The serious stuff. Debates and discussions on politics, religion, etc.
These are just general guidelines and may be added to or changed if and when the need arises. The forum is a place for serious debate, discussion of news and current events, and also witnessing, if you must. Whether it's the deep discussion on...
From leading the Wikileaks revolution to hiding in a consol. A few weeks ago, Julian Assange lost his case for extradition to Sweden to answer to charges of rape. He has always claimed that if he was to be sent there, he would be extradited to...
The Republican field is wide open and despite everything she still has a very wide media presence. Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump are not in it, so the field is wide open for someone to come through to represent them. But it would mean giving up...
Kevin Carter became (in)famous having snapped this photo during the Famine in Sudan in 1993: He won a Pulitzer for the photo, but shortly thereafter committed suicide. At the time there was much commentary along the lines that Carter...
Story here, about an 18-year-old college freshman, Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide after his roommate and his roommate's friend surreptitiously videotaped him having a sexual encounter with another male, livestreamed it, and tweeted about it:...
Quite a few times in the past few years, I've seen disparaging references to people who have a GED (General Equivalency Diploma) rather than a regular high school diploma. I just wondered if anybody could shed light on this. My background: In...
Travelling home I noticed someone had their laptop out, with a large display and was watching Drive Angry on it in full view of anyone who could have been standing behind him. Apart from being a dire Nicholas Cage movie, it is also 18 rated in the...
I enjoy watching a show called Pawn Stars, which is a reality show about a large, family-owned pawn shop in Vegas. Basically, the show consists of people bringing in interesting items, and the shop figures out an appraisal of the worth, and then...
With Chris Christie now bowing out of the Republican race, Perry losing it in the debates, Palin keeping quiet, Bachmann, Hunstman and the other fading from view, it is looking more and more like Romney should be the Republican Candidate to go...
I've been thinking a ton about this issue lately, as I've a bit of a hobby of reading woo-debunking blogs such as Respectful Insolence. Of course, most of the bad science spread around on the web is by laypeople, but nowhere near all of it. There...
One of the ideas coming out of the london riots is that all 16 year olds should do several weeks of National Service. Originally, National Service meant serving for a little while in the army. However, in this instance it looks as though it will be...
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm trying to weed the use of "retarded" out of my vocabulary. But why is it that "crazy" is still ok? I don't think that crazy is an appropriate label for a mentally ill person, so why is it ok to use it as a perjorative...
What is the point of a country being divided up in to many States, each with it's own laws and legal systems? Would things be better if all laws were nationwide, yet there were still state governments to run the state? It seems to me that the...
http://now.msn.com/bill-would-ban-parents-from-trying-to-cure-gay-kids A new bill that’s the first of its kind has opinion hotly divided in California, this time over whether parents can be banned from trying to “cure” their gay children....
For those not following this case, Trayvon Martin was walking through a suburb in Florida when he was followed by a neighbourhood watch volunteer called George Zimmerman. There was a confrontation between them and Travyon was shot dead with George...
Story here. I simply can't believe this. I'm not going to write my own screed here because I'm too heated right now to keep this from being moved to the Pit. I'm just going to quote some of the comments I found the most incredible (there's not...
As I'm sure the world is aware by now, Steve Jobs has resigned from his position as chief guru and visionary for Apple. He was responsible for iTunes, iPods, iPads, iPhones etc. etc. Most would say his return to the company prevented it from...
The Spanish Civil War saw the axis powers and the USSR square off in a proxy war. Suppose that it never had happened. Would WW2 have turned out differently? Wasn't the Spanish Civil War a test ground for new German tactics? Would the Germans had...
A journalist I follow on Facebook recently posted a video from National Geographic showing a ritual that the men of a certain tribe in Papua New Guinea perform. The ritual is meant to drive out the corruption of women and purify the men. Most of...
Three teenagers in Northern Ireland have been up in court for burning poppies. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1103/breaking37.html They were arrested and charged with incitement to hatred by the PSNI (Police Service Of Northern...
The human brain has been described as the most complicated structure scientists have so far observed. And so, when describing how it works, often a metaphor is chosen which reflects this level of complexity. It seems that the operations of the human...
I'm watching the Pope leave Vatican City. Can't say I'll miss him...hope they do a better job picking the next guy.
A new medical technique is being developed which has the potential for removing several genetic diseases. It involves using the DNA from a third party to replace damaged genes as part of IVF treatment. The process is to obtain involves implanting...
1) Abortion 2) Democratic Party/Republican Party 3) Gun Control 4) Capital Punishment 5) Pepsi/Coke 6) America/Europe (living standards, culture, soundness et al) 7) Chain Restaurants/Family one-off Restaurants 8) High Culture/Low Culture...
A pro-life group is putting forward the idea that abortion should not be a "right" granted to women as part of law. Part of the reasoning about it is the number of abortions carried out each year is too high and that women are using it as a...
The Sixty Minutes piece on Bobby Jindal mentioned that he believes in, among other things, creationism. This fits in will with his predictable views on abortion and stem cell research, of course, but I'm wondering if this is a common belief held by...
If the South had won the Civil War, do you think the North would had recognized the CSA, and had/have diplomatic relations?
I'm not even sure how something like this can be taken seriously, because even by my standards it's ridiculously unveiled racism. The whole concept, science, and everything about it is 3rd rate self-published crap. If anything it hurts the concept...
According to several reports, chemicals weapons have been used by the ruling regime in Syria to attack the rebels who are fighting them. Chemical weapons are banned by several treaties, and for good reason, so if they have been used it certainly a...
Following the riots and governmental changeover in Tunisia, the unrest has spreas to Egpyt with riots in the street, communications and internet cut and the government cracking down on protesters. If the same course is taken, then it is likely that...
Political hypothetical conversation: Obama: I want to eliminate the cap on the SS tax. Boehner: Fine, but it must be revenue-neutral. Obama: Fine by me. What would the resulting rate be, approximately?
Yesterday, was Election day in Scotland for the Scottish Parliament and from the results it appears that Scottish Nationalists have not only scored record victories across Scotland, but are on course to gain a majority in the Scottish Parliament. ...
President Obama has just signed into law a piece of legislation that allows US Forces to arrest and indefinitely detain anyone connected with terrorism including US Citizens. It was included on a Bill for troop funding, but in doing so raises some...
A new gene experiment on mice has managed to create a mouse that can run for longer and faster than its more natural counterpart. The idea behind it is to understand how they are affected and how to keep them healthy in old age and prevent damage to...
So how do you feel about nuclear power after the Sendai Earthquake? Given that the Fukishima nuclear reactors survived the fifth largest earthquake and a large tsunami with no major leak of radiaition. That in some parts of Japan, the...
Technologically, they're pretty similar. Feudal Japan has a bit of an edge in the metallurgical department and the use of stirrups, but ancient Roman armies had massive seige weapons and were used to fielding tens of thousands, if not hundreds of...
According to a lot of sources, it appears that a variety of sanctions have failed and that Iran is close to becoming a nuclear military power. Although it was known about from 2009 onwards, no outright action has been taken and now certain...
Mellodome seems to be a fairly homogeneous place, so I'm not sure how a thread like this will work. But let's give it a shot - post an (honestly held) opinion that you think is an unpopular one, on Mellophant in particular or to the wider world. And...
With the rise of the multi billion dollar blockbuster, which are all action and no plot, there seems to be a need for it to be as hyped as possible in order to try and get everyone to see it. The problem is that just be watching the trailers they...
A story that is currently doing the rounds. A drunk student was ejected from a train after he swore at the ticket inspector and refused to show his ticket. A large man asked if any assistance was needed befoer picking the student up and forcibly...
Inspired by the Deus Ex game that's just come out. Here's the setup. You can have parts of your body upgraded or augmented by technological replacements. So if you lose a part of you, you can have it replaced by something, stronger and better....
Were rank-and-file soldiers forbidden from running for office? If not, could the CSA have produced a plausible candidate?
The Roman Republic was broken in many ways by the time that Gaius Julius Caesar came along, but it was based on a constitution, checks and balances of power, and the votes of the people of Rome. If someone took on the role of dictator--a sort of...
First, for the poll question, read this scenario of a "Burglary in Europe" and answer it: A woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in...
We talk about the stuff we buy with our money all the time, and based on our jobs and lifestyles, others can often suss out approximately where we stand on the income scale. So why is it that we aren't supposed to talk about it? Is it better this...
It seems that Google are determined to roll out their latest toy, if indeed a $1000 pair of glasses can be called such. Google Glass, with the camera lens, permanent internet connection and general all round spying capabilitiy is about to hit the...
ICANN has now approved a huge increase to what can be considered as a TLD, so that not only will .com and .net be joined by thousands of other variations, but that non-latin characters will also be allowed so that domain names will be available in...
One of the common dramas that plays out with many places that operate on annual budgets, is the phenomenon of the "Use it or lose it" money. In the US it's axiomatic for almost all government spending, and many places in private sector, as well. ...
This weekend the F1 roadshow will pull into Bahrain for its inaugural F1 Grand Prix against a backdrop of civil unrest, bloodshed and violence. Several of the people involved in F1 have said that the politics of the region aer not really their...
You have 2 hypothetical American politicians Barbara a Democrat/Green and Brian a Republican/Constitution. How would they be perceived in these (mostly) European countries, and covered in the U.S.? Barbara Sinn Fein (Ire) Green (Aus) LEF...
I wandered by a Target today and saw a guy sitting outside, registering people to vote. Target hasa policy for a while to provide what they call "distraction-free shopping" to their customers. Basically no person or group, regardless of reason or...
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