Rewriting history

Jon Stewart and Larry Wilmore on The Daily Show have another one of their insightful and entertaining discussions about race in America, this time about the revisionist idea that slavery was not the cause of the southern secession that led to the Civil War and that if that socialist Abraham Lincoln had not been such a hothead and rushed to war but had instead been patient and used capitalistic ideas, the bloodshed could have been avoided.
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Texas’s ban on same-sex marriage ruled unconstitutional

Today comes word that US District Judge Orlando Garcia has ruled that Texas’s ban on same sex marriage, as specified in Article 1, section 32 of the Texas state constitution, is unconstitutional, saying that “the prohibition on same sex marriage conflicts with the United States Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process.” The order was stayed pending appeal. Texas thus joins Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Utah in this action, and other states have similar cases pending.
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Femen comes to the US

Some of you may have heard about the group Femen, that consists of young women who stage demonstrations while going topless with messages painted on their bodies and doing other things aimed at drawing a lot of media attention for the causes they support. They have announced that they are bringing their campaign to the US by setting up an office here to train and coordinate activities. [Warning: Link has a photo of a topless Femen member.]
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What the one-percenters say behind closed doors

There has been a spate of news reports of aggrieved plutocrats grumbling about how mean people are to them these days, and how nobody seems to appreciate the fact that they worked hard for their money unlike the rest of us moochers and looters and that they are so exceptionally gifted that they deserve even more. While much scorn has been directed at those who have said these things publicly, what they say among themselves privately is even worse.
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The strange world of virtual reality

My experience with the vast world of both gaming and virtual worlds is almost zero. I have played some basic computer games (the most sophisticated being Halo) and am terrible at them. My thumb dexterity is low and my approach is too cerebral and not instinctive enough. By the time I decide what to shoot at and what weapon to use, other players have easily killed me. I have come to the conclusion that the main effect in my playing these games is to enable my children to run up their scores.
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