| Yeah, so... |
[Jan. 7th, 2012|12:48 am] |
I didn't feel like posting anything, but now I do. So I am.
-I have a job now, as you all know already. I work at H&R Block. Thus far, that has entailed practicing with the 2011 version of the tax software and making calls to prior clients to see if they'd like to come back(on the behalf of one of my co-workers, of course.) If you're reading this and would like me to do your taxes, please feel free to come by and ask for me. I'm new, but I've gone through a whole lot of training to get to where I am.
-I've been doing a lot of reflecting on political matters. Not so much what happens day-to-day, but the macro trends. It defines my generation, more than anything, and it's changed Cerrinus as well. I'm now thinking that Cerrinus will be a collapsing empire. You'll hear great things about it, but what you see will be abuse and decay. The story will be one of survival, and a search for a way forward, a way out of the darkness into a new era of hope. I am still undecided as to what the outcome will be, but I suppose I will be supplied with the appropriate one in time. What I do know is that Lynne will represent something even darker. People who revel in ruin and destruction because they have learned how to manipulate it to serve their own selfish ends.
-This line came to me today: "Her skin shone with the pallid sheen of a corpse, and her eyes flickered like guttering flames." I like it...
-I had a love-hate relationship with Neverwinter Nights 2. Then I re-rolled a new character and now it's awesome. I was foolish, so foolish, to roll a rogue. Because playing a rogue sucks. Rogues are not focused around combat, but D&D sure as hell is. D&D is all about combat, and, in order to enjoy that, you need to be all about combat. Neeshka can worry about looting shit for me. I'll be up front with Khelgar and Casavir, keeping the enemies away from Qara so she can cast the spells that make the people fall down. And never get up again. And usually burn.
Aside from that, it's quite an enjoyable game, though I feel as though the Influence system is mostly useless. It basically tracks your party member's attitudes towards you, but I've only encountered two instances where this actually matters. The first instance is that you can help one of your party member's fulfill his dream of becoming a monk. The second instance is that one of your party members will abandon you if she doesn't trust you. Oh, and a minor one with the bard where he'll sing a bard-song for you to buff you before a duel. It also has an interesting mechanic where you become lord of a keep and must manage it. You need to rebuild it, build your own little army and find people to manage all of this stuff.
Oh, and being Evil involves going above and beyond being selfish and into being a massive dick and screwing yourself out of quests because you're such a dick that not even a sweet reward can motivate you to look for some one's lost kid.
-Oh, and Mass Effect 2 is the best game. |
|
|
| Higurashi is finished... |
[Jun. 11th, 2011|01:24 am] |
This post will begin with my thoughts. Obviously, this contains spoilers out the wazoo...
-I like how we saw the future of the last arc in season 1, and I was impressed by how sad and broken adult Rena sounded. Seriously, I thought she was going to start crying and slash her wrists at a moment's notice. It really set the tone for the rest of the arc, with Rika being super-emo over how she hasn't gotten any closer to surviving the month of June 1983 despite her and Hanyuu living through hundreds of years worth of time-loop trying to not get murdered. And then getting murdered and hardly caring about.
-The second arc was also awesome. I loved how it made deliberate call-backs to the "triggers" from other arcs. It did a great job of showing us that they DO remember previous arcs, as evidenced by Keichi giving the doll to Mion, citing her feelings and his firm belief in her femininity. By Mion going by the junkyard and Rena just spilling her guts to her and Rena managing to fix everything simply by talking to her Dad. All of them getting along with Oishi. The protest to get Satoko removed from her uncle's custody. And how, in the last arc, Oryou asks Irie about Satoko's health, and he's all like, "I thought you hated her" and Oryou responding, "Eh. It's really time to forget those dam wars." And how everyone says they have these terrible dreams and Shion pipes in that she does too. Then she's way too embarrassed to tell them and Mion dead-pans, "She murders me and Satoko." The scene with Oryou(another great dead-pan from Shion this time. Keichi tells her dad that he seems cool and says he always thought he was a mob boss, and Shion comments, "He is.") Oh, and the ending was fantastically tragic, and also established Takano Miyo as our villain well(by her shooting everyone to death and then vivisecting Rika).
-The whole disease business was a bit less satisfying. I don't think parasites, any parasite, works like that.
-Then the final arc fleshes out Takano Miyo a little. It's easy to see how she ended up being evil: her motives were never altruistic in the first place, so her burning desire to vindicate her grandfather drove her to stuff like vivisecting people and deciding indirectly murdering 2,000+ people to get back at her superiors for shutting down her research was a justified form of revenge.
-It was kind of endearing how simple Rika's motivations are: she's tired of being stuck in a child's body. So much so she can't goddamned wait to get boobs. She even says that. Speaking of that scene, I can only assume that Shion told Keichi that Mion loves him, because that's the only thing that makes sense given his reaction.
-Motherfucking Akasaka.
-The end pretty much brought together everything that made the show as great as it was. That they were able to use their knowledge of the land, knowledge of previous arcs, and just the power of friendship to defeat an enemy that underestimated them. And loved how Hanyuu psyched Takano out at the end.
-It was kind of nice to see adult Rika, because she grew up to be quite tall(and also was finally not brutally murdered). And also that she averts Takano Miyo from ever becoming an evil psycho-bitch. And that she speaks in that vaguely creepy, otherworldly voice of hers. That Rika voice is the best Rika voice. |
|
|
| Beaten, but not bowed |
[Apr. 27th, 2011|01:01 am] |
-Yeah yeah...you all know by now that I'm back in Milford. Not terribly excited about it, but I'll live. I got kind of choked up leaving Albany behind, I must admit. A place filled with memories, the vast majority of which were good or better. I really liked it there. But at least my last day there was good: Eric came to visit and helped me move out the next day. I bought a Wii points card and a real, live SNES controller. New. In a box. It was awesome.
The Wii points card acquired Mega Man 10 and Ogre Battle 64 on Virtual Console. I know I'm emulating the latter, but I love to pay money for freaking Ogre Battle and there needs to be more of it. Much more.
-I haven't unpacked yet. Been busy. Carwin visited Sunday night, I helped clear roof tiles for my uncle yesterday(for which my Aunt paid me $40: $10/hour. Not bad.) I'm still sore from that, but I walked over to Ikwal's today and watched the first two arcs of Higurashi with him and Mike. He was talking a big game about it probably being dumb, but, well...
It's fucking Higurashi. He didn't like the second arc. Which is oddly specific. He wants to watch more of course. Hehe. Victory for me! The 3rd arc is, IMO, pretty damned good. And then the brief 4th arc, and then my favorite arc. Which is the reason I don't like the 2nd arc.
-So yeah, I've been playing Mega Man 10 and Ogre Battle 64 since I got back.
In the former, I bought Bass straight away. I'm on a roll with Mega Man and killed Sheep Man with Bass(Thunder Wool is LOL...in a bad way.). Proto Man though? Fucking Christ. Oh sure, he has the slide and the charge shot and he brings out his shield when you jump and is immune to projectiles and you get to hear that first part of his theme when he warps in, but he takes double damage, which is absolute balls. Oh, what's that? You wanted to damage race a boss? Tough luck bitch. It doesn't help that the game is hard, so getting to the bosses to learn their patterns sufficiently that you can not die taking double-damage is...time-consuming.
Oh...for those who don't know..
Mega Man=Rock(his sister, of course, is Roll)
Bass is Bass.
And Proto Man? He's Blues.
Those are the Japanese names. They're...actually clever. Blues did come before Rock&Roll, after all.
As for Ogre Battle 64, I'm already most of the way through the first chapter. I'm going for a no-Zenobians run. Once I get Liedel, I'm going to go balls-to-the-wall, mustache-twirling EEEEVILLLLL. Mwhahahaha!
But seriously, I'll probably split the save after I get Carth(the last low-CF character you can get) and do one where I get a decent ending and keep tanking the other for the special stage you get for being super evil.
-An LJ post with no mention of Wendy? Well, I fucked that up, but there's nothing to report in the Wendy front. |
|
|
| The End of Albany... |
[Apr. 15th, 2011|01:33 am] |
-So, yeah...all the job prospects are dead, and it's far too late for anything to come to fruition, but...
-I talked to Wendy again earlier. She has a new job working for a company that sells condos. I know, I just posted about this happening, but with her merely studying for her CMA exam in May, she has much more time now. She still has another year of class before she gets the actual cert, but, for now, this is a nice respite from waiting months to hear from her. Anyways, she's thinking she wants to invest in real estate at some point and complained about how she feels business school stifles creativity and she needs to start her own business some day. So I suggested that she name it Ha Wen Lei Enterprises and she seemed really happy that I remember her Cantonese name. My haircut was also pleasing to her. She wants to find two hours to just sit down and think about her life and how best to proceed, professing she never really sits down and thinks about things anymore. I also explained American politics to her to some extent.
I must say...she really has a knack for making me feel much better. If I was on my death-bed dying of a horrible disease, she could probably make me feel really good about it. And that's not entirely hyperbole.
-In any case, I am guaranteed a job two decades from now. I have been hired in principle to maintain Wendy's tropical beach house, per my request. She promises to compensate me well. We have so much fun.
-I kind of didn't finish this entry, so, yeah...
*I also got Helga mail earlier this week. Helga is doing a bit better and she has three days off for the "Tomb-sweeping" holiday(her words) this month, which is great, because I'm sure she could use the rest and time with friends/family. She was also impressed with my knowledge of world affairs(Libya came up) and talked how she's begun "baking", though I'm not sure if she means baking. Especially since she talked about me baking, when I am quite the fail baker. But English has so many words for such things to make such minor distinctions... |
|
|
| Tantalus and Dynasty Warriors |
[Apr. 12th, 2011|03:42 am] |
-I feel for Tantalus. I really do. I can almost feel the chance I seek within my grasp, but I never quite seem to be able to grasp it. Sometimes insisting to keep grabbing it feels...Sisyphean(while we're on the topic of Greek mythology metaphors) but I'm not Tantalus. Though I do have a time limit if I am to achieve my goals optimally(i.e. staying in Albany).
-I get the overwhelming feeling that somehow Wendy and I on the verge of turning a corner of sorts. I don't know quite what that means yet, but it seems palpable to me. I don't want to be the one to delay it, so I must try harder than ever. I feel like she desires a deeper relationship and she's finally landed that new job, which is good for how much time she has. She still has another year of her CMA course starting up again in the fall, but that too shall pass....
-Speaking of tantalizing, I interviewed very well with Macy's on Friday.
Of course, they had already filled their positions, so I guess it doesn't matter. The manager seemed impressed by my horror-story of stocking peanut butter at the co-op(long story short: Natural/Organic, Crunchy/Creamy, Raw/Roasted, and Salted/No Salt. They all look the same except for the text and no, I have no fucking clue what the difference between natural and organic is). But maybe something will open up in time. Who can say? Not even getting into work at 5AM fazes me.
-I got Pokemon Black. It's pretty great, but I'm immeasurably disappointed that seasons last a full month, because, let's be honest, I'll have completed 95% of the game before it switches over to Spring(it's winter currently). Summer and Autumn? Don't make me laugh...
-But the game I really want to talk about is the one I got this past Friday. Dynasty Warriors 7. Dynasty Warriors 7 is honest-to-God ridiculously awesome in a way that no other Dynasty Warriors game can even hope to compare to. I love Dynasty Warriors 4&5, but they have absolutely goddamned nothing on 7. 7 is amazing. 7 features two modes: Story Mode and Conquest mode. I'll cover them separately.
-Story mode is actually four different stories: Wei, Wu, Shu, and Jin. Yes Jin, they actually go through the conquest of Shu, with all the principle early-Jin players(Sima Shi, Sima Zhao, Deng Ai, Zhong Hui, etc,) But I'm only most of the way through Wei's story mode. And it's awesome. It's actually telling the story really well, most of the voice-acting is pretty good, and the stages tend to hew to history somewhat. Let's see what awesomeness I have experienced thus far:
-Tearing the Yellow Turbans apart as Xiahou Dun
-Fleeing Lu Bu as Cao Cao while fighting through Dong Zhuo's forces as they try to kill me as well
-Deliver Cao Cao from the absolutely goddamned insane Wan Castle level as Dian Wei, witness his incredibly badass death scene, and then play as Cao Cao to get revenge in the next level
-Defeating Lu Bu at Xia Pi as Xiahou Dun after having an eye shot-out.
-Tear through Liu Bei's forces at Chang Ban as Zhang Liao(by the way, he's so insanely broken it isn't funny)
It's been an awesome experience, and I really, really like how they're handling Cao Cao's character. It's actually really....great treatment? Holy shit Koei, why have you been holding out on us?
Oh, and you still kill peons by the thousands. In fact, I feel like I've been killing more of them than ever. Which is sweet.
And yes, you play a fixed character in each stage. However, none of the characters feel....bad. When you play as Xu Zhu, you don't feel like a fat, useless oaf. You feel like a ginormous engine of death that (literally) throws enemies into other enemies like some sort of insane game of bowling. It's awesome. Never have I enjoyed a DW game so much.
-Oh, right. There's that other game mode. Conquest mode. Conquest mode is a giant grid in the shape of China. There are literally hundreds of hexes, each containing a battle scenario to fight. Many are random battles, some are officer-specific legendary battles. You have a (very) limited selection of officers to choose from at start, but you can unlock more characters by completing all of their legendary battles or simply clearing their force's story-mode. You can purchase weapons, hire other officers to show up and help you and progress however you please.
Seriously, I expect to get 50+ gameplay hours out of this game, and this isn't factoring in any replaying. It's seriously a great game and should be a part of any PS3 or 360 owner's library. |
|
|
| Hopefulness and Sickness |
[Mar. 20th, 2011|02:10 am] |
-You know? I actually feel really good about this teller job, for some reason. Confident, even. Or maybe not? I haven't actually called them yet, though I've been intending to do so. I somehow managed to contract a most terrible cold about a week ago and am just now getting out from under it. I excuse my inaction with the idea that I won't sound very enthusiastic or healthy if I did call(the first day I legitimately could barely talk). Ugh, who knows? I'll do it Monday. But I feel like I really need to make a good first-impression, because you only really get one shot at that. The website still lists my application as being "screened". I mean...I am going to be handling people's bank account information.
-I bought Rome: Total War Gold last week for $2.50 off Steam. I managed to lose my play disc, you see. Great job, right? I haven't lost my touch either: I installed Europa Barbarorum 1.2 and have a great Pontos game going. If anything, I'm much better than I used to be. I also bought Medieval 2: Total War, because EB2 is being developed for M2:TW- Kingdoms. Kingdoms didn't come in the deal, but I figure it'll go on sale eventually...
-I actually skyped with Wendy! I know, I know, you're all surprised she's still alive. She's done with the CMA course(for now) and wants to skype more. She also wants to travel and said she's definitely going to involve me, either by coming here or meeting me in NYC. Obviously, the former is only an option if I can get a job and stay here(and also preferable to me). I made it known I'd be happy to have her and even told her we have a guest bed out in the living room.
She responded, "Great! So you'll sleep on the guest bed and I'll sleep in your room!"
*sigh* I'm obligated, naturally. Hospitality and all that. Damned woman...
She was sleepy, so I told her a story, though I may have been unwise in telling her about physics day and my (pathetic failed) attempt to impress on Allison Field with my mettle on that swinging pirate ship thing. She started asking a lot of questions about Allison and wanted to Facebook-stalk her. I refused to share Allison's last name, of course(mostly to be a pain). Before that, we were talking about England, and she shared this gem: "You know, I think Jessica really liked you."
When asked how she would know such a thing, she responded, "Oh, you know! Us girls just have a sixth sense about this kind of thing."
At some point, I protested(while laughing), about her "trying to get rid of me".
Oh dear.
We also discussed our names. For some reason, she thought my name was "Christian". Then I made her guess what the R stands for. And told her its depressing meaning.
Then she blurted out why she was named Wendy. I won't share it. And told me her Cantonese name: Ha Wen Lei. Whatever her misgivings about its origins, I like her name. But that's probably because I like her.
-Oh, I watched the entire 26-episode first season of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni in a 24-hour period. This did involve me sleeping. It's awesome. I sent it off to Wendy, in hopes that she'll watch it(probably not, but I think it'd be fun to discuss if she does). But I'll hold off on the second season just in case. 22 episodes, and then there will be no more, because that's all there is. Then again, that's probably for the best.
For those of you who are interested: it looks really cute, but don't let that fool you, because it is only cute to lull you into a false sense of security and make you go "D'awwwww" before the brutal murder(s) happen. I am so glad I was never a rural schoolchild in Japan, because, according to Higurashi, I probably would have died horribly. |
|
|
| "Egypt is free!" |
[Feb. 12th, 2011|12:24 am] |
Seriously, if you haven't already, I strongly recommend checking out Al-Jazeera's live feed of Tahrir Square in Cairo. They've been celebrating the resignation of Mubarak, well...since it was announced he had resigned. Just a day after he had claimed he wouldn't. Seems to me the military put the screws to him, and that was over 12 hours ago. They've convened their supreme council and are currently in charge of things. They have pledged to transition to a new, democratic government, but that does remain to be seen. The protesters have no intention of just going home quietly. Foreign powers the world over have proclaimed their support for a democratic Egypt. Whatever the case, the destiny of Egypt, it would seen, is at long last in the hands of all Egyptians.
Of course, this is kind of a big deal. President Mubarak is the second dictator to be deposed by a popular revolution. President Ben Ali of Tunisia had the honor of going first. Protests have broken it in other parts of the Mid-East: already Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has pledged he won't seek another term as prime minister after completing his second-term and has also begun pushing to amend the constitution to make the two-term limit law. King Abdullah of Jordan dumped his prime minister in response to protests and has pledged reforms. The sheihks of Kuwait and Bahrain have announced their attention to give all their citizens free money(out of their pockets). Yemen's president(also a dictator, seeing a pattern?) A small cadre of intellectuals in Saudi Arabia have formed a political party: the country's first. Nonetheless, protests are ongoing in Yemen, and protests are planned in Algeria, Libya, and Bahrain in the coming days.
Also planned is a demonstration in Iran, but that won't happen because Iran has gone full-on Orwellian after the Green Revolution. Their day, I'm afraid, will not come soon.
But today is Egypt's. It is deeply inspiring to be witness to such momentous events. |
|
|
| Themes, Morals, and Metaphors |
[Jan. 11th, 2011|12:24 am] |
I've been thinking a lot about my writing of late. I want to tell a story, after all. I have a decent idea of the dynamics of Cerrinus itself and how the events of the story are driven by the politics and power-struggles of its various kingdoms and republics. I have decent idea of major divisions in the narrative. At least one of those narratives has who I hope will make a compelling antagonist. But what kinds of messages do I want to be sending? I'll list and discuss them in no particular order. This is mostly an exercise for myself, but if you'd like to comment, that's fine too.
1) Revenge is a dish that's best-served....not at all
I can tell you that revenge will be a primary motivating factor for my "floating" antagonist(Lynne) and that other characters will eventually get bitten by this ugly bug. And, you know what? It'll always end badly. Because, well...that's how taking vengeance works. At best, you realize that it wasn't really all that satisfying and the person you took vengeance on either doesn't want to get back at you or can't and has no one who would do so for them. At worst? At worst, the price might be something or some one very dear to you...
2) What exactly are you sacrificing?
I think I touched upon something similar when worrying about Wendy's apparent crazy "do everything all at once!!!" ethos, and how she may be sacrificing a great number of things without truly appreciating what they were or their value. Everyone has goals, and some people choose them more carefully than others. Naturally, other things fall by the wayside. The decisions we make have consequences, as do the paths we choose not to pursue. And, sometimes, we look back, and we wished we had made different choices or that we had been more careful in weighing the consequences of an action.
3) What is morality? At what point along the spectrum does a noble cause get weighed down by the collateral damage?
Most of the major characters in my tale will have their own morality. And I, the author, will avoid judging those moral codes. Instead, I will muddy them, stain them, strain them. When does the greater good override friendship? How much sin is too much to justify? Where is the moral event horizon, if you will, and what does it mean to cross it? Does it mean anything?
I hope to weave some interesting moral dilemmas. I find black and white to be dull. But gray? Gray comes in so many shades...
4) Is doing good deeds for a price noble, or merely profiteering?
This one kind of explains itself. You can't live on grateful smiles, but can you really put a price on charity and still call it as such? Which action is the more important one?
5) What is a justified war? Is there even such a thing?
A trio of wars are big events in which our cast of characters gets caught up. They get paid, of course. Getting paid to kill others, particularly by choice....that isn't very heroic, is it? Are there heroes on the battlefield at all, or is everyone fated to have their souls stained with blood's ghastly taint? |
|
|
| What am I to do? |
[Jan. 9th, 2011|02:13 am] |
So, I graduated college a little bit ago. Pretty soon I'll ever have a fancy piece of paper to put in the fancy case I got for it. It can hang on my wall as a testament to my achievement, however tardy it was. Now I ask myself: what now?
-Put a resume together. I haven't really had an actual, honest-to-God resume before. Largely because there's so very little to put on it. I'd like to talk to Wendy about it, but Wendy is being Wendy and getting me simultaneously annoyed and worried. One or the other will evaporate once I hear from her, of course(likely the latter), but, whatever. I fear it may not avail me much. Though a healthy number of jobs were created last month, unemployment is still high and is expected to remain so for quite some time. Much worse is budget cuts, which means the state probably isn't eager to hire a bunch of new workers...or teachers. So we shall see.
-I'm not idle, however. Well, I wasn't a few months ago, anyways. That's when I put in with Habitat for Humanity. They build houses. I remember doing something with Senior Pilgrim Fellowship at church where we went to an under-privileged neighborhood and cleaned up a yard. Not the same thing, but it felt good. It'd give me something to do. They finally got back me to and said they're planning projects for the spring. Believe you me, I don't mind not working outside in this weather, so it's all good by me. For more long-term interests, I'm mulling applications to both the Peace Corps and Teach for America. My resume is something of a starved, bone-thin creature, and either of those would put some serious meat on its bones. Of course...they're highly competitive. I feel like I'm stuck in a catch-22 where I need experience to get work but I need to get work to get experience(much like a car! Need money for car....need car to get money?) Neither is airtight, of course. Pretty much my fault, but I wasn't exactly doing any good at much of anything up until recently.
-I got Civilization V. It is a different beast, to say the least, but, at this juncture, I do feel that it is overall weaker than its predecessor. The new combat system is great...or would be, if the AI understood it at all. I rarely see the AI with a coherent army. I invaded Rome earlier and the only resistance I met was from cities.
Pathetic resistance, mind you, because the Romans had neglected to build defenses, leaving their cities a few points weaker in combat strength than my musketeers, who made short work of them. Le Petit Corporal conquers anew!
Did I mention they invaded me earlier in the game? Their invasion consisted of two warriors and four archers, which was easily crushed by a swordsman, an archer, and Orleans. You see, archers can attack enemies from range, but are really weak in melee, so my swordsman butchered three of them. Along with the warrior. Augustus had horses, and I am puzzled why he wouldn't build some horsemen. It's not as though he was at war with anyone else the first time around...
Policies are really cool, but I somehow doubt the AI can pick them intelligently.
Furthermore, the balance is just plain bad. On one hand, you have the Ottomans, whose ability allows them to convert barbarian naval units to their control 50% of the time. There are many problems with this: 1) Barbarian naval units aren't exceedingly common 2) The naval side seems unimportant, so 3) You don't really need very many ships. At all. Ever.
Then you have broken shit like Japan's Bushido, which allows injured units to do damage as though they had full strength. Or China's Art of War, which generates them a shitload of Great Generals. Did I mention Great Generals greatly increase the combat strength of units around them?
No? Well, I also didn't mention that China's Great Generals are also 10% better than normal.
Then there's Babylon. Babylon's power is Ingenuity. It causes Babylon to generate Great Scientists at twice the normal rate. Great Scientists can give you any tech for free. Any at all. This makes them by far the best type of great person. However, the developers decided this just wasn't enough.
So they also decided that the power would give you a free Great Scientist for researching...
*drum-roll*
WRITING. For the uninitiated, Writing is two techs into the tech tree. Furthermore, the tech tree is much more simplified in this game, with most techs have very few prerequisites.
Like Civil Service, for example, which requires only Philosophy(conveniently unlocked by Writing) and Trapping(which costs even less to research than Writing). Civil Service springs you into the Medieval age, unlocking two powerful policy trees, giving you Pikemen, and, most importantly, increasing the food yield of all farms with access to fresh water.
The last bit? Ridiculously. Overpowered.
Yay! And, since you are guaranteed to get that scientist, you can do this whenever you feel like it. Hell, maybe you'd prefer to bulb Machinery for lumbermills and crossbowmen? The possibilities are endless. You could probably manage something really ridiculous if you manage to build the Great Library(which grants you a free tech).
Or you could just "settle" for researching Civil Service at turn 87.
-Lastly, I would like to highlight the horrific attack upon Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona that occurred earlier today in front of a Tucson grocery-store. 8 people are dead, including a 9-year old kid and Arizona District Judge John Roll, who was apparently just stopping by to say hello to his friend, Ms. Giffords. Ms. Giffords herself was shot in the head at point-blank range and is still in critical condition, though apparently all signs are encouraging at this point. It is my hope that those who're inclined will pray for her, the victims, and all the families harmed(some irreparably so) by this terrible act of violence.
The shooter was a young white man named Jared Loughner(younger than me, in fact. He was born in 1988). Though his motives are unclear, it is clear he planned to kill Rep. Giffords(he shot her first, and the event had been advertised for some time). Any attack on a political figure, especially a current figure in government, is political by definition.
Long have I heard disturbing rhetoric from the right. About how our president is illegitimate. About how Obama is going to make America into a Soviet-style communist dictatorship. About how Democrats in Congress want to kill your grandma to save a buck. About how the right-wing should "Reload, not retreat!" and explore "2nd-amendment remedies" in the face of political defeat.
I know that Glenn Beck nor Rush Limbaugh nor Sarah Palin nor Sharron Angle were at the shooting. They didn't pull the trigger. They didn't murder eight people. However, rhetoric like that makes people scared. Very scared. Hateful rhetoric such as this is noxious. It eats away at the political environment. It turns the person on the other side of the aisle from some one who you disagree with into an evil other that wants to destroy you and all you believe in. In such an environment, it becomes easier and easier to dehumanize another. It becomes easier to take a 9mm Glock and shoot up your Congresswoman's "Congress on Your Corner" tour stop.
It is my (likely vain) hope that cooler heads shall prevail. |
|
|
| Wendyening: Wendy needs a life edition(anyone got a spare?) |
[Nov. 23rd, 2010|10:32 pm] |
I guess that makes two, right? Haha, well, anyways, I did indeed talk to her a little earlier. It wasn't for very long(a deadline for something or other was coming up at midnight and she needed to take care of that) but we had great fun regardless.
-She's really busy and getting tired of it. Seems to be re-evaluating things to some extent, though she didn't go into any details there. She feels bad about not being to chat very often. And yes, she said herself that she needs to get a life.
-She quizzed me on idioms, which was way more fun than it had any right to be. She stumped me with "die in the harness", which means to die before retiring, which is pretty goddamned depressing, especially coming from her.
-We also discussed writing and her troubles with it lately. I told her not to get caught up on the nitty-gritty details and to just write. Wait until she's done to look things over. She also said her writing didn't come across as formal enough and I urged her not to try too hard to be formal. It's not really in her nature: she's too social and down-to-earth to be very formal.
-She expressed gratitude for me always making her laugh and thus making her feel better. She's so sweet sometimes:3
Yeah, in things not related to Wendy...I'm going home for Thanksgiving tomorrow. That's really about it. Not much going on. |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=91.7){kind=small}
elminster12's journal