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| eye for an eye | August 23, 2007, 12:37AM |
 by: the-grey-eyed-one |
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First things first: all of you people who get all butthurt about humanitarian issues such as the death penalty should probably click out of this article RIGHT NOW. I am very opinionated about this, and you are almost guarunteed to get offended. Anyone else, however, feel free to read my rantings, have interesting and insightful discussions about them, or just keep on going on with your life without being affected at all. It is my personal belief that the lex talionis mode of punishment spelled out in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi should be reinstated in the United States government in cases of high crime(which, for my purposes, we will assume to be anything more severe than grand theft). I believe that our government, as the most powerful, wealthy, and most influential government in the world, should have the balls to say to high criminals, "If you stole that much money, we will take that much money from you. If you raped that woman, we will rape you back. If you gouged that mans eyes out with a pair of tweezers, you will meet the exact same fate." Now, dont think that I am a supporter of cruel and unusual punishment, because I'm not. I merely feel that criminals who are that desperate, that warped, that sick, deserve nothing less than the pain, torment, and/or loss that they forced upon their victims. It's only fair, as far as I can see. Child molesters, however, should not have this rule apply. They should get a far worse punishment. These cases, no matter how severe or how small, should be taken much more seriously, and these sick fucks should have to suffer for what they have done to those children. I have a friend who was molested in the fifth grade, and she still hasn't gotten over it. So, you can sort of see where my views on this come from. I believe that child molesters should get an automatic life sentence in prison, in solitary confinement. NO EXCEPTIONS. If you were convicted, you should have absolutely no chance of walking the streets again, ever, or having any contact with humans, except once a day at meal time. Another point I would like to touch on is our policies about the death penalty. I believe that if you recieve the death penalty, you should be eliminated right then and there, right in the courtroom. I am not neccessarily talking about making it a public spectical, it can be in a back room or something, but it should be carried out immediately. They should not be allowed to live on death row for 15 years before the exicutioner has the chance to get around to them. Also, I believe, back to the eye for an eye punishment aproach, you should be exicuted in the same way you killed your victims. If you shot them, your death will be by firing squad. If you drowned them, you'll be thrown in a lake with ur hands and feet tied off. If you completely maimed and mutilated their body, your body will be desicrated, maimed and mutilated using your exact methods. I base this entire belief and outlook on punishment on my own beliefs in karma, justice, and concience. These views do not reflect anyone but myself, I do not write to benifit any one group, nor to condemn another(except the criminals of the nature alluded to above). I take full responsiblility for these words, and they do not reflect the beliefs of DS or any other group or organization. Thank you for taking the time to read my rants, and i hope they have sparked some inspiration or perhaps some revalation in you. If not, thats all good, too. Thanks again, ~~Kurt Gem life may take my hands from me, but my heart cannot be stopped. | |
topic: Rants | |
[reply] [17 comments] |
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| Females and Figure Issues | August 17, 2007, 4:16AM |
 by: Mooncradle |
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When I was younger I had the somewhat naive view that every female either likes the top part of her body or the bottom part of her body. Or, failing that, at least have one feature about her figure that she liked. Now when I originally held this view I weighed about 16 stone 4 pounds. That, for all the Americans out there, is 228 pounds to make matters worse, at the time I was about 5 foot tall. I don’t know if the view came from experience or just the fact at some point I wanted to be happier with my body than I was. I’m now 122 pounds as of this morning and I probably have lower self-esteem than I did when I was bigger. To me, my breasts seem tiny and saggy, I have what seems to be wings underneath my arms, a waist that just doesn’t quite go in enough and don’t even get me started on my arse. My thighs could probably crush any sexual partners of mine if I really tried hard enough and I have what could only be called “firm ankles”. Now you’ll be reading this and thinking “What the hell is she babbling about? I don’t want to hear her ranting off about her imperfections.” But before you press that “X” button, let me get to my point. When I was 16 stone 4 pounds the only issue I had with my body was that I had a double chin. Bizarre, huh? I had way higher self esteem when I had a 36-inch waist 48-inch bust and hips that my tape measure refused to reach to. Now I shit all self-esteem left, with my 24-inch waist, DD cup and muscular legs, I have like 9% body fat. I know why my self-esteem is lower now I fit pretty much into the standardised shape for being passable as projected by the media. I actually care more about how I look. Another issue that comes up is that most women (and men I do hope) think that bigger women can be extremely beautiful and classy, the problem is with most women they don’t believe that they look extremely beautiful and classy bigger, even when they are gorgeous. This of course gets bigger women insulted when a lady friend smaller than them wants to lose weight, of course the person wanting to lose weight probably thinks her larger friend is beautiful and suits her size, and wonders herself why she can’t look that good while being that size. So as a note to the beautiful confident larger women out there, don’t get insulted by your smaller friends who want to lose weight. Dear lord, please don’t ever ever ever say “I’m happy with my size so you should just deal with it.” Or as I occasionally get “You’re thin, so shut up.” You’re just going to plummet their self-esteem more. Oh and if a person has an ED it doesn’t mean that they hate larger women or don’t think they are pretty, just to clarify, because I’m so fed up of hearing that shit. The point I’m slowly struggling to get to is, why does the media and pretty much most of society portray that thinner is better? Of course to get thinner you have to care quite a lot about how you look, the more you care the more imperfections you’ll notice. If you’re anything like me, you’ll notice things that aren’t even there. So anyone who diets to raise their self-esteem by getting thinner, maybe you should think twice before you start caring a bit too much, because you might just make things worse for yourself. If you want to lose weight and fat, do it for your health not your ego. Because hell, dieting doesn’t even work for one of them. | |
topic: Rants | |
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| BIGOT ALERT | August 16, 2007, 4:05AM |
 by: SirFoggy |
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Well I'm on this E-mailing list for a human rights group focusing primarily on GLBT issues.Usually I get stuff wanting money donations or whatever. (I don't got no stinkin' money!!,Lol) But this just arrived in my yahoo box and after reading it I had to let folks know. I hope this douchebag NEVER EVER gets anywhere near the Supreme Court bench!! "Should this man be appointed to the Federal bench? Leslie Southwick Tell your Senators to vote NO on Southwick's nomination Dear Joseph, In Mississippi a few years ago, the courts took away a woman's 8-year-old child. Why? In part because the child's mother was a lesbian. Two of the judges in the majority went so far as to write and sign an additional opinion, unnecessary to the case's outcome, which stated that the mother must accept the fact that losing her biological child was a possible consequence of her sexual "choice." One of those two judges was Leslie Southwick. And today, Southwick is dangerously close to being appointed to the Federal bench by President Bush. Only the Senate stands in the way of his confirmation - will you take action with me? Make sure your Senators return from their August break with a full inbox saying NO on Southwick's nomination! America's highest courts are meant to be protectors of justice, not prejudice. Yet Southwick's record as a Mississippi judge raises serious doubts about his ability to apply the law fairly to all Americans. In this case alone, Southwick: * Went so far as to cite Mississippi's irrelevant and outdated sodomy laws, which have since been invalidated. * Focused on "the practice of homosexuality" - refusing to even mention gay individuals as human beings. * Cited Mississippi's law prohibiting same-sex couples from adopting children - even though this was not an adoption case! The American Psychiatric Association has long held that sexual orientation is not a "choice," and that lesbian and gay parents are just as successful as their heterosexual counterparts. Yet Judge Southwick disregarded widely accepted science in favor of his personal bias. This man MUST NOT be given the responsibility to protect the basic rights of gay and lesbian Americans. Help protect GLBT civil rights by writing your Senators today. If approved to the Court of Appeals, Southwick's appointment would be for life. That's why I'm asking you to take action today - and when you're done, please forward this message on to everyone you know. Thank you. Warmly, Joe Solmonese" President | |
topic: Current Events | |
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| Down In The Mill... | August 10, 2007, 2:22AM |
 by: eon |
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In keeping with the times I've been advised to increase the maximum allowed pictures to upload. I was told that many of you who toil in the mills are losing fingers, toes, noses and other such appendages and felt that the job required better compensation. And so here you have it: The wealthy and privileged Andromeda may now upload 100 pictures total. The less wealthy and priviliaged (but better looking in the face) Starlings may now upload 25 pictures total. I know, updates have been a little thin. As always, I never have as much time for R&D as I'd like, what with the realities of life keeping me busy aside from here. Yes, there are things in the works. Of course, everything I do is black-ops, so that's all I'll say (as ever). Just letting you know I haven't outsourced my development to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Yet. I know, our numbers have thinned, too. Does this worry you? Please, don't let it. Mostly, it's my fault for not keeping pace with development. Other sites continue to add improvements while I continue to juggle my time. But let's remember what this place was founded for to begin with: This was supposed to be a haven for us. Something a little more sane and real than popularity contests and the typical three-ring-commercialized-circus-side-show that describes most of the internet. I think that we've accomplished that if nothing else and as long as you guys want to hang around and haunt this place, I will too. If you get lonely, invite some friends. I know, I've done only a slight more than fuck-all to ever promote this place, but I wouldn't go so far as to discourage you from doing so if more people would make you smile. I've never held contests or anything of the sort to drive promotion. To me, it seems insincere. As it stands, in the nearly three years we've been here, no one has ever invited someone else to join DarkStarlings because they were getting something out of it. Period. And I think that's an awesome claim to make. But maybe I should be more realistic. There's nothing sincere about advertisement anyway and I should decide whether or not this place should be advertised in earnest. So, I definitely haven't ruled it out. I'll think about it, okay? Anyhoo, thanks again to everyone who makes this place what it is. Thanks to everyone who keeps this place alive. And truly, over the past months, that's been every one of you--and not so much me. *tips imaginary hat* | |
topic: Site News | |
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| STudents and the Test Taking Process | August 9, 2007, 3:10AM |
 by: singerangel710 |
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Getting good grades has nothing to do with studying. Some students have the hardest time sitting down and studying the things they've learned the day before. Others have it easy and don't need to study yet can pass almost all of their tests and exams with flying colors. Some actually work hard for the grades they get and actually study to earn the grades they deserve. And still, some who just don't care about school and their grades; they're just there because they have to be. Sometimes sitting down at a desk and looking over notes and homework, trying to study, is the hardest task for people. I am in this category of students. I get all of the things I have on the subject out and spread the papers all over my desk so I can look at them better. I look at one thing and then another becoming more and more distracted by the minute; not to mention how boring studying can get. In the end I put everything away within 10 to 15 minutes because I can't sit there and concetrate on one thing at a time like that to be able to consume and review all the information and keep it in my mind. Can you guess how my grades come out when it comes to tests? Imagine this: you're sitting at home and you have one choice to make that could affect the rest of your night, and maybe your test grade the next day. You can either study for that big test you have or you can go play that awesome new video game you bought the day before that's still waiting, unopened, on your desk. What do you do? You have fun and play your game and are still able to do well on tests. Why? You pay attention in class and can retain information learned in that day's lesson and in lessons days before hand. The only studying you do is homework and that's all that is needed. Test day comes and you can still get that A or B you were shooting for. Don't you wish you could actually do that? I also have a friend who is very smart. She studies for tests, takes notes, does her homework, does everything she can to prepare and study so she can get good grades. She sits down and takes at least an hour out of her evening to do her homework and study, even after working four hours that afternoon. Someone like me can't even imagine how that would work. She gets to test day and sees all the fresh information that she has been studying rigorously for and starts to write down her answers. In the end, she gets the test back and her hard work pays off. She is rewarded with an expected good grade that she has fully earned and deserves. Some students in school are also the type to say school is pointless, I don't want to be here, I don't need to study. These students don't even pay attention in class; they sleep or doodle in a notebook as the teacher lectures and discusses the lesson. I don't know about you, but I can see how this turns out. Test day arrives and they stare blankly down at the sheets of paper. Random answers are placed in the spaces and the test is turned in. The test is returned and the student has received an F or D. Well-deserved for the work this type of student didn't put into studying. They stare up at the chalkboards, dazed, not even caring how they did or how it will affect their grade. The only thing these students care about is passing the class so they don't have to take it again. Although some people work hard to study and do well in different classes, others have a difficult time getting good grades. Those students who don't have to study to get good grades are lucky and don't have to work very hard. They receive rewards for not doing any work. Whereas students, such as my friend, work very hard for what grade they receive so they have actually earned and worked for the grade they deserve. This grade leaves her all warm and toasty inside, proud of herself, knowing she did well for a reason. Other students just can't seem to sit down for 15 minutes and study even if their life depends on it. Even though all that is riding on whether the student studies or not is a test grade but that's almost as important as your life, right? Since how you do on exams and test can affect how you live your life later on, I would say so. How do you prepare for tests and exams? | |
topic: Essays | |
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| Religion and Spirits can coincide. | August 4, 2007, 3:46AM |
 by: MorningStar23 |
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I have come up with a theory not only supported by the bible, but my own life experiences as well. As you all may know, I have seen spirits (popularly known as 'ghosts'). I have been called crazy more than once, but I can't argue with it when I'm not on any drugs and a man is staring at me through my front door with his body up against it, and blood streaming from his eyes. Especially when I'm the only one who can see him. It's not only him, but others that I have seen and no one else has. My theroy is this. When you die, you do not go to heaven. You go to another realm, the spirit realm that sometimes special living people can see into. On judgement day, Christ will rise all the dead, and bring them back from the spirit realm, and judge them all at once. How can this be? What in the bible supports it? Revelation. That is right. The book of Revelation. It says (I'm too lazy to get my bibles right now to tell you specifically where) that the Lord will come again, and when he does, he will raise all dead, and judge them. And I'm not crazy. I just see them sometimes. It's not like the kid from sixth sense said though. They all know that they're dead. They stare at me as though I am an intruder in thier realm. Sometimes it scares me. I remember my first time in Iowa seeing one. I was in my room trying to go to sleep and I saw a man, completely white, and slightly not right. Almost as if I could make out what was behind him through him. I screamed for Momma of course, and she told me no one was out there. I told her the next day that he was see through, and she flipped out. It was actually quite amusing. | |
topic: Various | |
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| The Passion of the Christ: After the Dust has Settled | July 29, 2007, 1:01AM |
 by: RonPrice |
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The dust of reviews has settled on this film and so: the time has come, perhaps, for a more dispassionate, a more considered, a more reflective, little review. Perhaps review is not quite the right word; perhaps what I have written here is just a comment, but it is no less provocative than the most provocative youve read thusfar and I hope you will find here some refreshing and intelligent insight into the way the film was made and perceived. This film is not intended to be a masterful historical documentary as, say, Ken Burns' work on the Civil War or one of many others done in the first century of the existence of the cinema. Gibson's work is far from possessing what some might call an intellectual poverty in its pretensions at historical documentary. Shawn Rosenheim says all TV documentaries possess an intellectual poverty. If Rosenheim is right the visual media are simply incapable of producing historical documentary.1 And if Rosenheim is wrong, as I tend to think he is, historical documentary of an event 2000 years ago is not impossible. It is, rather, a recreation. We simply do not know enough about the event Gibson is recreating to claim that what we are seeing is a documentary. We all know that Gibson did not take his camera crew to downtown Jerusalem or into the little hamlet of Nazereth in some kind of time-warp to produce an anti-Jewish, anti Roman clip for the evening news. Even if he had and he then produced for us all an evening two hour special, spectacle, called "the crucifixion," there would still be questions about visual manipulation and the program's service in the name of directing popular thought toward a new religious movement. New religious movements have always had trouble getting popular exposure unless they can be associated with conflict and violence, eccentricity and the bizarre, indeed, anything visually stimulating and distracting. No one would claim that Gibson's is a neutral recording of objective events. It is a construct operating from a certain point of view. It is a rhetorical argument achieved through the selection and combination of elements that both reflect and project a world, a world view, a cosmology if you like. It is achieved by certain cinematic conventions that try to erase any signs of cinematic artificiality. An ideology is promoted by linking the effect of reality to social values and institutions in such a way that these values seem natural and self-evident. In the case of Mel Gibson's work, a work that I found quite stimulating in its own way, the ideology is simply and strongly: fundamentalist Christianity. History has a thousand faces, a thousand forms, and Mel Gibson has given us some very stimulating ones, perhaps a little too visually acute, in his film, The Passion of the Christ. They will serve for some of the millions who watched it to bring them closer to One whom Baha'u'llah, the Baha'i Faith's founder, said "when Christ was crucified the world wept with a great weaping." Bill Graham wept; many stayed home; millions viewed the film as it went into the top ten money spinners in cinema history two weeks ago. Some were appauled; some stimulated. To each his own. | |
topic: Movie Reviews | |
[reply] [2 comments] |
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| My entry into the military. | July 27, 2007, 2:47AM |
by: Juiceboxes |
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As some people know, I have made a decision to go into the US Military, the Naval Branch to be exact. I've been getting a lot of comments asking me why I have made this decision, or just telling me that I'm too pretty for the military. While I most deeply flattered and thank everyone for their curiosity and kindness, I have decided to actually explain my reasons for choosing this way of life. I have faith in myself to actually be able to make a difference, for the better. I have faith that my work will make a difference. Maybe a small, unnoticed difference; maybe a gigantic, world changing difference. Everything that I will do and learn, will be for the better of my country. I believe in my country. I believe that if I am willing to help, and other are willing to help, our country can slowly be returned to the greatness it once was. Or, at least it can rise from the turmoil that its in now. My country; and for my fellow Americans, our country needs help. I can help it, we can help it. I'm standing up for what I care about and what I believe. Sure, America isn't perfect. It never has been, and it never will be. But I remember times better than these, and I know that better times than these can come again. Call me an optimist, but these are my reasons for choosing the lifestyle I have. Look around a few years into my service and see if I'm right, aye? ♥ | |
topic: Essays | |
[reply] [20 comments] |
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| Medication Generation | July 21, 2007, 8:34PM |
 by: Saturnalia |
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We're going to skip right over all the other needless drugs we're all told we absolutely need to be healthy, happy individuals and go straight to the most recent one I've heard about. This one involves the female reproductive system, so it's guaranteed to be buckets of fun! [/sarcasm] ============ Everyone's heard of PMS, but I'll bet not many of you have heard of PMDD; or, if you have, you've heard the word (and absolutely no explanation of) "PMDD" on a commercial for Yaz, the birth control pill that claims to be able to treat this mysterious feminine ailment. I've seen these commercials a few times and still didn't know what the fuck PMDD was, so I decided to look it up. It stands for Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and its number one symptom is irritability, but it can also cause anxiety, anger and depression. Hmm... so far this sounds exactly like PMS. In fact, the only thing that makes it different from PMS is "severity." But how exactly does stronger symptoms constitute classification as a disorder? As it turns out, technically, it's not a disorder. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has yet to actually state that it is, in fact, a verified disorder. So then, why are there already commercials advertising that their products can "treat your PMDD"? Perhaps the pharmaceutical companies are trying to medicalize the female condition in order to sell more drugs? No, they would never do that! The only symptoms that separate PMS and PMDD are "severity" and "the ability to cope with one's environment,"which are not medical attributes but reactions of the human to its social environment. Furthermore, in a world that already demonizes PMS and uses it as "the reason" why girls act "bitchy" or assertive, especially around that time of the month, advertising a drug that can treat it will do nothing more than create a generation of medicated women, popping pills that they don't necessarily need to take, all so they can maybe finally be taken seriously instead of getting the generic responses of "stop PMSing," or "you must be on the rag." | |
topic: Current Events | |
[reply] [40 comments] |
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| Childhood, Come Back | July 10, 2007, 9:21PM |
 by: Frozen_Within_Flame |
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At one point in our lives we look back at our childhoods. How simple it was, how carefree and safe the world seemed. I miss the time where my friends and I use to think of having a good as going hay bale jumping.(Yes I know, we are hicks.) Now our idea of fun is walking around town at night being destructive and loud. I didn’t know what sex, a condom or cocaine was when I was 9. Now I know all to well what they are. Sometimes I wish I could go back to before I knew all the hell in the world. Before I felt the hatred and pain that I do now. In so very short years, we are all exposed to the things the world offers each of us. Some good, some bad. That’s life right? We probably all want to grow up to fast. Are we really ready to start our own lives? Move out, pay the bills, support ourselves. Its such a drastic change from the time when we’re 10 to the just when we get to 13. It gets bigger as we get older. Think about how much you experience from just your years of 14 to 18. I know I haven’t even gotten there yet but I can see the changes coming and I’m not so sure I’m ready. What does this future hold? Is our world even going to exist 10 years from now? Who knows. Maybe it will be taken over by war and we will have killed all humans on earth. Possibly we will all realize what we are doing to our planet and wise up, stop the war and hatred. Oh wait that will never happen….. Do we all feel the same shock at first learning of the evil in the world today. Some have seen it their whole lives. Children should not be exposed to this to before they are ready to handle the impact of it. A six year old should not be wanting sex or smoking cigarettes. They are to young and to pure to be shown these things at that age. Children should be valued for their innocence before they shown all of these things. A small child takes it for granted without even knowing it. Not realizing all of the death and horror going on as they play with their toys. If you have a child yourself, do you ever look at them and wonder what they might grow up into? Would you disown them is they turned out a junkie or a whore? I believe the makings of the child start at childhood. How you treat and raise them could make them or brake them. Yes, learning about sex and drugs is an unavoidable part of growing up, but its learning them to early is what screws them over. I’m also not saying that once a junkie, always a junkie or because the child’s parents where junkies they will be one. Every person chooses their own path but the parents teachings are the building blocks of this path they walk down. Children who come from family’s where they see drugs, violence, and sex every day from the time they are born, will most likely turn into what their parents are. They can’t help it, they think its ok, and its really the only thing they know. Then you have the case where the child grows up nothing like their parents. They are actually successful. Seeing what it did to their parents made them hate it and tell themselves they will never turn into that. For the people who are like this, they are very strong. It has to hurt though, to watch your own parents slowly committing suicide on drugs, or selling themselves to strangers. From one fucked up generation may rise a great one, and then from one great generation, may rise a fucked up one. | |
topic: Life | |
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