Dreams are important... my dreams usually involve other people in some weird attempt to understand things. I'm not gonna go into describing any particular dream because they're too long and I remember most details... plus which, I think it's important to come to your own conclusions of what dreams mean, without outside oppinions or interference. All I can say is that sometimes I can't escape my dreams, even if I know that's all they are (I use the word all so as not to start a whole new debate! XP) and I usually end up in a cold sweat... trying to explain why you're changing the sheets is difficult! J/K

omg!! Went to your page (which by the way is fairly clear and concise... but see about making the title stand out from the rest of the text.... erm... if you can code the page that is) and you are almost identical in personality to a friend of mine! You wouldn't happen to be dating a chick would you? lol, j/k, don't answer that. So are you from portugal, or what? I almost ended up living there myself... come to think of it I'm not sure why I'm not soaking up the sun and enjoying the friendly people as we speak, but hay-ho... anyway, I'm flat broke so I can't help, sorry... not even going to college myself... probably ever. ' But I wish you luck.

Quote by TranceAionTo have to become one of them is such a terrible state of affairs I
don't even want to think about it. Might as well just kill myself and
everyone around me now (no I'm not serious).

Lol, have you played Postal2...?

Actually, speaking of which, that game or indeed any game with killing sprees and no plot can really help relieve the anger. Bearaucracy gets on my nerves because it's basically a system of jackasses, made by jackasses to create more jackasses. Meh, maybe that's where these people come from, but you're right, too many jackasses.

Whenever I'm in a good mood (which for some reason isn't all that often) I meet people who destroy it. From the lowly shop-clerk who decides it's better to slam your box of eggs onto the counter after scanning it, to the boss that decides to give you a hard time over every litte detail because they're angry because they don't get payed as much as they feel important. However, what I tend to do is just ignore them or play with their heads, then focus my good intentions and happy mood on those who will return it.

Ignore the jackasses, enjoy the mutual respect and happiness that can be shared with fellow nice people... if all else fails... killing spree. That's how I do it!

Well I'd like to greet you also, even if a little late. Stick with the Kendo (Hah-hah, 'stick'... pun not intended) because, let's face it, martial arts rock! Oh, the U.K. huh? Yay! Another person with the same time-line and horrible weather! XP lol, airsofting sounds like a laugh, gotta try it more often. I did something similar, but I was always afraid of hitting people in the eye or something... that kind of procrastination tends to get you shot a lot! Well, enjoy your stay here at MiniTokyo! Drop by my GuestBook sometime 'cause you sound really... erm... sound. '

Quote by MordinLet mt be a
river of life, rather than a dam that some of you are thinking of
constructing. Don't control every aspect of this community, let it be
free.

Man, what a quote! Way cool!

Yeah, I noticed the threads about MT members... your favourite, least favourite, etc. But I figured, just ignore them. It's fair to dislike people, just as it is fair to like them, but you're only hurting yourself when you voice your disliking publically. It's unfair and you're only making enemies, not friends.

Anyway, I joined MT to see the original artwork people were creating and once I found the forums I was hooked! There will be popularity, I don't think that can be avoided and for everyone reminiscing to the golden days of MT, just ask yourself the following;

1: Was their popularity and unpopularity back then?
Who do you remember most out of those who've left? Were they also popular? What about the people you didn't really talk to? They existed back then, just as they do today. I'm sure there was popularity back then too.

2: Is it depressing... or just not as happy? Is it that you're missing the company and input from those you knew back in the golden days? It looks to me like there is a lot of fun going on throughout MT on a regular basis... you just need to become part of it. It sucks when someone we like leaves, but we deal with that properly outside MT a lot, i.e. when school ends or a friend leaves country, etc. We learn to make the best of what we have and enjoy life aswell as make new friends... so why not do that here aswell?

Anyway, I think there has been some negativity and people have noticed it... but it's not too much and already there's a thread about it! Seems to me that people here are cool enough not to let it get out of control without trying to make things better for everyone. So well done to bel for making this thread.

Okay, well done, swpigwang. Obviously you've studied this somewhat. As you said, genetic diversity would account for many lives saved. There is always the exception to a rule and there will always be survivors. Viral warfare could kill a million, for example, but there'd still be those who are immune to it (like the carriers and immunists of the AIDs Virus). The anthrax scare was bad, but resulted in direct deaths and the chances are that many people were hit by a car because they were concentrating on the Anthrax thing and not on the world around them.

As you said, a weapon more powerful than nukes is next to impossible (much like surpassing light speed). Besides, what is considered powerful these days are weapons that are destructive and accurate. Who wouldn't put money into developing a laser that could destroy 1 particular base or unit? That would be considered much more useful than a nuke and a lot less devestating for the world.

I'm not too up to date with modern poetry... my favourite poem is still "Dulce Et Decorum Est", a war poem by Wilfred Owen, if you know it. Your style... hmm... more like lyrics to me... the personilsation for example. You used the word "cause" as supposed to "because" which definitely makes it more rythemic and lyrical. Try writing some lyrics and see how it turns out... you might have a talent for it. If you like poetry, stick with it... hell, it could save your life one day? Am I being too dramatic?

I'm rather hoping that if this goes well, they might make a movie based on ffviii. Final Fantasy VIII already was practically a movie though. Anyway, it's looks cool and I really hope that people won't knock this movie like they did the first. Final Fantasy deserve way more credit. Monster's Inc. my ass! Spirit's Within had the best animation!

Quote by thecatmistressok, first of all i hav 3 family members in Iraq right now so yea i`m
pretty scared..... they may never come back...

I understand your fears... the problem is that Iraq is in a very unstable situation right now... technically a civil war. I hope your loved ones will be safe.

Quote by thecatmistressthough a wepaon can be your friend and help you, it can be you`re enemy and kill you too.....

Yeah... that's the problem... man's greatest enemy is a creation of it's own.

Quote by thecatmistressweapons can not only
endanger those who are dangerous, they also endanger those who are
innocent, which is very unfair for those who served their penalty of
death but commited no crime.....

Very well said... war truely is punishment without a crime.

Quote by AlishaAnyway I also respect that you guys are anti-war. And that I'm the only
one who's for. It's just that I belive it's "everything for the
solider" I mean I just want to make sure that they are doing fine over
there.

Ah, Alisha, it's cool. I understand what you mean. Everyone's different and I differ in the sense that I am not pro-soldier, so much as pro-good. A hero to me, is he/she who stands out against the violance, regardless of who is causing the violance. There's nothing I hate more than people abusing their power and hurting people who've nothing to do with the battle. War and power do not condone rape and torture and I would rather shoot my own squad down than allow them to do something like that. Also, I'd like to mention that I am not entirely anti-war either. The reality is, that sometimes the only choice we have is to fight. The complication comes into play when the battle is fought for the wrong reasons, with the wrong methods, or against the wrong people. War indeed has it's good sides and down sides... the problem is that when weighed against eachother, the bad is just too much. Finally I must point out, that when we hear about a hero... that person will never have said a bad word about their government or the way their side fought the war. It's bad publicity for a hero to bad-mouth the government and the last thing they want is for people to believe something bad about the battles.

Back to the weapons. Nuclear arms seems to be people's main concern in the event of a war breaking out... for obvious reasons. However, there are many other things that must be taken into account;

1) A nuclear weapon will kill you... but so will a gun.

2) A nuclear weapon can cause a slow a painful death if you are far enough away... but a virus will do the same... probably with worse symptoms.

3) A nuclear weapon's effects last for centuries... you'd already be dead so I doubt it would matter to you. XP

i am grateful to know however, that a soldier is trained to shoot for the knees. This is not only non-leathel, but much more effective;

If you kill a man, then the medics are going to take much more priority over the living... for obvious reasons! The body will be cleared up after the battle, anyway. If a man is shot in the knees however, then it causes problems. The man cannot fight and he must leave the battle... but it takes two men to carry him out. One man hit and three men leave the battle. I'm glad there's situations in which it is more tactical, not to kill a man.

Download Bit-Tornado or if you prefer a GUI, Azureus. Bit Torrent was never optimised properly so the downloads are incredibly slow. It should really only take about 6-12 hours to download an anime. Through Bit-Tornado I've managed to download a 5.5gigabyte file in about 3 days.

Okay, first of all, I'd like to thank everybody for their input so far, I didn't know how diverse the thinking was on the subject and I respect everyone's views, whether or not they conflict with my own beliefs. The only thing about war I can say at the moment is that, not everyone in the army wants to be there. Many people find it's the only direction they can take because of lack of money, education, a bad home, etc. Also, not everyone in the army is good... Vietnam was home to rape and torture the likes of which have never been seen and hopefully never will again... in Iraq, racism was evident throughout both sides of the battle field and many innocents were killed for no reason (though luckily, some of the violant people have been brought before court and convicted of war crimes). I do believe that most countries now, are attempting to lessen the amount of innocent casualties or as the government calls it, "collateral damage" and I must admit, America has really improved it's war ethics over the past few years.
Despite the good things that can come from war, such as the improvement in technology, medicine and the presence of peace when we have it, I don't believe this justifies it at all. Too many lives are lost because of political disagreements or the attempt to gain wealth. Too many lives are ruined by losing their loved ones or being violated by power-mad soldiers. War cannot be given credit for good just because it is in every way evil. I agree that without evil, good is meaningless, but we have enough evil everyday without the necessity for war to balance good and evil. Peace is always on the verge of tipping into war and that doesn't make me appreciate it... just fear the thoughts of war.

Quote by tareren
i agree with xavier that it is murder.. if not, why some veteran/ex
soldiers keep living like they are in mental pressure ? that is one of
the reasons why war cannot be justified

Too many people are driven mad by war and never recover. Some recover but are given drugs to stop insanity. In Vietnam, people were issued hard-drugs to stop them from going mad. Snipers in battles were given drugs to slow their nerves and give them better aim, but these drugs caused sterility. War changes people... who we once knew as our family and friends become addicts, murderers, dead or insane... even if they avoid all these, the war still changes them. In order to survive, a man must forget his heart and soul... and a man who forgets his heart and soul is more monster than human. Can we call monsters heroes? Can we ever truely know what they've done? Can we call someone who kills someone's father, son, mother, daughter, brother, sister, friend, love a hero? I call them a victim...
Anyway, back to the weapons. Not all weapons are designed to kill directly. As I mentioned before, weapons can also come in the form of drugs. Vietnam was a test area for such drugs. Marijuana was issued to calm the soldiers down and as far as I know, heroin was also issued in some cases... sometimes without the soldiers' knowledge. The result was varied... in some cases it may have kept the soldiers alive and fighting... in others it destroyed their brains and got them killed. Perhaps not as frightening as biological or nuclear warfare, but a weapon none the less and an unpredictable one at that.

Quote by AlishaI know it ruins other peoples
lives too but every generation needs there own hero. Right?

I don't think people who fight in wars are heroes, Alisha... honestly, it seems insane. One person kills a man and it's murder, but in a war, it's "glorious". Heroes... or mulit-murderers? I supose that comes under a matter of perspective aswell.

Quote by AlishaI think we're still trying so hard
not to forget WWII like how we forgot WWI. Because it is forever living
in out history. Or it can totally back fire like the Vetnam War where
we pulled out. I think we pulled out to soon on that one. I just think
that you should stay there until we make sure that what they have is
stable. And they can carry out by themselves. But you know that's just
what I think.

So... wait, are you saying that vietnam should've lasted longer? I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before.

hmm... I dunno about the plot of the story really, though I heard it's based after the ending of the game... which is kinda hard because the world got destroyed (so I heard, I never made it that far). As for Sepheroth, I really think he looks cool. He's not supposed to be incredibley threatening, I mean, he was Cloud's mentor pretty much. I really think the characters look a lot more realistic than in the game and that can only make the movie more enjoyable... pluse the graphics look amazing... they've managed to improve on the first movie, which I thought was impossible!

Quote by tarerenmaybe all the weapons that all those countries have made
should just be dumped somewhere in outer space >.< (i dunno how
that can happen but hey this is just an idea)

Easy enough. Build rockets with cargo holds for the nukes and direct them towards the sun. Not very expensive (in comparison to other rockets) because their own momentum can carry them whilst in space. Same idea as getting rid of waste.

Man, it looks really good. I dunno, I heard a lot of people slate it because it's so unlike the game (in the characters' appearance) but I disagree with them. I'm looking forward to it now... I wasn't before reading this thread, damnit! XP

Hah, ah... erm... kinda scared of elevators. I mean, I'll use them fine, without letting anyone know my distaste for elevators, but my mind is wired, thinking of possible ways to survive. It's rediculous I know but... yeah. As for escalators, I'll use them... but usually just end up using them like a stairs 'cause they're too slow! Ironic, really.

Actually, I recall something similar with the IRA and America, where Clinton was talking about trying to find peace, etc. I thought it kind of weird that the president of America would have anything to do with the IRA at all ! I mean... he just said the same thing that everyone else has for the past 30 years and strictly speaking, it had nothing to do with him or America. I dunno... I guess America, because of it's power, see's itself as the world's "big brother", so I'm not suprised that it finds itself intervening with the Taiwan situation.

Disclaimer : XavierCrow has no problems with any country and apologises for any offence he may have caused and insists that it was not intended. All words are unofficially copyrighted in crayon by XavierCrow, however he can take no responsibility for any actions or damage caused directly and/or indirectly by the above oppinion.

jk! XP

Yes, well, many countries did decide to stop developing them... but it's a bit late now that there's enough to destroy the world many times over! I don't believe that any country will decide to dismantle their weapons without an agreement with other countries to do the same... it's like every country is pointing a gun at eachother... no one is going to lower theirs and allow themselves to be shot. However, even if they do agree to dismantle their weapons, can we really trust that they would? They might get rid a few, but guaranteed, they'd keep some for a "rainy day". That's why, primarily, I believe that the military are not building nukes, but anti-nukes. America has a satellite weapon in the works that will target missles in mid-flight and destroy them... at least, so I'm told.

Quote by Ayamaelbrain and heart... i believe they are both the strength and
the downfall of humanity....

Hey, nice one Ayamael. So true.

Oh, just one thing... one of the major problems with creating weapons of such power, is the lack of control (which was mentioned before). When the Atom Bomb was first tested, they weren't sure what would happen. They knew the principal behind it... that one atom affects another and that atom affects another, etc... but they weren't sure if it would ever stop! They believed it was possible that the weapon would infact, be so powerful that it would destroy the world and perhaps even the universe! I don't really think it was sane to test it out in the first place, knowing the risk!

Schools are for academics and the odd bit of creativity... only sometimes. XP So, I truely disbelieve in teaching Religion as a subject. The problem is, that in the school I went to, religion was a subject and the teacher I had was dogmatic. He actually attempted to preach about how "homosexuality is wrong and you'll go to hell if you practice it"... an argument I was suprised to see my class on my side of for once. Religion should not be thought in schools... Theology, yes, but it has to remain subjective... thought by people without any prejudiced or dogmatic beliefs.

Quote by toujin1what worries me is that all it takes is a couple of guys
up in the chain of command to allow this to happen without the public
having a say in it.

Yeah, I guess I forgot to take the human element of unpredictability into consideration in my first statement... it's true, it really only does take a single person to destroy the world... let's hope that whoever has the power, also has a conscience... aswell as a brain! (yep, we're doomed!) XP

This being said, genocidal maniacs aside, I really believe that we stand a much greater chance of a biological / viral attack than a nuke being set off. I don't know which scares me more, to be honest. I can't imagine how horrible it would be... but again, as said before, it's more the person responsible for using and building these weapons that we must fear. I don't believe a military would resort to using vicious and inhumane methods such as a virus... that's more of a threat from terrorists.

Quote by DarkSaviorThe only thing I fear about war is not being able to protect those that
I love. As for weapon of mass destruction... Nothing you can do when it
goes off.

I suppose the main point about nuclear / biological warfare, is that we don't fear the weapons so much as the fact that they cannot be controlled. A man can be ordered not to shoot but a virus cannot be told not to infect. A man remains practically harmless when a weapon is taken from him, but a nuclear arm remains volatile even after it's trigger mechanism has been removed.

Quote by Peripheryi hope they'll let it remain as all talk and no action. I don't want
war - it destroys and kills and isn't good at all. There's nothing good
about war.

Indeed, I believe that most people have learned from the mistakes of the past (and unfortunately, the mistakes going on at present) to know not to cause another world war. Unfortunately, it seems that our "leaders" haven't learned these so effectively.
I have heard the argument that war isn't all bad... afterall, war forces our technology and science to advance like a runaway train. Many ailments can be cured today thanks to the research done during the wars and many creative possibilites were invisioned, such as the jet-pack (though it exploded when put into use), time machine (it's probably better that they didn't get that working!) and invisibility suits... which now almost work... as far as I know, they're just working out the final tweaks. However, every action has an opposite and equal re-action. The advances in medicine and technology are the opposite and equal re-action to war... but I don't think anyone can justify the lives of hundreds of thousands of people for the sake of scientific progress.

Okay, I was reading a thread about the U.S. getting involved in China's business (thank Holt for that one), when I came across something interesting that I thought I would have to start a thread about it...

Quote by Holt I wonder what even newer
devastating weapons the superpowers of our world are developing even
now. Some sort of orbital bombardment platform like in the movies?
Because you can rest assured new, more accurate and more deadly weapons
will be constantly getting invented although I hope they don't invent
something that can exceed even the nuclear and hydrogen bombs' mass
destructive power

After the atrocity of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world really opened it's eyes... including America. Weapons of mass destruction are considered terrorist weapons and no military in their right mind would want to strike fear into every single person on the planet by using one. The reality is, that if one goes off... the entire world will fight. Besides which, devastating as the bombs were, they are unreliable. The lasting affects are far too great and the damage is too severe... most war revolves around capturing strategic points and a bomb like that sorta renders the planet useless. Instead, the military is focusing it's weapon developments on more accurate and isolated power. Weapons in space are in the works, but used to strike down missles before they reach their target. You can expect weapons to become much less harmful to the world than we have seen in the past. However... there is always the Viral-Warfare possibility.

That's just my oppinion... what's your thoughts and/or fears on the subject... who knows, maybe we can lay some of them to rest, no?

A friend of mine was in the same situation and... well... we argued because I couldn't understand her decision to remain freinds with the person who betrayed her heart... guess I still don't. If I were in that situation again... I'd have to kick his ass! He's not worth the air you breath, let alone your heart to play with again. To be honest... I say, say it like it is. If he get's hurt, it's his own bad karma... it's not your fault he betrayed you and you shouldn't have to put up with his shit... he's lucky to have your company at all... he should just keep his mouth shut and move on. Hasn't anyone said this to him?! Oh, and happy birthday... erm... bad topic to say that I guess!

Visis, you know yourself better than you think you do... you asked what it makes you, if you are so nervous and unsure of yourself... well... there's your answer is it not? Try to find the reasons why you feel this way... and if you truely dislike those aspects of yourself, then you will inevitabley change them. You're poetic and intelligent, I see no reason for you to feel unconfident. In my oppinion, what it makes you is you! Nothing more, nothing less. You won't always receive an answer to your questions... my advice is to not attempt to understand yourself so much... but to show yourself understanding.