Friday, October 1, 2004

'Damn. I wish they gave out a mentor handbook or something'


Woo. I love my new car. That's right, my car. Mine

*end evil gloating*

^_^;

I'm sorry, it's just so good and *goes for a drive*

*back*

*cough*

Sorry. Had to take Mum for a burn around Highfields. And by had to, I mean it was a life or death situation.

...and no, I wasn't referring to my driving abilities, shush.

It's just so much fun to drive, the clutch is beautiful and each shift is so easy.

*glee*

I know I promised to stop gloating evilly, and I have. So there. Nyeh.

Oh-so-fun.

^_^;

So Liam has a set of wheels, in excellent condition and has the RACQ big thumb's up approval.

Two things.

Number one, the person who bought it opted to not have the standard [stress standard] and instead installed their own Analog radio......which is stuck pernamently...on...Toowoomba's christian rock station....

*cough*

x.x;

lol

the other thing is that yes, I do have a very flash Quartz digital clock, but don't bother setting it, because everytime you turn the key, it resets.

lol

Both things are minor, and pretty funny, but hey, my car.

*evil laugh*

..sorry, sorry...

I find it amusing no-one was interested in reading my english article.

I feel sad.

Oh wait, car.

*gloat*
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Thursday, September 30, 2004

Free to live as the West dictates-religion or politics by another name.

Weekend Australian –September 25-26, 2004-09-28

“Iraq is now the crucible of freedom”- Editorial-Matthew Spencer

Ostensibly the invasion in Iraq was to search for weapons of mass destruction that remain to be found. The war that ensued became a war on terrorism. Subtle shifts in nonclamenture but ideologically far apart.



The construct of Spencer’s (editor of the letters to the editor) argument is reminiscent of the rationale for all crusades of right. The Iraqi extremists ‘are grotesquely evil’ whilst the west supports those ‘of all faiths, or no religion …who…will always endorse the politics of individual freedom and personal prosperity and the right to live their lives as they choose.”

Emotive phrases that are connotative of clear divisions of right and wrong are used to imply that if the reader does not agree with the point of view, perhaps they are dangerously erring on the side of demonstrating a lack of value systems. Exemplary of this is the following “Terrorists who believe that their opponents are the enemies of God are rarely inclined to compassion”.

Words such as ‘crucible, chaos, murder, religious zealots are used to describe the Iraqi opponents to Western interventions. The opponents are described as using ‘twisted tenants’ of their religion to justify their actions. To engender a passionate response from the reader the author states “This is manifestly a fight the free world must win...”

Featured in the same paper another author (unidentified) clearly identifies the impact of media in engendering emotive support, “And the way to influence the public mood is clear: play on the emotions, stage the terrifying life dramas…heighten the sense of pity and fear each of us send out to the trapped, bound individuals we see”.

This unidentified author from the feature section ‘The Weekend Inquirer’ extends his observation to include the terrorists when he states ‘ the goal of the terrorists, of course, is (that) their humiliated victims must be humanised, named, filmed for us, made to plead’.

As the US, Britain and Australia continue in their fight for the free world (Spencer 2004 weekend Australian) have they considered that non-terrorist Islamic Iraqis may view a theocracy just as valid as the western democracy. In a transcript from a press release in 1999, the United Nations stated in an Internet conference that the Internet might also cause an Islamic Reformation, in that Islamic women would have equal access to the new technology, and there would be greater possibilities for democratising the theocracy. The issue being not the statement itself, but the assumption that Islamic women would welcome the move to a democracy.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told the U.N. audience (2004 The Herald –USA) there is an urgent need to stop the tarnishing of the Muslim world by unfair stereotypes. Issues like violence and intolerance have nothing to do with Islam, he said.

“We need to clear the confusion of linking the problems faced by some Muslim countries with Islam the religion,” he said. “For us our multi-ethnicity and cultural diversity is a national asset.”

Nigerian Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka in a UN sponsored speech in 2002 raised this salient point when speaking of his own country as a caution;

“This is a nation where successive presidents and military dictators - Christian or Moslem - never did attempt to turn the nation into a theocracy. Thus what we are witnessing today goes beyond religion. It is simply politics by other means.

“Let us boldly - because truthfully - assert that as many faces of Islam as there are of Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism or Orisa worship. In our resolve to cohabit and associate therefore, it behoves us to choose, among several interpretative options - a code of socio-religious usage that does not militate against or degrade our human inheritance - an inherent dignity - that is the common denominator of our very humanity - no matter what religion we espouse.”

Therefore, the issue remains one of political clarity and honesty among western leaders. Consultation with Iraqi leaders must have discourse that includes theocratic underpinnings if this ‘democratising of Islam’ is to occur.

Transpose this onto the Christian hope of the return of Jesus Christ and the ushering in of His millennial reign. One has to wonder whether or not the descendant of Bush will insist on democratic elections.

Spencer describes the coming elections in Iraq as a ‘crucible of freedom’. This phrase has literary connections to the play by Arthur Miller about the 1692 witch trials held in Salem, USA. Miller wrote the play to highlight the extremes occurring in the 1950’s American denouncements of communism (Missouri-Kansas School of Law). The editorial author has assumed here that his readers are primarily of an educated, European background and will be familiar with his allusion to the play. However, the allusion may be flawed if the American response is perceived as that of the witch hunter rather than the hunted.

------------

Phew. And there you have it. It's not as pretty as I'd hoped, but you get that. I'll try and whack in the image to make it slightly more aesthetically pleasing, but it just looks so much better in word format. More news-like.

I know there must be one or two spelling mistakes/punctuation errors, feel free to drop me a line about it. As long as you're not smarmy about it, I'll greatly appreciate it.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2004

'Gasp! He got out! Truly, he is the greatest escape artist ever!!' [White Ninja]



I have half of my article done, the critiquing intellectual stuff.

I don't remember this assignment being this hard. I mean, I must have been blind when I first read the task sheet, it has to have been a fluke that I got a high C.

Eep. I forgot to email Jess the tasksheet.

*hides*

Great, the arrival of my car still escapes me. It's undergoing the RACQ test right now, and apparently while we can buy the car today, we can't get it until tomorrow.

...and apparently not until Monday now.

Go figure.

Not doing much today, might go down to Cam's later and play some 'box.

EDIT: Whoa. So much intellectual juices have been converted to pure gold. I feel dehydrated. And headachey.

Ha! And Jess decried my intellectual prowess. Welp, I showed her good!

I'll fine tune it tomorrow and post it up. For some bizarre reason I keep thinking it's something Flynn will enjoy, and Sally would be united in this matter..

Hmm...odd, yet surprisingly tangy.
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Monday, September 27, 2004

'It's as beautiful as a newborn hubcap' [Chef Brian]


Driving lesson went well. It all waters down to practice, something which I'll finally be able to get some more of now that a car is in the forseeable future.

^_^

Only problem is that the Toowoomba transport department is apparently booked out until November.

Looks like I won't be getting my P's until after I've finished school.

Aww, I wanted to show off my cool wheels.

lol

~_^

My subject for my english feature article hasn't been fully focused, but I've got five newspaper articles on the whole 'Kidnapping in Iraq' thing, so I'll be sorting out my hypothesis today and taking notes. I'm aiming to have it half done by tonight.

Still really, really tired, even though I've had early nights every day of this week.

By about five, I'm braindead..

Anyhow, training session at Australian Geographic, which I'm worried about. Hopefully my boyish good looks will save me.

...so tired.

x.X;

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Sunday, September 26, 2004

'I shall live in these commodious cakes of the pan!' [Chef Brian]


Curses.

The computer is working. Slightly. This morning it was playing up a lot, including displaying the message 'Please Check Video Cable Connection,' which prompted me to believe that the devil gerbil had chewed through the cables, and thusly committed suicide...but no.

Meh.

I just restarted it, and all was well...sort of.

I've got another driving lesson today, at about 15:30. I need a refresher basically. RACQ has booked in a full vehicle mechanical inspection for the Mazda on Wednesday.

Ah well. I suppose I can wait that long.

..maybe..

x.X;

Important thing is that I'm getting a car. Phew.

*dances around*

This has to be the best weekend I've had, not just this holidays, but ever.

Brie came up on Saturday for her Dad's birthday family thing and she invited me to come, which I couldn't. [*stabs computer*] But I managed to see her on Sunday, and then she came home with us for the afternoon.

^_^

*Best day, ever*

Excuse me while I try to sort out my english article assignment.
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Saturday, September 25, 2004

'I like me.' [RvB]
This is the third time I've typed this up. *adds entry before computer switches off again*

It's the power supply or the computer, or it's the power supply in combination with the computer.

Either way, I can't do much *adds*

Everytime I start doing something, the monitor goes squif and switches off. On more than one occaision when this happens, the lights change from white, to an amber/sickly yellow.*adds*

I've already had to restart twice, because the computer keeps running, but the monitor switches off

Not surprisingly it killed all journalistic endeavours last night.

So I spent my time going through the newspapers getting a topic.

I was hoping the problem would be only temporary, but it seems it's coming back to haunt me. *add*

Hopefully it'll be back to normal monday.

Saturday wasn't all bad. Went downtown, walked all over the place with my parents, and found a car.

It's nowhere near as flash as Ken's [*envy*], but it's good for what I'm going to use it for.

It's going to have a RACQ inspection Monday and, if it checks out, I'm getting it the same day.

Then I'll have a car for Uni, and something to practice in to get my P's. *adds*

It's a small 3 door hatchback 1990 Mazda, five seats, no air con, no power steering, analogue radio, but hey, it's a cheapie first car.

At the moment all that matters is that it can run on the smell of an oily rag, and it can go up and down the range easily.

The important thing is that my Dad and I took it for a test drive and he went through all the gears and up to fifth and said, 'uh. Sorry about that, the clutch is like liquid, the salesman said it was brand new, and it's just so good to drive'

Weeee ^_^

*add*

The other good thing is that it's worth more than our brand spankin' new orange Huskvarna ride on lawn mower [so much fun], even if it is only slightly..

The annoying thing is that Dad will probably be driving my car more than me, seeing as our current one leaves more than to be desired.

So if and when I get my P's, I'll probably be driving the auto Subaru to school..and missing out on the fun of a five speed manual..

..that's also if RACQ finds the Mazda worthy of passing its inspection..

^_^
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Monday, September 20, 2004

'His heart must've exploded from loving me too much' [White Ninja]


Hurrah for QTAC applications!

x.X;

Choosing your highschool subjects is one thing, a quite easy one thing, but QTAC is another.

It's what you're going to be doing for the next 2+ years, and there aren't any 'takebacks'.

Phew.

My six preferences [in descending order]:

QUT Medical Radiation Therapy Applied Science, OP 5

QUT Bachelor Biomedical Science OP #

QUT Medical Science Applied Science OP 6

UQ Anatomical Biomedical Science Bachelor of Science OP 7

QUT Bachelor of Biotechnology Innovation OP 9

QUT Forensics Bachelor of Applied Science OP 7


All of which will lead into Medicine. However, a couple, if I get bored, I can use to go straight into a career. Namely the Medical Radiation Therapy one.

^_^

..no work done on assignments yet, owing to the lack of resources...lots and lots of Morrowind being played, however. Hooray for being the head Blades Vvardenfel Operative, Champion of the Imperial Legion, Arch Mage of the Mages Guild, and being the Nevervarine.

...the Mages guild is frustrating. Everyone is too nice to me now...and the won't give me duties...or let me give them some...awww..

..I was also threatened by a Daedra at a Holy Shrine of all things, that he would 'take pleasure in killing me, and then raping my corpse, but not to worry because he would be very gentle'

We-ell, my fault because I taunted him a couple times. I'm allowed to, he's evil.

..I killed him in one hit, which is kind of sad...

...at least I can sleep safely...*shifty look*

..except for the Six House Cultists that send Ash Zombies to try and kill me in my sleep. Not to mention Dagoth Ur talks to me in my sleep, claiming to be my one true friend, while his Daedra and his Cultists are the ones trying to kill me, lol.

Crazy game, but oh so fun..

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Thursday, September 16, 2004

'Life support is for girls' [Squidi.net]


Thank goodness. I collapsed into my bed last night, being a very exhausted, yet incredibly happy, year 12 student.

Holidays.

*teh happiness*

I know have 2 weeks of utter, non-school, bliss.

..aside from 4 assignments.

Meh. I'm not worried. I can do them easily enough. One thing is for certain, I'm not leaving them 'till school time, that's for sure.

*happy sigh*

I was going to explode if I didn't get a break.

I managed to finish my Ancient assignment at 10pm Wednesday night, thanks to these great resource books Dad got for me from the USQ library.

All of them had exactly what I needed, so every statement I made has the resource [sometimes two, or three] or reference to back it up.

Mmm...solid.

In other, more exciting news, my art mark, which used to be a C10, is now a B3, that's right.

Feel the goodness.

^_^

I have the following subjects to do assignments for; Chem, Physics, English: Feature article, English: Poetry Analysis.

The last two were optional. You see, our school gives you the option to redo your two worst assignments.

Basically those two are my two worst, being mid-high C's.

The good news is that Mrs Taylor said that if I brought those two marks up to a mid B, my B5 for my English oral would really benefit.

You see, at the moment, that B5 is maintaining my ranking as a B3, 26th in the ranking [out of 160 or so].

If I eliminate those two C's, my B5 will be able to do something.

Mrs Taylor basically said I could be in the top ten if I just got mid-high B's for the two assignments.

The even better news is, if I screw up, the better marks count.

^_^

*dances around*

I can finally do some work on Loaded.

^_^

Quiz stolen from Q_A:

How to make a liamc2

Ingredients: 3 parts pride 5 parts silliness 5 parts ego

Method: Add to a cocktail shaker and mix vigorously. Top it off with a sprinkle of lovability and enjoy!

Username:

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

liamc2 Highway Tower of Commitment 4 Bog of Eternal Marriage 15 Confusion Lane 67 Wealthville 108 Loony-Bin Lane 347 Please Drive Carefully

Username:

Where are you on the highway of life?

From Go-Quiz.com

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Saturday, September 11, 2004

'Outrageous bay leaf power!' [Engrish T-shirt]



I've written out about 3 pages of notes, and printed out another two. All of which of an Ancient History 1200 word assignment that I've managed to write only 531 words for.

x.x;

It's a good thing it's due Wednesday, otherwise I'd be screwed.

As it is, I'm only slightly screwed.

The sad thing is that all of that Ancient work took most, if not all, of today up until now.

X.x;

So very tired.

Who thought it would be so hard to write an essay on the roots of change from greek matriarchy to a patriarchy?

Hm, I need to get Jason and the Golden Fleece, or whatever it is, out from the library.

Mobile Credit: $170.9
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Friday, September 10, 2004

Movin' on.

That's right, I've finally got gMail. Please reply to this by accepting my msn addys, and forwarding an email to me at auctoritas@gmail.com

It's the end of an Era, looks like the teenage lord_athen@hotmail.com is dead, long live the adult auctoritas@gmail.com

Wee~

I'm serious about the email thing, I need your contact emails as my 'import contact' thing isn't working.

~Liam
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