Monday, October 29, 2007

'Equalism'

I'm willing to bet this has already been started a number of times... but I'm going to take credit for it anyway (as I started it locally). We were discussing Affirmative Action in my law class one day, and the conversation quickly swung to... you guessed it; Feminism.

Now I have absolutely no qualms with being proud of who you are, and if you are, or if you advocate, Feminism for that reason I'm all for it, but I find Feminism sometimes dips into favouritism. That isn't what this article is about mind you, it's simply so you understand where the conversation went. My friend, and a very well respected foe on the field of debate, asked me what my views were on Feminism and I explained them to her, and that's when inspiration struck. That afternoon her and I hashed out, and thus began, 'Equalism'.

As I said there is nothing wrong with being proud of who you are, but why name yourself after what specific part of you makes you proud? Why not simply be proud to be who you are? Proud to be a human being and willing to support other human beings for being what we are. I don't believe that we should offer special treatment to various groups and call it equality. I think everybody should have the same, equal, fair chance at everything, and if you can do it; awesome, if you can't; train harder and maybe you'll pull it off next time.

I think the best way for us to achieve equality is to enforce direct, honest, fair equality. Setting up special programmes to allow others a head start or an easier test is not equality, though it is often put in place with good intentions. I think, in stead, the hiring process should be entirely anonymous up until the interview, at which point it should be conducted by two or three people. That would be a big step toward removing prejudice favouritism without having to practice favouritism to see it done.

So, as an 'Equalist', I believe all people are equal. What sets us apart, making us better or worse, are our skills and our personalities, and nothing else. To call yourself an 'Equalist' is to say that you agree, that all people were born/created equal and should be treated as such.

-Wraith

Only Ever Human

It's what we all are; Human. Like it or not, you and everybody around you, is a human being... so why are we so quick to throw empathy to the wind? It seems everybody expects perfection out of everybody else these days, and yet, since they obviously can't achieve perfection themselves, they want sympathy because they're only human.

We've all done it at least once before, it's part of the human condition, as we are all only human. I guess my question, my point, is why has society come to expect perfection of people? Who defines perfection? It's all too easy to ask more of people than you're willing, or able, to give yourself, and that's understandably human as well. I know, I'm talking in circles here, but that's because this is a problem that works in circles. Everybody wants others to go easy on them, but they don't want to have to go easy on others.

Now of course there are exceptions, as there are to every rule, but it seems to have become the norm. The way I see it, we're all perfect in our own right, and we're all inherently flawed. Some flaws, obviously, are big, scary things, but many can easily be shrugged off. I, for example, had a rough past, I got betrayed a number of times, and I admit to having trust issues... yet I seem to catch a lot of flack these days, even from those that know I'm paranoid about trust, because I'm uncomfortable around groups of people and need re-assurance that you're not waiting to drive that knife in my back. I forgive people their flaws, can I not be forgiven mine? Is it unfair for everybody to ask that?

And that is my point ladies, and gents. Society could be one hell of a better place if we'd just learn to accept others for who they are, and not let their little flaws get to us. If you feel you must attack a person for their imperfections then perhaps you should not hang out with them?

-Wraith

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Pirate?

So here's a thought that's been nagging at me for some time; Who are the real pirates?

You see ads all the time on t.v; 'You wouldn't steal a magazine, you wouldn't steal a car, you wouldn't steal a baby, DOWNLOADING IS STEALING', but I can't help but wonder who the real thieves are. I guess it makes me think of a Green Day song, or, more importantly, a line from said song;

"Then I realized what it took To tell the difference between Thieves and crooks"

Company's make their product, and put it on cds/dvds. They then sell it to stores, making a profit and paying all the artists involved. The stores then take the cds/dvds that cost them maybe ten to twenty dollars a piece, mark them up to eighty dollars, and complain that people would rather download it all for free... They call everybody else thieves, and yet they refuse to try lowering their prices to a reasonable human level in an attempt to win back customers.

And what of politicians that steal billions of dollars... is it just me or do they always seem to get away with it like it was nothing. Yet here, you, or I, download a song we heard on the radio that we like, and the gov't, the producers, hell everybody that could possibly make two and a half cents off the song, wants to kick in our door and fine us billions.

I'm all for supporting our artists, but I *don't* want to support the company that's pushing a 300% price increase... The rich just can't stand to miss a chance at getting richer it seems...

-Wraith
P.S - I know I'ma catch flack for all that... but seriously, I'd rather download that *one* song I like from a cd for free than pay twenty to thirty bucks for a cd... just so I can listen to *one* song... Do I support piracy? Nope, surprisingly I don't, but it's become almost the only answer.

STR's Legal Team

Hot damn! I brought a hurricane upon myself folks... Gonna have to leave the STR thing alone, apparently they don't much care for some publicity from yours truly. Essentially it was... advised that I stop posting about STR. I'm thinking it's best if I co-operate.

My site is *not* going down however, but it's become more a place for the random ramblings of yours truly... so feel free to never visit again I s'pose lol.

Take it easy all,
-Wraith

Got the Job

Yup, definetly employed at a gas station now, and you know what... it's surprisingly a lot of work. A friend of mine rolled his eyes, telling me that gas jockey is a 'lazy' 'do-nothing' job, and I was kind of insulted by it. So I guess the whole point of this mini-lecture of the day is simply;

You never really know about a job until you have to do it.

-Wraith

Saturday, October 27, 2007

STR Changed my Post!

For the sake of being fair I'll type some words in STR's defense...

According to the various authors of STR, they do not change comments.


That being said I disagree. I think they change comments as if it were going out of style and I think it's childish and annoying. So, though I s'pose this is equally as childish and annoying, if you're sick of STR's using cheap moderation to get the upper hand, feel free to gripe in the comments section. I'd prefer if you post a link to the article in question (or at least give the name of the article) then what you originally said versus what it was changed to. For example:

-----------------------------------------------

http://www.shelleytherepublican.com/2007/09/30/when-god-touches-your-heart.aspx#comments

I discovered the truth about that video Billy was so in love with and tried to post it on STR. This is what my comment was changed to:

"Wraith October 1, 2007 at 10:24 pm Permalink
Here it is folks! The Truth, as rarely seen on STR:
I was born a dwarf and then went through a stretching procedure that involved breaking my bones and letting new bone form. Was it painful? Hell, yes! But now I’m 5′5″ and I couldn’t be happier. I hated being a dwarf and now I’m normal thanks to science."

Where it originally read (This is one of the ones I didn't save, so I'm tryin to remember):

"Wraith October 1, 2007 at 10:24 pm Permalink Here it is folks! The Truth, as rarely seen on STR:

The video was a fake, hat's off to the maker of the film and Frank for seeing it for what it was.
-Wraith
P.S - I suspected it was a fake, but wasn't sure"

The comments on that article turned into a lovely little moderation war for if you guys are ever really, really, really bored by the way...
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There, a rough idea of a format for it... I noticed I did the opposite of what I said (I did changed then original) but whatevs, you get the idea.

-Wraith
P.S - STR has been pretty dead lately, if you're having trouble posting (keep getting spam errors or the like) feel free to make it known.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Howdy All

Hey all, it's Wraith from www.shelleytherepublican.com

I set up my own blog here for a few reasons, one main reason being the amount of insane conspiracy drama that happens on STR. So outside of the occasional personal rambling I'm pretty much going to open the floor to everybody else.

I'll probably set up an; 'STR changed my post' article where, if ya wish, you can post what you originally said before STR tried their hand at wit and censorship... This isn't specifically an anti-STR site, so much as a place where us Peanut Gallery folk can gather without being censored or silenced... and hey, it'll give me a chance to more openly gripe about things from time to time.

Cheers,
-Wraith
P.S - I'm defs new at the whole blog admin thing so bear with me for a while