Warcraft Level Brackets

In the last patch, WoW is enabling experience in Battlegrounds, and also allowing experience to be turned off. The second change in particular can have extraordinary repercussions. Leveling since WotLK has been very easy, and tons of content is being bypassed so people can get to 80 ASAP. But with experience turned off, all the old content can come back into play as people try to be the best level 60 or 70 (or whatever) they can, and see the extensive but until now irrelevant (gearwise) old content once more.

BLIZZARD needs to take this idea and run with it, and not just with Battlegrounds. Arena brackets, instances, tournaments, quests, item level and quality... If people are not leveling, they are gearing out up and exploring the content. So here's what I think the revamped level brackets should be:

1st. [01-10] One Talent.
Journeyman skill level
1 Battleground. New: Warsong Gulch
8 new Zones: Durotar, Tirisfal Glades, Mulgore, Eversong Woods, Elwynn Forest, Azuremyst Isle, Teldrassil, Dun Morogh
Instance: Ragefire Chasm
No sets?


2nd. [11-20] 3 talent tiers. Mounts!
Expert Skill level
2 Battlegrounds. New: Arathi Basin
9 new zones: Loch Modan, Westfall, Bloodmyst Isle, Darkshore, Ghostlands, Silverpine Forest, The Barrens (split in Cataclysm). Redridge Mountains, Stonetalon Mountains.
3 new instance: Wailing Caverns, The Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep,
Sets: Defias Leather (Deadmines), Embrace of the Viper (Wailing Caverns)


3rd. [21-35] 6 talent tiers.
Artisan Skill level
2 Battlegrounds.
6 new Zones: Ashenvale Forest, Duskwood, Wetlands, Hillsbrad Foothills. Thousand Needles, Arathi Highlands, Desolace, Alterac Mountains, Stranglethorn Vale
9 new instances: Blackfathom Deeps, Stormwind Stockade Razorfen Kraul, Gnomeregan, The Scarlet Monastery (4 wings: Graveyard, Library, Armory, Cathedral), Razorfen Downs
Sets: Chain of the Scarlet Crusade (Scarlet Monastery).


4th. [36-45] 8 talent tiers. Fast Mounts!
Master skill level
2 Battlegrounds.
7 new Zones: Dustwallow Marsh, Badlands, Swamp of Sorrows, Hinterlands, Feralas, Tanaris, Searing Gorge
5 new instances: Uldaman, Zul'Farrak, Maraudon, Sunken Temple of Atal'Hakkar, Blackrock Depths
Sets: The Gladiator (Blackrock Depths)


5th [46-50] 9 talent tiers
6 new Zones: Blasted Lands, Azshara (reduced in cataclysm), Felwood, Un'goro Crater, Burning Steppes, Western Plaguelands
6 new instances: Dire Maul (3 wings: East, West, North), Lower Blackrock Spire {10-man}, Scholomance, Upper Blackrock Spire {15?-man},
Sets: 4 Scholomance sets, Ironweave Battlesuit (Blackrock Spire), Dungeon Set 1 & 2


6th [51-55] 10 talent tiers.
3 Battlegrounds. New: Alterac Valley.
5 new zones: Eastern Plaguelands, Winterspring, Moonglade, Silithus, Deadwind Pass
6 new instances: Stratholme, Zul'Gurub {20-man}, Molten Core {40-man}, Blackwing Lair {40-man}, Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj {20-man}, Temple of Ahn'Qiraj {40-man}
Sets: Tier 1 (Molten Core). Tier 2 (Blackwing Lair). Tier 3? The Postmaster (Stratholme), PvP-Rare set. Arathi Basin sets. Zandalar Tribe set (Zul'Gurub). Cenarion Circle set and Brood of Nozdormu set (Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj). Tons of Leatherworking sets.


7th [56-60] 11 talent tiers. Burning Crusade! Death Knights!
Grand Master skill level
3 Battlegrounds.
3 new zones: Hellfire Peninsula, Zangarmarsh, Terokkar Forest
6 new instances: Hellfire Citadel (2 wings: Hellfire Ramparts, The Blood Furnace), Coilfang Reservoir (2 wings: Slave Pens, The Underbog), Auchindoun (2 wings: Mana-Tombs, Auchenai Crypts)


8th. [61-65] 12 Talent tiers. Flight.
4 Battlegrounds. New: Eye of the Storm
3 new zones: Nagrand, Blade's Edge Mountains, Caverns of Time
9 new instances: Caverns of Time (2 wings: Escape from Durnholde Keep, Opening the Dark Portal), Auchindoun (2 wings: Sethekk Halls, Shadow Labyrinth,), Coilfang Reservoir: The Steamvault, Hellfire Citadel (2 wings: Shattered Halls, Magtheridon's Lair {25-man}), Karazhan {10-man}, Gruul's Lair {25-man},
Sets: Tier 4 (Karazhan, Gruul's Lair and Magtheridon's Lair). PvP-Epic set. Zandalar crafted sets. BC Uncommon crafted sets?


9th. [66-70] 13 talent tiers! WotLK! Fast flying mounts!
4 Battlegrounds.
5 new zones: Netherstorm, Shadowmoon Valley, Howling Fjord, Borean Tundra, Isle of Quel'Danas
12 new instances: Tempest Keep (4 wings: The Mechanar, The Botanica, The Arcatraz, The Eye {25-man}), Magisters' Terrace, Zul'Aman {10-man}, Coilfang Reservoir: Serpentshrine Cavern {25-man}, Caverns of Time: Battle for Mount Hyjal {25-man}, Black Temple {25-man}, Sunwell Plateau {25-man}. Utgarde Keep, The Nexus.
Sets: Tier 5 (Serpentshrine Cavern and The Eye). Tier 6 (Hyjal Summit, Black Temple and Sunwell Plateau). Dungeon Set 3. Gladiator aka S1 PvP armor. Rare crafted sets? Battlegear (PvP) set. Merciless Gladiator aka S2 PvP armor. Vengeful Gladiator aka S3 PvP armor. Brutal Gladiator aka S4 PvP armor. Epic crafted sets, Resistance sets.


10th. [71-75] 14 talent tiers! Legacy cold weather flying?
6 battlegrounds. New: Strand of the Ancients, Isle of Conquest
6 new zones: Dragonblight, Grizzly Hills, Zul'Drak, Sholazar Basin, Crystalsong Forest, Storm Peaks
13 new instances: Azjol-Nerub, Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom, Drak'Tharon Keep, The Violet Hold, Gundrak, The Oculus, Caverns of Time: Culling of Stratholme, Utgarde Pinnacle, Naxxramas {10/25-man}, Obsidian Sanctum {10/25-man}, Ulduar (3 wings: Halls of Stone, Halls of Lightning, Ulduar {10/25-man})
Sets: Tier 7 (Naxx, Obsidian Sanctum), Tier 8 (Ulduar)


11th. [76-80] 15 talent tiers. Cold weather flying. Cataclysm?
6 battlegrounds.
3 new zones: Hrothgar's Landing, Icecrown, Wintergrasp
12 new instances: Trial of the Champion, Icecrown Citidel (4 Wings: Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, Halls of Reflection, Icecrown Citadel {10/25-man}), The Eye of Eternity {10/25-man}, Vault of Archavon {10/25-man} (3 wings: Archavon, Emalon, Koralon), Onyxia's Lair {10/25-man}, Crusader's Coliseum (2 wings: Trial of the Crusader {10/25-man}, Trial of the Grand Crusader {10/25-man}).
Sets: Tier 9 (Crusaders' Coliseum), Tier 10 (Icecrown)



All of the brackets above should have their own exclusive battlegrounds, arenas, and instances. And if I were Blizzard, I would create Dedicated/Hardcore characters at levels 10, 20, 35, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, and 80 that started out with all of the abilities learned for that level but could not gain any experience. Or, more likely, I would create a new type of Server/Realm (like a RP or PVP server) and let anybody with a level 80 warlock (for example) create a hardcore warlock at any prescribed level up to 75. Very liberating, I would think.



Lurker

LotR fanedit proposal

Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy should have been six movies. Tolkien wrote one massive story divided into six books that was artificially formed into 3 novels by publishers. Unfortunately, PJ tried to preserve this format, and the whole Frodo/Sam/Gollum arc that was and is the heart of the story got subsumed and overwhelmed timewise by the sidequests of the fellowship.

Fortunately there are a number of movie fanatics out there that like to re-edit movies to save directors from themselves. You should see how many Star Wars fanedits there are out there. Anyway, I propose that the Lord of the Rings be overhauled into 6 movies, taking out unnecessary PJ additions wherever possible, and ideally reflect the original intentions of Tolkien. Parts I and II are rather straightforward considering the linear nature of Fellowship. Part III is more problematic, but I would redact quite a bit, adding back the reunion at Isenguard, leave some of the later Gollum stuff, stopping right after the Gates of Mordor. I have a very detailed outline, but I'll get to that later.

Anyway, for this post, I'll be focusing on Part IV. Based on the Extended Edition unless stated otherwise.


IV
Prologue from RotK: Deagul finds the Ring, Gollum takes it.
Smeagul/Gollum argument from TTT. Until "Murderer" accusation
2nd half of prologue. Gollum narrates his changes after murdering Deagul.
Smeagul makes Gollum go away. Sam stews rabbits. Capture by Faramir.

More RotK. Edoras. Legolas "eye of the enemy is moving"
Pipin can't sleep, swipes Palantir.

Elven 'prologue' from TTT about Sauron, cutting in right after Sarmuan stuff.
Mapscene with Faramir, Frodo and Sam 'prisoners', Boromir family reunion flashback.
After the Forbidden Pool, truncated scenes from theatrical version. Off to Gondor.

Discus palantir info. Pipin leaves with Gandalf. Merry laments. Same as movie.

Theatrical version: Arrival at Osgiliath, Faramir shoots Nazgul, no Sam speech.
Escape thru sewers from EE.

Pipin/Gandalf arrive at Minas Tirith. Unchanged until asked about death of Boromir.
Extended death of Boromir from FotR
Continuing with Denethor. Background on city. "Help must come to us"

Tea time, Crossroads scene, now back to RotK.
Aragorn/Eowin great wave dream?
Gollum Reflection scene, stopping right before fight with Sam (though he heard it)

Minas Morgul sequences. Very nicely ties together Gandalf and Frodo storylines.
Osgiliath river attack sequence.
Stairs: "he wants it"
Faramir "fall back to Minas Tirith", saved by Gandalf

Theatrical "go home" scene, reduced however possible.
Denethor/Faramir confrontation.
Shelob's cave sequence, theatrical version.
Gandalf's task for Pipin, theatrical
Sam vs. Shelob, Frodo captured by orcs
Lighting of beacons, ending with silhouette of Aragorn


Massive changes, I know. Almost the entire Gollum arc, Faramir is a main character and a good guy (*gasp!*), two plotlines heavily intertwined and almost aware of each other (unlike the arbitrariness of the film versions), and much faster moving since there isn't half an hour between appearances. Heck, even Boromir gets a heck of alot of screentime, as well he should since the movie is about the consequences of his death.


Anyway, just wanted to put these ideas down somewhere before they were lost. I've got Parts V & VI done as well, I'll post those eventually. And hey, hopefully I'll inspire some aspiring faneditor out there as well...


Lurker

Perfect Warlock Rotation

I've been working on a super Shadow Bolt spec for my level 80 Warlock for World of Warcraft. At the moment, it looks like this:

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?warlock=235021200002351005000000000000000000000000000000000000055200015200331051025000000&glyph=031714030204&version=9947

Yes, I know, really weird looking Destruction/Affliction hybrid spec. But its designed to majorly beef up all of the Shadow spells: Curse of Agony, Corruption, Shadowburn, and of course Shadow Bolt. Plus I get Conflagrate, which rocks. Now whats the rotation for this weird setup you might ask? It goes something like this:

Always start with Life Tap, then

Immolate
Shadow Bolt
Corruption
Shadow Bolt
Curse of Agony
Conflagrate
Shadow Bolt
Corruption
Shadow Bolt

Repeat until dead. Looks a little funny, but over the course of 24 seconds, Shadow Embrace is always up (stacked twice), Conflag goes off right at the end of Immolate, and Curse of Agony and Corruption are always up, tho Corruption does get clipped on a regular basis.

Of course, with Nightfall, Backlash, and the Glyph of Corruption, there will be a whole bunch of instant cast Shadow Bolts. Might that mess up this awesome rotation? No! In fact, those open up holes in the rotation for supplementary spells:

Immolate
Shadow Bolt {then} Searing Pain (Chance for Pyroclasm proc)
Corruption
Shadow Bolt {then} Shadowflame (In case Conflag misses Immolate)
Curse of Agony {if near death} Shadowburn (Finishing move, great w/Conflag)
Conflagrate
Shadow Bolt {then} Death Coil (Daze prevents Horror?)
Corruption
Shadow Bolt {then} Life Tap (Useful anytime)

And still keeps that 24 second cycle going! Nice, eh?


Lurker
(Not my usual blogpost, I know...)

Musings on the upcoming Hobbit Movie

I'm a huge Middle-Earth fan, I've been giving quite a bit of thought on the upcoming Hobbit movies. Now, for quite a while there, it looked like the second movie was going to 'bridge' the timeframe between the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings... certainly there was a great deal of potential there. Fortunately, they've just decided to split the book in two instead. Now the chapters for The Hobbit look like this:

[1] An Unexpected Party
[2] Roast Mutton
[3] A Short Rest
[4] Over Hill And Under Hill
[5] Riddles in the Dark
[6] Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire
[7] Queer Lodgings
[8] Flies and Spiders
[9] Barrels Out of Bond

[10] A Warm Welcome
[11] On the Doorstep
[12] Inside Information
[13] Not At Home
[14] Fire and Water
[15] The Gathering of the Clouds
[16] A Thief in the Night
[17] The Clouds Burst
[18] The Return Journey
[19] The Last Stage

Now there are several potential 'climaxes' for the first movie: escaping Gollum, death of Smaug, etc. It was my father who first suggested what now seems obvious to me... What chapter is half-way thru the book? Why Barrels Out of Bond, of course. Bilbo saves the company from imprisonment by the elves by use of his wits. Here the book also transitions from getting to Smaug to dealing with Smaug. Arriving at Laketown is a great place to begin the 2nd movie. And if an Elvish prisonbreak isn't exciting enough, at the exact same time Gandalf and the White Council are driving the Necromancer (aka Sauron) from Dol Gulder in Mirkwood!

Which brings me to my other source of glee: del Toro is going into all the backstory! And what a backstory. The fall of Moria, the war of Orcs and Dwarves, the fates of Thorin's father and grandfather, Aragorn as a kid, Prince Legolas and his father, Saruman leading the White Council, Gloin the father of Gimli, and how the Quest is ultimately about preventing an alliance between Sauron and Smaug. Tons of material to draw from, especially from the appendices from LotR.

Something to think about.


Lurker

ESSENTIALS MAPPING THREAD II

*removed for length*

See:

http://marvelmasterworksfansite.yuku.com/topic/458?page=1

http://marvelmasterworksfansite.yuku.com/topic/12554/t/ESSENTIALS-MAPPING-THREAD-III.html

Supreme Court Amendment(s?)

There is almost nothing in the Constitution about the Supreme Court, or about the judicial branch in general. So we might as well establish their power to overturn unconstitutional laws within the constitution itself, but with a few tweaks.

For instance, the US Supreme Court should only be allowed to throw out federal laws, not state laws, they have their own supreme courts. However, they should be able to nullify international treaties, since those are federal. Lower courts should have the same powers.

While we're at it, we need way more circuit courts... How about starting at 50 (one per state) and adding as needed. Right now there's too much power in too few hands.

Lastly, there needs to be a fixed number of Justices in the Constitution. Right now the number of 9 is only by law and tradition, it needs to be more foundational. I propose that we should have 12, which would mean both higher turnover and less impact from a single nominee. Yes, that is an even number, which is where the Chief Justice comes in. He should vote only for tie votes (which would be less frequent with a larger court).

Now for the most controversial idea: the Chief Justice should be an elected position. I know the reasons for appointments... impartiality and all that. But think about it, the people of the USA only vote for one, ONE national office, that of the President (paired with the VP). They need more say. And there's little public influence or accountability in the Judicial branch. Making the head of that branch open to public scrutiny and approval would be good for our democratic republic, and with the actual voting power weakened, the Chief Justice would be more of a symbolic figurehead, a spokesman for the judicial system, for good or ill.

Optimally, the Chief would be elected ever four years, 2 years out of phase from the presidential elections. This would prevent it from being overshadowed by that election, and raise the profile of congressional elections.




Lurker
(yes, I do think about these things)

An Engineered Market

This is an email I received that is is quite enlightening:


All economies are engineered since the beginning of social organization. Once a group of hunter gatherers got to a critical mass of people the became a tribe and found consensus on a chief. part of the chief's responsibility was to control trade. If he did well then the tribe grew and prospered if not then they ceased to exist as a tribe or they got a new chief. Knowledge is not power and neither is action from knowledge. True power comes from the control of the action of others.

So how does this relate to our current economic situation? We have had 26 downturns in the economy with the worst being the "Great Depression" of 1929 to 1941. This was one was different because of its worldwide effect and its severity. The Depression has been raging since August of 1929. Unemployment is up to 25% of the population. Deflation has dropped prices of goods and commodities; farms and houses are going into foreclosure at an alarming rate. Almost 10,000 banks have closed and people are scared. Then suddenly in March 1933 everything gets better overnight. Coincidentally Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) takes over as President that very month. He starts his first 100 days passing New Deal programs at a record pace. But I thought everything got better in March 1933? Why did he enact all these programs if had already gotten better? I will look at that and more in this missive. I will some of the programs, agencies, and significant persons involved. I will discuss the success and failures of each of these and then decide whether the New Deal was a good deal or a bad deal.

The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was one of FDR’s first programs enacted. Its mandate was simple fix prices. It was run by Hugh Johnson appointed by FDR himself. Once prices were stabilized the workers would get higher wages through collective bargaining; sounds like a great idea doesn’t it. There were parades with thousands of citizens marching and showing their support. Now if prices stay the same and wages go up what happens to profits? The only way to make more money was to do more with less people, not a good way to reduce unemployment. Business started using the NRA codes to stifle competition and pushed to raise prices. In 1935 the Supreme Court declared the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) unconstitutional making the NRA defunct. Apparently Congress had delegated legislative power to the executive branch to approve codes with the force of law; sounds familiar doesn’t it.

FDR created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) finding work projects for young men, the Federal Relief Administration giving half a billion to states to cover unemployment, and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to build dams for hydro-electric power. He created the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) as a watchdog for Wall Street, The Home Owner’s Loan Corporation to prevent foreclosures, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). What does he get for all this enacting? The share our wealth society founded by Huey Long wanting to redistribute income and wealth, labor riots, strikes, a 3 percent decline in unemployment and a marginal rise in the Gross National Product (GNP).

The second new deal starts with the National Labor Relations Act by Senator Robert Wagoner. Now FDR gets a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) protecting their right to organize and collectively bargain. The Social Security Act creates a federal pension through a new payroll tax. The Wealth Tax Act hits the rich, inheritors, and corporate profits. The public utilities are reorganized under the Public Utility Holding Act. The Banking Act gives FDR the Federal Reserve Board where members are positions are presidential appointments. What does he get for all this? By 1938 the GNP is down, unemployment at 19% and the stock market plunges by 25 percent.

I believe the New Deal accomplished quite a few of its goals of social and political reform. I didn’t agree with Theodore Roosevelt’s grab for centralized executive power at the expense of congress and I agree with the Supreme Court finding the AAA and the NRA unconstitutional. This was definitely the time social reengineering or the American culture and psyche. In my opinion the New Deal did not get America out of the Great Depression. That was caused by World War II. It did prove that massive government spending can have an effect on the economy albeit a short term effect in my opinion. I am concerned that we are doomed to repeat this process with the current administration and economy. I learned a lot researching this and the similarity between now and then frankly scares the hell out of me.


My response:

Wow, that was quite an email. Tons of details I quite frankly wasn't familiar with. And filled with an alphabet soup of government acronyms. But really, you need to project all the way to the end of WWII, because the government grew and grew and life got even harder with shortages and rationing. The Great Depression didn't end until the massive government takeover of the economy was massively scaled back in the months and years after VJ day. That coupled with the ruinous destruction of the economies of the rest of the Western world, and the US economy grew at an unprecedented rate.

You also leave out the role of the Federal Reserve, astonishingly. Created in 1912, it created the credit bubble that fostered the 'roaring twenties' which popped in 1929. Then for the duration of the 30's it UNDERprinted the currency. There literally was almost no $$$ to be had. Plus all of the programs under FDR were funded with public debt, not to mention WWII.



Thoughts anyone?

Does this sound shady to you?

Got this email recently while looking for work. Check it out:


from Resource Manager

TEST OF TRUST (TOT)









Hello Candidate ,

We are glad to hear from you with your interview answer.Very have gone through it thoroughly and we are glad to let you know you passed the interview and you have given the oppourtunity to work and earn pay with the company. Your Salary is going to be $400 per week, you will be recieving your pay every weekend. You have been required to take a proffessional assignment that serves as a Test of trust (TOT) which would involve you handling your mini-office purchases and transactions such as your new laptop and printer through the company shipper .The company will pay for all the expenses inquired in purchasing the equipments and software but you will proceed with this test under strict instruction which will be explained to you in a bit.

Note : The company will be resposible for funds needed to purchase this softwares and equipments.You will be working for the company and you will be paid every week either via check,paypal,credit card,bank transfer...whichever you prefer is fine.

Now to your Test (TOT) : You will be required to go through the proffessional assignment with the company to test your skills,your ability to follow instruction ,level of trust and honesty before you being approved as a worker and at the completion of this,we will get your appiontment letter sent to you via courier along with your mini office equipments.This assignment is called the * TOT OF TRUST*.You are required to recieve payment onbehalf of the company,process it and document it.The payment will come in form of check .

The payment will be delivered to you via courier service(ups),Once you recieve it,you will have it cashed at the bank,you will also deduct $200 for yourself as sign up bouns fee.After deducting the total of $200,You will be required to send the balance of the money via money gram money transfer to the company*s shipping agent who will ship to you all your data entry softwares and your mini office equipment that would have the company name on it and also your personal Initails branded on it.These items will include a brand new laptop computer,coloured printer and other equipments to set up your mini office at home and start work asap.This payment that will be sent to you is meant to test your skills,your ability to follow instruction ,level of trust and honesty,Ability to work in a fast paced environment while maintaining accuracy and confidentiality and most importantly your experince with handling and disbursing cash.i wil provide to you the tracking # to the package containing the payment so you can keep me eye on it to know when you're getting it and i will email you the shipper*s details to foward balance for your mini office equipments.

To proceed E-mail me the following details now so it can be fowarded to the account dept of the company and it can also be entered into the data base of the company and sent out to who will be making out the payment..

Title email as: TOT INFORMATION .
***************************

Fullname.........:

Contact address.......(physical home address):

City.......:

State........:

zipcode.........:

Home and cell phone #..... :

email address:


Will be expecting your detail asap so you can recieve you mini office equipments and start work .
Regards,

Dr Jay Pron .






Full of spelling errors and reeks of money laundering. My friends think its a scam. What do you think?


Lurker

Better representation: Increase Congress to 1000

The number of Representatives in Congress has been fixed at 435 since 1913, not long after the creation of the Federal Reserve and the income tax. Now originally, there were 30,000 people for every House Rep. When the number 435 was reached, there were about 212,000 people for every official in the House.

Today, there are over 700,000 people represented by only 1 congressman.

Does that sound right to you? Certainly not the original intent of the Founding Fathers. Now, I'm not advocating that we go back to the original ratio of 1/30000. That would be unwieldy, since we have at least 300 million Americans, resulting in a House with 10,000 members! Yikes!

Now why the heck am I bringing this apportionment issue up? Well many of you know that I want turnover in my political systems. Fewer voters means fewer voters to change their minds. Not only that, if you really want fresh blood and to minimize the effect of tenure, just make the pool larger.

The arbitrary number 435 is not written into the Constitution. Its merely an Act of Congress, so all it would take to change it is another Act. With the Democrats back in power (and feeling overconfident), and another census on the way, now is the time to build a bigger House. We can sell it as a way to cement their power, as well as being more democratic.

1500. That is how many house of Representative I want. Yes, this is a huge increase, but hey, so is the change from our population back then to now. The U.K. has 650 Members of Parliament, and we vastly outnumber them. Shouldn't we be more representative than merry ol England? With 1500 members of the house, we would be back to the ratio from the 1910's, about 1 to 200000. Less than the ideal beginnings, but not so large that it becomes impossible to work with.

Running some numbers: Wyoming would get at least 2 or 3, South Dakota gets 4, Montana 4 or 5. Previously all states under a million residents only got 1 representative! If we added Guam, US Virgin Islands, Northern Marianas Islands, and/or American Samoa (all with under 200,000) they would still only get one Rep, and not be in the same boat as the current 7 smallest states. Other potential states like Puerto Rico or New Zealand would get about 20 and 21 respectively. But I would probably fix the # at 1500 even if we added new states, but only by Act, not by changing the constitution.

California and Texas would have about 184 and 122 respectively, but they have gigantic populations. Of course, I would encourage large states to separate and add additional senators, but that's a separate argument. But larger state should have more of a voice in national politics. Plus more voices = more dissention.

So that's the thrust of my argument. More information in the websites listed below. All I want to do is make the government reflect the will of the people, and that's much easier when Representative actually represent small, specific populations. Of course, I still want them to run at large...



Lurker


http://www.thirty-thousand.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_congressional_apportionment
http://fruitsandvotes.com/?p=328

Go back to basics: Less Government, More Freedom

The reason Reagan was so popular is not what he did, but what he said:

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.

Man is not free unless government is limited.

Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong.

We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.

If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.



Unfortunately, most conservatives think Ronald Reagan was a great president for what he did: increasing the budget and the deficit, undeclared wars, raising taxes, amnesty, and inane compromises. And because Reagan is considered to be the best we can do, we keep drifting MORE to the left!

It must be our goal to surpass the legacy of Ronald Reagan, by actually doing what we say we stand for: limited government, balanced budgets, paying off the deficit, no entitlements, individual responsibility, no big brother, and getting the heck out of the U.N.

New State Project

I like the idea behind the free state project. Have a bunch of libertarian-minded individuals move into an area, and turn it into a liberty stronghold and start the revolution at a local level.

Absolutely great idea. But its not working fast enough. Plus New Hampshire is way too cold (I'm from Arizona) and with over a million people, there's huge amounts of political inertia to fight.

Why don't we just make a new state from the ground up?

Think about it, we could write our own constitution based upon the principals of liberty!

I propose that we focus on one of the territories. Specifically the Northern Marianas Islands. They have less than 90,000 people, meaning that far fewer of us need to move compared to NH. And they reportedly have the most equable temperature in the world and a large immigrant population already.

But any of the territories, aside from Puerto Rico, would work exceptionally well. If several thousand of us move into one of these regions, we can take over in no time, with less sacrifice and far more gain.

Just think of all the fun we can have with 2 Senators and a couple of Representatives!



Thoughts?

Non-winner-take-all electoral college

As some of you may know, I can't stand the winner-take-all system for the electoral college. Whoever wins the most votes (be it 87% or a mere 34% in a three way race) wins ALL votes for the state during the presidential race. Not only is this horrendously unfair (particularly in mega-states like California and Florida) but it all but eliminates any chance of having third-parties gain any support, because you have to 'win' first place.

Now don't get me wrong, I LIKE the main aspect of the electoral college: it gives smaller states more of a voice in who becomes president. However, what I can't stand is the fact that a few 'swing states' are the only ones who really determine the outcome of the election. The presidency is the only national elected office we have (well, that and the VP, more on that later). EVERY state should be a swing state.

Okay, here's my plan. Bear in mind, the president is not (and shouldn't be) elected directly by public. He/she is elected by electors from the electoral college. All I want to do is tweak how the electors are chosen.

First off, this idea builds off my proposed congressional reforms from way back in September 2006 (go check it out). Very basically, congressional representatives are chosen statewide (i.e. no districts). If the state has 6 seats, then the top 6 win. My tweak would be that for each person who gets (re)elected to congress, then their party gets one elector.

Since the electoral college is based purely on the number of seats in Congress, we have to look at the Senate as well. In order to do the same thing as above, senators would have to be elected every 2 years. To do this we could add a third senator to every state, ensuring an election every cycle and increasing the power of smaller states (Yay!).

In any case, we should still have the Presidential candidates name on the ballot. But whoever gets the most direct votes for President would only get 2 electors, not the whole shebang. The rest would be determined by the # of incoming congressmen.

Many more states would be in play this way, as people would be voting more for parties than people. Presidents are much more likely to have their party in power in congress, and there would be more new people voted into (and out of) congress on a regular basis. Not only that, but third parties can actually start picking up votes in the electoral college. Every state comes into play, congressional elections soar in importance, and become harder to hold on to.

The main effect of this is that party branding and party loyalty become paramount. Coattails become insanely important, in both directions. To maximize your vote for the president, you have to vote for their party in congress, even if that means voting against your popular and powerful representative from the other party in favor of a new guy.

Best of all, this kind of reform can be started at the state level. State legislators can abolish congressional districts, and make congressional seats state-wide elections. They can change how their electoral college votes are distributed. This sort of change can be spread slowly, reforming the system from the bottom up. And it is designed to force new blood into Congress, which can facilitate other revolutionary ideas along the way...


Lurker

Ron Paul wins the electoral college?

Okay, Ron Paul didn't get the Republican Presidential Nomination. His name isn't going to be on the ballots this fall.

But there is one, final, hail mary tactic we can use to our advantage, something created by the founding fathers for just this very situation:

The Electoral College.

The President of the United States is NOT voted into office by the people. He (and the vice-president) are elected by delegates in the Electoral College. And they can vote for whoever the heck they want!

This is our last chance. If Barr and Baldwin are on board, any delegates they win can vote for Ron Paul instead! With Texas out of play for the main parties, we can get 34 delegates uncontested.

Not only that, we can expand the DVDs4DELEGATES program to convert the electors for McCain AND Obama!

Think about it. Republicans want to hold onto the White House at almost any cost: McCain proves that. But if we can reach those electors, we can make them understand that the founders empowered them to make the best choice for the country, and that they have the last voice in the process. Disgruntled Hillary supporters are probably very well represented in the electoral college. We can get them on board too.

"Winning" on election night does not mean you win the presidential vote. To quote Wikipedia:

"Electors chosen on Election Day meet in their respective state capitals (or in the case of Washington, D.C., within the District) on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, at which time they cast their electoral votes on separate ballots for President and Vice President."


WE CAN STILL WIN! Even better, we can win using the very mechanisms designed by the founding fathers!

I'm going to Comicon!

The March on Washington was awesome. There were tens of thousands of people there. I got to protest at the Federal Reserve, boo at the IRS building, and finally see Ron Paul in person! Tons of speakers talking about the NAU, imminent marshal law, the Fed, and even some allies from the progressive movement.

Anyway, this weekend I'm going to be in San Diego for the Comicon! I've never been before, but some of my friends are going so thought that it'd be the perfect ending for my month long tour of the US. I'll be the only guy there wearing a blue cap with the presidential seal. My friends have no idea the levels of geekdom I will subject them to. MWHAHAHAHA!

Next post should be about the impending EXODUS...



Lurker

Next

I've been meaning to do this for a while: updating everybody on where I'm going for the Peace Corps. Sorry for the delay, I myself have waited for what seems like forever to find out what country I'm going to and exactly when I leave.

So here's the scoop: I'm not going.

Why? What happened, you say? Well, the truth is, I really wanted to go last summer, fresh out of college, and see the world before kids and mortgages and get paid doing it. But that didn't happen, due to lack of communication and missing the window of opportunity.

*sigh*

Basically the same thing happened this time around. I'm just so frustrated by the endless hoops and impenetrable nature of the agency I'm calling the whole thing off.


So have I given up on my dreams of "Saving The World" and making it a better place? No, in fact, I have been refining them. During the last year I have been working as a teacher's aide for a charter school, tutoring at-risk junior high students in math, science, and social studies and hopefully making a difference. I have also been heavily involved in the Ron Paul presidential campaign, at long last finding like minded libertarians conspiring to take over the Republican party and save this country from the excesses of neo-conservatives and big government and the coming North American Union. I even went to the New Hampshire primaries last January to volunteer. It was cold.

So my current plans are thus: I will be going to Washington DC for a Ron Paul freedom march culminating on the 12th of July. I hereby invite any freedom-loving (or anti-bush or whatever) people to come along. I've never been to DC before, and I plan to make the most of it.
The very next day (the 13th) I will be flying to Washington state for the week-long family reunion.

Then, from September 1st thru the 4th in will be in St. Paul, Minnesota protesting the Republican National Convention. It should be quite an event, and hopefully the last straw for McCain.

Other than that... my future is pretty flexible and uncertain. I am exploring job opportunities across the world. My friend Matt is studying Judo in Japan, and I'm considering joining him there as well. I have some wildly ambitious political ideas I'd like to try out in a few different countries... however with the current direction the country is heading in (massive inflation and two big spending senators running for prez) I think I'll probibly stay in the states and do whatever I can to save my country from a looming financial meltdown.

Thats pretty much everything. If you have any advice, job offerings, or even a couch I can sleep on for a few days... drop me a line!

I'm going to New Hampshire

Okay, its official, I am a Ron Paul fanatic. I donated alot of money again on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, helping to raise over 6 million dollars in one day. I'm on youtube most every day increasing the stats of RP videos. I've even registered as a Republican! And now, I've decided to go all the way by joining Operation Live Free Or Die ( www.operationlivefreeordie.com ) and am going to New Hampshire! I'll be there basically the first week of January, and will be helping the campaign by going door-to-door and convincing people personally to vote for Ron Paul for their primary on the 8th. I expect to be very cold, but hey, its all part of the adventure!

Remember, remember...

Last Monday Ron Paul raised over 4 million dollars in his effort to become the republican presidential candidate. I, personally, donated hundreds of dollars on that day. For those who know me, being the cheapskate that I am, this should emphasize just how important this rEVOLution is to me (of course, all my political posts over the years should be a big hint). I even had a hand in forming the idea of doing something that day.

So, the next "money bomb" day is looking like December 16th, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party that started the American Revolution. A much more appropriate anniversary. So for those of you sitting on the fence, do a little research, and donate $100 (or $10, or whatever you can afford) and help start the second American Revolution!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG_OwTthS-E


Lurker

next star trek series

Star Trek: Defiant

First episode has something no other Trek series ever had: mutiny!

'Evil' captain overthrown by crew and tossed into brig. Of course, that would make the crew outlaws, on the run from the Federation. Now that sets up potential for conflict! And of course they would find a large conspiracy taking over the government, and eventually spearhead a revolution and civil war! Yes, its a little Star Warsish, and very Babylon 5, but mostly new territory for a Trek series. The trick is keeping the evil Cap'n a major character and predominant antagonist and indeterminate loyalties.

Should take place post TNG, DS9, Voyager, and so forth, but soon enough that it could conceivably reuse several characters from those series. Definitely has to use a ship called USS DEFIANT with cloak technology (DS9).

New Characters:
A former Q; Has very different perspective on things, needs memory blocks to prevent quick fix tech solutions. Doctor?
A Romulan; Least explored major species. Engineer?
Blended Male/Female human (ala Tuvix); Two people combined into one in a transporter accident. Explores concepts of identity, gender, and makes Star Trek socially relevant again. Security?
Tholian; First Non-Humanoid crew member?
Breen/Gorn?


Well thats enough geeking out for me. Still trying to work in my earlier idea of the Saurians from the Voyager series deciding to take back their ancient homeland of Earth. Hmm....


Lurker

I got a job!

Yes, this is the first post in quite a while updating details in my personal life. Sorry, my life is usually less interesting (IMHO) than the random insights I have to share. Anyway, on to the details!

Oddly enough, it started with Ron Paul. Well, more accurately the local meet-up group, to which I decided to go. On the spur of the moment decision, I called a long-time friend of mine, actually he lived next door when I lived in the dorms during my first year in college. Anyway, we usually clash on politics (in an amusing, respectful way) and I was right in my guess that he'd get a kick out of a room full of libertarianish conspiracy nuts like me.

Anyway, before the meeting started, he mentioned that the school he was working for was looking for people to help out disadvantaged junior high kids. We asked each other questions about how well I worked with youngins, and he said he'd talk with the principal about getting me an interview.

So the next morning he gives me a call, and tells me to be there by noon. I show up, and the principal is impressed by my mathmatics background (I can tutor Calculus) and my previous instructional experience (being a black belt). So I pretty much get the job on the spot.

So now I'm a teacher's aide for Junior High students at a charter school. I help with Math, Science, Social Studies, and eventually English too. I really feel like I'm making a difference, and they were totally okay with my leaving for the Peace Corps in May, in fact thats when the school year ends.

So I've got this cool job now, helping the disadvantaged and earning somewhat decent money, with no regrets leaving for the Peace Corps. I am quite pleased.

Now transportation is an issue, since the bus lines don't connect my new job to my current location, so my new friend and I are considering getting an appartment....

Ron Paul beats out Guliani, Tompson, and McCain in Iowa straw poll!

Mitt Romney, spending millions of dollars, bought first place in the Iowa Straw poll today. However, more interesting is that Dr. Ron Paul got more votes than Rudy Guliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson combined! This straw poll illustrates just how inane the status of "front runner" is this early in this wide open campaign.

Is that murder or suicide...?

Its a weird question I like to ask when the rare opportunity presents itself. Which isn't very often. But it is an intriguing question to ask, and one that rarely has an answer. Examples:

Traveling thru time and killing your self
Vizzini in The Princess Bride drinking the poisoned goblet
Anything involving clones
The ending of Fight Club
Rozencranz and Gildenstern in Hamlet
Trying to think of when this has happened, but swapping minds with someone and then trying to kill them/yourself


Just one of my unique quirks.

Youtube question(s) for republican debate

I watched the last Democratic debate and enjoyed the fact that individuals posted questions to youtube.com and the candidates were forced to answer. It was still filtered thru CNN, but the randomness and straightforwardness was refreshing. Too bad most of the responses were rehearsed.

Anyway, I'm trying to thing of the perfect question to ask. I'm a Ron Paul supporter, so I'm tempted to address him directly to speak in favor of his more obscure views that would be in favor with the general public (drugs, taxes, anti-draft, war, UN, etc). However, if you've read any of my previous posts, you know I've got some strong views on some out of the mainstream issues: secession, new US states, space, anti-RIC, UFOs, citizenship, and countless others. This may be my chance to springboard one of my causes into the national arena... if it isn't too crazy and rejected.

In an attempt to have my cake and eat it too, I think I'll ask my family members to put forth some questions themselves. Using an Iraq war vet or a cute younger sibling might be more appealing. I also advocate that you, yes YOU submit your own question(s) to the candidates:

http://www.youtube.com/contest/RepublicanDebate

I'll mull my options over this weekend. Hopefully a few more Republican Candidates will sign on for the debate. So far its only Ron Paul and McCain....


Lurker
(N.A.S.A question or states rights to secede? Hmm...)

And now for something completely different

In a completely unrelated theme, I'm posting my crazy movie ideas!

Slasher movie in an old folks home! Exactly the same script as normal teen slasher film, love scenes and all. Only the chase scenes would be a little slower.

Romantic comedy set in 2121! Mom complained that all sci-fi movies are apocalyptic and end-of-the-world disaster scenarios. So a romantic comedy dealing with robots, shape changing aliens, time-travel, and other cool stuff would actually be the ultimate date movie. Something for everyone.


Well thats all the original stuff I got. Personally I want to see movie versions of Childhood's End, Xanth, Shannara, Riftwar, Wheel of Time (though TV series may be more appropriate) , not to mention all the potential comic book movies... but thats a post for another day


Lurker
r*evol*ution!

Proposed constitutional amendments

I've been promising to do this for a while, but here are some of the proposed amendments I'd make to the constitution:


Repeal of the 16th amendment. Government never should have been given the power to tax the income of individuals. It punishes productivity, aggravates millions, and is completely unnecessary to finance federal government.

Rights of non-citizens. Are illegal aliens granted constitutional rights? Prisoners in Gitmo? Astronauts in space? Ambiguity on whom the constitution applies (and where) really need to be defined, and the ability for government suspend rights guaranteed by the constitution nullified.

Abortion. Currently the federal government has no authority over abortion, either to make it legally available for women or to prohibit it. Despite what the courts say, there is nothing in the constitution that addresses this. If there is going to be a federal policy, lets amend the constitution to establish it as a right or make it illegal; otherwise the federal government should stay the heck out of it.

Secession. This issue is so huge, I'm surprised it hasn't been addressed before. Heck, we fought a civil war over this! The constitution sets out criteria for joining the United States; it makes no mention of leaving the union. This really needs to be addressed: people should be free to have the choice to leave the union without violence, preferably by popular vote of the state (Hawaii would be the first to go). Also covered should be the splitting up of states (like Texas or California), merging (Dakotas), and eviction or kicking out of a state by the rest of the country (which may happen to California eventually).

Highest law of the land. This one shouldn't be necessary, but there should be an amendment that says the US Constitution is the highest law of the land, above organizations like the UN, NATO, NAFTA, the proposed North American Union, and any other international organization. Also there should be *no* circumstances under which the constitution should be suspended, be it martial law or what have you.


Thats all for now!



Lurker

Ron Paul coming to Arizona TOMARROW!

When:

Saturday, June 16, 2007, 9:00 AM

Where:

Phoenix Sky Harbor Air Port
3400 E Sky Harbor Blvd
Phoenix , AZ 85034

Description:

*** Arriving Flight info: ***

Airline: USAir
Arrival: 09:11 AM Saturday June 16
Terminal 4 at sky harbor
(either the "A" or "B" gates which will not be determined until just before arrival)

It is suggested everyone park in short term terminal 4 parking, parking is level 4 to level 9, arrivals/gates are level 3. A gates are on the west end. B gates are on the east end of the terminal.

Fox News Network will be there to interview Ron Paul at 10am (the more people there the better).

RP talks to the ARA at 12:00. Talk with Q&A is 1 hr. So finish at 1:00 PM. Figure it will take another 30 to get out the door (handshakes photos etc) and to the car. 20, 25 drive to Sky Harbor. So? Supporters to Terminal #2 by 2:00 for another chance to meet Ron Paul.

Departure is Continental at 14:55 actual flight time out of terminal 2. There is only
security checkpoint in 2. So we should have no problems finding him. :) only question is
what time do we tell/ask everyone to be there for departure.

Endorcement for 2008

I wasn't terribly excited about 2008. Hillary scares me. Obama seems interesting but inexperienced. My enthusiasm for McCain wore off years ago. Guliani seemed worth more attention, as he seemed fiscally conservative (yay!) and socially liberal (also yay!). But then I woke up to a new possibility. Listening to Rush Limbaugh the morning after the Republican debate, everyone was talking about the comments of Ron Paul.

Who?

I checked him out on YouTube. A libertarian out conservativing other republicans! I was smitten. Took a look at his platforms. Wow. He's a man after my own heart. Even though I don't quite agree on his Iraq position, I understand his point of view, and I'm slowly coming around. I signed up to volunteer at his website, and spoke well of him to friends.

Then this weekend, I caught the whole Republican Debate. Wow, he was the only one up there with personality! And he sounded even more like the kind of president I could actually endorse, instead of voting against the other guy! I looked up everything I could on youtube, and decided he was 'the one'. Yes, I'm in love! This guy is awesome!

He could even get the nomination, since its like a year away. But if he doesn't, he really could be a viable third party nomination. He ran on the Libertarian ticket once before in 88. He might even work in my 'Coalition Party' proposition, where a candidate gets the nomination of several minor parties, so as to get on all the ballots at least once. Even if he doesn't get a nomination, I think I'll put him down as a write-in ballot!

Anyway, I've gushed long enough. Go check him out at:
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/html/Issues_fx.html
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=RonPaul2008dotcom


Lurker
(Wonders if he can be paid for working on his campaign somehow)

Essential Speedball

Alrighty, one more comicbook post. These are the very obscure solo stories of the hero formerly known as Speedball (now known as Penance). These are all very short, usually around 8 pages long. And they span almost 20 years. But hey, theres more than 500 pages worth, so lets put these stories from all over into an ESSENTIAL!


Essential Speedball volume 1

Speedball #1
Marvel Age Annual #4 “The Mystery Of Crooked Face”
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22
Speedball #2
Speedball #3
Speedball #4
Speedball #5
Speedball #6
Marvel Comics Presents #14 “The Feathered Felon”
Speedball #7
Speedball #8
Speedball #9
Speedball #10
Marvel Comics Presents #56 “Any Number Can Play”
Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #2 [Summer 1990] “The Price Of Their Toys”
Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #5 [Spring 1991] “Jolly Roger”
Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #6 [Summer 1991] “The Bouncer”
Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #1 [Spring 1990] “Pulitzer Patty”
Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #14 [Summer 1993] “Downtown Demolition”
Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #4 [Winter 1990] “This Is Our Story
Marvel Comics Presents #127 “The Big Time”
Marvel Comics Presents #85 “…The Dude In The Really Rad Armor!”
Marvel Comics Presents #96 “The Class Clown”
Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #3 [Fall 1990] “How Speedball’s Powers Work!”
New Warriors Annual #1 “To Bounce Or Not To Bounce”
New Warriors Annual #2 “Speedball The Masked Marvel” Days And Knights Part 4
New Warriors #27 “Dark Sides”
Marvel Comics Presents #122 “Taped Confessions”
New Warriors Annual #3 “Tough Choices” (Speedball)
New Warriors Annual #4 “Two Sides (Speedball)
New Warriors #66 “Return To Springdale”
I (Heart) Marvel: Masked Intentions #1 “First Kiss”
Civil War: Front Line #1 “The Accused Part One” Civil War
Civil War: Front Line #2 “The Accused Part Two” Civil War
Civil War: Front Line #3 “The Accused Part Three” Civil War
Civil War: Front Line #4 “The Accused Part Four” Civil War
Civil War: Front Line #5 “The Accused Part Five” Civil War
Civil War: Front Line #6 “The Accused Part Six” Civil War
Civil War: Front Line #7 “The Accused Part Seven” Civil War
Civil War: Front Line #8 “The Accused Part Eight” Civil War
Civil War: Front Line #9 “The Accused Part Nine” Civil War
Civil War: Front Line #10 “The Accused Part Ten” Civil War
Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #11 “With Babysitting Comes Great Responsibility!!”


Lurker

One year

Hey all. As several of you know, I've been trying to get into the Peace Corps ever since my graduation from college. Well today my recruiter-guy calls me up and offers me several different destinations! Yay! One caveat though, all of them are in 2008!

Gah! Months, MONTHS I've been trying and waiting to get into this program. I've basically been reducing commitments: moving back into parents so I wouldn't have an apartment lease, avoiding buying a car to avoid payments, seeing old friends that I might never see again... but most of the time sitting in my parents house and waiting to go overseas and make a positive difference in the world.

So now I'm out of school, unemployed, no transportation, no room to call my own, broke with student loans about to spring on me...


So, I'm faced with a several options as to what to do with myself for an entire year:


Get a job- all but a given
Go back to school - Could try to do that Illinois program, or locally
Move- I really am going stir crazy here. Perhaps some friends can put me up for free short term.
Volunteer- Might as well, right?
Travel- Been doing alot of that so far. Requires $$$ I don't have


I need time to process this new piece of data. However, any insight/advice/encouragement would be welcome however.



Lurker
(Now what?)

Covering all the bases

For my Manifest Destiny project, and using my powers of political correctness to an absurd extreme, I'm trying to represent the largest nationalities and religious populations in a mere 12 people. Fortunately the project is in the future so I can fudge things a little bit, and tweak conventional religious/nationality combinations to what they very well could be in the future. Anyway, on to the list (I seem to be doing alot of these):

Chinese Taoist/Confucianism
Indian Hindu (haven't decided on denomination)
American Jew
Indonesian Baha'i
Brazilian Catholic
Russian Orthodox
Nigerian Agnostic/Indigenous
Japanese Buddhist/Shinto
Mexican Mormon
German Neopagan
Iranian Shi'a
and lastly a Sunni EU representative from Cyprus


There we go, that covers most every corner of the globe geographically. And that covers all of the major religions... except the Sikhs, I couldn't fit them in.



Lurker
(Political correctness run amok...)

Okay, last comicbook post for a while

Gosh it was annoying to sign up for gmail account just to post here. Grr. Anyway...

I'm a big fan of the New Warriors (see below) and of Marvel's black and white Essential line, so I thought I'd try to figure out what I'd like to see in volumes of Essential New Warriors. So I compiled a list of NW comics that I'd like to see, everything by the original author Fabian Nicieza (guest appearances and limited series and such) and all the crossover issues with the main book. Also, essentials are normally 500-650 pages, but I'm trying to average around just over 600.

Oh, and the first number is total pages, -1 for cover page, and keeping track of 2-page splash pages (which sometimes need filler pages to keep together). So without further ado:


The Essential New Warriors Vol.1 (cover to #1)

New Warriors #1 (24-1)
Thor #411 (18-1)
Thor #412 (18-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #2 (24-1)
New Warriors #3 (23-1)
New Warriors #4 (23-1)
New Warriors #5 (23-1)
New Warriors #6 (23-1) ---176
New Warriors #7 (24-1)
New Warriors #8 (23-1)
New Warriors #9 (24-1)
New Warriors #10 (23-1, 2pager) ---94
New Mutants Annual #7 1991 (30-1, 2pager)
New Warriors Annual #1 1991 (30-1, 2pager)
Uncanny X-Men Annual #15 1991 (36-1, 2pager)
X-Factor Annual #6 1991 (36-1, 2pager)
New Warriors Annual #1 part 2 (25) ---157

Guardians Of The Galaxy Annual #1 “Vance Astro Versus Marvel Boy”
Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #3 [Fall 1990] “How Speedball’s Powers Work!”
Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #7 [Fall 1991] “Gator Show”

New Warriors #11 (24-1)
New Warriors #12 (24-1)
New Warriors #13 (23-1, 2pager) ---71
New Warriors #14 (23-1) ---23
New Warriors #15 (23-1)
New Warriors #16 (22-1, 2-2pagers in-sync)
New Warriors #17 (23-1, 2pager) ---69

The Essential New Warriors volume 1.... 590 pages plus those uncounted specials. ~600




The Essential New Warriors volume 2 (edited cover to 19)

Avengers #341 (24-1)
Avengers #342 (24-1, 2pager) ---48
New Warriors #18 (24-1)
New Warriors #19 (23-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #20 (23-1) ---70
New Warriors #21 (23-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #22 (23-1)
New Warriors #23 (24-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #24 (23-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #25 (39-1, 2pager) ---132
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #26 1992 (31-1, 2pager)
Spectacular Spider-Man #12 1992 (31-1, 2pager)
Web of Spider-Man #8 1992 (29-1, 2pager)
New Warriors Annual #2 1992 (54-1, 2pager) ---145
New Warriors #26 (24-1) ---24
New Warriors #27 (23-1, 2pager) ---23
New Warriors #28 (23-1) ---23

Night Thrasher: Four Control #1
Night Thrasher: Four Control #2
Night Thrasher: Four Control #3
Night Thrasher: Four Control #4

New Warriors #29 (23-1)
New Warriors #30 (23-1, 2pager) ---46

The Essential New Warriors volume 2... 511 + NT:LS (~100?)



The Essential New Warriors volume 3 (cover to 39?)

New Warriors #31 (25-1) ---25
New Warriors #32 (23-1)
New Warriors #33 (24-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #34 (24-1, 2pager)
New Warriors Annual #3 1993 (52-1, 2pager) ---124
Marvel Holiday Special 1993 (13-2, 2pager cover) ---13
New Warriors #35 (23-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #36 (23-1) ---56
New Warriors #37 (23-1)
Night Thrasher #1 (39-1, 2pager 30nw
New Warriors #38 (23-1)
New Warriors #39 (23-1) ---99nw
New Warriors #40 (23-1)
New Warriors #41 (23-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #42 (24-1, 2pager) ---70
New Warriors #43 (23-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #44 (20-1)
X-Force #32 (23-1, 2-2pagers in-sync)
New Warriors #45 (23-1, 2pager)
X-Force #33 (24-1)
New Warriors #46 (24-1, 2pager) ---137
New Warriors Annual #4 1994 (55-1) ---55
Marvel Comics Presents #155 (8, 2pager)
Marvel Comics Presents #156 (9-1)
Marvel Comics Presents #157 (8)
Marvel Comics Presents #158 (8) ---33

The Essential New Warriors volume 3... 612 pages




The Essential New Warriors volume 4 (cover from ashcan)

New Warriors #47 (23-1, 2pager)
Night Thrasher #11 (23-1)
Nova #6 (23-1)
New Warriors #48 (23-1, 2pager)
Night Thrasher #12 (23-1)
Nova #7 (23-1)
New Warriors #49 (23-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #50 (38-1, 2pager) ---199
New Warriors Ashcan ~3?
New Warriors #51 (23-1, 2pager) ---23
Justice: Four Balance #1 (24-1)
Justice: Four Balance #2 (23-1)
Justice: Four Balance #3 (23-1)
Justice: Four Balance #4 (23-1) ---93
New Warriors #52 (21-1, 2-2pagers in-sync)
New Warriors #53 (23-1, 2pager) ---44
Marvel Comics Presents #159 (8)
Marvel Comics Presents #160 (8)
Marvel Comics Presents #161 (9-1)
Marvel Comics Presents #162 (8)
Marvel Comics Presents #163 (8?) ---41
New Warriors #54 (23-1, 3-2pagers outta sync by 1)
New Warriors #55 (23-1)
New Warriors #56 (23-1)
New Warriors #57 (23-1, 2-2pagers in-sync) ---93
New Warriors #58 (23-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #59 (23-1) ---46
Nova #18 (23-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #60 (39-1, 2-2pagers in-sync) ---62

The Essential New Warriors volume 4... 601 pages plus ashcan



The Essential New Warriors volume 5 (cover to 75? or 62)

Marvel Comics Presents #166 (8)
Marvel Comics Presents #167 (8, 2pager) ---16
New Warriors #61 (24-1, 2-2pagers outta sync +1)
Maximum Clonage Alpha?
Spectacular Spider-Man #227?
New Warriors #62 (24-1, 2-2pagers in-sync) ---51+
New Warriors #63 (23-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #64 (23-1)
New Warriors #65 (23-1, 2pager)
New Warriors #66 (24-1, 2pager) ---93
Web of Scarlet Spider (23-1)
New Warriors #67 (23-1, 2pager)
Web of Scarlet Spider (23-1) ---69

Venom: Along Came A Spider #1 (Hybrid parts)
Venom: Along Came A Spider #2
Venom: Along Came A Spider #3
Venom: Along Came A Spider #4

New Warriors #68 (24-1)
New Warriors #69 (23-1)
New Warriors #70 (24-1)
New Warriors #71 (24-1) ---95

Venom: The Hunted #1 (Hybrid parts)
Venom: The Hunted #2
Venom: The Hunted #3

New Warriors #72 (24-1)
New Warriors #73 (23-1)
New Warriors #74 (23-1, too many 2pagers)
New Warriors #75 (40-1, ditto) ---110+

Ultragirl #1
Ultragirl #2
Ultragirl #3

The Essential New Warriors volume 5... at least 434


The Essential New Warriors volume 6

Avengers Vol.3 #13 (24-1) ---24
New Warriors Vol.2 #0 (10-1)
New Warriors Vol.2 #1 (39-1)
New Warriors Vol.2 #2 (23-1)
New Warriors Vol.2 #3 (23-1)
New Warriors Vol.2 #4 (23-1) ---118
Generation X #59 (23-1) ---23
New Warriors Vol.2 #5 (23-1)
New Warriors Vol.2 #6 (23-1)
New Warriors Vol.2 #7 (23-1)
New Warriors Vol.2 #8 (23-1)
New Warriors Vol.2 #9 (23-1)
New Warriors Vol.2 #10 (24-1) ---139

New Warriors vol.3 #1
New Warriors vol.3 #2
New Warriors vol.3 #3
New Warriors vol.3 #4
New Warriors vol.3 #5
New Warriors vol.3 #6

I (Heart) Marvel: Masked Intentions #1

The Essential New Warriors volume 6 at least 304 counted



Thats everything so far. A little light on details towards the end there, due to me not having some of the issues or just not getting around to counting pages just yet.

Just another one of my side projects...


Lurker

Go Buy These Comics!

Those of you who read my archives know that I used to review comics. Rather than subject you to those on a regular basis, I discontinued the practice.

However, just this once I will highlight several new comic book series, because they relate to series near and dear to my heart back in the 90's, the New Warriors. This team called the New Warriors were responsible for getting the government to require superhero licenses by getting themselves blown up in a populated area.


Thunderbolts- This series is about a team of mostly supervillains who are employed by the government to hunt down unlicensed superheroes; in essence turning the usual hero/villain dynamic on its head. Roster: Green Goblin, Bullseye, Moonstone, Songbird, Radioactive Man, Swordsman (formerly Fenris), Venom (formerly Scorpion), and... Penance. Now Penance used to be Speedball, a member of the New Warriors, and blames and horrifically punishes himself for the death of his teammates and hundreds of civilians. Of course the entire team is screwed up one way or another (since most have disturbing backgrounds as villains) and Penance fits right in.

Avengers: The Initiative- Now that heroes are required to be licensed, a training camp has been erected at the site of the tragedy, run by veteran heroes... one of which is Justice, a former leader of the New Warriors. Young heroes are shipped here for training, including several surviving Warriors including Rage, Slapstick and others. Writing and characterization are awesome, including a shocking ending....

The Loners (LS)- This series is about a support group dedicated to help young adults get over their destructive superhero lifestyles and become 'normal'. Of course, they keep getting pulled back in. Members used to be the heroes Green Goblin V, Lightspeed, Ricochet, Spider-Woman III, and former Warriors Turbo and Darkhawk. Naturally, a drug that gives people superpowers is on the streets, and a few Loners suit up to prevent others from becoming just like them....

Nova- This former New Warrior has spent the last year in space fighting the Annihilation Wave, an invading force from another universe that destroys everything in its path. Nova was a member of an intergalactic peacekeeping force which was destroyed during the war. He now has the combined power of the entire corps, plus their combined knowledge in the form of the Worldmind, and patrols the galaxy trying to patrol the universe on his own. Of course when he returns home, he'll find his friends are dead, and will have to register or face consequences....


All four series are in stores now! And in June a little title called the New Warriors comes out... a team of mysterious rebellious youths who have no intention of getting licenses and are out to redeem the name of their fallen forbears....



Lurker
(If any of these sound even remotely interesting, go out and buy em!)

To Do:

List of goals:

Libertarian political reform- legalize drugs, minimize gov
Promoting space travel- moon, mars, asteroids
Expanding USA- democratic united states of earth
Promoting scientific research
Ending war?
Raising universal awareness- empathy, consequences
Promoting alternative media like comic books
Ending RIC
Universal language/communication
Push public and science into exploring the paranormal
Passing on my knowledge of Judo



How to do the above:

youtube videos,
blog,
writing to newspaper, congress,
calling radio,
running for office,
ballot initiative,
talking with friends, family,
organizing political party, demonstrations,
brining together like minded people,
writing a book,
church organizations,
going to foreign countries,
missionary like activities,
joining compatible organizations, recruiting organizations,
writing to professional journals,
creating video games,
getting job in related field,
moving near people with related interests,
finding a partner to help me,
television,
mods,
metaphysical guidance,
creating non-profit foundations,
etc.




I certainly have my work cut out for me.


Lurker

Free will

I've got this great analogy for choice and free will that I'd like to share.

My conception of free will is akin to driving a car. You have a great deal of control over the vehicle and where you want to go. However you have little to no influence over other drivers, the roads, the weather, etc.

And you have many tools to help get where you are going: memory, traffic updates over the radio, maps, cell phones, signposts, etc. But in the end you yourself make your own choices based on the information you have in the conditions you find yourself in, following the highways or going off-roading, whether you get to your destination or just go cruising.

Not a bad analogy. Eventually the car breaks down and you find yourself a new one...


Lurker

The enemy of my enemy

The USA should make an alliance with Iran.

No really. We had a close relationship with them before the Islamic Revolution. Most of the population is quite young, and fascinated with American culture and actually quite friendly. Plus they are similar to us in that they have a rather diverse coalition of ethnicities and sub-populations. Oh, and they have a long association with India, our largest ally.

But the main reason is implied in the title: Al-Qaeda is made up of Sunnis, and are sworn enemies of Shiite Iran. Yes, this would mean taking sides in a thousand year religious conflict, but that seems almost unavoidable when messing with the middle east.

Iran has a great deal of influence in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and the rest of the middle east. They might even be able to solve the Israeli/Palestinian situation, although hopefully without violence. My Dad suggested that at the outset of the Iraq war, we could've made a trade with Iran: we give them most of Iraq, and they give up part of their northern territories to create a viable Kurdish state. Perhaps a similar deal can still be made.

Now this proposed Persian alliance has one very difficult question: do we try this team-up with the current radical Iranian administration? The current president (who isn't actually the highest authority) has created his reputation by sticking it to the Americans. Would he, could he be capable of spinning such a 180 in foreign policy? Even if he does, do we try to encourage reforms with carrots, and discourage their sponsorship of terrorist groups like Hezbollah?

Or do we overthrow their government (we've done it before) and put the youth in power, and hope they'll go along with an alliance?

Anyway, the whole point of this is scaring the heck out of the middle east, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, and other Sunni states that sponsor terror in one form or another, and thwart their ideas for world subjugation.


Lurker
(I seem to be doing a lot of political posts)

Seniority Rules?

I've had this debate with a few friends, but haven't spelled it out here yet so here it goes. Since I'm pro political accountability and rather anti-incumbent there's a few changes I wish to make to the political establishment, specifically in the area of congressional seniority.

Congress has this great scheme going: the longer you stay in office, the more powerful and influential you are, so the more likely you are to be reelected. This is because important congressional chairmanships are meted out based on seniority (well, that and whichever party is in power). The longer you are reelected, the more power you wield, and the less likely you are to be voted out of power. Great for politicians, terrible for political accountability because if replaced by the voters the freshman congressman wields far less power in the name of the state or congressional district.

So lets come at this problem sideways, and change the definition of seniority. I propose changing seniority to how many non-consecutive terms you've served. So instead of measuring years, you measure how many times the candidate has come into power. Specifically, if they've only been elected once, their number is 1. If they've been elected, lost, and been elected again, their seniority is 2. The more times they've been in and out, the higher the seniority they have accrued.

This would mean that politicians don't want a constant grip on power, because they would lose seniority to fellow congressmen who are repeatedly in and out of power. Tag-teams may even form as pairs of same party candidates trade off to gain seniority in tandem. The whole political system would become more dynamic and responsive because of the constant influx of people, willing relinquishing of power, and those who become the most senior and powerful either decide against stepping down and eventually fall behind competitors, or choose to 'rule' for only brief periods. Win-win.

Now this being Congress, rule changes will be really hard to execute. It might be best to begin on the state level. What is needed is to get some low ranking representatives who would have seniority under the new system (being in-and-out a few times) to realize their potential gain in power, and begin to organize a sort of 'coup'. This will slowly snowball as more people come in and out of power naturally, and eventually there will be enough votes to change the system, and the formerly less powerful gain a little more power, and the public gains a heck of a lot more political accountability.



Lurker
(I really need to find a way to get paid for being a political strategist)

Manifest Destiny

I've got this idea for a space epic i've been thinking about for years now. At the moment its called 'Manifest Destiny' and its about the colonization of Earth's Moon and the rest of the solar system, set decades in the future. I want this to be 'hard' science fiction, so I'm unsure about what format to tell the story in.

Idealy it would be a television series, but the problems of reduced gravity present a real film-making difficulty. Not to mention the timescale issues, since live-action series are usually presented in real time (i.e. episodes shown a week apart occur a week apart).

I could do it in book form, or a series of books, but this would be so cool visually and series of short stories with interlocking arcs format never quite works for books.

I present this in comicbook form, but i have no idea how to break into the industry. My rusty skills as an artist make doing this even as a webcomic dificult, especally with the huge scope of this project.


So... thoughts? Suggestions?


Lurker
(wondering how much of Star Trek / Babylon 5 / Seaquest future history I can squeeze in without worrying about trademark infringement. Is the future copyrighted?)

The next step?

I have several reasons for wanting to do the Peace Corps. Firstly, as a recent college graduate, this is an excellent means of going to see the world in real life. I have this goal of seeing every country on Earth, and volunteering is a means to this end.

I’ve also got this idealistic streak in me that wants to try to make the world a better place. The goals of the this organization align closely with my own, and as a patriot and a human being I want to do my part to improve the human condition. Due to financial pressures or struggling to finish my degree, I’ve had little time to volunteer. Now that I am free from commitments I feel that I must.

I also have a practical reason for joining: future employment. As I recently acquired my degrees in sociology and political science, volunteering should exposing me to various government agencies and international organizations that I could potentially work for.

Old Paper from 2002

Student Number 999 04 4487

Friday November 1^st, 2002

Political Science 100 9:00am

Alex L. Avila, Instructor

World War Four

On September 11^th, 2001 four planes were hijacked and flown into a field in Pennsylvania, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and both towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. In Samuel P. Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations,” in Perspectives on American Foreign Policy: Readings and Cases, he would argue that that act of war resulted in the clash of civilizations between the Western and the Islamic worlds. “The fault lines of civilizations will be the battle lines of the future” (Huntington, 2000, 297). Future history will doubtless prove him correct as today’s conflicts are quickly turning into holy wars. When the ‘end of history’ looms near, we will find that it will come down to the Western Powers (US, EU, Australia, and Israel), India, and Japan verses virtually everyone else: the Arab nations, China, Southeast Asia, and probably Africa). It has already begun.

Back in the good old days of the Cold War, things were really easy. There were only three main groups: the capitalists, the communists, and the rest of the world who were being manipulated by the previous two groups or ignored. You could be born in a democratic society and become a communist and back again without too much difficulty. The reverse was also true, though a bit more perilous. The society you were born in had little to do with the world in which you lived in. “In class and ideological conflicts, the key question was ‘Which side are you on?’ and people could and did changes sides” (299). Heck, during this time in the Baltic states, the Bosnians, Croats, and Serbs were slowly forgetting their ethnic hatreds of the past thousand years and were gaining a sense of nationalism. That is, until the USSR fell and the dual system with it. Suddenly, the West was the dominant super-power, and its culture wormed its way across the globe, unopposed.

That is, until some parts of the world became disgusted at the effects of Westernization was having upon them. They began to reject it. Sometimes it happens because of foreign policy, as in the case of the Palestinians. Or because we had become rich and powerful and refused to help those in need, as some parts of Africa think. Lastly, it may be because they find our values totally alien to their way of thinking. ”Western ideas of individualism, liberalism, constitutionalism, human rights, equality, liberty, the rule of law, democracy, free markets, the separation of church and state, often have little resonance in Islamic, Confucian, Japanese, Hindu, Buddhist or Orthodox cultures” (301). They then reject the notion of joining the Western world in favor of returning to their basic, non-western values. They then decide to put up the borders to keep themselves isolated from the West (Saudi Arabia), try to work with the West (Japan), or build up their armies to one day overthrow the West (Iraq, and possibly China). Regardless, “Those countries that for a reason of culture and power do not wish to, or cannot, join the West compete with the West by developing their own economic, military, and political power” (302).

Now the world is divided not by ideology but by civilization. By civilization, Huntington means “…the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of that which distinguishes humans from other species” (298). You are born into a civilization, and it is much, much harder to integrate into another one. There have been thousands of civilizations across the ages, but as of right now about seven or eight major civilizations are taking center stage. “These include Western, Confucian, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American, and possibly African civilization “ (298). Huntington is ambiguous on Africa because several parts of the continent have degenerated into tribal conflicts, oblivious to the rest of the world. Now these several civilizations are mostly multiple nation-states, feeling similar to each other generally if not linguistically and culturally. A notable exception to this is Japan, an economic superpower, the shining star of the non-Western world. Alone of all other Asian countries, Japan was able to modernize without becoming Westernized.

Of course, at some point these civilizations will come into conflict. The potential for future conflict is already here. Over a million troops are stationed on the border of nuclear equipped India and Pakistan in the region of Kashmir. North Korea has recently admitted to having a nuclear weapons program, giving Japan and South Korea many problems. And the little island of Taiwan may trigger a war between the United States and China. The Islamic world is already at war with the West on some level. Radical Islamic fundamentalists have performed terrorist acts on the United States, Israel, France, and Australia to date. A jihad, or holy war, has been declared against the West by Osama bin Laden. Finally, after September 11^th, the West fought back. Some semblance of order has been restored to Afghanistan. The next step of ousting Saddam from Iraq is soon to happen. Iran and Pakistan won’t be far behind. Eventually Saudi Arabia will be overthrown and opened to the West and the Islamic civilization will be absorbed or destroyed by the West.

However, there is a problem. The Islamic world has allied itself to the Confucian civilization. That means China, North Korea, and much of southeast Asia will rise up and cooperate with the Islamic nation-states if World War Four ever breaks out. “[T]he Confucian-Islamic connection… has emerged to challenge Western interest, values, and power” (302). The quickest ways to bring about this clash of civilizations are the China-Pakistan and Israel-India alliances. China owns part of Kashmir, and has long had a close relationship with its neighbor Pakistan. Despite the current strategic alliance with the U.S.-lead coalition, Pakistan has old cultural ties to now communist China, and would side with them over the U.S without hesitation. Both have nuclear weapons. Israel and India, being the only democracies and non-Islamic nation-states in the Middle East region, have some sort of strategic defense pact. India is a nuclear power and Israel’s status is all but official. If and when Pakistan (Islam) and Indian (Hindu) have their first and last nuclear war, they will drag the Confucian (China) and Western (Israel) civilizations into it and begin the end of history. Mutually assured destruction at its finest.

The Federation like that on Star Trek that many dream and hope for is a distant hope. “The very notion that their could be a ‘universal civilization’ is a Western idea, directly at odds with the particularism of most Asian societies and their emphasis on what distinguishes one people from another” (301). The world may be shrinking, but it is not that small. Yet. There the hope that if we survive the impending clash of civilizations, we will outgrow our petty differences and learn to work together. But that day has not come. If the West does not fall in war, it may be overrun from within. As we speak, dozens of Latin Americans are streaming across the US-Mexican border, infiltrating our civilization. If we are not careful, we may be overrun by the masses as Romans were, their civilization falling not to superior armies but superior numbers. Yet to ultimately survive civilizations that seek our annihilation, the West is faced with terrible choice: utterly obliterate civilizations thru total destruction or absorption; ether way those ways of life are lost.

Huntington is right. The next great conflicts are going to be on the borders of civilizations, not nation-states. Where is the most war-torn region in the World? Most would think of the Middle East, especially now. And it makes sense, since the region not only connects the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Indian sub-continent; it is the interaction point of the West, Islam, Confucian, Slavic-Orthodox, and Hindu civilizations. Peace in the Middle East would truly be a world peace, as all of these civilizations would have to get along with each other simultaneously. It is a worthy, albeit extremely difficult goal. But as we are all stuck on this small planet together, it is definitely worth a try.

Bibliography

Huntington, Samuel P. “The Clash of Civilizations?”. In Perspectives on

American Foreign Policy: Readings and Cases. Edited by Bruce W.

Jentleson. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York 2000, pp. 297-304