The Armenian Genocide - 98 Years Of Denial

Pong - First documented Video Ping-Pong game - 1969

http://youtu.be/XNRx5hc4gYc

Steven Pinker - The Surprising Decline In Violence

http://youtu.be/ramBFRt1Uzk

Cyprus President's Family Pulls Millions Out Of Banks Days Before Deposit Confiscations

Via Enet English

A company owned by in-laws of Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades withdrew dozens of millions from Laiki Bank on March 12 and 13, according to an article published in Cypriot newspaper Haravgi.

The newspaper, which is affiliated to the communist-rooted AKEL party, reports that three days before the Eurogroup meeting the company took five promissory notes worth €21m from Laiki Bank and transferred the money to London.

Responding to the allegations, Anastasiades said: “The attempt to defame companies or people linked to my family… is nothing but an attempt to distract people from the liability of those who led the country to a state of bankruptcy.”

The president added that no one, including himself, will be exempt from the ongoing investigations looking into responsibilities over the near collapse of the economy.

Anastasiades added that when the investigative committee convenes on Tuesday, he will request that its members look into this particular case with the same attentiveness as all other cases.

The company in question has firmly denied the reports.

Last Friday a list of companies and politicians that had loans written off by banks at the heart of Cyprus' bailout crisis was published in Greece and was subsequently handed to the Cypriot parliament's ethics committee. The list includes the names of politicians from Cyprus' biggest parties (excluding the socialist EDEK and the Greens).

RT - Cyprus Bailout: Why Are The Citizens Paying?

http://youtu.be/WTnPWVIGNak

Pastafarians Face Religious Discrimination in New Jersey

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission does not accept the Flying Spaghetti Monster as a deity worthy of a religious-apparel photo wavier.

When resident Aaron Williams, 24, arrived at a MVC facility this month to have his driver’s license photo taken, workers refused to snap the picture. Why? “The issue was when Williams went to take his picture for license was wearing a pasta strainer on his head [sic],” according to a police report.

Head coverings are forbidden in license photos, unless the wearer qualifies for a religious exemption. No problem, Williams said — the colander was in fact a piece of apparel mandated by his professed religion, the timeless faith of Pastafarianism.

“The strainer is a showing of my devoutness to the religion,” Williams told a local news source.

Pastafarians worship a being called the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and preach a “rejection of dogma” with “no strict rules and regulations . . . no rote rituals and prayers and other nonsense.” The religion was founded in 2005 in response to a plan by the Kansas School Board to teach intelligent design in school science classes.

Rampant Discrimination

Followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster have a history of being discriminated against in the U.S., despite the equal protection clauses in the Constitution. On at least two occasions, local governments have denied Pastafarians the right to put up wintertime displays on public property next to other religious decorations like nativity scenes.

There is precedent for religiously-motivated cookware being allowed in driver’s license photos, just not in this country. An Austrian Pastafarian in 2011 won a three-year battle to have his official photo taken with a strainer on his head. Officials made him pass a mental competency test first, then insisted that the photo exception was only made because his whole face was visible, not for any religious reasons.

Fortunately for everyone, the New Jersey incident ended without any major disturbance or arrests. A police officer who responded to the scene advised Williams that he would have to apply to the state to officially qualify for a religious photo exemption, Williams agreed to be photographed without his colander, and no bystanders were harmed.

“Had it been a turban or a head scarf, or something from a mainstream religion, then it would’ve been fine,” Williams said. “I guess since they hadn’t heard of the religion, that’s why they opposed it. But that’s not really acceptable to me. They’re not in a position to discriminate against religions that are mainstream, or not mainstream, just because they may not have heard about it.”

There are no plans for a lawsuit at this time.

Via Lawyers.com

Manifest Destiny's Dark History - Mountain Of Bison Skulls

Ada Lovelace

Known as the first historical programmer and a personal hero of mine.

Have some computational history [: