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If I were going to write a dictionary, I might include this: vit·ri·ol·ic (adjective) 1.filled with bitter criticism or malice. 2. Example: read comments on YouTube. Unfortunately, YouTube does not have a corner on bitter criticism and malice. I can read it in the comments sections of almost every Internet blog and newspaper throughout this country. Sometimes it’s not easy to overlook some of the comments, but because of them, we need to thoughtfully consider our responses. We might give the most rational, well-constructed, evidence-filled line of reasoning. We might show from the evidence, from the premises, from the arguments,...

Down in the polls, Republican Kenneth T. Cuccinelli on Thursday launched his sharpest attacks of Virginia’s gubernatorial campaign, accusing Terry McAuliffe of being a liar and of lacking substance while the Democrat said the attorney general’s economic plan would wreck the state’s economy. The candidates’ third and final debate covered little new ground but was marked by increasingly sharp exchanges, with Mr. Cuccinelli saying that being in favor of jobs and education is all well and good, but that talking is different from laying out a plan. “They’re not plans. I like those, too. I like education — I like...

Tonight, at 7:00 pm, Ken Cuccinelli will be debating Terry McAuliffe for the last time for the 2013 Virginia Governor’s race. We hope you will tune in. Here are some quick details: Where to Watch The debate will be broadcast on local news stations across the state, including: •WDBJ7 (Roanoke) •CBS 19 (Charlottesville), •ABC 4 (Harrisonburg), •News Channel 8 (Washington) •C-SPAN (National) If you don’t get WDBJ7 where you live, you can watch the debate live online here. Online Debate Activity Ken Cuccinelli’s campaign staff and members of the media will be live tweeting the debate, and sending out updates...

On today's CNN State of the Union, Sen.Ted Cruz was simply "Intellect on Display" as he seemlessly won every debate point with host Candy Crowley. I say we support Ted Cruz all the way to the Presidency.

Comments can be bad for science. That's why, here at PopularScience.com, we're shutting them off.It wasn't a decision we made lightly. As the news arm of a 141-year-old science and technology magazine, we are as committed to fostering lively, intellectual debate as we are to spreading the word of science far and wide. The problem is when trolls and spambots overwhelm the former, diminishing our ability to do the latter.That is not to suggest that we are the only website in the world that attracts vexing commenters. Far from it. Nor is it to suggest that all, or even close...

The Senate plunged into debate over legislation to fund the government while cutting of money for the new health-care law, with both sides accusing the other of threatening to bring about a government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) opened debate by denouncing the bill passed by the House Friday that embodies conservatives’ campaign to “defund Obamacare,” as the health law is known. “Inside the House Republican bubble, the crowd cheered a plan to deny health insurance to tens of millions of Americans or else shut down the government,’’ Mr. Reid said at the outset of a debate...

Here is audio of Rush Limbaugh reacting today to reports that the RNC is considering having Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and himself moderate 2016 GOP Presidential Debates. Limbaugh said, “I’m too famous” to do it, and that he would “overshadow” the candidates. But he did go on to say such debates would not be on mainstream media outlets if they were to take place. I think it would be great!

CAIRO — Gathering Thursday morning around a mosque used as a morgue for hundreds killed the day before, many Islamists waited confidently for a surge of sympathetic support from the broader public. But it failed to materialize. With their leaders jailed or silent, Islamists reeled in shock at the worst mass killing in Egypt’s modern history. By Thursday night, health officials had counted 638 dead and nearly 4,000 injured, but the final toll was expected to rise further. A tense quiet settled over Cairo as the city braced for new protests by the supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, after...

The Republican National Committee, already threatening to block CNN and NBC from hosting 2016 primary debates if they air planned features on Hillary Clinton, is also looking to scrap the old model of having reporters and news personalities ask the questions at candidate forums.

Vid at link

excerpt: In 2009, Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein published a book, called “Nudge,” on how government and other organizations could induce people to avoid common errors. Last year, Sunstein gave the Storrs Lectures at Yale on the topic, which will soon be published as a book called “Nanny Statecraft.” Last month, the Obama administration announced that it is creating a new team to explore applications of this sort of empirical research to policy-making.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama is speaking out about the toll that gun violence is taking on young people, in a shift that shows the first lady's willingness to tackle new and polarizing issues as she shapes her second term. A meeting with high school students from a poor, gang-infested neighborhood in Chicago, her hometown, led Mrs. Obama to put a new spin on the stalled legislative debate over whether to ban firearms or impose new background checks on people who want to buy guns. A mother to a teen and a tween, Mrs. Obama argues that the debate also...

In my last post I talked about something I’ve been noticing recently, that people, especially pro-life nerds like me, are tempted to talk about logical fallacies all the time in conversation. There are several dangers to this. I’ve argued already that the first danger is accusing somebody of a logical fallacy when they didn’t actually commit one. If you dedicate yourself to educating yourself on what the logical fallacies actually are before bringing them up, you will be a more effective debater. But there’s a good, better, best aspect to exposing logical fallacies while creating good dialogues with people. I...

<p>There was a striking moment in the Senate Judiciary Committee's debate on the Gang of Eight's comprehensive immigration reform bill when Republican Jeff Sessions and Democrat Charles Schumer argued over the number of immigrants who would be allowed into the country under the new legislation.</p>

Madison — The Senate plans to send Gov. Scott Walker a state budget Thursday that would cut income taxes by an average of $150, raise property taxes by $29 on the typical home, reject a key element of ObamaCare and allow voucher schools in all corners of Wisconsin. The budget passed the Republican-controlled Assembly on Wednesday 55-42 and is likely to get through the Senate by just one vote. Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) told his colleagues on the Senate floor that without major changes, he would vote against the budget because it is "too far removed from the interests...

Paul Ryan issued a challenge. The Heritage Foundation picked up the challenge. Mark Levin wants to see this debate as well. It’s time — past time — for a full and open discussion in the conservative family about immigration. To stop with the sound bite presentations. To put an immediate stop to the idea of comprehensive immigration bills zipping through Congress with all the usual backdoor wheeling and dealing. It’s time for a William F. Buckley-esque debate between conservatives that finally and quite publicly puts those involved with the issue together on one stage at the same time. Puts them...

Ask Democrat Ed Markey or Republican Gabriel Gomez about guns or ObamaCare or each other's qualifications to be the next US senator from Massachusestts, and out come the canned talking points and put-downs that anyone following the Senate race quickly wearies of. But what if you toss them some questions from off the beaten path? I put some nonstandard queries to the two nominees, hoping their answers might be illuminating – or at least unexpected. Herewith excerpts from their replies. (The candidates' full responses are posted online: Click here for Markey's and here for Gomez's). 1. Are TV shows getting...

OBAMA: Now, having said all that, you'll remember when I made that speech a couple of weeks ago about the need for us to shift out of a perpetual war mind-set, I specifically said that one of the things that we're going to have to discuss and debate is how are we striking this balance between the need to keep the American people safe and our concerns about privacy because there are some tradeoffs involved.

WHEN is a Jew not a Jew? When he’s a Karaite. Or so says Israel’s chief rabbinate, which, after 65 years of relative harmony with an ancient Jewish sect, is reopening an old and bitter schism. In recent months, rabbis working for Israel’s ministry of religion have deemed Karaite marriages invalid, fined their butchers for claiming to be kosher, and demanded that Karaites marrying Orthodox Jewish women should convert, sometimes having to undergo tavila, or baptism. “We are already Jews,” protests Moshe Firrouz, a computer engineer who heads the Karaites’ Council of Sages. “The rabbinate is denying us our religious...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has invited Vice President Joe Biden to debate him on gun control. The invite came during Cruz’s speech Friday at the annual National Rifle Association convention in Houston.