The Hall of Fire

I've sometimes seen this in Orthodox Judaism as well, where (for instance) a discussion of people who are shomer Shabbat (strict Shabbat observers) may lead to a parsing of just HOW shomer Shabbat each person is (e.g., do you pre-rip your toilet paper before Shabbat; do you use a timer to turn ligh...

It looks to me almost like the Palestinians are committing the population equivalent of suicide-by-police. I'm not sure you can get more self-destructive than by taking the actions they have taken...but given the economic blockade Israel has imposed they probably feel like their backs are to the wa...

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! :cheers: The other day I was fasting and just had a sudden hankering for the HOF. I hadn't dropped by in a while but knew that I'd be met with open arms. Thank you! :gladhug: This may sound cheesy, but you all really helped in my intellectual growth as a young a...

Hey Everyone! I haven't dropped by in a while but I wanted to come in and say hi! I also wanted to share my experience fasting with you guys and see if anyone else had any experiences fasting that they wanted to share! It's currently two weeks into Ramadan (the Muslim calendar is lunar based and onl...

Pictures like that remind me how intense the pressure is on Obama as the first black POTUS. I never envy any president their job but his must be especially burdensome. I remember watching his inauguration in a dorm room and feeling that everyone sitting there was thinking the same thing. That, wheth...

Thanks Impy! I come by every now and then, I'll try to drop in a line and say hello more often :) IdylleSeethes you bring up some interesting points. I agree that our current foreign policy is all over the place. That being said, this is a hole we've dug ourselves in for a while now. Supporting peop...

Well, it sure did MY heart good to see you here, Mr. Wizard. :love: You're really sweet Anthy (as usual-nothing new here!). Sometimes being IN the group makes the edges even more mindboggling. Often I'm just in awe of the complexity of these situations and the realization that all international inc...

Thanks V Always a pleasure!

My mom says the problem is that we are trying to stuff our way of life down their throats, and they will never have democracies there. Do you guys think that is fair? The problem with this statement is that the 'they' in this statement is far too broad. Tribesmen in Afghanistan and city dwellers in...

It comes back to the old dilemma the west has always faced in the region - do we back authoritarian regimes if they align with our interests and values, do we always back democratic processes even if we don't like the outcome, or do we do nothing and deal with whatever happens as we need to? I admi...

anthriel wrote:

superwizard wrote: PS: Caltech is not predominantly white. It is in fact 40% white and 40% asian .

And the other 20%?

37% White
39% Asian
12% Non Resident Aliens
1% African American
6% Hispanic
1% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
2% Two or more races
2% Not disclosed

Superwizard, you have given some serious food for thought. Are there any white students who grew up in poverty? Or is it just primarily a money thing? Not too many. I just looked it up. Only 16% of students come from families that make $60,000 or less (11% come from families that make $40,000 or le...

I apologize in advance if I am restating anything for I have not read a large portion of this thread. I just wished to add in my $0.02 :) So as some of you know, I've now moved to Caltech to get my PhD. Caltech is great in many ways: nice people, friendly environment etc. One thing it does not do ve...

Before continuing, I should declare an interest; I have close friends in Damascus and Aleppo, and (when communication is available) they inform me that Assad enjoys majority support amongst the general populace. They believe that much of the "insurrection" is Western backed agitation, esp...

I really don't understand the case for the indefinite detention provison. I just fundamentally don't understand how it can be argued that it does not violate the third and especially the fifth amendment of the constitution! How does such a provision not deprive an American of life, liberty, or prope...

Hey everyone! As most of you probably know, Obama signed the Defense Bill yesterday. Now it probably comes as no surprise that an Arab American like myself does not think too favorably about the indefinite military detention provision. What I was curious about however, was how a provision like that ...

And, not everyone who thinks progressive taxation is a good idea thinks that because they hate rich people as a class. Taxing the rich used to be an accepted idea in this country, including during some of the greatest booms in our history. Some quite excellent economists think it's no coincidence t...

I've been following the occupy protests fairly closely. I understand the frustration that these protesters have, however I can't help but worry about, what I see as, the demonization of the '1%'. I've never been part of the '1%' (my current salary doesn't even put me in the top 50%) but I have known...

Yes V I have to agree that the Nobel Prize this year was a great validation! I'm actually right in the middle of a Solid State Physics class (this is my sixth year of taking university classes full time and hopefully my last!) and we were just talking about quasi crystals a day before the announceme...

Another reminder that anti-Semitism continues to be active in this country. A billboard of Sacramento Kings player Omri Casspi, the only Israeli player in the NBA and one of only a very few Jewish players, was twice defaced with a swastika in the past week. Mural of Kings player Casspi defaced agai...