User talk:Solar/Archive1

Welcome!

Hello,, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~&#126;); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Where to ask a question, ask me on my talk page, or place  on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! &#9999; Oven Fresh &#9786;  23:24, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)
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Delete Me
Please have a looksy here. --Mas5353

Falun Gong
Well, thanks for your kind offer. I don't understand why anyone would have such a strong reaction to my minor edit, but there you go. Fire Star 01:05, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Wicca Edit
Greetings: I took a moment to revert one of your edits, but wanted to let you know why I did so. Talk:Wicca

Thanks,

--Justin.eiler 23:18, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Mind Benders
Hello! I've noticed your interest in creating logos, barnstars, or your past artistic ability! Thus, I just wanted to let you know that the pre-round, an artistic competition, is now open at Mind Benders (Shortcut: WP:MIND)! The competition is open to everyone and is seeking a logo/trophy, similar to Barnstars, to be placed on every winner's page. We urge you to help us out and submit an entry! Afterwards, the normal rounds, each consisting of ten or more fun, logical, brain-stimulating questions will open. Why don't you give it a try when it opens! Look forward to seeing your contribution. Thanks, Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 21:44, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the invite I will have a look and see if it is something I can help with. - Solar 12:35, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, mate!
Cheers! Fire Star 19:50, 2 September 2005 (UTC)


 * My pleasure :-) Solar 19:54, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

Hello
I think I might know you from somewhere else... --Lzygenius 02:20, 9 September 2005 (UTC)


 * Really, where? I'm intrigued, if not, nice to meet you anyway... - Solar 09:00, 9 September 2005 (UTC)


 * This isn't Solar from the OMGs! forums?--Lzygenius 09:54, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

Not me, but maybe I'll come by one day. Solar 12:14, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

an answer to your question
I believe I found the image you mentioned and replied at Talk:Rosa Parks. Cheers,  BanyanTree 23:49, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

Page deletion
I page which is part of the WikiProject Anti-war (of which you are listed as a member) is up for deletion. It is The Left and Opposition to War, you can see its entry at Articles for deletion/The Left and Opposition to War. It would be helpfull if you could add your opinion.--JK the unwise 12:58, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

Spirituality project
Hi Solar,

Welcome to the Spirituality project! I look forward to working with you in the future and seeing your ideas on that project page, the task list, portal, etc.   &mdash; RichardRDFtalk

p.s. I'm a Dan Millman fan too (I did a little project work for him related to his book, The Life You Were Born to Live. :-)

Hi, I met Dan on a lecture tour in the States. He really does practice what he preaches. I used to participate in his web forum, but he just discontinued it. I'll keep an eye out for your contributions here. Keep up the good work. &mdash; RichardRDFtalk 14:32, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

Vegetarian Wikipedians
Thanks for your sprucing up of this category.

- Aaron Jethro 21:14, 18 November 2005 (UTC)


 * I'm glad you approve, the category was a little lost, which I think is why so few people are listed. - Solar 10:48, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

"Spirituality" navigation bar
Solar,

For some reason, the script doesn't work when I copy it from a display page. (I think it inserts invisible break characters.) When I hid the text so you have to copy it from the edit page, it worked for me. Try this    &mdash; RichardRDFtalk


 * No luck sadly, maybe it's a Mac thing, I did see the heading for a second as I refreshed, but then it just loaded as normal. - Solar 23:39, 19 November 2005 (UTC)


 * Hmmm, I know virtually nothing about Macs, but seeing it at all is promising. Maybe it has something to do with a setting for how your browser is processing the Javascript.  Maybe someone at Village pump (technical) might have an idea.  Sorry. :-(    &mdash; RichardRDFtalk 04:50, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Wikipedia Anti-war project, push to get a featured article b4 Xmass
February 15, 2003 anti-war protest, an article which is part of the WikiProject Anti-war, of which you are listed as a member, has been recently rated A-class by the Version 1.0 Editorial team (see here) This means that it is considered to be of good quality. The Anti-war project has yet to achieve a featured article but with a little pushing I feel we could get this article up to FA standards. To this end I have put the article up for peer review, if you could help make this a brilliant article that would be much appreciated. Please give your comments at Peer review/February 15, 2003 anti-war protest/archive2 or on the article's talk page. Fingers crossed for a FA before Xmass.--JK the unwise 13:05, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

hi
Would it be at all possible for you to weigh in at Talk:Table of nations. Ordinarily I wouldn't bother you about this, but the sudden appearance of 3 editors on the talk page despite nothing happening for a week makes me suspicious that something underhand is going on. I am asking you as you are a member of the anti-systemic-bias-in-religion project, and appear to be unlikely to have much knowledge of the subject in question - this is beneficial since you are unlikely to be biased on the question, and likely to be able to present a neutral interpretation. --User talk:FDuffy 22:18, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Thanks
Thanks for contributing to Wikipedia. You do good work. Cheers, -Willmcw 00:48, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Welcome to the Welcoming Committee
I'm going to start welcoming new members of the Welcoming Committee. Even experienced users need to feel welcomed sometimes. Congratulations, you're the first one! Remember to customize your welcome messages so you won't seem like a welcome-bot, and have a nice day (or night, since you're in London). --TantalumTelluride 21:00, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

Tookie, Capital Punishment and More
I respect your opinion and understand how emotive this area can be, we are dealing with murder and nothing insights more repulsion in most of us than the killing of a defenceless person. I will try to answer the points you have rightly raised and be as honest as I can. I don’t expect you to see things in the same way as me as we all have different life experiences and that is what ultimately informs us.

''The Cycle of Violence? That suggests that if Tookie's death sentence was communed, the crime rate would go down.''

Well in a sense, ‘yes’. I have seen what Stanley Williams writing and campaigning can do first hand, and that does indeed include moving young people away from violence. So in a sense I do believe that he can help, as far as one man alone can, to reduce violent crime and gang conformity.

''It also suggests that the cause of crime in the first place was other people getting punished. Has stopping the death penalty stopped violence in Europe? Hardly.''

Well, as you know violent crime is caused by a range of factors key among these in my eyes would be poverty. Beyond this I think it would probably be cultural beliefs, which often also stem from poverty, such as a desire for status and empowerment (as Stanley Williams himself attests). When a culture believes violence is the solution to problems, this expresses itself on many levels both within government and wider society. Take street crime, gun culture, war and violent entertainment, these factors are a part of many cultures of course including my own but within American culture they seem, from the perspective of most I know in Europe, to be exaggerated. The death penalty just seems to be another area where many in the US ignore international law and moves away from violence. The opinion I was trying to express in my last post is that I believe we need to set a standard away from violence, a standard that puts human life first, even it we believe that person has done wrong, we take a stand to be better than revenge killers. At the same time as ending the death penalty I would like to see better social/cultural education, resources put towards tackling poverty and the restriction of weapons. It’s going to be a long road but it is one I feel the whole world must take. In Britain crime has not gone down, it has grown as the population has grown but most of Europe is very safe and far less violent than the United States, the restriction of guns I believe is an important factor in this at least in the UK. In fact the only countries that are more violent than the US are countries with extreme poverty.

''What about the families of the loved ones that were killed? Tookie is asking for mercy that he did not show his victims.''

Well I cannot speak for the victim’s families, but I can say that in my own humble experience, there was a member of my family who was murdered in the 1960’s when capital punishment was legal in the UK. The man responsible panicked and tried to get rid of her body, if he hadn’t he probably would have got off with manslaughter. Instead he was hung. I don’t think anyone in our family thought this was the right thing, he acted out of fear not out of gilt, it was an accident. I also counseled a woman this year whose family was murdered, the man who did it killed himself, and all his death did was leave her feeling unresolved. I believe people need to learn to move on with their lives, that is a very difficult thing to do, but harboring hate does not help.

Because Stanley Williams did wrong does not mean we must, I do believe in mercy, I don’t believe in an eye for an eye. I believe as Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. Or as Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also…"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."

I hope that you can at least respect my position by thinking about what I have said. - Solar 17:10, 8 December 2005 (UTC)


 * The roots of crime cannot be strictly attributed to poverty. There are many poor people that are not criminals and many rich ones that are (i.e. Enron). The increased desire for power, status, and material wealth coincides with the decrease in religion in the West. The restriction of weapons will never prevent crime. If guns are made illegal, gun crimes still happen. Britian is a good example and they are an island. Criminals would then know that the population is defenseless. Even if you were somehow to eliminate guns altogether, physical strength would become powermount, leaving women and old men defenseless. A gun is a great equalizer. When I was in the UK and was asked about guns, I asked people where they would rather rob a house, the UK or Texas. Everyone responded the UK. However, a gun is a great responsibility and people need to train and respect guns. - Comment by Barneygumble


 * Also read the District Attorney's response to the clemency appeal. http://da.co.la.ca.us/pdf/swilliams.pdf. One thing that bothers me is that he hasn't really rejected the Crips (see Ed Bradley interview on 60 minutes), nor has he ever admitted to the killings. However, those two facts don't sit well together. If he really hadn't committed the crimes and was repentant, he would give the cops all he could on the Crips. If he did commit the crime, and hasn't apologized, why should any mercy be shown? Barneygumble 17:48, 8 December 2005 (UTC)


 * A final question and a most pertinent one if i am to gauge your intents: Do you support abortion? Barneygumble 17:43, 8 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Thank-you for your comments, while I am all for the exchange of ideas I feel that you have not engaged with what I have said and are interested only in arguing, this is something I have no interest in doing. I have made my points in the spirit of exchange and in defence of Stanley Williams life; I feel that judging by your strong belief in violence there is little benefit to either of us in continuing. - Solar 17:27, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
 * I have engaged in discussion with you although I have not agree with your positions. I don't have a strong belief in violence, but believe capital punishment is justified in henious crimes. Finally, you ignored my abortion question which leads me to believe that you support it. So how can someone who adamently opposes capital punishment, favour abortion? I can dutifully respect your opinion if the attitude of non-violence is equally applied to the unborn. Is the reverse true for me? Yes, to a degree, but the difference is, is that the unborn are innocent and have not committed any crime, as opposed to Mr. Williams. Barneygumble 22:05, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

Just to clarify, I do not personally support abortion. I do however understand that it is a very complex issue and involves the rights of the mother also. This aspect is especially important in the case of women with little access to medication or where the mother’s life is at risk. I also do not personally support the killing of animals for food or sport (see here). With all these issues I believe that social and democratic solutions must be worked towards. Essentially my views are that the protection and sanctity of all life is paramount, but obviously at this point in time we are all forced to work within the grey areas in which ideals are far in the distance. This will be my final comment I now need to focus my energy on other areas, thanks for sharing your ideas. - Solar 00:06, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for the welcome
Hi Solar

I discovered Wikipedia recently and have found it the most useful web resource since Google became popular. It really rocks! I am a Physics teacher and now use the site all the time for finding out things. I have added a bit to a few sites myself and am presently working on two new pages.

Thanks for the welcome message - it was appreciated. I'm not sure if this is the correct way to respond, but I'm doing what Wikipedia suggests - being bold and trying things out!

Looking at your user page, I doubt if there is anything in life we would agree about, but that is what makes life fun!

Once again, thanks for the welcome.

Adrian Baker 21:51, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

me again...
I've thought about your response - "Are you sure there is nothing we would agree on?" and having studied your page I can find two things:

We both speak Engish and we both admire Isaac Newton! I think that that is all. Ho hum.....

All the best Adrian


 * Well that's something :-) - Solar 22:34, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

All Pagans will burn in Hell
That's what they want and that is what they will get. Go commit suicide you Pagan bastard.