Comments on: Emergency Thanksgiving Help: Books for Uncle Bob

By: jane

jane — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 18:49:51 +0000

Speaking of undiscovered primates, will Sungudogo ever be available again? I would still really like to buy it.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 00:21:13 +0000

Jane, this may become more important in one month when Uncle Bob dresses up as Santa Clause and tromps around in the snow for a while like bigfoot!

By: jane

jane — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 21:46:37 +0000

I fail to see how an Uncle Bob who believes in the potential survival of relict gigantopithecines (especially in a region where they were known to live during the early Pleistocene) is as problematic as an Uncle Bob who believes that climate change is fake or religious warmongering is beneficial. The former is less implausible, and if it is wrong, it is harmless. (I refuse to accept “People might start thinking it is okay to hold minority opinions” as a substantive harm.) Uncle Bob may start to feel like you are spoiling for a fight if you can’t let these kinds of disagreement go.

By: Desertphile

Desertphile — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 22:43:22 +0000

Look at the reviews for “The Plot to Hack America: How Putin’s Cyberspies and WikiLeaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election.” There are currently 25 “one star” reviews, zero of them flagged as “verified purchase.” There are 38 “five star” reviews, 28 of them flagged as “verified purchase.” There are 6 “four star” reviews, 6 of them flagged “verified purchase.”

By: Desertphile

Desertphile — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 22:14:27 +0000

In my family, I *AM* Uncle Bob.

By: dean

dean — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 21:59:43 +0000

“If you are very unfortunate, you have an “Uncle Bob.” That’s the code word for that man without a filter who never misses a family event and can’t wait to argue with you.”

We, unfortunately, have several on both sides of the family. From the folks on my wife’s side who will talk about “The ruin gays and lesbians will bring to the country unless they’re reigned in” and “Thank God they’ll all go to Hell when they die” in front of my wife’s sister and her partner, to the in-laws on both sides who make snide comments about the fact that we adopted twice from South Korea. (Actually, it’s easier to deal with the folks on my side who do that: I warned them once, after the second time I stopped associating with them. It’s been 20+ years. My wife won’t do that with her family.) But the remaining 98.7%+ of the families are great people. I hope that’s the case for everyone with an “Uncle Bob.”

“Also, this will be in Minnesota where politics are not discussed.”

The comedian Tim Cavanaugh describes Minnesota as “The place where introverts stare at their shoes and extroverts stare at your shoes.” Close to the truth? 🙂

Have a great long weekend. I intend to be out in some local woods hiking as much as I can.