These days, many people claim that cultural and racial diversity is essential. There are quotas to make sure that blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans get special opportunites to advance in society because of this high view of "diversity." I do not think that racism is non-existant, but I also believe that it is not such a major factor that entire groups of people are held down solely because of their race. I also believe that elites forget a very important factor when deciding what is diverse, that is the opinions and views represented. The color of ones' skin does not effect the way of thinking, and therefore if you hire a black person over a white person, you still may receive only one point of view. No diversity is accomplished, and in this "democratic" society, group thinking will take place and reason will be lost. The only way to ensure our most important freedom, one that is not constitutionally protected, freedom of thought, is to allow people to be exposed to many viewpoints and choose for themselves the right path. Instead of checking what skin color a person has, maybe universities should explore whether or not a potential faculty member of student will add new perspective and world view to the institution. That would benifit a free-thinking society much more than checking the "race" section.
Any soldier, any person, who does not stand up to evil when they see it is responsible for its existance and ultimately for its actions. Those soldiers had free will, and if you hold Hitler responsible for his actions, so too must you hold responsible those who carried out the orders. This is true for any situation, and not just hitler. Hitler is something that is so overused that it makes me sick. I guess that he is the only evil guy around that its politically correct to bash. Don't get me wrong, I hate Hitler with a passion, but others have also done evil things in history as well and get glazed over. Stalin is the most obvious example of this, as Gross has already alluded to. There are also many other evil mass murderers that get glazed over like Pol Pot and Saddam Hussein. I know that for a question like the one Gross posed, there is no easy answer. I will ask you all another very difficult question, would you forgive the soldiers who committed genocide? Simon Weisenthal wrote of such an experience in a hospital, when a Nazi SS soldier, on his deathbed, confessed to him of literally burning hundreds of Jews alive because he was following orders. The SS man wanted Weisenthal's forgiveness because he was a Jew. Weisenthal walked out of the room. Does the Nazi deserve forgiveness, and does Weisenthal have the ability to give it? I think he did the right thing.
I want to sort of change topics but I would like to try and corner some of you people first, so I am going to ask a pretty open question and ask you guys to respond to it, especially Mr. Abrahms.
The question goes something like this, "Were the German soldiers who listened to Hitler's words at fault during WW2? And were the countries and nations that added Hitler to the smallest degree and added in the killing of humans, at fault as well?"
My answer thus goes something like this. Everyone who did not condem Hitler and did not try and do something against him was impart at fault, no matter their race, religion, creed, sex, or anything else of the sort. Every nation who sent him money, guns, or anything else or even didn't do anything to try and stop him was at fault, and every soldier that supported Hitler was at fault as well. I believe in choice decision and there is no excuse for your own actions, ever. No matter the consequence of your decision they are still yours.
So if yall would get back to me with your answers I would love to twist them around and apply them to a seperately different arguement, hohohoho, because I am damn tired of people trying to run when the pressure is on, I want to see some people caught in the corner, because I know I run under that pressure as well and would like to see myself caught in that corner!
Paul the reason you aren't going to respond any further is because like usual you have nothing important/relevant/interesting/factual/intelligent to say, but this time you are choosing not to say it . . . for once. My remarks were completely valid.
And on to Jesse . . . the Geo makes it up to 90mph on a constant basis and it accelerates faster from 0-30 then do most cars because most cars nowadays are automatics which do to shifting restrictions and such manuals end up accelerating quicker. Jeff has plenty of leg room in that car and he has never bitched about it being to small for him, and he isn't exactly the smallest little girl I have ever seen. I fit like 6 people in there once and was debating picking up a hitchhiker as well. I used to sit in the back seats all the time when my sister was driving and I never found it uncomfortable to any degree. Oh and Jesse the Geo that we bought was blue booked at over $6000, and the car only costed $3000 while repairs on the sucker were an extra $2000, which were only needed because of the drivers of the car. Also most likely you have never had your knees in the dash because most likely Jeff was riding with me and therefore Jeff was in shotgun and you were in back, thus it would have been impossible for you to bash your knees against the dash, and I have never heard about Jeff banging his knee on the dash . . . ever. Now if you want to try and give some real reasons that the Geo is impractical then go ahead, but as I see it the proof of Jeff, Alex, John, myself, and all my sister friends never once complaining about that car completely frustrates your arguement.
Also Hummers, they are just the kings of all the stupid lousy wourthless SUV's out there. They are #1 in cars that break down the most with Saab right behind them. I believe that SUV drivers are terrorists if people who smoke pot are terrorists as well. I also believe that people in Hummers and SUV's are the stupid bastards who think that because they fell upon a heap of money that they have the right to drive on my lawn and rip the shit out of it.
Andrew, if you paid $5000 for your Geo POS they really saw you comming... Community service to get into NHS? Ridiculous, between doing homwork, and attempting to have at least a little bit of a social life, some of us need some time just to go brain dead. And Hanz, I agree with your comments on the H2, but Pauls WRX is more practacly then any Geo, Andrews "Rism" was made to hold 3 children, but try jamming 4 full grown adults in there and A. You can't get above 30 mph and B. You are in such pain from knees in the dash and shoulders in your face you want to die. Its like a fucking clown car.
At this point in time I would like to apologize for dignifying Gross's remarks with a response. On the subject of NHS though, this may be the only place on earth where we realize (or at least are willing to admit) the current futility of NHS at Hopkins. I am not a very big fan of Nate Wanderman or his predecessors as they have been content to use NHS as nothing more than a bullet on their college apps. Ben is willing to work to strip NHS of its unsavory reputation as futile by ensuring that it?s activities are targeted at the school as a whole not specific groups. The man knows what he's doing, and his work ethic and aspirations for NHS will bring legitimacy back to the group and can only make the school a better place for current and future classes.
What really pisses me off is that the H2 isn't even a Hummer anymore. In order for the car to be sellable to the general public, General Motors had to take away pretty much everything that made it a HumVee. They completely revised the chasis, so that it will now shatter when taken over too bumpy a road. In order to make the car comfortable, they added hundreds of pounds of junk to the top and passenger compartment, which severely altered the vehicle's center of gravity. That means that it's about as likely to tip over on a rocky mountain path as a tour bus. The axles are no longer made of the same high-grade metal. The engine is a watered down, anemic piss-pail compared to what the actual Hummers have. The H2 has a lower clearance and wider stance than the original, making it even more difficult to drive over rough terrain.
So all these soccer moms are buying is a bunch of useless metal. Even if they WANTED to take it off-road, it would be no better than your average SUV, if not, worse.
And sports cars are only a slightly less extreme version of the same disturbing trend; they're no more use than a geo metro, or a dodge neon. Paul, do you actually race your WRX? The only practical use I can think of for a fast car is in passing on the freeway: a fast car minimizes your time spent in the oncoming traffic lane. But you're still bound by the same driving laws that everyone else has to abide by, unless you take your unnecessary machine out to the Nevada flats or something.
Buying a comfortable, practical car is the best option. You don't need 250 horsepower, or a turbocharged V6. You need 4 wheels, seats, and an engine to move them places.
Hey Paul, first are you telling me that your WRX is more practical then my GEO Prism when your WRX costs a substantial amount more then the $5000 that was paid for me Geo. HAHAHAHA! Dear God no. And in fact I probably get better gas mileage then your WRX as I go through 9 gallons every three weeks. Also my car probably doesn't cost as much to repair as a matter of fact it is relatively cheap . . . all the repairs that we did to it (because my sis drives it like a sportscar and the automotives we took it to are morons, Spielmans auto sux ass) costed $2000. That being a substantial amoutn doesn't even come close to the original cost of your car, and at the same time it wasn't all that expensive for everything that we replaced. So don't even try and make it seem that your car is practical. It might be more practical than an H2 but so is a damn Sesna so that is saying jack shit.
The NHS thing . . . it does one thing that is good that I know of, enforces community service. I will never complain to an organization that is set up to give community service and so on for people even if it is for the purposes of bettering oneself.
1. as long as the other person does not impede your rights as a driver, who cares if they drive a Sherman Tank. If they wanna spend their $ on that, that's their perogative. Granted, that lady might have sucked at parking, and life as well (raising 2 soccer kids, come on), but the hummer can get into a single slot
2. H2's aren't designed to kill people, guns do that for them
If you think I am defending them because I have one, not true. There isn't a car in our garage made after 96, and my car is an 86 camry. No sports or classic cars
In the crazy world of Hopkins High School today, with its vastly diverse and dysfunctional Student body, staff, and architects (*cough, fireplace), we can all agree that worthless organizations and clubs are a waste of time and money. While many clubs are for the enjoyment of the members, some have become merely College application pads. I believe that, as of right now, NHS is a application pad. It is a worthless club whose members sit and do nothing, but look good doing it. The presidents of yesteryear, and candidates for this year are setting up for miraculous mediocrity, in that they will accomplish nothing, and do jack shit for our school. They will walk out with a pretty college application, and leave NHS to the worthless teachers' ends. Now, after talking to Ben Abrams, who plans to run for President, I am convinced that Ben is prepared to take this cesspool into the 21st century, and produce an influential, worthwhile club that will actually make a difference in Hopkins. Ben has expressed many progressive ideas for NHS, such as a reformed application procedure, NHS sponsored debates, the return of Toilet talk (A necessary supplement to HS life). These changes will, no doubt, significantly help the school for the better. While many run solely for their own ends, I believe Ben has everyone's best interests in mind, which will pay off in the long run for all of us.
