November 26, 2011

I HAVE RETURNED

Wabash beat the living hell out of Depauw. Must make for an awkward post-game meeting. "Well, they didn't win by as much this year. Maybe next time we can score twice." Especially bad when the Dannie fans leave at halftime. C'mon kids! They're your goddam team, stick around. I wanted to give the po' bastahds a hug.
Of hatred.



Multiple links tonight.
The woman sentenced for lying on her food stamp app: http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20111112/NEWS/111120339/Woman-given-3-year-prison-term-lie
And the of-course not nearly as bad ex-vigilante psychopath who extorted money at gunpoint: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/11/ff_dave_sanders/all/1
And he got a $100 fine! And probably thinks it's unfair (seriously, read what he says to the FBI when they finally arrest him). I know it's long, but combined these two cases make our justice system look like the Three Stooges. It doesn't matter if Moe fucked up, Curly still gets bopped on the head.

About the Occupy Wall Street idea:

The True Democracy Act
1. Tie congressional salaries to the average American income (http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm) - $174,000 vs. $50,000 (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.htm)

2. Limit campaign spending to $1 million (http://www.ips-dc.org/articles/some_break_campaign_spending_records_while_middle_america_scrambles_to_keep_a_roof_overhead)
(http://thisnation.com/textbook/processes-finance.html)
or less, with a donation cap - once $1 million is raised the candidate may no longer accept donations.

Reform starts at home. If candidates cannot handle their own salary and run effective campaigns without massive amounts of money, then they should not be in Congress. Plus this frees up corporate money to create more jobs!

This is not socialism. These are public servants. Their job, which they asked for, is to serve their constituents and promote the common good. By averaging salaries much higher than the average American income, and accepting donations that allow them to overcome the power of the vote, they are striking against democracy. By leveling the campaign field, and reducing salaries, more money is freed up for other purposes - cutting the fat that Congress complains so much about - and the vote increases in power. This creates a more democratic electoral process.

By limiting the amount in donations a candidate can receive we limit corporate interests in our politicians. They will be dependent on the people. By tying the salary to the average American income we ensure that their interests are tied to ours - that they serve the majority, as they were elected to, and not the wealthiest minority.

I said I wanted to hear what you thought, so comment, goddamit. If you disagree, good, tell me why. If you agree, good, tell me why. I want the Occupy movement to spark real change in our electorate, and this is one way I see to that goal. I don't hate capitalism; I think we need to use it better. Work in your own self-interest (but try not to be a dick; and, oh, your self-interest does not include lower taxes for corporations and CEOs making record profits.)




November 9, 2011

The Devil's greatest trick was a frontside 360 airwalk

Two disclaimers: I do not know skateboarding terms; I ramble, and may not make as much sense as I'd wish. This combination may result in a Cthulu-like trance in which I spout the tongues of madness that wakens the damned.



The links!
The hell one: http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/?p=2421

The AMA: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/kxf69/throwing_myself_to_the_wolves_i_am_part_of_the_1/

The swamp-assed universe!: http://www.fastcompany.com/1769468/scientist-discover-the-oldest-largest-body-of-water-in-existence-in-space

I am going to Monon this weekend. I will report back with Wabash's victory and scorn for Depauw. This will probably be my last year that I go (and drink) as it is the last senior class I know; the rest are all fraters that joined after I left the house. I know a few, and godspeed to each of them (and the house as a whole) but I'm trying to grow up inch by inch. Unfortunately, in my case, that is a lot of inches.

September 14, 2011

Insane laughter is not optional

The mad science link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/worlds-biggest-telescope-will-see-deep-into-the-past-1756187.html


This'uns for Jeremah:



August 26, 2011

Just imagine Boehner, but with boobies

Note: the quality of this recording is of even higher quality than usual. Because I remembered how to turn up the volume on my speaking portions. Also, I haven't listened to it yet (don't believe in that fancy quality control).
I talk about a lot of stuff, and I wanted to talk about even more. I cut it short (or as short as I am capable of) however.



I did want to elaborate, if I may, on the victimized politicians. It bugs me that they cry to get their way, like spoiled children. It bugs me that there seems to be less and less thought in legislation, and more and more "what can I get out of it?" attitudes. Here's the thing that bugs me most: according to Fox News, about half of Americans don't pay any taxes. That's po' folks for ya. Half of Americans. Now I'm not a doctor, but that is a pretty big number. Gosh-darn big. And whether it's factual or not, there are a lot of poor folks in America. More than there are rich. The reason you see rich folks getting their way is because of money. Money talks, said the cliche. What talks louder than money, or should, in a Democracy? Shitloads of people. So if you really want to be heard, to get the things you want, you need to be loud. You need to be kind of a dick. When Mitt Romney claims corporations are people, you tell him to shut his whore mouth. Because he's not saying it for you - he's saying it for the people who subsidize his campaign, the people who will own his left nut should he get into the White House. Obama has done this as well, trying to deliver on a few of his promises while refusing to turn down the money.So why do they get to cry and claim it's for the average American? According to their actions, they despise the average American. It's time to start talking, half of America. It's time to stop taking the bullshit, and at least trying to be louder.

Late Facts: The Firefly episode I bring up, with "Mrs. Reynolds" playing the victim? I forgot to mention she tries to murder everyone on the ship. Kinda important plot point. 

August 2, 2011

Do Not Trust Robin Williams

Here is the link to the Star Wars blog: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/07/i-find-your-lack-of-relevance-disturbing-is-star-wars-a-joke-now
Didn't have time to say it (spent too much on Williams being a murderer) but I think Star Wars is fantasy, as is much of what we think of as science fiction. Terminator: is there any science there beyond "robots, totally"?And time travel? The Matrix? They mention computers and then it's just kung-fu nerds' wet dream. Serenity? Reavers could easily be a stand-in for orcs. There are certain allowable things that differ in genres - what happened to River usually doesn't happen in fantasy, for example - but it's just an expectation, not a rule. I would like to read fantasy in which a government kidnaps and brainwashes kids to turn them into psychic assassins. The line between the genres is so thin I'm not sure it's there at all, or if soft sci-fi is just fantasy, in space. Even robots aren't safe, as fantasy has golems (mechanical constructs with a penchant for rebelling against their creators).

July 24, 2011

Admit It

I've decided to vote Republican in the next election. For one reason that has nothing to do with policy (foreign or domestic) or any issues. Well, sort of. I'm voting Republican because, deep down, and I suspect many people feel this way, I want to see what happens if the villains win.
It's a sad truth that the villain rarely gets anywhere in fiction. Audiences won't stand for it (see below: we consider ourselves the good guys), and it doesn't sell so well. Watchmen was an awesome thing among comics, but it took a long time for it to be adapted to the big screen (and even then we had to have an anti-government, pro-rich folks boner so big it rivals Dr. Manhattan's). Even in V for Vendetta, a movie about a terrorist, we needed to have him be the good guy for it to sell. Moral ambiguity upsets our stomachs.
But the same is not true in real life. We re-write history to paint ourselves in a good light, but current events let you assign hero and villain roles as you wish. Each political party considers themselves the good guys, or Batman, to our troubled nation. I, however, see them thusly:
Republicans: Joker
Democrats: Stupid safecracker who shot one guy, then couldn't figure out that maybe the Joker would kill him too, despite having just fucking shot a guy on his team!
And while I love Batman, I, like most of us, paid my ten bucks to sit in the theater and watch the Joker blow shit up for two hours. The problem is that Joker loses, while the Republicans have demonstrated an ability to engage in base and vile villainy, and still pull out a win. So, when a villain in real life can win, and you've never seen that (not really) in fiction, the temptation becomes too much, and you must vote for them. Just imagine if one of those groups of people on the ferries had blown the other group up; or if Batman hadn't figured out the Joker's plan to switch doctors and clowns, or if Harvey Dent had killed Jim Gordon. It would be terrible, and awesome, to watch. And if I can't see it in the movies or books, I'll settle for real life. 

July 2, 2011

Space Satan Whispers in Our Ears...

Digital Morality

I’m a big fan of Nietzsche. He cuts through a lot of what I see as bullshit, to strike at the heart of morals. I mentioned last time that no one sees him-or-herself as the bad guy, though we can recognize when we fuck up. We all make our own morality, even if it entails only slight changes to whatever is usual near you.

I am not a fan of Ayn Rand (actually I think she was an insufferable twat) so when I play Bioshock and Andrew Ryan starts screaming at me “A man chooses! A slave obeys!” I prefer to see the connection to Nietzsche rather than Rand (although Ryan’s super-capitalism-whatever falls within her ballpark).

Bioshock is a fun first-person shooter that asks an interesting moral question: is it okay to kill kids (like, if you really need to)? While I don’t like kids (they poop and don’t clean it up) I’m against killing them. I guess it’s just how I was brought up, which may make me old-fashioned. That said children give you superhuman powers (maniacal laugh sold separately) makes me go, “ehhh,” but I’m still firmly on the anti-child-murder side.

But the real interest isn’t in the moral choices themselves, but what they mean. Spoilers ahead, but this game is pretty old now, so if you haven’t played, you probably won’t. Jack (the character you play) is closer to a Big Daddy than a real human. He was constructed from a stolen fetus, and is actually Andrew Ryan’s son (with his hooker mistress, a lady who got the decidedly short and shitty end of the stick). Ryan, the guy you’re trying to kill for most of the game, is the enemy of Atlas, aka Frank Fontaine, who has programmed Jack to respond to a certain phrase, “Would you kindly?” that makes Jack do whatever he wants. He uses this phrase all the time, and it’s not until after the reveal (when Ryan forces you to kill him [he figured it out] to prove a point) that the player sees how neatly they’ve been led along.

This brings me back to the kid-killing. You kill kids for superpowers. Or, you can save them to get fewer superpowers. Atlas is pro-murder, but - and I just noticed this on my last playthrough - he never uses the command phrase to force you to kill. That decision is left in the player’s hands. (One explanation is the dev team wanted moral choices so didn’t force you, but that’s the less interesting idea, so fuck it). The player is put in a place that seems beyond good and evil, and presented with a choice that means survival or death; can he, or she, ignore the conventional morality and make the hard (evil) decision? Is it possible, because Jack thinks (for most of the game) that he is human, that Atlas was unable to force this sort of monstrous decision to the conclusion he preferred?

In a world built to deny the traditional rules and morals, your cynical heart can run free. You can get all up in Rand’s philosophy that doing what is best for you is somehow best for everyone (hint: it’s not) or you can take a look at the Nietzschean subplot and determine, free from former constraints, what it means to be moral in a world that has gone shithouse rat-style crazy.