The (Real)Goober Frequently Asked Questions!
Or, the "Get to know Goober" Post
Ok, time to answer some things about me, as others have done. First, i hate the name "RealGoober", I much prefer Goober, or Goobsie. But, I signed up as RealGoober, and TF stubbornly refuses to change it, so i am stuck with this name. Goober is a work nickname that i liked. I know that it means Peanut down South, and I am aware, but don't care, of the other meanings for it.
Where did I get my Avatar?
Many of you might remember me having the Peanut and Leaf avatar long ago. Well, I got tired of that one day, and was cleaning out my PMs about a month or 2 ago, when I found a random PM from Gogf about an Avatar that I might like. So I checked it out, and it linked me to one of the billion and a half pages in the Avatart Thread. Apparently the nice folks there were making Canadian Avatars, and Gogf thought I might like this one. i did. So now I have it. It is the Canadian Coat of Arms on top of a waving Canadian Flag, in case you were wondering. And stormy is different then Stormy, for the record. I am referring to strombind as stormy, versus Stormy as Stormbringer, the mod extraordinaire.
Who am I, what is my background?
Well, i am not giving out my real name, but I am from a smallish city called Victoria, in Canada. Its on that island just above Seattle on the map. The Southern tip of the Island in fact. I have lived there since, well, living memory, moved there when i was 6 or something. I like it, its small, around 350,000 peole, but its my size. Its a nice place, quiet, small, full of retirees. My background is that I am 18 year old male, bisexual, not religious (non-religious family, but slowly discovering things about God and the bible). I used to be all aetheist, but now i am slowly shifting gears to being agnostic, a small step, I guess.
What are my political views?
I used to be a hard-line Communist, believe Communism was the true thing and everything, back when I was 13ish. 5 years later, I have changed quite substantially. I am now left-leaning in my views, but fairly fiscally Conservative. Here are my views on certain issues:
- Abortion - Pro-choice. Its the women's body, she can do what she wants with it. In Canada, this is a done and settled issue, which is why i wonder why all you Americans have endless debate about it.
- Fetus->Human - In my view, the fetus is not human until the cord connecting the fetus to the mom is cut, and the fetus breathes etc. on its own. Up until that point, abortion is fine. I treat the fetus as an attachment to the mom, like an arm or a leg (yes, some will want to throw up right about now).
- Homsexuality, and Marriage thereof - Like i said, I am bisexual. Anybody who discriminates against Homosexuals is committing a crime, IMO, and that includes the Government. If I were an American, I would be pissed to hell with Bush. Same with Marriage, if you allow only heterosexuals to marry, and not homosexuals, then you are committing a crime, and are being hypocritical. Homosexuality is not a choice thing, its in your genes. you do not choose to be homosexual. This is science, if you do not believe that, then you need help. I will explain about my views on the bible later.
- Taxes, budgets, etc. - I know little of taxation and stuff, but i do know the basics. Taxes, I believe that Government should take only what it needs and no more. The Government should be fiscally responsible, that is, have no deficits. If a Government runs a deficit, then they are failures as politicians, and should go home, only change is during war. i am not a Tax and Spend Liberal, i do believe in taking and spending what is needed only.
- Bush - As a Canadian, I prefer Bush to Kerry. But, the only thing i really care about Bush as a Canadian is our economy. Bush is a Free Trader, Kerry is a Protectionist (generally). I want a Free Trader, 'cause he will be better for Canada. Thus, as a Canadian, I support Bush. If I were an American, I would detest Bush with all my guts. Many reasons, first, his anti-Homosexual Marriage things, second, his stupid War in Iraq, third, his policies, etc., etc., etc.
- The War on Terror - I am not an American, therefore i will never know what it is like to be attacked by terrorists. My country was not attacked. But, my way of living was, in fact, by attacking the USA, the terrorists attacked all of our way of living, and our fundamental right to be free peoples. We must defend that. I therefore support the War on Terror, although a War is probably not the best way to do that, it has worked, hasn't it? Canada's contribution is small, considering out crappy military, but we have helped.
- The War on Iraq - This was useless, IMO. This was about Al-Queda, and terrorism in general. Al-Queda was not hiding in Iraq, if they were, Saddam didn't know. Saddam was not a true muslim anyway, he used it when it suited him. Osama is a fundamentalist. No way that they would work together. But, Saddam did help terrorist groups, like Hamas, etc. Second, Saddam never posed a threat to the USA. He never had Nukes. he could not physically harm the USA in any way, shape, or form. I believe that attacking him was the wrong thing to do, Iran and Syria, among other nations, probably helped Al-Queda a lot more then Iraq, not to mention Saudi Arabia. IraqII will be another Vietnam, i think, and is Bushes second biggest mistake as President.
- Canadian Military - It sucks. Badly. Leaky Subs, Kamikaze helis, and '60's Tanks, to name but a few. But we don't need a large military. A bit of a larger one would be good, but we have our American friends and NATO, we have nothing to worry about, eh?
- HealthCare - I am a proponent of 2-tier healthCare. Clearly, our system costs way too much, and is not very effective. The American system costs, in the end, more, and is worse, but delivers more timely care to those who can afford it. Therefore, I believe that we should have a 2 tier system. The Government runs services for those taht cannot afford it, and private companies for the rest.
- Unions - I believe that they are necessary to protect the rights of the worker, but that they have become too controlling today. Everywhere, in Canada, Unions and Government constantly duke it out, Unions strike, disrupt services, then Governments dish them out more money. We need to change this, and now.
- Drugs - IMO, people should be able to consume all the drugs that they want. Drugs should be legalized, the Government grows them and sells them, but people can only consume them in certain locations, otherwise, harsh penalties. But, before they do so, the users must be aware of the risks. if people wanna kill themselves, fine, let them. But, offer information, and services to help them when they realize the effects, and wanna stop.
- Euthansia - It should be allowed to everybody. I would ideally like a system where anybody can walk in, say they wanna die, fill out the forms, have a month or 2 to change their mind, and get their affairs in order, then walk in, and never walk out again. Much less costly and more effective then suicide. Realistically, Euthansia for those with Terminal Illnesses is probably as far as we shall get.
- Environment - I am not a hard-line Environmentalist. but we should make sure that we are devloping cleaner technologies and such. Kyoto is, well, a good thought, but it will never work out. Too many loopholes. I really don't care too much about the environment, we will figure things out when it gets bad.
- Death Penalty - 100% against it. Terrible thing, putting people to death. "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth just leaves everyone blind and toothless". It costs more to put someone to death rthen keep them in jail for the rest of their life. No, I believe that this causes more problems then it solves.
What are my plans for the future?
Well, currently i am in First year Engineering at the university of Victoria, I plan to go through with that, get my bachelor of Engineering, and become an Engineer. i doubt I will get married, likely not have kids. i really dunno where my life shall take me, to be honest.
What are my views on the Bible?
Ohh boy. Here we go. I have always known that there have been 6-7 major versions of the Bible in print. I always assumed that they were all the same. Well, I was wrong. They are all different. They all interpret things in their own little way. Some parts, they all interpret wrongly. Like about homosexuality for example. Most read that Homosexuality is bad, and wrong. But its not. Properly interpreted there is nothing wrong with Homosexuality. The Bible says nowhere that homosexuality is "bad" or "an abonimation and a sin". Heck, when the Bible was written, the term "Homosexuality" did not even exist, so why do 2 versions of the Bible mention it? Furthermore, no version of the Bible can become popular if they don't interpret certain sections of the Bible to be against homosexuality. That clearly shows that, even though the bible never says that sex between man or women is a bad thing, most major versions of the Bible, translated into English say that. To me, that is hypocritical beyond belief. Stupid, very very stupid. Jesus Christ was a kind, caring, tolerant person. So why do some versions of the Bible say that Homosexuality is an "abonimable sin"? Any religious person will tell you that God made us in His image. Well, I am bisezxual, and i know homosexual people, and they were born that way, its not a choice thing. So, if I am in God's image, then why do versions of the Bible call it an "abonimable sin"? Its disgusting, IMO. I need to find a properly translated version of the bible before i can truly read it, which i will do one day, I promise y'all that, I will read the Bible, just when i find an honest one.
Ok, that's me. Long, eh? Ya, i tend to ramble. Questions, you know where i am. I will update this, probably, along the way.
), war is a harsh thing, especially out there.
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