Today in one of my classes, somehow the topic of halocaust came up, and we were discussing it and blah blah blah and how bad all of the hate was and all of the abuse, and my teacher was like 'thank god there's no prejudice like that anymore.' he acted like japanese people (i love japanese people by the way, dont get me wrong) were the only people that had ever been treated with prejudice .. I raised my hand and got called on and went off on my little rant.

'Dude, you don't even know. There's still INSANE prejudice going on today! How can you even say that. You hear it all over the place, even in our school. Even just walking by groups of people talking about people. Gossiping. In the locker room is the worst. Everyone is something negative nowadays. This one's a f*ckhole, that one's a tom boy, this one's a dyke, that one's an idiot, this one's a racist, that one's a faggot. You hear it all over the place. People just talking crap about eachother.'

... After I said that, some kid shouted out of the back of the class 'which one are you?!'.. i just kind of put my head down. one of the kids coughed 'faggot' and another kid just straight up said it. 'we all know simon's a fag.'.. i looked at the teacher and said 'now do you see what i mean?' he told the class there wasn't to be anymore of that behavior. i waited for a cough or something, but there was nothing. i hate everything about badass kids these days. or at least kids that think they're badasses. i hate it. i hate prejudice. i hate homophobia. i mean, i'm not a flamer or anything, but inside i am proud of who i am. things like that make it hard to be proud of who i am. and i hate it.

i try to think of ways to deal with that sort of thing but it always seems to get worse. isn't there a way to let that just roll off my back? or should i take a stand? what?

Hmmm. Tough call. All I can say, is that it's important for all of us to stand up for what we beleive in. Of course, at the same time, we have to be careful what we say, and when. And most of all, to whom. You don't, for instance, walk into Goober's gas station, where the rednecks hang out, and expound on gay rights. It would not be conducive to one's health. But, there's safety in numbers. If we find others who share our beliefs, and add our voice to theirs... we can effect change. At the very least, we find community... and self value. Hang in there.

Perhaps he mean mass genocide like the Jews? That hasn't happened for a long long time. I guess you could count Rwanda? Sorry my recent political history leaves a lot to be desired! However I don't think the mass extermination of a race can be compared to a couple of idiots at the back of a classroom who cough rude words.

I agree though that there is still prejudice. In everything. I mean look at how hilarious people are finding the "Chav" thing? That's prejudice surely?

There isn't anything you can do about it as an individual really other that educate those that are prejudiced. Personally IMHO if they are already that prejudiced they aren't going to want to listen to anything you say anyway. Still if you can get at least one homophobe (for want of a better analogy) to accept that you are the way you are and you aren't diseased/nasty/horrid/wrong/etc. then that's a step in the right direction surely?

It's OK to rant about it BTW

Firstly, protect yourself. Making a stand is important, and it sounds like you did that in the classroom, but your personal safety is also very important. There are some very prejudiced people out there and en-masse they can be very dangerous, so just take care and choose your battles. Raising it in the classroom was a good place to do it, because there are still figures of authority around, and as many people (if not more) probably shared your view as disagreed with it.

As Pixie says, your teacher probably was talking about mass genocide, but to say that it's not happening these days is silly. Rwanada is one example, Saddam Hussein was also killing thousands of Kurds in his country. It's difficult to know for sure what happens in every country in the world, but secluded places like Chinese-occupied Tibet do raise concerns. Sometimes genocide looks externally like civil war.

Sadly, it seems that wherever there is a lack of openness there is also cruelty to others. The more hidden it is, the more cruelty there seems to be.

This isn't to say that even democratic countries are innocent. Look up the Tuskagee experiments on African Americans. Now that was absolutely hideous in its own way. Just because we don't know these things are happening in own own countries now it doesn't mean that they aren't.

i love how everyone here is all logical.

Trust me. We can be very illogical when it comes to it too I certainly can, I'm a woman!

one good trick is simply to have talking points... just do a little research to back you up...

like, everybody likes jamaica, right? they're easy going, mellow...

well, they lynched three people last year for being gay.

and the japanese prison camps in america-pretty much NOT a good idea. but that's NOTHING compared to what has happened to native americans.

remember to work for peace. dont just get in a fight for the sake of it. you can tell pretty quick if you can't change someone's mind.

You can't change the world, you know. People are stupid and prejudiced and always will be. Even you are- you may not admit it, but you are. Why, you even said, though in different words, that you are prejudiced against "badass kids." Myself, I often get very annoyed by the way some black people talk. I mean no offense to anyone, but they talk very quickly and they swear too much and they try to sound like rappers, which I hate by the way, and it comes across as VERY IRRITATING. The trick, of course, is to not ACT on your prejudices. They are impulses, reflexes, rather firmly ingrained into your system, something like the need to pee when you are standing in a long line... next to a waterfall. Acting on impulse is baaad; think everything through. And for the records, I have never punched someone for trying to sound like a rapper, although I really really want to.

QUOTE (Pixiegoth @ Oct 21 2004, 05:27 AM)

QUOTE (mcsimong @ Oct 20 2004, 05:53 PM)

i love how everyone here is all logical.

Trust me. We can be very illogical when it comes to it too. I certainly can, I'm a woman!

Hey! I'm a woman, too. Well, I was female last time I checked. And I am *always* logical. I can make anything illogical sound logical. ...at least in my head.

Today in my Contemorary Issues class we watched a movie on hate crimes. We were supposed to debate whether each situation would violate the laws against certain "freedoms of speech," such as saying things that directly causes violence and things like that. It showed a couple of ones with KKK members and rallies. Freedom of speech? Causes riots though. That one's a thinker. Sorry, I always get side-tracked.

When mcsimong brought up the halocaust, I remembered the part where some guy (no schooling after high school, if that makes a difference to you) is working to prove that the halocaust was a hoax, that it was made up by some political guys. We were almost laughing. The halocaust isn't something funny, but it's like saying something in history that everyone has accepted as a fact, and he's saying it never happened.


A couple other situations had to do with members of the KKK. Some people interviewed them one-on-one to see what they had to say and what they believed. Here's what a couple of them said: They're not about hate; they're about peace. One said he doesn't ate Jewish people, yet around his waist, he's tattooed major leaders with Hitler right in the center. There were other guys; I only remember one, and please forgive my spelling, Mussalinni. I'm sure that's way off, but that's how it sounds and I'm sure you know who I'm talking about (although, ironcally, I don't. Only bad guys like that I really know about are Hitler, Saddam, and...(how the heck could I forget the last one's name?) You know who he is. I believe he's got a lot to do with the war and Iraq and all that. Forgive my ignorance and forgetfulness. He (the guy in the movie) also had that sign Hitler used tattoed on his chest. Although, Hitler adapted it for his use; it was used by others orignially. Don't ask me who or what it means. (forgetful me) When asked about them, he mentioned that black people have tattoes, too. He just doesn't get it. When he was asked about his poster that had some negative phrase and picture about African Americans, he said a friend gave it to him. No, he didn't think it was funny. All he said was that he collects things, so he hung it up. Doesn't it tell you a little about the person though? Now let me try and go somewhere different with this. *Maybe* the couple of guys were *trying* to say was that they don't hate people of other ethnicities. At one point, to me, it seemed like he was trying to say ('trying' being the key word) that it's changed. These guys had no answers, which, from what I've seen in my...short time of serious debating, is that if you have nothing to support what you say, then there's a very good chance you're on the ignorant or "wrong" side. Although what is "wrong" is all based on opinion. We go with what society, the majority thinks. I'll leave that right where it is. Back to what he *may* have been *trying* to say: At one point it seemed that he may have started to say that the KKK's changed over the years, at least that's what I got out of it. *Maybe.* Now, I'm not saying that any of this is true. I'm just the kind of person that throws out different ideas. *Has* is changed? Obviously they still want white people to rule, which brings it to that the white race is superior to all others (not *my* opinion). From what I saw, those people may have said hateful things, but it was the others that started violence, while they never lifted a finger. You can understand the people's anger, but violence shouldn't solve everything, although that's how political things usually do. Okay, not usually; I'm talking about wars and stuff.

So, I've shown the idea that they could have changed. Granted, there were only two people interviewed on these things. That could be letting a kid that thinks he is--or wants to be--a vampire and a Satanist or devil worshipper (there *is* a difference) speak for the entire gothic subculture. Oh, and now that I may have informed a few people that the Hitler symbol wasn't originally a symbol of "evil," I just want to clear up the misconception about the pentacle (off topic, but what am I gonna do, start a whole thread for it?) First off, the pentaGRAM is just the star. The pentACLE is the star with the circle around it. Just like Hitler has taken that symle, Atwon LeVey (sp?), the founder of the Church of Satan adapted th pentacle as their symbol. In Paganism--or at least in Wicca, which is the largest sect of Paganism-and the only part I've studied-(and you people who think we're devil worshippers or something similar, go look up threads on those)--the pentacle is used to represent a number of different things. One is the elements: earth, water, air, fire, and akasha. When it's used upside-down--which is rarer than it used to be because of LeVey--it represents the horned god, not to be confused with the devil. Two different things. One more FYI: the triple goddess symbol is the phases of the moon. Looks a little like this-> )O( [/lesson] Random thought: You know what I just realized? (Probably not...) HIM's symbol is the heartagram. Their newest (or newER) CD has a circle around it. Thus, going along with the penta- logic, with that circle, it's not a heartagram; it's a 'heartacle.' Food for thought. I think heartagram sounds better though. And by looking/saying it in my head, 'heartacle,' with the -acle is somewhat like 'circle,' which is why that one's called a 'hearacle.'
Yaay! I'm smart; I'm like a DICTIONARY!! *pictures a cute little stick figure with a dictionary torso* "It's DICTIONARY GIRL TO THE RESCUE!!! Da-da da-da! Forget a definition? I KNOW IT! Need some synonyms? I HAVE SOME! How about the root of a word? (but how often do you need that?) It doesn't matter! I'LL TELL YOU ANYWAY! Need the biography of one of those really old guys that you don't care about, but have to do for history class anyway? DON'T ASK ME. I'M A DICTIONARY! Go ask an encyclopedia. Hey, Bob! Someone needs you!" I can see it all now ...

Oh, uh, right...sorry.

Another part of the movie (yes, there's more! Not forcing you to read it. ), aside from the KKK rallies (on Martin Luther King's b-day! Well their purpose was to get attention; they sure as hell did. Although I believe they were trying to get people to *join,* not try to beat the cap out of them ) and the voilence and destruction they caused, there was a black Reveron guy (name? I recognized him). He was also 'prmoting peace.' From what I understood, he wanted segregation). His logic that was because people are hateful towards blacks, so he was hateful back (see poster saying: 'white people are the devil'). So much for promoting peace. I somewhat understand his logic (like I said, I can make anything logical ), but it's not helping; it's just destructive.

Well, I just wanted to tell everybody about it since you brought up prejudice. I also gave my thoughts away (and for free!), informed the ignorant, maybe inspired more peoples to add comments (or to stop reading anything I type), and hopefully amused at least a couple people with my imagination and random thoughts (the dictionary thing, moron. ).

And now... Oh no, little Jimmy needs a synonym for 'thesarus.' Aw, crap. Now, that's a tough one. I know! Use the word: 'a book with words to find other words with similar meanings.' Meh, more of a definition. Oh, well. Baby's crying. *goes to check on even cuter stick figure dictionary
Heh, I spelled 'thesaurus' wrong, and I'm a dictionary Deep thought: If a word is spelled wrong in the dictionary; how would we know? They must have really good editors that read through it a zillion times. Or a really intelligent person who types perfectly. Or at least one who as access to the answers. Huh. One random quesition can lead to many random questions. Where did they get the information when they were typing the dictionary? Do they copy it from another dictionary? And how long would it take one of the employees to type the entire thing without stopping or slowing down. You know, that's the kind of job nobody ever thinks of. *nods* How many kids dream of doing that when they grow up? I know! I'll be a Dictionary-Maker!

... or not.


PS (yeah, there's more. Hey, even I didn't think I'd ramble this much okay, and I do a heck of a lot rambling.)
You know there's actually a limit to how many smilies you can use? Yeah, okay, I get it. But they're adorable. And they express my emotions so well. I thought I was already cutting down on them. Ususally I use one every couple of sentences. I counted. When I tried submitting, I counted how many I had: 16. I wanted more. I would have already used over five smiles from PS to the end of this (if I ever actually stop) if I didn't try my best not to annoy people... and if there wasn't a limit.

See, look at the biggest paragraph. Not one smile. *congratulates self* Then again, look at those other four or something paragraphs. (L00K, darn it!) Eeesh. *does boy-scout honr sign* I swear to our god, Mata and all the forumites that I will reduce my smilie-using even more. *glances at crossed fingers* Oh, look at that; I didn't mean to, honest. *nervous laughter* All right, fine. *starts to put in a smilie* (You know how many times I've done that? A lot!) *repeats oath, truthfully* YAAAY! *throws confetti.

Woah big essay there hon, but lots of good things in it.

And you are right about the interpretation and use of symbols:

If you point the 'arms' of a swastika the other way (so they point to the right or anticlockwise) then you get the 'old' symbol which was good. The Nazi version points left or clockwise.
Nicked off a site:
"The Swastika" is the oldest cross and emblem in the world. It forms a combination of four "L's" standing for Luck, Light, Love and Life. It has been found in ancient Rome, excavations in Grecian cities, on Buddhist idols, on Chinese coins dated 315 B.C

Its still used in henna patterns for indian weddings and so on.

While I accept that the swastika was adapted from an old symbol, I'm more than sceptical about it standing for the 4 L's. I mean, you go on to say that it's been found in Roman architectural digs. Well, the Roman's spoke Latin, so the 4 L's theory is bit pointess. Especially given that the latin for 'lucky' begins with an F. As for Greek, Chinese and Indian, they have their own letters which makes the old 4 L's a bit of a shaky proposition.

[/cynicism]

WOW! That was a long one And you claim to not be illogical. I can see a train of thought that you might consider logical but it looks fairly random to me

Anyway, good point about the heartagram. They started putting a circle round it with the release of Love Metal (their 4th album). I'm not sure why but I prefer it without.

I have a heartgram (no circle) tattooed on my back because I like the symbolism. My middle names means "Love" and I am a Pagan so it combines both my name and my beliefs. Also Ville says it stands for duality. Light and dark, love and death, etc. I like the whole balance in nature. Ying and Yang, male and female. I'm not a massive HIM fan (I like their stuff before Love Metal) but I'm not ashamed to have it. It's part of me

Symbols can be somewhat of a conundrum really. Something can mean one thing to X and Y sees it as completely different. Just becuase X says it means something doesn't mean it has to Y. Does any of that make sense?

Mcsimong,
I pretty much agree with Mata, stand your ground, but do it safely. As to how you should go about it exactly? I'm not too sure, I guess you'll be the best to judge, as you know the people and the place. Sorry if this is a bit of a hogwash reply.

Has anything happened since?




TehRoxxorCOD, I have met lots of white and Asian people, as well as black people that speak fast, swear, and try to sound like rappers or emcees (mostly in their teens and early twenties mind). Why did you specifically pick out the black people who do it, in your post?

If the point your making is that having a prejudice is one thing, but acting on it by discriminating is a whole lot worse, then I agree with you. I believe that everyone has prejudices, and some choose to act on them without thinking of the reason they hold thoes prejudices, or what experiances they may have had to lead them to have such opnions.




I was thinking the same thing. -Apart from the latin lucky being spelt with an F bit.

Lygophilia, I think you meant Mussolini in that loooong post of yours.

Also, it's spelt "Holocaust" - note the capital 'H' as well. I don't like being so nit-pickety, but millions of people died in this terrible event, and I think we ought to show them some respect by remembering its spelling. Not that you don't respect it of course, but it does give an impression of carelessness.

QUOTE (Pixiegoth @ Oct 22 2004, 06:48 AM)

WOW! That was a long one And you claim to not be illogical. I can see a train of thought that you might consider logical but it looks fairly random to me

Yeah, you know it took me at least an hour to type and edit and all that. This is the reason I left the Forums for a while (capital 'F' due to it's specialness. Or something. I say talking about these Forums should be capitalized, and what I say goes! ) And does being a bit random, jumping from topic to topic... (YAAY! I seemed random? Now I know I truly am. That makes me happy) <-hey, look, more randomness. teehee! Does being random contratict being logical? I didn't think so. I say I'm "logical" because of things like being able to make reasons for things for them to make sense. (Okay, I may have been, random, but it all maed, sense, right?) Like always being able to find a reason why it was someone else's fault (usually my dad's because... well, we blame him for everything. Family joke thing). Or on scientific and mathamatical stuff. I may be wrong, but sometimes I can make some reasons (not just random things) that seem to make sense. At least to someone who isn't a math/science whiz.

I think I've become more comfortable with you all. Perhaps it's the reason I've been posting more, and blabbering on and on. Meaning: less self-conscious, worrying that I sound stupid, etc. It only took a year. That, and I seem to be happy this week. It's getting annoying. I talk too much; even I get sick of myself. Everyone else can get away from me. I'm stuck with me all the time. Well, at least I don't have a siamese twin just like me. Now that would get annoying. Another annoying thing. When I'm "happy" (being a diagnosed depressed person, I say I'm never truly happy. Maybe feeling good at the time, but not rtue happiness with life and all that. Doing debates during lunch the past two days. One on depression. Just an FYI, I'll be making two threads on them. Another time. I think I should sleep before daylight. Here's another hours worth of a post. I can't keep anything short. Oh well, good for being a writer.

QUOTE (beleraphon @ Oct 22 2004, 01:32 AM)

"The Swastika" is the oldest cross and emblem in the world. It forms a combination of four "L's" standing for Luck, Light, Love and Life. It has been found in ancient Rome, excavations in Grecian cities, on Buddhist idols, on Chinese coins dated 315 B.C

Like Jonman said, I think that may be wrong, but what do I know? Last year in English for some reason, we watched a few episodes of a show where families in different countries switch places for 10 days. A very used-to-luxury Jewish family visits a country where they have to work a lot. There was a lot of complaining. It got annoying. The family took them to a place where a Sawstika (thanks for the name) was on the wall. They had a bit of a conversation about it. It was rather amusing watching the horror in their faces when they saw it. They were kind of frightened. [sarcasm] I wonder why? [/sarcasm] Back to the point I was going to make, you said that was in Rome. These people said they were "brothers" with Germany, I think it was. So it was probably a country around there. I've realized now that I have no idea what country it was and where Rome is in relation to Germany, so it kind of defeats my point. I'm too lazy to look it up. My semester in World Geography did me no good; I can remember under ten countries and cities, I'm sure. But when you rush through every country in the world (which I think we just may have, except for America, since that's whole other class, it's not very likely to go into your long-term memory. (But I think at a lot of what I learn, is just for the test. Although I finally got the meaning of what a 'tariff' is pounded into my brain, and we've talked about those since 8th grade (currently in 11th). That's kinda sad.) Once again, back to the topic (Tell me if that annoys you. If so, I'll try not to go on with my extra thoughts. There's just so many of them. Hehe.

You know, although that wasn't a huge paragraph (not for me, anyway), it wasn't exactly short, and I never even got to prove anything. What a waste of time and...Internet space (Grr. What's it called?). There's no way that I'm deleting it though; I have to have something to show that I didn't completely waste my time. Although someone else--a person who's has geography intellegence-or isn't too lazy to look up a map--might be able to help make my point. If what I'm trying to get across is an actual point. *shrugs* So I'm assuming the country was beside Germany. The people seemed to me to be maybe people from an area like Iraq or Iran, but I could be way off because I don't know the different charachteristics and things to know who's who... of a lot of different countries. Dang, I've got a lot to learn. Like people who mistake Chinese people (or writing) for Japanese people, and vice versa. I'm thinking it may have originated in that country, whatever it is, but then again, that's an almost wild guess. Anyone want to research it? Make sure you have at least two resources (different sites, probably) to make sure it's not just another person's guess or that they're wrong. The sign was in one of my friend's manga (my friends are total anime-lovers), which is Japanese, but I don't think it started there, and even if it was in the book, that really doesn't mean anything.

Yesterday, I had a question to ask, but after my insanely long post, I decided to let it wait, plus it was late (although it is now, too).

--The KKK were against blacks and Jewish people, right?
--Or were they against anyone not white, but against those two groups the most?

"Yesterday's" question (technically it was two days ago, I think) was this:
--Were they (the KKK) against blacks more than Jews, or vice versa?
--Or was the hatred pretty equal?
--And were they "officially" against one group before the other?

I think my random questions on dictionary-making has made me think of other things and want answers to them. Poor dictionary-makers. Like I said before. Kids never want to grow up to be that. I never thought about how the dictionary-makers feel. Who thanks them and sends them lettes telling them they're doing a great job? That's what we should do! Who's with me?!

(And, of course a lot of people originally came to America to escape religious persecution. *rolls eyes* Like the Puritans, then they...shunned anyone who wasn't Christian? Thought they were evil? Oh, go to hell? Well, something. My memory is getting rediculous. Oh, sign of depression? Or manic depresssion? Smoking weed? (No, I don't.) It's something. But I'll get back to the questions. (You're welcome) Oh, wait, that's all I've thought of (question-wise. I'm sure you know I've thought of a lot of other stuff) I think. 'Cause you know I forget stuff. Well, I guess that means my post will be ending soon. Hey, why are you cheering?

And l00k! I only used five smilies for all that! And it was hard! You have no idea how many times I had a facial expression that I really wanted to show. I think I deserve a little respect, or complimenting, or something. *put nose in the air with a proud, snobbish expression.*[SIZE=1][FONT=Arial]

QUOTE (TehRoxxorCOD @ Oct 22 2004, 08:01 PM)

TehRoxxorCOD, I have met lots of white and Asian people, as well as black people that speak fast, swear, and try to sound like rappers or emcees (mostly in their teens and early twenties mind). Why did you specifically pick out the black people who do it, in your post?

It's the ones who do that who aren't black that annoy me. It seems kind of natural to me for some black people to (talk that way, not trying to talkthat way). Probably because the majority of rappers are black. Which is probably why she singled them out. I think it's more common for black people to. Kind of a good thing for me, since I only have to listen to the occasional "wigger" (and that's not a typo. I don't use the n-word. That one is for white people who do that). Although if I lived in a different area, it might not be as rare.SIZE=1][FONT=Arial]

QUOTE (Polocrunch @ Yesterday, 09:44 AM)

Lygophilia, I think you meant Mussolini in that loooong post of yours.

Also, it's spelt "Holocaust" - note the capital 'H' as well. I don't like being so nit-pickety, [Lygo comment: sure you don't *joking sarcasm*] but millions of people died in this terrible event, and I think we ought to show them some respect by remembering its spelling. Not that you don't respect it of course, but it does give an impression of carelessness.

Hey, you gotta admit, I spelled 'Mussolini' pretty darn close (unless I typed it wrong, and I ain't checkin'.) And I copied off another post to spell 'Holocaust'. Either they spelled it wrong, or I mis-read or -typed it. Forgive me, your majesty *cough* grammer nazi *cough* Maybe your ancestors were the real thing. Or maybe you were a real nazi in one of your past lives. (Joking. And you know, that really wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. *disappointed*) Although a few o my ancestors could have been, which brings me to my next (and hopefully final) question(s):

I may have learned this in 5th grade when researching Hitler, but as if I remember anything.
--But was the average German against Jewish people, too?
--Did Hitler convince all (or most) of them that...I don't know, they're bad or something?
--They were probably scared--or maybe 'not stupid'-at least not wth a huge mob of others--to speak up if they wre against it.
--Or did they not know about what was happening?

And this, I've wondered for a while:
--Where was America on this? Did they not do anything? 'Cause I know they weren't for it. Oh wait, Hitler was WW2, right? So I'm assuming we did some fighting. I haven't got that far in history yet. Just entering the civil war...again. Have to review everything that was in US History in the 8th grade (which was just through the civil war).

Mini rant: 7th grade, I had to take Texas History. What a freaking waste of time. Boring, but that's not even why I thought it was stupid. Are we all staying in Texas? No. We could be getting a better knowledge on the history of America or World History. I strongly suggest the latter. 1)We already have two years of US History. 2)Like I said: rushing through every single country. I wanted out of state as soon as I could. Until I met my best friend/exboyfriend eight months before I moved (9th grade). The year I took Tx History was a very, very, very bad year. That's when I got majorly depressed and wasn't getting medication. But with all I can remember, I wasn't in class half the time anyway (I got to know my counselor very well. Plus gone twice in the hospital for two weeks), and if I was, I wasn't doing anything most of the time. Being sad, crying, scribbling in my notebook. Okay, done, sorry. Talking about history made me think of that. I don't thinK I'll ever get over that. If I do it will take a vey long time. Plus moving back to Missouri when the beginning of the 10th grade was going fantastic. Of course, it was only 10 days. But my first day here was a complete mess. So was my second day this year. Actually, it was the first thre or four weeks (trying to get medication correct. Still haven't done it. Four freaking years. Then if I do get it right, I'll probably become immune to it after a while, and I'll have yo try something else. Medication seemed to go a little well one time in the summer (but I can never be sure because I had no responsibilities, anything to do), but there's sexual side affects. Grr. I haven't had an real orgasm in months. Kind of getting used to it though. Okay, apparently I wasn't done, and that wasn't a mini rant.

And going back to the questions... *gulp*
Since a lot of people here are from the UK and places in Britain (there are a fair amount, right? Rhetorical question.):
--What were they up to during that time? A quick overview would be good. I'll get the details in class later this year. And I'm sure you don't feel like writing like I do anyway.

Okay, I swear to god I will not do more than a paragraph more at the most. I think I should revise that: A semi-short paragraph. Another revision: a semi-short paragraph to a "normal" person. Just want to say a few last words ('course that's what I was going to do halfway up my post):

Forgive me if I misspell or type something wrong. *glares at Polo* I think you might have noticed (if you have eyes that work) that I've typed a little more than you all... again. Normally I read over my posts carefully about three times (there's te self-coscousness. Besides with you grammer Nazis out there... *mumbles*) then once again after I've posted it. That's often when I see the mistakes I missed and correct them. I noticed today that my last post had a few (well under ten, I think) mistakes, but I don't want to fool with it at three am. It's a lot to read, I think you know, and it's three am. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not. Noobody Knoowws. (That was done on purpose, dummy.) and I want my nightly ritual: *thinks of another thread to make* my coke and falling asleep to a movie. Actually it's the same movie about every night--over 95% of the time--since at least August. Still not sick of it. Weird. Uh, the coke and movie isn't going to be the thread, in case you wanted to know. One more "forgive me pwease (Also purposfully. I say it with an adorable little-girl voice, so you can't get mad because I'm so cute. ) I think that's it. If not. Oh well. I want my coke! (Addiction. Big one.) *thinks of another thread to make* Woah, I better start writing these down. I swear this thing was supposed to be les than half the siz of the other one. But the other one was supposed to be shorter too, so... *shrug* Oh! Last thing, I swaer. Ta-ta little ones who can only write a few lines or paragraphs.

Natural how?

I got the info about the swastika by typing 'swastika' into google and looking at the first site that ended in 'ac.uk' I think it was the humanities dept of uni of bristol, so if not quite accurate then my info did come from a reputable source!

It was originally a symbol of peace though, till the Nazi's decided to take it as their symbol and the meaning changed so drastically.

bel.

Peace? Was it not a symbol of good luck? Or was that something else?

was both peace and good fortune (according to Google!)

Yeah, I'm sure I heard them say something about good fortune.I dunno. Maybe 'natural' isn't the word I was lookng for. I guess I'm just used to it. I've been around it all my life.

Yes, I'm actually ending my post! It's a miracle!

Dude, is anyone else having deja vu? I KNOW we have discussed this before...

Wow, I don't mean to be prejiduce here, but those kids are morons. They totally proved your point though. It saddens me so much that kids don't realize what they're doing when they say these things. I had a lot of guys in my sociology class last year who always yelled out words like "fag" and made tons of homophobic jokes. And I remember at some point when they said it was okay to do because "it wasn't as if there were any homosexual people in the class"--because they would know this of course... yeah, they were quite wrong, and quite the offensive imbeciles. We once had to have a debate, and I chose a topic about homosexuals raising children. My opponents came up with some of the stupidest reasons why it is "wrong" ... they even mentioned during the debate that they couldn't find information on the topic!! They went into these rants of personal "experience" with gay people (who allll do drugs and alll think about having orgies on a constant basis, by the way, in case you weren't aware). I wanted to get up and strangle them or something. They were coming across gay porn sites during the time we had to research...I don't know what kind of idiots could manage that.... *sigh* Anyway, these kids are either going to be unhappy in their ignorance (thinking they're happy most likely) for the rest of their lives, or else they're going to develop proper neural functions and realize what fools they are someday. We can only wait and hope for them really.

Also, your teacher was misinformed...or perhaps he meant no prejiduce quite like that against the jews, or that there aren't german nazis anymore...or something...logical...

Alright, I already know as I say this that I am going to be shot down for saying it, but I must. Not all sterotypes are bad things to have. I mean, if you're walking around alone late at night alone, it's not bad to be wary of some big hulking guy coming towards you. There are statistics. A major sterotype I can think of would be that of men thinking women are the weaker sex. Well, physically, can you say that they are wrong? No, the way women are built and men are built are different. You can think of a lot of sterotypes that form predjudice and take into account of how they originated through statistics and the like. Not all of them are falsehoods and not all of them are bad. I do also say that everyone is different and just because of a sterotype or predjudice doesn't mean it will apply to all people within a group. As far as predjudices against people for nothing but what they look like, or what they think, is superficial and ignorant. If these people that oppress individuals through predjudice are strong enough to voice thier 'opinion', then I think that you should also voice yours. These are very superficial individuals with low self esteem that need to prey upon someone that they think is weaker so that they (somehow?) feel better about themselves. Stand up for who you are and what you believe in. These people are ignorant to facts of life and need to be educated. Is there a gay/straight alliance at your school, mcsimong? If not, try to start one, and if there is, join it, and then you can help stop these people from thinking it is 'okay' to say things like 'fag' even though "no one like that is here right now" or even right to someone's face like what happened to you. Nothing in this world will change if all we do is complain about it and just expect someone some time will do something. Action must be taken, if you don't like something, then change it. You should definitely step up, but certainly do it safely.


Also on the origin of the swastika, I do believe it was a Korean symbol meaning 'good fortune', but I remember that from a long time ago so I may be wrong on that.

Used to 'what' exactly, and what have you been around all your life?



Asenyth,

I cannnot comit my self to agreeing totaly with you on the point you make that not all steryotypes are bad. This is because to me, the inability of a lot people, to recognise that people who look a certain way, or are a certain way, far more than likley will not fit in 100 per cent with a steryo type is too frequant an occurance. And I guess saying that they are not all bad, to me is a way of allowing the false one to stil be used.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are generlisations and steryotypes that we all rely on. But it's the people who do not take the time to look at a person as an individual, but as a stasistical, or even non evidance based steryotype, that are dangerous.

I don't think I've made maself as clear as I could have, so please pick me up.


Oh, and about the men and women being built differantly, this is so true. I can give ma fella a piggy back for far longer than he I (ma fella and I weight the same, he does weight lifty stuff, whereas I don't).

/spam

sorry, I seem to be coming in in the middle of the conversation, but i just wanted to poke in and give my two cents and dissapear once again into the sunset.
I really don't get how it would be so bad if we Americans legalized 'civil unions' (let alone full-fledged gay marriage). OK, so it would 'deminish the sanctity of marriage'. But after the first straight couple was married in a Vegas drive-thru chapel by an Elvis impersonator, I think 'sanctity' should be left out of it. And really, looking at it from an economic standpoint (as i'm surprised most politicians don't), more marriages=more divorces=more money. I mean, seriously.
And I also don't see why people have to be such homophobes in the first place.. The greeks declared that the love between two men was the highest form of love, and hoped that lovers in war would be put in the same group, so they would try and impress each other during battle.
Oh no! love! aaugh!

Yeah. Exactly.

And don't forget, kids: the Bible says it's worse to hate a homosexual than it is to be a homosexual.

And about stereotyping genders? Men, women have to carry a goddamn baby in her uterus for nine months. I think that takes a bit of physical power.