Recent Comments

1. almost 9 years ago on Doonesbury

   As DavidHuieGreen says, Mahmood is quoted as saying that this is just what he thinks, he doesn’t give any justification apart from his own gut feeling. The Guardian, admittedly left-leaning, has a detailed analysis:

   http://www.theguardian.com/news/reality-check/2015/dec/11/donald-trump-needs-check-facts-british-muslims-isis

   As above, it looks like the figure is roughly even at about 500 – 600 each. There is strong disagreement, even among more moderate Muslims in the UK, with successive governments’ decisions to fight in Iraq, Afghanistan etc, which has meant that very few Muslims serve in the UK armed forces, and the proportion who are either in the armed forces or in ISIL is a miniscule fraction (0.02% each) of the 2.5 million UK Muslim population. The correct conclusion is therefore that overwhelming majority of UK Muslims want nothing to do with either ISIL or the UK armed forces.

2. almost 9 years ago on Doonesbury

   “Tells it like it is”? What, like that there are no go areas in London where the police won’t go because they fear for their lives? Heck, there aren’t many places in London where I won’t go, as an unfit male in his sixties, and none of them are primarily Muslim.

3. almost 9 years ago on Doonesbury

   “Cardboard box? You were lucky. We lived for three months in a brown paper bag in a septic tank…”

   (Just in case any of my compatriots are reading. For those on t’other side of t’pond – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo )

4. almost 9 years ago on Doonesbury

   Deliberate continuity error – the panda’s body reversing out in panel 3.

   Apologies if this is asked and answered, though I did check back a couple of weeks – any explanation of why we have been in 1985 for several months when it’s only meant to be a month a year?

5. over 9 years ago on Doonesbury

   Who snarfed all the olives between frame 3 and 4…?

6. over 9 years ago on Doonesbury

   Not quite sure where Pacopuddy is filling up; currently unleaded is about £1.13 a litre in the South East. Which, in part, explains why (compared to the US) we have very good public transport, although it is our second favourite subject to complain about.

7. over 9 years ago on Doonesbury

   @Mike31g, Even though Manchester (Victoria University of, aka Owens) is my alma mater, I have to point out that the newspaper stopped being the “Manchester” Guardian in 1959…

8. almost 10 years ago on Doonesbury

   There’s a heartwarming story over here about a fundraiser for a disabled crime victim that has gone viral:http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/donations-pour-disabled-man-attacked-mugger-article-1.2099507I can;t help fearing that the next step will be that the girl who did the fundraising will start getting trolled, and that the victim will start getting begging letters. In another part of the interview the girl says that the publicity has been good, but that she has found it “tiring”. The propensity of the traditional media to eat people up and spit them out seems to be intensified tenfold by social media.

9. almost 10 years ago on Doonesbury

   @WF11They remained eternal students until the hiatus in 83/84, came back with a bit of subsequent history like the marriage of Mike and JJ, and from then on have aged roughly in real time. That puts Mike in his mid-fifties, which looks about right. And congratulations!

10. almost 10 years ago on Doonesbury

    For the record, Mike and JJ marry during the 1983/84 hiatus; ie they are not married as the hiatus starts and are married by the time the strip resumes.