Feb
08
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Republican nominee for President of the United States in 2012…
Jan
29
I don’t update this site nearly often enough to make this anything more that self-administered therapy, but what the hell? I have a few things I need to unload.
- The weight loss effort has hit a definite stall. Not losing any ground, but not gaining any either. Very frustrating. Yes, I know it will pass in time, but it still sucks.
- Haiti. Am I the only guy that can’t tell much of a difference in the “Before” and “After photos of that country? Don’t get me wrong, I have strong sympathy for the people of that country. Like nearly everyone else on the planet, I’ve made a donation or two because Lord knows those folks need all the help they can get. However, it wasn’t exactly paradise before the earthquake hit. I think most of the blame can be assigned to the corrupt, ineffectual leadership in Haiti.
And speaking of corrupt, ineffectual leadership…
*pause while I unlock the mental barrier which has been containing my anger*
- This country is doomed.
The ‘American Experiment’ is a failure. “We The People” are too short-sighted, too self-righteous, and too uneducated to make a Constitutional Republic succeed. Unlike many of the voters who voted for Barack Obama, I don’t think he’s the second coming of Christ. I actually believe that if he got everything he wanted passed through Congress it would be a Bad Thing. On the other hand, the Republican Party has gone from Clown Shoes to the completely absurd.
In government’s zeal to confer rights and privileges on their corporate supporters that individual humans do not enjoy, this country has become run by ‘The Highest Bidder’. (We can thank the Supreme Court, and the Republican-appointed majority, for this one…)
The Republican Party has become content to be the kid in the back of the classroom who shouts “nuh-uh!” whenever someone else tries to make a point. If they can stop Obama from doing anything until the mid-term elections next year, all they will do during the campaign is say “See? Obama can’t do anything!” and ask the voters to put them back in charge. And “We The People” will fall for it. If you are one of those people who takes Limbaugh, Beck, or O’Reilly seriously, please… shoot yourself. I’ll be the first to admit that they can be fun to listen to sometimes. I am a big fan of Rush’s “Demonstrate Absurdity by Being Absurd” routine. However, if you don’t realize that they bend and distort facts in order to support their own skewed world view then you lack the mental faculties necessary for effective exercise of your sovereign responsibilities in the political process. (Translation: You’re too fucking stupid to vote.)
And the Democrats… How, exactly, can you be so ineffective when you have a 60-40 majority in the Senate and a clear majority in the House? Are you that scared of a filibuster? Call their bluff and make them do it! Make them stand on the floor of Congress for 48 hours and read a phone book or something. Use some tricks of parliamentary procedure and force cloture. For god’s sake don’t back down from a fight! You want to know why voters are becoming upset with you? Because you are the spineless cretins that your political opponents say you are. Brew a few dozen pots of coffee, and camp out in the Senate chambers until the GOP runs out of steam on their filibuster. Make them talk for a week if you have to. Congressionally speaking, there isn’t one Democrat in either house with the will, leadership, or charisma to take the fight to the GOP. Obama is the balls, brains, heart, and soul of the Democratic party right now, and would-be Presidential candidates would be well served by getting out there and kicking some butt right now.
Oh yeah, one more group…
Libertarians/Ron Paul-ites/None of the Above’rs
The reason that nobody votes for you is that you don’t run a candidate who can play the game. I’m not saying you have to play by “their” rules, but you should at least know enough about how things are done in Washington to avoid tripping on yourselves once you get there. Find a candidate who can engage people and has a touch of charisma, then hire the best political strategists you can find. Wade in to the muck in Washington and get something done. Otherwise, you’re a bunch of dilettante debaters whose Ivory Tower theories will never have the chance to be proven right or wrong. Raise some money and win an election or two, then maybe you’ll be taken seriously enough to get your ideas into the minds of voters on a more regular basis than “Some pissed off techno-dweeb’s blog of rage” (you know… like mine.)
I am not sitting in front of my TV watching politicians talk about their latest plan to “save us”. The only thing I ask of our political leadership is to keep things fair for all of us so that I can succeed on my own merits. I don’t want to hear phrases like “Too Big To Fail” in the future. I don’t want to hear politicians talk about “what’s fair for…” anyone that isn’t an individual (preferably ALL individuals) in our country. “They” are spending way too much time and energy defending and serving interests other than the people of this country. Why do I tell you this?
Because “They” are all crooks. Every single one of them. The whole rotten structure of our government is run by a bunch of opportunistic whores who would shoot their own kids if it would get them the votes they would need to stay in power. Do you know whose fault it is that they are still there?
Ours…
and that is why we’re doomed.
Jan
08
The Baseball Writers Association of America are a bunch of morons
Posted in: SportsWritten by: Grim
First off, let me congratulate Andre Dawson on his election to the Hall of Fame. It is a much deserved honor, and I’m glad to see that the BBWAA got it right, eventually.
One of the great things about baseball is that you can look through a mountain of statistics and still have arguments about who the greatest players of all time are. I can imagine that there are a few baseball writers out there who think “Sure, Dawson was really good, but this isn’t the ‘Hall of Really Good’. I can think of several other players in his era who were better.”
As much as I believe that Andre Dawson belongs in the Hall of Fame, I could understand that there might be an argument on the issue.
Maybe some writers think that only players who are in the discussion of “Best Player of All Time” belong in the hall?
I’m going to pick a list off the top of my head of the “generally considered” best baseball players who ever lived. I’m going to include 5 hitters and 5 pitchers.
For hitters, how about…
- Ty Cobb
- Babe Ruth
- Hank Aaron
- Ted Williams
- Joe DiMaggio
I’d say that is a pretty good list of “Best Ever” candidates, wouldn’t you? You have the former all-time hits leader, 2 former all-time home run leaders, the last man to hit .400, and a guy who hit in 56 straight games while winning a metric fuckton of World Series titles and was frequently introduced as “Baseball’s Greatest Living Player” (which is not even close to true at any given point in his life, see examples: Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, etc) while banging Marilyn Monroe.
For pitchers?
- Walter Johnson
- Cy Young
- Grover Cleveland Alexander
- Christy Matthewson
- Warren Spahn
I don’t think there is any argument on any of these players, do you? In a game where 300 wins is considered “automatic”, we have a 400 game winner, a 500 game winner, and 3 350 game winners. All won World Series titles. 4 of the 5 were named to baseball’s “All Century Team”.
What do all of these men have in common? Not one of them was a unanimous choice for selection to the Hall of Fame.
Somewhere out there, there was a sportswriter who thought “You know? Babe Ruth was pretty good, but I’m just not sure he’s Hall of Fame material.”
Somewhere out there, there was a sportswriter who looked at Cy Young and said “Sure, he won 511 games, and they named the award for best pitcher in the league after the guy, but I’m not quite sure he can cut it on my Hall of Fame ballot.”
I think I know why there was a sportswriter or two who looked at Hank Aaron and said “Yeah, he’s the all-time Home Run champ, but I ain’t voting for him for Cooperstown.” and I hope those people are rotting in a special place in hell.
And lest you think that it’s the “old fogeys” who had it wrong, let’s take a look at a few “no-brainers” from recent years. Again, just picking 5 off the top of my head…
- Cal Ripken Jr.
- Rickey Henderson
- Johnny Bench
- Nolan Ryan
- Ozzie Smith
Ok, we have “Mr. Ironman”, the all-time stolen base champ, the best catcher in the last 50 years, the all-time strikeouts leader, and the generally acknowledged best fielding shortstop of all time. All were elected on the first ballot. All received over 90% of the votes available… but not 100%.
In fact, there has not been one player in the history of baseball who was a unanimous selection for the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Really? There’s not one guy out there who every voter could get behind? Lou Gehrig? Willie Mays? Mickey Mantle? Nobody?
What’s worse, is now some idiot is going to claim “tradition” when he refuses to vote for Randy Johnson, or Greg Maddux, or Pedro Martinez, or Ken Griffey Jr, or *Alex Rodriguez. If Cy Young wasn’t unanimous, then how could Greg Maddux be voted in with 100% of the vote? If Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron couldn’t draw every vote, how can you justify voting in Albert Pujols unanimously?
*A-Rod, with the steroid/HGH/PED thing might get a few nay-sayers who refuse to vote for anyone connected to that controversy, and I totally get that. I don’t agree with it, but I understand it.
But here is the final straw for me…
I’m going to show the statistics for two players…
Player A:
- 15 year career
- 224 HR
- 1068 RBI
- .317 AVG
Player B:
- 18 year career
- 219 HR
- 1326 RBI
- .303 AVG
Neither player has won an MVP. Player A has never led his league in any of the above offensive categories. Player B has led the league in RBI and batting average once. (same year… guy wins 2/3 of the Triple Crown and didn’t win the MVP that year.)
One of these players is generally considered by sports writers to be a “No brainer, sure fire, first ballot, no-doubt-about-it Hall of Famer” the other was dropped from the ballot after only getting 4.3% of the vote in his first year of eligibility. (You have to get at least 5% to stay on the ballot from year to year.)
So which of these players is Derek Jeter and which one is Al Oliver?
(Answer: Jeter is “Player A”)
After looking at all of the evidence, I am forced to conclude that sportswriters, particularly baseball writers, are a bunch of self-righteous, sanctimonious, self-important jerkoffs who let their own egos and sensibilities get in the way of any semblance of objectivity.
Jan
06
One problem that the game industry has is that game journalists sometimes lack a sense of professionalism. Many journalists are enthusiastic fans who land a "dream job" related to games; journalism might be as close to the ultimate goal of game development as some people will ever get. The dream of getting paid to play games is probably better realized as a typical journalist than as a game developer.
Unfortunately, this lack of professionalism hurts the game industry. We need more real game journalists who do a good job covering the industry and showing what is really going on. Sadly, this is all too rare and most game "journalism" fails spectacularly.
Why journalism matters
Why get all worked up over game journalism? It's my old friend legitimacy again. Without real journalists and critics, we don't move forward as fast as we might otherwise to gain more acceptance as an expressive medium. If we have too many "journalists" that just read press releases and gives unfaltering praise to big games (reserving scorn for smaller games with little advertising budget), then we reinforce the same patterns that already dominate the industry.
This is also the reason why it's not entirely hypocritical for a crass game developer to point at a journalist and ask them to be professional. ;) What I sometimes lack in decorum I make up for by trying to move the industry forward in other ways.
And, I don't believe journalism can be completely replaced by blogging. As much as I love bloggers (being one myself), we just don't have the impetus to do the real work needed. Blogs are often good at lightly covering topics, or being quick to pick up on an interesting story. Real journalism digs deeper into the story and verifies facts.
I think that everyone, especially game developers, need to start appreciating good journalists more in order to move the industry forward. Real journalism takes time and effort, and has a potentially lower return on investment if we don't give them support. It might be nice to have a popular site willing to regurgitate press releases, but it's better to have critical insight. While I don't appreciate Roger Ebert's perspectives on video games, it's not hard to see that critics like him have had a tremendously positive influence on movies.
The culprit
So, let's look at an example of "game journalism" over at Joystiq about NDS closing down. Here are some of the inaccuracies in a two-paragraph blurb:
"We don't blame you if you can't remember Near Death Studios..."
Except that the company is newsworthy enough to get coverage on the front page of a major news site.
"...which today announced..."
Actually, the blog post referenced was dated the 31st of December, while this article was posted on the 5th of January.
"...nine years spent trying (and failing) to make money..."
Actually, we made a fair amount of money. Enough to pay five full-time employees at once time. Not luxurious wages, but about what my blue-collar father made when I was growing up. The problem is that we stopped making money just this last year and I didn't want to put the game in financial risk.
"The now-ironically named developer..."
That's not what "ironic" means. Unless you're talking about dramatic irony, in which case we got the joke because we picked the name in the first place.
"We can't help but wonder if changing the company name might have helped "Near Death" earn more confidence from prospective financial partners."
Let me end your wondering: No. Just like nobody turns away from Blizzard because they're afraid of being buried in snow. Coming from the Midwest, "blizzard" is most definitely a negative term for me.
And this is an article posted on the front page of one of the largest game sites. What's really unfortunate here is that this reflects typical attitude for large sites toward small developers: smaller developers get thinly veiled contempt. A topic that some other sites have handled with some delicacy becomes the target of mockery. It doesn't matter because I'm not likely to make a huge ad buy from a site like Joystiq. (Compare the tone of a story the previous day about EA shutting down multiplayer servers for old sports games. Less mocking there probably because EA will buy a large amount of ads when a new game they want to hype is coming up.)
A bitterly funny interlude
It sure is interesting that NDS is getting all sorts of attention these days now that it's ending. Few people took so much interest when it was still running. Props to the people out there who did pay attention and give it coverage before this announcement.
All is not hopeless
Let me give a counterexample about why we shouldn't give up on game journalists entirely. One journalist from GamePro actually contacted me by email to clarify some of the information for a story being written. Although the email got most of the information right, it was nice to see a journalist actually trying to do a good job. the article posted is pretty accurate and even includes a nice quote at the end from me. I appreciate the extra time it took to send an email before rushing to get a story out. Again, we should take time to appreciate people who do actual work to investigate a story.
A call to action
So, let's start putting this into action. Post in the comments if you've seen any particularly great or poor examples of game journalism out there. Let's start recognizing and rewarding the good people and sites with positive attention and shunning the poor ones. We may not be able to do much individually, but together we might have an influence, and that influence can spread.
Post copyright Brian 'Psychochild' Green. Visit the post to participate in the comments:
Jan
02
Paul Abrams: Limbaugh Lauds (Socialist) Medical Care in HawaiiThe Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com
Posted in: UncategorizedWritten by: Paul Abrams
"but I think the most likely reason of all was the Grinch had a heart two sizes too small" ("How the Grinch Stole Christmas," Dr. Seuss).
According to Rush Limbaugh, the health care reform that may be passed by Congress is socialism. Yet, it bears a striking resemblance to the universal healthcare system that just treated him in Hawaii that prompted his remark: "there is nothing wrong with the American health care system. I received no special treatment."
Yes, Rush. That's the point! American medicine is superb--for those who can get it. And, in Hawaii, no one gets special treatment, because everyone can get it.
[Er, by the way, just to help you out, Rush, a fair percentage of your listeners do not know Hawaii is part of the United States, so clarify that for them...otherwise, they will wonder about you]
By accepting socialist medical treatment in Hawaii, therefore, Rush Limbaugh has shown that, when one is ill, what matters is the availability of quality health care, even if it is socialist.
Rush follows a long litany of conservatives, such as all Members of Congress that have a medical office paid for by taxpayers available in the Capitol, by Dick Cheney who had socialist pacemakers implanted paid for by the government, and George W who had a government-paid socialist colonoscopy while in office. Members of Congress over 65 get single-payer socialist medical care from Medicare.
Hawaii has had nearly-universal employer-mandated health insurance since 1974. Although its Pacific Island location makes the costs of everything--from gasoline to milk to ice cream to housing--the highest in the nation, health care premiums in Hawaii, for comprehensive care with small co-pays and deductibles, are nearly the lowest and their costs per medicare beneficiary are the lowest in the nation.
Why? There are a variety of reasons, most traceable to universality. With everyone covered by primary care, emergency room visits tend to be for real emergencies, not the non-emergent care mainland ERs dispense for people without coverage. That reduces the costs of ERs and the costs of non-emergent medicine since patients can be handled less expensively and more effectively by their primary docs. Hospitals have not overbuilt, acquiring expensive machines to compete with their neighbors for patients. Insurance companies have instituted screening and other measures to improve wellness among their covered populations.
We can all be pleased that Rush appears to have survived his encounter with socialist medical care. He seems to be very happy himself, commenting on the results of a socialist angiogram that showed no disease in the arteries that feed his heart muscle.
Now, of course, Rush does not live in Hawaii and so his costs are not covered by the Hawaiian insurance system, but having that "socialist" system for more than 3 decades has not reduced the quality of the care he received. Who would have thunk it!
If Hawaii-style medical care is good enough for Rush Limbaugh, it is good enough for me.
Thanks Rush, and with it my hopes that your medical insurance covers all your costs and that the greatest country in the world can make that same care available to everyone.
Happy New Year!
More on Dick Cheney
Dec
29
Now I knew when going into this deal that the first 4 weeks would be all kinds of brutal. Thanksgiving, Christmas (x3), and a total breakdown of my daily routine (lack of regular exercise). That said, my goal was to more or less minimize the damage. Aside from a minor setback in week 2, I’ve actually managed to gain a bit of ground. Now that Santa’s big day has passed, I’m anticipating getting back into a normal routine which includes exercise and a normal diet.
As always, read after the jump if you are interested in details.
Dec
21
As if this isn’t wrong enough, now according to Fox News, thieves have stolen the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign from the entrance to Auschwitz. For those of you not up to date on your “Nazi Death Camp History”, Arbeit Macht Frei is German for “Work makes Freedom” and the sign (seen above) was the first thing Jews saw when they arrived at the camp. Of course, for many of them, the next thing they saw was a gas chamber, making Arbeit Macht Frei perhaps the most cynical Nazi slogan of all.
I could understand stealing priceless works of art or archaeological treasures from antiquity, but is there really some sort of black market for this?!? Is some Nazi sympathizer or racist moron out there thinking “Ya know? I’d pay me a couple million bucks for that sign from Auschwitz.” I can’t imagine anyone remotely sympathetic to the plight of Jews (or gypsies, or homosexuals, or Communists) in WW II thinking “Gee, I’d sure love to have that sign.” or even wish to see it destroyed since it is such a visible and well-known reminder of what happens when intolerance and racism run amok.
This definitely belongs in the “WTF” file.
UPDATE: According the BBC News, Polish police are questioning suspects and the sign has been recovered. The thieves cut the sign into 3 pieces and just walked off with it. No word on if they’ll be asked to screw in a lightbulb anytime soon. (Sorry, that’s just too easy.)
Dec
21
Holiday parties, where enough sweets are present to cause the thinnest of waifish supermodels to become Type 2 Diabetics in no time. I got my diet back on track for the most part, and managed to avoid the worst of the temptations I faced this week. Instead of exercise, I wound up moving furniture. With respect to “time-under-load”, I’d say my muscles got more than they bargained for. (Hey, YOU try moving a solid oak entertainment center by yourself!) I’m still behind schedule, however, this week represents the worst of the dietary temptations. If I can make it to New Years with at least 5 pounds gone, I will consider this a major victory.
As always, the gritty details are after the jump.
Dec
20
New Solstice Display Goes Up in Raleigh, North CarolinaFriendly Atheist by @hemantsblog
Posted in: UncategorizedWritten by: Hemant Mehta
The Triangle Freethought Society put up a display in Moore Square in Raleigh, North Carolina earlier today to counterbalance a Christian nativity scene in the same area.
“While we support the freedom of religion and the right to free speech, we feel strongly that if the city of Raleigh is going to allow an overtly Christian display to be erected in our public square, other points of view should be represented as well,” noted Mark Zumbach, President of TFS. “Not doing so would have given the appearance that our city government is endorsing Christianity.”
Their display is a explanation of why we celebrate this time of year:
![WinterSolsticeSign[1]](http://friendlyatheist.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/WinterSolsticeSign1.jpg "WinterSolsticeSign[1]")
I think it’s positive without being disparaging — kudos to the TFS for the nice wording.
Even more positive is the fact that during the unveiling celebration earlier today, attendees were told to bring non-perishable canned goods or to make a financial donation for the Food Bank of Central Carolina.
(Thanks to Todd for the link!)
Dec
20
And Now, a Message for John McCain from Chez's Evil Twin, GarthDeus Ex Malcontent
Posted in: UncategorizedWritten by: Chez
Look, you doddering old douche, I get that Alzheimer's robs you of your ability to form a coherent thought, to say nothing of rendering you unable to remember what you said and did 20 minutes ago. But for fuck's sake, don't you at least pay a couple of "old guy handlers" to stop you when you're about to spout something shockingly stupid and completely detached from reality? If you do, you should fire their asses, because they didn't stick a tube sock in your mouth before your appearance on "Fux News Sunday" this morning.
Since you probably don't have the slightest idea what you said, seeing as how it's now several hours after the interview, let me refresh what little is left of your memory: You claimed that Barack Obama has fostered a "more partisan" environment than the one that existed during the Clinton administration. You said:
"At least under 'Hillarycare' they tried seriously to negotiate with Republicans. There's been -- there has been no effort that I know of that -- serious across-the-table negotiations, such as I have engaged in with Democrats and with other administrations. And that was the commitment that the president made."
Wow -- really? Really?
That's interesting there, John, because I could've sworn that just a few months ago I watched Obama give a health care address on national television and speak in nothing but the most conciliatory and respectful tones toward the opposing party -- that would be yours -- only to have some disrespectful asshole from that party shout "YOU LIE!" at him like a drunk at a fucking redneck bar.
And you know something? Obama continues to reach out to Republicans. He continues to try to compromise with them and appease them -- to his own detriment, if we're being honest. This guy is still trying to make nice with the people who, since before he even won the election, have called him a dangerous, terrorist-sympathizing, socialist who wants to kill our grandmothers and who wasn't even born in this country. You fucking lunatics literally paint him as some kind of illegitimate pretender to the office -- you're so beavershit terrified that your precious country is slipping away from the control of white, Christian oligarchs and oligarch-enablers like yourselves. Your True Believers organize hilariously bombastic celebrations of willful ignorance and provincial know-nothingness -- you call them "tea parties" -- where they hold up signs declaring "Obama is a Nazi!" They bring guns to places where the President of the Fucking United States is speaking, tacitly threatening him and his supporters with "violent revolution," irresponsible nonsense that's consistently stoked by Republican lawmakers both on Fox News and, occasionally, in person. All this -- all this -- and you have the fucking gall to say that Obama's the one creating a toxic political climate?
Have you been mixing your anti-depressants with Cindy's Demerol?
Look, I get that after being stomped like a kid at a Cincinnati Who concert last year, you decided that it was time to get on your knees, open wide and start swallowing load after load of the GOP Kool-Aid again -- otherwise you'd have no friends -- but you can't really believe the horseshit you're shoveling. Obama's gone so far out of his way to make a group of people who are never going to like him happy that he's actually losing the support of a lot of people who thought they could like him no matter what he did. Even the spineless twerps across the aisle from you in Congress cede both the floor and their testicles to you every chance they get.
Oh, and by the way, I've got two words for you: Sarah Goddamned Palin.
Yeah -- this morning's little pearl of wisdom comes from the guy who unleashed the Retard Kraken onto the world. Sorry, but I'm not giving credence to one fucking thing you say until you apologize for taking a cynical political gamble that would've put a petty, feckless ex-beauty queen -- Idealogue Barbie; someone with more shameless, naked ambition than brains -- just one of your steadily faltering heartbeats away from the highest office in the free world. You wanna talk about somebody who's really fostered partisan enmity -- even in her current role as, well, a fucking reality TV star? Sarah Palin.
And you shot her into the American political system's veins like so much bad smack.
Thanks for that, John. Oh, and fuck you very much for emphatically embracing your party's current ethic of shitloads of hypocritical psycho-projection. You guys are right: It's everyone else's fault. Do yourself a favor, pal. The next time you think that, instead of announcing it on Fox, just go take a look in the mirror and address that person.
But first eat your oatmeal, then it's good-night for you. 5 o'clock. Way past your bed time.
Because you're old.
