Nick J

I haven't seen much of the USA, but we certainly are exposed to some of its culture through TV shows, books, music etc, although no doubt it provides a very incomplete picture.

One small detail I wonder abut is the naming convention of radio stations: it always seems to be 4 letters, starting with 'W'. Is this actually true? And if so, why?

John 6

65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

So, if I understand this correctly, you cannot be a Christian unless God lets you. Also, is it not believed by followers of all major religions that non-believers are doomed to hell?

It follows, therefore, that God has already determined whether or not you're going to heaven, there's nothing you can do about it either way. Believing or not believing is no more a personal choice than what sex we're born as.

I'd like to know what Christians say about this.

I have a tv series which is available as a torrent on thebox.bz.

I want to start seeding it there.

How do I do that?

The instructions all assume you are creating a completely new torrent, but I'm not, because it's already there. I have not got the original .torrent file, only the divx files. Will I need to create a new torrent file?

I have seen research which suggests that some races are, on average, more intelligent than others, with the most intelligent being East Asians (Chinese, Japanese, etc) and the least being Australian Aborigines.

Do you believe this research to be racist? Or, do you, like me, believe that any research which might help us to better understand the difference between races can only be a force for good, and to dismiss such research with a flat-earth, head-in-the-sand attitude is itself racist?

Some interesting background here:

http://www.vdare.com/rushton/080616_lynn.htm

So, he's going to be on QT, and lots of people are making a fuss about it. What is your opinion about this? Should he be allowed to appear? Should other parties boycott the show in protest?

My wife's employer is restructuring their organisation, such that all existing posts are being abolished, and being replaced with new posts, but there will be fewer new posts than old ones.

All staff are invited to apply for suitable jobs in the new structure. Staff who do not get a job in the new structure will be made redundant.

My wife has not applied for any jobs in the new structure because she wants the redundancy. But in the formal letter confirming her redundancy, it says she is required to attend a meeting to determine if any jobs in the new structure are suitable for her. If she is then offered a job, we are not sure if she is still entitled to redundancy if she turns it down.

Anyone know if there are any redundancy laws which cover situations like this? Can they legally treat her not applying for a new job as a resignation, not redundancy? Is there a way we can be sure she actually gets the payment?

Is it really true that in some US States, the schools are not allowed to teach the Theory of Evolution, but instead teach Creationism as fact?

It seems that hardly a day goes by without another health scare hitting the news.

Just a few examples:

Pregnant licorice eaters risk premature birth

Thinking too hard puts strain on your brain

Vets link full moon to animal ailments

Mobile phones

MMR vaccine

flying

hair dye

suntan cream

drinking hot drinks gives you cancer

eating too much grapefruit gives you blood clots

Why are these reported? Do you think these reports do more harm than good? Are they purely made up, or is there actually some evidence, and how much inventive manipulation of the stats go on so they show exactly what the papers want them to show?

Can you take ANY of them seriously any more?

Does R contain itself?

It seems to be that the more intelligent a person is, the more likely they are to pursue a successful career and to hold constructive interests which they devote much of their free time to. This has the unfortunate side effect of leaving little, if any, time to start a family.

People of more limited intelligence find it more difficult to pursue careers, or maybe lack the motivation. The remaining focus for their lives is therefore to start a family. In the UK, this behaviour is encouraged because of child benefit payments.

The net result appears to be that there is a reverse correlation between intelligence and birth rate.

If this is the case, then surely it's bad news for humanity - less intelligent parents are sure to have less intelligent children, not necessarily because of any genetic reasons, but simply because of up-bringing. There is therefore a strong downward pressure on the intelligence of future generations.

If this is the case, surely the future of humanity is very bleak indeed. We are entering a new dark age from which we might never emerge.

Therefore, should something be done to reverse the trend? Is it right to question this most basic of all human rights, and perhaps only allow certain people to have children?

No flames or trolls please, just serious answers.

It seems to me that more and more users of Yahoo Answers are not bothering to choose a best answer, and the questions go into voting. This is annoying! It is just me, or does anyone else think this is happening?

How do Americans see the rest of the world?

This question :

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200...

got me thinking about how US citizens see other countries, so I'd like to expand it my asking not just about history in schools, but also about where they see their place in the world, and do other countries and their own culture and histories really matter?

News reports about this issue have stated that 'at least 6' ISPs have blocked the offending page, and this amounts to 95% of all internet connections in the UK.

So, which ISPs serve the other 5%?

Not that I'm keen on seeing the picture, it's easy enough to find anyway, I've seen it and I don't like it. But I want proper access to Wikipedia, a very useful site.

Example:

Madonna's kids Lourdes and Rocco

Bryan Ferry: Isaac, Otis, Tara, Merlin (not crazy, but still a bit odd)

Bob Geldof : Fifi Trixabelle, Peaches and Pixie (these just prove that Geldof's a bit mentally unhinged - need I say more?)

It seems to me that the financial crisis is caused by traders in financial centres getting nervous. If they think that a bank might fail, they all sell their shares, which then causes the bank to fail. If they had kept their cool, then the bank would not have failed. Such a case is Lehman Brothers, where apparently it failed because of a rumour. There was nothing wrong with the bank - it was perfectly well run and had plenty of money, but if all your shareholders desert you due to a wild rumour, that's enough to kill the sturdiest of businesses.

So - if the problem now is caused by jittery traders being fed headlines of doom and gloom, I am forced to conclude that the ultimate cause of the crisis is the Media. Their reporting of the crisis is, in fact, fuelling it. The Media obviously has a direct influence on the market, because it's the media which worries the traders.

If the media all got together and told everyone that share prices were rising, the financial market is stabilising (even if it's not true), would that instil a greater confidence in the traders and result in the market actually stabilising?

What do you think?

...if the Confederates had won the American Civil War?

It seems to me that the US (or the CS as it might have been called) would not have become the world power it is today, it might even have split into 2 or more separate countries. And without this world power, how would history have been different?

I think most people, myself included, think they have had reoccurring dreams. When I think about mine, I remember waking up in the morning thinking that the dream I've just had seems familiar, and therefore it must have occurred before.

But I think perhaps it might not have done. Dreams can play funny tricks with our memories, and so the feeling of familiarity might be an illusion. You might have had the dream only once, but think it's occurred several times because it's managed to implant itself into several different places in your memory.

The only way to disprove this is by keeping a dream diary. Has anyone done this, or is my theory actually possible?

I have been reading about the Flat Earth Society

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth_Society

The alternative 'theories' they use to explain observations whose most obvious explanation is that Earth is sphere are very imaginitive and far-fetched. But do they seriously believe them, or is it just a big joke?

I'm sceptical about astrology. I'm sceptical that 8.3% of the population can all exerience similar things on any day because the 'stars' tell them so. I can't see how the relative positions of the planets when you are born can have any influence on your life.

Why do people believe this?

Sometimes, countries with appressive dictatorship regimes hold elections. It seems to me that these elections are to try and fool us in Western-style democracies into thinking that they are making genuine attempts at democracy. But is that the real reason? Surely they can't be so naive as to believe we're actually fooled! Or maybe they provide opportunities for dictators to lure their critics into the open, where they make easy targets. What do you think the reason is?

For example, in Zimbabwe, there's no way that Robert Mugabe will step down, even if his vote-rigging proves insufficient and he appears to lose, he'll probably just declare the election invalid, so nothing will change.