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This topic has, perhaps, been discussed ad infinitum, ad nauseam. But I won't let that stop me. :)

I do understand that online forums aren't going to bastions of quality argument and rhetoric, especially given the temptation to go all GIFT when folks can be anonymous (or even pseudonymous). I've been guilty of that myself, from time to time.

One of the positives I've seen with Soylent (as compared with other places) is that, as a group, we tend to reward (via positive moderation) those who provide cogent, clear arguments and back them up with data to support those arguments.

AFAICT, there are a variety of motivations for submitting stories and posting comments:
An interest in discussing the topic;
An opportunity to promote their personal political bent/beliefs;
An opportunity to say things one wouldn't say in a meat-space conversation;
An opportunity to share one's sense of humor (such as it might be);
An excuse to troll (in the classical sense);
and many other motivations as well.

My focus is on the first two motivations I list. Making rational, fact-based arguments to support (or elucidate) a point of view often makes for interesting discussions which can illuminate a topic and create a positive environment for exploring a particular subject.

What's more, I suspect that expanding the pool of those who express arguments clearly and cogently could reduce the level of personal attacks and nastiness, at least among those who actually wish to engage with others.

One of the issues I've noticed with those engaged in this sort of discussion are arguments which rely upon faulty data, irrational arguments, unclear prose and poor rhetorical style.

Often, moderation causes the best arguments to rise to the top, which can elevate the discussion considerably. However, that can minimize the voices of those with useful and/or interesting things to say simply because they lack the skills to express those things effectively.

I wonder if a section on the site which contains articles, book references, discussions and other resources can help those with poor logic, writing and/or rhetorical skills to up their game?

It seems to me that while we likely wouldn't create any new Pulitzer Prize winners, we may be able to encourage those with a sincere desire to engage others in more cogent, coherent fashion.

I'm all for freewheeling discussion and am certainly not above poking fun at just about anything. At the same time, I believe it might enhance the level of discourse here by helping people to be better writers.

Am I just pissing in the wind here, or does any of this make sense to the rest of you Soylentils?

Rouhani in Europe: Italy covers nudes for Iran president

Italian hospitality for the visiting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has stretched to covering up nude statues.

Mr Rouhani and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi spoke at Rome's Capitoline Museum after Italian firms signed business deals with Iran.

But several nudes there were hidden to avoid offending the Iranian president.

Italy also chose not to serve wine at official meals, a gesture France, where Mr Rouhani travels next, has refused to copy.

An Islamic republic, Iran has strict laws governing the consumption of alcohol.

Mr Rouhani is in Europe on a five-day tour seeking to boost economic ties after the implementation of a deal on rolling back Iran's nuclear activity saw sanctions lifted.

"Iran is the safest and most stable country of the entire region," the Iranian president told Italian business leaders.

He also stressed growth would be key to combating extremism, saying "unemployment creates soldiers for terrorists".

Monday saw contracts worth around €17bn ($18.4bn; £12bn) signed between Iran and Italian companies.

On Tuesday, Mr Rouhani also met Pope Francis, who urged Iran to work with other Middle Eastern countries against terrorism and arms trafficking, the Vatican said.

Mighty No. 9 Suffers Another Delay, Inafune "Sincerely Sorry" for Disappointing Fans

Mighty No. 9, Keiji Inafune's spiritual successor to Mega Man, has been delayed again. The announcement was made in an update to Kickstarter backers, where Inafune--who created Mega Man along with a number of iconic properties for Capcom, before leaving in 2010--explained developer Comcept encountered "critical" issues in the game's online matchmaking.

Keiji Inafune’s Mighty No. 9 delayed … again

Mighty No. 9 is a lesson for future Kickstarters

"We started to record meteorology at the coldest point in the last 10,000 years."

https://vimeo.com/14366077

George Washington slave book pulled after criticism

A children's picture book about George Washington and his slaves has been pulled by publishers Scholastic.

A Birthday Cake for George Washington tells the story of Washington's slave Hercules, a cook, and his daughter.

It had been criticised for its images of smiling slaves, and described as being "highly problematic".

Scholastic said in a statement that without more historical context, the book "may give a false impression of the reality of the lives of slaves".

The book, telling the story of Hercules and Delia making a cake together, had been released on 5 January. It was met with a barrage of one-star reviews on Amazon, with readers describing it as "disgustingly inaccurate", and one writing: "I can't believe people are celebrating a children's story that depicts happy, joyful slaves."

Scholastic's description of the story had read: "Everyone is buzzing about the president's birthday! Especially George Washington's servants, who scurry around the kitchen preparing to make this the best celebration ever. Oh, how George Washington loves his cake! And, oh, how he depends on Hercules, his head chef, to make it for him. Hercules, a slave, takes great pride in baking the president's cake."

Auschwitz price-fixing claims: Israel police arrest nine

Nine executives at Israeli travel agencies have been arrested on suspicion of fixing the price of high school students' trips to former Nazi death camps, including Auschwitz.

Police say they are investigating allegations of a secret price-fixing arrangement by companies who organise the trips for students.

Investigators have raided the homes of executives and frozen bank accounts.

At least six travel agencies are accused of violating competition rules.

They are suspected of colluding on prices before responding to an education ministry tender to take students to Holocaust memorials.

When the Israeli education ministry approached a number of different companies, it received identical quotes.

Reports say the alleged collusion was aimed at artificially inflating prices.

Rubio: "we make deals with Iran, we betray our allies like Israel"

...You forgot to say Saudi Arabia.

Long exchange between Trump and Cruz over Cruz's citizenship. It seems most of the boos around this portion are pro-Trump.

~40 minutes in. Carson: "I was mentioned." Host: "You were?" Carson: "He said 'everybody'."

~86 minutes in. Christie trying to be the NSA's top cheerleader yet again. No Rand on stage to balance him out anymore.

~95 minutes in. Kasich: "I believe in the PTT."

~100 minutes in. Trump cuts in to call Jeb weak. Are the boos for Trump or Jeb?

~124 minutes in. Some kind of heckling. "We want ----."

Christie calls FBI Director Comey a friend.

~131 minutes in. Rubio calls Snowden a traitor who committed treason while bashing Cruz.

~134 minutes in. Bush talks about encryption/cybersecurity. "NSA should be put in charge of the civilian side of [cybersecurity]." "If you can encrypt messages, ISIS can." Narrowly avoids endorsing backdoors, but he's a Bush so we know how much that's worth.

Kasich's closing statement mentions reform of military contractor spending. Bencarson.com's closing statement mentions bencarson.com. Rubio: a Hillary Clinton-based closing statement. Cruz: mentions a Benghazi movie, panders to military and law enforcement. Trump: mentions the 10 sailors in Iran, something about making America good again.

I Went to a Cannabis-Themed Gala and Saw the Future

Marketed as "Canada's first vapour gala," the Go Greene Winter Gala was held at a "private upscale location" made known to ticketholders the day of. Go Greene is an advocacy group that promotes diversity within the cannabis community. It was founded by former Alaska-based TV journalist Charlo Greene, who quit her job on air to become a full-time activist.

[...] A table outside the door of the party room was stacked with goodies like THC-infused soda, cookies, and candy. I passed, and by that I mean I stuffed them into my purse, because I knew I wouldn't be able to interview people baked. Once outfitted with green wristbands, we headed into what was akin to a massive hotbox. There was green lighting, gold balloons that spelled out "Go Greene," and a green carpet that was made of felt or something very similar to felt and was secured to the floor with visible packing tape.

The 80 or so guests were instructed to dress to impress, and many of them obliged, wearing gowns, tuxedos, and random head gear. (I put on a grey dress that I wear to work all the time because I'm lazy.) They posed for photos in front of a backdrop branded with the names of different cannabis industry sponsors—the kind normally reserved for film festivals and obnoxious clubs.

[...] Caterers made their way around the room carrying trays of prosciutto-wrapped melon and black bean cakes, while hip-hop artists and DJs performed on a slightly elevated stage. The bar was manned by two dabtenders with blowtorches. (There was no booze on premise, which is probably for the best.)

Sarah Gilles, who works at promotions/events company The High Five, was serving up weed juice shots and giving away swag bags filled with her cannabis-infused beauty products like body butter and a scrub. She told me weed is responsible for her glowing "420 face" and that people who suffer from skin conditions and pain should consider using it.

[...] My photographer and I were separated briefly until I found her sitting alone on a bright red dentist's chair beside the bathroom, hair tousled and eyes glazed.

"I did dabs," she said. "I seriously actually can't feel my face right now." Her words convinced me to do one, after which we posted up on a couch in the loft discussing all the times we'd ghosted on events because we were too high. Then we did exactly that.

In hindsight, I realized the weed ball was novel for more than just its atmosphere; there seemed to be no fear of being busted by cops and, for the first time in my experience reporting on drugs, no one hesitated to give me their name.

But the party is only a small reflection of movements taking place across the country. Pot shops (including a recreational one with a dab bar), already well-established on Canada's west coast, are making their way east. Judges have been calling bullshit on possession-related cases due to the "ridiculous" laws they hinge on, and politicians are vocalizing their visions for having cannabis sold in liquor stores. Dealers are even hosting holiday sales.

So while pragmatists will tell you legalization is a long way from being a reality, in some ways it seems it's already here.

Other selected stories:

Google dives into virtual reality with new division and new boss

Yahoo dumps 13.5TB of users' news interaction data for machine eating

Intel: For Mainstream Gamers, Our IGPs Are Equivalent to Discrete GPUs

Plan For Cuba Ferry Terminal Reveals Shift In Miami Politics

Microsoft Releases Its JavaScript Engine As Open Source 'ChakraCore'

It's not all about Oculus:

Tom's Hardware

JB McRee, Sr. Manager of Product Marketing of Virtual Reality at HTC confirmed to us that the Vive headset will in fact be available for pre-order on February 29, 2016. HTC doesn’t have any other details to share about the retail release, but McRee told said the details will be announced prior to the pre-order date.

Wikipedia

HTC Vive is an upcoming virtual reality head-mounted display being developed in co-production between HTC and Valve Corporation. It is also part of Valve Corporation's SteamVR project.

To be edited

When Will Potential 2016 Candidates Discuss the ‘Extraterrestrial Issue’?

Former Obama aide and well-known X-Files obsessive John Podesta tweeted this month that his "biggest failure of 2014" was "Once again not securing the #disclosure of the UFO files."

Many assume that Podesta will soon sign up for the still-hypothetical Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, which means that the UFO lobby might just endorse Clinton for a second time if decides to run.

Stephen Bassett, head of the Paradigm Research Group (which runs a blog about presidential UFO news and hosted an off-brand hearing for ex-members of Congress on government transparency in matters extraterrestrial), told the Huffington Post in 2007 that Hillary Clinton "knows this issue is not trivial." Nearly eight years later, Bassett is still trying to access any government documents on UFOs, and still hoping that Clinton will reach out to constituents like him.

CIA Cover-up Alleged in JFK's 'Secret UFO Inquiry'