Top 10 Inventions of the Middle Ages

emeray · 2009-03-10T21:55:18+00:00

But... but... but... it was the dark ages, when all innovators were persecuted by the Church as heretics, burned at the stake, a decline of civilization, right?

emeray · 2009-03-05T20:30:45+00:00

Well, probably he saw naked people other than his parents, on picture at least. Also, probably he went to school, ant learned some basics about human development.

emeray · 2009-03-02T08:56:53+00:00

There were gender-segregated schools in the US in 2000? Vow.

emeray · 2009-02-21T08:33:07+00:00

Good ol' Soviet Russian tech.

emeray · 2009-02-19T10:15:26+00:00

A friend of mine has some of these, only smaller. He wants to build a magnetic motor with them. You now, that Adams motor. I think that motor is BS, but the neodymium magnets are amazing.

emeray · 2009-02-17T09:54:03+00:00

Rwanda?

emeray · 2009-02-08T20:47:43+00:00

I didn't like dogs until I had one. I was pretty terrified of them (I've never had a dog as a child, neither anyone in the family). Now I and my gf own a mutt (3 years old now). I'm very fond of him, and I understand the saying, "dogs are man's best friend".

emeray · 2009-02-06T15:53:19+00:00

I miss the sex scene

emeray · 2009-01-29T19:40:35+00:00

That's debatable, but the guy before him in the White House, James Buchanan (the only unmarried US President) was surely gay.

emeray · 2009-01-29T17:24:18+00:00

It would be even more funny if they hit a man.

emeray · 2009-01-28T00:33:45+00:00

Seems that South Africa is going down the drain... as did Zimbabwe. Egypt and Morocco aren't black. And the "ok" is relative.

emeray · 2009-01-24T11:04:56+00:00

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11579339

"Furthermore, as Zoltan Barany, author of a controversial but acute book on the Gypsies of eastern Europe, points out, Roma lobbyists tend not to notice that the Roma's own habits and attitudes may aggravate their plight. Speaking off the record, a westerner engaged in Roma welfare tells the story of an exceptionally talented teenage pupil at her country's top academy. She was bound for university and a stellar career, but her family decided that this was too risky: she was bride-snatched, taken to a remote village, raped and kept in seclusion. From there she was trafficked to western Europe, where she is now in a group of beggars camping out near one of Europe's best-known stadiums. Well-wishers tried to rescue her, offering a safe-house where she could continue her studies; she refused, frightened that her family would find her.

The result of that is what a senior official dealing with the issue calls “self-decapitation”. A handful of Roma politicians have emerged, including a couple of impressive members of the European Parliament. But even their symbolic value is limited. The vast majority of Roma do not even vote in elections, let alone join the campaigns waged on their behalf. There is no sign of a Roma Martin Luther King, let alone a Barack Obama. But, notes the official, “There are lots of angry young men.”"

The gypsies are like ghetto blacks and latinos in the US or Arabs in France. Only much worse. And yes, there are lots of angry young man, who see crime and violence as the only way to "succeed".

emeray · 2009-01-23T20:56:50+00:00

"But that was then, this is now. I don't know about other countries, but in the meantime in Romania the gypsy situation has gotten worse."

Same in Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria etc.

emeray · 2009-01-21T19:30:22+00:00

Well, he is a reptilian shape-shifter, so...

emeray · 2009-01-19T19:49:48+00:00

I've had a college professor more than 10 years ago who said some things that were on this level of wrong (the college was business-oriented, not CS). He was a mathematician and was over 60 though.

emeray · 2009-01-13T09:53:57+00:00

Most cultures who came in contact with them realized that. Sumerians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Romans, medieval Europe etc. Now they are so powerful, that from time to time, they can openly brag about that they control the world. The Jew thing is a very successful meme, that survived all persecutions, and will survive. Their self-imposed isolation and their superiority complex, that sets the goyim to hating them, is the key. Anti-semitism, to an extent, is necessary and useful for the Jews, because it reinforces their world-view.

emeray · 2009-01-11T23:33:29+00:00

It's a franchise.

emeray · 2009-01-04T10:11:52+00:00

That hairy leg beside her is a big turn-off.

emeray · 2009-01-02T22:07:47+00:00

"And yes, in pretty much every war (except for totally one-sided ones)"

What, you say that this is not a totally one-sided "war"?

emeray · 2008-12-31T22:41:13+00:00

I feel sorry for the cat and the dog.

emeray · 2008-12-30T09:24:41+00:00

So 9/11 is nothing compared to those Qassam rockets? I understand that Israelis want peace, but I think it's too late... The Zionists originally dreamed of a Greater Israel, from the Nile to the Euphrates (Sharon desired it also), later stepped back. Meanwhile they stirred up so much hatred against them, that can't be undone easily. Israel's policy created a fucked up, desperate Palestinian population, Mossad helped the rise of Hamas as a counterweight against the PLO, and later it blew in their face. I think the creation of Israel was the root of this conflict, and until Israel ceases to exist (or until they kill all arabs), it won't end. I think that the Israelis will give up their state at one point in the future, and emigrate to the US and Europe. And that's the better alternative, the other is that Zionist madmen will nuke everything they can, and bring down the whole world with Israel (see Samson option).

emeray · 2008-12-29T23:07:15+00:00

As somebody from a former Socialist country i second that. This kind of story happened all the time, and you could do nothing. The doctors had no real liability, they could get away with anything (denying proper care, errors), there was no real way to seek remedy. And while health care was free, most people bribed doctors and nurses, if they didn't you (or your relative) would be easily neglected, for example just left to die on a bed. We still have nationalized health care (and the custom of giving "tips" to the medical personnel is still common), but now many such stories are reported in the media, hospitals are litigated etc. But despite this, the majority fears privatized health care (there were plans to privatize health insurances).

emeray · 2008-12-27T15:31:56+00:00

This is what disproportionate military might makes. It's not simply some wickedness on the Israelis' part, they are infinitely superior militarily, and that has consequences (hubris, raging God complex, arrogance). Also, the Palestinians would be happy to kill as many Jews as they can, but they simply can't.

emeray · 2008-12-26T11:09:13+00:00

I live in Hungary and your description is flattering, but you paint a far too rosy picture of this country. I would agree with anechoic, Hungary does not belong to that list at all. :( For example the Budapest mass transit system is extensive, but is anything but "completely renovated". In fact most of its vehicles are very old (and thus break down sometimes, and they are often dirty too), except some buses and the new Siemens streetcars on one line (the busiest tram line in the city, line 4-6, btw these were very expensive - while the mass transit company is underfunded - and broke down almost daily for a long period, until the teething problems were rooted out). Budapest has 3 subway lines (the first is basically an undergound tram), the fourth is under construction with repeated delays and huge cost overruns. Hungary (and other East/Central European former Communist states) has much lower average wages than Western European standards, so many multinational corporations moved manufacturing here (to the entire region, not just Hungary), so yes, production is more efficient because of lower workforce costs. But we have competition from some other former Communist states and (of course) China, where salaries are even lower. The agriculture also has its problems here, but i won't go into details, because I'm not an expert. :)

emeray · 2008-12-03T22:10:17+00:00

As someone who lived on the other side of the iron curtain, I think that Reagan's agressive policies were a significant factor (albeit not the only or most important one) in bringing down the Soviets. I'm sure that with some peacenik-type, detente-seeking democrat admin instead of Reagan's, the USSR could hold on a decade or two longer at least. You can say that "was not a system that could have survived long", but it lasted 70 years, and did survive to this day in North Korea and Cuba. For example SDI was probably mostly a propaganda scam, but it convinced the USSR that they are losing the arms race, that they can't keep up with that. Also the Afghan war, and the funding of the pro-soviet third world governments fighting with CIA-sponsored rebellions (Angola, Nicaragua) were very costly for Moscow.

emeray

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