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...or anyone else, really, who happens to be rather bored at the moment: I just finished reading Anna Karenina , by Tolstoy, of course. I couldn't help but wonder how successful male authors actually are at getting "inside" a woman's thoughts. It almost seems presumptuous that many even tr...

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Better than 1984 , which I also enjoyed, in my opinion. Presents a far more likely future, too... broadly speaking. 1984 's lesson was that if you can control people's access to information, especially historical information, and you can manipulate that information...

Greetings comrades, I was curious if anyone in the intellectually robust online community of The Sinner happens to know if Jews were ever in Egypt or enslaved by the Egyptians. I've done some cursory research online, and am having difficulty finding reputable, unbiased sources. My current understand...

1984. It's been so long since I read it that I can't comment on how good it was as a book. But I remember the effect that it had on me, at the young age I read it. I remember how it explored the world of organised authoritarian hypocrisy - in a way that has coloured my thinking ever since. And I re...

Those are both books that I have not read yet, but really want to. I will likely attempt The Selfish Gene when I finish slugging through Dawkin's Ancestor's Tale (it's a bit of a monster).

Have you ever read a book that you found simply amazing? Or perhaps one that somehow radically altered your way of thinking about something? What books completely blew your mind? My degree is actually in Art History, but my all-time favorite books have nothing to do with that. They are as follows: 1...

I suppose by knocking, you can confirm someone is in there, thereby avoiding waiting around like a numpty for several minutes while you figure out that no-one is actually in there, hence depriving yourself of valuable time in which to find an alternate place of relief. You have a good point, Gubbins.

I believe this situation usually occurs when the person who is knocking is unsure whether the toilet is indeed occupied. . Indeed. But what I find puzzling is that there are not many possible outcomes in this situation. Either the door is locked because the toilet is occupied, or the door is locked...

I was using a public toilet at a coffee shop the other day when somebody tried to open the door. As usual, I received that very brief adrenaline rush that usually accompanies this situation, and I earnestly hoped that the lock on the door wasn’t faulty. Indeed, the lock held fast. What happened next...

Putting Lord of the Rings into a limerick is quite the challenge. It's like the Dirac equation of linguistics. After spending more time on this than I'd like to admit, I submit the best I could come up with: LOTR, part 1,2, and 3: A hobbit left with a ring from Bag End On a trip to Mount Doom with a...

"The Communist Manifesto" by Marx and Engels: The workers deserve to be free From the evil class system, you see. It’s time we create A big-brother state And fuck the goddamn bourgeoisie. On a related note, though not a literary work, here's one by Christopher Hitchens: There once was a fe...

Flawed as it is, I humbly submit to you the following original:

"Hamlet"

There once was a young Danish Lad
With an uncle who poisoned his dad.
Saw his gal kick the bucket;
held a skull and thought ‘fuck it’
And murdered the treacherous cad.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/scien ... ef=science

I’m no particle physicist, but this is really cool!

The possibility of nationalized helthcare necessitating various 'sin taxes' on unhealthy behavior has recently been a big talking point here in the states among conservatives. As in the UK, and Canada (and elsewhere, I presume) smokers already pay quite a bit of tax per pack. But since obesity is al...

Well, if that is the case, then this is good news indeed. With regard to your oblique jab at America, speaking for myself, I value all human life and the intent of this thread was to ensure that all life is treated with equal reverence and respect under nationalized healthcare. It was a jab at your...

[/quote] An unknown 21 year old physics undergraduate isn't enough to show that there is no preferential treatment? The whole point is that everyone gets treated equally under the NHS and, yes babies are citizens to, so they get access to the same treatment. What possible reason do you have to "...

Sorry...one more thing: I'm still curious about what would happen to someone that was in a vegetative state from birth. What care do people with severe forms of retardation receive? I'm not implying that I think they're left to die, but I find it unlikely that they would be given the same care as th...

Inflammatory language for sure, but, as your little news clip aptly demonstrates, definitely not a "total myth." The problem people have with section 1233 (which I actually thought was no longer part of the bill) is that since national care would allegedly place cost effectiveness over qua...

Death panels are a sticky issue for both parities. The fact is, they were in the original proposed bill until Sarah Palin (love her or hate her) brought them to public attention, at which point they were swiftly removed in the current amended version of the bill. Subsequently, Democrats bring themse...

As some of you may know, there has been a huge row across the pond here in America regarding the possible implementation of (essentially mandatory) national health care. One of the principal arguments used by opponents of the plan is that the national health care system in Britain is absolute rubbis...