A pithy comic strip about life, love, lust and puthy cats.

Est. 1985

Extra, Extra!

Generating Controversy

By Jimmy Johnson


Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"OK, so you probably have gathered that the new approach to the Web site, the new attitude if you will, hasn’t kicked in yet. You’re not surprised, now are you? I thought about lying and telling you yesterday’s simply failed to load after I’d carefully chosen a cartoon for you and placed it in the hopper, but you’re too smart for that. So, we’ll limp along this week. I do want to go back to the beach and pick up where we left off last week, with this series from 1995. It can’t be Wednesday already.

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69 responses to “Generating Controversy”

  1. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    David, at Berkeley it is called “Physics for Future Presidents.” Sounds like Berkeley is aiming higher than the other institutions.

  2. emeritus minnesota biologist Avatar
    emeritus minnesota biologist

    Physical Science for Non-Scientists at the N. MN. school where I taught for decades. Some faculty in at least two depts., one dept. in the arts and humanities, the other in the school of business, PE, and such, told their freshmen under no circumstances to take Gen. Biol., take PSNS instead. May have short-changed a few bright students, and also may have enabled some to avoid science/faith conflicts. Sad.

    Ithaca College in New York: In the late ’40s, it used to be in downtown Ithaca, on the flat at the S. end of Lake Cayuga, W. and downhill from Cornell U. I’d seen the small campus once or twice. Understood it was strong in music and drama. Now it’s NW of town, on the W. side of the lake, with a much larger campus and several thousand students. I don’t know what its particular specialties are but understand it’s a fine school. Also have no idea what the extent of intercampus cooperation may be, but expect it is good. (Another free apostrophe lesson.)

  3. Lilyblack Avatar

    emb, I took biology and chemistry both my Freshman year and enjoyed them both. I took Physics for Poets and kind of enjoyed that, too, like a really hard massage

  4. Debbe Avatar
    Debbe

    GR 😉 Joe did…until “the intervention”…..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ-5BfYnTec

    I too noticed a week or so ago, Acme was referenced in this Village….loved today’s strip….so, maybe JJ will have Wiley ‘meep, meep,” through tomorrow.

  5. Frankly Anon Avatar
    Frankly Anon

    Looking over the last two days of comments. You people sound hard nosed for a bunch of geezers.

  6. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Hard nosed? You mean “attitudiosclerosis”, aka “hardening of the attitudes.”

  7. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Debbe 😉 One of my favorite tracks from one of my favorite CDs…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IclLiDSk7sU

  8. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    When I was reading today’s strip I thought “maybe JJ does read what we say and use it!”

    We had all been talking about roadrunners and Wiley Coyote and Acme in our blog comments. By the way, that Wiley Coyote and Roadrunner animated song was awesome on youTube.

    I suspect JJ often works close on his deadlines but that is good because his cartoons are always fresh and current. Not always case on those who stay six months ahead!

    Had an editor who suggested I write and send in about six months of columns. I said I didn’t know what I would even be thinking about in six months!

    Love, Jackie Monies

  9. Lilyblack Avatar

    Jackie, I’ll just bet he did. That way he wouldn’t have to nag you about it. I’ve read biographies of JRR Tolkien and O. Henry and that seems to be one of an editor’s primary duties

  10. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    I have a friend/acquaintance who writes a monthly column and one of the running gags is about how his editor has to run him down and find him in some scuzzy location in a bar drinking like Hemingway. Then he has to try and get something written on time for the magazine to go to printers.

    It’s his shtick.

    Love, Jackie Monies

  11. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Drinking like Hemingway in a bar? Nice shtick if you can get it.

    Hey, Lily, there’s a possible new career track for you. 🙂

  12. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Once I had an immature salesman I tried to turn into a real salesman. Anyway, his dad was all of our bosses, so you know how this ends! But I was always having to track him down in some woman’s bed, usually 150 miles from where he was supposed to be seeing a customer at 8 a.m. I quit six times during this juvenile episode! I thought he had a drug or drinking problem, turned out he was a health nut except where it came to being unfaithful.

    Tracking someone like that down for drinking is easier actually once you learn their habits.

    Love, Jackie Monies

  13. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    Debbe, Loon is home. My sleep returns to normal.

  14. Lilyblack Avatar

    Ghost, find out how much it pays and I’ll get back to you 😛 Till then I’ll happily be working for The Boss Of My Life and drinking as an amateur.

  15. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    Lily, only the underage are amateur drinkers. The rest of us just drink to varying degrees. 🙂

  16. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Well, the computer lost my first answer! Lily, most magazines pay so little that you would be totally shocked. One thing is you can deduct things like travel, expenses, etc. from your tax bill so if you wrote about drinking as part of your article, then it is deductible. Or so I have been told.

    But it might be a negative thing, the costs exceed the pay!

    Love, Jackie Monies

  17. Steve from Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    You can only deduct for 4 years if you lose money. After that, they consider it a hobby. Gee, so our government officials are just a hobby?

  18. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
    curmudgeonly ex-professor

    Re: yesterday’s topic of cremation ashes –
    I mentioned the possible splitting up of ashes for disposition in different places to a greatly experienced genealogist last evening. She told me this was not at all unusual; that it was almost commonly done.
    From a different genealogical source – and not having anything to do with ashes, but which applies – I suggest that the person so inclined write up those wishes in the will. A simple statement [“I, _____ _______, wish my cremation ashes to be divided up, one part to be buried in_____________ located ____________; a second part to be buried in ________ located ____________; and the last part used in making a 100 lb. cement statue of a flamingo which shall be placed on my brother-in-law’s grave.”] will suffice. The will connection is for the benefit of future genealogical researchers, for a serious researcher will always seek out wills when making an investigation. Wills are public documents, so are available to anyone who cares to ask.

  19. emeritus minnesota biologist Avatar
    emeritus minnesota biologist

    [. . . the last part used in making a 100 lb. cement statue of a flamingo which shall be placed on my brother-in-law’s grave.”]

    Lovely. We once had a univ. pres. and his academic v.p. who often flamingoed each others’ lawns. Both were better > average in their official duties. emb

  20. sideburns Avatar

    Sandcastler, I’m Type II, so I have to limit my consumption of alcohol. And, because of a blood clotting issue (chronic low platelet count) my Hematologist has told me to keep my consumption low because it’s a blood thinner. If memory serves, the last time I had as much as a glass of wine was at a Seder back in April.

    And, just to keep on-topic as far as the current strip goes, if you really need to take someplace out but don’t want the long-term problems of nuking it, there’s always the O.A.D.: http://www.impsec.org/~jhardin/OADS/anvil_chorus.html

  21. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    Sideburns, Symply Fargone!

    Sorry Symply, I lost over that last link.

  22. Lilyblack Avatar

    Sideburns, Mazel tov. If anybody ever tells me to limit my drinking or die, then bundle up my coffin

  23. David in Austin Avatar
    David in Austin

    I think Jerry Pournelle originated the idea of kinetic weapons from space. I’m pretty sure it was called Project Thor. The idea was conceptually bars of iron with guidance packages. By the time it reached the ground, HUGE kinetic energy was available. It would make any existing armor obsolete. I don’t think it was pursued anywhere other than fiction, because it is cheaper to make nukes. Kinetic strikes would be much cleaner, though. That’s a very good reason to be sure that no single political body controls the orbitals!

  24. Symply Fargone Avatar

    @sandcastler™

    Symply no Fargone problem!

  25. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    c ex-p: In the South, it would of course be obligatory to specify the concrete flamingo be painted pink. Just in case.