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Review of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2	October 31, 2009, 8:38PM
by: King.of.Damned.Souls
Hello, everyone and welcome to the crazy King's psycho reviews. My first review will be of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 for the Playstation 3. Being a big Marvel fan, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this game. I'm going to give this game an 8/10, and I'll tell you why by breaking it down into categories. Graphics: 10/10. This game has stunning visuals, backed by amazing character detail. Story: 8/10. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 follows the Marvel Civil War storyline for the first half of the game, which I loved because that is one of my favorite storylines in the entire Marvel Universe, but broke off into its own story, which kind of disappointed me. Gameplay: 10/10. Amazingly fluid fighting, spot-on character specific abilities, and the new fusion abilities blew me away. I have to say this is the highlight of the game. Voices: 10/10. An amazing job well done on the voices. Voice actors like David Kaye, whom anime fans may recognize as Sesshomaru from Inuyasha or Treize Kushrenada from Gundam Wing, or as Optimus Prime from Transformers Animated, Steve Blum, who plays Wolverine in Wolverine and the X-Men, and Spike from Cowboy Bebop, and last but certainly not least, Crispin Freeman, whom most recognize as Itachi Uchiha from Naruto or Alucard from Hellsing. And finally, music: 8/10. The music is incredible, but sometimes tends to be a bit weak in certain areas. In conclusion, I will start rating games overall as a Drop, Rent, or Buy. I rate this a Rent, only because the game is short, even if you play both sides. We're talking 15-20 hours to play both sides if you speed run. If you take your time, however, to find everything in the game, you're looking at a good 40 or so hours. Thank you. You are now free to move about your psyche.
topic: Game Reviews
[reply] [1 comment]

BODY RITUAL AMONG THE NACIREMA	October 9, 2009, 10:37AM
by: Ellen
Horace Miner From Horace Miner, "Body Ritual among the Nacirema." Reproduced by permission of the American Anthropological Association from The American Anthropologist, vol. 58 (1956), pp. 503-507. ________________________________________ Most cultures exhibit a particular configuration or style. A single value or pattern of perceiving the world often leaves its stamp on several institutions in the society. Examples are "machismo" in Spanish-influenced cultures, "face" in Japanese culture, and "pollution by females" in some highland New Guinea cultures. Here Horace Miner demonstrates that "attitudes about the body" have a pervasive influence on many institutions in Nacireman society. The anthropologist has become so familiar with the diversity of ways in which different peoples behave in similar situations that he is not apt to be surprised by even the most exotic customs. In fact, if all of the logically possible combinations of behavior have not been found somewhere in the world, he is apt to suspect that they must be present in some yet undescribed tribe. This point has, in fact, been expressed with respect to clan organization by Murdock. In this light, the magical beliefs and practices of the Nacirema present such unusual aspects that it seems desirable to describe them as an example of the extremes to which human behavior can go. Professor Linton first brought the ritual of the Nacirema to the attention of anthropologists twenty years ago, but the culture of this people is still very poorly understood. They are a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Creel the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little is known of their origin, although tradition states that they came from the east.... Nacirema culture is characterized by a highly developed market economy which as evolved in a rich natural habitat. While much of the people's time is devoted to economic pursuits, a large part of the fruits of these labors and a considerable portion of the day are spent in ritual activity. The focus of this activity is the human body, the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people. While such a concern is certainly not unusual, its ceremonial aspects and associated philosophy are unique. The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man's only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of the powerful influences of ritual and ceremony. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses and, in fact, the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses. Most houses are of wattle and daub construction, but the shrine rooms of the more wealthy are walled with stone. Poorer families imitate the rich by applying pottery plaques to their shrine walls. While each family has at least one such shrine, the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries. I was able, however, to establish sufficient rapport with the natives to examine these shrines and to have the rituals described to me. The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into the wall. In this chest are kept the many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live. These preparations are secured from a variety of specialized practitioners. The most powerful of these are the medicine men, whose assistance must be rewarded with substantial gifts. However, the medicine men do not provide the curative potions for their clients, but decide what the ingredients should be and then write them down in an ancient and secret language. This writing is understood only by the medicine men and by the herbalists who, for another gift, provide the required charm. The charm is not disposed of after it has served its purpose, but is placed in the charmbox of the household shrine. As these magical materials are specific for certain ills, and the real or imagined maladies of the people are many, the charm-box is usually full to overflowing. The magical packets are so numerous that people forget what their purposes were and fear to use them again. While the natives are very vague on this point, we can only assume that the idea in retaining all the old magical materials is that their presence in the charm-box, before which the body rituals are conducted, will in some way protect the worshipper. Beneath the charm-box is a small font. Each day every member of the family, in succession, enters the shrine room, bows his head before the charm-box, mingles different sorts of holy water in the font, and proceeds with a brief rite of ablution. The holy waters are secured from the Water Temple of the community, where the priests conduct elaborate ceremonies to make the liquid ritually pure. In the hierarchy of magical practitioners, and below the medicine men in prestige, are specialists whose designation is best translated "holy-mouth-men." The Nacirema have an almost pathological horror of and fascination with the mouth, the condition of which is believed to have a supernatural influence on all social relationships. Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them. They also believe that a strong relationship exists between oral and moral characteristics. For example, there is a ritual ablution of the mouth for children which is supposed to improve their moral fiber. The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth-rite. Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious about care of the mouth, this rite involves a practice which strikes the uninitiated stranger as revolting. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures. In addition to the private mouth-rite, the people seek out a holy-mouth-man once or twice a year. These practitioners have an impressive set of paraphernalia, consisting of a variety of augers, awls, probes, and prods. The use of these objects in the exorcism of the evils of the mouth involves almost unbelievable ritual torture of the client. The holy-mouth-man open the clients mouth and, using the above mentioned tools, enlarges any holes which decay may have created in the teeth. Magical materials are put into these holes. If there age no naturally occurring holes in the teeth, large sections of one or more teeth are gouged out so that the supernatural substance can be applied. In the client's view, the purpose of these ministrations is to arrest decay and to draw friends. The extremely sacred and traditional character of the rite is evident in the fact that the natives return to the holy--mouth-men year after year, despite the fact that their teeth continue to decay. It is to be hoped that, when a thorough study of the Nacirema is made, there will be careful inquiry into the personality structure of these people. One has but to watch the gleam in the eye of a holy- mouth-man, as he jabs an awl into an exposed nerve, to suspect that a certain amount of sadism is involved. If this can be established, a very interesting pattern emerges, for most of the population shows definite masochistic tendencies. It was to these that Professor Linton referred in discussing a distinctive part of the daily body ritual which is performed only by men. This part of the rite involves scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument. Special women's rites are performed only four times during each lunar month, but what they lack in frequency is made up in barbarity. As part of this ceremony, women bake their heads in small ovens for about an hour. The theoretically interesting point is that what seems to be a preponderantly masochistic people have developed sadistic specialists. The medicine men have an imposing temple, or latipso, in every community of any size. The more elaborate ceremonies required to treat very sick patients can only be performed at this temple. These ceremonies involve not only the thaumaturge but a permanent group of vestal maidens who move sedately about the temple chambers in distinctive costume and head- dress. The latipso ceremonies are so harsh that it is phenomenal that a fair proportion of the really sick natives who enter the temple The concept of culture ever recover. Small children whose indoctrination is still incomplete have been known to resist attempts to take them to the temple because "that is where you go to die." Despite this fact, sick adults are not only willing but eager to undergo the protracted ritual purification, if they can afford to do so. No matter how ill the supplicant or how grave the emergency, the guardians of many temples will not admit a client if he cannot give a rich gift to the custodian. Even after one has gained admission and survived the ceremonies, the guardians will not permit the neophyte to leave until he makes still another gift. The supplicant entering the temple is first stripped of all his or her clothes. In everyday life the Nacirema avoids exposure of his body and its natural functions. Bathing and excretory acts are performed only in the secrecy of the household shrine, where they are ritualized as part of the body-rites. Psychological shock results from the fact that body secrecy is suddenly lost upon entry into the latipso. A man, whose own wife has never seen him in an excretory act, suddenly finds himself naked and assisted by a vestal maiden while he performs his natural functions into a sacred vessel. This sort of ceremonial treatment is necessitated by the fact that the excreta are used by a diviner to ascertain the course and nature of the client's sickness. Female clients, on the other hand, find their naked bodies are subjected to the scrutiny, manipulation and prodding of the medicine men. Few supplicants in the temple are well enough to do anything but lie on their hard beds. The daily ceremonies, like the rites of the holy-mouth-men, involve discomfort and torture. With ritual precision, the vestals awaken their miserable charges each dawn and roll them about on their beds of pain while performing ablutions, in the formal movements of which the maidens are highly trained. At other times they insert magic wands in the supplicant's mouth or force him to eat substances which are supposed to be healing. From time to time the medicine men come to their clients and jab magically treated needles into their flesh. The fact that these temple ceremonies may not cure, and may even kill the neophyte, in no way decreases the people's faith in the medicine men. There remains one other kind of practitioner, known as a "listener." This witchdoctor has the power to exorcise the devils that lodge in the heads of people who have been bewitched. The Nacirema believe that parents bewitch their own children. Mothers are particularly suspected of putting a curse on children while teaching them the secret body rituals. The counter-magic of the witchdoctor is unusual in its lack of ritual. The patient simply tells the "listener" all his troubles and fears, beginning with the earliest difficulties he can remember. The memory displayed by the Nacirerna in these exorcism sessions is truly remarkable. It is not uncommon for the patient to bemoan the rejection he felt upon being weaned as a babe, and a few individuals even see their troubles going back to the traumatic effects of their own birth. In conclusion, mention must be made of certain practices which have their base in native esthetics but which depend upon the pervasive aversion to the natural body and its functions. There are ritual fasts to make fat people thin and ceremonial feasts to make thin people fat. Still other rites are used to make women's breasts larger if they are small, and smaller if they are large. General dissatisfaction with breast shape is symbolized in the fact that the ideal form is virtually outside the range of human variation. A few women afflicted with almost inhuman hyper-mamrnary development are so idolized that they make a handsome living by simply going from village to village and permitting the natives to stare at them for a fee. Reference has already been made to the fact that excretory functions are ritualized, routinized, and relegated to secrecy. Natural reproductive functions are similarly distorted. Intercourse is taboo as a topic and scheduled as an act. Efforts are made to avoid pregnancy by the use of magical materials or by limiting intercourse to certain phases of the moon. Conception is actually very infrequent. When pregnant, women dress so as to hide their condition. Parturition takes place in secret, without friends or relatives to assist, and the majority of women do not nurse their infants. Our review of the ritual life of the Nacirema has certainly shown them to be a magic-ridden people. It is hard to understand how they have managed to exist so long under the burdens which they have imposed upon themselves. But even such exotic customs as these take on real meaning when they are viewed with the insight provided by Malinowski when he wrote: "Looking from far and above, from our high places of safety in the developed civilization, it is easy to see all the crudity and irrelevance of magic. But without its power and guidance early man could not have mastered his practical difficulties as he has done, nor could man have advanced to the higher stages of civilization." References Linton, Ralph. 1936. The Study of Man. New York: D. Appleton-Century. Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1948. Magic, Science, and Religion. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press. Murdock, George P. 1949. Social Structure. New York: Macmillan.
topic: Essays
[reply] [125 comments]

	October 4, 2009, 1:35PM
by: baroque
This question has interested me for the longest time: why do people listen to the music that they listen to? I've tried finding something pertaining to this on the internet, yet everything I create to use as a search phrase returns garbage. I read somewhere, or heard somewhere, that music is what emotion sounds like. If this is true, is it plausible that a person's music choice depends upon their personality type? There are many personality types out there, and each one comes with its very own unique set of “built-in” temperaments. However, not everyone enjoys music for its emotional value, even though the greater majority of songs are based on love. Maybe there's an intellectual view in regards to music? Perhaps some people listen to music based on the content of the lyrics with little regard to how the song actually sounds. I know that there are songs that I can't help but sing along. I could be somehow relating to those songs, or it could just be a reflex to sing to music. I don't really even know, but it doesn't happen with every song I know the lyrics to. Any ideas?
topic: Rants
[reply] [3 comments]

New Comment Notifications by Email	October 2, 2009, 10:10PM
by: eon
A new feature has been added which will make it a little easier to keep track of your DS account without having to log in: Comment notifications by email. Here's the skinny on how it works: If you have logged out or have been idle for more than 15 minutes and receive a new comment on DS, an email will be sent to your registered email address letting you know about it. You will only receive emails about individual comments sent directly to you. This means you won't be pestered about things like broadcast messages, group invites, etc.. As a measure against potential abuse (or just too much email), no more than one email will be sent to you per 30 minute period. Extra emails will just be dropped (they won't queue up or anything like that). Each email you receive will give you an updated list of all members who have sent you unread comments. This behavior is enabled by default. However, if you do not wish to receive email notices, it is easy to disable. Just go to your Control Panel and then scroll down the page to the 'Email Notices' section. Change the setting to 'Off' and you won't be sent any more notices. I hope you find this useful and . . . Enjoy.
topic: Site News
[reply] [19 comments]

Flotsam! Revived?	September 27, 2009, 12:28PM
by: baroque
What really is the meaning of life? There are many encompassing theories about life. Even though the dictionary has a list of what every use of the word “life” entails, people still like to take it upon themselves to dictate to others what they view life as. Just recently, I read a post on one of my previous articles that told someone that life wasn't a balance sheet. My question is...why not? Life is what people make of it. For some people, life is all about being aware. For others, life is about being happy. Even reproduction is seen as the meaning of life by certain people. Depending on each person's individual view, a solipsist views life completely different than an altruist views life. Is life really too complicated to pin a universal definition to?
topic: Philosophy
[reply] [3 comments]

Coffee vs. Tea	September 20, 2009, 12:46PM
by: baroque
To understand the dire need for the healthcare reform, one must first understand what’s wrong with the health care system. There are people who are under the impression that the health care system has no flaws, or believe that the current flaws are unable to be reconciled. Once this hurdle is overcome, there’s another more drastic hurdle that is impossible to fully pass. This next enigma is how to fix the flaws. There are many ways to fix each individually, but the problem lies in the opinions of the masses. There’s no conceivable possibility of having every single person unify on a single solution. Because of this problem, it’s difficult to successfully discuss the health care reform without heated conflictions in thoughts, ideas, and possible ameliorations. In fact, the healthcare system has been previously evaluated back in 1993 with a crushing defeat. The problem with the past health care reform was the fact that policy was placed before politics. The reform was well built to satisfy health economics, yet they failed to take into consideration the public, or more simply, the voters. In the Clinton health care reform, a person who lost a job would be guaranteed to lose any health care benefits they may have awarded through their job. In a time when people were already fearful of losing their job due to the economy, adding a health care loss would further devastate a family’s financial stability. Therefore, the year after the reform was introduced, Congress declared the reform as officially dead. In order to avoid making the same mistakes again, the health care reform currently taking place must meet the needs of the public, health economics, and fiscal budgets. According to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services, health care cost is expected to rise to $8,160 per person by the end of the 2009 fiscal year as opposed to $4,790 per person at the end of the 2000 fiscal year. With all the health care costs inflating, the question that arises is whether or not Americans get increased quality health care with the increased prices. As the data falls into place, it turns out that Americans are not getting adequate health care for the money that’s being put into the health care system. Part of the problem with increased costs is location. When comparing the cost the elderly spent on health care in Miami, San Francisco, and Salem, there are a few details to note. Miami has the most expensive health care of the three followed by San Francisco, then Salem. Beginning in 1999 and ending in 2006, San Francisco and Salem actually keep roughly the same cost gap while Miami’s cost starts to climb. Judging by this information, Miami’s elderly should be getting a better quality of health care for the price they’re paying, correct? Of course, that’s not where it ends. Looking closer into the actual health care situation in these three cities, a test was conducted to see how many elderly people survived after a heart attack. In the lowest spending area of the country, a little over thirty percent of elderly die after a heart attack. In the highest spending area of the country, which includes Miami, roughly thirty two percent of the elderly die after a heart attack. Further investigation revealed what possibilities the doctors could recommend to their patients showing up with chest pains. Doctors may recommend frequent check-ups to monitor the progress of the elderly, or they may also suggest tests that may be run in order to check for complications. Ironically, the large portion of tests that are used to check for heart problems are actually not proven to create a difference in the outcome of a patient, and this is where the problem is involved. Doctors in places such as Miami actually have their own machines such as the echo cardiogram. By suggesting their patients to be tested using their machine, doctors get paid every time these machines are used. In lower spending areas, doctors don’t have the same incentives. In order to suggest getting a test with a machine such as an echo cardiogram, they’d have to send the patient to a better equipped hospital with no personal incentives for themselves. It’s also been proven that patients in low cost areas receive the same, and sometimes even better, care than high cost areas. Now, this is just one tiny example of a health care system flaw by illustrating the incentives some doctors possess. There are many variations to this example, and it could even be argued that there are more elderly in Miami since Florida is a retirement location. Arguments also stem from the availability of equipment in a particular area, though it's proven that every patient has access to the same machines. President Barack Obama has already initiated his health care reform by increasing health care coverage for children. President Obama has created the Recovery Act of 2009 in order to fulfill the obligated requirements of health care reform. With this Recovery Act, President Obama has overcome the greatest reason for the failure of Clinton's health care reform. If an American loses their job, the government will temporarily supply a tax credit in order for their insurance to be provided through COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act). The Recovery Act of 2009 also outlines plans to have America's health records completely computerized in five years. The current paper system relies heavily on a patient's memory which leads to erroneous information. Not only is this system expensive to maintain, but also requires a longer amount of time needed to fully implement its use. By placing all the medical records on a computer, the information is easier to back up and modernizes the health care system. The health care system slow with their health records, and also slow in terms of having access to immediate information that may save someone's life. The health care industry is fickle. With constantly changing research on the best treatments available to patients, physicians and doctors need to have access to the most recent data in order to provide the best service to each and every patient. The Recovery Act of 2009 is allocating $1.1 billion in order to create a more effective means of communication between the different facets of the health industry. Finally, $1 billion will be put forth for the prevention of health problems. A large chunk of all health problems occur due to issues involving lack of exercise, a poor diet, and drug use. Many types of cancer and other diseases can be detected at an early stage with screening tests. The difficulty lies in that Americans aren't getting these tests. The government has set aside a reserve fund of $630 billion distributed over ten years in order to meet all the goals set forth with the Recovery Act of 2009. In fact, President Obama even claims that $630 billion isn't enough for a complete health care reform, but it's enough to make an impact in how the industry is handled. By following these eight principles, President Obama plans to work with Congress to change the tide in health care: guarantee choice, make health care coverage affordable, protect families' financial health, invest in prevention and wellness, provide portability of coverage, aim for universality, improve patient safety and quality care, and maintain long-term fiscal sustainability. The health care reform will benefit Americans who have health insurance as well as those who don't. For those who already have health insurance, the new reform will provide more stability and security. Insurance companies will be unable to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions or risks due to the 12 million people over the last three years who were turned down. Age and gender discrimination will be limited when involving premiums. Insurance companies will be restricted from dropping coverages due to unknown illnesses that patients have not listed on their application. Preventative care through the insurance companies will be made free. Medicare for seniors will be improved and cheapened. For those who are unable to afford insurance, the new reform will provide a brand new insurance market: the Exchange. Small businesses and people without insurance will be able to get insurance by comparing different costs, protection, and benefits. The government will provide tax credits using a sliding scale for people who have low incomes. These tax credits will cap how much they're going to pay for premiums. Tax credits for insurance will also be provided to small businesses. For all Americans regardless of insurance status, there are positive outcomes. Allegedly, the reform will not raise the national deficit at all and will be paid for by using fees charged on the more expensive insurance plans that the insurance companies offer as well as other health care savings. If this isn't the case and the health care reform somehow manages in influence the deficit, the health care reform will be further cut in order to create a self-sufficient system. A commission will be formed in order to annually give out advice on how to improve Medicare. This commission will be unable to actually implement any Medicare changes; they will simply offer improvements. Also, large employers (50+ employees) will be forced to provide health insurance to their employees or pay a fee to create an affordable plan in the Exchange. With all the steps that President Obama is taking, who knows what the outcome will be for the health care industry. The changes are too large to keep track of everything going on. It's unavoidable that there will be people attempting to thwart the system and create their own profit. The possibility of the reform going off without a hitch is unlikely, though a desired outcome for many people. Not every problem has been addressed, but the main points have been sought to be corrected. People are still arguing on how the health care reform should be corrected. The Congress and the President are the final decision, though.
topic: Various
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Charlie Sheen's 20 Minutes With President Barack Obama	September 13, 2009, 11:06PM
by: summon_of_water_and_of_ice_terrinja
Hey Guys. I was just browsing around the internet and Youtube and I came across something that caught my eye. Mr. Charlie Sheen made a video about 9/11 that raised alot of questions with the United States population. I wont go in to the details but you can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyKR2-A0KPU I thought it was really interesting. He made some valid and interesting points about 9/11/2001. He wants to have a sit down chat with President Barack Obama. They finally said yes and gave him 20 minutes. This is the conversation between Mr. Sheen and President Barack Obama. Charlie Sheen – Good afternoon Mr. President, thank you so much for taking time out of your demanding schedule. President Barack Obama – My pleasure, the content of your request seemed like something I should carve out a few minutes for. CS – I should point out that I voted for you, as your promises of hope and change, transparency and accountability, as well as putting government back into the hands of the American people, struck an emotional chord in me that I hadn’t felt in quite some time, perhaps ever. PBO – And I appreciate that Charlie. Big fan of the show, by the way. CS – Sir, I can’t imagine when you might find the time to actually watch my show given the measure of what you inherited. PBO – I have it Tivo’d on Air Force One. Nice break from the traveling press corps. (He glances at his watch) not to be abrupt or to rush you, but you have 19 minutes left. CS – I’ll take that as an invitation to cut to the chase. PBO – I’m all ears. Or so I’ve been told. CS – Sir, in the very near future we will be experiencing our first 9/11 anniversary with you as Commander in Chief. PBO – Yes. A very solemn day for our Nation. A day of reflection and yet a day of historical consciousness as well. CS – Very much so sir, very much so indeed…. Now; In researching your position regarding the events of 9/11 and the subsequent investigation that followed, am I correct to understand that you fully support and endorse the findings of the commission report otherwise known as the ‘official story’? PBO – Do I have any reason not to? Given that most of us are presumably in touch with similar evidence. CS – I really wish that were the case, sir. Are you aware, Mr. President, of the recent stunning revelations that sixty percent of the 9/11 commissioners have publicly stated that the government agreed not to tell the truth about 9/11 and that the Pentagon was engaged in deliberate deception about their response to the attack? PBO – I am aware of certain “in fighting” during the course of their very thorough and tireless investigative process. CS – Mr. President, it’s hard to label this type of friction as “in fighting” or make the irresponsible leap to “thorough,” when the evidence I insist you examine regarding 6 of the 10 members are statements of fact. (At this point one of Obama’s senior aides approaches the President and whispers into his ear. Obama glances quickly at his watch and nods as the aide resumes his post at the doorway, directly behind me.) PBO – No disrespect Mr. Sheen, but I have to ask; what is it that you seem to be implying with the initial direction of this discussion? CS – I am not implying anything Mr. President. I am here to present the facts and see what you plan to do with them. PBO – Let me guess; your ‘facts,’ allegedly supporting these claims are in the folders you brought with you? CS – Good guess Mr. President. (I hand the first folder of documents to the President) CS – Again sir, these are not my opinions or assumptions, this is all a matter of public record, reported through mainstream media, painstakingly fact checked and verified. (the President glances into the folder I handed him) CS – You’ll notice sir on page one of the dossier dated August of ‘06 from the Washington Post, the statements of John Farmer, senior council to the 9/11 commission, his quote stating, “I was shocked how different the truth was from the way it was described.” PBO – (as he glances down at the report, almost inaudible) …. um hmm…. CS – He goes on to further state “The [NORAD Air Defense] tapes told a radically different story from what had been told to us and the public for two years….” (the President continues to view the documents) CS – On pages two and three, sir, are the statements, as well, from commission co-chairmen Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, commissioners Bob Kerrey, Timothy Roemer and John Lehman, as well as the statements of commissioner Max Cleland, an ex-Senator from Georgia , who resigned, stating: “It is a national scandal. This investigation is now compromised. One of these days we will have to get the full story because the 9/11 issue is so important to America. But this White House wants to cover it up.” He also described President Bush’s desire to delay the process as not to damage the ‘04 re-election bid. They suspected deception to the point where they considered referring the matter to the Justice Department for criminal investigation. Mr. President, this information alone is unequivocally grounds for a new investigation! PBO – Mistakes were clearly made but we as a people and as a country need to move forward. It is obviously in our best interest as a democratic society to focus our efforts and our resources on the future of this great nation and our ability to protect the American people and our allies from this type of terrorism in the coming years. CS – Sir, how can we focus on the future when THE COMMISSION ITSELF is on record stating that they still do not know the truth?? PBO – Even if what you state, might in some capacity, begin to approach an open discussion or balanced debate, I can’t speak for, or about the decisions certain commission members made during an extremely difficult period. Perhaps you should be interviewing them instead of me. Wait, don’t tell me; I was easier to track down than they were? CS – Not exactly sir, but let’s be honest. You’re the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, the buck stops with you. 9/11 has been the pretext for the systematic dismantling of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Your administration is reading from the same playbook that the Bush administration foisted on America through documented secrecy and deception. PBO – Mr. Sheen, I’m having a difficult time sitting here and listening to you draw distorted parallels between the Bush/Cheney regime and mine. CS – Mr. President the parallels are not distorted just because you say they are. Let’s stick to the facts. You promised to abolish the Patriot Act and then voted to re-authorize it. You pledged to end warrantless wire tapping against the American people and now energetically defend it. You decried the practice of rendition and now continue it. You promised over and over again on the campaign trail, that you would end the practice of indefinite detention and instead, you have expanded it to permanent detention of “detainees” without trial. This far exceeds the outrages of the former administration. Call me crazy Mr. President, but is this not your record? PBO – Mr. Sheen, my staff and I authorized this interview based on your request to discuss 9/11 and deliver some additional information you’re convinced I’d not previously reviewed. Call me crazy, But it appears as though you’ve blindly wandered off topic. CS – Sir, the examples I just illustrated are a direct result of 9/11. PBO – And I’m telling you that we must move forward, we must endure through these dangerous and politically challenging years ahead. CS – Mr. President, we cannot move forward with a bottomless warren of unanswered questions surrounding that day and its aftermath. PBO – I read the official report. Every word every page. Perhaps you should do the same. CS – I have sir, and so have thousands of family members of the victims, and guess what; they have the same questions I do and probably a lot more. I didn’t lose a loved one on that horrific day Mr. President and neither did you. But since then I, along with millions of other Americans lost something we held true and dear for most of our lives in this great country of ours; we lost our hope. PBO – And I’d like to believe that I am here to restore that hope. To restore confidence in your leaders, in the system that the voting public chose through a peaceful transfer of power. (An odd moment of silence between us. Precious time ticking away). CS – Mr. President, are you aware of the number of days it took to begin the investigation into JFK’s assassination? PBO – If memory serves I believe it was two weeks. CS – Close. Seventeen days to be exact. Are you aware sir, how long it took to begin the investigation into Pearl Harbor? PBO – I would say again about….two weeks. CS – Close again sir, eleven days to be exact. Are you aware Mr. President how long it took to begin the investigation into 9/11? PBO – I know it must have seemed like a very long time for all the grieving families. CS – It was a very long time Mr. President – four hundred and forty days. Roughly 14 months. Does it bother you Mr. President that it only took FIVE HOURS for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld after the initial attack to recommend and endorse a full scale offensive against Iraq? PBO – I am not aware of any such purported claim. CS – I have the proof Mr. President, along with scores of documents and facts I’d like you to take a look at. Here. (I hand him another file – much thicker than the first) PBO – I see you came prepared Charlie. CS – No other way to show up Mr. President. When in doubt over prepare I always say. PBO – Now you sound like the First Lady. CS – That’s quite a compliment sir. PBO – As you wish. Please continue. CS – Sir, I’d like to direct your attention to the stack of documents in the folder I just handed you. The first in from the top is entitled “ Operation Northwoods“, a declassified Pentagon plan to stage terror attacks on US soil, to be blamed on Cuba as a pretext for war. PBO – And I’d like to direct your attention to the fact that the principle draftsman of this improbable blueprint was quickly denied a second term as Joint Chiefs chairman and sent packing to a European NATO garrison. Thank God his otherworldly ambitions never saw the light of day. CS – I wouldn’t be so certain about that Mr. President. PBO – I could easily say the same to you Charlie. (the President checks his watch) featured stories Twenty Minutes with the President soylent green featured stories Twenty Minutes with the President Charlie Sheen writing 20 Minutes with the President. Photo by Alex Jones. CS – The next document reads “Declassified staged provocations.” Now, Honestly Mr. President I wish I was making this stuff up. I’m certain you are familiar with the USS Maine Incident, the sinking of the Lusitania, which we all now know brought us into WW1, and of course the most famous, the Gulf of Tonkin incident. PBO – Of course I am familiar with these historical events and I’m aware that there’s a measure of controversy surrounding them. But to be quite frank with you, this is all ancient history. CS – Mr. President, it has been often said; “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.” And I concede to you sir, these events are the past. PBO – A vastly different world young man, shouldering a radically disparate state of universal affairs. CS – No argument sir, I’m merely inviting you to acknowledge some credibility to the pattern or the theme. Case in point; the next document in your folder. It was published by the think-tank, Project For a New American Century and it’s entitled “ Rebuilding Americas Defenses“, and was written by Dick Cheney and Jeb Bush. To quote from the document sir – (the President interrupts) PBO – “Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.” CS – Touche, sir. Your thoughts on this statement Mr. President? PBO – I would call this a blatant case of misjudgment fueled by an unfortunate milieu of assumption. For some, the uninformed denial of coincidence. CS – Interesting angle sir. Nevertheless, Vice President Cheney didn’t stop there. In early 2008, Pulitzer prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh and MSNBC, both reported that Cheney had proposed to the Pentagon an outrageous plan to have the U.S. Navy create fake Iranian patrol boats, to be manned by Navy Seals, who would then stage an attack on US destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz. This event was to be blamed on Iran and used as a pretext for war. Does any of this information worry you Mr. President? Should we just ignore it, until these realities can be dismissed years from now by our children, as ancient history as well? PBO – Of course this information worries me, yet it’s not nearly as worrisome as you sitting here today suspiciously implying that 9/11 was somehow allowed to happen or even orchestrated from the inside. CS – Mr. President I am not suspiciously implying anything. I am merely exposing the documents and asking the questions that nobody in power will even look at or acknowledge. And as I stated earlier, I voted for you, I believed in your message of hope and change. Mr. President I have come to you specifically hoping for a change. A change in the perception that our government has not yet made itself open and accountable to the people. These are your words Mr. President not mine. The lives of thousands were brutally cut short and those left behind to suffer their infinite pain are with me today Mr. President. They are with me in spirit and flesh, and the message we carry will not be silenced anymore by media fueled mantras insisting how they are supposed to feel. Deciding for them, for 8 long years, what can be thought, what can be said, what can be asked. PBO – And I appreciate your passion, I appreciate your conviction. In spite of your concerns, in spite of what your data might or might not reveal, what you and the families must understand and accept is that we are doing everything we can to protect you. CS – Mr. President , I realize were very short on time, so please allow me to run down a list of bullet points that might illuminate some reasons why we don’t embrace the warm hug of Federal protection. PBO – We’ve come this far. Fire away. CS – Please keep in mind Mr. President everything I’m about to say is documented as fact and part of the public record. The information you are holding in your hands chronicles and verifies each and every point. PBO – You have five minutes left. The floor is yours. Brief me. CS – Thank you Mr. President. Okay, first; On the FBI’s most wanted list Osama Bin Laden is not charged with the crimes of 911. When I called the FBI to ask them why this was the case, they replied: “There’s not enough evidence to link Bin Laden to the crime scene,” I later discovered he had never even been indicted by the D.O.J. CS – Number 2; FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, was dismissed and gagged by the D.O.J. after she revealed that the government had foreknowledge of plans to attack American cities using planes as bombs as early as April 2001. In July of ‘09, Mrs. Edmonds broke the Federal gag order and went public to reveal that Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the Taliban were all working for and with the C.I.A. up until the day of 9/11. CS – Number 3; The following is a quote from Mayor Giuliani during an interview on 9/11 with Peter Jennings for ABC News. “I went down to the scene and we set up headquarters at 75 Barkley Street, which was right there with the Police Commissioner, the Fire Commissioner, the Head of Emergency Management, and we were operating out of there when we were told that the World Trade Center was going to collapse. And it did collapse before we could actually get out of the building, so we were trapped in the building for 10, 15 minutes, and finally found an exit and got out, walked north, and took a lot of people with us.” WHO TOLD HIM THIS??? To this day, the answer to this question remains unanswered, completely ignored and emphatically DENIED by Mayor Giuliani on several public occasions. CS – Number 4; In April 2004, USA Today reported, “In the two years before the Sept. 11 attacks, the North American Aerospace Defense Command conducted exercises simulating what the White House says was unimaginable at the time: hijacked airliners used as weapons to crash into targets and cause mass casualties.” One of the targets was the World Trade Center. CS – Number 5; On September 12th 2007, CNN’s ‘Anderson Cooper 360′, reported that the mysterious “white plane” spotted and videotaped by multiple media outlets, flying in restricted airspace over the White House shortly before 10am on the morning of 9/11, was in fact the Air Force’s E-4B, a specially modified Boeing 747 with a communications pod behind the cockpit; otherwise known as “The Doomsday Plane”. Though fully aware of the event, the 9/11 Commission did not deem the appearance of the military plane to be of any interest and did not include it in the final 9/11 Commission report. CS – Number 6; Three F-16s assigned to Andrews Air Force Base, ten miles from Washington, DC, are conducting training exercises in North Carolina 207 miles away as the first plane crashes into the WTC. Even at significantly less than their top speed of 1500 mph, they could still have defended the skies over Washington well before 9am, more than 37 minutes before Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, however, they did not return until after 9:55am. Andrews AFB had no armed fighters on alert and ready to take off on the morning of 9/11. CS – Number 7; WTC Building 7. Watch the video of its collapse. CS – Number 8; Flight 93 is fourth plane to crash on 9/11 at 10:03am. V.P. Cheney only gives shoot down order at 10:10-10:20am and this is not communicated to NORAD until 28 minutes after Flight 93 has crashed. Fueling further suspicion on this front is the fact that three months before the attacks of 9/11, Dick Cheney usurped control of NORAD, and therefore he, and no one else on planet Earth, had the power to call for military sorties on the hijacked airliners on 9/11. He did not exercise that power. Three months after 9/11, he relinquished command of NORAD and returned it to military operation. * A d v e r t i s e m e n t * efoods CS – Number 9; Scores of main stream news outlets reported that the F.B.I. conducted an investigation of at least FIVE of the 9/11 hijackers being trained at U.S. military flight schools. Those investigations are now sealed and need to be declassified. CS – Number 10; In 2004, New York firefighters Mike Bellone and Nicholas DeMasi went public to say they had found the black boxes at the World Trade Center, but were told to keep their mouths shut by FBI agents. Nicholas DeMasi said that he escorted federal agents on an all-terrain vehicle in October 2001 and helped them locate the devices, a story backed up by rescue volunteer Mike Bellone. As the Philadelphia Daily News reported at the time, “Their story raises the question of whether there was a some type of cover-up at Ground Zero.” CS – Number 11 – Hundreds of eye witnesses including first responders, fire captains, news reporters, and police, all described multiple explosions in both towers before and during the collapse. CS – Number 12; An astounding video uncovered from the archives shows BBC News correspondent Jane Standley reporting on the collapse of WTC Building 7 over twenty minutes before it fell at 5:20pm on the afternoon of 9/11. Tapes from earlier BBC broadcasts show news anchors discussing the collapse of WTC 7 a full 26 minutes in advance. The BBC at first claimed that their tapes from 9/11 had been “lost” before admitting that they made the “error” of reporting the collapse of WTC 7 before it happened without adequately explaining how they could have obtained advance knowledge of the event. In addition, over an hour before the collapse of WTC 7, at 4:10pm, CNN’s Aaron Brown reported that the building “has either collapsed, or is collapsing.” CS – Number 13; Solicitor General Ted Olson’s claim that his wife Barbara Olsen called him twice from Flight 77, describing hijackers with box cutters, was a central plank of the official 9/11 story. However, the credibility of the story was completely undermined after Olsen kept changing his story about whether his wife used her cell phone or the airplane phone. The technology to enable cell phone calls from high-altitude airline flights was not created until 2004. American Airlines confirmed that Flight 77 was a Boeing 757 and that this plane did not have airplane phones on board. According to the FBI, Barbara Olsen attempted to call her husband only once and the call failed to connect, therefore Olsen must have been lying when he claimed he had spoken to his wife from Flight 77. CS – Number 14; The size of a Boeing 757 is approximately 125ft in width and yet images of the impact zone at the Pentagon supposedly caused by the crash merely show a hole no more than 16ft in diameter. The engines of the 757 would have punctured a hole bigger than this, never mind the whole plane. Images before the partial collapse of the impact zone show little real impact damage and a sparse debris field completely inconsistent with the crash of a large jetliner, especially when contrasted with other images showing airplane crashes into buildings. CS – Number 15; What is the meaning behind the following quote attributed to Dick Cheney which came to light during the 9/11 Commission hearings? The passage is taken from testimony given by then Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta. During the time that the airplane was coming in to the Pentagon, there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President, “The plane is 50 miles out.” “The plane is 30 miles out.” And when it got down to “the plane is 10 miles out,” the young man also said to the Vice President, “Do the orders still stand?” And the Vice President turned and whipped his neck around and said, “Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?” As the plane was not shot down, in addition to the fact that armed fighter jets were nowhere near the plane and the Pentagon defensive system was not activated, are we to take it that the orders were to let the plane find its target? CS – Number 16; In May 2003, the Miami Herald reported how the Bush administration was refusing to release a 900-page congressional report on 9/11 because it wanted to “avoid enshrining embarrassing details in the report,” particularly regarding pre-9/11 warnings as well as the fact that the hijackers were trained at U.S. flight schools. CS – Number 17; Top Pentagon officials cancelled their scheduled flights for September 11th on September 10th. San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, following a security warning, cancelled a flight into New York that was scheduled for the morning of 9/11. CS – Number 18; The technology to enable cell phone calls from high-altitude airline flights was not created until 2004, and even by that point it was only in the trial phase. Calls from cell phones which formed an integral part of the official government version of events were technologically impossible at the time. CS – Number 19: On April 29, 2004, President Bush and V.P. Cheney would only meet with the commission under specific clandestine conditions. They insisted on testifying together and not under oath. They also demanded that their testimony be treated as a matter of “state secret.” To date, nothing they spoke of that day exists in the public domain. CS – And finally Mr. President – Number 20; A few days after the attack, several newspapers as well as the FBI reported that a paper passport had been found in the ruins of the WTC. In August 2004, CNN reported that 9/11 hijacker Ziad Jarrah’s visa was found in the remains of Flight 93 which went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. At least a third of the WTC victim’s bodies were vaporized and many of the victims of the Pentagon incident were burned beyond recognition. And yet visas and paper passports which identify the perpetrators and back up the official version of events miraculously survive explosions and fires that we are told melted steel buildings. (The Senior aide appears again beside the President whispering in his ear. He then quickly moves off). PBO – Well Charlie I can’t say this hasn’t been interesting. As I said earlier you’ve showed up today focused and organized. Regardless how I feel about the material you’ve presented, I must commend your dedication and zeal. However, our time here is up. (the President rises from his chair , I do the same). CS – Mr. President! One more second! (The President starts towards the door – I follow him quickly step for step). CS – Mr. President, I implore you based on the evidence you now possess, to use your Executive Power. Prove to us all Sir, that you do, in fact, care. Create a truly comprehensive and open Congressional investigation of 9/11 and its aftermath. The families deserve the truth, the American people and the rest of the free world deserve the truth. Mr. President - (He pauses. We shake hands). CS – Make sure you’re on the right side of history. (The President breaks the handshake). PBO – I am on the right side of history. Thank you Charlie, my staff and I will be in touch. (I watch as he strides gracefully out of the room, the truth I provided him held firmly by his side; in the hand of providence.) the information I have provided can also be viewed here: http://www.infowars.com/twenty-minutes-with-the-president/ Thank you for your time everyone and have a nice night
topic: Current Events
[reply] [19 comments]

Love?	September 13, 2009, 7:47PM
by: baroque
Love has often been universally misunderstood. A pivotal reason for this is the vague definition that most people attach to the word. Many people even create their own definition in order to suit a specific situation as well as a specific emotion that's felt. In fact, hasty generalizations don't even apply to how people view love. Philosophers and psychologists alike have been attempting to understand and portray love to its barest foundations, as well as artists, musicians, poets, and even authors. As a result, many theories, pictures, songs, poems, and stories have emerged from the chaos that is love. Many of these avenues of expression depict viewpoints that many people agree with. Adversely, many perverse love expressions are ridiculed. With a broad spectrum of personal views, love is potentially the most confused concept in the English language. There is a vast plethora of theories involving love. According to psychologist Zick Rubin, love is made of three elements: attachment, caring, and intimacy. Rubin defines attachment as the need to be cared for and to be with the other person, caring is valuing the other person's happiness and needs as much as your own, and intimacy is sharing private thoughts, feelings, and desires with the other person. Using this basis of thought, Rubin developed a question set for “liking” and “loving” that was administered to 198 undergraduate students in order to single out 13 specific questions in each category for a test. These questions were used to define the complexity of love in people who take the test. Psychologist Elaine Hatfield's theory, love is made of two types: compassionate love and passionate love. Compassionate love is comprised of mutual respect, trust, and affection. Passionate love deals with the physical aspect involving intense feelings and sexual attraction. Building off the compassionate/passionate love idea is the Triangular Theory of Love. Psychologist Robert Sternberg suggested that there are three components to love: intimacy, passion, and commitment. However, unlike Rubin and Hatfield, Sternberg twisted his theory up by stating that each of his components could be mixed together. To illustrate, intimacy and commitment formed a compassionate love, while passion and intimacy formed passionate love. Sternberg also believed that all three components could be combined at once to form consummate love. This final form of love is not only the strongest, but also the rarest. To conclude, the final type of a love descriptor is from a book titled “The Colors of Love” by John Lee. In the book, Lee hypothesized that love is akin to the primary and secondary colors. Instead of colors though, there are styles of love: Eros, Ludos, and Storge. Eros is loving an ideal person, Ludos is love as a game, and Storge is love is a friendship. Of course, each of those, when combined with another, forms a secondary style of love. Mania (Eros + Ludos) is an obsessive love, Pragma (Ludos + Storge) is a realistic and practical love, while Agape (Eros + Storge) is a selfless love. Many other prevalent theories describe love; some theories are practical while others aren't. Despite the psychological viewpoint on love, is it possible that every moment of love you've ever experienced is based on a combination of two chemicals in your brain? Scientists have been studying prairie voles, one of only 3% of species that appear to be monogamous. The uniqueness of the prairie vole, apart from their monogamy, is that they have a very closely related genetic make up as the montane vole, over 99%. The montane vole, however, is not monogamous. During sex, the prairie vole releases two chemicals called vasopressin and oxytocin. The montane vole doesn't release these two chemicals. In fact, the montane vole, even when injected with vasopressin and oxytocin, still show signs of one-night-stand sex proving that there are no receptors in a montane vole's brain. The question still remains whether or not a human brain works the same as a vole's brain. The interaction between vasopressin and oxytocin in a human's brain is still not fully understood. Dopamine is excreted to excite a person when they think about someone they love followed by serotonin to calm people down in order to trust. Once trust has begun, the oxytocin kicks in and takes effect. The oxytocin creates a feeling of connection to the person you're with. Finally, vasopressin is released. Vasopressin has the effect of tying the emotions you have to memories. By combining these chemicals in different quantities, among other chemicals in the body such as, but not limited to, phenyl ethylamine, and norepinephrine, different behavioral patterns come into focus. Although there are apparent fall outs and anomalies to each of these descriptions, the true basis for love has not yet been fully understood. Regardless of the facts, there will always be romantics out there who will be steadfast in their beliefs about love, even if scientists pin it down to a particular chemical reaction. People will still marvel at the portrayals of love displayed by artists, musicians, poets, and even authors. Expressions of love will forever hold a place in the hearts of many individuals.
topic: Various
[reply] [140 comments]

Poetry and Short Story Contests	September 11, 2009, 5:19PM
by: Sgath
Short Story Contest by Klarth Calling all writers! Do you toil endless hours crafting works of prose? Do you want to share your work with others in a constructive environment that fosters healthy discussion? Well, look no further, the Literature Forum is proud to welcome you into its ranks! And what's more, you have a chance to win a full year's supply of Andromeda premium Membership. Andromeda, you say? What's that? If you don't know, then I'd bet you'd like to, and if you do, I'd bet you want more. So check out our Short Story Contest, which is accepting entries until September 30th. As usual, all the relevant information can be found here. Good luck, and good reading! New Poetry Contest! After the success of the first contest and the amount of contestants that took part, I've decided to start another! Prizes include 30 days andromeda time for the winner and 10 days for the runner up. If you didn't get a chance to take part last time, or you didn't win, well now is your chance! Drop by the Poetry Forum and check it out. Recent Poetry Contest Winners 1st Place - Ozymandias We burn like paper cranes in the stale furnace of ennui head on fire with the kudzu cancer blues we enter in droves into the belly of the sea for lack of a better death to pursue call me sick call me unprepared call me a prophet in need of repair call me the architect lost in his plans call me a fool honey, call me the lamb just call me what I am we lock ourselves away in space-age melanoma boxes in mute scorn of the star that gifted us with vision and wealth we cry for release just like a monsoon in a matchbox then stagger to the grave for a handshake and a toast to our health take me to heaven man, take me to hell take me to the mountain where the angels fell take me to tomorrow so I won't be so blue take me away honey, take me in you we grovel before wise men and we grow drunk on their words though they ain't said nothing that the coyote ain't done we're marked for death before we've even begun smote by the moon and burning in the heat of the sun 2nd Place - Illmortal's "If I were you" If I were you Then I would gladly loan to me a dollar or two So I could eat And maybe get just one good night of sleep But I'm not And I'm stranded like a castaway in this town And you seem so unwilling to help a fellow when he's down If I were you That's what I'd do If I were you I wouldn't be out on these streets the whole night through Yeah I'd have a job And a pretty wife that I could come home to But I don't And I have twenty cents left to my name And you're the only one left here that I have to blame If I were you That's what I'd do Sir it's not my way to take from you the things I haven't earned I wish I could go back and heed the lessons I have learned But I can't So you'll gladly put your money in this sack Yes sir this thing is loaded And I have the hammer back If I were you That's what I'd do 3rd Place - Satchell's "Exercise in Beauty" There exists in this world a serene beauty that arrives without leaving. Awoken just as you are, spread as far as your eye lashes may reach. A singing in the woodwork- A chime in the wind- A flicker in the tongue- The magic of this world, twisted and fractured, curled and laced between the seams of life. Steam filtered between the gaps, between truth and fable. Back-light and full of luster, the clouds whispered, "Gunpowder muskrat." "Excuse me?" He said.
topic: Current Events
[reply] [5 comments]

Looking out for each other	September 4, 2009, 6:39PM
by: Necrofagia
This is something I have never quite understood, by all means correct me if I am in fact wrong. In the world people are sectioned off into little groups as it were, you get the popular one who steryotypicaly are the "jocks", you get the smart ones who get called the geeks and you get the "freaks" who are counted as unpopular, this is generalised maybe it is not quite like this however from experience and observation I can say that this is the general idea. Now in the "freak" it is basically made of people whom tend (not always) listen to rock music from Emo, Industrial, Metal ect, the dress sense also stands out of the crowd. So it would seem Alternatives are the minority of the population, so with this being the case why do we attack verbally others from out group? When it is our group as a whole to which gets alot of abuse due to the lack of understaning and willing to understand that a large amount of the population have. Instead of sticking up and defending each other we simply stand watching, waiting for it to be our turn of recieving the abuse, does that strike anyone else as odd? By standing and watching each other get "bullied" as it were we are as bad as the narrow minded causing it. How is that right?
topic: Life
[reply] [11 comments]

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