quote:Obama's pronunciation in his Diwali video is really spot on. Much better than I can do, certainly.
I wonder how much that varies regionally in India. In Trinidad, its most commonly pronounce "Di-wall-ee" with a true "w" sound not the "v" sound or mixed "w' and "v" I've heard before. I'm not sure if that a Trini t'ing. or if it is more representative of the parts of northern India where most of the Indo-Trinis came from.
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quote:You are wrong about that Squicky. I think you are think about the use of lights/candles on Christmas trees in specific and not the more general use of candles/lights as part of the Christmas celebration.
I'm wrong about what? Yeah, I'm specifically talking about Christmas lights and candles as home decorations, not about their use in liturgical contexts.
I think there is some sort of mix up here regarding that. Lights used in Christmas liturgies have an established and explicit religious symbolism.
Strings of lights that people hang on their house or around the Christmas tree don't.
Put the whole thing in context. In all those respects, Christmas isn't any different than Diwali. People decorate there houses for Diwali with strings of lights that are identical to Christmas lights. They go up along with the traditional Deeps and candles. And people shoot of fireworks and the kids run around with sparklers.
Christmas lights have religious significance in pretty much exactly the same way Diwali lights have religious significance. So when Armoth posted that the comparison was off because "Diwali lights have religious significance", he was just off the mark. The modern use of lights in both Diwali and Christmas celebrations is very very similar and both arise from religious symbolism but have expanded into a more secular light festival.
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I'm not sure I'd agree that "Christmas lights have religious significance in pretty much exactly the same way Diwali lights have religious significance".
Traditionally, Diwali is the celebration of Lord Rama's return to his kingdom, where he was greeted with rows of candles and diyas in every house. The holiday's lights also serve as a mark of light/good overcoming evil (Rama had defeated an evil demon), but the lights are not simply symbolic of the win of good over evil - they're also a literal recreation of the celebration that (supposedly) was held to welcome the god-king back home. And while the secular story of good over evil is the main cause of celebration today, many Hindus do still recognize the original story as a key part of the celebrations - after all, Vishnu is an extremely popular god. Among those who do pujas on Diwali, worship is almost always directed to Vishnu/Rama or his consort, Lakshmi.
Anyways, I don't think it's an important enough thing to quibble about. *shrug* Just thought I'd throw my opinion into the ring.
On the pronunciation thing - the word "Diwali" comes from Sanskrit, originally, which does not have a full on "w" sound, or, really, a "v" sound - it's sort of a cross between the two, altho leaning more towards "v" than "w". But I was referring more to Obama's pronunciation of methi, salamu balac, mahavira, and even Sikhism. He was spot on on the aspirations - it was clear that he was either coached very well, or has practiced speaking Hindi/Urdu words before.
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I think that there is a spectrum between "absolutely essential part of the religious ritual" and "oooh pretty". I think that there is a great deal of variety as to where different things fall on that spectrum for different people.
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This topic seems somewhat moot. Lights have been used at Christmas time for centuries. Even if we ignore that, colored electric lights have been in use for several decades. They are not used in exactly the same way for any other holiday. Their use will likely continue so long as Christmas is celebrated. At what point is a tradition old enough to warrant recognition as a "real religious tradition?"
If the fourth of July came to be celebrated with the detonation of a nuclear warhead, just to cap off the fire works (kinda awesome idea aesthetically speaking now that I reflect on it, obviously a terrible idea for a host of other reasons), and as a symbolic gesture of American might, who would care? The new tradition joins everything else.
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: If the fourth of July came to be celebrated with the detonation of a nuclear warhead, just to cap off the fire works (kinda awesome idea aesthetically speaking now that I reflect on it, obviously a terrible idea for a host of other reasons), and as a symbolic gesture of American might, who would care?
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You think the best we can do is a nuclear explosion? Have you no respect for America? Or for that matter, the disaster movie industry?
We'll drill a hole in the middle of Yellowstone, drop a nuke down there, then celebrate with a caldera explosion that will blot out the sun.
Frankly I think it's the perfect example of America: In the process of showing everyone how awesome we are, we'll mortally wound ourselves.
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quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: You are not drilling a hole in the middle of my Yellowstone!!!
Get back. You do not want to experience the wrath of The Rabbit.
At least the geological marvels are just fine even if the plant and animal life are completely screwed.
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On second thought, we don't even have to drill the hole. Can't we just drop the bomb down Old Faithful?
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Couldn't we at least pick someone else's classic landmark to mess up? `splosions are cool and all, but I'd like to have Old Faithful around in the future instead of a big old crater lake.
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: I was thinking of this sort of death by rabbit.
quote:It is "The Rabbit"
quote:I warned you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you knew it all, didn’t you? Oh, it’s just a harmless little bunny, isn’t it? Well, it’s always the same. I always tell them—
[ October 23, 2009, 12:58 PM: Message edited by: The Rabbit ]
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No I want to talk about detonating a nuclear device inside a super volcano. Realistically what could we expect to happen?
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What Hatrack really needs is a resident volcanologist.
You don't think a nuke would cause an eruption? I mean geez, Mt. Doom exploded and all they did was throw a ring into it.
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To the best of my knowledge, the science of volcanology isn't sufficiently advanced to be able to accurately predict what would happen if you detonated a nuclear device inside a super volcano.
quote:I mean geez, Mt. Doom exploded and all they did was throw a ring into it.
So you think the Lord of the Rings wasn't a powerful weapon of mass destruction? I'd put it up against a nuclear arsenal any day of the week.
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Bruce Willis and some modified oil drilling equipment, and probably a jet-powered submarine.
(If you're questioning my grasp of physics^H^H^H^H^H^H^H reality, understand that I am basing all of this on the movie Armageddon.)
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Blayne Bradley
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a nuclear detonation within a super volcano would likely cause a chain reaction resulting at best massive earthquakes along the fault line to at least several concurrent volcanic eruptions, a massive explosion that could tempararily blot our the sun and possibly at worst case california would fall into the sea or potentially separate.
Or at least thats what my ass tells me.
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If you throw a nuclear stuffed super volcano into another super volcano, I can tell you one thing you won't get... a Nobel Peace Prize.
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quote:what was it we were fighting over again, something to do with a Peace Prize, I think it was.
That's even better than fighting over gold or precious jools!
quote:If you throw a nuclear stuffed super volcano into another super volcano, I can tell you one thing you won't get... a Nobel Peace Prize.
Yeah, but threaten to throw a nuke-stuffed super volcano into another super volcano, and you just might!
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Blayne Bradley
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nonono first you need to say its hiding weapons of mass destruction first.
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If you stuff a Super Volcano with Nuclear Warheads, then, well, yes--YOU ARE HIDING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.......IN A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
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quote:Originally posted by Darth_Mauve: If you throw a nuclear stuffed super volcano into another super volcano, I can tell you one thing you won't get... a Nobel Peace Prize.
No, but I'd have to imagine you'd be in the running for a Nobel Prize in Physics.
When God shuts a door he opens a window.
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quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: To the best of my knowledge, the science of volcanology isn't sufficiently advanced to be able to accurately predict what would happen if you detonated a nuclear device inside a super volcano
I think this is where the "experimentation" part of the scientific method comes into play.
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But getting the permits to do this with nukes takes for ever, and the paper work is a nightmare. We should try it with a massive load of conventional explosives first. If the results are promising, then we go nuclear.
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You know, you guys are helping terrorists. If they ever get their hands on a nuke, and want to know where they can use it to inflict the maximum damage on America, you are spelling it out for them. Let's just hope they don't take you seriously.
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Any terrorist worth his salt has already seen all the terrorist training videos that Hollywood puts out on a weekly basis.
I think they're going to be better off with an episode of NCIS than they are with nuking Yellowstone.
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quote:Originally posted by Ron Lambert: You know, you guys are helping terrorists. If they ever get their hands on a nuke, and want to know where they can use it to inflict the maximum damage on America, you are spelling it out for them. Let's just hope they don't take you seriously.
You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking.
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God does not open windows with nuclear stuffed super volcanoes.
,
,
well, unless its jammed really really tight, and the WD40 just doesn't work...and we all know that WD40 always works.
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Doesn't God open windows with whatever He wants, regardless of the level of jammedness of the window in question?
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quote:Originally posted by Ron Lambert: You know, you guys are helping terrorists. If they ever get their hands on a nuke, and want to know where they can use it to inflict the maximum damage on America, you are spelling it out for them. Let's just hope they don't take you seriously.
Sure, sure. Let's worry about the idea that terrorists acquire a nuke and could have set it off in a highly populated city but instead jam it into the ground in wyoming in a futile effort to trigger a hotspot caldera superevent (but not actually causing anything) on the basis of what they read some people say on orson scott card's internet forum.
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