OK, I can understand that. I don't agree with it, but I understand it. And, the reason that I don't agree with it is that AFAIK there's nothing in Communist ideology that would dictate that type of conduct, any more than there's anything in Bushido that could be used to justify the Rape of Nanking. BTW, back in '71, I saw a documentary on that war that included some newsreel footage from Nanking; I'm still trying to forget some of the images.

That was an ideological difference between the two that prevents the Germans from being willing to surrender German territory to the Soviets...

That wasn't the biggest reason that the Germans fought so much harder in the East during the final days of the war. They considered the Soviets to be little more than animals, and if you'll read accounts of how they acted, e.g., raping every female they found from 8 to 80, you'll see that the Germans were, to some extent, trying to make sure that they surrendered to the western allies, who they could trust to act in a civilized manner. Aside from that, I have no disagreement with your premise.

As I recall, people were very surprised to find out just how different the other side of the Moon is. Right up until the pictures came back everybody expected that both sides would be much more similar than they turned out to be.

Had we been ready to prosecute even one front of the war in December 1941 we could have easily saved Europe from being totally taken by Germany...

You are aware, aren't you, that the Battle of France started on May 10, 1940 and ended on June 22, 1940, almost a year and a half before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Workers are lazy and will not produce if they don't have to.

"As long as they pretend to pay us, we'll pretend to work."

How can Europeans know that censorship ends poorly when nobody's allowed to tell them about it?

This has been tried and tried and tried and it's never worked. And yet, here we have Jaroen Janssen crying, "This time, for sure!"

Two questions: first, do you tell your students that you're going to be doing this? (I ask because it it would say quite a bit about the plagiarizers if they knew in advance that you'd be checking.) Second, how do they try to justify their actions when they're caught?

No, it doesn't beg the question, it asks the question. Mr. Pot, may I introduce Mr. Kettle?

Actually, it's exactly the kind of change I was expecting. Right from the start, I realized that he was very careful not to give even the slightest hint of what kind of change he was thinking of, and presumed that he meant "change for the worse." From all I can see, I was right.

If so, that's age discrimination, something that's forbidden by law.

OK, I'm a white male, but I might be able to qualify because I belong to several minority groups. I'm a veteran. Not only that, I'm a 'Nam vet. Not only that, I have a (minor) service-connected disability. And, of course, I'm a senior citizen. Add all of those together, and Google might be willing to hire me simply because I can be counted as part of four different minority groups. There's only one problem: I'm retired and have no interest in working for them.

How's that web hosting business you're spamming your sig line coming?

Well, I've used it for my own site for a number of years, as have a few of my friends, and we've all gotten good service. And, except for the fact that I get a little bit taken off my bill if somebody follows that link and signs up with them, I have no business relationship with them except as a customer. And, as far as my post being just an excuse to post something, I, at least, prefer to post only when I have something to say.

If you'll just stop and think for a moment, you'll realize that people aren't smashing down 44oz of sugar. They're drinking 44 fluid ounces of a soft drink, sweetened with sugar and/or high-fructose corn syrup. I agree with your basic idea that the US shouldn't try to be a nanny state, but I think that your point comes across better without the mistake.

Thank you. Asked and answered.