On the Nature of Things | Forum

I think the tradition is that you loot the *other* guy - but it's early days - give the Mamelukes a chance, eh? In other news... Egypt underlines Iran's isolation at Non-Aligned Movement summit Mohamed Morsi's condemnation of Syrian regime at Tehran summit will boost Sunni unity at expense of Assad'...

I don't know. It's prime marshalling fodder for the Dems when it comes to getting their vote out on polling day - crucial in a neck and neck race. It also doesn't speak well of the Rep's party machine if they can't anoint their chosen ones in front of the congregation without a steady stream of well...

It's a profound crime politically - or at least self-murder. Turning a poll-bumping cake walk into (another) presentational fiasco. There are probably enough media cycles remaining for these gaffs to vanish before polling day, but it isn't very edifying. A couple of weeks ago I was pretty much convi...

No. Because:
1/ You all know where to find the PressTV website, right?
2/ The Spambots provide all the spurious new threads and repetitive derails we need.

As reported by TPM, someone attending the Republican National Convention hurled nuts at a black crew person for CNN and said this: “This is how we feed animals.” If true: Barbaric, unheard of, unfathomable. CNN has confirmed an incident, telling TPM: “CNN can confirm there was an incident directed ...

I think Ib is more of a "fight for self determination, liberty and rule of law though the cost may be heavy" sort of a cove, really. The preserving the status quo with universal oppression and a steady trickle of murder and torture line seems futile to me. It cannot defuse the inevitable ...

Well, on the one hand this: Because even at a smaller scale they can't get along . Look at the Palestinians, Lebanese, Iraqis, and the rich gulf countries. They can't even manage to be fair to full segments of their populations. Look at what is happening in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia where live bullet...

Hell, I thought that internet strangers are the only ones that can tolerate your annoying, watch me scream the loudest, holier than thou attitude. Weren't you just bragging to me about how much weight you lost during Ramadan and your copious philanthropy? Weight loss? Many of the Muslims I know act...

I think Ib is more of a "fight for self determination, liberty and rule of law though the cost may be heavy" sort of a cove, really. The preserving the status quo with universal oppression and a steady trickle of murder and torture line seems futile to me. It cannot defuse the inevitable d...

Hell, I thought that internet strangers are the only ones that can tolerate your annoying, watch me scream the loudest, holier than thou attitude. Weren't you just bragging to me about how much weight you lost during Ramadan and your copious philanthropy? Weight loss? Many of the Muslims I know act...

i did a translation project for a sikh group, so he could annotate the GGS in various languages, which was very difficult for me as i didnt speak the language nor get pattern recogintion on the characters and yet had to convert a custom image based font to modern unicode. certainly tested my learni...

I can't see how being deeply illiberal to a minority within a minority can do much to promote social cohesion. It may well have the opposite effect. Is locking your door, or putting bars on your windows, or setting a password in your computer, an illiberal behaviour?... Are rules and laws illiberal...

From an article on The Independent: No safe passage out of the UK for Julian Assange, says British government http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/no-safe-passage-out-of-the-uk-for-julian-assange-says-british-government-8052991.html (...)There were suggestions that Mr Assange could try and en...

My contrary observation is that the places where everybody doesn't blend in are the most culturally, intellectually, and commercially vibrant. Blending in doesn't mean giving up one's culture entirely. Only those aspects which may lead to conflict. A Japanese musician living in Paris doesn't have t...

I can't see how being deeply illiberal to a minority within a minority can do much to promote social cohesion. It may well have the opposite effect. Is locking your door, or putting bars on your windows, or setting a password in your computer, an illiberal behaviour?... Are rules and laws illiberal...

I can't see how being deeply illiberal to a minority within a minority can do much to promote social cohesion. It may well have the opposite effect.

I doubt it, but you can appear at a parliamentary committee dressed like this: http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7452/59829380jex1387266de271.jpg So I guess it's ok to go to the supermarket draped in a black bed sheet. If you believe in living in a free society with all that goes with it, there's rea...

SHOCK: Poll shows Americans think TSA is highly effective Forget what you've heard in the news. According to a new Gallup poll, the majority of Americans think the Transportation Security Administration, which handles security screening at US airports, is doing just fine, "despite recent negat...

Clearly we have to give ourselves some sort of advantage, so: Cricket, obviously the first choice. Pub carpark after hours freestyle boxing. Synchronised Rioting. Queueing Marathon. "Modern" Decathalon, to replace the "Modern" Pentathalon, taking it to it's logical highwayman con...

I don't watch the olympics. :| same :) if i was a creature of leisure i probably would but the precious hour or two in the evening I can steal away from work and chores is not to be wasted on tedious parochial coverage... our tv is pretty awful. Yes. Most Australians don't care much for sport.

http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCABRE8610SH20120807 Assad gets Iran backing as forces squeeze Aleppo rebels By Hadeel Al Shalchi ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - Iran has offered support to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad as his forces tried to choke off rebels in the northern city of Aleppo. Se...

Khamenei Warns Iran’s Top Leaders: WAR IN WEEKS DEBKAfile August 1, 2012 On July 27, just before Friday prayers, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei summoned top Iranian military chiefs for what he called “their last war council.” “We’ll be at war within weeks,” he told the gathering, debk...

Congratulations, NASA for sending a great big genuflecting remote control car to Mars. With lasers. How they managed to pull off this Heath Robinson* scheme is quite incredible: After the parachute has significantly slowed the vehicle and the heatshield (that has protected the rover during entry) s...

Ahh, the battle of the Roundheads and the Cavaliers.

I'm really impressed with the BBC online coverage. It's quite splendid - high quality, reliable and easy to use - massively superior to the TV coverage. Their live streams cover every event on the day, allowing you to rewind to watch the bits you've missed and iPlayer lets you watch the last weeks w...