Politics

This morning, just after 10.00 GMT, the Beeb posted an article entitled "US forces begin battering Falluja" [google record] The article that link points to has now changed to "US Forces Under Fire in Falluja" and has been de-indexed from the Beeb's Middle-East section. Replacing it are two newer articles, entitled "Iraqi Face on Falluja Operation" and "Iraqi PM orders Falluja Invasion". Updated information, or diplomatic fudging?

Ok, Im in a predicament- I need to see the actual text of the assault weapons ban. Not an overview, or someone's opinion about it, but the ACTUAL thing that passed. Thanks!

Buried in all the thousands of stories you're reading in the press today about how the non-partisan Duelfer report found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction is another finding by the same group: That individuals in France, Russia and China specifically benefitted, illegally, from the oil-for-food program. http://www.indystar.com/articles/0/184723-2300-010.html

Two orbits, with five people, at an altitude above 400kms, to be repeated within sixty days. The first flight can simply demonstrate the ability to take five people i.e. pilot, plus ballast. The second flight must carry at least five. http://www.space.com/spacenews/businessmonday_bigelow_041108.html It must be completed by Jan 10, 2010. Unlike the X-prize this is only open to US residents.

The French taxed and drove people into the mines to make the colony profitable for France? Despite the fact that Vietnam exported tons tons of rice, Vietnamese peasants starved / are starving? The U.S. supported France having colonies in Vietnam? The U.S. put in place a leader who was Catholic and from America, which would alienate him from the majority of the Vietnamese? Then they overthrew him to take charge of the war? There were millions of Vietnamese casualties? There were more explosives dropped on tiny Vietnam than in all of the theators of World War II put together? The U.S. used chemical warfare against the environment they claimed to be trying to save? T…

Okay, me and a buddy are having a little debate over this proposed flat tax. I'm against it, because of the regressive nature of it all. I know a lot of you are really into this debate, so I'll ask you what should be the counter argument in this. Let's begin with my argument: Now here's his reply:

Reported on ABC News just now, the total advertising money spent by each side this year. Kerry: $358 million Bush: 229 million Total: 587 million A staggering sum. This is JUST by the two campaigns, so in fact in the end, adding in the 527 money, the pro-Kerry advertising probably outmatched the pro-Bush ads by 2:1.

In the UK, we still have organized fox hunts. These involve a great many traditions, bring all sorts of revenue and benefits to rural communities, but basically boil down to a fox being chased down and killed by dogs. The government has made three attempts in the past decade to ban hunting, but seems to be adamant this time that the ban will be applied: - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4020453.stm Keeping in mind that a fox is not a particularly nice creature, a vicious diseased dog really, what is the right or the wrong position to take? Is it correct to ban something when there are two major opposing viewpoints surrounding the activity? Should …

I think I am not the only one that thinks the war on Iraq was a complete diversion from the real threats. Iran and North Korea most likey see now as the best time as ever to secretly build an arsenal of wmd's, Bush and his cabinet did take their eye off the ball and now they are playing catch-up and the fact that Iran and North Korea had to deal with changing administrations and changing policy's their leaders are still the same, death to america chants I heard on the news from Iran's parliment. If we asume the U.S has the best world intelligence and they cant get the Iraq story right how can they even think they know North Korea dosent have 20 nukes and the medium range …

I posted this in a BiologicalEvolution forum on 30/09/2001 and e-mailed it later to the Washington Post Western-Islamic Cultures Confrontation ----------------------------------------- In spite of all assertions and explanations by its members, Islamic culture cannot and will not accept Western values, ethics, attitudes and social-political standards. These are plainly and clearly competitive evolutionary threats to the survival of fundamental Islamic faith and culture, to the dedicated devotion to it. This is why Western culture invokes fundamental Islamic terrorism, to counter this offensive threat to its survival and proliferation. Islamic instit…

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says he is no longer bound by promise to Washington that he would not target Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

A lot of political analysists have been attributing the turnoff to the democratic party to hardcore liberals such as Michael Moore, George Soros, MoveOn.org, etc. The democrats had a major motion picture working for them which seen by millions which essentially slammed Bush, much more money from outside groups including George Soros funding huge smear campaigns on TV, celebrities publically backing up Kerry and slamming Bush, and the liberal media to back it all up! How in the world did they still lose this election? They didn't even get one southern state, and the southern states historically vote democrat. I'm not really trying to bash the democratic party here, but…

Did anyone see John Stewart on CNN's Crossfire? Here's the bittorrent if you didn't see it: http://bitflood.org:8080/?file=791b2f5d95a54d1381b85f271b51f71e73964185

The recent deaths of 85 protesters in Thailand highlighted the resurgent insurgency in the largely Islamic southern provinces. The poor rural communities there feel left out of the government in the largely Buddhist country, and that they aren't represented in the police and military. The Thai PM's solution is a monument to lateral thinking: to fly 60 million paper birds made by students, housewives and politicians to the southern provinces as a sign of unity. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4021459.stm

http://www.wired.com/news/space/0,2697,65151,00.html What do you all think of this?

In your re-election, God has graciously granted America -- though she doesn't deserve it -- a reprieve from the agenda of paganism. You have been given a mandate. We the people expect your voice to be like the clear and certain sound of a trumpet. Because you seek the Lord daily, we who know the Lord will follow that kind of voice eagerly. Don't equivocate. Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil. You owe the liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ. Honor the Lord, and He will honor you. Bob Jones.

Can a correlation be made? Discuss.....

I heard on Fox news that Arafat had died. Then I heard on ABC TV that he wasn't dead....................anyone know??? OOP's, I just found this on Drudge.

The Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima, Japan has launched the world's first solar sail in to orbit. Previously only seen in science fiction, solar sails represent a fuel-free method of constant acceleration. They are the first potential extrasolar transport technology mankind has managed to fully realise. http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/snews/2004/0809.shtml

I have been reviewing my recent posts, and most in this forum seem to reply to yours. I just want to assure you that this is entirely without intent. I don't know, maybe it's because we are both Aussies, but at seemingly opposite ends of the political spectrum that your posts strike a chord with me, (After all, who cares what the yanks and poms think? ) and so I reply. (What do the people in the Psych Forum think of that theory? ) I just wanted you to know that my responses have not in any way been the result of a personal vendetta, and if I have given the impression that I've been hounding you, then I honestly apologise. That was never my intent. Should yo…

How will Arafat's death affect Palestine and the Middle East?

last night i had the opportunity to see howard dean speak. i found him to be remarkably reasonable and insightful. he first spoke of the importance of running for office. according to him, most of the people in lower political positions have minimal if any prior experience. he told the story of his cousin, a democrat who was elected to a position in utah, the most conservative state. he won because there was a scandal, but now he has the opportunity to gain back some left support in a very conservative state. also, he mentioned how in alabama (i think it was alabama, or another southern state) a black lesbian woman was elected. now she may be able to influence p…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3005875.stm One of the greatest problems in mathematics, the Poincare Conjecture, may have been solved by a Russian Mathematician, but only as an afterthought to his solution of the "Geometrisation Conjecture" proposed by the American mathematician William Thurston in the 1970s - a far more ambitious proposal that defines and characterises all three-dimensional surfaces. Should his solution survive scrutiny for two years, then he wins a $1m prize from the Clay Mathematics Institute in Massachusetts. apparently this has great implications for physics and maths, but I don't know what they are!

This is a twist on the standard county-level electoral map, done by a professor at Princeton. The problem with those "sea of red" maps is that they convey the idea that the "red states" are 100% pro-Bush, when in fact that's just an artifact of the electoral college system (nor are the "blue states" typically 100% pro-Kerry). We all know this intuitively, but there wasn't a really good graphic that showed it. Well, no longer. This map actually conveys the county-by-county vote using shades, from blue to red, indicating percentages. http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/ It sure gives a much different perspective, doesn't it?

I'm kinda bleary-eyed at the moment so these numbers might not be all that accurate. I just threw 'em together myself, they're not from a news source. Just some stuff I thought was interesting. Please don't construe this as pro-Bush sentiment. As I've said before, I love "sticking it" to extremists on both sides, and I'm going to enjoy laughing at liberals in particular, but my positions, as stated elsewhere on this board, have not changed. I'm especially outraged at the lack of work in fixing the influence of special interests in the House. But that having been said.... - Bush won both the popular vote and the electoral college vote - He got more total vo…