3,386 Forum Posts by "BrianEtrius"
At 7/3/12 06:33 PM, Camarohusky wrote: I was asking him what the point of his post was. What about this did he want to talk about?
I think he's trying to spin this story as, "LOOK LIBERALZ HATE FREEDOMZ LOL BIDEN GLUBBLEBULEADSLKAJSDLK" but is failing because if the real only way to spin this is "Big Government/Brother", which would include both sides of the spectrum.
At 7/3/12 11:36 AM, Camarohusky wrote: True, but unlike RomneyCare, it's pretty hard to couch outsourcing, mass layoffs, and the sending of capital overseas as good for the US. He can at least couch RomneyCare as a states' rights issue (crafted specifically for Taxachuffets).
Well, we can both agree that this ruling adds insult to injury as the Romney Ship slowly tries bail out to no avail. Romney probably just wants the next news story to hop on to come asap, which, this being the summer, may not happen for a while.
At 7/3/12 10:19 AM, Camarohusky wrote:At 7/3/12 12:16 AM, BrianEtrius wrote: Furthermore, the best thing for Romney at this point is to hope this thing goes away soon. If not, it's going to drown out cries of the economy before the election is over.With as bad as his Bain Capital reputation is going, Romney may want the economic issue to be drowned out.
But besides the economy, what major message is Romney going to run on? That's the thing; Romney's whole spiel right now is that he's NOT Barack and that somehow he knows better way of fixing the economy which is the elephant in the room. So why not bring it up? It's one of the few of Romney's legit cards to play, and it's a big one. But then again, Romney might just put his foot in his mouth somehow when it does happen.
Kids: this is the reason why you shouldn't do drugs.
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ItâEUTMs another one of those cheap 15 buck hotels along the interstate of Anywhere USA where the linens are so poorly washed you feel dirty just walking into the room and television seems like something out of a bad 70âEUTMs flick and never works properly despite the amount of whacks you give it on the side.
ItâEUTMs 3 oâEUTMclock in the goddamn morning and all I want to do is to go to sleep but I canâEUTMt because thereâEUTMs a fucking kilo of coke sitting in front of me and unless I deliver it by the set time IâEUTMm so fucked in the ass by not only the mob but by major players on both coasts who IâEUTMm pretty sure might have a bounty on my head which doesnâEUTMt hurt the paranoia nor the insomnia.
ItâEUTMs my stomach thatâEUTMs growling for days which are turning into weeks because IâEUTMve been on edge for weeks now on nothing but fucking coffee and cigarettes thinking about this whole goddamn ordeal and how the hell I got in this mess but that really doesnâEUTMt help me now because if I donâEUTMt help them now theyâEUTMll kill me.
ItâEUTMs this 6 shot revolver that they gave me thatâEUTMs sitting in front of me laying on the table chambered in .44 magnum or what they liked to call âEUoeDirty HarryâEU but it does the opposite for me and makes me feel weaker in this forsaken mess despite it supposed use of giving me protection in a run like this.
ItâEUTMs the fucking programming that they have here thatâEUTMs from some small local station so thereâEUTMs nothing on to watch and now IâEUTMm stuck looking at this huge package knowing that this thing could and probably will kill me despite all my hard work trying to not get fucked over in this business but I know I will.
ItâEUTMs the memory of my girlfriend smiling and laughing as we shared dinner and a bottle of wine on that great date we had months ago where it had been a blind date set up by friends and we had no idea how the nigh would turn out but things that evening just seemed to work and for a second being with her made my world stop and I would kill for that feeling again but itâEUTMs not going to happen.
ItâEUTMs the constant beat of my heart that nearly goes up my throat with every thump as I wait for the footsteps of my hopeful assassins so they can put me out of my misery and I can finally be done dealing with all of these half-wit âEUoegangstersâEU and this goddamn business thatâEUTMs fucked up every single day of my life IâEUTMve been in it.
ItâEUTMs the knowledge that I can never go back and that this is a one way trip for me now and thereâEUTMs nothing I can do about it and itâEUTMs probably a death worthy of this pathetic excuse for a life filled not with happiness and eternal bliss but rather false hope, blown chances, and general fuck ups that cannot be ignored even in the face of death.
ItâEUTMs constant dripping of the faucet that sinks in the bathroom in my room and IâEUTMm pretty sure itâEUTMs a permanent leak because IâEUTMve been listening to it for hours on end but I donâEUTMt go look at it in fear that the moment I move that dripping, like my heartbeat, will stop and I donâEUTMt want that to happen, not quite yet.
ItâEUTMs the bags that are underneath my eyes that grow larger and larger with each passing night in these fucking hotels and if I get one more chance and boy if I ever get that one IâEUTMll sleep like a baby in a motherâEUTMs arms and get the hell away from this awful, pitiful experience and hopefully itâEUTMll just disappear like a bad dream.
ItâEUTMs me crying because I know that such a thing is not possible and that itâEUTMs only my mind trying to find a single possible way out this goddamn mess but it still helps vanquish the terror and evil in my reality and creates a peaceful place that I can finally escape to, a place where I can only remember existing as a child.
ItâEUTMs me, isnâEUTMt it? ItâEUTMs me and my life. ItâEUTMs gone, isnâEUTMt it? The only place I can go to now is the past.
Oh dear god. What have I done with my life?
At 7/2/12 11:50 PM, aviewaskewed wrote: Obama pushed for a "public option" but the Republicans and other Conservative factions screamed "socialism" long and loud and this President put re-election ahead of the policy he publicly championed and caved and gave us the law we have now...so basically, he WANTED something like Canada, then caved into pressure and passed this instead...and still got called a socialist, lol.
....which on top of, was a plan originally proposed and passed in Massachusetts but none other then our good current Republican-nominee and former governor, Mitt Romney. Ironically, in what probably is the smartest political move for Romney (for once, he does the smart thing), Mitt is agreeing with the president and going against party lines, saying how the mandate is not a tax, an important point.
This makes a lot of sense for once for Mitt, because if he didn't clarify, it would mean.......MITT ROMNEY HAS IMPOSED A TAX BEFORE. That's not exactly the best message to be running for a Republican party. Furthermore, the best thing for Romney at this point is to hope this thing goes away soon. If not, it's going to drown out cries of the economy before the election is over.
In later news:
Romneycare is constitutional! Hooray for irony in the political cycle!
Too bad there isn't any possible way to spin this for Romney. He needs something right now, and he isn't getting anything. Woof.
At 6/28/12 10:48 AM, TheKlown wrote: What would Romney do better than Obama if we elect Romney as president?
Good question. You support the guy, you tell me. This is what I'm saying: yes, Romney keeps on saying how he's better than Obama. Now here's the next question: What makes him different? So far: nothing! He hasn't made it clear what his alternative solutions are opposed to the President's. Then why should we elect a guy that has no plans for the office other than the fact that he's not Obama?
That's a campaign strategy that makes Machiavelli turn in his grave.
Oh yeah, and in Pennsylvania and Ohio, Obama's leading by 8% and 2.6% respectively. Where is Romney in all of this? He needs those swing states as is.
At 6/27/12 01:56 PM, Trapex wrote: I suppose I should accept it as it is. I wrote a quite, well, horrible story. I will say, however, that what I said about the whole challenge of writing something in five to ten minutes was completely true. Of course, I guess I could add onto that and say that I could go back and edit it to some extent.
I'm looking for my next one to be about 5k words or so. Hopefully it'll be better.
You still are approaching writing from the weaker perspective. It's not about quantity, it is about quality. Sure people could write on and on about a boring subject but that does not make their writing good, per se it is about really trying to describe what you want to say to the reader in the clearest way possible. If you can truly want construct a quality piece you have to go back and draft because whatever you first put down on paper can't possibly be good because at that level it can only be understood by you, the writer. Until you refine that raw thought that's just been put on paper no one else is going to able to comprehend your concepts.
Long story short, draft draft draft.
Also: you can get a lot done in a paragraph. Read Hemingway. He gets a lot done in a shorter amount of words. Again, it shows that it's quality, not quantity.
Curious question for conservatives (or anybody, for that matter): If Mitt Romney was running the same campaign regardless of Obama's presidency (that is, even if Obama wasn't president and assume it was someone else) would you still vote for him?
I guess a more simple way to ask is this: Is Mitt Romney campaign strong enough to support itself with issues and not attacking the President?
At 6/26/12 05:44 PM, Trapex wrote: First off, thanks to both of you for your advice.
Secondly, this was just a challenge for me to see what I could write in the time-span of about 5 to 10 minutes. I wanted to see how much detail I could put into a story in that amount of time. This is pretty much what it'll be for most of the short stories posted on the thread.
Then you should learn how to edit, which is just as important as writing. If you're going to jolt down ideas that's great, but as any good writer will tell you, go back and draft more. Very rarely will you ever write a piece and leave as is, so you should get in the habit of revisiting stories and rework them so it fits your original intention better.
Obama, by a long shot: I think people are overestimating Romney as a viable alternative to the president. This shouldn't be a question of whether the president is deserving of a second term, it's whether the opposing candidate will make enough of a difference to warrant a new elected official.
Romney, on the other hand, has not done any of this. Romney hasn't established positions on matters besides trashing the president, so why should people vote for him other than the fact that he isn't Barack Obama? Until Romney does this, which may be too late, he's going to lose. He's currently trailing in Florida, a key state if he can't carry he's not going to win.
If I'm Romney right now, I should be campaigning in Florida, Ohio and Indiana to make sure the polls are in my favor. If Romney can't carry this Republican-controlled swing states, he's toast. He's not doing this, and it's going to sink him.
Like I've said earlier: Obama doesn't win this election. Romney loses the election for the Republicans.
Has anyone found it interesting that Romney hasn't said much regarding the issue, even though it's been like 3 days since Obama's conference? Is Romney going to go against party lines and disagree with Obama? It's hard to say knowing Romney's thought process.
You guys can harp on Obama all you want, but remember: Obama doesn't have to win in November. Romney just has to lose the election by himself, which he's well on his way to do.
Just a little ditty that I wrote.
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ItâEUTMs cold, he finally said out loud.
It would be a good five minutes before he had finally realized he had said those words out loud. To him those words still floated around in his mind, dancing in his consciousness like children on a playground. Yet it was not life that was keeping his mind in check, rather it was the lack of it.
His slender suited body leaned back on the brick wall of the city alleyway, at his feet his cigarette butts. As the only person on the block (he had planned it that way) he was naturally smoking as a man of habit. He was on his 4th one now and figured this would be his last. The nicotine helped calm his nerves as he got his thoughts from the night in order.
LetâEUTMs see, he thought, taking a long drag from his American Spirit. How did I get myself in this mess?
I started the night getting off of work and going to LindaâEUTMs, as per usual. We talked some shop about life over some Chinese. Afterwards we decided to go to a bar, where we met Dave and some other guys. DaveâEUTMs crazy younger brother John was there, so we ended up going back to his small apartment for a bit.
He ashes the cigarette and smiles. Davey and John, those crazy bastards. They can never get enough, can they?
So we get to the club and the first thing John does is disappear. Dave and Linda, on the other hand, wanted to get more drinks, so I decided to go and get us some. It seems like an eternity for me to get drinks so by the time I got back Dave and Linda had already gone to the dance floor. I started to talk to the other guys until John came back. What did I have again? Oh yeah, Absolute on the rocks. God that was a shitty drink, and they charged me an arm and a leg for it too. Fucking pricks.
Through the brick wall he feels the continued distinctive thump of bass from the club. Each beat is absorbed through his spine and his find fills in the treble gaps, creating electronic melodies only he can hear. Perhaps it is only in his mindâEUTMs emptiness that such true creative processes happen.
Johnny Boy had come back at that point. Hyper little college student; I knew he might be trouble. He wasnâEUTMt but had just seen a friend and scored some stuff. Having enough to go around, he shared lines with us. Having nothing else to do, I stupidly agreed. The rest of the night is a blur. There was some dancing and some girls. IâEUTMm pretty sure Dave and Linda hooked up but thatâEUTMs none of my business. I had a good time, thatâEUTMs what matters.
The streetlight above him flickers, dimming the alleyway. For the second time in the night he realizes he is finally cold. He stomps out his cigarette and begins to walk out of the alleyway, night finally in order. Yet right before he leaves, he pauses to turn back around to the alley.
What else is there for me to do, he again asks aloud to the alley. There comes no response. He turns and walks out, having received an answer.
My night is ruined, he thinks. I guess I better walk home.
At 4 hours ago, Austerity wrote: Rick Santorum is looking more and more like the definitive candidate to defeat barack in the upcoming election ever since he came out of his shell a couple of weeks ago.
It's not even close, don't be joking yourself.A win for Santorum is a win for Obama. Santorum's too polarizing of a figure to try to elect. Hell, at this point, I think the Republicans are looking for their white knight candidate.
And then all the rest of the conservatives will see they already pushed those candidates out. One thing's for sure, and that's Santorum's not the candidate they want.
A shoe could probably pick up more independent votes than Santorum.
The problem with Rick Santorum in the general election if he would get nominated as a candidate for the presidency are social issues that's going to make him huge amounts of independent support.
1. Gay Marriage
For one thing, an overwhelming amount of young voters under the age of 30 support gay marriage. There goes a huge chunk of voters that can (as we've seen) make or break an election. In New Jersey, with their gay marriage, about 75% of people under 30 support gay marriage. In contrast, Obama's stance on gay marriage is changing,but not enough to outright support it. (I think personally he does, but does not support it publicly for political purposes) Because of Santorum's hard stance on such an issue, he's going to lose a lot of young voters. It doesn't take a genius to see the inevitability of gay marriage being legalized, especially with again the New Jersey bill and Prop 8 being overturned.
2. Women in Combat
Women in combat? Let's not even go there. That's just plain stupid. It hasn't even happened yet and he's against it. There goes some more votes.
These two issues alone can sink a candidate, especially in the general election. Santorum's not going anywhere fast.
It's good to know that the Lit Portal is still in development, even if we have to wait longer. Can't wait for it; I've been writing long in one story lately I want to submit the piece as a whole to the Lit Portal.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"You have no idea, do you? It's funny; I would have thought someone of your caliber would be more informed on the situation. Have you realized he's been using you since day one?"
"That's my job asshole, to follow orders."
"Not that way Lucifer. That's why I pulled this little stunt; to get you alone so I could make you an offer."
"And what kind of offer would that be?"
"Join me. With you on my side, we could convince others like us to fight against both sides and take down the System."
"You realize the implications of what you're saying. You'd be at war with both Heaven and Hell, and if by some miracle you did succeed against those two and took down the System you'd be fucking up His plan. And let me tell you, if you fuck with His plan you fuck with the very existence of reality."
"It's better to be nothing and be free than to be something and chained to an invisible wall."
"See, this is where we disagree Imp. I've already tried that before and it didn't work. I don't want to go through that again."
"Fine. Then let me change the subject. Do you know what kind of gun this is?"
"Sure. It's an S&W Model 29, chambered in .44 Magnum. Are you going to impersonate Dirty Harry next?"
"No, but are you aware of the Iron Cross, correct?"
"Yeah. Besides its use in Nazi Germany, it was originally a symbol from the Crusades."
"Well, at one point, there was an actual Iron Cross built in Jerusalem at one of the main temples. After the Crusades the Cross was stolen and was lost in the sands of time, or so the legend goes. However, it was actually melted down and made into a series of bullets. 7, to be exact. Being blessed by multiple priests over the centuries, I'm pretty sure it's one of the few things that can actually kill you. I've got one of them here in this chamber. Good bye Lucifer. I hope your death will shake the heavens and make them realize what fools they are."
"Normally at this point I'd point out what a big mistake you're making here, but since you've already made a mistake punishable by death, I'm going to hold off. However, you don't think my team will wonder what happened to me?"
"Of course not. That UN force will be dead within minutes. Then I'll disappear once again, waiting to strike."
"Not them asshole, the other team. You don't think Heaven or Hell is going to come after you with full force after you kill the Angel of Death? God, no wonder why you're Imp."
"Would you just stop the fuck up and enjoy your death Lucifer?"
"Of course not. It's not in my nature."
"Say good bye then asshole." The Imp pulls the trigger. I flick my fingers, causing time to stop. Activating such powers within this realm will definitely give me a shitload of paperwork to do later, but it's worth it. The bullet is actually an Iron Cross bullet to my surprise. I thought the Imp was just bluffing. He must have found in the crate of weapons he stole. After all, that crate was my crate of weapons that I wanted to check out to see if in fact there was proof the Iron Cross bullet. I flip the bullet around so it points to the Imp. I resume time and the bullet goes through the Imp's chest. As he begins to decompose (that's what a blessed object does to an Imp) he stares at me and speaks. "Why did you refuse..."
Picking up my rifle on the floor, I respond. "Because I'm motherfucking Lucifer, that's why. If you want to challenge the System, the System that gives ME power and expect me to break it down you're fucking stupid as shit. You deserve to die if you believe that. Besides, I like doing whatever I please. And in this case, it means killing you. By the way, it's actually 22 bullets, not 7. Get your fucking facts straight before you dive into a huge monologue. Otherwise it's just fucking annoying." With those final words the Imp disintegrates into the atmosphere.
The team sounds like they're winning. I think they'll do fine on their own. I slash a portal back to my office where I'm sure there's a mound of paperwork to do.
~Afghanistan
I'm currently embedded with a UN Security Force tasked with finding suspected Taliban-Al Qaida terrorists under the name and rank of Major Brian Crypt from England, but in reality I'm trying to find a weapons dealer named appropriately enough Imp. We're pretty sure it's actually an imp whose ego is bigger than his brain, so the Big S sent me down here to kill the SOB before he wreaks any more unofficial damage that could get the entire HO in a shitload of trouble.
While the rest of my unit continues to scout out the abandoned urban surroundings, I pull out my phone and use a custom tracker app to find the little bastard. It can detect supernatural elements within a 5 mile radius, so the imp should be easy to find. My radio pings in my ear, but the signal's not from HQ, rather from HO. "Find the guy yet?" the Big S asks me.
"Nah. We just got here. I'm tracking the bastard right now. Who was this asshole under anyways? It certainly wasn't me."
"Guess smartass."
"BB?"
"Yep."
"I told him not to be such a douche."
"Me too, but you know BB."
"Fucking asshole."
"Tell me about it."
"Well, let's see if I can find this guy. When the job's done, I'll just slash a portal back. You won't mind fixing the timeline so I was never here, right?"
"Yeah, I'll run it over with Logistics. Have fun."
I ready my SIG SG552, a compact 5.56mm assault rifle from the Swiss that I've been meaning to try out for awhile now. It's equipped with a red dot sight for medium range combat, so currently this rifle's good for my need. I check the magazine a second time to make sure it's full. I got 30 rounds plus the extra two mags that I'm carrying. I flip the fire selector switch to semi-automatic and continue my search.
The wind blows a bit more heavily after a few minutes. A sandstorm's coming; I can feel it. I better hurry up. My tracker starts to beep; the bastard must be close.
"RPG ON THE ROOF!" someone yells through the radio. BOOM! The explosion rattles my teeth in their sockets. Fucking-a, the imp must have given some local insurrection group some bigger weapons than expected. "MAJOR!" a sergeant screams in my ear. "WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?"
I run over to join the remainder of the group who are currently engaged in a major firefight. The opposing side has got some big guns; a .50 cal machine gun, a Chinese knockoff of RPG-7 and a hell of a lot of AK derivatives. Seeing as the rest of my force is laying down some suppression fire and the fact reinforcements have probably already been called for, I take refuge in an abandoned building. Using the suppression fire as a distraction, I take the time to line up my shots and start taking down the insurgents.
BANG. A corpse collapses; a bullet through his heart. BANG, a shot through the forehead. BANG, a liver shot that'll make him bleed out to death. The insurgents yell out there's a sniper on the loose, and the one with the RPG makes eye contact with me. He's reloaded the weapon, so we both realize whoever gets the first shot off will be the survivor of the ordeal. Too bad it isn't him as I drop him with three quick shots to the chest. Thank God I won't have to do the paperwork for this mess; this is why we have an automatic system for Christ's sake.
A revolver's hammer cocks behind me. I turn around quick, pointing my weapon at the source of the sound. To my surprise, it's the Imp. He's a bit on the short side with short black unkempt hair. He gestures to me to point down my weapon, which I do. "Well well well, isn't the Angel of Death himself. What have I done to warrant such a visit?"
"What the fuck do you think, Imp? You think you can steal a massive crate of weapons to sell to a random terrorist cell and get away with it? Come on, we know EVERYTHING."
"Do you now? That would be a first. Do you know why I did it?"
"Because you're a stupid power hungry prick that BB ignored as usual?"
"Nope. I'll give you a hint though, it's about your boss."
"He's still your boss too dickwad."
"No, he isn't. And that's why I've always wonder about you Lucifer. You're the second most power demon in the entire universe and you still take orders like a pansy who can't even think for himself. Have you ever questioned what Satan has done? Not just his random acts of anarchy, but also the logs he has on you?"
At 1/5/12 08:40 PM, aviewaskewed wrote: I think Newt is hoping for another surge. He went from totally dead and a non-factor to the front runner for a couple weeks there. Seems like just about every candidate in the Republican field has had at least a flirtation with being "the chosen one" in this cycle. I think Newt is stubborn enough and delusional enough to believe something bad will happen with Romney to take him down, or Newt will find that magic message that gets those that want no part of Romney to come over and put him on the ticket.
I certainly can see Romney's GOP credentials being attacked by someone for carrying districts that went Dem in 08 as well.
True, but as with Santorum's campaign, Newt doesn't have the infrastructure to support such surge. There's simply not enough personel to hold such a large scale campaign.
Here's the thing about Newt: unlike Perry, who hasn't seen as much national spotlight, Newt knows how the game works. He's been too much of a polarizing figure in conservative politics for awhile. His brand of negativity no longer works. The scary thing is that Newt knows all of this, yet he continues to push onward, bruising his reputation and ego instead of cutting his losses.
At 1/5/12 07:43 PM, RacistBassist wrote: Oh, are we talking about that social gender shit, and not biological gender?
Yes. That's why I meant to put "gender identity" because people get confused about the difference between gender and sex.
Romney's win (despite the ever so thin margin) is not surprising. Nor is Sanorum's surge. However, some interesting things that will come out of this, expecially since now Bachman's dropped out.
1. Voter turnout: it's not a huge difference from the 2008 caucuses, whihc is both a good thing and a bad thing. The good news is that it's still a record fopr Iowa, but the lack of a huge spike should be concerning to any Republican candidate, because it shows that voters are not as enthusiastic about a Republican candidate as the GOP claims it to be.
2. Romney's percentage is still the same as he got 4 years ago. Basically, voters in Lowa still like/dislike him despite the millions of dollars he's put into campaigning. That's not good. And besides, about 75% of the voters were against Romney. Again, not good news. And here's the kicker: the districts Romney carried in Iowa this time are the same ones who went Democratic in 2008.
3. Santorum's surge will help him somewhat in NW so he'll get out of single digits, but he still won't come close to winning there. Romney, Paul, and Huntsman have too strong of a foothold in NW, even with the Evengelical vote coming over from Bachman.
4. What is Rick Perry and Newt thinking? I'm not surprised Bachman dropped out, but I'm even more surprised Perry's coming back for a second round. He's not going to get NW, let alone SC where it's the final stand for most conservative candidates. Same thing with Newt,; he's collasping so quickly he might as well cut his loses now.
At 1/5/12 05:23 PM, RacistBassist wrote:At 1/5/12 04:47 PM, BrianEtrius wrote: "Gender" is how you define yourself. There are many gay men who, despite the fact they are gay, still consider themselves a "male" by society's standards, as there gay men who identify as female.I agree with the rest of your post, but this one is just complete bullshit. Gender is what set of organs you were born with.
"Gender Identity" is what it was supposed to read. Knew I forgot something.
Romney secures the Republican nomination after New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, the order will be Romney, Paul, Huntsman (poor bastard) Santorum, Perry, and Newt. After NH, Huntsman will drop out and throw his support to Obama.
Perry will make another "oops" moment within the next 3 weeks.
Paul will not run 3rd party. It makes no sense, and Paul knows it too.
Obama will win the reelection 51-47. It's not even going to be close, barring a complete economic breakdown.
Hilary will not run, contrary to the rumors. Again, it makes no sense. She, however, will resign as Secretary of State in December.
Biden continues to stay in the shaows even up to the election, when people start to realize how much the media (for the most part) have ignored his diplomatic actions over the part 4 years.
Another country from the EU will have to be bailed out. By this point, since everyone is so used to it, stocks will not drop as significantly as they did in 2011.
The House will remain in Republican control, but "I'm still tanned" John Beohner will not be Speaker.
Senate remains Democratic as well.
Fukushima will remained locked down as the nuclear leak will actually create Godzilla.
Before the election, however, Congress's approval ratings will drop into single digits.
Donald Trump toys with the idea of running third party (again) but realizes he likes being on TV too much.
The Miami Marlins will reach the World Series for the first time in over 10 years but lose to the Texas Rangers who are determined not to lose their third straight World Series.
Iran will realize that the drone they recovered was actually a ploy from the CIA. It's ultamitely a red herring.
Again, the threat of Cyber-terrorism goes largely unnoticed.
People continue to undervalue Brazil's growing economy.
Syria has their revolution, but of all the Arab Spring countries theirs will be the bloodiest and be the one foreign countries needs to help the most.
Packers win the Super Bowl. Sorry New Orleans.
Apple will continue to release excellent products but without Steve Jobs the company stock will decrease.
Google continues to take over the world.
At 1/4/12 12:51 AM, Malachy wrote: No politics in the lounge!
damn kids, get off my lawn
Mal's turning into Clint Eastwood? This I gotta see.
Anyways, popping in after going awol for a bit. Good to see everyone's the same, for the most part. I may be a little bit late, but happy New Year's!
At 1/5/12 11:25 AM, Idiot-Finder wrote: Maybe the security issues with TSA are still topical to retain relevance?
Perhaps it's because they like that one the best?
Anyways, happy New Year, and it terms of writing, I've been contacted to help develop a video game script dealing with politics, diplomatic relations and national security in an alternate post 9/11 world. Hopefully the gameplay will come out good.
Lmao at people who don't realize the difference between "sexuality", "sexual behavior" and "gender", all of which I put in quotations because they're all loosely defined. In this sense, it is both "nature" and "nurture".
"Sexuality" is what you're attracted to. It is this area where scientist claim is biological and to a certain extent is true. Who or what you're attracted to is in your genes, and you can't change it, hence the "nature" argument.
"Sexual behavior" however is the part in which you have control over. It's this part in which you act on your own, whether you abide by your "sexuality" or ignore it completely. This is part where enviornment can play a huge factor. For example, you could be attracted to men biologically but socially you act straight and have a wife/girlfriend. It's not unheard of gay men having sex with women. This is the "nurture" part of the argument. Example: Larry Craig.
"Gender" is how you define yourself. There are many gay men who, despite the fact they are gay, still consider themselves a "male" by society's standards, as there gay men who identify as female.
Hence why there are so many different permutations of all three that encompasses everybody. Through these three concepts, you can define transexuallity, homosexuality, and heterosexuality.
Basically, it comes down to a case by case basis, because one thing's for certain: you're never going to know how people are wired and define themselves.
Here's the deal: for some reason, my brain's been on the fritz the past couple of months, so I've stopped writing. However, I've still been working on concepts that could possibly become stories if I put the time into them. Most have been incoperated into some other projects I have, but there's one story in particular that I've purposely kept separate. It's definitly sci-fi, along the lines of Total Recall meets Ghost in Shell, but with my own twist on things. The problem is, I have no idea where to take the story. So far, here's what I have down:
A nameless US solider in Afghanistan in 2011 gets shot, and while he's blacking out, wishes for another life. He is full of regret and wants to do it over. This perspective is written in first person, showing the action as it unfolds in front of the protagonist.
In the meantime, a middle age "Finder" wakes up in 2310. A "Finder" is the equivanlent of a detective or a PI, except his job is to search for people living off the grid. Society in this century is similar to Blade Runner, dark, very much technology driven. This particular "Finder" is notable because of his prostetic eyes; he was born blind. As such, his eyes are actually computers fed into his brain and thus the mass government internet that society has based itself around. However, on his last job, the Finder was seriously injured, so as of late his eyes have been malfunctioning. This in turn makes the Finder see things that aren't there, and thus every now and then his eyes "black out". This perspective is told in third person limited to help the reader understand how this Finder sees this new world.
So basically the story flips back and forth between these two perspectives in some form, and the point is that neither perspective is the "true" one; elements of both stories show up in each other's respective story. While it is true that the two characters are same, each personna is not aware of each other's existane and writes the fliped perspective off as something else (battle fatigue, malfunctioning parts). A lot of this stoy deals with the idea of dual universes and how we perceive the world around us: how do we determine what is "reality" and "illusion" when both are very well the same?
However, like I said, I'm stumped. I have no idea where to go. Any ideas?
At 10/24/11 04:18 AM, SadisticMonkey wrote: hahahahaha. Woot woot! All aboard the arab revolution train, next stop sharia law!
To the contrary, with the absence of dictators and the want for democracy, look for a very strong push for women's rights in Arab countries because of said revolutions. It's certainly something to look for in the coming months, especially with these new governments, yet alone established government like Iran and Saudi Arabia.
At 10/25/11 05:31 PM, stafffighter wrote: It's expensive but it does keep the black knight at bay.
And don't forget the alligators in the moat.......can't have too many alligators now, can you?
