Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

After Reading Artemis Fowl and the lost colony... I have this to say...

Artemis- you're smart. We get it. stop rubbing it in everyone's face. they will kill you. Also- throw a party for Butler- no, wait! A Parade! He Deserves it. You're crazy, Artemis. Crazy like a koalla.

Doodah Day, your name is stupid. I mean really retarded. I think your parents were high when they named you. Like, really high. I like you, though, you gave a great performance, and were very willing to risk it. You're name sucks, so I'll just call you Dude. Dude deserves to be pardoned and fed fishfood. I meant Seafood. Bravo, Dude. Bravo.

Congratulations, Foaly- way to bounce back! a New Job, a New Grilfriend... can't wait to meet her... By the way, I'd love to hear some more of your singing. I got the riverbend in mah soul! *laughs* Okay, I couldn't do that with a straight face. But still- sing like no one is listening, even if they are.

Despite his comment yesterday in an interview with The Washington Post that the United States is currently "not winning" in Iraq, he said today that he continues to believe that "victory in Iraq is achievable" and that U.S. forces will eventually prevail.
"My comments yesterday reflected the fact that we're not succeeding nearly as fast as I wanted, when I said it at the time, and that the conditions are tough in Iraq, particularly in Baghdad," Bush added. "And so we're conducting a review to make sure that our strategy helps us achieve that which I'm pretty confident we can do. And that is have a country which can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself."
He added, "And I want the enemy to understand that this is a tough task, but they can't run us out of the Middle East; that they can't intimidate America. They think they can. They think it's just a matter of time before America grows weary and leaves; abandons the people of Iraq, for example. And that's not going to happen."
He said he does not believe that "most Americans want us just to get out now," and he warned that "retreat" from Iraq would embolden Islamic extremists, hurt U.S. credibility and "dash the hopes of millions who want to be free."
In a statement, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) continued, "Unfortunately, it is troubling to see that he still does not understand the need for urgent change in Iraq. The president seems lost within his own rhetoric. He is grasping for a victory his current policies have put out of reach and leaving our troops stuck policing a civil war."
Bush stuck by his refusal to hold unconditional direct talks about Iraq with Iran and Syria, as recommended by the Iraq Study group. Bush said Iran must verifiably suspend its uranium enrichment program before the United States will negotiate with that country as part of talks including Britain, Germany, France and Russia. He said this step is necessary for Iran to avoid becoming "an isolated nation" under its hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Branigin, William. "Bush Maintains 'Victory in Iraq is Acheiveable'". Washington Post. Wednesday, December 20, 2006; 4:44 PM



Iraq had agreed to various resolutions that indicated it must destroy its weapons of mass destruction and it had to agree not to resume production of WMD as well as to agree to independent verification by the appropriate UN groups. Several reports were submitted by Hans Blix and Mohamed El Baradei, the two heads of the UN Weapons Inspector teams culminating in their final reports on March 7, 2003.
March 7, 2003, that is the date everyone should have in their minds. That is the date the President should have called off the war. If he had been smart, he would have initiated a huge victory celebration. His policies, supported by the Democrats, had, after all, resulted in the resumption of inspections that determined we were safe. No lives had been lost. It would have been masterful. But that is not what he did.
I cannot imagine being in a city in a foreign land wearing a uniform clearly denoting one as a member of a foreign military and thus subject to being attacked at any time from any angle without really any ability to tell friend from foe. Over time, many months and years in fact, these troops have watched improvised explosives and bullets ripping into their friends with no warning and if that isn't a scenario ripe for making one go violently insane, I don't know what is.

You could send another one hundred thousand troops into Iraq and it would not achieve anything substantial.

Leser, Steven. "Iraq War-When the Wrong Path was Taken and what to do now". OpEd News. December 19, 2006.





In the wake of this "model," not a single Arab regime feels any pressure to reform. They say to their people, "Do you want a democracy like they have in Iraq?" (The refrain echoes beyond the region. Vladimir Putin makes the same point in Russia, to justify his own usurpations of power.)

Zakaria, Fareed. "Time to move Beyond Iraq". Newsweek December 17, 2006

Jack Spicer (Xiaolin Showdown)

Kimiko:

Over the summer, I read Mein Kampf (Part 1: a Reckoning), by Adolf Hitler. Hitler's narrative style has a lot of twists, turns, loops, and dead ends. One of the most shocking revalations in the book was Hitler's emotional outbursts, especially those about his mother, were very sentimental. Before now, if I were to think "Hitler", I'd picture an unfeeling evil dictator. As a child, Hitler was taught to love Germany, though he was born and raised in Austria. While attending school, Hitler's main influence was his History teachers, who would talk about past wars in an exciting and Glamourous way. Despite his enthusiasum for History, Hitler never graduated Highschool, wanting instead to follow his dream of becoming a painter. Little did he know that dropping out of Highschool would keep him from doing just that.

Hitler belived that Government should be quick, decisive, and harsh, and that in order to accomodate everyone, a leader must have seen society from the bottom. Even as a child, Hitler was aggressive and took charge to win any argument by any means necessary. In this part of his life, Hitler saw himself as a revolutionary, out to save Germany. Most people didn't share his view of himself, dismissing him as crazy, which he probably was.

From what I have gathered in reading Mein Kampf, I assume that Hitler was Paranoid Delusional. His strength was his oratory prowess, and his weakness was his poor mental health. Hitler believed that it was the Jews' fault that Germany lost World War I, and that the Jews were evil and out to destroy him, and Germany itself. Most of the world was anti-semitic to begin with, so it wasn't hard to get the rest of Germany to see things his way.

Classes:
Fighter
>Knight
>Ninja
>Samurai
>Monk
>Barbarian
Rouge
>Theif
>Pirate
Cleric
>Morninglord
>Painbearer
>Dreadmaster
>Lore Keeper
Druid
>Ranger
Wizard
>Necromancer
>Enchanter
>Evoker
>Conjurer
>Illusionist
>Elementalist
Chemist
>Alchemist
>Potioneer





Human
>Asimar: Asimars are semi-angelic,
>Teifling: Semi-demonic
>>Changeling:
>>Imp: Imps have horns and tails and are slick and cunning
Elf
>Moon Elf
>Golden Elf
>Wild Elf
>Drow: Long ago a group of elves split from the rest of the Elvish community and worshiped the Spider Goddess, Lolth, And were cursed with blue or black skin, and cast out of Elvish society. Drow, or Dark Elves are meaner and stronger than their lighter counterparts.
Halfling
>Strongheart: Strong heart halflings are always up for an adventure. Or a drink. Or Both! You can cout on a Strongheart to go back for a wounded party member.
>Lightfoot: Lightfoots love to pull pranks and make jokes. They are good at setting and disabling traps, as well as picking locks, making them incredible theives.
>Hobbit: Hobbits are arguably the smartest type of halfling there is. Hobbits are known to keep their cool and wriggle themselves and their party out of a difficult situation. Masters of riddles and improvised story-telling, These furry-footed fellows excell as bards.
Gnome
Dwarf
>Sheild Dwarves: Slightly taller than their Golden Cousins, Shield Dwarves are Reckless and Quick to fight. They live above ground and get along better with Humans.
>Gold Dwarves: A Noble race of Dwarves that usually live in mountainous caverns, rich with ore that they can mine for. Gold Dwarves get along with each other quite well, but are very territorial, and will kill any other species that stumbles upon their tunnels without a good expliantion, Especially Goblins.
>Eastern Dwarves: Eastern Dwarves Stay underground, and have adapted to tunneling with their own hands. Shorter and hairier than other dwarves, Eastern Dwarves have Powerful jaws that they can unhinge and a digestive system that can handle almost anything.
Fairy
>pixie: Pixies range from one to three feet tall. Unlike their Sprite reletives, Pixies have human complexions, though their hair still matches their wing color. Pixie wings are stronger than Sprite's, but will not grow back if damaged.
>Sprite: Sprites are no taller than a foot, and come in a wide array of colors. They have large, insect-like eyes and antennae. Their irredesent wings usually grow back within a year if they have been ripped off.
>Fey: Also known as the High Fairies, Fey are just as tall as humans, and have large, butterfly or moth-like wings
Centaurs:
Satyrs:
Werewolves:
Vampires:

http://www.santharia.com/
http://www.rpghost.com/


Classes:
Fighter
>Knight
>Ninja
>Samurai
>Monk
>Barbarian
Rouge
>Theif
>Pirate
Cleric
>Morninglord
>Painbearer
>Dreadmaster
>Lore Keeper
Druid
>Ranger
Wizard
>Necromancer
>Enchanter
>Evoker
>Conjurer
>Illusionist
>Elementalist
Chemist
>Alchemist
>Potioneer





Human
>Asimar: Asimars are semi-angelic,
>Teifling: Semi-demonic
>>Changeling:
>>Imp: Imps have horns and tails and are slick and cunning
Elf
>Moon Elf
>Golden Elf
>Wild Elf
>Drow: Long ago a group of elves split from the rest of the Elvish community and worshiped the Spider Goddess, Lolth, And were cursed with blue or black skin, and cast out of Elvish society. Drow, or Dark Elves are meaner and stronger than their lighter counterparts.
Halfling
>Strongheart: Strong heart halflings are always up for an adventure. Or a drink. Or Both! You can cout on a Strongheart to go back for a wounded party member.
>Lightfoot: Lightfoots love to pull pranks and make jokes. They are good at setting and disabling traps, as well as picking locks, making them incredible theives.
>Hobbit: Hobbits are arguably the smartest type of halfling there is. Hobbits are known to keep their cool and wriggle themselves and their party out of a difficult situation. Masters of riddles and improvised story-telling, These furry-footed fellows excell as bards.
Gnome
Dwarf
>Sheild Dwarves: Slightly taller than their Golden Cousins, Shield Dwarves are Reckless and Quick to fight. They live above ground and get along better with Humans.
>Gold Dwarves: A Noble race of Dwarves that usually live in mountainous caverns, rich with ore that they can mine for. Gold Dwarves get along with each other quite well, but are very territorial, and will kill any other species that stumbles upon their tunnels without a good expliantion, Especially Goblins.
>Eastern Dwarves: Eastern Dwarves Stay underground, and have adapted to tunneling with their own hands. Shorter and hairier than other dwarves, Eastern Dwarves have Powerful jaws that they can unhinge and a digestive system that can handle almost anything.
Fairy
>pixie: Pixies range from one to three feet tall. Unlike their Sprite reletives, Pixies have human complexions, though their hair still matches their wing color. Pixie wings are stronger than Sprite's, but will not grow back if damaged.
>Sprite: Sprites are no taller than a foot, and come in a wide array of colors. They have large, insect-like eyes and antennae. Their irredesent wings usually grow back within a year if they have been ripped off.
>Fey: Also known as the High Fairies, Fey are just as tall as humans, and have large, butterfly or moth-like wings
Centaurs:
Satyrs:
Werewolves:
Vampires:

Name: "Pex"
Age: 23
Race: Human
Occupation: Bodyguard/babysitter of James Morganstone
Appearance: Is about 6'7", with Brown Hair and green eyes. Very Muscular, wears a suit, usually with a red tie.
Weapons: Exellent boxing skills, machine gun, grenade launcher
Bio: Former hit-man/guard for Jon Spiro. While in his service, he met his best friend, Chips. Once their boss went crazy, he went with Chips to the unemployment agency to look for a job together, where James found the both of them. His father was an avid sports fan, it was he who gave him the name "Pex". (He was proud that his son was all muscley and not fat like the rest of the males in his family) His dad got him to play football in middleschool and some of highschool ('till he dropped out) When he dropped out, his father still had him play football and work as a contractor with him... That is until his fatal triple-bypass when Pex was 18. In order to support his family, he looked for for lucrative work, and found a well-paying job working for Spiro. All he had to do was scare and beat people up.


Name: Chips (it's his real name)
Age: 21
Race: Human
Occupation: Bodyguard/babysitter of James Morganstone
Appearance: Is about 6'7", with Blonde Hair and blue eyes. Very Muscular, wears a suit, usually with a blue tie. Is slightly paler than Pex
Weapons: Really good at hitting things with blunt objects, machine gun, grenade launcher
Bio: Former hit-man/guard for Jon Spiro. While in his service, he met his best friend, Pex. Once their boss went crazy, he Followed Pex to the unemployment agency to look for a job together. He grew up in an orphanage in South Carolina, where the only channel that they were allowed to watch was PBS. When asked how he got involved with Spiro, he says; "I don't know." Chips is always very polite, and has many moral objections to his job. After watching Shrek 2, his new Hero is Puss in Boots. Barney will always be his mentor, though.

Australia has been adressing the Avian flu since 1996. In 2004, Australia's Animal Health Administration released a ninety-nine page document called the AUSVETPLAN. The AUSVETPLAN serves as a guide to all livestock owners on meathods of preventing disease within domestic animals, and vetrinaries with the information needed to treat wild animals of diseases such as bird flu. The plan touches on how Farmers, civil servants, and ordinary people can prevent diseases in animals, treat diseases in animals, and prevent the spread of diseases in animals.

One of the main points of the plan is to keep all agencies alert and aware of any changes in the health community. It also states that financial aid must be flexible at all times so that if the moment arises that the avian flu does break out, there will be enough money to spend on controlling and eliminating it. The plan also gives procedures for regular check-ups for all domestic birds, giving signs of sickness that one should look for, and steps that should be taken to quarentine the infected birds.

The Australian government has done a very good job in preparing it's country for a bird flu epidemic. As of now, there have been no reported cases of the avian flu that have come out of Australia.


Resources:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/avian_influenza/en/index.html