The Twilight Corner

iPaperweight

2008-06-04T18:41:00.002-04:00

There's a proposed new bill here in Canada that, to me, makes absolutely no sense. Due to pressure from recording companies the government is trying to pass a bill that makes it a *lot* tougher to put music and video on to mp3 players.

That is to say; impossible. One major example that springs to mind is that they want to make it illegal to rip a cd onto your computer and then upload it onto your iPod. That raises the question; How then, legally, are we to get the music to put on our mp3 players? I don't trust online music paysites and it's my understanding that the iTunes store only works on a Mac.

What bothers me most about the entire thing is that the government was planning on creating and passing the bill in secret. Information about it was leaked and that's how we found out. Is it just me or are the shining beacons of democracy of the world slowly becoming more and more like corrupt dictatorships and police states?

If this bill passes it looks like we're going to have to go back to Walkmen because, lord knows, celebrities like; Gene Simmons and Lars Ulrich are starving in their mansions. Poor them.

There's a happy medium, but affordable music isn't being made readily available and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $25 for a twelve song cd all for one song that I want.

-Wraith

Stressed to the max

2008-06-02T20:05:00.002-04:00

Right, so, I'm definitely abusing my position of power, that is to say, my ability to post articles few people will ever read, by using today's rant to vent, mope, and scream at the sky. So maybe I was a tad melodramatic, but I *am* slowly going crazy here... er... crazier.

Put simply I need something to snap and just go right... if I can solve one problem I can solve, or overlook, the others. There's something amiss in all facets of my life and if I could clear up just *one* I'd have an escape to help me cope with the others.

Work;

We are overstaffed. We all get like eight hour work weeks (well, except for those that have worked at the Superstore for like fourteen years and the managers) and I often find myself working with three other people despite the department only needing two people at a time to function properly.

Ready for the interesting part? *Somehow* I always end up the only person actually *in* my freakin department! How does that happen?! Take today for example; I was working with both my managers (we're two departments in one... yet we're the worst paid department. Gotta love how that works) my photolab manager like *never* comes downstairs to electronics because she doesn't feel it's her job... which also kinda bugs me... I mean us peons are all photo/elec, Electronics manager won't touch Photo, Photolab manager won't touch electronics (unless necessary)... Anyway, despite there being little photolab work I saw her for a total of maybe 35 seconds in a four hour shift. My electronics manager wasn't much better. For some reason our store's assistant manager (second in command) can't seem to *breathe* without the Elec manager there to help him, and then there was my buddy Joel. He actually stayed in the department with me. He deserves a medal.

Like, of the... one sec, counting... eleven people that work in my department I can think of four (including myself) that don't just randomly take off for half hour to hour long periods. It's driving me insane that I keep having to do three people's worth of work while everybody else just maxes and relaxes.

So where's the politics in all this? That I don't *blame* my coworkers. We get paid eight bucks an hour to run two departments at once... I don't think any of us *really* care if we do our job well. Well, that's a lie, *I* care, but that's only because I'm crazy. The company doesn't pay us enough to be loyal, we're treated like peons by upper management and "the customer is always right"... What they don't tell you is that nine times out of ten the customer is also an uninformed, angry, drunk mutant that insists it's your fault that an item in the flier that isn't released until tomorrow isn't magically on the shelves when they want it to be. I had four people get pissy with me today because I couldn't sell them a game that doesn't release until tomorrow. How is that my fault?

On top of that upper management seems to have targeted me as a whipping boy (yay). I'm the *only* person that gets reamed out for dress code for minor infractions. My shoes had white on them so I got yelled at, meanwhile my buddy Sparky was wearing his shirt half unbuttoned with a batman shirt prominently displayed underneath, half white shoes, a Pink Floyd belt buckle, and his name tag was on his pocket... He directly spoke to the man that reamed me out dressed as such and not a word was said to him.

Enough about my minimum wage job, at least I have one right?

Entertainment;

I have spent the last 3 weeks fighting with my ISP (Internet Service Provider) because my Internet has been *mega* on the fritz. Now I was born and raised with computers, I practically breathe technology, and yet my ISP comes nowhere close to taking my word for it that the problem is *not* my router. He had me run a gamut of useless tasks (bypassing my new $200 router, turning the computers off in different patterns) before he'd believe me that it wasn't on my end... YET HE STILL INSISTED IT WASN'T ON HIS END. I'm out of things that could be wrong here! I tried it with both computers entirely off and my xbox plugged DIRECTLY into our WiFi router (which is theirs, it runs to my normal router) and it did nothing.

So he finally "fixed" the problem... which made things notably worse. I hold nothing against him, I mean the man has taken his own personal time to try and help with this... however I wish he'd at least listen to what I'm saying seeing as how he owns the business, yeah, that's right, I'm dealing with the freakin CEO.

Friends;

Oh how this one's a doozy. Put simply; Has nobody an ounce of consideration? My two best friends happen to be dating... One of them, my full blown best friend, has also been my less than secret "crush" (for lack of a better term) for the past two years. I hooked them up. I convinced her to give him a chance out of the goodness of my heart. They both knew how I felt. I think he naively believes I moved on at some point but I *know* she knows. So I hang with them right... and they're making out right in front of me... Like that is the *last* thing I want to see. Even if I didn't want to be with her, they know I'm still reeling from Kelly and I don't take relationship stuff well. (I can't even watch love movies)

I don't want them to break up, they're happy, and it's good to see. But a little courtesy to me would be nice. Everybody I've talked to about this tells me I'm wrong however so... Suppose I'm the bad guy for not wanting to see the girl of my dreams (literally) being cute and cuddly with my friend.

Home;

I nearly got kicked out a few weeks ago because I was angry that Mom went behind my back and signed me up for classes I didn't want without warning me or asking me... 'Nuff said.

Stuff just keeps blowing up in my face these past few weeks... I know it's not exactly life or death, however it's taking a huge toll and it's driven me back to a few daemons from my past. I don't want sympathy, I don't want pity, I just want to be heard and respected. I want to be thought of *without* my having to demand it... and I'm just not seeing that.

Thanks for bothering to read 90% of my issues, next post, hopefully, will be more positive,
-Wraith

I'm back

2008-05-14T00:39:00.002-04:00

What can I say? Excessively delayed post? You bet! Did I mysteriously dissappear for a few months? But of course! Do I have an interesting story about government oppression and an army of robot werewolf spies standing between me and this blog? No... not really...

What happened? In a word, life. My job got stupidly busy (with ridiculous hours) and I've been too drained to commit time to my computer (like it's been a $2400 paper weight over the past few months)

Now, that being said, to those that still bother... I'm back.

Not really *too* much to touch on tonight however (and I have work in the morning... on my one day off in eleven days... yeah... that's right... called in on my one day off... I hate my job)

I'ma spread the word that I'm still alive, hope to see you all again,
-Wraith

Perception

2007-12-16T13:36:00.000-05:00

Here's one that's been on my mind and driving me insane lately because, though I'm sure I'm not, it seems I'm the only person who gets it. I think most people will agree with this, but nobody thinks to practice it; Everybody's perception is different.

It's hard to put this one into words, so you'll have to bear with me, and the best examples, or at least the most relevant, I can think of are personal... so you'll have to bear with that as well. Put most simply; What something means to you is not necessarily what it means to anybody else.

Just because something seems amazing to you, doesn't mean others will agree, and just because something seems insignificant to you, it doesn't mean others will agree. That's the part I'd assume most people would agree upon, but here's where it gets tricky.

I devote my life to cheering others up and making sure my friends are happy, in doing that I've learned that how *I* feel about their situation, or their problems, is irrelevant, because it's hurting *them* and that's what's important. My parents, this is the first example, have never told me they're proud of me in any way, shape, or form, despite my doing my damned hardest to prove myself to them. They believe they *have* shown it, and I told them that their methods don't work... the example I made to Mom the other night is that it's like writing a message in brail and giving it to me to read. Technically the message is there but there's no way in hell I'll be able to interpret it and that's the important bit, that *I* understand it.

Another one, that seems to come up often, is when I'm feeling low because my parents and I are constantly fighting, and I turn to one of my friends. To them my situation is insignificant and *that* is what they act on... they don't see that to me it means *everything*, they simply perceive it as my being selfishly whiney. So in stead of trying to cheer me up, my friends give me lectures about how I'm an emo and how I should be happy with my life because I have this, or that, or some other thing.

Once again, what should be important is how the person stuck in the situation perceives the situation, and not how *you* perceive it. As a broader example, that everybody should be able to recognize, let's talk gifts, or in this case, Christmas gifts. It will be a bit after X-Mas (money is tight for me and the offer *just* arose) but I plan on building Dad a computer that can compete with my own. I know he'll hardly ever use it, and I know it will be, for the better part, a waste of good computer parts that I would rather have *but* I know that to Dad it will mean everything because he's been wanting a computer that can do what mine does.

I find it funny that often when I turn to somebody with my problems, I end up getting a list of their problems and a lecture on how much worse off they have it. In the end it seems I'm doing what I normally do and cheering them up because I recognize how they perceive their problems and I do what I can to help.

I'm sorry if I come off as a bit arrogant, or whiney in this article as this issue has come up several times in the past two weeks for me and I'm finally doing my best to put it all into words. I simply ask of all six of my readers that if you ever find yourself talking to a depressed friend over an issue you find blatantly stupid and insignificant, remember; it's this insignificant issue that has brought your *friend* to tears... so just how insignificant can it be?

-Wraith

Generic Blurb

2007-12-10T22:39:00.000-05:00

Sorry my posting has kinda hit the wall... Work has been ridiculously busy, or rather, I go to work then sit on my ass for five hours, get home and do random chores for my parents, then maybe grab five minutes to fix the newest random failure on my computer.

So a quick sampler of my life over the past week or so?

Work; People expect us (the clerks) to know *everything*, like right down to ridiculous shit like; 'Well why isn't Nintendo sending more Wii's to stores?!', and they ask it honestly expecting us to know, or, because the Kodak "self-serve" photo booths crashed, it's somehow *our* fault that equipment we don't even touch isn't working. I know you can't expect the customer to know what all your job entails, but we've all been some kind of clerk (or minimum wage employee) at some point in our lives... you'd think people would show a bit of empathy.

Home; Do something nice for Mom, have it somehow degrade into an argument, give up, go try and fix *insert broken electronic I own here*.

Social Life; Hahahahahahahahahaha... next

Sleep; Haven't been sleeping well... Nightly nightmares for a week straight.

I'm excited about my new job, and like the people I'm working with... but it's driving me insane how I somehow managed to go from way too much free time to absolutely none. I'm not even working that many hours, yet, but it seems I get almost no time to myself anymore. Oh well, welcome to the real world I suppose.

I'll get more political on a later date, not really feeling it tonight,
-Wraith

Yet another update lack excuse

2007-12-05T19:00:00.000-05:00

Hey all, if you're wondering why I've been AWAL the past few days it's because I got a new job and have been busy training. On top of that it seems when I get home I've got tonnes to do around the house.

Today, for example, I had to situate myself between the wall and a shelf/cabinet in an area with enough room for a powerbar (sitting flat on the floor... that was about the width I had to work with) leaning over the back of the shelfinet trying to change component cables in the dark. I had to disconnect the satellite from the surround sound and directly into the HD TV (which was located on a fireplace... I had to work above me in a blind spot to figure it out) *then* I had to figure out how to plug my xbox 360 where the satellite was.

It was a surprising amount of effort, but Mom and Dad hated having the satellite run surround sound (don't ask me why) and Dad thought he'd have to buy an extra cable... the xbox bit was my taking advantage of the now open cable slots.

Anywho, might have some interesting stories based off my job to share... You'd be surprised how rude people can be to Electronics/Photo clerks,
-Wraith

Legal to kill it, illegal to keep it; The injured Hawk

2007-12-03T22:02:00.000-05:00

An interesting piece of bureaucracy happened today... Mom and Dad were at their various appointments early this morning as I struggled to fall asleep (didn't catch a wink all night). Anywho, I was on the cusp of sleep when from down the stairs there arose such a clatter.

I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter (and that, folks, is why I need a life) as Mom and Dad were bringing in groceries I was told to go check the cat carrier in the van. Inside there was an injured red tailed hawk. We made a few calls and found out the nearest hawk specialized clinic was a good hour away, we climbed into the van and off we went to try and save the poor thing's life.

Well after nearly breaking Dad's GPS (and it malfunctioning twice), then nearly running out of gas, we finally find the place... only to be told he's a young red tailed hawk and his wing is likely broken. If it is they're going to put him to sleep. Mom asked if there was any way they could keep him, and look after him, if his wing was broken, as opposed to putting him to sleep.

Ready for the answer you already know from the title? It's totally illegal to keep a red tailed hawk without a near impossible to acquire special license *but* it's perfectly legal for them to euthanize him. That's right. It's easier, legally, for animal clinics to *kill* endangered animals than it is for them to keep them. Does that strike nobody as wrong?

I can understand putting creatures out of their misery but I think it's unfair to not give them a fighting chance first. Shadow, my cat, was chosen to be the 'poster-cat' for a humane society that doesn't euthanize, but that's a story for another day...

Right now I'm tired and I have work in the morning, so I'm gonna get a drink and catch some sleep,

-Wraith

Impostors!

2007-11-26T17:23:00.000-05:00

My impostor has finally driven me to write an article debunking them... Over on STR there have been a few posts made in my name lately, these are, quite blatantly, not my views or opinions. My newfound wannabe fan posts a link to my site in their name, and signs as I do... all in all a good representation outside of saying roughly the opposite of what I believe. For those that were unsure as to whether or not the posts were truly made by myself I assure you they were not.

In other news I've hit a massive snag in my Super OS plan, and it's going to take *weeks* longer than expected... I do plan to still eventually do it, but I've recently been flooded by new and interesting issues. In the mean time I've finally gotten an opportunity to play around with Kubuntu, and I suggest that anybody with a free hard-drive to spare gives it a try.

Alright all, I have to go find a lost pair of shoes... so I'm out,
-Wraith

HEADACHE FREE!

2007-11-20T10:28:00.000-05:00

Well, for now at least... thought I'd share that with all five of my readers :D

I encourage anybody who takes interest in my writings/articles to look me up on msn... I'm pretty good for conversation, and I like hearing what people have to say about my views.

wraith.of.twilight{at}hotmail.com

the crazy {at} = @

Hope to talk to ya guys,
-Wraith

T3H 5UP3R 0S!

2007-11-19T23:24:00.000-05:00

Heh... mind the 1337 title, it just felt appropriate. So here's the skivvies of my plan:

1) Download XP Black; it's a *cough* pirate *cough* modified XP that has been overhauled to run smoother and more stable. It also comes with a plethora of programmes that I want/need built into the OS itself.

2) Download Windows Blinds; Windows Blinds is required for step 3.

3) Download an XP-Vista Clone; This programme, working through Windows Blinds, changes your XP to an exact lookalike of Vista, with many of Vista's features.

If it all works when everything is said and done I'll have an OS that looks like Vista, and has many of Vista's features *but* runs with greater stability than XP *without* Vista's many quirks and hardware recognition issues. So folks, by mashing these two together I will hopefully have what Microsoft *should* have made.

I'm still downloading XP Black, it should be done in 3-5 days, when it is I'll be trying my scheme on a spare hard drive I have kicking around. If it all works I'll be posting links on where to get the programmes you'll need if you wanna mash your own 5UP3R 0S.

-Wraith

The Media

2007-11-19T14:54:00.000-05:00

Anybody notice that lately the Media talks about one of two things; Horrible Disaster, Celebrity Gossip. I mean there's nothin' better than waking up, grabbing my morning coffee, and hearing a lovely story about how six children and twelve puppies were brutally killed in a freak accident in another country today. Don't misunderstand, I think it's epically tragic, and that's why it bothers me.

It seems there's no better way to launch yourself into a deep depression these days than watching the news. Then to lighten the mood a bit they talk about how some celebrity made a total ass of themselves in public, or, my favourite, how some celebrity is absolutely DEVASTATED because they're going to have to go to jail for all of two weeks because they broke the law. From there, why is it that there's always a group of people that honestly believe that despite this celebrity's ridiculous behaviour they've done nothing wrong?

People screaming that it's unfair that Martha Stewart or Paris Hilton have to go to jail... If they *weren't* big name celebrities these people would likely scoff and say that the punishment is too weak. Seriously, Paris got 45 days in jail (lessened to 23, and she served 5) for drunk driving! Know what my cousin got? He lost his license! It's blatantly unfair.

Why do celebrities receive so much blatant special treatment? I mean I can understand being a fan of a celebrity, I for one like Clint Eastwood, but that doesn't mean I think Clint Eastwood is anything more than another human being doing a job. Wouldn't it be nice if people were giving me free cars, or cellphones, or clothing or any such just for sitting here typing out yet another rant to be read by all of five people? (Who I appreciate reading my rantings ^^)

I know my rant today seems more hollow and less world changing... but I haven't completed my perfect government idea yet (so I'm still working on it) and I haven't been able to watch the news much lately.

So I guess, to summarize my point; I think the news *really* needs to show more happy stories, and I think we *really* need to keep in mind that celebrities are still just people like you and I. If we were to go drunk driving, they'd want to lock us up and throw away the key.

I plan to write a better article when I'm more inspired,
-Wraith

Apparently it was a Speech Not an Essay

2007-11-17T20:47:00.000-05:00

But either way I found it! It's a tad unpolished, I'm not above admitting that I'm the 'do it the night before and wing it if anything goes wrong' style of student, and some of my ideas were left out or changed a bit. This would be because I was presenting it in school for grading and there was a lovely plethora of rules it had to follow. I'll highlight the key areas as I do in my articles.

Enjoy:

"The war on drugs, seemingly a noble battle, but is it worth the cost? Is it even noble? At first glance it, much like communism, seems ideal; both systems work perfectly on paper. Unfortunately paper can’t account for all the variables. Ideally heavy sentencing and good police work would act as deterrence to most would be offenders, and then the few remaining nefarious drug abusers would easily be apprehended. So what’s the major hitch in the plan? It simply does. Not. Work. People continue to abuse illegal substances despite the heavy punishments; fines, imprisonment, and a permanent blemish on their legal record. Millions, if not billions, of Canadian tax dollars are being thrown away on a ‘war’ that simply generates a need to throw away more tax dollars (in 1997 the average cost per federal inmate per year was $48,468) I am here to suggest another method, I am here to suggest a more efficient way of keeping illegal substances in check… and what better way to do that, than to legalize them?

Sounds outrageous right? But think about it, those who truly want to consume these drugs often do regardless, and often, due to legality, take great risks to feed their desire, and their urge to experiment with the drug. I propose that in stead of throwing away tax dollars on a losing battle the government takes steps towards the regulation and sale of formerly illegal drugs. It is my belief that this could solve a number of drug related problems within society, such as; overdoses, theft, and the swelling Canadian prisons. By selling various ‘illicit’ drugs itself, similar to cigarettes only entirely controlled by the government, the government would be able to sell product cheaper than most drug dealers and, in turn, regulate that drug and control its purity. This would ensure that fewer people would start on one drug, and find themselves addicted to something else due to lacing, and, assuming somebody accidentally overdosed, there would be less concern about calling the paramedics, as the users would no longer be criminal offenders.

With the government creating and selling it’s own ‘product’ in stead of spending tax dollars, in a seemingly failed attempt to stop drug circulation, the government would have a new means of supplementing its income. Without a middle man, such as in cigarette companies, the government would receive 100% income on their product, which would be able to greatly benefit society, this money could go toward; a better equipped police force, education, general tax relief for society, the list goes on. Gang violence would likely be cut in half, as gangs would no longer fight over drugs, and, using the money from drug sales, the government would be able to better train and equip the various police forces.

Much like any change, my idea has some massive holes in it. Surely we don’t want to make all drugs legal; there are many that pose a great risk to the user and society. Drugs like methamphetamines, for example, pose a threat to both the user, and those around the drug in general (as methamphetamines tend to be highly toxic). There would have to be some restrictions for on the job as well, much like a politician, police officer, teacher, businessman –even a manager at McDonalds- can’t come to work drunk, neither should they be allowed to whilst ‘tripping’ or ‘stoned’; they should suffer a harsher penalty than had they been drinking.

In conclusion, my idea would help to; supplement tax dollars, remove two sources of heavy tax burden, help to end gang violence (and potentially general petty theft), help to minimize the number of ‘OD’ victims, and help to make the users of such drugs, and people in general, feel like they have a bit more of their promised freedom. Of course my idea isn’t perfect, but the system we have now doesn’t seem to be perfect either, and in many ways the system we have now doesn’t seem to work at all. Perhaps the legalization and regulation of what are, currently, illegal drugs, is a step in the right direction. I leave it to you, to decide for yourself."

Oh, and for anybody that's wondering, still no dice on the headaches... I'm not overly worried though, I've put up with the random headaches for a few years this is just the worst they've hit me.

Take it easy all,
-Wraith

Lack of Updates

2007-11-15T14:19:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted any new rants in the past few days... My crazy random headaches are back, Doctor said there's nothin' he can do, just take Tylenol or aspirin and hope it goes away, and on top of that I haven't been sleeping well. Toss and turn for a few hours, then drift off into the weirdest dreams I've ever had.

Anywho, I wrote an essay a good year or so ago, give or take, and I might end up posting the entire thing later if I can find it. The topic? The War on Drugs. I honestly believe society could be a better place if drugs were legalized and government regulated... I know it sounds crazy, and no, I don't do drugs, but it could actually solve a good number of problems.

Only drug I use is the boozahol and that's only after a really shitty day. Anywho, to summarize my essay, that I'll post if I can find it, if drugs were legalized it would; generate new income for the government while alleviating two tax burdens, help slow gang violence a little bit, open up more freedoms for the people, help alleviate the number of overdose induced deaths, and, one that just struck me now, allow for better research into alternative medicines.

I'll post the essay and/or elaborate a bit more when it doesn't feel as if my brain was trying to escape my head (the Tylenol does nothing). So take it easy all,
-Wraith

Remembrance Day

2007-11-11T11:56:00.000-05:00

I hope everybody took a minute of silence today to reflect on the lives lost in the name of freedom. Remembrance Day has always been a pretty important day for my family and I as my brother has served in Afghanistan. The world is in turmoil these days, the Middle East has become a hotbed of hatred, and nobody wants anybody else to meddle. The media is pushing fear, and world leaders don't seem to have the foggiest what to do about the war.

With everybody so focused on a war that we shouldn't be fighting I'd like to remind you all of this; Remembrance Day is about the soldiers that gave their lives for freedom, and not the war mongers demanding blood for money, or land, or oil. It's so easy to say you don't support the war and then forget about the soldiers who want the war about as much as you do but are actually over there fighting it. A lot of people tie supporting the troops to supporting the war, but you don't have to.

I am entirely against the war, I think Canada was pressured to go to Afghanistan but we held good intentions. What everybody missed was that Canada was on a peace keeping mission, we acted mainly as police officers, *until* the Taliban started using IED's to attack, and kill, our soldiers. The media focuses on the war in Iraq and so it's easy to miss what the Canadian troops are doing, and what the Canadian soldiers are going through, but Canada did not go to Afghanistan on the offensive.

I think, as soon as things turned hostile, Canada should have pulled out and left Afghanistan to it's own devices. It's too late for that though, we are commited, and our brave soldiers have to march into Hell whether they want to or not... is it not the least you can do to back them? To support them? It's easy to say you don't support them when you're not there, many of them have families to feed, and all of them are obligated to be there. It's not a matter of choice for our soldiers.

So please, take a moment of silence and reflect on all those that gave their lives so you can freely say that you disagree with war,
-Wraith

Politically Correct

2007-11-10T15:11:00.000-05:00

Hey all, what's new?

So this kinda got under my skin the other day because I can't help but choke on the hypocrisy. I heard on the news a few days ago, and have been debating writing this article since, that Toronto, I believe, is locked in a debate about a certain proposal. This proposal ladies and gents is for a 'black exclusive' school; one that caters exclusively to black students.

It's interesting to note that the idea cut a pretty crisp line; there are those that think the idea is great and will really help black students, and then there's my school of thought... it's blatantly racist. Think of the protests we'd have if a 'white exclusive' school were opened. The black community would be outraged.

Once again I find myself falling back on 'Equalism' for I believe that there shouldn't be *any* special schools that cater to one difference or another. One of the suggestions for the school was that it would be able to focus on black history, it's hard to describe my feelings on this one. The first thought that comes to mind is; 'Why not have all schools touch on black history', this thought is promptly followed by; 'What about other minority groups?'

It's right up there with gay pride parades in my opinion. Why aren't there 'Straight Pride' parades? We could walk the streets with our boyfriends and girlfriends, respectively, just being over-the-top straight. We should have a month of the year dedicated to every ethnicity's history. Why not?

On that note can anybody tell me what happened to the Ottoman empire? They were huge before world war one... then they did nothing... then after the war they were gone. I know our, Canadian, history textbooks said nothing about it, and I'm curious. A friend and I have drawn up a bunch of crazy conspiracies about it, but I'd love to know what actually happened.

One last thought, what's with; 'Happy Holidays'? Why does everybody take offence to 'Merry Christmas'? Before I get the lecture, I know not everybody follows Christianity, hell I'm one of the people Christianity tends to bug, but why take offence to somebody wishing you good will? Just respond with; 'Aye, and Happy Hanukkah!' I think being politically correct is getting rediculous and people are starting to believe they have a right to not be offended. Why not just recognize that the person couldn't possibly know your religion by glancing at you and so they went with the general assumption but they still mean well?

Why have I fallen into the trap of talking about winter holidays in November anyway? People are *really* rushing 'Non-denominational Winter Holiday' this year...

Take it easy all,
-Wraith

Religion and Me

2007-11-04T12:50:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or is every store pushing Christmas already? I was in Costco on October 14ish and they had more Christmas stuff out than Hallowe'en stuff, like, what's up with that? My family is discussing 'homemade gifts' upstairs and it got me to thinking about December (especially because I just got fired for no reason so homemade may be the gift route I'm forced to venture) and thus the various religions out there. Now those of you that know me from STR would probably lean toward calling me a liberal atheist but that's not quite true.

I have been told I'll be packing up and heading to Hell for my religious beliefs, which I can't help but laugh at because, if I'm right, then my 'God' would disagree and I'm a-okay. Which brings me to what I believe, or, more accurately, what I preach. Who amongst us has died? Who amongst us has seen the other side? Who amongst us has passed through the pearly gates? So who can profess to know for sure what lies beyond? I believe, quite simply, that I do not know what will follow death.

It seems to be a deep-seeded Christian belief that one needs religion to have morals, and I disagree. I'm the white-knight type good guy, kind and forgiving to a fault -which sounds arrogant to say but if you ever look me up on msn you'll likely find it true-. So why do I do what I do? Why do I help others? Simple, because it should just be done.

The way I see it?
There's a loving God; My good acts may some day be rewarded.
There is a neutral God; I was a good person on Earth, hopefully it will be reflected after death.
There's an 'Evil Deity'; I want no part of it's paradise anyway.
There is no God; I was a good guy, and may have inspired social change for the better.

We are all immortal anyway, for every decision you make every day effects everybody around you in one way or another. Perhaps your kind deed will influence a million more good deeds over time, and, in some small way, you'll be lived on through those deeds. I may come off as a tad critical of those that follow a set religion and I assure you I'm not. Part of believing in Equalism I suppose, everybody has their own path, and their own reasons, so why should it be my place to call you wrong and question what you do? Do not harm me, and I'll not harm you.

That being said I have had my clashes with organized religion, a friend's churchgroup actually started a debate after I called one of them on his beliefs, though in my defense it was out of self defense. When people try to convert me I see it as an opening to discuss the weight and value of our beliefs, and so I'll openly speak my mind.

Wishing everybody the best, maybe I'll see you all in Hell some day?
-Wraith

Computer Support

2007-11-02T13:47:00.000-04:00

Whatever happened to the good ol' days of easy, sensical, support. Support from people that actually gave a shit. I have in my possession two broken monitors and one broken surround sound card (which is in my $2400 computer)... I've sent out three support emails, and so far this is my story for them;

TTX Monitor; Got a response, they told me exactly what was wrong, now I just have to find a way to fix it.

ACER Monitor; It seems ACER is using the 'ignore him and he'll go away' method of dealing with my question (Yeah, that's right *question* not complaint). Right now I advise against buying ACER products simply because they obviously care little for their customers.

Asus Motherboard; The number one most rediculous support questionaire I have *ever* encountered. To ask what's wrong with the built in audio/surround sound card I had to tell them; Vendor, Date of Purchase, VGA card information, A slew of different serial numbers, BIOS information, CPU information, and Memory Information... Of the 21 fields I needed to fill out I think maybe 5 were relevant to my problem... Whatever happened to; 'What model is it? What's wrong with it? Okay, I need this, this and this to be able to tell you how to fix it.' Now you have to answer absolutely every possible question in advance! I'm not bad with computers and even I was stumped on half of the information they wanted, and some was rediculous like; 'Motherboard BIOS Revision' (Meaning I have to restart my computer and write it down during boot... thus erasing all the fields I had already filled out) I *just* sent of my email, it will be interesting to see what they have to say *if* they get back to me.

Right now I am *beyond* frustrated... I *just* got done fixing my flash player because of a bizarre one in a million registry error, and now? That's totally irrelevant because what I fixed requires the front left and front right speakers (the only port to die on my surround sound 'card') I can't explain it, I just seem to attract bad karma.

Wishing nobody else out there has to wade through all this crap,
-Wraith

UPDATE

Asus got back to me despite my not being able to answer most of their fields. What they asked me to do is wicked risky to my motherboard though so I'll be bringing it in to a computer store and asking if they'd be willing to follow ASUS' instructions. I'll let everybody know if it works.

-Wraith

'Equalism'

2007-10-29T21:10:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-29T14:57:00.000-04:00

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

Pirate?

2007-10-28T21:24:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-28T01:54:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-28T01:24:00.001-04:00

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

STR Changed my Post!

2007-10-27T01:23:00.001-04:00

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...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

Howdy All

2007-10-26T15:50:00.000-04:00

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