Chapien

East Bay is best bay. I'm over near Pleasenton, personally, in the town right next to Dublin. It is a usually rather safe area, though just this week there was a shooting of a police officer over by the freeway entrance (which has NEVER happened before).

If I could vote, I'd vote for Stewart Alexander, the Socialist party candidate, so I think we agree largely on this Healthcare is a vital issue though - one that is very personal to me (due to reasons I'd prefer not to get into). "Obamacare" is not good simply because it isn't enough (in my humble opinion). However, there is one important thing to remember about "Obamacare" - it is better than what we have now and, ultimately, a step forward.

That still doesn't avoid the key issue. State's Rights are fine. They are great. It's a great thing, and we aren't the only country that has them (each Swiss Canton has even greater autonomy than US States, and each German state has its own Chancellor). They are fine for economics, and fine for some social policies. But when a state uses the state right's argument to impose oppression on others - again, such as segregation as they attempted to do in the 60's - then unfortunately we need to limit that right. What is more important, the people, the state, or the federal government? The answer is the people. Who helps the people more? The federal government or the state they live in? On this matter, it depends entirely on the issue - some state economic decisions are vastly more beneficial than US laws and regulations, but in some cases (such as gay marriage or segregation), the federal government may have a better position than the states.

See, I used to agree with this argument, I really used to, but then I realized it just is insubstantial. First, most Americans cannot afford to simply pick up everything, all of their belongings, leave their home and friends, and find a new home in another state just because the current state does not support a vital part of their rights (ie gay rights). The idea is sound in theory, but in practice it just isn't financially viable at all. Now, I'm not in favor of an extremely strong central government, but, in the current conditions of America, at least some Central government is necessary in various issues. The problem is, the Government keeps giving the issues that should be Federal issues to the states, and issues that should be state issues they keep taking into their own hands.

Oh, believe me, I know all about it. State's rights are all fine and good- the Federal Government has plenty wrong with it, believe me when I say this, but, it is very possible to abuse it. And I feel that when people use the State's Rights argument to justify stepping on other people (in issues such as gay liberation, segregation, etc.) that that is the definition of abuse of State's Rights. Let us not forget the original motto of the USA, in place before the adoption of "In God We Trust" in 1956 - E Pluribus Unim - Out of Many, One.

I find it hilarious when the state's rights argument is used on social policies such as Gay Marriage, because the State's rights issue has been used on more things than just gay marriage. For example, in the 60's, proponents of allowing certain states to segregate schools and voting based on race argued that it was a state right. And to go back even further, state's rights were used as an argument to permit Slavery in certain states of the Union, as well as the ultimate secession that enabled the bloodiest American conflict to occur, that being the Civil War. America is, and always has been, built on a house of cards - it is only a matter of time before those cards collapse entirely. We can elect Obama, and continue on our teetering house, or elect Romney, and just have the entire house collapse. Or we can do what I do, and vote third party and hopefully build our house out of something far more sensible. Like stone.

I live roughly forty-five minutes away from San Francisco, California, United States, in the East Bay area. It is a rather nice area, but rather hot as of late...

I usually avoid political (and even economic) topics like the plague, not because I do not enjoy politics (politics interest me immensely, and I do consider them to be vitally important, and I do consider voting to still be, for the most part, important), but because my specific views have, on occasion, garnered me ostracism. I will simply say this. Romney is an idiot. His social policies are backwards and dated, and his economic plans are basically to let the "invisible hand" and laissez faire economics solve our problems - and though laissez faire is not necessarily always a bad idea, it certainly didn't slow down the Great Depression. There's a reason I often compare Romney to Herbert Hoover and his predecessor Calvin Coolidge. Now, I'm not a fan of Obama either, but he is, at least, mostly harmless.

Gangnam style is definitely a fad, since it has over 100,000,000 views now on YouTube. Also, it is in fact Korean. The song name actually does have meaning, as does the song - The Gangnam District is the wealthy district of Seoul, and the song itself is meant to be a parody of the so-called "high" life of the residents of the Gangnam district - the dance itself is actually meant to emulate a horseback rider as that is considered an activity of the wealthy. The video itself consists of Psy dancing about in various locations within the Gangnam district. God I know too much about a song that I only kind of like xD

I would take a Bratwurst. I love German food. Clearly they electrocute and shoot you. You know, to make sure you are really dead dead.

My school started last week - it is my senior year in high school, so I am seriously looking forward to having an easy year with barely any homework and basically just relax after three hard years of high school and honors/AP classes. I'm most dreading college applications, for obvious reasons.

Oh man, I haven't played a single player game in forever - been doing a lot of RTS games that don't really have an ending or various online multiplayer games. So the last game I actually beat was probably Skyrim, not counting sidequests or that newfangled DLC.

The most annoying thing of all time, to me, are background noises when I'm trying to focus on just about anything. Seriously, even the most quiet of noises will cause me to completely drop everything, seek out the noise, and somehow shut it up. Oh yeah, and open doors/closets/drawers seriously bother me, but that's just part of my OCD.

Thank you very much for the information, Dreamwalker! I will be sure to keep all of this in mind on the various adventures and shenanigans I will undoubtedly have.

My Favourite Mane 6 Pony: Rarity How did you find MLP Forums?: Through a simple Google Search. How you became a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: This is actually a bit of a boring story. Basically, a fair junk of my steam contacts began to change their profile pictures to pony-related pictures, and it got me a bit interested. What finally pushed me over was when two of my IRL friends constantly bothered me to watch it, and I finally caved in and gave it a try, and loved it! Hello hello, my name is Lord Chapien the Chaptastic XII. But you can call me Chapien. I'm a High School senior with a lot of free time on my hands that I need to fill with something, and so I decided: What better than a community to post on and meet like minded people at? Now, a little bit about myself. I'm a very creative individual with a passion for creative writing and fiction in general; however that is merely a hobby, not my career - I am an aspiring Game Designer. I have just applied to attend DigiPen Institute of Technology, the number one game design school in the nation - to study Game Design. I grew up playing video games, and have always loved to bring entertainment and joy to others, so I figured that creating games would be the best way to merge my two passions. I've made several games (both paper and video games), and am actually working on a pony-related game right now. Regardless, I simply cannot wait to meet some fabulous ponies here! (And oh Celestia I'm terrible at introductions!)