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The Stirrup Controversy - "The question remains, did the stirrup cause feudalism?... In essence he notes that effective infantry, as exemplified by the Roman legion, relies on strict discipline and teamwork with each person subordinating himself to the needs of the group. This is only possible in a society that promotes it. In contrast, the Germanic invaders, including the Franks, were supreme individualists who insisted on fighting as independent heros. He argued that is only natural for such warriors to shift to the weapons system that would provide them the most powerful means of individual combat, a means that would also enable them to enhance their individual superiority over the civilian masses."
Saddle, Lance and Stirrup - "... the general assumption that the high-backed saddle is what made the charge with couched lance possible - as if a charge with couched lance bareback were not possible. Unfortunately, many of the historians and archaeologists (amateur and professional alike) who study the era have little or no training in equestrian skills, and almost none have any training in mounted combat. Instead they use metaphors and analogies that they and their readers can understand. Equating the impact of the charge to being hit by small automobiles. They even use the formulas of physics to predict the force of the impact of horse and rider on a target. MASS (of Horse and Rider) X VELOCITY = FORCE OF IMPACT."
http://demo.fb.se/e/girlpower/retouch/retouch/ - "Almost all photos selling something have been touched up: magazine covers, fashion articles, advertisements, record covers and so on. You'll see here how easy it is to alter someone's appearance."
Geek Parents Using Cooling Technology Instead of Medicine to Lower Fevers - "Geeks familiar with using technology to solve their problems have turned to advanced cooling solutions instead of pharmaceuticals to lower fevers in their children."
The Evolution of a Programmer - "High School/Jr.High 10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD" 20 END""
Internet encyclopaedias go head to head - "An expert-led investigation carried out by Nature — the first to use peer review to compare Wikipedia and Britannica's coverage of science... revealed numerous errors in both encyclopaedias, but among 42 entries tested, the difference in accuracy was not particularly great: the average science entry in Wikipedia contained around four inaccuracies; Britannica, about three."
The annotated budak: Reply to Dr. Andrew Loke - Goodness. This was posted on 15th November and as of the time of writing, has 140 comments, the most recent of which was posted on the morning of 24th January (last response by Andrew Loke - 18th January).
A Force More Powerful : A Century of Non-Violent Conflict - ""In a contest of violence against violence," the philosopher Hannah Arendt observed, "the superiority of the government has always been absolute." When confronted with nonviolent resistance on the part of the downtrodden, however, governments have often crumbled--witness the fall of South Africa's apartheid regime and the ousting of Slobodan Milosevic in Yugoslavia. The worldwide spread of democracy in the 20th century, documentary writers Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall maintain, "would not have come to pass without the power of ordinary people who defied oppressive rulers not by force of arms, but by nonviolent action." By way of example, they cite the collapse of the Argentine military regime following peaceful protests by the mothers of men and women who had been murdered by the secret police; the eventual undermining of the Polish Communist regime by the nonviolent Solidarity labor movement; the refusal of the Danish people to comply with the laws of their Nazi occupiers during World War II; and the exemplary work done in India (and, earlier, South Africa) by Mohandas Gandhi, who took pains to emphasize that nonviolence does not imply passivity."
Slight change = Political Instability = Collapse =
Like a virgin - "Forget Botox, liposuction or breast enlargement. The newest trend in plastic surgery for American women is vaginal reconstruction, including hymenoplasty, which offers patients new virginity. "