Call Was Lost

Egypt

2011-02-07T22:28:00.000-08:00

Some people - or just one person - have/has kind of recently razzed me about never posting on here, and I'll totally admit - I haven't written anything recently. It's kind of obvious.
DESPITE all the fantastic topics worth talking about (that I swear, I'll end up covering);
Wikileaks
DADT
Anonymous as a "vigilante group"
Pressure the school system puts you under
North Korea in general
Obama's State of the Union
The common man's opinion
and MOST recently:
EGYPT.

It's a crazy story to tell! I won't really forget me going onto my Facebook and reading my friend's post on "holy shit, check out this news," which led me to Al Jazeera news. Sitting on the school media lab (watching video render) I left it on in the background. British reporters essentially WTF'ing over what's going on in Egypt.
I'll give some slight insight as to what's going on over there, in case you're unaware.

Egypt is a joke of a "Republic," it's got one major person in power that was "elected" by the people of Egypt. Problem?
It's been the same dude for the past 30 years.

Maybe I forgot to mention.
(Oh it's been so long since I've typed that)

Before the rioting officially started, the "vigilante group" known as "anonymous" (rule no. 1) began to cause some relative unrest within the people. A few denial of service attacks on the Egyptian gov't website later, our favourite leader, Muhammad Hosani Mumbarak decided that ya know what, I've had enough of this interenet stuff and cut off every single Egyptian from the internet. So what happened?
You must have seen it on the news. Riots galore. Hundreds of thousands of people rioting against the same common enemy - the many they thought was the best choice. They went so far as to near;y burn down the most important museum in human history; the Museum in Cairo. You know, what the King Tutankhamen guy? People were flooding the streets, lighting everything they could on fire, knowing out buildings, flipping cars (and when that didn't work, they just lit the car on fire instead) and just causing a shitstorm.
So what does out favourite leader do?

Well shit, if that's what the people want...
I'll just elect people I would chose!

This is all ignoring the fact that the Egyptian military, though while officially on Mumbarak's side, never once made an aggressive move towards the people. In fact, for three tanks to move across a .5 kilometre square, it took them 45 minutes due to the fact they had to get out of their tanks to shake peoples' hands. The people were chanting "long live Egypt," while essentially parading the military.

So we have the immediate problem - a ruler who has overstayed his welcome. We have the cause of the rioting - shutting down internet and making matters essentially worse. But what's the real issue?
Leadership.
Egypt lacked true leadership.

Follow along with me on this one, because I'm gonna back-track a bit here.

I was going for one of my routinely night strolls and decided I'd stop in at the corner store, down the street. It's jokingly known as the Arab store, since everyone that works there is, though incredibly nice, middle-eastern. While I was buying my Doritos - of the Cool Ranch variety -I couldn't help but ask;
"So what do you think of all this stuff goin' on in Egypt?"
The old man scoffed, he brought his thin-wire glasses a bit lower down his nose. "People doing what they need to do!" As if I asked the dumbest question in the world. "People are rebelling against the people that held them accountable for things they didn't do, and refused to give them what they deserved."
"What about the government?"
He scoffed again. "Government? What government? Over there? There is no democracy, no real voting. In the middle-east, I bet you couldn't find one single 'democracy' that works."

And you know what? He's right. He's totally right. There is no government, there is no leader, there is no power to each citizen. There are laws, laws that are enforced - in many cases unfairly.

Egypt lacks a true leadership. That's the problem here. That's the real root of the issue. Egypt has had a fake, untrue and flat-out wrong form of "government" for too long, and they snapped. This is something that anyone could have seen coming, but no one wanted to.

If he was a real leader, then two things would have happened:
1) He would have left office long ago
2) There never would have been rebelling.

They lost sight of what true leadership is. Leadership is making the tough choices that sometimes the consensus cannot agree on, good leadership is looking out for the well-being of the people you're leading.
Leadership is, and will never stop being, in the eye of the follower.

Until Egypt finds a real leader, until Egypt has someone true, right, and looks out for the people, then these riots?
They're only the beginning.

I'm Stalling

2010-12-25T18:34:00.001-08:00

I can't think of anything to write about that's decent and has any shred of quality to it, so until then,

please check this out!

Christmas Cleaning

2010-12-05T19:07:00.000-08:00

'Tis the season, my ever-slowly-growing-number-of-frequent-readers! Time for the HOLID-
Fuck you, it's time for Christmas. Feel free to call me an unfeeling zealot who ignores other religions, but I'm Catholic, therefore, it's Christmas season. Call it whatever you want to call it, I'll call it whatever I want to call it. The world will still rotate at a solid 30'000+ miles per hour.
ANYWAYS!

Yes! That time of year when the snow falls perfectly on to your well trimmed, well-cut lawn and your perfectly painted white porch and excellently crafted window sills attached to a house that was seemingly built for perfection! Time for every window to have a pretty little candle along with fantastically prepared food with all the trimmings and family! Oh, family! This year it'll be perfect, right? No arguments, no decisions that cause trouble, just a picture-perfect, model Christmas that's so awesome it might as well have it's own CBC Primetime television coverage.

Perfect, right?

Don't you see what's so wrong with that?
Don't you see that you're ruining yourself because of it?

I'll back track a bit.

We, as North Americans, have this concept of perfect aesthetics. That everything and everyone should, at the least bit, have some good looks and look well done. It's why there's this idea behind a "perfect Christmas" that entails pretty well exactly what I mentioned earlier. Nice little house, white picket fence, good food and a perfect family.

I'll back track a bit more.

You know that magic closet you have in your house? Maybe your magic drawer, or desk. It's got dates of things that have already passed or maybe dates for things that won't happen for a few years now - but it doesn't actually have any words on it, just the date. Or maybe the phone book that's a few years old that no one ever uses but it might serve some kinda purpose in the future. School assignments that you decide are worth keeping but you never look at until you have to.
One of those places?

Oddly enough, it's the same place that you utilize when you try to create the perfect Christmas. You toss everything in there and say "now, it's clean."
But it's not really, is it?

Maybe I forgot to mention.

You see, we as a society seem to have this collective idea that if we look good, if we look like we've got it together and neat and packed nicely, then everything is. We try to placebo ourselves into a good relationship, a good lifestyle, a good set of morals and beliefs. If it looks perfect, then it just must be, by definition, perfect.

That kind of thinking, it's poison. We're lying to ourselves, and isn't it funny that the last person to find out that you don't have it together is yourself? While you were busy building walls and creating a super structure to keep your life in packed nicely, everyone else was watching the you build it around yourself.

We don't want to be accountable.
That's the long and short of it.

If we're accountable, we don't have to admit to imperfections. Without personal accountability, we can ignore the fact that maybe we don't measure up to the fast-paced, ridiculously high standards that society and everyone has set for us. No one likes to admit they don't have it all together, because everyone, deep down, wants to be able to measure up, to meet the standards and beat them. But why? Life isn't about meeting everyone elses' standards, it's about meeting your own.

It's easy to hide things away in the magic closet. It's easy to keep people out and put a smile on.

Life isn't about what's easy.

Life is about what's right.

School System Part 2

2010-12-01T15:18:00.000-08:00

So, before I mentioned on the things school DOESN'T teach you. Life, necessary social skills (effectively, at least), how to deal in social situations, that sort of thing.

Now, I'll be covering what they DO mark you on.
And how dumb that really is.

I recently received my semester 1 mid-term report card. As expected, I did horribly - as much as I'd like to blame other people, I know that it's really my fault. I have a problem applying myself (doesn't everyone?) and I barely focus. And I have 0 initiative. I like to say I'm an extrovert taking introvert courses, being physics and chem. At least, that personal partial justification worked until I realized I had a low mark in English as well - arguably a course that takes both paths, introvert and extrovert.

Taking into the fact that I did... "okay" on my report, I realized that a lot of students have been given the short end of the stick in terms of marks. What I'll be talking about definitely isn't NEW, and by all means, it's definitely not an original thought, but it deserves to be mentioned.

School doesn't grade you on your EQ.

By definition, IQ is the "intelligence quotient", the measure of intelligence for everyone based on a standardized test that is not at all related to mathematics or sciences, but logic and reasoning skills. For a very long time, it's been known as the method to judging a person's intelligence. Every American President, at one point or another, has been criticized for their "low IQ", such as Obama... Who allegedly has an IQ of 90, but that's not very believable.

So we know there's IQ standard of measuring intelligence, but how about it's partially lesser known cousin EQ? I see how EQ can be infinitely harder to grade on, but-
EQ is your level of social intelligence. EQ - "social quotient," the "an ability or capacity to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, and of others."
Essentially;
a fancy way to say you can deal with groups of people and be empathetic.

I know, I know, it's harder to the nth degree to grade a person on EQ in comparison to IQ. IQ has very few answers in a lot of occasions, whereas EQ can have hundreds of options and solutions to problems, and all of them change depending on the person.

Then we have this whole concept of there not even being just EQ and IQ in forms of intelligence, but instead 6 different measures of specific forms of intelligence.

Maybe I forgot to mention.

Remember in grade 9, when you had geography, or english, or any course where you filled out a questionnaire, and you found what "kind of learner you were"? Same deal. We are all smart in different ways, period. Again, I know, I know. Schools are made to make you to be a well-rounded student. I understand that concept, but at the same time, it's not fair that you can possibly ruin someone's life by failing them in math when they can play 6 different parallel form scales on the piano in less than 30 seconds.

I don't have a solution to this issue, but I know we have a problem. There's dozens of important people regulating what we learn in the school year, why can't they focus on things that will matter for the rest of your life?

School System Part 1

2010-11-29T19:25:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a very, very long journey of a blog series on my opinion on the North American schooling system. I dunno how many there will be, but they're going to be... interesting. I can't even wait to start going at it - even though I never try to blog more than once a day for the sake of always having topics to write about, I can't help myself.

FIRST TOPIC,
"education."

Who was your favourite teacher in grade school?
That cool, 20-something year old dude who swore in class?
How about that one girl STRAIGHT outta' teacher's college that you can bend to your every whim? Or maybe it's the old teacher with the "fuck it I've got a year left before I retire," attitude.

Personally, it was Mr. Chisholm for me. He seemed like a nice guy - some times hard yet fair. He would move back due dates if the class was falling behind, swear on occasion, laugh at jokes and poke fun at students that could take it, not to mention class discussions were THE SHIT.

But why was he really one of my favourite teachers?
He taught me LIFE lessons - something schools seem to completely ignore and figure "eh your parents can get that covered."

Life needs a course. It's something that not nearly enough teachers have the capacity or ability to teach. It's something that cannot be taught by everyone, but it's something everyone needs to be educated on.

Class discussions on recent events, talking about basic politics, human rights, those are things students of today need to learn, without question.

Wanna know why you really have 8 years of grade school?
When you think of it from an educational standpoint, we don't need nearly 8 years to learn the information we do in grade school - the projected amount of years necessary is only like, 3 (I can't find the source I read that from, my bad). It takes that long because for those 8 years, you're learning social skills.

Social skills.

You're learning, since SK, that it's good to share, that you let other people talk when it's their turn to talk and you be sure to say 'please' and 'thank you.' For those 8 years, you're learning how to deal with basic life and social skills. You cannot learn social skills in 3 years, which is why the topics you learn are so stretched out.

Intelligence is a common misconception of the usefulness of a student in the workforce. I really, really, seriously, do not give two shits if you can square root a 6-digit figure with only odd numbers if you can't deal in a group environment. Nowadays, it's sink or swim.

If you cannot deal with people, your IQ is null. Only until you can learn those social skills can you really be a value to a business - unless you want to work in a cubicle for the rest of your life. If so, ball's in your court, have fun.

Until the "education" system realizes that "education" has changed, we aren't going to change the way we need to. Period.

Feel-Good Policies

2010-11-29T18:40:00.000-08:00

I'm holding off on my blog on China/North Korea and the North American educational system because I believe it's time I jump over the line. I've waited far too long to directly comment on this because the problem is too taboo, too personal for people to want to read.

It's suicide.

Maybe you know someone who has been there, contemplated it. Maybe you know someone who is no longer living because of it. Friends, family, co-workers, peers. Maybe you were there yourself. Contemplating it, losing options.

Options.

I'm sick and tired of hearing of these schools having these student assemblies and seminars for bullying, drugs or suicide. I'm so sick and tired of them saying that "bullying has been reduced by 'x%' over the past 'x years'.

Look, don't get me wrong, I see the purpose to them.

--Before I continue, a side note. I do feel absolute sympathy for those in situations where sucide is an option they consider with looking at. Without a doubt, I understand that they need people, a person, anyone to talk to, and I hope that if you're in that situation you have the will to do so.

The part I cannot fathom, the concept that always blows my mind is the idea that they have this suspicion they can solve the problem. That by making policies and rules and regulations and seminars and assemblies, that we can write it off as some sort of issue that we as modern society have solved.

It just doesn't work that way.

Maybe I forgot to mention.

Suicide and bullying are things that will never, ever, in the future, ever, go away. I know, I can be called pessimistic, - I like to think I'm a realist - but it's true. Let's face it - tabooing a subject cannot, will not, and will never solve the issue. All it takes is one instance for schools to go nuts over it. One unfortunate teenager, with seemingly no options left, takes his or her own life because of the stress. Once that happens, the educational system is put under the spotlight, everything is examined meticulously until deemed "proper."

You know what they call bullying when you're older?
Business.

Feel-good policies make the politicians sleep better at night. They feel like they're doing their very best at "solving the issue," an issue that cannot be solved by seminars.

The only one, singular way to "solve" it as an issue is society. Society is the problem. I don't care how dumb that sounds - but society is and has always been the force driving the REASONS for the seminars and the assemblies and the policies and the rules.

Society isn't something you can fix, only change.

I hope you learn how to do your part in changing it.

More on this Later.

2010-11-26T19:36:00.000-08:00

Everything you're reading is exactly how I remember it, second for second. Once it happened, I wrote it all down for specifically this reason.

I've only told this story to two other people before, but it's very closely related to another topic I'll be covering later on, maybe in a few days.

Bear with me, please.

I woke up late at night, sounds of massive crashes cut through my sleep like scissors through paper. In confusion, I ran downstairs to meet my mom in the living room, asking what was going on. I could see out the windows that there were bright yellow lights slicing through the sky - planes soaring over the house.
Crashes.
"Don't worry about it, Peter," she says as calm as ever, looking out into the black, chaotic sky. "It's probably some kind of aerial show."
"At night?"
"Who knows?" This question wasn't a question. This question was a statement. I accepted that what I was seeing could not be reality, and went back to bed, hoping when I awoke, I would actually wake up.

I woke up.
Bright morning light blinded me momentarily as I got out of bed and changed.
No crashes, no booms. No planes.
Thank God, no planes.

I walked downstairs, wiping the sleet out of my eyes and throwing a shirt on, and hobbled outside for the warm morning air. I paced down to the end of my lawn, and was suddenly at the Windsor riverfront. I can't explain what I felt, but I felt something coming.
An omen.

A ship.

An enormous ship was thundering under the Ambassador bridge, followed by planes over top. There were a squadron of what looked like cargo planes soaring above, and before I knew it, one landed next to me. An unmistakable symbol was on the side of it.
A red star.

Scores of army Jeeps flooded the streets in an instant, Chinese piling out of them with loaded, automatic rifles.
The sky was still bright and shining.

Screaming. So much screaming.
People running, gunfire was everywhere around me. People were getting shot without question.

I sprinted.
I ran down across my lawn that didn't seem to end, the only thing I could hear was my own breath, my footsteps, and the ratata tata tat of automatic guns.
My mother yelled for me, and she was next to me, running down the lawn.
Why didn't it end?
She wasn't fast enough.
"GO!" She yelled at me with power I've never heard in her voice before. I turned, only to see her grabbed by a military man.
She was shot in the head.
No questions, no yells, no cries for help. She was shot in the head without any other statements.

The sky was still bright and cloudless.

I ran.

The streets were familiar, but they felt sickly and viral. Jeeps came from left and right, army men pouring out of each and breaking into houses. So much gunfire. I kept running, running hard. My breath was laboured, my heart pounding. I kept running. I wasn't alone. After a few minutes, other stragglers had joined in me running - they had assumed I had known what I was doing. I wish I did.

I broke into my own house, feeling anxiety peak. Necessities. Necessities.
Taking my backpack, I took the essentials. Multi-tool, clothes, another multi-tool, jump drive, combination lock, camera.

Bursting down the stairs, I ordered the 4-5 other people, who I had never met, to grab as much non-perishable food I they could find, "there's some in the basement kitchen, go now." Calm, collected.
Controlled.

Two people went without question, and just as they left to the basement, I heard a screech of tires.

"No no no no no no no no," there was no way. Not yet, I wasn't ready!
A jeep had pulled up in front of my house, and the door was banging. I yelled at everyone to evacuate, that if they didn't leave they would die now. The garage's side door was the only option - the front door was glass and if you looked through it, they could see us escaping through the back door.
I had to act immediately.

I swung open the door into the garage and burst outside. I heard the front door break down with gunfire spraying. Only three people were behind me.
Then two.
Then one.

Then I was alone, running down the back alley alone. I had no where to run. I had only my back pack, clothes, two multi-tools and a camera with a jump drive. It was such a nice day out.

Running.
I kept running.
A Jeep pulled in front of me.

I woke up.

I have many lucid dreams, this is the result.

Media.

2010-11-24T22:01:00.000-08:00

It's been so long since I've posted on this thing...
Whoever motivated me to post again, I thank you personally. I didn't realize how much I missed it.
Anyway, moving onwards!

Here's my story:

I was sitting at Long and McQuade, 10 minutes early for my lesson as usual (my grandfather runs under the "if you're early you're on time" principal), and I was reading the MacLean's magazine sitting on the coffee table next to me. As time went by and I read the article on my FAVOURITE Chilean miners, one of the guitar teachers walks by. He's a totally nice guy, a fantastic guitar player no less, and he tells me;
"Blah! MacLean's? Don't read that crap!"
I wasn't sure what to reply, so I had to ask "why? What's wrong with MacLean's?"
"It's crazy right-wing stuff man! I don't go near any of it."

This is what I DO understand:
Everything you'll ever see on the news, ever, is biased.
Anything you'll ever READ in the news, ever, is biased.
Everything on TV in the history of ever, is biased.

Maybe I forgot to mention.

Here's what I don't understand:

Why would you shut yourself out from media?
What do you gain?

I'll let that sit at the back of your head while I continue along here...

I read a lot of different news related stuff. I read a lot of non-news related stuff. I read a lot. Sorry, I'm bragging, but I'm trying to make a point, which is there is never anything to lose by reading the news. MacLean's, the Globe, the Times, shit, even the Windsor Star. I'll watch CNN and CBC, and yes, even Faux News. There has never been any one particular time where I said "Man I wish I didn't hear this side of the news, hearing the other side of the story would have been so much better."

It doesn't matter if it's Right-wing, Left-Wing, Centrist, Feminist, Socialist, Communist, Facist.

The point is simple - you're educating yourself.

The more points of view you hear the story from, the more information you have. The more information you have, the better understanding you have. Only when you know enough can you truly make your own informed decision.

The problem with the media today is that they make everyone believe that, for some reason, you're hearing the whole, complete truth, with 0 biasy.

Realize that they're lying, and you're already a step ahead.

What you really need to do is understand that the more you know, the more truth there is behind the lies you have to sift through. And hey - they're never actually lying to you. Finding lies in the media is like trying to catch smoke with your hands. You know it's there, but you can't grab it and say "look here it is!"

The media works under the concept of one of the greatest ways to lie in existence, the lie of omission. It might not be what they're telling you is false, it's what they're NOT telling you.
That's why you need to educate yourself.

Read, watch, discover, sift, decipher, learn.

Just don't do nothing.

Mother's Day [Late, I know]

2010-05-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

This is late a day, and I apologize. Sorry.

See? I apologized.

Anyway, here's my topic for today. It's a really basic one - one we probably all look over every year and just kind of look at it materialistically. I don't blame you - I do too, but I'm trying to do something different, try to make a difference this year. I think I did.

I've realized what a cup of hot water strained through coffee beans can do for some people.

My father and I have this ritual - on Mothers' Day, we give out coffee to all the local moms coffee from Tim Hortons'. Nothing major, just a medium black. We have this huge bag of cream, sugar, milk, all that stuff and they can take it as they wish.

You know, I never got so many happy smiles in a day. It was like I was giving them liquid gold. Then, it hit me. It's amazing I never realized it before. One brain hemorrhage-sized epiphany.

We do this only one day of the year.
We, as a common society, only really celebrate the people who gave birth to us once a year. We only let those who clean, cook, wash our clothes, keep us on time, bring us to the soccer games, let our friends stay over by the carloads [and then cook them pancakes!] finally sit back and be pampered as much as we are by them on a constant basis.

Today I had a shitty day. Lots of stuff happened in and out of school and I felt like ripping something apart. Nearly did, but that's not the point. After I yell at my mom (minutes before she drives me to my uncles 15 minutes away), and thens he picks me up at the time I asked her, I wanted to vent again, and she took it.

Then, after all the bs I spew, she then asks if there's anything I would like from my favourite restaurant.

This is AFTER I bitch at her twice in 4 hours and she drives me to and from my uncles.

Maybe I forgot to mention.

Once you think about it, it's so ridiculous! We only give them one Sunday of the year to sit back and let us treat them the same way they treat us. Are you kidding me? Come on! We really need to reevaluate this whole shituation (see what I did there?).

It'll sound cheesy, and I'm gonna be burned for saying this from some of you out there, but we need to do this way more often. Much more than once a year. And, yes, I know, the more we did it, the more it would lose it's value. But think of it this way - they treat us like it's "Children's Day" and we don't even notice it, yet we get treated as well as we do.

So next weekend, when you're out getting piss-drunk and you call for your mom to pick you up at 2 in the morning, and then you're tempted to complain at how she came late...

Shut up, thank her, and dammit, buy her a coffee.

the Food Crisis

2010-05-04T20:06:00.000-07:00

I'm going to stop labeling my posts because it's lame.
Not like that fact is really going to change anything in this world, but I figured I'd type that out. Why not.

Anyway, I'm going to mention something that, like the country's overall opinion on EMP's, is always ignored.

The Food Crisis - a crisis that is greater than anything going on right now.
Well, except New York car bombing, but I'll post about that later, when there's more information about it.

Anyway, here's the deal:

All your shit is processed.
All the food you eat is processed.

All that "corn-fed" shit you eat, is processed.
All that food you're told to believe is "quality" is bullshit.

Everything you thought you knew about the food industry is wrong.

And okay, yes, I just saw Food, Inc. I'm normally not one for those lame let's all get vegan! documentaries that are single-sided and retarded, but this is neither of those. In fact, it's a very well made documentary - consider renting it for a boring Tuesday.

This movie really makes you think about what you eat. I mean, you are what you eat, of course.
Gee, I wonder where that puts America. Lemme throw some statistics at you that you'll end up forgetting in 5 minutes:

(please, correct me if I'm wrong about any of these - it's mostly off memory)

In 1980, there were 10 beef companies that owned 60% of the meat industry. That's a good number - it's a good amount of competition and lots of different options.

As of now, there are 4 different companies that own, collectively, 80% of the market. World-wide. The word ridiculous comes to mind.

The other major food-related industries, such as poultry and grain are essentially the same story. Over produced and owned by few people around the world making billions every year.

That sounds like a bad idea - and I haven't even told you about the no-light conditions the chickens live in!

Yeah, no-light.
Maybe I forgot to mention.

You see, all the cool poultry companies have made this really, really, really cool new kind of growing house that doesn't let any light in at all, in cages they don't have space to move a wing in. What's worse, is if farmers refuse to adapt and modify their current greenhouse for chickens, then their contract is terminated and, POW, no cash flow for them.

Let's talk cows.

The disgusting-as-fuck part of this documentary I remembered the most was the "solution" to the E-Coli problems the beef industry was thinking of. Instead of feeding the cows grass (what they have been evolved to eat naturally) they continue to feed them corn (more on that later) and, you know, drill a hole into their first stomach to extract the e-coli and other things that shouldn't be there.

Like, you know, corn.

"So, what are you doing to this cow?"
"Oh, I'm extracting some of the raw bacteria."
"So that's..."
"Leading straight to the first stomach of the cow, yeah."

-Food, Inc.

Now let's talk corn.

High-fructose corn syrup is the 90's best invention ever. It allows foods to stay "fresh" on the shelf for longer, it increases the overall production and is cheap. It is, guaranteed, to be in that bag of chips you were just eating. And in that soup. And in that can of pop. And in that EVERYTHING. It is in around 80% of all food at the grocery store, and I bet you had no idea. By the way, it's mega-unhealthy.

About that crop.

40% of America is dedicated to crops, I shit you not. So when you're a grain farmer, you're given seeds to plant for the following seasons. Okay, it's not like you can torture a crop, right?
Nah, you can just over-produce, under-sell, and under-mine all the crop producers in the world using a loopholed reseeding system. No biggie.

Here's how it used to work:
Farmers get seeds. Farmers plant seeds. Farmers take the old seeds from the crops that had grown and save them for the next harvest so they didn't have to buy another batch of seeds.

Here's how it works now:

Farmers buy genetically modified seeds from company. Farmers plant seeds. Farmers sell crops at a fraction of what it costs to plant. Farmers are forced to buy seeds again for the next season because they are not allowed to use the same batch of genetically altered crops twice.

What's worse, is the farmers that DON'T have anything to do with those companies are being equally burned.

I'm sure you're aware of copyright laws, but one people aren't so aware of is intellectual copyright laws. The copying of information, that kind of deal.

So when the dust and crops from neighboring fields blow onto the crops of the farmers that are doing things their own way, begin to grow, well, you can guess who gets pissed.

The company that sold the seeds to farmer.

Farmers that have completely "normal" crops are being sued because genetically modified crops are growing on their fields. They had nothing to do with it.

Tell me how that is fair, please.

Please explain to me how that works and makes sense.

Look, I'm sure my credibility is going to go down the drain for my next future blogs because I seem like some vegan poster-boy. I swear to you, I'm not. I love meat. I go to Harvey's every Wednesday with my grandfather. I fucking love my eggs.

But more than all of that, I love knowing the truth, no matter what it is. I want you, and everyone else who might stumble upon this to know the truth, just as me.

There's so much more about this topic that makes you want to stand up and scream at the companies for lying to their consumers, and ultimately, YOU, for years, but you can do something about it.

Learn more.
Go to http://www.foodincmovie.com/

Comprehend.

Understand.

Act.

Nuclear Bombs are Nothing - Straight Up

2010-04-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

I don't know what kind of post to label this as, because it's a mix of politics, my opinions, and the damn straight up truth. What I'm about to tell you might worry you, it might make you a little scared, and it might promote some actual damn thought in this country.

I highly doubt it will though.

Before I actually talk about todays' topic, I want to bring light to what I just typed.

"I highly doubt it will though." It means that no matter how much I say, type, banter, yell, scream, tell people about and inform, no one will care. Why? Because why should they? When even politicians, Navy commanders, generals and people with more responsibility than I can possibly fathom talk about it and no one listens, why should you? there's 7 of you, probably 1 will actually read this, and none of you will care because what I'm about to tell you will change the very meaning of "war."

Are we in a war right now?

Yes.
Are people dying?
Yes.

Are we giving up money, lives, and resources to fund this war?

Yes.

Is this a war?

No.

I'll tell you why it isn't a war. It isn't a war because 70 years ago, we took things seriously. We bombed who we needed to bomb, we recruited when we needed to recruit, and we fucking used what Oppenheimer and, (unknowingly) Einstein gave us.
The atomic bomb. We used mankind's strongest power at the time to make us win. We used the ability to split an atom to our advantage.

Were there casualties?
Yes.

Did we use it, knowing there would be?

Yes.
Did the means justify the end?
Abso-fucking-lutely.

Would we still use it today?
No.

Lemme tell you something about bombs.

Bombs are impersonal - they kill everything inside the zone, no matter who it is. Black, white, Canadian, American, Chinese, French, they're all equally slaughtered by this chemical reaction. They are one of the most effective ways to get shit done, and we have 3 wars to prove it. Yet nowadays? We're too damn pussy. We won't get our hands dirty because we're too busy deactivating what made us feared.

But I'm diverting from my topic.

My topic is the EMP.

The be-all-end-all of every bomb your momma had ever heard of.

The bomb that will kill no one, yet kill millions at the same time.

Lemme explain.

An EMP is shorthand for an ElectroMagnetic Pulse. It was discovered soon after we launched the first atomic bomb in the atmosphere, and it knocked out all electronics in the blast radius by something we like to call the Compton Effect. Long story short, it makes a billion and one positive ions and annihilates every electrical circuit it touches.

Now consider this:

An IV bag is manufactured in British Columbia. Blood is donated to the Red Cross from Quebec. Tubing for the IV bag is made in Manitoba. All of those come together for a dying patient in the Northwest Territories. Now consider how impossible that would be without electricity. Without the ability to call, text, email, leave a message for, or even keep that patient alive.

What did you do today?
Woke up using your electric alarm clock? Ate breakfast out of the fridge that's hooked up to the outlet? Used your electric-controlled gas burner to cook your eggs? How about charge your iPod out of your laptop, while texting your friend saying you'd be late because your car wasn't starting right? All before you even went to school.

None of that would work, not a damn thing. We as a modern society physically rely on the biggest resource next to water we take for granted - electricity.

Three bombs.

That's all it would take.

Three bombs.

There would be no fantastic explosion, no shock wave of colossal proportions. No way to tell what the hell happened except nothing that is ran by electricity would work. And all it would take is 3 bombs to destroy the biggest, most complex array of communications, logistics and financial institutions in the world.

Here's what scares me the most:

To make an EMP bomb, you don't need uranium or plutonium. You need no massive refineries or laboratories to create them, all you need is one insane government funding and a way to launch them, and everything you think you knew about modern-day technology would come to nothing. Anyone can make an EMP and anyone can target anyone.

It's not a matter of if we get hit, ladies and gents. It's a matter of when.

No one is prepared for it, because no one wants to admit it.

It's been brought up in Congressional meetings, in the White House, in every political institution you can name and no one seems to care about it. Can you imagine preparing a country for no electricity? Putting an entire nation under martial law?

Can you imagine living in the 1900's, now?

Fact: We, as a society would be brought back to the Dark Ages of history at worst, and back to the 1900's at best.

Fact: The Dark Ages didn't have 9 billion people on the planet.

Fact: The number of survivors of an EMP-based attack would get smaller, and smaller, and smaller, until the number fits the technology.

Fact: Hundreds of millions of people would die without question.

Fact: All from 3 bombs anyone can make, at any time, to target anyone.

Fact: No one is prepared for it.

We are run by technology, and soon, we might not even have it any more.

Are you ready for that?

Call me Crazy - [Politics #9]

2010-01-27T19:17:00.001-08:00

WHAT.
THE.
FUCK.

OBAMA.

I'm watching his State of the Union Address right now. Live. Right now. I'm watching President Obama's second State of the Union, and damnit, my 9 readers, I'm scared.
I'm horrified.
I'm terrified of the future.

This change, the difference, this referendum, is horrifying. Have you seen V for Vendetta? I hope so, because I'm about to reference it. This man is Adam Sutler. He comes to Britian. He joins the government in full force, saying "I'll fix all of your problems if you give me your absolute concent." In a year in Britian, he has full force of the country. He is followed blindly, and lying to his citizens.
What is Obama doing?

He enters the Oval Office in 2009, claiming change. He changes, he tries to change, he does all he can to "make America amazing again. To put both parties connected at the hip and make the government more uniform. "Despite their changes, they must work together as one," he says. Sounds nice, doesn't it? It sounds great, that he wants to make it all work together, to fix America!
Lemme tell you how he's fixing America.

By August he's taking out all of the American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every last one. He's going to initiate a government "spending freeze" in 2011 to solve the budgeting problems. He's cutting HOMELAND SECURITY'S BUDGET.

HOMELAND FUCKING SECURITY!
Not MONTHS after he's taking the troops out of Iraq! Oh, and his nuclear warheads?
He's shutting them all down. Well, 1'000-some, at least.

Maybe I forgot to mention.

Why is he shutting down the very essence of why America kicks ass? Why would he shut down and disable those very bombs that ended wars previously? To increase realtions with Russia (the country that I can see from my back yard!) and to just make America look like the nice guy.

NO.
NO NO NO!
You DON'T make a government cut it's spending on clandestine organizations that keep America safe as a country like Homeland Security, only months after it takes troops out of the country it's at War with, THE SAME TIME IT REMOVES IT'S NUCLEAR WARHEADS.

We're screwed.

It's Not Fair - Life [#8]

2010-01-07T18:32:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna be bitching, so if you don't want to read it, stop right here.

It's not fair. Life. It's not fair.
No, I'm not saying this because my parents aren't letting me out or some shit. No, I'm not saying this because I don't have enough money for something. And no, I'm definitely not saying this because I got dumped or something.

I'm saying this because it's not fair that some people will never know any form of emotional pain, while others are dealing with the worst situation in their lives.
It's not fucking fair that some people can live their entire lives without a single fucking pain, because their parents bought their way through it, or maybe they have a perfect set of friends that never have any problems whatsoever. It's not fucking fair that at the same time, some people can be diagnosed with cancer. Some people can lose their family. Some people might lose their house, their job, their way of life.
Some people are heroes and they don't even know it, and yet they are walked all over the people who never had a problem in their life before.

I'm saying they are the superheroes of our time because those people who lose someonthing, who feeel the pain I'm talking about, have the ability to smile every fucking day of their lives because they know that maybe, it'll go for the better. That maybe the world isn't so dark, so bleak, to unjust. That maybe, just maybe, things will turn out for the better.
And, damnit, what does fate do?
Hammer them down, again and again, to the fucking brink. Almost like it enjoys watching those people put on a smile like a mask and walk around the day acting as if they have no problems in their life.

I have more respect for the people that overcome everything than the people who have done nothing. I respect the types of people who can have their life thrown across the room, destroyed and dug underground and can somehow, some way find a reason to smile in the day.

I respect people who overcome things, not the people who pass by things.

Let's Start the New Year with Terrorism! - Politics [#7]

2010-01-01T15:34:00.000-08:00

So, I can finally say I 100% feel safe as a citizen of Canada. (well, North America, let's say)
Why, you ask? Oh, I'll tell you why.
NOT because the American Federal Bureau of Investigation totally dropped the ball. NOT because America refused to listen to an obvious warning. And deffinitely NOT because America seems to be too ignorant to connect the dots from one shining lightbulb of a fact to another.
But instead because, well...
Terrorists suck.

Maybe I forgot to mention, but have any one of you tuned into the news on Christmas day?
Well, okay, I didn't either, but at least on Boxing Day? The little town across the pond from Windsor, Detroit Michigan was targeted for a terrorist attack.
Detroit, Michigan! Like, THE, Detroit Michigan! And before I tell you how much, how hard, and how painfully the FBI failed this, lemme tell you how much, how hard and how painfully the terrorist failed this time.

Right, so he's on a plane to Detroit from Amsterdam. While they're landing into Detroit, he begins to start to, well, blow himself up using an incendiary explosive (which is a type of explosive that doesn't neccesarily explode, it bursts into flames [kinda like napalm]). While he was doing this however, a few of the flight's passengers stopped him by essentially beating the shit out of him.
Welcome to Detroit!
What's even MORE laughable than the fact he got his ass kicked by a few Christmas Day passengers, is that he fessed up... everything! In the five hours he was in interrogation for, he spewed everything. Lemme type that again.
Five. Hours.
That's not enough time for the FBI to "legally" get a warrant for more extreme methods for interrogation (such as waterboarding, sleep deprivation). That's just them, getting Mr. Smith and Mr. Joe to question the guy in a dark room, with a light, a table and a couple of chairs. Maybe they threatened him (unlikely), maybe they did torture him somehow (more unlikely), or maybe he was just a novice, undertrained terrorist.
DING DING DING! WE HAVE A WIN-AR!
Yes, that's it! He was a shitty terrorist, with shitty training and even shittier bomb-building skills. That's all there is to it, folks. Our enemy is getting worse, and desperate, and this is the first sign of a victory. They're sending terrorist that aren't really terrorists. They're sending kids to blow themselves up, only to have them burn themselves with 2nd degree burns and cause a plane to take longer than usual.

Now, let's go over the FBI incompetancies, shall we?
1) He bought a first-class, one way ticket in cash to Detroit from Yemen. I can't cross the damn street without being asked for my student ID, reason for crossing the street, and why I started with my left foot first, let alone buy first class tickets.

2) Oh, by the way - his father called the Yemen BI and FBI to say that his son was in bad mental state. Please, take a moment to read that again. Yes. His father reportidly called dozens of times, with valid evidence of his son's decreasing mental capacity, and the fact he was part of that little small terrorist group called Al-Quida.

3) Lastly, he was on a watch-list amongst 50'000 other people of known possible terrorists. He was on a watch-list amongst 50'000 other people of known possible terrorists. He was on a watch-list amongst 50'000 other people of known possible terrorists. I said it 3 times because it needed to be typed 3 times. That. Is. Ridiculous.

So let's recap. Mr. Shitty Terrorist bought a one-way, first class ticket with cash, from Yemen to Amsterdam to Detroit, his father called saying he was a possible insane terrorist, he was on a watch-list of 50'000 other possible individuals, and there was proof of him being part of Al-Quida... and no one did a thing.

Last thing I want to ask is this:
Why the Hell did Al-Quida actually own up and say it was them? Okay, sure, if it was a major terrorist attack and they wanted to flex their suicidal muscles, then sure, own up. But really, they owned up to probably the biggest laughing-stock of a suicide bombing ever.
Essentially, they said "Oh, hey. Yeah guys, that's OUR shitty suicide bomber. Thanks for asking!"

This is going to be a long, painful, retarded war, and I have the feeling we're all going to pay for it one way or another.

Lemme Tell You Why - [Life #7]

2009-11-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

I'm in a radical move, so here we go.

I'm going to tell you, dear reader, why this age of civilization is messed up.

EVERYTHING has to be politically correct.
Every holiday card, every commercial, every product. We can't have an ounce of "personnally, I think it should be this way" or "I'd like to be proud of my religion" or even "I'd like to be proud of my sexuality." We all have to be completely, "happily" run as sheep and told that if you're not fair to EVERYONE, then you're absolutely wrong.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no racist, at all but I just don't think every commercial on television has to inculd ever ethinic race, be it asian, black or white.

Quite frankly, the line is just too thin, and both sides are just too small.
The second we step out of that line, everyone freaks out! We're too sensitive as a race. We take things too far for reasons that are far too small.
"Oh no! They said Merry Christmas on television! Sue the bastards!"
"Oh noez! They drank alcohol on air! They MUST BE encouraging drinking in children!"
Because that's all we do nowadays. Protect ourselves from pain. It's as if pain is the new cancer. I mean, the less amount of pain you have, the better off your life is, right?
Not at all.

Maybe I forgot to mention.
Be resistant! You've gotta, for once in your life, be tolerant of some things that just aren't 100% RIGHT. Pain is good, because pain lessens pain, in the long run. We have some crazy notion that if we 100% avoid pain, then we'll never have a problem in society. That, as a whole, society will be perfect! No wars, no genocides, no problem. If we just AVOID pain of any sort, then civilization will reach a new level of peace.

... That's the problem, right there! We're all scared of pain because we don't know how to take it any more. We don't know that if we just accept some things for what they are, and not blow them out of proportion for being poltically incorrect and completely racist, then THAT'S when we'll get somewhere.
THAT'S why our age is screwed up.

Zombie Day is NOW. [Life - #5]

2009-10-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

So after seeing Zombieland, I realized something:
Fuck 2012. Fuck the end of the world.

I WANT A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE.

Because, god damnit, if the world's gonna end, might as well make it like Darwin's dream. Stupidest, slowest, weakest, least adaptible people die first - quickest, smartest, most adaptible people continue on in life.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not sure if I would survive Z-Day. Everyone thinks they would - I doubt I would make it too far. I mean, for crying out loud, I'm in Windsor Ontario, Canada. I'm in one of the biggest shithole cities on the face of the planet. We've got 200'000 people here, 150'000 of which are retarded. I dunno which category I fall under (but seeing as how I'm actually writing a blog, I'm probably in the retarded section.)

After seeing the movie though, and reviewing my multiple zombie-based movies, I figured I'd make a survival guide for the 7 people who pay attention to my little piece of shit on the internet.
Here we go. The top ways to survive Z-Day. Yes. This is what my friday morning at 1am consists of.

#1: Cardio. [Taken from movie]. Let's face it, the longer you can run, the larger your chances of survival. Bye, fatties.

#2: Always make sure they're dead. Aka: Double tap. Bullets are cheap, and your life is priceless. Take your time.

#3. I don't care if you don't need to reload a sword. Get a gun. Save the crowbars, baseball bats and axes for despiration. If you're gonna die, go down shooting.

#4. Zombies need a head - and so do you. It doesn't hurt to take a bit of target practice on a zombie now, does it?

#5. Paint a big sign on the roof of your makeshift shelter, indicating that there are survivors inside. This allow airplanes and helicopters overhead to see you, and point and laugh at you when they fly away, leaving you to die. Do it for the lulz.

#6. Get petrol. Lots and lots and lots and lots of petrol. If you have a hummer, expect to be pumping that bitch full of gas every half hour.

#7. Always check the back seat. You don't want any zombie hitch hikers, do you?

#8. Don't be an hero, or a hero. Don't be stupid and try to desperatly look cool as the hero. You won't look cool with your jugular in a zombie's mouth.

#9. Your education means nothing. Your social status means nothing. You are a survivor. Don't think that because you were spoonfed at Berkley, you should be leader of a survivor group.

#10. Protect your team doctor, use your telemarketer as bait.

#11. There are no names in the Zombie Apocalypse.

#12. You can fly a plane? Great. Do you see any runways with planes full of fuel? I didn't think so. Put your RELEVANT skills to use, like carpentry.

#13. There is no safe, only safer. Don't stay in one place for too long.

#14. Enjoy the little things. Zombieland is no place for luxuries. If you find a cookie, enjoy that damn cookie.

#15. Don't travel after dark. Don't make a noise after dark. If you do, you won't live after dark.

#16. Heroes die and cowards live. It doesn't matter how hot that chick is - if she's fucked, she's fucked and you live. Deal with moral issues later.

#17. There are no ethics after Z-Day, nor are there politics. Judge whether you're better off raiding or befriending before you do anything.

I'm gonna finish this when I have the patience.

C-C-C-COOOMBO BREAKER! [Politics - #6]

2009-09-27T19:43:00.000-07:00

Oh, Free Health Care.
How you make me laugh.

Right, so I'm sorry to the... 5 followers I surprisingly have - I've been lazy, and this post is really late on the uptake, but it's the closest thing I have to inspiration.

Back onto business!
Business being Obama's failed healthcare reformation. And by failed, I mean epic. An epic loss for a 900 billion dollar FREE healthcare reformation. Do you see the irony in that? A healthcare system that would take 10 years and $900 billion, not to mention an increase in taxes.

You see, I'm Canadian. I get free health care. I know about how ridiculous our taxes are. I know about our health care system from firsthand experience. Quite frankly, it sucks, but it's all we've got as Canadians to be truly different about. It's one of the big things that makes Canada, Canada. Free health care for all! But free isn't free. Free, ironically, is quite expensive. Free is 14% on the dollar. Free is millions of dollars every day for being put on a 3 hour waiting list to even SEE a doctor for "free."
Maybe I forgot to mention.

But anyway, back to Obama.

He publically said he was disappointed in the American's overall decision - that he wasn't happy with the turn out. AW. PUMPKIN! Poor Obama! His shitty idea got denied! Don't get me wrong - "free" healthcare is cool and all, but our southern neighbors have got it better off in many, many respects. Hell, here's another thing for Michael Moore to bitch about! I might talk about his new movie in a future blog, not too sure if it'll be any good though (the blog, I mean). You see, here's that thing that I mentioned before: "Where to draw the line." Healthcare is a perfect example. Obama's going WAAAAAAY too far with things. Arguably, I haven't seen much of a change in American politics since Obama's reign of whatever the hell. Also arguably, Obama seems to be the biggest political placebo on the face of the planet, but maybe that's just me.

Obama, start small.
Start with ACTUALLY free things.
Don't start making false promises and getting America worse than where it's already at.

Scribbles in the Sand [Life - #4]

2009-03-15T18:06:00.000-07:00

Today, my [few] readers, I ask you a question. An important question. A question no school or book or singular person has an answer for. I do. You do. Everyone does, but at the same time, no one does.

How far is too far?

Think about it for a second. Let it sink in. And right now, what's your answer? How far is too far?

Like, really, where is that magical line in the sand? That one, defining moment or decision or action that tells all "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, DAMNIT."

The sad truth is there is none. There is no specific line saying where the good/bad, right/wrong sides are. This question has no answer because the answer changes for everyone. That, really, really scares me. The fact that there's a question none of humanity, no life on earth, has the answer to.

It's wrong.

It's wrong that some people never understand that there are even two sides to it all. It's wrong that, for some people, the one side is the only side they've been on.

Look at this war, this War on Terror. Look at how humanity has driven itself down to the dumps, this slum of a recession. Look, reader, how all of the human race, the most advanced we've ever encountered, has turned against itself, all because we can't tell how far too far is.

Wars, genocides, pain, destruction - all of those attributed to going too far, pushing things until they break.

And what happens when they break? A lot of the time, they can't be repaired, mainly because we never make an effort to repair them. We accept them as we accept WalMart has lower prices. I'm not peccimistic, I'm telling it as it is. I'm realistic. But before you judge me, don't think I'm saying this is irrepairable damage. Nothing is irrepairable. Nothing can't be fixed. Humanity needs to push a new topic, repairing the damage we caused ourselves. It'd be hard. It'd be close to impossible. It might even cause more problems, but in the end?
It'll be fixed. This race might even be able to know where that magical line is.

Speaking of a Solution [Politics - #5]

2009-03-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

I have a solution to the entire War on Terror.

It's feasible, relatively inexpensive, and logical.

You ready for it? It's pretty damn crazy. Mind blowing, even. You might not be able to comprehend it, because it's just that insane.

Ready for it?
K, here we go:

Start trying.

OH MY GOD. I KNOW. It makes perfect sense!

"But wait, Peter! Are you saying we're not trying in Iraq right now? Are you saying that what's going on isn't serious?"
Why yes, I am. I'm saying exactly that. I'm saying that if we REALLY take this war seriously, it'd be done with in a few months. I'm saying that if we got our hands bloody dirty (no pun intended) then this war would be through with.

Sure, we're taking the situation pretty seriously - we're covering it with more News than when Micheal Jackson nearly dropped that kid, and we're sure as hell feeling bad about the 4'256 casualties, but lemme give you a history lesson:

August 10th, 1990 - the Gulf War, the first war with Iraq, had begun. Enduring until 28th of Febuary 28th, 1992, we had not 100'000 American casualties. Not 50'000. Not even 1'000. We lost 145 troops.

That's 94482.75% less than the First World War.

Maybe I forgot to mention.

Now you may be thinking "Peter, what does that have to do with anything? That's the past. that's got nothing to do with what's going on now."
Actually, it does have a massive significance. It shows what really happens when we get out there and try. We invaded Iraq, we took down enemies left right and centre, we got the troops, the money and the want.

What do you think would happen if we went in there now? I've got an answer;

we'd obliterate them. If we took in the full, complete force of the 7th Fleet in the American Navy, brought in the mighty ground force and worked in conjunction with the Iraelis for air supremecy, we would absolutely destroy the Terrorists. Cruise missiles would fill the sky, Canadian and American tanks would blow the hell out of everything, and bombs would hail down from the airforce. We would drive them so far into the ground, they wouldn't be able to tell which way is up.

And yes, what you might be thinking might be right. What I'm saying will require total commitment from Canada and the United States. The people would need to support this. God Forbid we bring out the Draft and start Conscripting. If that happened, I'd give it a month, maybe two, and the Iraq Terrorists would be scared shitless. And I don't blame them, one pissed of American father who's missing dinner with his young kid for shooting enemies is a sight to fear.

Yes, there would be casualities. Yes, not everyone would agree. Yes, it'd make the United States look like the big, bad man. But no, not another person would die for a stupid war caused by religion, oil, and terrorism. No, Iraq and Afghanistan would no longer be looked as a terrorist country. And no, not another kid is not going to loose their father or mother because of it all.

Cripes, Israel... [Politics - #4]

2009-02-11T18:39:00.000-08:00

So Israel finally had an election in the past week.
Finally.
FINALLY.

Ever since this "War on Terror" things haven't been looking out to well to Iraq's brother. No, their Prime Minister is corrupt, their government fell to shambles, and the United Nations watches their every move.
Ouch.
"Enough is enough!" cried the Iraeli's. "It's time for a new election!"
And yeah, it was one hellova election - with over 4'000 candidates running, it wouldn't be easy to stick out. [Think of all the commercials...]
That's assuming, of course, they aren't killed before they actually see who won. In less than 3 weeks, 4 candidates were assassinated. It's like that's their automatic thought process. "Okay, we don't like him. Let's kill him," seems to be the mentality among the Israeli's. That kind of shows how much they need a government.
A lot.
And no, this isn't just opinionated. That's a fact. Dispite common knowledge, the Israeli situation is almost as bad as the Iraqi situation - absolute shit. Honestly, more things have been going wrong than right over there. America is still over in the middle east, there are more militants than civilians, and cripes, it wouldn't be surprising if they already had nuclear arms. Or even legs for that matter.
The United States are still negotiating with the country over if they need their help or not, but they're running into some trouble.
There's two Prime Ministers.
Maybe I forgot to mention.
As it turns out, there are two, not one, leaders in Isreal, because they've either a) made a mistake in the toll counting b) Are stubborn or c) all of the above.
And you can't blame them, really. With over 4'000 candidates, you'd hope that you'd have won. I mean, after all, it's not like there wasn't any competition as there is. But come on, if you really deserve the PRime Minister's position, then you should put the country and it's people first, and just maybe become Deputy Prime (if they have that position available.)
That is, of course, assuming you don't get assassinated before you suggest that.

Well That's a Shitty Future [Video Games - #3]

2009-01-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

Ahh, Fallout 3.

How the Hell am I supposed to explain this game with the amount of space I have? I swear, even an infinite amount of space doesn't seem like enough.

But hey, you've gotta start somewhere;

The Cold War wasn't over when they said it was over.

In the year 2077, the world had begun the second World Arm's Race - except this time, they had the nukes. Within years, they had annihilated eachother. Russia, America, China, France, Britain, Canada - all lay waste beneath the smoldering ash of what was once rock and stone. It was the Apolocalypse of all of mankind. Not a single country had been left, and there were no people left unscathed.

Or so everyone thought.

Behind everyone's back, America had set up shop, creating Vaults. Inside these Vaults, people would live - deep inside the safety of caves. Only the rich had the ability to keep shelter in these Vaults. As years past, slowly the Vaults began to open. One by one, hundreds of people flooded out from the vaults and into the radioactive country of America.

The year is 2277. It's been 200 years since the war had started. All of the Vaults had opened by now - except one. Vault 101. This is where the game starts. As you finish creating your character (in very, very fine detail) you age rapidly. Going from 2 to 10 to 16, your character ages along with everyone else. You slowly seem to grow used to living in Vault 101, except there's one problem.

Your dad, the Vault's only doctor, left. You don't know why and you were never told he would, but he left. "Well what the hell am I supposed to do now?!" You may ask yourself.

"Well, follow him, of course!" the game responds.

So out you go - into the barren wasteland, breaking out of the Vault by whatever means necessary.

The first thing you notice when you get out?
Washington DC looks like shit.

Absolute, destroyed, shit.

Highways are torn apartm craters are everywhere, houses (the few that are still standing) bring a whole new deffinition of "holy".

Oh, and there's Mole Rats running around that are the size of large dogs.

Maybe I forgot to mention.

So you walk up to what seems to be a wall (which is pretty much comprised of strewn metal in some odd fashion), and walk around what seems to be a massive circle, to find a door.

Once you open the door, you're welcomed to the first city you find in D.C - Megaton.

You're greeted by what seems to be a cowboy, who is the "sheriff". Essentially, he tells you to not cause shit and he won't give you shit.

Something I may want to add, is the creative speech choices your character is given. Depending on what you say, the others will respond in a different way. IE: Act like and ass and people won't like you - act nice, and people do like you. BE really nice and get good karma, be evil, and you get bad karma. (My guy is currently the Jesus equivalant.)

Later, you find out, well, the city is a massive hole... and in the middle of a hole... is a Fat Man.

No, I'm not talking about a very obese person, I'm talking about the Nuke - the first version of the Atomic Bomb. The city was made around a bomb.

Here comes your first major decision.

Save the bomb, and you get 100 caps (the $ equil). But, destroy the bomb (as requested by a Mr. Burke), and you recieve the nice windfall of 500.

It's a hard choice.

And that's pretty much what this game is. Choosing between being bad[ass] and getting instant gratifacation, or be good and get stuff later - all while hunting for your dad.

It's not very easy.

"Vault 101. It was here you were born, it is here you will die. For in Vault 101, no one ever enters, and no one ever leaves."

Day 1 - No Assassination Attempts... Yet [Politics - #2]

2009-01-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

Today is the day, my friends, that the chain of command has been broken, politics flipped upside down, and... the Texans get pissed. Yes, that's right, President Elect Barak Obama is now President Barak Obama. And, surprisingly, he survived day 1. Only 1'459 more days to go, Barak!

So let's go over what we know:

Barack Obama will provide a tax cut for working families:

Obama and Biden will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 95 percent of working Americans the tax relief they need. They will create a new "Making Work Pay" tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family.

Provide tax relief for small businesses and startups:

Obama and Biden will eliminate all capital gains taxes on startup and small businesses to encourage innovation and job creation.

Fight for fair trade:

Obama and Biden will fight for a trade policy that opens up foreign markets to support good American jobs. They will use trade agreements to spread good labor and environmental standards around the world

Who actually believes that? Like, seriously, who REALLY believes he will do that? Sure, you could name a few million different reasons as to why and how he could... but let's be logical.

This guy has seriously set himself up for failure. One of the biggest possbible failures in the history of mankind...

No wait, that's Al Gore.

But you get the point.

So anyway, you may be asking "Peter! How on earth did he set himself up for failure? He seems to be a very good and honest man, with a great view on life! He'll make a great president!"

Oh, I don't doubt the fact he's a good man... or he'd make a great president... I'm just saying that as far as his "Goals" are concerned - he's screwed.

Like a bloody lightbulb.

"Why?!" You ask me, melodramatically. "His goals are great!"

Well, his goals don't matter. What he wants to do with the goals don't matter. What he thinks, says or considers doesn't matter.

What he DOES matters.

He could say and pretend and think all he wants, until a blue moon comes, but until he does something - people will be greedy. "Where's our change, like you promised us, Messiah Barak? We want what you said you'd give us!" and until that SINGLE day he gives the American public what they wanted... he's screwed.

Like a lightbulb.

"...and by Immediate, we Mean 50 Years." [Life - #2]

2008-12-20T22:24:00.000-08:00

Hotel on the Moon: "by the turn of the centuary," JFK stated, "we should be able to have colonies, and existable life on the moon, therefor giving humanity more space, no pun intended." It was said that man should have hotels on the moon by 2006.

Kyoto Protocall: Adopted by consensus at the third session of the Conference of the Parties (COP3) in December 1997, it contains legally binding emissions targets for Annex I (developed) countries for the post-2000 period. The EU and its Member States ratified the Kyoto Protocol in late May 2002 - the idea died, and was cut loose.

Water in Australia: a five year project is to overhaul the Australian water/irrigation system. It's to cost 1.3 billion dollars and can save up to 30% of the water use. The 1.3 billion isn't including the money cost to take down the old irrigation systems, or installing the new one. There'll also be 1.2 billion people with a lack of clean water.

What do all of these have in common?

None of them affect what we are doing today.

Look at what we're doing here - planning things for the years to come. For the decades and scores of years ahead of us, we plan and plan and plan until we turn blue in the face. We plan to the smallest of detail and the highest of urgency. And look what happens to them... They all fail. Miserably.

The Kyoto Protocall, as some may know, was a protocall made in Kyoto, Japan, which was to make each 1st world country cut its carbon emissions by a certain percentile each year. Each percentage was different for each country, depending on their overall performance in carbon emissions. But they kind of forgot something a bit important. How to cut those emissions. So here they are, planning how much to cut for each country, but when it comes to how to cut them, they effectively said "Pft, don't ask us - do it yourself," and because of that, it did nothing. No one paid any attention to it other than David Suzuki, and no one really pays attention to him anyway.

Then there's other protocalls and mandates and projects to do this, that, and the other thing - all of which to help us out in the near future. Oh, and by near, I mean so many years ahead, it wouldn't have done anything.

Here's the bottom line; we need to act now. No more of this "we'll plan it now, act in 12 years" bullsh*t. What we need, what humanity needs, is action. We need straight up, through and through action done by someone, anyone. We need someone to tell us exactly what to do now, and show us the consequences if we don't. No ifs, ands or buts about it. If people don't like, oh well, they'll need to do it anyway.

Because that's the way people work. We tend to put things off, even those people who get started right away. If we don't, we're screwed, and even more than we are already.

Look at our planet - look at the state it's in, and tell me we're okay. Show me the statistics on anything; carbon emissions, economy, useable water, useable land, and tell me that we're doing fine. Please, do - I love to catch people in a lie. Over 1.2 billion people don't have useable water, over 500 million don't have a job, hundreds of thousands of people earn less than enough to eat one meal a day, and we're in good shape? Bullshit. Humanity, as a whole, is stupid. We fight over anything and everything. We agree over nothing, in perspective, except ourselves. What we need the most is to agree. To act together and work as a hole to take down the common enemy - ourselves. We're killing eachother.

Don't get me wrong, I think we can fix what we've done. Nothing can't be irrepairable. All we need to do is focus on the problems, and agree. And, again, don't get me wrong. I don't want a "perfect world" or a world without conflict. Conflict drives humanity forwards, and arguments push things along. But we need to be able to cap where we go with things.

"Common sense isn't very common."

"Looks Like a Size 10 to Me," [Life - #2]

2008-12-16T20:11:00.000-08:00

"Associated Press
December 16, 2008 at 12:25 PM EST
BAGHDAD — The journalist who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush was handed over to the Iraqi judiciary, an Iraqi official said Tuesday, a move that ordinarily signals the start of criminal proceedings.
Hundreds took to the streets Tuesday for a second day to demand the release of Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who gained folk hero status when he hurled both his shoes at Mr. Bush during a news conference Sunday in Baghdad.
Mr. al-Zeidi was initially held by the prime minister's guards and later turned over to the Iraqi army's Baghdad command. The command, in turn, handed him..."

Kinda shows what people from the other end of the world think of Bush, huh?

And what about us, North Americans? What about the people under his "command", or us Canadian neighbors, who are nearly as greatly influcenced by his decisions as our own Prime Minister? What do we think of him? He's a massive twat. 'Nuff said.

But there's the problem, and there's today's topic. Why Bush doesn't deserve half the of the critism he does.

So let's start with the beginning. Back in 2000, President George W. Bush was elected into office by popular vote, and then began his 4 year "rule". By the 2nd year, I'm pretty sure some people already didn't like him. With famous speech quotes such as "I'm a decider," and "I do not need to explain why I say things," people got this uneasy feeling in their stomach.

"Damn... looks like he was a moron after all. Well, next term will be better!" many American voters said. It looks like they were proven wrong. In 2004, President Bush was re-elected back into Office, but this time, not by popular demand, but by miscount. Yeah, he was a fluke. In California, 334 vote ballats weren't recounted, and had they been, George Dub-yah Bush wouldn't be in office. Surprised?

Maybe I forgot to mention.

And now there's this War on Terror. "It's all Bush's fault!" you cry in ager. "It's for that damn oil!" Well, yes, that's possibly true, but allow me to make an analogy:

Imagine you and your friend are fighting, and you're two houses away. You've hated this asshole forever, and he's thinking the same thing. No matter what you do, nothing's working to settle this problem.
But, as bad as things are, you aren't being terribly hurt - you've taken a dollar or two from him, and he has from you. Things could be worse.
Then along comes a spider. This spider is a smart one - he's been around the block. This guy has argued with you and your neighbor. He knows how the both of you tick. He's also a lot bigger than you - better house, bigger car, more money to spend.
He makes a deal - he'll stop the both of you from arguing, but here's the catch - he controls the both of you.
"Hey," you say to yourself. "Why not? If it means I get to keep my lunch money and I don't have to look over my shoulder to see he's coming at me... I don't see anything wrong. It's a worthy loss."
Problem is, you're wrong. The controller only makes things worse, he's taking things to a whole new level. Not only do you not have the ability to think for yourself and move freely... but now that spider is taking your lunch money, and you can't deny him.

So you and your neighbor create a pact - you both hate each other - in fact, you're surprised either of you haven't swung a punch at each other yet. But you both now have one common enemy - that spider. Now you don't have to worry about hurting each other, but now that big, bad guy. It's a two on one fight now - numbers tend to win.

Ahh... crap. That big bad spider now knows you have a new friend, and it's a shame, because he does to. He has some other big friends.
Now, this is just a war. You get your friends, and he gets his. It's numbers verses size, and this fight will go on forever, until one gives in, or the other has a bigger gun.

It's stupid. and by stupid, I mean thousands of people dying over oil, religion and absolute control. Yeah, it's that stupid.

I'll continue this later.

"I dunno... it looks like he had good aim... And that shoe seems like a size 10 to me."

Dalton McGuinty, You Suck [Politics - #1]

2008-12-14T20:47:00.000-08:00

Dalton McGuinty is the biggest Canadian clusterf*ck.

Yeah, I went there.

In case you're 1) American [or somewhere else] 2) a person who doesn't pay attention to anything 3) had your head incased in wax for the past 3 months, I'll fill you in.

There's this one politician in Canada here. His name's (rather obviously) Dalton McGuinty. He's a good guy, supports the teacher Unions, and doesn't lie [that much, but then again, what politician doesn't?]. He isn't a moron, he doesn't do stupid things, he doesn't try to pass bills that make no sense.
Well... I suppose now he is, and now he does.

Yeah, I went there.

Dalton McGuinty has put himself in the spot light, "That's it!" he cries. "I have a way to stop all of the teenage car crash related deaths in ALL OF CANADA!" If there was any way to get a Canadain politician or Canadian civilian's attention, it was that. You see, over 3'400 teenagers at the ages of 15-20 died in 2006. That amounted to a whopping 16% of all teenage deaths in Canada. That's a lot of people. Now, not only that, but apparently:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates the economic impact of auto accidents involving 15-20 year old drivers is over $40 billion.
A recent report by AAA estimates the cost of crashes involving 15-17 year olds to be $34 billion.
- statistics Canada.

So, when someone says they can nearly STOP all of that altogether? The government was on that like Oprah Winfrey on butter. I mean, 40 BILLION dollars is a LOT of money, no matter how you spin it.

Now onto this bill of sorts. In a nutshell, it says that only when a citizen reaches the age of 18 (exactly, not 17.5) can you begin the process of gaining your G1. On top of that, you must wait the 30 month grace period to gain your G2. Until then, you must have a parent/guardian in your car, you can't drive on highways, oh yeah, and if you're caught for speeding or ANY infringment, you suffer the worst punishment possible. Nearly every infringment will result in a loss of your liscence.

Oh, and did I say that you couldn't have more than 1 [non family member] in your car at once? That's also a big annoyance.

"Oh my god, Peter!" you cry in disgust. "That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard! It's a good thing it's still attempting to be passed." Oh, I agree, my friend, it is stupid. Want to mention the scary part? It's actually been passed.

Maybe I forgot to mention.

But oh wait! there's an oasis in the desert! Mr. McGuinty actually decided to drop that whole rule with the "1 non-family member in the car" rule. At least it seems that he has some brain cells. What a relief... Not.

Now I can imagine the merits this bill would have. But that's either because I like politics, or I have a very wide imagination - maybe both. Regardless, $40'000'000 is quite a lot of cash the government wouldn't mind being able to save, not to mention having over 1'400 kids annually live - that's also a nice touch [but we all know the government only cares about that nice money break]. And, let's face it, Canada; Stephan Harper just realized he doesn't like people, but he loves money. It also makes me wonder how many of those car accidents had alcohol involved... Think about it, if Dalton passes this, MADD will have one less thing to bitch about!

Then again... we ignore them anyway, but sshhhh, don't tell them.

Now maybe I'm the only one thinking this, but I mean, come on, dude. This is OVERKILL. This is like giving chemotherapy to a guy with a runny nose! Sure, this is a problem, it's slowing us down from moving forward, but come on. Why would you go that far?! With the way he'd have it, you would be around 20 1/2 before you can actually drive without your parents. You'd have to be 20 to actually have your own freedom and ability to have more space. "But no," says the stupid Canadian. "We can't trust teenagers with something like this. We must jump straight to the root of the problem and completely wipe it out." Because that's what he's doing, you know. He jumped from not doing a think about it, to completely annihilating the problem. Want to know a way to solve that problem?

Good, I do too.

Make the laws STRICTER! That's all you have to do, man! Don't take away the only hope a teenager has to prove her/hiself able to control a vehicle. It's not unreasonable, it's not enough to get people angry, but it IS sensible. Heaven forbid poltics are sensible, nowadays.
That's just stupid.

"If everyone's thinking the same thing, then someone isn't thinking."

This Whole Drinking Standard [Life - #1]

2008-12-12T15:25:00.000-08:00

Drinking.

It's mystified teenagers all around the globe. That one, single, bottle of alcohol could do so much damage, or give someone so much pleasure. It gets so many underaged teenagers drinking it in simple defiance of the actual rule. They drink simply because they were told not to.

It makes perfect sense to them. I mean, why shouldn't they be allowed to try something, to experiment and learn?

Because "it's a bad thing". Teenagers are being told other people's experiences with the stuff, and they're expected to explicitly follow that rule. Are they going to do that? Of course not! Any logical teenager would question the experiences, wonder for his or herself. Is that really such a stupid thing? Like, really, is being curious such a horrible deed? No, it's not.

Don't get me wrong - I'm against drinking at any age under 16-17. Really, I am. But the thing is, parents need to stop giving alcohol such a mystical feel - that it's the forbidden fruit of drinks. Am I saying that they should let them get drunk at age 10? No, not at all.

What I'm saying is that parents should show their kids what it's like. Explain what it can do and the damage it can cause, and at least let them taste the stuff. What bad can a sip of Heiniken do? They can't get addicted, they can't be obsessed over the stuff. But with gained knowledge, they can now know how to act and what to do in certain situations they may come across.

Imagine this:

A 15 year old is at a block party. It's tones of fun, people are there - it's a blast. He's never had alcohol before, and everyone else seems to be doing it, and hell, they're fine, so why wouldn't he? I mean, what makes him that different from the seniors? It's only a few years, after all.

So he takes a drink. And another. And another.

He keeps going in the poisonous cycle of drinking, and then considering if he should, and drink again. He's overloaded with alcohol, and taken too much for his body to handle. He was put in a situation in which he had no idea what to do, and now he's stuck there, drunk, and now needs a ride home.

Do you really think it could end in a good way?
I didn't either.

Now imagine this:

A 15 year old is at a block party. Tonnes of people are there - it's a blast. His parents, when he was like, 8, have told him what alcohol was. He knows very well what it can do to a person. He's even been a bit woozy when his parents let him have a shot at a wedding with his family. This guy knows drinking isn't for him, even though people are telling him that he should do it.

Problem - he's falling for the peer pressure fast, and he has his first drink long after his friends are drunk. The kid knows his limits, and figures he can make it look like he's drinking a lot, when he's actually not.

Party ends, and he calls a cab for a lift.

Which kid was better off?
Yeah, I thought the same thing.

"I always thought drinking was bad for me... so I gave up thinking."

Bioshock omgwtfbbq [Video Games - #2]

2008-12-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

So, if I'm ranting about video games, it's not a question that I would do Bioshock. But I'm now realizing - there's no blog enough that can do this game justice. It's just too awesome.

First Impressions:

No friggin way that this is a game

Incredible graphics work

CAN I HAVE FLAME HANDS TOO?!

Gameplay:

Wow. Seriously... Wow.

This game was an amazing change from my normal old FPS's (Halo 3 fanboy speaking). Whoever told you anything abotut his game is wrong. It's more awesome than they said. Bioshock breaks the awesome metre when it comes to any video game you prefer. FPS's, RPG's... you name it, you can enjoy this game. Trust me on this one.

But there was one problem I had with it - the controls. They're even more awkward than the BF:BC controls, but it's highly intuitive. Once you get it down, it's much much easier.

Artists who are reading my blog (probably like, none) you will have field day with this game - plain and simple. The graphics make me want to grab popcorn, pop, and start watching, and then the fact that I get to PLAY the video game is like a dream. Only, in this dream, you're in an underwater city made by a millionare so that artists and scientists wouldn't be annoyed by the overall census of the world. In this dream, it's in 1960, and people have created drugs to be able to change your DNA coding so that you can fire things out your hand.

Oh, and did I mention that it's all gone to the shitters?

Maybe I forgot to mention.

Yeah, so it turns out these civilians that are still living there are called Splicers. People so morphed by the DNA agumentors (known as ADAM) that they've gone insane over it. Those people are your main targets. And boy, are they fun targets.

As time goes on, you learn of these little girls that are left in this city two, who are now known as Little Sisters. They extract a certian liquid found in the bodies of Splicers and people who have used ADAM, called EVE. Wow, didn't see that one coming. Now, if you've ever taken a grade 9 science course, you might just understand this one;

Imagine EVE is like a stem-cell. It has no cell specialization, and is the root of all ADAM. EVE is the more specialized stuff - it gives you the unique powers you gain (ie. electro-hands). Another anology:

ADAM is the blank canvas, EVE is the paint.

Oh, and maybe I forgot to mention - you'll need to make some really hard choices. When I say really, I mean deciding between a Ferarri or Lambor - Well okay, maybe it's harder than that, but you get the idea.

In Bioshock, you're forced to make many [seriously, a LOT] of tough choices. In the beginning, you have a signle choice - kill or save the Little Sister. Kill her, and you get more ADAM. Save her, and you get the appreciation of a doctor who claims she can help you later on. It's between what's right and what's easy.

Online First Impressions:

Well, I haven't actually played it online, so I can't say much.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

Excellent game, deffinitly should have been runner-up for Game of the Year (was it?)

Great for all styles of gamers, worth the $39.

"We all make choices in life, but in the end our choices make us."

Battlefield: Bad Company [Video Games - #1]

2008-12-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

So here I am, at 12:01 in the morning, deciding that if I put my first post off any longer, gray hair might begin to develop before I even manage to start typing. I mean, I'm doing a blog about a video game for god's sake. You'd figure it'd be easy.

So, here I go.

First Impressions:
Splode-tastic

Graphics are sexy

Cinematics are funny

Gameplay:

Pretty funny game, actually. It seems to be more based on the humor, explosions and chase for gold [of all things] more than the actual plot line. The controls are kind of awkward (Xbox 360) at first, and seriously, it was a bit too easy. I went nearly the entire level on Normal without a single death. You can say I was really good at it at first, or that it was an easy game - or both. But, asking me, it was just an easy game.

I know my video games, and as far as FPS's go, this one was excellent, minus one major flaw. Way. Too. Many. Cinematics.

I mean, oh my god, every single bloody rally point, you have a short, 30 second cinematic. It's completely redundant. You could easily pull a Halo 3, CoD 4 and have the commands voice over the action, but no. At first you aren't really bothered by them - in fact, they're rather refreshing, but holy crap, if I heard Sarge say "Would you two SHUT UP!?" one more time, I was about to hurl my controller through my crappy, 14'' tv. It was very tempting.

Besides that, it was a great game simply because of the freedom it allowed. The missions (although short in amount) were absolutely massive in the game. It could honestly take you a over 8 minutes to walk across half of it. Yes. I've tried. Next to size of the maps, was plain old vee-hickle usage. Every single vehicle you saw the enemies drive, you could drive, from hilo's, to little attack buggies, to boats. Oh yeah, and even golf carts.

Ftw? Yes, indeed.

But, as a whole, the game had one other major flaw. The length of it. I'd estimate it was about... maybe 5-6 hours total gameplay at Normal. About 10-13 at hard. If you decide to try to play hard mode, I suggest you buy a crying towel. Maybe two.

Online First Impressions:

Much different

Game seemed designed for online (like most battlefield games)

Game type was refreshingly different (as opposed to FIRST TO X POINTS WIN!)

This game in Xbox live was like watching a movie play before your eyes. Only in this movie, you're given substandard weapons to start, no skills, or even the ability to see your enemies very well. But all in good time. Weapons become unlockable, along with different abilites per class. Example: call in airstrikes, heal yourself, place mines.

Secondly, was the complete difference this game served from other online games. The maps are based off the campaign maps, in both size and terrain. And for the actual game type, it was a different way of Capture the Flag. Only, by capture, I mean blow up, and by flag, I mean gold crates.

Yes, it's what you thought - one team defends a set of two gold crates, and the other attacks. The defenders have 5 sets of two gold crates - each placement of the crates makes it harder and harder to attack, and easier and easier to defend. Also, instead of a time limit, the opposing team is given a certain amount of reinforcements. If you run out, haha, game over. But, at the same time, every single time you take a set of gold crates, YAY!, you get more reinforcements.

Online, this game can take days to get used to, as the transition between offline and online is minimal at best - and we're not talking about controls here. No, we're talking about plain, old, simple inability to play this game very well. Everyone is cannon fodder in the beginning.

A few months after the fact, I'm sitting in my basement, 2 feet away from my crappy TV and the highest possible rank, completely nerding out. Either I'm a complete nerd, or I simply have too much spare time. Probably both.

Final Impressions:

Campaign, although humorous and exciting, was lacking in length.

Online is pretty damn fun.

"And Haggard here is a natural born explosives expert."
"Nah, I'm not... I just like it when stuff blows up!"