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Newport News, Virginia, United States. http://wtkr.com/2017/12/20/election-official-challenges-one-ballot-after-newport-news-va-house-of-delegates-recount-decided-by-one-vote/ After two recounts, the vote for state house of delegates is tied. Apparently every vote does count, legible or not. So now they are planning to choose their representative by a random drawing. Because democracy, right?

Anyone know about theology Irja or Murji'ah?

There doesn't exist a way of converting individual preferences into a group preference that is paradox free. Plato would have used this conclusion to argue against democracy. I'm not sure what to make of it

I dunno if you guys have been watching alternative news about the farce of a Democratic National Convention, but some serious underhanded tactics have been employed by the establishment against Bernie Sanders supporters. There have been literally riots outside the convention center:- How cute that after Debbie Schultz resigns, she's immediately hired by Hillary LOL Even Bernie Sanders was booed when he endorsed Hillary. America, a country that prides itself so much on freedom and democracy is witnessing serious blatant election fraud and that majority can't even see it due to MSM propaganda. It gets even better worse. The following video shows reserved seats for actors and a white noise machine right next to the bernie section https://vid.me/4tYB For more footage showing the chaos and mayhem outside the convention, see here http://therightscoop.com/holy-crap-this-was-the-scene-last-night-at-the-dnc/ A Bernie delegate explains what the scene was like inside, how the Democrats are using paid ‘seat fillers’ to make the convention look more unified. (video is taken from the link above) Hey 'Muricans! Enjoying your freedom yet?

There's a lot of talk in Muslim communities in general about democracy, its merits and even its supposed Islamic character. But when I look at the situation Muslims face and which the Shi'a face especially in these times, I wonder if perhaps the pursuit of democracy has not caused the Shi'a to break apart into competing factions who do not possess the unity and strength needed to combat terrorist organizations like the United States or to meet the power of the more absolutist regimes in the Arab/Persian Gulf whose activities threaten them. In Iran, the conservatives and liberals squabble among themselves. In Iraq, there are more political parties than one can count. And in some places like Pakistan, Shi'a feel somewhat helpless these days against the "democratic" forces of the countries they live in which tend to move towards a wedding of Islamic nationalism and Sunni domination. All the time I hear democracy this and democracy that among Shi'a laity and otherwise sensible and honorable ulama, and even what's left of the Iranian monarchists pay the obligatory homage to "democracy", which is more and more becoming an idol or just another pipe dream for the Middle East and North Africa. But what benefit has democracy really given any of the Muslims or the Shi'a? ISIS would have been stopped a lot sooner were it not for the divisions in the Islamic world, everybody agrees on that and divisions in the Islamic world are by no means new. But doesn't the introduction of "democracy" in both its secular and fundamentalist forms share some of the blame for intensifying these divisions? And haven't the Shi'a suffered the most due to internal party politics and Sunnis using "democracy" as a means to oppress them? And even for the Sunnis, I don't think democracy has made them stronger, it's just made them bigger tools of the Arab oil kings who hold far more money and power.

Half-masting of flags following the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, King of Saudi Arabia Half-masting instructions It is with great regret that we learn of the death of the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, King of Saudi Arabia. It is requested that all flags be half-masted from 8am today until 8pm this evening. Any other UK national flags flown alongside the Union Flag when it is at half-mast should also be at half-mast. If a flag of a foreign nation is normally flown on the same stand as the Union Flag, it should be removed. Local authorities are not bound by this request but may wish to follow it for guidance. Devolved administrations are responsible for issuing instructions for the flying of the Union Flag on buildings in their estate and others as necessary. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/half-masting-of-flags-following-the-death-of-king-abdullah-bin-abdulaziz-king-of-saudi-arabia لعنة الله على الظالمين

From a new paper by two political scientists:

OK, seeing as someone or some people snitched on me (you know who you are!) I have been ordered by the powers that be to pick a more appropriate profile avatar. However I am finding myself in a somewhat rare situation (yes I know, I know) where I cannot decide on which new SC-friendly avatar to adopt, so I am going for the more democratic option of letting the people decide. Basically, start posting some relatively appropriate avatar suggestions. The ones with the most 'likes', I will humbly accept and adopt as my own. Let's do this! Be kind to me though. I'll give you about an hour or maybe 2 if that's ok with the mods?

According to Google, Members of Congress are trying to go after pirates and counterfeiters but SOPA and PIPA are the wrong way to do it. 1. SOPA and PIPA would censor the Web The U.S. government could order the blocking of sites using methods similar to those employed by China. Among other things, search engines could be forced to delete entire websites from their search results. That’s why 41 human rights organizations and 110 prominent law professors have expressed grave concerns about the bills. 2. SOPA and PIPA would be job-killers because they would create a new era of uncertainty for American business Law-abiding U.S. internet companies would have to monitor everything users link to or upload or face the risk of time-consuming litigation. That’s why AOL, EBay, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo and Zynga wrote a letter to Congress saying these bills "pose a serious risk to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job-creation.” It’s also why 55 of America’s most successful venture capitalists expressed concern that PIPA "would stifle investment in Internet services, throttle innovation, and hurt American competitiveness”. More than 204 entrepreneurs told Congress that PIPA and SOPA would "hurt economic growth and chill innovation”. 3. SOPA and PIPA wouldn’t stop piracy To make matters worse, SOPA and PIPA won’t even work. The censorship regulations written into these bills won’t shut down pirate sites. These sites will just change their addresses and continue their criminal activities, while law-abiding companies will suffer high penalties for breaches they can’t possibly control. An info-graph also explain the whole matter: