mek's New Writeups

Satire (idea)

2002-01-24T21:54:42Z

Satire is not so much a literary form, as it is a writing technique. It is not the common criticism that makes a story satire; nor is it an attempt to preach morals, or a subtle humour. It is the manner of writing through which the author attempts these goals, which renders a piece of work truly satirical in nature. It is the method of satire which gives it a unique status; a subtle, or sometimes glaring, modification from the norm, a change that forces us to rearrange our own expectations. This change can happen anywhere in a story; in the character, in the plot, in the setting. An expectation of the story, usually generated by association with another, more famous & established story, is utterly crucial to the effectiveness of the alteration. It becomes central, and the purposefulness the change wields grabs our attention and forces an analysis of intent.…

The logic of atheism (thing)

2001-11-06T19:09:59Z

Yes, I know. I can't prove to you that God exists. I'm terribly sorry. Is that what you wanted? Proof? Well, much like religion, we atheists do not deal in things like proof. Why, you ask? Not because like in religion's case, that it would destroy us... no, we have no proof simply because it cannot be.

What? I can't prove it? How dare I believe it?

Atheism, as it exists today, is not a belief system. It is merely the logical assumption that God does not exist. Logical. Yes. But I can't prove it. So? The fact of the matter is, that it is a rule of logic that any thing, such as God, flying purple bunnies, or a quality monkey wrench cannot be disproven. Cannot. At all. Why is that? Simple!

To prove something, you must provide evidence of its existence. The burden of proof lies upon the assertion of existence. To prove I have a dog, for example, is a simple matter - I would simply show you the dog. Reasonable…

Strangelet (thing)

2001-06-02T20:52:41Z

The strangelet is a recently hypothesized form of matter, given a great deal of attention with the recent activation of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven. It is a form of quark matter: a substance formed when present energy is sufficient to allow quarks and gluons to overcome the strong nuclear force and become uniform matter. This, under normal circumstances, would only be possible in a neutron star. However, with the creation of the RHIC and 2008 initiation of the Large Hadron Collider, situations are present in which the absurd temperatures (10^13 kelvins) necessary can occur.

The strangelet itself is a possibility of quark matter which occurs when an up quark and down quark combine to form a strange quark, one that does not exist under normal conditions. If a large number of these transformations occured at the same time, a strangelet could be formed: quark matter consisting entirely of…

recreational drugs (thing)

2001-05-23T02:46:18Z

A recreational drug is most any chemical substance one would choose to consume to enjoy the effect it has on human biology. The most common of these are the depressants and stimulants, many of which are legal and common. A step away from the mainstream lie the also legally obtainable anti-depressants, anaesthetics, and more exotic prescription drugs. Completely unavailable to the populace are the opiates, hallucinogenics, and dissociatives(with the possible exception of very watered down forms in cough syrup and other over-the-counter items). Inside and outside these categories lies many other mystery forms, grouped into the narcotics, which come in varying levels of illegality and potency.

Recreational drug use has been common in various civilizations and still continues to be, despite legislation against most narcotics in many developed countries. This illegalization has gone to extremes in North America, notably because of the USA's famous War on Drugs/…

War On Some Drugs (idea)

2001-05-16T03:01:56Z

The reasons for the introduction of the FDA and like regulating bodies was certainly to control irresponsible production and distribution. However, this has absolutely nothing to do with the reasons behind illegalization of recreational drugs.

Some of the first drugs to be criminalized were done a while after they had become popular with unfavoured minorities. Many papers have made close associations to opium and Chinese immigrants, and a like association to marijuana and Mexicans. Opium was a more early legislated-against drug, done so in 1914. More interestingly, before marijuana's illegalization, the famous Marihuana Tax Act was pushed through the legislature by Henry Aslinger did not, in fact, illegalize marijuana. It merely taxed it to death - no one could any longer afford to produce it, and so soon enough it was cleanly criminalized.

To this day, hints of racism lie within American drug legislation. Most notably, the penalty of a 5 year mandatory minimum…

self-identity (idea)

2001-05-16T00:06:53Z

Self-identity is the mind's answer to the question "Who are you?"

Human beings are very, very similar. We are all composed from the same ratios of chemical constituents; we have only minor variations in height, weight, and colour; our anatomies all correspond. As physical constructs, we are only subtly unique. Yet we have the undeniable urge to establish ourselves as unique, as independent, with thousands of neat little idiosyncracies that define us as a person. We must be us. Be it socially obtained or biologically tattooed, one of any person's most motivating drives is the desire for identity.

It all begins at birth. You get a handful of interesting, esthetically-appealing names which are supposed describe you. Your parents dress you up in cute sailor suits and show you off to their neighbours. Sesame Street tells me that you are unique, just like everyone else. That you should be yourself, whatever that may be. But it…