Krys - No really, he's a big guy.
Me - Yeah, I bet he wouldn't even fit in Tony's shower.
Brian - Why would you want to fit him in Tony's shower?
Me - Ah, Goddammit.
Tony - Do you even know what a minority is?
Max - Yeah, it's like when you're Hindu.
Shaun - What sauce is on that cookie?
Tony - It's cherry sauce, man.
Shaun tastes the cookie
Shaun - That ain't jerry sauce, man.
Me - Max, you couldn't give pleasure to a dog.
Max - Yeah I could, my c*** ain't big enough!
Anyone that remembers anymore, remind me.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
An open letter to Jack Thompson
The crusader against violent video games. The self-styled "Batman" of our time. There have been many youtube videos by other gamers who have attacked you, and rightly so, and your bullshit-fueled campaign against video games.
May I start off by saying - fuck you. Video gamers such as myself number in the millions. Yes, millions. There are no less than 8 million people playing World of Warcraft - their ages ranging from 13 to probably in their 50's. Millions more play online everyday in games such as Call of Duty 2, Counterstrike Source, Team Fortress 2, and Unreal Tournament. Out of these millions that play, when less than half a percentage point of them commit a crime, you go ape shit. You start running your mouth like you know what you're talking about.
Mr. Thompson - it is because of you that gamers like me have a bad name. If it weren't for violent games, i would not have been interested in learning more about the military and war. It was actually one of these reasons for which i have taken my Bachelors (yes, with honors you elitist bastard) in International Relations, where I'm currently finishing my last year. I have yet to go on a murderous rampage, but if i do, I'll be sure to give you a call, so that you can prepare your tirade beforehand.
I have many friends who are also avid gamers - I'll mention a few of their occupations:
Doctor
Web Designer
IT specialist
International Relations Analyst
Logistics clerk
Waiter
Oh my god! Those ANIMALS! Look how horrible they turned out! Whatever shall the world do?
If stores sell games to kids that shouldn't be getting them because they're underage, go bitch to them. Stop picking on gamers and gaming companies, and pick on the bigger horses - like Walmart. But I bet i know why you don't - they got armies of lawyers, and you can't afford to take them on in court. Sly fox, you are.
Mr. Thompson, you'll probably never read this. But please know - I utterly despise you to my very core. Gamers all over the world probably share the same sentiment. And if it were true that we're violent, blood-thirsty animals, i guess you would be the first one to know.
But wait.. aren't you still breathing? Hmm.. interesting.
May I start off by saying - fuck you. Video gamers such as myself number in the millions. Yes, millions. There are no less than 8 million people playing World of Warcraft - their ages ranging from 13 to probably in their 50's. Millions more play online everyday in games such as Call of Duty 2, Counterstrike Source, Team Fortress 2, and Unreal Tournament. Out of these millions that play, when less than half a percentage point of them commit a crime, you go ape shit. You start running your mouth like you know what you're talking about.
Mr. Thompson - it is because of you that gamers like me have a bad name. If it weren't for violent games, i would not have been interested in learning more about the military and war. It was actually one of these reasons for which i have taken my Bachelors (yes, with honors you elitist bastard) in International Relations, where I'm currently finishing my last year. I have yet to go on a murderous rampage, but if i do, I'll be sure to give you a call, so that you can prepare your tirade beforehand.
I have many friends who are also avid gamers - I'll mention a few of their occupations:
Doctor
Web Designer
IT specialist
International Relations Analyst
Logistics clerk
Waiter
Oh my god! Those ANIMALS! Look how horrible they turned out! Whatever shall the world do?
If stores sell games to kids that shouldn't be getting them because they're underage, go bitch to them. Stop picking on gamers and gaming companies, and pick on the bigger horses - like Walmart. But I bet i know why you don't - they got armies of lawyers, and you can't afford to take them on in court. Sly fox, you are.
Mr. Thompson, you'll probably never read this. But please know - I utterly despise you to my very core. Gamers all over the world probably share the same sentiment. And if it were true that we're violent, blood-thirsty animals, i guess you would be the first one to know.
But wait.. aren't you still breathing? Hmm.. interesting.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Anti-Americanism in Europe.
If there is one thing that you have to love about the media, both in the U.S., and in Europe, is how much of a grip it has on their audiences. I was just watching this video on videosift (great website, has 15 top notch videos every day, many of them hilariously good), and it got me thinking about the whole thing.
In the U.S., Americans are brainwashed in one way. We're constantly bombarded by companies who want us to buy their products. Yes, even worse than Europe. It has been a while since I've lived in the U.S., but I'm certain that nothing has changed since then. Consumerism is rampant in the U.S., and political propaganda is running wild at the moment with the Presidential elections coming up in November. But for the most part, if ever, you never see anti-European messages on U.S.-based television and news stations - with the exception of prior to the Iraq war, when Chirac and Schroeder of France and Germany respectively, opposed the U.S. invasion. But that's another story in itself.
So, why do the Europeans hate the U.S. so much? Well, the invasion of Iraq didn't help. Some of Bush's policies were unilateralist and did not take into account the multilateral leanings of Europeans. Abu Gharib, Guantanamo bay, the refusal to join the Kyoto protocol, and the refusal to accept the notion of an International Criminal Court are all things which irked the Europeans and helped to fuel anti-American propaganda.
Now, I'm going to be 100% honest. I'm going to say what I believe is the truth in my own mind. There are many things which the U.S. has done over the past 6 years or so which I did not agree with. The refusal to join the ICC is one of those things which I think was not a smart move. Abu Gharib was pretty bad as well. The Kyoto protocol, which deals with environmental planning and what not, should have been considered. Yes, the U.S. has made mistakes. But then again, which country has not made mistakes? Which country has the media coverage of every thing it does, which country can say it is under the microscope as often as the U.S.? No one. There's no argument about that, I'm sure.
So, is all the anti-American rhetoric justified? Not really. In that video link i've posted above, someone asked a U.S. journalist if everyone walks with M-16 rifles in the streets in the U.S. Seriously? I mean, are there people who actually believe that?
I've lived in the U.S., and I know what kind of people live there. No, we're not warmongers. No, we don't want to dominate the world, even if that's what happened, because we won the Cold War. The Europeans don't feel the need to look up to the U.S. anymore, simply because the EU is coming along nicely(...even if they don't know where it's going) and that western Europe has no threats to existence as it did during the Cold War.
So, where does that leave us? The Europeans, fueled by anti-American propaganda, and yes, all news is propaganda of some sort, have come to hate the U.S. more and more. There are legitimate reasons to disagree with the U.S. foreign policy, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But outright hatred of a country, and claiming they are an ignorant population is what i call a false sense of elitism. I only ask those people which claim Americans (all Americans) are ignorant to reflect on how much knowledge they actually have of the U.S. How often have they come into contact with Americans? Yes, we have Americans who give us a bad name, saying they are better than everyone else in world, but then again - aren't there Europeans who boasted the same thing in the past? Britain, France, Russia, and Germany are all countries which had vast empires at some point over the past 200 years. Mind you, there wasn't the global media coverage there was today. So they didn't have the scrutiny of billions on their asses at every minute of the day.
So, is anti-Americanism justified? Well, let me say this. I believe in moderation. In politics, i'm a centrist, which means I'm not an outright liberal, or conservative, I'm neither a dedicated right-winger, nor left-winger. If someone fails to see both sides of a coin, then they have failed to intellectually develop to a point where they can say they are experts on any issue in the international arena. America has fucked up on certain issues, that's true. But guess what - so have Europeans, the Chinese, the Russians, and anyone else who has been a player in the game.
No one is better than anyone else. In a time of a supposed higher education and literacy rate, we show more ignorance and elitism (a volatile mix) than ever before. If you honestly think the U.S. is that evil, you need only look to the past for a taste of when it helped Western Europe in both World Wars and the Cold War.
Don't paint a person, or a country, with one brush. Anyone who says otherwise is a fucking fool.
In the U.S., Americans are brainwashed in one way. We're constantly bombarded by companies who want us to buy their products. Yes, even worse than Europe. It has been a while since I've lived in the U.S., but I'm certain that nothing has changed since then. Consumerism is rampant in the U.S., and political propaganda is running wild at the moment with the Presidential elections coming up in November. But for the most part, if ever, you never see anti-European messages on U.S.-based television and news stations - with the exception of prior to the Iraq war, when Chirac and Schroeder of France and Germany respectively, opposed the U.S. invasion. But that's another story in itself.
So, why do the Europeans hate the U.S. so much? Well, the invasion of Iraq didn't help. Some of Bush's policies were unilateralist and did not take into account the multilateral leanings of Europeans. Abu Gharib, Guantanamo bay, the refusal to join the Kyoto protocol, and the refusal to accept the notion of an International Criminal Court are all things which irked the Europeans and helped to fuel anti-American propaganda.
Now, I'm going to be 100% honest. I'm going to say what I believe is the truth in my own mind. There are many things which the U.S. has done over the past 6 years or so which I did not agree with. The refusal to join the ICC is one of those things which I think was not a smart move. Abu Gharib was pretty bad as well. The Kyoto protocol, which deals with environmental planning and what not, should have been considered. Yes, the U.S. has made mistakes. But then again, which country has not made mistakes? Which country has the media coverage of every thing it does, which country can say it is under the microscope as often as the U.S.? No one. There's no argument about that, I'm sure.
So, is all the anti-American rhetoric justified? Not really. In that video link i've posted above, someone asked a U.S. journalist if everyone walks with M-16 rifles in the streets in the U.S. Seriously? I mean, are there people who actually believe that?
I've lived in the U.S., and I know what kind of people live there. No, we're not warmongers. No, we don't want to dominate the world, even if that's what happened, because we won the Cold War. The Europeans don't feel the need to look up to the U.S. anymore, simply because the EU is coming along nicely(...even if they don't know where it's going) and that western Europe has no threats to existence as it did during the Cold War.
So, where does that leave us? The Europeans, fueled by anti-American propaganda, and yes, all news is propaganda of some sort, have come to hate the U.S. more and more. There are legitimate reasons to disagree with the U.S. foreign policy, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But outright hatred of a country, and claiming they are an ignorant population is what i call a false sense of elitism. I only ask those people which claim Americans (all Americans) are ignorant to reflect on how much knowledge they actually have of the U.S. How often have they come into contact with Americans? Yes, we have Americans who give us a bad name, saying they are better than everyone else in world, but then again - aren't there Europeans who boasted the same thing in the past? Britain, France, Russia, and Germany are all countries which had vast empires at some point over the past 200 years. Mind you, there wasn't the global media coverage there was today. So they didn't have the scrutiny of billions on their asses at every minute of the day.
So, is anti-Americanism justified? Well, let me say this. I believe in moderation. In politics, i'm a centrist, which means I'm not an outright liberal, or conservative, I'm neither a dedicated right-winger, nor left-winger. If someone fails to see both sides of a coin, then they have failed to intellectually develop to a point where they can say they are experts on any issue in the international arena. America has fucked up on certain issues, that's true. But guess what - so have Europeans, the Chinese, the Russians, and anyone else who has been a player in the game.
No one is better than anyone else. In a time of a supposed higher education and literacy rate, we show more ignorance and elitism (a volatile mix) than ever before. If you honestly think the U.S. is that evil, you need only look to the past for a taste of when it helped Western Europe in both World Wars and the Cold War.
Don't paint a person, or a country, with one brush. Anyone who says otherwise is a fucking fool.
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