Mnemolth

Gomen Harley. Didn't see the edit. As for the poll, I also saw Mitch ahead on 4 to 3, so I'm gonna stick with that. Cos if its 4 each there are no winners (Popularity poll has to be an outright win or else none at all). If anyone has a problem with that I'd like them to PM me. I'll do the count, update the website and release RPW 5 during the weekend. Sorry for the delay but at the moment I've a shitload of stuff to do. Why is it that university students do nothing all semester, then when the mid-semester exams/assignments come around they all expect their tutor to fill them in for 2 months of work?? I mean they're at uni, one would have thought they would have had their act together by now. Sheesh. :rolleyes: And while I'm at it, why do people keep forgetting their passwords AND giving incorrect email addresses (so I can't script an auto-respond with the pass). Yes I am a network admin, but really I do have better things to do with my time than continually retrieve endless passwords for you!! :p Oh well...

Killing oneself, in certain circumstances, is justifiable. Japan has a long tradition of suicide that is considered both courageous and honourable. To take responsibility for one's action, or in defiance, suicide can, in extreme cases, be an option. I also believe that the aged, the invalid, and those suffering insufferable pain from a terminal illness with no cure or effective treatment have a good cause to take their own life. And in most cases, such action is far from thoughtless. And attention-seeking is the last thing on their minds. Of course I realise you speak of a different kind of situation. Teenage suicide. I think in almost all cases, teenage suicide is unjustifiable, unless it falls within the purview of the above. However, I mention these other forms of suicide because I'd like to remind everyone that taking one's own life is a very complicated thing, and never quite as simple, in terms of ethics and morality, as some people have the tendency to make it out to be. On both sides of the debate.

It'd help a great deal if you'd vote Harlequin, along with others. But since oyu have 3 votes I'm picking on ya! ;)

Cars go from point A to point B. Knives are used for cutting meat. Guns are made for one purpose and one purpose alone. Killing people. That's the difference. Of course there are various sorts of guns, some for sport and some used by farmers, but the vast majority of guns sold in the US is for killing people. Time and time again studies have shown that your risk of death or injury [i]increases[/i] if you keep a gun in your house. Time and time again studies have shown a correlation between relaxed gun laws and high incidences of gun-related crimes. Its the gun. Of course any idiot knows its also the person. But take away the gun, and how much power does the person have? Are you seriously asking me to believe those Columbine killers could have taken out all those people with a couple of knives?

Bright and black and orange this picture still butterfly floats on green of Spring

Hmm... I don't think this is a pointless thread. As I see it, I'm identifying an issue that affects many people (anyone who uses a banner), suggesting an area where I think a fault may lie (OB config), and indicating a band-aid solution until the situation resolves itself (ie attachments). I'm not here to hog OB's bandwidth or its space. That's why I host all my banners myself. But I am giving a heads-up to people who may have been struck down with the dreaded [i]Image not found[/i] error message. I suppose I could have posted it on the Feedback section, but since the people most concerned about this issue is likely to be those who create banners, and those seem to congregate here, so I thought I might as well get feedback on my banner while I'm at it. That's all.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Lady Asphyxia [/i] [B][size=1][color=darkred]Heh. People like me. Not myself, but people like me. Funny how the people you're most like, are the ones that piss you off. o.O [/size][/color] [/B][/QUOTE] I see... that [i]is[/i] disturbing. I think I'll stay away from you from now on. I wouldn't want to incur your wrath or anything. ;) *reads the thread* I didn't know so many people were so pised off! :D

Heheh. This banner isn't all that good and I'm not really here for comments. But while I [i]am[/i] here, fire away! *gets shot* Demmit! :p [EDIT] Okay, having tested my theory, it seems strange. I had tried to host my own banner and use it in my sig, unfortunately, it doesn't work. I get the dreaded [i]Image not found[/i]. My previous gif banner hosted by myself had worked. So I thought maybe its because mine is a jpg. Not so, many banners are jpgs and they work fine. So I figure something went haywire with the recent changes to OB's config. I uploaded the banner to OB, and the link works fine. I'm not sure what is going on, but maybe someone ought to check into it. And I run my own server, so yeah, I'm pretty sure you can hotlink to it. ;) Just a thought for the bored. [/EDIT] [EDIT]Hmm.... I think this might be the wrong forum, if someone can move this to the Art & Design forum, I'd appreciate it.[/EDIT] [color=indigo]Moved it. - Desbreko[/color]

Okay folks, as many have lamented the falling popularity of this forum, I thought I'd do something to spice things up a little. Something fun and challenging at the same time. But having learnt my lesson from RPW and the Seven project that never got off the ground, this is [i]simple and easy[/i] to get into. Haiku. :) Everyone can do it. Few of us can do it well, but we don't really care about that here, so just dive in and have some fun! :D This post may be a little bit on the long side, but you really only ave to read it once because the rules are [i]really, really, REALLY[/i] easy to follow. So please bear with me. [b]What is Haiku?[/b] "Haiku is a Japanese verse form that relies on brevity and simplicity to convey its message. It is usually three lines of five, seven, and five syllables, and frequently includes natural images or themes. It is believed to have been first written in the seventeenth century and is based on a Zen Buddhist philosophy of simplicity and the idea of perfection that excludes the extraneous." - from [url]www.poetry.com[/url] Shame on you for not knowing, you guys being anime fans and all. ;) Here is an example: Inspirational picture [img]http://falkor.anu.edu.au/~ely/haiku/example.jpg[/img] [i]Red sandstone to red Sand, valley monuments must Bow to entropy[/i] Ron Crain Chula Vista, California - example from [url]www.poetry.com[/url] Remember, its 3 lines with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5. Just 3 lines, so it'd be as easy as cake to do this! The challenge is to do it well, but anyone can have a shot, so join in and have some fun! :) [b]The Game[/b] And because I like games, I thought I'd make a game out of this. Here's how it works. A picture is put up from the 9 below, and everyone gets to write a haiku on it. Whoever picks the picture gets to decide who the winner for that picture is. The winner then gets to pick their own picture and gets to choose the winner for their picture and so on until all the pictures are done. Simple. Anyone can play, no need for any registration. Just get into it. You can write as many as you like, you're not limited to one entry. Note: The judge may write haiku for their round but CANNOT CHOOSE THEMSELVES! Since I'm starting this thing I'll go first. I pick picture [b]top left[/b]. [img]http://falkor.anu.edu.au/~ely/haiku/pic1f.jpg[/img] [img]http://falkor.anu.edu.au/~ely/haiku/pic2.jpg[/img] [img]http://falkor.anu.edu.au/~ely/haiku/pic3.jpg[/img] [img]http://falkor.anu.edu.au/~ely/haiku/pic4.jpg[/img] [img]http://falkor.anu.edu.au/~ely/haiku/pic5.jpg[/img] [img]http://falkor.anu.edu.au/~ely/haiku/pic6.jpg[/img] [img]http://falkor.anu.edu.au/~ely/haiku/pic7.jpg[/img] [img]http://falkor.anu.edu.au/~ely/haiku/pic8.jpg[/img] [img]http://falkor.anu.edu.au/~ely/haiku/pic9.jpg[/img] [b][size=5]Picture for the Round[/size][/b] [img]http://falkor.anu.edu.au/~ely/haiku/haiku1.jpg[/img] As you can see, pictures that have already been chosen/used are 'faded out' and the picture that is in play is shown in a bigger size for greater clarity. I will decide the winner, who will then choose a pic which I will load to a larger size. Each Round will only be a few days. mean come on, how long does it take a person to write three lines anyway?? :D As always with any of my little games, if there is some kind of dispute I have the final say.

This is not a general discussion on evolution, so let's not rehash all of that again. No, what we have here is a specific discussion relating to the possibilities of living organisms staying the same within the paradigm of evolution doctrine (in whatever shape or form you wish to take that, new, old or even your own personal view). This thread was created specifically made to address the issues that Deus brought up in the Israel and Palestine thread, and were not appropriate for that thread. [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Deus Ex Machina [/i] [B]OK, I'll elaborate on exactly what I mean. Let's say you have a load of bacteria, and then you decide to kill them all with some antibiotic. Ideally, they all die, but in practice a few sometimes survive because they happen to have a resistance to that antibiotic. That resistance wasn't there [i]because[/i] the antibiotic was present, but it helped the bacteria out in the long run. Hence the future generations replicated from those bacteria will carry the same resistance. The same principle applies with higher organism evolution. The changes are absolutely random-- The plants have those viens, but there are probably a load of other ways- many of which may be more effective- of acheiving the same effect. The reason the plants have those veins is that they happened to evolve that way. I know what you're taught in school, and at the time I was in school I'd have the same standpoint, but as you go higher into education, those teaching you have a tendency to tell you that everything you've already learned is nothing but a vague generalisation, or an earlier theory on what there's actually a lot more to. The thing is, evolution is dependent on the envirionment only to select which slight changes are better than others. Humans have an opposable thumb because it was a random change which happened to be favoured by their surroundings- those without them didn't have the same capabilities and their genes gradually faded out through the generations. So yes. I know that until a certain point people are generally told that evolution is all about animals responding to their surroundings with a slight change over time- but what it's really about is a series of random changes, which may or may not be favourable to the species. Characteritics that are favourable tend to be passed on, those that aren't favourable aren't passed on. The most severe example of an unfavourable characteristic is when the baby dies instantly (or never really lives) as a result of it. Obviously, that baby would never have a chance to have kids, so it's genes don't get passed on. It's kind of the same for evolution as a whole, but on a more gradual level. If the world stops changing then it doesn't necessarily mean evolution would stop- but things would take a more random approach rather than being "selected" by the environment. [/B][/QUOTE] I agree with Deus. However, I believe that the environment plays a greater factor than you make out. Of course the environment does not [i]cause[/i] the mutations, the mutations themselves are random, but the interactions between the two are complex and profound. Living organisms shape their environment and the environment, in turn, has an influence on determining what mutations are may be successful and stay so, which ones may continue to develop and which may fail. With regard to organisms staying the same for millions of years, I would reiterate that evolution is [i]non-linear[/i]. This means there are many branches, some develop more, some die out, and within the branches there are organisms that don't develop but remain in existence and there are those that may continue to develop, and within those there are those that develop more and others less. What I'm trying to emphasize is the multitude and the various ways in which these multitudes of branches may behave.

Voting begins. You have till [b]14th April AEST time[/b]. For this Round only, I have given a week's grace for submissions. This means that submitting and voting can be done at the same time. A reminder that Sara and LA both have 2 votes and Harlequin has 3 votes.

Actually there are organisms that have changed little or not at all for much longer than 65 million years. Some coral species as well as some algae, and probably more I can't remember off the top of my head at the moment. This in no way goes against Darwin's theory of the the origin of species. In the original text, the phrase 'survival of the fittest' was used. But fittest did not mean strongest it refers to the one that best fits, ie survival of the organisms that best fit their environments. The connotation of survival of the strongest and 'jungle law' was a bastardization brought forth by racist theories based on the 'science' of 'eugenics' during the turn of 20th century. There is nothing strange about the idea of an organism surviving from the earliest forms. Its not counter to evolutionary theory if you understand what evolution is all about. Change is random, some species have no need to change, and change is [i]non-linear[/i]. The last point is very important. Although I think its probably best to discuss such things in a separate thread. Then again, the powers that be might not look too well upon such a thread. Its a sensitive topic and much has already been said. Then again, if repetition is a problem I'm not sure about the point of message boards in general. :D

Hmm...suggestion: 1 week's grace but please be reminded that your vote ALSO needs to be by the 14 April, k? So try to do it quickly and give people some time to read your post and also so that you can read other people's posts! :) Of course, you'll lose the 1XP for timeliness. How does this sound? If people still have problems with this, either because I'm being too lenient or 1 week is still not enough, please let me know. Good luck everyone. :D

What?? You have a Gauntlet?? When did this happen?? Is it one of those nifty ones made of gold and encrusted with gems and such? :bawl: :bawl: I want my own Gauntlet demmit!!

I was kidnapped and brought here against my will. Of course, due to the Stockholm Syndrome, I have chosen to stayed. :D

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Endymion [/i] [B]My information on the Israel/Palestine issue is a little rusty, but I'd appreciate any help/corrections anyone has. This is what I've heard. I don't expect it to be entirely (or mostly) right, but I figure hearing the facts from different sides here at OB might help... -Lifetimes ago, the Jews left the Holy Land for other lands.[/b] Try a couple of thousand years. [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Endymion [/i] [B] -The Palestinians lived in the Holy Land for [i]years[/i], but didn't own it.[/b] Huh?? I have no idea what you're on about. That's just plain silly. Of course they owned their land. [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Endymion [/i] [B] -Different nations around the world ban together to form several world-wide government systems (UN, NATO, ect.)[/b] The establishment of Israel has really been due the power of, initially Britain, and later, the US. [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Endymion [/i] [B] -Hitler & Co. drive surviving Jews out of Europe.[/b] The Holocaust drastically increased the rate of Jewish migration to Palestine, and it also gave greater impetus to the establishment of a Jewish state. Initially, the plan was to partition the area to allow for two independent states, Israel and Palestine. That was dropped and when Britain withdrew in 1948, Israel declared full independence, and there has been a huge mess ever since.[/b] [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Endymion [/i] [B] -Whoever else lived around the Holy Land with the Palestinians had left, leaving the Palestinians to finally start their own government.[/b] Huh?? Again you're confusing me. Palestine has been under Muslim rule for over a thousand years, and a few hundred under the Ottoman Empire. When that crumbled the British came in. That was only a little over a hundred or so years ago.[/b] [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Endymion [/i] [B] -The Jews move back into the Holy Land and also establish their own government.[/b] See above. [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Endymion [/i][B] -The UN acknowledges the Jewish nation of Israel, rather than Palestine.[/b] No one took into account the views of the Palestinians or the Arabs in general. [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Endymion [/i] [B] -Israelis and Paltestinians both ruthlessly fight it out for years on end.[/b] Israel is backed to the hilt by the US. Its not really a fair fight. *shrugs* [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Endymion [/i] [B] -Both sides seem to forget that the main reason they both regard the same land as "holy" is because they all worship the same god by 2 different names. Didn't I already say this? [/B][/QUOTE] All the major monolithic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam share the same God and the same history. Judaism is the oldest, and dismisses Jesus as the Saviour, just as Christianity dismisses Muhammad who is considered the Last Prophet by Islam. The Qu'ran, the holy book of Islam, lists some 25 prophets (the list is not exhaustive), and if you read it you'll find names you'll be familiar with, from Adam to Moses to Jesus. They might be fighting each other and killing each other but they all share the same God and the same history. The irony would be hilarious if it wasn't so sad. [EDIT]I'd be [i]very very VERY[/i] cautious to look anything up regarding the history of Israel and Palestine online. This is not an issue many people can be objective about. People seem to either be in one camp or another.[/EDIT]

Well one solution would be to allow more PMs. Animeboards allows 9999, and they have close to 8000 members. 50 is not really enough if you're the kind of person that saves some PMs for future refeence or whatever. Its fine if you log in regularly and don't save any PMs though! :D

Heheh! I'm an idiot. There's really no other explanation. :) I updated the webpage and included loaded Mitch and DarkOrderKnight's (I'll refer to you as DOK now if that's okay :)) characters, but I forgot to load up the new Objectives page! :D Now that I think about it, I forgot to write add some stuff for the News page as well. Bleh...that can wait, but the Objectives should now be on the RPW website. You may need to Shift + 'refresh' on IE. D'oh! *has a major Homer moment* [EDIT]I think I also forgot to load Harlequin's winning submission into the Chronicles page as well. Done that now. Please everyone read through the previous winning stories, or skim them at least, so the story is fresh in your minds before you start writing. Continuity has to be kept. You can be clever and bend it if you want, but don't break it. And DOK and Mitch, unless I'm mistaken, you two still owe me a pic. Take your time but I would like it before this round ends at least. :) [/EDIT]

[b][color=red]STOP! Please read the following before you do ANYTHING in this thread!![/color][/b] [b]The Assassin[/b] There are just a few very simple rules to ensure everything runs smoothly. Please abide by them. Good luck everyone! :) [i]For non-players:[/i] 1. If you are not one of the registered players, DO NOT post here. Period. If you wish to make a comment, laud praise or offer some criticism, please do so at the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19444][color=blue][/color]RPW General Thread[/url]. 2. In an ideal world, I would ask that you read each story by each player BEFORE voting in the poll. But I understand this is not an ideal world so I would strongly you read at least a few stories before making you decision and to NEVER vote for someone before you have read their story! Please extend the players, who have spent time and effort in crafting their submissions, this small courtesy. ;) 3. Vote for the person whose story you like the most. You have until [b][i]midnight, Monday, 14th April, AEST time, ie GMT +10:00 hrs[/b][/i]. Thanks for dropping by. Everyone at RPW appreciates your support. :D [i]For the players:[/i] Round 4 is now open for submissions. Its a BIG Round. Be sure to start thinking about straight away. [b][i]The deadline is midnight, Monday, 7th April, AEST time, ie GMT +10:00 hrs. This will be STRICTLY enforced.[/i][/b] The Objectives for Round 4, if you did not check the RPW website and know already, is [url=http://users.tpg.com.au/jackly/rpw/Stories/objectives.html][color=blue]here[/color][/url]. Read it carefully. If you have questions or queries, post them in the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19444][color=blue]RPW General Thread[/color][/url]. It may be other players are also unsure. If you're a little shy, or if its personal, email or PM me. I have taken the time to write up some tips for playing RPW. Read the [url=http://users.tpg.com.au/jackly/rpw/faq.html][color=blue]FAQ[/color][/url]. Please, PLEASE, ask questions. Even if its just to confirm some things. Don't write 3000 words of brilliant prose only to have it scraped cos it didn't fit with the Objectives or were outside the rules. I really hate having to send submission back to have players edit them. Chances are players will often be too disappointed to make the necessary changes or do not have enough time. In any case, that just robs us of a submission and we need every single one. Can I once again request that ALL players, but especially the newer ones, please read the Chronicles page on the [url=http://www.roleplayingwriting.tk]RPW website[/url] to ENSURE CONTINUITY in the submissions. Your submissions MUST make sense and are in line with ALL previous submissions. Thanks.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Delian [/i] [B]I'm in full support with Palestine, although I do not support suicide bombings. Palestine had always been Palestine since the dawn of time. It consisted many different ethnic groups living together peacefully. It was only about 3000 years ago Palestinians allowed the Jews to live peacefully in a small part of Palestine. However, as soon a the Jews felt that they were strong enough to initiate troubles, that's when problems arose. Isreal had never really existed except in the belief and in the mind of the Jew. At the time of the Roman Empire, Palestine still existed however under Roman control. It was only after WWI when the British occupiers of Palestine had started to help the Jews gaining momentum and providing them with weapons and support. After world warII the Britain with the support of the other victorious nations in that war, voted in favour of a Jewish state on a part of fertile crescent(of which Palestine is only a part)land. Since then, the American tax- payers were supporting Israel through billions of dollars paid to the created state of Israel each year. This helped the Jews to commit more attrocities against the people of Palestine and the the region. Today more than 10 Palestinians are massacred each day under the sight of the so called civilised nations. The great American heroist Rachel Corrie knew about these attrocities and tried to do something about them when the Israeli bulldozer ran over her. She was recently in the news so i'm sure some of you know about her. [COLOR=firebrick]PLEASE NOTE[/COLOR] All this information is expressed objectively and with the knowledge of this part of history. For whoever who doesn't believe any of the above should consider learning more about the history of Palestine and Syria and also a book called "The International Jew" - The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, written by Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company [/B][/QUOTE] *glances at Delian* You worry me...:D Henry Ford, and that book in particular, are both famous for being fiercely anti-semitic. He received a Nazi award in 1938. His ancestors, to their credit, have tried as much as possible, to distance themselves from his concentrated hate against the Jews. If you look, you'll find half a dozen books on Ford and his obssession with the Jews. He is not a figure I would say is 'objective', and it would be dangerous to think he is, in any way, a 'historian'. The view he brings is skewed and colored by his own prejudices that arose from his experiences as a child. That very book has long been the mainstay of the anti-Semitic movement for decades. Its an interesting book in how selective facts are used and manipulated to come to a conclusion that is completely outside the realms of reality. Having said all that, I'm on the side of the Palestinians. Israel has only really come into existence because of British and American influence after WW2. They took land from the Palestinians and gave it t the Jews. Of course people are gonna get pissed. There are many people who are concerned about anti-semitic activity, and that is perfetly understandable. But what is less understandable to me is the lack of reasonable people worried about Zionism. Beyond the extreme anti-semites there are few who see Israel as I do, a tragedy wrapped in irony. People talk about terrorists and suicide bombers as if they were some evil monsters and not human beings. I do not condone what they do, yet I at least understand it. Close your eyes and imagine your land occupied by foreign troops. Its easy. Imagine the Chinese or the Russians are walking down Broadway New York with guns at the ready and tanks and other armored personnel vehicles parked all about the place. Imagine they have full control over you. The moment you take a step outside your house, they are in your face, demanding your ID, searching your body and car, etc. Sometimes you can't go to work because they don't allow you to. Sometimes you want to go to pray but you can't because they have enforced a curfew. Its a worse hell than any of you can possibly imagine. And they kill. They kill men, women and children. If the leader of a terrorist group is travelling in a car with his wife and children, it doesn't matter to them, they'll fire a missile from a helicopter and kill everyone. And you, you sit in your house, nervous and afraid, and frustrated beyond belief. You throw rocks at their tanks and they fire back with real bullets. Its David and Goliath, only this time David doesn't even have a sling. You try to protest to the world, and the world hears your complaints and condemns the actions, but does nothing to stop it. Anyone who cannot see the suffering of the Palestinian people have no heart. Whatever is said about Arafat or the PLO, or HAMAS, or Islamic Jihad, the fact is Israel is a foreign power occupying Palestinian terrorities. It is not a situation that can be tolerated. So how can you fight back? How can you focus your anger and let them know just how much pain they have caused you? You strap a bomb to your body and hope you can kill as many of the enemy as you can. Its not a solution, but giving in to hate sure feels good. Its a vicious cycle without end. You would have thought after WW2, Jews would understand something about persecution. But then again, as someone once said, God is the ultimate prankster.

I'm sorry this is a little late Mitch. I've got more on my plate than you can imagine. :) *takes a deep, deep breath* Okay. I've skimmed past the last few pages. I've read some of the poems through completely, others I've just perused. The following is simply a personal opinion of mine. It doesn't have to mean anything unless you want it to. You have two very strong points going for you. One, you clearly love to write. That much is obvious. You put a lot of energy into the endeavour and that is to be commended. Because writing actually requires effort. Two, you do have a decent grasp of English. There are certain verses and turns of phrase especially effective. SO you do have a command of words. With regard to any criticisms I may have, can I begin by sayign that your style is not the kind I'm particularly fond of. This makes it very hard for me to comment on it in a way that is fair and objective. Nevertheless, le me try. You write a lot. Perhaps too much. Now I don't ordinarily say this, but maybe you should slow down a little bit. Collect your thoughts, think more, and write less. If you can [i]consistently[/i] get out one [i]good[/i] poem a week, you will be doing well. Refine your poems. Even after you've finished with one, take it aside for a week or a month, then come back and revisit it and see if you can make improvements. Don't be afraid to tamper with it. Don't be scared you'll wreck it, you will always have the original copy saved somewhere. So fiddle with it. Don't bring your preconceptions back to the poem, look upon it afresh, anew, and make the modifications without fear or favour. Your mind is ablazed with a thousand different images. Your similies, metaphors and illusions run amuck. Focus them. as you focus your energy into writing, focus your images so that you can see them clearly, and in more detail. Manipulate them, play with them, experiment, but don't be distracted by other images that might flood into your mind. Deal with one thing at a time, follow it from start to finish. Do not haphazardly chop and switch. Don't be schizophrenic. Have fun with poetry! Its not all gloom and doom you now! :) Play with poems, do short ones. Length is not always an indicator of quality (as some girls would no doubt already be aware of...;)...sorry, couldn't resist. :D). Do funny poems, silly poems, it doesn't matter. Just experiment and see how things go. Try rhyming verse. Maybe you might want to speak to your English teacher or someone 'qualified' about your poetry. Its a craft and there are technics and skills to learn. One might be burn with the spirit of a poet, but very few are born with the skills of one. So don't over romanticise poetry. Overall, I would say its good. It shows promise. But at the moment, its all quite a mess. I hope I wasn't too harsh. :D (Let this be a lesson to all of you [i]never[/i] to ask me to look at your work! ;))

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Lalaith Ril [/i] [B]Alright then why are you against this war? Why are you against any war? I'm not saying accept it. I'm not saying give up your views. (Sorry if it came across like that) I'm just saying support your troops that are giving up their lives for you freedom. You may not think this will have anything to do with your freedom, well guess what THEY do. Are you going to dis-regard their feelings just because you think its stupid? They are stating their opinion in the ultimate way. I think you should support them just as much as your support someone on OB that may have a different opinion than you... [/B][/QUOTE] This wasn't directed at me but I'll answer it anyway. I'm not against war per se. I'm not gonna cry that war is bad and blab about the suffering and the misery and so on. That's not the point. People suffered and were miserable in WWII, but that, in my opinion, was a just war. There is nothing 'just' about this war. It is unnecessary, and therefore, wrong and immoral, because war really should be the option of last resort. You go to war only when you absolutely have to, when there is no other way. You don't go to war rubbing your hands together with glee at how you can reshape the world with your military might. The second point has to do with soldiers. The western troops are NOT conscripts. They are volunteers. They signed up. This means they're professionals. Its their job to do what their political masters, our leaders, requires of them. Its not their job to have opinions or to express them. Of course when you go to war, you have to believe you're doing the right thing. So yes, I'm sure many of them think they're doing the right thing. But that's not why they're there. They're there because they're soldiers. They have signed up to fight for their country and they will do what their country demands of them. They don't pick their wars. They fight them. So yes, support the troops. Because they are there on our behalf. But that doesn't mean you have to support the war.

This post is essentially a reply to Heaven's Cloud's post. I'm going to answer a key argument. Even though I'm really only talking about one argument, the nature of US propaganda means that this is going to be a long post because there's so much crap out there. So please bear with me. And there may be loop holes in my arguments because that would go into other arguments, which I don't want to go into because if I were to make a comprehensiive post covering ALL things, it'd be a book. But that's not really a cop out, and if you read this post carefully, you'd realise that. Here goes. First, let's all be reasonable. We're all human beings, our greatest assets are our brains, so let's use them. [i]Think[/i]. [i] Independently[/i]. Close your eyes and open your minds as they say. [b]Why are we at war?[/b] Let's get to the basics. What is the reason for this war? I'm not talking about what writers and journalists, commentators and spin doctors have said, but what the President has said, and his representative the Secretary of State, Colin Powell. The reason is simple. We are going there to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The world community has demanded Iraq to disarm its WMDs for 12 years and he has failed to do so. Since that is the case, there is no other choice but to go in there and do it ourselves. Let's not confuse ourselves okay? The main reason for war, the one said again and again, the one the US has said to the world community, is the issue of WMDs. Its not that Saddam Hussein is a bad guy, its not that he's a terrible tyrant, its not even that he has gassed thousands of his own people. Its that he has WMDs and he is refusing to disarm them, and that is against UN resolutions. So we're at war to enforce those resolutions. The existence of WMDs in the hands of the Iraqi regime is a direct threat to all of us. This is because Saddam's previous behaviour indicates that he may well use these weapons, and further, that he may pass them onto terrorists. [b]UNMOVIC[/b] So you see, WMDs are the key. Saddam cannot be trusted with them, and we need to remove these weapons from his arsenal. This is what the Americans have said. This is the reason. And guess what? The world agrees with Uncle Sam on this one. Shocking I know, but true. Resolution 1441, 15 to 0 decision of the Security Council, made this point very clear. Not a single country voted against the resolution or abstained from it. So everyone agrees, and everyone is happy. We can only wish... The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commision (UNMOVIC) is the special body constituted by the Security Council to make sure Iraq disarms, and to verify that disarmanent. To make sure, because we no one really trusts Saddam. That's why we need an [i]independent[/i] body, free from the politics and foreign policy interference of the various states (countries), to go out there and do a [i]professional[/i] job. Okay, so let's recap. You have the US, along with rest of the world, who distrust Saddam Hussein and his regime, and think he may be hiding WMDs, and pretty much everyone agrees he should not be allowed to have them. Then we had UNMOVIC (it used to be called UNSCOM but let's not complicate things), whose job it is to make sure Iraq has done what it [i]claims[/i] it has done in destroying its WMDs, and also to destroy any such weapons UNMOVIC may find itself. So UNMOVIC is like the referee. UNMOVIC has many experts in chemical and biological weapons experts (IAEA is the other agency, this one is for nukes but no one really thinks Saddam has those or are even close to getting those so let's ignore IAEA for the moment cos it serves the same function as UNMOVIC, only it does it for nukes). These guys are professionals, they do this for a living, they're taken from all countries across the world. They basically know what they're doing. And what's even more important, The Security Council, [i]including the US[/i], has given them the task of making sure Iraq disarms, and if UNMOVIC at any point thinks that Saddam is not fully and actively cooperating, then it will report back to the Security Council, which will then decide what to do with Iraq, including any 'serious consequences'. [b]So did UNMOVIC say that Iraq is not complying? Is that why we're at war??[/b] Well no. That's the kicker. You see UNMOVIC has delivered, I think, 3 interim reports, and while they have often been mixed, NONE of them have ever been UNMOVIC going back to the Security Council to say, "Hang on folks, this Saddam dude is not letting us do our jobs". NONE of them. In fact, the major one before Bush's ultimatum to Saddam to get out of Iraq, a report on the 7th of March, was very favourable, and said pretty much, "its working, we are progressing, we can do this job in just a few months, give us some time". Here is the referee asking for time. UNMOVIC are saying give them more time to do their jobs, that it will not take 'indefinitely', or 'years', but just "months". This is not Saddam talking. This is not the French speaking. This is an [i]independent[/i] organisation specifically set up by the Security Council to deal with this issue. And let's be absolutely clear about this. I have not heard a serious comment by Bush or Powell that UNMOVIC is somehow biased, or has some secret agenda. Not one. That it is in a conspiracy with Saddam or the French or whatever. This is an organisation that is considered by all to be neutral. As I said, much like a referee. So when you're in a game and the referee makes a call, you accept that call. That's what referees are for. But Bush did not accept the call. For a variety of reasons he chose to ignore it. Bush then tried to get a 'second' resolution to specifically condemn Iraq for not complying with 1441. But despite all the bribes and arm twisting, the US was not able to get 9 out of the 15 countries in the Security Council to accept their case. Now, the Bush administration are blaming the French because they said they would veto any vote, but really, if they had the numbers, its pretty obvious the US would have push the resolution through and watch the French squirm and backdown. Even if the French were to veto it, the US would have a 'moral' victory, the French would be the ones with eggs on their faces. Even if you don't accept my interpretation of the events around the withdrawal of the 'second' resolution, accept this: The UK, Spain and the US drew up a draft second resolution but did not put it for a vote. How dodgy is that?? The US holds up the 15 to 0 vote of the Security Council to pass Resolution 1441 as representing the 'will of the world community', and yet, in the same breath, the US accusses the Security Council of being 'irrelevant' when it fails to pass the 'second' resolution? So the Security Council is only 'relevant' when it tows [i]the US[/i] line? Its only 'relevant' when it says what the US wants it to say? How silly is that?? [b]Summary[/b] So...let's wrap this up rather easily, shall we? The US demands Iraq gives up its WMDs. The Security Council, which is the world body that tries to maintain peace in the world, [i]with the express approval of the US[/i], sets up UNMOVIC, to determine the disarmanent of Iraq. UNMOVIC says its working, the US ignores UNMOVIC, tries to push through a second resolution to empower it to wage war on Iraq, fails to get it through, withdraws it and goes to war anyway. Ultimately, forget what this commentator says, or that expert TV mouth piece spews out, think for yourself. Use logic, use rationality, use your own brain. What makes sense to you?? Here are a thought. How many countries particpated in the first Gulf War by sending their troops to fight alongside the US? How many are doing so now? I can tell you only 2, the UK and Australia. Three white anglo-saxon Christian democracies. Hardly a representative slice of the world. Here's another thought. Why do you think 3/4rds of the world think so poorly of America, why are they so resentful of American power? Why are they so against this war?? Its not because they like Saddam. No one likes Saddam. Not even the Arabs. Everyone would like to see him go. But so many of them are against this war because America has become a belligerent power. It doesn't understand other cultures, has no respect for international law or the world community, and it does what it wants, when it wants to do it, and however it wants to do it. And you know what the [i]really[/i] scary part is? No one can stop Uncle Sam.

There is an opening for ONE player. If anyone who had applied for RPW before still wishes to join, please express your interest here. You can keep your original character or edit it to suit your needs, just let me know what you decide. Again, I must reiterate, enthusiasm is essential, so please do not apply if you're not committed. But if you enjoy writing, particularly in a fantasy setting, then this is for you! :D

Yeah. I like it. Not great but passable. I especially like the stupid guy. But you really shouldn't be watching such things. *shields Jesus Chicken's eyes*... you're outside its demographic target audience...and besides...we wouldn't want to corrupt your impressionable young mind, now would we? ;)