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It's in the AM hours, so I can't really say my writing skills are at their prime right now, but I just felt like making a point here. To be honest, I would never have a friend who considers me more important than what is right. Friends are there to help and support friends, to redirect them to do what is right. In a way, you could think of them as bowling bumpers, bumping the ball to the pins. Woe is the friend who does not do what is right. I appreciate what Kraggh did. Despite the fact that almost everyone considered the last entry to be funny, I do admit it was untasteful, and Kraggh made me realize that best. And remember, in Soviet Russia, blogs like these close YOU!
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The State of Honesty - - - - - - - - - - Can you imagine a community where nobody can be trusted, everyone keeps an eye on everybody, and nothing is what it seems? Though easy to depict it, one cannot truly grasp the problems that would persist in such a case. Not even I, for that matter, but then, I don't have to in order to talk about it. The problem with such a community would be the fact that there is no honesty, a factor that would inevitably wreak havoc on the entire society as a whole. How? Politics would be little more than a bunch of lying and bickering figureheads that would not help the community because of mistrust back and forth. Elections would be reduced to little more than races for higher distrust, and votes would be very, very low. Games ranging from chess to golf to baseball would be rendered unplayable due to rampant cheating and infighting among players, disrupting the peace of a chess match and the politesse in the gentleman's game alike with wicked efficiency. Business would starve because stealing and lying to cover the crime would be decimating the industries. Wages would be terrible because of an imbalance of the system, and higher ranking officials who control the monetary system in a company would be the richest, while middlemen get almost nothing. Costumers who are semi-trusting or simply dependant would be taken advantage of like sheep following a murderous shepherd. Crime rates would be at an inconceivable high due to corrupt law enforcement and untrustable neighbors. Anyone could be a mad axeman. ... Get enough? While this may have seemed extreme, it is happening around all the time. There are so many cases of lying and mistrust that I cannot bother counting them. But you now can see how important honesty and truth is to a society. Now, I was taking a town as my example. You may ask what this would have to do with someplace like BZP, or something as grand as a huge nation. However, it all fits together nicely. I should say that I am a believer of Chaos Theory, and the linear dynamics, etc. While I am not entirely for the theory as a whole, I do agree with the system and the way it ties everything together, big and small. ((Let me give you a quick rundown about Chaos Theory and the an idea I believe in. Look at a pebble under the microscope, and look at a mountain through binoculars. Both of them will have the same ruggedness and will be related, mo matter how much you strip either one down. I look at BZP and look at the USA, and they both look the same, have the same problems and are identical when it all boils down to it. That is how I relate them both, and thus believe that these essays have huge relevance to both societies.)) In my past essays, complete and published and incomplete and, er, NOT published, I have established a variety of links between something like BZP and a nation of any size. Both of these rely on several principles: rules, enforcers, and people. These three things make a community, and without them there can be none. Show me one society that works that does not have at least these three things. As such, we can see how BZP and *fill in blank if this were blank* are related. More can be added, but they only add to the concept. How would a lack of honesty hurt a place like BZP? While lying here may seem more difficult, it is actually not that hard. I have seen many people (myself included) blame everything on the server busyness, and that is one of the primary ways to get by with a spam post. (("OH! This is spam! uhhh, I double posted! It was the server! I swear!")) As such, the lesson is never taught by the enforcers, and the citizen learns nothing other than maybe another perfect alibi. That was just one idea of a lack of honesty in a community like this. But then, when looking at something like, oh, say, a debate, and you are sticking to your belief even though it is wrong, who are you kidding? By rejecting an idea that is obviously superior in logic and wisdom to your own, you are lieing to yourself. Now, who wants to lie to themselves? I don't and you should not, either. ((However, I have done it before, and I hated doing it. But now I have already come to terms with the issue.)) Not only are you being dishonest to yourself, but also you are mocking truth, and if the opponent is correct, him, too. So you can see how this would be very bad in a debate searching for greater knowledge. And yet I see it every day, happening all around me and in me. I have done it so many times I feel terrible. Yes, I am confessing to it, and that is one of the reasons why I made this essay, so that you do not make the same mistakes I did in the past. Communication is, as I established in a previous essay, a very important --if not THE most important-- part of a community, and if it is blemished by a lie, false thought or malicious concept, it ruins communion and the community as a whole. Just think: would you have others lie to you? I thought not. Please, remember to remain honest. And as the line goes, "a honest person has nothing to worry about." ((I think this is the first Respectism essay I have made that does not contain the word 'respect.' Hm. Wait... I just said that word. Awwww, dang.)) ~EW~
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14/ 1/ '08 This is being revived because of dissagreements I have seen between members, though the most recent one was with Necro vs Omicron. I urge all to read this, and relize the importance of union. ~EW~ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 22-23/ 7/ '07 Introduction What is a community? It gives other definitions, such as : but I think we will pass on that. Now, with the first definition, we can plainly see that BZP is indeed a community. We are governed under rulers who impose our rights, privaleges and common interests. We even are called an 'online community.' But this blog entry will go beyond all that. I will take through a list of the things that make BZP and other forums a community and what we can do to preserve that. Note that we are an online community, and not an out-of-line community. This blog entry will do my talking for that matter. Now, shall we begin? First Iteration: What does a community do? Just what does a community do? Well, as the name would imply, we. as a community, commune. We commune by being together, by massing ourselves here, by communicating. Get it? A community is created as a way for others to commune with one another. As my big hunkin' book says, In the middle ages, communities were created to eek out an agrarian existance and suply the higher ranks with food, supplies, etc. Heck, in France they even called what we refer to as towns "communes." The fact of the matter is, communities are created to commune. BZPower was created, as almost every other forum, as a place for others to commune with one another. BZP was meant for Bionicle as what Paris was created as a cultural center of France. The realtion is remote, but you get the idea. :] Second Iteration: What makes a community a community? Simply enough, communion and communuication. We communicate here through PMs, forums, IMs, sigs, e-mails-- alot of ways. We found each other in some way or another here on BZP or another forum and got going from there. This was a good thing, as from there a pair was formed and a communion was formed. This goes a long way in a forum, because normally in that communion comes friendship and respect, something I am a staunch defender for. This then goes into a forum and grows, that relation imparting itself with others. In truth, a community is a networking of relations-- a spiderweb, to be simple. Everyone knows someone who knows someone. It is this set of bonds and relations that keep a forum going at its best. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone here at BZP would not get along with each other? From two newbies dissagreeing, to AvohkiiLight and I becoming enemies, to B6 and BRex flaming at each other, to Kelly and Jon bickering over the ownership of BZP. That would be chaos, albeit funny right now. But it would not be one bit funny if that were to happen now, would it? ===== 23/ 7/ '07 Second Iteration (continued) So, in essence, a community is a net of relations and connections, and without these connections community cannot ans will not function. As my oldest blog entry, Respect-- Why I Use It and Why You Should, Too stated, respect is the building block of community. Relation is the mortar that holds the block in place. The tower of community is the result, as exempilfied in how BZP is; a giant among minnows. But we should remember that even the strongest towers can indeed be toppled. Third Iteration: Empires toppled Once again, France is the Guinea pig. Bofore the French Revolution, France was rather prosperous. It had a peaceful existance and was powerful in many ways. However, when division came along, unhappy with the goverment (which imposes the aspects of community, privaleges, common interests, etc.), war broke out. When the dust settled, France was in ruins. Rome and its empire were little different. Hannibal was ousted, enemies were crushed, why, even their military formations were firm. They were this way because of unity and honor with respect towards one another. Invincibility was the result. But after division in the senate, bad rulers with pyrotechnic tendencies (Emperor Nero, lol) and division in the people caused major results. Let us hope BZP will not have the same fate. In all of these showcases little respect for the goverment and others caused a lot of blood and little results exept for more destruction. So, as seem from this example, communion is infinitely imporatant to the welfare of any group, whether it be a tree-house club to a massive online forum like BZP. RPGs have had to be closed or come close to it simply because the players did not have unison. The results were decimating. All groups have unlimited potential when it starts, like your proto bar. It startes at the centerand, depending on your actions, it iether increases or decreases. Your doings affect the outcome. If it droops down, you know you made a bad choice. If it springs up, you know it was a good choice. Reflect this on your respect and friendships. Is it getting better or worse? Reflect it on a larger thing: BZP or another forum site. Is it doing good or bad? Fourth Iteration: Respect and its results in communities Rspect one another and communicate actively. Good connections (not mob "connections," lol) with others will bring about a positive spin on things. My dad was once a l;anmdlord over a trailer park. He was responsible for keeping its residents in line and collecting the rent. He did not ask for swervitude, he did not have a "pay up or get out" attitude, but instead simply asked for communication and compliance. "Late rent? Call me. We can settle this," that was one of his mottos. That was a wise philosophy, and many others in the park complied to the fullest extent. He was loved by the residents because of this, and they loved how he was reachable, reasonable and prudent. Note that all he asked was communication, and that worked marvelously. Using this scenario, one can see what wonders communication can do. Finale` In fine` I fould just like to say that this in-depth entry was intended to allow you, the reader, to understand the reasons why communion is very important to any community, whether it be a friendship or an empire. This is not limited to BZPower in any way, but rather to increase knowlege and wisdom above and beyond. I may or may not refine this entry in the fute, possibly with more information, depending on the needs thereof. Thank you for taking the time to read this enmtry, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed making it. Critique as neccesary. Random comment: Do you feel supercalifragilisticexpialidosious? ~EW~
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Yes, this is part of my Respectism project. Like others have done before, this part of the project is going to remain rather ambiguous until it is done. This time, I want you, the member to say exactly who EW is in your opinion. All who know/know of EW are encouraged strongly to post their opinions about EW. And yes, EW is indeed talking about himself in third-person. ~EW~
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Okay, so there is this thing called Blog of the Week. I won it this week. Big whoop. Truthfully, I really cannot say much more. What made me win it? My Star Wars fandom? Was it my essays? Maybe my picking on Omi? Anyone could have a blog every bit as wholesome as I am proud mine is, and I hope the aforementioned criteria were not used as the main purpose of my winning the award. What really makes a great blog is not the content, but the heart. Both of the maker and of the blog itself. When I look at my blog, I can be proud of it. It certainly is not the most popular, nor the most updated, nor the most informative, but it is done with the right intentions. My heart is in BZP and all I do here, and blogging is no exception. I strive for a quality blog, quality that I can truthfully say is a rarity in these days. I try to have quality content, and that is why you will not find any excess of anything here, because I do not want quantity. Also, there is the heart of the blog. It is made with respectism in mind, meaning that the center of the blog is the principles of respect, a perfect centerstone. Respect is not the only way to have a great blog, and I can attest to that. There are many blogs which have hugs as their centers, or perhaps simple fun filled. Others have their own unique aspects, such as being written by more than one person. But I belive that it is Respectism that makes my blog great. I accept this award for BotW with humility. It joins my other awards as another award, neither more or less important than the others. BTW, I seem to have gotten a "renewal" banner. If anyone has a clue as to whether this is incorrect or that I have won this award before, please let me know. I do not recall winning it before... ~EW~
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26/02/07 This is a blog from last year that I am editing to show you exactly how my mind works and my ethics that I so vigoriously show in the forums. First, as many of you know, I am a person on wich respect is my building block. I believe that there are many ways to contribute respect and many directions to give it in. I am fairly well recieved with the younger members who just enter the crazed city of BZP. They come out of their world of simple living and they are perfectly fine, as they are on the top of the world. Then they enter the realm of BZP; luminaries such as Kex and bonesiii tower above them with their influencial shadow wiping out theirs; staff with an iron fist ruling like dictators; thousands of other members that seem to all speak at the same time; all the things that we are all accustumed to are like New York City to a farmboy. Words cannot discribe what it feels like. The newbie has hands of jellow, his head is hot, he is sweating... all the while trying to post. He makes a topic. Five minutes later he looks at it nervously, afraid to see if it was well-recieved or not. It turns out it was closed, as they say, and he could not say anything about it. He looks at the homepage and wonders, This guy gets one-hundred posts in his topic and I get one that says 'closing.' How do they do it? As this may not happen to all of you, I know it happens to most new members. Well, respect to the rescue. I see their topic, know how he/she feels and sympathise for them. I go, PM them, say hello and offer my services, also giving them reccomendations on who to ask for an av/banner combo. They say thank you, say they appreciate it and I watch them go down a good path. I have never seen a single one of my apprentices, as I call them, who made a mistake afterwards. I am very proud of them and they are thankful of me. Respect was shown there. I respected them for what they can be, and they respected me for what I am. I follow the same principle in many other ways, among them my staff/member relation. I once had the fiercest disdain for munkeymunkey (and his hobitt avatar ) because I considered him a threat to the newbie members. After a while and a conversation with bonesiii I realized I was wrong. I saw that he was doing his job and nothing else. I learned to respect the staff for what they are, but I stll thought they did not respect the 'common members' for what we can be. I corrected myself in that. I saw like this: all members are pieces of coal. The new members and the others who are nothing but simple citizens were just coal. The lower-grade staff were pieces of coal that were blessed with the oil. The higher staff were complete with the oil and the fire. They were blazing lights. This picture in my mind was what started my entire philisophy. So in other words, I blame munkey. I followed my respect patters all the way through to this day, adhering them to my day-to-day life. I respected them. All based on respect. As many of you know, I am a fighter. A duelist at heart, I fight for honor. As a sword fighter and debator, I respect all opponents and never underestimate them. I respect their stratgies, their wins, their losses... everything. Also, because of this, I am practically unbeatable. I can take suffering, harm, pain, you name it, and use that to boost my own morale. How? I can take all that power and harness it to make my will stronger. With all that power, I can never loose. Many members have locked horns with me and lost because my will to win was greater than theirs. All the while, I give then my insight. If they do not accept the truth or just disregard my words, I tell them that if they wanted to be great, use respect and wisdom to see through their own shield. Respect is once again used as a weapon of great power and never looses. ________________________________________________________________________ 2/2/07 Here is my second part. I refuse to use name calling as a typical offencive tool. In fact, the only offencive measure I take is when the other party will accept it, like in a duel when they will want to be attacked. You will never find me calling a staff member names either. The supposed time that I called Omricon "ex Mr. Meatbag" was not supposed to be offencive. This is partly an explanation to that event. That was my idea of a joke, albait bad joke. As some of you know, Omi refered to himself as "Mr. Meatbag" in the Star Wars fad topic when he was Han Solo. I was not thinking at the time and I thought I was funny. The joke was taken the wrong way and I was not very well-recieved. My apologies to both Omricon and Tufi Pyufi, both of whom assumed I was meaning ill intentions. I am now promising that that will not happen again. I want to make it clear that I am beyond simple offencive traps such as that and restrain myself to do so at every occasion that it is easy to slip up. However, I do not like it when a senior member says "You will refer to me as ______" or "I want you to call me _____" as these are symbols of a large ego and feeling of being challenged. Intead, I prefer when a person say "I did not like the way you called me. I would appreciate it if you would call me ______". This is a respectful request, not an egoistical demand. I also have a disdain towards others who think themselves as royal. Bonesiii and I both agree that the ego is a monster within one's mind and must be ousted before it causes damage. An individual who has their noses high typically has problems with the lower caste because they think of them as lowly. They have trouble destroying their ego because it is what gives them their supposed "power." At least, that is what they think. (I will get into depth of this in the next paragraph.) The remedy for me is this: if they do not do it, then someone has to do it for them. I, in short, am a dragon killer. I kill other's inner egoistical dragon and solve their problems, even if it seems like a mean gesture. I play doctor, but I never will pubicly humiliate them. I believe in one-on-one fights, so many of my operations are done behind closed doors, as it is a perssonal thing. Now the authority and power-- where did it come from? Well, not from the sky, so rest assured. The "power" that the staff derive their power from comes from us members. Look at it: without us, there would be no topics to close, no PE levels to change, no posts to edit, no post count to fluctuate, no orders to give... nothing! Additionally, many of the staff forget that they were once at our level too, and fail to give slack to the mistake members. I am not saying that there should not be any punishments, just a little respect. You may still question the fact that we are the giver of authority, as BZP is not a democracy. Well, let me explain. The currency of any nation is determined by the amount that nation is worth. For an example, our USA currencies value derives from the amount of gold and silver we have, not because the goverment say it is worth whatever it is. Price of gold goes down, our moneies value oes down. It is the same thing here with the staff; the less members BZP has, the less powerful the staff are. It is a balance between the two that keeps BZP going. Now, again, the staff must recognize the fact that we are their source of power and they must respect us for that. We must respect the staff for what they are, and in return they will respect us. The balance must be kept going, and almost every uprising we have had was because of a lack of respect on someone's behalf. I wanted to make this entire fact public because of my mistakes in the recent past and because I felt the need to make a call for some respect in the forums. My number one goal in BZP is not making a hot topic (Done that), not to win a BBC (No interest), and not to make a bunch of posts (Too selfish in my poinion), but rather to make respect as common as posting. It is an art that must be brought back, if it ever existed in a large amount. I respect and appreciate any thoughts concerning this and am always ready to discuss matters with others. And do not forget to respect other's opinions! ~EW~
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Well, two entries in the same day. Hm. Ah, well. The essay presented here is a conservationalism essay concerning the issue of dams and their impact on nature (or something of the sort). Dams: The Solid Block Out of the blue, a dozen or so salmon emerge out of the salty sea. The species is not important; for this happens to all salmon. The migration of the salmon sends them from the sea back to the rivers where they were born. But this trip is not like other salmon had taken in the past. This time there is an obstacle, a 150 foot high block of concrete, steel, and man-made wonder. Easy enough for us to say "it's only a dam", but what about the poor salmon? To them the dam is more than an obstacle. It can be an insurmountable challenge to all who attempt to pass it. Others have died trying to get through it, and these might not be any more fortunate. People have different views of what is important when it comes to a dam. A free-flowing river provides a thriving fishing industry and plenty of opportunities for recreation, but building a dam also provides short-term jobs and energy. Those fish at the foot of the dam may find the fish ladders and get to the top and their spawning ground, but their children (called smelts) will suffer an 80% decline going to the ocean. Why? Because of the dam's huge turbines (fans) causing pressure change in the water as they churn the water. The pressure is so great that the little fish are literally crushed. Their swimming bladders explode–killing them instantly. Even worse, half of the fish never come back to produce the next generation. This is not enough to support the fish population. Enough of that. Not all dams are bad. Some nations need dams for a major boost to their economy. But some people say nature should come first. The best example of this is in Bolivia. The proposed Bala Dam would make a reservoir (an artificial lake made by a dam) that would flood a thousand square miles of rain forest located in a national park. The dam is not located in the national park, called Madidi, but the lake would be. It should also be mentioned that Madidi claims five different ecosystems (a certain habitat for wildlife). Among them are the Andes, Pampas, and rainforest. It is home to a thousand indigenous species. The park provides money to the villages in the business of tourism. Although there is a good chance that the government will approve it, conservationists are leading the charge against it with some success. They plan to get all the villages into tourism, then altogether oppose the dam with all the inhabitants of the areas that would be affected by the lake and challenge the politicians and engineers that are backing the plan. But what does a dam do besides kill fish and make energy? Guess. Take for example the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River - our guinea pig for now. Not only does it: 1) Create electricity, but also; 2) Lifts the water in enclosed areas (called locks) to allow large boats and barges into the water reservoir behind it. This aids shipping upstream. 3) It helps control floods and; 4) Makes irrigation possible. Nevertheless, we must not be too dependant upon our own inventions. Anything we make can be built in a decade - destroyed in a instant. It can be the same story for a dam. All it takes is a tiny crack and the sheer force of the water pushing on the dam can destroy it. And then it is lights out to 20,000 people. Maybe more... Dams can take a variety of forms to perform different tasks and fit in different environments. A dyke like those in the Netherlands and those around New Orleans is in fact a form of a dam called an earth dam. A rock dam is a very strong dam that looks like a speed bump but is only used as a barrier to keep small amounts of water at bay. The great Hoover Dam is an arched dam; these are usually used strictly for hydroelectricity (electricity made by the dams), not for irrigation. A solid gravity dam is similar to the arched dam in design, but is not curved. Both can support great amounts of water. The hollow gravity dams can be either in the form of a multiple arch or flat slab dams. They both look like an arched wall of columns on the downstream side. The multiple arch types are wavy whereas a flat slab is... well, flat. But at one time these majestic masterpieces were meant for very different tasks. A humble example is the water wheel and grinding mill. The earliest dam that is still in existence is on the Segura River in Spain. Built in the twelfth century, it is believed that it was meant to be an irrigation dam. Relatively small, compare these structures to the mighty dams that we build now. The Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state, for example is 550 feet high - twice the height of Niagara Falls and is 4,173 feet long. It has enough concrete to make a sidewalk that circles the earth at the equator twice, and the water that it holds is enough for everybody on the earth to have 900 gallons. Dams can produce a feeling of awe as well as shame. Sure, it is an impressive structure with a very impressive capacity in every aspect, but unfortunately it can also be an instrument of death. For fish, recreation and enjoyment of the thrill of splashing beneath a waterfall; which, you can't get in a lake the size of Rhode Island. The fishing industry is a source of 500 million dollars a year for the Columbia River basin alone. On the other hand, the Aswan Dam in Egypt converted hundreds of miles of desert into wetlands, aiding agriculture. Dams, like the water they harness; are great allies, but if used improperly, are fearsome foes. Beautiful, yet ugly, dams are what control the future of the life both above and below the rivers they control. Just like the offspring of that school of salmon at the foot of the concrete mountain.
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*sigh* AL is the victim of ego. I will now proceed to strip him of pride and make him my slave. ~EW~
