Heaven's Cloud

[color=indigo]I really think that my entire first degree was an almost entire waste of four years. I say almost because I wouldn?t have the job that I have now without a degree. Not that my college degree has helped me perform any aspect of my job. I could do what I am doing right out of high school, no sweat. The problem is employers want to see that piece of paper stating that you paid your dues. Now, I don?t think college is always a waste, especially for some fields like medicine and teaching, but I think the general business major, nine times out of ten, is going to school just to get a piece of paper, not viable training for a career. I can also see how frustrating it could be if you knew what type of career you wanted and you knew that the schooling you were receiving was not really comprehensive of in depth enough to help you succeed in that career. My second taste of college has been quite a bit more pleasant than my first. My classes are focused on what I need to learn to pursue a career in advertising. And, though the extra schooling wasn?t 100% necessary, I am glad I took the time to hone my skills in this fashion. I guess my biggest regret is not being more thorough while looking into schools when I was graduating college. I probably should have taken a year or two off after high school and done the whole work/partying thing then to get it out of my system. I definitely wasn?t mature enough to handle it at the time.[/color]

[color=indigo]I hate midgets. But, I assure you, it is hatred derived from fear. I hate bad table manners in all circumstances. There is never a justifiable reason to talk with your mouth full, lean your elbows on the table while you are eating, not place a napkin or table linen in your lap, or do a host of other disgusting things that people tend to do at a dinner table. I hate when a woman rejects me. I mean, I am soooo awesome, how high can your standards be? I hate this new trend where Otaku board members create a thread that acts as an index for other threads that they have created. I mean, if you really feel the need to advertise stick it in your signature. I hate g-g-g-g-unit.[/color]

[color=indigo]I have always found group projects bothersome, especially at the college level. My first time around I was fortunate enough to be involved in a major that required very few group projects, history is a very solitary subject I guess, lol. I did have the occasional group project in my elective and required non-specific classes, and something always went drastically wrong. I remember that I had to make a video in one class and, out of a group of eight people, three of us participated in the project. This time around, working on my Advertising degree, I have had (and probably will continue to have) a plethora of group projects. It has been really bothersome lately, because I am so busy it is hard to schedule times to do school work that don?t coincide with weekends. None of my classmates seem to like doing work on Saturdays or Sundays. It always seems to get done, though I (and usually one or two other people) always end up doing 98% of the class work. One thing I?ve learned is to never split assignments up into pieces and distribute them, then you end up in a situation like Semjaza?s, which rarely turns out so smooth. [/color]

[QUOTE=James][color=#334366] Justifying something bad by pointing out a million other bad things is not really going to get anyone anywhere. The subject is marijuana, not fast food or automobiles. Of [i]course[/i] there are many legal things that can hurt people -- I think the question is simply "do we take a harmful drug and make it legal?" Obviously there are many, many repercussions that need to be considered -- I can see arguments on both the positive and negative side, personally. [/color][/QUOTE] [color=indigo]Tsk, James, you took a purely satirical post as an attempt at an argument. I guess my sarcasm must have been ill conveyed. The comparison between marijuana and cigarettes is moot, because cigarettes are legal, marijuana is not. So the comparisons, health related, addiction related, cost related are more or less pointless in this argument, like fast food, automobiles and the whole lot. Anyway, for every logical argument made on either side of this point there have been two or three illogical points or comparisons made. For example, the point has been made that marijuana can aggravate preexisting mental disorders such as paranoia, depression, and schizophrenia. That is a solid, logical argument on why marijuana is a dangerous drug and should remain illegal. However, stating that your friend had a miscarriage and it was due to the consumption of a very small amount of marijuana is ridiculous. I have scoured pages on the web to see if there is a link between marijuana and miscarriages, and there is nothing (though there is quite a bit about the possibility of a baby being born with weak and underdeveloped lungs) correlating the two. [/COLOR]

[color=indigo]Yeah, I think that tobacco should be made illegal as well. I mean who cares that warnings about tobacco causing emphysema began circulating on a national level in the 1950?s. Who cares that by the early seventies it was common knowledge that it causes and aggravates various types of cancer. And, although it has always been one of the hardest substances on earth to quit using, who knew cigarettes were addictive? It is too bad that the government doesn?t step in and stop us from choosing to use a substance that we know is addictive and probably will kill us. You know what else the government should ban? Caffeine. Caffeine is a mind-altering drug that speeds your heart rate and causes mild euphoria. It can aggravate ulcers and help increase stress levels in your body elevating the risk of heart conditions. And to top it off there are not even warnings on gags of coffee and cans of coke! And what about fast food? Shoot what about large portion sizes that you receive at restraints? Man I wish the government would regulate what I eat. I mean, how am I supposed to know that eating six pounds of fried food every night and following it off with two desserts could lead to obesity? There sure are a lot of car accidents in America too. Automobiles are dangerous contraptions that require quite a bit of concentration to operate. I just don?t think people are capable of using them in a very safe manner. Nope the government should out law those rolling death traps as well. Didn?t man build governments to protect us from our own idiotic mistakes?[/color]

[color=indigo]The most important advice I could give a young person when it comes to working is learn to say ?I can?t?. Excuses are pretty pointless and it is much more admirable when you just tell your boss you can?t work an extra shift or you can?t change your hours around. Ninety-nine times out of one hundred a boss will just find another sucker to work, and if that random 1% occurs just remember the good thing about low paying ?introductory? jobs is that they are everywhere. When I was younger I had a few jobs that I just stopped showing up for because I was sick of them. I know that isn?t very considerate, but it also isn?t considerate of the employer switching your schedule for no reason and making you consistently work for longer periods than you were scheduled. Sure, sometimes you have to suck it up and deal, but if it occurs consistently it is better to just look elsewhere.[/color]

[QUOTE=Semjaza Azazel]I picked up Batman: Gotham Nights #61, Intimates #2 to #4 and MK Spider-Man something or other. Spider-Man was enjoyable, largely because of the events, but it honestly seems like the quality of the writing is slipping. Is it just me? [/QUOTE] [color=indigo]Spider-Man was okay last week, but I wasn't overly impressed. [spoiler]I am not sure if I liked the Avenger/Super hero save[/spoiler]. Hopefully the series will have a clean wrap up. It is unfortunate that Mark Millar is ending his run on the series because, so far, he has done a great overall job. Edit: Did Books of Magick: Life During Wartime come out today? I thought it was supposed to, but the local comic shop owner said that it didn't...Am I being lied to? [/color]

[QUOTE=Semjaza Azazel] I'm currently reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel, by Susanna Clarke. This one is even bigger and has far smaller type, which is making it a somewhat slow read. I enjoy the book and its attention to detail is pretty astounding (there's even quite a bit of footnotes explaining small things in greater detail... pretty heavy stuff for a fantasy novel, I think). [/QUOTE] [COLOR=INDIGO]By far the best novel I read this past year, though it does read a bit like Dickens. Right now I am reading [b]American Gods[/b] by Neil Gaiman for the third or fourth time. I have a bizarre tendancy to re-read books that I really like every so often. Most of the time I'll catch something new, like a reference or a metaphor, or a connection that I failed to catch the previous time I read the book. I also just finished re-reading [b]Neuromancer[/b] by William Gibson. I hadn't picked up this book in ages, but I was watching [b]The Matrix[/b] a couple of weeks ago and I realized that I just got a hankering for the book. [b]Neuromancer[/b] is definitely a good book if you enjoy movies like [b]The Matrix[/b] or [b]Ghost in the Shell[/b]. Very cyber punk.[/color]

[COLOR=INDIGO]I can honestly tell you that the last person I would want on a deserted island with me is Charles. Imagine asking him to help you catch some fish and he replies by holding up a poster from [b]Alive[/b] with the caption ?Cannibalism, Yum!? Those kinds of antics would get old fast.[/COLOR]

[color=indigo]First off, I think that both Zeta and Siren?s arguments based on Zeta?s high school grades are pointless and counter productive to the argument at hand. Zeta, it is fact that marijuana use impairs your perception, short-term memory and cognitive reasoning for a brief period of time. You have used marijuana, so have I, and I can attest to experiencing all of the above (not for an extended period of time, but definitely during the time I was high). I would also say that while you can smoke pot and get decent grades some people cannot. It affects people in different manners. Siren, I think that your counter argument of high school being easy and the assumption that Zeta (or any pot head for that matter) would not do as well in college because he smokes marijuana is more of an attack than a point. I have several friends that did incredible in college, yet smoked pot constantly. Sure, you could argue, ?well I bet they would have done better if they didn?t smoke pot?. Maybe that?s true, but a 4.0 is a 4.0 no matter how you slice it. When it comes to school some people can just play. CHW, your arguments about your brother?s friend being shot and your girlfriend having a miscarriage are not very relevant points against the legalization of marijuana either. First, if marijuana was legal would you brother?s friend been in an altercation over the drug? My guess is no. Second, alcohol, cigarettes shoot even large quantities of caffeine can lead to a miscarriage and they are all legal. It sucks that your girlfriend had a miscarriage but again, you are blaming the gun and not the person that shoots it. I don?t think I will ever smoke marijuana again, and, as of right now there are obvious issues that need to be addressed before legalization could be considered, namely a way to detect how ?high? you are. I don?t want a bunch of impaired morons driving around blazed out of their minds. The reaction time of someone high is less than stellar. That being said, I don?t think that the government has a right to restrict a substance like marijuana because it is potentially harmful to the user. If it were physically addicting, then yes, I would have zero problems with marijuana being illegal. But it isn?t. I don?t want the government to protect me from me; I need to have some responsibility for my own actions. If I choose to smoke marijuana and I know what the consequences are, and everyone should know what they are, there is more than enough anti marijuana propaganda in the US, then that should be my choice.[/color]

[QUOTE=Me][COLOR=INDIGO]The density of the smoke in one joint is about triple that of a pure tobacco cigarette. Obviously this makes marijuana smoke quite a bit more harmful to the lungs than a pure tobacco cigarette. There are problems with this statistic (yes, it is a factual FDA statistic). One, it would be very difficult (not to mention astronomically expensive) for even the most avid pot smoker to smoke a half ounce of marijuana a day (roughly one quarter the weight of one pack of cigarettes). Two, a single filtered cigarette?s tobacco is laced with dozens of known cancer causing toxins, all of which are absent from most marijuana. In other words it would be hard as hell to develop emphysema of lung cancer from smoking pot. Sure, if you are an avid pot-head you probably aren?t going to be running any marathons, but that is derived more from sitting on the couch all day stoned than it is from lung ailments. It is also factual that there is no scientific evidence of marijuana having any physically addictive properties. Now, that isn?t to say it isn?t habit forming, it is. But so is locking yourself in your bedroom and playing video games for hours on end. If a person derives a sense of enjoyment from something it can become habit forming. While marijuana does can to short term memory loss and slight paranoia it has not been medically linked to cause any other mental ailments when used alone. There has never been a proven case of marijuana being linked to full blown schizophrenia without a hallucinogenic (mushrooms, acid, peyote, opium) involved. I also think that the whole ?gateway? drug aspect of marijuana is blown out of proportion. In my mind it is like stating that sex is a gateway to bestiality. Sure, I would believe that the majority of weirdoes that have sex with animals had sex with people first, but the majority of people that have sex don?t get their jollies humping a turtle. People of a certain mindset are going to experiment with different things, usually that predisposition has everything to do with that person?s environment and very little to do with smoking pot. Despite all of my pro-pot propaganda, I am actually against legalizing the substance for several reasons. First being that corporations would more than likely bastardize the product, much like they did with tobacco. I have a feeling that commercial marijuana would be loaded down with an overabundance of the same carcinogens that cigarettes contain. Second, marijuana grows anywhere and that means that, regardless of corporate involvement in the product, there would always be a huge underground market for it that is entirely un-taxable. Third, there is no definitive way to test for marijuana impairment. Since your motor skills are severely hampered while under the influence of marijuana you have a greater chance to create a vehicular accidents, and I don?t want pot legalized until there can be repercussions for its abuse.[/COLOR][/quote] [color=indigo]My thoughts haven?t changed much since I wrote the above. I still think that most of the people arguing against the legalization of marijuana are using weak reasoning, so I?ll touch on that a bit. However, I am whole heartedly against legalizing marijuana, at least until there is a system that accurately tests a users impairment.[/color] [quote name='P.T.'] Ah, it's not a gateway drug? I'm assuming "gateway" means onto bigger and harder things? Gee...*thinks back to when some of his cousins started pot, then launched into cocaine, a bit of heroin, finally hitting rock-bottom and coming to a mission for drug abuse out in the NorthWest* Hm. I guess all of that was my cousins' fault, then? All of that trouble was based purely on their troubled psyches? Yeah, I'm sure that's what it was. [/quote] [color=indigo]Unfortunately it was your cousin?s fault and not marijuana?s. Now I am not attacking you or your family by any means, addiction is a horrible thing. Your cousin knowingly indulged in an illegal substance. Pot doesn?t make you fen for cocaine or heroin, no a string of bad choices led your cousin to hard addicting drugs. And yes, usually using your first drug is based purely on a troubled psyche and the need to feel sociable amongst a certain sect of people.[/color] [quote name='P.T'] Oh, what's that you say? We should legalize it so children are safer, so they don't have to go through vicious druglords, instead just hitting up said high school Senior? Why didn't I ever see the logic in that?![/quote] [color=indigo]That would be a valid point if kids were buying it from vicious drug lords. Pot, for the most part, isn?t sold by vicious drug lords. It is sold by high school seniors that sell it so they can get high for free. High school seniors usually get it from college kids who buy it from drop outs that buy it from local farmers. Pot isn?t a hard item to process or come by, especially since it grows everywhere and in virtually any climate. I know where I grew up it was much easier finding pot than it was finding alcohol. Alcohol was controlled; you had to have an ID or someone that had a connection that had an ID to obtain it. Pot was everywhere though and I think regulation would help keep it out of the hands of high schoolers. Although I don?t agree with your reasoning Siren, I agree with the overall principle that it shouldn?t be legalized (for the reasons at the end of my quote above.[/color]

[QUOTE=Mimmi][SIZE=1][COLOR=Sienna][FONT=Verdana] It's not a case of pushing a button and, voilá, a message detailing why someone has been warned or why their thread was locked/deleted is submitted automatically. [/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE] [color=indigo]Hate to blow the cover, but all you really have to do is click the problems away. The system is preloaded with a host of generic responses that a moderator can use in various situations. Shoot, even those odd pictures Charles uses are loaded into the system. Being a moderator is strictly about power?and apparently sex, although I don?t recall being a recipient on the latter. Maybe the others drugged me and took advantage of the situation.[/color]

[color=indigo]Drix, your post is an interesting take on the Batman character. Perhaps if this was a new comic, one with a character a little less fleshed out, it would be valid. Unfortunately Batman?s characteristics have been well established throughout the decades that the comic has been in print. The simple fact is if Batman wanted to rule Gotham City he easily could do so. Take the ?No Man?s Land? story arc for example where the reader finds Gotham devastated by an Earthquake and is written off as part of the United States by the fat cats in Washington DC. Batman could have easily have taken control of the whole city, shoot Gotham could have been his own country, but instead he fought alongside the community to restore it to the bustling metropolis it once was. I think one aspect that some of you are forgetting is that Batman is portrayed as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, mind of his time. Not only is he without a doubt the worlds foremost detective, he is also a master strategist, a capable scientist and engineer, well versed in various languages and histories, and the head of multi-billion dollar organization that he is responsible for building. He is aware of his psychological short comings (no finer example of this than in ?Batman: Arkham Asylum?) and trauma and uses it as a positive motivational force. Batman isn?t a dark brooding character; he is a calculating risk taker. No matter how much violence the opposition brings the Dark Knight goes out of his way to figure out a non-lethal way to stop it. [/color]

[QUOTE=Lore][color=#ff6600] This made me laugh out loud. Charlie, you're just [i]too[/i] kind. what are you doing in my swamp?! Sara[/color][/QUOTE] [color=indigo]Personally I think Heaven's Cloud was long over due to recieve some kind of award or mention. I find HC so inspiring that I have modeled my whole life after him.[/color]

[COLOR=INDIGO]I think that social security is in definite need of reform; however, I am still unclear about certain aspects of its privatization. Form what I have read, the details seem far too complicated. I have been working since I was sixteen and I have had well over $20,000 sucked away from my total income and filtered into social security. It is disturbing that I may never see that money ever again because the government has done a poor job of investing it or has used it to fund other programs. In a way the privatization of social security could be a good thing. The government isn?t giving you money to spend, they are giving you money to invest, in stocks of your choosing, markets of your choosing, or just a plain old savings account. It is like a forced IRA (retirement fund) that you are responsible for instead of the government. All in all, it makes quite a bit of sense?up to a point. And that point hits when you are ready to collect on your hard saved social security fund. Once you hit those silver years the US government collects your social security funds and then pays you out an annuity every year. They chose how much to allocate and how those funds are managed once you are eligible to collect them. I am not sure how comfortable I am with that scenario because if you happened to invest in stocks that skyrocketed your potential to collect the full amount is nil. It also puts the money back in the hands of the people that screwed it up in the first place. Anyway, Bush?s current idea has the potential to either really hurt America?s elderly or really bolster our economy. [/COLOR] [QUOTE=ChibiHorsewoman][color=darkviolet] Plus it doesn't seem fair to the people who make less than $90K a year because those people don't have anything taken out of their checks for SSI and they have more disposable income. [/color][/QUOTE] [COLOR=INDIGO]I don?t understand what your meaning here is. Under the current manifestation of social security everyone pays into the system, and if the system is revised to Bush?s plan why would it matter if people making over $90,000 contribute to social security, everyone is getting an annuity out of their ?personal? account. I also think you are very naïve thinking that a person making $90,000 has all that much more disposable income than a person making $45,000, especially when it comes to retirement. Everything is relative in terms of money. A person making $45,000 may have a job that gives a full pension plan after thirty years. This, coupled with a social security annuity may make retirement much more comfortable for the lower income person compared to the person that had a higher initial income but had to support their retirement on their own. From what I understand, under Bush?s program people that make high salaries are still eligible to pay into social security, it just isn?t required (if they don?t pay in they are ineligible to receive anything). [/COLOR]

[color=indigo]Nah, I couldn?t ever see a reason returning to my old post in the Anime Lounge. Right now Dagger does a thousand times better job than I ever did. And, if for some reason she was to leave, there are quite a few members that are smart, articulate, and care about anime way more than I ever did. I also think that if I was to be offered a moderating position in another forum (which should never happen, I was a pretty lackadaisical moderator before, lol) I would politely decline. One, I just don?t have the time to dedicate to the boards any longer. There are posts that I would like to post and threads I would like to start but often times I just cannot find time to participate. Two, there are so many other people that would make good moderators, or rather deserve to be moderators much more than I do. And, last but not least, I am way too awesome to be moderator. I mean, if I came back to the boards on a regular enough basis to be a moderator I would have to start charging admission.[/color]

**Edit, I am not putting up spoiler tags because anyone that participates in this conversation should at least know the small amount of background I am including in this post*** [color=indigo]If you are familiar with the DC universe then you realize Batman?s heroism is undeniable. Not only does he battle crime in Gotham City but he has saved several worlds from various threats numerous times. So I guess that the real question should be ?Batman is an obvious hero, but is he a sociopath?? Before I focus on that question, though, I would like to touch on something Siren wrote.[/color] [quote name='Siren'] Batman isn't a Hero; he's an escape mechanism.[/quote] [COLOR=INDIGO]I am not sure I agree with this, actually I don?t see how anyone familiar with the Batman/DC universe could agree with this. Let?s say that both of my parents died of a similar heart condition when I was young. Because I felt a both a tremendous loss and an incredible amount of guilt because I was powerless to help my parents I decided to devout my life to becoming a great heart surgeon. I study hard and I travel the world learning from the best and brightest doctors in the field. And finally, after years of education I become a heart surgeon, a great heart surgeon no less. Being a heart surgeon isn?t an outlet that I use to escape reality, it is what I am. Batman is no different. He felt such a profound sense loss and guilt that he was driven to become a crime fighter. In Kill Bill the character of Bill has a great little diatribe about Clark Kent being Superman?s critique of humanity. While it is a very interesting conversation, I would disagree with Tarentino?s interpretation. Superman is really just Clark Kent, a man instilled with certain beliefs and moral values, that happens to be both an alien and have super powers. On the other hand, Bruce Wayne is definitely Batman?s critique on the wealthy elite of the world. Bruce Wayne is a lay about playboy that seems to stumble upon prosperous business ventures do to luck, happenstance, and the hard work of Lucius Fox. Only the reader realizes that Bruce Wayne puts the same type of cold, calculating effort into his business that he does in his work as Batman. But he has to, Batman (actually the entire JLA) depends on the success of Wayne Industries. Now, on to the initial question: ?is Batman a sociopath?? I would say yes he displays sociopathic tendencies (and probably a host of other psychological disorders, not least of which is displaying obsessive compulsive attributes) but he isn?t nearly the sociopath he would like to be. Batman wants to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders, because he never wants another child to have to feel the pain that he went through. However, despite Batman?s desire to be portrayed as a loner, he has built up quite a little social club. He has surrounded himself with like minded individuals and created a family. Take Alfred and Jim Gordon. Alfred, the doting butler, is definitely Bat?s mother figure, while Jim Gordon, a tough police officer with uncompromising morals, was a definite father figure. He has a little brother in Dick Grayson, the favorite son in Tim Drake, and a host of other children and relatives in the bat family. Along with his immediate ?Bat? universe, Batman has a solid group of friends in the JLA, and, although he would like to consider them colleagues, it is undeniable that he has especially close ties to Wonder Woman and Superman. This obvious interaction with various social settings tends to negate the idea that Batman is a sociopath. It seems like he is more of a poser sociopath?kind of like Avril Levine is soooo hardcore. [/color]

[COLOR=INDIGO]Illegal immigration is a touchy subject because both viewpoints are valid. On one hand, what justification do we have barring anyone citizenship from our country? Let?s face it, most of us only have lineage in this nation dating back six or seven generations. On the other hand, we it isn?t fair to hard working tax payers to have immigrants gain citizenship and milk the government without contributing to society. I guess my biggest problem is the legislation surrounding immigration. I think that we could solve a ton of our problems by allowing more immigrants citizenship into the United States (especially from countries south of our border). This would actually eliminate quite a bit of our Coast Guard and INS expense funds and end up eliminating quite a few of the problems that a high influx of illegal immigrants causes. At the same time we need to implement a mandatory minimum wage for the out sourcing of jobs in Latin America. This will help bolster their economy and make it more appealing for citizens to remain. This won?t ever happen though, because illegal immigration is a gold mine for our government. Lots of large corporations hire illegal immigrants for manual labor and pay them bare minimum wage. The corporations, in turn, fund a lot of government projects and politicians so they will ignore their illegal employees. Obviously the corporations are still deducting taxes from these illegal employees (often on false social security numbers) so the IRS is receiving money that remains unaccounted for (I read an article in Time that suggested the amount of unclaimed tax money due to illegal immigration is in the billions) and they don?t care because it buffers the money that they need to collect. Anyway, smarter people than I need to evaluate this situation and figure out a feasible solution. Unfortunately it doesn?t seem like our politicians are that much smarter than me (and the ones that are probably receive all the kick backs, lol).[/COLOR]

I was wondering when someone would bump this. Today was a crappy comic book day. I picked up the new Intimates, which is good because the first potential villain has been introduced. I was also supposed to receive New Avengers 3 but the guy at the comic store forgot to pick it for me and it was already sold out. I wasn?t all that upset because it is only an okay series. Obviously I also bought the Life During Wartime TPB, not because I needed it, but because it will allow me to reread the series without screwing with my actual books. Like Semjaza said, it is only ten bucks.

[color=indigo]Whether or not Medicare covers it is one thing, whether health insurance companies carry it are another. I think it is ridiculous that Medicare doesn?t cover the pill simply because supporting birth control (especially for people who are on welfare that obviously fall under the Medicare policy) is just fiscally responsible in the long run. Obviously independent HMO?s (by the way, HMO?s are living proof that Satan does exist) should have the option of picking and choosing what they will and will not cover. Independent HMO?s are out to make money, so they are going to pick and choose medicines that maximize their return. It is a calculated risk. [/color]

[QUOTE=Manic Webb] [b]Album[/b] - Get Lifted [b]Artist[/b] - John Legend [b]Reason[/b] - I've never heard old school and today's R&B blended together this well before. John Legend delivers music with strong piano elements, classic melodies, and modern drums. Sometimes, however, it'll just be him on his piano. Even in songs that feature rappers like Snoop Dogg and Kanye West, you can listen to the music and hear that he was clearly influenced by an earlier decade. Possibly the only thing keeping this album from being displaced in time is his lyrical content. John Legend is an honest man who not only confesses to cheating on his girlfriend in a song, but has the audacity to beg her to stay because of the lengths he went through to keep her from finding out. In fact, the CD seems to tell a story as it goes on. It starts with him urging a woman to cheat, cheating, getting caught, and promising to change. The album finishes up with a tribute to his family, and a general feeling of ease. There are also a few kick-back tracks, like "Live It Up" and "Let's Get Lifted." [b]Tracks to Try[/b] - Let's Get Lifted, Number One, So High, It Don't Have to Change, Live It Up. [/QUOTE] [color=indigo] I was intrigued by this entry yesterday, and I was about to pull up some of his songs off the net when I flipped on VH1 purely by coincidence. Lo and behold, the video for "Ordinary People" was on. Your entry and the video definitely piqued my intrest and I think I'll probably pick up the album later today. Anyway, thanks for the recomendation.[/color]

[quote name='Harry']That would be a nice point if you ignore the fact that oil in Iraq wasn't halted by sanctions.[/quote] [color=indigo]Yeah, kinda odd how media in countries like France and Canada (as well as our own, granted) were accusing America of going to war with Iraq strictly to procure oil while France and Canada were violating UN sanctions and buying oil from Iraq via the ?Oil for Food? program.[/color]

There are a ton of albums I could talk about but, some I liked more than these, others I didn?t. However, these are a few that just popped into my mind [center][img] http://www.skysetafire.com/randomimages/franz.jpg[/img][/center] [B]Album[/b]- Franz Ferdinand [b]Artisit[/b]- Franz Ferdinand [b]Reason[/b]- I actually first heard about this album on MTV2 right before its release date. The announcer was flapping his gums about how awesome the album was and how much potential these guys from Glasgow have. So obviously I thought that they must suck, after all, most bands that receive a nod from MTV suck. A few weeks later I was proven wrong when I listened to some tracks from the album at a local record store. You could compare Franz Ferdinand to bands like Interpol, the Strokes, and Pulp, but their overall sound doesn?t really seem to fall into that same grouping. Their music doesn?t have that retro feel that the other bands I mentioned have. Instead there music is a bit more poppy and fresh. Franz Ferdinand is an excellent album to listen to before going out on the weekends or when you are in a upbeat mood. [b]Track(s) to Try[/b]- Auf Acshe, This Fire, Darts of Pleasure [center][img] http://www.skysetafire.com/randomimages/prince.jpg[/img][/center] [B]Album[/b]- Musicology [b]Artisit[/b]- Prince [b]Reason[/b]- Musicology isn?t close to the being the greatest Prince album ever. However, it is still a really solid album. The funky R&B rhythm continues to blend incredibly well with Prince?s soulful (and sometimes screechy) slightly effeminate voice. I think the real reason that Musicology stands out from so many R&B albums is Prince?s continual use of various instruments (especially horns). I really think that the current trend of R&B artists using electronic beats and synth music is really overdone, so I think the band adds a nice touch to the music. [b]Track(s) to Try[/b]- Cinnamon Girl, Musicology, A Million Days [center][img] http://www.skysetafire.com/randomimages/clapton.jpg[/img][/center] [B]Album[/b]- Me and Mr. Johnson [b]Artisit[/b]- Eric Clapton [b]Reason[/b]- I usually don?t like tribute albums, especially when it is a tribute album of Robert Johnson?s work. His stuff has been covered thousands of times by hundreds of musicians, and none of the covers really do the originals justice (except for the Stones cover of ?Love in Vain?, that was pretty kick ***). So I was a bit skeptical as to whether Me and Mr. Johnson would be a worthwhile purchase. It turned out that it was. On Me and Mr. Johnson, Eric Clapton doesn?t try to imitate the gritty Chicago Blues that Johnson had perfected. Instead he plays Johnson?s songs in his own fashion, revealing the influence that Johnson?s music had on him. The whole album is just gorgeous, and I would strongly recommend it to any Clapton fan or any fan of blues music in general. [b]Track(s) to Try[/b]- Me and the Devil Blues, Kind Hearted Woman Blues, 32-20 Blues [center][img] http://www.skysetafire.com/randomimages/aerosmith.jpg[/img][/center] [B]Album[/b]- Honkin? On Bobo [b]Artisit[/b]- Aerosmith [b]Reason[/b]- I heard ?Baby Please Don?t Go? on the radio and wasn?t horribly impressed. However, I got the album as a gift and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Not because the songs are all that special (just catchy blues and honkey tonk numbers) but because the band seems to enjoy playing them so much. The band?s joy seems to mingle with the music and it becomes so infectious that I cannot help but smile while I listen to the album. Though not for everyone, if you enjoy old fashion blues fueled rock music you?ll probably get a kick out of this album. [b]Track(s) to Try[/b]- Never Loved a Girl, You Gotta Move [center][img] http://www.skysetafire.com/randomimages/ashlee.jpg[/img][/center] [B]Album[/b]- Autobiography [b]Artisit[/b]- Ashlee Simpson (chuckles at calling her an ?artist?) [b]Reason[/b]-Because I so badly want to be a sarcastic jerk. [b]Track(s) to Try[/b]- The whole album is equally horrible.

[QUOTE=elfpirate][QUOTE=Heaven's Cloud][color=indigo] Again, it is a bit too early to evaluate the worthiness of the war. [/color][color=red]No, it is too early to evaluate the [i]effectiveness[/i] of the war. It is not too early to evaluate the [i]worth [/i]of the war... and I evaluate it to be a war worth fighting, as the effort to stop oppression, tyranny, and ethnic cleansing is worth everything we as humans can give to one another. What is life worth without freedom and justice? If this war is not "worthy" of our effort and our sacrifice (regardless of our success, I might add), then what [i]is[/i] worthy?[/color] [/QUOTE] [color=indigo]I disagree completely; the war will not have been worthwhile if democracy fails in Iraq. The only reason democracy would fail in Iraq is because America somehow screwed up. Therefore, if ten years down the road there is not at least the glimmer of what will be a flourishing Iraqi democracy, America has failed and those lives were wasted. America has the money and the resources to make Iraq work, and I think (for the most part) Americans love capitalistic democracy so much it is infectious (look at Germany and Japan). Lets be realistic, it is only [b]worthwhile[/b] to do something if you are going to do it to the best of your ability. So far I think America has done an alright job, but our bureaucrats have screwed up more than a few times where they shouldn?t have.[/color]

[color=indigo]I think this is a very premature question. How can you evaluate the worth of something that hasn?t occurred yet? The truth of the matter is you can?t evaluate whether or not the sacrifice was worthwhile or not. Right now it is hopeful, a huge percentage of the Iraqi people voted this past weekend, and there was quite a bit of rejoicing. With Saddam ousted there is a chance that Iraq could have a strong democratic government and help influence the end of tyranny throughout the Middle East. Or the whole country could fall to pieces. Again, it is a bit too early to evaluate the worthiness of the war.[/color]