Toadfish Monastery

This was in the UK :p

Are you sure that wasn't "for the prettiest"?

Quote from: beagle on April 15, 2009, 07:06:34 AM
What is it with tennis courts and history BTW?  Henry V, tennis court oaths, first nuclear reactors...

Doesn't anything ever happen on croquet lawns?

My friend was once nearly blinded on a croquet lawn.  I'm not sure he counts as a historical figure, but his last name is Wallace, so there are connections.

If you need the time in a specific city, just hit "time [city name]" into Google, as well.  I spent a lot of time coordinating things with someone in California last year, so I just had to whack "time San Jose" into the machine and it comes up immediately below, before the results.

Oh yeah.

To give a most serious example of this: after the Mumbai terrorist attacks, its suspected the terrorists spoofed a phone call that caller ID showed originating within the Indian Foreign Ministry - a very angry, threatening phone call that suggested Pakistan better prepare to get nuked.  This made Pakistan raise its threat status which suggested to India they were preparing for an attack and may even be behind the terrorist atrocity, raising India's threat level and so causing the oh so lovely security dilemma familiar to those who lived through the Cold War.

In a less serious example, someone somewhere got hold of my father's card information, and the security staff for the bank called him to alert him to suspicious purchases made in his name.  The first thing he did was hang up, get their number from the phone book, phone back and ask them security questions before handing over any details.

Common sense isn't, alas, but a decent level of awareness can avoid most problems, especially if you don't take things for granted.

I actually thought you did get it.

Then, I have waaaaay too much time, and so can study merry little jaunts like conspiracy theory throughout the ages.  This is 18th century Alex Jones!

Some U.S. strategists have already suggested that our economy and current military spending make us a liability to the USA, and that increasingly, Japan and Australia are going to be important to the US.

Oh, there are plenty of examples.  The CIA had the Russian computer system bugged through and through during the 90s, because of their insistence on using Windows (obviously a little harder to slip such backdoor programs on Linux...though that simply may be due to the fact you need a fairly good grasp on computers to use Linux in the first place).  Information control is paramount....just look at how much damage Kim Philby wrecked on UK intelligence for a number of years.

Quote from: Griffin NoName on April 13, 2009, 01:29:36 AM

Quote from: Kaliayev on April 12, 2009, 02:16:05 PM
.... They screwed up because they got caught.

But why did they get caught?  Why does no one seem concerned about security of these emails? That should be a scandal, even given one should never put such stuff in emails in the first place.

Its still unclear, as far as I know.  Logic suggests either the computers were hacked, or someone close to Brown leaked it.  Given general computer security, at the national level, is pure crap, either is plausible.

Computer security should be a scandal, but its not.  Its been going on for so long now, its become one of those things people feel they can ignore, because the Netpocalypse has not yet arrived.  The lesser point, that everyone from the French to North Korea (and several nations inbetween) will use such weaknesses to advance everything from trade deals to major security negotiations, and the UK becoming a leaky sieve of information will cause American intelligence to turn their back on us (even more than currently) is apparently never considered.

I'm pretty sure the Mail opposes horoscopes, because "gipsies" (who are totally NOT gypsies at all.  Nuh-uh) do them and thus they are an icky, European, non-Christian thing which is probably leading to our moral decline as a nation.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/sro/pc/index.htm is provided for those who didn't get the reference. 

Derek Draper is pure poison for the Labour Party.

My only worry is that his political incompetence, plus the already existing antipathy of the base, will mean he will get booted before he can do even more serious damage.

Also Zono, while such things are not out of the ordinary per se, UK politics are usually nowhere near as partisan and bitter as those in the US.  Certain conventions are adhered to, and to bring the non-political family members of party leaders into such a smear campaign would be considered across the political spectrum as a breach of such things.

The other thing of course is that Labour is stupid.  Look at Guido Fawkes, who was mentione in the article under his more legal name, Paul Staines.  The Thatcherite wing of the Tory party's own guided missile, yet because he blogged anonymously, cultivated links with the press and adopts an anarchistic persona in his writing, he can get away with smearing Mark Oaten as a pedophile, for example, without it coming back onto the party.  Here, on the other hand, they have official standing, in addition to their long-term links with the Labour leadership.  They screwed up because they got caught.

Undertaking conspiracy against all the religions and governments of Europe, carried on in the secret meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati and reading societies

Apparently.

I'm pretty sure that essay helped create spambots, which in internet terms makes Turing sort of like a cross between the Devil and Pandora's Box.

Hurrah for Operant Conditioning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning

Good point about getting your friends in on the act as well.

Quote from: Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith on April 10, 2009, 03:14:01 PM

Quote from: Kaliayev on April 10, 2009, 02:58:26 PM
Vatican theologians.  I could probably find precise names, but it would take a while slogging through the Catholic Encyclopedia for the relevant articles. 

And yes, I was referring to Catholic theology.  Sorry, I probably should have made that clear.

From what I have found, their souls are not immortal, and so die when their body does.  That's not to say God couldn't raise them again from the dead at the end of Time...but in the interim Fluffy is pretty much screwed.

Oh.  I was rather hoping for a real authority.....you know, one that was universally recognized... 

But, in the context of the original joke, your astute and subtle point now becomes abundantly clear.

Sometimes I'm too dense.... 

I shouldn't worry, it wasn't really that funny!

As for a universally recognized authority, let me know when you find one.  I have a few pointed questions to ask...

Vatican theologians.  I could probably find precise names, but it would take a while slogging through the Catholic Encyclopedia for the relevant articles. 

And yes, I was referring to Catholic theology.  Sorry, I probably should have made that clear.

From what I have found, their souls are not immortal, and so die when their body does.  That's not to say God couldn't raise them again from the dead at the end of Time...but in the interim Fluffy is pretty much screwed.