Since the topic has come up a few times in the Shout Outz box I thought we should have a post on it.
I suppose the real reason we haven't seen any girl gamers so far is because we either play at home or in the Seremban cybercafes. Its a sad fact, but after careful observation I've come to the conclusion that most girls under the age of 35 have left Seremban. So now we have a veritable sausage fest down south.
It's not much better in KL though, the only time I see girls in the cybercafes is when they're chatting online or emailing people, or horror of horrors!! logged on to Friendster!!! (I admit I have a friendster account, although I only log on when people message me *grins*).
Although CrazeeB has pointed out that cybercafes can be quite scary for girls, with all the weird folk there (I'm not talking about Warlock and Siriuz....really.....no seriously I'm not!!). I don't understand guys like this, they behave like they haven't seen women before and gape, make stupid noises, lame come ons. Does this every work? Do girls get excited and go out with them when they do this. No, they most assuredly do not, yet the apemen continue to behave this way.
This of course ruins it for the rest of us because now all girls become leery of guys, even the nice decent ones that just want to say hello and maybe grab a cup of coffee.
But back to DotA and video games in general. I can honestly say I don't know any girl gamers, and the ones I know that will even touch my joypad (sorry, I couldn't help myself) are really terrible players. Now I'm sure there's girl gamers out there. We were almost convinced once when we met this girl at the cybercafe who played a mean Bone Fletcher, but it turned out to be Salty Peanuts in a wig.
Still I do get why you won't find girls at the cybercafes anymore, times are not too good these days. Can't even go hiking or for a walk in the park without inherent risks.
Playing on Battlenet does seem like a good idea to meet girl gamers, but I don't know, I just find that its more fun to have my friends in the same room when we play, then we can hear all the hoots jeers and curses, the arguments as the losing team turns on each other, the cries of victory when someone finally kills Leoric...
It's just not the same online, even though I know its real people on the other end, its not tangible, not satisfying, like how we go to the mamak after a DotA session to discuss the previous matches, compare strategies, curse our friends for trouncing us.
Its quite sad though. I think most of my friends that are gamers always wanted to meet girls and have girlfriends who shared an interest in gaming, yet never did. It's usually a look we get, like why do you waste your time playing games, or that its kid stuff blah blah blah. It's like we go shopping with you, why won't you play video games? Well cest la vie.
Oh yes, before I forget, video game addiction is GOOD!! It keeps us off the streets and from joining gangs, or doing drugs ;)
So, finally, I'm back. Manage to find a place with decent internet connection speed. My previous station was wasted by earthquake, tsunami, bombs... etc. Anyway, hello world!!! Hello visitors!!! I never knew there were actually other people visiting this blog. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Dunno why though.
Sidenote: Girls that play games are soooo sexy. Seriously! Ok, so maybe pouty lips with lipstick playing games is even sexier. Kinda looks like she's **censored** ... foreplay.
Sidernote: Hello CrazeeB!!!
Now then, about article 11 and all..... We do not live in a civilised country. Most people don't actually use their brains that much. Some peoples sensitives are more sensitive than others. There is no justice. Its just an illusion used by the powerful minority to peacefully opress the idiotic majority. The mob's not the problem. Its the matermind behind the mob that's dangerous. For all purpose and intent, the mob is just an expendable tool. Ever heard of the term: Tyranny of the majority? Well, thats just bullshit. There is no such thing. Power has always been with the few who are in every sense of the word, "supperior". He who has the means of peacefully controlling the mases, rules. Before this turns out to be another "power" article, I'll just conclude and say, I AM NOT PLEASED... VERY VERY BITTER. ANGER! HATE! MALICE! It is the age of the barbarians. Come people. Let us draw our swords(I do love huge swords. 2m would do) and cleave through all who stand in our path. Mua ha ha ha ha!
By the way, there is no shame in not caring. Its normal. Very few people actually care about millions of women and children dying of war, famine, bombs, opression, blah.. blah.. blahh..... Ocationally saying "oh, poor thing" doesn't count. I for one care for many things. However the dying mases ain't one of them. Caring is a unique and somewhat personal emotion of sorts. It can extend to family, friends, aqquaintences, countrymen, race, species, the living... etc. It spawns from somesort of similarity between ones self and the subject at hand. Mine stops extending somewhere around friends. Beyond that, I couldn't care less. Who I don't know, I can't care for. Its that simple. Hypocrates aside, thats how it is for most people. Ofcourse there are exceptions. Example: Mother Teressa. But thats very rare. So, there you have it. The cruel truth about the individuallity in human beings. Humanists and all feel free to flame me. I love a good heated argument. Heh heh heh!
PS: Note that I don't post about DOTA much. Thats cause I feel left out. Can't play DOTA. Isolated by galons and galons of water. Separated from my clan by what seems like an infinate amount of space. Aaaargghh!!!!
Hey, was checking the WebCounter below and guess what .. we actuall have visitors. Hello :) .
Now bookmark this page and keep on refreshing ( F5) . I like to see the number at the bottom of this web move. Go ahead try it .. it's very theraupeutic ( it makes me feel better) then ask your friends to do it too :P .
Sidenote : Girls should play more computer/video games. It's more effective than lipstick and a sexy pout to get attention from guys. Trust me. _______________________________________________________________
I hereby knight Shawn as Sir Salty Peanuts since he wouldn't stick to a single name. Today's DOTA theme is 'Piss on Salty Peanuts'. As for todays DOTA session I would like to suggest a simple strategy :
Plan A ( If you are in a team opposing Shawn)
1) Look for the lane where Shawn is creeping 2) Ping the area like mad (Alt + Click) 3) All heroes converge 4) Slaughter Shawn 5) Rinse and repeat
Plan B ( If you are in Shawn's team)
1) Look for lane where Shawn is creeping 2) Shout out which lane he is in 3) Steal his creep kills by last hitting 4) Run away when oppsing team heroes arrive 5) If Shawn manages to avoid the gank and runs back to the base limping force your character to attack him
This should deflate his ego a bit so that he can fit into a small room where he can huddle and cry. _____________________________________________________________
Oh yeah, saw something funny yesterday.
A girl was driving inside university. She overshot a vacant parking space at the side of the road by like 10 meters. Not wanting to waste her energy by driving around and looking for another parking space she decided to reverse the car. She reversed the car at probably what was full throttle got the car up the sidewalk ramp and rammed the bus stand pillar. She smashed the iron girdle pillar real good, I felt like I was watching a mini-demolition derby. Then she went forward, adjusted the car started to reverse the car again.
This time she managed to get the left side of her car up the sidewalk to the surprise of the people who were originally standing in the sidewalk. (Should have watched them jump out of the way .. hilarious)
She just sat in her car and waited for like 5 minutes or so. I figured that she is wondering if she should continue reversing all the way back to the vacant parking space. Finally she managed to get the car down from the sidewalk and get her car parked. She got off her car, looked at the back of her car to see her smashed rear lights and dented bumper ... and she looked surprised !
She actually had the audacity to look left and like with a puzzled expression as if she couldn't figure out what caused it. Damn, too bad I didn't carry my camera or I could have got some good pics of her 'driving'. I passed by her car and guess what , she doesn't have any P(Probationary) sticker on her car which means she has been driving for *gasp* 2 years minimum ! It's people like this that gives me the cold shivers when I drive. Well at least I had a good hearty laugh out of it. ( Yup , I do have a sadistic streak within me I guess)
So there's like this big demostration/protest going on at KLCC right now. Apparently the Condoleeza Rice is at the Convention Centre here and they are expressing their displeasure about the whole Palestine-Israel quagmire *bada bing bada boom* Its raining and it must suck to be down there right now. I'm up in my tower far far away from them, but you can still hear them scream.
Hope they don't get to rowdy and cause a traffic jam, don't wanna be late for my DotA fix in Seremban this weekend (note to Kavi: Once a week is not a lot of Dota ;P)
*Sigh* I don't know, maybe I'm just not a good person, but I just don't care anymore about how many people are killed by disease, tsunami, bird flu, the United States, extremists, gangsters from Kepong. It doesn't bother me. If I read in the papers tomorrow that a million people just died it wouldn't matter to me at all. Sure its cool to blow hot air about the injustice of it all, but truth be told I simply don't care anymore, children, adults, old people. I'm Jay-J-J-Jaded!!
Does anyone feel this way at all. I mean I'd care if someone close to me, my family, or friends died, just don't care about the rest. It bothers me that I don't because I feel I should care. That I should be sobbing at the state of things in this world. Yet I don't. All I think about is that if I had the power to do so, I'd incinerate more than half the population and put a stop to it, at least for awhile. People always fight, they can't be happy, they can't take what little time they have and make the best of it. Sure some individuals can, but people.......are mad.
Hmmm, wanted to write about Article 11 too but Magnus got to the topic first. I'll just be brief and try not to be too redundant.
It's sad that we are in a country where discussion is forbidden by the Government. So much for intellectual discourse. I don't really understand why this is a 'sensitive issue' , after all this is a discussion and not a parliment motion. What is so wrong with people talking things out ? It sure beats the hell out of rioting to make your opinions heard and is more civilised.
This sucks man. We have no freedom in this country to sit down at a table and talk out our problems. It is a bleeding shame that the discussion was terminated, at the very least they might come with better ideas on improving racial harmony.
I guess our non-muslim opinions means nothing to muslims. I was sure they would at least want to hear our grievences and see if there is anyway to improve racial harmony. After all, true racial harmony is not accomplished by making other races to just shut up and follow another race. I believe that there should be discourses and intelligent discussion every now and then so that problems can be addressed.
As in the case of Nyonya Tahir, M. Moorthy and S.Shamala whose conversion became an issue, maybe there can be better steps which can be taken to address this problem like making it compulsory that new converts tell their relatives about their status to avoid problems later on. I don't see why disccusions about this is considered sensitive by the Islamic community in Malaysia ?
Sigh
I am not saying that we should let every Tom, Dick and Harry go up and challenge established practices and mentality because they want to. Yes, there should be some form of control but to forbid a discussion ?
I fear that this is one of the worst things that can happen in a country especially in a multi-racial and multi-religious country where tolerence & understanding are not just slogans but are the very foundation of the country's stability.
Maybe going for discussion about Article 11 is jumping the gun. We should go and discuss Article 10 first. Oh in case you didn't know Article 10, of the Federal Constitution is the one that 'guarantees' freedom of speech, assembly and association. Doesn't seem to do heck of a lot. Snigger.
It was with utter and absolute horror that I read the front page of the Star today. In a statement from the PM no less it has been made very clear that the Article 11 Forums will no longer be allowed due to sensitivities blah blah blah!!!!
Let me recap for those of you that might have forgotten. Article 11 is an NGO that was founded to rationally discuss the constitutional problems of non-muslims converting to Islam and the legal issue in relation to their spouses, children etc. It also discusses the issue of muslims that no longer wish to profess islam. There have been a couple of case in Malaysia of husbands converting and keeping it a secret from their wives, and when they pass away the wife discovers she and their children are not entitle to any portion of the husband's estate. Cases of husbands converting and converting their children without the wife's knowledge, and when the husband dies the wife is forced to raise her children in accordance with the tenets of the religion. Cases of people wishing to have islam dropped from their identity cards but are not permitted to do so without being authorised by the national islamic body.
So a few months ago, Article 11 organised a forum in the city of Penang and a mob, claiming to be an anti-inter-faith coalition of sorts (I forget their name) started crowding outside the hotel where the forum was being held. They tried to storm the hotel and were behaving like barbarians. They outnumbered the cops 2 to 1 but thats good odds for the cops. This I will never forget, instead of turning the water cannons on the mod (the forum itself was all proper and legal) the cops told the forum co-ordinators to shut it down. These people (the mod) were behaving violently and they weren't blasted with water cannons like so many other protesters here.
No what happens!?! These buggers are rewarded by having a perfectly legitimate organisation prohibited from discussing a very real and important issue in this country. What crap!!! What kind of message does this send!?! The if you feel sensitive about something, form a mod and you get what you want?? Or perhaps only a particular race or religious community has the right to do so.
Its pathetic! Wait till they start telling us that we shouldn't go clubbing because it offends their senstivities, that we can't drink, that women should cover up more because it sensitive not to (don't want a mob to form and gang rape her). This is how it always starts. Run Run Run!!! Head for the hills!!! There's no light at the end of the tunnel if hypersensitive Malaysians have their way. No holding hands, sensitive lah. No kissing, sensitive lah. No eating pork, sensitive lah. No revealing clothes, sensitive lah. No rock music, sensitive lah. No fashion, sensitive lah. No women drivers, sensitive lah. No video games, sensitive lah. No foreign TV, sensitive lah. No speaking English, sensitive lah. No dancing, sensitive lah. No education, sensitive lah.
*Sigh* Nothing changes, people stupid. Why?? Why?? Why? All I have to do is look at my fellow man to confirm that god cannot exist.
Finally!!!! Despite the fact that the oh so highly informative Maxis website and customer service reps have been telling me that the is no 3G coverage in the area I reside, THERE IS!!
It was confirmed yesterday when my friend brought his 3G phone over and the high-speed internet access worked. For those of you that do not know, poor old Magnus is deprived of internet access on a daily basis with blocked sites and slow-ass access at work, and no phone line or wireless broadband at home because Malaysia boleh!!! (the biggest crap slogan I ever heard). So I set up a broadband line in my hometown of Seremban, which my dad subsequently destroyed, because well my dad is pretty good at destroying everything that brings me the slightest bit of happiness and joy, but that's another story.
However, the era of the 24/7 online Magnus has begun. Step one is to buy myself a spankin' new 3G phone, the cheapest I can find. Then I get myself a 3G line and I'll be chatting online and downloading adult videos on a regular basis. Ah! just when I'd given up on life too.
Now I will never have to resort to tearing out my hair and killing defenceless old people when I can't access my YahooMail account. Happy days are a coming!!!
Plus this also means that I can finally graduate to playing Online Games with the rest of you grad students who don't have any real work to do ;P (Yes I AM bitter and jealous!!)
I also saw "The Hills Have Eyes" yesterday. Absolutely horrendous! I am never EVER driving anywhere that isn't heavily occupied, no deserted countryside and deserts for me, but if I have to, I'm bringing assault weapons and my 6 foot long sword. (Yes I plan to own a 6 foot long sword and hum the tune of One Winged Angel as I swing it around. Only in the USA though)
That's it. I'm out. No more stuff to write. Maybe some coffee and work might give me some new material. Checking out now. 3G! 3G! 3G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wasn't feeling well today so I just sat in my bed and I suddenly remembered something that happened a long time ago.
It was just after exams in school. I think I was in Form 4. The teachers had no idea what to teach and thus resorted to giving us extended recess and left us alone pretty much for the whole day. It's been a whole week and we were all bored like hell.
Previously during the 'after exam' season where we are left to our own devices we will find a committee member of the computer club (normally one of the gang) to open up the computer room and we start playing games. ( I guess that is where I started to develop my LAN gaming habit) but unfortunately due to some 'unforseen' circumstances none of us had access to the computer room anymore ( even, the club was forcible disbanded .. more on that someday).
The whole gang was sitting at the school pavilion, Siriuz was wolfing down his usual bread and sausages while Arc was on some weird all nuts diet. Magnus was as usual regaling us with tales from the dark side (his class). Suddenly someone suggested that we skip school and head to the nearest arcade.
Now this was at the time that the arcade game 'D&D : Shadows Over Mystara' has obtained cult status amongs us. It was also the time when games like "Marvel vs Capcom" were the new in-thing. To sweeten the deal, we even planned to stop by the comic store on the way there. The temptation was very strong indeed.
Everyone got ready to cut school. I mean why not ? Nothing was being taught in schools, the teachers are more busy with their 'meetings' (having tea) and school was getting very boring. The school field was packed full and the furthest corner has turned into a casino of sorts where the more colourful personalities in the school gather. The school prefects wisely stay away from that area, probably Mugeelan was there. He was the guy in school infamous for whacking someone with a lead pipe, we always imagined him as a pipe weilding Darth Vader-esque character. I heard that he died a few years back in a gangfight. Ok , I am digressing.
Everyone got ready and met up in the pavilion .. and then it happened. I chickened out. I suddenly realised that I was about to cut school for the first time and got scared. The guys looked at me with such dissapointment when I told them I'm not going. I watched them march across the school field occasionally jumping over people rolling on the floor.
That moment left such an impact on me , it's been more than 10 years but I can still see the image of them walking towards freedom. It was just so cool .. and I wasn't a part of it. Now that I have grown up I realised that I should have gone with them. Yes it would have been 'wrong' because I would have been cutting school but when I look back at what I did for the whole day (sitting alone in the pavilion) .. It was a totally wasted day and until today I still regret my descision.
I realise now that it is extremly easy to fall into the trap of following the masses and do the 'right' thing but sometimes it's just not the best thing for you. I missed out on a great adventure that day. Life is something brief and precious, we shouldn't waste it doing pointless things. I realise now that there is more to life than doing all the safe things and following what everyone does. So to sum it up , I learned an important lesson that day ...
Smokie Desperado, Pookie, Exploding Lembus, Betrayer of Hope. None of these nicknames can truly symbolise the blubbering mass of contradictions and idiosyncracies that is Shaun.
Yet in the interest of all of us, and too more efficiently respond to the ever increasing trash-talk from the self proclaimed "Agility-Range King" I beseech, yes even plead with you Shaun, TO STICK TO ONE ALIAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YEARGH!!!!!! WILL KILL YOU!!!!! RIP OUT ARMS AND BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH THEM!!! (ANYONE'S ARMS WILL DO). KILL!!! TORTURE!!! MAIM!!!! GET ME ALONE WITH YOU FOR 10 MINUTES AND I WILL COME UP WITH A HUNDRED INCREASINGLY CREATIVE WAYS TO VIOLATE THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS.
And so in the interest of national security and world peace, and to avoid this becoming a hot topic in the Dewan Rakyat, I propose that all of us add a comment to this post, making it an ad hoc referendum. Do include suggestions for Shaun's new nick.
So I've been thinking that I like having our DotA rounds on Friday nights and Saturday mornings, its satisfying in a way that doesn't leave me feeling half dead on Monday. I suppose we could keep Saturday nights optional if we really can't get anyone else to come.
I've also gone to see Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest. Its pretty good and anyone who can should go see it, although the first movie was better in my books (Captain Barbossa is just so much cooler than Davey Jones, but Capn' Jack Sparrow always rocks!).
I've been reading abou thtis new movie called "An American Haunting" which is apparently some scary movie about, well.....an american haunting. Will be trying to catch that when it opens too.
I've also been looking for a new TV. Prices are low these days and since my old one is on the fritz I though I'd get myself a spankin new set, seeing as how my TV is my chief source of joy and happiness in this country. You will not believe how hard it is to find a high definition CRT TV. I need one to use as my computer monitor, but its so annoying because the only HDTVs with PC/DVI inputs are LCD/Plasma/LCD Projectors which cost an arm, a leg and a kidney.
Its sad because I've been using CRT monitors all my life so the technology is there, yet for some reason the manufacturers don't want to make PC compatible CRT TVs. *sigh* I did find a 34 inch Philips Flatscreen for 2k, could probably haggle down the price by a couple of hundred.
Anyone know any good TV models to get that would actually work well with a PC (i.e. High Definition Sets with a DVI or RGB input)??? Help me and I will grant you eternal life....
While the tsunami had no effect on me either, a tsunami of paperwork at the office has crippled my ability to post for this week, and driven up my DotA killing urges.
Since its so in vogue right now to comment on the 'war' in the middle-east, I felt I should put in my two cents worth, and maybe a buck or two.
Whenever I read or hear about the middle east (the parts where they spend most of their time and energy killing each other), I am reminded of a line from the movie 'The Beach' a rather crap film starring Leonardo 'I'm King of the World' DiCaprio. In the movie, one of the members of the group stranded on a island was attacked by a shark and left severely wounded. His friends did their best to care for him, but no one could help the guy, he'd just scream and groan in pain, his wounds becoming infected. This went on for many many days, frustrating and depressing everyone in the group. Finally, they couldn't take it anymore and just dragged the wounded man far away from their camp and left him in the jungle, and that was the last we saw of him.
The line I mentioned was "Get better, or die" we don't insist that bad things not happen to you, just that you overcome them we all go on, or you die and we all go on. Its the sitting and waiting and watching that drive people mad.
That's how I feel about our 'friends' in the middle east. I want every last one of them to die. I am so sick of reading about these tit-for-tat attacks everytime I open the papers or turn on the TV. I don't even care who the bad guy is anymore (although I am also of the view that the American stand is biased), I just want it to end.
Kill them all, the men, women, children. Let them kill each other and lets turn a blind eye, send the rabid dogs to the pound to be put down. I'm not saying its right, just that I'm so sick of them I want it to end.
They have been blessed only insofar as I don't not have the power to extinguish their lives. If I did I would annihilate every last one of them, salt the earth, destroy the entire middle east, end it all once and for all. What else can we do? Promote dialogue? Bah, have you ever tried to promote dialogue between rival estate gangs? Try doing it when all they know is being killed by and killing each other. No amount of negotiations can help. One or both sides must be totally removed or it will never end.
*Sigh* You humans and your guns.....
Plus the other thing that pisses me off about all of this is the 'Malaysian University Syndrome' Warlock mentioned. The clowns here want to connect every bloody thing to religion. The Israelis and Palestinians are killing each other because they're both assholes, not because of religious ideology. And the boys and girls in our local universities over here that don't know shit about anything in the world get all excited, curse the infidels and go pray, circulate pamphlets. Children, its a territorial matter (at least it started out that way), not I repeat NOT a religious matter.
I still haven't figured out why the muslims hate the jews. I don't know any jews, but muslim people I ask this question to never seem to be able to come up with a coherent answer to the question 'Why to YOU hate the jews?' They usually just mention some betrayal that happened 1000 plus years ago, but can't actually tell me what this betrayal involved. And that's where you realise that most of our university kids are incapable of rational, intelligent thought, they just swallow anything they are taught, which is just what they were trained to do I guess.
I'm sure everyones realised that the first decade of the millenium has definately shaped out to be a rather crappy one. War, Famine, Pestilence......Death. Make you want to become a Horseman of the Apocalypse, if only to take an active role in events instead of watching from the sidelines (I say take part in active destruction since active conciliation is a wasteful, fruitless endeavour). I've always hoped the world would end in my lifetime, not right away, but say 10-20 years from now. Always felt life would have more meaning with a real threat of death hanging over it. Most people realise what little time they have when its too late, when they're near the end. I really believe people would love one another more if they were made very aware of the end of days, that all the frivolous stuff would be pushed out of life and we would all focus on what realy matters.
Then again we might be swarmed by raving lunatics who've decided that since they're gonna die in 20 years they might as well ensure they get some virgins on the other side by killing infidels now.
Due to the recent tsunami incident we took the effort to check on Arc. Unfortunately .. er, I mean fortunately he is still alive and kicking. His comments was : " Dude, if the tsunami effected me , It'll be a world record. That is how far I am from the place. "
Good to know that no Raving Lunatics has been killed this week. Have a nice day.
Yeay joy. Now that people in Israel and Syria are busy trying to kill each other another disaster has happened elsewhere. An earthquake triggered a tsunami in Indonesia, off the island of Java. At least 80 people are dead and more missing , I am wondering if there are anyone in my lab tommorow who are going to start the usual " They are punished by god because they are evil " crap. I think I'm gonna headbutt anyone who says that this time. Everytime a disaster like this happens , it's god punishing people for being bad. Sheezh .. the idiots that we have in my university. If this is what can be found in the "National University" of Malaysia , I shudder at what I might find throughout the country.
Why can't god just punish the guilty , kind of like the killing of the firstborn child thingy that he did in Egypt. That was pretty specific right ? Wasn't this the God that said he will spare the destruction of a city if a single innocent person was found in Soddom or Gommorah ? Of course they didn't find any (let's just imagine that the kids were out camping) and the citied were destroyed anyway .... (I might have got this wrong , it's been years since I've read the Bible)
I mean seriously ! Why blame god ? Why can't it just be a natural disaster. Arghh ! I hate these people , they conveniently see divine messages when it suits them but when it doesn't it conveniently becomes bad luck or a fluke of nature. I also noticed that the people who talk this crap tend to be holier than thou ... maybe it's some sort of a complex. Ok , I'm just raving here.
On another note, George Bush (in my opinion THE worst American President .. outclassing Nixon by miles. Clinton is cool , he made cigar smoking the new in thing ... ) made another blunder. This time he was caught using expletives at the G8 summit. Mr Brilliant forgot to turn off the mikes recording the conversation between him and Tony Blair. According to him " Syria should press the Lebanese militants to stop doing this shit." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5187276.stm , http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4051244.html)
He probably doesn't realise that with Israel escalating the attacks and the Syrians too busy wondering if the next missile strike is gonna be their end , the LAST THING ON THEIR MIND would be to stop the Hezbullah people from fighting. It's common sense that there can be no peace if no party stops to talk since you probably can't hear what the other side is trying to say over the sounds of explosions and screams of pain.
Now what these so called World Police should do would be to step in and force a temporary cease fire . Then if the parties involved still want to get at each others throat without bothering about peace , move out and let them terminate each other. But noooo, what America is doing now is vetoing everything that says "Stop the war" , their excuse being that the terms are unfair for Israel.
This sounds more like stalling so that the Isrealis can go pound more missiles into Syria and help breed more terrorists. Instead of using this golden opportunity to mediate the problem and work on a peaceful solution thus making the US seem more fair to other Islamic countries (= less inclination for terrorists to attack) what do they do ? They encourage the Israelis and blame the Lebanese militants as if the only ones dying are them and not the countless innocent people. Even better, to rub salt into the wound America is now planning to sell $US 210m worth of jet fuel to Israel (cha-ching !) ... their reason to maintain the peace and security. Security maybe but peace ? Maybe for the Israelis , but what about the Syrians ? They supposed to be chopped liver or something ? The only thing this will do is prolong the war, increase the death toll and put a nice big smile on corporate America .. oh and probably make more new terrorists who want's revenge on America for their role in the war.
I don't blame the Israelis hate of the Hezbollah but prolonged war is NOT the solution and innocents are the ones who suffer the most while the actual terrorists with better logistics , supplies and hideouts (than the civilians) don't suffer as much. The terrorists will gain fresh new support as they are seen as 'heroes' fighting the oppressors and the vicious cycle will continue again.
I realise that my ranting here isn't going to do much but at least I spoke up against what I think is wrong. Have you ?
The current conflict has once again spark a controvesy on America's supposed "favourtism" of Israel. I watch with grim amusement as Bush continues to parrot statements about how this conflict is the Hezbollah's fault and how Syria should exert influence on these terrorist groups... blah... blah blah.
Yet, the moment anyone tries to study this favourtism, they are immediately labeled "Anti-Semitic"
Take for example these two fools: John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.
All they did was publish a paper called 'The Israel Lobby'.
In it they questioned why a America has time and time again, supported measures and policies contra to America's own interests.
Here are some interesting facts they dug up:
1. Since the October War in 1973, Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing that given to any other state. It has been the largest annual recipient of direct economic and military assistance since 1976, and is the largest recipient in total since World War Two, to the tune of well over $140 billion (in 2004 dollars). Israel receives about $3 billion in direct assistance each year, roughly one-fifth of the foreign aid budget, and worth about $500 a year for every Israeli. This largesse is especially striking since Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per capita income roughly equal to that of South Korea or Spain.
2. Since 1982, the US has vetoed 32 Security Council resolutions critical of Israel, more than the total number of vetoes cast by all the other Security Council members. It blocks the efforts of Arab states to put Israel’s nuclear arsenal on the IAEA’s agenda. The US comes to the rescue in wartime and takes Israel’s side when negotiating peace. The Nixon administration protected it from the threat of Soviet intervention and resupplied it during the October War. Washington was deeply involved in the negotiations that ended that war, as well as in the lengthy ‘step-by-step’ process that followed, just as it played a key role in the negotiations that preceded and followed the 1993 Oslo Accords. In each case there was occasional friction between US and Israeli officials, but the US consistently supported the Israeli position.
3. Israel is often portrayed as David confronted by Goliath, but the converse is closer to the truth. Contrary to popular belief, the Zionists had larger, better equipped and better led forces during the 1947-49 War of Independence, and the Israel Defence Forces won quick and easy victories against Egypt in 1956 and against Egypt, Jordan and Syria in 1967 – all of this before large-scale US aid began flowing. Today, Israel is the strongest military power in the Middle East. Its conventional forces are far superior to those of its neighbours and it is the only state in the region with nuclear weapons. Egypt and Jordan have signed peace treaties with it, and Saudi Arabia has offered to do so. Syria has lost its Soviet patron, Iraq has been devastated by three disastrous wars and Iran is hundreds of miles away. The Palestinians barely have an effective police force, let alone an army that could pose a threat to Israel.
I've been playing Titan Quest on LAN with Siriuz and Sai. It's pretty sweet actually. The game feels and plays a lot like Diablo II without feeling like a B-grade copycat game. Set in Greece during the time of Hercules (Heracles) , the game brings back reminiscence of movies like Clash Of The Titans , Jason and the Arogonauts and such.
The story is that suddenly Greece is ovverrun by fey creatures and undeads and the Spartans are having trouble handling it. You are given to task of finding out about the cause of this 'invasion' and off you go adventuring.
With the standard point and click style of play of Diablo II the game is pretty fun and fast paced. There are no character classes as in Diablo II but instead you get to choose a mastery from a choice of 8 masteries , each masteries have their own skill trees and are quite different from each other. At a later point in the game you get to choose a second mastery to either focus on one mastery or diversify a bit. As interesting as the game is , there seems to be something lacking so far. There isn't anything that scary in the game. Where are the multi tiered dungeons going deeper and deeper and getting darker with every level you go down until you have to use your torch to see anything ? Where is the sudden shock of a guy running at you shouting " Fresh meat !" ? Ah, you can try your best but it's still tough to beat the classics.
Still, it's a very good game. If you loved Diablo II you'll definitely enjoy this.
•Windows® 2000 or XP •1.8 Ghz Intel Pentium IV or equivalent or AMD Athlon XP or equivalent •512 MB RAM •5 GB free hard drive space •64 MB NVIDIA GeForce 3 or equivalent or ATI Radeon 8500 series with Pixel Shader 1.1 support or equivalent •DirectX® 9.0c compatible 16-bit sound card •8x or faster CD-ROM drive •Keyboard, Mouse
Recommended System Requirements:
•Windows XP •3.0 Ghz Intel Pentium IV or equivalent •1 GB RAM •5.0 GB or more free hard drive space •128 MB NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series or ATI Radeon X800 series or equivalent •DirectX® 9.0c compatible or Soundblaster X-Fi series sound card •8x or faster CD-ROM/DVD drive •Keyboard, Mouse
So it turns out that I was right, either people who get knocked down by trains are extremely stupid or suicidal.
As I mentioned in my previous post, a woman and her kids got run down by a train over in Malaysia last week. Seems it was because she and her husband were having severe arguments (the question of whether there was physical abuse was never brought up), so she decided to commit suicide and took her kids along for the ride.
While it is tragic that the children were killed, that's simply because they didn't have a choice in the matter. I think that people that really want to die should just go ahead and kill themselves, but without the drama.
Hello!!! Your life sucks? Can't handle the pressure of modern living? Is your husband a dick? Then try our 4 for 1 special at the southbound track!! Customer satisfaction guaranteed!! (No refund of life will be provided).
I don't think so!! See I can respect a human being deciding that they are sick of life, that they don't want to carry on, that they want their pain to end. If you have the right to live, you have the inalieanable right to die. Just don't do it on the train tracks! Overdose on drugs! Slit your wrists! Jump off a building! Connect a hose to your car exhaust and breathe in the fumes! Leave the stove running and breathe in the fumes! Squat behind me in the john and breathe in the fumes!
Now I'll have to see those idiotic ads again about how 'dangerous' the train tracks are. Let's see an ad about how dangerous plastic cups are in the hands of morons, that would be new at least.
Seriously though, what are everyones thoughts on suicide? I don't like to judge someone for killing themselves if they feel they've reached the end of their rope. Of course I don't buy into that crap that suicide is a sin (the elite just want the lowly folks to think so to ensure ample supply of slave labour). What's the big deal? Really? I'd expend my energy worrying about people that want to live but are murdered, starving, etc. etc.
Or we could just hop on the train and go for a ride
The World Cup finals of the year 2006 .. France vs Italy , did not end with a bang like many would have hoped for, instead it ended with a whimper. Weighed down by the loss of their captain, Zinedine Zidane, in the 110th minute France lost whatever semblance of a possible victory by goals and instead had to settle for a penalty shootout instead. The loss of Zidane due to a red card earned by him headbutting the Italian defender Marco Materazzi must have come as a surprise to everyone. The loss of the "Zidane Effect" characterised by the beautiful and tricky play made possible due to his presence in the field hit the Les Blues hard as they just couldn't get another goal agains their defensive Italian rivals. But to the question that is nagging you now ...
Why would he do it ? Why a head-butt ? Anything wrong with his fists ? Why didn't he just pee on Materazzi ?
Let me explain . Ever since time immemorial , head butting has been a treasured method of settling argument. " Use your head " we hear sometimes, this alludes to the usage of your head to 'solve' problems. Even dinosaurs did it. They head-butted each other for dominance over the pack .. probably these traits remain in our genetic memory through some shared distant genetic ancestor of the dinosaurs. Even the word itself is wonderful, fully explaining the nuances of head-butting. "Head" obviously from the part of the body used to instigate this wonderful social behaviour , whereas "Butt" from the word that refers to the posterior region which implies that the head takes up the role of the butt to cushion us from impact .. also " butt " can also mean to violently shove a part of the body towards an object , similar to ramming.
In fact the act of head butting Materazzi was an act of social bonding brought on by the stong brotherly feelings conveyed by the world cup. As players playfully pat each other's rump and enjoy close physical contact , strong feelings develop and the need to bond with each other arises. This in turn lead to Zidane head-butt. Unfortunately the referee being more closely related to the simian branch of the evolutionary pathway was unable to understand the "dinosaur gesture" and mistook it for an offense. Sadly Zidane was flagged with a red card and had to end his final appearance in the World Cup in shame.
If you had the endurance to read this far you deserve to know that everything I wrote above was pure absolute crap (as are most of my opinion). If you have an opinion , you should write it down too. Don't worry if it seems weird, cause it probably is. If you don't agree with someones opinion , don't bother going for more than the standard " I don't agree " cause you'll just be wasting your breath. Opinions are like assholes , everyone has one and it's all full of shit.
Zinedine Zidane is a great football player. He played well and he has very good sportsmanship spirit. If his act of head butting Materazzi and consequently getting a red card seems like such a terrible evil it is only because of the respect and adoration most fans of the game has for him. Like a white cloth which is stained , the offence seems more pronounced and terrible then if a black cloth was stained. Zidane was a man, he went agains Materazzi who is infamous for his dirty tactics and rough method of play. Materazzi is knows for his absolute defence , one in which either the ball gets past him or a player gets past him but not both together. Playing with a person like that, it is only inevitable that you would get your shirt pulled and your legs kicked , you would probably be pushed and cursed and such. We still don't know what he said to anger Zidane but put yourself in his shoes .... you just might just do the same.
Zidane was only a human being . I am not defending him for what he did in the match but instead I just want to say that I understand what he did and in his position I might have done the same also. Probably a bigger man than me and Zidane would have ignored whatever jape that was tossed at them but we probably won't ever know who he is cause such a big man would be above admiting his superiority.
Goodbye Zinedine Zidane , you have played well ! We will remember you for your great moments and forgive your lapses in judgement because everyone makes mistakes.
Pic : Zidane walks past the World Cup as he heads towards the locker room after being red carded. This was the closest he got to the World Cup that night. So close , yet so far.
p.s : Sorry if the post weirded you out. I've been a bit down since France lost .. still in shock ..
Saw a picture of a Syeikh Ahmed Yassin , co-founder and leader of HAMAS. I realised something suddenly ... It hit me like a train hitting a crossing pedestrian. But it can't be can it ? You tell me ...
< --- This is Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
< --- And this is Saruman from Lord Of The Rings
Dude , this really freaked me out . Can it be that the founder of Hamas and Saruman the White are the same person ! (Well Saruman was actually played by Christopher Lee) Enlightened by this discovery I started looking for more similarities between characters and people and I also found this ....
Yes I have returned!!! Nothing can stop my psycho power!!! Except maybe tons of paperwork.
So I read today that a lady and 3 of her kids got run down by a train while they were 'crossing' the tracks. Everyone's all up with the whole 'Oh how sad", "Poor thigs" routine. Not me of course, but if you read my posts you probably already know this.
How on earth does someone get run over by a train!?!? While crossing the tracks!!! Its not like the bloody train falls on top of you from the sky!! Any idiot can tell a train is coming even before you see it. Were these clowns having picnic?!?
I must point out though that there is suspicion that this was suicide. The woman's husband had been having some rather nasty fights with her, so she might have decided to free herself and her children from an unbearable life.
But lets expand it beyond the current case. People get run down by the train in Malaysia. Period. There's been talk about fencing up tracks, but that would never work because (a) its too expensive and (b) people would just cut through the fence and cross anyway.
What I find perplexing is the apparent 'danger' of crossing. Putting aside the fact that it is trepassing, how is it any more dangerous than crossing the road (if you live in Malaysia you know what I'm talking about). Cars can appear our of nowhere, suddenly tun onto the road while you're crossing, or run a red light.
A train on the other hand is preceeded by loud noises and the rumbling of the tracks. Even the electric trains accounce their arrivals in advance so forget about a gigantic diesel powered locomotive sneaking up on you.
Anyone stupid enough to get run over by a train DESERVES TO DIE!! That's right I said it, one less moron in the world is a blessing and we should be thankful. I'm not being too biased here I think, by any reasonable standard you'd have to be pretty daft to get run over while crossing the train tracks.
I remember there was this old tv ad about the danger of crossing the tracks. Old dude is pushing his bicycle accross the tracks and it gets stuck. Train comes and old dude keeps trying to push bicycle of tracks. Old dude dies. Old dude didn't go to school and learn about 'secret option B', leave then damn bike there and run, run damn you run!!!
To the rest of you, look both way before crossing the train tracks, and don't hold the hands of adults whose IQs aspire to be double digits.
