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Whereas I think we can all agree:

DOSBox is something that doesn't annoy us. I love the DOSBox.

You know who really piss me off? People who insist on playing the victim.

Don't get me wrong -- many groups of people have been victimized over the years, but in most cases, life is better today. My specific issue is with some African Americans.

The problem here is that there's a sub-culture of failure. I don't mean to say that no African American can do well. Look at President-Elect Barack Obama, for instance.

What I mean is that, more often than not, when a black man or woman becomes successful, they're criticized by the African American community. They're called an "Uncle Tom" or badmouthed for "acting white." Since when is success a white-only thing?

I've tried speaking to some African Americans in the past about this, too. They insist that because they were slaves for around 200 years, that their people are forever disenfranchised when compared to others.

I don't see that as the case. Many groups were harshly discriminated against all through history, including those who came to the United States. Just a few are Jews, Asians and the Irish.

Most of the above are successful today. Why is that? Because they haven't demanded that the U.S. government hold their hand. These groups have worked hard in order to rise above the initial discriminatory atmosphere they entered into and become successful member of society.

When speaking to one African American, he stated that "no other group in history has been victimized like blacks in the United States" and "the U.S. should be ashamed of itself for using slavery, something other countries didn't do."

Okay... well, the U.S. was far from the only nation in history to utilize slavery. That my not make slavery "okay," but the U.S. is in no way alone. Most wealthy and influential societies had slaves. Some were treated better than others. But the fact remains that many, many nations had slaves as a part of their life at sometime or another.

In addition, I find it hard to stomach the cries of African Americans who claim they've had it more difficult than anyone else. What about Jews? I know I may be biased here, but honestly... look at the last 2000 years or so and see what's occurred to Jews.

I'll tell you what: Jews have been the victims of state-sponsored attacks, blamed for many actions that were not their own (such as vampirism, witchcraft, the bubonic plague, Jack the Ripper, killing Jesus, and controlling governments behind the scenes), were made slaves themselves, sent to live in ghettos, not allowed to seek an education or enter into most professions, and finally... there was that pesky genocide thing called the Holocaust.

But I suppose none of that is comparable to the injustices that African Americans have suffered.

DeadPoolX wrote:You know who really piss me off? People who insist on playing the victim.

Don't get me wrong -- many groups of people have been victimized over the years, but in most cases, life is better today. My specific issue is with some African Americans.

The problem here is that there's a sub-culture of failure. I don't mean to say that no African American can do well. Look at President-Elect Barack Obama, for instance.

What I mean is that, more often than not, when a black man or woman becomes successful, they're criticized by the African American community. They're called an "Uncle Tom" or badmouthed for "acting white." Since when is success a white-only thing?

I've tried speaking to some African Americans in the past about this, too. They insist that because they were slaves for around 200 years, that their people are forever disenfranchised when compared to others.

I don't see that as the case. Many groups were harshly discriminated against all through history, including those who came to the United States. Just a few are Jews, Asians and the Irish.

Most of the above are successful today. Why is that? Because they haven't demanded that the U.S. government hold their hand. These groups have worked hard in order to rise above the initial discriminatory atmosphere they entered into and become successful member of society.

When speaking to one African American, he stated that "no other group in history has been victimized like blacks in the United States" and "the U.S. should be ashamed of itself for using slavery, something other countries didn't do."

Okay... well, the U.S. was far from the only nation in history to utilize slavery. That my not make slavery "okay," but the U.S. is in no way alone. Most wealthy and influential societies had slaves. Some were treated better than others. But the fact remains that many, many nations had slaves as a part of their life at sometime or another.

In addition, I find it hard to stomach the cries of African Americans who claim they've had it more difficult than anyone else. What about Jews? I know I may be biased here, but honestly... look at the last 2000 years or so and see what's occurred to Jews.

I'll tell you what: Jews have been the victims of state-sponsored attacks, blamed for many actions that were not their own (such as vampirism, witchcraft, the bubonic plague, Jack the Ripper, killing Jesus, and controlling governments behind the scenes), were made slaves themselves, sent to live in ghettos, not allowed to seek an education or enter into most professions, and finally... there was that pesky genocide thing called the Holocaust.

But I suppose none of that is comparable to the injustices that African Americans have suffered.

On the other hand, the old racial attitudes continue to persist in much of the Bible Belt, as far as I know. *shrug* Also, questions (very general):

1. Are blacks promoted as often as whites, or offered the same salary?
2. Are as many blacks allowed into universities as whites?
3. How many black families, compared with white families, are successful financially?
4. How often are black people or drivers stopped by police, compared with white people, for relatively minor offences?

Given that, I agree with you on the question of self-sufficiency. If black people want to be successful, it is not enough to expect the gov't to do everything for them. Hard work and dedication are essential, and attitude is where it starts. It would be good if more people realised that they are in charge of themselves, and that the world does not revolve around them - though I believe also that social security is vital for the worst-off of society.

As for this:

DeadPoolX wrote:When speaking to one African American, he stated that "no other group in history has been victimized like blacks in the United States" and "the U.S. should be ashamed of itself for using slavery, something other countries didn't do."

I'm not even going to bother. No other group? Try (as you say) the Jews. But at least the Jews survived the millenia of persecutions. What about people who have been completely obliterated? The Carthaginians, the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, the Magyars, the Khazars, and many of the Mesoamerican cultures - who remembers them now in the west apart from history students?

As for the second claim - again, that is patently false. Slavery is almost as old as mankind itself. There are constant references to it in the Bible, for instance, at least two of which I instantly recognise as authentic: the enslavement of the Hebrews in Egypt (roughly 1200 B.C.) and the enslavement of the Jews in Babylon (roughly 6th century B.C.) Slavery is, even today, prevalent in many countries; it is particularly endemic in Sudan as well as parts of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia - particularly Myanmar, Mauritania, Central Africa (where the native Pygmies are enslaved by the Bantus), the Ivory Coast, Niger, China, and parts of Iraq where some tribal sheiks keep slaves. This is not to mention the even bigger problems of child slavery and human trafficking.

Perhaps what this person meant was that America was the last 'white' country (I'm talking strictly in 19th century terms here) to abolish black slavery. Once again, this is demonstrably untrue. It is true that England did so in 1832, more than 30 years before America did. But both France and Germany pursued their own colonial interests in 19th-century Africa and mercilessly enslaved or massacred the locals, as Spain did in South America (for nearly 400 years, I might add - far longer than African-American slavery). And let's not even mention the American Indians... *sigh*

Incidentally, I think people with the kind of attitude that you mention can learn a lot from the example of Indian chieftains like Tecumseh, Red Jacket, Chief Joseph, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, among others.

I'm sure we've all read some fan-fiction at one point or another. Perhaps some of us still require psychological help after reading some of the stories available online.

This is an angry rant about fan-fiction and the halfwits who write them. I didn't know where else to put this. I initially considered one of the "cliche" threads, but these aren't really cliches.

1. The majority of fan-fiction is centered around "a new girl arriving in town." Can't people simply make a story with characters from a series without inserting themselves into it?

2. At least half, if not more, of the fan-fiction stories include a "Mary Sue." To quickly explain that, a "Mary Sue" is a character (usually one the author created and/or based on themselves) without any noticeable flaws. She can do anything (and do it well), impress everyone around her and is adored by every character.

3. Fan-fiction that's nothing more than a song. All I have to ask is: WHY!?

4. "Slash" fan-fiction. For those of you who don't know what that is, I envy you. The idea behind "slash" is that the author takes two characters (usually male) who hate each other or are otherwise unrelated and create a homosexual relationship for them.

5. Some of the worst problems can easily be attributed to errors in spelling and grammar. Even worse is when the author can't tell the difference between dialog and prose.

6. Believe it or not, some authors include "shout outs" to their friends or mix "in jokes" into the story, of which about 99.9% of the world won't understand.

7. When a fan-fiction author decides to include copious amounts of sexual activity for no reason at all. Most p0rn movies have a better plot. I really don't need to know about a threesome between Spock, Alvin the Chipmunk and Krang (from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).

I should note that "sexual activity" hardly restricts the act to sex between the same species. Unfortunately, some authors have the unwavering need to write stories about Jennifer Love Hewitt getting raped by both a horse and an elephant. At the same time.

There's far more than that, as well. I won't mention anything more, however, since many here will already have nightmares based upon this passage.

8. Maybe this is an old idea, but so many authors can't stop themselves from writing crossovers between two pieces of intellectual property. We've all read the arguments between the Star Wars vs Star Trek fanatics.

Well, it gets worse. Some match-ups make no sense whatsoever. There are numerous fan-fiction stories out there that include such gems as Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs Elmer Fudd. While it might be amusing to see Fudd get a stake through the heart, the point is that when doing a crossover, the two meeting entities should be relatively similar.

9. The authors of these traumatic tales seem to get in an uproar if they don't receive reviews regarding their literary masterpiece. Of course, by "review" I mean "glowing positive feedback." It's not unusual to see fan-fiction writers warn against so-called negative responses.

What's amusing about this is these same authors will threaten to cease production on their story unless they receive a certain number of reviews per chapter.

10. The most heinous crime is when authors decide to write established characters in an out-of-character manner. For example, some writers have made Captain Picard shave of his body hair off, grease up and sing "If you want my body" by Rod Stewart. Another instance might include Worf huddled up in the corner, crying and hugging his pink, fluffy Tribble.

As you can plainly see, the individuals who write this filth shouldn't breed. Ever.

ROFLOL... but eek. Yes, I've seen some of these, but never quite that bad. Most fan-fiction writers I read are at least reasonably literate and well-versed in English spelling and grammar. That's the very least I require from fan-fiction before I read it. (OK, granted, I don't hold it against a fanfic writer if English isn't their first language, and I might even help them by proofreading and correcting if the story is interesting).

What I find annoying in fanfic...

- Endless ands. As in "Jason did this and then he did that and then he... and then he..." etc. The sentence never ends.
- Injudicious exclamations. As in "And then Jason drew his sword! And it was so cool! And then this happened! And then that happened! And then the other happened!" And the fanfic was transformed into an Archie comic! With Jughead! And Veronica! And...!
- People incessantly going red to show embarrassment or rage. The first couple of Harry Potters are guilty of this.
- Characters acting out-of-character. For instance, a fanfic set in QfG2 would probably not have Uhura asking Rakeesh on a date (unless this is a comic fanfic and that a date is ALL they're having - not a prune). For instance:

Uhura: (flirtatious) So what are you doing tonight, Raki baby?
Rakeesh: (oblivious) Sleeping, same as you...

You can probably keep the joke going for a little while, but I doubt this can go very far.

etc... can't think of much else that would enrage me...

DeadPoolX wrote:7. When a fan-fiction author decides to include copious amounts of sexual activity for no reason at all. Most p0rn movies have a better plot. I really don't need to know about a threesome between Spock, Alvin the Chipmunk and Krang (from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).

Once upon a time, Spock was sitting at a bus stop when suddenly a talking chipmunk sat down next to him. This was very unusual considering that moments earlier, a brain from Dimension X had materialized in his lap. "Hmmm," thought Spock as his Vulcan hormones began racing, "I wonder... "

While it might be amusing to see Fudd get a stake through the heart, the point is that when doing a crossover, the two meeting entities should be relatively similar.

I disagree with this one. The more opposite they are, the better. I can't imagine any scenario where I'd rather read "Captain Picard vs. Darth Vader" instead of "X-Men vs. Care Bears."

DPX should stay far far away from livejournal then.

Granted there is a lot of bad fanfic out there, but there are also some jewels. *wears the crazy hat*

therogue wrote: DPX should stay far far away from livejournal then.

Granted there is a lot of bad fanfic out there, but there are also some jewels. *wears the crazy hat*

I see LiveJournal as the spiritual successor to the "personal website." In other words, it's full of highly obnoxious and overly personal info regarding someone whom most individuals care little about.

Do I really care about someone's cat or baby or their colorful sock collection? No, I don't.

I realize the answer to that is: "Don't read it then!"

While that might be the best solution, I have to wonder why anyone would create such atrocities. Do they honestly feel they're so important that strangers -- and perhaps the Internet as a whole -- couldn't survive without the meaningless details of their lives?

I think the main reason anyone ought to write fan fiction is the desire to continue seeing stories within a certain "world". There is often a hesitation about using someone else's characters which prohibits the fanfic writer from being comfortable making the "hero" the... er... hero of the fanfic, because a writer needs to feel free to let the main character develop - unless of course it's a parody. In that case, most bets are off.

I know that I have mostly had a new character as the main character in fanfics I've written - but not always. Quest for Pants was definitely following the adventures of the Hero; the GK fanfics I've started (oh, guilt, guilt, I must continue them!) follow Gabriel (and I believe it's my responsibility to be as true to the Gabriel character as possible); the self-help hero's quest story followed the hero... but The Boiling Sands of Doom was certainly not based on the adventures of the "hero" - no, instead, I created FOUR versions of me in Gloriana! (Who's going to beat that? No one. Mwa ha ha.)

And the James Bond spoof of QfG - Hero-based, definitely.

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I suppose it's not fanfic per se that can be irritating to me - but badly written ANYTHING has that potential. I cringe at poorly conceived characters; ludicrous dialogue; meaningless plot meanderings; impoverished descriptive style; relentless destruction of someone else's characterse... I truly don't like that. If one's writing fanfic, it should never be to the detriment of another writer's characters or to fulfil one's own very private fantasies.

I don't like pretentious writing. I love genuinely intellectual writing whose complexity comes from the love of words rather than the desire to be seen as loving words.

There are a frightening number of people and judges in this country who think that rape is something the girl asks for and the judges only give prison terms counted in DAYS, even in some cases no prison and just a number of hours of community service.

The notion that getting drunk means having no responsibility for one's actions. There are two cases here, a female police officer and in the other case a young woman; were murdered and as you'd expect the murderers both cry: omg I was drunk, don't blame meee! it was only a woman in any case..

*RAGE*

That sounds utterly despicable. *is angry just thinking about this* I hate it when people can't take responsibility for their own actions. Then they're cowards as well as screw-ups.

Do you have any links about these two cases, therogue?

news article on the confession of the guy who murdered Miss Kouwe.

http://www.nu.nl/algemeen/1899768/ryan-p-bekent.html

4 boys who raped a 16 year old get prison terms ranging from 127 to 503 days, the guys in question also confessed that they had assaulted two other girls of 14 and 15 on the same day.

http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/3009 ... html?p=7,1

Suspect in the Cevat case was always drunk (the police officer)

http://www.nrc.nl/binnenland/article211 ... jd_dronken

I didn't post any links earlier because I figured these links wouldn't be much help to anyone as all of them are in Dutch

Hmmm... the laws against rape are quite strict in the U.S., but they weren't always. It wasn't until the 1970s that, according to the law, a husband could rape his wife.

Unfortunately, the laws regarding rape today have led to many women "crying wolf" in order to exact some sort of revenge against men who've slighted them in any way. This is a shame since it greatly diminishes the ability of a woman to sue for rape. The more women falsely charge men, the fewer people -- including judges -- will consider it seriously.

Interestingly enough, the laws against statutory rape have been a sore point for many here. In a broad sense, the laws state that if a man over the age of 18 has sex with a woman under 18, he can legally be tried and convicted of raping the woman. It doesn't matter if she was a willing partner. The age of consent may differ from state-to-state.

Most of the time, this isn't an issue, but it can become such when teenage girls sneak into 21+ clubs. It's easy for a woman to make herself look younger or older with the right clothes and makeup. In addition, the lighting isn't great in most clubs and fake IDs can be quite efficiently.

So it's entirely possible -- and has happened in the past -- that an adult man could get involved with a teenage girl and eventually have sex with her. Under the law, he's at fault. He "should know" ahead of time what the girl's age was, despite the fact she was in an "adults only" club and lied to the guy.

In Washington state, there was a recent ruling centered around a 30-something male teacher having sex with an 18 year-old student. He was brought up on charges of statutory rape, but appealed the charge based on "she was 18 and therefore not a minor." The judges agreed with him.

Usually what occurs in schools is if a male teacher has sex with a female student, he's branded a "sexual predator" and charged with statutory rape. Prison is not unusual. If the situation involves a female teacher and a male student, the woman may still go to prison, but the event is trivialized and comments such as "he's a lucky guy" and "how is it rape when he wanted it" are bandied about.

DeadPoolX wrote:"how is it rape when he wanted it" are bandied about.

I take it that you meant "how is it rape when she wanted it"

sigh

Unfortunately, the laws regarding rape ... seriously.

Yes because thats those crazy hysterical women folk for you, always crying wolf.

Around these parts we don't have the jury system and by far most of the judges in criminal courts are men. But by far the worst is the fact that in the system the victim has a very weak position