opnet [OpNet] Of men and gods

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

David 'Dr. Troll' Smith: So baselines would be much better off with pollution? There is no lesson to be learned, industry is now pollution free(er). We no longer have to choose between jobs and saving the environment.

Ashnod: Because they spent 100 years decimating the environment, and our species corrected their mistakes within the span of a decade. They did not learn how to do it themselves, and had it not been for our arrival, they would likely have not done it at all.

...Have you wondered what shape the planet would be in today if Novas had not arrived when they did?

It's more like 1000 years than 100, and if we had not interfered, they would have continued to clean up the environment at their own pace. Before there were novas, the environment was getting cleaner, NOT more polluted. We novas just sped up that process.

100 years ago it was pretty routine for large numbers of people to die from air & water pollution. That was pretty unheard of in the late 90's.

True, eventually they would have learned the engineering tricks to we invented to do the same thing. But I fail to see why making them wait several decades would have "taught them a lesson".

Ashnod: Except that when the top 1% were baselines, those in the bottom percent had a far, far better chance of breaking into the higher percentages.

The typical baseline has a better chance to erupt than they *ever* had to break into the music industry. Just like the typical baseline has a better chance of dying from a bolt of lighting than winning the lottery. By that measurement, it has actually become easier to break into the music business.

Ashnod: With the advent of Nova actors, actresses, models, musicians, and singers, it is more difficult for those who cannot erupt to succeed in an industry where their own species is the primary consumer of the product. More importantly, it sets a standard that aspiring baseline artists cannot hope to equal.

The vast majority of people never had a chance to become Britney Spears anyway. That includes the vast majority of so-called artists. We, the vast majority, are much better off listening to Alejandra than Britney because her product is much better.

As for the "cannot hope to equal" part of your argument, I'll say that they are still better off. 99% of those people were going to fail, and be failures. Now they can be rid of false hopes and be productive members of society rather than striving for an unreasonable chance.

I knew a girl who spent several years trying to "break into" the music business. I never heard her sing so I can't speak to her talent, but I will say she wasn't pretty (or thin) enough for this to be a reasonable hope. Eventually she gave up and started her own business. I have never liked the "praying for a bolt of lightning to improve my life" aspect of the music business.

[Hugin]

Quote:

Originally posted by David 'Dr. Troll' Smith:
James 'Prodigy' Meehan: Why have the errors of industry past been erased within a generation without a lesson being learned?

So baselines would be much better off with pollution? There is no lesson to be learned, industry is now pollution free(er). We no longer have to choose between jobs and saving the environment.

That choice was an important one. It was important for them to learn that there are limitations. Thanks to us, they never learned that lesson.

Quote:

Originally posted by David 'Dr. Troll' Smith:

James 'Prodigy' Meehan: Why are the Olympics no longer held?

They are, they just aren't as big a media event as before.

Ah, my apologies. I shall be more clear. Why are the Olympics no longer a spectacle of the epitome of human endeavor? Because the Nova Only competitions now garner the highest ratings by several factors. The sight of a human weightlifter lifting several times his body weight, in their minds eye, pales in comparison to the glory of a Nova pressing several dozen tons into the air.

Quote:

Originally posted by David 'Dr. Troll' Smith:
James 'Prodigy' Meehan: Why has the XWF reduced baseline professional sports to a mere shadow of their previous levels?

Why this is a bad thing? (And see previous answer).

If I thought you were capable of it I'd accuse you of being obtuse. It is a bad thing because they've been replaced. Not by something that was just different or new but by something that baseline athletes could never hope to compete with.

Quote:

Originally posted by David 'Dr. Troll' Smith:

James 'Prodigy' Meehan: Why have the economies of the Middle East been ravaged?

Two reasons: Discrimination and Oil. The economies of the Middle East have always looked like this with the exception of oil. Saudi Arabia has almost *no* exports except for oil. They were poor before oil, and they didn't use all those petro-dollars to good use when the had them.

On top of that you have discrimination against novas, women, Jews, and anything else the so called "leaders" of the area can point their fingers at. Mainly this is done to avoid discussion over their own failures (i.e. corruption and incompetence). Sooner or later oil was always going to be replaced. Everything else follows as a consequence of that.

And I'll point out this part of the world has tried to avoid contact with novas.
This is one of the big reasons their economy has been "ravaged".
Hopefully one day they will learn their lesson and welcome novas and other minorities.

That you would even bring up discrimination as an option is laughable. The Middle East discriminated against each of those groups with the exception of Novas for decades before our arrival and it meant not a whit to the world when it came to economic power.

No, the Hypercombustion Engine is the sole reason and no other. Now, it is not uncommon for a new and superior technology to replace and older one with the accompanying economic squeeze. But, this is normally a relatively slow process in which the purveyor of outmoded technology has a chance in which to adapt. Some do not, others do. However, the hybercombustion engine was adopted with a speed unheard of. Why? Perhaps because after cancer curing gene therapies, cleaning up the environment, curing AIDS, the many uses of eufiber, and closing up the hole in the ozone layer baselines learned that questioning Nova innovations was a bad idea.


We are their scientists, their protectors, their heroes, their entertainers. Nearly every form of achievement of which young children used to dream has been usurped by us in some form or another. They cannot compete and they will begin to resent us for it.

[Preston]

Bull-crap.

All technology has sped up in its implementation and effects. This process was going on before we came about. That is the effect of the global economy and the Internet/Opnet.

I readily agree that novas are the tip of the iceberg in developing new tech, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It spurs economic growth, and new industry. Russia being a prime example.

Now, I have never been a fan of unrestricted technological development, but that, also, has nothing to do with novas. There has always been a fear of technical mishaps and disasters.

As for the rest-

Independent musical productions are on the rise, thanks to the file sharing on the Opnet.

Local sports leagues are going strong, if not stronger. Humans still like to compete, and most of them are capable of finding goals of their own.

Mr. Meehan, if you see it as Us vs. Them, then you can make your case for insurmountable differences.

That is not how most people live, though.

How about this?

Why don't you (Mr. Meehan), Ashnod, and ronin describe what your baseline lives were like. What was the basis of your interactions with society?

No, ronin, I don't think you were molested as a child. Odds are, you are just an ass, and always have been .

[Hugin]

Preston, since you seem too dense to understand even the most basic of arguments I will now come down to your level.

Let me make this crystal clear. It is not about Us versus Them. It is about us replacing what they can aspire to. Yes, some will still compete, and bully for them. Some will still perform. This isn't about those splendid few. They existed before we did. Those who understood that riches and fame would never be theirs but they still engaged in an activity they loved.

But, little Johnny Jones isn't going to aspire to be like Ike the Mechanic who catches for the Toledo Mudhens on the weekend. Sally Sue isn't going to dream at night about being like her cousin Kate with the chip on the indy label and the weekend gig at The Grind.

They are going to dream of being like Pax, like Ashnod and like Alejandra. Those are what dreams are, the hoping and wishing to be the best, to be the top. Dreams are about discovering the undiscovered. Dreams are about setting records and garnering immortality. Not the simple competition and participation of which you so proudly point to.

Look at you, what you do. You solve crimes. You reach out into the ether and gather in moments what used to take a squad room of detectives days of effort. You put Sherlock Holmes to shame. No need for deductive reasoning when Det. Preston can squint his eyes and see the perpetrator himself commit the act. With you around, and the more like you that will come, what does a boy of today dream of being? A patrolman?

Or the Nova who saves the day.

We've stolen their dreams.

The only thing that the dreamers can aim for is to erupt. And many of them will follow Salamanders path. And you'll weep for the corpses and curse the successes. All the while blind to how you yourself bears responsibility for each and every tragedy.

[Sakurako Hino]

James.

We didn't ask for the power. We were either just given it or cursed with it. Now we gotta deal.

Would it be better if we didn't use our powers at all?

There seems to be a bit of a problem whenever we use our powers around Humans. They are facinated and awed. Some even fear our power.

All they need to do is simply seperate us from them. One problem though, is that we are their sons and daughters. We are family, James. Even if anyone likes it or not.

All these notations of "we stole their dreams" and "they wouldn't survive without us" is complete bunk. You give it 15-30 years, and this will be a whole different song and dance.

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

James 'Prodigy' Meehan: That choice was an important one. It was important for them to learn that there are limitations. Thanks to us, they never learned that lesson.

I don't believe in limitations, at least not of that kind. Not for them or us.

James 'Prodigy' Meehan: Why are the Olympics no longer a spectacle of the epitome of human endeavor? Because the Nova Only competitions now garner the highest ratings by several factors.

So we should separate the two races because of TV ratings? This "everything must be nova" thing is a fad. We are relatively new, we are interesting, enough time will change that. Right now the Olympics are more spectacle than competition. It happens. The pendulum swings, and then it swings back.

I remember how the OJ trial dominated the TV for a year. Although far from a good thing, it wasn't a reason to change social policy.

James 'Prodigy' Meehan: It is a bad thing because [baseline professional sports have] been replaced. Not by something that was just different or new but by something that baseline athletes could never hope to compete with.

So a few hundred over paid jocks had to find real jobs. Personally I never understood why they had jobs to begin with. But their replacement doesn't even compare to the number of jobs we have created with new technologies etc. I don't want to go back to the horse and buggy days to keep the horse handlers employed either. There has been change, it has been good if you weren't a pro-football player.

James 'Prodigy' Meehan: That you would even bring up discrimination as an option is laughable. The Middle East discriminated against each of those groups with the exception of Novas for decades before our arrival and it meant not a whit to the world when it came to economic power.

They cut off and barely educate half their work force because of sex, and you don't think it had an economic effect? Discrimination (and I should have added Mismanagement) were huge problems that were papered over with oil. They could have been a world power, instead they choose to become a gas station.

Without Oil (or novas) they are left to stand on their own, and all that enforced piety and hating Jews didn't teach them how to make computer chips. Don't feel bad, they spent decades building their house of straw.

James 'Prodigy' Meehan: ...the hybercombustion engine was adopted with a speed unheard of. Why? Perhaps because after cancer curing gene therapies, cleaning up the environment, curing AIDS, the many uses of eufiber, and closing up the hole in the ozone layer baselines learned that questioning Nova innovations was a bad idea.

Or perhaps the rate of change in modern society has continued to speed up as time has gone on. The rail road took about 80 years to take hold, computers only took about 25-30. What this comes down to is reduced transportation costs and improved information distribution. The old internet make information widely available. A factory in Japan can make Op-Net hardware for Europe and have it installed two days later.

James 'Prodigy' Meehan: We are their scientists, their protectors, their heroes, their entertainers. Nearly every form of achievement of which young children used to dream has been usurped by us in some form or another. They cannot compete and they will begin to resent us for it.

Growing up, did you resent your heroes? I didn't, even though I knew it was unlikely I would be an all star basketball player.

[Hugin]

Quote:

Originally posted by David 'Dr. Troll' Smith:

Growing up, did you resent your heroes? I didn't, even though I knew it was unlikely I would be an all star basketball player.

You're right. Unlikely.

Not impossible.


As for the rest, I'm flabbergasted at how much you missed my points. I knew it was a waste of time to discuss this with you people again. We'll speak again in thirty years when your beloved baselines are screaming for blood.

[Ashnod]

Quote:

It's more like 1000 years than 100, and if we had not interfered, they would have continued to clean up the environment at their own pace. Before there were novas, the environment was getting cleaner, NOT more polluted. We novas just sped up that process.

That depends highly on the source you are quoting. I will agree that yes, efforts were being made before the appearance of Novas. Exactly how much cleaner, again, is debatable, particularly with continuous rise in baseline population. More numbers produce more waste, require more automobiles, require more homes heated or powered by fossil fuels, etc. While "environmentally safe" power sources were being developed and even used in some locations, this wasn't significant or widespread enough to slow the drain on the world's other fuel sources.

Global warming indications were not declined in any sense before 1998, I might point out as well. Environmentalist reports from 1998 and earlier are not optimistic, most of them declared the efforts that being made were not sufficient and continued to predict dire consequences in the coming decades before Project Utopia began taking action.

Quote:

The typical baseline has a better chance to erupt than they *ever* had to break into the music industry. Just like the typical baseline has a better chance of dying from a bolt of lighting than winning the lottery. By that measurement, it has actually become easier to break into the music business.

Fallacy. Baselines do not erupt and cannot erupt. Latent Novas do. If your argument is that a child has a better chance of being born a latent Nova, this might hold more merit. Whether or not they have a better chance at being born latent means nothing in this circumstance. Fact: it is harder to break into the entertainment industry as a baseline now compared to 1998.

Quote:

The vast majority of people never had a chance to become Britney Spears anyway. That includes the vast majority of so-called artists. We, the vast majority, are much better off listening to Alejandra than Britney because her product is much better.

And why is her product better? The answer does not lie in ability she possessed before erupting.

[Juri 'Salamander' McClendon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sakurako Hino:
We didn't ask for the power

[size:8] But I did!

[Juri 'Salamander' McClendon]

I just want to back up Jimmy Meehan up for a moment and say that after a certain point growing up I wanted nothing else but to be a nova.

I'd have been a really resentful adult if I couldn't have erupted. I really do think most of you have forgotten what it's like to grow up in a world with Novas. Most of you are quite a bit older than me and remember a time when there were no novas around.

I was three when N-Day happened. I never had any baseline heroes, except maybe my parents. My heroes were the novas of T2M like Slider and the Elites of DeVries like Lotus Infinite.

[Matryoshka]

Quote:

Originally posted by Juri 'Salamander' McClendon:
[size:8] But I did!

And do you really have it?You act as if you have power, and yet you show us you clearly do not know what power is.You claim to know it means to be a nova,because you tried to kill yourself and failed.So, Juri, tell us, what have you done now that you are a nova?You only showed us,that you have gotten some money,and preformed some parlor tricks,and learned how to stand on a soap box?

[Preston]

Doctor Troll, I doubt the terats can ever see things our way.

Humanity has constantly had to deal with unrealistic expectations. We have always been able to imagine things we can not do. That hasn't changed, even among novas.

What Juri did is nothing new, except in the fact that she committed suicide, and didn't die. Certain personality types have thrown themselves at the impossible full-tilt, with no other plan than do-or-die. Had Juri failed, she would have died, or been crippled for life. Not everyone who throws themselves off a roof dies, either.

Other personality types look at the impossible as just that, and go about their lives. The people I deal with on a daily basis don't worry about wether or not they will erupt, or how lousy their lives are because they don't have a node. They live their lives, within the expectations they suspect they can fullfill. Getting a home, or a better home. Seeing their kids through college. Remembering their loved one's birthday.

I don't think Ashnod and James can even relate to that mindset. That their existance has no real bearing on these people's lives.

We don't demean them, or make their lives unimportant. We don't matter to them.

Then, there are those people who look at the impossible as a temporary thing. Sometimes, they are inspired by us, and sometimes they tackle the problems of the world on their own. If a nova helps out, good and dandy. If not, they take on the mountain one pebble at a time.

[Juri 'Salamander' McClendon]

You know, I just want to make this clear for all you cockbites who keep saying differently.

[size:7]I did not try to kill myself.

[Charr]

Quote:

Preston says:
We don't matter to them.

Nope. Uh uh. Wait a tick... Hold on... I think maybe I got a tear squeezing out... Maybe... Nah, sorry about that.

Just some blood.

Chimps wailing on about how "fill in the blank" loves them just as much is just so fucking wicked weepy! I'm sure a wholesome ex-choirboy like you spent a whole microsecond between homework and your priest touching you to think about how much it sucked to be a neadrathal. You thought about the poor fuckers and then forgot about them. Why? Because they weren't worth more than a microsecond of your time. That's more than most.

Now where's that my little repressed librarian? The love lobster's in da house and looking ta get [size:6]nasty!

[Ashnod]

Quote:

Originally posted by Preston:
Doctor Troll, I doubt the terats can ever see things our way.

We don't demean them, or make their lives unimportant. We don't matter to them.

I'm certain the next time they wake up in the morning without fear of AIDS or certain cancers, driving their hypercombustion vehicles, breathing cleaner air, drinking cleaner water, listening to Alejandra's or Lemmy's or Lucious Clay's records, checking mail or watching their favorite programming over the EuFiber network, living beneath a sky that no longer has a hole in the ozone layer, nobody will give a thought to how different the world is since Novas appeared.

Nor will they notice that a private organization that likely employs more Novas than any other holds a permanent advisory seat on the United Nations, making decisions that affect the way conflicts are resolved, technology is developed, and loss of life due to natural disasters lessened.

They will not watch programming written, directed, or produced by Novas, or perhaps about Novas. They will not recognize that N! is the highest watched channel in history.

Their children will not play with action figures based off Utopian, Terat, and DeVries Novas. They will not read comic books, hang posters on their walls, wear T-shirts with their faces or slogans, or play make-believe as one of them. Their parents will not think of purchasing any of these items for their child's birthday.

The next time a plane crashes, killing one of their loved ones, they will not say "a teleporter could have gotten those people out." They will not think "a wind-manipulator could have steadied the plane in on its way down." They will not believe that "Pax could have carried it down with one hand!" No one will question, "Why were there no Novas there to help?"

The common citizen of Ethiopia will wake up in the morning, see fields of green, and think that things have always been as they are.

The next time a policeman goes into a hostile situation wearing a Valamid vest, far superior to the old Kevlar ones, neither he nor his wife will feel safer that he has that piece of equipment.

No Preston, we have no affect on their lives at all.

[Preston]

I'm certain the next time they wake up in the morning without fear of AIDS or certain cancers, driving their hypercombustion vehicles, breathing cleaner air, drinking cleaner water,

Nope. Pretty much out of sight, out of mind. I will say this from my son's experiences. People are grateful for the quality of life improvements, when they impact their lives. I don't recall them being angry with novas for saving their lives.

listening to Alejandra's or Lemmy's or Lucious Clay's records,

That still depends on their individual tastes. I know some people will buy anything a nova puts out, just like some people like Gangsta Rap. The amount of music out there has increased, not decreased. So, a tiny number of novas hold a few of the top spots once held by a tiny number of baselines in the music industry. Personally, I can go for days without listening to nova-music. There aren't that many of them.

In many cases, they have revived marginalized or neglected musical styles, opening the way for wider acceptance by their baseline counterparts.

checking mail or watching their favorite programming over the EuFiber network, living beneath a sky that no longer has a hole in the ozone layer, nobody will give a thought to how different the world is since Novas appeared.

Pretty much correct. To some degree, they will be happy that their children will grow up in a healthier world. They may remember how much slower downloads were 30 years ago, then recall how it has gotten progressively faster. They might even think that a nova was somehow involved somewhere along in the process.

Nor will they notice that a private organization that likely employs more Novas than any other holds a permanent advisory seat on the United Nations, making decisions that affect the way conflicts are resolved, technology is developed, and loss of life due to natural disasters lessened.

Yeah. I'm pretty much alone, screaming in the darkness on this one. Most people I deal with see Utopia as a cross between a clever marketing ploy and a good idea. Depending on their national awareness, they might be upset about the Advisory Seat, or they might be happy considering this to be a real step toward a World Government. Boston is a little left of Center in American Politics and the UN enjoys a certain popularity here.

They will not watch programming written, directed, or produced by Novas, or perhaps about Novas.

What programs? I am only aware of two dozen novas tied to such endeavors. Most likely, people couldn't tell you who produced, wrote, or played in the top twenty shows over the past twenty years.

They will not recognize that N! is the highest watched channel in history.

NO. That one they would probably recognize. Hmmm .... I wonder how many baseline they employ?

Wait! Wouldn't that be a positive effect that novas are having on society?

Their children will not play with action figures based off Utopian, Terat, and DeVries Novas. They will not read comic books, hang posters on their walls, wear T-shirts with their faces or slogans, or play make-believe as one of them. Their parents will not think of purchasing any of these items for their child's birthday.

Just like Star Wars, Marvel and DC Heroes, Transformers, Dinosaurs, and tons of other things that came out before it.

I don't' recall growing up disappointed that I couldn't' use the Force, or Transform into a Fire Truck.

Nor, did I grow up disappointed that I never became President, or Steven Hawkins.

Yes, kids grow up knowing that Novas are real, unlike the cartoons of our day. I don't see the disappointment on their faces.

I go to High Schools on a regular basis. Kids ask me all kinds of questions, and yes, occasionally they ask me about "becoming a nova." A few of want to become novas and tell me so. Most of them understand the genetic unlikely hood of that, and are okay with that.

They still go on to graduate. To go to college and become lawyers and doctors and police officers.

In short, I don't see the evidence that we rob them of their dreams, drive, or aspirations. People realize that the world is still a vast space, and that there are still only a tiny number of novas.

The next time a plane crashes, killing one of their loved ones, they will not say "a teleporter could have gotten those people out." They will not think "a wind-manipulator could have steadied the plane in on its way down." They will not believe that "Pax could have carried it down with one hand!" No one will question, "Why were there no Novas there to help?"

You know something, I get the last one occasionally. The "Why didn't I see this murder happening before it did and stop it?" That hurts, to tell them I have limitations, and that I couldn't be everywhere. They are in grief, and I am the target for their outburst.

I've also had several of these people come up to me and apologize afterwards. We both know that people in pain can lash out, and we leave it at that.

I also got this as a police officer before I erupted. The "Why didn't' you get this guy off the streets before he killed ---". It's a part of life.

The next time a policeman goes into a hostile situation wearing a Valamid vest, far superior to the old Kevlar ones, neither he nor his wife will feel safer that he has that piece of equipment.

Nope. Most of us are damn grateful. On a weekly basis, if not on a daily one. Again, a positive effect novas have had on all our lives. Thank you for bringing it up.

No Preston, we have no affect on their lives at all.

I am not saying novas have no effect on the daily lives of people, I say we don't have an overwhelming effect. We can have a detrimental effect, if we so chose. It isn't a given.

[Matryoshka]

Juri, you are right.You didn't try to kill yourself.You tried to set yourself ablaze to gain cool powers,and become a "god",or at least something not human.In doing that you were trying to end your life as human, and here it.You failed.You may have all your nifty parlor tricks,but you are still a scared frighten child, lashing out at others because you refuse to really look at yourself in the mirror.Being a nova is not all candy and cake.

You haven't done anything a trained ape couldn't do.You haven't been gifted with inner insite of the world, or yourself. You abilities are wasted on you.You are neither a good enough person to use them to help, nor a bad enough person to use them to harm.You are a sad pathetic waste of a node.

When I erupted, I had within six months caused five multi-million corporations to go bank rupt.Stoped a high jacking of air bus.Talked to William Jefferson Clinton,on reasons Utopia shouldn't be given their advisory seat.Sat in on two class action law suits that have are still changing the world today.Wrote three books,two of witch are still being published.One of those is still being used in many Uinvesities.That is a small list of things I did.What have you done?

[Stigmata]

Well aren't you fucking special. Since for some reason no one has told you this already : Shut the fuck up and go away. Find someplace where people actually enjoy your company, because it's not here.

You don't even know Juri and you insult her like this? Why don't you take your own advice and look in the mirror.

Can we take a vote here? Does anyone want Signy here? If you do then I apologize for being mistaken, and I guess it's only me who is so extremely annoyed with her.

[Matryoshka]

Look at what Juri has done here.She has started off by lying to us,and then she got wrose.She claims to know more about being a nova,than those who were novas when she was still learning how to read.

We are "quantum accidents" to her.She uses that phrase to explain away holes in her logic.

Stigmata, as for your point that if no one likes me here,I can say this.Friends are not the reason I post here.

[Juri 'Salamander' McClendon]

Thanks for the back-up, Stig. Not really necessary, though. You're arguing with someone who is claiming she spoke with Billy Clinton about refusing PU an advisory seat in the United Nations, when that didn't happen until 2007. Two presidents later. Like he could have done shit to prevent that back in 1999.

You've got my vote, Stig!

[David 'Dr. Troll' Smith]

Quote:

Originally posted by Juri 'Salamander' McClendon:
Thanks for the back-up, Stig. Not really necessary, though. You're arguing with someone who is claiming she spoke with Billy Clinton about refusing PU an advisory seat in the United Nations, when that didn't happen until 2007. Two presidents later. Like he could have done shit to prevent that back in 1999.

Bill isn't dead yet. She said she spoke to Bill Clinton, not that she spoke to the President.

The guy had 8 years of experience, no need to write him off.


And Ashnod, the majority of people in the USA haven't ever meet a nova, or even seen one in person.

[Matryoshka]

Quote:

Originally posted by Juri 'Salamander' McClendon:
Thanks for the back-up, Stig. Not really necessary, though. You're arguing with someone who is claiming she spoke with Billy Clinton about refusing PU an advisory seat in the United Nations, when that didn't happen until 2007. Two presidents later. Like he could have done shit to prevent that back in 1999.

You've got my vote, Stig!

No,I spoke to him about this in 1998.And do not forget that he was also a governor,before taking up chief of the union.

You Juri, failed to see my point.You have some parlor tricks.The reason I say that you have parlor ticks,and no power is simple.One you have no more ability to change the world than a pop star.You will not join Utopia.No elite group would touch you for your combative abilties.To the aberrant, you would be a waste of time at best,and a major risk in most cases.You stop yourself from gaining any power.You just have parlor tricks,and frankly I fear that Divis Mal will come from the heavens to strike me down,more than I fear you.

You are a scared child wanting to swim,but fear getting wet.Go do something with your life.Make the world a better place.I don't care how you think the world should be better.Just do it.Stop trying to be a nova groupie.But if you really need a nova cock to knock you off the soap box,I could get you one.

[Ghostwriter]

Hello Charr, welcome back to the OpNet. Pity I won't be obliging you with any more obscenity-filled rants, but I've got a new outlook on life now.

I prefer baseline to novox music. You know why? Because novox gets in the way of the music. It stops the soul of the performance from shining through, in my opinion.

Signy, if you were a male, I would accuse you of dick-waving. I've written five books, all of which are standard texts in both History and Theology degrees around the world. I've even heard that there's a copy of 'The Burning Times: A History of the Witch Hunts' in the Vatican library itself. Despite suffering from multiple disabilities, the ones I was born with and acquired later in life, I have completed Team Tomorrow training and am a recognised world authority on religion, mythology and their historical repercussions. I have aided in more awareness of Aspergers' Syndrome and domestic violence, the rights to religious freedom and the differences between paganism and Satanism. I have travelled to the bottom of the sea, lived with and loved a wonderful woman, held an ancestral blade in my hands and made it new again, touched the Book of Kells with my bare hands and browsed amongst the greatest libraries in the world.

I accept that none of this would likely to have happened if I hadn't erupted, but for too many years I failed to appreciate what the gods had given me. Now I do, and I want to make life better for everyone.

What we were before eruption shapes us afterwards. My very powers reflect this. I have experienced more grief and more joy than I ever expected to in my life, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Like a book, it is all part of the writing, and to destroy it would be to deny my past.

We're human, everyone. Whether the genetic difference is as vast as Neanderthal to Cro-Magnon or as near as an Asian person to a Caucasian person, we all have that homo in our subspecies' names. Maybe we ought to focus on what's the same, not what's different.

[Matryoshka]

Codex I was pointing out that Juri has done nothing that even remotely give her any reason she should be acting this way. If she even showed some hint that she would do something with her life,I would not give her this grief.

[Ghostwriter]

Frankly, so long as she doesn't fry anyone in a fit of pique, I don't give a rat's backside what Juri does. She's a grown woman, and though she broke the law in her home state, that's her business, not mine.

I join my vote with Stigmata. You are an annoyance at best, a danger at worst.

[ronin]

Quote:

No, ronin, I don't think you were molested as a child. Odds are, you are just an ass, and always have been.

Guilty. I've always believed in going with your strengths.

But you know what? I know how Juri feels, and I'm throwing my hat in with Preston. Before I erupted -- and this was way, way back before there was even a Teragen -- I hated novas. I'd watch them and listen to them and read about them like any good zip, but you know why I did it? Because I wanted to be them. I was jealous. My favorite, back in the day, was Slag. He was such a tough motherfucker. I respected him because even as a baseline, I bitterly understood my place in the order. Bug goddamn, what I wouldn't have given for even a fraction of his ability.

Thankfully, somebody decided to help me along, and here I stand before you all now, Doc-Savage-meets-Allan-Quatermain made manifest.

Before I erupted, all that remained for me was to dream of eruption. Eruption, or a life of tedious mediocrity, defined as anything less than the godhood that danced teasingly at my fingertips and forever on the periphery of my vision.

You, Preston, have been given this gift, and you wallow in the muck like a human. What a goddamned shame.

[Sakurako Hino]

No, he doesn't wallow in the muck, ronin, he just decided the best way to deal with Humans is to clean up their problems.

I admire him for standing up for his ideals, but I wonder if someone is holding him on a leash. More than he's holding back because of his morals. It's rare that I think that, but it's true. I feel you see something wrong, fix it. To hell with what the Humans think. If they're too blind or conceded in their own politics, perhaps saving them from themselves will glaringly show them the error of their ways. Although I highly doubt rubbing their nose in it and saying bad doggie will cut it. They're too pig headed.

[Charr]

Quote:

Pity I won't be obliging you with any more obscenity-filled rants, but I've got a new outlook on life now.

I'd say I missed you too, Innocence but it ain't true. No need. You've been closer to me than you know for weeks now.

My oh my. How easy you bought into the bullshit after pris-sis gets her terminal beat down groove on. You mean to tell me that all it take is a sapphic nova roadkill and suddenly Miss Spunk is towing the party line, ragging on elites and grooving to the Plan Of Man? What a goddamn shame. What a stone fucking cold corpse being scooped up with a shovel and stick shame. That's why you never were my type. You got submissive done to an artform and that send all sorts of little wiggles through my testy tentacles but you're still missing one thing.

A clue. You got not one fucking clue.

Hino:
You got to get a grip nova girl.

Prester John-Boy sends shivers up the zip's collective spine every time he pumps up. He lights up the room just by opening his lids. Of course the stupid fuck has ideals; he's also lying through his teeth every time he opens his mouth. It ain't the truth with him, its about winning. John-Boy will do whatever it takes to win and he's got no illusions about sacrifice just so long as somebody else pays the piper. He's outgunned, outclassed and picked the wrong side so now he's racing the clock trying to fucking optimize his losses.

He's a fucking used car salesman for chimps, Honey-bunny. Figure it out.

[ronin]

I hate to agree with the Cthuloid monstrosity (or do I?), Sakurako, but...

My comment about Preston was more in reference to something that he and I have been discussing in private. I don't think that helping baselines and attempting to stop crime is a negative in and of itself (both the approach and the intention can make that a subjective), but Preston is a goddamned charlatan.

[Vox Via]

Charr, I have to ask you one thing.Can you truthfully say that you would not mind someone doing the actions you do to other,onto yourself? As if you do anything to someone else you would not wish to be done to yourself,I ask you to rethink what you are doing.

I can understand your anger.I to have it.I would love to kill all the apes who try to or really do kill one my brothers or sisters. But if I do that, what makes me better than them? Does the ability kill mandate the need to do so?

[Great Monster C]

Okay, time for disagreements all around.

I do believe that novas have had a massive impact on the lives of everyday people and that those people are well aware of the impact that novas have made. We've cleaned up the water, given them near magical technology, stomped on the drug trade and fixed economies. So, Preston, I do think you're wrong here.

But the other argument I'm hearing is that this is a bad thing. That we're going to heap so many gifts and treasures on the world that people are going to just up and get mad about it. I'm sorry, but that really sounds silly to me.

Thanks to Utopia we don't have to worry about many forms of cancer, or Aids, the drug trade was dealt a crippling blow, our dependence on a backward and horrifically aggressive corner of the world was eliminated and we have clean air and water.

Fine, so maybe there have been some pretty big changes really fast and we're going to be experiencing some growing pains, but I'm not seeing that this is a bad thing. Sports have been gutted? Good I say. The college and highschool sports that survived are good things. The spirit of competition and excercise are still here. All we've lost is the hype and the overblown egos that Pro Ball brought us. Hollywood and Music have changed? Again, I'm not crying for the loss. Music wasn't about talent 20 years ago, it was about pre-packaged hot bodies picked by executives who were only concerned with top dollar and the bottom line. I'm not seeing that being lost is a tragedy. Novox singers are talented and they are giving us great music.

Now, I don't know about us being a fad. It's been 10 years of us being the center of pop culture and thats a long time for a fad. What I do see is that baselines can now concentrate their energy on the things that will elevate us all. Improving government, businesses that can work without damaging the planet, getting education for all and addressing at the core causes of social problems like poverty, child abuse and other such horrors. I think we're looking at the evolution of the entire species here, just in a social form to follow up the physical one of novas.

[Juri 'Salamander' McClendon]

Quote:

Originally posted by David 'Dr. Troll' Smith:
Bill isn't dead yet. She said she spoke to Bill Clinton, not that she spoke to the President.

The guy had 8 years of experience, no need to write him off.

Hey, Incredible Troll, she said she spoke with William Jefferson Clinton in 1998, meaning he was still the Pres, about denying PU an advisory seat. Kay? PU was formed in 1998. What the hell is she going to say to him in 1998 that's going to make any sense? T2M didn't appear until 1999, and they didn't get their advisory seat until 2007 when Laura Pendelton was in the White House.

On to matters involving me directly, since I seem to be focus of Shithead O'Malory's tripe.

For starters, I never said I knew more about being a nova than novas did. Funny how people fuck up the simplest things you say and try to turn them against you, ain't it? I want you to go back and read my two introduction threads again, and see where I clearly, in simple, easy to understand English, said that I didn't know everything about being a nova. Here, I'll make it easy on ya!

Quote:

Originally posted by Juri 'Salamander' McClendon:
Oh, lighten up, Jager. I never said I knew everything about being a Nova. I said I knew everything there is to being a Nova that a baseline can know from the reading the experiences, essays, and recollections of Novas. Don't feel so bitter because I said your particular contribution that reading list was just repetition of things I'd already read.

You want to be pissed at me, at least be pissed off at me for things I actually said.

Anyway, Shithead O'Malory, aren't you supposed to know everything already? You had no fucking clue that I was trolling you back then. Hell, you were offering me a chance to come to your facility and get tested and help me find a way to erupt. Where's all your precious foresight there? Shouldn't have been able to just look into the future and call me out on my deception? You'd think that, right? But nope, ya just was all kind and offering to me and then got all burned up when you learned the truth.

Furthermore, you give me crap for not doing anything constructive with my life? I'm eighteen damned years old! I just completed my first year of college, one year early I might add. I don't know exactly how old you are, but I've got a pretty good fucking idea you were a hell of a lot older than me when you erupted, since you've got a daughter in T2M Europe, and since she'd have to be older than me to have been part of T2M back in 2013 and not part of Teen2M. Which means you had networking, contacts, and some influence, particularly if you got a meeting with the President because he doesn't meet with just anyone regardless of what you can claim to do for him. So you spouting your mouth off about what you did in the first six months of your eruption and comparing that to me, eighteen, still in college, using financial aid to pay for most of my expenses, doesn't really strike me as being a fair comparison.

And parlour tricks? Crappy combat abilities? Shithead, you don't even know what I can do. How the fuck could you? Ever seen me use quantum? Talked to someone who has, cause I guaranfuckingtee you haven't.

And by the way, has anyone fucking told you that your spelling, syntax, grammar, and general way of dealing with people is the exact same as that fucktard Ghetto Funk Baby?

[Matryoshka]

Juri, have you ever spoke with Clinton?If you had you would know that he is smart man.I talked to him about things to come,I can see the future.And you know what, how can you say that they would have not gotten their seat in say 2004?Maybe in 2002?Maybe even in 1999.

Juri, one quote saying that you claim not to know what you say in ten other posts does not make you sound any less off of a wise-ass.You use the term "typical of a quantum accident" in more statements, than you do saying you do not know everything.

And if I am wrong about your wasted power, prove me wrong.DO something, or shut up.

[Wakinyan]

Where you under the oval office desk while speaking to him by any chance? Better yet could he understand what you where saying...

[Juri 'Salamander' McClendon]

Hey Fucktard,

I can say with the fucking confidence of history to back me up. I'm pretty fucking smart for someone my age who isn't a nova, and I'm not all that shabby for a new nova. But I've always been pretty fucking good at smelling bullshit. And you trying to claim that Utopia would have gotten a seat any earlier than that is bullshit. You trying to claim that you talking with Billy Clinton about it prevented it is even more bullshit than that.

I ain't saying you didn't talk to Clinton. But about an advisory seat for PU? Fuck lady, I don't care if you can see the future. I know that if I put myself in Clinton's shoes in 1998, and some fucktard tells me this upstart group of philanthropists is going to have their pet project get a seat at the UN, I'd have told you that no private organization could get such a privilege. It's the United Nations, after all. What exactly did you say to him that didn't sound like the ravings of psycho nutball?

By the way, I'm going to post every single fucking statement regarding me saying I know everything nova here for you right now.

Quote:

Originally quoted by Juri 'Salamander' McClendon:

Post 1:

You know what, I'm aware that some Novas get the shit end of the stick when they get their nodes. I'm also aware that among all Novas, that's a damned tiny percentage and I'm willing to take that fucking chance, okay? Stop trying to lecture me as though you're some fucking wiseman Buddha come down from the sacred mountain. You're a former spy or some kinda of spook like that and I bet you don't know shit about what living a baseline life is like in today's world with Novas running around.

Post 2:

Jager: First off, you're right. The only thing I know about you people is what you say here or in other places like this one. Secondly, you think that any of that is gonna make me change my mind? Shit, you are so undeserving of your node, Blind Man. All you can do is bitch bitch bitch about how difficult you have it. Wake up call, asshole, life doesn't have all that much meaning being in the shadow of homo sapiens novus. I've never spoken with a quantum accident so desperately in need of being turned into soma in my life.

Post 3:

You were treating me as though I didn't know shit about what you were saying when I'd already ponied up to having taken those thoughts under consideration. Then you had to keep beating me over the fucking head with it like I'm some fucking child who you felt had to be taught a lesson because there's no way I could know what the hell you were referring to even if said I did, right? Of course not, I'm just some nodeless troll who hasn't experienced life on the other side of the fence, how could I know? All I can do are read and watch the stories of other Novas? You make a lot of assumptions about me, thinking I haven't given this some serious thought before getting to the point that I am, that I'm just some stupid bitch with stars and dollar signs in her eyes that hasn't carefully evaluated the consequences based on what evidence she has available to her.

Hey, Blind Man? You didn't tell me shit that other Novas haven't already told other reporters. Those stories are out there too, you know? The people who couldn't hack it, went crazy, etc. It's not like they're keeping their mouths shut. So if hearing about them didn't change my mind, why on earth did you think your little cliched anecdotes would work?

Post 4:

I never said I knew everything about being a Nova. I said I knew everything there is to being a Nova that a baseline can know from the reading the experiences, essays, and recollections of Novas. Don't feel so bitter because I said your particular contribution that reading list was just repetition of things I'd already read.

That's it! That's the sum total of me claiming to know shit on novas. Not once did I claim to know more about it than you people.

That Quantum Accident thing must really have fucked with your head, huh? I haven't even used the term in a while and you're still fucking dwelling on it. Funny, I've participated in seventeen OpNet threads so far and the term "quantum accident" only appears in five of them. Why don't you research all my fucking posts and see how many of them use that term against all the ones that don't? Hmmm?

While we're on the topic, why don't you discredit the validity of "Quantum Accident" if you fucking dislike it so much? You keep saying I use it a plug for my logic, but you're doing nothing to demonstrate why it's not a valid defense. You just keep whining about how I use it.

By the way, saying prove me wrong when you have no proof except your dislike of me is even more bullshit than your Clinton story. I figure I'm going to enjoy my youth, get my college degree, and maybe I'll become a fucking ADULT then.

Christ, you're a fucking psychic and you can't argue with a punk kid? I'm tearing you apart left and right and you keep moving the damn goalposts of the argument in some blatant attempt to keep yourself from losing face.

[Ian 'Very Bad' Blakely]

Salamander, if you are having trouble with bills and would like to walk the road to Glory I have someone who's been itching to talk to you. His name is Yoshi and he's my contact with Devries. If you'd like, I could happily arrange a meet.

How about it? Free trip and three or four days of being wined and dined like a prince.

Once your legal troubles are resolved of course.

[Preston]

Stigmata, democracy means you get to listen to everyone's opinion. Start banning people, and one day you too may be silenced. Just shut your eyes to her posts. Nothing forces us to read it.

If nothing else, it can be a lesson on how not to interact.

Juri, very thorough.

In response to your earlier post of "I did not try to kill myself", can you tell us what you did do to cause your eruption?

Oddly enough, I also erupted in a fire, but not one of my own making, and I didn't erupt with any powers that involved flames/heat/healing. Of course, that wasn't were my mind was at.

Ronin, thank you for answering, sort of, my question-

I'm throwing my hat in with Preston. Before I erupted -- and this was way, way back before there was even a Teragen -- I hated novas.

Note, I don't hate novas. Never have. Even when I was an "unerupted nova" (happy, Ashnod?), I realized that novas were people, with lives, responsibilites, and choices of their own. Yes, I felt they were blessed, but so are alot of people, in different ways.

I'd watch them and listen to them and read about them like any good zip, but you know why I did it?

Yeah, Slag is still missed. He was a good guy.

Because I wanted to be them. I was jealous. My favorite, back in the day, was Slag. He was such a tough motherfucker. I respected him because even as a baseline, I bitterly understood my place in the order. Bug goddamn, what I wouldn't have given for even a fraction of his ability.

Place in the order? Man, that's sad. With so much you could have done in the world with your life, you chose to sit on your sorry ass and feel sorry for yourself. To covet things you didn't have, as opposed to going out and finding one of the millions of other things you could have excelled in.

Thankfully, somebody decided to help me along, and here I stand before you all now, Doc-Savage-meets-Allan-Quatermain made manifest.

You arent' even close to the ideals of either one of those fictional characters, so don't even try.

Before I erupted, all that remained for me was to dream of eruption. Eruption, or a life of tedious mediocrity, defined as anything less than the godhood that danced teasingly at my fingertips and forever on the periphery of my vision.

Again, "no, I couldn't get off my ass and take on the world with what I could earn, I had to hope and pray, and let chance step in, before I could do anything with my life..."

Good God, man!! Do you listen to yourself?

You, Preston, have been given this gift, and you wallow in the muck like a human. What a goddamned shame.

Wallow in the muck? How would you know? Have you ever held a job you loved? Worked with courageous and dedicated colleauges who share your love in your work and the good it does?

I save lives, build and strengthen communities, and work toward a better, safer tomorrow for my hometown.

My abilities are not something I'm ashamed of, nor am I ashamed of how I use them.

Okay. I apologize to Juri here and now. She is ten times the person ronin is/was. While I may question her actions, she had the gumption to confront her dreams head-on, and she is still building on her life both as a human, and a nova.

I live; I learn.

[ronin]

Damn, Preston, I don't know why I even bother with you. Even when I try to open up and let you know how I feel, you take the opportunity to attack me. I guess that shouldn't surprise me, but it's a little disappointing.

You're baiting me. It won't work.

[Preston]

Preston is a goddamned charlatan.

You, Preston, have been given this gift, and you wallow in the muck like a human. What a goddamned shame.

Attack you? Yeah ... right.

You are the one claiming to be "All That", yet what are your accomplishments?

Juri talks some real shit (of course, who am I to throw stones), but she's just starting out, and still in college to boot.

Interceptor has set up his own business, and does charity work.

Totem has been out there dealing with the world and trying to do what's right for himself and his People.

And, comparitively, these people are kids.

The world doesn't get to be a better place unless we work at it.

Our dreams don't come to us, we work toward them.

Prester John-Boy sends shivers up the zip's collective spine every time he pumps up. He lights up the room just by opening his lids. Of course the stupid fuck has ideals; he's also lying through his teeth every time he opens his mouth. It ain't the truth with him, its about winning. John-Boy will do whatever it takes to win and he's got no illusions about sacrifice just so long as somebody else pays the piper. He's outgunned, outclassed and picked the wrong side so now he's racing the clock trying to fucking optimize his losses.

He's a fucking used car salesman for chimps, Honey-bunny. Figure it out.

Charr, you talking to me?

If so;

Yes, my eyes do light up the room. I use my 'sight' alot, and there is a price to be paid. No regrets and people learn to cope with it.

The truth? You wouldn't know the truth if it came up and slapped you in your spongey head, Kalimari-boy.

For me, it isn't about winning, its about the people. The lives they've built, are building, and will build, and how fucks like you take a totally callous disregard to those who can't possibly hurt you.

As for the rest of your drivel ...

I don't see you taking on T2M, do I?

Outgunned? You have no conception of what I can bring to bear, and since you haven't a clue about my motivations, you aren't likely to learn.

Outclassed? By you? Spud, you have no class.

The wrong side? No. I chose the side that values life, and freedom, and wishes peace, but prepares for war. Sick Fucktards (sorry, Juri, but I like that word) like you aren't going to stop until we're all dead, or you're dead.

It is tough keeping to my ideals when it comes to you, but you have rights and deserve something more than a mad dog's death. Whatever bile I spew at you here, you are still an individual, and a fellow sentiant. I believe that's what makes ideals worth having.

[Ghostwriter]

I've got more of a clue than yourself, Charr. You traded your humanity for a bag of cheap tricks and tentacles. I'd feel sorry for you if I had the time.