Retribution

[SIZE=1]I'm on the eat less, exercise more diet! Forget the carbs, or the calories, just eat healthier in general, and exercise, and the world will come to you. Of course, there are [I]always[/I] a few people who just can't lose weight due to problems of one kind or another. Anyway... My metabolism lets me eat like there's no tommorow, and not gain a friggin pound. So I'm pretty skinny. And I play soccer, which requires alot of training, so I usually run around four miles in prep. when the season is closer, but a two mile run is standard. *sigh* Back in my 'prime' I ran a 4 miler, a 6 miler, and then a 4 miler again in three days, and I could run two miles in 13 minutes. But alas, no more. Perhaps this summer... *goes off to eat a donut*[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][quote name='ChibiHorsewoman][color=darkviolet']I'm honestly not overly enthralled with mainstream religion and the new pope doesn't help matters much. What is so bad about allowing women to be preists? I'm not going to start the great gay debate, I just want to know what's wrong with women priests since throughout history the mainstay of the church has been women. [/color][/quote] I'll tell you what my teachers have told me. They can't give the sacraments, because Jesus first gave the sacraments. In order to 'mimic' Jesus' actions, Catholics believe that you have to be a man (like Jesus). Most prevalent is during the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They believe that you're not confessing to a regular dude, that you're in a mysterious way, confessing to Christ, because the priest is [i]in persona christi[/i], and acting as Christ did. I'm assuming this holds true for the rest of the sacraments. And it's the whole "we can't change doctrine" thing they're also arguing. It's not 'not up for debate' anymore, as far as the Church is concerned.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]*steals Inuyasha's format* ^_^ [B]-Hair color[/B] black is nice, but doesn't really matter. [B]-Eye Color[/B] I could care less. [B]-Race:[/B] I seem to drift towards Asian girls. An internal preference? Hm... [B]-Body:[/B] Slender, perhaps slightly short, cause I'm not tall. xD I like girls with nice legs/arms, and a good-looking face. And proportionate! [B]-Tatoos/Piercing:[/B] A few are okay... I don't really like them much. Minimal, I suppose. [B]-Dress:[/B] I don't like girls who dress with everything hanging out. Erg. Girls who shop at American Eagle/Abercrombie & Fitch seem to be hot. Perhaps I like preps. *ponders* [B]-Personality:[/B] Non-posers, slighlty conservative, and [B]nice[/B]. As in compassionate, honest, caring, etc. And happy. Gotta be happy, and enjoy having fun. [B]-Religion:[/B] I prefer girls with religion rather than none. It usually means that they have a set of morals they abide by, which is cool. Aside from that, as long as it's nothing like Satanist, I'm fine with it. Overly-religous bother me though.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][quote name='Zenju']I became a baptist Christian later on, however, because I disagree with some man being exalted to near-god status, heck, with all the millions of people pouring in to Vatican City see John Paul's lifeless body, you could excuse some people for thinking he was.[/quote] Catholics don't elevate him to near-godlike status. They, as far as I can tell, revere him as a father and their shepard on earth. He is supposedly the closest person to God on the Earth at the time. Imagine your father died. I'm sure you, as well as the rest of your family would go to the funeral. They, by no means, regard him as divine. He is another man, a pious one, but still a man. When he dies, [i]that's[/i] when he's elevated up to divine status, being cannonized and all. [QUOTE=dark king]well when the previous pope died and the funeral and all those public rituals had come by i said to 2 of my friends: what if the new pope was a nazi figure. and what does rise on the pope`s seat???? Benedictus, the name itself got me thinking, and yes he had served with the hitler jugend and the wehrmacht wich he deserted. but indeed almost any arian boy was eager to join in, they didn`t know better, they where decieved. but the fact that he doesn`t know better, can you imagine something wrong with it in a later proffesion??[/QUOTE] What are you talking about? He [I]did[/I] desert the Nazis after realizing they were wrong. Like you said, he was [I]tricked[/I] as a kid. So, if he was tricked, how is he responsible for doing the wrong thing? Imagine you had been fooled into thinking one thing, but later figured out you were terribly wrong and then renounced your views immediately. That's exactly what happened. He was a boy, and now he is a learned man. There's a huge difference, and the comparison you present is a sinking ship. [quote]if he is liberal i see it down the drain, like: we will bring all the people to the church. ein volk, ein reich, ein vaticaan. sorry for the cruelty, but if he is really good, wich i hope, then i will consider him a good pope. but to think of it going wrong and that evil eyed face seizes control over all those who believe, and decieve you with good faith, because deception has been a great part on every day life for most germans in those times. student might become master.[/quote]You really don't know what you're talking about. How about you go read a book about what happened to the pope, and [i]then[/i] step back to the plate when you're done. Liberal? It doesn't matter. The pope can't change Catholic doctrine. Because it's doctrine. It's like trying to change the fact that the Virgin Mary wasn't a virgin. It's permanent. He's not evil. How could such 'evil' rise to be so pious, so god-devoted, so heaven-ward? He's [I]devoted his entire life[/I] to God, to his faith. If he were some Nazi like you claim, he say "To hell with the Church!" just like Hitler did. [quote]but enough about that. the rules about homosexuality and abortion, for instance: you are not allowed to use condoms, if you get pregnant you may not have your child removed, you will have that child, but in the bible it was allowed to leave your children in a basket floating on a river, heilig oder unheilig.[/quote] Burning ignorance... >_< He cannot change doctrine such as contraception and abortion. The pope is so-called 'infallible,' and if you're a Catholic, you must believe he is. If you don't, you're not really Catholic. The rules laid out by JP2 are set in stone. No changes. No matter how unpopular that'll make the Church. Moses' life was [i]saved[/i] by putting him in a basket. Here... lemme tell you the story. A pharohe in ancient Egypt issued the order to kill all the male jews. The reason was because there were too many jews for the Egyptians to repell in case of a mass-rebellion, so he decided to fix the problem. Anyway, God told Moses' mother to put him in a basket on a river to save him from being killed by the soldiers coming to stab her baby through the stomach. She followed obediently, and God protected the basket, delievering it to Pharoe's daughter, who took up Moses and cared for him until he was grown. Again, you've made two comparisons that really don't make any sense. [quote]homosexuality? with the cardinals priests and high priests being all guys in most cases devoted to the church, what the hell you think what remains???? i have nothing against homosexual people, nothing. but they say gay is bad, but in the mean while here in holland at least 80% of the catholic followers in a position in the church, is gay, and on top of that another 30% is pedofile. i don`t know of the statistics in other countries but here it is true to these figures.[/quote]Like Blackjack said, I don't know where you found those figures. And the Catholic clergy aren't forced into the job. They take a vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Meaning, they won't have sex, they are to live humbly, and obey the will of the Lord. Catholics believe that gay is bad if gays choose to act upon their impulses. Again, I'm not Catholic, and I don't believe in some of their doctrine, but these are the facts. I hate to see a group horribly misrepresented as you've done. [quote]having faith? nothing wrong with it, but faith should be in your own heart. you and god no one else no brick and concrete, statues or depictions. church is a no-go for me. so if they would just cut the bs, but hey it`s only my opinion...[/quote]The first commandment says not to worships gods of wood or stone (false idols). God is represented to Christians in such things as statues and stained glass windows so as to remind us of His omnipresence. We don't worship them, you iconoclast. Jesus was a man (so I believe), and there is nothing wrong of showing things to remind us of his eternal sacrifice that saved our poor ***** from sin and eternal damnation. A crucifix isn't made to show off -- it's made to remind.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Just because you have a large selection of font doesn't mean you'll make good banners. [b]Banner 1[/b] is mediocre. Firstly, I'd get rid of the light in the upper left hand corner. Those usually don't look very good, unless incorperated very, very well. The background is too bland/pixelated for my taste, and the stock seems 'out of it.' Not only the expression but the blending too. She's off to the side, and with a neutral look. It's hard to throw in a quote or brushing, etc, with a nondescript, nondynamic image. [b]Avatar[/b] is basically mediocre for the same reasons of above. I like alot would be solved by swapping stock and making your background more interesting. [b]Banner 2[/b] is alright. Pretty good idea, but the image itself is hard to see, isn't crisp/clear, and the font isn't defined at all. It kinda... slips in with the background, making it hard to read. Again, you have the random lighty-thing going on, which may need to be nixed.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Well, the crit applies for both banners, as the only thing different is the typography. The general idea the large Kira over his Gundam is a very good idea. However, it looks really busy, the colors are clashing in the background, and there's no focal point to speak of. This is pretty important, even if it seems like it's not. Your eyes should go somewhere first, which should tell you that the image overall is coordinated. The contrast between the simple foreground and the complex background is a minus, and wouldn't be recoverable even if the colors of Strike were changed to monochromatic. Get a simpler picture of it, but still dynamic, and see what works. Finally, the [B]font of the first banner[/B], I must say, is rather weak. It's hard to make out amid the complexity of Strike, and the font choice doesn't fit the emotion you're trying to convey. Get something edgy-er. I'd recommend something a little more grungy like "Defora" or "Shogun's Clan" for this. The squiggly thing isn't working for this. And the [B]font of the second banner[/B], while improving upon the first, is still not working. It's not defined, and the font isn't conveying the emotion. For future reference, the typo is something that should take just as long as the other part of the image. A good quote in a good font face can make the banner more powerful than just a pretty image. I hope I wasn't too harsh on you. Forgive me if I was, I only wanted to give you helpful tips. ^_^[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]I'm pretty sure each one has different uses. Illustrator allows you to make movies (if I'm not mistaken, which I very well may be), while Adobe Photoshop CS is just a raster-based program. I'm assuming it's not going to be too much different than CS, as CS wasn't all that much different than 7. What version of Photoshop do you have? CS very well may be the better choice if you're running something like Elements.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][B]Name:[/B] Clipso Lunada [B]Age:[/B] 41 [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Class:[/B] Jedi Master [B]Lightsaber:[/B] Single Lightsaber [B]Force Powers:[/B] [I]- Force Armour - Master Force Barrier - Master Speed - Master Energy Resistance - Force Redirection[/I] [B]Appearance:[/B] [url]http://hyung-taekim.org/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=11[/url] [B]Biography:[/B] It was cold, and slightly damp inside the pitch black cave. The human sat cross-legged on the unforgiving rock, which carried the same musk and twice the freezing temperature of the rest of the cave. He had been there for the past week, meditating. He had denied himself all luxuries -- talking, moving, sleeping, eating, drinking, or human contact. It was what had distinguished him from the rest of the Jedi, his flattering humbility, and his awesome determination. A cold, steeled determination that gave him a frightening look if he chose to be stern. As if by fate, his eyes were gray, as dark and dank as the cave he was in, as cold as the determination he forced upon himself. [i]Food is a material. I don't need it. All I need is air, and my lightsaber.[/i] And then, a burst of light broke upon the insurmountable, inconquerable darkness he had been faced with for the past seven days. It was a Jedi, he had felt her prescence ever since she had set foot on the planet. She was powerful, her aura lifting rocks up involuntarily as her heels clicked against the dead rock. Nonchalantly, he opened his eyes, not moving his head at all, not quickening his steady breathing pace. He was rather startled by her, as Clipso had been wrapped up tightly in his meditation exercise, reaching out to a new, intriguing life force he felt across the galaxy. She gracefully turned her eyes upon his, opening his thin mouth to speak. "Master Lunada, rise. Come walk with me." She had warmth in her voice, inviting after the long wait in chilly darkness. He obeyed without question, knowing she outranked him. He had to maintain control, not let his emotions show, else he would fail, disobeying his Code. This, of course, was most difficult, as she was stunningly beautiful, intelligent, charming -- everything a regular human would long for. He, however, did not. He was a Jedi. They slowly strolled out of the cold cave, climbing up the long ascent to the sky, the sun, the warm world he left behind. Once they reached ground-level, he bowed, and averted his eyes to the ground, not daring to make eye contact. "I apologize for my most disgusting appearance. I had hoped that no one see me before I was cleaned up." She shook off the apology, cutting directly to the chase. "Quite alright. You've been chosen to take a boy that could very well lead to the universe's destruction or salvation. The great power you felt, was him." On the inside, Clipso's jaw dropped about ten feet in shock and amazement. However, he was quite good at masking his feelings both interior and exterior, and showed to signs of phasing. She smirked, knowing he had complete control of his feelings, but also guessed that he was puzzled. "Anyway, time is of the essence. Let's go." They took off in a sprint, and made it back to the ship which would transport them back to the Jedi base, where the boy awaited them. [B]Personality:[/B] Clipso is quiet, obedient to a higher officer, and gentle. He follows the Jedi Code to the letter, not allowing himself to stoop to passion, lust, or desire. He works for the greater good of the galaxy, and has always been a very rule-oriented person. [B]Other:[/B] I guess you'll find it out later. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Yes, peoople, it [I]does[/I] suck alot. Plenty of undeserving people lost their jobs, or will soon. But I'm wondering ... instead of bashing Bush, why not try to see what benefits there will be? In the article, it briefly mentioned a 40 billion dollar saving in closing down these bases. Think, for a minute, how much do these bases help in this "Crusade on Terrorism?" I know my base (Andrew's AFB) doesn't really do much at all ... it's more of a training ground. But it's still being kept open. And I wonder ... how many other bases aren't doing much for this war, and how could our [America's] resources be allocated better to help the nation through it all. I seriously don't know what your bases do, so don't jump up and yell at me like "Well, my base does send troops over!" I'm just trying to find some logical reason why Bush would do it. It's not like the man actually [I]wants[/I] to hurt the country. So he must've had some reason (a logical one, to him at least) for doing this. I'm sure he doesn't just close down a few hundred bases for the hell of it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][quote name='Japan][COLOR=Navy']Then why would the army send guys over there then?[/COLOR][/quote]To make sure they don't invade South Korea. They're our homies. xD We, quite frankly, don't have the strength to do it. Remember the Vietnam War? The war we got our ***** handed to us? We don't want that to happen again, so we won't actively invade, but we'll definitely guard the border for our fellow allies.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][quote name='Juuthena][size=1']Life's a tedious step? I can't stress how strongly I believe there's a bunch of stuff after death, and I'm excited about moving on. It doesn't make sense to me how some people are afraid to die. The earth really isn't that fantastic of a place, as it's so full of hypocrites and limits as to how far you can go. My dad said nature keeps everything balanced, and it's true, but not necessarily a great thing. [/size][/quote]People are so afraid of death because it means letting go. It means jumping off the solid, sturdy rock of the world and into the black, endless abyss of death. It's the unknown. I'm sure you'd be pretty scared if you were about to die. It's just human nature, to be afraid of the unknown, then try and make conjectures about what it is. That's what religion is. But I love religion... it gives you something to hope for, that your life isn't just another link in the chain that will end in 60 years. I love the idea of being in a perfect place for eternity after I die. Sounds heavenly. ^_^ The meaning of life? To serve God, but I'm not ready to invest my entire life persuing my faith. Sundays is good enough for me, and helping out people along the way. But really, a more universal definition I'd give it is to [B]make progress[/B]. If you were born poor, die a little richer. If you were mean when you were little, become nicer as you grow old. Start out better than what you began with. It's to help out all of humanity as best you can, by contributing your gifts and talents to the world. That's why living in some hermitage trying to be holy is such trash. You're being selfish, on some self-journey that sounds noble, when you could be our helping other people actively. Even if you don't believe in the guy, try and be like Jesus. Except the crucifixion part. I'm pretty sure you won't rise from the dead.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][quote name='Japan][COLOR=Navy']I find the idea of closing these bases very itiotic. Just like CWH said, we are in a middle of a war. Including another possible one in Korea.[/COLOR][/quote] Firstly, I'd like to point out that Bush would [B]never[/B], and I repeat [B]never[/B] have a war with North Korea. They would easily kill us all if we were to launch some sort of assault at them. This thing called a nuclear warhead would destroy Washington, D.C., NYC, LA, or any other major population center of the USA. I sure hope Bush isn't ignorant enough to do any of that. But maybe you meant "with" Korea, instead of "in" Korea. That would change alot... Yes, we are in the middle of the war, so I would [I]assume[/I] that closing down these facilities would in some way hinder our [America's] fighting capability. However, I really don't know the situation -- why they were closed down, when, and whatever information to make this situation. I vaguely recall that the Bush camp mentioned that this would save money some how... but you can't trust Bush. hehe You know, it really pains me to actually give a shred of help for Bush, but I'm just stating what I found in the post. [quote]The Pentagon estimates those closures have saved about $40 billion so far.[/quote]Considering how deep Bush has us in already... perhaps this money could be allocated to better things? Oh... right. It'll just go back into the war. No "child left behind" anymore, no more health care benefits for the elderly. It's all about the [b]war[/b].[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][quote name='SolarPrincess][COLOR=GREEN]But let me add this, if you choose not to do something just so you're not following the "conformists," isn't it just as bad as doing someing just [B]to[/B'] follow them?[/COLOR][/quote] That's what I was about to say. I mean, just not going for the sake of spiting these "conformists" seems stupider than buying the ticket to fit in. Yeah, Kitty jumped the gun a bit on her conclusions, but I can see where she we going with it. When I hear [I]conformist[/I], I don't think goth though. I think punk, but in general, the whole "let's rebel" thing is where she was intending to aim for. I'm a sophomore (10th grader), so I don't know too much about the prom either. I know I'm going though ... it's just one of those things that in high school I'm going to do, since you only get one shot at it. Perhaps I'll ask a girl out to prom or something. Generally, I don't think it's a place for just "conformists" and slaves to popularity, rather than a last hurrah for high-school. I find it entertaining that you'd not want to go to prom, solely because "conformists" are going to be there, and have been talking about it for a while. I believe that most people you're talking about who "go just for the sake of it" don't actually do that. I[I] think [/I] they're going there to have fun with their friends from high-school, whom they might not see every again. I'm a conformist. And usually, especially in this case, it's quite alright.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]- [B]Numa Numa[/B]. Urg... this is so annoying. Perhaps it'd be better if I could understand the language. Hehe. - [B]In the End[/B]. It was a good song when the Hybrid Theory album first hit the shelf. But ... after watching 4 too many AMVs, I'm ready to blast the next person who makes an AMV with "In the End" as the song. There's more to music than that one! - [B]Shut-up[/B]. The Black Eyed Peas strike back. Hehe. Actually, this one is way worse than "Where's the Love?"[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][B]Name-[/B] Alexander Crowne [B]Alias-[/B] Trump [B]Gender-[/B] Male [B]Affiliation-[/B] Disposal Service [B]Describe yourself in five words-[/B] "Swift flight, faster fight service!" [B]Appearance-[/B] [[[url]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/retri_trib/klaus.jpg[/url]]] He doesn't have the flight equipment, and instead dons a brown long-sleeve shirt with black cargo pants. He has a pair of goggles that he keeps around his neck (see the picture). [B]Ability-[/B] [I]Telekinesis[/I], meaning he can move things with his mind. When given ample amounts of time to concentrate, he can send even cars hurdling into walls, smashing clear through them. But usually, he is left with only an instant to attack, which suits him fine. Alexander is a talented telekinetic, and can thusly move medium to small objects with frightening speed and precision. [B]Trump Card-[/B]It [I]is[/I] better than yours.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]*Crosses fingers* I hope I make it. ^_^[B]Name:[/B] Charles Crowne [B]Age:[/B] 29 [B]Gender:[/B] Male [B]Occupation:[/B] [I]Alblastere[/I] - crossbow man [B]Appearance:[/B] Charles is a very average man, standing at 5'7", and weighing 150 pounds. His brown hair is too curly for its own good, and ends up getting in his brown eyes more often than not. Before becoming a town-guard, he wore a 9-year-old cloak, brown in color from the years of dirt accumulation, and a patched-together green pair of pants, with a olive long-sleeve-shirt to match. His shirt being a hint to small for him. As one could imagine, as soon as he layed hand on his new uniform, he threw it on and never took it off. Who could blame him? It consists of a long, crimson robe, and a thin layer of chainmail underneath of it, with the crest of the town prominently showing on his chest for all to see. He wears it with pride, trying his best to keep it clean, hoping he won't look poor. [B]Personality:[/B] Cynical and judgemental, he can be expected to snap off snyde remarks at anything and everything. From what is for dinner, to if he'll survive, he is a pessimist, expecting the worst, but not ever preparing for the best. He is always for saving a fair damsel in distress -- that is assuming you could convice him she is indeed a damsel, and in distress. [B]Any Other Information:[/B] Charles grew up poor in the town, much like everyone else, and aspired to become a silversmith. His father, however, had much different plans for him, and forced him to guard the city, saying that they'd die if he didn't. His young, impressionable mind believed him wholeheartedly. It was until it was too late when he recognized he had been horribly duped, and henceforth grew sour with cynicism, daring not to trust so fully again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]He still doesn't get my respect. Sure, he may be a great rapper of the time, but he's still enslaving black people to the same stuff we've been through for the last forty years. A rapper gets my respect once they try to fight that stereotype. I'll give you an example from Pac... Keep in mind this song is called [b]Young Black Male[/b] "I'm ****** the sluts and hoes The bigger the butts the tighter the clothes The gimminy jimminy grows Then whaddya know, it's off with some clothes Rowd when the crowd says hoe That let's me know, they know I can flow Love when they come to my shows I get up and go, with skins before When I'm collecting my dough I never respect, the one that I back The quicker the nigga can rap The bigger the check, now watch how they sweat What kind of style is that? The style of a mack, and ready to jack I rendered up piles of black The wacker the pack, the fatter the smack I hate it when real nigga bust They hate when I cuss, they threaten to bust I had enough of the fuss I bust what I bust, and cuss when I must They gave me a charge for sales For selling the tales... of young black males Yes nigga, N-I-G-G-A niggaz" I've let the OB censorer take its toll on the lyrics -- anything else that fell through I'm sorry about. Anyway, the lyrics are ridden with remarks that have been drilled into black people's minds over time... such as referring to ourselves as a "nigga." This was the name we tried to shake for the past several hundred years? The word of disdain and racism? The word that King died trying to stop? And he just uses it. The first and last few lines of the verse I quoted are probably the worst. This is a reason I don't like rap. Too many "niggaz" and talking about killing people, and "******* hoes" ... too much for me to want to put up with. I remember he had some song about his mother... it's probably the least offensive of his. Either way, I can only recall this small portion of it. "Even though she was a crack fiend mama She always was a black queen mama When she caught me running from the police (that's right) Mama catch me put a whoopin' to my backside" In conclusion, he doesn't deserve my respect. You don't get it if you use the word nigga. Ever.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][quote name='x kakashi x][B]Any Movie Featuring a Disney Actor/Actress[/B']: Just because your on TV, or have a part in some lame show on the disney channel, does not mean you have talent. For god sakes, every single person on that channel thinks they can sing. Evidently they have some sort of acting talent, but as far as movies go, they're terrible, 5 mins on a kids show is a lot different then an hour on a serious movie. Just do your job and stfu please, thanks :animesmil[/quote] Someone had to say it, didn't they? It's so true it's scary. They all suck. :p I don't want to see [B]Sandlot 2[/B], only because they're ruining a classic with some crap-*** lame kiddie actors. I can't really judge if it's bad or not though ... since I've never watched it. [B]Reign of Fire[/B] was pretty bad. The plot was one of those "let's go against all odds in a post-apocalyptic world, and save it!" [I]Bull.[/I] [B]Star Wars Episode I, II[/B] on a scale of 1 - 10, both were teh suck/10/teh suck. Yes, they were that bad. Now, if these hadn't soiled the entire Star Wars legacy, they'd've been mediocre movies... but these deserve to be hung, shot, then hung again. >_>[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]What the heck... Here we go, [B]lokis01[/B]. [b]Avatar[/b] Looks like a child in robotic garb, perhaps? It's also rather dark, perhaps hinting at your current mood. Also, I gather a feeling of being tied down or imprisioned in one form or another. [b]Sig[/b] Is also pretty dark, and so I'm concluding you're pretty sad/depressed, or you think it looks cool. The quote on it [the banner] hints at not knowing when to stop, or a disbelief of some sort. The quote independent of the banner actually makes alot of sense. Very thoughtful, although I have no idea how to apply this to your personality.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Whatever you do, save that poor child from the name Sakura. While it's really nice ... it's EXTREMELY overdone, and needs to be put out of useage. And why a Japanese name? Why not German, or American, or African, or Spanish? I'm sure if you examined other countries' names, you'd find alot you like. I guess what I'm saying is similar to Raid3r, only I wish he had put it a little less bluntly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][QUOTE=MistressRoxie][color=#9933ff]And once again, Retribution says everything that I would like to say. ^_^' You're really good at that, you know. P.S.: I don't Retribution's "Tsunami" comment was completely aimed toward the dec. 26/25 tsunami in particular, but more of a culture reference that Japan experiences Tsunami's frequently. Hell, they invented the frickin' word. It was definitely a poor choice of words, but now you know how angry we've all been throughout this entire thread. lol. (And my dad lives in Thailand for God's sake, so don't you dare play the "You don't know what it feels like" card on me.)[/color] Edit: Damn. You beat me to it by a couple minute, Retribution! Ah, well. :/ *shrug*[/QUOTE] LMAO! A special bond we share. Telepathy, perhaps. And yes, Roxie, it wasn't a comment aimed at poking fun at the tsunami victims. It was truly a horrendous incident, and likewise I would never joke about so much death. It was aimed towards a more general tsunami, as in the really uber-huge wave, not the most recent one. Yeah, I was pretty pissed when I wrote that, and I guess I didn't think twice about something like that. I'm somewhat reluctant to say sorry after you laughing at Japan's war crimes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][QUOTE=Lady Dust] Well except "Retribution" who kind of used the tsunami thing and no one care's. "Retribution" never I mean never usae the tsunami card on me again. My older sister died in Thailand that day. So don't you EVER bring up Tsunami again, until you have experienced it yourself bucko. So back off and if I ever, I mean ever, hear you talk about tsunami's you will be hearing from Natsu Hiroshima.[/QUOTE] Sorry if I over stepped my bounds on the "no one cares" line. I suppose I was pretty angry at that point. And the tsunami "card?" In no way was I using the tsunami to insult you. It was meant as a simile to a bigger point, and had nothing to do with whatever actually happened in "the" tsunami.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Well, I (fortunately) don't have random thoughts pop up into my head, aside from "Whoa the girl behind you is hawt!1" But, I [I]do[/I] regularly think "My god, get my outta this school! Where's summer?!"[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][quote name='Lady Dust']Maybe you should look where you are shipping to Japan. Heh, 99% of the people in Japan eat grown crops in their own land. You ship the foof here and then we turn around and sell it to other countries, pretty clever if you ask me. And we learn about how great America can be, give me a break. I have been there once and I would never step foot on American soil again.[/quote]Sorry to burst your bubble, but Japan is no longer self contained. It's not even the imports that would hurt you. It's your export. You're (Japan in general) manufactured goods come to where? Ahh, yes. America. Without the export money, the Japanese economy would sink like a toy ship in a tsunami. [quote]For all of you, I lived in Japan for 13 years. Lived in Toronto for 9 months, we were goign to move to Australia but that didn't get across. My father sells military weapons to countries like France, Germany, and Australia. We are moving back to Tokyo, Japan.[/quote]No one really cares. [quote]I am making a lot of people's hand's shake. While I keep my cool, this is kind of funny. Maybe I should be one of those UN member's speakign for Japan...[/quote]Their hands shaking is a bad indicator for [I]you[/I], not them. In case you don't know, it means you're being [I]ignorant[/I], not cool headed. [quote]This is actually starting to get fun..[/quote]I'm glad being ignorant is "fun" to you. [quote]I think it is a good thing because we (the students of Japan) shouldn't be taking in such information until the College/ University level. Sheltering the fact of our wars from our students until a later age is a great idea. Not many children can understand the fact of a world war. Their brain's aren't as developed, so the Japanese school system waits until a later age for the children, who are now young adults and teach them then.[/quote]I'm in 10th grade (year 10) and know quite well what happened on D-Day (Saving Private Ryan is a must-watch), horrors of the Holocaust, and in general the horrors of war. It's safe to say that I can comprehend the atrocities of such events, even though my brain isn't fully developed. The college/university level is way too late. By then, they won't believe the teacher -- they had been taught otherwise all their life. Even I must admit, I didn't know exactly how terrible war was in 3rd grade, but I did know it was a bad thing, and that WWI and II were big, bloody, and in general bad. My grandfather told me how he got his purple hearts in combat, and how gruesome it was. I'm glad I know what happened; it helped cradle me into the harder, more obscene realities of war. [quote]They would now understand what Japan did and why we went to war. You can't teach a 9 year old " Japan flew a couple of plane's into Pearl Harbor. America who significately declared they were not going to enter the World War did. Thy spent months, years, to make a perfect bomb. The perfect bomb was made and dropped on two cities at two different times. Those bombs killed thousands, like that of Sadako the Crane Girl. America won the war and Japan was left to recover from the events that had happened." They simply could not understand that, it's just not right.[/quote]No, what's "just not right" is the gross understatement of what happened at Pearl Harbor. Oh yeah, a "few planes were flown into Pearl Harbor," and all the sudden, we leapt into the war? No. How would you feel if I said: "Hiroshima? Nagasaki? Heh. We just dropped two bombs, and a few people died. But that's all clean, nice and wrapped up history, right?" I'm sure you'd be beyond pissed. It sickens me how you oversimplified the deaths of so many soldiers in some fanatical kamikaze strike. I'm pretty pissed -- about as much as if I were to have said the above statement to your face. And then spat in it. Multiple times. [quote]And for all of you guys, I attended an Elitist School during my lifetime in Japan. ;) [/quote]That's very nice, but [B]no one cares[/B]. In fact, it's further hurting your own point. If you go to an elitist school, I'm assuming they accept only the best. And if even the best don't know history, they're pretty much bottom-of-the-barrel in other parts of the world.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Am I hot-tempered? I don't regard myself as such. I'm probably in the happy medium, perhaps leaning moreso towards the 'hot-tempered' side than the 'calm' area. If someone is truly getting on my nerves, or says something to get at me, I find myself swearing at them under my breath, but not much else. If, however, things get worse than that, you've probably done something horrible. I used to practice martial arts, but I didn't find that I helped manage my anger.[/SIZE]