Aida Hanabi's Topics (37)

For me, it was the fact that she said she wore the swimming suit even before going to the beach. Wearing a swimsuit in the cab seems pretty weird to me.

Yeah... that what I mean... I kinda feel weird with her style... (her cloth and walet) I just think its not right.. u wear it?? (From started? Really? ) And I just want to scream.. "its your house close to beach???" No.. no.. no.. even its close.. if u dress like that (before u at beach) in japan its will look weird.. ╮(￣▽￣)╭ unless u didnt care.. how many pervert.. and people's eyes.. on u.

I'm so glad this story has nothing to do with Shotacon, I find it abhorrent personally and I wouldn't touch the story with a ten foot pole.

Wow, good for you, you can do simple math, awesome!

Yep. An age gap between adults is not such a big deal--especially if the two have a strong connection. But any adult involved with a child is sick, and any adult with a teen is taking advantage of the teen's inexperience and inability to use adult understanding and reasoning to see the exploitation. That's kind of how stages of human development work.

Yes, in RL is just as you described it.^^

Haha... yeah...

I just whan to made some joke cuz I just somehow.. find their age gap is funny... but its ojay cuz their adult ... Lol(≧∀≦)

Thank u for that.. LMAo

Yes, I meant IRL. :)

Eh, I think Asami was manipulative and taking advantage of Akihito for the longest time. Nevermind if his feelings were genuine, he was quite abusive. And the "strong connection" was pretty much sex.

Anyway, I think that kind of broad generalization is ultimately hurtful :/. When it comes to the teenager part (obviously can't have a mature relationship with a child lol). Seems really ignorant to think that at 18 you're suddenly all mature and ready for any age gap, and that anyone under, say, 25-30, that is dating a 16-17 years old are all, every single one of them, doing it to exploit the girl.

Maybe it's not always ideal, but to assume ill intentions for every single one of them? Damn.

Just a reminder, at 15 you're physically a young adult. Whether nor you're actually mentally mature or not varies on the individual though. I've been friend some incredibly mature and experienced 15-16 years old (and one that at 13 - already could pass for a legit adult in bars. And she seriously wasn't even childish, just really calm and mature, always looking for her younger siblings. Really cool girl, of course I'm not saying she was dating adults at that age, but older teenagers though). They're not that common obviously, but they do tend to date older guys.

And sometimes there's the girls that hide it from the guys. I wouldn't blame it on them in those cases, and if they truly love her it's tricky huh... And such generalizations make it so much more hurtful.

Stages of human development are cool and all, but every one has their own pace. It's not dictated by an arbitrary number, only the law does that, for practical purposes.

With all that being said, you know, René Angelil? He still loved Celine Dion to his deathbed, when she was well in her forties, and she was 19 (knew her since she was 12) and they had a 26 years gap. But of course, she had the magic "barely over 18" number.

Now, on the other side, I wonder, as a woman that pretty much has a half-prepubescent body that has an innocent aura, is it wrong for guys to hit on me? My puffy cheeks are probably what's most curvy about my body, along with my waist-hip ratio lol. I dress elegantly mixed with cute though. But well, appearance isn't all lol, though I pretty much act accordingly xD. No wonder anime feels like home to me, girls aren't afraid of not looking like "an independent woman" and can enjoy their girlishness in other ways than showing more skin, like being more on the cuter side.

The thing is, some guys (honestly, from experience, a lot) can also like that and not all guys are huge bastards. There's guys just zero ill-intended regardless of that, like Akihito (he reminds me a lot of my partner lol). I'm just saying, and you can't figure out everyone's age on the first sight like you have some shinigami death note eyes :P. And when you're already in love, it's too late, either it's going to hurt or you get yourself in the slippery slope.

Actually a woman's overall appearance is child-like (puffy cheeks, small nose, short, small hands, etc.) due to how they develop in utero. On a primal level this identifies her as a healthy mate, triggering his attraction to her. It's straight-forward, and doesn't make men all abusers. Though it may not be the best idea to proceed with the relationship if the girl is underage, usually waiting until they actually get 18, shaming guys on potentially pure intentions is... Sad.

People really don't like nuances, everyone has to be put in a certain box huh. All *** are ***!!!

Many people feel that way about Asami. I interpret it differntly, but you can read the storyas you wish.

As for real life, there is science behind stages of human development, and I stand by what I said. Teenagers are not fully developed like people in their twenties. There may not be a magic age where every person suddenly becomes "mature" overnight, but there are definitely stages, and teens are not adults.

No one is physically mature at 15, unless you consider the ability to get pregnant the same as being fully grown. MRI imaging shows that the brain is not fully developed until the mid-twenties, and the prefrontal cortex (the area of advanced reasoning) in particular grows at this time. The growth in grey matter is followed by a nautral porcess of "pruning" unesed synapses. The cerebellum (also involved in logic and decision making) continuesto grow. There are otehr differnces--but a teen is still growing, and not fuilly and adult.

You gave me an example of a relationship you say ended up workingout. I don''t know--it's possible. But the fact is that at the time one person is an adult and the otheris a teen, it can never be equal or fair--the teen does not think like an adult even if the teen is mature, or horny, or wantslove or wahtever. Teens are teens--and that's fine. But they are not yet adults.

PS when i was talking about a strong connection, I was thinking of my parents, since my dad is 12 years older than my mom. Of course, they met when my mom was in her late 20's, because my dad is honorable and would never take advantage of a teen--and I know he can tell a teen, just like I can. So, as I said, age gaps in adults are fine.

An age gap between adult is maybe not big deal, as long their have mutual feeling. But there still some people think ... its kinda something. But its okay. As long they never did "it" when one of them still underage. (▰˘◡˘▰)

But between adult and child or teen its not good! Cuz.. child or teen still dont really understand or know..about everything. . And some adult just take advantage about it! Some of them just want rape them or had fun but never really care about what will happend to the child or victim

People who like read shota manga still better.. as long they just read and fantasy but didn't do it in reality. But.. unfortunatly.. something more worse even happen... Some stranges sexual assault other people child its happen around the world.. but.. if the parents do something like that to their own child.. its.. really the worse! And sad story.. evwr.. breaking everyone heart! ┗( T﹏T )┛ especially if the child didnt want that.. but can't sad no.. or protect theirself.. .. How they could do something like that to their own blood related??? !!! （/TДT)/ (╬￣皿￣)凸

And its really.. make people...really really worried what will happens in future... like how if.. its our own child?? Im really worrid about my child future.. (if I become mom).. I hope that kind of thing never really happend to our child... I hope they safe and sound.. Aamiin..

I did not deny there were stages, I just said there's no magic age and some may surprise you by how quick or extremely slow that goes.

I was talking physically as outwardly. Not counting men, of course, it takes more than around 15 years old (it also starts later). Basically, there's not much reason a man would not find a 15+ girl legitimately attractive and may even be fooled into thinking they're actually adults.

Seriously though, I still get people at my door trying to sell things and ask me where are my parents. And I've been friend with 13 years old that could pass in bars no problem. I don't particularly trust people's judgement about age :P

My point was not saying that those relationships work or not. It was that you said the people who ended up in such relationships were all, every single one of them, manipulative bastards just trying to take advantage of the person they fell in love with.

Also, your father, had he dated her sooner, would have been manipulative automatically? Huh?

Anyway, I guess examples would help my point.

There's a guy, you know, who's 25. A 17 years old girl approaches him, as she got a kick on the guy, and she's behaving incredibly maturely (as yes, this is possible for a 17 years old, be it the norm or not). The guy also falls in love with her. A month later, she tells him she's 17.

Was the guy trying to take advantage of her? I'd say no. But surely, the social stigma ended up hurting both. They're still together though.

This sort of paranoia also goes further than that. There's a girl, bisexual, she's 21, and she has a 16 years old FRIEND. People start up rumors she's trying to take advantage of the girl, since she's bisexual. This bothers both the friends very deeply.

Like, why jump into such conclusions every single time?

First, I agree there is no magic age or set time when one moves from one stage to another--but there are still definitely stages. And while I don't recall using the word "bastard", I stand by the statement that it is always unequal when an adult is sexual with a teen (and it is also just as problematic when women do it).

If my dad had dated my mom when she was a teen, it would have been inherently unequal and exploitative--but my dad would never have done that. He is a very thoughtful and deliberate person who always got to know people before he let them get close. He takes marriage and relationships very seriously and it simply would never have happened. If they had met when she was a teen, he would have thought she was a nice girl but too young, and then moved on right away.

I am not talking about physical appearance or being attracted to someone who looks young. It's not about looks or "maturity" in terms of behavior--it's about intellectual, emotional, and social development. It's about knowing who you are, thinking things through, thinking long term, and being able to support yourself and stand on your own before you get involved with an adult. A person may not be able to tell age at first glance, but when you talk to someone, you find out where they work (and if they don't yet), and how they think, and who they live with and spend time with, and what their goals and dreams are, and how they plan to achieve them. When you learn how they act and how they think, you can tell their stage of development. If one person has a career, and thinks like an adult and knows who he or she is, and another is still in high school, figuring out who he or she is and what he or she wants in life, and thinking with...romantic desires and acting young, innocent, and inexperienced, then the adult should notice the other person is a teen and walk away.

Even a mature teen has not had a chance to stand on his or her own feet and discover who he or she really is. Even someone in their late teens who is intellectually advanced and thoughtful does not think the same way as an adult. Socially, no teen has the same status and position as an adult. Teen are not adults, and therefore adults should not have sexual relationships with teens. There will always be a power imbalance.

All of this conversation is making me think about the film 'An Education' and the novel 'Lolita' (￣∇￣")

What you're describing is what I call mature, though. Maybe usually more lacking in the "can support themselves financially", but some already have a clear idea of what they want in their life. Some are already taking care themselves of their siblings, having absent parents, having loads of responsibilities already etc. Those people, do you think dating someone their age seem attractive?

Like, I may be talking about a 2%. I'm not saying every teen, I get that your average one should probably not, but for some cases it may be surprisingly not that bad. And in those cases though, watch out for the social lash out regardless of that.

Some adults still think like teens though. The sister of one of my friend is dating a guy 10 years older (I can't remember if it started when she was 17 or 18), and well, they're both just as immature. That though is not a relationship anyone is comfortable with around here, it's tolerated.

Some people are still trying to figure out what they want to do at 24. And others at that age are seniors in their job lol.

Besides, not sure what it's at in the US, but the age of consent is 16 years old in Canada. As long as you're not over 24 I think, the 16 years old can consent. Trivia facts lol.

Still, I don't think dating a teenager is inherently exploitative. You, as a person, are exploitative of your loved ones or you're not. As far as intentions goes, at the very least.

Hmmm, been sort of following from the sidelines, but here is something to add. My friends mother was married at 14 (Italian family) to a man 10 years (?or so) older. I don't, personally think it was a great marriage, he was pretty domineering. Unfortunately - they tried to arrange the same thing for my friend and she was engaged at 14 (ick) fortunately it fell through, and she did not actually marry until she was 22 - to the man her parents strongly urged her to marry. Her husband was cut from the same cloth as her dad, and he made sure she lost touch with her more liberally minded friends. I have not seen her for a long time so I don't know how it turned out, but I thought the whole thing ridiculous.

That being said, I was on my own at 18 - my choice, and was happy with it.

I just realized however that not everywhere in the world do people get to finish high school at 16 xD.

Some people do take on adult roles at an early age--and I am sure culture plays some role in that. I am glad you are happy with the choice.

There are some cultures that have traditionally married off girls in their teens. I suppose if you are not going to go to college or have a career, and you are the type to put "obey" in the wedding vows, it makes a certain amount of sense--but I personally will always think it is inherently unequal, especially when the female is still young. Hopefully, as she gets older she will gain experience and start asserting herself to become equal (either that or if he truly is a bastard, then, well, everyone sleeps sometimes, right?). I guess if a culture has gender roles that I think of as sexist, it can be hard to separate that from the age issue. Even so, I don't think teens are the same as adults, even when they take on adult roles early.

I am glad you did well for yourself. I think it's a young age to strike out, but not as bad as 15 or 16. People are often remarkable. But if you ever get old like me, I assure you someday you will look at an 18-year-old and think how very young an age it really is.

Like, as I started higher education at 17, then is it wrong if I, theoretically, dated a 22 years old that was in the same class and, granted he doesn't drop, will be for the next 3 years?

Never crossed my mind it'd be wrong lol. We were all equals, regardless of the age.

We just get to have people have the same expectations from us as any other adult at 17 (if you were born in summer). Albeit we can't drink just yet (it's at 18, oops).

So yeah, I may be biased, it may depend on how scolarity is handled.

*born in summer though isn't exact, it's just that if you did you're 17 the whole first year. Which is a pain when the group wants to go drink but can't because a few couldn't xD.

The other route though is not getting higher education and getting your first steps in your career at 16-17.

In the US, age of consent varies from state to state, but it's usually between 15 and 17--but the statutes often put in age gaps so that it may be legal for two 16-year-olds to go at it, but not for a 40-year-old and a 16-year-old. There are also certain relationships that involve positions of authority and trust (e.g. high school teachers) that can't go at it with students, even if the student is 18. But just because something is legal doesn't mean it's ethical or a good idea.

I think we see so many "high school' shows on TV where the actors are in their twenties, that sometimes people forget how young 15 is. 15 is very young. And 40...40 is not 15, not even an immature 40 and a mature 15. Maybe you have to be my age to see it--but it is so.

I did well, got a job (weoo two at first 1 full and one part time to save for school), place to live, car, put myself through college and University, bought my own home and such. My younger brothers did not move out until after 25 ... I guess I was just more mature.
As for my friend - very strict Catholic upbringing, but she was so sheltered an immature ╮(￣▽￣)╭

oops *well*, not weoo - need to cut my nails LOL

Yeah, but out of 100, you can maybe see 1-2 that don't act and seem their age at all. I have vivid memories as well as pictures of me and my friends at that age, it's fine, and I don't watch american TV nor do I take Glee as a reference xD. I guess it's more common in the English Canada though, doesn't have to get through an horrible dub.

My point though wasn't that "every relationship with a teenager is good", far from that, but that it's "not necessary from wrong intentions, and maybe even not that bad". Just to precise.

And no. 40 on 15. Yeah, no. I was thinking more of under 30 :P.

Adult is broad huh xD. You're an adult at 18, but also at 90.

Anyway xD.

LOL If my fat old fingers could type on a touch screen(or even a keyboard), some of my rantings would make sense.

I admit I am primarily thinking of teens in high school. Though 18 and 19 are still "teens", I do think of them as "young adults". I am not as concerned about 18-year-olds as I am about 15-year-olds or 16-year-olds. And I admit it--I will judge any adult over 25 who dates someone in high school. When they are that young, the age gap matters.

No amount of taking on adult roles speeds the development of the brain. It's physical and biological. Good genes can help you mature faster, taking on adult roles doesn't make a brain develop more gray matter faster any more than chanting "I must increase my bust" gives a middle schooler boobs. It's just how the body works. Of course, some people develop early. Still, young is young.

You did well, and you deserve to be proud. Still, I would bet you thought differently at 18 than you do now--even if you were great at 18. It would be rare for people not to grow over time. It's not that 18 is incompetent or unable--just young.

Oh--thanks for saying that. For me, high school is 15/16-17/18 (four years). Then most people go to college for another 4 years (which often socially and emotionally defers adult thinking--but I am not as worried about college students).

Oh, I don't know about intentions--but I do think that even when the teen is mature and takes on some adult roles, a gap between a adult who has taken an adult role and a teen is inherently unequal. If you're just talking about a college student dating a high school student, that's not always such a gap in maturity, though if it were my son or daughter, I'd nix it. Kids grow up too damned fast. High school students should be thinking about college and careers--and maybe their clubs or activities. There will be time to date later.

Yeah. Here it's 12-13 to 16-17. Middle school isn't a concept here either. Then there's college, you either do a pre-university diploma for two years or three years of technical diploma.

But hmm, if it wasn't like that, then yeah, I guess it's even more tricky. It's just that I feel that at 17 you're already and adult, well expected to act as such (people start to get apartments, student jobs to pay for the rent and their food etc.), or at least there wasn't much of a difference felt with other early 20 years old aside from "experience". And even then, that was felt more initially, like in the first few months.

So it feels more like you're in the "same stage" and going through the same things. I guess that's why people think it feels off, when it's not that way, and well it's just something else here so my perspective is what it is xD.

In the US, you can't buy alcohol till you are 21. For some things, you are a legal adult at 18. Again, I am not as worried about "young adults" as I am about adolescents (which is probably a better word than 'teen") but I am concerned about potential inequalities and power imbalance. The younger the teen, the more large age gaps matter.

Also, in the US, they did a study that showed most teen pregnancies were fathered by adults over 20 (often in their 30s or 40s). Sometimes once an adult gets an adolescent pregnant, he buggers off and lets the state pay for the child. Not always, but it happens enough to make it a statistical trend. While that is not my primary objection to large age gaps when one partner is still a teen, I am probably influenced by the fact that taxpayer often ends up paying for the baby once the adult is done playing with the teen and takes off. That may be a cold way of looking at it, but there you go. I am very suspicious of large age gaps between adults who have taken on adult roles and adolescents. Even if the adult is immature, I see problems.

Huh, here people don't marry anymore. If they do, it's just for the heck of it. Like, after 20 years of living together, they want to make something special. It's there if you want to throw a massive sum of money to celebrate and think marriages are beautiful. It's not really for any sort of practical purpose.

We've become pretty much a non-religious society though. We rank pretty damn high in the world in terms of people being the least religious lol. So yeah, you don't "lock down" anyone by marrying if you're not having any faith in marriages lol.

It's really something how I feel so out of touch every time I'm on the English Internet xD.

Haha... I laugh so hard.. when I read yout comment. ..(≧∀≦)

Wooooo... my comment be some "famous" topic...LOL(≧∀≦)

Its kinda hard for me.. to follow a reply that u guys leave here...(￣∇￣")

Hmmm... my brain.. will ..>○■○○■☆¤|●¤♡>aghhh overload...(⊙…⊙ )

I try.. to follow up.. but but.. but... Σ( ￣□￣||) Ah... I give up... just let it goo.. let it goo.. go with the flow.. ╮(￣▽￣)╭

Ok, in general though, to reassure you, I do half-agree with your point. It's just that, I guess I prefer to doubt myself and keep an open mind. It's really just that ultimately xD.

Ah, teen pregnancies. But abortion is very popular here. If they don't get one, they just really wanted to keep it. I mean, we have free health care on top of that, so it costs nothing to get one.

We can drink at 16 here, plus we have the option of skipping some high school in favour of vocational training - so many of us are out working at our chosen careers at 18. We are also pretty secular, so while we are officially Christian, we don't really have a lot of die hard believers, and were pretty peaceful too. We are also pretty socialist - health care, free university, great social programs etc.

Ah, so it's pretty much the same actually :). You can drink at whatever age here, just not in bars. Well I'm not sure if technically the law has any issue with that, but I've never been in trouble xD.

We need that vocational training though O.o. High school, I can't :P. But hey, I started working at 20, I'm not going to complain too much :).

Honestly I have the theory that the least religious somewhere is, the less trouble there is. Not being die hard believers, we don't really have issues with believers as long as they mostly keep it to themselves, so yeah. That and mostly, less multiculturalism (unless you're Canada, save here, and your identity is pretty much multiculturalism lol). Like, minorities do extremely great here, gay marriage legalized for now 11 years already without fuss and whatnot, nobody really has issues with other ethnicities that share similar values, but if people were to feel a certain culture was "taking over" (going well over the current 5% of the population) it'd start to not be just as pretty I feel.

It's like, people aren't really xenophobic, but we're proud of our own culture. It's that one thing that ties up all together and make us a pretty peaceful place (that and I assume socialism).

Seriously, I live in a pretty big city (about as much people as Las Vegas), it's been a year and a half since anyone has been murdered here. And when it happens, it's domestic issues that have gone wrong. It's some sort of catastrophic event when it happens.

And you can shout to the world that you love yaoi without being stoned to death :0

Makes me think of Japan, irreligious and homogenous, not that much crime happening (though they have lots more people in there lol).

Ah, in 2015 our country had less than 50 murders, we don't tend to be xenophobic - as we have immigrants from everywhere, and crime levels are fairly low. We only have about 5.5v million residents though - but were a pretty small country if you exclude Greenland (which is sparsely populated) I have family in Canada, nice country - pretty peaceful and multicultural and less religious than most - must be some correlation...

Oh, we legalized same sex relationships in 1933, and gay marriage in 1989 - plus the age of consent is 15 ... pretty liberal

Ah, but the church was still very much in power here in 1933. The cleric went in your home and was like "hmm, not enough babies, make some more or God won't like you" (I dunno really, something like that lol) so I don't think they'd let homosexual relationships be legalized xD.

We went from one of the most religious places to one of the least in a pretty short span. We have a pretty wierd history, but basically the church used to be the very anchor of our culture. You know, being people (mostly people trying to get a new life initially) from France having to survive in that new place called America, it was easy for them to abuse of some power, the King not caring all that much about what happened here lol. And then the English came in, wanting people to turn protestants, so people sided and became pretty dependant of the church trying to defend christianism :L. Wierd history xD.

Basically somewhere in the 20th century women decided they wouldn't have any of it anymore xD (and along with that gay rights came in). And the Church was utterly destroyed from there on, we became extremely liberal etc.

Just a late comment to conversation; I should think that different individual experiences, and how a person responds to them could alter the rate of how fast the brain matures and developes. I would also think factors like hygiene and diet can inhibit or facilitate development. And as mentioned above, culture and lifestile would definitely have an impact.

Like BMI, which is a medical genralization and average about a large population group, how applicable that number is to any individual is debatable. Personal background, history, genetics are usually far more relevant to determine if a person is within healthy parameters. I would guess there would be a great deal of individual variation based on what we experienced, and how 'adult' we had to become at an early age, and how we basically respond to life. Some people never achieve maturity no matter the age.

I think we tend to like these kind of rules because they are simple and clear cut. There is also some truth to them. Most people don't seem to reach full maturity before early 20's in my experience, and I have traveled around quite a bit. But I have also learned the wisdom of not applying generalizations to indivduals, but judging them on their own merits, as all rules have (plenty of) exceptions.

Where are you from? Not the US, they are still pretty religious and very violent - (ie 20 mass shootings this year alone!) It is true we were 'converted' pretty late - something like the 16th century is when it gained a strong foothold and we became 'officially Lutheran, but it never gained the craziness of zealotry like some places.

I'm from Canada aha. But Quebec, the French province. The English took over, we were there before :(

Aha, I don't really care myself, just joking.

I'd say we have pretty much the same relationship with the rest of Canada that Scotland has with the UK? At least when we travel in Scotland there there's a quick brotherhood that forms with the locals xD. But there's no way we're going to separate at this point, thankfully. The economy would wreck.

Basically, we're in Canada but have our own culture. It clashes from times to times on certain ideas, but really Canadian issues are never really that big of a deal anyway lol. Stuff like "we don't want English as an official second language here" whining. We like it when they let us do our own stuff. We make it difficult for them lol, they always have to make exceptions, though I feel that with the older generation slowly dying off that's toning down.

Can't say I really know much about the rest of Canada actually, nor am I really interested. It's wierd, but I just don't really feel "canadian" xD. We never hear about them, probably just because our TV is French lol.

Denmark actually was pretty quick to become Lutheran in 1536, considering Luther was publishing his views in 1521. Sadly it can be argued it had more to do with a coup d'etat and getting rid of the Catholic church that backed up the old order and not the rebel nobles. However, in the end power still got even more centralized than before, so nobles ended up simply getting rid of the belief system that had been their security as well and lost out. And the only real witch hunts we had was at the insistence of a protestant king. But then there were always more witch hunts in Protestant counties than Catholic.

Very true except the majority of witch hunting was from Catholic regions in Europe.. Christianity started getting introduced in the late 10th century, but the witch hunts were started by the Catholics ... to quote Python "Nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition". France was also heavily Catholic during the worst of the witch hunts, as was most of Europe from the early 6th century on. It was not until the 18th century that these horrific practices started to ease.

Yeah, the bitter and bloody fruits of fanatism. （￣へ￣）

That are still showing in some places, like the US currently, or North Korea... or ... or... ┗( T﹏T )┛

I know that it's worse in other places, by the way I'm agnostic...but with a religious minded family and roots ┗( T﹏T )┛

The Inquisition wasn't as such targeting witches, but heretics, not that that makes it any better. When examined numerically, trials and deaths with witchcraft as the crime, significantly more occurred in Protestant countries and areas. Protestants also, as did Catholics, considered heretics a danger to the community and put them to death. Strangely, and relevantly enough, a great deal of this was brought about by the climate changes of the time (the Little Ice Age), which was seen as God's punishment, and necessitated finding the corrupting and guilty persons to blame for it. Oddly much of the way we phrase the climate debate today bears a striking resemblance to back then, despite a change in paradigm (supposedly) from a religious to a scientific understanding of how the world and universe works.

"they are still pretty religious and violent' what have you been reading ?you come from a small country of course you will have a low over all crime rate. Pat yourself on the back. I live in a mid size town in the US with a mix of people and beliefs. We mang. quite well. We are a country respects all relig. even the right to have none. As for the violent part, we are a country at war. although some would not want to call the shootings acts of terror. Just look at France. Look at what they are dealing with that is real life no fairy tale.

True, I guess I was kind of lumping them together, and the recurrent plagues as well as the little ice age did, indeed contribute to the hysteria. (I am more a historian of pre-Martin Luther Europe than post, so I tend to look at witches/heresy both as practices the church wanted to eliminate)

Wow! I never thought I would see such a lovely discussion on a manga page, so enjoyable to read all these comments ... thanks!

I just happen to know from reading a fascinating book on climate and history, as well as another on tolerance as defined by religion. That is besides what I generally learned and picked in the course my studies. I was more into Chinese history. But I agree with you, pre-Luther Europe is generally more interesting. Generally, the older it gets, the more interesting I find it.

I am just going to leave this for you ... https://www.google.ca/search?q=religion+and+peace+map&biw=1125&bih=730&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiDgZCTwbTPAhXE7IMKHeP3BOoQsAQIGw#imgrc=izNMr5LdsTTldM%3A and this ... https://www.google.ca/search?q=crime+rates+world+map&tbm=isch&imgil=JlqC6l0MSwazuM%253A%253B1wSKbuqky099gM%253B https%25253A%25252F%25252Fen.wikipedia.org%25252Fwiki%25252FList_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate&source=iu&pf=m&fir=JlqC6l0MSwazuM%253A%252C1wSKbuqky099gM%252C_&usg=__-OKQlpS7ZNKdvom3bzI1OvUu19s%3D&biw=1125&bih=730&dpr=0.9&ved=0ahUKEwiB8cKLwrTPAhWE6oMKHYiEAnUQyjcIMQ&ei=zADtV4HbH4TVjwSIiYqoBw#imgrc=JlqC6l0MSwazuM%3A ... oh, and as for France: http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/France/United-States/Crime (Just a quick google search, mind you) refugees to Europe: http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/08/02/number-of-refugees-to-europe-surges-to-record-1-3-million-in-2015/ Refugees to USA: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2013/10/20131023285033.html

Hehe, my special interest was 900-1300 Northern Europe (including the Crusades) Although I did one senior level course on Mexican history on a whim - fun stuff!
Ahhh, the crusades! I once had to do a paper on 'peace' in the middle ages - finding material on that, when historians tend to focus on battles, was a real pain in the neck! And the history of medicine - scary! They used to use astrology to cure the Black Death! (among other odd interventions)

Oh, and considering Denmark has a population density of 132 people/sq. km compared to 32/sq km in the US, (oh and France 103/sq km) they should have a higher crime rate - but they don't.

I like Middle Ages period so much. Thanks for all the information. There's something that I want to say about the Spanish Inquisition: They didn't burn only witches and heretics but political enemies too (marking them as heretics), but I'm not completely sure about this fact.

Bites, when I was still living in Europe I had the same ideas about so many things about the US, I completely changed my mind when I started living in a big city of the US. In the place which I live there is a good tolerance for any belief and respect for all ethnicities. I know it is some kind of stereotype, before I came here I had the idea that more or less every American citizen had a gun in their houses, the reality is completely different.

LOL--I was raised my Missouri Synod Lutherans in a northern state, and while we may not have many mass shootings (I think it's too damn cold up where I was born) they are just as Bibble thumping in their way as the Southern Baptists or any other god-botherer--we are just quieter about it, and then we serve coffee and danish in the basement after service.

While the US undoubtedly has a problem with mass shootings and gun violence, I will assert that the US is big--and most communities in the US never see that kind of thing.

I don't know if I'm wrong, but I have the impression (coming from a place that is in part Catholic- but the State define itself as secular) that in the Us there's a formal adhesion to religions and churches, but people tend to consider it more like an habit.

It's nice to know we rank with Best Korea on the fanaticism scale.

With all due respect, you're "at war" "fighting terror" since 1776.

Terrorism, as it is right now, is a minor threat. Calm down. Lighting strikes kill more Americans than foreign terrorism. Heck, there's way, way more shootings done by locals. If fear mongering is indeed the cause of it, that's sad.

I'm more concerned of the US doing wrecks in the Middle East for the sake of fossil energy. Because yes, it would seem to me that they disguised their #1 threat, the lack of energy of their grand economical empire, in the terrorism. And fueling it, deliberately or not, at the same time.

*lightning (￣∇￣")

It depends. We can be a weird multicultural salad, and that effects religion too. The state is secular, but the culture is predominantly Christian, and some have a very strong influence, depending on where you live and who raised you. Where I grew up, church was part of culture and identity, but there were some people for whom it might be a habit. My best friend in high school was "Irish-Catholic" (3rd generation US) and while she said that if she had any religion, it would be Catholic, her identity was 'Irish-Catholic American" as a culture--it's kind of hard to explain. For people who just go with the flow,it's probably no big thing, but it matters to the people who are active in such communities--and socially people may be identified by their church, especially in small towns or rural areas.

In some communities "Sunday Christians" are considered "lost" and there is an effort to bring them back into the fold. Choosing to leave can be seen as worse. Believe me, unless you have been passive-aggressively prayed at, er, I mean for, you don't know how serious it can be. It's not apparent from the outside, but in US Lutheran churches there can be sharp divisions between Missouri synod and Wisconsin or American synod (and all can have churches in the same town). It probably won't come to violence, but people will be very upset over things such as a new hymnal. There will be discontented rumblings over coffee and danish, let me tell you.

For those Americans for whom religion is just a habit, they probably don't see anyone of that. They may hear some of the talk, but it means nothing to them. It's sort of how I feel about football. To people who care about football, it's a big deal in the US. For me, it's something I flip past.

They also tortured and killed jews. US witch hunts usually just killed women who had property and no men.

In 1976, we were the terrorist (from an English point of view)--and French Canadians supported us (when we weren't fighting with them).(〜￣△￣)〜

What are you talking about exactly? Not denying it, I'm just failing to see what xD.

Yes. Just in this moment I remembered all that 'marrano's' persecutions and even came in my mind all that matter about the 'witches of Salem' that afterwards A. Miller used for his own work. I consider myself as an agnostic and now I live in a big city of the Us, I don't think there would be any problem with that (is my personal view, you know). It's against my principles to tell people I believe in god when all my personal ethics come from a secular education. ╮(￣▽￣)╭

Well, we have freedom of religion and an official stance of tolerance. It's more of a social pressure, especially if you were raised to "belong" to a certain group. But it's also not unheard of to leave the church you were raised in. Still, you'll notice that politicians usually at least show up for a dominant Christian church, no matter how their political stands may conflict with doctrine as I understand it.

So ?_?
My curiosity is piqued, and you've given no context whatsoever xD. Been asking some people and they have no clue either. You can't just claim stuff out of the blue like that (￣∇￣")

Oh, it's my strange sense of humor picking on your "fighting terrorists since 1776" line. My point is technically, we were not fighting terrorists--we were considered the terrorists (or at least the rebels--often with unconventional styles). I'd say it's only after we became a power in our own right that we worried about weaker groups sneak attacking us, since we switched from offense to defense, so to speak. The recent obsession with terrorism started after 9/11. Before that, we were all scared of commies (or we were supposed to be--back when Republicans demanded we tear down walls instead of suggesting we build some). I'm just saying it's a matter of perspective.

If it makes no sense, please ignore it. Sometimes my sense of humor is hard to explain.

All of that fearful atmosphere of senator McCarthy and the cold war.

OMG, I am laughing so hard right now - has anyone noticed how off topic the conversation has gotten? The poor OP is going to see more than 70 replies to their post - which was about Asami/Aki age gap, and the discussion is now about violence and terrorism. It is so bloody hilarious, thanks for the fun read!

Ah, I get it. 1776. 1976. :P
Just not sure what French Canadians have to do with the joke xD.

Honestly though, what became the Americans, the self-proclaimed republican liberators, turned out to be the same. Stabling horses in catholic churches, seized supplies from farmers etc.

There's not much love for either, historically. Though the British rule gave us special rights that the Americans would not have guaranteed us, so we came to believe we'd be better off with Canada and didn't go along with the revolution.

If they didn't, I wonder where we'd be...

Then again, let's not forget, the poor Native Americans ;_;. Everyone just stepped on them, French included.

Nnene you have no clue what you are posting abt. that is clear to a blind man. your mis education is showing. WE have oil reserves in Alaska Texas and other states. We don't need to invade some country for oil. We can out produce OPEC.(OPEC's own report) They fear that the most. bush went to war bec. of the twin towers attack, nothing to do with oil. I;m glad it;s quiet in your country. In Germany and Sweden It has not been quiet. It does not get reported on. It's more fun to blame it all on the US and their need for oil. by the way how do you keep the lights on? Don't tell me wind and solar what do you think run those wind and solar plants. Little green men? there is oil someplace. The US was not est. by terror in 1776. It was actually the fight for freedom.The story is to long to go into and you would not get it.

Oh, did you mean the context for the French Canadian crack? I threw that in there because Quebec wasn't always peaceful either, though I kind of exaggerated to be funny (in my head--sometimes my humor is a bit off).

As you know, France gave Quebec to England around 1760 or so (I'm lazy) and the rebels who would later form the US started reaching out to what it called French Canadians in the mid-1770's. Honestly, some FCs supported them, some supported England, and some were neutral, but we (as if I were identified with the rebels since I am from the US) did have a little battle up in Fort Ticonderoga in an attempt to get rid of England and win FC support for our side. Clearly, we failed to annex Canada at that time, but we had some French Canadain support, which in my mind kind of makes you closer to us in the fighting throughout our history rankings. Of course, I can see why some Canadians would see it as series of invasions by the US, particularly once we get to the war of 1812.

I was kind of teasing since I thought tying French Canada to the US might somewhat annoy you (I didn't mean it in a mean way though). Like it or not, your country (and area) is usually our ally (when we are not fighting each other). It's all a bit off the original comment--but my brain can make odd connections and I tend to go with it.

Good point--but when you average the entire United States, you treat the population as if it were evenly distributed in Alaska and Wyoming the same as New York City or LA. It paints an inaccurate picture. In NYC, for example, there are people 27,000 per square mile. In Alaska, its 1.3 (I'm sure it's higher in anchorage). Crime rates also vary from place to place within the US.

I was joking about 1776, no worries :P. Been at war ever since then, though.

But I wonder who's blinded.

I realize that you're probably fed pure lies in the so called 'news media', but U.S. government documents from 2012 have been released by Judicial Watch detailing the support of ISIS, training and arming of ISIS and it's been front page news worldwide.

Funds "moderate rebels", whine when it backlashes.

Yep, too funny, but great discussion.

Bites - you are deluded if you think the US does not import oil - http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=727&t=6 - even oil rich Canada does this - from the Dovernment of Canada's Natural Resources page "Canada’s Eastern refineries import oil from a variety of oil-producing countries. The United States recently became the largest source for imported oil. Apart from the United Sates, most of Eastern Canada’s oil imports come from the countries that are part of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), specifically from Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Angola and Iraq. Some of Eastern Canada’s oil was also imported from North Sea countries, including Norway and the United Kingdom."

Ooops typo Government - not Dovernment, I need to turn the light on over my computer! (to make sure I hit the right keys)

It is true Canada and the US have one of the longest open borders between 2 count. I remember when you could just drive back and forth with just a driver's lis. When we had to clear the skies on 911 that is were a lot of the planes landed.Our ties go back a long way.I got the joke.

Like I said though. I don't consider myself "Canadian". It's wierd, we just don't. You'd ask a Quebecer from where they come from, they more than likely won't say directly "Canada". Even less "I'm Canadian".

But yeah, there's a bunch of FC. At the end of the day people are individuals. I don't feel affiliated to those that went away, just like Canadians don't feel that affiliated with Americans :P.

I think people need to doubt more their history classes however. It can easily be twisted into patriotic propaganda.

Just like in Japan, where World War is omitted from history books in classes, just having a note about it in the corner of a page, other countries twist their history into making themselves look good. Pretty much all do it to a certain extent. The US I'm sure is full of it as well, the rest of Canada too ;).

And I'm saying that about my own place - how we're constantly told we're victims is pretty fishy to me. Though it would seem it's because as a society we tend to frown rich people, so those Frenchy are never talked about lol. It's only about the losses at a certain point.

Heck, it has been denied obviously, but this year the more patriotic party tried to change the history classes, and wanted to omit talking about the minorities that came here. Damn, they really wanted to get elected through lobotomizing the younger people.

Ah and no worries, I don't think our history is noble. It's pretty pathetic actually. Wrecked Native Americans, got wrecked by English and had the hypocrisy to whine about it lol.

I'm only proud of what we are right now, and that's the reality I live in so it's cool, I don't dwell too much on the past like some oldies love to x).

This discussion is mind blowing, it became sooo interesting. International and internal politics, everything in one plate for our enjoyment. *o*

ლ(´ڡ`ლ) fun, fun, fun.

sperm whales, David Bowie and now international affairs. I wonder if Asami would ever let himself be tied up If Takaba asked? LOL prob. not. He tried once and failed.

Ah by the way, the comment you corrected isn't actually shown, probably because mangago blocked it to check out the links (〜￣△￣)〜

There, it won't get blocked xD:
http://www.mangago.zone/home/photo/971448/

So much for my "mis education".

Ah, just this from the US Energy Administration page works: "In 2015, the United States imported approximately 9.4 million barrels per day (MMb/d) of petroleum from about 82 countries. Petroleum includes crude oil, natural gas plant liquids, liquefied refinery gases, refined petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel fuel, and biofuels including ethanol and biodiesel." and this from Govt of Canada Natural Resources page: "The United States recently became the largest source for imported oil. Apart from the United Sates, most of Eastern Canada's oil imports come from the countries that are part of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), specifically from Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Angola and Iraq"

My earlier links must have also been blocked regarding degrees of religious adherence vs violence rates - ╮(￣▽￣)╭

Well, no they're not xD.

But I don't remember having noticed them at first, so maybe they got approved later.

Weird ... oh well. I was pretty sure they posted, but Ialso saw the missing post, which is how I saw the typo.

Yeah, it shows to yourself when you're on your account. They're not deleted, but they won't show to others until approved.

Happened to me a couple times x).

ah, i see your back. what is your point this time. the oil is in the ground. We don't pump bec. of gov. reg. and have not for years since the last oil embargo(1960's) the environmen. movement. OPEC's latest concerns is how Long it can continue to pump by the way. It was fracking that help to get oil below 50 $ a barr. over the last 4 years. There is a glut in the oil market right now and Iran is losing money.

The point is, Bites, that you said " WE have oil reserves in Alaska Texas and other states. We don't need to invade some country for oil" - so why is your country importing oil if that is the case? And I (Nnene) both posted evidence that the US imports nearly 8,000 barrels of oil per day, much of it from the Middle East. I did not specify any OPEC concern, merely pointed out that you wrote something that is not true. You are acting like a Donald - no fact checking before you say something.

Yeah, well you said you didn't need to import, here you go, half your oil is imported, ten years ago it was nearly the double of what you produced yourself.

There's OPEC, but also the Persian Gulf.

Do you know where the Persian Gulf is? It's bordered by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, does that ring a bell? Have you even checked the graph, anyway?

"Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.
—Jimmy Carter, state of the union address, Jan. 23, 1980"

You go, girl! I was not going to get that detailed, because Bites does not really seem to reply to information that we post, just continues blithely along their own path. (note the sperm whale and David Bowie references - not once mentioned by others here - but suddenly there are these items ...)

And Bites seems to not know how to directly reply to a comment, as they always end up just floating in the middle of the comments, so you have to guess at who the comments are directed at.

Well, we also wanted to have a pipeline from some Tim Horton loving northern country that looks like our hat, but for some reasons the plans always cross tribal reservations in the US and the Native Americans keep objecting to having oil potentially leaking into their water supply.

And, yes, we export a lot of oil, and our politics are to blame at least in part for some of what's happening with ISIS. We aren't alone, but we are a big player in that game.

Doh import! (My typos often make me hard to understand)

We Canadians have lots of pipeline headaches - for example the pipeline from Alberta to the East Coast - Montreal mayor does not want it built for various reasons, but happily accepts transfer payments from Alberta oil revenue. I think we need to find a better technology for shipping oil to avoid spills - but that is neither here nor there. We also have to import oil to Canada because of transport issues! LOL

Don't be jealous. We'd probably also get all military if another country tried to control Canda's oil, or maple syrup, or Zamboni's. We like to be in control, I mean, support our allies.

We're not jealous! We have Justin Trudeau, ya'll have Trump. *snicker* (off topic - but you brought in the trombones ... er ... Zambonis)

ROTFL, this has got to be one of the longest and most interesting comment threads, I just finished reading them all and have NO idea how you got from shotacon to OPEC. well I do, but the trip is a blast to read - almost 100 comments!

Yeah, I wasn't saying they're totally alone. They do lead some allies who end up having more or less of an impact respectively.

By the way, ISIS:
"The U.S. intelligence documents not only confirms suspicions that the United States and some of its coalition allies had actually facilitated the rise of the ISIS in Syria – as a counterweight to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad- but also that ISIS members were initially trained by members and contractors of the CIA at facilities in Jordan in 2012.

The now declassified document appears to confirm that the U.S., the European Union and other nations viewed Muslim extremists in ISIS as “a strategic asset toward regime change in Syria.” As a result parts of Iraq have been in chaos since ISIS began to cross the Syrian border in early June 2014."

America nuked Japanese CITIES, not military targets, when they were about to capitulate. First demonstration of their new shiny weapon to the world. Then, attacked Iraq. Disheveled Afghanistan. Created mujaheddin to fight their proxy wars with USSR, then Al-Qaeda, Taliban. And now ISIS backfired, they labelled them as threats for humanity, killed millions of native Indians, are attacking Yemen.

The American administrations first create and support terrorists and when they go out of control, pose as though they the saviors of humanity.

I'm mostly criticizing the foreign policies, just to be clear. Which the population doesn't have much control over I guess (and, it would seem, many are unaware of).

Anyway, those are things commonly talked about here.

True, I started it....but Donald...must you?

(There's a topic? Is it a poem about Asami?)

Sorry, couldn't help myself. LOL That being said, the OP was about Asami and Aki's age gap, so we have seriously diverged, but what fun this is!

All of that is true. It isn't easy trying to rule the world. Ask the Brittish. Still, I doubt the Soviets would have been much nicer.

To misquote A Fish Called Wanda:

"Oh, you [Candandians]. You’re so fucking [polite], aren’t you? Well, would you like to know where you’d be without us, the old U. S. of A., to protect you? I’ll tell you—the [syurpiest] fucking province in the Russian Empire.”

(Just kidding).

[Candandians]

We're actually in India, you know ╮(￣▽￣)╭

Ahem, we're actually not that polite at all LOL. I'm not sure why you're so obstinate of giving me typical English Canadians stereotypes ahaha. I guess we're that invisible, but come on, hello hello :P.

But yeah, it's good to know we're not having probably the world's greatest terrorists against us, I guess ;). We're in a pretty good spot to contemplate from afar the disasters happening out there, and thinking "man are they going bonkers".

(War is, terrorism, by the way. War on terror is quite the oxymoron.)

It's all good though terms though ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ﾉ~
Please don't kill me, I want to be able to read Finder's ending ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ﾉ~

I assume Canadians are all polite because I don't understand when I'm being insulted in French--and the actual French are better at being rude anyway.

I don't know, the people I have met, of various ethnicity and origin who now live near me (I live in Western Canada) are generally very polite. We hold doors open for each other, apologize often, usually address each other with neutral/kind words. But to quote Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds "Those Canadians all seem so polite, but when they go bad, the go Darth Vader bad" (I love that quote)

Your TV shows have a wicked humor--often dry, but not quite like the UK dry humor--and sometimes kind of zany or almost otherworldly too. Kind of trippy. And you do have to watch the quiet ones.

I think our humour is a mix of British and American, with a big heap of self deprecation and influences from our multiculturalism. Plus it is fairly cold up here and sparsely populated which gives us lots of opportunities to disparage things - hehe. (I think California has as many people as we do). The one thing that gets my goat is when people think we pronounce about (soft 'a'+bout) as "a-boot" - which is more Scottish or very East Coast (they still have strong ties to Scotland - at least pronunciation wise)

So I Googled how to insult a French Candian. Listen up:

The best poutine I ever had was in a McDonalds in Alberta.

You heard me. Or should I assess some taxes to have it translated into French?
(￣∇￣")

That might work. Personally, I don't like poutine (some even add ketchup on top of the gravy/cheese curd hot mess), but gravy and mayo is yummy (my friend forced me to try hers once and I never looked back)

Bwahaha, I guess they are particularly rude sometimes.

But lol, you must be thinking of random FC. I don't think they express themselves like us, it's probably closer to Canadian.

You haven't been under the wrath of a Quebecer :P. Search that up instead lol.

Here it's just more, let's say, colored language. Our favorite thing is seemingly throwing catholic words everywhere, such as the ciborium (ciboire), the tabernacle (we gave it the pet name "tabarnak", if you want to be less insulting, my own favorite variation is "tabaslak" which I personally use just to say "damn". Others say "tabarnouche".) etc.

They mean nothing themselves, they're just quite aggressive-sounding. The insults give them meaning though lol.

You can hear things such as (no, google translate won't be your friend, we say to hell with correct French grammar):

QC: Tasse-toé crisse d'épais !
F: Dégage, putain de connard !
E: Get out of my way fucking cunt !

QC: Heille mon ciboire, tu pues en ostie !
F: Oh la vache, tu schlingues !
E: Holy shit, you stink !

Or when you want to get it out from your system:
QC: Ostie d'crisse de calisse de tabarnak d'ostie (you can do it as long as you feel) de tarla !
E: Fucking cunt !

"Eat a car" (mange un char mon criss) is also a good one.

I don't want to get deeper though, I'm a girl with a some class, some make me quite uncomfortable :P

Yeah, I don't know how to translate them properly in English. It's just not going to happen lol.

From my admittedly poor French (but better Latin/Spanish) those translations work pretty well. Most languages don't have precise translations, you have to couch it in terms of the language you translating to and use that vocabulary and slang. I don't swear often, but when I do it's in Danish (my folks are from Denmark and I grew up with their swear words)

Thanks. That's more impressive than trying to say cave so it rhymes with chav. I thought I knew what "putain: was going to mean, but I was wrong. Spanish is easier.

I think I may start using, "Eat a car."

Its origin is actually the word "calf".
Moo.
Calves are stupid. Caves too.

Seems like the English liked to insult their fellow frenchy foremen with "bunch of calves" lol. Since they received their pay after the winter and they were so happy to see their family, they were like calves you just let free.

Though honestly, that's just because I looked for it, I thought it just came from "basement" since that's how we call them. Caves. Or "sous-sol".

Yeah.

How do you know caves are stupid? Have you ever given one an IQ test? Who knows, they might surprise you! Lots of things like to hang out with caves.

Hmm, well, if you were to raise a caveman today, would it have the same IQ as your modern homo sapiens?

I don't know, if not, maybe that means houses have a better IQ than caves. So caves would be stupid. Houses intelligent.

Side note, this became the actual #1 most replies a topic has received on the Finder page. By quite a high margin lol.

Well, scholars debate over the intelligence of Neanderthal, plus the idea that some of them interbred with Homo Sapiens, so ... maybe?

(note the people annoyed by the fun we are having - must be jealous)

And only to happy to contribute to number one status LOL

Hmm, well it would seem they were actually more intelligent, also had better vision and were more robust, but lacked the ability to pronounce as many phonemes. Thus communication took longer than us for the same exchange of information. Seems that they were more focused on individual survival as well, so that makes sense their senses evolved the way they seemingly did. So homo sapiens just evolved more quickly because of their ability to transmit information more quickly, and being more sociable, working together etc.

Huh. Of course, I guess this is nothing confirmed in stone, but the more you know aha. Makes sense to me at least.

And yeah, it's all fun ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

Yes, and let's not forget the Denisovians - no one is too sure about their level of intelligence, but while they did not seem to interact with Neanderthal, they did so with early Homo Sapiens, so perhaps they fall on the scale some where between the two? Not much is yet known about them, but I try to follow any new research on them too.

Ah, wasn't much aware of their existence aha.

How they're supposedly "sweet loving" makes me think of the Bonobos. Shin Sekai Yori, an anime, is what piqued my curiosity about them at first aha. To keep peace they tried to mimic them by having teenagers have sexual relationships with the same sex. The anime was a bit complex and hard to follow sometimes though aha.

Anyway, chimpazees and Bonobos are the two closest primates to the human genetically-wize. Bonobos are even a slightly bit more close to us than chimpanzees. We had a common ancestor waaaaaaay back. It probably was some sort of mix of all three, I guess.

Bonobos resolve conflicts through erm, love and sex. It seems their sexual practices are quite - maybe disturbingly so - similar to humans. Ventral to ventral sex, fellations etc. whatever pleases. But they do it very much more times every day lol.

Incidentally, they're all bisexual. Which by the way, could very much explain homosexuality today?

So I wonder, maybe they had behaviors that were more in sync with the bonobo side than we do. And we're somewhere in the middle. Maybe.

Which does make me think there may very be something wrong with our tendency to cage people's sexuality. Had to rely maybe a bit too much to the chimpanzee way in those cases, war!

As for their intelligence, the Denisovians, hmm, maybe. But then again, maybe their intelligence developed in yet another way.

So much mysteries (〜￣△￣)〜

For sure, genetic markers of the Denisovians only show up today in humans from Eastern Europe and the Pacific Rim, so there can't have been many, or perhaps the just did not breed as well as the other two species.
As for the Bonobos, despite the fact that chimps are closer in DNA, perhaps at one time some Bonobo mixed in with Chimp and the genetic markers are too obscure? I don't know, just theorizing.
Personally, I like Plato's old theory about how humans used to have four legs, four arms, a single head with two faces and how the two were split apart but remained soulmates. Then there were the three genders male/female, male/male and female/female - which explained early same sex attraction. That is just the romantic in me though ... but what if ...?

From shotacon to politics and finally to evolution theories. This is fantastic! What will we have next? Our favorite novels and movies? ヾ(☆▽☆)

That character book was made back in yhe beginning of the story so you take 35 and 23 as the beginning,and add more to those...

Also yhe time passed is kind of one year or 2,but sensei said she still pictures m as 23 and 4
35 forever

Thank you for your compliment" just like Donald' I don't mind it at all. Bites does not directly reply Bec. she/ he does not have to. I don't have to post the data bec. I've live it. I don't need stats and data , my life is my data. What you really are after is an apology. my country is better than yours fight shit. You are not going to get that from me. You don't like America, fine. I get it. I'm not going to make it easy for you. I'm also not going to waste my time defending what you can't understand.I don't care what you think. I'm not here for you Nnene or toki. Is that direct enough for you both? I don't need your approval this is not the socialist zone . I am still allowed to my OP even if the 2 of you don't like it. I don't care one bit. You can gang up on me all you want to. I may not be on a lot. there is a reason for that. I buried my bro. just 4 weeks ago. It hit my family hard, So I may not be on to read the 1 of your love notes all the time, I will reply. Esp. to you Nnene. You show you care so much thanks.

"maybe that means houses have a better IQ than caves."

Is that what they mean by a smart house?

I'm enjoying it.

I just saw Howard Lovecraft which is CGI and not at all anime, but good if you like Lovecraft. But it's funny and child-friendly. There is a tentacle monster, but nothing yaoi fans would have to worry about.

Ahem, I just responded because you called me "mis educated" on your imports of oil lol. The rest, do feel free to not answer.

I know you live in a bubble but-

Who cares about your country being the best or not? I sure don't even care if Canada is the best. Why is that every american you talk to brings that up? xD

Ugh. Well at least I have only little hope Russia succeeds their clean-up operation Which are the only ones here even invited in the said country, by the way. The US, France and UK are totally not, and dropping bombs all the time anyway. Imagine how terrorizing that is in the first place.

By the way, do you think they're randomly targeting France lately? Is that what most Americans think?

Anyway, here we go, terrorism will increase and spread into Europe; and mass immigration from Syria and that area to Europe will continue; and acts of terrorism on European soil will magically justify endless war, internal lock-down, wholesale surveillance, detention without trial, and troops on the street.

The west has become utterly corrupt and has become a threat to humanity. The US is leading it.

But yeah, let's all just wait until that blows up for good.

Wow, what arrogance - and a superiority complex. You, sir/madam are a credit to the current Republican party of the US. Congratulations!
Condolences on your loss, though, guess that excuses you?

Although you make good points, people are people--not just western powers or the US. Wars have existed throughout known history. People with power exploit those who have less. If the US and Europe were suddenly sucked into a different universe, the remaining countries would scramble for power--and some would do horrible things to each other. It doesn't make it right--but it's a trait common to all people and cultures. It's not something the West invented.

It's not that I think my country has to be the best, or that I approve of everything it does, but it's more that I see the good as well as the bad, and that I don't think any other country would be much better if it were in the same position. I think power corrupts, and usually, people act in their own best interests even at others' expense. There are some shining moments when some people rise above that, but most of the time, that's just how the world is.

What I find sickening are people turning a blind eye on it and going along with demonizing Russia and ISIS while thinking who they're supporting are so much better.

So I just call things what they are. "How the world is" is the same petty mentality that people use to justify piracy. Only here it's at quite the grand scale, but people treat it the same it would seem. And then whine a relative died to justify giving no fucks about others not related to them dying. We're humans, humans are bad, let's never strive for a better world.

Of course elites will be elites. Maybe I should just say "US elites" if that can avoid any confusion.

So switch them out as often as possible to reduce the impacts. It doesn't take a genius. Even here corruption creeps in when it's been too many years a party has been in power. The mafia's wet dream.

Anyway, one thing.

The subtext from the US elites was clear years ago: if Europeans don’t want to take part, terrorist attacks will be allowed or contrived until they acquiesce.

Terrorists, which they practically spawn on purpose.

And it seems very likely that they're using the whole refugees going everywhere in Europe to attempt to remodel the Middle East. They're emptying it. If they go away without having to murder them, all the better.

Heck, retired US General Wesley Clarke, in 2007, stated that the U.S. had "unilaterally decided to destroy Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran".

Thing is, Europeans want to be French, German, Dutch, Italian, Hungarian, Czech, British. They do not want their countries to be a diverse "Tower of Babel created by millions of refugees from Washington’s wars". That's another thing waiting to blow up.

Russia is in fact the only country country involved to date which has the removal of ISIS as an actual goal. And with a legitimate mandate from the government.

Of course, it's also out of self-interests, but you know. The US elites don't give as much of a damn as they want people to believe. They just feed the fear mongering as a way to continue their mess.

And people want to vote for the #1 elitist, which of course no matter what is said now to get votes will continue this terror. Wow.

I like your quote about power corrupting, but John Lehman said it a little better "Power corrupts, absolute power is kind of neat" - I don't really have much else to contribute, just remembered this saying, LOL

Hee hee. That's one way to look at it. To bring it back to Yaoi, it's kind of like wanting a seme to be sorry for taking advantage of a uke. I'm not saying most semes could not behave better--but if you are waiting for an apology, you may be disappointed.

What's stupid is people want two Korea as one. Different topic but gosh I hate when foreigners think reunifying the "bunny" will be like Germany which it won't. These NK are such two faced traitors.

"If you know your enemy and you know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself you will succumb in every battle." The Art of War

The US has often been guilty of misjudging the enemy--or focusing on one enemy to the point of ignoring another. But ISIS is hardly a morally superior actor in this mess. Neither is Russia. And like it or not, it is the way the world works. You can be morally outraged as much as you want, but power games are nasty and brutal, no matter who the players are.

Do you know what's outrageous? That 9/11 victims suing to the middle easterns. It's not like the U.S paid back to countries like Japan or any place they've hurt citizens before. And what about the victims in the middle east? They can't sue for the war damage that U.S has caused?

I said:
While demonizing Russia and ISIS while thinking who they're supporting are so much better.

I said we are not better. Not that they are better. I also precised Russia is doing it for their own self-interests, and while it does match with the Middle East' interests as of right now, I did not claim they're doing it because they're doing "the good".

Very true. Though once they have conquered, they should cherish and spoil a little, I think.

Yeah, well like anywhere else, it'd work if both parties truly wished to be reunified.

Which I assume they don't lol.

It might be more like they are too different now to reunite? I don't know much about them, but South Korea seems pretty open, and North Korea has been indoctrinated for a long time under Communist rule, they might be suffering from extreme Stockholm syndrome (?) or something akin to that.

Yeah well, it doesn't seem impossible, but it's indeed not Germany. There's the 71 years division, so it'd be harder for North Koreans to integrate, I assume. 25 million of people who were told that Kim was a god saving them from South Korea and the USA.

Then again, I can't say for sure that what they have to tell to the media, what we see, necessarily means that they really don't think for themselves.

Oh no you don't. It will never work and Kim is not a god so I don't get what 25 million people are talking about. The people may have suffered from under communism but I still don't trust them. One time some NK women went to China by a trick (I think) but in the media they hated (even the south) and wanted to go back to the North.

Never trust the North and for this month's earthquake in SK we all know it's by the north's nuclear test that cause the quake.

I don't think that it is a matter of not thinking for themselves, but after believing wholeheartedly in one thing (your nation/god/political affiliation etc.) and then suddenly having it turned completely around is an easy step. And if they are happy with the way things are, then yanking that away will only cause resentment and rebellion, throwing an entire nation that is slim on resources, infrastructure and such, into utter chaos. It is like trying to convert an extremely devout religious person into an atheist, it runs counter to everything they are.

Yeah, but they polled a hundred NK that had the opportunity of spending time in China, working or visiting relatives (yes, with the intent of returning) and they seemingly showed lots of interest in reuniting. So I was willing to entertain the idea that what we see might be exaggerated.

"Like South Koreans, the North Koreans showed a lot of interest in reunification: 95 of them said that it was necessary, largely for economic reasons. An overwhelming number believed that they would personally benefit from reunification.

The vast majority expected that reunification would take place “through negotiations between the two Koreas on equal footings after reforms and an opening-up of the North.”"

Then again, quite the unusual cohort to be polled aha. The probably do not reflect the 25 million others that have not engaged with "the outside world".

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2014/07/10/2014071000658.html

I just remembered something, completely random, they're turning insects in cyborgs nowadays.

They've found a way to remote-control insects (beetles, as of right now). You could even attach a small microphone, they're looking to attach chips that could deliver images.

Of course, they're intended to be used to spy.

True, and there is always the one wierdo ... erm ... black sheep in the bunch. Perhaps those polled want to bring SK into the fold as opposed to dropping communism and adopting democracy. China did not really embrace democracy and is still more communist despite the supposed shift, which might also be why the N Koreans liked it (thinking they were in a democracy?)

"The big lie they’re told is that the war was started when the US, occupying South Korea at the time, attacked the unsuspecting North to try to take control over the whole country. They’re told that Kim Il Sung valiantly staved off the Americans and the Americans shrank back in defeat, then continued to occupy South Korea until this day."

Maybe they want to save the South Koreans from the Americans? ╮(￣▽￣)╭

They also don't call themselves North Korea. It's "Korea". All the maps you'll find in NK depicts NK and SK combined. The South is just "unfortunately currently occupied by the Imperialists Americans".

They can try. The law is neutral on it's face, at least in the US. They may have a problem if the two countries were officially at war at the time, even if civilians were injured, because US law see a difference, even if you do not. They would also have to prove causation. It can't be something a vague as politics or list of bad things a country did that would "make" wrongdoers act badly. Wrongdoers are still responsible for their own acts even if they feel they were provoked or egged on.

Its face, damn it, its face. Stupid extra apostrophe for no reason--why did I choose that one?

Well, the US does give foreign aid and do other things internationally that help others too. There was a book called "The Mouse that Roared" where a fictional small country wanted the US to declare war on them just to get the post-war aid spoofing this. Because many experts believed WWIII was caused in part by Germany's inability to recover after WWI, we actually put a lot of money into reconstruction (Well, at least on the west of Germany). Other US Allies (aka 'The West") also contributed to the recovery of Germany and Japan--and others. The Marshal plan really allowed these countries to rebuild at our 9a collective allies our0 expense. That money came with many strings attached where we imposed our will, but there was aid.

The US still gives economic assistance to many countries as well as military aid. It's given to support USgoal, but it is given. It may not be much in the grand scheme of things, but it's not all bombs and military camps. We do try for economic stability if we can contribute to it. Anf there e is the Peace Core.Historically, how many conquering nations set up a Peace Core? I mean, Rome built roads and all that, but the goals of the Peace Core are different.

The US and the West are not just governments. There are many private and business organizations that are based in the US and 'the West' that benefit other countries too. Whether the aid comes from charity or from CSR public relations motives, the fact is that money does flow from the US and western countries into those that need aid, and it some cases it makes people lives better. Yes, we are the same US that has international operatives sometimes acting in questionable schemes, sends in troops and drops bombs--but we can be generous too.

How could anyone possibly know what most NKs want when they live under a regime that violently suppresses free speech? I'm not saying i think they want to be united--just that I have no idea what people there might think.

Doh again. Corps. Peace Corps. You need a magic decoder ring for my posts.

First, Europe had been a great market for American goods; without a prosperous Europe, the United States might have suffered a severe economic depression.

Second, without American aid, Western Europe might have used socialist or Communist methods to rebuild, and U.S. leaders considered that undesirable.

Third, Western Europe appeared open to influence by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which the United States was beginning to see as its main rival.

Fourth, West Germany (now part of the united Federal Republic of Germany), historically the continent's industrial hub, had to be rebuilt as a buffer against Soviet expansion; European fears of their World War II foe would lessen only if the Germans were integrated into a larger Europe.

Sometimes peace is good for business, sometimes it's war.

Many, many charities are pure frauds. Fact is, they are businesses, too. They have agendas. It's hard to undercover, but take Greg Mortenson. Once embraced by the US military, Barack Obama, Oprah and millions of Americans - it turned out that half the schools built in Afghanistan are sitting empty.

Why so? There was one place where an empty school: it turns out that the village is the home of a notorious commander that was really abusive to the local community who, in exchange for donating the land on which the school sits, extracted a contract from the US military worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Yay for funding warlords.

Well some do want freedom but others may think their country is "great" (whether brainwash or not). Did you even know that some defectors who live in SK do crimes while some don't? And if the country becomes united the economy will be much worse then before. You think they will last long if they block every foreigners import or trading deals because they hate them? (Remember, they hate America and threaten them. use missiles at Japan as well SK too)

I'm glad all nations even stop the sanctions 'cause what's the point when before they (the north) begged and thank after receiving the funds but next thing it's like "you don't give enough and we're better so back off". Such a repeated cycle.

Cannibalism. I feel sorry for the people forcing to eat human meat as a last resort (stupid dictator) but do you think their craving will stop after Korea unify? One man killed multiple women and he was a defector (I'm pretty sure. It was an old news) and do you know why? Not only murder but to eat so really I detest this Korea becomes one ideal.

Foreigners don't know anything about North and must have forgotten how they hate and twofaced at the world.

TBH, I don't know much about North Korea, and most of what I do know involves missiles and human rights violations. I'm not saying the US is perfect or anything, just that personally, I do think we are usually more humane than NK--not that that is saying much. I don't actually have an opinion on reunification. I simply don't know.

What I know about SK or Korea as a whole is heavily influenced by US citizens of Korean descent, mahnwa, and K-dramas. My high school history class didn't even cover the Korean war except for a few paragraphs about McArthur. My love of Kdrama doesn't exactly qualify me to know what's going on politically or socially in Korea.

Eh just a late comment- I actually thought that the French settlers, after having been forced off their land by American settlers in the New England area, and having to resettle in Quebec, supported the British. But I could be remebering wrong.

Canada wasn't very settled at the time. More of a woodsy hinterland to get lost in. The British only really started getting interested after they lost the US colonies.

Ahaha.

We never "supported the british". We only supported them finally giving us things such as "French as the official language" and "Roman Catholicism as the official religion". The "The Québec Act". Because, you know, they didn't want us to leave for the Americans. The Church sure loved that, and people had been desperate to protect their identity so they went along with it.

But no, we haven't been "forced off our land" and ended up not rebelling all that much. Maybe some (or many, depending on what you consider many) did, and that's what you focus on in history classes. It's probably more interesting lol.

Even to this day, no one gives a damn about Canada's Day. I mean, we appreciate the fireworks, but it's devoid of anything else. We really just go see some fireworks.

That's not how it was taught in my history class. :) I was taught France had established settlements in Canada and Arcadia first and started to connect down with Louisiana in the early 1700's or so. French fur traders and such were active around the great lakes areas and other places, but these lands belonged to people such as the Algonquin, the Chippewa, and other indigenous nations. Technically, it's Spain and Great Brittain that ended New France, though yes, at the time "Great Brittain" was largely represented by the people who later became the US. Still, diseases killed more French settlers in the area west of the British colonies than any British colonial settlers did--not that British colonies were shy about pushing west into Pennsylvania. But at the time, it was done as Great Brittan--the same Great Britain that later took Quebec.

Though I was exaggerating for my sense of humor, the fact is some French Canadians supported the US revolution and others didn't. There was never official support. But it's not as if the French and Indian Wars left warm fuzzy feelings between Quebec and the new English rulers. It's just that they didn't necessarily like the US rebels any better. George Washinton did fight for the Brittish in the earlier battles with the French before the US revolution.

Louisianna, in contrast, had French settlers even when it belonged to Spain. It was given back to France, and France sold it to the US. Yet most of the French descendants in Louisiana don't really have a problem with being part of the US. It didn't play out like Quebec. :)

I'll bet different areas put a slightly different spin on things when they teach history.

At this point, the long-term near starvation diet of the North Koreans is affecting them in various ways. Not only are they now physically smaller and weaker than South Koreans, but they are also less intelligent. Hygiene and diet over a lengthy time, especially a generation or two will also affect the brain's development, resulting in a wide-scale dumbing down of large population.

I know this is just a rough generalization, and certainly wouldn't apply to an elite in the North. But it also might explain why any common North Korean refugee couldn't adapt to the South, and in the end wanted to go home.

This became both long and interesting, I stayed tuned and I'm agree with all the contributions (half and a half), it's really meaningful to find such conversations in this site. ヾ(☆▽☆)

... meanwhile the OP, ever since starting this topic, has gotten engaged, married, divorced and has since seen her four children off to college while silently vowing never to start another topic on the Finder board again... ;)

Hyperbole? It has only been three days, unless the OP has gone back in time to before this manga was even a gleam in the eye of Yamane sensei ... but likely the OP will be in for a bit of a shock

Trust me, it feels like a lifetime... ;)

What's the point of understanding the current langua franca language if you don't exchange information with people coming from around the world in a somehow meaningful way from time to time? ╮(￣▽￣)╭

I do the same with the French part of the Internet, it's a totally other prevalent set of cultures, French, Swedish, Belgians, Canadians, Africans etc. ヾ(☆▽☆)

Swiss* LOL

You know I was just joking about the sheer length of this thread, right?

As for cultures... Agreed. I'm currently on eight foreign languages (and counting), so there you go. :) In my case, it comes with the family (multicultural), the home country (multilingual) and the job description (far too much traveling). ;)

Yeah, I got that you were joking about it. I was playing as well, no worries ;)

But hey, that's quite impressiveヾ(☆▽☆). I only wish I could speak so many aha. I don't travel enough for that however, even though I have a career that has high potential for it if I ever wanted to.

Hey, you can have some of mine (travel)! :D It is interesting, but it can be really demanding and exhausting as well. I'm no longer a spring chicken, so nowadays, I can quite literally feel it in my bones. :)
P.S.: I think we have moved this thread past the 165 mark. ^^ People are now packing lunch before they start scrolling through it!

I haven't finished reading the book you've written here, LOL, but uhhhh, what's all this talk about men and women have to do with yaoi? You know, when we're here, we're not really wanting to talk about the hetero stuff, so what gives?

None. I was just responding to Anoni Girrl.
What gives is that I was not having a conversation with you? (￣∇￣")

I googled a bit and found this. There seems to be more than one season: http://www1.newasiantv.co/movie/border-shokuzai.3502.html