But they only work because we are culturally predisposed to associate those styles with those categories. That seems like an awful lot of effort expended for no compelling reason…

I mentioned “sarcasm font” because I wanted to make sure my post was not mistaken for my real opinion. Apparently, I was not successful. A sarcasm font might make sense here, where we are a small group and can quickly be exposed to and trained to recognize it. But there’s nothing I can think of to give it any universal currency. Its like emojis, but that’s another story.

If I did this, I’d use this font called “Comic Neue”, which was created by somebody who wanted to correct the errors in Comic Sans that made it a joke and everybody’s most hated font. It’s really nice, actually. Do you remember Adobe Tekton from the ’90s? Nice hand-lettering style, like a perfect draughtsman. That’s what Comic Sans was meant to be but belly-flopped.

Wait never mind, there’s nothing ironic about a nice-looking font that isn’t a joke. I’ll have to figure out something else. You got any ideas?

That way lies madness.

But do they ever scream when someone tells them they have to use energy-efficient lightbulbs.

I thought Comic Sans was universal because some klutz at Microsoft invented it while trying to pay homage to comic book hand lettering and his employers took pity on him and included it with Windows against everybody’s better judgment. Thus it also makes a fine font to convey irony. But not on your screen.

Which is ironic, isn’t it?

But OK, I’ll look into it. Maybe use a downloadable font or something.

I was making a sarcastic comment about those who criticize Obama for not calling Islamic terrorists Islamic terrorists. In a society where every utterance is parsed and dissected for hidden meaning or to find a juicy gotcha, there is a very good reason for not blaming terrorism on Muslims. He does it for the same reason George Bush did it, to show the Islamic community that we need their help solving this problem, that we are aware that not everyone of their religion is a fanatical killer, and telling our home-grown bigots they don’t have a free “Let’s go git us a raghead” card.

as for my opinions on abortion, see my response to Jody below.

We also kill convicted criminals, and we’re allowed to kill in self-defense, or the defense of others, even if no real threat exists, we just think there is. And we carry out policies that lead to people’s deaths, We oppose safety regulations and procedures if they are too expensive to implement, even though deaths may result. We ration health care, either administratively or economically, and we practice triage, and we allow industries to continue operating that kill people, like mining. And we practice euthanasia, even if informally. And where do yo draw the line in the gun control debate? Using guns? Owning guns? Selling guns?

Even when we are not responsible directly, we indirectly allow this killing to go on because it is inconvenient for us to do anything about it, or we’re too lazy or too cheap to stop it, like we buy products from countries that don’t have safety regs in their mines and factories.
How many needless deaths occurred while we fought to make seat belts mandatory, before we came down hard on smoking cigarettes, before we outlawed lead in paint and gasoline, and asbestos in insulation. All of these measures were bitterly resisted for purely economic reasons. And I agree, maybe some of them should have, it is very hard to know where to draw the line between a handful of lives and millions of jobs, and between freedom and safety.

I’m not making excuses, I’m just as guilty as anyone else, but I’m just making the point that the whole situation is morally ambiguous. This is not an easy issue to grapple with.

As far as abortion is concerned, I don’t think foetuses or embryos are people. I know this may sound monstrous to some, but I believe the human personality, the consciousness, the soul, if you like, is what makes us human. Foetuses are bundles of cells that have no soul. I believe we are not really human until we have a conscious memory, which occurs sometime after birth, even though I don’t know exactly when.

To be safe, abortions in the first trimester should be totally legal and unrestricted. After that, I’m not sure, although I believe the life of the mother should take precedence over the life of the infant, at any age.

If your religion does not find abortion acceptable, fine. Don’t have one. But don’t feel that gives you the right to force your beliefs on anyone else.

But I, like you, instantly assumed it was a nucking futcase driven by the right wing evangelistic “propaganda”. While I’m pro-abortion (with a few limits) it’s easy understand how the opposition feels. You can’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.