Your non-sexual fantasies

[Nithos]

I fantasize about writing a new Arabian Nights, a story of and about stories that are all morality tales to teach the next several generations a bit about life, the world before them, and not being a dick.

Being a member of a wild, well loved punk band as well, something smart along the lines of Bad Religion.

Teaching, almost every academic subject at a high level to curious, devoted students.

Being independently wealthy enough to provide myself with all the education I could ever want, the resources to have the experiances (traveling, mostly) I'd want, and the luxury of being able to work or volunteer for any job I want since I wouldn't have to consider the possibility I might have to find another job to make ends meet instead.

A fully functional and progressive populist government from top to bottom, with a citizenry that's passionate about good government.

Living in a society where curiosity, critical thinking, and secularism were the height of respectability, rather than ambition, conformity, and faith.

I also dream of being released from the Army, honorably, and quickly, and that I never have to speak of it again.

Beating a large number of fascists in to submission with blunt objects.

Spray painting a HUGE circle-slash over the swastika graffiti that pops up from time to time, and having a police officer watch and laugh while I do it.

Have complete knowledge of the afterlife (or more likely it's non-existence) and a method to demonstrate exactly what's in store for everyone when they're feeding the flowers.

[Lowky]

I'm noticing a trend, not sure if it's common to most people or us as a subset. Most of us seem to want to be able to travel extensively and not have to worry about money while doing so. I am going to guess that some of our common proclivities tend to make us xenophiles and what better way to indulge that than to travel extensively and see the world and meet new and interesting peoples and cultures.

[BriHahn]

My recurrent fantasies have to do largely with doing something that leaves a mark on the world, such as becoming a heroine-like figure due to surviving something most people would assume a woman could not survive or preventing some monumental disaster with just the brains in my head. Lately I've been fantasizing about preventing another large-scale terrorist attack, but I think I can be forgiven that as I work in an area where I could POTENTIALLY do that sort of thing, if circumstances were optimal. The odds are incredibly small, but it's nice to picture.

Interestingly enough, I got a little validation in that sort of thing a few days ago; some of you may recall that I follow 9/11 conspiracy theories and assist in debunking them. One of the websites I frequent linked to a 9/11 conspiracy theory forum where someone was advocating starting a revolution. And not just any revolution; a bloody one. This person said it would likely be necessary to assassinate government officials, and even mentioned President Bush by name. Now, I'll be the first to admit the man's an idiot, but that doesn't mean I'd EVER advocate killing him and perhaps sparking another civil war or even a global war, God forbid (and no, that doesn't mean I think he's that popular; I just think that would be a worst-case scenario). Anyways, I found the report function on the Department of Homeland Security's website and reported the thread; the next day I got a call from someone in the security department of the agency I'm currently working at who told me that they had received the tip and forwarded it on to the Secret Service; apparently they thought it was worthwhile enough to follow up on. I'm probably in a unique situation, since I actually WORK in the Intel Community and they therefore COULD locate a contact number for me, but it made me feel validated and more confident that something many people might consider trivial talking-out-of-their-ass BS could mean something more to the right people. I've been urging people to, if they spot something similar, even if they don't think it's really all that big, to report it anyway; you never know when a tip from a civilian might be the catalyst to preventing something bad from happening.

And now I've rambled on enough, but that's the sort of thing I fantasize about when I'm not horny. Or even sometimes when I am; I'll tie in a hunky Secret Service or other spy agent-y kind of guy and have hot monkey sex.

[Aka Hoshi]

Having a 'What the Fuck!?' moment roughly similar to what George Smith experienced when he translated the eleventh tablet of the Gilgamesh epos.

Everyone should experience such a moment. But alas, so few do...

[WangyJohn]

This person said it would likely be necessary to assassinate government officials, and even mentioned President Bush by name.

SNIP

Anyways, I found the report function on the Department of Homeland Security's website and reported the thread; the next day I got a call from someone in the security department of the agency I'm currently working at who told me that they had received the tip and forwarded it on to the Secret Service;

Whiskey tango foxtrot.

Anyway, on the travelling, I'd probably like to visit a few places, and maybe chage hometowns, but I'm happy in Finland. I'm not nationalist, I'm very critical towards many parts of the goverment, but by golly, I like it here.

[Fnyunj]

Whiskey tango foxtrot..

(yeah, no kidding. Whatever.)

Personally - I wouldn't want this guy to get assassinated or "taken out". He's going to suffer a nasty fate, all on his own. Like Nixon. Maybe like Hitler. Why would anyone want to deny the rest of us the pleasure and shadenfreude of watching this?

(this is why *their side* does assassinations (Kennedy, King, Lincoln, Wellstone), and *our side* just kind of waits for dictators to self-destruct out of arrogance and incompetence)

Yeah - that's another one of my Fantasies. A tall tree, a rope, a noose. Hey, supposedly, he's afraid of horses too (el Presidente Vincente Fox said so) - so how about a cowboy-style execution? And a smouldering ruin of a nation, who will remember his name (and spit every time its mentioned) for a thousand years. Can we fantasize that people will eventually LEARN from their mistakes?

[BriHahn]

This person said it would likely be necessary to assassinate government officials, and even mentioned President Bush by name.

SNIP

Anyways, I found the report function on the Department of Homeland Security's website and reported the thread; the next day I got a call from someone in the security department of the agency I'm currently working at who told me that they had received the tip and forwarded it on to the Secret Service;

Whiskey tango foxtrot.

Anyway, on the travelling, I'd probably like to visit a few places, and maybe chage hometowns, but I'm happy in Finland. I'm not nationalist, I'm very critical towards many parts of the goverment, but by golly, I like it here.

What exactly are you "whiskey tango foxtrot"ting at? I can try to explain.

[WangyJohn]

You reported someone to the NHS for an online post.

[Honor]

some of you may recall that I follow 9/11 conspiracy theories and assist in debunking them.

Nothing personal, hon, but I think you go well beyond that, to the level of being tempted to resolutely believe anything Father Government tells you. While I'm not ready to say the wildest theories are correct, you do seem to shrug off an awful lot of unanswered questions... You show disdain for people who have the temerity to ask those questions and actually expect answers, and you do it in traditional neo-con fashion... Not by showing the weakness of their position, but by calling them names and laughing at them. It's always telling when the only argument someone has is to call the opposing person some disparaging name.

Not to mention that I've heard you say elsewhere in the forums that we should be willing to give up some "essential liberties" for "a little temporary security" (quoting Franklin, not you).

People in your line of work tend to forget that terrorism is a crime, not an act of war, and a relatively small one at that. We lose more people to drunk drivers every year than we have to terrorism - ever.

One of the websites I frequent linked to a 9/11 conspiracy theory forum where someone was advocating starting a revolution. And not just any revolution; a bloody one. This person said it would likely be necessary to assassinate government officials, and even mentioned President Bush by name.

While I personally think you over-reacted, I'll say not by much. I don't (yet) advocate violent revolution... Our system still has at least the pretense of another option.

Now, I'll be the first to admit the man's an idiot, but that doesn't mean I'd EVER advocate killing him and perhaps sparking another civil war or even a global war,

It's not worth a war, but I'd certainly advocate him being shot as a traitor, after being legally convicted.

I'm probably in a unique situation, since I actually WORK in the Intel Community and they therefore COULD locate a contact number for me

It's cute that you think they need you to work "in house" to find your contact information. At the time, I'd moved several times & left no forwarding addresses any time I moved, didn't have a phone number, hadn't worked in well over a year, and all that jazz... But when Gulf 1 was about to start, I got a very serious looking SFC in the little shop I'd just started working at, asking if I was interested in re-armying.

Hell... I'm involved enough in DHS right now that they could find my truck and put a helicopter or cruiser on it inside an hour, at any time. And they could do that with just about any person in the country, if they wanted to badly enough.

I take time from each of my days to sit by myself and do nothing by think and fantasize. You might call it meditation, but I dwell on my thoughts instead of trying to think of "nothing" or whatever.

An excellent practise.

Lately, I have been imagining making a series of documentary films on internet and videogaming culture.

Now you are making me want to do the documentary film I have thought of that I am sure very few others would truly be interested in so it's doomed to commercial failure (but then so are most documentaries)

The "long tail" economics of internet ordering and distribution, and the reduced costs of production and editing have made documentaries a much more viable option... Blockbuster can only afford to keep the biggest hits "in house" but their online version, and sources like Netflix send out assloads of documentaries every week.

I'd say, in both cases, do it. I'd be willing to help, if either of you are serious.

[BriHahn]

It's more about looking at the caliber of questions that ARE being asked and realizing they're complete and utter lunacy, Honor.

I'm not saying there aren't questions still unanswered from that day; how the intel community could have it's head stuck so far up it's ass that it couldn't add together the intel we DID have comes to mind and is one of my main questions. However, some of the theories that are being advanced; in fact, the vast MAJORITY of the theories that are being advanced, are utter hokum once you look at the science and evidence available. How people can possibly believe that either no planes hit the towers, hit the Pentagon, or were missiles, or shot missiles at the buildings PRIOR to hitting them, or were actually laser beams from space, or were mini-nukes, or were shot down by an Air Force that barely had more than nine minutes warning on any of the flights, or that somehow a government that is so bloody incompetent as to get us embroiled in a war on two fronts without a legitimate reason is also genius enough to orchestrate the whole thing and only leave clues that only those who aren't "sheeple" or "shills" can spot (and trust me when I say that's only about .001% of the population at this point, if you look at the numbers they managed to muster this year).

If there were a legitimate, logical, scientifically sound, supported-by-strong-evidence theory out there OTHER than the current official story, I would change my opinion on the current story, but there isn't one. And trust me. I've looked.

The thing you have to realize is, while I may support the current official story as the most logical and evidence-supported theory, that doesn't translate to me being, as you put it, "tempted to resolutely believe anything Father Government tells me." I think Bush is an idiot, and I will be ecstatic when he leaves office. I can't believe he hasn't at least made an attempt to apologize for getting us into a war that we should never have started, regardless of how much of a sadistic dictator Saddam was. I despise him for being so stubborn he can't even make an ATTEMPT to get our soldiers home, and I am beyond upset that there's a possibility that I might have to go over there again myself (thankfully still haven't heard anything on that though) and risk my life for a war I don't believe in.

That being said, I do believe, personally, that we need to be willing to sacrifice a little in order to maintain security. We obviously already have, what with all the security being tightened at the airports and the improvements being made in the intel community. I'd even go so far as to say that, barring any new major incidents, we could comfortably stay right where we are and not have to give up anything else. There's a difference between sacrificing a few small, largely unnoticeable things versus giving up a ton of freedoms though, and I fall squarely on the side of the minimum amount possible on that spectrum.

And you will, I hope, pardon me for the condescending attitude you mentioned; given that, at this point, I've seen almost every ridiculous argument out there for LIHOP or MIHOP or whatever ludicrous theory is being advanced, I'm rather tired of debunking the same thing over and over and over again. That certainly doesn't excuse my attitude, but I hope it explains it.

To Wangy: Why would I not? The man was advocating a bloody revolution simply because he doesn't like the current government, one that will change in 2008 regardless; he had no legitimate reason to do so. It's part of my job in the Army to be aware of current threats, and while I will say that I don't truly believe this guy had the stones to actually carry out what he was threatening, the fact that he made the threat at all makes him suspicious in my book. I'm proud of my decision to report him, and there's probably nothing you could say that would sway my opinion on that, so please, if you have a problem with it, let's just drop the subject and move on while agreeing to disagree.

Oh, and question; when you said NHS, did you mean DHS? Just want to be sure.

[Bustertheclown]

I'm noticing a trend, not sure if it's common to most people or us as a subset. Most of us seem to want to be able to travel extensively and not have to worry about money while doing so. I am going to guess that some of our common proclivities tend to make us xenophiles and what better way to indulge that than to travel extensively and see the world and meet new and interesting peoples and cultures.

I don't know if it's xenophilia on my part that makes me want to go away, although Slavic girls do make me swoon. I credit my need to get away more with the fact that I'm not happy where I am.

[Honor]

And you will, I hope, pardon me for the condescending attitude you mentioned; given that, at this point, I've seen almost every ridiculous argument out there for LIHOP or MIHOP or whatever ludicrous theory is being advanced, I'm rather tired of debunking the same thing over and over and over again. That certainly doesn't excuse my attitude, but I hope it explains it.

Weeeeellll...

It'd be awfully difficult to not forgive some snippiness or snarkiness in dealing with most of the "theories" you've mentioned above.

The only one I think you're missing the boat on is the "made it or at least allowed it to happen" theory... Your argument that they're dumb enough to get mired in Iraq is kind of a inaccurate illustration.

Getting mired in Iraq was the whole idea. They just thought that killing a few thousand Americans would give us a more steely resolve than it did... That, and, as many if not most criminals do, they failed to cover their tracks sufficiently.

Put it this way... It wouldn't take any more genius of coordination for certain people in the US infrastructure to cause 9-11 than it would for bin Laden to cause it... Significantly less, actually. And yet bin Laden managed, according to the accepted stories. Personally, while I know it would be altogether possible for US forces to pull this off, I don't think they needed to. All they had to do was nudge bin Laden a little, and let it happen.

I'm still given to a sneaking suspicion that what happened on that day was exactly what Bush (or at least Cheney) wanted to happen. Just because you're smart enough to steal a car doesn't mean you're smart enough (or a good enough driver) to drive it... Especially when the speeds keep getting faster, and the roads keep getting trickier.


As to the lost freedoms... You're simply incorrect. The coordination of our intel efforts is a mostly good thing that should have been done sooner, and should have cost us nothing in terms of liberty.

The current FISA blasphemy is a reaction wholly out of scale that will never protect a single person from foreign born terror... You have to understand the power they already had. They could already tap for a limited time, as an emergency measure, while seeking a warrant... From a secret court that has never denied a warrant in it's history.

The airport nonsense is milk and cookies. It's a placebo procedure designed to make people feel safer while doing nothing to actually enhance security.

The problem with giving up legal liberties - even small ones - to vouchsafe safety from a problem that has been exaggerated out of all proportion (or, even a very real problem) is a simple matter of legal precedent... Once we've gotten over the idea that liberties can be suspended, it's just a matter of justifying the next suspension as similar and needed.

And, I have to repeat... This is a small fucking criminal problem. As I said, more people die from drunk drivers every year - hell, more people die from swimming pools every year than have ever died in this country from terrorism... Foreign or domestic.

[Xero]

I forget who said it but


those that sell their privacy for security don't deserve either

and look at america right now

[Honor]

Benjamin Franklin - The "science geek" of the founders... One of my favorites, along with Jefferson - The law/knowledge geek. Hence my partial quotes above.

The whole thing:

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

Also, from Poor Richard's Almanac:

Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power.

[Fnyunj]

/semi offtopic

Honor;
I thought I had read somewhere that the Franklin quote actually comes from an earlier writing from Charles Louis de Secondat a.k.a. Baron de Montesquieu (where we get the idea of separation of powers) (http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/montesqu ... u-bio.html), - but I have been unable to find an attribution. You're enough of a scholar on these matters, I thought you might know? de Secondat and Franklin probably would have been on eachother's buddy-lists if they had an Internet back then.

[Aeridus]

Or to quote New Hampshire, the state I was born in: Live Free Or Die.

[Indigo Violent]

On topic:
I fantasise about accepting the Oscar for Best Director (bonus points when I'm the first woman ever to win it), in a stunning gown and 14-eyelet Doc Martens.

[Awkwardschoolgirl]

I fantasize about going to live in a buddhist monastery and just being at peace with the world and live in a beautiful place and be able to really appreciate life.

I also fantasize about my parents accepting mine and Squiddy's relationship without being judgemental about our love or how it came about...

I also fantasize about really domestic little things that always involve Squiddy. Just silly little things like being able to cuddle whenever we feel like it, eat together or sleep in the same bed, etc.

I fantasize about working in a really awesome lab where I don't have to talk to too many people and can just analyse data for the rest of my life.

[BriHahn]

And you will, I hope, pardon me for the condescending attitude you mentioned; given that, at this point, I've seen almost every ridiculous argument out there for LIHOP or MIHOP or whatever ludicrous theory is being advanced, I'm rather tired of debunking the same thing over and over and over again. That certainly doesn't excuse my attitude, but I hope it explains it.

Weeeeellll...

It'd be awfully difficult to not forgive some snippiness or snarkiness in dealing with most of the "theories" you've mentioned above.

The only one I think you're missing the boat on is the "made it or at least allowed it to happen" theory... Your argument that they're dumb enough to get mired in Iraq is kind of a inaccurate illustration.

Getting mired in Iraq was the whole idea. They just thought that killing a few thousand Americans would give us a more steely resolve than it did... That, and, as many if not most criminals do, they failed to cover their tracks sufficiently.

Put it this way... It wouldn't take any more genius of coordination for certain people in the US infrastructure to cause 9-11 than it would for bin Laden to cause it... Significantly less, actually. And yet bin Laden managed, according to the accepted stories. Personally, while I know it would be altogether possible for US forces to pull this off, I don't think they needed to. All they had to do was nudge bin Laden a little, and let it happen.

I'm still given to a sneaking suspicion that what happened on that day was exactly what Bush (or at least Cheney) wanted to happen. Just because you're smart enough to steal a car doesn't mean you're smart enough (or a good enough driver) to drive it... Especially when the speeds keep getting faster, and the roads keep getting trickier.


As to the lost freedoms... You're simply incorrect. The coordination of our intel efforts is a mostly good thing that should have been done sooner, and should have cost us nothing in terms of liberty.

The current FISA blasphemy is a reaction wholly out of scale that will never protect a single person from foreign born terror... You have to understand the power they already had. They could already tap for a limited time, as an emergency measure, while seeking a warrant... From a secret court that has never denied a warrant in it's history.

The airport nonsense is milk and cookies. It's a placebo procedure designed to make people feel safer while doing nothing to actually enhance security.

The problem with giving up legal liberties - even small ones - to vouchsafe safety from a problem that has been exaggerated out of all proportion (or, even a very real problem) is a simple matter of legal precedent... Once we've gotten over the idea that liberties can be suspended, it's just a matter of justifying the next suspension as similar and needed.

And, I have to repeat... This is a small fucking criminal problem. As I said, more people die from drunk drivers every year - hell, more people die from swimming pools every year than have ever died in this country from terrorism... Foreign or domestic.

So in other words, you advocate LIHOP. i.e. Let It Happen On Purpose.

I'm more of the LIHOIA crowd myself. That would be, Let It Happen Out of Ignorance and Arrogance. As bad as Cheney and Bush are, I find it very hard to believe that either of them could have deliberately made a cold-blooded decision to LET these 19 hijackers kill nearly three thousand people. Not to mention that every single intel person I've spoken to (and I try to bring it up for research purposes every time I meet a new one) have all said that they hardly conceived of something like this happening. I should mention that the majority of these were with the FAA when it happened and are now with TSA; I might get a different crowd at DIA, who knows? Haven't met enough people there yet. But every one I've asked said that they thought it should have been obvious to all of them, but because of the way things had been in the country for decades, they just couldn't conceive of it happening. Even with all the warning signs, they ignored them, or were too arrogant in thinking it could never happen. Hence, LIHOIA.

Not to mention the fact, Cheney and Bush are only ONE branch of the government. Most of the senators I've heard speak on the matter also believe that we just wilfully ignored the evidence because we were arrogant or complacent. I know of no current senator of the US that advocates LIHOP. If there are a few, they are in the vast, VAST minority. No Supreme Court Justice has ever advocated LIHOP either to my knowledge.

I guess my point is, trying to put the blame on two men is, to put it bluntly, ludicrous on the face of it.

And I think we've derailed this thread enough, so if you want to continue via PM, I'm all for it; I can point you to numerous sources that either cast doubt on or disprove entirely most, if not all, 9/11 conspiracy theories, including LIHOP. In fact, check this one out first: http://forums.randi.org/forumdisplay.ph ... 215c0&f=64
You can search the threads and even, if you want to join, speak to people who were air traffic controllers in Boston, were present in New York (we might even have some who were in the buildings), were present at the Pentagon, or are scientists who have exhaustively studied the science and engineering of that day. Some people there lean mildly to LIHOP, but the vast majority are LIHOIA, I believe. I personally feel you'd be an asset to that forum should you choose to join.

[Aeridus]

I fantasize about building and selling a tentacle-rape beanbag chair...