I had somewhat of an identity crisis once when I could not decide whether I liked Farscape, the best written show ever put on TV, or Star Wars more.

And so, here again, we come to another fork in a road - Wizard, or Jedi Knight...

This is what I hate about playing against teams that play ugly soccer because they have a tremendous lack of skill, little grace, and no understanding beyond the basic rules. Keeper gets possession of the ball - you stay away from the Keeper. So I was surprised last night when, towards the end of the game when I grabbed the ball and had clear control of it, some idiot on the other team comes and tries to kick it out of my hands...I was so surprised that I launched into a tirade of cursing, which honestly, it takes a lot to get me to throw obscenities at you...then I was even more surprised to get off the field, pull my glove off, and see that my finger was bent in a couple ways it shouldn't be.

I suppose at least the emergency room staff were fairly competent when it came to "crunch time" in their own words to reset my finger

"I fully concur; but his recommendation that we should call the people to power seems to me not the best advice. For there is nothing so void of understanding, nothing so full of wantonness, as the unwieldy rabble. It were folly not to be borne, for men, while seeking to escape the wantonness of a tyrant, to give themselves up to the wantonness of a rude unbridled mob. The tyrant, in all his doings, at least knows what is he about, but a mob is altogether devoid of knowledge; for how should there be any knowledge in a rabble, untaught, and with no natural sense of what is right and fit? It rushes wildly into state affairs with all the fury of a stream swollen in the winter, and confuses everything. Let the enemies of the Persians be ruled by democracies; but let us choose out from the citizens a certain number of the worthiest, and put the government into their hands. For thus both we ourselves shall be among the governors, and power being entrusted to the best men, it is likely that the best counsels will prevail in the state."

You can look at that as an indictment against the institution of democracy or as evidence to just how important education is to the survival of a republic.

"From the foot of the Alps to the extremity of Calabria, all the natives of Italy were born citizens of Rome. Their partial distinctions were obliterated, and they insensibly coalesced into one great nation, united by language, manners, and civil institutions, and equal to the weight of a powerful empire. The republic gloried in her generous policy, and was frequently rewarded by the merit and services of her adopted sons. Had she always confined the distinction of Romans to the ancient families within the walls of the city, that immortal name would have been deprived of some of its noblest ornaments."
-Gibbon

It is interesting that in the case of Rome, we see integration as an invaluable tool of the expansion and success of both the republic and the empire. However, while this can provide a compelling argument for the free immigration of individuals into the country, it is important to note the necessity of integration into the society...for a nation to reap the benefits of immigration, those it invites into its citizenry must be willing to adopt the shared culture of the nation in order to further its cause through their own exploits, innovations, and participation.

Ah... the things we should have learned a thousand years ago