Racism

rac·ism

ˈrāˌsizəm/

noun

1. the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

   • prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

     
     

     Contrary to popular belief, anyone can be racist. I have heard an abundance of different and inaccurate ideas about racism, many of them saying that "black people cant be racist," or "racism is a social system that requires power." Hearing these incorrect statements has begun to aggravate me, so I'm going to write this blog in attempt to enlighten some people. 

     
     

     First of all, anyone can be racist, and racism does not require power. Racism is a state of mind. No matter what ethnicity you are or how much power you have, you can be racist. There are racist people of all types, and the fact that slave owners were whites hundred of years ago does not mean that white people cant experience racism, or that whites are the only type of people that can be racist. Furthermore, identification by ethnicity is not neccesarily racist. Believe it or not, some people are mentally inept enough to claim that identifying someone's ethnicity is racist. For example, if a professor calls a name belonging to two people, one white and one black, and adds "the black one", after the name, it is not racist because the word "black" is not associated with any negativity. In order for something to be racism, there must be some sort of negativity, segregation, or discrimination associated with someone's ethnicity. 

     
     

     Another large part of racism are stereotypes. While stereotypes almost always involve some form of negativity, not all of them can completely be considered racist. For example, if a study shows that Asians perform better on tests, and someone says "Asians are smart," they shouldn't really be considered racist because what they're saying is backed by evidence. What they're saying isn't negative, either. That being said, stereotypes are extremely unhealthy for society and shouldn't be taken lightly. 

     
     

     Because I don't necessarily have anything else to say, I'd  like to end this blog by reiterating the fact that racism is a state of mind, and anyone can be racist. 

Several of My Favorite Bands Part 2

Today, I will be continuing my list of bands that I recommend. Once again, the intention of this series is to hopefully provide you guys with music that you can enjoy.

She Wants Revenge
She Wants Revenge, an American musical duo, debuted in early 2006 with their album "She Wants Revenge". Currently on hiatus, She Wants Revenge has produced only three albums but has sold over 300,000 records in the United States. She Wants Revenge are categorized as alternative rock, darkwave, post-punk revival, and, sadly, gothic. In my opinion, however, She Wants Revenge does not classify as gothic whatsoever.
Recommended Songs : Tear You Apart, Red Flags and Long Nights, Someone Must Get Hurt, Written In Blood, Racheal, and Monologue.


Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British rock band that have sold more than one-hundred million records worldwide. Fleetwood Mac formed in London in 1967, and are now one of the best selling bands ever. They fall under the pop-rock and soft rock catagories, as well as blues rock and British blues.
Recommended Songs : Dreams, Rhianon, Stand Back, Edge of Seventeen, Seven Wonders, Silver Springs, Landslide, and Go Your Own Way.

Several of My Favorite Bands Part 1

Today, I will be blogging about some bands that I enjoy and recommend. Hopefully, some of you will listen to and leave with better taste in music.

Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys is an English indie-rock band consisting of lead vocalist and guitar player Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook, and bassist Nick O Malley. They have produced five studio albums, been nominated for three grammy awards, and won a Mercury Prize in 2006.
Recommended Songs : 505, Crying Lightning, When The Sun Goes Down, R U Mine, Do I Wanna Know, Fluorescent Adolescent, Knee Socks, Old Yellow Bricks, Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High, and Arabella.

The Neighbourhood
Formed in 2011 and consisting of lead vocalist Jesse Rutherford, bassist Mikey Margott, drummer Brandon Alexander Fried and guitarists Jeremy Freedman and Zach Shane Abels, The Neighbourhood is another one of my favorites. They classify as indie and alternative rock.
Recommended Songs : Let it Go, Female Robbery, Everybody's Watching Me, Sweater Weather, Flawless, Wires, Afraid, and Daddy Issues.

The Gorillaz
The Gorillaz are an English "virtual band" created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett in 1998. Virtually, the band consists of four animated characters : vocalist and keyboardist 2D, bassist Murdoc Niccals, guitarist Noodle, and drums/percussionist Russel Hobbs. The characters are completely fictional and not based off of anyone in real life. In reality, The Gorillaz is a collaboration of several different artists, and has been classified as alternative rock, hip-hop, electronica, indie, reggae, and pop.
Recommended Songs : El Manana, Feel Good Inc. , Clint Eastwood, On Melancholy Hill, 19-2000, Rhinestone Eyes, Stylo, Empire Ants, Broken,  Tomorrow Comes Today,and Sound Check (Gravity).

The Sand Cat

The Felis Margarita, also known as the Sand Cat, is the only type of cat to inhabit dessert regions. These felines, which can survive in temperatures ranging from twenty-three to one-hundred and twenty-six degrees Fahrenheit, are very small creatures with generally short legs and long tails. Incredibly enough, the heaviest recorded Sand Cat weighed only about seven pounds, which is most likely due to their environment containing very little food. This being said, Sand Cats can survive solely on the liquids ingested in their food for months.

In times other than mating season, Sand Cats live very isolated lives. They inhabit burrows deserted by foxes or porcupines in time of need, and have special hairs on their feet that act as cushions when walking through the hot sands of the dessert. Sand Cats also contain the highest bite force quotient of any cat, at one-hundred and thirty-three. This number is greater than that of the American Black Bear, Lion, and Tiger.

Sand Cats hunt at night, preying primarily on small rodents, including spiny mice, jirds, gerbils, and small hares.

                                                               Images of Sand Cats

                                            

Ratatoskr : The Sly Messanger In SMITE

Today I will be starting a series of blogs in which I explain and describe gods in the game SMITE and how they are played. The first god I will be featuring in this series is Ratatoskr, The Sly Messenger, because he's virtually irrelevant without his appearance in SMITE.

Ratatoskr is a swift squirrel who lives in Yggdrasil, the World Tree, and is responsible for delivering messages between gods.  He is a master of gossip, deceit, and coy, and takes any chance he can get to be noticed. Despite his lackluster personality, Ratatoskr sits at the center of all cosmic activity, and is frequently approached by gods in need of information.

In SMITE, Ratatoskr is an extremely fast Assassin who can dash through the map to escape touble or secure kills on enemies. Ratatoskr's passive is called "Acorn of Yggdrasil" and allows him to purchase any of four powerful acorns that provide him with increased stats and adjustments to his abilities. The Yggdrasil Acorns include the following :

The Sapphire Acorn, which gives Ratatoskr an additional fifty physical power and ten physical penetration, and allows "Acorn Blast" to stick to enemies and explode after a short duration. With the Sapphire Acorn, Ratatoskr can create walls of exploding acorns to block out enemies or kills minions.

The Emerald Acorn gives Ratatoskr fifty extra physical power and ten physical penetration, and allows "Acorn Blast" to heal him for each acorn hit. This is personally my favorite acorn of his, because the heal is very significant.

Ratatoskr's Topaz Acorn gives him fifty physical power and twenty-five percent cooldown reduction. Cooldown reduction reduces the amount of time a god must wait before reusing abilities. This acorn also causes "Dart" to stun targets that have been hit twice.

Finally, the Opal Acorn grants Ratatoskr the same advantages as the Topaz Acorn and causes "Dart" to shoot arcs of lightning at opponents nearby.

Now, you must be wondering what "Dart" and "Acorn Blast" are, so I'll explain. Every god has four abilities they can use, including and ultimate ability. "Dart", Ratatoskr's first ability, causes the squirrel to dash a moderate distance and inflict damage upon whomever gets in his way. He may immediately reuse "Dart" if the enemy he strikes has not been hit be "Dart" in the last ten seconds. This applies to all of his enemies, so he can dash up to six times in Conquest and four in Joust. "Flurry of Acorns" causes Ratatoskr to surround himself in acorns, damaging enemies hit by them on the way in and as they return to him. There are a total of twelve acorns, and a total of twenty-four possible hits with this ability. Ratatoskr's third ability, "Acorn Blast", causes Ratatoskr to shoot four acorns at a enemy when activated. Finally, Ratatoskr's Ultimate ability is called "Through the Cosmos". "Through the Cosmos" allows Ratatoskr to leap up on to a branch of Yggdrasil making him completely invulnerable. The squirrel can the leap twice more before landing and damaging any enemy until in a small radius. This ability is amazing for chasing enemies or escaping from fights because it has an enormous range. Each branch is very far apart, so there's almost no possible way to catch up to or escape from Ratatoskr when he activates this ability.

Ratatoskr's standard appearance in SMITE

"Armored Scurrier Ratatoskr" a skin in SMITE

Smite : Battleground of the Gods Part Two

Because my last blog about Smite was someone incomplete, I have decided to make a second part to it. This blog will further explain the roles of Smite and cover two game modes I did not include in my last blog.

The first game mode I am going to explain in this blog is Clash. In Clash, five gods fight in and between two main lanes with several jungle camps in between. The goal of this mode is the same as most others; destroy the enemies towers and phoenixes before killing their titan. In my opinion, Clash has the nicest map out of all of the game modes in Smite.

The second game mode I'll be covering and last one that Smite offers is Siege. In Siege, teams of four gods battle on a map with two lanes and a large jungle. There are several unique aspects of this mode, including siege monsters, siege weapons, and siege juggernauts. In order to acquire a siege weapon, a team must kill minions, gods, and jungle monsters to earn a certain amount of points. In order to gain the assistance of a siege juggernaut, a team must defeat a wild siege monster in the middle of the jungle or kill the enemy's siege juggernaut. A siege juggernaut is a very large monster with a tremendous amount of health that can do severe damage to enemy gods and towers.

The second part of this blog will be about the several different roles in Smite.

The role in which most gods in Smite belong to is known as the Mage role. Mages are generally very light on health but can deal tons of damage.  Mages are generally played in the mid lane of Conquest, and anywhere else in other modes.

Assassins, the second most popular role in Smite are generally very fast and can do as much damage as Mages in some cases. Assassins are normally played in the jungle or short lane.

Hunters, the third role in Smite, specialize in long- range attacks and dealing massive damage through multiple attacks in quick succession. Hunters have a decent amount of health, but normally build items to give them more durability. This role can be played in the duo or short lane.

Warriors in Smite can generally only do well in close combat, but have decent amounts of health and mana and can become very tanky. Warriors are played in the duo lane but can sometimes jungle.

Finally, Guardians are the least played and most tanky gods in Smite. It normally is very difficult to kill a guardian at full health due to the amount of health they have. The downside to playing a guardian is that they don't do much damage and have low mobility. Guardians are played on either the duo or short lane.

Smite : Battleground of the Gods

Smite : Battleground of the Gods is a multiplayer online battle arena in which every player controls a god in an attempt to destroy the enemy's towers and eventually, their titan. Smite featurues a variety of different game modes, including Conquest, Joust, Arena, Assault, and an additional mode every day.

In Smite's most popular game mode, Conquest, five players are divided into three lanes and a jungle. Each god has a specific role they have to fill in a match, so lanes are primarily decided according to the god. Smite's god roles include Warrior, Guardian, Mage, Assassin, and Hunter. Smite features not only Greek, Roman, Norse, and Egyptian gods, but also, Mayan, Hindu, Chinese, and Japanese gods to play as.

In Joust, three players on each team fight in one lane with one tower, phoenix, and titan each. On both sides of the lane are mana and damage buffs, which raise a gods attack and ability to use attacks. A phoenix is a much more powerful version of a tower, both of which deal large amounts of damage to anything that steps within it's radius. To prevent excessive damage to gods, hundreds of little minions spawn periodically to lead the charge against the enemy. These minions are very easy to kill but can do significant damage when attacking a single target in groups. A titan is a large creature or spirit that serves as a team's last line of defense. Once a titan dies, the game ends.

In Arena, five players on each team meet in a large, circular space with no towers, phoenixes or titans where they kill each other to lower the enemy team's score. Once a team's score reaches zero, the game ends. A god kill in Arena takes five score away from the enemy team, and a minion kill takes away one. Eventually, Super Minions will begin to spawn, which have an extremely large amount of health and can be escorted to the enemy fountain(spawn point) to further diminish the enemy's score.

In Assault, every player receives a random god to play in a one-lane map with no buffs or jungle. This mode is similar to Joust, but unique because whereas in every other mode you can return to your fountain to replenish health and buy items any time, you cannot in Assault. Items can be bought with gold received from killing minions, gods, towers, and phoenixes in every game mode, but only after a death in Assault. After every death, gods respawn at their fountain and can continue playing.

This concludes my introductory blog about Smite. I will most likely post more blogs about Smite going into further detail and explanation in the future.

                          Ra , Egyptian Sun God and extremely popular character in Smite

                                                                  Hercules in Smite

                                             Janus, Roman God of Portals and Transitions