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gee, i haven't watched the national for a while!
so what happened to peter mansbridge?

i think peter is the best anchor for the national but if he had to be replaced i think ian hanomansing would be good

   

oh shoot! i forgot to ask a question!

ok here goes.....

so since saddma is ousted, who (aside from dubya) will be iraq's next leader?

   

Somebody dubya likes and who will do what we tell him to do..........


Would Britney Spears better at making porno movies than her current attempts at being a singer?

   

The most easily bribed.

Will there be cigarettes in heaven?

   

OOOO hard one, smokers would want ciggarettes in heaven, but smokers don't I huess there'll be smokign sections....

Could jesus microwave a pizza pop so hot that he himself could not eat it? Cause he has a power to make somethign that hot, but the power to eat anything...........

   

I heard it in a nother form, and we got into a big arguement over it... Only it was Since God is all powerful, could he create a rock so heavy he himself could not lift it? We decided yes, because hes god, and if he got fed up with not being about to lift it, he could like, levitate it or something So yes, Jesus could...

Which planet would you rather live on, Mecurary, which is super hot, or Pluto, which is super cold?

   

Mecury because I'm damn hot (in my mind)

This actually has three choices.... who would be the best 2004 president, Bush, some no name democrat? Or put a Canadian in charge and show how it's done?

   

Democrat, but it dosn't make any differences have we ever seen any good politicans??




What Canadian Hockey team is the best? I say Canucks

   

your national team.....




as for jim vs kurt....Give me a break people..anyone over 30 here?...morrison....was a wild man......he didnt car bout nothing.....he opened the way for alot o shock groups....and the new haven incident...plus no one really knows if he's dead or alive....

and he would take drugs as they were given to him....killed hiself to live....



ol kurt...while talented...only had to put up w/ courtny...no wonder he offed hisself.






summer is better....the days are longer...the flowers n stuff are out...summer nights...carnivals....the beach.....4th o july



shrooms vs weed.....mm both pleaase..but ya cant do shrooms everyday or yll end up like ozzy





baseball is our game....[ football is more popular today]...its fun to play....it is part of our coulture....the diversion

personally Id rather watch hockey




If you could be "Q".....what would you do first?

   

I'd make... hmmm... thats a tough one... I'd probably make a binder that organises itself, because if you ever see my books, well, its shameful...

Also, about the Kurt/Jim question from earlier, I'm not over 30 so i'd have to choose Kurt, but personally, I am not a huge fan of Nirvana... I like Rammstein remember I mean, I like Nirvana, but, yea....

Question: What type of car would you own, if you could afford it? (Any car)

I'd own a Mitsubishi FTO LM Race Car... I raced this car in a game, which was supposedly based on real cars, and there is a Mitsubishi FTO... I have been unsuccessful of finding a real picture of it though...

   

Easy... Aston Martin

Where is your most perfect place on earth??

   

The bowling alley.


East or West?

   

I like Asian food, Asian Women, and Asian Culture... so I'd have to say East

Well, more specifically, I like Chinese Food, Lucy Liu (Chinese), and China's History and Culture, although, I'm a little disapointed in the way China has turned out... If you look at China's vast history, its hard to believe they're the way they are today... They could have very well ruled the world in Ancient Times...

Japan though, Japan is a country with a great and noble history, at least up until Pearl Harbor, but of course, its war... I mean, if you do an internet search for "Sengoku Jidai" on most search engines, you would get many links to thi great period of Japanese History...(15th Century to 17th Century) Its easier just to imagine hundreds of thousands of warriors in heavy armor, hoping that today is the day they die for their leige... Because, if you go out fighting hoping that you'll die, you'll do alot better then when you are hoping to live...

This period of Japanese history is perhaps my favourite.. A more specific topic would be to search on Takeda Shingen, probably one of the best leaders of the time...

Takeda Shingen
1521 - 1573
The Tiger of Kai
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Takeda Shingen was the eldest son of the aggressive warlord Takeda Nobutora (1493-1573). A competent if not especially well-liked leader, Nobutora had secured the position of the Takeda in Kai and established his headquarters in Fuchu in 1519, building a castle called Yogai-jo on Maruyama, an 820-meter height north of the town. In the course of his career Nobutora fended off attacks against her borders by the Imagawa (1521) and the Hôjô (1526). During the campaign in 1521, Nobutora defeated an Imagawa general named Fukushima Ujikatsu at the Battle of Iidagawara and soon afterwards learned of the birth of his first son, whom he named Katsuchiyo.

When Katsuchiyo turned 13, Nobutora arranged for him to marry a girl sent from the Uesugi Clan, who still held considerable lands in the Kanto. This unfortunate young woman would die the following year, terminating what would, in time, come to seem a highly ironic union. Katsuchiyo's coming of age ceremony (around 1535) was something of an affair, and a number of court notables were in attendance, including a certain Sanjô Kinyori, a retired Dainogon, whose daughter Katsuchiyo would soon marry. The Shôgun, Ashikaga Yoshiharu, sent permission for Katsuchiyo to incorporate 'Haru' in his adult name, and Katsuchiyo thus became known as Harunobu. He was also given the honorific title Shinano no Kami (an appropriate moniker, as it would turn out). Despite this memorable coming of age ceremony, it would seem that Nobutora took a disliking to his eldest son. The reasons for this (however embellished this part of Shingen's life may have become over the centuries) are not clear, but were not eased by Harunobu's valuable role in the defeat of Hiraga Genshin in 1536. The events between 1536 and 1540 are entirely murky, with the Imagawa figuring into the controversy, possibly as agitators. It would appear that Nobutora planned to name his second son Nobushige heir, and perhaps ship Harunobu off to the Imagawa clan in Suruga (for adoption?). For years, Harunobu had been unde the guardianship of Obu Toramasa, a

tough warrior who may well have been at the center of what transpired next. In 1541 Harunobu suddenly rebelled, supported by a great many of his father's retainers. Nobutora submitted with little bloodshed and Harunobu exiled his father to Suruga. In this act he had the aid of the top Takeda retainers, many of whom held personal grudges against Nobutora or at least saw some gain in assisting the young usurper to power. Nobushige, for his part, seems to have borne his brother no ill will, and became a valued retainer.

Harunobu's chief ambition was the subjugation of Shinano but resistance in that quarter would prove fierce. A number of Shinano warlords, including Murakami Yoshikiyo (1510-1573), Ogasawara Nagatoki (1519-1583), Suwa Yorishige (? -1542), and Kiso Yoshiyasu, made a move designed to hopefully nip any further Takeda aggression in the bud. In April 1542 the four daimyo combined forces and marched to the border of Kai, encouraged by news that Harunobu was strengthening his defenses and preparing to make a stand in Fuchu. In fact, Harunobu's activities had been a ruse - far from waiting passively in Kai, Harunobu led his men out and caught the Shinano warriors by surprise, defeating them at Sezawa. Emboldened by the results of Sezawa, Harunobu made a drive into Shinano later that same year, focusing on the territory of the Suwa clan. He first took Uehara in a surprise attack and then moved on to the Suwa headquarters at Kuwahara, located 2 kilometers to the east. Caught completely off-balance, Suwa Yorishige had little choice but to surrender when Harunobu made a promise of safe conduct. Yorishige and his brother were taken to Kai where the Takeda general Itagaki Nobutaka arranged for their deaths; both Suwa were either made to commit suicide or were murdered outright.
Harunobu, with the aid of Yamamoto Kansuke's strategies, further expanded his territory through the defeat of both Tozawa Yorichika (1542) and Takato Yoritsugu of central Shinano (1544-45). The acquisition of Takato Castle was of particular value, as it provided a secure staging area into southern Shinano, as well as a buffer against any southern aggression. In 1544 the Takeda marched into Suruga in support of the Imagawa and faced Hôjô Ujiyasu. No actual fighting occured as a result of this confrontation, and later Harunobu was compelled to arrange for a peace treaty between the Hôjô, Imagawa, and himself due to his wars in Shinano. Over the next decade Harunobu kept up a relentless pressure on the Shinano warlords. Only at Uehara would he be checked, if only briefly. In 1548 Murakami Yoshikiyo, perhaps the most formidable of Harunobu's Shinano enemies, moved on Ueda and defeated the Takeda in a bitter clash which saw the use (on the part of the Murakami) of a number of Chinese arquebuses, the first such weapons ever deployed in a Japanese battle. While the defeat at Uehara left two of his best generals dead, Harunobu rebounded quickly, and by 1552 the Murakami and Ogasawara clans had fled Shinano outright to Echigo.

In 1551, Harunobu had adopted the name Shingen and a monk's habit, adding even more color to this up-and-coming Sengoku warlord, who was already known for his taste for women, penetrating judgment, skill at calligraphy, and wise government. Perhaps all that was now required was a great rival. This came, too, in the form of Uesugi Terutora of Echigo - the famed Kenshin.

According to tradition, the defeated Murakami and Ogasawara presented themselves before Terutora and protested Shingen's aggressions. Terutora, uneasy at Shingen's northern expansion and obligated to the two refugees, took the field. That Murakami figures into the Uesugi's roll even many years later gives some substance to this belief, and, certainly, Terutora had reason to worry about Echigo's borders. In June and October 1553 The Takeda and Uesugi armies clashed near the Kawanakajima plain in northern Shinano, and while the two sides withdrew after a few rounds of inconclusive skirmishing, a legend was born. In total, the Takeda and Uesugi would face each other at the Kawanakajima five times (1554, 1555, 1557, 1561, 1564) and while not exactly the nearly annual staring matches as they are sometimes portrayed, only the 4th (1561) resulted in an all-out contest.4 In that engagement, both sides suffered heavy losses and while not individually decisive, those losses no doubt slowed both warlords down for some years. In particular, Shingen must have felt the loss of Nobushige and Yamamoto Kansuke, both killed in action at the battle.

Internally, the Takeda suffered two grim moments within the span of five years. In 1560 Shingen had uncovered a plot against him led by his cousin Katanuma Nobumoto, whom he ordered put to death. In 1565, another plot came to light - this one headed by his own son Yoshinobu and Obu Toramasa. Tormasa was made to commit suicide, while Yoshinobu was confined to the Tokoji. Two years later Yoshinbou died, either from illness or, as many believe, because Shingen had forced him to commit suicide. The event left Shingen heirless for the time being and the Takeda retainers uneasy.

By 1564, Shingen had subdued all of Shinano and shifted his attention to Kôzuke, where he took a number of castles from the Uesugi.5 For the next five years, he limited himself to raids and local conquests (including land grabs in mountainous Hida Province), concentrating on internal affairs. In the 1560's, Shingen's greatest achievement was the Fuji River damming project, the largest and most ambitious of his many innovative domestic endeavors. The benefit of the Fuji River project far-outlived its mastermind, and is ranked as one of the greatest domestic initiatives of the 16th Century.


The Takeda expand
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By 1568, the Takeda army was on the move again, this time to the south against the faltering Imagawa. The daimyô of that clan was Ujizane, the incompetent son of the late Imagawa Yoshimoto (killed in 1560 by Oda Nobunaga), whose political ineptness had already cost the Imagawa their Matsudaira (Tokugawa) vassals and Mikawa province. Years before, Shingen's son Yoshinobu had married Ujizane's sister but after the suicide of the former in 1567, relations between the families had grown sour. It would appear that Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu struck up a deal whereby the two would split up the Imagawa's remaining lands (Tôtômi and Suruga), an agreement that in the event quickly fell through. In addition, the Hôjô of Sagami took a dim view to this shift in the balance of power, and sent troops to defy Shingen, which they did with varying degrees of success for a year or so. In 1569 Shingen responded by invading Sagami and besieging Odawara (the Hôjô's capital). While this effort was quite short-lived (lasting around a week), the Takeda army did manage to crush an attempt at an ambush by the Hôjô at Mimasetoge on their way back to Kai.

Thus, in 1570, the Takeda's lands now included Kai, Shinano, Suruga, and pieces of Kozuke, Tôtômi, and Hida. Shingen, at 49, was something more than a regional power - he was the most important warlord east of Mino, and the one who was in a position to derail Oda Nobunaga's march to national hegemony. Shingen alone possessed the strategic position, the generalship, and the solid retainer band necessary. In 1570, the formidable Hôjô Ujiyasu died and his heir, Ujimasa, quickly made peace with Shingen, an act that might have all but assured the ultimate destruction of Tokugawa Ieyasu had not Shingen died in 1573.6 In the meantime, the Takeda and Oda, after an abortive diplomatic courtship designed to check the Uesugi, initiated a war of words, possibly with the shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, at the center of the storm. Shingen stepped up the pressure against Tokugawa, and in 1572 launched an attack into Tôtômi that resulted in the capture of Futamata. The following January, Shingen returned to the province and enticed Tokugawa Ieyasu to come out and fight. The Battle of Mikatagahara, conducted on 6 January to the north of Hamamatsu, ended in a near-complete defeat for Ieyasu (and the allied Oda troops present).7 Though often presented as the opening moves in a march on Kyôto, Shingen's intentions were no doubt more conservative. He probably aimed to test the responses of both Ieyasu and Nobunaga and deal the two a defeat if possible. Either way, within days of winning the battle, he recieved news that Asakura Yoshikage had elected not to take the field against Nobunaga at this time. Shingen is reported to have been displeased, and might have counted on Yoshikage - and Asai Nagamasa - to keep Nobunaga preoccupied. This may have played a role in his decision to strike camp and return to Kai - thus granting the bloodied Tokugawa a reprieve.

Unfortunately, time ran out on the man who had come to epitomize the best and, in some ways, the worst qualities of the Sengoku warlord. In 1573, while laying siege to Noda Castle in Mikawa, Shingen was either wounded by a sniper or fell sick (possibly with TB); a point modern scholars are divided on. He died at Kobama in Shinano in May of 1573, to be succeded by his fourth son, Takeda Katsuyori.

Shingen had been a warlord of great domestic skill and competent military leadership. He was a complicated figure, at times utterly cruel. Earlier in his life, he had forced Suwa Yorishige to commit suicide (or had him murdered) after the two warlords had signed a peace treaty, and then proceeded to take Suwa's daughter as a mistress, ignoring the fact that she was techincally his own niece. In 1565, as mentioned above, he ordered his own son, Yoshinobu, confined to a temple and evidently made him commit suicide for treasonous activity, as well as the man who had once been his guardian, Obu Toramasa. His domestic policies demonstrate the duality of Takeda Shingen. On one hand, he kept two iron cauldrons on hand to boil alive certain criminals (a practice considered sufficiently cruel enough to provoke Tokugawa Ieyasu to have the cauldrons destroyed years later). On the other, he did away with corporal punishment for most minor offences, instituting in it's place a system of fines - an act that earned him considerable praise from the peasants and townspeople of Kai. Shingen's law was not considered overly harsh, and his was one of the few Sengoku Period administrations prior to 1582 to tax most of his subjects evenly (most exempted powerful samurai families and/or religious establishments) and with the option of payment in either gold or rice (a forerunner, in some ways, to the later Kandaka system).

Perhaps the greatest praise paid Shingen was by Tokugawa Ieyasu himself. Following the defeat of Katsuyori in 1582 and the death of Oda Nobunaga, Ieyasu assumed control of Kai, and borrowed freely from Shingen's style and techniques of governance, which he later included in his model for the Tokugawa Shôgunate.

Just prior to his death, Shingen had called from his bed for Yamagata Masakage, one of ablest men, to raise his flags at Seta Bridge (the traditional eastern gate to Kyôto). He then collapsed back into his bed and died soon afterwards. In lieu of a death poem, he left the following words, borrowed from Zen literature, "It is largely left to her own natural bodily perfection, and she has no special need to resort to artificial coloring and powdering to look beautiful."

Takeda Shingen
Hope that explains a little....

Also, when they talk about leaders committing suicide, its semi true... They're talking about seppeku, which is basically, you stab yourself in the stomach with a short blade, and then after you've spilled your guts another warrior (Usually a friend) will cut off your head... For mercy...

Ok, now then, speaking of history, which would you have rather been, A Greek Hoplite, or a Japanese Samurai?

   

OMGoodness! Okay well I can say I learned something new today.
I'd have to say Samurai (I've taken a little Ninjitsu but moved to far away from the dojo)

Where would you rather go Ancient Egypt or Ancient Rome (if you could)?

   

Ancient Egypt. Because they have reverence for people and animals. The greeks found it amusing to watch animals and people get torn apart. Course I'd have been brought up with that if I'd been there, but ick. Torture for amusement turns my stomach.


If you won the enough money from the lottery to support yourself for the rest of your life, and have anything you wanted would you give money, or time or both to any charity organization? Which? Why that one?

   

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