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| People who make fun of people with Disabilities | May 12, 2007, 9:24AM |
 by: Der_Todesengel |
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People who make fun of people with Disabilities. By: Malakai 5/12/05 Music: Assemblage 23 – Madman’s Dream “People fear what they do not understand.” – Bruce Lee I’ve been visually impaired my entire life, and I have to say that society is very cruel (in more ways then one if you’ve read any of my previous blogs and rants), I will explain why, this time about another topic. It really pisses me off when people make judgements on people with a physical handicap; IE. Something they cannot help, without even knowing them or their personality. People tell me their life sucks, and surely there are others whose lives are ten times worse then mine. I am not writing this to receive pity or any type of sympathy; I am just going to write my feelings and it means a lot to me to be finally getting this off my chest, I’ve never really spoke openly about it. A friend and I yesterday got into a conversation about people with disabilities, mostly physical handicaps, and about how people make fun of them for being “different, a ‘freak’ ”. I believe that person with a disability can see the world much differently then anyone else; because they are deprived of that part of their body that everyone else has in perfect order (besides others who have the same disability and or multiple disabilities). Of course personalities differ; my high school was a special private school for blind and visually impaired individuals, as well as people who were also blind and had a multitude of handicaps to go along with it; Deaf, Mentally Challenged, Cerebral Palsy etc. I have met countless people even with a handicap who are complete assholes, but is just human nature and personalities clashing together, it’s somewhat irrelevant to the topic at hand. What really drove me into this rant, was when I got home last night from hanging out with my friend Aimee, I found a message in my inbox on MySpace. Of course MySpace is full of judgmental people and pieces of mainstream shit already, but it was what was in the message that really set me off. The fuse was lit after countless bouts with the ignorance that people have shown me time after time, this time the spark from the lighter they were playing with caught fire. It was by a woman (28) who apparently had read my profile and expressing her dislike that I do not like people who do drugs or find people who do drugs a waste of human existence. It is not the person who does drugs (Most of them are mindless idiots), it’s just the fact that they DO drugs, regardless of their social status, job, employment, and way of life. But drugs are not the topic here, moving on…She began mentioning about how judgmental I was, and how she was a “lawyer” who did weed every once in a while, which is a total contradiction in itself. I thought was quite funny because she being a member of the judicial system and doing pot; just goes to show you where the mentality of the government is. I wonder if George Bush was high on weed when he went after Iraq and then decided to send the American troops on a suicide mission. She then went on to mention that I do not have a job, I dress like a freak, and I have no eyesight. What the hell does me having no eyesight have to do with me not having a job or dressing differently!? For me to find a job is no easy task. I’ve been to countless interviews with no avail, simply with the thought afterwards that hopefully they were not discriminating against me because I am visually impaired and they think I couldn’t do the job offered. It just pisses me off how tons of people feel the need to call people with disabilities ‘freaks’. They are human beings too, just like everyone else on this earth! Now the subject of me being a ‘freak’ is simple. I take it as a compliment, not to be an asshole, but to be proud I am not like everyone else. I do enjoy dressing the way I do, not to set some sort of rebel attitude or to “fit in” like most. I do get stared at quite a lot when I go out, but it doesn’t bother me, I can’t see them looking at me anyway. Regardless of that face, I could care less what people think of me in that aspect, I believe greatly in individuality. To further my examples of this mindless hatred and fear of the handicapped; I came across one of those “funny picture sites.” sort of like Ebaums World, or YTMD. Under a section entitled; “Freaky Pictures” was a travesty, and no laughing matter. They had pictures of a beautiful woman posted with one arm, a midget, a mentally challenged person, and a blind person who’d fallen down the steps. Let me just say I gave them a piece of my mind. I will also give a few examples in my own life that I’d like to get out in the open. I was dating a girl named Caitlin last year, and she seemed like a decent person, which she turned out to be nothing but (long story). But really stuck in my mind about her was something that her Mother said about me. I went over there, shook her mother’s hand, tried talking to her mother, telling her about myself, I said nothing to offend or hurt her feelings, I am generally a friendly guy. I went home that night and got a call from Caitlin as she was laughing about something her Mother said; “I don’t know why you like him, his eye was weird, I couldn’t help not to stare at it.” I hung up the phone and broke up with her soon after. Yet another example, is when I was dating a girl named Marcy, same scenario basically; seemed decent, but wasn’t (actually she was a crying attention seeking cutter person.) Her mother gave her a birthday card. Marcy and I were pretty into each other and Marcy told her parents about me. Her mother wrote in the card at the bottom with a little one-eyed smiley face; “We can just call him, Cyclops.” I was extremely angry and wanted to go over to her Mother and say something to her, but I refrained, Marcy and I of course broke it off. I have also had this happen quite a lot. I’ve broken up with someone, only for her to retort back about my eyes. What the hell did our relationship have to do with my eyesight! They sit there and say things like; “Well you’re blind…” “Well you can’t see anyway…” with random expletives following. Any person who can make fun of a disabled person to make himself or herself feel better is indeed a piece of shit and deserves to be shot, in my opinion. I don’t like “blind jokes.” I’ll have someone I just meet or a parent of someone I just meet who crack jokes about me being blind. Now, I am not so strict with this one because I have the type of personality where I can make fun of my blindness in favor of making everyone else laugh. My family and I joke about the topic quite a bit, but it’s all in good fun and I know they don’t know anything by it. Some of the people I’ve met with a disability are some of the nicest and caring people you can run into, and some of them have achieved great things. For example; My Aunt Patty. A veteran of the Air Force, skilled in fixing the navigation systems on airplanes. She joined the Air Force with severe back problems (multiple sclerosis) that eventually led to her having to leave on honorable discharge. She is very smart, caring, intelligent, and has a good head on her shoulders; always willing to give advice if needed. In conclusion to this; I’d like to say that I am glad to anyone who has read this and I hope it somehow makes people think before they speak. Disabled people are people too, they are humans, just like you, so try talking to them. You might find someone amazing. | |
topic: Rants | |
[reply] [27 comments] |
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| T-Shirt Update | May 10, 2007, 9:30PM |
 by: eon |
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Well, I ordered one of the t-shirts that I announced in the last news update and it seems to be a fine product. My only minor gripe would be that it's 100% cotton and shrinks quite a bit in the wash. So if you order any, consider buying a size or two larger than usual. Other than that, they look good. Soon I'll be adding another design, that being a plain DS "D star" logo on the front center and the familiar "(D)arkstarlings.com" logo on back. A bit plain, but still a basic, almost obligatory design that a lot of people are understandably interested in. I mean, we're talking about prints of the logo. Also I plan on doing some kind of contest for a t-shirt design in the near future with andromeda time (and maybe other stuff) as prizes. I have no specifics on that at present, but it's a definite at some point in the future. So if you have any creative inclinations, any time whiled away in photoshop or elsewhere won't hurt you one bit. Order t-shirts in confidence: Our First T-Shirt Design Discount: As a promotion, I've marked the price down by a couple of dollars for the next week, so be sure and snag yours at the promo price while you still can. The $2 mark down is already figured into the prices displayed and applies to all shirt sizes and styles. Expires 5/18/07, 11:59 PM Central Time. As always, thank you kindly and your fine support is greatly, greatly appreciated. | |
topic: Site News | |
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| The Chromosome of Missing Sense and (Personal) Space Invaders | May 10, 2007, 10:23AM |
 by: Dark_Alice |
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Recently I blocked a girl on here who added me to msn. Now this girl seemed really nice, she was pretty and there seemed nothing wrong with her in any way. So why did I block her I hear you ask? It was because she just added me to msn without talking to me properly. Now before we start, this entry isn’t an attack on her, I was just using her as an example because it seems a lot of people have this missing chromosome that doesn’t allow them to read profiles properly. I clearly stated in huge bold letters on my profile that I want people to at least have a bit of a chat with me before adding me to msn. Now I used to freely put my email at the bottom of my profile because I thought (Wrongly) that people would have the sense to talk to you properly before adding you. The odds are that I won’t even like you when you add me to msn randomly, and its not like I will hide it or am too shy to tell you to get lost (and that is me being polite there lol…). I mean, would you really want to add someone you think you would get on with to msn, only to be confronted with someone like me being all abusive because you didn’t have the decency to chat first? Or what’s worse, adding someone you like because you read their profile and finding online they are nothing like the page they made on the net? Of course not, it would put a bit of a damper on your day, so why the hell risk it? All this isn’t me being elitist or anything, it’s just manners. You wouldn’t ask someone you don’t know and is completely un-interested in you for their phone number. You would talk to them, let them know you a little, make them want your number as much as you want there’s. Same goes for email as far as I’m concerned. In the last 2 months I have had a wide range of people add me to msn from here, ranging from girls who were ‘bored and wanted to chat’, people who add me and then never talk to me, cool people who I have things in common with and one perv from Turkey who thought I was a girl and probably wanted webcam action... before you ask, he didn’t get any, although he did get promptly deleted. Now I love talking to new people, it’s the reason I joined this and any other profile site I have ever joined. Isn’t that why we all join profile sites? This little commentary may make me look like a bit of an angry antisocial guy but I’m not, people fascinate me and I like to think I’m quite pleasant usually. 99.9% I will reply to your message if you send me one. But obviously, the internet is littered with lots of people you are going to love, and an equal amount you are going to want to poke out their eyes with [insert your pointy object of choice here], so really it makes sense to test out the water first with someone to see if they fall into the good category or the pokey-eyes-out category. And the best way to do that is by sending them a message or two. This article is a plea. A plea for sense, because I’m pretty damn sure I’m not the only person on the internet who gets this from time to time. Reading someone’s profile and looking at their pictures does not mean you know them. Profiles can be a little deceiving. Before you add someone or ask them for their email, get to know them a tiny bit beyond their profile. Don’t just come barging into their space, adding randomly or demanding emails and I think they will respect you a little more for it. xXxLeexXx | |
topic: Various | |
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| The Continuum Hypothesis and Mathematical Idealism | May 8, 2007, 3:31AM |
 by: nothingmoves |
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Consider the following two sets of numbers: The Natural Numbers (which we shall abbreviate with 'N'): 1, 2, 3,... The Even Numbers (which we shall abbreviate by 'EN'): 2, 4, 6,... Two features of each set are immediately obvious. First, each set is infinite in some intuitive sense of "infinite". Second, N contains EN in the sense that for every object, x, such that x is a member of EN [we'll abbreviate this 'x (= EN)'], x is also a member of N. That is, x(=EN --> x(=N [where '-->' indicates the material conditional, or, roughly, the relation of logical implication]. Something else that we can say immediately is that it is *not* the case that x(=N --> x(=EN [for example, 3(=N, but it's not the case that 3(=EN]. Summing the second observation with this last point, we can say that N contains EN, but the converse is not true. In this sense, then, N is of greater size than EN. Call this sense of "size" Inclusive. But now consider the following function between N and EN: f(x) = 2x f(x) is a bijection. It is an injection, because f(a) = f(b) --> a = b, and it is a surjection, because for any y(=EN, we have f(x) = y, where x = y/2. But to say that f(x) is a bijection is just to say that there exists a one-to-one correspondence between N and EN. Intuitively, this means that for every element of the first set, there exists a element of the second with which it can be uniquely paired, and vice versa. There is a clear sense in which if there exists a one-to-one correspondence between two sets, then those sets are of the same size. Call this sense of “size” Cardinal. So, we have the result that N is of greater Inclusive size than EN, but of equal Cardinal size to EN. The first question that arises is which sense of size corresponds to our own pretheoretical one. My own view is that this first question is both uninteresting, and misguided. It is uninteresting, because it amounts to an inquiry into what we mean by mathematical words, and not into mathematics itself. And it is misguided because, in all likelihood, our pretheoretical vocabulary is too vague to choose between the candidates. We should no more expect there to be an answer to the first question than we should to the question “which sense of “mass” corresponds to our pretheoretical one – Newtonian or Relativistic”? A second question that arises is, however, in my opinion, both interesting and right-headed. That is “can an infinite set, X, ever be of greater *Cardinal* size than another infinite set, Y?” The answer is nowhere near obvious. In fact, substantial data would favor the negative answer to it. First, there is, trivially, a bijection between EN and -EN, -N, and I (where 'I' stands for the integers). But, what’s not at all obvious, is that there is even a bijection between EN and Q (where 'Q' stands for the rational numbers). So, EN is of the same Cardinal size as Q. Given this, it’s hard to think of a set, Y, such that EN is of lesser cardinal size than Y. In fact, the set of real numbers (abbreviated 'R') forms such a set. It is demonstrable, via a certain diagonal proof technique, that the set of real numbers is of greater cardinal size than the set of even numbers (or, thus also, the set of natural numbers, integers, rationals, etc.). This is a fascinating result. But it begs a new question: (C) Does there exist a set of cardinal size greater than that of EN (N, I, Q, etc.) but less than that of R? George Cantor’s “Continuum Hypothesis” (CH) amounts to the claim that there does not. Crucially, CH cannot be proved or refuted on the basis of established axiom sets. Our canonical foundational set-theory, ZFC (Zermelo-Fraenkel set-theory with the Axiom of Choice), is consistent with both CH and its negation. The same is true of other candidates for foundational theories (PM, NF, NBG, etc.). CH seems to float free of the axioms of our foundational theories in way that certain metaphysical questions (such as “what happened before the Big Bang?” or "is there a God?") float free of the basic postulates of our fundamental physical theories. The question that I wish to raise for discussion, then, is this: Is the situation with respect to C really analogous to the situation with respect to, say, the question of what happened before the Big Bang, or the question of whether or not there is a God? We take questions about the likes of the Big Bang or God to have answers, and the fact that our best physical theories don’t entail those answers to be a mere reflection of our cognitive, or more broadly epistemic, limitations. But perhaps C, like all mathematical questions of the same “axiom-transcendent” character, is different. Perhaps we should regard the mathematical “world” as being fixed by our formal stipulations, in a way that we shouldn’t regard the nonmathematical world as being so fixed. The question is whether there is peculiar reason to be a sort of global idealist, or more general variety of antirealist, about mathematics, as opposed to physics, chemistry, or biology. | |
topic: Philosophy | |
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| Subculture Experiences In Society | May 7, 2007, 4:19PM |
 by: Poison_Heart |
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I wrote this originally on Xanga, and since I was pleased with the outcome, I decided to post it on other sites I was on as well, knowing that many people agree with me and are treated the same. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Sitting here, I'm reflecting on my life. More or less my lifestyle choices. A little over four years ago, I decided that I wanted to veer off of the "normal" path, and swing into the "weird" lane. At age twelve, I decided I wanted to be different. All my life, I knew I wasn't like the other kids. Constantly more intelligent, more aware of the world around me. I decided that I was going to become one of those beautiful people that dress in the pretty, black clothes, and listen to the loud music. When I first made this choice, I didn't realize what would come with it. Something I have realized as of late, however, is that the people who are true to their subculture have a different attitude than those who are doing it because it's "in" or "cool". Those of us who are in for life, who love this 'til the day we die.... We have a different outlook on life. I personally think that we are more accepting of those around us, we are willing to be seen spending time with people who are different from us. I believe that we hold our friends in higher regard. Yet, when we are in "normal" society, we get looked down upon. We get made fun of, laughed at, accused, simply treated differently because we don't look like everyone else. Oftentimes, we have to change how we look to get a job, or keep one, because people fear anything out of the ordinary. In movies, we are often portrayed as criminals, druggies... all in all, bad people. For the most part, we're not. It just takes a few people who look like us and do horrible things for everyone to be blamed. I've had some horrible experiences in public, simply because of how I dress. Mothers grab their children, shielding their eyes from the frightening sight. My person has been searched when leaving stores, because I have been suspected of shoplifting, when I've never stolen a thing in my life. Young men and women, not much older than myself, perhaps collegefolk, have laughed, pointed, photographed, and yelled obscene comments at my friends and I when we've been out. Families have pointed at laughed at me while walking into restaurants in the company of my mother and grandmother. There are other instances I wish to not discuss, including some that happen in school quite often. On that, isn't school supposed to be somewhere that's safe? Somewhere where we don't worry about being hurt? Wrong. I fear the torment I face each day at school. People in any number of alternative subcultures deal with horrible treatment every day, unfortunately. We have come to accept that it comes with the territory, even though, realistically, it shouldn't. We should be treated no different than anyone else, yet, we are. Yes, I do get angry when I receive different treatment, I have every right to do so. I know that in my lifetime, I will not see the day when my friends, family, and myself are treated like everyone else because our appearances will never be overlooked. | |
topic: Life | |
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| Threats in schools | May 5, 2007, 8:59PM |
 by: My4EverDarkHeart |
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We have all seen on the news or in the news papers all of the threats that are happing in schools these days, and they are happening in schools all over. But this week was hellish for Waukegan Highschool. It all started Tuesday at 7 am when students where coming to school that day. when we got to the school we where told to go to the fields outside of the school. when I was head to school I had noticed a heliacopter headed to the school. I had no idea what was going on. Many students while outside were calling home to their parents, still no one knew what was going on. After about an hour we started walking back to the school. When at the doors of the school every student was sent through the metal detectors( this caused students to be up to 20 mins. late to their first class of the day). I had arrived to my fist class about 5 mins. after the late bell had rung. During that class the students had started talking about what had happened and the calls they had gotten the night before about being on code white, some of the students had recived no calls or like me got anywhere from 3 to 10 calls. It was a good thing for the school to send calls home but for some students they did not know why we where on code white because they had gotten the call in Spanish when they did not speak Spanish. In my first class my teacher did not know why we were on code white because she had only gotten an e-mail that she did not see untill that day because she did not have the need to look at her e-mails at night. I would soon found out that we were on code white because there had been a note in the boys bathroom about a bomb and that the cops and the dogs had been through the night before when the note had been found and that day. On this day we had many more cops around and in the school that we never had before. And during the whole day rumors where flying. The next day there was another threat found in a different boys bath room saying that you have not found the bomb. And once again everyone went through the metal dectors and once again we where on code white. Still no one who who was leaving the notes. By today the cops and the dogs had been through the school 3 times and rumor was the found something suspistious in one of the students lockers but it was not a bomb. Students where not coming to school due to fear or there parents not letting them go to school. My school in just our one building has 3,000 students on this day there were only 1,500. We had heard that there were threats on other schools also and that some schools had closed down. On the 3rd day of all this mess during the first class of the day the fire alarm had gone off and most of us just thought oh another kid pulled it, so we walked out of school like we did for all of the other times the alarm went off. But this time it was different after a short while we had been moved across the school grounds and on to the fields on the other side of the school. WE all thought this was odd because no one heard the fire trucks and the cops had the road blocked off. once again students where on their phones calling home. During this time I had been sitting next to my friend who had sent a text to her mother and her mother had said that she was listening to the radio and they had said that they had caught the person doing the threats. After a while we were let back inside and went to our second class. During my 3rd class we did not get any work done due to the events,we spent the time talking about what had happened. My teacher told us that it had been a student who had pulled the fire alarm. After this I had told my teacher during my fourth class of the day that I was told that a student had pulled the alarm. My teacher then told be that the staff had sent the alarm off because a bomb threat had been called in. When I had walked into the class i noted that the news paper was sitting on the desk with the article on who left the threats in the bathrooms. Before this I was told who had done it and i was asked if I knew the guy, but the name did not ring any bells in my head. But when I saw the article and the picture I remembered that I did know Joe as his friends called him. I then read the article and agreed with what my teacher who had had Joe as a student the year before had said. My teacher told us that Joe was a good kid who never said and would sit in the back of the class and do his work, and that he was a person that needed someone to vent too, for him that was his one teacher. She had tried to get him into a class this year that a teacher would do the same thing for him that she had done but she was unable to get him into a class like that. She had told us that he sometimes got wound tight and didn't have a vent so he in a sense he snapped. His reasoning behind the bomb threats was to show that our adminstration was messed up. And I agree with him and I know of others that agree also thjat our school is messed up when it comes to getting help. In our school to see a social worker you have to have been diagonsed with a problem to see them. And I know how Joe feels when you don't have some one to vent to. I also feel bad for Joe that he was not able to get the help and attention that he needed because our school is very messed up, its messed up in many ways than just trying to get help. my family has tried to sue the school because my sister who attended the highschool a few years ago got eletricuted off of the hair dryers in the girls locker room that was ment for the swimmers to dry their hair off when wet, my sister had been no where near water. There was another time where she could have froze to death because the fire alarm was pulled and her gym had had been swimming and had no way of getting dry, her and her friends had been outside wet during the middle of winter with no shoes and only small wet towels. a teacher had finally seen them and put them into his car with the heat on. It is stupid things like what happened to Joe and what happened to my sister that makes schools very messed up in how they are run. My school is very bad about this. And now because Joe couldn't get help he snapped and is now in jail with a bond of 250,000 dollars all because my school didn't help him. | |
topic: Current Events | |
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| Why can friends love or never love | April 28, 2007, 2:45PM |
 by: dragoz13 |
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Ok it has been said that people can not love except to be friends and care, but in many cases those people that fall in love never actually do date or marry. Their is somthing that makes so much sense as loveing your best friend and this is in and of itself a good thing for you will always have a partner in your exploits. The question is though can you love them without falling in love with them? Because to love someone you have to realize that you have fallen for them. This leads to another question can you fall in love and be not romantiaclly loving ? James A. Baldwin said," Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within." This statement explains many of the things people do in love. I am sure that everyone has had that friend that is great and then he falls for a girl or she falls or a boy and they start to act more complete but not the same. The truth is that people do not want to show who they are but love can do that to you and with spring feaver and the love of physical intamacy that abounds in todays world where people need it cause they desire to live on a computer or cellphone love is needed more than religion or laws. Religion unified peopel for a short bit of time. Laws have unified and destroyed people just as long. But the one thing that formed both of them and continues to form the world is love regardless how apathetic to the suffering you are you dont always try to make it worse and i am sure that many people care a good bit about what they do to others. Just recently i was around a group of friends that tend to be apathetic to anything and a friend died. They all went to the funeral not cause it was the right thing to do or not cause of obligations but because the love of the fellow man. "Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire." Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said this. To think about it if we could master love we could do anything cause love is a perpetual energy and feeling that never leaves. | |
topic: Philosophy | |
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| It's Evolution, Stupid | April 18, 2007, 6:57PM |
 by: Vampire_Lycan_Bich |
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When I stand by the ocean, which isn't at all nearly often enough while yearning for the sea in a land-locked state, I do not say "Wow, the world is big and complex so let me avoid any serious thought and simply say that there must be a creator and that creator is God." The state of Kansas is being pulled apart by one of the central issues of our time in my opinion. This is not about whether evolution happened as it is discussion in modern circles of science or whether God does exist and did in fact create the word as we know it. This is about the foundation of freedom in our society, this is about the inoculation of the minority from the tyranny of the majority, this is about America Goddammit! Intelligent Design is an attack upon everythin rational and true in education. It is an often well-intended but ultimately misguided attempt to influence young minds by using wedge politics and back-handed illusion. Once we have the majority of people swayed by an appeal to fear and emotion, we endanger the very freedoms we claim to secure. Look, you can believe whatever you want. I might believe that the world was created 10 minutes before I wrote this, and included us complete with the memories of all our lives before that which then truely did not exist. I can say anything I want but that don't make it an 'alternative theory' and that definitely don't mean it belongs in our children's science classroom. Keep philosophy and mythology where they belong, and make sure our children know the difference. | |
topic: Life | |
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| Students and Faculty Slain at Virginia Tech | April 17, 2007, 3:53PM |
 by: xX_Cinnamon_Xx |
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Virginia Tech, one of the most highly spoken of colleges in the state, is dealing with a tragedy of “monumental proportions”. A VT student, Cho Seung-hui, went on a shooting rampage leaving 32 students and faculty members dead and another twenty-eight injured, making this the most horrific school shooting in “modern history”. Among the victims were Liviu Librescue, age 76, Holocaust survivor, professor, and head of Engineering and Science Mechanics at Tech; and Ryan “Stack” Clark, resident assistant in West Amber Johnston Hall and known to others as a “true example of ‘The Spirit of Tech’”. The attack consisted of two shootings using a 9mm handgun, as well as a .22 caliber. The first occurred in West Amber Johnston Hall at around 7:15 am on April 16. The second occurred in Norris Hall approximately 2 hours later. Investigators have reason to believe that Cho was responsible for both shootings, due to his fingerprints appearing on both weapons, and no evidence of an accomplice. Subsequent to the shootings, Cho took his own life. It is difficult to imagine what it must be like to lose a friend, a teacher, a child, or a parent in such a horrific manner. I ask that your thoughts and prayers go out to those who suffered during these terrible events, and to remember to cherish every good thing life throws your way, lest your time be cut short by a coward. | |
topic: Current Events | |
[reply] [20 comments] |
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| Audition | April 12, 2007, 12:37PM |
 by: AnGeLiS |
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The genre of Horror needs redefining in modern cinema. Gone are the days when whole audiences screamed at the sight of Ridley Scott’s Alien or sat on tenterhooks waiting for Spielberg’s Jaws to make another appearance. Today, Hollywood persists on throwing out predictable and standard-horror-formula films by the bucket load, along with “Americanized” remakes of Asian horror greats such as The Ring (Ringu) and The Grudge (Ju-On). These films, though remakes, have shown Western audiences in a whole new sense of the word “fear”. Takashi Miike’s adaptation of Ryu Murakami’s novel Audition is exactly this kind of film. Possibly a nod towards the attitude men have towards women, especially in Japan, Miike has created a film that is so packed with undertones and possible hidden meanings that it’s hard to keep track or even come close to comprehending what his original intention was. You can either look at Audition as incredibly male chauvinist, radically feminist or neither – it’s just a film adapted from a book. Whichever you decide, you’ll be completely enthralled, perfectly disgusted or most likely both. Part of what makes Audition so incredibly terrifying is how the audience is lured in by the slow progression of the narrative at the beginning of the film. Miike sets the scene with great detail, portraying Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) as the lonely widower who is struggling with the extent of his emotional solitude. We see long and detailed scenes between father and son as they discuss women and partnership, with Shigehiko (Tetsu Sawaki) urging his father to remarry. As an audience, we start to care for Aoyama. We become the concerned neighbour or friend. We are pleased when, after creating a mock-interview for a fictional film in order to find himself a new partner – at the coercion of his colleague Yoshikawa – he is completely enthralled by twenty-four-year-old Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina), a beautiful woman with a soft voice, reserved nature and seemingly vast emotional depth. With our attention and emotions fully secure, Audition can begin its slow and gradual descent into madness. Forget everything you knew about terror. Redefine what you consider frightening. Men will never look at slender, beautiful Japanese women the same way again. Women will either be empowered or disgusted. Audition will tear down any mental defences you have, crush any pre-formed ideas of horror that may exist in your mind and leave you shaking with pure terror by the time it’s through with you. | |
topic: Movie Reviews | |
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