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http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/notes/islamchron.html

There isn't a lot of detail in the timeline, being just a timeline. But, it is chock full of hundreds of years of warfare between Europe and Islam. A lot of things that I've read of, but forgot, as well as a lot of things that I never did read about.

I'll wager that few of our members know more than a fraction of this history. The antipathy between Christians and Muslims is founded on history. Europe has reason to fear the current invasion of military aged male Muslims. History points out pretty clearly why Muslims communities in Europe are a bad, bad, BAD idea.

Fascinating:

The Game Germany Deemed 'Harmful to Minors'

And some more fun:

'I found the intern curled up on the data centre floor moaning'

Even more fun:

At Swanky Federal Reserve Retreat, “Computer Glitch” Cancels Minority Protesters’ Hotel Reservations

Ever since Trump went toe-to-toe with the parents of a dead Muslim veteran, the Republican Party has been in crisis mode.

Pence breaks with Trump, endorses Ryan

Pence: Trump 'strongly encouraged me to endorse Paul Ryan'

Paul Ryan is expected to win, so as irritating as the Trump non-endorsement may be to Party leaders, it might have a limited shelf life.

This fact is also amusing:

The GOP's Donald Trump freak-out

A GOP source told CNN's Dana Bash that Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus was especially frustrated because Paul Ryan and Priebus, both from Wisconsin, are very close. The source said Trump refusing to endorse Ryan in his re-election primary was "personal" especially since Priebus has "taken on a lot of water" for Trump. "He takes this very personally," said the source. Priebus "does want to show his support" for Ryan, a source tells CNN.

The chairman has been the main point of contact between Trump and the Republican Party, on which the billionaire has been relying heavily since he lacks the political infrastructure of a conventional political candidate. Priebus, who was said by the source to be incredibly upset with Trump's behavior, had expressed his disappointment and frustration to several leading members of Trump's entourage, the source said.

Is it all for naught?

A knowledgeable Republican source told CNN Tuesday that some of Trump's campaign staff -- even campaign chairman Paul Manafort -- "feel like they are wasting their time," given their boss's recent comments. But Manafort insisted to CNN Wednesaday that isn't true and any frustration centers on the media.

Los Angeles Gang Tour Puts A Twist On Drive-Bys

2010 article I found for crutchy on IRC.

NVIDIA Announces “NVIDIA Titan X” Video Card: $1200, Available August 2nd

Move Over GTX 1080, There’s A New Titan X In Town

Meaningless for anybody who doesn't want the general compute features. It's $200 more expensive than its predecessor, probably to avoid cannibalizing sales of more expensive Pascal GPUs intended for businesses.

The billion-dollar RNC question: What is Peter Thiel doing there?

Fun for everyone.

Not a big enough deal to get an article. Prices start at $460-$535, significantly more than 8 TB drives which can be bought for $200 on sale.

Seagate Announces 10TB Consumer HDD Lineup With Five Year Warranty

Seagate's New 'Guardian Series' Portfolio Brings 10TB Helium HDDs to Consumers

Seagate BarraCuda Pro 10TB Helium HDD Capsule Review

Melania Trump speech appears to plagiarize Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic convention address

Watch Melania Trump Plagiarize Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic Convention Speech

It should come as no surprise that Runaway might have multiple identities. Among other things, I have a "whistleblower" identity. That personna has been around for awhile, contained within a Virtual Machine. He is rarely turned on, he has very few contacts, doesn't browse randomly around the web. only connects via VPN, uses a very secure browser. Very secure.

Tonight, he did a search online - and was greeted with a popup, suggesting that he check his settings.

Oh-oh. I've obviuosly done something WRONG!!

My secretive self isn't going to share any real details about his mistake(s). Suffice to say that I overlooked something that Edward Snowden addressed in one of his interviews.

If you need to be, or even if you only want to be, secure online, you need to revisit ALL of your security settings now and then. Keep in mind that companies might be bought and sold, that TOS may change, and privacy policies might change. Changing privacy policies contributed to my own little screw up.

I'm not really worried about anyone tying together certain online identities, but I know that I did slip up. Each and every slip up makes it easier for the opposition.

At any rate, it's time to retire that personna. It's probably not a good idea to maintain the same secret personna for more than a few months anyway. Or, even a few weeks, if you're playing high stakes games like Snowden.

Some people object to many of the submissions, which might be labeled "current events". Some of those objections are pretty verbose. Some people don't want to read "the news" when the click on Soylentnews, they want to read "Technology News". Which is fine - that's why I come here. I learn all kinds of things about technology. In fact, some of the tech is over my head, and I fail to learn from it because I lack the proper education.

But, "the news".

First objection to THEIR objections is, "Why do you click on the story if you don't want to read it?" Again and again, we've heard that our computers have an "off" button. If the intartubes get to be to much, you just shut the damned computer off. There are dozens of sites online that spew unfiltered hatred, such as stormfront. You don't click on their links? Well, then, why click on a story here that you don't really want to read? It's pointless to click the link, just to post a "Is this news?" post. I may start moderating those posts as flamebait, or troll. Come on children - grow up.

Second objection. Current events. Real shit, in the real world, that may directly affect any one of us. Stuff is happening, for real. I mean, really, for really real. Lives end, bodies are mangled, buildings fall, city blocks are burnt up, children are scarred for life, mothers bury their babies. Real life happens, and it impinges upon each and every one of us.

Some of our members are travelers. We have members who live in various states and cities that are directly affected by many of these current events. That is, we have members who might be directly impacted by current events. So, you or I feel "safe" from these events - we should feel no concern, anxiety, compassion, or empathy for those members who are living through those events?

Third objection. Elitism. I really don't like elitests. I don't like them in politics, don't like them in the community, and I don't much like them on the interwebs either. What is it that makes one person better than anyone else? At what intellectual level, or financial level, do you become "better" than everyone else? These current events obviously generate a good deal of discussion. Obviously, a lot of members feel the need to sound off, and/or get some intelligent input from other members. (You're not going to find much intelligent discussion on Facebook, FFS)

Elitests, go back to objection 1. If you're to good, or to highly stationed in life to be concerned with current events, just don't click the link. I don't care how elite you are, you really don't have the right to limit when, where, or how the rest of us discuss these current events.

Objection four? That would be the "intelligent discussion". THAT is the PRIMARY reason I come here. People post stuff in response to current events that make me think. Hell, I've got my opinions. I really don't need help forming opinions. But, people actually post things here that make me re-examine my opinions. A lot of people actually post links that support the facts and opinions they post. Soylent is a learning experience, because it consists of mostly intelligent people.

Let the discussions take place. I learn, and maybe I teach. Exchanging information is never a "bad thing".

Stop trying to be censors, alright?

If/when people stop responding to a certain kind of post, then the posters, such as myself, will begin to self-censor. If our submissions generate a lot of discussion, then there is obviously a need for those submissions. Some of us just need to blow off steam. Some of us actually have something to offer. Let it happen, alright?

And, one more time - if you don't think it's "news", just don't click the link. Blow it off. I do that with some stories.