The law will come into force in 2018, which implies that there is no mass surveillance in Russia today. I think this is a concealed message to the World that Russia is clean now. And there is time until 2018 for Putin to sign amendments to the law that will make obsolete its most scandalous bits. Just a hunch.

The recent conclusion is that the blame is on Ukraine for not closing its airspace for commercial flights

Oh, do we really? While the Western World enjoys its recreational sex, more conservative civilizations take their heritages seriously. They know that it will be their children and children of their children who will rule the future.

The Ireland referendum has won the day, but does it help the Western World to protect its values in the long run? Who will be left to protect it anyway several generations down the road? Just trying to think beyond my bedroom for once.

That's exactly what I am saying: the fertility rates in the Western society are trending downwards and the same-sex marriages are not helping the trend. Or do they? I have not seen statistics on that. Anyone can tell what percentage of same-sex couples have kids adopted or biological?

All I am saying is that raising kids is the hard bit. The institution of marriage is one of attempts by society to support those involved in raising kids. Now we are diluting the definition, which makes you feel satisfied, I suppose. Well, to me, and I am just one opinion here, it sounds like you are taking away a bit of pride of those who have chosen to spend a vast portion of their lives on fostering the next generation and thereby keeping the society going. My question is what you are going to offer in return.

Congratulations with your emotional victory, but please explain to me how should we award those couples who see their marriage as the way to form unions for upbringing the next generation of human beings on this planet. And if I am to put on scale LOVE vs KIDS, then I have so much more respect to those who spend good 20 years of their lives doing this hard job day-in day-out -- raising kids. And if you are prepared to do that, I'll respect you too. If not, then you are a fluke of evolution as far as it is concerned.

You just don't know what 7 days of sitting in the train cabin while crossing the big Mother Russia can do to your psycho. All friends which you make during this time. All thoughts that will cross your mind. You would change for the better.

Now, if London accepts the challenge, they should propose to build a bridge to NYC across the Atlantic.

For all I know, modern vegetarians deliver most of plant seeds and bio-fertilizer to a nearest sanitation system. That is a terrible disrespect to the reproductive aims of our "plantkind" brothers!

Any scientist has got to believe in measuring boundary conditions, math axioms, deduction and the law of large numbers. However, there are other successful systems of belief. Those are not anywhere near to Science in explaining how the world works, but they may succeed better than Science in keeping one at peace with the world and with the unavoidably terminal presence of individual in it.

I regret that Science has a considerable amount of arrogance towards the issue of individual’s purpose in the Universe. Yet, the scientific way of dealing with the reality is the best we have got, IMHO.

I grew up on Clifford Simak's Goblin Reservation. It is a perfect novel and probably my all time favorite. Simak was well respected in USSR and was extensively published in Russian. And back in 1995 I was able to find prints of his several novels in Borders store...

Thank you for a good attempt to give justice to the Soviet's role in defeating Nazis. One concern, though. We have been taught in school that the second front was requested in 1942, but opened only in 1944 when it became obvious that Nazis would not break the Soviets. Apparently, Roosevelt was ready to act before Churchill. Also, the supplies to Soviets have played a critical role even before the second front was opened. Eventually, it is good that Allies joined, because otherwise the whole of Europe would become a Soviet territory, just like it happened to Eastern European countries. There would be no Marshall Plan, and Russian language would be taught in every school...

In a sense that any compentition with clearly defined rules can unite a croud of otherwise self-minded people, the Olympics are not obsolete and will never be.

Such complex phenomenon as "socialism" cannot be catpured in a single word. When people in U.S. speak of "socialism", it is only too easy to dismiss them. Just like in Russia it is all too easy to dismiss those speaking of "democracy". People in power play out on populist notions, while in fact both societies evolve along similar trajectories. It is all about propaganda, my friends.

Thank you for the reference. In a quantum computer the energy would be spent during the measurement step, which is required to extract information back into our digital world.