Especially since there were apparently one hundred AIDS specialists on the plane, which could be quite a blow to medical research...

That is said by people who do not travel much...

As already answered, anyone can choose a free lawyer (but not choose which free lawyer).
But the fact that judges do not like people representing themselves is quite problematic in a democracy.

Well, this one at least was wrongly reported...
The "bunch of muslims" responded to active provocations from a pro-israeli terrorist organization (banned in the states and Israel but surprisedly not in France) whose members gathered in front of the Synagogue.
Obviously, the ones responding to the LDJ provocations weren't the ones which the most brain, so confusion occurred.

Well, the only comics' Thor who's not beyond ridiculous is David Brin's The Life-Eaters one...
As for the Marvel Thor, I've been told that there is an arc where it is hinted that Thor may not be Odin's son but a schizophrenic man who acquired superstrength - that would give some depth to the character.

You mean Brienne of Tarth's?

I stopped playing chess once I learned Go, but could you explain how there can be disagreement over a checkmate?
If one player is able to make a legal move that prevents the checkmate, then it's note checkmate. Otherwise it is.

And about "checkmate in x" if one player can't see it or disagree, you just play it.

What could I be missing?

High-School girls coming from civilized families are usually really caring indeed.
I know the bitches you're referring too, but that's not the natural breed.

I thought that even if the Metis wars were harsh, Native repression never amounted to genocide in Canada?
Doesn't this make a big difference in the resulting culture, both popular and governmental?
Especially if you take into account Girard's work about the anthropological implications of murder...

I can't be sure since I don't know Sweden that much, but if the Swede protestant mentality is any close to Swiss protestant mentality, the core of judicial anger against him is probably simply that Warg refused to submit to their authority, and this is something said authorities can't understand and consider needs to be punished.

In Swiss they kept a petty thief (from a warmer country, so with different sociological principles) for decades (until they let him burn in a fire in his cell) basically because he kept asking to be released when his term had ended.

Screw the children and the terrorists, but you'll be surprised by what extent I would go to find my keys...

The correspondance boom you're referring to may have faded, but correspondance courses are still around and very useful for who has time (and the right skills) to devote to them.
MOOCs are not a magic ticket to universal academic success, but they are at least highly improved correspondance courses.

They claim to have killed an unarmed Bin Laden at point blank range.
Ever saw the movie The Siege? Which, by the way, was shot a few years before 9/11...

Actually, no.
Karl Marx was a philosophe, and considered that he needed to understand economy to further his philosophical goals of emancipation.
Anyway, the communist manifesto is highly dated; The Capital is obviously a book of his time, but being observational and analytical rather than programmatic, it is an excellent description of the industrial revolution.

I would highly recommend reading Roger Gentis's work, especially maybe "Les murs de l'asile".
It's quite old indeed, but still very interesting.