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FolkRockFan

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Everything posted by FolkRockFan

  1. Imus is an American citizen. As such, he has the freedom to say pretty much whatever he wants.Do I like what he says? No. He disgusts me. Did I tune in? No. I read transcripts and quotes after the fact. He has spent many years insulting, demeaning and verbally defecating on just about everybody out there - from Jews to blacks to homosexuals to the Irish to women to...et cetera.But does he have the right to say these things? Yeah. He does. At the same time: his employers have the right to fire him. They were losing lots of money because corporate sponsors pulled their support. They can do pretty much whatever they want. They want to make money, so they dump the guy who is no longer making a killing for them. Fair enough.Sharpton and his cronies, however, need to realize that everybody has the same freedom of speech that they have. Instead of boycotting, crying, whining and moaning about how MEAAAAAAAN Imus is, they should grow up and accept the fact that there will always be big, stinkin' jerks on this planet - jerks who have the right to say stupid things.I doubt, however, that Imus will stay down for long. I won't be surprised if a satellite radio network or some other corporation offers him a job. He'll probably also publish more books.
  2. Guns are not good or evil, wonderful or terrible. They're just tools. Like your computer (or mine, for that matter). Or a car. Or whatever other inanimate object you'd like to think about.The person behind the gun should be the focus of attention here. The shooter at Virginia Tech was an evil, rage-filled scumbag who could not cope with reality. According to several TV news reports, he had shown warning signs for a while. One of his profs, for example, read some of his more violent essays and attempted to refer him (the student/shooter) to counseling. That of course didn't happen.Had I walked into the gun shop and bought the exact handguns that the shooter bought, they would not have killed thirty-plus students. Had you bought the computer that I'm using right now, it would have a different MP3 collection on the hard drive. Point being, quite simply, that the person who uses the tool is the one who makes the choices of how to use it.
  3. 1. If guns were banned, then the police would not need guns. Citizens would not have guns, so why would the police need them? Oh, right - because criminals will get their hands on whatever they want no matter how many laws, signs, punishments or threats the government issues/enacts/distributes/whatever.2. You cannot stop criminals from breaking the law. The Virginia Tech shooter did not care that he was entering a no-gun zone with two handguns. He entered anyway. He did not care that murder is illegal. He killed anyway. He did what he wanted to do and nobody stopped him. Why wasn't he stopped? Because the people in the dorms and the classroom were unarmed. He had a clear advantage because he knew that the law-abiding students and professors would not draw their own handguns and shoot back. 3. Every law-abiding American citizen has the right to keep and bear arms. This is an individual right. The founding fathers wrote many papers and opinions about this. They're pretty easy to find with Google if anybody cares to see exactly what Sam Adams and his contemporaries had to say.4. Guns are not the problem. Bad guys are the problem. The UK still has shootings. They have gun bans, but people still shoot each other. How does that happen? The criminals import guns from other parts of the world. 5. Had the students, professors, janitors and other people at Virginia Tech been armed, things probably would have ended differently. When Whitman went up into the University of Texas tower in the 1960s and started shooting people, students and other people with rifles in their cars shot back. He had to take cover, meaning that he could not get off as many shots. He probably would have killed even more people than he did had somebody not done something to try and stop him. I don't believe that *every* Virginia Tech student would have lived yesterday had concealed handgun license holders been on campus and armed...but I *do* believe that the university was a soft target because the shooter knew that none of the students and faculty were armed. He had his own little shooting gallery in the dorms and the classroom. Had some of the "good guys" been armed, perhaps somebody would have been able to shoot him before he got tired of the mass slaughter and killed himself.Gun control doesn't keep us safe. It gives criminals better opportunities to commit their crimes. Armed citizens who follow the laws and learn how to safely handle firearms might not even have to draw their weapons at any point in their lives. Sometimes just knowing that the population is armed is enough to discourage scumbags from committing their crimes.
  4. The students on the Virginia campus left their personal defense to the police. More than thirty of them are dead now because the campus police - and local law enforcement - could not get there or execute a plan fast enough to save them. Every student in the dorm and classroom buildings sat there in lockdown, waiting to either be rescued or be shot. I'm not saying that law enforcement is bad. We need them and many do good jobs. But these men and women can't shadow us all twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, to keep us safe. It's on each of us to do everything that we can to defend and protect ourselves.We pay attention to our surroundings so that we can avoid walking into a convenience store that is being held up by a psychotic robber.We learn martial arts so that we can fight back if somebody grabs us.We invest in good door locks, windows and other home-security measures.We carry handguns, knives, OC spray, et cetera because all of these solutions are a lot faster and more reliable than calling 911.Besides: not everybody lives within half a block of a police station. I live in the middle of nowhere. As such, I'm under the county's jurisdiction: there is no local police force in my area. The Sheriff's Department can't get here in under TWO HOURS, even for EMERGENCIES (assault in progress, for example - that time a deputy was out here in about two and a half hours).
  5. Most of us would probably go crazy if we did not have at least one "time waster" in our lives. We need to relieve stress, entertain ourselves, et cetera. Most video games are meant to be fun. I don't play Sim City 2000 (a classic! hehe) because I want to be a city planner or SIM designer someday. There's no "practical" reason to play: I just enjoy some video games.You (original poster) don't necessarily use video games as your primary outlet (or time waster, if you will). That's fine. You probably do other things that are just as unproductive as playing a game. I doubt that every single moment of your day is filled with nothing but productive activities. We're all different people with our own tastes, so we all have our own hobbies and such.So: yeah, gaming is a waste of time. But it's *much* less harmful than some of the other outlets that some people choose (out-of-control gambling or drinking are just a couple of examples that come to my mind). Gamers could be doing much worse things than playing Grand Theft Auto III or America's Army.
  6. Actually, Thorned Rose, today's shooting happened at a university - a school that's received multiple bomb threats over the last couple of weeks or so. I realize that hoaxes happen at college (some students will phone in false threats just to get out of taking the dreaded mid-term exam that day), but multiple threats? Campus LEO ignored the calls and, as a result, many people are dead. I for one want the rest of the U.S. to follow Utah's lead. There, people who have concealed handgun permits can carry concealed weapons on campus. Because obtaining a CHL requires classroom time, training and a *very* thorough background check, it is very rare that an irresponsible person or a filthy criminal is licensed to carry.Think of it this way: if even ONE student living in the Virginia Tech dorms had kept a hunting rifle in his or her dorm room, this horrifying event might have been less tragic. It only takes one: one crazy to launch a massacre...and one law-abiding citizen to stop the attack.
  7. I haven't heard anything about a forthcoming PC version, but that doesn't mean a lot Rockstar Games has a fine history of PC gaming (the original "GTA" for example), so I have every reason to expect a PC version of "Bully" at some point in the future. One of my brothers has a PS2, but I hate newer console systems (make me sick, sadly), so I have to wait for the PC version if I want to play.
  8. I couldn't access ANY cPanel until today. I'll take the old version over the new version (for now, anyway) if it means that I can log in and work with my site!
  9. I know that newegg.com has a way of checking for compatibility when you try to buy memory (RAM and such). I would look there to see if they also have a hard drive compatibility check.
  10. I don't quite understand why YouTube was not yanking copyrighted videos *before* this kid sent out the fake letter. I mean, man...Viacom's already suing them. How long before other networks file their own suits? I would think that it would be a lot cheaper for YouTube to go ahead and at least *start* removing the "potential lawsuit videos."Or...maybe YouTube is already doing just that and they haven't gotten to the ABC videos just yet. I don't really know.
  11. Israel is not the group of people who are strapping bombs to their chests and intentionally detonating them in ice cream parlors, pizza places, hotels and other areas where civilians of all types are gathered. Women, children, fellow Palestinians...the terrorists don't care. We can look back on Israel's history (even just the recent stuff of the last few years) and see that they're trying to make peace. They vacate the Gaza strip...and the terrorists use it as a launching pad to send missiles and other ordnance into Israel's territory. Israel has every right to protect its people. The terrorists have got people stirred up, though: blaming Israel for killing when in fact Israel would not have to kill anybody if the terrorists would stop *their* killing.The terrorists are filthy dogs who cannot act like civilized human beings. They bring the violence on themselves. Until every terrorist (regardless of race, national origin, religion, whatever) is either destroyed or captured and thus made incapable of attacking others, there will still be problems. That's true for all areas of the world where terrorism has managed to dig in and sprout roots.
  12. Here in the U.S., four-year (Bachelor's) degrees seem to be losing their value. The phrase "advanced degree" seems to be coming up in more job descriptions/ads/et cetera. I've basically resigned myself to *having* to pursue a Master's (if not a stinkin' Doctorate) just to make sure that I'm not "under-educated."IMO, this society (can't speak for other societies/cultures as I've never been part of them) values the piece of paper too much. I understand the need to have qualifications to do certain jobs, yeah. I wouldn't want an 18-year-old with a high school diploma trying to perform brain surgery or anything like that. But honestly, I think that life experience should count for a bit more than it currently does. Formal education is important, but it's not the *only* valuable asset that we working stiffs have to offer
  13. The Second Amendment gives the *individual* the right to keep and bear arms. The "militia" is not, in fact, the National Guard (which was not even in existence - or anywhere close to being born - when the amendment was written).I live in Texas. Texans can carry concealed handguns in most public places. Um, most. School zones, for example, are forbidden. I'm all for it. I'm also all for home defense with whatever firearm the homeowner finds to be the most comfortable and effective. Robert Heinlein once said that "an armed society is a polite society." Yeah - good point. Few criminals will risk breaking in to an occupied home if they are fairly certain that the homeowner has a 12-gauge at the ready for such possibilities. Some will because they're stupid (or perhaps high)...but they quickly wise (and sober) up when confronted with the reality of the situation (that reality being that they are just a few inches away from no longer being able to commit crimes).If we outlawed guns, we would still have war, criminal activity and other nasty things. The criminals would have guns because they obviously don't care about following any "you can't have guns" laws. So...taking away the firearms only gives the criminals - the bad guys, remember? - an advantage. The rest of us would be left to defend ourselves with knives, pepper spray and other weapons...weapons that are, sadly, inferior when put up against a .45 semi-auto with a full clip.Besides: the guns themselves aren't problems. Load one and leave it on the coffee table. Unless you mess with it, it'll just sit there...harmlessly, even. The person who pulls the trigger is the good or the evil, depending on what s/he is doing (there's a difference between staging a drive-by shooting and shooting somebody who has just broken into one's house at two in the morning).
  14. The moderators help make sure that this forum does not descend into a cesspit of spam, plagiarized content, "txt-spk," and other horrifying (mis)behaviors. If they seem harsh, it's because they're trying to enforce the standards upon which we all agreed when we signed up. You're all lucky that I'm not a moderator. We English majors tend to go ballistic when we see even the tiniest typo *teasing grin* Seriously, though, the moderators's "housekeeping" was (and is) one of the reasons that I decided to use this host for my Web site instead of one of the other "post for hosting credits" sites.
  15. I'm a college student, freelance writer and forum junkie. Sometimes it seems like I encounter plagiarism everywhere I go (because - let's face facts here - I spend an obscene amount of time writing one type of thing or another).I'm an English major with a minor in creative writing. Most of the other English majors at my college are pretty good about writing their own papers. We all *choose* to sign up for a whole bunch of classes that require a lot of writing. We're all there because of free will...and most of us accept the things that go with that decision. A few run to the term paper mill when a research paper is due (or overdue in some cases) and they did not work on their own writing. I can't stand these people. They don't have to cheat. They have other options. But they choose to do a rotten thing.Fortunately, my university's anti-plagiarism policies are very tough. The school reserves the right to discipline a student who writes a unique research paper...but forgets to cite one or two sources. Most profs understand that, in almost every case, this is a genuine accident. But the policies are tough and clear so that we're all forewarned of the consequences. If a student has frequent problems, the school has the power to bring down tougher discipline.What truly ticks me off about academic plagiarism is the term paper mill. The excuse is that the essays and papers are "just examples." Well...not many buyers use the papers as mere guidelines. Most palm off the works as their own. One of the common "excuses" that I've heard: "Well, the original author sold it to me, so I have the rights to it."Yeah, maybe. But that does not trump plagiarism. You (generalization) are still passing off the work as your own. The profs still expect you to do your own research and writing. And if you're caught, the profs will still punish you for plagiarism.
  16. Freedom of speech, here in the U.S. at least, guarantees that our GOVERNMENT won't censor us. This right has nothing to do with individuals. If a bunch of people on the Internet flame a guy for having a contrary opinion...well, that guy can either continue standing up for what he believes or go to a different forum (one where his views are more common). That has nothing to do with freedom of speech. In fact: the forum owner can censor at will. There's nothing wrong with that because it's a privately-owned (not a government-run) forum.Yes, it's frustrating when you're in the minority opinion-wise. It's very difficult to be in that group because it's small and overpowered by the voices of the many. But we Americans have the right to openly express ourselves. With that comes the problems and issues. Even in America's earliest days, the founding fathers had this problem. That's why the Federalist Papers were written (they had differing opinions, so they wrote what they thought and circulated the papers).
  17. Actually, I don't have a "b" username (sarah81) and I'm having problems. I can't get into my cPanel (404 error). I'm not in any huge hurry or anything. I understand that these things take time to resolve. I just wanted to let you guys know Thanks for working so hard on getting things back up and going. I really appreciate it
  18. I tend to avoid questions rather than lie. Example: if I'm chatting online with somebody and s/he wants to know where I'm from, I give a general region. East/Central Texas. I don't necessarily want just anybody knowing anything more specific than that.However: I'll be honest about my age and stuff like that. I figure that, if somebody doesn't want to talk to me because I'm too young or whatever, then that's his or her loss. And being honest about that sort of thing from the beginning prevents a lot of wasted time (both the other person's and mine).But then again, I prefer directness and honesty in all areas of life. I figure that it's a lot easier to keep the truth straight than it is to remember which story I've told to which person
  19. In this case, age matters very much. The legal consequences...yikes. And they'll all fall on you, not her, regardless of how she feels about the situation (as in: she may be completely in love with you, but you could still get into deep trouble).She might be a very mature 14-year-old, but you're 17. You'll be 18 soon enough. You'll be out of high school (if you aren't already). She'll be...what? A sophomore? Yeah, something like that. She'll still have to go to school while you're off at college, or working full-time, or in the military or whatever it is that you end up doing with yourself as a young adult. Your lives will be so utterly different...or at least yours will be. Even though she's mature and such, she's still in her early-to-mid teens. Her mind is still developing, as is her body. She's not going to be like a 17/18-year-old girl/young woman, no matter how much you'd like for her to be.As for her being possibly more mature than you: that's normal. Girls tend to mature faster than boys for whatever reason.
  20. I think that schools should teach students the basics. Teach kids how to read and write. Teach them basic math (through simple algebra, perhaps). And once a student learns these things, he or she can go off and explore whatever is interesting. I've always hated math. I don't use anything beyond fractions, so why did I have to learn this other junk? Why do I still have to take an algebra course in college? I don't know. If I need it, I can figure it out when I need it. And if I never use it, then making me learn it was a waste of time and money as far as I'm concerned.See...the students who are in K-12 don't yet know what they want to do with their lives. So they need to be taught the basics. Then, when they're able to read and write and such, they can go off and learn about whatever is interesting to them. Example: because I always loved English, I spent tons of time reading and writing. And now I'm a freelance writer (and English major with a minor in creative writing). I'm doing what I was always interested in doing. I was homeschooled (well, "unschooled" is a bit more accurate), so I learned the basics and then spent a lot of time doing what I really wanted to do. I played baseball. I read an obscene number of books (at least 100 per year - at the very least). I wrote essays and short stories and such. I played basketball. I learned basic cooking. I...you get the idea. As for history: I learned about that when I became interested in a specific period. I was interested in the Holocaust when I was in my early teens, so I absorbed as much as I could about it. Later, I was interested in military history, so I spent a lot of time on that. Texas Rangers (law enforcement) was another one of my history-related interests.
  21. There are MANY reasons why some people hate America (and Americans).We're often perceived as the "ugly tourist." We're a loud, boisterous bunch of jerks who will go to other countries on vacation and gripe because we don't get cell phone reception, or because the food is bland, or whatever. Not all of us are like that, but this group is what many non-Americans see. America is a nation filled with spoiled brats. Many parents have the idea that disciplining their children is bad. Let little Johnny do whatever he wants because correcting him would hurt his little feelings. So we have monstrous kids running around in public, acting the fool while their parents stand by saying, "Well, isn't he cute?" (No. He's not. Get him out of this store before I go insane.) And these kids grow up to become spoiled adults. We aren't patient. We don't believe in working hard and saving up to pay cash (we haven't matured enough to have that impulse control - instead, we charge everything and go into major debt because we just HAVE to have a 42-inch, plasma-screen TV NOW).Oh, and we don't have a clue about anything that isn't American. Many of us would not have been able to find Afghanistan on a map before 9/11 (and many of us still can't). If it isn't American or in America, we don't care to learn about it. Whereas other nations teach their children about other countries...especially America.There are a lot of reasons why other people hate us. I don't think that ALL of the reasons are bad. I actually agree with some of them. By all means, express what you like and dislike about my country. But please let me have my opinion too.
  22. The most important thing is to be yourself. Yes, that sounds trite - and it's what most of our Moms told us at some point in our lives - but it's true.Self-improvement is good. Most of us want to become better people, which is a noble thing. But there's a difference between becoming better at something (say, socializing - or talking to girls/guys, whatever) and changing one's self to the point of not being recognizable. It's not a good thing to stop hanging out with the less popular people just because that makes you lose "popularity points." You could miss out on some very wonderful friendships...and end up realizing, later, that you probably should not have treated people like that.
  23. One thing that really helps is to take a step back and mentally assess your readiness. You have a high GPA and are taking AP classes - shows that you're taking school seriously, which is a sign of maturity.But that in itself does not necessarily mean that you're ready to leave home. The freshman year is the toughest - even though that's the year when the coursework is the easiest (no advanced classes yet) - because everything is an adjustment. Freshmen have to get used to living in dorms (often with roommates that they didn't get to pick)...eating dining-hall food (which can really stink - I have some terrible tales about the cafeteria pizza and burgers that I lived on for a year), that sort of thing. And freshmen are often caught up in the other things that go along with being in college. They aren't all bad things - there are lots of campus activities that are lots of fun without getting anybody into trouble - but they can really suck down study time.Anyway...what I'm trying to say is that there's nothing wrong with staying at home for one more year and taking your basic courses at a local college or university. Those basics - English, math, history, et cetera - are *almost* guaranteed to transfer to your university of choice later. (College advisers can look up each course that you want to take and tell you exactly which university will take it and how it'll be credited.)There's also nothing wrong with going ahead and starting at a university halfway across the country. If you're ready for that, then by all means go for it. Just don't get sucked into the false notion that community college is only for losers
  24. Most of the jerks who tailgate know good and well that they're too close. They do it on purpose because they want you to move over, speed up, whatever. A few people might actually do something when they see the "back off light." As a not-too-unfriendly reminder to people who are ACCIDENTALLY tailgating, it isn't bad. Sometimes we all need a little nudge to remind us what to do
  25. I'm a Texan. We're far more concerned about football (American style, of course) and baseball than we are about hockey.The Dallas Stars are somewhat close to me, though. I was a huge fan up until the NHL lockout. Now I'm not really doing much of anything to support pro hockey in general. College hockey? Well...if my school had a hockey team, I'd be cheering them on *grins*
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