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| "My Daddy Ate My Eyes" | May 27, 2009, 1:37AM |
 by: thenakedpunk |
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On 28 April, a horrific event occurred that rocked the town of Bakersfield, CA. Police were called to a home for a disagreement between a man and his wife; less than an hour and a half later, however, they were called back by a neighbor who reported that she had found a naked little boy cowering behind a dresser. The child's face was swollen, and his eyes were shut. There were bite marks all over his face and hands. When he came to fifteen minutes later, that is when the truth was revealed: he was missing his left eye, and his right eye was mutilated. Angelo Mendoza Sr., 34, allegedly bit out his child's left eye; wheelchair bound from being stabbed in the back in 2004, Mendoza was found in a nearby backyard of a vacant home, mutilating his legs with a hatchet. In the initial report from the police, he claimed the "Mexican Mafia" had done this to him, and it appeared he was trying to attempt to chain himself to a lamp pole. The police realized he was under the influence of the drug, PCP, which has become ever-more popular in Bakersfield due to its cheap price. The child's mother, who only gave her first name as Desirae, had left after the argument between her and her husband, leaving behind her son who was "afraid of his father;" she did not think the child was in danger, since Mendoza had never hurt the child before. When the child was taken to a hospital near his home, he told a neighbor, "My daddy bit my hands and face. My daddy ate my eyes!" The case was put under a gag order, in which no one involved is allowed to make comments on the investigation. Mendoza missed his court appearance due to being in the hospital from his self-inflicted wounds; the nurses said he was doing fine in healing. Mendoza is being charged with mayhem, torture, and child cruelty. He could get life in prison, but there is a possibility he could get out on parole. | |
topic: Current Events | |
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| Site IM | May 16, 2009, 2:40AM |
 by: eon |
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Site wide IM is now operational. You will find 'Send IM' links in various places throughout the site. If a member is available to receive an IM, you will see their link. For instance, on any profile page, if the member is online, look next to their "online" message for an IM link. Another place to look is in search results (online members, friends lists, regular searches, etc.). All preferences related to IM are located at: Control Panel -> IM Settings It should be pretty self explanatory if you try it out. I haven't decided for certain on this solution (that is, IM services provided by UserPlane) but I've tested it enough on my own that I figured I'd go ahead and launch it and see what you guys think. The major drawback would be the ads and some of the glitchy behavior (which I'm working on as much as possible). Anyhoo, give it a spin . . . | |
topic: Site News | |
[reply] [16 comments] |
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| 11:11 | April 13, 2009, 11:46AM |
 by: Sean T. |
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11:11. Something you may have heard of, read about, or experienced from time to time. Most people see it on their clocks, or catch it in random places, and for the most part, it's merely a coincidence. Some people have noticed though, that over time, it starts occuring more often, happening more frequently as time passes. So too often to be considered a concidence, but more of a mystery than anything else. Some have even felt that when their life is on track, they notice 11:11 in more places, and more often, than when it isn't. There's alot of buzz to be read about the subject, and many varying opinions and stories. Some easily plausible, some not so much. Some as simple as people making wishes at 11:11, to some as strange and perplexing as 11:11 being digitally encoded into our DNA to be activated at the time of our spiritial awakening. No matter what the case, or what you may belief, this is a very real, and widely documented phenomena. There's alot to be said, but after seeing it for years, in my belief and experience, I would say that 11:11 stands for an awakening to a new path. something that I think will be triggered within many, but not everyone. I think it's going to play a signifigant roll in guiding anyone that listens. I believe there are doors that are opened at certain intervals in time, and as we move forward, we step into a new level of consciousness and understanding, and coincidences or synchrinocities start occuring more rapidly as we move forward into this awakening. Life becomes more of a cape shrouding an answer larger than anything we've ever imagined. I also believe this is beyond all religion, I would say that these numbers speak much more clearly. Religion provides guidance to those who seek it, but you don't have to accept guidance to live your own life. For some, they just believe in what they can see. 11:11 is something witnessed by many people of all backgrounds and religions. To me, 11:11 is the sign of a global change, and personally, I've been slowly awakening to this change for years. It started in 2001, not too long after the attacks on September 11th. I was 12. At first, 11:11 was something I never payed any attention to, but I did happen to notice seeing it on my clocks, and I never thought to connect it with anything. Gradually it started occuring more often. But my life came to a point where it started falling apart, I dropped out of school because of heart problems, and became extremely reclusive and depressed. Only within the past 3 years or so have I started picking the pieces back up. With this self renewal, I started seeing the numbers again, not only randomly, but I would find myself waking up at 11:11, and I would see 1111 in phone numbers and on license plates, and it seemed too strange at that point. I started researching and stumbled on to some things that completely changed the way I thought of this. At this point, I'm still learning, but I feel as though I have an understanding as to how life really works. This is why I wrote this, to inform, and guide others who may be somewhere else on this path. More information and stories about 11:11 can be found at the following sites: 11:11 @ Wikipedia -- Informational Uri Geller's 11:11 explanation -- Interesting 11:11 @ SpiritGuardians.com -- Spiritual 11:11 @ CrystalLinks.com -- A little out there :/ 11 coincidence @ GreatDreams.com -- Personal stories | |
topic: Life | |
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| The State of Things to Come... (and it don't look pretty!) | April 13, 2009, 2:12AM |
 by: Murph |
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I just finished watching an indie documentary on the Radical Christian Right entitled 'Jesus Camp'. Not only was the entire piece hard to watch, it was more or less appalling. This segment of American society accounts for twenty five percent of the population, roughly EIGHTY FIVE MILLION people... quite a scary number... especially when the Evangelical community has some of the highest positions of power in the land, or did (aka George Walker Bush). The film covers a week long "bible" camp in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, headed by the overly obnoxious Becky Fischer and her "ministry," Kids in Ministry International. These kids are being brainwashed, by Fischer and their own parents into believing that the only way to save this planet is to be able and willing to lay down your life for Jesus... a thought which is not only irrational, but completely ludacris. It kinda sounds like radical Islam now dosn't it? Recently in the news, the government has gotten involved with the whole craziness involving Mormons in Texas and what not, the Mormons, although not the sanest bunch, are not a threat, just kinda odd. I am quite concerned why these overly zealous Pentacostal and Evangelical loonies are not being investigated. I understand fully the concept of religious freedoms, but where does it stop? These kids are going to grow up, and once they do, "God" help us all. These kids will be the guys George Carlin talked about, holed up in Montana with unholy amounts of ammunition talking to God on a two-way radio. This whole concept of using children as a weapon against the unholy hordes of Satan and what not is quite discomforting. The last time a minority group had this much... influence over people, and had these charismatic of leaders, well to be blunt, SIX MILLION JEWS, GAYS, GYPSYS, CATHOLICS, ETC. were murdered by the Third Reich. That's right guys, the Nazis tried this one, and had taken over most of Europe. They had it right down to the brainwashing of innocent children, the Hitlerjungen... or Hitler Youth, who were brainwashed into laying down their lives in suicide attacks for the Fuehrer and Fatherland. The only difference is this time the Fuehrer has been replaced with Jesus. I hope this concerns you all as much as it does me, and that you will all take action to stop these people before nutjobs in Montana with guns and God decide that America, nay the world in general is impure and need to start cleansing it for Jesus. It's quite a scary thought. | |
topic: Current Events | |
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| Classic Horror at its finest. | April 1, 2009, 1:38PM |
 by: Industrial.Trash |
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One can say, I am a huge fan of Horror films both old and new. However, the movie I am about to present to you all, is by far not a classic to most, but a classic in the B Movie (Low Budget) genre. Lets shed a light on the company, that became a cut sensation Troma Films- Troma films are known for their shocking imagery; some would categorize them as "shock exploitation films". They typically contain overt sexuality, graphic violence, gore and nudity, so much that the term "Troma Film" has become synonymous with these characteristics. Troma's slogan is "Movies of the Future." Many Troma films are intentionally produced in the Brechtian form which is vastly different from mainstream horror movies. Troma is also known for reusing the same props, actors, and scenes over and over again, sometimes to save money. At a certain point, however, this became another hallmark of Troma. Examples include a severed leg, the Penis Monster, and the flipping/exploding car filmed for the movie Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD, which, though blue, is used in place of any other car that needs to crash and explode. Troma produced or acquired many early films featuring several rising talents, such as Kevin Costner (Sizzle Beach, U.S.A.), Samuel L. Jackson (Def by Temptation), Marisa Tomei (The Toxic Avenger), Vincent D'Onofrio (The First Turn-On!), James Gunn (Tromeo and Juliet), Trey Parker and Matt Stone (Cannibal! The Musical), before they were discovered. Their latest production, Poultrygeist, was released in early 2007. So this gave Troma a heads up, for a low budget company. Now we move onto the birth and death of the Company. Welcome to the ups and downs of the movie biz. In the mid 1970s, Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz began producing, directing, and distributing raunchy sex comedies such as The First-Turn On and Squeeze Play. In 1985, Troma experienced its first hit film with the violent, dark-comedy superhero film The Toxic Avenger. The film went on to become Troma's most popular, inspiring sequels and an animated television program. However, following the financial demise of the company Troma itself, the sequels to the film were box office bombs, and the cartoon adaptation quickly folded. The Toxic Avenger character is now Troma's official mascot. Lloyd's follow-up film to The Toxic Avenger was Class of Nuke 'Em High, co-directed with Richard W. Haines. The film was also a hit nearly as successful, though it inspired two unsuccessful sequels, both following the financial demise of Troma. At one time, it was the highest-selling VHS release for Troma. The Toxic Avenger is being turned into a musical which debted at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey before opening in New York Ciy in 2008 . It was The Toxic Avenger Musical with a book by Joe DiPietro the author of the long-running I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and All Shook Up. The music is by David Bryan, keyboardist of Bon Jovi (Citation needed here lol) Now we move onto the fall of Troma, its decline, and then its death. If you are a fan of Troma Films, better get a tissue, as it might bring a tear to your eye. Soon after Class of Nuke 'em High was completed and distributed, Kaufman directed Troma's War. Intended as a criticism of Ronald Reagan's attempt to glamorize war, the story concerns a group of freaks who crash-land on a remote island, only to find it populated by an isolationist militia that intends to overthrow the U. S. government. However, Troma's War was a box office bomb. In the aftermath of the film's poor financial performance, Troma would experience extreme financial hardship, jettisoning the company from the Hollywood mainstream. In the years that followed the financial failure of their films, Troma tried to re-establish itself as a much smaller, independent film company, mostly out of financial necessity. Despite several unsuccessful attempts to assert itself in the mainstream Hollywood community, notably with two direct sequels to The Toxic Avenger, and another stab at the superhero genre Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD, Troma was unable to re-enter the mainstream film market. Today, the majority of Troma films are viewed for the first time on VHS or DVD, however Troma still does have some theatrical releases for their films in smaller art houses, college campuses, and independent cinemas. Now after the death of Troma Films, you would think they are dead and buried right? Guess again, you cant kill whats already dead!! [I know, cheesy line, flame me for it. I deserve it] Today, Troma still produces and acquires independent films, despite many financial hardships and limitations. Soon after Class of Nuke 'em High was completed and distributed, Kaufman directed Troma's War. Intended as a criticism of Ronald Reagan's attempt to glamorize war, the story concerns a group of freaks who crash-land on a remote island, only to find it populated by an isolationist militia that intends to overthrow the U. S. government. However, Troma's War was a box office bomb. In the aftermath of the film's poor financial performance, Troma would experience extreme financial hardship, jettisoning the company from the Hollywood mainstream. In the years that followed the financial failure of their films, Troma tried to re-establish itself as a much smaller, independent film company, mostly out of financial necessity. Despite several unsuccessful attempts to assert itself in the mainstream Hollywood community, notably with two direct sequels to The Toxic Avenger, and another stab at the superhero genre Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD, Troma was unable to re-enter the mainstream film market. Today, the majority of Troma films are viewed for the first time on VHS or DVD, however Troma still does have some theatrical releases for their films in smaller art houses, college campuses, and independent cinemas. From 1995 to 2000, Kaufman directed three independent films released in limited theatrical releases: Tromeo and Juliet, a loose parody of Shakespeare's play; Terror Firmer, a slasher film loosely based on Lloyd Kaufman's book All I Need to Know about Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger, and independent film sequel to The Toxic Avenger trilogy titled Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV. Troma's financial hardship worsened after the botched funding of a low-budget video feature titled Tales from the Crapper, which cost $250,000 despite most of the footage being completely unusable. India Allen, one of the producers, backed out of the film halfway through, and sued Troma, citing breach of contract, slander per se, sexual harassment, trade slander, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Lloyd personally supervised a reshoot in an attempt to salvage the film, dividing the footage into two parts and recasting the film as a double-feature. Tales from the Crapper was released on DVD in September 2004. Oh, I didnt forget about you Troma fans in or near Park City, Utah. If you can get the dates and times for this, I strongly suggest you attend. I make it a point to go. Troma holds the annual Tromadance Festival in Park City, Utah at the same time as the Sundance Festival to accentuate their true independence from the mainstream. The festival screens submitted movies from independent filmmakers from around the world, the best of which are usually released on DVD by Troma or compiled in the Best of Tromadance series. In parallel, Troma acts as advisor to aspiring filmmakers with Lloyd Kaufman teaching classes, contributing cameos and often releasing the finished films on DVD. Did I mention they do publications as well? Get off your stinkin comp and go read a book, the ones listed below are highly recommended :) Lloyd Kaufman has written two books about his experiences with Troma in low-budget cinema. One, All I Need to Know about Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger, is an autobiography of sorts co-written with James Gunn. The other, Make Your Own Damn Movie, is a how-to book about making low-budget films. In 2006 a novelization of The Toxic Avenger was released. With the small movie review's here and soley based on A List movies [and one on spaceballs and baseketball, I APPLAUD YOU] not many people dare to write, let alone speak of Troma. Well now you have it. | |
topic: Movie Reviews | |
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| Vintage Games, some say its a lost art form. | April 1, 2009, 11:47AM |
by: Industrial.Trash |
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This article may sound a bit, over or under-rated, but growing up alot of us had a favorite game we just cant seem to let go, or stop talking about. I work for a vintage video game store here in Texas, where we sell everything from NES right up to next generation (or nexgen as my boss calls it) games, systems and so on. The people that enter my store (I say "my store" since im the manager, write that down) take a few looks around, or just stop and stare at some of my generation's lost gems. The looks on their face still astounds me to this moment. Ive had young and old enter the store, and they all remember their favorite game of the past. Honestly every time I open up the shop in the early morning, I still get nostalgic over some of the games I used to play as a kid, and even debated on purchasing the system and the game. People today, have always dogged this system, or that game and so on and so forth, yet have no concept of where the gaming industry truely began and who did what to make this industry what it is today. Alot of people think they know where it began, and some dont. Perhaps an A for effort gets put in place. [The following was taken from wikpedia. Here is the link to the fact http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_games#1958] The majority of early computer games ran on university mainframe computers in the United States and were developed by individuals as a hobby. The limited accessibility of early computer hardware meant that these games were small in number and forgotten by posterity.[citation needed] In 1961, a group of students at MIT, including Steve Russell, programmed a game titled Spacewar! on the DEC PDP-1, a new computer at the time.[5] The game pitted two human players against each other, each controlling a spacecraft capable of firing missiles, while a black hole in the center of the screen created a large hazard for the crafts. The game was eventually distributed with new DEC computers and traded throughout the then-primitive internet. Spacewar! is credited as the first influential computer game. In 1966, Ralph Baer created a simple video game named Corndog that displayed on a standard television set, the first to do so. With the assistance of Baer, Bill Harrison created the light gun and developed several video games with Bill Rusch in 1967. Ralph Baer continued development, and in 1968 a prototype was completed that could run several different games such as table tennis and target shooting. In 1969, AT&T computer programmer Ken Thompson wrote a game called Space Travel for the MULTICS operating system. This game simulated various bodies of the solar system and their movements and the player could attempt to land a spacecraft on them. AT&T pulled out of the MULTICS project, and Thompson ported the game to FORTRAN code running on the GECOS operating system of the General Electric GE 635 mainframe computer. Runs on this system cost about $75 per hour, and Thompson looked for a smaller, less expensive computer to use. He found an underused PDP-7, and he and Dennis Ritchie started porting the game to PDP-7 assembly language. In the process of learning to develop software for the machine, the development process of the UNIX operating system began, and Space Travel has been called the first UNIX application. Many people have used "pong" as the reference as the start of Video games, that is only half true. Home console's began with pong yes, however the video game began on a mere computer back in the 1950's. That snippet seen above still shocks me that it can date back over 50 years. After so long, "dinosaur" console's such as the Atari 2600, Colecovison, Wonderswan, and a long list of others, have since lost their lifespan. The vintage stores, that are open all over, gives the public a chance to relive, or learn of consoles and gaming, in its early form. Both young, and old can strive on this. Some say the "outdated" systems are just nothing more than dust collectors, some say they are rare gems, or antiques. Those facts are true, for the most part. Since the birth of emulators for the PC/Linux, the buisness for collecting, and selling "older systems, or gems" had taken its toll. The call for older and outdated systems are still in demand. It may not be as much as the next generation systems [Such as XBox 360, Wii, Playstation 3], but without these classic's ever being created, would these next generations even exist. Nintendo, Atarii are two of the pioneers in the industry today, paving ways for mogules such as Sega, Sony, Capcom, SNK and a few others. So, with closing remarks in this article, please keep in mind, an older system, may not appear to be "up to par", but it was they who paved the road for what you play today Thanks for reading, Industrial. | |
topic: Game Reviews | |
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| When does the rainbow end, and humanity begin? | March 15, 2009, 6:52AM |
 by: eater_of_dreams |
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I am a homosexual. Twenty-one years old... I have spent so many years trying to be this "gay" man that I have been educated by the media and the government to believe is what a fag should be... But why? We homosexuals become stereotypes... we complain that people don't take us seriously and yet we fit what they hate about us. Not because the homosexual gene makes us that way... We do it because it is comfortable. When we are harassed and told we are evil we curl up with Cher's Greatest hits... or with glitter... it is effective, this coping skill... But when is enough enough? We beg for people to accept us... and yet we are so uncomfortable in our own skin..... We respond to their hate... with hate... How does that work. Have we forgotten that we were raised in this same bigoted fucked up world... They had no reason to think different... So them not understanding is completely not their fault. We need to listen to Mahatma Gandhi... "Be the change you want to see in the world." I have a lot of straight male redneck friends... They are my friends because I refuse to be a stereotype. If I wear make-up or girls pants or listen to Cher... It is because I want to... Not because some mystical nameless fag tells me to be. I am who I am because that is the way I am... Not because I am suppose to. I feel sexy in heels so sometimes I will wear them... And I don't do it to make a statement.... I do it because I CAN! I understand homophobia... I don't like it... but I get it. I try to change that in everyone I meet. I have been friends with skin heads for christ's sake... I don't know if this is an article or just a rant... I want to know your opinions... this is off the top of my head... I am sorry for any grammatical mistakes... please forgive them... take from this what I am saying... not how I say it.... Thank you! | |
topic: Rants | |
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| Money is the root of all good. | March 12, 2009, 5:02PM |
 by: Vampire_Lycan_Bich |
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Since the beginning of time money has been a driving force behind the decisions of everyday life. Even before such standards of the dollar and the euro, bartering had the same economic effect. During the Renaissance, the Silk Road was a major bartering center for Europe and Asia. Eventually the idea turned into what is known today as the monetary system. Despite its antiquity, proper management and control have eluded the rulers of most states because they have taken a broad interpretation of the importance of money. Economists tend to overestimate the purely economic, narrow, and technical functions of money and have placed an emphasis on its negative social, institutional, and psychological aspects. This has created the notion that money is the root of all evil. It is my goal to prove that money is not the root of all evil but the root of all good. Money yields powerfully important psychic returns such as an individual’s social rank or a countries position in the Gross National Product league table. However, money should be widely interpreted to include discussion not only of currency and banking but also building societies and the fiscal framework. Even in medieval times these aspects were of considerably great importance than conventionally believed. One of the timeless problems caused by a history of misusing money is inflation. In his book, A History of Money, Glyn Davies analyzes this never ending conflict between the interests of creditors vs. debtors. Debtors want to increase the quantity in an attempt to give themselves a better financial standing, while creditors attempt to increase its value over others to maintain a good quality. For example, the Price Revolution in England, which lasted from 1540-1640 was an issue of population pressure taking control. This caused grain prices and the cost of living to increase and resulted in demand-pull inflation. These situations create a sense of lacking neutrality in its effects among the fortunes of the community. However, rising population is not the only cause of inflation. Wars, throughout history, have also been a major contributor not only to inflation but also to the corrupted belief of money. Over the past 1,000 years the “war ratchet” has succeeded in increasing prices while devaluing money. Davies explains this when he says, “Most of that time debasement was the most common, but no the only way of strengthening the sinews of war.”(646) The financial consequences of Alexander the Great, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the crusades, the 100 years war, the civil war, and especially the two world wars are treated in this way. The importance of war as a cause of inflation increased with the adoption of paper money in the west. This ideology is what turned the United States into the Arsenal of democracy and the Merchant of death because we choose to allow the war ratchet to control our government. When we look to the history of the United States it is noted that money plays a significant role in corrupting politics and government, through not only elections but also the everyday policies that are being passed. Bill Moyers depicts the greed and corruption seen in elections and policies through his story “A Culture of Corruption.” He allows for some analysis that because campaigns are privately financed people with real meaning get shut out of our “democratic process.” This is because lobbyists don’t see the safety in surrounding themselves with these officials. He further shows how outrageous the cost is to gain political office. A seat in the House of Representatives has reached the price of over a million dollars. Then once an office is gained each member of congress is surrounded by 65 lobbyists. The total cost of maintaining the influence of these lobbyists is $200 million each month. That’s $2.4 billion per year just to seduce federal officials. Now when we look even further into the legislation that has gone through in the past it becomes obvious that the bulk of legislation passed through Congress is purely tax breaks for huge companies such as Exxon Mobil to ensure that even with the wilting economy they make profits around $30 billion through subsidies. Society has reached a point where anyone who attempts to be successful through ability is removed. In her book, Atlas Shrugged, philosopher Ayn Rand expresses this societal problem when the character Hank Rearden creates an amazing lightweight yet highly durable metal that could replace steel. However, the government is so influenced by the already existing steel company run by Orren Boyle; Rearden gets shut out by the science institute claiming his metal to be unsafe and unreliable. The government also goes to the extremes of forcing Rearden to only own one type of resource and make him share the formula for his metal with everyone else. When Rand makes this depiction of government she’s speaking of the direction the U.S. federal government is headed. Now, you have seen what money is not and because of that we are in the poor state of considering it the root of all evil. Now I would like to show you what it truly is. The United States was the first society to use and give emphasis to the phrase, “to make money.” This is what has created the misconception that money is made by the strong at the expense of the weak. However this is inaccurate because money is abused by the strong at the expense of the weak, and the abusers are the one who attack the makers of money. However money and wealth cannot be a product of the “strength” of the looters with their muscles and their guns that are condoned by government, Wealth is the result of a person’s ablility to think. However, money isn’t made by the intelligent at the expense of the fool. Neither at the expense of the incompetent nor the lazy. As Rand says, “Money is made by the effort of every honest man, each to the extent of his ability. An honest man is one who knows that he can’t consume more than he has produced.” Bill Gates, who began with nothing but an idea, this idea which became the world know Microsoft program. He had the will to use his ability to its extent and excel beyond all the already in place programs blocking him. Because of this, a simple program, Microsoft Word, turned him into the most well know multi-billionaire. Money is the means of all trade. It was the means of trade to get Bill Gates started. An investor made the trade of materials for a product, and this product was adopted into the market at a value to be traded for the fundamental need of money to trade for goods. Money allows no one to decide the value of your own efforts but for two voluntary parties to trade efforts with each other. Nothing more, nothing less. It allows for the judgment to be made without force on deals that are mutually beneficial. When searching for a job you don’t present an employer a list of your vices and expect to be taken seriously. You present them every value you have to offer and expect to receive an equal benefit. Reason is the basis of decision making. This is the basis of existence that is recognized by the symbol of money. Is this what you consider the root of all evil? “Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he wants: money will not give him a code of values if he’s evaded the knowledge of what to value and will not provide him with a purpose if he’s evaded the choice of what to seek.” It does not give intelligence, prosperity, respect, or wealth to the undeserving. The majority of the “wealthy” today have seen money destroy them. This is because they do not see what it truly means to have wealth. We are standing in the middle of one of the greatest achievements of productive civilization. In this technological age we have the ability to do great things whether it be to create lunar colonies on the moon or turn Mars into a livable place. Since the initial landing on the moon we have not set foot back there again, nor are we making any decent progress toward Mars. Why might you ask, because we are placing a damn on the lifeline to the programs- money. It’s quite ironic how this phrase, to make money, which so easily slips through the mouths of many, originated from a time where wealth was achieved through the labor of slaves. The looter is the one who sees no difference between the power held in the dollar versus the power held in a whip making him the most ignorant of men. Now we speak of this term as looters would speak of producers, slaves, traders, shopkeepers, industrialists, positions that a child wouldn’t dare to wish to achieve. These are the people who show the ability to follow that phrase coined by Americans, who have the ability to make money. Yet now looters feel the ability to denounce the people who follow these words as being un-American or just worthless of anyone’s time. “Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good you ask for your own destruction.” When you refuse to see this you and no long allow money to be the simplistic tool of trade it was meant to be, you become the politician that corrupts the government through greed. In this moment you become the tool to be abused. “Blood, whips, and guns—or dollars.” It’s your time to choose, and you don’t have forever. Money is nothing more than an simple tool and that when you allow it to be something else you are no longer an heir worthy to your wealth. Society needs to realize this. Inventors like Bill Gates and scientists like Albert Einstein and Leo Salard used their intelligence to produce objects of value and therefore earned the respect of others not through the amount of money they had but through their hard work and ability. Money gave them absolutely nothing but was only a tool to their success. When money becomes the success then it is no longer money, or at least what money truly is. Because of this, money is not the root of all evil, but the men and women who attempt to corrupt our belief of money are. | |
topic: Philosophy | |
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| Comment Locking | March 8, 2009, 6:47PM |
by: eon |
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On your profile comments, you will notice a new option grouped with all of the others: [lock] If you click 'lock' then you will be unable to delete the comment until you unlock it (by clicking the handy 'unlock' link which will appear). Pretty simple. This will prevent you from accidentally deleting important comments that you want to save. This will come in especially handy if you like to periodically clean out all of your comments via 'Edit Your Comments' -> 'Delete All Comments'. It might also be interesting to note that this will prevent others from deleting comments that they have left you, as only the recipient of a comment is able to lock/unlock. That is all. | |
topic: Site News | |
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| A New Flavor of Karma | February 28, 2009, 2:16AM |
 by: Stake-N-Shake |
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There are literally thousands of different answers to the question, "Why did (insert event here) happen?" One of my personal favorite answers is Karma: the idea that what goes around, comes around. A way for people to take responsibilties for their actions without a constant threat of a lake of fire looming over your head. I help aid an American History class for Freshman in high school, and I often get asked a lot of weird questions. A 14 year old girl asked me after notes if I could explain the concept of Karma. By the time I was halfway done with my take on Karma, I had two things: one was the entire classroom, including the teacher, enthralled with my speech. I also had the foundation for a new twist on Karma, that I ended up calling "Mortal Will." The basics of Mortal Will are a mixture of free will, Karma, and a bit of "connected existance" in one tasty philosophical burrito. There are three fundementals, called the Physics of Will, called such because of their resemblance to Newton's Three Laws of Motion. 1. Events and ideas tend to stay in motion or at rest, until acted upon by an outside force; namely Mortal intervention. An event cannot happen if someone does not take the initiative to set wheels in motion. In contrast, an event cannot stop, unless someone interposed themselves in the events direct path. Much like Russia stepped into the path of Hitler's Nazi Regime. 2. The reaction taken by an event reflects the amount force used to move or stop it. For example, if you want to lose a few pounds, you can't do it buy excercising for ten minutes a weeks. It takes time, effort, and commitment to make anything worth happening happen worthwhile. 3. For every action, there an equal, though not necessarily opposite, reaction. This is where the concept of Karma comes into play. I shouldn't need to explain this. If you've followed me this far, you know what Karma is. The aspect of Mortal Will says that every individual is an island of conscienceness, and although not directly connected, affect each other indefinitely. Think of each person's unique Will as a small beam of vertical light in a grey haze of collective conscienceness. Some beams are brighter than others, and some beams cluster together around a certain event or idea. Each beam, or Mortal, has it's own source, it's own processes, but it shares similar functionalities with other beams, thus affecting the group as a whole, and likewise being affected by the group. I was then asked if I could provide proof of my concept. I answered, "I want you to close your eyes and push your background thoughts away." I then proclaimed it would be a great idea if we all went to get slushies after school. Instantly, the classroom agreed, with the exception of a boy near the middle of the group that said he would prefer some hot cocoa with whipped cream. Several other student mulled this new opinion over and nodded in agreement. Hot cocoa sounds fairly good as well. I then proclaimed that they had just proven Mortal Will to hold at least some water. I injected my opinion into the thoughts of other Mortals, and they were affected as such. They then proved it further by introducing another opinion into the mix. While some agree with the new idea, other simply stuck to their "original" thought, proving that their Will was indeed their own. In conclusion, I reitirated that Mortal Will is basically a system in which we depend entirely up to ourselves as free-thinking individuals, instead of seeking a Higher Power, which, to some, may or may not even exist. It is based off the facts that you will face the consequences of your actions, you must strive with effort to seize what you seek, and that we cannot take any sort of action without it somehow affecting the Mortal world as a whole. If you have any questions, or if I was forggy about my concept, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you to whoever decided to read this whole article out. It really means a lot to me. | |
topic: Various | |
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