devinlv17 : I think you misunderstood exactly what was meant by this topic.
From what I've read, these post imply that there are people who abuse the welfare system..

You should consider re-reading my post on here, where I explain the three types of lower-class citizens, explaining that there are those who do abuse the system, those who don't care about the system, and those who actually need the system.

Good eggs, bad eggs, proud eggs.

"Single-parent family" is not a rare thing; in many, many cases, including my own, there is an absence of one parent. It makes no child special in any way, it simply means they have one parent.

"...Lived in a car for years..." Once again, not a rare thing. With a failing economy, there are more and more instances of homelessness. We blame not those who need welfare checks to get by, we blame those who abuse the welfare checks to get luxury.
Shelter, food, water are necessities. Internet, television, and alcoholic beverages are luxuries.

People abuse the welfare system for luxuries, while others, like yourself and I, use it for necessities.
The difference between the two is those who use it for necessities have humility, and understand that welfare is useful. Those who use it for luxuries have yet to study up on history, economy, and debt.

Those who abuse the system only push the U.S further into crap.
Those who need the system take, and at least attempt to give.

I live in Ohio, I'm not sure if the circumstances I spoke of apply to every state, but they sure do in Ohio.
14 Is the age for Summer jobs, which is better than no job, but anyone 14-15 can only work in the Summer time. Shocking that a Summer job can only be in the Summer. Who would have guessed? Crazy, huh.

16 Is old enough for a working permit from schools, which I know my school won't ever get around to giving me one when I reach age 16.
My school is disorganized, they took me to court and lied of my attendance and grades, got me put on Probation. But that's not my point!

I'll get to citing my sources. Thanks for reminding me!

warmaker: This is my biggest source, and I'll admit now that I am / was wrong about the law. I can work between 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, but for no longer than 3 hours when school is in session.
(Not just "I", it would be better to say "anyone from 14 to 15 can" rather than saying "I" can.)

Which is still kind of ridiculous, I can work 5 hours free, 3 hours work. Especially considering minimum wage and whatnot.
Here it is; http://198.234.41.198/w3/webwh.nsf/allbykey/0a2cc2509843265a852566180051af2e

I hope I'm not too late for this.

I believe welfare and food stamps, to a certain degree, are a source of the failing economy.

There are "bad eggs" who take an unfair use of the income checks, they typically get to where they are at buy wasting money on drugs and not looking for jobs; these people, I believe, are the "leeches" that Romney referred  to.

Then, there are "momentarily misplaced upper-class citizens" who don't want to accept the checks because they strongly believe they are fine on their own without the checks. Not much I can say about these people.

Finally, the "crap hit the fan" lower-class citizens. As I suggested, they were not ready for crap hitting the fan. They need these checks to get by, like my family. Internet is not a necessity, but I sure love having it. Same logic applies in my mothers beliefs. She doesn't use welfare checks to buy Internet, she uses her own money for that. She uses food stamps and welfare checks to do what they are meant for; food and necessities.

Lesson; there are bad eggs, proud eggs, and good eggs, each have their own place in time and roll in life; regardless of position they are important contributions to society, even if we don't like it.

Anyone else thing Child Labor Laws can be rather... Ridiculous?

At 13, children can work for free for their community, at a maximum of I think 5 hours, in the US anyway.

They can work about any time of the year for free... But they can't get paid for working.

When the child is 14, they can only work in the summer; or they can volunteer and work for free any time of the year. The restrictions are odd, in my opinion.

I think I should be able to get paid for work any time of the year, at least at the age of 14.
Anyone else agree? Disagree?

I prefer to read books.
The only manga I like is Ocarina of Time Manga.
I've read the Majora's Mask manga, it was pretty good, but my favorite is Ocarina of Time.

I prefer to read large books, with at least 500 pages. The only book I've read so far that I dislike was a biography of Harry S. Truman.
The setting kept changing, one minute Truman is on a train with his wife and daughter, next page he's giving a speech, next page back on the train on the way to give the speech.
I only managed to read 12 pages, I thought it was pretty horrible.

I fell in love, I still feel the same for her, although we rarely see each other anymore. It's left me broken-hearted. I think of her often, which kind of impedes my ability to do well on tests.
I kind of hate being in love, I don't want to do anything but be with her anymore, it's become a major motivation problem.
But it is a very nice feeling to be in love, in my opinion.

Granted, but there is a freak accident and a giant boulder crushes the computer.

I wish this wish the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time was once again put in the game.

PETA is, in my opinion, very ignorant and stupid.
They don't realize that they protest nature in a foolish attempt to save nature.

Humans are given what they need on Earth to survive, food like meats and vegetation. If we choose to eat only vegetation, that's fine, if we choose to eat both, that's fine.
We use wood from trees to make our shelters, and most of our tools.
We take what we need from Earth.

Like the Cyanide and Happiness comics, it's like trying to prevent birds from building their nest.

They go against nature, which is the exact opposite of their supposed goal.


It'd be very hypocritical of me to say they should respect our opinions as we should them.
I have very little respect for PETA for their ethics.
They seemed respectable at first, but after a while they just became... Well, dumb.

It's not nice what we do to lab animals, no, I agree with them on that.
But we, as 'intelligent' living beings, are more important than rats and mice. They repopulate fast, killing a few will hardly damage their ecosystem or population.

We use animals to find the best type of medicine and technology we need.
No, it's not nice what we do to animals, but it is necessary.

I guess I'll apply.
I have reviews, I'll get the links.
https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=37219
Seems to be my most popular review, with 357 views.
https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=37230
Second most popular review, with 100 views.
https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=37225
Third most popular review, 85 views.

That's all, actually.
I'd love to become an official reviewer!
I'd be disappointed if I'm not picked, but that's kind of irrelevant. I guess as long as a good choice is made.


I try not to make the reviews too biased, meaning I don't judge by simple meaningless matters, like the console it's for or date of release.

To everyone else applying; good luck!

I feel so proud of myself, as such I feel the need to brag!

Recently, my grades in school have been in the gutter. Just crap grades. But, in about two weeks I improved my math grade from F to B, American History from F to A, and Science from D to B.
As for Phys. Ed, I don't like sports a whole lot so that will stay an F unfortunately.

Anyway, because of this massive improvement in such short time, I got a great academic offer!

My literature teacher nominated me for the LeadAmerica Explore Medicine & Science Conference of the summer of 2013!
I get to represent my school, and get a chance for a scholarship for medical studies.


Naturally, I'm happy and proud of myself for achieving this. I don't know anybody who wouldn't be happy, or proud of themselves for this.

I've chosen to go to Chicago, IL for the conference, or maybe Dallas, Texas. They're both the cheapest.

Chicago is like $2,375 I think, and Dallas is $2,576.

Yeah, it's pretty expensive, but it gives me a chance to earn a scholarship!

Wish me luck! I'll need it.
I've started trying to study on medicine and science, I'm going to request help from my science teacher (who, by the way, looks like Serj Tankian, but I doubt a lot of you know who Serj is.)

My brother and I share similar views.
We both believe in a God, just not the kind of God that is put in the Christian Bible.


**This was posted on another forums / site that allows cussing. I censored out the cuss words, so it may not make so much sense at the end. Sorry!**

"I'm personally not Christian or Muslim, but I do believe in a Heaven, **Not sure if it's allowed if it's used in a religious term here**, and a God.


And these are my questions to people's reasons for Atheism.

From
the majority of Atheists I've seen, when I ask them why they are
Atheists, they reply "Because God doesn't exist" or "Because science can
explain it".

For the first one, that is not a viable response.
You need proof to back up your statement, or you are riding on pure
faith, which is the exact principle with which you criticize religion.

For
the second one, we are lucky if Science knows barely 2% of our working
universe right now. All of science's advancements are based on theory.
Along with that, all scientific laws break down at the quantum level; we
cannot explain what happens there. Scientists invented Dark Matter in
an effort to explain it, but it's only a hypothesis, which fits in the
same category as faith.


I've also seen "Because the world wouldn't be so horrible if God existed"

First,
every bit of suffering we experience today is the result of generations
of ignorance and greed of others. We put ourselves in this mess, and we
created a balance. God can't mess with that balance, because if He did,
we would simply be too reliant on him, and purposely screw up life in
order for him to save us each and every time. So in a way, it's better
that He doesn't interfere.


"Because the Bible self-contradicts itself"
Well,
I'm not saying follow the Bible word for word. My mother and
grandmother see the Bible as a guideline to live, not as a law sent to
commandeer us. Plus, after 2,000 years of the organized Church meddling
in it in order to gain power, do you really think that it's the original
bible?


I'm saying that faith has been a reason for bitter
conflict since the dawn of man. Science is not above religion because at
this point, they both are nothing but beliefs, ideals, and faith. The
main point of this post is to say "screw you" to both the smug Atheists
who believe they can believe no wrong, and another "screw you" to
organized church who uses faith for selfish gains."


I hope I got every swear word censored out. I've double-checked it, looking for more just in case, but didn't find any more.

I haven't seen much of legacy to form an actual opinion. I don't hang out much on the forums, honestly.

But, from the little I have seen of him, there's not really any good reason to hate on him.


Either you made this post for the Viz, or you enjoy acting a little... For lack of a better term, stupid.

"Any community that gets its laughs by acting like idiots will soon find themselves flooded by real idiots who believe they are in good company."

-Rene Descartes

I don't mean to be rude, I don't want to call you an idiot, and I don't want to say you're stupid.
But this post is just ridiculous.
Of course, no one was told what brought this up.
Really, you have no good reason for this post until you explain your view as to why you believe this.

Have fun, kiddo!

I don't know if I'm too late for this, but whatever.

About four or five months ago, during my Phys. Ed, I never changed clothes for so my grades were slipping.
I always just sat in a corner, hoping the period will end soon so I can get to science (it's my favorite class.)
Well, about halfway through the class, this girl and her two friends come sit next to me.

Under my breath, I utter some curse words, because I'm not really a 'people person.' I'm very anti-social in face-to-face communication.
I look away from them, trying not to be rude I do what I always do, I make it look like something caught my attention, like fixing my hair or straightening my glasses.
One of them looks over to me, she introduces her and her friends, and kind of nudges me.

She did most of the talking, she asked me a ton of questions. None of which can be repeated here, they're rather inappropriate.
Anyway, I didn't like her friends much. I didn't get to know the third one so I can't judge her, but her second friend asked all kinds of questions that made me feel awkward and annoyed.

Anyway, so eventually we're having our own conversation, I'm just ignoring her second friend, her third friend never talked to me other than "hi."
Our friendship went on for the rest of the year, when we had to do those State Tests (I aced my literature test, by the way, I got a perfect score.)

On the last day of school, we had an extra thirty minutes of Phys. Ed so that others may finish their test.
We talked for an hour, about anything really. She asked me where I lived, so she could come visit me over the summer, seeing as I'm new to the neighborhood and cannot go looking for her.

I told her it was my turn to ask questions.
The only thing I asked her is why she felt the need to come talk to me.
She told me she thought I was lonely, and wanted a friend.

We kind of sat in a awkward silence for the next two minutes, until she asked if she could paint my nails.
I don't think any guy is really braced for a question like that.

At the time, the only thing running through my head is;
"My finger nails? Why do you want to paint my nails? For one thing, I'm a guy!
Another thing, my nails are long and breaking."
I didn't want to be rude, so I held out my hand and let her paint it.
Of course, I didn't keep it, I'm straight.
I made it seem like an accident, I reached for my book and wiped it off when getting back up. She pouted for a second, making me feel guilty, but she got over it quickly.
It seemed like that hour dragged on for a long time, for me anyway.

The bell rang, and this was going to be the last time we'd see each other for a while.
She asked me to hold her hand and walk her to her locker to put her books away and walk her to the cafeteria. I held her hand to her locker, and unfortunately had to run off to class before I could walk her to the cafeteria.



Summer came, but she never did.
So I went looking for her. I spent five weeks walking up and down the street she said her house was on. It was next to my street. Thankfully.
I never found her.
Thinking about it, I don't know, and I don't think I'll ever know, what I did to deserve her to come into my life and make me happy. It's because of her I got motivated and made an effort in school, and it's because of her I was happy for a while.
But we never saw each other for a while.


Until just a week ago. I had to write an essay for literature class about the hardest time in my life (it's an advanced literature class, by the way, congratulations me.)
So, naturally, I wrote being without her. I thought it seemed too cheesy, so I threw it away and pretended it was moving to the town and changing schools.
The day after, we ran into each other in the halls.
I felt so happy to see her again, I'm not sure if the feeling was mutual, it didn't seem like it.
We only exchanged greetings and went to our next class.


And that's all.
We haven't seen her since.
My heart was broken, but I'm still young.
I'll hopefully find another.

Interesting question.

I'd spend four hours with my family (4/24)
Another four hours with my best friend (8/24)
And five hours with a girl I really like, but don't have the guts to ask out (13/24)
I'd spend five hours going to everyone I can remember, and begging for forgiveness for being rude to them (18/24)
There's not much time left for me, so I'd pick wisely.
I'd spend three hours alone, listening to music (21/24)
The next three hours would be hard for me to deal with.
I want to spend time with my family, but I wouldn't be able to deal with it. These are our last three hours together, I'll never see them again, I'll never hear them again, and I won't ever talk to them again.
I'd spend the last of my life contemplating all I've done, and cursing my stupidity for not doing more, and cursing my luck for making my life end when I'm so young, and wondering if there truly is a God, and if there is would I go to heaven. (24/24)

Fortunately, this scenario won't occur for me.

I live in a medium-sized city town located in Ohio (that's about all I'll tell you for specific names of my location), in a very poorly built house, so I'd abandon it.
Pack up supplies, essentials like clothes, food, and water, and make my way to the Dollar General across the street.
I'd hide there for a few days. For a city sized like mine, or any populated area, guns are not a good (or really that bad) of an idea. Guns make noise, noise attracts hoards of zombies, hoards of zombies usually lead to death.
So I'd stick with melee weapons. In an area like mine, the closest things I could get are knives, and home-made make-shift weapons.
If I'm lucky, I can find a machete. They're multi-functional. They can cut vegetational life if need be, like traveling through a forest and I need to cut through a bush, and they can kill a zombie in an amount of seconds. They're often long enough to avoid being bitten, and they can be found just about everywhere. If the store has a Sports/Hunting section, you'll find one.

Since this is pretty much "survival mode" and large groups could lead to trouble when traveling or staying in a temporary fort, I'd keep no more than five people, that might still be too risky though.
Defend the temporary base (in my case, Dollar General) for a few days until it's rendered void of useful supplies. Pack up, head to a Family Dollar a short ways away, and stay there. I forgot to mention barricading the doors on the Dollar General, I'd do the same here.
Once again, when it's out of supplies leave it and look for better shelter.

Since my town isn't big, it won't be a main concern of the government, and will be one of the last towns in Ohio to have soldiers brought in.
As such, my priority is not to thrive, or to leave the town to look for majorly populated areas, but to survive.
At this point, thriving is great, if not excellent, but it's not necessary. If you have enough to get by, that's awesome.

When the Family Dollar is void of useful things, the best bet for me would be to make my way to my high-school. I know my way around there, it has a strong foundation, supplies, and lots of things to use as a make-shift weapon.
Sanitation is also a good idea. My school is large, as such a large mess is imminent. There are cleaning supplies in about every room, there are also multiple restrooms.
Sanitary conditions will promise less infections like the common cold, and will prevent any nasty smell attracting bugs which may carry the zombie virus.
Now I'm defending, not searching. This is where I'd make one last stand against the zombies.
There are many exits that lead to the roof of the school. The roof is a great place to snipe.
A silencer on that sniper will allow me or any one with me to easily eliminate the immediate threat. At this point, a group of 6-10 is recommended, about 7 should do. Too many will lead to less resources for everyone.

The next step after barricading the school would be to set up jobs.
No one gets a free ride, everyone must work.
Four people on guard duty, there are six exits to the school, North, South, East, and West. Two on East, two on West. 4/7 people occupied
Two chefs, got to have cooked food, 6/7
One janitor (unless the chefs finished, in this scenario they haven't) 7/7

There is a weight room in my school, too. So,
if there is no mess for the janitor to clean, he or she must help the chefs. When the chefs are done, they must go work out.

So, if this plan of mine is unable to be used, I am as good as dead.

Life goal, eh? Gee, this may be a tough one.

So many things in life to do. The world is huge, and I've explored less than 1% of it.
I guess my goals while I am young are to finish high school.
After that, join the United States military, preferably Spec Ops. But anything will do.
If I am unable to join the military, my eye-sight is a little less than 20/400. By a little less, I mean it's about 20/389.
If that's the case though, than I'll try to enroll in medical studies, or the police academy.

Ultimately my goal is to make something out of myself. I've had the luck of being raised by an awesome mother, who at times can seem bad but I think at one point in time every ones mother seems to annoy them.
Anyway, all that I am now, and all that I can ever hope to be, I owe to my mother.
I owe a little to my father because, well, typical sob-story of him abandoning my family.

I don't plan on being one of those ID thieves, who spend hours puzzling together shredded paper to get money, when I can go get a real job that'll probably pay more.

I don't expect I'll ever be Rich or 'first-class'  but I hope to be able to make enough on my income to support a family.

Speaking as a lower-class man, I do not want Romney as president. He said, and I quote;
"I am not concerned about the poor."
Continuing on to say, at a conference that was supposed to be private,
"47% Of Obama followers are freeloaders taking advantage of the government."

I want Ron Paul as president. I agree with all his political views, he was a doctor so he knows about health care, and that's pretty much it.
Obama is my second choice. I don't necessarily agree with all of Obama's plans, but heck I agree more on his plans than any plan Romney has.

I tried to make this sound as professional as can be, without offending any Obama or Romney supporters.

I used to have a T-shirt for The Legend of Zelda, it was simply a picture of Link holding his sword and shield. No text or anything.
It went missing quite a few months back, unfortunately it was stolen. I had gone to a summer camp, and my envious bunk-mate stole it. I have no proof it was him, so I really shouldn't bad-mouth him like that. I loved that shirt though, I've always been a Zelda nut.
So after it was stolen, I went to buy another but the store I went to didn't have it anymore.
Instead, I got a 1-UP shirt with the Super Mario 1-UP mushroom. I accidentally burned it though, during a bonfire when I was getting rid of some trash. I don't know how it found its way into the fire, but it did.

I personally do not believe it to be a sin.
But, I've heard from my deeply catholic (best) friend a few reasons why it could be a sin.

1) Your body is a temple, certain tattoos such as swear words or nude pictures would be a sin, because, well, I shouldn't need to explain why if you're Christian.

2) The Temple that is your body is not yours, it belongs to God. Getting a tattoo isn't different than getting a permanent marker and writing on a church.

Well, those are the only two I can remember at this moment. I remember there being more, but I don't know what.
I'm not too Catholic, or Christian for that matter. Not that I don't believe in the Heavenly Father, I just don't believe the most priest. But, most of the priest I have met are lying scumbags who don't entirely deserve their position in the church.

Anyway, I don't like tattoos, but I don't think they're a sin. And like play4fun said, I don't think there are references to tattoos being a sin in the Bible other than old testaments.
This was a good question though.

The first game I've ever finished 100% was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. And I was about age six and a half. So that game will always hold a special place in my heart, no matter how old it is. Although for whatever reason I dislike the 3DS version, and I never even played that one, just the one for the Nintendo 64. Not much of a professional opinion then.