A pile of books sitting on my working desk

Hi guys. I am writing a pretty long article for my next blog post. It’s so long that I won’t publish it very soon. So I decided to write a short post on Tiny Tidbit column to keep you entertained. I promise you that the next post is a no-bull self improvement article that will significantly improve your life.

Besides a cup of warm Nescafe, there’s a huge pile of books sitting on my work desk, books that I am reading every day. I would like to share them with you:

The Book on Writing - by Paula LaRocque

This is an excellent book on writing. For those who want to improve their writing, you should get this no-nonsense book. It’s important to me because I need to present well for my new book.

Made to Stick – by Chip and Dan Heath

A wonderful book on creating attention grabbing message that is easy to remember, hard to forget. This book is a gem for writer wannabes! KC Lau recommended me this great stuff. Thanks!

Menjadi PENULIS JUTAWAN – by Nimoiz T Y

This Malay language book is an essential guide book for those who want to be a serious writer. It gives practical tips from overcoming writer’s block to publishing your book. Highly recommended!

Bulletproof Your Job – by Stephen Viscusi

A work related book on how to prevent us from being fired. It also gives useful advices on climbing a successful career ladder. I bought it a few days ago for 72 Ringgit at MPH Mid Valley. Highly recommended for fresh graduates who seek employment.

101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting – by Ernie J Zelinski

This is a book of wisdom on living life, which reminds me of Don’t sweat the small stuffs by Richard Carlson. I am reading one chapter a day to become wiser. Azizi Ali has said that experts can talk about subprime crisis and Obama effect, yet they can’t talk about how to be a happy man. There is a need to remain grounded to basic wisdom and not getting lost in life while chasing after bling-blings.

How to Master the Art of SELLING – by Tom Hopkins

Selling is one of the best skills to master as it brings money to our wallets. I am not reading it every day but when I have time, I will learn some stuff from it. After all, I want my book to become a bestseller.

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There are still many books lying around for me to read. I wonder when can I finish reading every thing. Time for another cup of Nescafe…

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Online Mass Collaboration – new way of doing things

Online mass collaboration is a whole new concept of how to do things en mass. Traditionally, mass collaboration is done by big entities such as giant corporations and government organizations. They have the resources (human, capital, expertise) to carry out large projects. Many experts get together under such project to perform tasks like researching and marketing. Now, things revolutionize through internet.

Online mass collaboration involves many people – basically anyone with internet connection. Like in the old mass collaboration, these internet geeks have to get together on virtual platforms such as forums, blogs, networking sites, wikis etc. People contribute freely in these large scale online projects, often with no pay at all. Normally they do this out of interest or charity.

Linux and Wikipedia are two of the most well known mass collaboration, where anyone can contribute by providing and editing the content. This means the cost for human resource is very low, and things are done very quickly when thousands of people do their best to improve the project. The same formula contributes to the success of other internet mass collaboration works such as MUGEN and Shangri-la Diet.

I would love to tap into the power of online mass collaboration in my new project. I plan to write a book on study skills and set up a forum so that students all around the world can give feedback to improve the existing study skills. I can also use my virtual platform to promote my book across my network.

This idea is inspired by Seth Robert, the creator of Shangri La diet. Through forum participants’ feedback, his diet improves tremendously and become one of the most popular diets. Ideas from so many heads can turn anything to gold!

I will invite you to join the network of my online mass collaboration (ahem, I mean my tiny forum), when it is ready. See you there soon!

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No Time or No Interest?

Reading books is one of the best ways to learn something. It goes deep into the subject, provides important details, and illustrates essential ideas. Reading many books on a specific subject can make you an expert.

We can’t replace book with internet. That’s because we can only learn things at surface level through random online articles. If we are serious in learning, there is no short cut but to read books.

Many people who dislike reading claim that they don’t have time for reading. They have other commitment that takes away their time to read. Nice try, that’s horse shit!

Last time when I wrote my thesis, I spent about 11 hours a day to rush my work. During this period, I still managed to read a book per week. I read while I commuted to work. Many people in Europe do the same thing too – reading in bus and tram.

Other times when I don’t commute to work, I set my timer to 15 minutes and start to read till it buzzes. That’s my minimum reading time per day. My record reading is a book in just one day – How to Become A Millionaire Landlord by Azizi Ali. This is rare and applies only to very interesting books, which lure me to read them whole day.

In short, there is no excuse for anyone not to have time to read books. Even very busy people like our ex-Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir read a lot when he was still in office.

I think many people who refuse to read books are lazy. They want to know something yet don’t want to put effort to learn it. In real life we cannot keep the cake and eat the cake. We have to pay the price to get something. No pain, no gain.

A lack of interest is also an important reason why people don’t want to read. They are somehow “allergic” to reading. Even if you put a gun on their heads and tell them to read, they might ask you to pull the trigger.

Next time when someone tells you, “I don’t have time to read”.

His brutally honest intent: “Neh, I’m not interested”

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Peaceful Afternoon

I am reading a heavy book while sitting on a hard green plastic chair. The words become lifeless and dull, not because the content is dry, but the afternoon heat is constantly draining me. I stare at the empty wall as the hot dry air heats up my skin. Cold sweat forms on my forehead as I pant restlessly.

I put down my book on the wooden table and walk heavily to the kitchen, which seems to be miles away.

“klak”, as I open the grey fridge door. My eyes browse through the fridge, searching for something refreshing.

I take out a few bottles of soft drinks – Coke, Sprite, and Kickapoo. Then I take out a clear Bohemian wine glass from the wooden cupboard and slowly mix the colourful soft drinks in it. A few crystal clear ice cubes slip into the mixture to take a bath. My right hand covers the glass and I start to shake it hard for one good minute – a perfectly made cocktail then emerge.

I quickly drink the fizzy potion – cool, icy liquid with countless tiny bubbles flows down my burning throat and send me to a state of pleasure beyond imagination. It’s like hell turned heaven.

I flow to the soft sofa at the sky blue room and sink down on it gently; then close my eyes and allow my muscles to relax. I indulge myself in calmness while the soothing song peaceful afternoon brings me to heaven.

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Original version:

It is hot afternoon.

I am reading some books. The hot air makes me sweat. I become lifeless.

I go to the kitchen and took out bottles of soft drinks. I make a glass of cooling cocktail.

I sit of the sofa and play peaceful afternoon

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Lazy Students are not bad students

Society loves to forge stereotypes on people. To society, good students are hard working, tidy, always go to school, do tons of homework and study seven hours a day. Any student who does not fit nicely into these criteria are condemned and criticised for being “problematic”. Lazy, untidy, unorthodox students are victims of such stereotyping.

Such conventional wisdom is dangerous. Not only people see things through distorted lenses, they are sending dangerous messages to students — suggesting that the only way to be a good student is to be a hardworking, homework loving nerd. Horseshit! There is no proof showing that lazy students are bad students.

Let’s look at the role of a student. Student’s job is simple – learn things and do well in exam to prove that he learned well. That’s all, full stop. The rest is just ritual, habits, external show and bla bla bla. A student who did his main job well is a good student, whether he is lazy or crazy.

So what if a student never misses class and studies 9 hours day? If this student does badly in exam, he is not a good student. In fact, he is a terrible student. Why?

After using so much time and energy in studying, this student still can’t get good result; this means only one thing –inefficiency.

Elsewhere, a lazy student who plays whole day is a true genius if he does very well in exam. He spends little time and effort and perform so well proves that he studies with great efficiency.

So what’s the moral of the story? Substance talks louder than show. What makes a student good is not how he gives show, but how well he can perform.

Now some people might protest. They have seen many good students who behave like… ahem… nerds, so that should be the only way for students to perform well in exam. How can someone idle around yet do so well in exam? Isn’t that impossible?

Let me tell you, it is not just possible, but achievable by most people. Highly efficient students do exist. They are breathing amongst us. These students are powerful because they have good study skills. They have the right attitude, developed mental capabilities, efficient study system and/or effective strategy. You just need to have good study skills to become efficient (and avoid becoming a nerd).

I myself had been skipping classes and copying friends’ homework for many years (oppss) yet I did pretty well in exams. I am not saying this to impress you or to praise myself, but to show you that it is possible to be “bad” and good student at the same time.

Last time I was pretty pissed when my teachers commented that I should do homework and study whole day. Worse still she asked me not to read books (those non-textbook books)! She literally told me to be a nerd, which is totally irrelevant to my job as a student! Why should I adopt “good student” rituals when I can do well in exam? Just to please my teacher?

I had my sweet revenge that year by getting straight A in my final exam.

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I  was surrounded by millionaires

Yesterday, I went to Kelana Jaya by train, and took a taxi to True Wealth head office. You might be wondering what is True Wealth and why I was excited on that day, right?

Azizi Ali, the foremost financial guru in Malaysia, founded True Wealth to publish self improvement books and help people to get rich. True Wealth had its first open day yesterday, which means good news — goodies were offered, from huge book discount to free talks by experts, who are mostly millionaires! Oh man, it was better than any other grand sales.

I went up the shop lot and was greeted by a huge poster of Azizi Ali. Up another floor and a staff welcomed me warmly. The office was bright, tidy and spacious. There I saw Azizi Ali in a smart, red shirt (Oh my gawd!!!). Books were displayed on tables for people to read. I gave a list of books to one of the staffs (I am well prepared). They happily got my books ready while I browsed through some books. I didn’t forget to tell Azizi how his books have changed my life! The real life Azizi is a bit different from what I used to imagine. He is charismatic with strong voice - and strangely, he resembles Dr. Bombay. Don’t ask me why.

I went to the seminar room and listened to Mohd Suhaimy Abu Bakar, the gentleman who wrote RAHSIA BLOGGER. Sitting on my right was Razali Razman, a nice charismatic guy who will have his book published by True Wealth next year. The guy who sat in front of me was Gobala Krishnan, the internet millionaire! Wow, I can’t imagine sitting right behind a millionaire. I was also delighted to talk to Zamri Nanyan, the internet MLM millionaire! He is a good looking gentleman with an aura of wisdom. There were so many millionaires around me!

I enjoyed the relaxing talk on blogging for money. What was Suhaimy’s blogging secret? Well, you gonna read his book to find it out.

The next talk was exciting, I mean thrilling! It was a talk by millionaire grandmaster Azizi Ali himself. What kind of words of wisdom would he give the participants? Our curiosity brought the day to its climax.

He introduced his Millionaire coaching program, where he will share his knowledge, power, contacts, blessing, words of wisdom, free books and goodies with his inner circle members (mentees). It is a truly amazing idea. Where can you find a real life sifu to guide you personally to become super rich? At True Wealth! The talk was powerful and interesting with Azizi making strong body movements. Anyone who went to his talks knows that he speaks with strong but humorous words. In short, he is the real man! And listening to him for free is simply priceless, just like watching Jackie Chan performing stunt live.

After the talk, I got the autographs of Azizi Ali (Yippie!) and Suhaimy.

Altogether I bought 11 books (with one free book). Yeah, I am a heavy reader and I buy a lot of books in every book hunting session. Later I will let you know which books I have bought.

Anyways, I recommend you to get KC Lau’s latest book: Top money tips for Malaysians. The content is well presented, far better than his blog. The book is unique and original, and there’s tons of internet resource in it. Well, I promote his book not just coz he’s my friend, but because his book has substance and quality. It would be perfect if this musician-financial expert was there with us.

I must thank the staffs at True Wealth - Fai, Nirmatha and others were quite helpful and friendly. It was a memorable day for me.

Here are the books that I have brought home:

Top Money Tips for Malaysians (KC Lau)

Great by 24 (John Lee)

The Neatest Little Guide to Making Money Online (Jason Kelly)

Think Lazy, Grow Rich (John Ruck)

From Broke to Multi Millionaire in just 7 Years (Peter Spann)

101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting

Pesara Jutawan (Azizi Ali)

Juara Lelongan Hartanah (Azizi Ali)

Menjadi Penulis Jutawan (Nimoiz T Y)

Bagaimana Memperolehi RM 30000 dalam Masa 30 Hari

Eksploitasi Peluang Menjadi Wang (Syahril Jani)

Rahsia Blogger (Mohd Suhaimy)

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Hello Again!

It must be shocking for you to learn that I had been into a two-month-long blog hiatus without giving any notice. I am sorry.

Life gives us many surprises. Suddenly having no laptop and internet for a month killed my momentum to blog. Yeah, I was sad, but life must move on. I did other stuffs to keep me growing. I read a lot of self improvement books, especially those by Malaysia’s financial guru — Azizi Ali. I learned about property investment, swing trading and many more money related stuffs. I read money, think money and dream money the whole day. OK, just joking. I read other stuffs too, such as health books.

After going through such changes (hmmm… Obama), I decided to write a book. Yes, I am serious!

What sort of book am I trying to write? I am just a fresh graduate with no expertly in anything. Ehm ehm….. I am going to write about study skills – Sharing my success secrets as a student. Scoring straight A in SPM and A Level (Edexcel) makes me a qualified expert in this field, I suppose.

Sharing my study secrets with other students has been my dream. I have been developing my study system for years and I am not going to bring it with me to the grave, which is like making a nice cake and throwing it away! Now, I am going to manifest my dream, by penning down the secrets in the form of a book.

The problem is… I don’t have experience in book writing. I need to learn how to write properly to make my book “delicious”. The substance is already in my head, I just need superb presentation to make the book a grand masterpiece. That is why I am improving my writing skill. Well, if a gamer girl like Sheylara can be a pro- writer, I have no excuse not to excel at writing.

I mentioned to you guys about my friend KC Lau quite often. Surprise! His new book got published. Wow! That greatly inspires me to be a writer. Like a gentleman, he is helpful by recommending me to read “Made to Stick”, a book on how to write “sticky” messages that are easy to remember, hard to forget. I am truly grateful.

Finally, I declare my come back to the world of blogging. I do so to keep in touch with my readers, to express my ideas and most importantly, to grow into a better writer by blogging more.

I will give you a treat. Bon appetite!

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Today is the last day of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Here’s the theme song for the closing ceremony. you can watch the opening theme song “You and Me” here.

.Song Title:  Hard to Say Goodbye ???? (Nan Shuo Zai Jian)

Performed by :  Liu huan, Jackie Chan, Emil Chau,  Andy Lau

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Subscribe if you like it

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Lyric:

?????? Hard to say goodbye
??/??/???/???

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News article

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Bejing Olympics 2008 - It’s Hard to Say Goodbye
Beijing Olympic closing ceremony press conference

The Chinese Olympic team had good results in the Beijing Olympic Games, this excites many Chinese.

In a blink of an eye, tomorrow is the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games and it will be also a gathering of mega-stars. Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Emil Chou and Liu Huan appeared together at Beijing Olympic Center for a “Goodbye Olympic” press conference.

Jackie wore a “Olympic volunteer” T-shirt as he lead the rest to distribute flowers and applause those workers leaving the Olympic Games.

The closing ceremony theme song ‘Nan Shuo Zai Jian’ (Hard to Say Goodbye) will be sang by Jackie, Andy, Emil and Liu Huan, the song is composed by the Beijing Olympic committee head Wang Pin-jiu whom got his inspiration from the opening ceremony where he saw singers from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were singing while the audience are exiting, these popular singers had discard their name and fame, waiting for 7 hours for their performance, watching the opening ceremony telecast on a small TV, all the sportsmen stand up to show their respect during the flag raising ceremony, all these images leaves a deep impression in his head.

When reporters asked the four singers whether they watch the Olympic Games, they gave their answers.

Andy said: “I watched almost all the competition on TV, the Chinese baseball team leaves me the deepest impression, although they are not champion, but can feel their love for this sport. They trained for 9 years, but baseball will not be featured in the next Olympic Games, all of them kissed the ground at the end of the competition, this is very touching.”

News credit: AndyLauSounds

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I hope you will come back for more updates.
Thanks for your patience.

 Subscribe for future updates

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Vlog: a new path to the world of music

Before the era of Web 2.0, musicians have little opportunity to gain exposure. Their option of showing off their talent is quite limited, where they have to perform live on stage or busk on streets to get attention, which can be very inconvenient and time consuming. The chance for them to gain fame and publicity is very slim. (Last time I gave a flower to a violin playing girl in Budapest, Hungary. She didn’t kiss me back)

Nowadays, musicians can post the videos of their performance on their vlogs (video blogs), and distribute them over the Internet. Anyone with internet connection can gain access to their work. Some of the lucky ones gain media attention and become the stars of internet.

One of them is Philip Howells (philipmaestro), a self taught young pianist who makes recordings of himself playing pieces from Final Fantasy and posts the videos on YouTube for people to watch. He marked his first personal achievement on public television when BBC made a report about him on 20th of December 2006, as shown below:

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Unfortunately, YouTube has suspended his account for no apparent reason. Most of the videos were lost. Luckily, he has created a new YouTube account. If you are interested to follow his Vlog, here’s the link.

Music Vlog does not limit itself to private performance at home. Sometimes, public performances are recorded and put on Vlog for people to enjoy. Look at Aerith, she’s playing her own Final Fantasy theme song at a concert:

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Sorry guys, I can’t resist but to post the video of my favourite piano performance: Summer Snow (the original song is sung by Sissel)

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Piano is not the only music instrument featured on vlog. If you have the chance, don’t forget to check out some of the electone (electronic organs produced by Yamaha) performances, which can be quite awesome. The next video is Voyager, which was performed on Yamaha Electone EL-700

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Don’t think that only amateur musicians use Vlog. Nowadays, professional artists have their own video channels to promote their work. The next video features Umberto a.k.a. e-motions, a singer-song writer from Germany. You can dig more about him on his official YouTube channel and website.

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I think there is a need to promote and support our local musicians, so now I want to present you my multi talented blog pal KCLau. He has created a special blog called Klavier Creation to promote his music work. This blog also gives tips on how to produce and market music composition, which is quite useful for some musician wannabes. For your information, KCLau has launched two solo albums before, they are Kite Shepherd (2002) and Simple Melody (2003).

I think his piano composition is nice and soothing. Here’s one of his original songs played on electronic piano, Rose Wine:

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Another talented Malaysian artist is namewee. He makes highly controversial music videos that challenge social sensitivity and norms. Nevertheless, his music and video editing is superb, even my film-making neighbour Lucas praised his video.

It seems like Malaysian government will hunt him down for making ultra sensitive music videos. Here’s one of his famous (controversial) songs, Muar Chinese (warning: the video might not be suitable for minors)

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This week I stumbled upon Blue, a local blogger from East Malaysia. After chatting with her, I learned that she also posts her singing videos on her vlog. She also recommended me to dig Speaking Tomato, another local singer-song writer. Go and have a look and support our local talents

Finally, I would like to conclude that vlogs have revolutionized our experience of enjoying music. Through vlogs, music lovers can find their idols and musicians can share their masterpiece with the world. I hope you enjoyed reading this short introduction on music vlogging. Let’s end this post with a very cute, kawaii music performance (sorry QiaoYun, I can’t resist ).

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I have posted a highly controversial and thought provoking topic on an active online forum, and I got quite a lot of interesting replies. I shall post some of the forum replies here, after filtering off some of the irrelevant, religious, repetitive, meaningless and rude posts.

Here’s the first post:

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relax:

Many people are discriminated just because they live a life outside social and religious norm.
Should they be given a chance of sunshine and live the life they choose without threats from moral police and witch hunters?

So far homosexuals and transsexuals are gaining more basic rights but biological sibling marriage is legal only in Sweden.

Tell me your opinion on this issue. Be rational
(don’t hit me. Hit the message, not the messenger)

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This is the result of the opinion poll, after 4 days of discussion:

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Here are some of the selected replies:

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[Live_Autopsy]:

I wouldn’t really group those three together.
They make an odd batch.

Transexuals and Homosexuals should be free to live their lives.
Nothing about them is harmful to themselves, each other or society as a whole.

However, Incest is illegal for a good reason.
It’s proven that incest causes multiple diseases and deformity in offspring.
Look at the British Royal Family.
Centuries of inbreeding have caused severe issues in the physical and mental health department.
King George III for example.

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DarkKing123:

I suppose if those who desire to participate in Incest made legal contracts/vows/what-have-yous making certain that they would not produce, I wouldn’t see a problem with it from a legal standpoint.
However, I personally still feel it to be wrong, but that’s just my opinion.
I’m sure others view my sexual fetishes and how I live my life to be wrong.
People are innately judgemental, as annoying as it can be, it can’t be helped.
What social norms are you referring to? It is really hard to pin point an exact social norm when society varies from where you live. Since when did “religious norms” become the bar standard for society? By religious norms I assume you must mean Anglo-Christian norms because if you went by other “religious norms” such as Buddhism, then homosexuality or transexuality would not be considered deviating. Of course, if you went by Buddhist standards, then Christians and mostly everyone would be considered wayward xD.

Incest is completely different from homosexuality and transexuality. It has been scientifically proven that incest causes a multitude of genetic problems. A previous poster evidenced the British royal family which is a good example. In fact the whole of European royalty has suffered from inbreeding. Remember the bad case of hemophilia in the European royalty’s lineage? Also look at the Amish, inbreeding there have bred birth defects.

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Grand Inquisitor Squid:

How dare you lump incest in with homosexuality and transexuality…?

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Daemon of Skorm:

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Just a side note: I an undecided on incest. I know I should be very liberal minded, but it just doesn’t quite feel right to me yet. I have no idea how I could love a family member that way. However, like the sign says, I will not try to revoke their rights because of my beliefs. I do not condemn them.

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Triste-chan:

Birth Defects caused by incest are really only likely to occur after many generations of incestuous breeding. If you screw your brother, basically, and he gets you preggo, it’s unlikely that your kids will have eleven toes. But if your kids marry each other, and then your grandkids marry each other, your great-grandkids have a much better chance of getting these defects.

But I don’t see a problem with any of these things, although I think people in incestuous relationships should think long and hard before having any children.

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Karismas:

don’t care about homosexuals and transsexuals. although I don’t support them I don’t have anything against them.

and incest is disgusting.

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error[dot]exe:

[Live_Autopsy]:

However, Incest is illegal for a good reason.
It’s proven that incest causes multiple diseases and deformity in offspring.
Look at the British Royal Family.
Centuries of inbreeding have caused severe issues in the physical and mental health department.
King George III for example.

Do we stop people with genetic diseases or with a family history of genetic diseases from getting married?

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Shaviv:

Triste-chan:

Birth Defects caused by incest are really only likely to occur after many generations of incestuous breeding. If you screw your brother, basically, and he gets you preggo, it’s unlikely that your kids will have eleven toes. But if your kids marry each other, and then your grandkids marry each other, your great-grandkids have a much better chance of getting these defects.

But I don’t see a problem with any of these things, although I think people in incestuous relationships should think long and hard before having any children.

The risk of harmful recessive genes turning up is higher among first-gen consanguineous matings. It’s not a sure thing, but then again, what ever is?

That said, you both have to carry the gene, for the trait to manifest. If neither of you has the gene for brittle bones or hemophilia, children won’t have those problems.

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Happy Abortion Day:

You boring little shit. I thought this thread was a thread saying we shouldn’t tolerate queers, trannies and cousin ********. cry Honestly, who gives a fuck if siblings or cousins want to do the dirty deed? Let them. It doesn’t affect anyone.

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iXenu:

Happy Abortion Day:

You boring little shit. I thought this thread was a thread saying we shouldn’t tolerate queers, trannies and cousin ********. cry Honestly, who gives a fuck if siblings or cousins want to do the dirty deed? Let them. It doesn’t affect anyone.

Except their baby who has 12 toes and one ear. ^^

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Marshal67:

It seems to me that a lot of people are being very hypocritical in this thread.

We should be tolerant of all people, but incest is creepy…that makes a ton of sense now doesn’t it.

As far as people saying “how dare you lump homosexuality and transexuality with incest!” I say why not. They are all three things looked down upon by society, they are in that group together without us doing it.

Now, I do believe homosexuality and trans gendered people should be tolerated and alloted their rights. As far as incest, it is a sin and expressly forbidden in the Bible (see Leviticus 18:6). However I cannot find a condemnation of it in the New Testament, so who knows, under the new laws it might not be a sin. As for me, I will stick clear of it till greater people that I uncover the truth.

This does not mean that it should be illegal though. Just because I believe something to be sinful and condemnable does not mean everyone should be held to the same standards I am.

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Shaviv:

Makes sense to me. I think we should be tolerant of all people, but furry lifestylers are creepy. Would I tolerate them, as in, sit on the same park bench? Well, if they didn’t smell bad, yeah, probably. Do their spiritual beliefs make me uncomfortable, if only for having to restrain my laughter? Yes.

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Ianikha

Do those three things really fit together?

I think that homosexuality and transexuality is perferctly fine. I know a lot of people that are homosexuals and a few that are transgender and they’re all wonderful, brilliant people. Much nicer than most of the population as I find they are the least likely to judge other people.

I’m not really sure when it come to incest as it’s one of those things that you just can’t understand until it happens to you really, I certainly wouldn’t understand what falling for my brother or sister would be like… really can’t, makes me feel uncomfortable I guess… I personally don’t think it’s right but I don’t think I’m anyone to judge if it’s wrong or not.

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Milendil:

There is nothing wrong with trans gendered people, homosexuals, or incest, in my opinion. I believe that people can be which ever gender they feel most comfortable with and that they should love whomever they want. I find none of it creepy or wrong. And I just don’t understand why some would consider all of that creepy or wrong.

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MiniSiets:

I see in this thread that there is a profound misunderstanding of how the genetics of incest work. Incest =/= instant retarded babies with 1 ear and 4 eyes. Anyone who claims this is ignorant. Because of the fact that recessive genes can be overridden by dominant genes, many defective genes can be encoded into your DNA without you even suffering any of their effects. This is because if a harmful recessive gene is introduced into your genome, it can be paired with a dominant gene which is not flawed, and therefore overrides the recessive gene while it continues to remain in your body. Thus, you can carry defective genes for many generations without suffering any consequences from them. The problem is that when you have sex with a close relative, they share many of the same genes as yours including those defective genes, so the fetus often has a more likely chance of pairing two of the same harmful recessive genes together, and then you have a problem.

So the question becomes, how much greater are those chances? Well it all depends on the genetics of your family. The bottom line though is that incestuous sex isn’t inherently destructive simply because that’s the way it is. In fact, if your family has had a relatively clean gene pool for several generations, then chances are you could have sex with your sister many times and still never get a handicapped baby. In most first generations of incest, the chances of birth defects are only slightly increased and still not likely to crop up unless you were to continue through multiple generations where the gene pool becomes more and more limited and the recessive genes begin to appear. In a recent scientific study in fact, it has shown that the percentage of birth defects among first cousin couples is only 4-7% as opposed to a “normal” couple’s 2-3%, which isn’t a significant enough margin to be freaking out over.

Of course, all of these statistics are pretty meaningless anyway because in this day and age an incestuous couple can just wear condoms or take birth control pills and problem solved. There really isn’t any significant justification against it. So I say yes to all 3.

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TheKiy:

I’m of the opinion that the state has no business of the sexual escapades of consenting adults (Incest and Homosexuality).

And transsexuals need to have a psychological evaluation before they have life-altering surgery, so I don’t see any problems there.

Anything that does not cause harm should be permitted. I’m going to regret saying that when some more creative person proves me wrong.

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JettaKD

I think that while people are free to believe in standards of right and wrong, they shouldn’t force those standards on other people (unless the other people themselves are doing something harmful >.> wink That prolly made no sense…

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Cancer Causing Gods:

“FIap”:

Gay is okay.
Incest is kinda gross, I’m not gonna lie.

So are interspecies relationships. (I’m looking pointedly at your sig on this one. Human + vampire/werewolf = fucking gross, man. The one passage in Vittorio nearly made me hurl.)

On the actual topic, I stand by my old, honored philosphy: Whatever gets ya off. What other people do or don’t with their genetalia isn’t my business unless they are or plan on doing it to/with me. Which hasn’t ever happened to me, except with my boyfriend.

On transsexuality, I stand by the right of people to be who they are. I know if it were me, I’d be pissed as hell if people tried to tell me, “No, you can’t do this, because everything you’re feeling is wrong.”
Generally speaking, I don’t tell people that what they feel is wrong, because I’m not in a position to properly examine how or what they feel.
(Unless it’s something like, “I feel that the earth is flat.” Then, of course, I’m going to say, “Well, it isn’t.” But that’s a different story.)

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CrystalStarLight77:

I think just inbreeding not incest should be illegal, because if incest couples that just take the neccessary measures to not have a baby then what is wrong with it? What about lesbian or gay incest couples who are incapable of having a baby? As long as its two consenting adults wanting a caring and responsible relationship, while avoiding inbreeding, I don’t see anything wrong with it. If a couple is really in love, why break up or discriminate against that love over something that can be avoided by using birth control?

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MiniSiets:

And by the way, incest is not a choice. You can’t help who you fall in love with, or who you are attracted to. Sure, you can choose to have sex with them or not, but the same goes for homosexuality or anything else.

Shaviv:

The risk of having a child who will eventually grow up to show symptoms of a chronic psychotic disorder is roughly one in one hundred.

I don’t know you, I don’t know your family, but if neither you nor any of yours is one of those one in a hundred children, then you don’t understand that one in a hundred births is a devastatingly high rate of incidence for a crippling disability. The cost in money is very high, as each person requires long-term care that may cover a decade of life - including inpatient treatment, sometimes, and that is ridiculously expensive. The cost in human suffering… I would compare it to what you would see if one out of roughly every hundred people was simply murdered, a bullet to the temple from someone unseen and never apprehended, while crossing the street.

That is not minor.

Again, read above. And by the way, if we’re going to start outlawing on the grounds of genetic risks, then you’re trudging on slippery ground there. Because in order to be fair on this, you would also have to consider outlawing women over 40 being allowed to have sex, or start requiring everyone go through genetic counseling to determine how close their genes are for an exact percentage of birth defect risks and then deny them the right to mate if they’re too dangerous. Statistics show that women over the age of 37 have increased risk of birth defects just as much as cousin couples, and in some cases, worse.

So if your only other argument against incest besides misconstrued understanding of genetics is that it’s “ewwy” or “it’s just wrong,” that’s not going to cut it either. These are the same exact arguments that have been used against homosexuality, and they outright fail.

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Bacodus:

As far as incest goes:

We don’t legally stop two folks who have a seriously high risk (75%+) of having a baby with down syndrome or MD, so, even if the rumors of high chances of birth defects are true, why should we legally stop a brother and sister from taking the same risk? It’s just inconsistent. And there’s little I dislike more than inconsistency. Hell, there are ethical issues in the world of psychology about stopping people with extremely low IQs (mental retardation, hell, I can’t think of the “correct” term I should be using right now) from having sex, shouldn’t the same issues be there for two adults, sound in mind, who happen to be closely related genetically?

If incest stays illegal, should we be able to genetically test folks to make sure they are genetically different “enough” to be given a marriage certificate?

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Fudejinsu:

I don’t have a problem with homosexuality, transexuality, or incest. And about the birth defects and such involved with incest; if they really want to have a child, they could always adopt or visit a sperm bank. They could also use condoms or some other means of birth control to prevent pregnancies. So, there shouldn’t really be any problem with it.

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Bacodus:

Jhawks93:

I’d have to say that homosexuality is fine in my book considering over half my friends are either bi sexual or homosexual. as for trans sexuality i personally don’t care for the thought of it but if you want to change sexes no one should stop you.incest is another story though it causes birth defects and possible mental scarring of the offspring so I view that as wrong (so do most governments so majority rule on that one).

Just because most people believe it is true does not mean it is right. View my arguments above. Do you think the government should test folks to determine their chance of spawning a child with “birth defects” (whatever that means, specifially) before giving them a marriage license? What about the mentally handicapped? Psychology has shown that depression is at least partially related to genetics, should we ban couples with histories of Major Depressive Disorder from getting married?

Disallowing a biological brother and sister from marrying is a slippery slope. The only reason NOT to allow it is the same reason homosexuals can’t get married in most states, because some people feel that they would be “unclean” if their government allowed them to marry.

I’m just glad that transexuals have finally gotten the rights they deserve.

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demonizedchar51:

tho my religons go against homo, bi, and transsexaulity i find nothing against it. i believe that it is their choice and life. most of my friends are not straight but that does not mean i am not their friend. people judge them for being who they r but those people have a limited understanding there for have no right too. i will fight for my friends right to be who they are.i dn’t care wat they are its who they r that matters to me. people force them to feel bad for being that way but i never will. i fight against my my sub-consious judgement of others to keep this syayement true everyday
ask for insest its the same thing its thier choice to do that. u shouldn’t be so evil taward them for it.
as u said were all human no more no less then u. we’re all equal and should be treated as so

but we are intitled to our own opions on the subject. so i feel no anger taward those who say no. tho i may be angry do to principle.

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Madame Maggot:

I believe that if we truly want equality for all people, that we should let people do what they want with their lives.
It’s really none of our business what people do behind closed doors.
How can one preach equality then bash on homo/transsexuals?

Personally, I am Atheist. So religion means nothing to me.

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* * * * *
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I hope we can learn something from these interesting replies.
The discussion does not end here, we are just getting started. I hope you are interested to share your opinion on this issue, so post your comment now.

The title of this discussion is:
Should we tolerate homosexuality, transsexuality and adult incest?

Should gays, lesbians, trannies (they are also known as rainbow people) and sibling couples be punished or killed like in Iran, or should they be tolerated and respected as in Sweden?

I wish this post will spawn a healthy and highly interactive discussion.

Finally, I shall end this post with a video talking about “tolerance”. Enjoy!
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