Recent Comments

1. about 9 hours ago on Luann

   “Why didn’t Tara already call 911?”

   Probably because, although it has happened over a couple of days in the strip, in real life, it would have only taken a few seconds.

2. about 9 hours ago on Pearls Before Swine

   ““Master’s”, “mastery” … all nasty implications that some people are superior to others and can order them around like slaves!”

   I take it then that you would rather hire an apprentice rather than a master tradesman. And, of course, if you ever need somebody who has a college education, such as a doctor or a lawyer, you’d want to make sure they don’t have a master’s degree.

3. about 9 hours ago on Pearls Before Swine

   “Trying to tell people they can’t say things is expressly forbidden.”

   So, that would mean that it’s expressly forbidden for you to tell me that it’s expressly forbidden for me to tell you that you are forbidden to say certain things. Am I understanding this correctly?

4. about 9 hours ago on Pearls Before Swine

   In Icelandic, it’s called the sleeping room.

5. about 9 hours ago on Adult Children

   I wouldn’t wait till three. I’d make some excuse and leave right away, to make sure I left ahead of him.

6. about 10 hours ago on Off the Mark

   “In other words anything that arrived or grew naturally in its current location “originated” there and should be allowed to thrive”

   If a species was brought by people from half way around the world, then it didn’t arrive naturally. Also, not all species, invasive or not, are plants or animals. Some species are even microscopic, and can be introduced inadvertently. I recall a species of virus that was introduced to areas outside its natural habitat just a few years ago. It caused quite a lot of trouble. But, since it thrived where it was introduced, I suppose we should have allowed to live, instead of trying to eradicate it. And what about murder hornets or killer bees? Should we just let them thrive?

7. 1 day ago on Off the Mark

   “The definition of a weed is a plant out of place. A beautiful rose bush in an alfalfa field is a weed.”

   It’s a little more complicated than that. To be considered a weed a plant also has to spread rapidly. Rose bushes don’t do that, so they can never be weeds.

8. 1 day ago on Off the Mark

   You misunderstand (or misrepresent, I’m not sure which) what invasive species are. Invasive species are not plants or animals that arrive in an area on their own due to changing climate conditions, being blown there by storms, or by some other natural means. For a species to be considered invasive, it must be artificially introduced, and it must negatively affect native species in some way.

   I live in Iceland. Until recently, the waters around Iceland were too cold for mackerel, but rising sea temperatures have caused mackerel to move farther north, and they are now common in Icelandic waters and are fished commercially. Sitka spruce was introduced to Iceland in the 1920s. Lupin (aka lupine, aka bluebonnet) was first introduced to Iceland in the late 18th century, but was only in a few gardens, until the 1940s, when they started using it to combat erosion, and it started spreading in nature. Lupin is now common all over Iceland.

   Of those three species, only one is considered an invasive species. Mackerel isn’t an invasive species, because it came here naturally. Sitka spruce isn’t invasive, since it doesn’t cause any problems with native life forms. The lupin is considered invasive because it was introduced here artificially, and causes problems where it grows. I does work well when used to fight erosion, but it also kills off all native plants in the area.

9. 1 day ago on Over the Hedge

   “I’m not particularly interested in taking unsolicited advice”

   First of all, like FireAnt_Hater said, I didn’t give any advice. Secondly, you seem interested enough to reply.

10. 1 day ago on Over the Hedge

    “And “poof”, sucked the pleasure right out of reading a favorite comic strip.”

    It doesn’t take much, I guess.