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AFLukester
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Name: Luke
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Birthday: 4/8/1989
Gender: Male
Interests: music (Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, Brand New, Story of the Year, Alexisonfire, Dashboard Confessional, Dave Matthews Band, Guster, the Mars Volta, Further Seems Forever, Underoath, The Postal Service, Jason Mraz, The Early November, Coheed & Cambria, Moneen )
Occupation: Research and development
Message: message me
AIM:  AFLukester
Member Since:
4/29/2004
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| The opportunity to receive an education is one that no one should take ungratefully. The overall expansion of the human mind in all areas; the stretch and pull brought about by exposure to new ideas, concepts and realities is one that is invaluable. While the potential success available to someone with an education is of critical importance as well, simply being successful or not successful has no actual effect on education itself. An education without implementation is certainly a tragic failure, but the end goal of being profitable and marketable as an individual is not the sole, or most important, reason for pursuing a level of higher knowledge. The more personal information that one can have available to draw upon in a time of thought the better. In fact, the simple possession of vast amounts of information can exponentially increase the level of creative thought and innovation a person can experience. One never knows what two random pieces of knowledge or information can be connected to yield a positive result in either daily life or the business world. This, to me, shows that education is in and of itself beneficial to anyone. The broader exposure to new ideas, brought about through the thorough and dedicated seeking of knowledge is where the true power of an education lies. The power within oneself to think creatively, independently and innovatively, regardless of what others are saying, provides the solid basis upon which marketable and profitable skills can be developed and harnessed to their fullest extent. The ability to channel the tools that one has gained through education into use in a work environment is a critical connection that must be made by any who wishes to be successful. But if one’s only goal for pursuing education was to become profitable and marketable then it is surely a wasted opportunity. I believe that there should be a far greater motivation than simply wishing for a financial payoff from one’s education. The journey and learning process itself has great value on it’s own accord. | | |
| Days stretch into years;
Time stretches into the never ending waves that crash incessantly
On the shores of this confounded and accursed island.
As I wait, prisoner of that conniving nymph, I contemplate my past.
How distant that dream has become, as if it was but a fleeting thought.
That life I knew has been replaced by one of a wanderer.
It has been ten long years since our victory in Troy.
But what have I gained? Nothing….save status as a mere pawn of the immortals.
Dashed from place to place, tossed by the Gods, tormented by Men
I have labored to return home, but all in vain.
Unless something above intervenes on my behalf, I am doomed.
I will remain a shadow creature, tangible in existence, but lacking in name.
Did I blind that hideous Cyclops in vain?
Did I resist the temptation of the seductive sirens for nothing?
Did I vanquish Poseidon for this?
If life can be reduced to what I now am, it has been painfully too long.
I long to embrace my son and my wife of youthful beauty.
I long to once again see my native land,
And to hail my countrymen as I traverse a busy market street.
Was I to sacrifice the beauty of my own wife for the beauty of Helen?
Or I am destined for more?
The only hope I have resides with the Gods above;
For clearly my life has been guided, for good or for ill, by the fates.
So as I ponder my future from this rocky shore,
I once again ask is there any more?
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| Picture One: On a cold and damp Saturday evening our young hero sat transfixed by his flickering computer screen. With every click of the keyboard he inched closer to unraveling the mystery he was attempting to decode. He was fighting a battle, not a physical one, at least for now, but it was a battle all the same. It was a battle of code between one hacker and one cyber hero. The hacker was trying to gain access to a secret project that was being reviewed at a laboratory, by gaining access to the mainframe. As code streamed in as part of an attack, our hero rattled off defenses, with blistering speed. Then all of the sudden that influx of code ceased. A simple message appeared, standing out in the jumble of numbers and letters. “Parking Garage, Orange Street, Lancaster, 8 pm, Settle this.”
Picture Two: Not knowing what he would find, our hero jumped into his car, an Audi A4 (he was a hero with some serious class). He arrived at the garage and waited inside it’s dusky interior. He sat in silence for nearly 10 minutes until his cell phone suddenly rang (it was of course a death cab ring tone). A shaky voice said “137 Duke Street” and then hung up.
Picture Three: As our hero embarked upon the street below, he was struck by the beauty of a steeple in the distance. He walked forward as if called by the light, until a car horn suddenly startled him back into reality as he crossed a busy street.
Picture Four: As he walked on, he felt an increasingly cold feeling in the back of his throat. The sight of the neon haze heralding Square One coffee was too much to bear. (He may be a hero, but he’s a hero that loves a good chai.)
Picture Five: Now thoroughly refreshed from his chai latte, our hero once again renews his quest. He counts the addresses, “131,133,135….” Then he sees the object of his quest, 137 Duke Street. He wiggles the door handle and is surprised to find it unlocked. As the door opens it rattles against a sharpened epee with a note tied to the hilt. “ Come alone and we will finish this battle once and for all. Look for the white flag.”
Picture Six: Startled but oddly intrigued, our hero stumbles out of building 137, epee in hand. He has walked less than a hundred feet when he heard a voice call to him from a darkened archway. Prepared yet scared of what faces him, he follows the voice into the darkness.
Picture Seven: Our hero emerges from the darkened archway into a courtyard, where ominously hangs a white flag. He approaches cautiously but enters through the unlocked door.
Picture Eight: “En garde!” breaks the still evening air, as our hero is thrust into mortal combat with his sword wielding attacker. Whomever walks away will be the victor. With blows raining down, the attacker shouts a challenge. “On this disk is the mainframe codes for the entire network, the only way to stop me is to get this disk!” Enlivened by this revelation our hero fights on.
Picture Nine: As the fury of combat begins to wind down, and fatigue sets in, our hero lunges for his attacker. The blade pierces the white canvas of his vest, but is suddenly stopped. A shattered disk then falls from the jacket of the attacker. “It is done.”
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| Core Value:
Everyone should have an equal right to liberty, life and the pursuit of happiness, provided their pursuit of these things does not interfere with anyone else’s rights to life, liberty and happiness. When this infringement occurs, it is the governments job to step in to regulate.
Individual Rights:
While I don’t agree with the idea of abortion in all circumstances, sometimes it is necessary. But no matter my personal convictions, the government has no place telling an individual what she should do with her pregnancy, unless she has past the first trimester, then that fetus becomes a person in my mind. While some argue that life begins at conception, and others at birth, I think the conclusion that life beings at the first trimester is a good compromise.
Euthanasia is something that I do not feel that the government should outlaw. While it is a horrific statement on our society, it is what it is. The government has no business telling people what to do with their own bodies, as long as they aren’t hurting anyone else. I do think it is sad that there are actually doctors willing to perform this procedure however.
Gays should have full rights as joined couples. While I understand the argument that marriage is a religious term, I feel that it is just as much of a legal one. But if dropping the title of marriage will give gays their full and equal rights under the law, it’s a concession that should be made.
Domestic Policy:
The war on drugs began in the 1980’s and has cost the nation billions. the cost was 19 billion dollars in 2003, and now costs about 600 dollars a second (that’s according to Columbia University’s study in 2004).
The war on drugs, in my opinion is a near total waste of tax payer dollars. It cannot be proven that even one person has stayed away from drugs because of this program, yet it continues with avengeance. The fact of the matter is that people will do what they want to do no matter what. No legislation will stop them. But because drugs are illegal, it creates a black market for illegal drugs. A market that fills the coffers of organized crime and drug lords, who in turn invest that money in more heinous enterprises. Without illegal drugs, the gang culture of the United States would be nonexistent. Take prohibition as an example. Prohibition did nothing beyond solidify the network of organized criminals within the united states. People still drank alcohol, they just did it illegally and dangerously. Now people still use drugs they just do it illegally and dangerously as well. Proper FDA regulation of drugs in use would ensure relative safety for users, while the profit from these sales could then be channeled into drug counseling and preventive education.
Gun control is something that is necessary in modern society. The founding fathers had no way of imagining the killing instruments that would be built in the future. They wanted people to just be able to defend themselves, and no one needs an ak-47 just to do that. I support gun rights but I think that all new guns should be required to have fingerprint identification built in, and all old pistols should be retrofitted with this equipment. For those that argue that these devices take too much time to activate the weapon, all I have to say is that if you don’t have 3-4 seconds to think before you pull the trigger, there is something wrong with you.
There would be absolutely no need for affirmative action within the United States if educational opportunities were provided equally to all citizens. I am in favor of federal payment for college education for qualifying students. This ensures everyone a chance for advancement, and does not leave anyone out of the higher educational system. This is truly the only fair way to eliminate affirmative action.
Foreign Policy:
It is my belief that the government of the United states should immediately release every single political and so-called terror prisoner from it’s custody, unless they would like to release the names, reason for imprisonment and trial date for every prisoner in question. The current policy of the us government is totally inexcusable. These prisoners are held because they are supposedly opposed to the war on terror. But what Is terror really? And who defines it? In fact the systematic roundup of accused terrorists is in itself a form of terror. These Citizens of foreign nations are forcibly removed from their homes, taken from their countries and then stored in inhumane black ops facilities hidden all over the world. An that’s not even some crazy out there conspiracy theory….it’s the truth. And the best part of the whole thing is that the war on terror is often UN supported. Saddam Hussein was sanctioned in 1990 in response to his invasion of Kuwait, the sanctions were continued because of his human rights violation. So in an effort to counter saddam’s regime and supposed terrorist connections, American forces round up his conspirators and ship them off to secret interrogation and torture facilities, so in order to get information of human rights violations, the American government violated their own human rights policy.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
I support foreign aide to third world nations, because I feel a responsibility to all citizens of the world, not just Americans. I would rather see some kid in Africa with food in his stomach than American troops forcing democracy on some other nation. 285 billion dollars has been spent so far in iraq alone, and that number will only continue to rise. I would rather have seen that money spent feeding people than killing them.
This is not to say that I am not supportive of our troops in Iraq. I fully support every single American serviceperson who is putting their life on the line day after day. But I totally disagree with why we are in iraq, I support the individuals who are there, but am strongly against the reasoning behind our entrance into the war. Several comapnies with direct ties to the presidential administration have made billions off a war that has costs thousands of lives. Just one such company, Haliburton has seen there stock prices quadruple since the American entrance into the war.
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
-- President Dwight D. Eisenhower, former supreme commander of all european forces April 16, 1953
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| For my final project I have chosen to hand in some of my other architecture pictures. Architecture, as you must likely know, is my favorite subject matter to photograph. Any chance I get to photograph beautiful buildings I take. The opportunity to incorporate more architecture photographs into this course is one I greatly appreciate.
The pictures in this set are all taken in urban areas. They come from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Maryland and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They range from broad cityscapes to tranquil park scenes, with some abstract shots thrown in for good measure. All are taken during the daytime using natural light. Within the set the contrast between old and new is very evident. Stone architecture is mixed in with numerous glass and steel construction shots. This diversity contributes to a great sort of diversity within the set.
The varied content of the set is very interesting in that it demonstrates a varied look at architecture in all its forms. The lighting in these shots is also very good. Most of these pictures were taken on cloudy days, which are better for capturing details within shots. The Inner Harbor pictures benefit particularly from this type of light. Nearly every single facet and tiny detail is carefully captured. I particularly think the harbor picture with the sculpture at the top of the frame is interesting. The picture would be largely ordinary if it wasn’t for this “obstruction” in the sky. These twisted forms make the shot interesting, because they make it unusual.
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