Comment 31 by ColdThinker

Sadly, one of the things that easily spurs crowds of people on is having a common opponent. It's depressing how easily people begin thinking in terms of "us versus them".

Comment 38 by Alan4discussion

The Chinese solved their exploding population problem, with their radical "One Child" law, and absolute intolerance of meddling religinuts. Drastic - but it can be done!

Not entirely without complications. China still has a monstrous population size, and the policy has resulted in a lot of unfortunate infanticide. The trouble is it's either birth control or mass famine, and we live on a planet where a few deluded souls with political power act like contraceptives are murder weapons.

Comment 37 by Alan4discussion

The short answer is there are no confirmed examples of bacteria with arsenic incorporated in their DNA. Just sloppy science, media hype, and some resistant bacteria living in arsenic contaminated water.

That's news to me. I must have a look at that link.

Comment 40 by holysmokes

I approve, but it is sometimes convenient to call someone an American or a Russian rather than to recall their specific birthplace, and more satisfying to nail their nationality than to be vague.