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My social graces make even chatbots hate me.

Yeah. I'm probably talking out of my ass here, but it seems to me that a person from an individualistic culture where rights are held in high regard, such as the western one, tends to place a great deal of emphasis on determining who is (more) right and who is (more) wrong when problem solving...

Nobody here was talking about the events in Syria, either, or at least I didn't notice a thread on it. The Middle East is out of fashion. But here is an opinion piece on the israeli demonstrations. Seems like a regular, peaceful first-world demonstration, though on a significantly larger scale.

Didn't you know? Bling bling makes you holier.

If I was a selfish hedonist, I'd take the money and use it to fulfill my every desire. If I was of the nobility among men and we were talking serious money here, I might take it and use it to do more good than I could possibly hope to accomplish otherwise. Build a new wing for the local...

And with progressively greater thresholds between the steps, I would hope.

I admit there does exist a slight dilemma in that, as you could say for instance that the current events in Libya wouldn't have amounted to much without the people being ready to resort to some violence. As a theoretical exercise, off the top of my hat, I'd list a few criteria to determine what...

It was a pretty disgusting thing to watch, of course. But despair not, my friend, and remember that there have also been some selfless and upstanding acts during these dark times in London, such as the neighbourhood watches and people intervening and helping out victims. I guess these kinds of...

As you implied, the scum tends to rise to the top in situations like these. When things go to hell and law and order breaks down, the dregs of society crawl out from under their rocks and take advantage. Seen likely in pretty much every riot, revolution, and other such societal upheaval in...

There was another thing in our pub quiz tonight. The question was: "Who signed the Pact of Steel?", and the clarification was "People". The answer the pub quiz keeper gave was "Hitler and Mussolini", though I knew it was actually their foreign ministers, Joachim von Ribbentropp and Gian...

So I need to log in to make my presence felt? That's outrageous! I demand a more convenient way to exercise my influence without actually having to do anything or to move my fingers! I'm entitled!

There was a question in our regular pub quiz tonight: "Where is the Saronic Gulf located?" I'm supposed to be the geographic expert in our team, and I didn't know, so I guessed it was at the tip of the Adriatic. Wrong. Lost some street cred right there, as I really should have been able to...

That's actually my MO as well. I browse incognito (nearly) every day, and log in only when there is something for me to say, which isn't quite as often. However, if it is internet likes you crave, I'm sure I can accommodate.

Perhaps, but at least the addict still got a fresh shot to postpone the withdrawal symptoms. Yay.

Raising the debt ceiling was the right thing to do you know, as the potential consequences of a US default might have been catastrophic. And you might not want to cut public spending too much at an economic situation such as this, as the fall of aggregate demand could make things worse for the...

As a bit of an aside from me... As I've understood it, according to keynesian economic theories, a balanced budget might not always be a good thing. During economic downturns, as government revenue falls they need to slash spending to keep expenditure in line. The problem is that since the...

Dd you know, that the initial invention of dynamite by Alfred Nobel, who later went on to will the large property he got from his patent on the substance to the Nobel Foundation to be distributed for scientific and humanitarian achievements, was an accident?

Well, at least I didn't. I knew he was a WWI flying ace, but before this, I had thought his morphine addiction had been the result of the treatment of his battlefield injuries during WWI. But at least wikipedia serves to confirm your point, so thank you for that tidbit :) Did you know, that...

Did you know, that Erwin Rommel had initially been rejected for command of a panzer division and, when he was given command of one by Hitler in 1940, the german army high command objected vigorously on the grounds of Rommel's "inexperience with commanding armoured formations".

I'm guessing there is a pretty good chance the two sides will come to an agreement before the August 2nd deadline. Although I am by no means in a position to talk about US domestic or fiscal politics with any degree of authority, though much has made of the apparent current deadlock in the...