Sir Bandelot

Watch out for the black bloc.

The thread borders on interesting but the ad-hominems are bringing it down. I would like to learn more about the specifics of the CERN research, what it implies and why it could be right/wrong. More technical content, less name calling. (Although, some of it is quite humorous)

Fine, so then we can agree, the actions of these perverted priests, despite being protected by religious leaders is not indicative of a culture.

Hell, it's a well know fact that Catholic priests have screwed lots of little boys over the years. I guess by your reckoning, that makes the rest of us a bunch of pedophiles?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbIX1CP9qr4

I hope he will be back, but I respect his decision to be cautious. There is too much at stake for him to come back early. Besides, the game is too violent now and accidents like his and worse are inevitable. The way the rules are, it's just a waiting game. It's only a matter of time before someone gets permanently incapacitated, or killed. Sydney Crosby should make the league pay, and not risk his life for mere entertainment of beer sodden masses, who know little about this game thenselves. Oh by the way, FU Don Cherry.

At first I must admit I hesitated, not wanting to see what you looked like. But then I thought, oh what the heck and clicked the link. Only to find I was directed to a company site. Talk about disillusionment! I trusted you, and now I feel so... betrayed...

Oh come on now, don't leave us guessing. I'm sure we could come up with all kinds of creative possibilities!

Indeed, what he's pushing today is absolute poppycock. For example, Jews are highly tolerated, in Iran of all places. Iran's Jewish community is officially recognized as a religious minority group by the government, and, like the Zoroastrians, they are allocated one seat in the Iranian Parliament. Ciamak Moresadegh is the current Jewish member of the parliament, replacing Maurice Motamed in the 2008 election. In 2000, former Jewish MP Manuchehr Eliasi estimated that at that time there were still 30,000–35,000 Jews in Iran, most other sources put the figure at 25,000. The United States State Department estimated the number of Jews in Iran at 20,000–25,000 as of 2009. Today Tehran has 11 functioning synagogues, many of them with Hebrew schools. It has two kosher restaurants, an old-age home and a cemetery. There is a Jewish library with 20,000 titles. Iranian Jews have their own newspaper (called "Ofogh-e-Bina") with Jewish scholars performing Judaic research at Tehran's "Central Library of Jewish Association". The "Dr. Sapir Jewish Hospital" is Iran's largest charity hospital of any religious minority community in the country; however, most of its patients and staff are Muslim. Conditions The Constitution of Iran says that Jews are equal to Muslims. Imam Khomeini visited with members of the Jewish community and issued a decree ordering the adherents of Judaism and other revealed religions to be protected. Jews are entitled to self-administration and one member of the 290-seat Majlis is elected by only Jews. Jewish burial rites and divorce laws are accepted by Islamic courts. Tehran has over 20 synagogues. Iran has one of only four Jewish charity hospitals in the world. The hospital has received donations from top Iranian officials, including President Ahmadinejad. Kosher butcher shops are available in Iran. There are Hebrew schools and coeducation is allowed. I knew this already, having heard if it quite some time ago but I looked up the Wikipedia entry as an easy reference. It is remarkable how well tolerated they are in a society whose president has been compared to Adolph Hitler himself and quoted as wanting to eradicate all Jewry. There is a disconnect somewhere in our information, and I'm inclined to believe much of what we hear about Iran is political propaganda. But I always try to keep an open mind.

Or in this case, despite it.

It seems that they were just a minority who hold extreme views, or views that were wholly out of place in that venue. As evidenced by the line in your post "they were met by boos by the audience and they had to be removed by the security staff.... The whole hall was groaning and trying to slow clap them out." So, not to fear. Sounds like Israel is still legitimized

I don't understand what it is you want to discuss. There is no question in the OP. And the title is misleading too.

Oh and an important similarity is that Iraq did not represent an actual threat at the time, but it was a business opportunity. Same goes for Libya.

Harper was begging to go into Iraq at the time. That is a key difference between then and now.

Faith gives people courage where it is otherwise very difficult to find. Faith also consoles us when tragedy strikes. It is belief that affects human thought and takes us to another level. Where rational thinking atheists concede that defeat is certain, a person of faith will fight on. Many great athletes draw their inner strength and courage from a belief in God. Ask people like Muhammad Ali. Therefore faith is not something you can just dismiss. A person with faith is a force to be reckoned with. Faith is a weapon.

So you do care about what foreigners think and do. Don't worry, America is safe even if lots of Canadians disapprove of it...

Or on threads like this.

What's the difference between an evil man who "wins" and another one who loses? The "winner" gets the protection of other, inherently evil men.

Well I thought I read in the OP that wearing a scarf on SOME rides was banned. So ie. the problem is not with all rides. That led me to conclude they think it's a safety problem. I could be wrong though. Yeah, it happened once

You don't think it's a safety issue?

I'm not against the park rule, and I doubt that most others here are. These people behaved in an uncivil manner, and police did the right thing. That is quite different from using this as a means to lambast Muslim culture and say there is no room for it in our society. Provided everyone behaves in a civil, law abiding manner, let them wear their religious garb wherever it is appropriate to do so (not on an amusement ride that bans it, not on a motorcycle...), let them pray towards Mecca as often as they wish.

You are deflecting now. Here's what you said: And I find this statement ironic. This is what people in Europe have said for centuries. And for a Jew to say "When in Rome" is also ironic, as when the Jews came to Rome they saw it as a decadent society, utterly at odds with their own religious beliefs. They chose isolation.

I would think that the changing albedo means that solar energy was absorbed by vegetation, rather than reflected back up into the atmosphere where increased CO2 absorbs it instead, thereby heating the atmosphere?

Hemp, of course, grows very quickly. Up to three crops per season. Reintroduces nitrogen into the soil. And you get all that wonderful seed, and fibre...

That's right. Creates shade, oxygen, lowers the surface albeido, and it yields a profitable return in the wood products. We turn the greenhouse gas into a useful substance that everyone needs. Bandelot's a GENIUS!