Taxloss's Journal - Democratic Underground http://www.democraticunderground.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:02:16 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:02:16 Turkey's army often acts as a constitutional check. As other posters have said, it regularly intervenes in Turkish politics. Although this is a bad thing for Turkish democracy and civil society, it's not something to be feared - it's a stabilising influence. The army is very respected in Turkey. I've been there quite a few times, it's a wonderful cou... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/294 Sat, 28 Apr 2007 10:39:33 He puts his hands in his pockets when he prays? That's unconventionally casual. Or is it a Baptist thing?... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/293 Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:58:05 The EUMC definition isn't meant to entrap the BNP, it's meant to define anti-semitism. The relevance of Lee Barnes' remark is hard to see in this case. Not everything a fascist says is anti-semitic, you know. The BNP has, in the past, attempted to court some extremist Zionist groups - they were rewarded with a frosty reaction to say the least, as well as an internal doctrinal row with... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/292 Sun, 08 Apr 2007 15:29:14 There's a problem with this debate. "It's not anti-semitic to criticise Israel" goes the cry, and it's true. "I'm not against Jews, I'm against Zionists" goes the claim, and most mean it genuinely. And there is indeed a debate about where the dividing line between criticism of Israel and anti-semitism lies.

But here's the problem: ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/291 Sat, 07 Apr 2007 22:46:17 That was the judgement of the mods as much as anyone else. So take their word for it.

As for "other sites", I assume you mean PSU. If so you're behind the times, I told them to close my account quite some time ago.

I did it without any histrionic "I'm leaving" vanity threads, as well.

On edit: You have your own posting history on other websites, on... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/290 Sat, 07 Apr 2007 21:56:01 I say "Bring Back Super-Ignore". n/t ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/289 Sat, 07 Apr 2007 12:58:41 Rachel specifically said that she was not talking about conspiracy theories. You should read the comments in her post, where she says that what she is talking about is nothing about the 7/7 varieties of LIHOP and MIHOP which, incidentally, she treats with total contempt. She may in fact have been referring to these arrests.... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/288 Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:24:00 People like scapegoats. Of course SUVs are lousy for the environment - the vast majority of petroleum vehicles are. But SUVs make a handy scapegoat that allows people to feel concerned about the environment without looking at their own lifestyles.... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/287 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 14:20:46 Mosul is the "success story" that made the name of Gen. Petraeus, the man in charge of the surge.... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/286 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 14:11:54 "Masterly inactivity" - the present Zimbabwe strategy. Tempting as it might be to sit back and let the Iranians dig themselves deeper into a diplomatic hole - especially after today's quite generous offer of negotiations over the waterway - the mood ofthe public seems to be really quite surprisingly hawkish.

I agree with you that this situation hands... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/284 Sat, 31 Mar 2007 19:23:05 There is no logic to it. The priority is the safe return of the sailors. Air strikes would not achieve that, it might condemn them. The government knows that. I don't know why people think it has any merit as a strategy, or why so many people on DU seem certain that we'll go to war over this. We can't. As well as the 15 cap... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/285 Sat, 31 Mar 2007 14:37:22 I don't know, it has the same ring as "unitary executive". n/t ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/283 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 18:55:32 So they admit that hate is part of their faith? It's about time.... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/282 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 10:43:55 He's a bit beyond prosecution now. The way things are shaping up, it's a close-run thing between natural death and firing squad while mob loots presidential palace.

Sic semper tyrannis.... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/280 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:46:49 Tehran raises the stakes in hostage crisis: Second 'confession' letter released questioning UK's presence in Iraq

The Iranian hostage crisis took a sinister turn last night when Tehran withdrew an earlier offer to release one of the 15 captive sailors and marines and issued a second, strangely-worded letter in her name calling for Britain to withdraw from Iraq.

The letter, signed by Leadi... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/279 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:35:42 Iran: Navy crewman's 'apology' shown Source: [b]UK Guardian[/b]

Iran today broadcast footage of a second "confession" from one of its British military captives as Iran's president said the UK should apologise for "violating" Iranian waters.

The Royal marine, named as Nathan Thomas Summers, was said to have told the state-run Arabic... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/278 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:32:20 Another Iran thread. I thought it was rather odd that there is no UK forum thread about the crisis in Iran. So here is one. It's a pretty dodgy situation right now, with no release obvious in the very near term, the future very murky, and Blair about to release the "strongly worded" EU reaction (presumably much stronger... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/281 Fri, 30 Mar 2007 08:55:22 Iran TV shows female navy captive Source: [b]BBC News[/b]

Iranian state television has broadcast an interview with captured British female sailor Faye Turney and footage of the 14 servicemen seized with her.

Leading Seaman Turney, 26, said they had been seized in the Gulf because "obviously we trespassed" in Iranian waters - so... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/277 Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:37:28 He has married beneath him. Only kidding. They look like a lovely couple.... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/276 Wed, 28 Mar 2007 13:29:57 To quote Dennis Healey (a British chancellor): "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking serious money."... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/275 Sat, 24 Mar 2007 13:09:50 Who owns the US national debt? (An interesting pie chart) I saw this on Metafilter. It's very interesting.

http://img484.imageshack.us/img484/9279/piechart200701qx1.gif

Image link fixed.

http://www.optimist123.com/optimist/2007/03/updated_pie_cha.html... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/274 Sat, 24 Mar 2007 11:59:15 Fair enough, but ... ... what is the climate impact of the pill? How much greenhouse gas would be produced to grow the raw materials, harvest them, manufacture the millions of pills, and distribute them? A lot of these technological fixes turn out to simply move the problem rather than fix it. They don't alter the funda... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/272 Thu, 22 Mar 2007 22:25:09 If only this were all conventional wisdom! Sadly, nowadays, it is not. The conventional wisdom is held by the great horoscope-reading bigfoot-believing evolution-distrusting majority out there. GPs fight a daily battle against "conventional wisdom": Old Wives' Tales, superstition and newspaper scares. ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/273 Thu, 22 Mar 2007 21:50:26 I think most people are still trying to understand it. More like a sleight-of-hand card trick than a budget really. Politically, it stinks. Personally, I did pretty well, but I'm precisely the sort of person a Labour government should not be helping that much (comfortable middle class London-based professional).... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/271 Thu, 22 Mar 2007 09:53:57 This has turned into a really interesting thread. Thanks!... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Taxloss/270 Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:09:57