 | Welcome | Mar 26, 2005 |
Behold this mystical realm where dreams are bold and imaginations welm Welcome Wanderers, together, We'll Wonder.  | stairs | Jun 18, '06 5:22 AM
for everyone |
On terrorists: Prevention is futile. The system is static, while
they are fluid. A static system can only react to a fluid one. A static system
has a zillion loopholes awaiting abuse by a fluid system, and it is impossible
to plug all of them. They attack by air, you guard the air; next they attack
the train, you start guarding it. Firstly, there exist limited resources to
guard every single thing. Furthermore, all fortresses are anchored, awaiting
observation and later exploitation. The ball is all in their court. They attack
an area; you step up security at the area. 1) It diverts forces from other
area, exposing them for strikes. Who would strike the same place twice? 2) If
you don’t, or time eventually cause slack; they attack again, you receive
public backlash for not heeding the past and failure to prevent it.
To prevent, you must first predict. And prediction is no easy
task considering the multitude of possibilities.
What matters then is recovery. Then you can retaliate with
counter-attacks.
Peace leads to stagnancy. The key to progress during peace is the
“perceived threat”. -zeminith
Peace demands solutions, but we never reach living solutions; we only
work toward them. A fixed solution is, by definition, a dead solution. The
trouble with peace is that it tends to punish mistakes instead of rewarding
brilliance.
– The Words of My Father: an account of Muad’Dib reconstructed by Harq
al-Ada
Natural selection has been described as an environment selectively
screening for those who will have progeny. Where humans are concerned, though,
this is an extremely limiting viewpoint. Reproduction by sex tends towards
experimentation and innovation. It raises many questions, including the ancient
one about whether environment is a selective agent after the variation occurs,
or whether environment plays a pre-selective role in determining the variation
which it screens.
- The Dune Catastrophe After Harq al-Ada
Governments, if they endure, always tend increasingly toward
aristocratic forms. No government in history has been known to evade this
pattern. And as the aristocracy develops, government tends more and more to act
exclusively in the interests of the ruling class – whether that class be
hereditary royalty, oligarchs of finacial empires, or entrenched bureaucracy.
– Politics as Repeat phenomenon: Bene Gesserit Training Manual
Good government never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities
of those who govern. The machinery of government is always subordinate to the
will of those who admister that machinery. The most important element of government,
therefore, is the method of choosing leaders.
–
Law and Governance The Spacing Guild Manual
 | * | Jul 13, '05 12:30 PM
for everyone |
Deadlines are invisible; don't live on invisible deadlines...
- zeminith
Deadlines are linear. Trapped in a trail... No longer.
__________________________________________________
Conflict,
Confusion...
Life is a play. And actors lose their identity...
Act yourself: scriptless, invoke dangerous improvisation.
Glimpse of a grand self... Gone? Destiny?
The pressures from within, whirling...
The mind is capable of defending any action under self trial.
- zeminith
Bah! So the erosion proceeds. A sculpture or ___
Change,
the only constant, as timeless and relentless as time itself. Good and bad,
rise and ebb. Sigh, to draw upon all the good in history into the present. A
shining evolving strength of permanace to embrace change?
kept in thrall of the virus
denied contact
Desperation drove him, wielding the scapel, striking with uncanny visciousness.
Anything that he doesn't recognise, everything that his whims instructs.
Flesh flayed, blood burst
A merciless mutilation
to purge a contagion...
clensed at a cost....
many maimed
much mourning....
I have all the luck in the world.... My past three computers all have
an attitude, working only at times or after drastic measures
undertaken.
Well, maybe the "opportune" failing of it may aid in the channelling of more time to my revision, ha.
A macabre deletion of files in my computer has finally enable it to
reforge connection with the internet. A sacrifice of several system
files entailed. Still discovering what functions are now disabled.
Can't shut down and restart normally, Ability to suddenly restart with
countdown, file preview function disappeared... Oh wow, hahaha
Blzzt.
Atheism: A (negate) + theism (belief in God)
A 2004 survey by the CIA in the World Factbook estimates about 12.5% of the world's population is non-religious, and about 2.4% are atheists.
By the 20th century, atheism had become the most common position among scientists, humanists and rationalists.
Atheism in History: Epicureanism in the west. In the East, living a contemplative life without gods began with Lao Zi who wrote of the Tao (the Way), and Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha in the 6th century BCE, founder of Buddhism. These worldviews are considered major religions, however, the original doctrinal texts do not advocate or describe deities, or related deity-worship. While later enthusiasts introduced deities and deity-worship, the practical application of these worldviews to religious thought remains atheistic.
"God is no longer an explanation of anything, but has instead become something that that would itself need an insurmountable amount of explaining."
- Douglas Adams
Atheism beliefs (arguments for atheism, i.e. non-existence of God)
1) The argument from inconsistent revelations contests the existence of the middle eastern, biblical deity called God as described in holy scriptures, such as the Jewish Tanakh, the Christian Bible, or the Muslim Qur'an, by identifying contradictions between different scriptures, contradictions within a single scripture, or contradictions between scripture and known facts.
2) The problem of evil (or theodicy) in general, and the logical and evidential arguments from evil in particular contest the existence of a god who is both omnipotent and omnibenevolent by arguing that such a god would not permit the existence of evil, which can easily be shown to exist. (Flawed: a)Calvinism asserts that all events are part of God's plan, and therefore, though they may appear to be evil to us, God intends them for a higher purpose that only he knows, and they are not evil in God's eyes. )
3) Creationism vs Evolution. Which is true? Is the living matter we see around us the result of eons of evolution or God’s manificent hand of creation? Atheists believe it’s evolution.
4) The argument from free will contests the existence of an omniscient god who has free will by arguing that the two properties are contradictory.
a) By the definition of "free will", if God has free will, then at any point in time he may either choose to do a certain thing or choose not to do it.
b) By the definition of "omniscience", an omniscient God knows everything that will happen in the future, including all of the choices he will make at any future point in time.
c) By the definitions of "knowledge" and "choice", if one knows what choice one will make in the future, one will not be able to make the opposite choice.
d) If God is omniscient, then he is incapable of choice.
e) God cannot both be omniscient and have free will.
A persuasive, sweeping argument: Some Christians espouse a theological position called fideism, which holds that the decision to believe in God is one that neither has, nor needs, rational justification. Fideists observe that Christianity teaches that faith is necessary for salvation. But, if God's existence could be logically proven or empirically demonstrated, faith in God's existence would become irrelevant. Therefore, if Christianity is true, it follows that no argument in favour of God's existence can be valid. (1Cor. 1:21-25)
Many world religions teach that morality is derived from, for example, the commandments of a particular deity, and, further, that fear of the gods and promise of salvation is a major factor in motivating people towards moral behavior. Consequently, atheists have frequently been accused of being amoral or immoral. For example, for many years in the United States, atheists were not allowed to testify in court because it was believed that an atheist would have no reason to tell the truth.
If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.
~Albert Einstein
Atheists reject this view and often assert that they are as motivated towards moral behavior as anyone — if only by their upbringing, a human concern for others, society's laws, a desire for a good reputation, and self-esteem.
6 years in photography… achievements?
Basic theory well enough, applications?
Power of perspectives, appreciations…
Philosophy of personal photography, acquired…?
Have I any good works to show? I don’t know… Art you can say is about perspectives, some may like, and some may not… Yet there’s the thing about aesthetics, the appreciation of beauty has some universal standard; and I hope to have it…
Inspirations are lacking…
Furthermore what were good ideas in the mind came out as crappy shots when taken…
an artist creates not because he can, but because he must....
but what happens when his ability for his craft disappears suddenly?
Tormented…
Disillusioned? Disappointed?
Sigh… seeking confidence in something
Trying…
Reeling from Results...
feeling the pain...
all this pressure is changing pieces of me slowly but surely into something grosteque.
Part of me is slowing dying, and i'm not sure i like the new one that replaces it.
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Suddenly, I'm not half the man i used to be....
There's a shadow hanging over me...
Dismal Defeats,
Depths of Disappointment
seeping into me, suffocating...
Drowning in Dispair
---------------------------------
I tried so hard
and got so far
but in the end
it doesn't even matter....
Hard work can overcome deficiency in intelligence, so can intelligence overcome deficiency in hard work... What the H***....
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Give me endless summer
Lord I fear the cold
Feel I'm getting old
Before my time
the future bleak
as i grow weak
all that i seek
is rest and ___
-------------------------------------
Yesterday, all my trobles seem so far away.........
now it's as if their here to stay
Growing chronically nostalgic.....
Missing the good old days.....
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As my soul heals the shame
I will grow through this pain
Lord I'm doing all I can
To be a better man
It hurts..... terribly...
yet i will rise again, as i always did.......
trying to.......
do i emerge stronger?
or just get battered again...
yet i simply cannot remain
compelled to move on.... 
|  | accidentally setted the date function.... bleah... |
24 Mar 2005
A return from my sojourn to the realms of study (:
how i spent holidays:
common test
it comes to all
denying me rest
as i rise to answer its call
My biological clock is screwed. Study till early morning, sleep till late afternoon.
Discovered something: i gouges on tibits when studying > oh no! Studying interposed
with spells of sleep. Trudged through.. somehow..
oh attended she ying dui's orientation closing day... had fun... many interesting people. Sad, unable to attend more.... was hyper ;p
also played badminton with old friends. :)
And so the battle begins.
Gp:
Compo
> Q1) hard work, does it brings success. A good start i hope. This
familiar topic that i had much discussion on. The awful conversion
rate, and it not being directly proportional.... Had modify the points
and language for the marking audience. ha. *prays to do well*
compre
> whoah. the great problem with it is that the questions don't seem
to address the passage. crapped it all. hope to fob the marker.
Phy:
"guard the coast ya say? Posted a regiment of da best." The enemy did arrive. The giant waves that crushes us. Impotence.
Decided
to put in effort in physics this time instead of abandoning it. Yeah, a
regiment of effort. Horrid paper. The weaponary of the army, rendered
terribly impotent.
Bio:
a good bio paper is one that your hand can write non-stop.
Facts flow
in abundance.
Small assurance
that results won't be too low.
Maybe the sudden surge of study mode after the dramatic failure of physics gave the much needed boost to tide this over.
Final day. Two of my better subjectss. *smile*
Chem:
Chem's cool
banner flying high
under the beautiful sky
begins to fly :)
Initial assessment. hope i'm not having delusions of grandeur.
Maths:
maths a megrim
unable to avert this crisis
survival hope is
nothing but grim
sigh... answers all look accursedly weird. preparation inadequate? questions difficult?
And so its over....
Mirthless yet, nursing the migraine, cummulative effect brought about in this period of stress. AH!!!
Awaiting results with trepidation...
Finally time to pursue my interests...
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