Forum Topics

Naturally Blue

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That had me looking through my snapshots - a lot are untagged so it is never a completely pointless exercise, even if this thread strictly is. Turns out I have a lot of evidence of blue. I'll update this when I feel like it, and other members should also feel free to add their photos (but not stuff from the web, that would spoil it). Please correct any IDs as appropriate. Smile

Right. Some of the commonest blue things in nature are flowers so here's for starters...

Evolution - what do you reckon?

Broad scientific consensus has it that relatively soon after the earth was formed chemicals began to act like small organisms that over millions of years evolved into loosely prokaryotic cells that continued to evolve into all the life we see around us today,  the little organisms and fungi and plants and animals, from which last group we humans evolved.

100-parsec elliptical and twisted ring of cold and dense molecular clouds revealed by Herschel around the Galactic Center

^ That's what the is called. Turns out that when we aim our biggest telescopes at the middle of the Milky Way, for our sins, we see a twisted infinity sign, or Moebius Strip.

(Source: via )

Mosque & Politics

I have some questions and could use your honest insights. Many mosques have been implicated in recent years in the dissemination of extremist political ideologies. Some like the EDL rest their case against all Islam on the claim that among Muslims extreme politics are endemic. I point out extremist ideologies are endemic among football hooligans and that going to mosque is not a political statement, but that doesn't actually confront what might be a moot point. How much is politics a totem of your mosque? Is it common to hear sermons about politics in mosques in the UK? What is the dominant gist and what space is there for disagreement?

I thank you.

Bicycles of Doom

[quote="]
By Jon Kelly

MPs could introduce a new offence of causing death by dangerous cycling. But how much of a danger do these two-wheeled travellers really pose?

There is little that divides UK public opinion more sharply than cyclists.

To their supporters, Britain's bike-riders are clean, green, commuters-with-a-conscience, who relieve congestion on the nation's roads while keeping themselves fit.

But to certain newspapers, and indeed plenty of motorists, they are "lycra louts", jumping red lights, hurtling past pedestrians on pavements and denying the Highway Code applies to them.
...

Japan Earthquake

I was pretty much mucking about making a second coffee when someone called to ask if I had seen the news, which I hadn't. It was big. Had some mindblowing act of war taken place? Had a world leader been assassinated? Had terrorists pulled off a horrendous mass murder? It was amazing. An earthquake bigger than any I have heard about had hit Japan, and there were great tsunamis expected, and although the death toll stood at a few dozen it would doubtless rise to thousands or tens of thousands. Apparently I would want to watch this on television because I like news.

Mousavi & Karroubi Take A Hike

Iran Seizes Opposition, Held In Secret Jail
[quote=""]TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's state prosecutor says all outside contact with the country's two opposition leaders has been cut as part of a campaign to silence dissent.

Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi warned "other measures" could be taken if necessary against Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi. His remarks were reported Monday by the official IRNA news agency.

The development is a dramatic escalation following warnings by an international human rights group, which said Sunday the two leaders and their wives were taken from their homes by security forces.

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