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Klaas

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Posts posted by Klaas

    Disgusting

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    Why Michael?

    btw, he wasn't put in prison, but if he did something wrong again he would end up in prison for a year (I didn't really formulate it well enough since I don't know the right English word for this) :P

    He did many things wrong in the past too. He was alread warned a few times to stop giving out leaflets with negationist and racist statements (which are both illegal here), and he also published such articles and books in the past.

    If this would have been his first publication he shouldn't be punished indeed, but he was warned many times, so imo he deserves this.

    Btw, please read some stuff on that site and read the forums. Maybe you'll understand my anger a bit more.

    Another things that matters here is that Europe actively witnessed the atrocities of the Nazis. My father has lived through that period, although things weren't that bad here, but he was enormously offended when he read what they are saying. Each two years in highschool people who have been in the concentration camps come speak to us too. It's quite horrible if you hear what they saw. I just think people preaching that the Nazis were good, that slavery was good, are just going too far, that's abusing the right of free speech.

    I know this is allowed in the US, it was also allowed here before the 2nd world war. But after what happened most European countries made racism and neo-nazism illegal. I just don't see what's wrong with this. It's not that you don't have the right of free speech here, but just these things aren't allowed, which imo is perfectly normal.

    Also read how they write about the holocaust and racism and such. It's not that they say 'all Jews should die', they just do it the Hitler way back then, by insinuating all black people are bad, or by insinuating that Jews run the government or even pornography.

    btw Desmond, they link to that site about Martin Luther King.

    Disgusting

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    The Belgian police has a site dedicated to sending in links to such sites and things like child pornography, in other words, to all sites with illegal activities (according to our law).

    I think the site should be judged regarding the nationality of the owners, or the location of the server. The authorities of the country in which the server resides should ask the owner of the server to take the site off it.

    But you're right this is a big and virtually impossible task, but I think we should atleast try to do something about it, even if it's not much. It's just like with the traffic police, you can never catch everyone driving drunk, but if you catch a few you'll set an example to the rest.

    Disgusting

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    I think this shouldn't be allowed. Freedom of speach is certainly a right everyone deserves, but this is crossing the line. Freedom of speech imo is a right gained through democracy. This however attacks democracy and freedom of speech of others, they preach hate and intolerance, based on plain lies. Thus imo this can't be tolerated.

    We shouldn't forget what happened under the Nazi regime. These people praise the Nazis, they even have avatars with a swastika on it. In most European countries it's forbidden to show this in public, also negationism is forbidden here. Two months ago a negationist (someone who denies the holocaust) who published books with his nonsense was sent to prison for a year in Belgium (in theory, not in reality, can't remember the right English word).

    These people deserve this. We all know there are many people who aren't really aware of what happened and who are easily mislead by such arguments these 'White nationalists' use. If it was forbidden to say things like that it would probably prevent more people joining their ranks. Especially kids, quite struck me they have a kids' corner on their site.

    It was already reported by someone in the community or feedback forum of Empires Heaven. Don't remember what the name was though.

    Crusades And The Renaissance

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    That's a nice essay Erik :P

    During the class new periods we recently discussed renaissance. The professor quite made it seem that we have a pretty bad image of the renaissance.

    First thing, what is the renaissance, and is it justified to be a turning point in history?

    We already had a renaissance during the late 700s early 800s, under Charles the Great. He made Latin the language of science, made the classical arts revive and founded many universities. Of course after his death and later the treaty of Verdun this short renaissance ceased to exist (although it had a big influence - monasteries, Latin, book copying, Roman art, etc.). Btw I'm not right saying it was Charles the great who did this, it was rather the people behind him although he stood open for it.

    The crusades indeed influenced the Western European world, but not as much. What was more important (and in modern historical practive this is regarded as a more important turning than the renaissance) are the first real cities in Europe (which you also said in your essay).

    These cities gave the people a more different view on the world and due to the trade that came (and was partly a reason for the existance of cities) with this evolution more exchange of knowledge was allowed between cultures. The people realized more and more that a monarch and the Church couldn't command them just like that. In cities it was easier for them to unite and form a strong opposition. An example is the Battle of the Golden Spurs (national holiday here) in 1302, where the 'unions' of Bruges, Ghent and many other cities formed an army to fight the French king.

    More freedom also allowed more freedom in art. Artists like Memling already made realistic paintings before the renaissance 'officially' began here. Also societies of artists were formed in the early 15th century.

    The Italian renaissance was of course much earlier, and this is thanks to the power of their cities (in opposition to the power of monarchs) and heritage.

    However, this shows that contact with the East didn't really influence Western Europe that much. The Italian renaissance happened much earlier (late 13th century), the Western European only during the early 16th century. But Italy had much contact with the rest of Europe, although they didn't influence Europe that much. So, the East couldn't have influenced Europe much either regarding they had less contact.

    Anyway that's just a theory you know, I'm not saying I'm completely right. So basicly it comes down to it that the Western European renaissance came from the inside with little help from the outside. But I think we can't be so sure about that, it's a hard matter to discuss. :P

    Disgusting

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    http://www.stormfront.org/

    I found this site somewhere on a HG forum, in someone's sig. I haven't read such utter nonsense for a while and actually, seeing the big forum activity they have, I feel quite bad about this. Seems like quite a few people are brainwashed by the words these almost 'neonazis' write.

    In their forums they depict Jews as a threat to the white society. Makes me thinking about what Hitler said. And the sad thing is, things like this are tolerated online. People seem to have forgotten what happened in the past.

    Anyway, the most stupid thing in general as that they claim that the white race is loosing its freedom and rights. I don't know where they get that, maybe they don't know there's a world outside, where many non-whites suffer daily. They also say that we should be proud of our history. Oh boy, so we should be proud of slavery, holocausts, the slaughters in the first world war, the crusades, etc.

    hmmm. Food for discussion :P

  7. 0ad Map Editor Wishlist

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    BB Code

    Some kind of markup code designers could use to format text. Incloding bold, italic, font size, font (if possible), center, color, strike, etc.

    Extra stuff like background color and border size/color would also be cool, that way for example the chat effect could be used to make a pop up text in a box.

  8. My English Exam Paper!

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    Well I agree with your teacher. Your language is indeed improving since the first day you came here. Good idea you used a flash forward at the beginning of your story, it makes it more exciting. Yep, I didn't really like the shooting either though.

    One contructive comment I'll give regarding contents is that the actions of the character should be justified if you want him to be a hero. Now it's rather absurd, I don't know a good person who just shoots somebody because he entered his house.

    Depends on how you want it though, if you like action stories it's ok, but personally I think such violence isn't really needed.

    However, if you like to play with violence in stories take a look at Quentin Tarantino's movies. They are extremely violent but with a reason which isn't that easy to find.

    Some literature I would recommend you is Popcorn by Ben Elton. Really great book, I'm sure your teacher will like it (Ben Elton is a respected author and scenario writer).

    Anyway, good job :P

    Hall Of Intellectuals' Guidelines

    in Hall of Intellectuals

    Posted

    HALL OF INTELLECTUALS' GUIDELINES

    This is in addition to the Wildfire Games Community Guidelines

    Have a look at some general tips on how to be a good and well-respected forumer here

    I. Introduction

    The purpose of these guidelines is to assist you when posting in this forum. These are not rules, but we ask you to read them and use the tips while you're conversing in the "Hall of Intellectuals". The guidelines include a description of what's welcomed and encouraged in this forum, tips for posting interesting topics, and info to keep the discussions as friendly and clear as possible.

    II. The Purpose of This Forum

    As the name suggests this is a place to discuss intellectual topics. They can range from religious, political to artistic debates. However, no matter what the topic, they must abide by the Community Guidelines. It is required that you respond maturely to the topics (some humour is always allowed though) and make thoughtful quality posts. If the discussion fits neither of those, then the topic would be more appropriate in another WFG forum. Don't be discouraged; this is also a place to learn about new things. If you don't know enough about a certain topic to participate in the discussion, you're always welcome to ask questions of your fellow forumer.

    III. Posting a Topic

    TITLES: Before posting a topic, we ask you to abide by the previous paragraph as closely as possible. The most important thing is to make sure that the topic is clear to readers. Use proper English and make sure the title of the topic summarises the contents inside of it. A clear title also is a good record for new people browing or searching old topics.

    DESCRIPTIONS: It's always helpful to provide an abstract of your topic in the description field.

    Use it to give a more detailed description of what the title of your topic suggests. Don't make it too long though; one sentence should suffice.

    CONTENT: In the post field (the main body of your topic) you can articulate what you wish to discuss with your fellow forumers. Be very clear in your message so that people know what to discuss. Feel free to include your own opinion on the subject in it, BUT make sure you make room for other replies by not saying too much.

    Another thing, although it could be interesting in some cases, is narrowing the topic down. Avoid large general topics. For example "Let's discuss history" is not such a good idea. You should be more specific so people don't start discussing at random. A better idea in this case would be: "The history of Charles V".

    IV. Suggested Issues for Discussion

    Here are some subjects you could choose. Note though that these are very broad, so you might want to make it more specific, as stated above. Discussing an intellectual topic isn't that easy, nor is debating. It requires a decent knowledge of the facts, a critical mind, respect for others and the ability to communicate seriously. In the following list you'll find a heap of tips that will help you. Although they are not rules, they will assist in keeping the debates friendly and interesting. Always build up an argumentation. This is extremely important in debating. If you express your opinion or answer someone else's always do it by giving arguments. By just saying "The earth is flat" you can't expect anyone to accept what you say, it's better to include a reason why you think this.

    • Use arguments that make sense. A bad example would be "The moon is made of cheese because it has holes in it". It will get you nowhere, as the argument is flawed. Building up a good argumentation means that you have to consider as many possibilities as possible, so in this case the holes or craters could also be caused by meteorites.
    • Try to use facts to back up your arguments. Although this isn't always possible it's always good to give your opinion more value.
    • When using facts include the sources. It's easy to say "The Nazis only killed 500 Jews". Everyone can invent a fact (which in the end isn't one).
    • Use reliable sources, and preferably more than one. If you used a negationist publication in the previous example you obviously need to lighten up.
    • Always use a good formulation and structure in your posts. Many flame wars are caused because of misunderstandings.
    • Futher avoid receiving flames by using "I believe" instead of "You believe" in your text. Don't put words in other people's mouths. Only speak for yourself.
    • If your opinion is quite fanatical or one-sided try to formulate it as moderately as you can, to ensure that you do not offend others.
    • Be nice, even if you don't want to. Never attack someone personally, even if they are insulting you. In such a case it's better to keep quiet and contact a moderator or admin. Or "Report" the post using the forum button.
    • Don't make the discussions too personal. If you feel you have a serious problem with someone's opinion or feel offended, go talk about it in private. You can use Personal Messenger for that or just chat or email.
    • When talking about religious topics, try not to offend anyone by forcing your beliefs on the readers. Sometimes this can happen out of ignorance so if you do this unintentionally, always apologise. Back up your arguments just like any other issue.
    • Don't throw all your preconceptions into one soup. There is a lot of variety of thought in the world, more than anyone can imagine. Open your mind and think for yourself. Don't regurgiate the ideas, investigate them.
    • When expressing something in a hard way but not intending to make it sound angry or condescending, just use emotion icons :)
    • Use proper English. You won't get far if you don't understand each other. This doesn't mean you have to sound like a lawyer or a professor; just try to avoid spelling errors and form your sentences as best you can.
    • If you're angry, cool down before you post, or come back to the thread tomorrow. You might not be so upset after you had time to think about it more. If you don't, you might feel sorry afterwards.
    • We're all equal, so please do not try to make others feel inferior if you have more knowledge in a certain area.
    • Racism, sexism, or any other sterotypical derogatory comments will not be tolerated. If this is your opinion keep it to yourself or talk about it in private with another forumer.
    • Make room for other opinions. If you don't understand someone's opinion or argumentation, ask questions so it might become more clear to you.
    • Try to show some understanding to people who mean well but are not that good in communicating their thoughts.
    • Try to stay on topic. If you feel a discussion is going too off topic start another thread.

  16. Graffiti - The Art Of Vandalism

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    Yep depends on which graffiti. Those guys putting their tag all over town are just a bunch of vandals with no respect for culture and other people. However there are very good graffiti artists.

    A while ago in Bruges there was a graffiti exposition. The artists were allowed to make their work on buildings all over town. I don't know the names, but those were artists from all over the world, also some Americans.

    What they did was really spectacular. When you enter bruges you'll find a huge one which is the artist's interpretation of a painting by Memling (famous medieval painter to whom a museum is dedicated in Bruges).

    I don't have any pictures right now but I'll have a look on Google.

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