Neil H › Comments

short story by Isaac Asimov - Neil H

Quantum physics is weird - Neil H

">I didnt know Mississippi Burning was about socialist fascist hippie crypto-Muslims.... I must have missed something. I didn't know Mississippi Burning was about disagreeing with Obama. Are we even talking about the same thing here?" - Neil H

"Way out on the fringe of the Right, there are those who have attempted this. I give you Bruce Walker's [Sinisterism - secular religion of the lie: The History of the Nazis Who Were Marxists Who Were Fascists Who Were Cannibals And Are Leftists Today](http://www.amazon.com/Siniste...), which purports to claim that Nazism, Stalinism and Islamism are all part of the same evil plot to destroy the Judeo-Christian belief system." - Neil H

">Oh, so if you disagree with a Obama you must a racist and from a Southern state. No, if you think he's a socialist fascist hippie crypto-Muslim, then odds are you're not objecting to anything he's actually doing and are just upset about some other personal characteristic of his. Odds are also that you're from a Southern State. >I disagree with him and I'm neither. Do you think he's a socialist fascist hippie crypto-Muslim, or is your disagreement actually rational?" - Neil H

AddThis includes a pretty much complete reading list for people interested in issues existing at the intersection of technology and society - Neil H

">The standard feminist response is to deny that, to deny that all past civilization were patriarchies. They weren't." - Neil H

">You should at least consider it for a moment, were all past civilizations wrong? Yes they were. About a great many things." - Neil H

"Erm, konqueror can use webkit right now if you want it to." - Neil H

"Some people accuse gay rights activists of being Nazi-like in their tactics. One particular nutjob even claims that the Nazi party was actually a "homoerotic militant cult" (Scott Lively, author of [The Pink Swastika](http://www.amazon.com/Pink-Sw...)) If the gunman did say 'Hail Gay Hitler', my conjecture is that he was acting on beliefs similar to this conflation of gay activism with Nazi-dom." - Neil H

"Is it worth asking which particular religion this nutjob might be a part of, or does that get too, um, political?" - Neil H

I didn't think corporate censorship would ever be this blatant - Neil H

"So, yes, you believe that might makes right." - Neil H

"> a place where the government itself is bent on killing Jews. How many governments does that describe today?" - Neil H

"> Right, because land has an "owner". Right, that whole "property" thing. > You only own what you can control and only Israel can control the territory. Might makes right?" - Neil H

">Is this very far off from the truth? Not really, no. Which is why Israelis don't like getting lectured about their policy by Americans very much. It comes across as hypocritical." - Neil H

"That seems to depend very much on what land is actually part of the 6%., doesn't it?" - Neil H

"Anyone have actual figures to provide?" - Neil H

"So I clicked through to [the poll in question](http://www.dailykos.com/weeklyp...) directly, and the pollsters claim that their sample can be reasonably considered representative of the population as a whole. Specifically, in their methodology section: "The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 2% percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the “true” figure would fall within that range if the entire adult population were sampled. The margin for error is higher for any demographic subgroup, such as gender, race, or region." So according to the survey, yes, there's wiggle room to say that sampling the entire population *might* demonstrate a slightly lower percentage of birther Republicans. But personally I wouldn't bet money on it." - Neil H

"Hmmm. From a [2007 CBS/New York Times poll](http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs...): Should the government guarantee health insurance for all? Yes 64% No 27% In terms of whether a healthcare system should be government-run or privately-run as it is now, the same survey says: Which would be better..? Government-run systen, with universal coverage 47% Current private system, with many uninsured 38%" - Neil H

">Straight people condemn gay PDA because they viscerally find it inherently disgusting in their own orientation, like public nose picking. It's an involuntary, revolting reaction from their part, and so they don't like to be exposed to it. I disagree. I have met plenty of straight people who have no problem with same-sex PDAs at all. I think the visceral disgust you claim to feel is a learned behaviour, not innate." - Neil H

A westerner relays the terrible experience they had with employment in Dubai - Neil H

"Republicans can't tell the difference anymore." - Neil H

">I feel that explanation is contrived to fit an agenda of outrage. I strongly, strongly disagree. You have given no reason to make me think that there is any kind of dishonesty in the way that gay people are interpreting the Senator's remarks, and have even acknowledged that, although you don't agree with the representation of the quote, you can see how it might sincerely be interpreted in the way that the original article interprets it, when you say: >This is just my personal opinion, of course, and the interpretation of his words are subjective and only he truly knows what he meant. So there's no reason to believe that gay people are insincere about their reaction to the Senator's questionable remarks, but you still nevertheless say: >I support all efforts to achieve this but lying and spinning to create public outrage. What lying? What spinning?" - Neil H

"> What is a republic but a representative democracy? From the [wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...) describing a constitutional republic: A constitutional republic is a state where the head of state and other officials are elected as representatives of the people, and *must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over citizens*. In a constitutional republic, executive, legislative, and judicial powers are separated into distinct branches *and the will of the majority of the population is tempered by protections for individual rights so that no individual or group has absolute power.*" (my emphasis) >What I meant by my statement "this is the way government should work" was that ideally laws in a state would reflect the will of the people. Do you disagree with that? I disagree that the constitutional rights of an unpopular minority should be subject to the tyranny of the majority, yes. As far as I'm aware,..." - Neil H

">Allowing others to exist is the only moral obligation. There should be no need for a moral compulsion to "allow" other people to exist. What kind of sick monster would ever need such a restraint?" - Neil H

">is it not a religious ritual? No, it is not. Atheists and agnostics legally get married all the time." - Neil H

">Like it or not, that is how democracy works. America is not a democracy first and foremost. It is a Constitutional Republic which guarantees the rights of citizenry against oppression, including oppression of a minority by the majority. People do not get to vote away other people's rights. >Same-sex marriage does not have the same legal standing was heterosexual marriage and due to prejudices it is a difficult battle to change that. Put it to the people and at least that way the government is working as it should. This inaccurate view of how you believe the government "should" workl reveals your ignorance about how the American government has actually worked since the very day it was created. >I do not support lying and manipulation to achieve one's goals as you seem to if the cause is "righteous." And with this, the anti-gay agenda lurking behind your facade of concern about democracy becomes clear. Please demonstrate actual evidence of lying by gay people about gay marriage, or..." - Neil H

Full text of speech by Kevin Jennings in 1995 - Neil H

Summary of what happened in the McCain presidential campaign vis a vis Sarah Palin - Neil H