Deacon_Raptor
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Posts posted by Deacon_Raptor
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By me. Please don't copy it elsewhere without my permission - yada yada yada. I don't think any among you is that kind of person
I've already gotten a few reviews on it from varying sources, but I wanted to see what you all think. Also, don't see the Bible quote at the beginning and close the window - there's nothing Biblical or religious about it, really. My American History course puts a Bible quote at the end of each lesson, and this particular quote inspired the story.
Enjoy, and please, all comments are welcome; be as loving or scathing as you like.
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That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done,
So there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
The machines of the camp whirred about him, going about their purpose with single-minded intensity. The hot desert sands created illusions of that which might have once been, in this arid location.
Dr. Fitzgerald Bekka, world-renowned archaeologist, strode through these sands with a purpose as single-minded as that of the machines that occupied the camp. He was going to prove that the lost island of York existed.
York: that ancient paradise, supposedly filled with all the wonders of the world. How long ago had it disappeared from the face of Terra? Origins lost in antiquity, it stood as the penultimate achievement for any archaeologist. Its discovery would turn years of theory and conjecture about the Ancients on end.
Dr. Bekka was going to find York.
His aides had questioned his logic, his reason, for leading them into this forsaken land. Here and there, stumps of ancient trees dotted the landscape, almost buried by the sands that had occupied this region for all eternity – purportedly. Evidence was coming to bear that this scarred land was once a paradise on Terra, and so, if it was so magnificent, Dr. Bekka reasoned, the Lost City must be here.
Dr. Bekka paused to talk with some of his aides, who were standing in front of a newfangled machine that had just been invented a few months prior, which was supposed to be able to use radiation to cook food. As if!
Suddenly, a crash was heard, a big, booming crash that echoed across the sands, and shook the ground they were standing on. Dr. Bekka and his aides rushed to the dig site from whence it came, and were astounded by what they saw.
“We was just diggin’ this here dirt here, and darn but we punched clean through this here rock layer here, and then there was that big cavern there. Only thing was; when we punched through, some of the ground here gave way. That there big crash y’alls heard was one of our boys’ tractors fallin’ down through,” the foreman of that particular dig confided to Dr. Bekka.
“You there, go and fetch some flashlights and cameras. You, go get something we can use to descend into that cavern with. You, assemble a team, no more than ten people, including myself. Move people, York awaits!” Dr. Bekka thundered.
At long last, this was it. It had to be it! The months, no, years, of searching, the thousands of credits poured into looking under every rock and grain of sand, all of it was finally going to pay off! What treasures might York hold, what secrets of the Ancients awaited discovery!
The team assembled, with all the requested gear. Dr. Bekka made a brief speech, which nobody really paid attention to, and then they were underway.
Down and down they descended, down into the very center of the planet, or so it seemed. The “cavern” was more like a tunnel, going straight down. Pieces of metals, and strange synthetic alloys, stuck through the sides of the tunnel at varying intervals.
“It’s almost like crawling down the throat of a great beast,” one of the team members said apprehensively.
“Then don’t look, if it bothers you so much,” Dr. Bekka snapped. This was to be his moment of triumph, and he wasn’t about to let some sniveling peon disturb his glorious dreams.
Finally, they reached the bottom of the tunnel. Flashlights came out, cameras started recording, and jaws started dropping.
They were standing in a building of some sort. The floor was ancient and worn, covered in a layer of dust and debris that had to be a metron thick, at least. A doorway in front of them led…somewhere. Four semi-ruined walls denoted a very advanced level of architectural engineering, of a level far beyond what was thought of the Ancients.
Dr. Bekka hurried to the doorway, and peered out, flashlight in his hand.
He was staring at a massive cavern, filled to the brim with buildings many hundreds of metrons tall. Some of the structures seemed to reach into the ceiling of the cavern, even. The buildings were laid out in straight rows, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Dr. Bekka motioned at his team, silently, to come and look. No words were said. None were needed. The reverence of the place was beyond words. It bespoke of an age, long ago, of great progress and technology. It could tell infinite stories, beyond Terran understanding, tales of pleasure and pain, triumph and despair.
As they wandered down the rows of buildings stumbling through the piles of debris, Dr. Bekka and his team were awed by what they saw. They saw technologies that only Terrans were thought to possess. They saw things that had once been streetlights, automobiles barely recognizable under grime, and massive buildings in the Greco-Romana style, which had only been invented several years prior – or so it was thought.
Dr. Bekka pointed upwards. There was a sign, hanging off one of the buildings, with strange markings on it. He then pointed at two of his team, and they nodded in response. They got their climbing gear, and began scaling the building, to bring the sign the rest of the way down.
Somehow the chinking sounds of the gear, along with the crash made by the falling sign, seemed to profane this hollowed place. But that thought was lost in the excitement of discovery. They dragged the sign into the building it had fallen off of, and set up a temporary base there.
The scribbling marks on the sign matched other marks, which were known to mean “York.”
One of his team, Dr. Carson Almein, was a leading specialist of Ancient languages. He stooped down, taking a close look at the sign. Finally, he said, quietly, the first words that had been heard in that great city for millennia.
“It says across here a name, I am not sure if it means anything special or not. Down here, it says York. However, there is more to it…” he trailed off, and started scratching at the sign.
After a few minutes of work, more marks were revealed.
“This is incredible!” Dr. Almein exclaimed.
Racing across the room, Dr. Bekka was on him in a heartbeat. “What is it, what have you found?” he demanded.
“It isn’t York!”
Dr. Bekka was crushed. All his lifelong dreams vanished in a moment. He had been so certain, had come so far, had accomplished so much, all to have his ultimate goal torn from him at the last.
Just as he was nearing the edge of the pit of despair, Dr. Almein exclaimed, “It’s New York!”
Dr. Bekka couldn’t help himself. He snapped, and started laughing uproariously. Dr. Almein spread the word throughout the team, and everyone was soon laughing. “What a dumb name for a city, New York!” Even Dr. Almein found the name hilarious.
As Dr. Bekka recovered, he turned his head sharply as a “ping” sound filled the room. One of the members of his team was snatching her hand back from a rectangular solid.
“I didn’t do anything, I swear! I just thought it looked a lot like our microwave, and so I tried putting some food in, and…” she trailed off.
The reason was readily apparent. In her hands, she was holding a cup of steaming hot soup.
Suddenly, all that they had seen until that point clicked soundly into place. “We came all this distance, and spent all this time, and we found what? Ourselves,” Dr. Bekka said bitterly.
“But we can still learn much from the Ancients who lived here, don’t lose sight of that fact! We can learn about their culture, why they died out, maybe they had a few technologies that we don’t yet. This isn’t a complete waste,” Dr. Almein countered.
“Yes it is. There’s nothing new here, or not much. We’re just now at where the Ancients were all those millennia ago. All that time in between, wasted. All those years, and we haven’t learned a thing as a race! How long before we go the way of our ancestors!” Dr. Bekka shouted angrily.
As the men argued, the ping from the microwave echoed across the cavernous dwelling of the Lost City of New York: a tinkling, tiny, but certain bell-toll for humanity.
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What about them? Sorry for the long time since I last posted - I've been really really busy.
I don't think anyone will argue that for better or worse religion has shaped the world as we know it, including politics. Forgive me if I'm being dense, but I don't see what is so controversial about that.
I'll start a thread of discussion too...for arguement's sake, of course. I don't want anyone coming around to burn my house down because I dare question things
But -
Do you guys think that the Bible is an accurate source of the events leading up to, involving, and after Jesus's life?
Let's look at this a bit.
On the one side, "experts" have said repeatedly that the different versions of the Bible are all strikingly similar, going back to some of the earliest copies (barring translation problems like the infamous thou shalt not kill -> thou shalt not murder).
Now, the conspiracy theorist I kept hidden deep inside myself is screaming Church conspiracy.
Back in the ancient days (and even through most of the middle ages), scribes of varying types were the few people who could read/write. Now, the initial copies, written by the disciples themselves (or very close friends of said disciples) were probably accurate. However, I wouldn't put it past the later scribes to come along, and decide that by altering some paragraphs, they could give lives of work-free luxury to themselves.
I don't really feel like writing more atm, I'll let you guys pick up the ball and run with it for a bit.
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www.pandora.com
Who else has been using this? I think it's a great way to find new music. I've found several new artists that I had no clue even existed. As such, I think it's a good thing for the artists as well...it allows unknown artists to get more exposure.
If you do use it, what channels do you have
I've got ones where the starting points were Nightwish, the Corrs, Enya, Within Temptation, and Santana.
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That is the weirdest double post I have ever seen.
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Doesn't this three modes of existance all seem a bit complicated? And to what ends would we figure it out? And why do we divide everything into its own universe? I mean the holy spirit would seem just as divine as Jesus, yet neither of them are actually in the divine mode of existance. Ah well...
You think that something as large and complex as the universe and existance would be easily explained?
Your final paragraph Caesar, is interesting but not quite correct. I mean, if you are proposing what I think you are proposing, namely, that all beings have parts of all three realms in them, it is impossible for one to ever remove themselves from one.
Now, I may be incorrect about what you are saying, I want to make that clear.
However, if you are proposing that the "soul," if you will, is the piece of man from the Spirit realm, then you are saying that for one to cease to believe in the spirit is to cease to have a soul.
Other parts of that concept are fine...I mean, as you say, when you die, you lose your physical aspect (going under the assumption that your theory is correct...I'm not saying it is or isnt). And it makes sense that there are things out there that can consume your soul, or otherwise remove it, just as you can lose your divinity aspect (by engaging in wicked acts, I would assume).
But to say that simply because one doesn't believe in one aspect, that person doesn't have that aspect, is illogical. It is illogical under the pretext that the universe operates in one way, at least. However if there are multiple ways in which the universe works depending on what you believe in.......then this is a REALLY messy discussion lol.
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Wow...grats on getting on the team, and those two are just freaking amazing oO
btw gogo Nightwish
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Of course we do. I think I'll toss my hat into the arena now.
I'll lead off with my perspective - I would call myself a Druidical Christian...basically briefly, I don't like the church, and I don't trust the Bible as an absolute authority. I think that the ORIGINAL Bible was an absolute authority, but I don't trust human nature. I would not put it past the scribes to edit the Bible, in an era when nobody would know better, so that they may have a lifetime of care. Cynical, but it's my belief. I do believe in a lot of Christian dogma though...just not the stuff involving the church. The church is a human invention. Now for the Druidical aspect. Once again, I have always felt the "presence" of God, if you will, more deeply in a wild place in nature, than in any church. What better place to worship God than amongst things he created? To me, churches are largely empty symbols of human depravity, thinking they could ever come up with anything worthy to worship God in. I also believe that God's original church, was in fact the Earth itself. I could (if I wanted) find several Bible verses that actually endorse this opinion, but I'll just leave it at that for now.
Now, with that said, let's move on.
To me, theistic vs atheistic debates are largely pointless. In the end, there are no answers. It all comes down to what you believe in. There exists no concrete proof. You can argue any one of Caesar's arguments, or you could counter-argue with any of Yuiel;s points. Personally, whether or not there is a God or not has never been an issue with me...I am 100% sure that in some way, shape, or form, there is a god, goddess, council of higher beings, whatever.
Consider this point:
How was the first iota made?
I mean, split things back all the way to the beginning. Simply put, you cannot make nothing from something. Once you have established that base, it's a simple matter to prove the existance of a god. Where did the first matter come from?
BTW Caesar, your "Majority" point, is useless. There have been many examples throughout history where the majority was wrong - just look at Galileo and Copernicus vs the rest of civilization when proving that the Earth revolved around the sun.
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My guess is they are hoping Halo 2 will do for Vista what Halo 1 did for the XBox - namely, sell it.
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The site is still under work, we have a bunch of people working on a new site, completely in flash. Here is the link for the current one:
It's basically an online action RPG, indie developed. Check out the forums, and my 1337 skin
This weekend we're gonna have a big testing period, where we are releasing an early version of the game for people to d/l and play, then give us feedback on the forums. Anyways, swing by and say hey!
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Well, we're all pretty much off topic now, so I guess we'll just take both discussions.
I don't think we are approaching WW3, yet, anyway. The most that will happen is Coalition of US/EU + Irsael vs Iran/Pakistan. That would be a very short war, IMO. The complex net of alliances just doesn't exist yet, like it did for WW1/2. I mean, with like WW2, there was such a massive net of alliances, that if one nation attacked one nation, the whole stinking place would go up in flames (which is what happened). We just haven't reached that point yet. Really, we should hope that other organisations like Al Qaida become gov't heads. As Mithrandil said, at that point they will wage war legitimately, and, as I said before, they become serious, concrete opponents, instead of shadows.
As for democracy...there are several problems with the system in the U.S. I am not going to talk about other nations, because I don't know their systems and problems. But in the U.S. it is more than just the parties. It is the ideology.
Suppose we have two candidates. One supports abortion, and is a magnificent leader and politician, the other doesnt, and is a horrible leader/politican. Then you have a voter. He does not support abortion. He will look at which supports abortion, and which doesnt, and thats it. He doesn't care about the skills of the person he's voting for, he votes for the ideology, the beliefs he supports. What happens is we end up with no abortion, but no country left either.
Another problem exists with the party machinery. It has reached a point now, where even if someone decent comes along, he doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected.
I am not sure what the root of the problem is. Size is definitely a factor, however with modern communications technology it shouldn't be. I personally think moral and social degradation is a large culprit. American politics are all about more power and more money. And "political correctness" of course. I have a saying:
"I could tell you what to do with your political correctness, but then I wouldn't be politically correct."
But I digress.
Nobody really wants what is best for the nation and the people, or what is morally correct, all they want is more personal wealth and more personal power. With people in charge like that, how are we to survive as a nation?
Furthermore, think about your SciFi for a sec. All the big ones have giant councils, with multiple representatives from numerous giant unions on various planets. So from Earth we might have one delegate from each of the inhabited continents. Now, stepping that down to a planetary level, something like the EU might work. Each nation having sovreignty on it's own, but at the same time having a council to decide how the whole operates.
I honestly don't know...I'm just tossing ideas out. If there are other, intelligent life forms out among the stars, with interstellar travel capabilities, all I have to say, in the words of John Chricton (Farscape):
"We are so screwed."
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Screw em. That's what freedom of speech/press is. If they don't like it, they don't have to look.
Think about the stuff that is out there. There are 'comics' that show many things that most of us would be offended by, but (by and large) we let them go. Why in the hell is this such a big freaking deal?
I mean, we're talking about Denmark here. If this was somebody major, or somebody in that region, then maybe, MAYBE, it might be a different story. But honestly, who cares about a previously obscure comic from Denmark? This is the most ridiculous thing I have seen in a long time.
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Lookin' good. Is this cause we thought it was dying?
BTW, how do you do that? CG? Or is that actually painted?
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Very long and nice post Yiuel. You made many good points, but I'm sure you won't mind if I tack on a few of my own opinions.
First of all, anybody who blames this on the Jews is an idiot. They have problems with Fundam. Islam all over the place...is there a significant Jewish populus in Indonesia? How about India?
There is definitely Fundam. versions of other religions. However, Islam was born as a militant religion. A basic precept of Islam states that if you die in the name of your god, you go straight to heaven and have a million wives (what more reason does anyone need!
j/k)Btw, before I forget, you sound an awful lot like me, Yiuel. Although I haven't said anything to my rather traditionalist parents, I consider myself kind of a Druidic Christian. But, before I get too deep into that, let us resume Hamas.
Islam is a warrior's religion, it has been since the day it was born. Fundam. Islamics will not be satisfied to live in peace, as your Fundam. Jews are, Yiuel.
Should the U.S. and the EU recognize Hamas? Of course. What is the downside? By giving them legitimacy, you can attack them if they screw us. Rather than Bush's rather esoteric war on terrorism, we would actually have a named enemy, as opposed to a few dirty old @#$%s who mostly just hide.
In my opinion, the visions of the forefathers have come to pass. Washington once said that the party system would become America's worst nightmare (paraphrasing, of course). The founders saw the danger in democracy - that uneducated peons would gain tremendous power. I honestly think democracy is a magnificent ideal, but that it has failed, and is a doomed system in all but a perfect utopia. People are too easily corrupted. As long as those in the government are free from corruption, and honestly try to do their best for their people, then it works. But when democracy reaches the point it has in America, where it's all about personal power and money, we'd be better off without it. However, once again, I am forced to digress.
The simple fact of the matter is that Hamas WAS elected. Because of that, we should recognize them. Don't forget though; Hitler was elected through democratic processes as well. Hitler played the German people like a flute; there is no reason to believe that Hamas is not doing the same thing. In which case, we have a very serious problem to contend with: the notion that Pakistan is predominantly for martial action, and supports terrorism.
Discuss...
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Also, the custom icon symbol for the forums is missing now...the little sign for fire...
Hard to get this across, indeed. I am sitting here looking atmy tabs (firefox), and right in front of the title of the page, is a little standard icon where the Fire symbol was.
Is that good enough? If not, I can take a screenshot and circle it.
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Can't believe nobody is talking about this, for such a major story. What do you guys think their winning the Palestinnian (sp?) elections?
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OK, so then we would need to collect as many of the canonical sources as possible. I honestly can't believe nobody had replied to this after Beren's first post...really incredible IMO.
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Glad to be of help :-)
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Anyone else feel like they've been scolded lol
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That isnt the point, I think. The point is that there is very little activity on the forums, either as community or stuff being shown off (screenshots, new game info, etc).
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yeah...wazaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap
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Speaking of, how are things going? Activity seems to be way down around here, since I last posted. Which speaking of also, I have had been very busy IRL, doing writing, and honing my design skills
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Or, minus a minus equals a plus, always helped me. AKA 5 - (-5) -> 5+5.
I'm trying to slough my way through calculus this year lol....be glad you only have algebra!
Other than that, it is very simple. The "-" sign is just a minus sign.So in the case of 4+(-5) -> 4-5. Does that help?
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I believe Walagata now allows you to upload songs...they are my hoster of choice.
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Welcome to the WFG community
A Short Story
in Arts and Entertainment
Posted
Hehe, not a problem, that. All that means is you're an average reader, and if you like it, it's a good sign that others among the average reader class will as well.
Anyone else?