Raphaella

Hey they advertise (McDonalds) that their meat is 100% beef... whatever that means. While I am no fan of hot dogs, I alas must partake on one every so often gleefully and on Friday sans the bun. The mystery is part of the allure for some people, I'm sure. Take bologna for instance, what's up with that? I am unsure of meat rinds as well. I say let my meat be free of rinds!! But really any thoughts about Harpp? That must be no good, it just has to be.

That is what I was saying though. The cloned meat, minus the animal would indeed be faster, but would you wish to consume the meat? Like I said before, a quivering mass of muscle tissue growing in some pseudo amniotic brine is just unappealing to me. While I am a fan of brine of most kinds, especially the kind in which preserved rats float, I draw the line at briny meat. Just saying…

To be frank here, I say you should not let others dictate your movements. I'll not say you are a cowered, in fact I say you are acting like a defeatist. You choose to ignore the fact that most of the topics that draw the most interest were, in fact, started by you. It would be a shame if you were to stop posting these fascinating topics. While I tend to disagree with some of your opinions, I still find them stimulating enough to rebut. You may want to rethink you position on leaving; I feel it would create a vacuum of sorts in the forums and I may have to start playing the devil's advocate in order to have a jolly time.

I had it on good authority, mostly my own, that this sort of petty squabbling was at best, down to a minimum… Perhaps we cold open another topic to discuss this battle of the wit and the witless? Humm? I call it Wit and the Witless, only because that seems to be the point of your contention. One set to prove the other has no wits and vice-versa. No harm no foul here, my friends.

I know what you mean about being turned into a schizophrenic zombie. You see, I had a bout of schizophrenia myself. I am a staunch researcher of what one might call Shamanic Science, or as I like to put it an Independent Occult Science Researcher. As such I am involved in the deep mystery of ancient magic such as is outlined in The sacred magic of Abramelin the mage, The key of king solomon the king, John Dee's five books of mystery, and other such things. Insofar as my bout of schizophrenia is concerned, I can chalk that up to bad LSD and a botched experiment in Bicameral Thinking. But I can say this on the subject, there is a word in German used to describe the state of the large cities of the world, the word it's self eludes me for the moment, but it dose not translate anyway. I'll put it like this, the anthropologist in question stated that we as humans are built with the capacity to feel compassion to, at most, about 40 people at any given time. What befalls us when crammed into large cities is thus, we become incapable of feeling compassion. Here is an example taken from Biblical times. Jesus had no problems preaching his gospel of compassion and love in the smaller settlements, but as soon as he took his message to Jerusalem the people crucified him. It was even proposed that a Buddha like figure would also loose his compassion for his fellow man in such a place. You see, it is like this, if you were to open your wallet to every hungry man on the streets of a big city, you would quickly be come one of them. You may stay your hand when begged for money, because there will just be another beggar right behind that one. But that has nothing to do with our technology, I too have some naturalist tendencies, but shunning our wonderful advances in technology is not something I, myself, would propose. Far better that you use these to springboard your own research into the secret wisdom of the ancients. Like Monatomic gold for instance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0hSUGSzohI I have studied this curious substance in some detail, and as it turns out, those strange and elusive creatures known only as the ancient Egyptians were using this substance for quite some time, and for unknown reasons.

Well I see the emerging ai theme as people trying to create god. You see, we have been searching from the dawn of time for a higher intelligence to tell us the answer to the ultimate question. I think that scenario was best out lined in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy wherein their computer gave them the answer 42. In our ongoing study of consciousness, we would love to make a self actualizing machine, one with an artificial consciousness. But why draw the line there, we would also like to give that consciousness access to our own collective human consciousness, and I can think of no other tangible embodiment of that than the internet. If we could create a superior intelligence with access to our own collective knowledge with which said ai could extrapolate upon then we would have an omnipotent, self actualized 'higher being' with which we could communicate. That would be sweet! If only we would not have to then build another one just to be the interpreter to the first one. Back to the cloned meat debacle though, I say if we can reach a point wherein we can make this meat safely and easily without the whole animal then more power to the 'Beef People' for making this happen. But really I don't know if I would be comfortable eating a quivering slab of lab grown tissue. Call me what you will, but I prefer to think of my meat as once being a part of something more, preferably with fur or feathers or what have you. Even if it came from a whole cloned animal, I say that would indeed be better for my more, primal sensibilities. Insofar as me being the 'little friend' of the PorkChopExpress, I would like to take a moment to digress. I have been described as many things in my time but little is not one of them. In real life I am seven feet tall and have titanium skin, a sort of cyborg if you will. No but really, I was not trying to speak for, or defend this being that is shrouded in Porky mystery, I was perhaps trying to express my own ideas in a veiled manner which toughly entangled themselves in this ongoing thread of absurdity. That said, I motion we dismiss such unpleasantness and move on with the topics at hand. Can I get a "Here, Here" or perhaps a "Sure as buttons!"

Mmmmmmm clone burger. I too am all for it, but what if it were human meat they were cloning? What then? Really I heard tell of some tofu that was formulated to taste like human flesh for the benefit of anthropology studies. I also heard it tastes like pork. I have not heard tell of this accella wonder however. I do remember seeing something about a musical algorithm that gets you high http://www.i-doser.com/ What if the nano machines somehow formed a collective conciseness and then figured out how to take control of our brains and make us think that they did not in fact exist? What if that has already happened and the nano machines merged with our biological components and evolved into things like rogue cells, or shifty DNA? What if that is why some of us are so messed up? I doubt that cloned meat would be any more economical than normal meat. Much like electric cars, you still have to generate the electricity to power the car and the power plant runs on coal, so we are back to square one. But with the meat… the growing of the cloned meat would take energy, time, and money to produce, and much more man hours. All the monitoring and white suits to prevent contamination and such, I just don't see it as becoming anything more than a novelty. Cloned Cows on the other hand, are different. There are plenty of those and I have heard that they are just as tasty as they were the first time around. (Winks and sniggers)

What is you position on nano-tech? I have heard plenty of mixed reviews on that. Also what about cloning and cloned meat? http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews...051670020070601

The problem with designer babies is; what color do you want purple, or blue? No really it's just we keep beating the proverbial dead genetically enhanced baby horse here. I would like to delve into your razor sharp mind on other aspects of Mad Science! I say Mad Science because that is the science to end all science and you know it. Really though let us discuss other aspects aside from the 'fashion baby'.

While it is true that eugenics is not true science, the same is said of evolution and Freudian Psychology. I just wanted to illustrate a point. You see, when conversing about genetic engineering we ultimately tend to focus on the 'designer baby' I merely wanted to consider a broader base for this genetic engineering. In the global spectrum, if you will. If we are indeed talking about science going too far, I just wanted to imagine it really going too far as in a global implementation of something pseudoscientific like eugenics. Something outrageous, yet seemingly possible, in that it is still going on and no one seems to notice or care. And while it is true that any one can jump on a soap box and spout insanity, twisting any scientific discovery to suit their own nefarious purposes, the same can be said of virtually any struggling scientist who is approached by big pharma to do an 'unbiased' study of their new medication. (But what says the soap box?) Let us go on to examine another strange theory like the 'grey goo'. Somewhat like the blob, only composed of self-replicating nano-machines. I am all for the wonders that await us with nano tech, I would just love to have a machine, or series of machines that could take my old stuff, or trash even and make it into shiny new stuff while my body is being constantly rejuvenated by these wondrous nano-bots. We are in the age of accelerating novelty after all, who's to say we won't see this stuff before we die. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novelty_Theory I for one like to envision all types of apocalypse scenarios not just a world where we are prohibited from reproducing naturally like in Brave New World. How about that other post that mentioned the Hadron supercollider!! Now that is something to think on! Or Harpp, or what about the fabled Tesla Death Ray? Science is one of my favorite apocalypse meditative muses. I am for the blatant disorganization of all human scientific efforts! I say let them have creative license to test theories just so long as none of it sells well enough to get into the hands of stupid people, we will all be a ok! (Unless the unthinkable happens) Let's immanentize the Eschation! It will be smashing. In all things I feel a proper dose of humor is needed, or it all goes to shit.

No, just your basic d and d realm. Noting too serious just drow elves and dwarves and wizard and such.

I am glad this issue came up here, what you are referring to is called Eugenics. That was one of the ideas Hitler expressed in his movement during the holocaust. And I would like to point out that at the time we were using Eugenics here in the USA forcibly sterilizing people with mental disorders, or even sub par intelligence. It was not a secret and many prominent people of that time were advocates of Eugenics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics Like I said earlier this is still going on today, but in a much more controlled and secretive manner. We will continue to find all types of nefarious uses for our science, but at the same time I would advise you to take a good look at what Eugenics was trying to accomplish. I am not an advocate of this, I just want you to really think about it. There are all kinds of noble ideas that can be pursued with science, but at the same time they will seem unethical and downright inhuman in a sense. Like the use of human stem cells harvested from our own embryos. There can be no denying the benefit of these cells and yet… you need an aborted or otherwise discarded embryo to extract them. We have to keep in mind too the question of universal human rights and what they are and what they mean to you, or if they even exist. We have a thread going about that too if my memory serves me well. I also want to point out here that the people who rule us, Government, Bankers, Policy Makers, subscribe to a vastly different world view than most of us. Just read the tenets on the Georgia Guidestones. http://www.radioliberty.com/stones.htm If you conceder he vast amount of human life on planet Earth, and then you look at the disproportion of wealth and the amount of disease in the third world and still further you conceder our advances in medicine and science, why then are so many humans suffering? I am not sure my stance on this topic like I said before, but I feel it is akin to animal testing. Not that I would ever compare people to animals, never. I am just saying that you have to wonder where these people are getting their license to experiment on the third world populations and then you have to ask your self; If they made a breakthrough in these inhumane experiments that would some how benefit all man kind should I hold it against them? And if I did hold it against them would I still partake of their discovery?

Ah, the war. Let us not forget that we are spreading democracy at all costs here people. (Sarcasm implied) Our current commander in chief is not nearly as articulate as he once was, and we can chalk that up to his heavy use of drugs and booze in his early years. I don't believe that he is single handedly responsible for the war in Iraqi though. There are many things one must conceder. First this disturbing think tank called Project for the New American Century here is a link, please check this out. http://www.newamericancentury.org/ We also have to look at the motives for the war and understand why our respective governments felt it necessary to go in and remove Saddam despite the intelligence that stated there were no 'weapons of mass destruction' once we know that then it is pretty self evident on the why. (He was threatening to start trading oil in euros in lieu of dollars, if he had done that then well, what would China do with all it's dollars? The only reason any country needed plenty of US currency is because oil was only traded only in dollars.) Now that we are headed into a recession, and one that most likely was devised to father push us, America, into a more solid position with the UN, I really don't believe that any president can change things. We are headed into New World Order territory folks and it's not going to be pretty. Not if you value your rights to free speech, or fire arms, or for that matter, if you value your right to consume vitamin supplements. Please check this out… http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/index_en.jsp There is some legislation in the works that would make America Codex compliant, and soon. It matters not which president we have in office they are sure to pass this crap. We are on our way to a one world government here and everyone fighting for office is all for it, except perhaps Ron Paul. I do not like Bush, but sadly, it was not just him that put us on this path. This has been in the works for quite some time and will be established with, or with out your consent, and with or with out any President's consent. It is a matter of economics, population growth, and sustainability. Get ready for the North American Union, because here it comes. And they may say that it was Bush who has done this in 2005, but this has been in the works for a long, long, time and I assure you it was not just Bush.

Gambit!! How could I have forgotten him? Gambit is by far the hottest X-man.

Common sense is what tells us, as we stand and look to the horizon, that the world is, indeed flat. What? It's true, I assure you. Now on to more pressing matters, Greenwizard, I can also assure you that the Esteemed PorkChopExpress, is not one to just assume one is unintelligent purely based on the lack of certified certificates one may or may not hold. Forgive me, but I feel you are missing the context in which this word, uneducated, is being used. Uneducated, like the word ignorance, implies that you may not be wholly informed on your topic of choice. Where you have clear ideas to express, perhaps you are lacking in information that would provide you a sound base to combat people of differing opinions, people whom are aggressive in their tactics of debate. It is not such a 'bad' term as you seem to imply. It only suggests through simply terminology that you do some more research on your topics. If the PorkChopExpress truly found your whole post ignorant, or uneducated, then I assure you he would not bother to post here, or point out the instances where he has found your research lacking. I may be wrong here, but forgive me for being the eternal optimist… Any way I can tell you that 'Science' already controls the weather, and sprays us all with biological material and uses unassuming chemicals to subdue the masses. Here is a link to Harpp, where the US Government controls the weather http://www.haarp.net/. And here is a link to a wiki about a movie I am sure you will find fascinating about genetic manipulation in the future and how it pertains to everyday life therein http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca. 'Science' is already controlling the population of third world countries as you may or may not already know. The aid, the US and NATO sends to places like Indonesia and Haiti come with a code of ethics that the receiving countries must follow. Like in order to receive food subsidies all of the 'disadvantaged' women must have booster shots. Well, it turns out that these seemingly normal booster shots are in fact designed to make the women sterile and the shots are even forced upon the pregnant women, and when that happens well… 100% of the time the mother looses the child, no matter how far along she was. I do not believe that 'Science' shall ever go too far. Science, true science, is a question. A question about everything and one that we each strive to answer, no question shall ever go too far. It is the way in which people choose to go about testing said question that we shall ever have cause to bicker over. I have found, through copious amounts of research, that our own governments can and will and already has, implemented 'new science' and without even bothering to tell us. Insofar as designer babies are concerned, that has been around for quite some time. Chinese come here to determine the sex of any potential offspring because they don't want girls. Do I agree with this… I'm unsure, but it is better by far for them to choose a boy rather than go back to China and kill a girl child.

I am writing an original character in a Forgotten Realms setting. I wanted to avoid the classic Mary Sue syndrome, so I put her in with only the pertinent references to her background and then stuck her in some rather humorous situations. I needed another cause for strife in the life of one of the main characters and for the other main; I needed a way for him to get what he originally wanted… A trade partner in the city of Calimport. So I made up Malehedectar and she seems to be doing well so far. It is difficult to write an original character with any substance in a well established fandom. You get a lot of people who will drop a fic for an OC, no matter how well written you think the original character is. The classic assumption is that no matter what, you have made the original character a fictional version of your self, and while that is sometimes the case it is not always true. The reason I wanted to write a fan fiction in the first place was to test the waters, establish my literary prowess. Which, as it turns out, seems to be getting on swimmingly, but I have had a lack of really critical reviews, so it is a bit skewed. But I do intend to write some fully original works just as soon as I crank out the rest of The Shifting Sands of Calimshan. When I am safely out of this fandom I will then have time to check out some of the original stories here, and I just can’t wait!! I would love to see what some of you fine writers have thought up, all original cast and crew!! No worries about the sticky Mary Sue!!

I tend to waver. Sometimes I can do both, other times I just cant. What is really difficult is if I am writing a story and then I have a complex idea for another one, in a completely different fandom!! It is hard to really focus on your own characters when you are deeply immersed in another story though and vice versa. Do you ever dream about the story you are writing? I do, constantly. I even get ideas that way, some great dialogue too. Strange, or no?

Well I have to say that I find this thread informative and I will take these things to heart. I have not written much since High School and so my grammar knowledge is pretty much, horrid. I have always been a bit dyslexic too, and so I am constantly writing from as form, I know I do it, and still I sometimes miss it. Also I write with MS office. There is a pretty good spellchecker, but when I don't know how a word is spelled correctly, I may accidentally choose the completely wrong word from the list of suggestions it gives. For the longest time I was writing decision as diction and I hadn't the foggiest, I am constantly re-reading what I write and my mind just fills in the mistakes. I need a good beta, that's my problem. I use the online dictionary to death as well, but when you don't really know how a word is spelled it can be hell trying to find it. I read a lot and so I have a fairly good vocabulary and it's disheartening when you want to use a specific word and can't spell it! I have heard some people insinuate that if you can't spell a word you shouldn't use it, but I disagree. I say if you don't know what a word means you shouldn't use it. It is hard to find a good beta here. I have posted for one, but alas, none have answered. I don't want to go spamming for betas, you know? Thank you guys and gals all the same though. I will try to read my stories more carefully and watch out for things like than and then.

Yes you are now, officially, an alcoholic. Congratulations! Come on down to claim you prize… it's a giant bottle of ABC rum. Perfect for all day, or all week benders, at $6.99 a gallon it's cheap and tasty and will treat you just fine. (Smiles and winks) I am drinking coffee and listening to possibly the saddest song by Type O Negative… Bloody Kisses.

This still sounds like fun to me! Imagine all the characters you love in a ‘real life’ setting trying to work together to save every world from the Evil Fan Girls of Doom! Ha! Sounds great! We’ll zoom around in a ship like the heart of gold (could we take the bistro-math for a spin too?) and kick ass, take names, and then get some ass… Humm did that come out right? Oh well. I’m still in.

Oh those are glitches? I just thought that people were just formating their text in a strange, yet difficult to read way. Thank you. Now I know it's a problem, I'll try to post if I find any.

Dick was startled as he fell out of bed, “Oh my,” he breathed, “That was an awful dream.”

I'm so sorry, but I do not yet know what a squishies is. I tried to read some to the stories you have posted links to, and to the best of my skimming ability, I still can not glean what a squishie is. Please, fill me in.

I can't say... Brainfucking? Really? Through the ear? (Removes eye patch and chuckles) I thought that went through a different passage....