Everything2, 4chan, University of Reddit, MIT OpenCourseWare, and Miniclip.
What are your core beliefs?
Thanks :) It was at a high school debate tournament that was a pretty big deal on the national circuit. I had lost in the semifinals just the previous year, so the victory was all the sweeter. One of my proudest moments.
A major reorganization of power comes about. The United States' position as the world's driving political and economic force is diminishing as China, India, and Brazil gain prominence. In China this growth comes with some degree of political upheaval. The growth of a wealthy middle class leads to the liberalization, and eventual democratization of the nation. Power also gets redistributed on an individual level - with better access to education and information, people now have a lot more social mobility and effective influence in their governments. Investments in science, technology, and space exploration come not from governments, but wealthy individuals and businesses. The first colony on Mars is a multinational effort backed by Google, Microsoft, Virgin, Ford, Coca-Cola, and other big-wigs. Computing power becomes exponentially cheaper and ubiquitous. Robots take over almost all labour and manufacturing jobs, causing unemployment and depression for a while. However, social changes are also taking place - birth rates stop increasing, and begin to turn downwards by 2075. Genetic modification is available to everyone, improving quality of life around the globe. Everything isn't perfect, however. Tensions in the Middle-East rise between Israel and Iran. The US, at this point decides to back away because of domestic pressures. Nuclear missiles are exchanged for the first time in over half a century - Tehran and Tel-Aviv are destroyed. Shocked, the international community intervenes immediately (not nuclear), with the US occupying Israel, and Russia Iran. However, instead of a East/West Germany-esque scenario, the world powers decide to work together to diffuse the situation. By the end of the century, humanity is fewer in number, smarter, and healthier. We occupy the land and oceans of Earth, as well as colonies on the Moon, Mars, and on the moons of Jupiter. Edit: I just remembered reading this last week, you may enjoy it - http://www.dni.gov/index.php/about/organization/national-int...
A claim of religious conscience, is made from the conviction that one's eternal life is dependent upon this decision.
This may be true in theory, but I really doubt that this is the rationale behind decisions on an individual level. I have Muslim friends who occasionally, for conveniences sake, forgo fasting sometimes. Theoretically, this is a black mark against their eternal souls, but it doesn't seem to bother them very much. I'd say that there are often other factors behind a claim for exemption from laws, and very often the religiously motivated argument is just secondary to the actual reasons.
but the problem is that you make one of these once and then set it on your shelf
Since we're going on anecdotal evidence, this isn't my experience at all. You do still have unthemed sets, and anyway it isn't long before kids mix and match their pieces, breaking old models and making new ones. That's certainly what I did, and what I see my relatives doing.I don't know, what common "toy" do many children have these days that is neither healthy nor active? An iPad/computer!
Well, you kind of missed my point, man. Sure, an iPad may be neither healthy nor active, but what's important is the parenting environment. When I was growing up many of my friends' parents used tv as a babysitter. My parents encouraged me to go outside, read, and cycle. My point was, the presence of technology itself isn't the pretty exaggerated societal harm you make it out to be. It's how parents raise their kids that actually makes a difference.
I'm not very sentimental about books, unlike other commentors in this thread. I don't really care about the smell, the feel of the pages, etc. To me the book is the same however I'm reading it, and I have to say my Kindle is incredibly convenient, and has made my bus journeys a hundred times more enjoyable. Despite this, I don't think e-readers spell the end of print books. There's a difference between magazines like Newsweek and books. Magazines and newspapers are quickly consumed, and easily discarded, so of course people are going to prefer an easier way to consume and discard them. Books take some time to consume, and for the moment it's still cheaper to buy a paperback and carry it with you than to buy a kindle and a paperback. Additionally, the issue of convenience comes up. Sure, a Kindle can put your entire library in your pocket, but it also runs out of batteries. You can't take notes (easily/quickly) on a Kindle - my copy of Catch-22 is covered with scribbles in margins. I don't understand why it has to be a battle between the digital and physical. People are always pooh-poohing newfangled technology that defeats the essence of books, or old fashioned ideas that are inefficient and outdated. Both mediums have their uses, and I don't see print going out of use anytime soon.