#i still have to split this in a thousand classes bc of course its not a normal MVC architecture NO

[t-ierrahumeda]

Spent 4 hours formatting a fucking PDF with PDFBox and let me tell you that library is the devil. I still have to make a table and the amount of code to make a simple 3 column 2 rows table is insane, and IT DOESNT WORK. ITS IN THE DOCUMENTATION AND THE METHOD IS THROWING AN ERROR. FUCK ME.

[levisnackajack]

The Wrath of War

A/N

I had enough inspiration to write up another chapter. I had to skim through the events bc we all know how it went! Please let me know if you wanna be tagged or if you enjoyed the story! 

Chapter Three

Success.

Eden felt as though her heart would jump through her lungs and out of her chest. 

She was one of the top ten cadets in the 104th Southern Division. Scoring third after Mikasa and Reiner. 

In all honesty, she couldn’t care less about being part of the top ten. It wouldn’t change the fact that she would sign up as part of the Survey Corps. She just wanted to know that when she challenged herself; she was able to succeed; regardless of whether the mission held meaning to her. 

Eren pulled her and Mikasa into a tight embrace after the ceremony; Armin running to join in as well. They laughed and smiled; Eden felt like she was listening to the most beautiful song in the world. 

The fierce girl held rare moments like this protected behind the walls of her tender heart. Within pages of a book concealed from the outside world. 

That book was filled with memories of her and her friends. Her parents’ faces were barely visible on any of the pages. 

Her childhood wouldn’t necessarily be classed as tough. But it made her struggle as she grew; the lack of parental affection making her yearn to fill the void with all the love her friends would gift her. She was an only child; her mother wasn’t the exact epitome of a loving parent and her father was too busy with work; he almost always forgot when her birthday was each year. 

Eden grew to never depend on others (apart from her friends, of course); because she knew that no one in this world owed her anything and all luxuries came with a price. 

Brushing her cold thoughts aside; Eden beamed against Eren’s jacket, eyes widening at the sound of Mikasa’s soft chuckle. She looked up; her own shock reflected in tboth boys. 

The naturally somber mood soon came back and settled around everyone. Eden was so used to seeing glares, frowns and listening to gruff voices; the flicker of a smile was incredibly strange.

“This is it guys. We’re so close, I can practically feel the ODM gear strapped onto me as we fight these fuckers beyond the walls,” Eren announced darkly, tongue gliding against his lips. Armin nodded and Mikasa’s eyes sparkled. 

Eden sucked in a deep breath, lashes brushing against her skin as her eyes slipped shut. 

Soon, all this training would pay off. Her life would have a grander meaning. 

She smirked. 

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Eden huffed as she listened to Jean swearing under his breath beside her. Freshly graduated, her division was tasked with cleaning the artillery unit atop Wall Rose. 

No one verbally complained- but everyone looked very much disappointed. Each cadet yearned and thought over what their future branch would entail. 

Suddenly, all their thoughts were cut short by a figure which loomed over the wall, making their blood run cold. 

Commands were yelled out, ODM gears were tightened and the sound of the shrieks echoed through the air. 

But with a loud crack, the Colossal Titan disappeared as quickly as it appeared. There was no time left. 

The fresh cadets mixed with the Trost Garrison unit; intently listening to the strategy that could potentially cost them their lives. 

Eden was split up from Eren and Armin; tasked to accompany Mikasa and the elite Garrison unit with ensuring that all civilians were evacuated away from the northern gate’s rear. 

The girl did not know when the wall was breached; when the Titans swarmed in. It all happened way too quickly; she didn’t have enough time to catch her breath before the soldiers around her began dropping dead. 

Squeezing the grapple hooks of her ODM gear, the clasps sunk into the flesh of a titan with its back facing her way. Activating the gas mechanism, Eden propelled herself forward, heart beating soundly as her mind assured her that it was all a game. 

Just another mindless target like the ones we trained on during our time with the Training Corps.

Twisting her blades through the air, she let out a bloodcurdling scream as the surface of her weapons carved out the back of the titan’s nape. A moment later, it crumbled to the ground; the girl standing on its back hooking her clasps onto the wall of the closet building. 

Eden felt nauseous. She begged her mind to stop racing. She needed to focus. 

Soldiers around her fought for their lives only to be ripped into shreds between the teeth of the inhumane murderers. 

Following Mikasa, they battled hard against the seemingly infinite swarm of titans gushing through the breached wall. It was only when Armin’s cry reached her ears caused her to lose her concentration; that flicker of a second nearly costing the girl her life. Meticulously slicing the titan’s fingers off; she sprinted up its arm; her next blow aimed at its nape. 

Too many of them, too little soldiers. 

Eden abandoned her post, slaughtering any monster in her way as she looked for Armin and Eren. 

She found the blond boy with his head down, skin a sickly green color, eyes flowing with tears. Her own hazel eyes widened, cold chills peppering her skin. 

“Armin, where’s Eren?” 

Nothing. 

She asked him again, this time harder only to have his eyes meet hers in response. She took a step back. His answer had a cost of over one thousand words. 

Her mind must have completely blanked out- she didn’t notice Mikasa’s presence who had followed her back to their friend. She didn’t notice how her fellow raven-haired friend sprinted off the rooftop soundlessly, fingers pressing on the gas mechanism recklessly. 

Eden no longer had control over her body. Throwing herself into the sea of titans, she slashed and punctured every demon in her way. 

It was only when she heard the unfamiliar screech that something snapped in her- waking her of the nightmare reverie that took control of her body. Grief.

Still bruised and bloodied, Mikasa, Armin and Eden helped Eren up as he silently fumed at the confrontation. The Garrison Regiment...everyone was afraid of him. They had pointed canons at the four soldiers; their lives saved by Armin’s persuasion abilities that miraculously worked on Commander Pixis. 

Hurriedly making her way beside Mikasa, they jumped from one rooftop to the other; eyes planted on Eren. 

Eren was a titan. 

He had let out that same screech that had made everything tremble around Eden. Eren was responsible for saving all the surviving soldiers during the Battle of Trost. He had thrown himself to rip apart any titan in his way. 

Now, it was their duty to protect him as he risked his life to seal the breached wall. 

It took time and effort and a few more lost lives; but eventually Eren carried the boulder atop his shoulders; wedging it in between the broken wall. Eden and Mikasa followed him closely; taking turns mutilating incoming titans as the other one trained her eyes onto Eren. 

Once Mikasa had pulled Eren’s unconscious body out of his titan form; Eden swore under her breath as they backed up against the sealed breach. More titans headed their way. 

Eden tore her eyes away for them, raising a brow at Mikasa. 

“How much gas do you have left?” 

Mikasa checked her mechanism, shaking her head slightly. Eden nodded, flexing her wrists as she gripped her blades tightly. Activating her hooks, she gracefully flew through the air towards the first titan. A tall, incredibly ugly-looking titan. She clicked her tongue as she moved out of reach when it swung at her. She drove her dagger through its flesh, grinning as its blood sizzled against her blade. 

It was almost like a dance to her. Whipping through the air; carving through its nape; jumping off its back and onto the next victim. She felt like she could drown in the exhilarating feeling their deaths gave her. Knowing that one less person would suffer the traumatic scene she had witnessed when she was at the tender age of 13. 

After God knows how many slashed titans; Eden landed on the shoulder of an Abnormal. Her brows knitted together, she mustered enough energy to strike its spinal cord before someone clashed into her from the side. 

She gasped, panic overwhelming her as she struggled against the tight hold latched on her waist. A soft “tch” echoed through the air. Eden opened her eyes in confusion; her ponytail coming undone as her savior gripped her painfully tightly. She stared up at him puzzled; his bored, hooded stare, clenched jaw and knitted brows. 

Before she knew it; the man had thrown her onto the ground beside Mikasa carelessly; his compact green cape flowing with the wind as his silver eyes landed on her face for the first time. 

“Idiot. Did they not teach you to keep an eye out on your surroundings? Where is the Alpha Squad?” He inquired, his voice cold and emotionless. But the contortion of his expression betrayed how deeply irritated he was with Eden. 

“It’s just...us right now,” Eden replied, her tone reflecting his own, causing the man’s eyes to narrow dangerously. He scoffed, muttering an insult under his breath directed towards Eden before grabbing at his blades and heading back towards the titans. 

Eden felt the goosebumps litter her skin. She was so focused on that titan; she probably missed one trying to kill her from behind. 

She watched in awe as this man nonchalantly placed himself back into the battleground; his moves graceful and lethal. 

Eden wondered who the hell this man was. 

[antiaircraftcrayon]

Skipping Generations

*Pretty sure this was from a really old prompt I found on a google search or something... but I liked it anyway. Dear post, find your way to your home*

Prompt by: @writing-prompt-s​

Prompt: A friendship between a time traveler and an immortal. Wherever the time traveler ends up, the immortal is there to catch him up to speed.

Story:

[2020, late March]

Marcas held the hand of his friend.

“It looks like it’s that time again old friend,” he said. “I’ll be going now.”

Arter squeezed Marcas’s hand a little tighter.

“You’ve never been gone for too long,” Arter replied.

The moments creeped on, stretching into minutes and then hours. Arter fell asleep still holding Marcas’s hand, not noticing when it went limp between his fingers. The machine next to Marcas’s hospital bed sang a final, solemn note bringing the nurses attention to the room.

*** [2020, mid April] ***

It had been three weeks since Marcas’s death, two since his funeral. It had been a small ceremony, only close friends; no family. Marcas’s family hadn’t been present for a long time so of course they didn’t show. Arter was the only family Marcas had had. They were like brothers sharing a bond different than blood. 

Arter sat staring at the newest scrapbook in his collection. Fleeting moments, snapshots of Marcas’s life, even flash drives of brief videos they had spent together. Arter liked them but the scrapbooks were really for Marcas. 

He set the silver urn with his ashes in front of the scrapbook, holding his hand on the urn for an extra moment. This time had been special. He had lived a full life, exactly to the end of his days. All 100 years. It was rare for him to achieve it.

Arter looked down the shelves he kept in the hidden room within his home. So many urns and boxes, so many scrapbooks. Only a few of them reaching their full potential. Arter’s mind wondered back through the years of Marcas’s many lives, dwelling on his many deaths. It broke him inside every time but he held together knowing he would see his young friend walk through his door again.

Arter left the room, replacing the book case that covered the door. Grabbing the last bite of his bagel, he looked in the mirror on his wall and fixed his tie. Another day, another dollar. As he left his home, he pondered the next time he would see his friend again.

*** [447 BC] ***

Marcas sat cross legged on the coast near Athens opening his eyes and staring out into the sea. He had a strange feeling in his heart. After so many lives, he could feel their end. Almost like his heart skipped several beats, and then tried to make up for it by speeding up before settling back into rhythm. He had just died again.

Marcas brushed the hair out of Arter’s eyes, rising him from his midday nap. 

“I felt it again,” Marcas simply said.

Without opening his eyes, Arter replied. “I pray this one was a full life. Do you know? Was I a part of this life?” 

“I believe you were,” Marcas replied.

Arter turned his head towards Marcas’s face. “Can you be so sure of yourself?”

“I cannot. Though I choose to believe it to so. If not, my life would be nothing. I would wander the face of the Earth without knowledge of the age, doomed to a living without brother nor friend. No. You were there,” Marcas said.

“I hope so. Will you go again or shall we stay here awhile?” Arter asked.

Marcas’s eyes were already closed in concentration. 

“I will bring us some food, shall I,” Arter answered himself.

He rose and walked towards the city. Such a strange relationship he and Marcas shared. One bound to an endless lifetime, the other to live a thousand lives. A genuine curiosity.

*** [2025, mid January, first day of Spring semester] ***

“Now the text illustrates what the Greeks referred to as the Curse of Kronos, or rather the curse of time. Our slides illustrate what is believed to be the first occurrence of this myth, a stone tablet depicting two men on a cliff side. Unlike the myths of the Greek gods which were transformed by the Romans and altogether disbanded, the Curse of Kronos never gained true light until the early 1800′s when famed historian Marcas Aeternus made the connection between different cultures illustrating what is believed to be the same two men in silent contemplation.”

The young professor began cycling through slides as he named their era.

“A stone carving from 1st century Rome in the Colosseum.”

“Knights of the first crusade, dated to the year 1097.”

“A painting by Da Vinci, 1502.”

He cycled through slide after slide each depicting the same scene, one man relaxing his head into the lap of another.

“Professor? These could easily be two different men? It’s as if you’re saying a hieroglyphic of Cleopatra is the Mona Lisa,” said a student.

“This is true,” the professor responded. “But the goal of this course is not to cast myths and legends aside but to understand them. True this could be two men. But what if it isn’t? What if the Curse of Kronos is true and these men are two and the same, century after century? Again, the goal of this course is to understand the need for the myth in the context of the culture they are represented. Let us assume each of these artifacts depict the same two men. What does that mean for the culture in Greece when, we assume, these two men were first recorded? What does it mean for the cultures after?”

The presentation cycled to the final slide, a project rubric.

The professor addressed the class. “Today will be the beginning of our final projects. We are going to split into groups of four with the goal of taking a myth or legend from history and analyzing it from its origins until now. The project will...”

The classroom door opened interrupting the professor mid-sentence.

“Sorry I’m late Professor Arter,” the young man said through a smile. “It was hell to find the class.”

Arter failed to suppress his grin as he watched the student take his seat.

“Not a problem, Marcas. I will catch you up on everything you have missed after class.”

[stimmingandstruggling]

song lyrics that remind me of/inspire particular characters and moments in my shamble of stories

“Blood money, blood money. How do you afford this ring that I love, honey? ‘Just another shift at the drug company.’ ...he doesn’t think I’m that fucking dumb, does he?”- Sippy Cup, Melanie Martinez

Lili and Beckett Reese, particularly in a crossover au with my friends.

Orphaned at age 18, Lili gets into some Shady Shit to support herself and her 13 year old brother. Years later, Beck isn’t so naive. He knows what’s going on, and he doesn’t like it.

So, when Lili gets him a new iPhone, which he KNOWS she can’t afford, even with her multiple retail jobs (putting all her college savings into supporting them and saving for Beckett’s education left her options fairly limited), he gives her a chance to come clean.

She forces a smile, saying “just a couple extra shifts.” As she turns to leave, he calls out to her, stopping her dead in her tracks.

“You know, just because I’m a couple years younger than you doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I know where you’re getting this money.”

She’s silent for a moment.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You need a partner in crime (I need a partner in crime).”- Partner in Crime, Tuck Everlasting

Beck’s had it rough, so i gave him some happiness.

Meet soren!! Beck’s best friend, platonic soulmate, future platonic husband (get them tax benefits babeyyy), and... partner in crime.

MORE AROACE BOYS PLEASE

theyre a dynamic duo. Inseparable.

They met in a mechanical engineering course in colleg!! Beck is mainly a coding nerd but he needed the mechanics to go with the stuff he really wants to do, and soren just really fucking loves making shit

They’re so close that at one point-

Beck is taken into hiding bc in the main story uhhh Lili’s work is Dangerous (think government rebellion secret agents with superpowers) and he might be targeted. Milo, a shapeshifter, takes his place in class for a bit (and soren is aware of this)- but the class quickly notices something’s off bc “hey aren’t you and that kid who’s always putting wires in his mouth basically attached at the hip why are you so awkward now”

They become bros real quick tho so people let it go. Something seems Off but it’s not their business

“I dont think you have to leave. if to change is what you need, you can change right next to me... when you’re high, i’ll take the lows, you can ebb and i can flow, and we’ll take it slow... and grow as we go.”- Grow As We Go, Ben Platt

God, combining childhood friends, hurt/comfort, team mom/team dad, and Trust issues.

Alchemy and rumor. No, theyre not together- everyone in this story (called the Chaos Squad or just The Bastards) is aro. Found family supremacy.

When they were really little, Rumor was one of the few people Alchemy could talk to. She’s selectively mute, but he’s always been a safe space.

Years later, age 17, due to circumstances i dont feel like explaining, the world is almost fucking empty. Basically, there’s maybe a couple thousand people left (the others aren’t dead, just in space. There were more on earth but uhhh).

It’s either luck or fate that they find each other again.

Rumor is ecstatic. He can admit that he’s been worried- al is strong, but he’s always been a little protective. Of everyone, not just her.

He runs to her, and al flinches. He realizes that it’s been over 10 years- she probably doesn’t even remember him.

(She does. But the years have only made her sm worse, and she can’t fucking speak to anyone anymore. She wants to talk to him, but... the world has changed. She’s changed. He probably has, too.)

(He has. But his love for her is the same.)

Traveling together, they learn to trust again. Collecting a gaggle of idiots, they learn to laugh again. Watching the stars together, they learn to breathe again.

When the raids come and the wars break out, they all agree its best to split up. Stay inconspicuous.

...it’s either luck or fate that they find each other again.

“...I might fail you... I might fail you... i might fail- but that doesn’t mean that I won’t try.” “wash my hands of past mistakes.” “I’ll probably get the whole thing wrong!” “the weight of the worlds on my shoulders... like atlas is crushing me down. We’re not brave, we’re not strong, we’re not soldiers.” “i’m not leaving your side til we find what matters. I’m not leaving your side til we’re back home.”- Try, The Lightning Thief Deluxe

Alchemy and rumor- with bonus Chance.

First quote- al has a lot of trust issues. She’s been betrayed and abandoned so many times, she can’t let her guard down.

Rumor knows he might fuck up. He probably will. But he will always, always try to protect her. (”fuck you i dont need protecting” “yeah but i can watch your back and you can watch mine”)

Next quote- chance. He did a fuck up. He was only trying to survive, but in doing so, he betrayed the best family he’d ever had.

They were all pretty fucking mad, at first. Al especially. She spent so long doubting the others, only to be proven right.

But... chance is 14. Hes a kid. A kid in a terrible situation.

He’s going to redeem himself, even if it kills him.

Next- fuck ups, all of them. They’re gonna fuck it up, theyre going to fuck SHIT up, theyre going to get it wrong. Still, they cant just lie down and die.

Next- SO ONE OF THE CHARACTERS IS NAMED ATLAS BUT THATS NOT WHAT THIS QUOTE IS

Again- al and rumor are the oldest. They’re only 17. Chance is 14, Atlas and Charcoal are 15, Karma and Haze are 16.

They’re kids.

Last quote.

What matters and home are the same thing for them.

The others.

They are home.

[libertaridan]

Do We Live In A Democracy? Should We?

In my view many people today largely believe three false things about democracy:

That they know what it is;

That they should want to live in one as currently experienced;

That they do live in one.

We shouldn’t settle to live in a democracy as we currently experience it. It’s not a real democracy and emphasises all the negatives while diminishing many of the positives that ought to come out of living  in a democracy. It would be better, instead, to live in a Republic, but I’ll come on to that. Some people might say I’m splitting hairs and I’m happy to accept that, but I do think it matters.

Around 400 BC Plato rejected the Athenian manifestation of democracy because he believed it to be anarchic, lacking in unity, deferring to the impulses and whims of citizens, and run by fools. On virtually all of those points, if he said them today, he would be right.

According to Plato democracy mistakes anarchy (his use of the word) for freedom, and must degenerate into tyranny or mob rule (which I would argue is just another kind of tyranny).

In context – Plato was a statist, preferring rule by ‘philosopher kings’, a rare or mythical few who are wise but unwilling or lacking the ambition to rule over others. It is against this locus of power that he compares democracy and so we can understand why Plato called democracy anarchic – lacking a central plan and purpose and leader to ‘get the job done’. Perhaps if such wise and benevolent people Plato believed in could always be found, he might be on to something, unfortunately world history from ancient to modern times shows that such people are rare, and rarer still in positions of power. Instead the ‘man who can’ ends up being incompetent or a dictator. In most cases give someone a little power, as they suppose, and they immediately begin to exercise it badly to the harm of others.

It seems we can choose the tyranny of an all-powerful single ruler in a king or dictator, or the tyranny of mob rule in a modern unchecked democracy.

To highlight the inherent flaws in an un-checked democracy James Madison, one of the Founding Fathers of the USA, said this:

“…there is nothing [in democracy] to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” (James Madison, Federalist Papers Nos. 10 and 51)

According to him, if you want protection for weaker people, or people who think or believe differently, or who are outspoken, and if you want personal security, or to defend your property rights, you won’t get any of that certain in a democracy.

And he’s right, isn’t he? The form of democracy we live in hasn’t protected your property rights, has at various times and in various ways punished or coerced those who believe differently, or wish to live differently, to the great mass of people.

Here’s the thing, unchecked democracy allows people, you, me, our neighbours, our work colleagues, ordinary people, to use state power to do things to us that they couldn’t otherwise do. Things they wouldn’t dream of doing on an individual basis. None of your neighbours would dream of stealing money from your wallet every night to pay for their gym membership. But more than you realise think its OK to vote for higher taxes so you can fund the local leisure centre which you don’t use but they do.

Do you see what I mean?

Through democracy what is to stop your neighbours from voting higher taxes that rob you of your earnings? Or passing laws to tax the size of your garden until you have to sell up because you can’t afford to keep your own property? Or to ban things you like? Or coerce you to do things you don’t like? Where are the limits on this tyranny of mob rule?

There are none. And here is why.

Because the only limit on democratic mob rule comes through a limit on State power.

Why?

Because the result of democratic activity is enacted by state power. Limit the state, and you limit democratic mob rule or “collective force”. Instead of mob rule we might use the term “collective force”, it’s the same thing.

It is precisely for this reason that the Founding Fathers of the USA sought to address the criticism of James Madison, that “…such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property…”, by combining democracy with a republic (which is a State in which supreme power is held by the people, and flows up from the people to their elected representatives and elected President – rather than a monarch).

Within the republic framework, the Founding Fathers placed limits on State power within a written constitution. And this is important. Because where a government is limited, so is the opportunity for democracy to become tyrannical mob rule or of “collective force” likewise limited.

And we do want to limit that. Because without any limits democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. James Madison made that point very clear.

So, to use the two wolves and a sheep analogy, a government limited by a written constitution would not, for instance, have the power to kill the sheep to feed the wolves. It wouldn’t matter if it was two wolves voting against one sheep, or two hundred thousand wolves voting against one sheep, the government wouldn’t be allowed to do it, and so such a vote would be invalid, and have no effect.

And that’s really important for democracy, that’s how minorities, the weak, the outspoken, the ‘different’, you, your family, your freedom and your property are protected. Through a constitution that limits government, and which says government can’t hurt these people no matter how many people vote for it.

Bastiat, the French political philosopher, said the legitimate role government should be limited to as one that defends each person (their life), their liberty, and their property. The Law should be nothing more, and nothing less, than this. To him there is no place for “collective force” other than in defence of these three rights.

Such a government is indeed the aim of libertarians worldwide.

That’s what we want, right? We want to be protected. We don’t want to have to worry each election that this time we’re going to be the sheep being fed to the majority wolves. Right?

We don’t have such a limited government here.

According to Bastiat, in his essay “The Law”, governments as he experienced them, and it’s no less true for us today, governments have perverted the law. Bastiat says:

“…unfortunately, law by no means confines itself to its proper functions. …it has acted in direct opposition to its own purpose. …to limiting and destroying rights which its real purpose was to respect. The law has placed the collective force at the disposal of the unscrupulous who wish, without risk, to exploit the person, liberty, and property of others. It has converted plunder into a right, in order to protect plunder. And it has converted lawful defense into a crime, in order to punish lawful defense.” (Bastiat, The Law)

And we will recognise the behaviour of our neighbours, and even ourselves, at the ballot box when we read some of his further explanations.

“…Man can live and satisfy his wants only by ceaseless labor; by the ceaseless application of his faculties to natural resources. This process is the origin of property.

“But it is also true that a man may live and satisfy his wants by seizing and consuming the products of the labor of others. This process is the origin of plunder.”

“…when plunder is organized by law for the profit of those who make the law, all the plundered classes try somehow to enter — by peaceful or revolutionary means — into the making of laws. According to their degree of enlightenment, these plundered classes may propose one of two entirely different purposes when they attempt to attain political power: Either they may wish to stop lawful plunder, or they may wish to share in it.” (Ibid.)

This is what happens when government perverts law away from defence of life, liberty and property.

Ezra Taft Benson, former secretary for Agriculture under Eisenhower, had this to say about legalized plunder:

“Once government steps over this clear line between the protective or negative role into the aggressive role of redistributing the wealth through taxation and providing so-called “benefits” for some of its citizens, it becomes a means for legalized plunder. It becomes a lever of unlimited power that is the sought-after prize of unscrupulous individuals and pressure groups, each seeking to control the machine to fatten his own pockets or to benefit his favorite charity, all with the other fellow’s money, of course. … With each group out to get its share of the spoils, such governments historically have mushroomed into total welfare states. Once the process begins, once the principle of the protective function of government gives way to the aggressive or redistributive function, then forces are set in motion that drive the nation toward totalitarianism.” (Benson, Former Secretary for Agriculture under Eisenhower)

The answer, says Bastiat, is to restrict the law… or, in our words – limited government.

Well, we want it, but we don’t have it.

Because in the UK, there are no such limits on government. There is no written constitution stating what those limits are. The limits are legislation which can be changed at any time. We’re living in such a time now, the Coronavirus Act, as it’s known, imposes some of the most tyrannical restrictions we’ve ever encountered – and you and I weren’t asked for our consent. Let that sink in. The right to assembly, freedom of association, freedom of religion, even the ability to work was stripped away just like that! We can argue about whether it was justified – but my point is that it happened without any reference to your views on the matter. This is unlimited government in action. (We found ourselves in the EU in the same kind of way, with no reference to us – bear that in mind too.)

In the USA, at least in principle they are a republic, and any and all powers not specifically granted to the Federal government a retained in the individual states, and then it’s down to the constitutions of each state after that. Texas is an example of a republic in the republic. But in the UK, we’re not a republic of any kind. The courts recently ruled, among all the fighting over Brexit, that Parliament is sovereign – not you, and not me. In my view that is something that needs to change.

But even in the parliament is sovereign ruling we’re neither a republic nor what I would call a democracy.

Think about what happens in elections? You vote, for a person. Then they do whatever they do until the next election. How much voice do you actually have? You only get a referendum when Parliament decides to give you one. The whole Brexit campaign, that’s still going on by the way, showed exactly how little democracy we actually have on one hand. But then the spending promises in an effort to buy your votes with your money and your neighbour’s money show how much we do have on the other hand. We have just enough democracy for those in power to legitimise and maintain their power – not much more, and probably less.

I put to you another definition of democracy, one which we don’t enjoy now, but which I prefer. It’s much closer to pure republicanism, and it’s certainly libertarian…

How about we let each individual in the country make their own choices for themselves? Millions of little votes each day, manifested by the actions they take, in the direction they prefer. What, for instance, is more democratic than the free market – instead of cronyism and subsidy, each business transaction is a real-time vote in favour of a product or service, those who serve their customers best – they succeed, those who don’t – they fail. There is no coercion in this, no state or government picking winners and losers, there is just millions of individuals voting by choosing to do business or not. That to me is the ultimate democracy. Each represents themselves, making choices they believe will help them meet their individual objectives in life.

We can have this. We can even have it here in the UK.

To achieve it we need to elect MPs who believe in this and are willing to start undoing things that have been done in the past. We need to shrink the size and reach and power of the state. Then, with all the state meddling gone, with all the trappings of former democratic decisions that represent people imposing their views on their neighbours in things that were none of their business, gone! Then we can have this.

To get it we need more people to understand the true nature of democracy, how in its really vital form it naturally exists when people are free in all of their free choices as sovereign individuals while protected in their life, liberty and property.

The unlimited government we currently experience robs people of these freedoms, ultimately limiting naturally occurring democracy to whatever Parliament permits while it overreaches and perverts the true purpose of law away from the defence of life, liberty, and property to maintaining and growing its own power.

On that basis, back to the question. No. We don’t live in a democracy. We must not be fooled by the fact we get to vote every so often. This is all theatre. What we currently experience as democracy is the activated perversion of the law, in which the power of the state increases as electors fight between themselves via the ballot box, who will be the next victim of the next perversion of the law.

I choose individual sovereignty and individual freedom – that is where real democracy is manifest, and nowhere else. Until we have that, we don’t live in a democracy.

[livingbutamireally]

AY2019/2020 Y1S1 Module Review

AY2019/2020 year 1 semester 1 review

Started school around august after orientation camp in july, and had to study after doing nothing for months after a levels and finally had the taste of the rigour of this major.. semester 1 went by too quickly..

Modules taken this semester:

CS1010S

MA1101R

MA1521

BT1101

GER1000

CS1010S Programming Methodology (Python)

Prof: Ben Leong

Exam Dates: 2 Oct (Midterm) / 16 Nov (Practical Exam) / 27 Nov (Finals)

Weightage:

Coursemology – 25% (25%)

Participation – 5% (5%)

Midterm test – 15% (-)

Practical exam – 15% (20%)

Final assessment – 40% (50%)

(those in brackets are for those taking alternative final)

S in CS1010S is for science students, most students are either science students (DSA/ Life Science plenty) or BZA students.

Overall this module easily had the highest workload compared to other modules, having to rush missions every week, complete tutorials (this is pretty standard duh) and lecture trainings before deadlines for bonus points on a gamified platform. One could sit at their table wracking their brains for the whole day and still not be able to come up with a feasible code, or have their codes stuck with some bugs and not knowing how to continue. Really, without the help from fellow friends this module would be hard to get through. Luckily my TA was kind (and patient!) enough to explain such that my brain could get it. Ended up having to IP this module sadly… This module really requires your wholehearted devotion and really tests your patience i must say, especially for people who are not too intellectually inclined (aka me)..

They introduced a new scheme this semester aka Alternative Final, meaning you get to retake your midterm and finals by tabao-ing it into the next sem except you do your finals during the recess week instead of the finals, kinda like a half-retaking a module? Your grades for finals are IP-ed (in progress) rather than letter grades and the finals and midterms will be accounted for in the following half a semester albeit under different weightage components.

They said its a introductory module, but …………..

This year’s practical exam was particularly hard i think i had friends (even the zai ones) getting single digit marks… banked full in on the Method of Life question (Q5) of finals which is a giveaway question asking you how you can apply the concepts to other parts of your life and your main take-aways from taking this module (filled up the whole page and got full marks for it 4m) without this question i would have failed the paper..

Now i have to work hard the next sem… its kinda sad for us BZA students because CS1010S is a prerequisite for those wanting to take BT2101 and CS2030/2040 modules in the following semester (y1s2). Future students (esp BZA) please take the advice to consider this when deciding whether to IP…. because guess who didnt and regretted not thinking deeper…..

Ah one more thing to take note is the weightage is quite different for those IP/ alternative final people, theres higher weightage for the papers :_D

Ben Leong is a pretty good lecturer, hes solid in delivering concepts except my brain may be a little too slow for him.. Theres also lecture videos online that you can refer to and thousands of papers (with solutions!!) waiting for you to do.. something uncommon for many modules i heard? also, you get to see your final (scanned) paper through a website, in ben leong’s words “how cool is that?” he also uploads the mark scheme for your reference which is pretty cool imo. He’s a very interesting lecturer.

MA1521 Calculus for Computing

Prof: Leung Pui Fai

Exams: No midterms, just an online quiz (4 questions, most get full marks for), and the finals

Weightage: cant really rmb the weightage but i think its 40-60? i think tutorial attendance isnt graded..

They said this was just a repeat of H2 maths with more stuffs well boy i must say this wasnt as easy as they said.. okay maybe for me, ive always struggled with maths for a really long time. Surprisingly got a B for H2 Maths, i got a B3 for O levels really the blemish in my results. Got a B- for this module. Many people will say this is an easy module, you can trust them a little different in my shoes i guess. I didnt turn up for lectures for the half part of the semester since he talks a bit too slowly so i just watch the webcast sped up. But being a procrastinator i’m really behind on webcasts by the time the exams came.. i think i spent too much time on CS1010S and its still not enough.. if you dont have the discipline to watch them religiously at home, i would suggest you go for the lecture even though he may talk abit slowly but it forces you to not miss out on them. I dont really had the time (is it i wonder?) to do the tutorials either so i was also behind on them.. most of the time i just sat for tutorials and took the answers down to only work on them many weeks later (much regrets) so i didnt really understood what was going on as the TA went through. please dont be like me… the recess week was for sure not enough to revise/ learn all the content for all your mods for both midterms/finals so please dont be lazy like me…. this is the suffering i brought upon myself TT

Overall i think. it is not that hard a mod if you do your work consistently.. things got a little confusing towards the end i heard they dropped a whole chapter this semester glad they did.

MA1101R Linear Algebra I

Prof: Wang Fei

Weightage:

Finals (28 Nov, 2h)— 60%.

Mid-term test (4 Oct, 2h)— 20%.

3 homework assignments (4% per assignment) — 12%. 

An in-class Lab (MATLAB) quiz — 8%.

This was one of my most hardest period in my life and i say this on PERIODT. As if maths wasnt tough enough, this will really declare a survival of the fittest among your remaining brain cells. Friends told me maths came into their dreams… pls extinguish my soul. You must be thinking i am crazy for wanting to take 2 math mods in a sem right? ?

Yeahh no one really does that but it was my idea because i didnt want to do maths together with all the core core mods (BT and CS) next sem so i decided ah i should just get maths over and done with ( hAH real joke bc i couldnt clear CS1010S and i cant take 2k level mods for BT and CS and unlocked clown outfit because theres one more ST2334 core mod that involves probability and stats so much for thinking i will be over and done with for dealing with maths– someone tell me why did i choose this major again?)

Somehow along the way i realised the bell curve for this was surprisingly high i think those who chose this mod intend to delve even deeper in mathematics, mayhaps i joined the wrong major. The R in MA1101R actually stands for rigorous i didnt realise until my friend read the fine prints in the SOC Course Curriculum for BZA or sumn. Pure hell. There are 3 homework assignments (graded mind you) and most of the students get around 50++/60 i think i was the one of the rare few who flunked quite badly and always eyeballed by my TA (who is a prof for some 3k or 4k level maths, not for this mod though). I approached him for consults and for help and he was nice enough to sit me down and explain slowly. He’s pretty good at explaining slowly although he’s pretty fast in class (and most of the semester i had close to ZERO idea what was going on in class for pretty much most of the mods). Shockingly managed to pull out a C from my butt. The intellect of the students are no joke.. Homework assignments are every 3 weeks starting week 6 i think (so week 6, 9, 12) and i think are there to make sure you catch up with the work.

Oh lectures-wise, i sat for ½ of his classes, i really absorb almost nothing.. the rest of the lecture hall seem to get it though or so it seems. so i stopped attending my own lectures to watch the webcast for Prof Victor Tan too. His webcasts/lectures are really popular and it really owe it to his teaching, apparently he taught Wang Fei before and of course had over ten more years of experience. WF’s lecture turn-outs are comparatively less compared to VT. And on panopto (webcast platform) i think it was almost always 360++ views for VT as compared to a 80++/ was it 30++ for WF if i recall correctly. VT slides are also more concise and simple to understand where as WF’s ones are similar to the textbook. You are also required to purchase a textbook for this module costs around $20 from the co-op store in science and i urge you to purchase it asap when the profs announce they are made available bc they run oos quite fast.. the tutorial questions are from the textbook and the textbook is very simple and straightforward and put together by some of the lecturers/profs in school.

BT1101 Introduction to Business Analytics

Prof: Dr Sharon Tan, Desmond Ong

Weightage:

1. Online Quiz & Datacamp Assignments — 7%

Tutorial 1-4 — 8%

Tutorial 5 onwards — 15%

In-class Assessment (Written) — 10%

Practical Assessment — 20%

Final Assessment — 40%

In class assessment is held 2ish weeks after your midterms week so its kinda like your midterms?

Mm i would say this module is the most ?? its hard to put in words but if you read up the confessions page (NUSwhispers) regularly you would see many complaints that the mod is structured not as neatly as CS1010S its quite here and there everywhere and personal opinion, sometimes i dont know what i am supposed to learn but i guess its like that? The profs seem to value not wanting to spoonfeed and us learning on our own and stuff like that. I heard the mod was much harder in previous years and they simplified it a lot compared to in the past (which i really thank god) but its still a bit ?? They split it into two halves, first half of the sem is taught by Dr ST (Descriptive Analytics) and the next half by DO (Prescriptive and Predictive Analytics).

There are online videos to be watched every week even though you get lectures once every 2 weeks when Dr ST teaches and tutorials to be submitted to your TAs that are graded only after about 6/7 weeks. They leave comments (½ sentences someitmes shorter) and your marks received and thats about all so you dont really know where you went wrong since they are not marked paper and pen way. The tutorials are coding exercises for questions using the R language. They also used Datacamp to drill some of the basics of R for a headstart. Her workshop style lectures are a lot of on the spot learning how to code and stuff which i lag behind a bit because she goes a bit fast in order to cover everything. We learn new content via the online videos that we have to watch every week and theres quizzes for them too weekly iirc.

The next half by DO had no online videos (great!! and no quizzes!!) but weekly lectures and graded tutorials are due every 2 weeks(!!). There are still weekly tutorials but its only graded for every 2nd one, wow this saved me a lot of time phew. I didnt get to do the tutorials for those that are not graded but read through the questions so that i get a gist of whats going on, and somehow i really dont have the time to do it? CS1010S really absorbed a large chunk of my time cries. Finals was a oK it was not that bad i think. There are 20 MCQs and then about 4 structured questions? Closed-book with 1 A4 sheet cheatsheet.

Oh and the bad part about the tutorials are the tutors wont provide you with the model answers/codes so you’re really just on your own. You either get it or nah. :_D

GER1000 Quantitative Reasoning

Weightage:

1. Tutorial — 10%

2. 10 Weekly Quizzes — 20%

3. Project —35% (Presentation 10%, Final Report 25%)

4. Finals (28 MCQs, 2h) — 35%

No lectures so no profs, just weekly online videos and quizzes.

Tutorials are every odd/even weeks depending on the slot you chose.

Groups are arranged by the TAs beforehand.

This was pre-allocated for us so (grits teeth). Honestly a waste of time. One of the mods i neglected till the end to focus on other mods (which was worth it). The workload was manageable, of course (if not how to neglect). Every 2 week you meet together wiht your groupmates to discuss tutorial questions (each group will discuss 1 qn) and every tutorial class ended about 30min earlier. Nearing the end theres a group project report and slides to be done. Report is in the form of QnA so you just answer the questions and slides/ presentation is going through an article of a topic you chose (theres about 10) and you analyse the QR part of it what is good what can be better, etc. Theres also a bit of the stats part with probability and stuff but its a OK. Bell curve steep for finals (40 MCQ, 2h) but most finished in 1h and left the hall, i was one of the few who stayed till the end even though i was just staring at the paper into the depths of my soul for reasons unknown) It’s a lot about experiments not really the scientific/ calculations part of it but understanding about coming up with experiments, the pros and cons of carrying things out a certain way in loose terms something like the art of crafting experiments? makes you think a bit deeper how and what people think and not so dry i guess.

Epilogue

i guess thats a wrap–new semester starts soon :( i think this might be the first module/semester review tumblr blog but i hope this can be of help to anyone, to anyone at all. the owner of many of similar review blogs get really stellar results which i may be too out of league from so i hope this brings comforts to those who are doing not so well and encourage them because im not any different we exist, and we’ll survive.

CARPE DIEM 2020 LETS GEDDIT