Classic.

"Someone's picking on me on-line. Quick, Dino, help me tag team him before he hurts my feelings some more!"

I agree with you on that.

Alas,


However, how do you feel about Muslims who seperate the world into Dar Al Harb and Dar Al Islam?

Typos, sorry.

Neither of us agree in religious elitism, and we despise the fact that it leads to violence.

Our views aren't exactly opposite each other.

If you're going to accuse me of something, back it up with proof.

*cough*

Neoform, do you work hard at being a douche bag, or does it come naturally to you?

We agree on one thing... Religion causes hate and war.

However, you seem to be blaming only one religion, when there are clearly two religions causing this conflict. And one of those religions is inherently more violent than the other.

Hint: The one that was started by a man who would invade jewish villages, and then kill all the male inhabitants and sell all the female villagers into sexual slavery.

Regarding race. . .

The dictionary defines race as a group that shares a common history, nationality or geographic distribution. By your own admission, the Kurds are a group. Ergo, the only way they are not a race is if you choose to disagree with the dictionary's definition of the word.

If you want to do that, by all means, feel free.

I would also like to point out that the Kurds and the Jews both have genetic characteristics that are distinct to their "non-racial group".

[ www.judeoscope.ca ]

As the video demonstrates, it's okay for Anti-Zionist protesters to attack and strangle people they disagree with.

[ www.canada.com ]

[ Rave.ca ] readers are smarter than the average bear. They know that Anti-semitism isn't real. The current exodus of Jews from France has nothing to do with the rise and spread of militant Islam. The real culprit?

Jerry Lewis.

I find the distinction useful.

How else am I to seperate the neo-facists (the left) from the old school facists (the right)?

This thread is about the American Police State.

Basdini,

I would be far more worried about the liberal police state. In Europe, it is a crime to mock religion. If you critize Mohammed, you face jail, threats, and death. Hirsan Ali, the Dutch Politician, had to have around the clock security because she dared speak out against Islam.

The american police state is a pussy cat compared to the growing threat of left-wing neofacism.

For Neoform:

Ethnic
N. A member of a particular ethnic group, especially one who maintains the language or customs of the group.

Race
N.
1. A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
2. A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution.
3. A genealogical line; a lineage.

The Jewish people are an ethnically and racially distinct group. They are a semitic people with their own distinct language, culture, and religion.

Race and ethnicity precede national and religious boundaries.

By your logic, Kurdish people don't exist because they don't have their own country. I invite you to tell that to the face of a Kurd. Preferably one who is engaged in revolutionary activities and is particularly fond of violent confrontations.

On the right, you've got Coulter, Reilly, Limbaugh.
On the left, you've got Moore, Franklin, and Koz.

They're all professional polemecists.
For those who object to my choice of left-wing screamers...
Agreeing with vitriol doesn't make it less vitriolic.

"A sad manifestation of how easy it is to brainwash people with absolute bullshit. Refers to anyone who would rather spew loud nonsense than think critically."

Agreed. Perhaps you won't mind putting your own thoughts through a little critical analysis? I'm interested in testing them against common logical fallacies, filtering them through the meta-model (seeing if you've deleted, generalized, or distorted any relevant information), comparing them to opposing viewpoints, and seperating your evaluative arguments from your fact-based predicate heavy arguments.

Neoform, I respect your opinion, but I disagree with it.

Whereas most people actually recognize the ethnic character of the jewish people, few people
recognize caucasians as aryans.

"I'm aryan, I'm from Iran" works.
"according to nazi doctrine, I'm an aryan because I'm a non-jewish caucasian" works.
"early 20th century academics would consider me aryan because of my indo-european roots" works.

Equating Nazi ideology with recognizing the ethnic character of the jewish people does not.

And Basdini, the legitimacy of their grievances is debatable. You might believe otherwise, but history is the final arbiter of truth, and you may find yourself on the wrong side of it's verdict. Even if you find yourself on the right side, you still might want to open yourself up to entertaining alternative points of view. I'm not saying you should accept these views, but you might benefit from trying to better understand the people you're fighting. Without moderation, you risk becoming the very type of person you despise.

This project isn't destined to failure, and there are many similar projects that exist.

You have the infoshops from the anarchist/punk movement, which is probably closest analogue you can find to what you're talking about. These usually implode after a few years, not because of the government, but because the punk scene isn't exactly... big on responsibility. There are dozens of infoshops across north america, and scores more in Europe. We got le Shop, formerly L'X in Montreal.

A similar concept was Montreal's "Electric Tractor", now replaced with "Friendship Cove". These aren't exactly co-ops, but multi-purpose environments used by artists and bands from the indie scene. I don't know much about them, I just know it's a similar (though more closed) concept to what Earthly Spirit wants to launch.

I belong to a dance studio that operates along co-operative lines. It's a private business, but it doesn't operate like one, and it is fairly successful (and a pillar of the music scene it belongs to).

I know, from personal experience, these things can work. But you have to play your cards right.

Start small. Find a location that's of a couple thousand sq. ft that rents out for a buck a foot or less. Every week, hold rent parties. If only a hundred people show up a week, that's still $2000 at the end of the month - a huge chunk of the rent, if not the whole of it (including business taxes). Might not get a hundred people a week at first, but you definitely could if the venue didn't suck. During the week, provide other services to help pay the rent. DJ Classes, Dance classes, Art classes, whatever. That'll help pay the utility bills. You can create a profit sharing plan, so that contributors get more out of it than just being part of an art community.

Chances are, the finances will be horrible at first, so you'll need some financial backers. As for business plans and all that? Hell, you honestly think that if we pooled our resources together we wouldn't be able to find some talented business people to work with? I already know a few who'd be willing to work on the project if I sold them on it. I'm sure the same goes for other people on the board.

If you go for a big venue with several rooms and the capacity to hold people, you'll need more money and a tighter game plan. It can be done though. I've seen it happen on a smaller scale. This isn't impossible ;)

Damn straight. This is one of the biggest problem the co-op will face: drama. Lots and lots of drama. In-fighting, backbiting, ass raping. However, if you build the co-op expecting to deal with shit, if you say "man, we're going to do this, even though we know there's going to be some real head aches to deal with", if you treat it realistically instead of with rose colored glasses, than you can make it work.

You're just going to need a really huge pair of balls and a nose that doesn't mind smelling all the scene-related bullshit.

I'm in, Spirit. It's a good idea. There are some serious hitches to it, but with enough determination and a strong game plan, you can pull it off.

A few of the problems you'll have to deal with :

1. In-fighting. Ravers are not known for their tact or their long, healthy attention spans. For a co-op to work, it requires a great deal of maturity and the ability for members to reach a consensus on important issues. That isn't to say it's impossible, but we are dealing with kids who consume copious amounts of narcotics, suffer from a variety of mental disorders, hang out with criminals, and in general... Have more issues than national geographic. For a co-op to be effective, it'll need some strong leadership and the tenacity to confront a stream of never ending drama.

2. Money. Angels might be needed to make this work; financing will be tricky. For the co-op to run, it would need a tight, realistic, business plan. This project runs the real risk of becoming a pipe dream. Gotta keep it real - be more critical about it than even the most severe pessimists. If it can pass all the shit tests and critcisms, it can happen. You just need to know how to answer this one big question : where will the money come from. Answer that, and your project makes it.

3. Location. Like someone pointed out, the cops will be all over this place unless you play your cards right. The slightest fight with a neighbour, and you might find yourself in a real struggle for survival.

What you want to start sounds a lot like L'X, but for the raver community. We can use them as a benchmark.

Oh, and one thing: renting the venue for cash should be a last resort. It is much, much, less profitable than other arrangements. You'd make more money having people teach under the co-op banner than renting out the space to individuals. I rent out the studio I work at for $23hr (2100sq ft.), which is nothing compared to the money brought in when the studio members use the space themselves. When we rent it out for a party (about $450), we make much less than when we throw a party ourselves. You can make money from rentals, but they should be a last recourse. Rent the space only when you don't have a use for it, and when you don't have a use for it, ask yourselves why not.

Obviously, renting it to members of the co-op is a different thing than renting it to non-members ;)

I'll have more to say on the subject later. I hope somethings come of it though. It'd be nice to have a freakish venue where artists and party kids can hang out, kick back, hone their skills, make some music, whatever.

Definitely ;)

Nah, it's not an over-generalization. I'm not just talking about respecting yourself sexually, but respecting yourself completly and utterly.

People who let other's take advantage of them without standing up for themselves have no self-respect.

Most people in our society are constantly abused by others, and do nothing about it. If someone takes more from you than they give back, and you constantly smile and let them do it, I wouldn't consider you to have much in the way of self-respect.

Dude:

You spend your formative years in an educational environment that inculcates you with cultural prejudices while conditioning you to behave in predetermined ways. 90% of the time, you never question what's being done to you, you just go along with everything and do as your told. Completly oblivious to the utter mindrape that you're being subjected to, utterly unaware of the psychological consequences of spending over a decade in an environment structured the way our schools are, you gradute, and decide (of your own freewill, of course!) to become a productive citizen by joining our free and fair capitalist workforce.

Having been so thoroughly conditioned by the statist culture machine, you never stop to think that maybe, just maybe, you are not nearly as in control of your life as you'd like to believe, and that maybe, just maybe, you are being fucked over bigtime.

In our society, if you're not raping someone financially, you're being raped by someone financially.
If you let other's rape you up the ass with a smile on your face, where's the self respect? If you don't stand up for yourself, you don't have any.

*Yawn*

PLUR = Weak.
Communism = Strong.

PLUR = Fun Fur wearing douche bags hiding their insecurities behind cuddly pretentions
Communism = At it's best, a political philosophy that encouraged it's adherents to take control of their lives back from other people.

If you're pro-capitalist, you better be a capitalist. Otherwise you're just a jackass.

Do you own the means of production?
Do you earn passive revenue?
Are you living off interest?
No?

Then you're not a capitalist, you're a pansy ass wannabe whoring yourself out to capitalists, completly content with being their bitch.

Most women have no self-respect; hell, neither do most men.

Part of the game. If you live in a society like ours, you have to whore yourself out to survive.

Not necessarily sexually, but really what's the difference. Whore out your physical labour, your mind, your body.

Same shit, different stench.

Meh, cops.

Nothing more than priests with billyclubs. Their church is the state, and they impose it's morality on us.

The worst part is, most cops are just regular people who've been sucked into a system of oppression without even realizing it.

- Junglists. Like Hip Hop Wiggers, only whiter.
- Groupies/Women (same thing)

Women fuck guys with talent so that they can avoid the work of cultivating some of their own. Spreading your legs is easier than doing something creative with your life. Nothing so nauseating as seeing dozens of women crying over some Alpha Monkey rockstar. Crowds of teary eyed twats quivering over the Backstreet Boys. Fuckin contemptible. Ever see a guy cry over a celebrity? Yeah, maybe if the celebrity punched him in the fucking balls.

i want a used day-glo pacifier.

Scott, you need some normal friends.

People who've never been on a first name basis with a heroin dealer.

People who not only avoid [ rave.ca ] but have never even been to a club before.

University students who think Peel Pub is awesome.
Country folk who are still dating their high school sweetheart.
People who don't smoke, don't drink, and go to church on sundays.

Seriously ;)

damn.

About as friendly as Hitler.

So how many of you white thugs want to smoke crack and read Vice magazine with me?

When we're done, we can go out for ice cream and pretend to be deeply cynical and jaded about everything.

It'll be fun.

Eh.

The original question is a joke.

Noah, if you throw a ghetto party, I'll help out.

I say do it. Don't limit the Legion to just your birthday parties ;)

I don't read multiple novels at once; but I blaze through novels. You don't want to "read" fiction; you want to see it come alive in your mind. Turn the words into pictures, make it into a mental flcik. The slower you read a novel, the less involving it is (the faster you read it *without* skimming, the more you involve your senses. You have to bypass your conscious mind so that reading is truly effortless). The trick is to read phrases and paragraphs instead of words, and to turn those blocks of words into mental imagery the moment your eyes hit them. Never subvocalize. Really good readers (and I'm just above average) can read a page in a single glance.

When you have the ability to read really really fast, you'll know when to hike up the speed, and when to slow down and savour it. Having that choice opens up a world of possibilities.

You know that feeling you get when your browsing profiles on [ rave.ca ] and you see a slutty looking chick that turns you on so you start jacking off? And you're like "dude, this bitch doesn't even know that i'm wanking off to her picture. I bet she'd be totally creeped out".

man, i love that feeling.

You should write some Harry Potter beasty porn fanfics. Imagine all the creative acts you could come up with if
you introduced some sexual chemistry between, say... Malfoy, Remus, a basilisk and a nest of acromantulas.

mmm, fantastic kiddy porn with a dose of bestiality.

are you actually reading three books at once? damn I'm only on two, one novel, one reference.

Sophia, I usually read 10 to 15 books at once. If people fucked the same way that they read, mankind woulda died out a long time ago.

You gotta go slow with some books - not all of them. If you're trying to master Kantian metaphysics, yeah it might take you awhile to wrap your head around it. You should be able to finish most books in a single sitting though. Hell, I plowed half way through Confederacy of Dunces in one sitting before I got bored of it. Had it hooked me, I could of gone through the whole thing. Instead, I moved on to some other books.

People underestimate the amount of information they can absorb. It's much higher than you might expect.

sloppy tacos.

Trying to figure out how a pussy like Anton LaVey got a reputation for being such a badass.
The Satanic Bible is more girly than Paris Hilton in a Strawberry Shortcake outfit trading quiche
recipes with Oprah Winfrey.

Bah, at least he fucked Marilyn Monroe.

kittens.

if you want, Katherine, I could offend you. That way, you can gauge the difference between someone who's just playing around, and someone who's deliberately acting like a prick.

I'm getting very good at being offensive, so I'd be glad to help you out. Let me know!

I'm currently leafing through Hitler's Mein Kampf, Thornhill's A Natural History of Rape, Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling, De Sade's 120 days of Sodom, and George Hayduke's Violence as Public Entertainment.

I enjoyed my brief stint as an uber-mod. It made taunting idiots so much easier.

So, Noah, if you ever feel like having someone harass [ rave.ca ] users, just ask. . .

I'm surprised you savages even know how to read. Your attempts at literacy are heartening; perhaps you're not complete imbeciles after all?

Raves? Dead?
Never!

Raving, like polyester, fruitcake, and afros, will never die out. It'll just get more and more embarassing.

Statistically, given the size of this website, there's bound to be quite a few rapists on here. And even a murderer or two.

My vote for favorite ravewaver goes to all of them. It's a giant tie.

Made : Money, money, money. Money.

Finch - Project Mayhem