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| Acmlm's Board - I3 Archive - - Posts by Silvershield |
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Silvershield   580                   Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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| Alright, let me restate my point concisely: in my estimation, genocide is essentially impossible in the modern First World because, of the steps that necessarily precede such large scale murder - for example, the process of convincing a population to be outwardly hateful towards the targeted group - none are plausible when considering the role of modern institutions (mainly the media). | |||
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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Originally posted by Wurl...no, I never argued that. When I brought up the issue of the media, I thought more of the various pundits who make a living off of criticizing political figures' actions. If George Bush were to begin spouting anti-Jewish rhetoric, he would be attacked so visibly and thoroughly on television and radio that a person could not help but recognize it. He couldn't be so subtle and fly under the radar with it, because someone in the modern world would be quick to call him on it (which nobody really did with Hitler). And, even if it were the media's coverage that would prevent genocide, you make it sound as if the American media pays a lot of attention to other countries, and foreign genocide has sort of just "gone unnoticed." Given the same circumstances or events in America, I can guarantee you that they'd be spotted and strewn all over the media immediately. |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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| I'm also taking on a new challenge instead of giving something up, largely because I can't think of anything suitable to sacrifice. Most food items are out of the question, because living away at school doesn't always give one the freedom one might want in regards to meal selection, so I decided on something that might have a similar effect: I've resolved to begin exercising every day, hopefully with the result of making it a habit I can keep up once the season is through.
At the moment, exercise means a good number of pushups and situps, but it includes a nice run as well once the weather becomes tolerable. I'm not out of shape, but I could certainly be in better shape if I actually put effort into it. So, that's what I'm doing  . |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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| Two suggestions.
First, more paragraphs. Simple enough. Second, don't fall into the trap of the typical, enormously cliche fantasy storyline, the convention which has some responsibility for the less than respected image much of mainstream fantasy has today. That is, the evil wizard of long ago casts a curse on a land/bloodline/magical sword, and a hero from that land/of that bloodline/wielding that sword must overthrow that evil wizard, that evil wizard's offspring, or a similarly evil king/monarch/ruler. With a novel twist, it can be done well, but I doubt your ability (or my ability, or the ability of any but the most imaginative of writers) to come up with a new way to do it. |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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Originally posted by Cruel Justice, emphasis mineBecause we all know the typical Counter Strike player is far more mature than the average D&Der. In the case of EverQuest, which I've been playing and paying for for the past six and a half years, not only do servers need to be maintained - as has been mentioned - but the game is patched with new content, as well as revisions and corrections of old content, every few weeks. You think the programmers and artists responsible for such changes, as well as the game masters (which, in this case, are something like ingame customer service reps), game designers, people responsible for the servers and other hardware, and multitude of others are all contributing to the game out of some idealistic motive? If you don't want to shell out less than fifteen bucks a month to play, that's perfectly fine. But if you realize that you'll spend more than that monthly fee if you go to pay for a movie ticket and a bit of food - which will only amount to a couple hours of entertainment at most - you realize that $15 is rather cheap for a month subscription. Get a minimum wage job and work for a week, and all of a sudden you can afford a year of EverQuest or most other MMORPGs on the market. The game itself, including all but one of the ~10 expansions that have been released, is $20 - they make their profit on the monthly fee. |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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| Using my own employment, as well of that of my friends, as reference, there's a pretty solid list of jobs that a 16- to 18-year-old might look for. I've been at a movie theater for the past couple of years, which is pretty terrible pay but free movies and such. If you're into movies, it will probably make you better suited to the job while also allowing you to see them without paying.
A few friends work at grocery stores, which seems to be the big employer of high school kids in my town. Most are cashiers which, from all reports, is a bit tedious, but a few stock shelves and do that sort of thing. They say it's not as bad. I know some people here at college who worked as waiters at home, or who have found jobs here as hostesses at local restaurants. The former job seems to have the most varied of appraisals, with the consensus being that customers can be a major difficulty but, on a good day, it's not a bad job to have. Tips also allow one to determine one's own fate, in a way, instead of receiving a straight paycheck. The latter job, a host or hostess at something like Chili's or Applebee's, is apparently not too bad, either. Workers double as busboys most of the time, but that seems to be minor. In North Jersey, where I live, I have the luxury of around three million malls being in range of my house, and any of the multitude of stores in those malls typically hire high school kids or returning college students. The options there are numerous. Finally, if it's a summer job you're after, as summer is fast approaching, a good many of my friends at school were lifeguards during high school and plan to return to it over summer break. Most say the hours are terrible, with long shifts and little opportunity for days off, but it is otherwise a painfully easy job. |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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| I'm not going to contribute to the discussion of whether the drug should be legal or not because, even as a non-user myself, I'm forced to admit that there are some good arguments in favor of it. On the topic of the personal choice to smoke it or not, though, I have my reasons for abstaining.
I avoid marijuana for the same reason I avoid alcohol, even though both are incredibly prevalent and incredibly accessible at college. (Just as a case in point, I have literally no close friends at school who do not drink and smoke, and both substances are so easy to get because (a) my best friend here has just gotten into dealing pot and (b) my roommate is brewing his own beer in the room. Which is hilarious, but admittedly ludicrous.) At first, my motives were purely religious - as a practicing Catholic, I thought it below my standards to use either substance, without any other reasoning. I feel like I've matured as a person though, especially since I am exposed to drugs on a daily basis here at school, and I've needed to form a more sound rationale. What I've come to is simply this: I don't need to put anything into my body which causes an altered state of mind. I value my free will, my free choice, and my unarguable responsibility for every action I take, and to use alcohol or any other drug would reduce my ability to maintain control over my behavior and claim full accountability. I certainly face a barrage of "you still know what you're doing when you're drunk, and you're still responsible for your actions!" - that's been said a thousand times in response to my reasoning - but I'm quick to cite innumerable cases of a person doing something undesirable when he's drunk that he either would not do sober or, often, that he does not even recall doing at a later point. I don't want to live my life under the influence of something that makes me something other than what I truly am, or that makes me behave differently than I truly, rationally behave. A year ago I would have vehemently attacked those who smoke (or even those who drink), but I'm over it now. If you want to smoke, go ahead. If you can convince the government to make it legal, more power to you. I don't respect you any less for what you decide to do to your body and your mind. But I do have more respect for someone who, given the option, decides to abstain from marijuana. |
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Silvershield 580  Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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| It's 6:30 in the morning here, and I haven't gone to sleep yet. Just as I was dozing off, my friend came in from a rough night of partying. I didn't wake up until it was too late: I realized that he thought our room was the bathroom just as I began feeling a bit damp.
My friend peed all over me, my sheets, my bed, and a lot of things on the floor nearby. Maybe he shouldn't drink. |
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Silvershield 580  Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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| Few, if any, online games will delete a character if a person has cancelled his account. I know that EverQuest guarantees that a player's characters will remain for a set amount of time, after which no such guarantee is made, but all reports confirm that even a person who's been absent for years can reactivate his acount and play from where he left off. If you find you'll be on hiatus, either for logistical reasons (no access to an Internet connection, etc) or simply due to boredom, you can stop paying without fear of losing all that time. | |||
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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Originally posted by ArwonThat's wishful thinking. Maybe you can handle your alcohol just fine but, at the age where binging is most prevalent - in late high school and into college, in my experience - few people are mature enough physically or mentally to know their own limit. Maybe, according to your logic, they each have a bona fide problem. That's perfectly sound logic, I suppose, but would you be so quick to say that an entire age group should abstain from drinking? Because, from what I've seen, it's a majority rather than a small group that does stupid or otherwise regrettable things under the influence. It's not always peeing on someone - it's usually fighting or, more commonly, an undesired sexual encounter - but they've all "lost control" and, by your argument, have no business even consuming such a drug in the first place. To expand on my own philosophy, I've been able to put into words a more thorough logic for my own choices. I pride myself on being my own person. In every way I can imagine, I follow my own logic, my own preference, my own style, my own choices. Even as the vast majority of my friends - literally all except for one or two - began to drink late in high school, and then as they continued to in college (and all my new friends at college did the same), I've remained steadfast and have yet to touch the stuff. With all due modesty, I am a strongly individualistic person, moreso (in my own view) than the people who follow all the latest fashion trends or who go from not drinking at all in high school to going away to college and becoming heavy drinkers. (That happened to at least a few of my friends, drinking little or not at all until they got to college, at which point they fell to the pressure of their peers.) All that said, I value my own individuality and my own personality more than anything. I change for nobody; I live by my own rules and my own morals, regardless of what people do around me. But to become drunk, or even to drink a few beers, changes a person's behavior. Sure, most would say it just "lowers inhibitions," but my inhibitions - high as they may be - are a definite part of my personality. To lower my inhibitions is to change my personality, plain and simple. We've all seen examples of friends who, after throwing back a few shots, become totally transformed and, even if my own change were not to be nearly as drastic, it would still constitute a sacrifice of that which I value so much. If you got to this point and actually read all of the above, I congratulate you. |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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| In my eyes, at least, even if you aren't acing all of your classes you're still in a better spot than many people entering your profession. I know people here who have professed a love for a given subject - in one case, English and writing - but who have opted for a biology degree because, to paraphrase, "Medicine pays better than English."
I'm not fooling anyone if I say a love for a subject will assure one's mastery of that subject, but I have infinitely more respect for you, someone who is pursuing a passion regardless of logistical factors, than a stupid girl who will throw away years of her life just so that, in the end, she can bring home a bigger paycheck. Who will be happier in the end, a person who is filthy rich but dreads going to work everyday, all the while regretting a dream she abandoned, or someone who might have to work ten times harder and might not even achieve the same success, but who will love his life regardless? |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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Originally posted by ColinIt's typical in organized sports for players to kneel on the field during an injury or, to a lesser degree, any other short of stoppage. At least in America and at least in my experience, that is. All through little league sports and into high school, no matter what I played - everything from soccer to baseball to football and, in some way, to wrestling - a coach would instruct everyone to "take a knee" until a situatin was sorted out. I doubt that half an NFL team decides to pray when a teammate is injured. I find it silly that someone is so arrogant as to assume that God prefers his team over another in some sort of situation. Before any sort of athletic event, in my prayers, I would ask for modesty in my win, or understanding and self-control in my loss. I would ask for the physical safety of all involved, and that each would remember the tenets of sportsmanship. But I would never pray that my team would win (or that I personally would win in wrestling). It reminds me of the movie "Angels in the Outfield"; most of the movie defies my point of view but, in the last scenes when the team is playing in a championship game, the angel insists that 'important games like these must be won on their own.' I'd take that philosophy to the next level and argue that all games must be won on their own - God is just there to watch. |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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Originally posted by Cruel JusticeSorry, not everyone is the ladies' man you are. There's a difference between being a wimp and being, I dunno, shy? It's a widespread and perfectly reasonable personality trait. Just because you were blessed with an outgoing nature does not make you any less of a wimp than someone who has trouble approaching a girl that he holds in high esteem. |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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Originally posted by ColinI don't know if it's always a case of a player resting, or just trying not to add to the confusion of the moment. An injury causes enough of a situation as it is, and conventional wisdom seems to suggest that 21 other guys milling around the field can do nothing but make things worse. It's not practical in most sports for the players to return to the bench; in hockey, not only is the ice a lot smaller than a football field or baseball diamond, but each player is on skates and can move fast while exerting little energy. I liken thanking God in sports to doing the same in an acceptance speech for some award, be it an Oscar or an Emmy or any of the other ones out there. How can a person be so arrogant and self-righteous as to suggest that he or she is somehow the chosen of God, while some trait of his or her opponents has caused God to shun them? Especially in the entertainment business (not to change the subject from sports, although the two are closely enough related), which is largely a godless or at least overwhelmingly secular faction: so many of Hollywood's residents profess no specific faith, and if they do they hardly show signs of legitimate practice of that religion. Or when a rapper, who rhymes about murder and rape and the objectivity of women, thanks God in an acceptance speech. How ridiculous. |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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| Tell every mother whose child was killed by a drunk or stoned driver that using drugs is a victimless crime.
Sure, it's an uncommon occurance, but so is a woman becoming pregnant by rape. But people still support the legalization of abortion in all cases with the argument that abortion cannot be outlawed because a woman who's been raped deserves the right to an abortion. If such an insignificant situation is given such prominence, why is it not similarly acceptable for me to argue that the small (but still significant) number of drunk- and stoned driving deaths should be generalized to all cases of drinking and smoking? I'm admittedly playing Devil's advocate in a way, but I do have some basis in truth, I think; the left has a double standard, wanting to generalize in some cases but not in others, and I take issue with it. |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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Originally posted by ColinWell said . |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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Originally posted by The NicIt was kinda ridiculous, what with the staff making minimum (or near minimum) wage while the managers, who were generally only a year or two older than the average staff member, made $11 in the case of an assistant or a whopping $15 for a head. Admittedly, it wasn't a difficult job for a staff member - since the theater only had four screens, there was typically an hour or two during which nothing was really going on and you could putz around a bit. But a manager could get by the entire day while thoroughly stoned. And I know that from experience. More to the point though, none of us loved our jobs. We despised our jobs. It likely has something to do with the theater chain we worked for, which was the most poorly run embarassment I've ever come across, but that's just my experience. |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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Originally posted by Plus Sign AbominationYo there, I don't know why you're jumping all over me for including a small aside that neither calls for a response nor makes any attempt on changing the thread's subject. And before you label a perfectly legitimate statement as "whining," perhaps you'd best examine your own record for more accurate examples of that word. To add a third offense to what is an overwhelmingly offensive post in general, you decide to accuse me of making an inflammatory statement, or presenting an inflammatory argument? Ziff, I know your politics are decidely liberal, but does that give you the authority to imbue your role as a moderator with the residue of that political designation? I make a civil and intelligent statement, yet you disagree with it and so it becomes "inflammatory"; in a thread that has since been trashed, a poster starts a thread on the basis of defaming and insulting all Republicans in general, and you close his thread without an angry word and with the advice that his was a perfectly acceptable discussion if only it were rephrased. Be mature and realize that to have a position of authority means to discard your own personal biases. |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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Originally posted by SkydudeHe closed the topic because to leave it open would be blatantly biased due to its radical nature. If it were more rationally presented, I have no doubt he could've made an argument to keep it open. Ziff, there was no whining in what I wrote, and I never said "OMG LIBERALZZZ." (On a sidenote, it's hard for me to put into words how terribly annoying it is when you and Valcion find it funny to write like that.) Originally posted by Plus Sign AbominationYou certainly were singling me out. More offensive statements have made in reference to the right, especially the religious right, and you don't bat an eyelash at it. Maybe you're not singling me out, but you're singling out people who exp Originally posted by Plus Sign AbominationYes. When I made a rational and civil statement, you label it inflammatory and insinuate that, if it were it's own thread, it would've been closed. But another poster exp It would've turned into a flamewar because the initial post was a flame, through and through. Not because, as you would seem to imply, we "conservatives on the board" have a tendency towards inciting pointless flaming. Furthermore, trying to defame me by putting words in my mouth and suggesting that I see you as an "evil NAZI gay agenda liberal" doesn't reflect well on your skill in argument. Originally posted by Plus Sign AbominationYou shouldn't need an opposite-leaning moderator unless you're admitting a tendency to act on personal bias rather than duty as a moderator. Originally posted by Plus Sign AbominationMore words you're putting in my mouth. |
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Silvershield 580 Since: 11-19-05 From: Emerson, New Jersey Last post: 5920 days Last view: 5908 days |
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Originally posted by TaraleGo ahead, get it back on topic. Stop complaining and say something relevant; if you're so annoyed by off-topic discussion, don't contribute to it. Originally posted by TaraleI'm perfectly justified in making an off-topic remark when it's related to a perfectly on-topic post. Are you faulting me for making an analogy to a related subject? I did not ask anyone to reply to those specific statements I made, I simply used them to provide a backdrop for my argument; if they were taken as the main drive of my posts, and responded to as if that were the case, it would be the fault of the person who misinterpreted it. |
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| Acmlm's Board - I3 Archive - - Posts by Silvershield |
I mean, I understand resting when there's an injury on the field. That I understand (in hockey you just stay at the bench for instance), but... it's just weird. I'm not bashing the process but at times it just looks strange.
) . Plus, Ice Age 2 doesn't release until tomorrow and I just got through watching it...
Thanks a whole bunch.