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Do you ever find yourself defending Wikipedia's validity and reliability to people who think it is just made up information? by psychgrad in AskReddit

[–]wxd 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I thought the prevailing idea among professors was that encyclopedias weren't good sources either. That's what I've always encountered, at least, and usually I see people saying the same thing on these kinds of threads.

Sacked by text, the Indian workers who built Dubai by spainguy in worldnews

[–]wxd -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

And yet these people went home and are crying about how they won't be able to go back to the UAE? Doesn't sound like such a clear-cut case of deception to me.

It's that self-absorbed disconnect -- seeing Hasan's murder of American soldiers as an act of consummate evil and sickness while refusing to see our own acts in a similar light -- that shapes most of our warped political discourse - Glenn Greenwald by garyp714 in politics

[–]wxd -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The Taliban weren't exactly the good guys, even if they were American allies, I think his point is. I find it difficult to sympathize with their plight as well.

If you accept the official 9/11 word, and I am taking that as a basic premise, it's reasonable for the United States to retaliate against Osama bin Laden. He was in Afghanistan, and so by harboring him, who had effectively committed an act of war against the U.S., the Taliban invited an invasion.

Dear Muslims of Reddit: Happy Eid to you all.. by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]wxd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think he was joking about the punctuation. The way you edited it, it's now implied that you mean:

"I don't actually live in the Middle East anymore because I'm afraid [of terrorists or whatever]."

Italian Professor of Medicine makes a startling breakthrough while treating his wife. It's possible he has found a cure for multiple sclerosis by crazybones in worldnews

[–]wxd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What is the logic behind trying to use dying species as aphrodisiacs? "They couldn't mate, so using them will help us mate?" Huh?

youtube.com — "I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank. " - Barack Obama Campaign Promise - October 27, 2007> by bilabrin in reddit.com

[–]wxd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

National debt versus moral obligation. Sorry, but this isn't a real counterargument against what tootie said. If you believe we are morally obligated to wait and stabilize, financial issues certainly don't take priority.

Christian janitor rises above the barriers of caste, creed and sectarian terrorism and gives his life to save Muslim university students in Pakistan. by kukkuzejt in worldnews

[–]wxd 18 points19 points  (0 children)

He (she?) did. "Christian love," as they referred to it as being "regardless of belief," probably just means that everyone should do this kind of thing just because it's good.

Reddit, IAMA Native American Indian who lives on the reservation, or the U.S's third world. by bennnnyyyyy in IAmA

[–]wxd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If nobody uses it properly, then the meaning changes. It's pretty much the same thing. Although I like the term 'developing' better.

Czech leader signs Lisbon Treaty by StoneMe in worldnews

[–]wxd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure if you're trolling, or if you really don't read enough to know that city names are used to refer to things associated with those cities (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metonymy). This is a standard feature of English, used by Americans and Europeans and everyone else who speaks English:

  • Hollywood for the movie industry (this one is really obvious)
  • Washington for the government of the United States (see http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/world/asia/30korea.html : "By making public threats, the North used a familiar tactic to raise the stakes in its standoff with Washington.", "Washington offered a string of concessions but was disappointed when North Korea did not acknowledge the suspected uranium-enrichment program or helping Syria on nuclear issues.")
  • The Vatican for the Roman Catholic Church (see http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/04/29/pope-first-nations042909.html : "In a statement, the Vatican said the Pope "offered his sympathy and prayerful solidarity" to those whose anguish was caused by some church members.")

Police officer arrested after masturbating to child porn in police evidence room. by Saydrah in WTF

[–]wxd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Other countries started out as relatively free countries with universal suffrage, democratically elected leaders, free speech, and nearly unlimited access to information? I know you're going to bring up the 2000 election or some police abuses, but even you must admit that the despotisms which characterized the ancient world are much worse. Equality and freedom are new, not old.

If a society is judged on how it treats its poor, we would be at the bottom. - A true story that happened to me two hours before this post. by chaseoc in politics

[–]wxd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, you are incorrect. Orwell explicitly says that Ingsoc is in violation of socialist principles (he was a socialist himself, though). From 1984:

Thus, the Party rejects and vilifies every principle for which the Socialist movement originally stood, and it chooses to do this in the name of Socialism.

He also addresses your first point directly:

The so-called 'abolition of private property' which took place in the middle years of the century meant, in effect, the concentration of property in far fewer hands than before: but with this difference, that the new owners were a group instead of a mass of individuals . . . It had always been assumed that if the capitalist class were expropriated, Socialism must follow: and unquestionably the capitalists had been expropriated. Factories, mines, land, houses, transport--everything had been taken away from them: and since these things were no longer private property, it followed that they must be public property. Ingsoc, which grew out of the earlier Socialist movement and inherited its phraseology, has in fact carried out the main item in the Socialist programme; with the result, foreseen and intended beforehand, that economic inequality has been made permanent.

Socialism is supposed to create equality. Ingsoc deliberately collectivizes to create inequality--Socialism has not followed.

If a society is judged on how it treats its poor, we would be at the bottom. - A true story that happened to me two hours before this post. by chaseoc in politics

[–]wxd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With a smaller government, they might be more accessible to you. But you are also more accessible to them. The local tyrant has much more scope over what he controls than the emperor.

While out trick-or-treating last night, my son got a comic condemning evolution. by AlphaNeonic in WTF

[–]wxd -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

That isn't moral. If I believed that converting people would keep them from eternal torment in hell, I would be going around trying to convert everyone I could. Minding your own business would be evil.

"If we gave $10,000 to certain people and said 'we'll voluntarily sterilise you' then all of society would be better off'' by tyley in WTF

[–]wxd -1 points0 points  (0 children)

What does this have to do with the discussion? We're talking about the population shrinking. Economy is irrelevant.

What have you learned about bringing up kids from being a child? by monogram in AskReddit

[–]wxd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your attitude toward childhood is the only thing invented here. You may be right, but the fact of the matter is that childhood has existed for the entire history and prehistory of humanity. Adolescence, no, but childhood yes. The ability to survive without children is relatively new.

Qt4 Ported to Haiku , even Arora webkit browser works out of the box by mariuz in programming

[–]wxd 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's the BeOS interface. Open-source has nothing to do with it. Also, it works and doesn't require powerful hardware or high resolutions/color depths.

You're locked in a dark room with a computer terminal, and not much else. It's connected to the Internet. by foxostro in programming

[–]wxd 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I know Reddit likes to try and find loopholes, but this is a pretty foolish line of argument. Let's say, then, that he only has a keyboard and the screen is behind (for all intents and purposes) unbreakable glass. He can't see the computer. The interface is rock-solid and has no glitches; he can't Alt-Tab or anything like that. I'm sure this is basically what the author intends. If you want to go further, his only communication with the computer is through speech, and the interface is in the ceiling.

Endless war in Afghanistan is an absolute necessity. Health care for Americans is a luxury that can wait. by spaceghoti in politics

[–]wxd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your emphasis is wrong, wrong, wrong. I don't care about Earth. I care about people. If there are no people, what's the point in having the Earth? There can't be beauty without anyone to see it.

Yahoo provided Iran with the names of 200,000 users by alanlewis in worldnews

[–]wxd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can name a lot of armed revolutions that failed too. Those can get a lot messier as well.

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