The grade for my last college elective class, Religion and Philosophy (HUM400) got posted late last night.

A, with a 97% average.

With that my Bachelor's degree is done with, and I can go back to focusing more on FA, FAF, writing, editing work, and studying for my sommelier qualification, and my cicerone certification.

PS: Totally sliced the top off a bottle of champagne in celebration.

PPS: Sucks for whomever I get matched up against in the roleplay battle tournament. Now there's very little stopping me from posting quickly and nastily.

Much less hail like this!

TO ALL IN MY WATCH-LIST!!!!!!:

!!!!

!

Right now I'm involved in a roleplay battle tournament, and I'm using a character I've had for a LONG time, but which has been long unused.

In all the time I've used this particular character, however, I've never gotten a reference sheet done, or any IC action pics. Right not I've got a commission in the works of a ref-pic for him from  Gasmask, but it's been a while, and he's still a few slots away from progress.

This is the text-profile for the character in question: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5484165/

Battle thread one: http://isamahii.com/index.php?topic=320.0

Battle thread two: http://isamahii.com/index.php?topic=459.0

THe problem I'm running into is that as I browse my watch-list for artists I'd like to pay for, I see that most of them have closed their commission slots. So I'm hoping to expand options by doing a bit of networking via this journal. I'm aiming to get a few nice quality action scenes from the various fights he'll be in (one of which I've already won), and I'll be paying around $$0-50 per piece. Backgrounds are a must, and is the rates are reasonable for a second character to be featured (ie, the opponent's character) I'd happily opt for that as well.

This journal is for:

a) Artists who watch me and who feel the character and concept are the type they like the draw. Pop up a comment saying you like the idea, give me a few examples of the style you'd use, and toss me your rate.

b) Watchers who think they know of an artist with a style that fits the theme, and who is taking commissions. Pop me a link to their page and examples showing their style.

"Seth Myers did a great job at the White House correspondence dinner....But this weekend President Obama really killed.

Listen, I'll be frank here.

I'm prior military. I'm an Iraqi Freedom veteran and a prior Naval Security Department member. And I am not shy about saying I'm damn glad OBL is dead, and that I'm even happier it was American forced that fired the shots.

That is cold, and that is even amoral. I acknowledge that. I know that and I'll accept that.

But it's a fact nonetheless.

It's called The Grand Tournament; a bi-annual(ish) event hosted on roleplay forums that have a strong interest in sparring between characters.

It started back in 2006. The third iteration is going to be this year, and registration has begun for one of the 32-64 available slots.

The first GT was hosted on its own home-forum (www.thegrandtournament.com). There was no 'plot', unless the participant wanted to use a single character and have them maintain a storyline from fight to fight. The goal was entirely to test the flexibility and skill of the individual players. The format was a very simple and very straightforward: 'You sign up at the start, you're slotted into a seed, the seeds are arranged in brackets. When you get your opponent assignment you and they settle on the format of your fight, your chosen characters go at it, and if you win you move on.'

There was also a division for 'speed' battles, which took place in messengers or chats, where the goal was to battle your opponent while typing at the craziest pace possible, while still maintaining a cohesive exchange.

I'm happy to say that I made it all the way to the finals of the 2006 GT ;) I had to forfeit the last battle, due to working 12-14 hour shifts at work that were killing me IRL.

Following the GT06, the site became a tracking system for roleplay communities across the internet to have their players register at, and maintain a record of the fights they won or lost on their own home forums. If you and someone you were battling on your board were both registered on the GT site, you could use its system to record the event, and have yourselves ranked among the competitors from all the different communities.

The 2008 GTwas hosted on the webmaster's home forum, RoleplayGateway (http://www.roleplaygateway.com/).

It did not maintain the 'no plot' format of the first. It had a set IC storyline, a limit of one character per player to maintain consistency, some more concise restrictions on character types and powers, and more 'bells and whistles' (like specially drawn avatars for the participating characters).

The GT08 ended in utter failure.

Instead of having a staff of judges to help spread the workload of looking over the fights, the webmaster (Remeaus) did the judging of every single fight himself. He did not enforce the rules established at the start of the tournament equally across all members participating, allowing some to do certain things, telling others not to; he did not elaborate on his reasoning no matter how much he was pressed; he didn't enforce the IC rules for characters in fights that were explicitly stated to not be violated; and as the judgments progressed they gradually got more and more shoddy, often with Rem refusing to detail what went into them. I myself lost a fight to an opponent who would rewrite actions that had already taken place to cut-off any negative effects to himself (this is referred to as writing an 'Interrupt', since it changes the flow of what the other person posted), and who broke the IC rules repeatedly (killing audience members, leaving the arena's designated area, etc). When I confronted the operator about it, he said he'd never intended to enforce the IC rules in the first place (despite having done so in previous threads).

I cut-off contact with him, and left his staff on www.thegrandtournament.com. The tournament ended when both of the finalists (one of them being the guy that dicked around in my thread with him) got tired of Remaeus' shoddy organizing, and mutually threw the fight by having a giant monster interrupt their battle and eat them. One of them was declared the Champion of the 2008 GT anyway by Remeaus, because he 'felt there had to be a winner, even if both of them threw the fight.' Go figure.

Since I was the only moderator working on the GT's home forum, this meant the GT forum became an unmodded one, and since Rem never appointed anyone in my place, it stayed that way for over two years after being renamed 'The Hall of Records', and gradually became a wreck of a troll haven.

GT2010 was announced by Rem during my time away. But he failed to come even close to getting it organized, so it never occurred.

GT2010 was reannounced in 2011 by Rem, and was going to be hosted on www.thegrandtournament.com. A surprise was that Rem was handing over Administration of the forum to one of his RoleplayGateway admins, Pseudosyne, and Rem himself would just be taking care of organizing the GT while the HoR would run under new management. He also announced that he was working on the Hall of Records 2.0, to correct some of the bugs that had cropped up with the original site, add new features, and overall make it prettier.

Pseudosyne approached me, asking me and another staff member get the HoR forum back into shape. Since Rem was largely out of the operating picture, I accepted. We've buckled down, cleared out a ton of the stuff that's choked the forum, and taking out the inactive accounts and alternates that the more dishonest members set-up, and will soon be getting the scoring ladder back into good order.

Rem, being Rem, failed to provide any updates regarding the GT2010-11. He never even addressed anyone on the objections raised about the rules that he posted for it. So after months of zero communication from him Pseudsyne and I approached another forum member about hosting it on his own site.

The member, Ran, accepted, and his forum staff has begun to organize the Grand Tournament 2011 on his site, Isamahii.

http://isamahii.com/index.php

The Tournament is switching back to the more flexible scheme of the GT06. The detailed rules of the game are in the News and Announcements section of the Isamahii forum. Those of us on the HoR staff will be helping Ran's crew get things going, and we'll be making sure all the fights are accounted for, but the majority of the Tournament will be the effort of Ran and his staff. If you like a competitive environment, imaginative characters (albeit they're going to all be geared towards killing or bloodying foes up), and want to test your skill at battle writing then give the site a gander or ask any questions you'd like. I'm one of the ones helping to get it going this time around, and I'd be happy to help.

Turns out the hotel's vacation black-out dates are set in virtual stone. The managers know I'd love vacation then, but the higher-ups have given a very solid stance on not approving vacation requests (even ones well in advance) for June.

Ahh well. Always next year.

I'm planning on going for 2011, and I'll be staying in the Omni William Penn Hotel.

I gotta check with the restaurant, of course, and make sure there's vacation slots open then. But I doubt there'd be anything really stopping me from requesting it this far in advance. No one else will be.

I'm planning on riding the Piaggio there, and it'll be my main means of transport around the con and surrounding city area. If you're planning to go, look for it! I might try to get a tail, shoulder plate, and ears for my riding suit as well.

Edit: I checked with the management about my vacation time and taking it in June. It's kinda dubious right now, since they usually don't allow vacation in such a busy month.

I asked anyway, since it's my first time asking for vacation time after over a year of employment, and also it's being asked for months ahead of time, so they do have plenty of advance planning leeway.

Fingers crossed.

I'll be swinging into this blogtv chat to watch/listen in. If anyone cares to join, shibby! The more viewers/participants the better.

I was surprised last night by the sight of  Karithekat putting up a journal saying he was intent on stepping down as the owner of the  HermFurs group. Since he was looking for new owner candidates, and since I've got a good bit of herm content in my gallery and favorites already, I put my name in as someone interested.

Kari accepted me, happily So I've assumed the role as the group's operator.

A few other members that I watch have popped this journal up. I've never really been shy about answering questions, so I'll give it a whirl myself.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The rules are simple:

-You must answer every question you get no matter what it's about and you must do so honestly. ONLY ONE QUESTION

-There are no questions that can not be asked as long as they are within reason. They can be personal, about oc's, and every thing inbetween.

Think of it as a truth or dare of sorts, only without the dare option.

Youtube is home to some very...unique people.

I watch a good deal of the Creationism vs Evolution debates (that's a loosely used word, I assure you, since the Creationism side consists of lots and lots and lots of utter shit), so I've seen a good share of the crazies. I haven't really been approached by any of them before though. Popped my cherry tonight though!

Kinda sorta, anyway.

I got a friend invite unexpectedly from someone named Fringeelements (http://www.youtube.com/user/fringeelements). As a matter of course, I don't accept friend-invites on youtube unless I have some idea of what the tuber approaching me does there. If they're someone with a common interest, a commenter on the few videos I have, or someone I know well enough to actually call them a friend then I'm fine with it. Beyond that I just hit the ignore button.

I was curious this time, so I sent them a PM.

I usually don't accept friend invites that come out of the blue. If I accept someone's invite it tends to mean that I already have an interest in their content, or at least to some extent I consider them an actual friend.

What prompted the invite, if I may ask? I don't recall seeing any comments or favs from you under anything in my submissions.

I was surprised to get a reply back within the hour. It....wasn't quite what I was expecting, either in the areas of coherence, or giving-a-shit.

No, I mass add to get people to see my videos, which are important. An act of state is an act of war, statism is retrograde, and there is an imperative for everyone to recognize this. Other political philosophies and movements are crap, mine is good, and so you should watch my content to the exclusion of others until you agree with me and then start advocating my ideas yourself. That's all I'm interested in.

If you don't give a shit about me, I recommend Hayek's "Road to Serfdom" and Rothbard's "For a New Liberty" as decent intros. My videos are like an intro to an intro, as is my book.

I'm not interested in your opinions, they're probably some lame social-democrat institutional tried-and-failed BS, though you should be interested in mine because mine are much better thought-out and have more evidence. For example, every piece of a stateless society has been proven in isolation, non-state police in Kalamazoo had twice as many patrols at half the cost and focused on victim restitution instead of punishment, Rural / Metro and TAS provide Fire / EMS / Ambulance services typically for roughly half of state analogs and have faster response times and make special arrangements for those who cannot afford the services, usually providing free service to people in an area if they can prove they are poor. The cranick fire incident involved a gov't fire agency, and the old city police agencies almost certainly had some city politics bullshit that hampered the ability of non-state agencies to do their job. Non-state military agencies have proven more effective at any task assigned to them on a per-dollar basis, with mercenary armies in africa raising armies in weeks and quickly defeating much larger opponents, and almost all defense R&D is contracted out to "private" agencies today, and so the only problem is funding and control of the defense agency. Whatabout... But that's enough here, if you are interested you will look.

I'm not interested in providing sources for these claims as you can find them on google and in the process of research you will come upon other things so you should do that instead of whatever you were planning to do tonight.

I was editing a story of Hellkat's at the time, but I just started choking with laughter, so I had to put HK's story aside and type this up. I honestly can't imagine what kind of drivel a conspriacy nut and anti-social twit would cram into an actually published book.

I shot him back a short reply.

Reading your reply to my PM was a waste of 2 minutes of my life. Give them back.

Does this journal come across as on the arrogant and rude side, maybe a bit. Interactions like this are par for the course for Youtube, and free-speech on the part of even people with totally nuts conspiracies and political ideologies is still free speech. But the sheer and total lack of communication, respect, and social ability can be outright galling.

I have a skeptical streak a mile long when it comes to the reasons Republican electives would have voted to get DADT repealed.

However, skepticism aside, I'm overjoyed this finally happened. It's a superb step forward for this country.

Sa-weet! Sa-weet sa-weet sa-weet!

During the last few days I've been taking a motorcycle basic safety class at the local community college. The course gives a run-through of basic procedures, common occurrences, and good habits for new motorcycle riders. Upon completion the students who take it (and pass the final exams) are given certificates that can be turned in at the local DMV for a license update without having to take the DMV test.

I took the course, scored a perfect on the knowledge test, and passed the riding test really easily. There were a few marks knocked off because of my braking, but I was still well in the green when it comes to the passing margin.

So.....Yay! I'll be relegating the Yamaha C3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYLYEg8O674) to my back-up vehicle in short while, and in its place my new primary transportation will be the Piaggio MP3 500ie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj1irO5UY68 (video is for the 2008 model. I'll be getting the 2010)
http://www.piaggiousa.com/scooters......io%20MP3%20500

I putted my way down to the local elementary school at 7:50am on my little moped to beat the lines, and I cast my ballot.

I can't exactly endorse that to everyone, since it's freezing cold around my way, and since I went to bed early last night due to being completely exhausted. Early to bed, early to rise, as they say. It was just chance that lead to that happening on the day that polls open.

I can and do endorse that everyone who's of age and registered to vote though, and not give in to apathy, stubbornness, or conspiracy crap. I don't care what party you're rooting for, or what cause, just get down to the polls in your area and put your vote in.

Copied from: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101012.....ys_in_military

By JULIE WATSON, Associated Press Writer Julie Watson, Associated Press Writer – 5 mins ago

SAN DIEGO – A federal judge issued a worldwide injunction Tuesday immediately stopping enforcement of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, suspending the 17-year-old ban on openly gay U.S. troops.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips' landmark ruling also ordered the government to suspend and discontinue all pending discharge proceedings and investigations under the policy.

U.S. Department of Justice attorneys have 60 days to appeal. Pentagon and Department of Justice officials said they are reviewing the case and had no immediate comment.

The injunction goes into effect immediately, said Dan Woods, the attorney who represented the Log Cabin Republicans, the gay rights group that filed the lawsuit in 2004 to stop the ban's enforcement.

"Don't ask, don't tell, as of today at least, is done, and the government is going to have to do something now to resurrect it," Woods said. "This is an extremely significant, historic decision. Once and for all, this failed policy is stopped. Fortunately now we hope all Americans who wish to serve their country can."

Legal experts say the Obama administration is under no legal obligation to appeal and could let Phillips' ruling stand.

Phillips' decision was widely cheered by gay rights organizations that credited her with getting accomplished what President Obama and Washington politics could not.

"This order from Judge Phillips is another historic and courageous step in the right direction, a step that Congress has been noticeably slow in taking," said Alexander Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, the nation's largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans.

He was the sole named veteran plaintiff in the case along with the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay rights organization that filed the lawsuit in 2004 to stop the ban's enforcement.

Gay rights groups warned gay troops not to make their sexual orientation public just yet. Aaron Tax, the legal director for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said he expects the Justice Department to appeal. If that happens, the case would be brought to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, where the decision could be reversed.

"Service members must proceed safely and should not come out at this time," Tax said in a statement.

Supporters of the ban said Phillips overstepped her bounds.

"The judge ignored the evidence to impose her ill-informed and biased opinion on our military, endangering morale, health and security of our military at a time of war," said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, a women's group on public policy. "She did not do what Congress did when it passed the law and investigate the far-reaching effects of how this will detrimentally impact the men and women who risk their lives to defend us."

The case put the Obama administration in the awkward position of defending a policy it wants Congress to repeal.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a Republican, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, the military's top uniformed officer, have both said they support lifting the ban. But Gates and Mullen also have said they would prefer to move slowly.

Gates has ordered a sweeping study, due Dec. 1, that includes a survey of troops and their families.

President Obama agreed to the Pentagon study but also worked with Democrats to write a bill that would have lifted the ban, pending completion of the Defense Department review and certification from the military that troop morale wouldn't suffer.

That legislation passed the House but was blocked in the Senate by Republicans.

Gates has said the purpose of his study isn't to determine whether to change the law — something he says is probably inevitable but up for Congress to decide. Instead, the study is intended to determine how to lift the ban without causing serious disruption at a time when troops are fighting two wars.

"The president has taken a very consistent position here, and that is: 'Look, I will not use my discretion in any way that will step on Congress' ability to be the sole decider about this policy here,' " said Diane H. Mazur, legal co-director of the Palm Center, a think tank at the University of California at Santa Barbara that supports a repeal.

Government attorneys had warned Phillips that such an abrupt change might harm military operations in a time of war. They had asked Phillips to limit her ruling to the 19,000 members of the Log Cabin Republicans, which includes current and former military service members.

The Department of Justice attorneys also said Congress should decide the issue — not her court.

Phillips disagreed, saying the law doesn't help military readiness and instead has a "direct and deleterious effect" on the armed services by hurting recruiting during wartime and requiring the discharge of service members with critical skills and training.

"Furthermore, there is no adequate remedy at law to prevent the continued violation of servicemembers' rights or to compensate them for violation of their rights," Phillips said in her order.

She said Department of Justice attorneys did not address these issues in their objection to her expected injunction.

Phillips declared the law unconstitutional after listening to the testimony of discharged service members during a two-week nonjury trial this summer in federal court in Riverside.

She said the Log Cabin Republicans "established at trial that the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Act irreparably injures servicemembers by infringing their fundamental rights." She said the policy violates due process rights, freedom of speech and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Phillips is the second federal judge in recent weeks to throw the law into disarray.

A federal judge last month in Tacoma, Wash., ruled that a decorated flight nurse discharged from the Air Force for being gay should be given her job back as soon as possible. Barring an appeal, Maj. Margaret Witt who was suspended in 2004, will now be able to serve despite being openly gay.

Gay rights advocates have worried they lost a crucial opportunity to change the law when Senate Republicans opposed the defense bill last month because of a "don't ask, don't tell" repeal provision.

If Democrats lose seats in the upcoming elections, repealing the ban could prove even more difficult — if not impossible — next year.

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy prohibits the military from asking about the sexual orientation of service members but bans those who are openly gay. Under the 1993 policy, service men and women who acknowledge being gay or are discovered engaging in homosexual activity, even in the privacy of their own homes off base, are subject to discharge.

Stephen Colbert just said that he wanted people to come to the march in costume, since it's on Halloween Weekend.

He then specified that he wanted the costumes to involve things he'd taught people to be afraid of.

These included: bears and werewolves

This means: The March to Keep Fear Alive is officially fursuit friendly!

I was planning to attend The Rally to Restore Sanity, but I'll wear my slit-pupil contacts and attend both, just to make sure I cover things as best I can.

 MaverickCowboy, via AIM, gave me control of the  NRAFurs group.

I have off for the next few days, so I've put up a journal there asking for confirmation of active membership, plus a request for a shout-out on Mav's userpage. He's going through some tough stuff right now, and any displays of support are displays I'd highly encourage. If you're willing, a 'feel better' post on his user-page would be spectacular to see.

I'm going to tweak a bit about the group's page, and I'll do some extra work to keep activity there constant. Other than that, this is just a very general head's up.

Hah! I don't even need heavy description in the journal! It's all laid out in the video!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy.....l?hpid=topnews

By a Californian federal judge at that.

It's about time the case and issue got addressed more. Obama pushed on getting it repealed himself, and this is a wonderful turn of events to see occur. Now it's not just an Executive and House issue, but also a judicial precedent.

The job opening is in Washington DC. If that's out of reach for anyone, skip this journal. If it's of interest to you, follow the link.

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1631565/

 DDragon and I made a deal. He plugs  Hospitality_Furs, I plug his site.

He did, so I'm doing.

DDragon offers up interesting and entertaining commentary on bits of news, culture, and mostly gaming on his home website: http://testzerosblog.blogspot.com/ , and on his YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/DragonslayerProd . His 'VideoGameBunker' productions are damned nicely composed, and they're a good contrast to people like TheNostalgiaCritic, and other gaming nerds (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IU0porKvtg).

 Tobias_Vale and I are working on a group together,  Hospitality_Furs.

And since it's just starting up, that means we have absolutely no members listed other than ourselves.

I'm not sure what the percentage of those who watch me is when it comes to what industries they work in. I figure most of you are pokemon, TF, or writing fans.

But if you're involved in customer service to any extent please do throw me and Tobias a bone or two. Or link a few other friends to the page and see if they'll join. We wanna try to get some material built up and get some participation stewing.

This is my first politics centered journal (I really wanted to use the term 'political-ish', but this really isn't a wishy-washy journal entry). I'll probably be doing a few of these, and the general aim is to develop a better view of what motivates political affiliations (or disconnects) within members of our fandom here.

This one is geared strictly towards the LGBT community who're watching me.

It is: Of those of you in the LGBT community, who is Republican, who is not, and why? (look at that! Bolded and italics!)

I myself am registered as an Independent, and while I am on the left a bit it's nothing in the extreme. I count myself as much more a centrist than anything else on most matters.

But some political affiliations and focuses I want to understand better because I do not have knowledge of the motivations and beliefs that found them. I have seen journals by members who have stated very clearly that they're proud republicans, but at the same time they themselves have interests and motivations that most (stress that, MOST, not all, but most) republican political leaders are in stark objection to. The central point in this journal would be issues of same-sex or trans-sexual rights, which I've frequently observed many, many, many republican representatives doing their best to campaign against.

I'd be genuinely stupid to say that I don't want commentary from the straight members who read this. But I do want to stress that that's not the side of the issue I would like to see represented in this journal. I'll have more up geared towards their outlook on this issue and on others after this one runs its course, so different outlooks will certainly get their say.

What I will say I don't want to see is flaming, baiting, ass-hattery, etc. I want reasoned statements and opinions. If I feel someone is being way to emotional regarding other members, or is stirring things up too greatly, there'll be blockage.

So....yeah, I'm 27 today. YAY!

I think I'll get some bubbly, or snag a commission from someone. I've been tempted to ask  Uniformvixen for a while now.

More specifically, for those looking for a job to pay the bills.

The restaurant I work at is in the hotel I work at in Washington DC, The Mandarin Oriental (http://www.mandarinoriental.com/was.....og&src=ppc)

It's the Sou' Wester restaurant, fairly newly opened back in September of 09'. http://www.mandarinoriental.com/was.....ing/souwester/

Recently the management there was given approval to hire several back-waiters (the position I hold, though I'm going to be pushing for front waiter soon). Not only that, but one of our front-waiters left as well.

Right now there are several slots available for FOH service at the back-waiter level. Management will need to approve the open front-waiter position.

But I'm tossing this out there as an announcement anyway, for anyone in the local area that's interested and doesn't mind the commute. I won't respond to much in this journal directly, but if you want further details on the job, commute, company, etc, contact me on one of my messengers or via Note.

Edit: The positions have been filled.

Not by furries, sadly, but filled nonetheless.