Justin

When I think epic RP's, I'm forced to think of WAR 1-6. Those were the most plot-holed, grammatically incorrect, prolonged, deus ex machina-ed, and ridiculous stories ever typed...but damn it, they were fun at the time. -Justin

I'm just putting this out there, and you guys can throw it back if you want to. I think this thread's immaculate conceiver is just a bit too [i]frustrated.[/i] Someone should consider buying him a chicken. -Justin

[quote name='Neuvoxraiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][LIST] [*] ? Dishes: Rinse them, load properly in the dishwasher, and run if full. ? Cooking: If you have excess food, put it away in plastic bags, or other dishes. All larger pots cannot be run in the dishwasher and should be washed soon after. Everyone is responsible for his or her own food and the fridge needs to be cleaned once a week, with excess food tossed to make room for new groceries. ? Timely payment for utilities: I will always tell you as soon as we get a utility bill so you have time to pay it. I will also split it three ways and if you want to review the bill, let me know. I?ll get you a copy. ? Vacuuming: Once a week downstairs. ? Mopping: Once a week in the kitchen. ? Trash: Every time it gets full. ? Laundry: Clean the lint tray in the dryer after every use and remove your clothes in a timely manner. ? Guests: You can have someone spend the night for one to two days. ? Parties: The Home Owner?s Association for Silver Ridge Town Homes does not allow loud parties, but having a few friends over for a quiet kickback is just fine. ? Quiet time at night: Weekdays; quiet after 11:00 p.m. Weekends; quiet after Midnight. ? Please take off your shoes downstairs and put them in your room. Try to keep your shoes downstairs to one pair at a time. ? Mopping, Vacuuming, and Trash: pick one to do every week, or we can rotate responsibilities. [/LIST] [center]~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/center] [/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] Yep. You and I would be horrible roommates. But those rules sound like they should get the point across. I wish I'd made a list for my roommates before moving in with them...bastards. -Justin

You just remember Jake...false metal lurks around every corner. And it seeks you out in your slumber. It seeks to pillage the halls of the highest metal orders, and to rape the most unwilling of subgenres. I heard a folk metalcore band just last week, and I imagined you feeling a discomfitting itch in your ear. I just had to laugh at them. -Justin

Job For a Cowboy's only value is in that they have opened wide the doors for kids wth potential to get into music of more substance. But, [i]Genesis[/i] is just a mediocre record, as far as straight brutal death metal goes. just as [i]Doom[/i] was mediocre in terms of deathcore. Eh, the only female vocalists whom I respect equally for their vocal quality and their feminine-ness are Kaisa Jouhki of Battlelore, the operatic vocalist of Sletchvalk, Mariangela Demurtas of Tristania, and Tarja Turunen, formerly of Nightwish. No one is arguing Arch Enemy's metalness. Jake simply did not want the conversation reduced to just talking about Angela Gassow. On Light This City, they are less like Arch Enemy than they are At the Gates. And while I do find Laura Nichol's high end to be just fine, her lower end does sound very forced at times. On the whole, Light This City is a prime example of what Jake said earlier about melodic death metal. I talked to a guy the other day who told me he didn't care for Arch Enemy. When i asked him why, he said he couldn't stand females in bands. He's not metal. -Justin

[quote] You should keep me after giving me to someone.[/quote] [spoiler]Innocence.[/spoiler] [QUOTE] What do men do standing up, women do sitting down, and dogs do on 3 legs?[/QUOTE] [spoiler]Shake hands.[/spoiler] [QUOTE]I can see the truth behind someone, I hold the key to your stare. I am you, however not a manifestation of you. Don't think too hard though. The answer is visible through glass.[/QUOTE] [spoiler]A reflection.[/spoiler] You place too many restrictions on your threads, Deus. How can we be expected to wait two or three days, give or take, to post our riddles? Just let them say we're wrong, and someone else can answer. But, I'll respect your rules for now. Someone tell me something, so I can give you guys some of mine. -Justin

It's really nothing to sulk about. I took pride in my virginity until the day I chose to no longer be one. It was a simple thing, and it doesn't make you feel 'adult' or anything like that. Really, I and most that I know, felt kind of weird after the experience. Sex isn't the 'spice of life' that it is made out to be. It's great, but you do well to hold onto your independence from other people in that reard. The idea that you're pathetic because of it is the only thing that's pathetic. 1. How did you lose your virginity? (no specific details) In the back of my current girlfriend's car. 2. Did people treat you different after the experience? Only those closest to me would know whether I was or wasn't a virgin. The status of your V-card is not really something I think you should broadcast to the world. 3. Do you feel different after the experience? Not really. Only instead of craving masturbation, I crave sex. I guess masturbation kind of loses its flare after you've done the real thing. But other than that, I'm still me. It doesn't turn you into an adult, nor does it change your life. It's something your body is designed to do, you do it, and that's that. A 'virgin's haven' is kind of a strange concept. It's something all people go through, and therefore, all people should be able to contribute their experince with it. In light that, I present this: [b]A view of me before the act...[/b] 1. Do you have anyone who you'd like to take your virginity? No one in particular. Just whomever I'm with when I decide to lose it. 2. How or where would you like to loose your virginity? I can't imagine it'd be like a scene in a movie. Any bed will do. 3. Are any conditions you consider that must be met for you to loose your virginity? Me deciding I want to, and them consenting. 4. How does it feel being a virgin? Are you ever made fun of for it? I hated when I was in about eighth grade. To put that in perspective, that was about the time I joined this forum. It seemed like a much bigger deal then than it does now. Again, I was only made fun of it by stupid kids who were probably virgins themselves when I was in my early high school years. Now, it's hardly ever even discussed and most of my friends don't know/don't care whether or not I'm a virgin. It's not a crucial point in my life. Sex is not a big deal, or at least, it shouldn't be. The pressure to have sex is the biggest problem with it. When you do it, it should be because you and that person want to do it, and nothing more. And you may as well accept that it will be a frustrating, awkward experience at first. But one well worth enduring, when the time comes. -Justin

Eh, I'll concede on DEP. Not because I agree, but because I don't feel like disputing the finer point of mathcore. I prefer math metal, myself. I do, however, still consider O, God the Aftermath to be the best experimental metalcore album since early Converge. Why experimental? For the same reasons DEP, Botch, Converge, and Poison the Well all are/were: Arrangement and time signatures. Non-experimental metalcore bands are, in varying interpretations of the genre, Hatebreed, Zao, Darkest Hour, Chimera, and so on. Understand, however, that I don't enjoy most of these bands. As I've said in the metal thread, I find them to be just a cheapening of true metal. However, experimental metal/hardcore bands I can dig. For instance, early DEP, early Poison the Well, Botch, most Converge, and "O, God the Aftermath" Norma Jean. I also enjoy earlier forms of hardcore like the Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today and Agnostic Front. And hardcore punk, Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, the Misfits, blah, blah, blah. I just think new DEP and Poison the Well are disapointing. It pales compared to their previous work. -Justin

Where in that post did jake say groove metal sucks? He didn't. He said he can't stand it. That's fine. He also had reasons for that statement that he was able to relate to the music and the genre as a whole for why he disliked it. Your only reason is 'cookie monster vocals.' That has been a derogatory phrase to describe death metal vocals since the beginning. One used primarily by people who don't know anything about the music itself. I do happen to enjoy Dying Fetus' vocal technique and arrangement. And I don't find any similarities with the cookie monster and their vocals, as the cookie monster's voice is talked out. Dying Fetus(and most death metal bands with guttural vocals) use a technique to create their vocals. If you want vocals in a metal band actually similar to the cookie monster, try Dethklok; as Brendan Small does a more similar talking style. My point isn't that you dislike them. That's fine. My point is that you disrespect the musicians by saying that they suck, without giving any legitimate reason for why they do. 'Cookie monster vocals' makes you look like every mainstream retard who has ever hated on death metal, as that is about as deep as they listen to the music. And it isn't for you to say 'if that's the way death metal vocals are supposed to sound, then that's a genre of music that shouldn't have vocals.' People like you are the reason that extreme metal evolved. To be seperate from people unwilling to dive into something they don't understand, and learn to appreciate(and maybe enjoy) its finer points. You also highlighted Jake's criticism of metalcore. On this point, he and I are of a like-mind. Metalcore, on the whole, does suck. Why? It's a perversion of everything extreme metal, and heavy metal at large, stands for. That is seperation, originality, musicianship, and fidelity to all the aforementioned ends. [i]Most[/i] metalcore is geared toward the mainstream audience, very unoriginal, very short on musical talent, and it promotes the idea of conforming for the sake of popularity. Now, I don't want to attack you. Your musical interests are not that far removed from mine a few years ago, nor is your response to my criticism of you. All that I'm asking is that you not so bluntly attack something you're not a part of. [i]Come up with a legitimate defense of what you say.[/i] And 'cookie monster vocals' are [i]not[/i] a legitimate defense for why a death metal band sucks. -Justin

And that's the correct way to go about speaking of a band you don't like, in a genre you're underexposed to. Now, if someone who knew what they were taling about were to criticize Cannibal Corpse's complete lack of structure on their early work, or their incorporation of more traditional structure in their later work, or their ridiculous lyrics, or whatever, that's fine too. It just irritates me when people say bands suck but can't produce a single shred of reason for why. -Justin

No, my friend. DEP may have bits of mathcore influence. But check out their entire catalogue, minus the last two albums. You'll find them, on the whole, much more comparable to Botch, Converge, and...ah, yes...the finer days of Poison the Well. That is to say, experimental metal/hardcore. In the case of DEP, it's more on the hardcore side. Speaking of bands that sacrificed their experimental hardcore for dumb ****...enter Poison the Well. Both they and DEP used to be big favorites of mine. And they have both let me, and the majority of their original fanbase, down. You should listen to 'O, God the Aftermath' by Norma Jean. I'e said it here before, that's the best experimental hardcore record since the early albums of Converge. -Justin

You keep bashing bands like Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus, both of whom are incredibly talented bands, and you're starting to get on my nerves. Cannibal Corpse is real death metal. By saying that I'm not bashing other death metal bands talked about in this thread; I'm simply saying that Cannibal Corpse(or any one of the many other like minded bands, i.e.: Morbid Angel, Death, Nile, Cryptopsy, Suffocation, Decapitated) are part of the root system that produced those other bands. And near as I can figure, you're only bashing them for their vocal technique. That's fine if you don't like it, but you can't keep saying how much they suck when they do not. Say it if you don't like them, but don't say they suck...especially if you don't know what real death metal is even supposed to sound like. There's nothing more irritating than someone who doesn't know what they're talking about spouting off at the mouth like they do. -Justin

DEP was more or less just a standard metalcore band, in their vein of it. Comparable to Converge, Botch, and later Norma Jean. Nowadays, they're more of an experimental post hardcore band. But calling them progressive is off quite a bit. Prog. requires at least some basic knowledge of jazz and jazz structure. None of that exists in DEP. FASSW...meh...another something-core band that is of no use to me. -Justin

Nightwish does have some fantastic stuff, if you look for it. I'm going to have to disagree about their new singer, though, Jake. I like the ore operatic stylings of their former vocalist much better. Tell me, Jake...what do you think of Moonsorrow's most recent release? -Justin

I think you're confusing 'fairly unique' with 'poorly arranged.' -Justin

[QUOTE][b]Dear friend,[/b] [i]You know, there's an old redman method for hunting buffalo that beats any paleface with a sixgun. Wear a wolfskin. That's 'cause buffalo are so big and powerful they ain't too much afraid of a pack of wolves near their herd. Once the redmen hunters have chosen their prey, the men in wolves' clothing bring it down with relative ease. Are you a wolf? If you are, then you won't make it, partner. Take a little time to learn from ole' Black. Do that and I'll teach you about the patience of God, the power of nature, and the measure of a man. Your best way to start learning is to stand up; you've been lying down too long and you're wasting daylight. Your friend,[/i] [b]Ezra Black[/b][/QUOTE] You have in your hand a letter written in black ink on general store paper. When you finish reading it, you fold it up, unsure of what to do next. You survey your surroundings. Your choices in life haven't always been agreeable with the world at large: You're a thief, a killer, a lawyer, a harlot, a pimp, a drunk, a foreigner, an undertaker, or maybe even a jack preacher. What's all that got to do with anything? Those are the people Ezra Black goes for, that's what. Everyone knows about "the justice of Ezra Black." Some call him the only real American hero; right up there with Paul Bunyan and George Washington. But that's because those 'some' ain't you--yet. After all, Ezra Black goes for people with vices--which means he goes for everyone, right? You've heard the same people in saloons all over the territory call him the messenger of God and a son of Satan in the same breath. He's the Law, and the Lawless, so they say. He tracks 'em down, but he don't never bring 'em in. But it don't really matter what 'they' say anymore. After all, you've got a better chance than anyone else of finding out exactly who Ezra Black is. He's got you, and all you've got is your wits, the piss in your veins, and the clothes on your back, for now. Don't fret, though. Ezra Black don't leave 'em hangin' too long without goadin' 'em with a stick. You'll hear from him. Just one thing to do: Find Ezra Black. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be fair, I have to say that this story is only halfway mine. A friend of mine posted it originally a long time ago under the username Ezra Black, but it didn't get much attention. He's is school in Montgomery now, and I've decided to rehash the story with full creative license. This is your laundry list: Name: Gender: Age: Occupation: Vices: Describe your surroundings: The gate for people who get in on this is fairly wide open. Don't be stupid, and you'll get in...initially. But the quality and originality of your sign up will dictate the difficulty of your circumstances. You guys will be writing the story, not me. I'm just creative director. Here are your rules: -You're alone, for now, in the wilderness of the US Midwest. -Your immediate surroundings are, in fact, determined by you, but you're precise location on the map is known only to Ezra Black, playable only by me. -This is basically a quality-based game of which there will be a definite winner. -If none of you win, I do. -The quality/originality of your character development within the set boundaries are key in determining what clues will be given to you, and what items/secrets you do or do not receive. The aforementioned boundaries are these: 1) No killing fellow competitors without permission from Ezra Black. This permission will be worked into gameplay(and via PMs), but use it (and each other) wisely. 2) The name of the game is "Find Ezra Black" it's a little misleading. You see, you don't find Ezra Black, so much as he reveals himself to you gradually. It is through, as mentioned, your own creativity (and some more blatant measures such as puzzles and riddles) that you will come to a final confrontation with your captor. So no finding Ezra Black on your own. 3) As mentioned, you begin alone, with no weapons. Only you're own wiles, and the environment around you. I repeat: "The environment around you." Rest assured, weapons will come. 4) On beginning alone: As you progress, it would be beneficial to you to locate other competitors. Do this in good taste, though. 5) There is no such thing as civilization to you at this time. When you do find it, make note that this is set in the 1850s-1900s time frame. Character elimination: Most of this will take place in form of showdowns. I will give out various tokens allowing these showdowns, via the story line, or private message. This will be played out in story form, and judged by me. I may be willing to accept another judge, should a suitable one be interested. However, should the challenged also hold a token of equal or lesser value, he may turn down the challenge, costing both of you the tokens. They are as follows: 1) The Challenge Token: This gives any player holding such a token the right to challenge any other player to a showdown. Any token in the game may be used to counter this token. 2) The Ambush Token: It allows the holder to set up a showdown from which there is no fleeing. Again, all showdowns are subject to judgment by myself or another to determine the victor. 3) The Justice Token: This token allows the holder to seek revenge on another player for a past deed. This automatically gives the holder an advantage in a grading system I'll discuss later in this post. 4) The Murder Token: Only three will be awarded in the game, and solely via PM. This gives the holder the right to kill any character in the game, save myself. They may only be prevented by a special token, called the Token of Righteousness. 5) Token of Righteousness: Only one will exist in the game. Though, it may be recycled to another player after use. This token gives the holder immunity to all other tokens except the Ambush Token, which can, in no way, be avoided. It will also be available solely via PM. [B]Making the Grade[/B] My grading system is fairly simple. Each challenger gets one description of the showdown, sent to my PM box. I'll determine the winner by the following criteria, and post the winning version with no notification to either participant: Creativity: I want to see an artist when I read your posts. Style: Give me unique language, relative to the time and situation. Grammar: This is basic. You won't get far without it. Typos, I understand. Era-correct language is encouraged. But bad grammar is self-defeating. Value to the story: You can affect your showdowns by making yourself of greater value to the story than anyone else. That doesn't mean you can write a masterpiece of a character and then just let your showdowns go to hell, though. It's all balanced. Justice Token: If you're holding a Justice Token, and you are the challenger, this section of the grade is a check for you. Historical Accuracy: I don't want to see laser cannons of death. [B]The Final Showdown[/B] I mentioned earlier that one character would win this game. It may be you, or it may be me. How is that fair you ask? I'm going to have another, capable, unbiased judge determine who wins this showdown. Someone either no longer in the game, or who wasn't ever in it at all. If there is more than one character left and one of you meets my criteria for "Finding Ezra Black" the game will progress until only one remains. [QUOTE]"No redman knows buffalo like me."[/QUOTE] Give me what ya got. -Justin [size=1][COLOR="Green"] You forgot to add a rating to this game, so I will put [M-LV] to the title for you. If you want to change it one way or the other, just PM me. - Sandy[/COLOR][/size]

First wave black metal is more or less just a direct descendant of the Venom brand of early extreme metal. Extreme as it got back then, anyway. From Venom forward you have the earliest divisions in the evolution of the two. Bathory and Celtic Frost are seminal in black metal's development; whereas death metal is more influenced by Possessed. You also can't ignore Mercyful Fate's influence on black metal, and Slayer's influence on both. But from Possessed forward, death metal developed the idea of being a balance of fast, heavy, and technically sound. They chose this aspect of metal over the traditional arrangement styles, as well as the traditionally over-the-top live performances. Death metal, I think, found its true father in Death, which is where it gets its name. They join Deicide and Morbid Angel in the 'unholy trinity.' By the time death metal reached its early height, the genre had evolved further and further away from organization in the traditional sense, and further away from any kind of effort at an entertaining live performance. It also reached a height of popularity most thought impossible. The first example of all these features was Cannibal Corpse, who released the first extreme metal record to ever crack the Billboard Top 200. Death metal's popularity was to the chagrin of the younger and less developed Second Wave of black metal. I read a quote(from either Dead or Euronymous), where the quoted said he remembered someone once telling him that you could walk into any American high school and see ten Morbid Angel T-shirts. It has even been mused, by Euronymous, that Dead killed himself because of this rising popularity of what black metal devotees considered to be their opposite. So black metal brought out, in force, what they believed death metal had destroyed. Good arrangements, a stage show to be remembered, and a deeper meaning than the hollow obsession with gore. Black metal began to stand for something, where they believed, fairly accurately, that death metal stood for very little. Now, you may ask, which is better? That is a matter of taste. I enjoy both. I respect both equally for all that they represent individually. I like the experimentation of black metal, as well as the arrangement and lyrics. But I enjoy the brutality and technical prowess of true death metal. I even more enjoy the melody of melodic death metal, a second movement with roots more based in thrash than either of the two previously discussed movements. I also like the death metal approach to a stage show. I like to be relaxed on stage, and just let natural charisma rule my performance, rather than flashy stage get-ups. But that's just me. It's like I said, man. Being underexposed and not a musician, I doubt you'll be able to instantly recognize the differences that are plain to Jake and me. I can say that, because I've been in your shoes. And I've asked the very same questions and expressed the very same frustrations at the answers. But I promise you, we're not just pretentious. The differences are there, and they are astounding. -Justin

That is, doubtless, one of the most unique sounds I've heard in a long time. Primordial, that is. I noticed they're signed to Metal Blade, as well. It's still unfortunate that they probably won't get very much attention, outside of old goats like us. I find myself looking more and more for metal that does just that. Progresses(whether it's Progressive or not) into something that's new, still metal, and doesn't have 'grind' or 'core' attached to its description. I still want to hear your perspective on the MDM movement, Jake. -Justin

Heh, a realistic take on pokemon would bee fun. My buddy, who's a reasonably talented artist, recently drew a picture of a classic pokemon scene...only from a non-anime perspective. It made me think of exctly this. -Justin

Yeah, a lot of **** bands should pay Metallica royalties. Like Godsmack. I'll give it to Coheed, they've got matze for being able to write well, and they're good musicians. But honestly, you've got to admit, they're almost like Rush part Deux. -Justin

Norma Jean's last two records are the only thing decent they've ever done. I used to dig pretty hard on these guys, back in the harcore days. You'd think I'd have left them behind, but something about the O, God the Aftermath and Redeemer records rings of a certain originality that hardcore hasn't seen since Botch or the early work of Converge. I know they're trendy or whatnot, but good is good regardless. Slipknot is meh...I could never dig them. I'll take Rage Against the Machine any day. Hell, I'll take System of a Down over Slipknot. I have one thing to say that trumps every band mentioned here: Minor--effin'--Threat. -Justin

[quote name='Whoa, Mann'][SIZE="1"][COLOR="HotPink"] [B]MyChildren MyBride[/B]- A band that I like to call "Alternative Metalcore". Basically, sort of like xDSx. Basically, while you still get punk mixed in with metal, you get no melodic crap. This band is another one of those "Call to Arms" straightedge bands, just as xDSx, and call out to men and women to stand up. :] These guys have a really nice sound, because of the fact that they have alot of deathmetal riffs and metalcore signatures, and the drummer doesn't use alot of double-eight bass rolls, but instead just flams the bass a few times to make a nice small touch, which is very effective, and then he actually uses drum beats! Oh noez! Something other than a constant doublebass, even though he does use it alot, which is evident in songs like "Boris the Blade". :] [/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE] Metalcore to the core. Not metal at all. When they played Summer Side Show 4 down here this past June, they literally sounded like they were playing the same song over and over again. Not to mention they're wannabe rock stars. I've done so many shows with these losers over the last two years, and they've got the worst attitudes and no talent to back it up. God, that's irritating. It honestly surprised me that I didn't see Bolt thrower on that list, Jake. I was also surprised by the absence of At the Gates, Carcass or most classic representatives of the melodic death metal movement. So, for the sake of conversation, what's your take on that movement? -Justin

I don't give a crap what Claudio says, Coheed should have to pay Rush royalties. -Justin

Eh, I've said somewhere before that doom really isn't my shindig. But I really didn't give King of the Grey Islands a fair shot. Though, it's lucky it got a shot, as Candlemass is the only doom metal outfit that can occasionally crank my tractor. And Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is the only record of theirs that I own. I'm too sure I'd call Yngwie Malmsteen power metal. That's kind of like calling Dio power metal. The fact that the two influenced the genre is obvious; but they don't really qualify. Power metal is a bit more recent of a developement than that, in spite of how retro it may sound to the casual listener. I'd say power metal came from that style of heavy metal, combined with early thrash and post-NWOBHM(which I actually think was the first group of bands to be labeled 'power metal'). Think Yngwie Malmsteen getting in a barfight with Kill 'Em All era Metallica, when suddenly...Amored Saint bursts in and sings a duet with Iron Maiden. That's more like the modern idea of power metal. He is, however, an excellent guitar player. As I understand it, he sort of set the bar for over the top solos when he broke out in the pop metal world. -Justin

I pretty much hate Bush. I know that's the default political stance on him for most people in the world; but perhaps some people here will get the significance of that statement when spoken by me. That said, I'm about 87% sure that we're going to war with Iran. Just like it was with Iraq. We're fighting in Afghanistan already, then you start hearing this **** about invading Iraq, for whatever reason, and the next thing you know, we're in Iraq. I have a feeling we're going to turn around in six months and find ourselves fighting a three-fronted war against the Muslim world. Notice I didn't say against terror. [i]You can't fight fear.[/i] And thusly, you can't fight terrorism. Terrorism isn't a rogue nation. It isn't a fascist political party performing a coup over a stable democratic state. It's a tactic for demoralizing your enemy. Should America defend herself? Yes. Should we root out terrorists wherever they breed? No. We'd be in every country on the globe. Even our own. So, for the life of me, I can't understand why we're starting a campaign against all the Muslim states with anti-American sentiments. And the fact the Bush is riding roughshod over the will of the people...God, help us. I'm constantly hearing this cliche: "Freedom isn't free." Your goddamn right it's not. But I present to you a new thought: "Freedom is fragile." When the time comes for Americans(or anyone) to defend their national and personal liberty, they should. But they must also remember to take great care when choosing the people entrusted with their freedom. And...should they have made a mistake in choosing those caretakers...be prepared to remove that mantle, and rip that pedestal from beneath their feet. Many Americans see political activism as a 'dangerous and subversive activity.' At the very least, most of us see political activists as weirdos. And I'm not saying to hit the streets for every injustice or malpractice you think you see. But damn it...have some patriotism. Not for the doof in charge, but for America and what she's supposed to reflect. A country led by conscience. A country that gives everyone a square deal. Will we ever achieve that? Hell no. But that's the beauty of perfection. It's not a line on one side of which we stand, calling for the rest of the degenerate world to join us. Perfection is a goal. One no man, people, or nation will ever achieve, but should always strive for. -Justin