HasimirFenring

Maybe I'm just too stupid to figure this out, but I see an inconsistency between the prequels and the originals (I realize that there are tons of these, but this is a big one): spoilers from Legends books, I guess: [hide]The sorceresses later become the Bene Gesserit. But what happens to their powers? One of the sorceresses shoots lightning like Chancellor Palpatine, but the Revered Mothers never seem to have any significant psychic powers. Where did those abilities go?[/hide]

Not that it matters to a conspiracy theorist, but the Washington Post (and Woodward & Bernstien) confirm it. This is huge news; I've been wanting to know this secret since I saw All the President's Men with Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford. Great movie.

Really? Could you say a bit more about this, stem cell research interests me. I see no reason why we can't compromise on this issue in America, allow scientists to use embryos leftover at fertility clinics for research purposes which would otherwise be thrown out as medical waste; cloned embryos don't bother me, but I can accept their banning as a compromise.

Cheese sure is great. You've got a point. So few cheeses in America have much taste, they're generally like plastic...ew... Have to buy the imported stuff if I want any flavor at all. Say CHEESE

Minor point, in the defense of modern German voters, that's 9.2% in the province of Saxony, not nationally (from the wikipedia link you provided). Still too much.

I wish. Angry discussion about the obvious foreshadowning found in the prequels aside, can anyone explain to me why the Bene Gesserit (sorceresses) have magical powers in the Battle of Corrin, but they've magically lost them by the time of the original books? Is this a plot hole or something I missed because I was skim-reading BoC by the end?

I'd say the same of Blais Pascal, who spent the first half of his life as a productive mathematician and wasted the second producing christian dogma.

In fact, Bismarck died in 1898 (and certainly wasn't the F

There have been two such instances, but they had nothing to do with the electors being more politically savvy than the average voter. Electors are required to vote as their state does; becuase an individual voter in Montana, for example, represents a larger fraction of a single elector (due to a minimum of 3 electors, regardless of state size), the state-by-state winner-take-all system of awarding electors to candidates does not always jive with the national popular vote.

Hardly. They are, in almost all states, legally required to vote according to the will of the people. The only real result of the electoral college in practice is the disproportionate voting power of low-population states (regardless of population, a state has at least 3 electors).

Why deprive yourself of your most experienced jurists if they're still at the peak of their abilities? Supreme court justices should serve as long as they are able, willing and reputable.

I agree, proportional representation. Gore was the second time someone won the popular vote but lost the election anyway (I can't remember who the other guy was).

Wait... FED2k WITHOUT Mahdi on the staff? NEVER! [hide]10 points for me too[/hide] 9) HasimirFenring

I'd say India and China will become the next economic superpowers. Europe will fade because of a low birth rate (unless trends change, which they tend to do). The United States government won't be able to do anything except try to pay off the debt as soon as exponential growth starts to skyrocket.

I agree with everything you said except that terrorism warrants it. The way to defeat terrorism is not to build a Fortress America, but this is a subject for another thread.