America Cares! You Know, Unless You Have an Actual Problem

Read a rather fascinating article in Mother Jones today.  It was a young woman telling the story of her cousin, who was schizophrenic and killed his father by brutally stabbing him.  She also talked about her aunt, who had problems of her own, but got treatment.  It was a rather cold look at the absolute failure of the current American mental health care systems.  The staggering statistics of people who need help and aren’t getting it in this country is almost terrifying.  The people who are ignoring this overwhelming statistic are so surprised when shootings like Newtown and Virginia Tech happen.  Why that is the case is genuinely beyond me.

As a journalism major, I hear much on the news.  So much gnashing of teeth after shootings like this.  “It’s because we don’t have strict enough regulations on guns!”  “It’s because the public doesn’t have enough guns!”  “It’s because of violent video games!”  Lots of talk, but the elephant in the room is becoming overwhelming.  America simply doesn’t care about people with actual problems.  Our country can cry the blues all day about how this is bad or that is bad, but when we are faced with a genuine dilemma, what do we do?  We start talking about budget problems, logistical problems, how it can’t be dealt with right now.  Reason after reason why we can’t handle this problem now, but will handle it later.  It’s almost kind of touching.

I read another fascinating article that was written about a new breed of people in this country – tunnel people.  See, it turns out that there are massive underground networks of people in this country.  Almost every major city has them.  Groups of people with nowhere to go and no help to be found, making a life for themselves however they can.  Some of these communities have actual camaraderie.  Most of them don’t.  The truly saddest part about that is that police who have found evidence of these communities (which is surprisingly harder than you’d think) have found something very tragic – diapers.  A lot of the trash in these places is diapers.  Babies and small children are being brought up in underground communities.  This is happening here, folks!  Right here in the good-ol’ USA.

And while we’re talking about things in the US, here’s a neat statistic – there are over a million children right now, in schools, who have no home.  There are children who lie to their friends about where they live, because they don’t want to tell them that they go home to their family’s car at night.  This is happening, right now, in America.  And how much do the pseudo-celebrity jackasses we put in Congress care?  Not at all.  Hell, even the President of this fucking country doesn’t care!  After all, he is embracing the austerity that has been destroying the EU.  Cutting massive chunks from our nation’s social safety net.  Our President has shown himself to be a turncoat for EVERY single thing that he said he stood for.  I hope that the blue-dog liberals are proud.  After all, they have yet to say that he is a bad guy about anything.  Same way that the Republicans sucked Bush’s cock.  Well, every side has a fanbase, doesn’t it?

The reality getting lost in all of this political bullshit is this – America doesn’t care about the people who have actual problems.  I wish that someday, somebody in the media would see that they are the single greatest contributor to all the mass shootings in this country.  When you have people who have nobody to help them, nobody who will listen and  who are having some severe mental issues, what do you think happens when they see the news?  They see some other mentally-unstable person who has done something horrible.  They see the news and the general public wanting to know everything about them.  Everything they said, wrote or may have been a part of.  The public is absolutely swarming with people who will listen, where nobody listened before.  You don’t think that that sort of coverage has an effect?  When we care more about the killers than their victims, you don’t think that that makes a difference?  If you honestly don’t, then please, leave the gene pool.  You aren’t worth the genetic material that made you.

If there is an afterlife, Mr. Rogers must be looking down right now and wanting to cry.  His entire message was about taking care of each other, because it makes the world a better place.  That people should care about one-another, because being hateful and divided just makes everybody hurt.  But what have I been hearing my entire adult life?  Something along the lines of – you gotta look after yourself!  Don’t help nobody because if you do, they will become losers!  On and on it goes, with everybody finding more and more ways to justify not helping people.  Because they really do seem not to care.

What hurts me most about this is that I keep wanting to believe that there is something redeemable about this species.  That we aren’t just wild and filthy animals that can occasionally aspire to something OTHER than pure evil.  But over and over again, humanity gets more opportunities to prove me wrong.  And they take advantage of all of them.

You know, if we are going to be the evil empire, could we please just drop the fucking pretense?  Could we just man-up and admit that we are evil?  If this country is going to give fuck-all about the fact that we are using drones to kill innocent people overseas and not care that over a million kids in this country go to school and have no home, could we just accept that premise?  For real, can we just fucking stop pretending to be so good, when we’re anything but.  See, here in America, we trample upon the people who can’t stand up and fight for themselves.  A pity that the people who did all these mass-killings didn’t get the memo about that.  If only they had known that, they could have done what they want with impunity!

Until next time, a quote,

“But we’re fucked.  Because it’s too easy, in nature, for evil to conquer good.  For force to conquer peace.  Because the tranquility of 20 people at a picnic can be destroyed by one maniac, wielding an automatic weapon.”  -TJ Kirk

Peace out,

Maverick

Rush Limbaugh: America’s Intellectual Trash Can (Part 3)

I was reading an article in today’s issue of The New York Times about the tragedy in Boston.  I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the photos from that event are nominated for the Pulitzer Prize this year.  There were some truly amazing displays of heroism as people who were exhausted from running a marathon went charging in to try and help people.  Truly, the very best of humanity was shown.

But then I came across a lovely little bit of horrible use of a tragedy to promote one’s ideology.  It should come as no surprise that this use of bloodshed for personal gain came from the king of tragedy-milking and drug-addiction himself, Rush Limbaugh.  This guy is such a piece of shit.  I’m going to do a kind of post that I haven’t done in a while – a response.  Here’s a link to the where he said this stupid shit, and I will respond back-to-back.  Here we go.

You know, this is how Bill Ayers got his start.  Bill Ayers was a principal for ‘educating’ American kids.  He got his start blowing up the pentagon.

From a mile away, I can see where this is going.  He’s going to do a guilt-by-association argument.  But wait, it gets worse.

Ditto his wife.

Because, you know, we totally needed to hear about how his wife is bad too.  That was pertinent information.

We just learned that Kathy Boden, or Bowden, who what, murdered a cop?  She’s now a professor at Columbia.

See where this is going?  So subtly, too.  I mean, if this were any more thoughtful and intellectually deep, I would to be totally lost.

So could we say that whoever did this has just helped their effort to get hired by a major university.

Okay, Limbaugh, fuck you!  For real, how do you feel good at night milking this tragedy for the express purpose of fueling your ideology?  You don’t have anything remotely intelligent to say, so you simply decide to pander to prejudice.  It’s not a big secret that most conservatives view colleges are just liberal recruiting stations.  Knowledge has always been the enemy of conservatism in this country.  The reason why is simple – probably a good 80-90% of conservatives are very religious.  Knowledge is the #1 enemy of religion.  But this is a profound new low, even for you, Rush!  Literally having a guilt-by-association argument in reference to a bomber.  You are a disgusting human being.  No, you aren’t a human being.  You’re less than that.  You’re a disease that we have to deal with, feeding neckbeard white guys fuel to make them think that they are just the most awesome thing ever.  But wait, there’s more.

But wait, that’s how Billy Ayers got his start!

Yeah, and the man who committed the worst school attack in history (with a bomb, not a gun), got his start as a labor worker.  You don’t know shit about shit.

That’s how Kathy Bowden got her start.  There are plenty of celebrated Americans today, former terrorists, Bill Ayers, Kathy Bowden.  Any number of them who began just this way.

And yet you can only think of two.  Doesn’t help your argument much.

And they are now herald.  They are exalted.  The left politicizes everything.

You got no fucking room to talk!  You’re using a tragedy, right now, to politicize that the left is evil, and the right is good.  How DARE you!  How dare you sit your fat ass on your high horse and tell the rest of us that you are so correct!  This is beyond offensive.  But you know what the best part is – if you go to his radio’s web page, here has plenty of idiots who are posting “I agree!” to his vacuous and exploitative bullshit.  His audience is too stupid to understand when he is belittling their intelligence and doing the exact same thing that he is claiming that his enemies do.

That’s the absolute worst thing about modern conservatives.  They are so hypocritical, and they don’t even know it.  Their audience doesn’t care.  They simply want to be told every single day that they are the greatest thing in the history of ever, so that they don’t have to actually wonder if that theory is wrong.  It’s the easiest thing in the world.

Underneath it all, I don’t think that Limbaugh actually buys into his bullshit.  This guy is a brilliant con artist.  He has found a mostly-ignorant audience who will follow whatever he says like it’s biblical.  He knows that if he keeps feeding them their self-indulgent rhetoric, they won’t ever question it.  This man has grown incredibly rich on the fact that he knows exactly what to say to make his audience get itself a big boner.  Since it’s all white men, yeah, it’s just boners.  This man’s rate of buying wives says that he can’t make women want him.  What’s more, he has this magical gift of being able to not lose credibility.  No matter what horribly racist, misogynistic or bigoted thing he says, his audience is loyal to the end.  So yeah, Rush doesn’t buy into his crap.  He knows that he doesn’t have to.  He’s going to make money either way.  And metric tons of it.

Until next time, a quote,

“I wore black because I liked it. I still do, and wearing it still means something to me. It’s still my symbol of rebellion — against a stagnant status quo, against our hypocritical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to others’ ideas.” -Johnny Cash

Peace out,

Maverick

The Westboro Baptist Church is Pure Evil!

Let me just get this out in the open – fuck these people.  For real, fuck them!  If there is a group of people in existence that is more evil or more determined to spread hatred, I have yet to meet them.  And don’t go saying that the Nazis or Stalin’s regime were worse.  They were.  But I am talking about in my lifetime.  In my current existence.  These people have no equal.  Every time a tragedy happens, these people are there.  Whenever innocent people die, this group of fucking bigots decides that they need to make themselves heard.  And now, in the wake of the tragedy in Boston, the WBC immediately took to Twitter, saying that they are going to go and protest at the funerals of the dead.

I feel bad for the cops who are going to have to probably hold back the violent masses of Bostonians who are going to want to wring the fucking necks of Fred Phelps and his little merry band of pieces of shit.  I have no doubt that this will get ugly, very quickly, if the WBC descend on this unbelievably tragic event to help spread their message that America deserved this and that gay people are making things like this happen.

It’s kind of ironic – this group of people is probably the only group in existence that is getting Christians, atheists and almost every other religious group to band together.  I mean, is there really no tragedy that these people won’t exploit?  Time after time, they have come out and shown the very worst of human nature, all for the express purpose of creating more bigotry toward a group they don’t like – the LGBT community.  But of course, it isn’t lesbians that they have a problem with.

Before I get too far into my lambasting of merciless piece-of-shit bigots, I feel that I should take some time out and point out that the people who hate the LGBT community don’t hate lesbians.  That is NEVER what it is about.  In modern society, two chicks making out his hot!  Hell, I bet half of Phelps “fag-bashers” spend a lot of their weekends jerking off to lesbian porn.  It is almost exclusively the man-on-man action that they are against. (counting down minutes until I get a comment about how gross two dudes doing it is…) I bring this up because I just wish that one of these pathetic Christards would man-up and accept their premise – I hate gay people because I find them icky.  It has nothing to do with the stupid bullshit in Leviticus.  That’s just what they draw on so as not to have to admit their own bigotry.  The reality is that 100% of why they don’t like gay men is because they find their act gross.  That’s it.  That’s the entire reason.  I know somebody who has pretty much admitted that that is why he doesn’t like the gay community.  I disagree with his position, but I do respect his honesty.  Rare quality, these days.  But yeah, if you bigots would just please accept your premise, that would make tuning out your stupidity SO much easier.

The Westboro Baptist Church is scum.  Not one person in their ranks is a good person.  I make a point of pardoning those who have left.  Phelps’ own kid ditched their ranks recently.  I respect that.  Kid even apologized for how awful the father is.  A lot nicer than I would have been.  I would have gone on about what a piece of shit he is.  And on the off-chance that there is a God, and a heaven and hell, I have no doubt that there is a special place in Hell reserved for people just like him.

But, with that said, I will now get off my soap box and admit say plainly that these pieces of shit have the right to be pieces of shit.  Don’t get me wrong – if there is a fight that is started because these fucking cowards want to make themselves heard, I won’t feel bad.  If Fred Phelps gets the ever-loving shit kicked out of him, I won’t shed any tears.  But I do NOT condone censoring them.  Believe me, I wish I could.  But I am a journalism major.  I am a student of history.  The moment that we censor out one opinion that we view as wrong, where does it stop?  Does it stop at just these people?  Does it stop with the people that the majority thinks is wrong next?  The First Amendment is there to protect the minority opinion.  It is there to protect the people who cannot stand up about this themselves.

After mentioning that, I now point out that it goes both ways.  It lets me stand here on my blogging soap box and say back them them – fuck you!  You people are a symbol of everything that is wrong with the human race!  You are the embodiment of hate and intolerance!  Your entire existence hinges on the fact that you are able to hate and want to spread that hate everywhere you go.  Every single thing that you do makes the rest of the human race want to just hide in shame.  Your tribalism mentality that says that every group who disagrees with you should be hated is part of what is going to drive humanity into the ground!  I couldn’t possibly hate you people more!  You milk tragedy to get attention.  Your desperate attempts at validation make me want to kick a small child.  I hope each and every one of you gets to suffer some kind of horrible tragedy in your lives, and then get a group just like you to tell you that it is all your fault for not being hateful enough toward the group they hate.

Fuck this religion-devoted horseshit, and fuck you!

Until next time, a quote,

“Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told.  Think about it – religion has actually convinced people that there is an invisible man, living in the sky, who watches everything you do, every minute of every day.  And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do.  And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish.  Where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry, forever and ever until the end of time!  But he loves you!”  -George Carlin

Peace out,

Maverick

The Boston Bombing and My Thoughts

Today there was a bombing in the city of Boston.  At the time of this post, two people are confirmed dead, and dozens are injured.  From reports, there were two explosives.  This is an act of terrorism, and it saddens me that there are people in this world that would do things like this.  But I do have a few thoughts.

We Americans take for granted how safe we actually are.  In countries like Afghanistan or Iraq, they don’t have that luxury.  I will never for a second condone this tragic event, but the fact that Americans are so complacent is interesting to me.  After 9/11, the people were terrified.  American soil had been attacked.  Over 1,000 people died.  This sort of thing made our nation so scared that it immediately had people willing to throw away their freedoms to feel safer.  You can bet that the media had a field-day with this fear.  The reports that were coming out were about as gloom-and-doom as it gets.

Then you have the other side of this equation – the people who want to believe that danger is every single place.  They had absolutely no problem throwing away freedoms after 9/11.  I cannot tell you how many people in my immediate area were saying stupid hyperbole like, “people shouldn’t be worried if they’ve got nothing to hide!”  That sort of sentiment just drove me up the wall.  But hey, that’s America for ya.  And when the government decided to make some unbelievably stupid decisions following a tragic event, we all went along with it, because fear and sensationalism were rampant.  I am hoping that this tragedy is not another repeat of that, should it be found out that a terrorist organization was responsible.  If we are EVER going to get out of our species infancy, we have to start being able to talk about things.  Otherwise, this kind of tribalism is going to drive us into the ground.  That is, to be honest, how I think the human race will end.

Though all things being said and done, here’s what we need to remember – we need to be able to talk about this.  I am one of the people who thinks that when we are going overboard about these issues, we are basically just selling out our freedoms for not even close to what they are worth.  What’s more, these discussions need to be rational!  I cannot tell you how many people are already online saying that this is the Muslims.  Then there are the conspiracy whack-jobs who are saying that this was all one big government scheme.  I swear, those people must think that our government is the most well-oiled machine in the world to make every single national tragedy happen without a single open omission or confession from one of the people involved.  But the reality here is that we aren’t rational about this.  Battle lines are already being drawn and we are already starting to fight it out.

Another thing that I want to add, if this was a terrorist attack, is that I have a very galvanizing opinion about terrorist attacks (if that is indeed what this was).  See, here is my thought – I have a TON more respect for the tradition mob hitman than I do for a person who kills innocent people for what they believe is a cause.  There are a couple reasons why.

The first is that the mob hitman doesn’t do this because of some delusion of it being a for a good cause.  The hitman is doing it for money.  They are doing it to survive.  They do a job that they know they are good at (if they have been alive doing it for a long time, they know that) and that they know will earn them the money they need.  This person has an understandable reason for their work.  Whether you agree with it or not, that should make sense to you.

The second reason is that the mob hitman doesn’t kill innocent people to do their job.  Don’t go off on me before you think about it.  They have a target.  A professional enforcer for the mob will know to take out their target in the most efficient way possible.  Does gunning that person down in a large crowd sound efficient to you?  Absolutely not.  They do their work in a way that can maximize efficiency while minimizing risk.  That’s the smart way to do these things, and criminals are a lot smarter than people give them credit for.

Look, this is a tragedy.  We should take time to mourn the victims and try and help those who can be helped.  One of the refreshing reports I got after this was that people were running in to where the blasts were to help those who were hurt.  That’s the kind of attitude that we should have.  We should come together and work together, instead of taking to the internet to fight it out.

Consensus is possible.  Our species doesn’t have to follow its usual pattern of immediately finding ways to get mad at each other.  But maybe I am just being too hopeful.  Keep the people involved in this tragedy in your thoughts.  Pray for them, if you must.  But most of all, please, keep an open mind and try and think about this rationally.  Please?  I am tired of hearing reports about how another school shooting has devolved into an argument about gun rights, when it should be us looking at what the causes of people’s violence are (and please don’t insult my intelligence by saying violent movies and video games.  That’s ignorance at its worst).  I am sick of tragedy being a battle over which rights that we lose.  We need to be smarter than this.

Otherwise, the point that others have made countless times before me is true – the terrorists have won.

Until next time, a quote,

“But it’s pretty obvious that a lot of people, in the absence of any kind of definitive answers, are clamoring for someone to blame.  And, really, in my opinion, that shouldn’t be our first imperative.  We shouldn’t immediately say ‘who can we blame for this?’  We should be all about finding the truth.”  -TJ Kirk, THE BOSTON BOMBING – What happens now?

Peace out,

Maverick

A Look at America’s Bigotry

Well, considering that I did a post about the debate over gay marriage that is now taking the center stage, and how Obama’s pussy ass didn’t decide to support either side, I figured that I should take a look at the always vocal side of America that is focused on bigotry.  Oh, so many of them will say things like “I hate their sin, not them,” or “I don’t hate them, God hates them.”  Yeah, that’s a lovely line to spew when you don’t have anything else to say.  But the reality is that they are just bigots.  Garden variety bigots.  And now, a group called Buzzfeed has given us visual proof of this. 

See, they asked 20 people why they are against gay marriage.  These people decided to be nice enough to write their answers down and let pictures get taken of them.  Here are 10 of those answers.  I will be commenting on them as I post.

Well, that reason is just so well-informed, educated and backed-up by fact, honey.  I mean, the way you put it, if we let other women get married, they’ll all want to!  Oh, wait, that’s really fucking stupid, and you’re equally-stupid because you actually believe that.  Oh yeah, and you also can’t spell, since you don’t want to be with “a women.”  Moron.

Ah yes, God.  You’ll find that a lot of the reasons that these young people have come to this conclusion is associated with this imaginary friend.  Because, as we have seen in the Bible, this God character sure does follow people’s prejudices, doesn’t he?  Well, I’m so glad that these believers have a guy in their life who always agrees with them and never tells them that they are just a bunch of bigots.  I mean, all that stuff that Jesus said about loving your neighbor and not hurting people.  I’m sure that’s just window-dressing.  We all know that Jesus secretly hates the gay people as much as the rest of us.  Right?

You know what else is written in the Bible – that men having long hair is a sin.  Dumb shit.  Oh, and apparently, because you had good parents, that means that all gay and lesbian parents are bad parents.  Unreal.  That kind of stupid can only be found in America.  Or maybe not, but it’s most vocal here.  I just love the idea that because you had good parents, these people can’t have good ones.  But I’m sure that your Fundie Christian parents made sure that hammer that point home inside of that clump of bologna that you call a brain.  Oh yeah, and you call yourself “amazing,” yet you are at a rally for bigots.  Well, if anything, you’re an amazing piece of shit.  Would you accept that?

Oh, the pretty white girl has a problem with gay marriage because she believes in God.  So tell me, honey, you have sex before marriage?  Get any piercings?  Got any tattoos?  Ever eat shellfish?  I can see that you’re wearing something of mixed and also artificial fabrics, so you’re sinning right there, holding that sign.  So, you believe in God, but don’t obey every single command he gives, except this one.  At least the first girl was honest, saying that she found it icky.  Like all the rest of these Christ-tards, you hide being religion because it makes you feel good.  Never mind that you’re causing real harm to real people in real time.  Rotten excuse for a human being…

Oh my god.  Your grammar is awful!  Seriously, reading this out loud is an exercise in patience.  So, let me get this straight – because your imaginary friend made a man and a woman, and a woman from a man’s rib (If you buy one of the Genesis stories.  There are two, in Genesis.  In the other story, God makes a man and a woman at the same time.  But don’t tell Christians that.  They aren’t real good with consistency.  Or knowing their own Bible), so that’s why gay marriage is wrong?  Huh, when you say it out loud, that sounds pretty fucking stupid.

Oh, really?  Well, I guess you haven’t heard that being gay is totally natural.  For real, over a dozen species of animal (and human beings are animals, despite our desire to believe otherwise) that are documented to get into single-sex relationships.  Homophobia only exists in one.  Here’s a hint – it’s the one that is holding up the signs in this blog post.  And everything in nature is totally natural.  So, by your logic, since it’s in nature, that makes it okay.  Right?  I mean, if you’re arguing that it’s still wrong, even though it’s in nature, then that makes you just a hypocrite.  For real, there’s no way around that.  Either you accept your own position, or you just shut the fuck up.  I hope you pick the former, but I’m totally fine the latter.

Well, here’s a new one.  Most people go right to the whole Leviticus reasoning and just say it’s wrong.  You are actually making a different argument.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s fucking stupid, and you don’t look any smarter making it, but wow.  You actually are coming at this from a different angle.  You wearing any mixed fabrics?  You ever eat shellfish?  I ask this not to be a broken record.  I ask because I am looking at what you are saying here and think that it is nothing but bullshit.  You nit-pick, which makes you nothing but a casual Christian, and you hide behind the Bible as a means to not take moral responsibility for the insipid bullshit you say.  Yeah, That sounds about right.

Wait…what?  So, we’re redefining what’s human by allowing gay marriage?  Are you fucking serious?  Are you actually making the argument that these people are somehow not human because they don’t have the same relationships as you?  Or are you saying that somehow God’s creation is changed because we allow gay marriage?  I honestly don’t know what else to say, because I just don’t get this response.  It’s that stupid.  I leave it to you, my viewers, to figure this one out.

Yeah, and you put one woman and one man on that island, a couple generations down the road, there’ll be some nasty inbreeding happening.  Though if you by the Christian angle, it’s all inbreeding.  Still, I gotta say, this is new.  You are actually making an argument that doesn’t involve the Christian sky-daddy.  Okay, um…hm.  Well, let me first say that if you believe the entire purpose of a relationship and marriage is to produce offspring, then you must have one boring love life.  The purpose of human life is not to produce offspring.  It’s to find happiness and to lead the kind of life that you think is worth leading.  And, as usual, you are with the bigots who make the argument that a man and a woman are needed as parents.  Take it from me, you bigoted bitch, I know two women who have raised an amazing daughter.  She’s a cool kid, and one of the few I like.  What makes a good parents isn’t what genitals they have.  It’s what they do with that responsibility.

And finally, we come back to another idiot who hides behind his faith to avoid having to actually think.  The girl above you may be nothing but a idiot who has thoughts that actually amuse me with how stupid they are, but at least her idea was original.  You, on the other hand, are just a person who wants to believe that God shares your prejudice and your hatred.  As most Christians do.

I posted a long time ago asking – what is God?  I now know what it is.  God is an idea.  The idea that there is somebody out there who will love you, no matter what.  A person who will always be there for you.  A person who likes what you like, thinks like you do, and hates what you hate.  Don’t like gays?  Naturally, God has your back.  Don’t like black people marrying white people?  Well, God certainly likes that too.  I mean, after all, the same idiots who are spewing this stupid shit were saying very similar things about 50 years ago.

Think about it.

Until next time, a quote,

“Instead of school busing and prayer in schools, which are both controversial, why not a joint solution? Prayer in buses. Just drive these kids around all day and let them pray their fuckin’ empty little heads off.”  -George Carlin

Peace out,

Maverick

Obama is a Pussy

You know, I have been seeing pretty much all my friend’s Facebook profile pics becoming a rather strange image.  An = sign.  At first, I didn’t know what to think.  Part of me felt like this is something that I should know.  I mean, if pretty much everybody is doing it, why haven’t I heard of it?  Then I remembered that I didn’t know what Gangnam Style was until right around the time of the election, when I saw the Mitt Romney parody of it.  Which is a video I still watch to feel good when I’m having a bad day.  And I didn’t know what the Harlem Shake was until two weeks ago.  So yeah, things that are big have slipped my notice before.  But this was literally half of my friend’s list.  That can’t be a coincidence.  So, I put it out there that I had no idea what was going on.  And I found out that right now, the debate about the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, is being deliberated by the Supreme Court.  It’s a big battle, and one that we shouldn’t ignore.

And what I heard from the debates was generally uplifting.  I heard a lot of sound and rational arguments from the United States Supreme Court.  It sounds like they are actually looking at this issue seriously.  And there is NO good reason why same-sex marriage should be kept illegal.  None.  Outside of religious bigotry, I haven’t heard anything that makes me think for a second that denying these people the right to marry is a good idea.

While hearing all of this, there were some lovely testimonials, support pledges and what have you.  But then I came upon this video, by a news group I follow called The Young Turks.  And, once-again, I got to see that this country is led by the single biggest pussy in the history of pussies.  Because, as always, Obama talks about a middle-ground solution.  Naturally, he can’t fight for ANYTHING!  His stated purpose of existence is to not challenge the status quo in any way.  Because doing that might mean that something that is actually positive would get done!  Can’t have that.  No, instead we have to kowtow to the belief that the two sides of this country are actually able to act like grown-ups and agree with one-another.

No!  Wrong!  The conservatives in this country don’t give a shit about working with the liberal side of the fence.  They’re too busy believing in magical sky wizards and all their little friends!  The reality here is that the President of this country is supposed to believe in things.  This person is supposed to stand up for what’s right.  Or even if it isn’t what’s right, they are still supposed to believe in what they choose, and fight for it with determination.  What does President Pussy do?  Well, he decides that the best course of action is to not support either side, and still think that he’s the good guy.  And when the rest of us are annoyed that this little sniveling coward doesn’t get any results, he just doesn’t seem to understand what’s wrong.

This is unacceptable, people.  You all talk about how great voting is.  You all talk about how these future leaders mean something.  Well, here’s a query – where is all this greatness that these clowns are supposed to have?  Cause from where I’m sitting, it looks like our world’s government is just going through the motions.

I didn’t think that I would be putting my nose back into politics.  But when I see stories like this, then hear my liberal brethren talking about how Obama is so good for America, I just want to punch them in their blind faces!  Gay marriage should be a nationally recognized right!  Why our government is even involved in who marries who is a complete mystery to me.

Just another day with Obama the Pussy.

Until next time, a quote,

“I got large amounts, in Swiss Bank accounts.  Norris and Eastwood in my vacation house.  Talking wine and cheese, mad Ivy degrees.  Baby-baby, I got butlers just to wipe me.  You know what I’m sayin’!”  -Mitt Romney, Mitt Romney Style

Peace out,

Maverick

CNN, Steubenville and How Awful Humanity and the News Really Is

Does anyone remember the imprisonment of Jerry Sandusky?  Well, after that whole affair, there was this comic that got rather famous, where you see Sandusky in jail, along with a giant guy who says, “Hey, I’m the tickle monster.”  The implication being that this man is going to rape Sandusky.  And wouldn’t you know it, people just loved that comic!  It got so many thumbs-up or what-have-you wherever it was posted.  And all the people’s comments talking about how Sandusky should get horrible raped and beaten repeatedly got tons of thumb-ups on them as well.  It seems that we all like the idea of a man being horrible raped and beaten.

Now let’s look at the news footage following the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.  The media did as they always do following these events.  They tore into the shooter’s personal life.  The victims?  They got a couple of blurbs.  But after that, they went right into talking about the shooter.  It seemed that America needed to know every single thing about the shooter.  What his likes were, what his hobbies were, who his friends were, everything.  We all wanted to know everything about this guy.  If you were paying even a modicum of attention, then you noticed that a lot of this reporting sounded like celebrity gossip.  That is REALLY disturbing, ladies and gentlemen.  And the worst part is that this kind of reporting has happened before.  A lot.  It was the same after Columbine, Virginia Tech and the Oklahoma City bombing.  This is a trend that gets these networks views.  Lots of views.

But now we come to CNN, and the recent scandal following something they reported about a horrific rape that happened in Steubenville, Ohio.  The reason that this story is making so many waves among the internet is because, if you check out the link I put above, you will see that the story is pretty much defending the rapists.  For real, the story is lamenting that this conviction of young football players, who raped a teenage girl, is going to ruin their lives, along with their family’s reputations.  Take a moment.  Let that sink in.  A news outlet didn’t lament what happened to this girl.  Instead, it had a guest on who is sad that this rape conviction is going to damage the reputation of future of the rapists.  What the fuck?!  Yeah, there is only one conclusion that a person can come to after seeing that – CNN is pure evil.  I mean, they make hardly any mention of the victim, and focus almost exclusively on the rapists, from the perspective of – isn’t what happened to them so sad?

But you know what, to me, this is a symbol.  It’s a symbol of what is truly wrong with this species, and especially America.  See, this story is cruel in a way that is mind-boggling, but the reason it is taking so much heat is because it is cruel in a way that makes us look harshly on ourselves.  Meanwhile, we absolutely LOVE to watch cruelty that is to other people.

There are almost an endless list of reality shows that exploiting people who aren’t smart enough to know better.  Shows like Toddlers and Tiaras, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Bridezilla, and the list goes on and on and on.  These shows find the biggest assholes they possibly can and air out their dirty laundry to the rest of the country, for the express purpose of people enjoying it and mocking these people.  Then there are shows that spit in the face of what America says.  Shows like Pawn Stars.  This show, for the most part, is glorifying money lenders.  America calls itself a “Christian nation,” yet we are totally behind a show that makes money lenders look good.  I’m sure that Jesus would just LOVE to see that show, wouldn’t you?  Oh, wait, the Christian religion as a whole has been spitting on what Jesus said for as long as the Catholic church has existed.  You know, that whole thing about Jesus preaching about living in poverty and giving everything you have to the poor, while looking out for your fellow man.  Yeah, the opulent palaces that we call churches don’t reflect too well on their beliefs, do they?

While we’re on the subject of watching cruelty, let’s look at the world of UFC fighting.  This is taking the boxing gloves away (which is a sport that is the lesser-version of where this is going) and gives people carte-blanche to beat the shit out of each other.  The people who watch this don’t watch to see skill and tactics.  No, they are watching to see two people brutalize each other.  How exactly were the Romans worse than us?  I mean, they had people kill each other in the ring, but let’s be honest – there are a lot of people who are hoping for that to be the result with these sports.  And then there is NASCAR, which is pretty much just the Roman chariot races with seat-belts.  For real, the people who watch that shit watch for the crashes.  It’s the absolute truth.

But the thing that’s funniest to me about this whole pathetic thing is that when you see the news networks coverage of this affair, it shows you that this is the reason why the networks aren’t able to cover anything of actual emotional complexity.  They don’t know where to sympathize.  If these people had been around following the fall of the Berlin Wall, they probably would have been sad that the wall had to be destroyed.  If they had been there following the end of World War II, they probably would have been upset that the Nazis weren’t getting a fair shake.  If CNN had been around following the Civil War, they probably would have been sad that the slaves were being freed.  These people just don’t know how to look at things that are emotionally complicated, because they have no empathy.  They fake feeling sad, because they honestly can’t feel sad.  They go through the motions, because they want a quick buck.

This story wasn’t focused on actual people.  No, this story was for parents who think their douchebag kid is going to grow up to be a rapist.  It was cheap pandering for the sake of making money from people who are afraid.  Fear has become the absolute narrative of modern media.  But at the end of the day, this is who we are.

America, I’m going to give it to you straight – you are an amoral monster who tries so hard to believe that you have actual morals that some part of me thinks that you have convinced yourselves that it’s true.  You say that you believe in God, while you spit in the face of his teachings that you don’t want to actually listen to.  You merely want to believe it because it feels good.  You like to be pandered to, indulgent, complacent and stupid as fuck.  And when your complacency is no longer sustainable, when you have to get off your fat and stupid ass and actually give a shit about what is happening in this world, there is NO god who is going to be here to help you.  You’ll only have each other.  Alas, that won’t get you far.

Fuck you, America.  Fuck. You.

Until next time, a quote,

“Traditional media takes one small step away from moral sanity, and one giant leap away from cultural relevancy.”  -TJ Kirk

Peace out,

Maverick

The Ultimate Legacy of Mass Effect 3

While there was no shortage of hand-wringing following the ending of Mass Effect 3, I think that there is a greater legacy that everybody has just ignored.  A legacy that looks REALLY good on modern gaming, and society as a whole.

See, when I went through the series, I played as the female Shepard.  I did this for a couple of reasons.  The first is that I like the voice actress they got for her better than the one for the male Shepard, and because I wanted to tap that Garrus ass!  Oh yeah, he is so much hot stuff.  And with guy Shepard, I just didn’t trust all those rows of sharp teeth for my…personal needs (if you get my drift).  So yeah, I played as her.

But after one of the missions, I am told by my Communications Officer that the shuttle pilot Cortez needs some attention.  I get down to the shuttle bay and find him over a console, listening to what sounds like a guy crying and telling him that everything will be alright.  I go and talk to him, and I find out that the person who was telling him that was in love with him.  It was his husband.  This man is mourning the loss of his husband, and you get to comfort him.  I found out later that with guy Shepard, you can actually sleep with the guy.  That’s cool, but to be honest, I found that being able to be there and being understanding of this is just, well, beautiful.

I think it is awesome that Bioware made a game with a gay relationship.  I refuse to believe that that was EA’s decision.  Doing something that progressive just isn’t in their repertoire.  But yeah, that was an awesome thing to do.  Of course, lots of guys came out and bashed this something fierce.  But I think a lot more people thought that this was an awesome thing to do.  And you know what, the thing that makes it so impacting to me is that this man calls this person “my husband,” and you see the tears running down his face.  That is incredible!  You don’t have long to get to know this character, but the scene with him telling you about this is just amazing.  And the follow-up conversations are good too.  You see Cortez burying himself in his work, to avoid thinking about his lost husband.  There are some genuinely human conversations that I had with him, and it made this kind of relationship look and feel just like any other.  That is the absolutely perfect way to handle something like this.

This is a good step.  Gaming should become more open-minded.  The median age of the typical gamer is late-20′s to mid-30′s.  And the younger people are getting more and more open-minded about stuff like this.  I’m not saying that all games should pretty much just have a gay montage.  Far from it.  If you are going to have any kind of LGBT relationship in a game, it should be done like this.  Make it feel organic.

And for that matter, that’s how all relationships should be done in any game.  I credit the Mass Effect series with making these relationships develop over time.  I do have to admit, though, that the fact that it still feels like courting, after you have been with these characters for three games is a little weird.  Still, if you are going to have a romantic relationship in a video game, make it develop.  Give it a base and make it gain strength.  That makes it feel real to us.  In movies they can only do so much, but the gaming medium has the bonus of not being limited by film’s time-frame.

Mass Effect 3 has started something.  At least, I hope it has.  This entire series has started something.  The reason that players kept coming back was because we wanted to see what our choices would affect.  We wanted to see how our actions would shape our character’s lives and the growth of the story.  Which, admittedly, is another reason why the final conclusion (not including the DLC ending, which amended some of that, but for most it was too little, too late) was such a blow to the people who loved this series so much.  More games need to continue this idea.  Don’t keep this series going.  Let it rest.  Start up something new, and let decisions and choice own it.

Also, keep relationship growth this organic.  Since I am naturally assuming that all gaming companies read what I write (see sarcasm), then they are naturally working right now to make my wishes come true.

Until next time, a quote,

“I generally tend to expect the worst anyway, so dreaming about it seems like a waste of good sleep.”  -Garrus, Mass Effect 3

Peace out,

Maverick

Newtown, Video Games and the “Sin” Taxes

So, for those of you wondering where I have been for the past week, well, it isn’t all that glamorous.  I spent my entire spring break either visiting family or playing the Mass Effect series.  Sorry about that.  I know that I said that I would be posting more of The Wolves and Video Game Confessions.  Alas, I was too busy with something.  So yeah, there’s that.

But in the world of news that just pisses me off, I was looking at the cover of a new issue of Variety magazine when I saw an article about how the government is making a whole bunch of REALLY stupid decisions regarding one of my free time hobbies – video games.

For one thing, a bill is looking to go through Congress that would have yet-another study into the effect of video game violence on real violence.  Let me set this straight – there have been tons of these studies.  Tons.  And you know what the universal conclusion they came to is – video games do not making people more likely to commit acts of violence.  In fact, while this cannot be directly attributed to video games, violent crimes as a whole have been dropping dramatically since the rise in video game popularity.

Another piece of legislation that is making the rounds is a bill spear-headed by the Connecticut Representative that will add a 10% increase in the cost of games rated M or above.  This is a pathetically stupid piece of legislation that does absolutely nothing.  Absolutely nothing at all.  It would just make this more expensive.  Naturally, the corporate side of video games has come together to make themselves heard in opposing this.  For good reason – this is nothing but an attempt to censor these products.  And the worst part is that it is being done for absolutely no reason.  All of the evidence does not support the theory that video games cause violence, and this sad attempt to try and connect them is kind of embarrassing at this point.

These new tax laws, called the “Sin” taxes, are becoming an embarrassment to this country.  Or at least they should be.  The reason that we should be so ashamed of them is because they are blatantly ignoring the realities that are facing gun violence in this country.  For one thing, there is the fact that the amount of gun violence in this country is directly tied to America’s absolute failure that is more commonly known as the War on Drugs.  Our government’s inability to talk about the real problems facing America is not a good thing.  More and more, it seems like our government almost wants everything in this country to go to shit.  I mean, if they won’t take something like this seriously, then what are they going to take seriously?

America’s government is looking more and more incompetent every single day.  The rest of the developed world is starting to see us as complete idiots.  That’s not to say that the rest of the developed world doesn’t have its share of people who are totally ready to get on the video games cause violence bandwagon.  There were articles in UK tabloids that were talking about how the shooter was into Call of Duty (the go-to games to show how people are violent, shitty as they are), along with Dynasty Warriors, which one publication said helped fuel the shooters violent fantasies.

I am truly starting to think that the people who are against violent games don’t know shit about the demographics of people who play them.  The geriatric crowd seems to think that video games are a young people’s thing.  Tools for them to become mass murderers.  Maybe they missed the fact that the typical demographic of those who play console games is people who are in their late 20′s to mid 30′s.  These are the people who grew up with this medium.  The people who saw it in its adolescence and the people who want to see what it will become.  But that doesn’t matter.  They see blood and guts and their opinion is over before it even started.  Perhaps that is the reason that video games will never, ever be seen as nothing but violent perversion by those in the academic circles.  But that’s something for another day.

The long and short of it is – these new laws are a waste of time and this country’s money.  America has no shortage of wastes of money these days.  There are the wars in the Middle East that are getting us nowhere.  The war on drugs back home that should have ended ages ago, and if it ended tomorrow, you would see a precipitous decline in gun violence.  It would be in free-fall.  And there is also the endless talking about banning guns outright, that would create yet-another black market.  We can’t afford to be this stupid.  Not when our nation’s economy is getting worse and we are getting left behind.  We should be pushing NASA and the frontiers of space.  We should be trying new things and getting ahead of the curve.  We should have universal health care by now!  But no.  Instead, we are debating about video games.  Ugh…

Until next time, a quote,

“Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”  -Maya Angelou

Peace out,

Maverick

Why I Stopped Fighting the Good Fight

You probably have noticed that I don’t talk very much about politics these days.  It’s true.  I haven’t been.  There is a reason for it – I have lost the will to keep on fighting the political battle.  I still chat about some things, every now and again.  There is plenty that is going on in this country that bugs me.  The new Sequester cuts are draconian and are going to hurt our nation’s economy.  Fuck it, everything that we have done following the 2008 recession has been wrong.  I could go on and on and on about all the stupid, asinine shit that our country does.  But I just don’t have the drive anymore.

When I got to college, I was so passionate.  I wanted to change the world.  How I was ever that naive is truly beyond me.  But I did fight the good fight.  I got involved.  I got registered to vote in the city where I attend.  It was my cousin who registered me.  I felt like I was going to be walking into a new era where I could make things better.  Instead, I found out very quickly that I was wrong.

The more and more informed I became about what happens in this country, the more that the endless corruption pissed me off.  But I kept being told by friends that this was all at the highest levels of government.  Nobody could truly win there.  However, I did believe that on a local level, I could make a difference, while continuing my war to educate the public.  After a few years of subjecting myself to how stupid this country is, and how pathetically moronic the public is, I didn’t want to continue.  But I did, believing that on some level, I could help make a difference.

When I truly lost faith was last year.  Last spring.  During the Anchorage municipal election.  There was a Proposition on the ballot.  Prop. 5.  It would have largely expanded gay rights here in Anchorage.  I was with the people who were fighting for it.  And fight we did.  Everyone fought hard.  Some fought a dozen times harder than I ever did.  Others fought as hard as me.  Others did little.  But we all came together for a common goal.

The day of the election comes and what I saw was nothing short of painful.  It hurt me to watch.  I watched democracy fail in front of me.  I watched the opponents of Prop. 5 manipulate the election process in order to make this lose.  Ballots were running out and denied.  Polling places were closed, and people who wanted to vote were losing their ability to do so.  A lot of things happened.  If you want to know the details, you can find them.  It won’t be hard for you, trust me.  But the truth is still the same.  Democracy failed.  Everybody who fought for this watched it fail.

After its so vivid failure, the people gathered to bring this grievance to the Anchorage Assembly.  And what were we told?  We were told to shut up and accept it.  We were told that this is what it is, and to try again next time.  The people of this state, who are supposed to be the people who have the ultimate control over this government, were being pushed aside by its government.  This was a crime, and the people had a duty to come together and to fight against it.  There should have been protests.  There should have been civil disobedience for something that was a crime.  This was criminal, and the government who told us to shut up and take it should be held accountable for their actions.

But nobody did.  Nobody did anything.  They were told to shut up and take it, and they did just that.  They shut up and went away.  It was at that moment where I, sitting in that Assembly meeting, hearing a woman beg for the Assembly to the right thing and saw them do nothing, that I decided it was time to walk away.  I didn’t believe in the cause anymore.  I watched in real time as corruption and human cowardice won over what once made our country great.  People who are scared.  People who didn’t want to rock the boat.  People who just decided that it is better to accept than rebel.  I watched those people not even try, and I just don’t want to fight the battle alone anymore.

So, does that mean that I am not going to keep trying to get the word out to people?  No.  Here, on this blog, in some small way, I hope to entertain, to do new things and to also make responses to the stupidity of the world.  But now I see that Carlin was right.  This species is totally fucked.  All of the potential that we had will be undone because of how pathetic the people of this country actually are.  They are so cowardly that when their vote is corrupted, when their voice is taken away by the people in power, they did not fight back.  Why should I fight for those who will not stand up for themselves?

The worst part, of course, is that the victim isn’t just the LGBT community who had opportunities, like not being able to be denied housing because they are gay, who are victims here.  It is also the rest of us.  This was democracy in real time, people!  Not ten years ago!  Not five years ago!  Not twenty years ago!  But right now.  If you will not stand up for what is right now, then I put this question to you – why the fuck should anyone choose to stand beside you or go to your voting booth?

Fuck America.  It’s too fucking corrupt and stupid to save itself.  And I’m not going to fight to make it better anymore.  I have stopped fighting the good fight.

Until next time, a quote,

“We are are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable, and complacent. We have a built in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information; our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses, and recognize that television, in the main, is being use to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture, too late.”  -Edward R. Murrow

Peace out,

Maverick

Update: for those of you wondering where The Wolves and Video Game Confessions have gone, don’t worry.  They will be back soon enough.  I will post a great deal over spring break.  But the semester has been a lot of work, and I am already running ragged.  But don’t worry, more will be coming very soon.