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Region: The Confederacy of Free Nations

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You guys ever get that moment when you're writing this huge essay and realized through mindless writing and reading of academic texts that your opinion has now completely changed. I sometimes even find myself accidentally supporting things completely contradicting my political ethos and having to completely reevaluate my life.

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Vista Major

Yukona wrote:You guys ever get that moment when you're writing this huge essay and realized through mindless writing and reading of academic texts that your opinion has now completely changed. I sometimes even find myself accidentally supporting things completely contradicting my political ethos and having to completely reevaluate my life.

My Brexit essay in college helped me increase my support for the EU.

Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Axeldonia, Yukona

Nuremgard wrote:My Brexit essay in college helped me increase my support for the EU.

I'm doing one on "Does the Media have too much influence in modern democratic states" - and let me tell you, as a libertarian, that yes....yes they do. Like sh*t, what am I supposed to do with that? I just want my entire essay to be 'yes, pack up your bags, let's go home boys'.

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Axeldonia

Yukona wrote:I'm doing one on "Does the Media have too much influence in modern democratic states" - and let me tell you, as a libertarian, that yes....yes they do. Like sh*t, what am I supposed to do with that? I just want my entire essay to be 'yes, pack up your bags, let's go home boys'.

Speaking of essays, my Glasgow history one is due next week and I haven't even chosen my subject for it yet.

Lavan Tiri

Nuremgard wrote:Speaking of essays, my Glasgow history one is due next week and I haven't even chosen my subject for it yet.

Maybe on Great Britain's=/=Scotland's participation in the slave trade in specific relation to Glasgee?

Nuremgard, Lavan Tiri

Yukona wrote:Maybe on Great Britain's=/=Scotland's participation in the slave trade in specific relation to Glasgee?

That is one of the subject choices and I initially was going to do that but because slavery and Scotland is such a new topic here, there is hardly any material to reference to. I might do Glasgow and the Enlightenment.

Lavan Tiri

Yukona wrote:You guys ever get that moment when you're writing this huge essay and realized through mindless writing and reading of academic texts that your opinion has now completely changed. I sometimes even find myself accidentally supporting things completely contradicting my political ethos and having to completely reevaluate my life.

I remember doing research for why businesses in California are leaving for Texas. My original conclusion was that it was because of stringent regulations, but I would eventually find out that this claim was all just made by the governor of Texas at the time to attract businesses to the state, which is especially false because of how high property taxes are in the state.

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Axeldonia, Yukona

Gualimole wrote:I remember doing research for why businesses in California are leaving for Texas. My original conclusion was that it was because of stringent regulations, but I would eventually find out that this claim was all just made by the governor of Texas at the time to attract businesses to the state, which is especially false because of how high property taxes are in the state.

I really like your flag man, I'm enjoying the increasing number of leafs and tree flags that are joining our ranks within the region.

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Percyton

Yukona wrote:I really like your flag man, I'm enjoying the increasing number of leafs and tree flags that are joining our ranks within the region.

Bloody tree-hugging hippies. We need more of them.

Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Yukona

Yukona wrote:I really like your flag man, I'm enjoying the increasing number of leafs and tree flags that are joining our ranks within the region.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyenRCJ_4Ww

Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri

Nuremgard wrote:Bloody tree-hugging hippies. We need more of them.

Don't you already have leaves on your flag?

Lavan Tiri

Gualimole wrote:Don't you already have leaves on your flag?

I do. They represent the protection of God.

Lavan Tiri

Gualimole wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyenRCJ_4Ww

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWHEcIbhDiw

Lavan Tiri, Gualimole

Nuremgard wrote:I do. They represent the protection of God.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdxuWq1-5qk

Lavan Tiri

Gualimole wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdxuWq1-5qk

Where do you hail from?

Lavan Tiri

Nuremgard wrote:Where do you hail from?

You already know this. Gualimole is just a puppet account of Vetriutan that I am using for answering issues.

Lavan Tiri

Gualimole wrote:You already know this. Gualimole is just a puppet account of Vetriutan that I am using for answering issues.

You had to remind me. Memory like a goldfish. I only know my own puppets.

Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Gualimole

Nuremgard wrote:You had to remind me. Memory like a goldfish. I only know my own puppets.

Where do you hail from? Scatland?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scatman%27s_World

Nuremgard, Lavan Tiri, Yukona

Gualimole wrote:Where do you hail from? Scatland?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scatman%27s_World

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy8kmNEo1i8

Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Gualimole

Yukona wrote:You guys ever get that moment when you're writing this huge essay and realized through mindless writing and reading of academic texts that your opinion has now completely changed. I sometimes even find myself accidentally supporting things completely contradicting my political ethos and having to completely reevaluate my life.

I routinely write essays on things I don't actually agree with purely because the sources I have available support it

I'm just some academic whore

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Vista Major, Axeldonia, Yukona

Nuremgard wrote:Not bad. How are you?

A headline for New Salvatore: International observers praise rising political freedoms in New Salvatore. This happened after this:

Following new legislation, the public is free to vote for whomever the government wants in office.

Doing alright. Not much to report on my end. :)

Nuremgard, Percyton

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:Doing alright. Not much to report on my end. :)

I'm doing a presentation tomorrow with a group in my politics class.

Penguania And Antarctica

Nuremgard wrote:I'm doing a presentation tomorrow with a group in my politics class.

What's it about?

If you bang your head on your keyboard forever, how long will it take before you produce an essay on media's role in modern politics? I have it penciled in for a couple of days, but I think I'm giving my head too much credit for what it's worth.

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:What's it about?

Comparisons between North and South Korea.

Yukona wrote:If you bang your head on your keyboard forever, how long will it take before you produce an essay on media's role in modern politics? I have it penciled in for a couple of days, but I think I'm giving my head too much credit for what it's worth.

It all depends on which head you are using.

Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona

Yukona wrote:If you bang your head on your keyboard forever, how long will it take before you produce an essay on media's role in modern politics? I have it penciled in for a couple of days, but I think I'm giving my head too much credit for what it's worth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem

Jaslandia, Yukona, Percyton

Nuremgard wrote:It all depends on which head you are using.

Now that's the kind of comedy I spend hours on this RMB for

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica, Percyton

Yukona wrote:If you bang your head on your keyboard forever, how long will it take before you produce an essay on media's role in modern politics? I have it penciled in for a couple of days, but I think I'm giving my head too much credit for what it's worth.

the first hit because media is garbage

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona

Yukona wrote:Now that's the kind of comedy I spend hours on this RMB for

*small bow*

Unfallious wrote:the first hit because media is garbage

I hate the MSM. Why I still read it is beyond me.

Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica

Nuremgard wrote:I hate the MSM. Why I still read it is beyond me.

I'm going to play Devil's Advocate and say that the MSM is better than new media because of the accountability system that exists with the MSM. MSM journalists have to be educated in their field and are constantly inspected to find if they are reporting falsehoods. You cannot say the same thing about Infowars or the news from social media that only confirms your existing views.

Jaslandia

Gualimole wrote:I'm going to play Devil's Advocate and say that the MSM is better than new media because of the accountability system that exists with the MSM. MSM journalists have to be educated in their field and are constantly inspected to find if they are reporting falsehoods. You cannot say the same thing about Infowars or the news from social media that only confirms your existing views.

The MSM is inspected for falsehoods? Not here they're not. If they were, Britain wouldn't have a functioning media. I tend to read independent media but I also still look at some MSM stuff.

Nuremgard wrote:The MSM is inspected for falsehoods? Not here they're not. If they were, Britain wouldn't have a functioning media. I tend to read independent media but I also still look at some MSM stuff.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/11/brian-williams-nbc-suspends-news-anchor-for-six-months-over-helicopter-story

Jaslandia

Yukona wrote:You guys ever get that moment when you're writing this huge essay and realized through mindless writing and reading of academic texts that your opinion has now completely changed. I sometimes even find myself accidentally supporting things completely contradicting my political ethos and having to completely reevaluate my life.

Yup. I used to be vehemently opposed to the deployment of drones as they -on the surface- looked problematic to the implementation of COIN, the same honestly goes with Israel, though as I learn more and more about the strategic situation there, I unfortunately grow more yet more of an appreciation for their choices.

Gualimole wrote:https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/11/brian-williams-nbc-suspends-news-anchor-for-six-months-over-helicopter-story

I cant tell you the last time a reporter was suspended here for making stuff up.

Nuremgard wrote:I cant tell you the last time a reporter was suspended here for making stuff up.

Strange considering how strict media laws in the UK are when compared to those in the US.

Gualimole wrote:Strange considering how strict media laws in the UK are when compared to those in the US.

I don't think our laws are that strict.

Nuremgard wrote:I don't think our laws are that strict.

When compared to the US.

Lavan Tiri

Gualimole wrote:Strange considering how strict media laws in the UK are when compared to those in the US.

It depends in which country you're in, Scotland has a separate law system than the rest of the UK, including when it comes to Media too.

Nuremgard, Lavan Tiri

Yukona wrote:I really like your flag man, I'm enjoying the increasing number of leafs and tree flags that are joining our ranks within the region.

The Cardinals have to live somewhere.

Lavan Tiri, Mercunova, Percyton

Lex Caledonia wrote:It depends in which country you're in, Scotland has a separate law system than the rest of the UK, including when it comes to Media too.

I thought media law was Westminster's domain?

Lavan Tiri

Nuremgard wrote:I thought media law was Westminster's domain?

Stuff produced in down south and broadcasted up here is bound by UK law but Scottish Media is under Scot's Law scrutiny, including Scottish citizens using social media etc. Its why Holyrood were able to lay down the anti-revenge porn laws up here. Also we do libel and slander differently, its called defamation up here and is under Scot's Law.

Nuremgard, Lavan Tiri

Lex Caledonia wrote:Stuff produced in down south and broadcasted up here is bound by UK law but Scottish Media is under Scot's Law scrutiny, including Scottish citizens using social media etc. Its why Holyrood were able to lay down the anti-revenge porn laws up here. Also we do libel and slander differently, its called defamation up here and is under Scot's Law.

Ah, fair enough then. I remember the Scot Gov passing that revenge porn law recently.

Lavan Tiri

Gualimole wrote:https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/11/brian-williams-nbc-suspends-news-anchor-for-six-months-over-helicopter-story

I’d raise a few points to challenge this story as a evidence of a trend in mainstream media of being continuously checked and corrected for misleading the public.

a) Stories such as this are few and far between.

b) This requires a system for self-policing, with the network checking the stories of their own news crews. For this system to work, you have to have faith in the scruples of network executives, which I think a lot of people do not.

c) Appropriate reactions from the network are still based on subjective criteria. I have no doubt that the network came down so hard on Williams not just because he was found to be lying, but because he was lying about a subject that the American public (or viewers, in this case) have a strong sentimental attachment to.

Nuremgard, Lavan Tiri

Nuremgard Lex Caledonia

https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/54446530/we-should-take-scotland-and-push-it-somewhere-else.jpg

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Lex Caledonia, Percyton

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:Nuremgard Lex Caledonia

https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/54446530/we-should-take-scotland-and-push-it-somewhere-else.jpg

Reminds me of a joke I once read.

Scottish nationalists were desperate to separate from the rest of the UK. So they decided they would invest in a large chainsaw to cut through the island of Britain in order to physically separate Scotland from its neighbours. But when they saw how expensive a large chainsaw would be, they formed a political party instead.

Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Penguania And Antarctica, Percyton

Nuremgard wrote:Reminds me of a joke I once read.

Scottish nationalists were desperate to separate from the rest of the UK. So they decided they would invest in a large chainsaw to cut through the island of Britain in order to physically separate Scotland from its neighbours. But when they saw how expensive a large chainsaw would be, they formed a political party instead.

Are Scots really as stingy as they are portrayed?

Lavan Tiri, Lex Caledonia

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:Are Scots really as stingy as they are portrayed?

Nope. Glasgow is renowned for its generosity to charities, especially at Christmas. My mum often complains that the "Scots are stingy" stereotype does not apply to us in the Lowlands but instead to "teuchters" in the north east lol

Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:Are Scots really as stingy as they are portrayed?

Well my surname is Canny which means frugal, prudent in Scots :L however the whole thing of us being stingy is a carryover from earlier times and in the 80's from, you guessed it, Thatcher being a bint (also the Church of Scotland helped throw the term around). Lots of working class families went jobless and thus were short on money. Nowadays however the stereotype has no merit as we're considered the "most hospitable in the UK". The English are actually the stingiest in the UK believe it or not (if tipping surveys are to believed), Scot = 1/10 didn't tip, Welsh = 4/10, Eng = 5/10 (out of a sample of 2000 people).

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica

Lex Caledonia wrote:Well my surname is Canny which means frugal, prudent in Scots :L however the whole thing of us being stingy is a carryover from earlier times and in the 80's from, you guessed it, Thatcher being a bint (also the Church of Scotland helped throw the term around). Lots of working class families went jobless and thus were short on money. Nowadays however the stereotype has no merit as we're considered the "most hospitable in the UK". The English are actually the stingiest in the UK believe it or not (if tipping surveys are to believed), Scot = 1/10 didn't tip, Welsh = 4/10, Eng = 5/10 (out of a sample of 2000 people).

Canadians didn’t tip -1/10. Not only do we all tip, but we pick up the tip of the American tourist who didn’t leave anything.

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica, Percyton

Lex Caledonia wrote:Well my surname is Canny which means frugal, prudent in Scots :L however the whole thing of us being stingy is a carryover from earlier times and in the 80's from, you guessed it, Thatcher being a bint (also the Church of Scotland helped throw the term around). Lots of working class families went jobless and thus were short on money. Nowadays however the stereotype has no merit as we're considered the "most hospitable in the UK". The English are actually the stingiest in the UK believe it or not (if tipping surveys are to believed), Scot = 1/10 didn't tip, Welsh = 4/10, Eng = 5/10 (out of a sample of 2000 people).

Continental Commonwealths wrote:Canadians didn’t tip -1/10. Not only do we all tip, but we pick up the tip of the American tourist who didn’t leave anything.

Tipping is pretty uncommon over here.

Nuremgard, Yukona

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:Tipping is pretty uncommon over here.

Tipping is getting out of hand here. We’ve traditionally tipped for restaurant meals, taxis, room service, and housekeeping- no complaint there- but now places like Tim Hortons and food court restaurants in malls have started adding tip options. My qualm with this is that my interaction with these people is about 7 seconds long, so I’m not tipping for good or exceptional service but because I had any interaction with them at all.

Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona

Continental Commonwealths wrote:Canadians didn’t tip -1/10. Not only do we all tip, but we pick up the tip of the American tourist who didn’t leave anything.

o sh!t you caught me

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica

Continental Commonwealths wrote:Tipping is getting out of hand here. We’ve traditionally tipped for restaurant meals, taxis, room service, and housekeeping- no complaint there- but now places like Tim Hortons and food court restaurants in malls have started adding tip options. My qualm with this is that my interaction with these people is about 7 seconds long, so I’m not tipping for good or exceptional service but because I had any interaction with them at all.

Oh okay. Well, at least people don't put an envelop with tipping money next to their letter box to tip the postman. :)

Mercunova

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:Oh okay. Well, at least people don't put an envelop with tipping money next to their letter box to tip the postman. :)

I have a 5-star rider rating on Uber, probably because I always tip my drivers

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:Oh okay. Well, at least people don't put an envelop with tipping money next to their letter box to tip the postman. :)
Haha. Fair enough. I’m not sure if people actually do that, or if it’s just something that American upper class suburban people do. Which would make sense why it appears in TV shows and movies, because this is the lifestyle people who produce those things would think is “common”.

Or maybe most Americans tip the person who brings the mail. But I’ll be damned before I ever tip a Crown Corporation employee.

Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica

Continental Commonwealths wrote:Haha. Fair enough. I’m not sure if people actually do that, or if it’s just something that American upper class suburban people do. Which would make sense why it appears in TV shows and movies, because this is the lifestyle people who produce those things would think is “common”.

Or maybe most Americans tip the person who brings the mail. But I’ll be damned before I ever tip a Crown Corporation employee.

No Americans tip the postal service. Not in their right minds, at least.

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica

Mercunova wrote:I have a 5-star rider rating on Uber, probably because I always tip my drivers

Continental Commonwealths wrote:Haha. Fair enough. I’m not sure if people actually do that, or if it’s just something that American upper class suburban people do. Which would make sense why it appears in TV shows and movies, because this is the lifestyle people who produce those things would think is “common”.

Or maybe most Americans tip the person who brings the mail. But I’ll be damned before I ever tip a Crown Corporation employee.

Are you allowed to tip public servants in the US or Canada?

Lavan Tiri

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:Are you allowed to tip public servants in the US or Canada?

Our politicians have pretty strict rules regarding monetary gifts or gifts with value in kind, especially since the 2013 Senate scandal, but if our Crown Corporation employees are restricted from taking tips then it’s probably an internal policy. But I believe that the average letter carrier probably wouldn’t give a damn about any such policy and would simply take the tip and not report it.

Lavan Tiri, Penguania And Antarctica

Continental Commonwealths wrote:Our politicians have pretty strict rules regarding monetary gifts or gifts with value in kind, especially since the 2013 Senate scandal, but if our Crown Corporation employees are restricted from taking tips then it’s probably an internal policy. But I believe that the average letter carrier probably wouldn’t give a damn about any such policy and would simply take the tip and not report it.

Ah okay. How are you doing?

Lavan Tiri, Percyton

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:Ah okay. How are you doing?

I'm good, Peng! We're receiving a momentarily respite from the -30s weather we've had recently, and it's a balmy -2 with big flakes of snow coming down. It's quite nice to be outside, at the moment.

How're you, sir?

Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Au Minbo, Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona, Percyton

Continental Commonwealths wrote:I'm good, Peng! We're receiving a momentarily respite from the -30s weather we've had recently, and it's a balmy -2 with big flakes of snow coming down. It's quite nice to be outside, at the moment.

How're you, sir?

Well, I'm doing okay. I'm on sick leave for this whole week but my cold gets better. Besides this there isn't much to report on my end. The wheather is quite mixed. We have cold days with -8°C but also days like today with +4°C.

Other than that it's alright. Today might be Valentine's Day but for me it's just a normal Wednesday.

Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:Well, I'm doing okay. I'm on sick leave for this whole week but my cold gets better. Besides this there isn't much to report on my end. The wheather is quite mixed. We have cold days with -8°C but also days like today with +4°C.

Other than that it's alright. Today might be Valentine's Day but for me it's just a normal Wednesday.

Well, I'm glad you seem to be on the mend! Keep on getting better!

And screw Valentines Day. Happy Anna Howard Shaw Day to you all!

Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Penguania And Antarctica, Mercunova, Percyton

Continental Commonwealths wrote:And screw Valentines Day. Happy Anna Howard Shaw Day to you all!

https://media.giphy.com/media/3D2ogmiM2k83C/giphy.gif

Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Percyton

Continental Commonwealths wrote:Well, I'm glad you seem to be on the mend! Keep on getting better!

And screw Valentines Day. Happy Anna Howard Shaw Day to you all!

How's that lady?

Lavan Tiri, Percyton

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:How's that lady?

How? Quite dead.

But if you meant who, she's was a leading US suffragette whose birthday happens to be February 14. A nice alternative to celebrating Valentines' "day of love" is to celebrate the efforts some took to earn women the right to vote. It's also somewhat the basis of a really good 30 Rock episode.

Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona, Percyton

Continental Commonwealths wrote:How? Quite dead.

But if you meant who, she's was a leading US suffragette whose birthday happens to be February 14. A nice alternative to celebrating Valentines' "day of love" is to celebrate the efforts some took to earn women the right to vote. It's also somewhat the basis of a really good 30 Rock episode.

Yeah, I meant to say 'who'. Damn English language. :P

I think you all should try and communicate in my language for a day just to turn the tables. :D

Jaslandia, Lavan Tiri, Percyton

Ah.... that's right. It's Valentine's Day. *thinks for a second* It doesn't feel any different, aside from my GF being over. Is it Sunday yet? I need payday. >_<

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica, Percyton, Spanelsko

Russkov Soviet wrote:Ah.... that's right. It's Valentine's Day. *thinks for a second* It doesn't feel any different, aside from my GF being over. Is it Sunday yet? I need payday. >_<

Valentines day? GLORY TO OUR EMPEROR! SLAUGHTER ALL BARBARIANS! DEUS VULT!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentinian_I

Russkov Soviet, Penguania And Antarctica

Afternoon, loves ❤️

Russkov Soviet, Jaslandia, Au Minbo, Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica

Vista Major wrote:Afternoon, loves ❤️

Vis, that flag hurts my eyes somewhat and I don't know why

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Vista Major, Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona

Also, looks like Jacob Zuma resigned as President of South Africa.

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Vista Major, Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona

Pirate Kingdoms wrote:Vis, that flag hurts my eyes somewhat and I don't know why

Us blue, red and whites have gotta stick together and kick all these other colours out

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Vista Major, Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica, Pirate Kingdoms, Cesorion

Pirate Kingdoms wrote:Also, looks like Jacob Zuma resigned as President of South Africa.

Isn't he quite corrupt?

Yukona wrote:Us blue, red and whites have gotta stick together and kick all these other colours out

Made me chuckle.

Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona

Nuremgard wrote:Isn't he quite corrupt?

Made me chuckle.

Multiple corruption charges, with the Constitutional Court's decision in Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly, which considered Zuma to have failed to uphold the Constitution.

In other news, Morgan Tsvangirai has died.

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Yukona

Pirate Kingdoms wrote:Multiple corruption charges, with the Constitutional Court's decision in Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly, which considered Zuma to have failed to uphold the Constitution.

In other news, Morgan Tsvangirai has died.

I saw that. Of course, he would die but that bastard Mugabe is still living and in his 90s. No justice in the world.

Jaslandia

Nuremgard wrote:I saw that. Of course, he would die but that bastard Mugabe is still living and in his 90s. No justice in the world.

Eh, having a consistent amount of hatred will keep you alive longer than expected.

Pirate Kingdoms wrote:Eh, having a consistent amount of hatred will keep you alive longer than expected.

Spiteful ones live the longest.

The US needs to do something about these shootings

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Vista Major, Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica

Yukona wrote:The US needs to do something about these shootings

Good luck with that

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona

Yukona wrote:The US needs to do something about these shootings

There is something they can do but they'll never countenance it because it's part of their constitution and too deeply ingrained in their culture.

Penguania And Antarctica

[spoiler=Today is February 14 and today are:]

Today is February 14 and today are:

- Ash Wednesday (Christianity)

- Frederick Douglass Day

- International Book Giving Day

- League of Women Voters Day

- Library Lovers Day

- National Condom Awareness Day (United States)

- National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day (United States)

- National Ferris Wheel Day (United States)

- National Have a Heart Day (United States)

- National Organ Donor Day (United States)

- National Pet Theft Awareness Day (United States)

- Parents' Worship Day (parts of India)

- Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (Armenian Apostolic Church)

- Quirky Alone Day

- Race Relations Day

- Singles Awareness Day or Singles Appreciation Day

- Statehood Day (Arizona, United States)

- Statehood Day (Oregon, United States)

- Valentine's Day

- World Cholangiocarcinoma Day

- World Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day

- World Sound Healing Day

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=This day in history:]

This day in history:

- 0748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.

- 0842 – Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages.

- 1014 – Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.

- 1076 – Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.

- 1130 – Pope Innocent II is elected.

- 1349 – Several hundred Jews are burned to death by mobs while the remaining Jews are forcibly removed from Strasbourg.

- 1400 – Richard II of England dies, most probably from starvation, in Pontefract Castle, on the orders of Henry Bolingbroke.

- 1502 – Spanish Inquisition: The Catholic Monarchs issue a decree forcing Muslims in Granada to convert to Catholicism or leave Spain.

- 1530 – Spanish conquistadores, led by Nuño de Guzmán, overthrow and execute Tangaxuan II, the last independent monarch of the Tarascan state in present-day central Mexico.

- 1556 – Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic.

- 1655 – Arauco War: The Mapuche under their elected military leader, Clentaru, rise up against the Spanish in an insurrection in present-day central Chile.

- 1778 – The United States flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte renders a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.

- 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Kettle Creek is fought in Georgia.

- 1779 – James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.

- 1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent: John Jervis, (later 1st Earl of St Vincent) and Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) lead the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar.

- 1804 – Karađorđe leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.

- 1831 – Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.

- 1835 – The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the Latter Day Saint movement, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.

- 1849 – In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.

- 1852 – Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, is founded in London.

- 1855 – Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.

- 1859 – Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.

- 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.

- 1879 – The War of the Pacific breaks out when Chilean armed forces occupy the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.

- 1899 – Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.

- 1900 – British forces begin the Battle of the Tugela Heights in an effort to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.

- 1903 – The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).

- 1912 – Arizona is admitted as the 48th U.S. state.

- 1912 – The US Navy commissions its first class of diesel-powered submarines.

- 1918 – The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar (on 1 February according to the Julian calendar).

- 1919 – The Polish–Soviet War begins.

- 1920 – The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.

- 1924 – The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

- 1929 – Saint Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang, are murdered in Chicago.

- 1942 – Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore.

- 1943 – World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated.

- 1943 – World War II: Tunisia Campaign: General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's Fifth Panzer Army launches a concerted attack against Allied positions in Tunisia.

- 1944 – World War II: In the Action of 14 February 1944, a British submarine sinks a German-controlled Italian submarine in the Strait of Malacca.

- 1945 – World War II: On the first day of the bombing of Dresden, the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden.

- 1945 – World War II: Navigational error leads to the mistaken bombing of Prague, Czechoslovakia by an American squadron of B-17s assisting in the Soviet's Vistula–Oder Offensive.

- 1945 – World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans

- 1945 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially beginning U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relations.

- 1946 – The Bank of England is nationalized.

- 1949 – The Knesset (Israeli parliament) convenes for the first time.

- 1949 – The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.

- 1950 – Chinese Civil War: The National Revolutionary Army instigates the unsuccessful Battle of Tianquan against the People's Liberation Army.

- 1956 – The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union begins in Moscow. On the last night of the meeting, Premier Nikita Khrushchev condemns Joseph Stalin's crimes in a secret speech.

- 1961 – Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.

- 1966 – Australian currency is decimalized.

- 1979 – In Kabul, Setami Milli militants kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.

- 1983 – United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher, is later convicted of fraud.

- 1989 – Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.

- 1989 – Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.

- 1990 – Ninety-two people are killed when Indian Airlines Flight 605 crashes in Bangalore, India.

- 1990 – The Voyager 1 spacecraft takes the photograph of planet Earth that later become famous as Pale Blue Dot.

- 1998 – An oil tanker train collides with a freight train in Yaoundé, Cameroon, spilling fuel oil. One person scavenging the oil created a massive explosion which kills 120.

- 2000 – The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.

- 2004 – In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 25 people, and wounding more than 100 others.

- 2005 – Lebanese self-made billionaire and business tycoon Rafic Hariri is assassinated in Beirut, along with 21 other people, when the equivalent of around 1,000 kg of TNT is detonated as his motorcade drove near the St. George Hotel.

- 2005 – Seven people are killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit Makati, Davao City, and General Santos City, all in the Philippines.

- 2005 – YouTube is launched by a group of college students, eventually becoming the largest video sharing website in the world and a main source for viral videos.

- 2008 – Northern Illinois University shooting: A gunman opened fire in a lecture hall of the DeKalb County, Illinois university resulting in six fatalities (including gunman) and 21 injuries.

- 2011 – As a part of Arab Spring, the Bahraini uprising begins with a 'Day of Rage'.

- 2018 - A school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school occurs in Parkland, Florida.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Famous Birthdays:]

Famous Birthdays:

- 1368 – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor

- 1404 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian painter, poet, and philosopher

- 1819 – Christopher Latham Sholes, American journalist and politician, invented the typewriter

- 1847 – Anna Howard Shaw, American physician, minister, and activist

- 1859 – George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., American engineer, inventor of the Ferris wheel

- 1869 – Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist and meteorologist, Nobel Prize laureate

- 1894 – Jack Benny, American actor, singer, and producer

- 1895 – Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist

- 1911 – Willem Johan Kolff, Dutch physician and inventor

- 1927 – Lois Maxwell, Canadian-Australian model and actress

- 1939 – Eugene Fama, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

- 1942 – Michael Bloomberg, American businessman and politician, 108th Mayor of New York City

- 1943 – Maceo Parker, American saxophonist

- 1944 – Carl Bernstein, American journalist and author

- 1945 – Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein

- 1951 – Kevin Keegan, English footballer and manager

- 1959 – Renée Fleming, American soprano and actress

[/spoiler]

Quote of the day

The idealists dream and the dream is told, and the practical men listen and ponder and bring back the truth and apply it to human life, and progress and growth and higher human ideals come into being and so the world moves ever on.

- Anna Howard Shaw (American Activist, 1847-1919) -

Note: Penguania_And_Antarctica assumes no responsibility or guarantee for correctness of any given information. Any recourse to courts of law is excluded.

Jaslandia, Vista Major, Axeldonia, Lex Caledonia, Mercunova, Percyton

Nuremgard wrote:There is something they can do but they'll never countenance it because it's part of their constitution and too deeply ingrained in their culture.

Well, we don't condone shootings at all unless its a call to arms against a tyrannical government or invading force (improbable unless somehow Russia manages to teleport a majority of its troops into the U.S., which doesn't even account for logistics, supplies, length of combat or the fact that they're in a large country with a populace more than willing to fight back), but to say that we have a deeply-ingrained gun culture is a bit hazy: obviously, a good portion of Americans, myself included, wouldn't mind owning a gun, but that's in the sense of responsible gun ownership (meaning we're not acting like those crazed militias which are just a minority in each state and compensate their utter lack of training or combat prowess for being aggressive towards civvies, which in of itself is just stupid) rather than pointing a gun into the face of someone we disagree with. One of the main issues with dealing with this is the NRA: while they do teach about firearm competency and safety, the main issue is that their support of gun rights just ventures into self-destructive, oftentimes with the children of NRA members seen carrying guns at conventions (while it's more than likely the guns are empty and kept on safe, it's still pretty reckless to give a 7-year old an actual pistol to carry around). Additionally, since they're an NPO with extensive lobbying powers and even a PAC, attempts to get gun regulation legislation through is a hassle as the NRA sees it as encroaching upon the 2nd Amendment.

Now, that's not to say that the NRA is completely full of gun-nuts (Tom Selleck, for example, is a responsible gun owner and many were supportive of him when he was on The Rosie O'Donnell Show and she used the interview to attack him for his membership, while other members who aren't sociopaths include R. Lee Ermey, John Dingell, and Roy Innis), but its position and increasing partisanship has made it a target for viable criticism, especially over practices and alleged bias on certain demographics.

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica

Nuremgard wrote:Not bad. How are you?

A headline for New Salvatore: International observers praise rising political freedoms in New Salvatore. This happened after this:

Following new legislation, the public is free to vote for whomever the government wants in office.

Well, at least they can vote. I'm guessing they couldn't do that before.

Gualimole wrote:I'm going to play Devil's Advocate and say that the MSM is better than new media because of the accountability system that exists with the MSM. MSM journalists have to be educated in their field and are constantly inspected to find if they are reporting falsehoods. You cannot say the same thing about Infowars or the news from social media that only confirms your existing views.

Yeah, the MSM definitely has problems, but if the alternatives are places like Breitbart and InfoWars, then I'd rather stick with the MSM. This is why I'm often annoyed by people talking about how much better 'alternative' media is than mainstream media, and how alternative media will 'kill' the MSM; yes, alternative media could theoretically be better than the MSM (and I think I've found one or two sources that do come pretty darn close to that standard), but if the most prominent alternative media sites are partisan hacks like Breitbart and InfoWars that go against everything real journalism stands for, then maybe alternative media isn't that great after all.

Pirate Kingdoms wrote:Good luck with that

https://www.theonion.com/no-way-to-prevent-this-says-only-nation-where-this-r-1819580358

The Onion publishes a variation of that article every time a mass shooting happens in America. Goes to show not only how long this stuff has been going on, but that the reaction seems to be the same every time.

Pirate Kingdoms wrote:Also, looks like Jacob Zuma resigned as President of South Africa.

Considering I've heard nothing but bad things about him, good. Let's hope the next guy is at least somewhat better.

Nuremgard, Penguania And Antarctica, Gualimole

Pirate Kingdoms wrote:Well, we don't condone shootings at all unless its a call to arms against a tyrannical government or invading force (improbable unless somehow Russia manages to teleport a majority of its troops into the U.S., which doesn't even account for logistics, supplies, length of combat or the fact that they're in a large country with a populace more than willing to fight back), but to say that we have a deeply-ingrained gun culture is a bit hazy: obviously, a good portion of Americans, myself included, wouldn't mind owning a gun, but that's in the sense of responsible gun ownership (meaning we're not acting like those crazed militias which are just a minority in each state and compensate their utter lack of training or combat prowess for being aggressive towards civvies, which in of itself is just stupid) rather than pointing a gun into the face of someone we disagree with. One of the main issues with dealing with this is the NRA: while they do teach about firearm competency and safety, the main issue is that their support of gun rights just ventures into self-destructive, oftentimes with the children of NRA members seen carrying guns at conventions (while it's more than likely the guns are empty and kept on safe, it's still pretty reckless to give a 7-year old an actual pistol to carry around). Additionally, since they're an NPO with extensive lobbying powers and even a PAC, attempts to get gun regulation legislation through is a hassle as the NRA sees it as encroaching upon the 2nd Amendment.

Now, that's not to say that the NRA is completely full of gun-nuts (Tom Selleck, for example, is a responsible gun owner and many were supportive of him when he was on The Rosie O'Donnell Show and she used the interview to attack him for his membership, while other members who aren't sociopaths include R. Lee Ermey, John Dingell, and Roy Innis), but its position and increasing partisanship has made it a target for viable criticism, especially over practices and alleged bias on certain demographics.

Mate, millions of Americans own guns. Many have huge collections of them. It's written into your bloody constitution that it's a fundamental right to own a gun. The NRA is one of the most powerful lobbyist groups in the country. I'd call that an ingrained gun culture.

Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:

- Valentine's Day

https://www.theonion.com/i-wish-id-spent-valentines-day-eating-a-prix-fixe-dinne-1819584538

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:

- 1502 – Spanish Inquisition: The Catholic Monarchs issue a decree forcing Muslims in Granada to convert to Catholicism or leave Spain.

https://youtu.be/7WJXHY2OXGE?t=34s

Penguania And Antarctica, Percyton

Nuremgard wrote:There is something they can do but they'll never countenance it because it's part of their constitution and too deeply ingrained in their culture.

Personally, Australia really distanced me from the view that banning firearms really does that much, considering their recent amnesty event pulled in over 50K illegal firearms from totally willing people. That's not to say it's pointless, mind you, but that it's as much a cultural issue as it is a legalistic issue, IMO.

Pirate Kingdoms wrote:Vis, that flag hurts my eyes somewhat and I don't know why

Get glasses.

Pirate Kingdoms wrote:Also, looks like Jacob Zuma resigned as President of South Africa.

Not sure how positive my optimism should go

Percyton

Nuremgard wrote:Mate, millions of Americans own guns. Many have huge collections of them. It's written into your bloody constitution that it's a fundamental right to own a gun. The NRA is one of the most powerful lobbyist groups in the country. I'd call that an ingrained gun culture.

The first statement is true, I'll admit to that (about 42% of households owned at least one gun in 2017), but the large collections aren't reflective of the populace (like I said with the militias, that's a small portion of the populace and even then, those have to be registered and need to have specific qualities to them: even then, after Las Vegas, there has been a push to limit the number of guns a single person can own). The 2nd Amendment is constantly under scrutiny even with Heller. Plus, while the NRA is a powerful body, opposition to it has been growing due to all the controversies surrounding it, including apparent hypocrisy over owners of color not being defended if they were unlawfully killed, media silence over mass shootings, political involvement and attacks on candidates, media campaigns, and flip-flopping on gun control.

Look, I get that it just seems like I'm rambling about the gun culture of the U.S., but we're not a nation of sociopaths that are constantly obsessed with guns and get pissy if it appears that any attempt to introduce any attempts at regulation, once again a majority of Americans believe in some form of regulation and moderating ownership: it's just that we constantly have to deal with shootings, lax state laws, and gun proponents being hostile.

Nuremgard, Kalaron

Penguania And Antarctica wrote:[spoiler=Today is February 14 and today are:]

Today is February 14 and today are:

- Ash Wednesday (Christianity)

- Frederick Douglass Day

- International Book Giving Day

- League of Women Voters Day

- Library Lovers Day

- National Condom Awareness Day (United States)

- National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day (United States)

- National Ferris Wheel Day (United States)

- National Have a Heart Day (United States)

- National Organ Donor Day (United States)

- National Pet Theft Awareness Day (United States)

- Parents' Worship Day (parts of India)

- Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (Armenian Apostolic Church)

- Quirky Alone Day

- Race Relations Day

- Singles Awareness Day or Singles Appreciation Day

- Statehood Day (Arizona, United States)

- Statehood Day (Oregon, United States)

- Valentine's Day

- World Cholangiocarcinoma Day

- World Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day

- World Sound Healing Day

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=This day in history:]

This day in history:

- 0748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.

- 0842 – Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German languages.

- 1014 – Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry of Bavaria, King of Germany and of Italy, as Holy Roman Emperor.

- 1076 – Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.

- 1130 – Pope Innocent II is elected.

- 1349 – Several hundred Jews are burned to death by mobs while the remaining Jews are forcibly removed from Strasbourg.

- 1400 – Richard II of England dies, most probably from starvation, in Pontefract Castle, on the orders of Henry Bolingbroke.

- 1502 – Spanish Inquisition: The Catholic Monarchs issue a decree forcing Muslims in Granada to convert to Catholicism or leave Spain.

- 1530 – Spanish conquistadores, led by Nuño de Guzmán, overthrow and execute Tangaxuan II, the last independent monarch of the Tarascan state in present-day central Mexico.

- 1556 – Thomas Cranmer is declared a heretic.

- 1655 – Arauco War: The Mapuche under their elected military leader, Clentaru, rise up against the Spanish in an insurrection in present-day central Chile.

- 1778 – The United States flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte renders a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.

- 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Kettle Creek is fought in Georgia.

- 1779 – James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.

- 1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Cape St. Vincent: John Jervis, (later 1st Earl of St Vincent) and Horatio Nelson (later 1st Viscount Nelson) lead the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar.

- 1804 – Karađorđe leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.

- 1831 – Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.

- 1835 – The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in the Latter Day Saint movement, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio.

- 1849 – In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.

- 1852 – Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, the first hospital in England to provide in-patient beds specifically for children, is founded in London.

- 1855 – Texas is linked by telegraph to the rest of the United States, with the completion of a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas.

- 1859 – Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.

- 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.

- 1879 – The War of the Pacific breaks out when Chilean armed forces occupy the Bolivian port city of Antofagasta.

- 1899 – Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections.

- 1900 – British forces begin the Battle of the Tugela Heights in an effort to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.

- 1903 – The United States Department of Commerce and Labor is established (later split into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor).

- 1912 – Arizona is admitted as the 48th U.S. state.

- 1912 – The US Navy commissions its first class of diesel-powered submarines.

- 1918 – The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar (on 1 February according to the Julian calendar).

- 1919 – The Polish–Soviet War begins.

- 1920 – The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago.

- 1924 – The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company changes its name to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

- 1929 – Saint Valentine's Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone's gang, are murdered in Chicago.

- 1942 – Battle of Pasir Panjang contributes to the fall of Singapore.

- 1943 – World War II: Rostov-on-Don, Russia is liberated.

- 1943 – World War II: Tunisia Campaign: General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's Fifth Panzer Army launches a concerted attack against Allied positions in Tunisia.

- 1944 – World War II: In the Action of 14 February 1944, a British submarine sinks a German-controlled Italian submarine in the Strait of Malacca.

- 1945 – World War II: On the first day of the bombing of Dresden, the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces begin fire-bombing Dresden.

- 1945 – World War II: Navigational error leads to the mistaken bombing of Prague, Czechoslovakia by an American squadron of B-17s assisting in the Soviet's Vistula–Oder Offensive.

- 1945 – World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans

- 1945 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy, officially beginning U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relations.

- 1946 – The Bank of England is nationalized.

- 1949 – The Knesset (Israeli parliament) convenes for the first time.

- 1949 – The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.

- 1950 – Chinese Civil War: The National Revolutionary Army instigates the unsuccessful Battle of Tianquan against the People's Liberation Army.

- 1956 – The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union begins in Moscow. On the last night of the meeting, Premier Nikita Khrushchev condemns Joseph Stalin's crimes in a secret speech.

- 1961 – Discovery of the chemical elements: Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California.

- 1966 – Australian currency is decimalized.

- 1979 – In Kabul, Setami Milli militants kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.

- 1983 – United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher, is later convicted of fraud.

- 1989 – Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.

- 1989 – Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.

- 1990 – Ninety-two people are killed when Indian Airlines Flight 605 crashes in Bangalore, India.

- 1990 – The Voyager 1 spacecraft takes the photograph of planet Earth that later become famous as Pale Blue Dot.

- 1998 – An oil tanker train collides with a freight train in Yaoundé, Cameroon, spilling fuel oil. One person scavenging the oil created a massive explosion which kills 120.

- 2000 – The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.

- 2004 – In a suburb of Moscow, Russia, the roof of the Transvaal water park collapses, killing more than 25 people, and wounding more than 100 others.

- 2005 – Lebanese self-made billionaire and business tycoon Rafic Hariri is assassinated in Beirut, along with 21 other people, when the equivalent of around 1,000 kg of TNT is detonated as his motorcade drove near the St. George Hotel.

- 2005 – Seven people are killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit Makati, Davao City, and General Santos City, all in the Philippines.

- 2005 – YouTube is launched by a group of college students, eventually becoming the largest video sharing website in the world and a main source for viral videos.

- 2008 – Northern Illinois University shooting: A gunman opened fire in a lecture hall of the DeKalb County, Illinois university resulting in six fatalities (including gunman) and 21 injuries.

- 2011 – As a part of Arab Spring, the Bahraini uprising begins with a 'Day of Rage'.

- 2018 - A school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school occurs in Parkland, Florida.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Famous Birthdays:]

Famous Birthdays:

- 1368 – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor

- 1404 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian painter, poet, and philosopher

- 1819 – Christopher Latham Sholes, American journalist and politician, invented the typewriter

- 1847 – Anna Howard Shaw, American physician, minister, and activist

- 1859 – George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., American engineer, inventor of the Ferris wheel

- 1869 – Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist and meteorologist, Nobel Prize laureate

- 1894 – Jack Benny, American actor, singer, and producer

- 1895 – Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist

- 1911 – Willem Johan Kolff, Dutch physician and inventor

- 1927 – Lois Maxwell, Canadian-Australian model and actress

- 1939 – Eugene Fama, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

- 1942 – Michael Bloomberg, American businessman and politician, 108th Mayor of New York City

- 1943 – Maceo Parker, American saxophonist

- 1944 – Carl Bernstein, American journalist and author

- 1945 – Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein

- 1951 – Kevin Keegan, English footballer and manager

- 1959 – Renée Fleming, American soprano and actress

[/spoiler]

Quote of the day

The idealists dream and the dream is told, and the practical men listen and ponder and bring back the truth and apply it to human life, and progress and growth and higher human ideals come into being and so the world moves ever on.

- Anna Howard Shaw (American Activist, 1847-1919) -

Note: Penguania_And_Antarctica assumes no responsibility or guarantee for correctness of any given information. Any recourse to courts of law is excluded.

Hey, Anna Howard Shaw!

Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica, Mercunova, Percyton

Continental Commonwealths wrote:Hey, Anna Howard Shaw!

You are the reason I quoted her today. :D

Jaslandia, Percyton

Pirate Kingdoms wrote:Good luck with that

Build a wall around the guns and make the NRA pay for it

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Axeldonia

Vista Major wrote:Get glasses.Not sure how positive my optimism should go

But I already wear glasses ;-;

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Vista Major, Penguania And Antarctica, Percyton

I should be absolute monarch of Britain. I'd be an enlightened despot.

Jaslandia, Percyton

Nuremgard wrote:I should be absolute monarch of Britain. I'd be an enlightened despot.

REPUBLIC OR BUST, UP THE QUEEN ETC ETC

Nuremgard, Penguania And Antarctica

Lex Caledonia wrote:REPUBLIC OR BUST, UP THE QUEEN ETC ETC

No. I'll be Stephen I, King of Scots!

Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica, Percyton

Nuremgard wrote:No. I'll be Stephen I, King of Scots!

for god sake first instances of regnal names don't use numerals until second instances come in

Literally only pope John Paul I used the numeral during his reign, and that's only because he had combined the names of the two previous popes

Nuremgard, Penguania And Antarctica

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/porn-block-ban-in-the-uk-age-verifcation-law

So, like, AgeID totally isn't a privacy violation, y'all.

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona

Kalaron wrote:http://www.wired.co.uk/article/porn-block-ban-in-the-uk-age-verifcation-law

So, like, AgeID totally isn't a privacy violation, y'all.

Well, looks like I'll be giving up Internet porn 'cause I ain't letting some "third party" record the porn I look at. What a lovely way to blackmail people and hold porn sites to ransom. F*cking hate this government. Gotta' love Conservatives. They're all about "small government" unless the government gets to spy on you and tell you what you can and cant watch.

Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona

Nuremgard wrote:Well, looks like I'll be giving up Internet porn 'cause I ain't letting some "third party" record the porn I look at. What a lovely way to blackmail people and hold porn sites to ransom. F*cking hate this government. Gotta' love Conservatives. They're all about "small government" unless the government gets to spy on you and tell you what you can and cant watch.

Agreed. This is some serious over reach on the Gov's part. The worst part is that it could log what websites you visit, why even do that?

Nuremgard, Jaslandia, Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica, Yukona

Kalaron wrote:Agreed. This is some serious over reach on the Gov's part. The worst part is that it could log what websites you visit, why even do that?

Because the Conservatives, and Theresa May in particular, are reactionary, moralistic control freaks who want to police what people can and cant watch.

Gotta' love their hypocrisy. The establishment, including Parliament, is rife with child abuse but they'd rather restrict consensual adult material viewed by adults.

Axeldonia, Penguania And Antarctica

Assembled with Dot's Region Saver.
Written by Refuge Isle.