Here is a well-balanced article from a reputable source debunking the scare tactics about ACTA. They make the point that it is a bad agreement, but not for the reasons being bandied about, and not to...

Did you read the agreement, which is linked to in the article? I read it all the way through, and this article is a complete misrepresentation of what is in the agreement. Nothing in the agreement...

Can you substantiate this statement? Literally the first ones?

Several other things happened multiple times that day that have never happened before:

Before 9/11 every time a passenger plane...

I know candidates cannot always control who their supporters are or what they say, but it is clear that these people strongly approve of Ron Paul's message, and want to get him elected.
...

I think will tiptoe around this one and go peacefully about my business. I did not intend to stir up such a hornet's nest. I have seen too many threads devolve from here into endless back and forth...

I would suggest that unless he is running for public office (in which case we must concern ourselves with all of his views (are you listening, Ron Paul supporters?)) it is proper to give gratitude...

Temeluch, I am moved to offer a little feedback. I am an omnivorous reader. I read pretty much anything that comes my way. I understand many different occupational and cultural dialects. I will...

This is a truly wonderful and inspiring talk. I had never seen Marianne Williamson speak before, and I was absolutely blown away. She is maybe the best inspirational speaker I have seen since I saw...

What a mean spirited set of cartoons. I will not even dignify them by quoting them. Whatever made you choose these to show us?

Patrick

EDIT: I see this appears below a second post; it is the...

Link: Link: https://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13164

Summary:

In 1900, for every 1000 babies born in the United States, 100 would die before their first birthday, often due to infectious...

Here, for your study and debate, is the manifesto issued by the Wall Street protestors. My 2 cents? I think it is excellent, and I agree with pretty much everything in it.


“As we gather together...

I did watch it, and it did not do anything to change my view. He was certainly eloquent on the topics I already agree with him on, but I disagree with you about these being enough to give him a shot....

Adam Kokesh is not a journalist. He is arguing a point of view, and several times asks questions that are in fact disguised statements of opinion without allowing the person he is "interviewing" to...

I see why you cite the first part of the video; Maher is not exactly complimentary to Ron Paul if you listen further.



I have addressed the futility of elevating liberty and freedom over all...

I guess I should have said "Why do intelligent people take him seriously?" I was actually hoping for a substantive response that addressed my concerns about him. I did ask what I might have missed...

Ron Paul appeared on the Daily Show on Monday, and I have watched the interview several times in an effort to discover what people find so compelling about him. I am still wondering. Some comments:
...

I can only judge by what you post, and I stand by my judgment.



You may assume nothing about my intentions or my past actions.

Patrick Brinton

Really? Your standards of what makes for a good point are distressingly low. Are you referring to Iolchan's enumeration? Let's count them.

1, 4, 6, 9, most of 13, 15, 16, and 18 all make...

Dixon, you disappoint me. I always think of you as a rational and logical person.



You have no valid reason for making such an assumption. For one thing, only two were suspended (as opposed to...

I think this is a stretch. And what does Paul Hobbs have to do with this issue, anyway? Perhaps if you put it forward as a tentative speculation, or better yet actually pointed to some kind of...

True, and in this case it is a short thread. Even then it is a multi-click process; when it is a complex thread the original post is often much harder to find (and as you know some of them get pretty...

Do you pay attention to any source at all as any sort of ultimate truth? I certainly do not think that Wikipedia would claim to be any such thing. You should regard everything you read with...

I am curious just how you would set about attempting to understand what someone says or writes without trying to assess what (s)he meant? Is that not the essence of understanding? Beyond very simple...

Even if we take into account people who actually work day to day in their businesses, I would venture to state that the vast majority of the top income "earners" can not in any reasonable sense be...

I agree that this part of the discussion, which has centered around the origins and real meaning of Christianity, should not be regarded as political (in spite of references to communism). I am no...

Finally in all of S2T's posts I find something with which I can unequivocally agree. I support both of these statements completely. Now, to understand their significance we must examine the meaning...

I went because I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. I knew nothing about the speaker ahead of time. I left after an hour or so; maybe it got much better after that, but what I saw and...

My views on the second part by now have been well aired, and there is nothing to be gained by reiterating them here, so I will leave that part alone. However I am a little disappointed with the...

May I suggest a topic that has been mentioned, but not responded to, and has been puzzling me. Under the stated circumstances, how should the officer have acted so as to both do his job and avoid the...

Is this your standard for making public accusations? I have seen no evidence that you are not a shoplifter; I have owned retail business, and I have suffered the evil effects of shoplifting many...

Do you prefer "allege"? You stated as a fact something that you had no evidence for that was derogatory against a police officer about his conduct in the line of duty. In other words you unjustly...

I have made no attempt to silence anyone. I have simply stated my own opinions. The standards I have applied are not legal standards, but ethical standards, which I believe have relevance in every...

Now here you hit exactly on the nub of my objection. I understand this explanation, and I can empathise with it. We have all acted unwisely from our emotions at one time or other, and said things in...

This is all true, and should make us alert to such problems when they arise, but none of this speaks to the actual case at hand.



Actually in this case one is not more likely than the other....

To save space I will not quote the whole post.

We could certainly get into a discussion of the militarization of the police, and I am sure we would agree on a great deal, and Barry would gently...

Sabrina

First of all, I am by no means someone who believes the police can do no wrong, or that they are tireless guardians of our safety. I believe that racial profiling is regularly practiced by...

Relevant: https://www.youtube.com/user/pbrinton?feature=mhum#p/f/4/4bEGLbCNRqw

Patrick Brinton

I agree with the sentiment, Claire, but I am curious who your comment is aimed at.

Patrick Brinton

Thanks for the reference, but that is pretty much the aceepted "western" view of acupuncture, with meridian lines and so forth, which many people of a scientific bent find difficult to swallow, since...

Barry, I would like to suggest that this side discussion of acupuncture, which really has very little to do with the topic of this thread, but which I find really interesting and educational...

I have expressed, both publicly here and privately to Dixon, that if I had a criticism of his contributions here it would be that he had a tendency towards over-strong and impatient language, that...

+1

Patrick Brinton

I feel that I have to pass comment on this. I feel that the above paragraph is unfair and demeaning. First, nobody is engaging in textual analysis; Dixon responded in some detail to your fairly...

I think he was doing both, and more. He expressed his disgust at the effect on him of people smoking, he complained that the event was advertised as smoke free, but that the organizers did little to...

Not unrealistic, but not ethical either.

Patrick Brinton

I think that perhaps part of the problem here is that "sacrifice" is not the proper term. It conjures up visions throwing virgins into the volcano to appease the gods. What is happening here, and...

Here is another article:

https://blogs.plos.org/thepanicvirus/2011/05/25/the-financial-implications-of-the-us-measles-outbreaks/

This is probably a useless exercise, but people who are against...

Yes, indeed, quite literally. Colleen Fernald (Peace Voyager) was posting imploring appeals right here for people to pay attention to what was happening to John Jenkel back when it was actually...

Among the many non-experts who thought about earthquakes, and had an intuitive understanding about some aspect of the subject, a certain number thought as you did, and were eventually proved to have...

I have archives of the digest going back to July 2005. It should be pretty trivial to write a program to go through them and retrieve the posts, no?

Patrick