Rainbow particles

My son enjoys creating Flash applications. Check this one out:

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Canada should pull its troops out of Afghanistan

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Today a Canadian soldier was killed in Afghanistan . That makes 11 since 2002. For the record, I opposed Canada's involvement in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. I didn't question the brutality of the Taliban regime, nor that they provided a haven for Al Qaeda. But I wasn't convinced at the time that invading the country was the best way to improve matters. The events that ensued haven't altered my opinion. Did the invasion improve life for Afghanis? Did it stabilize the region? Did it stop al-Qaeda? What is clear is that a lot of innocent Afghanis were maimed or killed, Osama bin Laden is still at large, and the Taliban remain a force to be reckoned with. Hundreds of "enemy combatants" were shipped off to Guantánamo Bay where, according to Amnesty International, many "... remain held in a legal black hole ... many without access to any court, legal counsel or family visits. Denied their rights under international law and held in conditions which may a...
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Be the change?

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"Be the change you wish to see in the world"--It's no wonder this saying (let’s call it BTC) has become so popular. From its sense of immediacy to its spiritual turn of phrase, BTC hits all the right notes. It doesn't hurt that it is commonly attributed to Gandhi, even though, as writer Brian Morton has noted, the closest Gandhi came to BTC was a passage including these words: "If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change."  Although BTC echoes some of Gandhi’s themes, its phrasing and emphasis are notably different. What is clear is that its concise form delivers a potent message about the potential for transformation--and this provides us with a window into contemporary values. BTC suggests that if, for example, you wish for more patience in the world, you should be more patient yourself. Presumably if you succeed in becoming more patient, then you have increased the global level of patience. Furthermore, your example may en...
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Probably incorrect probability

A recent post on the blog Blackademic about the alleged rape of a black woman by white Duke university lacrosse players generated a flurry of comments. One of them anonymously argued: "Unfortunately, statistically a black women is significantly more likely to make a false accusation of rape than to have been raped by a white man. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey ( http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cvus/current/cv0342.pdf ), less than .0004% of black rape victims were raped by whites. (The NCVS reports the percentage as 0% because there were less than 10 reported cases. I assumed 9 cases, to come up with an actual percentage) Even with the most conservative figure of 2% of rape allegations being false, this means in the case of the Duke Rape Case, the victim is 5000 times more likely to have made a false accusation than to have actually been raped." There were some perplexed responses to this dramatic claim: "yeah, cuz stats and figures are ALWAYS...
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