'thunk'it?