It LIVES!

Well,2nd post in a day... errm,that's unusual especially with the 4.5 posts monthly upto now,but,hey!Anyway,there seems to be a glimmer of hope for my torn and tattered soul out there in the dark endless tunnel and it's the one and only ARSENAL! It lives,it errupts to show its supporters what're they believing in,what is their religion,their one and only belief - the Gunners will prevail,through thick and thin, throught Russian mob money or Portuguese gay-divas (C.Ronaldo can go fuck himself), through despair and elation... Because even in their darkest moments they know for whom do they do their magic - for us,the loyal supporters and today they did it again... Tomorrow is another day,but today the dream lives on... The dream of the loyal Gooner,that the title will be ours and with it the world!
bk109 out

Holy Nightmare on Elm Street!!!

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG LATELY WITH ME?!?!
Ever since the godforsaken "Plague" of an essay i'm sleeping upto 10 hrs a night...
What's wrong with that you ask...
Well,it's rather simple... It's the wrong fucking 8hrs... The last couple of days I had the distinct pleasure of suddenly dropping asleep at 2PM (even while playing Red Alert 3,well while waiting the main menu to present its illusive self ...) and the next thing I know it's kinda darkish outside and the street lamps are shining brightly into the night...
The first time it was awkward,but somewhat interesting,even beneficial... I HAD THE DL POWER... but then came the second night,then the third...
FOR FUCK'S SAKE,my day IS INVERTED!!! And the worst part is that most of the peeps around me are A) Normal(i.e. they sleep when I'm awake) or B) 1337 h4xx0rz that use the weeeeeeeeeeeee hours of the night/morning - your pick - to pwn american and australian n00bz, so they're out of the picture as well(unless I have the sudden craving to melee some assault campers on Bridge_Crossing on AA,but that's getting too old too quick) and I'm left to myself during the long starless night...
I mean really alone... Edgar Allen Poe-ish alone ... Stephen King-like alone... Alone in the dark, with only the warm friendly embrace of my laptop's display to keep my sanity relatively untouched... Well,not exactly untouched,because I'm getting awfully close to cracking the coveted Lvl60 Vanguard/Bastion rank on Mass Effect (a.k.a. second playthrough for 3 days of a game,that's supposed to have an enormous gametime reserve) and I still had time to start downloading and watching HEROES...
At least I found that the whole "Save the cheerleader, save the world" doesn't make much sense in 4Am as well,but at least its variant "Fuck the cheeleder, FTW" sounds a lot funnier... RLY!
I even found out that common acts of stupidity start to look LOLworthy afwully quick at 4 - For your consideration,exhibit "lolosaur":
Yes,It's a sandwich,so sue me! At least I thought it was kinda funny-ish,but then... I thought the same about the whole lolosaur thing... so Yeaaah
BTW. The FINAL Finals Timetable is finaaaaally available,so after I manage to stave the worst effects of panic and/or shock, I'll give you another thing for shits and giggles,but for now...
bk109 out.... for dinner

Whoooooopie,It's DONE!

Well,boys and girls,
after a long and desperate battle,I've emerged victorious! MY HIS10080 Essay is FUCKING DONE!!! w00t! Finally,I can relax and take a couple of days off in order to recharge those batteries (not those,honeyz,they're girlz and gayz onlyz) and then begin the new fight! THE FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO pass ECON10010/20 and POL10010/20,which'll be short, brutal and decisive... But let's hope that the preparation for this battle be lighter or at least mercifully in a more appropriate timeframe! So,here's my baby,but be advised that if i catch someone copying it,I'LL FUCKING MASSACRE YOU(Unless you're a decent-looking young girl, in which case, I'll make yer mah bitch and you'll like it,har-har-har)! So Look and enjoyz!
OOOH,and to avoid a misundestanding,I'm CAO:08857563,but you can call me 63 ... :)

What were some of the long-term effects of the Black Death?

Why it sucked to be alive in Eurasia in the time of the Black Death…

The Black Death has become an important symbol of the fragility of humankind and which has become the embodiment of all our fears and is perhaps one of the strongest visions of the late Dark Ages. Its effect on society can be felt even today and its psychological impact hasn’t lessened in more than six centuries and has actually become a synonym of disaster and destruction, but it’s interesting to note that the disease brought on not only another bleak page in the history of humanity, but it also helped shape the world as we know it today.

The aftermath of the Black Death managed to affect every aspect of the medieval world. Everything from the Church to the strategic balance of power was shaken by its destructive march in the countries, cities and homes of Europe. Everything began to change in its aftermath – the direct consequences being the rapid shift of the social-demographic empowered the lower classes of the affected nations of the West, due to the significant shortages of labor or the beginning of a new way of thought which paved the way for a whole new chapter in the history of mankind – the Renaissance.

The biggest and most severely felt consequence of the Black Death was the tremendous loss of life – which is by various sources placed between 75 and 200 million in the 14^th century alone and the ensuing decline in the population for the next 200 years and which killed between 20 and 80 percent of the people depending on the geographic location of the country. It is hard to establish the exact death toll due to the inaccurate statistics left from that timeframe, but also due to the perpetual state of fear caused by the outbreaks and which almost inevitably led to the comparison of the pandemic with the Book of Revelation 6:8 “… His name was Hell and Death followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death … was given to him…” which ironically may have led the authors of the various chronicles of the time to actually lower the mortality of the Plague in order to show the similarities with the Biblical vision of the Apocalypse in order to prepare for the “Final Judgment”. In reality the average mortality rate is disputed to be ranging between the overly optimistic estimate of 20% by Ann Carmichael to John Aberth’s estimated 40-60% based mainly upon local studies to a maximum of 75% according to Naphy and Spicer. There isn’t an accurate way to determine the correct mortality rate, however, due to the aforementioned inherent unreliability of the historical texts and also due to the fact that the sheer intensity of the outbreaks and the mass panic it caused have made it impossible to ascertain the actual loss of life and also due to the fact that it is impossible to differentiate the deaths caused directly by the disease and by the direct consequences of it. For example the Plague led to a steep decline of trade between the countries, which lead to further famine and wars between the various states in Europe. On the other hand this enormous loss of life led to an increased importance of the common laborers in the West and therefore led to a significant improvement both in a social and financial terms, because their scarcity led to a need for the Nobility to recognize them and therefore to begin the social revolution which arguably led to the end of the Dark Ages and to the beginning of the Renaissance.

This loss of life and the preceding Great Famine of 1315 and the Hundred Year’s War led to a pronounced economic depression in the years after the plague and also led to a series of popular revolts in Medieval Europe due to the increased effective power of the average laborer, but this failed to yield significant results until the beginning of the 1500’s, due to the opposition from the rich landowners and nobility, who tried to retain their status and power, but failed due to the significantly diminished available workforce. An example of this attempt to keep the common peasantry from obtaining a wider recognition of their work is for example the 1351 Statute of Laborers, which in effect tried to put an effective cap on the wages that could be paid to the average person. This attempt at retaining the status quo failed largely due to the failure to set an adequate wage cap, because of the inherent error in using the wage levels from before the Black Death as a measurement point, due to the fact that the Plague led to a severe shift in the economics in the various countries and also due to the fact, that these levels were actually taken during one of the worst economic crises in England up to that time. These heavy-handed attempts to control the populace were the flashpoint of a series of revolts in every Western nation, which further exacerbated the already significant economic disaster in the wake of the Great Epidemic and which in turn led to a further decline in the rate of recovery for the whole continent. The positive outcome of these disturbances can be considered the advent of capitalism, where the common man could be reimbursed relatively fairly for his labor and can also be attributed as the beginning of democratization of the Western world. The problem with these reforms however was relatively slow and most historians agree that the earliest signs of a real improvement after the Great epidemic can be seen in the latter part of the 1400’s and the 1500’s, when although the population count was still somewhat in decline, the actual conditions of life and labor had significantly improved in comparison with the immediate pre-Plague years. As a consequence of the Plague could be considered the emergence of the Ottoman empire on the European political stage for the next 600odd years.

The last important consequence of the Black Death is the diminishing importance of religion and as a direct consequence the resurgence of the scientific pursuits after the stranglehold upon it was finally slacking after almost 1000 years of stagnation and suppression. The Church was particularly ravaged by the Plague, due to the basic Christian rights and especially the “Last Rites” and the right to be buried according to the Christian faith. This and also the ravaged ranks of the various monastic orders due to the sheltering of sick and dying in the confines of the Monasteries led to an impressive proportional death-rate amongst the clergy, which led to an increased need for new clergymen , which in turn led to a decreasing quality of the available Holy men. Another important factor is the inability of the Church to control and eventually vanquish the disease and may in fact led to a further loss of life, due to the practices of Catholicism ,i.e. Mass which may have actually created a more fertile “feeding ground” for the infection to spread amongst the various parishes, which further undermined the powerbase of the Faith. The increasing disillusionment of the ordinary people was further exacerbated by the increasing corruption within the institution, which further drove away the populace. This crumbling of the Church led to the resurrection of science after a millennium of suppression and persecution, because for the first time in centuries the Church was unable to give a plausible explanation for the happenings around the world. This resurrection may be considered as the real precursor to the Rennaisance and even perhaps as an early herald to the Reformation, of which we still experience the benefits even today. This reemergence of science led to the abandonment of such esoteric pursuits like alchemy and witchcraft and the actual transformation of science into a real foundation of society. Some of the benefits could actually be seen even during some of the biggest outbreaks of the Italian Plague of 1629-31 during which the city of Milan began one of the first effective and scientifically based public health measures and which managed to restrict the infection until March 1630,when it flared due to the Carnival, because of the relaxed measures taken during the event, but the preceding results show the benefit of science and more specifically medicine. This reemergence of science later enabled man to do everything from curing diseases to the explanation of the beginning of life to even the ability to touch the stars.

In conclusion, the Bubonic plague that swept across Europe between the 14^th and early 18^th centuries led to more than death, destruction and pain. It led to the reevaluation of the common man, which in turn enabled the arrival of the true democratic reforms, of which today United Europe reaps the benefits, or which also enabled the ordinary worker to receive a fairer compensation for his labour, but also helped bring the end of the Catholic domination of the secular world and end the millennium of suppression of independent thought and in turn place science at the forefront of society.

No Fucking Way

There's actually a SUN shining over this lil' rock of the North Atlantic...
Groovy,now I'd usually be happy to use the day and go outside,take a breath of fresh air and actually soak in the sunlight (And as a gamer and a person,who rarely opened the windowblinds to let some 100% natural sunlight back at home,this should actually show you how dark's been in Ireland lately), but there's that time of the semester. FINALS SEASON BITCHEZ! So,I'm now forced to stay inside to wither away over the keyboard while working on my wretched HIS10080(Rome to Rennaisance for all those,who're blessed not to be studying at the moment) and the rather disturbing plague starts to sound bit by bit dull...
Yeah,dull... Usually I like diseases that ravage the populations of cities and nations as everyone else, but after having to actually research the essay, I'm slowly treading into -meh- territory from the hights of OMFGlandia... Still it's kinda cool,but I've still got some work on this thing,so that may change in a couple of hours.
The upside at least is that this essay means that I don't have to go to an additional exam in December,which means in turn that I'll have more time for games,music,TV(rip) and perhaps even for additional studying for the other 4 programme modules which I'm doing this semester and after that I'll be free to drown myself in genuine Irish stout and whisky in order to forget the disaster called exams...
Another positive aspect of this is that I have only 27 days 20 hours and 14 mins (as of 14:44 GMT) until I catch the bus which'll signify the begin of my journey to home... It'll be nice to see my family and friends and after that have a whole month to try to chill until I have to return to the fight. Of course,I might be lucky on the way back and die instantly in a plane crash...
...which actually has 2 positive sides - NO MORE EXAMS AND ASSIGNMENTS and a hefty insurance for my folks,so that they can live comfortably 'till eternity.
The bad thing'll be only that I'll be remarkably dead during these events,so'll probably won't care much when the time comes,but there's always clonning ... And also this'll mean that the women of the world would have missed something unique and amazing... *Well,fuck 'em for me,guys!You can't replace me,but you'll at least lessen the demographic slump following my demise... Just remember,size doesn't always matter,what matters is to treat 'em right (the womenfolk) and to STOP leaving the toilet seat up!
CHEERS,And now the battle begins anew... bk109 OUT

Insomnia FTW

So,yeah,the title rather sums it up.The past several days I'm kinda struggling with a rather irrksome bout of insomnia,which managed to totally wreck by biological clock to the point that I'm starting rather effectively to transform myself into a zombie. If this shit continues one more night,I think that I'll be forced to devour my roommates here on campus,but I don't wanna get bloodstaines all over my clothes,'cause apparently blood is a real murder (pun intended) to get washed off,so I'd rather not do this. The alternative might be the Heath Ledger diet,but then again I don't want to wake up dead one fine Irish twilight(WHERE THE SKRELL IS THE SUN?!),'cause that'll mean that I'll be distinctively UNDEAD which in turn renders the H.L. Diet redundant...
In other news,YAY level 57 soldier on ME 2nd Pass... Vanguard with AR here I comeeeeee!

BTW. Support Cybernations :
Cyber Nations, a nation simulation game --- The only browser game where major offensives like the Farkistan Ocupation or the GOONland resistance are actually interesting in the "old-fashioned" 2d/text format of the genre...

At what price a night is lost?

Short answer - 4xRedbulls,2xMnM's(the peanut variety) and a Free(as in meh,intellectual property)!
Long answer - the price of a countless dreams never to be dreamt... ideas of a better world... visions from a place of purity and harmony... and your sanity ...
It all starts so innocently:
"What shows are on tonight?" which slowly morphs into " WTF are all seeders?! SEED PLZ!" around 2:30 AM. At 3:30 (4AM max) you start to think that spent redbull cans are edible *see attached picture* and at 4:30 you're scraping the bottom of the barrel of activities,because apparently notebooks aren't generally designed for 12 hour long Far Cry 2/Mass Effect combo marathon without some reaaaaaaaally desperate measures like :
sticking the beast in the fridge for 5 mins, spraying CO2 in the copper radiators in order to force-cool the lil' bastards or my favorite - sticking the back of the machine through the open window in order to use the warm,sunny Irish nights to really flash freeze the whole mobo,while still playing the Noveria level of Mass Effect.
BTW- Any guy who sacrifices Ashley in order to save Kaidan is a friggin' dumbtard SENSEI,not to mention a GAY. Jeeezuz,on the one hand you've got a person running with his own Amibios and on the other a chick that you can a) BAAAANG and b) fires big GUNZ. The equation is therefore clear - let Alenko die and get laid. THIS chain of thought is only applicable to male gamers...
So anyway,after you've survived your second thermal shutdown for the night, you've got to find an alternative to slowly going insane, because you've got such a Kafeine high that if someone sticks a couple of wires in your butt you'll start outperforming 4 VVR-1000 nuclear reactors with the added extra, that the only harmful emissions of the process is a rather gruesome smell that combines the foodstuffs that you've got no memory whatsoever of eating,but of which you've got the receipt from 9:45PM the previous day,so you know that they might've existed...
Anyhow,the idea of internet shopping kinda comes into being with the added benefit of the glorious WTF moment when you manage to exit this haze called gaming and you find out what shit you've bought(or as in my case,you've made a shopping list for the weekend which I'll probably laugh at in the early noonish hours and which'll be promptly burned and scattered as I don't want to get that embarassed before the 31st of next month ( THE FLAMING ASSHOLE DANCE ANYONE?)
AND NOW THE RESPEEEEEEEEEC' AWARD FOR THE MONTH:
The award goes to EA studios for the latest reincarnation of the classic Red Alert franchise. The game has everything ( semi-nude beautiful girls for the teens who'll die virgins), japanese hybrid plane/robots (WTF?! Stop the weed,dumbfucks!) and for the promotion of TV and Books with the astounding 5-10 mins of loading time FOR THE FUCKING MAIN MENU.FOR FUCK'S SAKE I got lucky and actually satisfied my NEEEEEEdZ with a living,breeding and surprisingly aesthetically pleasing specimen of the opposite sex(hmmm,I sense a connection between the two) while waiting for this state of the art (of '01 tops) game to load.(well actually it loaded, but i don't leave a job unfinished (Thank you,thank you for the applauses))...
Anyways,I'm off to the land of TV,'cause I'm already sensing to coming sunrise and after all sleeping every night is for n00bz not h4XX0rZ!
So stay safe,fuck even safer and deny everything even if you're presented a valid fatherhood test... Plead insanity or file a counter-suit alleging that she raped you for your manseed... Trust me,it might work ...