Harlot

I am sure that everyone has heard about what has been going on in Ivory Coast in the past few weeks, even if they don't know the stained history of the country. Nevertheless, to summarize what is going on in the country without doing a complete rehash, the country has a history of civil wars between the North and South of the country. The northern part of the country is dominated by Muslims, while the southern part is dominated by Christians. The problem is partly France and other European countries fault, because they pretty much carved the country out of nothing. When you carve countries out of nothing, and mix groups of people who are nationalistic, you violence. We have seen that violence in places such as Serbia, where two countries were mixed and the people couldn't identify with one another. I think a good country to compare Ivory Coast to would be Nigeria. The same thing happened there, the country was drawn from nothing by European powers, and there was no consideration in regards to the tribes and people they were mixing together in one country. So now in Nigeria, you have both ethnic and religious issues, with Christians dominating one side of the country and Muslims dominating the other, and each want their candidate to win. Nigeria's solution was to have a rotating presidency, which probably would be a good idea for the Ivory Coast if they ever want to solve their problems. This is because no matter who win, the other side will retaliate and accused the other side of stealing the election. Nevertheless, the Ivory Coast was drawn up by European powers, just as many other African countries, and the country is now having a lot of ethical and racial issues. In the previous election, I believe in early 2000s, the candidate from the North lost and there was a huge civil war, and the country was literally split into north and south. France, which has a base there, took it upon themselves to step in and place their troop on the border of the northern and southern border of the country in order to try to end the conflict - although I think they should have stayed out of it. The reason I say they should have stayed out of it is because Ivory Coast is an independent country. Could you image someone a thousand miles away, like China, putting troops on the border of the North and South in regards to the Civil War and the war against the Confederacy? It is an internal issue that no other country should get involve in unless called upon by the legitimate government (legitimate meaning the government accepted by democratic institutions such as the legislature and court system). Anyway, after France took action, there was a peace deal where the winner of the election, who was from the south struck a power sharing deal with the leadership of northern militants. Now, in 2010, the same guy who won the election (Laurent Gbagbo) that led to a civil war back then, was determined the loser of the 2010 election by the country's election commission. Alassane Ouattara, the guy from the north, was declared the winner by the commission. Nevertheless, the results given by the commission have to be confirmed by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent and guy from the south was the winner. They cited wide spread poll rigging in the northern part of the country. So, the United Nations along with the US and European countries called the election a sham and announced that they recognize Alassane Ouattara as President, and both of the guys took the Presidential oath, creating confusion on who the actual president was. So the first thing that happened is the United Nations put Alassane Ouattara in a hotel, and ordered 800+ UN troops to guard the hotel 24/7. Then they froze the assets of Laurent Gbagbo, and even turned over the countries bank accounts to Alassane Ouattara. Laurent Gbagbo ordered the UN to leave the country and placed a blockade on the UN guarded hotel. Now, talks of an invasion of Ivory Coast is being mentioned - seriously mentioned - as a way to know Laurent Gbagbo out of power. Now, I don't think Laurent Gbagbo is an innocent guy, and I believe that Alassane Ouattara probably did win, but how is this anyone's business outside of the country? How is it the business of the UN, US, or Europe? I can use an analogy to explain how ridiculous it really is. Imagine if in the U.S. 2004 Presidential Election, the U.N. came in and announced that they were not going to recognize Bush as the President, but that instead, they would recognize Al Gore. Then, they turn over U.S. foreign bank accounts over to Al Gore and use U.N. troops to guard Al Gore in a hotel and threaten to invade the country if Bush doesn't step down despite the fact that the Supreme Court and Legislature ruled in favor of Bush. Now, if that does not sound like a nation without sovereignty, then I don't know what does. Even Gbagbo stole the election, obviously the Supreme Court and Legislative Branch of the nation doesn't believe that is so - or don't care. In addition to that, there is hypocrisy. Why don't we have a problem with Saudi Arabia being ran by a monarchy - a dictatorship? Why don't we invade Saudi Arabia, or cut off their foreign bank accounts until the people elect a new leader. Why have we not threatened Burma, who is ran by a military tribune, like we have threatened this little African nation? Why are we not threatening to invade them, or sending in UN troops to guard their democratic candidates? And what about Russia, whose elections have been rigged for the last 20 years. Just to clarify, the U.S. or Europe did not threaten to invade Ivory Coast, but a group of Africa nations who are under the influence of Europe and U.S. did, and they are backed by U.N. support - and you better believe that free American military weaponry will be sent over. Although I think Ron Paul was radical and a little crazy, he was right about the United States being to involved in the politics of other countries, and not embracing non-interventionism enough. We are in everyone's business, including Zimbabwe, Sudan, Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, and etc. The involvement of the U.N. and the West should only exist when it is something that effects the international community such as nuclear weapons or terrorism. In most other cases, such as internal elections and politics, we should stay out of it because we would want people to stay out of our internal politics.Nevertheless, instead, we use words such as "genocide" when there is obviously no genocide going on, or we say the "potential for genocide". Now they are accusing the guy of committing genocide simply because his supporters have taken the streets and pledged to kick the U.N. out of the country, and others have attacked the U.N. troops - I believe one U.N. troop was stabbed or something. It is not his fault that his supporters attack the U.N., there are historical implications dealing with colonization that helps drive their anger. And even if the country uses propaganda against the U.N., has the U.S. and the U.N. not used propaganda against the Ivory Coast. Every country has propaganda, just look at Fox News and MSNBC. Those news networks don't report the news, they create the news. They spin it, leave details out, add details, use code words, exaggerate, and then they give news in the form of opinion rather than in an abstract form.http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/12/30/ivory.coast.warning/index.html

Ouch, I guess I am super late finding out about this one. I wonder how they know that the golf ball started the fire, and I wonder how the heck that happens. Was the golf ball hit so hard that it made a spark or something? I sure am happy that I don't live out there, because between the earth quakes, forest fires, and land slides, I am pretty sure that property and life insurance is extremely high out there. I guess some brilliant individual will have to create a fire proof golf ball now (lol).

I didn't know that 45% of Americans believed in creationism, but its not at all surprising. In fact, I would expect the percentage to be higher than that based on my experiences and community. I would think the percentage would be at least 60%. I suppose that is because I live in a community where at least 99% of the people claim to be Christian. The city, which is medium sized (over 200,000 pop), is pretty much highly religious also. The governing body of our city has prayers before every meeting - which I think might be illegal. In my community, which is majority black, not believing in God is taboo. You are almost immediately an outcast at you are outspoken about your disbelief in religion. An atheist is something that exist only on television to many of them, like aliens. I think the younger individuals, around my age, are more tolerant of people who are non-religious. I told quite a few people around my age what I believed, and apart from an intense debate, they accepted it and didn't treat any different from what I can tell - but that's maybe because they already viewed me as a radical intellectual anyway. I only had a problem with one girl, and she was obviously a die-hard Christian, and if you ask me, she was the devil (ironically) incarnated. After she got pregnant, she pretty much stopped rolling her eyes at me and making funny looking. I guess she was too focused on getting forgiveness for engaging in sex, or at least it seemed. At the moment, my beliefs are in the closet, and I intend for them to remain there. I am happy that I had the opportunity to debate it in high school with other students, and that will made realize that it shouldn't be debate. The debates usually ended with the other person saying that "faith is the proof" or something else equally irrational, philosophical, and emotionally driven. I do understand, in a sense, why most people in my community are religious. Although I am sure this does not apply to ever community, in my community, the less prospects they have, they more religious they are. People who can not uplift themselves from poverty, and have no skills, drive, knowledge to do so, tend to be extremely religious and put their money on the idea that God will uplift them. Its really like being on your last string, and due to that fact, I concluded that in a world that is unequal in wealth, education, and opportunity, religion is an important element that holds society together - despite the fact that its a lie. You have others, who have prospects, who are not truly religious, but they are obedient enough to believe it and don't know the capacity to understand how the majority could be wrong. I remember talking to a girl about it, and she said, "If it is wrong, why are you the only one who don't believe." It is almost like a crazy guy shutting that the world is going to end tomorrow on the side of the highway. I use to believe in religion, the fear of God was in me, so I really do understand how delicate the mind is. When you sit in a church and listen to someone you highly respect tell you over and over again that in order to go to heaven and leave your life of poverty behind, you must not allow anyone to lead you astray, you are going to see the devil in anyone who contradicts what your religion says. Besides, who wants to take a chance on leaving an hellish earth and go to hell instead of the golden streets of heaven. That prospective is unconsciously displayed when someone say, "Well if God doesn't exist, I won't be losing anything. But if he does exist, you will go to hell." They don't even take into consideration that if one of the thousands of "Gods" similar to their own exist, and they are serving the wrong one, they will be going to hell right along with me. The only difference is that I got there by admitting that I don't see any proof that God exist - although his existence is possible..., and they got there by acting like they do. But I learned to accept people and their beliefs. Religion does benefit a lot of people, and I see it first hand. This is not to take anything away from it being irrational. As long as no one is forcing religion down my throat, I don't force agnosticism down their throat. I think a lot of atheist have begun to do the same thing that Christians historically did - force the belief down the throats of others. I say let people believe what they wish, as long as it does not interfere with the life of a third party.

This appears to be a very old topic and it probably should not have been brought back to life, but I have to say that this is extremely interesting and I am moved to express my opinion on the issue. Lump all guys into one bunch is like lumping all human beings into one bunch. People have different characteristics, and different personalities. People have different likes, interest, mannerisms, values, morals, and etc. The same applies to males, and the same also applies to female. For example, I am a male and I think it is disgusting to randomly expose yourself on a website - or at all for that matter. Even if the person on the other end consents, you never know who is on the other end, it could be another man! However, the same goes for females. I have been on web chats that allow for video docking, and I have seen females randomly expose themselves. Although it was to my enjoyment, they don't know who is looking on the other end, and what the personality of those people are. In fact, I would say that females are more likely to expose themselves on video then males...in some cases it is their profession. I can't count the number of times that I have been browsing the net and a webcam (probably pre-recorded) of a naked woman popped up, trying to sell me time with her (online prostitution if you ask me).As for guys, yes, sex is a natural desire that most males - if not all - have. Nevertheless, that does not mean that such desires are not regulated by morals, values, and our knowledge of what is right, wrong, and our feelings and views of what is disgusting and a disgrace. You don't have a bunch of males going around trying to have sex with family members - for the most part - because the attraction doesn't exist (due to moral or w/e other factors regulate sexual behavior). The same goes for other sexual behavior, such as exposing yourself online, rape, or sleeping with someone too young for you. There attraction is not there for the typical, well to do and decent male. Yes, a guy wants to have sex with his girlfriend, so what? Its natural and normal. As long as he is not raping her or physically forcing her to do it, it is by consent and females have the ability to say no and go in another direction. There are some guys who are only in relationships for sex, which I think is wrong, but I would argue that such behavior is also natural, at least amongst young males who are not mature enough to understand the importance of dedication and commitment. Just as the young female does not have the maturity to know better than to engage in sexual activities until the relationship is stable and mature. As for the guy who exposed himself on your webcam, he should be thrown in jail for indecent exposure. He couldn't have know who was on the other end, it could have been a young girl or something. Although I don't believe in online dating, I think Saint Michael is right. I don't online date because I don't know what kind of sick women - or men posing as women - are online. Nevertheless, there have been people who have found love through online dating and online relationships, but it is not my cup of tea. I do think it would be easier to find a mate online because you find other people who are actively looking for a partner at the same time that you are, but as I stated, it is impossible to know if that is the actually person. There is always a possibility, even with a webcam, that its not the person thats on the video - or the person may be a psycho.

I think the five dollars for the first year is absolutely wonderful, because thus far, I have not maintained a website for more than a single year. It gives people time to know whether they want to renew the domain and continue their website or not. I think that most people know if they are interested in keeping their website or closing it after the first year has passed. I just might go over to 1and1 and register a domain instead of using the mycento system over here at Xisto. Posting here is starting to feel like a task rather than feeling natural. As I posted in another thread, every post is dreadful, and the place is pretty much dead. I have been posting articles - well one article - on a website called Associated Content. They don't pay well - like $2.50 an article - but that is enough to get a domain from 1and1 the first year, and if the website is successful, ill have the $8.99 the next year. I think doing that is much better than wasting money on a potential failure, or wasting time trying to rack up $12 for a domain here. I have closed my hosting account here already because I simply don't feel like posting $6 worth of post every month in order to keep my hosting, especially due to the fact that my website was a failure. I wish I would have shut it down a long time ago, and posting here really contributed to its failure because putting time into site site and school, took away time that could have been spent establishing backlinks for my own website and promoting it. But, the website probably would have never been a money maker anyway because there were not really any feasible products that could have been sold based on the topic that the website was based on. So, do you know any reliable domain retailers that are cheaper than 1on1? And I mean reliable domain retailers with no strings attached (strings like unusually expensive renewal or transfer cost). I hate that I missed the GoDaddy .99 cent domain offer, but even with them, they don't include any features with the domain - such as privacy protection.

I will be following this how to seo thread. I am starting a new website myself - a blog, and I intend on trying to make a little money from it. I have read elsewhere, just as you started about, that the best way to make money is through affiliates such as Amazon, and selling products that are relevant to your blog or website. I am going to also read some other websites that give information pertaining to seo, and see what plugins are the most appropriate for optimizing wordpress. I am still trying to decide what products I will sell that are related to the topic that I will be blogging on, but I'm sure that I will find something. I am trying to blog on a topic that is broad and has a large membership base, while at the same time the topic is concentrated enough to sell a product or a few products - even if just ebooks. I am not sure about AdSense, when I use it previously, I only earned 1 or 2 dollars, and I don't want to blog for chump changes. Nevertheless, I may use adsense, and use one of the many affiliate programs alongside it.

I believe that what is more important than the interpretation of the Bible is the question of who originally wrote it. In order words, the biggest question in regards to the Bible is its validity. In examining the validity of the Bible, the issue at hand is not whether or not some elements of the Bible are true of false, but whether the vast majority of it is true or false. For example, even if it can be proven that Jesus existed, which I believe it can be proven, the question still remains whether or not he performed the miracles claims in the Bible. And, how the the individuals who wrote the Bible, revised the Bible, or chose the books of the Bible effected by the political and social environment of the times. Why are their different books of the Bible, and what are the political implications of the differing versions and compositions of the Bible. It seems ever proof or evidence is requested in order to prove or confirm religious beliefs, the answer is "The Bible". Nevertheless, something that is not proven to be valid can not be used in order to prove something else as valid. The best argument used by believers, in my opinion, is that a belief is not subject to evidence. If that is the case, which I think it is, religion has little or no logical basis and can not be debated or argued. So even debating the context of the Bible, the origin of it, and the validity of it, is in a sense, irrelevant. I use to attempt to debate religion, but I came to the view that debating religion is completely pointless, and counter productive. People don't base their beliefs on logic, rationale, or anything tangible in the front place. In addition, who am I to tell someone what to believe in, and who am I to tell someone that they are wrong or hold an irrational belief, even if I believe that to be the truth. Obviously, no matter how much debate is conducted, unless there is undeniable evidence for or against the existence of God or the validity of religion, debating it is a game of back and forth, where neither party is provided with the foundation required to have a change of opinion or belief. Therefore, I think that both sides are wasting time, and only stirring up tension and division. If you love to tell someone their religion is wrong, and their beliefs irrational, then you are wasting your time. If you are condemning a non-believer and telling them that they are going to go to hell, you are also wasting time, especially when it is a fact that someone being a non-believer is reasonable when taking into account that there is no evidence to prove that any of the religious beliefs in existence are true. There are some who argue that they wish to "enlighten" the world when they argue against religion, and others who argue that they wish to "save" the world when arguing for religion. The world, as far as I can tell, wont be enlightened anytime soon. A poll of conducted in the U.S. that discovered that over 50% of Americans couldn't even name a branch of government or their congressional representative. If 50% of Americans can't name a branch of government, that says a lot about the world's potential to be enlightened (if the world's literacy is similar to that of America). On the other hand, it doesn't appear that the world will be saved anytime soon either, just look at the crime rates and the atrocious acts that are committed across the world each year. We can even look at the practice of corporations and the love of money that plagues the world - and has always plagued the world. Even the Bible implies that everyone will not be saved, and there will always be sin in the world.

Thanks for posting this information, but I would like to note that the "holiday99" promotion code for GoDaddy has expired. Xisto - Domains are way too high, $12 is way too expensive - I wonder how 1and1 can afford to sell .com's for $5. I bet the renewal cost is through the roof.

I quit this place like two months ago - at least in regards to posting quality content. When I first joined, I had every intention on being a member of this community and contributing serious, and well throughout discussion. It was actually enjoyable for a minute, and I must say that I posted more and I posted easier when I was actually posting for conversation rather than MyCentos. I would join a discussion and before I know it, I would have six or seven long paragraphs. I think it was become I joined with high expectations, because I remember the old Xisto days. I was not an active member of Xisto for very long, but it appears more organized and exciting - I remember the Army System too, and that was a fantastic incentive. Nevertheless, after a month at Xisto, I noticed that the standards are no more, and the place die a little more every day. The first month, I couldn't wait to log onto Xisto, and not I just cram post at the end of every month and stretch every post as far as it will take me. I wouldn't call it spam, but I sure as hell wouldn't call it quality either. I would probably call it speed posting; the act of posting off the top of ones head, and continuously extending the post with new ideas as they come. In other words, there is no structure, effort, and cohesiveness. In my opinion, if the place is to turn around, I would absolutely have to start with the admin. The first step would be demoting 75% of the moderators, and recruiting new ones if necessary.The second step would be setting up a clear set of rules that are lenient, but adequate in order to be manage the forum, and especially spam (where it exist). I don't wanna bash the admin or moderators, because I don't know what is going on in their lives or what the circumstances are, but I must say that they have all but abandoned the place. It reminds me of how I abandoned my forum, but the only difference is that I had zero active members. Anyway, it would also be a good idea for the admin to add new features, and I would love for the Army System and Rep System to come back.As for Xisto - Web Hosting or Xisto hosting, I would have to disagree. I think that they do the best that they can with the limited resources that they have. They have always answered my support tickets and have done all that they could in order to provide me with the hosting support that I need. They are slow sometimes, but they are no slower than the other host that are around their size. I don't expect them to have support that equals that of GoDaddy or HostGator, they are not as big and they sure are not making as much money...if any at all.

In my personal opinion, forums are going out and blogs are coming in. The fact is that blogs are much more profitable and have the potential to be more profitable. In a blog, unlike a forum, you have full control over the content your post, and you can define a niche and market a business around that niche. In a forum, it is completely different. Even in niche forums, there is usually not consistency, and other topics outside of the niche will eventually be discussed. So not only is it easier to market a business around a blog, but it is also more appealing to advertisers. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of people making good money from their forum. Nevertheless, I see popular forums begging for domains in order to pay for operation cost on a daily basis. The blogs that have equivalent traffic do not have a reason to beg. Now, the thing I dislike about blogs is that although they can be money makers, you really lose the sense of community. It feels good to be the admin of a growing forum community, and there is a lot of excitement and joy involved. With a blog, you really don't know your readers and who they are. Its not easy to keep traffic of active readers and visitors on a blog. You could have a person who has been visiting your website and reading your articles for years, and you may not even know who they are. This becomes even more true as blogs grow. I currently abandoned my forum, and I intend on starting a blog soon. I usually blog on politics, but I am tired of the stale ole political blogs. I want to blog about something that I enjoy, and I want to blog about something that makes me feel as if I am helping people solve their problems. So I have a new blog idea, and I am going to implement it as soon as I earn enough money to purchase a new domain and hosting. Hopefully my new blog can earn enough revenue to fund itself. If I can create a blog that brings in $30/month, I would be satisfied.

Even if they form their own ISP, that ISP will be under the government's regulation. If they provide internet within the United States, which I don't think they have the resources to do, if the government tells them to censor certain websites or be shut down, that will be their two options. They can either block the websites, or they can be shut down. All it takes is Congress to pass a law, and they will when they have money coming in from powerful lobbyist in the movie and music industry. The warez business will remain uncertain, with some websites able to stay online by moving around their websites, and changing domains when necessary, and others will be fly by night warez sites like so many that I have seen in the past few years. They are up one day, and down the next and no one knows what happened to them.

This is obviously nothing more than gossip. I don't see any credible news source reporting on it, which means that no big release regard aliens or the possibility of their existence will be released. That kind of information will remain under wraps, and that information would be top secret even if its true. I am really tired of all these UFO sites posting fake news just to get a few hits and make a few dollars on advertisements. It makes anyone who says that the existence of aliens are possible look like a complete loony when you have UFO sites coming up with all these ridiculous conspiracy theories and saying that NASA is going to soon admit that aliens exist or that life on is Saturn. If I don't see it on a major news network, its not going to be released to the public. If NASA was going to make such an announcement revealing such information, CNN would have at least mentioned it. In order words, the media is the fourth branch of government as many would say. There are too many UFO loonies out there who wear their little UFO shirts and is always looking into the skies trying to find something weird or unexplainable in the guy. There are people who let UFOs dictate their entire life, and get into the camper and drive into the mountains looking for UFO. I will admit, it sounds like a fun hobby, but obviously that stop others from embracing the idea that aliens may exist because that image is what comes along with it. People are already socialized at a young age to believe that aliens are fake. They put aliens on television along side Mickey Mouse and Daffey Duck, and give their own interpretation of what an alien is; a big headed monster with two huge eyes, a small mouth with a small body and big finger tips. I remember first stated that aliens could be real, and my friends were in disbelief. I was pretty young at that time, maybe around 10 or 11. When I was around 17, I expressed the possibility to another friend, and he was also in disbelief, and even refereed to the alien movies and cartoons he saw as a child in his description of why aliens don't exist.

I don't think that any reasonable scientist is trying to prove that aliens don't exist. In fact, as far as we can see, that would be impossible unless we can travel through an never ending universe. The earth is described as a "spec of dust" in the ever expanding vastness of space. Even if you travel at the speed of light, you wouldn't be able to explore all of space unless you have billions, or in fact, trillions of years to spend doing it. If scientist are trying to proven aliens don't exist, they have a large task and a lot of area to cover. I don't think any reasonable scientist is trying to prove that. I actually believe that any reasonable scientist would at least admit that there is a huge possibility that aliens exist; A huge possibility means over 90%. I would argue that the possibility is 99.999999, and an extremely small chance that aliens do not. Also let me point out what my definition of an alien is....any life that does not originate from earth. You would have to be very arrogant to believe that out of zillions of planets, and billions of solar systems, that we are the only planet with life. Furthermore, we would have to be equally arrogant to believe that we are the only planet with intelligent life, and we obviously exaggerate our intelligence due to the fact that there are billions of solar systems (some would argue more), and we don't even have the technology to physically explore even half of our own. You stated that scientist are attempting to disprove aliens, and I would beg to say the exact opposite. You don't spend billions of dollars in space exploration and research to disprove something. You spend billions of dollars on space exploration and research in order to find something. That something is planets with life. On example is Mars, where our government clearly stated that they were looking for any sign of life on Mar, and if there was even the slightest sign of life, the planet may be able to sustain human life. We have been out in space for the last 50 or so years looking for planets where humans can expand to, and we have been looking for any sign of alien life. Our governments want to know what else is out there, if anything. If you ask me, it is not only highly likely that there is life out there, but it is also highly likely that there are life forms out there that are far more intelligent than human beings. I can't fathom that out of zillions of planets, if any others have life, we would be the most intelligent. With zillions of planets, we would have to assume that at the very minimum, a few million planets have life. That number is extremely pessimistic of me. A realistic minimum would be at least be in the high trillions. Nevertheless, even with a few million planets with life, it would be very shocking if the most intelligent or advance life form can not even explore their own solar system when there are billions or trillions if them. Another reason I would say that we are probably not the most intelligent is that we have not been in existence long. Humans have only been here for 200,000 years, and Christians who interpret the bible literally would argue that humans have been here for a far shorter period of time..like a few thousand years ago, right after God (according to the Bible) created Earth in 7 days. Nevertheless, according to science, Earth has been here for 4.5 billion years. Out of those 200,000 years, only in the last 100 or so years did we create the car, plane, telephone, nuclear bomb, space shuttle, computer, internet, radio, and the list goes on and on. Most of our technology was a result of either war or greed. The need to effectively kill or the need to effectively produce for profit. Look what came out of WWII, more technology than all of the 200,000 years of mankind combined. We went from riding horseback to flying around in airplanes, and later flying into space. In the 1800s, no one would have ever imaged that a little over 100 years later, they would be flying around in the sky. However, my point is that, what about life forms whose planets existed well before ours? I would assume that they would, in a logical sense, have an advantage in regards to intelligence. As for people freaking out, they would, even if the foreign life form is not a threat. People respond to difference with suspension and ostracism. Some would argue that it is our tribal instinct to categorize and develop an identity and be hostile toward those who don't fit into that identity. I mean serious, look at whats happening in Ivory Coast between different ethnic groups, and also Sudan. All across the world, different ethnic groups are literally at war. This is especially true in Africa, where Europeans lumped them all together after colonization and ignored ethnic borders that existed pre-colonization. Look at the Balkins, where there are still problems in regards to ethnic groups and their desire to have their own country. It really does sound like tribalism, the idea that two ethnic groups can't live in the same country as human beings. Lets not forget how America created Native Americans, Chinese, Japanese, and blacks, and how it is treating Muslims and Latino today. Also look at Iraq, that has a lot to do with ethnic groups and religion (I hope that alien is a Christian if coming to America lol). We can not even treat each other right as human beings due to differences. So how can we have the arrogance and be so ignorant to believe that we would be enlightened enough to accept a life form that is not even human, and probably has differences greatly exceeds the differences between ethnic groups and races of human beings. That alien would be dead before even being able to say "I come in peace". The first thing people would want to know is what the alien's religious beliefs are. If he doesn't believe in the almighty God, he will be slaughter on sight. He better get off the ship shouting the name of Jesus or Allah...depending on what country he lands in. He would probably still be killed out of fear. Human beings are to tribal based to accept any other life form, and that tribalism is evident by all of the examples I stated above. I was watching the history channel once, and it told of a time when a radio show faked an alien invasion. People freaked out, and I mean they freaked out hard. However, I wouldn't expect it to be any different if a human lands on another planet with a different life form. Based on my humanly experience, and my limited knowledge of other life forms, my expectation upon lands would be to be killed. If I am invited in for lunch, and place in a luxurious hotel and given the best, I would be culture shocked. I would either expect to be killed or placed in some laboratory to be extensively researched. If aliens came to Earth in large numbers, it would really be a bloody day.

The government will still have control, but they just won't be able to take the site down completely. The government can still force ISPs to block the website, and stop its consumers from viewing it, but they can't shut down the domain name like the did to wiki leaks a few hours ago. I think its a good idea, but its likely the the government will block all .p2p domain names if it is to be implemented. I can't see them allowing access to such, especially since they are shutting down the .com and .net domains that publish ware and illegal software. I really can't see how some warez websites are still running. I wonder what their secret is. I know a warez website that was forced to stop publishing warez or have their domain taken away. They were told that they could try getting the domain back in court, but I don't think that would have went well for them because they are in fact breaking the law (and, the government make the law). I think the only advantage is that the domain can't be shut down, and people in different countries whose government has not filtered their ISPs will be able to access it. In my personal opinion, I don't think its worth it. If you are violating the law and the government wants to shut you down, they will eventually shut you down. You can fight the power all you want, you will lose. The is no such thing as a internet without government. The people who try to argue that there is, then they should take a look at Wiki leaks and see what happened to them. Their entire domain taken away, and I am sure that in the future they will continue to hop around from domain to domain. I wouldn't be surprised if their facebook and twitter accounts are shut down soon.

I don't think anything can decide if you should fall for "this girl" or not. I don't think that you can even decide that. It usually just happens, you fall for a girl or you don't. From your post, it seems that you like her and that you guys have a lot of chemistry. Nevertheless, as I stated before, it is up to your whether or not your decide to pursue a relationship with her or not. It sounds like she is interested in a relationship, and if you wish for one also you should act quickly. It was probably a turn off to her for you to say that you have "not thought about it yet". She will probably begin to start thinking that you're gay. You should of told her that your feelings for her have changed, but you are still unsure if your feelings and affection for her are on the level of a friendship or a relationship. In fact, I say call her as soon as possible and tell her that if you have not already. Relationships are very hard and time consuming, but based on that fact that you enjoy spending time with her already (without sexual intentions), I would say the relationship has a good chance of working.

I have been chatting on the internet for the few years and what I learned is that you should never treat the internet as real life. That is what predators want you to do. They want you to be emotionally stressed out about what they say, feel, or think about you. If you have low self esteem in the real world, don't bring that low self esteem online. There are people who prey on those with low self esteem, and build up an emotionally driven relationship with that individual just to abuse them later. The best advice I can give is that if you wish to have a friendship with someone online, look for hypocrisy within them. If its a forum, always follow their post and look into the previous post that they have made. Don't look for their opinions, political views, or religious views, but rather look to see if they have initiated any arguments or wrongfully insulted another user. A wrongful insult is an insult made without first being insulted in my opinion. If you find someone making wrongful insults, especially insults on those who they disagree with on social or political issues, then you know if your friend is presenting a false image of his or herself to you. I have not found a single predator who is not a hypocrite, and who doesn't play as a victim of the same acts that he or she commit. So if you friend denounce people who unjust insult, and you find your friend unjustly insulting others, cut off contact with that online friend. You how people right on this forum who will denounce "mean" people right in front of you in this thread, and you will find post where they continuously and repetitiously insult other members who disagree with them on the slightest issue. They will put themselves in the shoes of a victim in front of you, and then you will later find that they are the oppressor, not the victim. So remember to watch out for the people who try to make themselves seem moral and above bigotry. In regards to dealing with people are throw throw around insults, I think that everyone has their own way of dealing with them. Some people tend to just leave the community. My approach is to attack back. That is just my cup of tea. If someone unjustly insults me, and I see that its ongoing harassment, and respond with at least twice as many insults, and I do it in a way that intellectually exposes that individual as the antagonizing party. It also depends on the forum or community. In some cases you will have to leave or insult back, but in cases where the administrators and moderators do their job, I would hold back responding and attacking back, and just report the individual. In this community however, I recommend attacking back. That is not to insult the jobs of the moderators here, but it appears that freedom of speech here extends to insults. Either that, or admin/mods are almost non-existent.

I don't think that you can use the webmail feature no matter if your DNS records are pointed toward google or not. You can set up you@yourdomain.com, but you will have to use google in order to access it. I recommend that you open a support ticket over at Xisto - Support. I sent them a support ticket about it, and they gave me a link to my google apps mailbox for my website, and showed me how to set up emails using my domain.

When I was in middle school, we actually had a flight simulator that belonged to the school, and we would always play on it when we went to our computer tech class. It was extremely fun, and we had a flight game controller and everything. I don't believe that it was realistic, and I would always crash while landing. Either the plane would flip over or the landing gear would break. However, it was a fun little game. The game that I played was probably made in like the 1990s, and it was pretty outdated even when I was in middle school. I heard of Microsoft's flight simulator, but I have yet to try it. I would imagine that it is much more updated and feels more real then the version I tried years ago. The flight simulator that I used was pretty much nothing more than taking off and landing back on the same small landing strip that you took off from. You could not fly anywhere except around the airport, and there were no other airplanes on the landing strip or any other airplanes to choose to fly. There was only 1 airplane to fly, and it was a small airplane that looks like one of those early models flown during WWI (lol). The graphics sucked, and the land around the airport was all blurred and something it looked like a jumbled up screen with a bunch of white, black, and blue strips. Obviously, just from looking at the videos below, flight simulation has come a long way since then. [media]http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/]

Perhaps you are right, and I am speaking from a very limited perceptive. Where I live very few people who work for Walmart and McDonalds receive a raise that is more than .25 cent, and that usually take far more than three months. However, I will note that the state I live in is one of the most impoverished in the U.S. and we have the highest rate of starvation in the nation. I literally don't know of anyone who make $80-$90 a day who are not either in skilled professions or working for the government. The majority of people in my neighborhood work in restaurants, department stores, factories, gas stations, clothing stores, malls, and etc. I do know some people who work more than one job, in fact, my aunt worked three jobs at one point until she fell out on the third shift. After that her husband made her quit two of the jobs and go back to working one job. Now in these hard economic times, there are few people with more than one job and there are some with no job at all. Today as I was driving to school, I saw a sign posted on a tree saying, "Need Wrok". And yes, "Work" was spelled as "Wrok", and below was the person's name and number. The uneducated are really suffering where I live, and the state that I live in also has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the nation. Its tough all over the nation, to some extend, for those without an education. I am sure there are some people who may not have an education, but have some skill or asset that place them above the rest of the bunch, but I would say that its the exception not the rule. The higher your educational level, the most money you make typically.

I say who are you to not believe in whatever you wish to believe in. Everyone has their own personal beliefs, and that is what is so beautiful about a free and open society. The fact that an individual can believe in whatever religion they wish, create their own religion, or have no religion at all. People are free to create their own Gods or worship the Gods of others. Everyone has to choose their own path, and even Christians understand that Jesus died on the cross in order to give a freedom of choice to all of mankind. You have to choice to be forgiven for your sins or be judged in contempt in the end of the world's days. It is not the obligation or duty of man to judge man according to the Christian beliefs and values. Nevertheless, everywhere we go, we see people being held in judgment. The sinners of the world are supposed to be welcomed into the church, and there is suppose to be an opened door policy. Jesus didn't save those who were already saved, he saved those who needed his attention and his love and care. At least that is what the Christian belief teaches. If you are a Christian, the teachings of Jesus should not be tweaked or modified in order to justify human ignorance and nature. I have seen churches who close their doors to all except for their membership. I have seen churches who refused to home funerals for those who were not members. I have seen churches that have swindled, bribed, and pillaged the always poor people within their communities. We need churches that love and care, churches that leaves negative judgment unspoken and in the closet. We need churches who extend a hand and save the sinners, feed the poor and help heal the sick. We don't need churches who criticize non believers, and who condemn the homosexuals. We don't need churches who shut their doors to prostitutes, strippers, drug dealers, and pimps. Those are the people who need God the most, and who need the people of God in their lives. No matter what religion we believe in, it is obviously clear that Christianity would be a great tool if used correctly and used with care and honesty. I see the power of Christianity in my community every day, and it is a positive force that changes live. It is a force that make people change their ways, and put down the crack rock or the alcohol bottle.My point is that at the root of Christianity, or at least in theory, is tolerance. I am not sure about the old testament, but that was the teaching of Jesus at least. That tolerance also extends not only to the sinners all across the world such as the prostitutes, pimps, strippers, and drug dealers, but also the non-believers and religions that Christian do not believe are legitimate. I think I like the good Jesus, the one who is tolerate and loving, the one who cares for his fellow neighbor and treat those who are even against him with love, respect, and common decency. We are all human beings searching for our own truth, and we have to be held accountable for our own choices in the afterlife, if there is an afterlife and if there is something to be held accountable for.

I don't think anyone really knows how the MyCento system work except for the admin. It seems to be all speculation. There have been times when I have made way more than $3 a week, and I usually don't post until the end of the month because I am so busy with school, but I still end up getting over $6 in a few days and usually from a handful of post that are two paragraphs or more. So I am not sure if you are accurate when you say that some of the post don't count towards the MyCento system, and if that is true then I think the admin should inform the membership of that...otherwise its is deceptive in my humble opinion. I am not sure about how much a user receive from posting threads because I rarely post them, but it appears that posting replies are just fine when it comes to trying to meet my payment requirement for the end of the month. I posted two threads today, and they were the first threads that I have ever posted. I will see how they do once the system pays for me them, and the last 8 or so post that I have made.I am unsure about the quality also, but it appeared as if I made much more when I typed well and thought out post rather than rushed post that were for the purpose of meeting my monthly requirement. With school, I seem to have only a few days to meet my requirement and that results in posting content that is of less quality and not for entertainment as it use to be. When I first started posting here, I had fun debating about social issues and politics, and that entertainment and my desire to get my point across resulted in my post being much longer and well written. So it could be the quality or the fact that I wrote longer post due to my interest in the topic of discussion. I would really like to have further details on the effectiveness of threads, and how well they pay out in comparison to post. I seems that two long term members have different beliefs on how the system works. Mahesh says that quality and threads don't matter, and anwii says that quality does matter in regards to SEO, and in another thread I read he said that threads pay out more. I have heard many people say that threads pay out more, and I have also heard a lot of people say that SEO is an effective way to getting higher payout.

In my opinion, Christians don't accept skulls because it is too closely connected with evil, death, and destruction. Its all symbolism, and symbols have strong undertones for many people. Just look at the U.S. flag, and you can see how strong symbols are. I would have to ask you why do you like skulls? What is it about skulls that you like? Is there some kind of symbolization going on there? A skull is the head of someone or something that is dead and has deteriorated. What is so amusing about that? Also, as the person state above, skulls are closely affiliated with witch craft. If you watch a witch movie, or any movie that is associated with darkness and evil, you are likely to see a skull. I will admit that I am currently stereotyping witches. I am not sure if Wiccans use skulls as symbols or within their worshiping process. However, I have a better example. Look at Satanist. They certainly use skulls within their worst, along with blood and in some cases animal sacrifices. I can only think of one case where Christians actually view skulls as acceptable, and that is for a hunting trophy. Like the head or skull of a deer or some other animal that was killed during the hunting season. Any kind of skull outside of that of a deer or other large animal that is typically hunted, is out of the question. This is primarily true for human skulls. They are really out of the question. Then again, we may also be stereotyping Christians. You stated that you are a Christian and that you like skulls. Perhaps you are simply in the wrong church and need to find a different group of people to worship with.