-Irish

Personally, I don’t care what you do with your life. If you want to smoke crack in your hoopty with your ho, then go right ahead. And when you drive off and shoot your car into a family driving to church I want your head on a damn platter. Some might point to the fact that if the drugs were illegalized and if there were more stringent regulations and laws, that family might not have been hit by the hoopty driving crackhead. It is the exact same argument behind gun control. The idea is that if you limit what a person can buy, in regards to firearms, you lower the chance of innocent people being murdered by that person. To which I am forced to ask the obvious:

If they’re willing to murder somebody, are they then not willing to steal the gun?

Why would anybody who is planning to commit a crime use a gun that they bought? Instead, they would steal one from an innocent person, since they obviously don’t have the morals to compel them not to. In the age where science is an art and ballistics are a lawyers best friend, why take that chance?

Now, with all of that said and plenty of my friends from San Francisco angry with me (yet again), I think it is appropriate that I take a stance on Net Neutrality. I cannot name all of the people who, in the last week alone, have talked my ear off about how dumb Glenn Beck is and how the conservatives hate Net Neutrality because they’re evil and hate poor people or various sorts of minorities.  Yet, they are missing the obvious point to all of this: the conservatives, who are slowly becoming more libertarian (but not really), are some of the strongest proponents of the FCC.

The conservatives seems to go insane with joy whenever they get a chance to tell somebody that they can’t or shouldn’t do something. Bill O’Reilly has recently spoken out against the courts siding with the Westboro Bapist Church because they are saying hateful things. While I disagree intently with Fred Phelps (for obvious reasons) and everything he has ever said, I will be the first one to admit that he and his lunatic cultists have every right to say whatever it is that they want. Nevertheless, the conservatives want to control his ability to speak, just like the liberals want to control the conservatives right to speak. In the end, both sides are nothing more than mirrors reflecting each other, but placed on different sides of the aisle.

Net Neutrality, from what I understand, would essentially mean that the government, or rather the FCC, would have regulation control over the internet. Essentially, they would control it. With Obama in office this might sound like a good idea to liberals, and certainly the President supports the idea. Unfortunately, what we as a whole, no matter our political opinions, often forget is that we are not always in power. While Obama and the liberals are in control right now, it does not mean they will be in three years. Certainly Democrats should be able to recognize a growing number of conservatives in America, even if it pains them to do that.

So, do you want a conservative FCC (think back to Bush) controlling your internet? The obvious retort, of course, is that right now the corporations are in control of our internet. Instead of having a logical argument, whenever you bring up the big corporations you invite emotions to the dialogue. The ridiculous idea behind the spite towards big business is that they take advantage of people. That argument, however, is flawed when you consider that most of us have options when it comes to our internet providers. Hell, I’ve been having trouble with Comcast lately.  There are a lot of people who would have you believe that I am stuck because Comcast is the great octopus swallowing the fleet of innocent folk. So what am I going to do? I’m switching to SureWest on the twentieth. That is how the Free Market works. Sadly, there are a lot of people who don’t want to believe that the Free Market works at all.

Instead, I simply want you to ask yourself if you want the government, whose control is fluid and never given to one group permanently, to regulate your internet? If you do then certainly we are forced to agree to disagree. The FCC already controls what we can view on TV and what we can listen to on the radio, with exception to satellite radio, why are we so quick to give them control over what we can see, read, watch, and listen to on the internet?

Do you really want Sarah Palin to control your internet?

-Irish

I never played the original Battlefield: Bad Company game. Everything I heard about it spoke against my adoration for Call of Duty. To elaborate, it wasn’t… Infinity Wardish enough. Nevertheless, Bad Company 2 quickly caught my eye when I saw how amazing the graphics are. Praying I could even run them, I immediately bought the game, downloaded it from Steam, and fell quick into the world of multiplayer competition. And, after a good week of fervent play, I have come up with the three best and worst things about Bad Company 2.

The Three Worst Things About Bad Company 2:

I. The Oblivious Death

They can see you, but no matter how hard you look and no matter how hard you pepper the tree line, you never, ever, EVAR find those hidden bastards who take little more than one or two bullets to rip your fat, Mountain Dew soaked head off. Are they hacking? No, but you think that they are once they’ve killed you for the tenth time. And do you know what makes it all that much worse? The jerk who runs up and lobs a grenade, which for some reason you forgot entirely about, into their little rat nest and kills all of them. THANK YOU for making me feel inept at my job!

After playing a good seven days worth of Bad Company 2, which from henceforth shall be known strictly as BD2, I’ve come to the conclusion that no one who plays the game will admit to doing that. Our inability to be humble knows no bounds, like the dorky seventeen year old who FINALLY got a handjob but refuses to admit that it is noting more than glorified masturbation.

II. That one dude who uses [insert class ability] too often!…

What an ass, yeah? I mean, you would never toss down your ammo cases and spam the fuck out of your explosives like he does, right? And you would totally never be caught being a sniper and hiding behind the rocks in the water where no one really expects you, right? Of course not, you’re the innocent sort who uses the weakest weapon but still pwns face. You rush at enemy tanks and blow them the hell up with your knife and your trusty dog Max.

It’s fine, you can admit it. There is nothing better than being a TubeNoob or running around using your M60 and reviving all your buddies who just got their head blown off. When the other guys do it, however, there is nothing worse and with vicious fury you let lose your angry… and then you die horribly because the sniper used his mortar. This topic also covers the all too hilarious, especially when happening to you, Base Raping. When you complain the other side will inevitably claim that you’re just being a wimp. It’s like a bully kicking you in the balls and asking why you’re complaining. And yes, yes, we know… it only happens to us because we’re weak and not very skilled at our job. Sure, you have a tank constantly unloading all of its rounds on our one spawn point left, but it’s our fault.

III. Medics

The greatest gift to any squad and certainly the easiest class to level up, the Medic is perhaps the reincarnation of Jesus himself. One difference: Jesus did not carry an M60. I suppose if he had then he wouldn’t have been tacked up on that stick, but the point remains the same. The Medic is more of a saint whose gone apeshit and decided to go on  a killing spree. And you know what? He’s got miracles in the form of two paddles that he just rubs together and ZAP! Whole unit is back to fighting. Not enough? Don’t worry, if you want you can also choose to use a shotgun. The M60 is better, but maybe sometimes you just need to test your inability to be mortal.

And while there is nothing worse than charging into a building, killing everyone only to then be stabbed in the back and lay there dead, watching as that backstabbing medic revives everyone, it is certainly worth the annoyance when you realize that you can do the same damn thing. One problem: TubeNoobs… fuckin’ A.

The Three Best Things about Bad Company 2

I. Medics

You’re Jesus, blah, blah, blah. ZAP!

II. Helicopters

While this is certainly more of a pain when you’re on the opposing side of the helicopter, nothing is quite as rewarding as jumping into one of these mechanical Goliath’s and ripping away every little jerk who comes across your screen. A tank can do that though, right? One difference: those pesky snipers can’t run over and strap some C4 to your ass. Granted, they can snipe your pilot, but that’s why the Easter Bunny packed you a parachute.

III. Killing Russians

There is nothing better than grabbing one of those M60s, getting some buddies who do nothing but spam their grenades, and that special friend who fondles his rocket more than he does his imaginary girlfriend, and blowing the fuck out of some commie pinkos. You can stab them, you can snipe them, you can run your ATV into their stupid red beret wearing heads, you can spawn camp them, base rape them, you can blow up their bases, eat their sandwiches, and show them the true meaning of Red, White, and Blue.

Then you lose the match cause that asshole Tim ran out to buy some guacamole because the stuff his mom made was a little too green.  You try to explain to him that she’s Canadian by birth and probably doesn’t even know where guacamole comes from, but he insists that he has to go buy some, you know… cause chips just don’t taste the same without it. Don’t worry, though. By the time Tim gets his ass back there you guys have lost the Squad Rush map and are now the Russians. You could sit there and commit suicide for the next twenty minutes, but patriotism is so last match.

-Irish

Moving on…

The one thing that we found amongst all of the rights, proper or otherwise, is that the newest one, guaranteed Health Care, is perhaps the most vindictive. Not only that, it’s the only mandated one that is not situational. That is to say, it affects us one hundred percent of the time, rather than one hundred percent of the time if a certain event were to occur. This of course is referring to having a fair trial, which is situational since it is not a constant occurrence in our individual lives. If it is, then you might have other problems you should look into fixing.

The obvious retort would be Freedom of Speech, which affects us one hundred percent of the time and is clearly not situational. Nevertheless, we can choose if we want to exercise our Freedom of Speech and if we choose not to we are not then fined. The Health Care Bill that was passed forces every single American citizen to have Health Insurance. Remember, its a right, right? That is what Obama has said, isn’t it? Perhaps I misheard, in which case I am left to wonder why we are so avid in claiming we have the RIGHT to Health insurance.

So, since the Government is enforcing this new Right of ours, which doesn’t really feel much like a Right but more like chains, then shouldn’t it also enforce the others? Well, then everyone should be mandated to immediately go and buy a firearm. Oh, you didn’t know? Yeah, the Second Amendment is still in place. While some cities ignore it or flat out abuse it, such as New Orleans, it is still a Right and since the Government is forcing us to exercise our Health Care Right then why not our Gun Rights as well?

Let’s instead look at a more defended Right – Freedom of Speech. We all have it, but that does not mean we all use it. Most people don’t exercise their Freedom of Speech. You see, most people are too busy working and trying to live decent lives, they haven’t the time to rant about this type of stuff on a blog nobody visits. Since we are requiring people to buy Health Insurance because of this new Right, why not also force people to have a blog or a public forum where they are forced to speak their mind, even if they are against it for whatever reason, or be fined six hundred bucks?

Rights are given to us as a gift from our creator. No, I’m not overly religious. I don’t go to church and I have no desire to start. Still, even my Agnostic ass admits that it is our creator, whomever that might be, who gives us our Rights, not our government. Not to mention, I’ve never heard of a Right we are forced to have or else.

-Irish

P.S.: This post was not proofread or edited in any fashion.

When my father died, she told those who doubted her to watch her success. Even though she didn’t even graduate High School she has managed to attain a job that many would be honored to have. And throughout it all, she has dealt with addiction after addiction, defeating each not simply because she had to, but because she knew it was the best thing to do. Never was she rich, quite the opposite actually. When I was a teenager and I asked for a cell phone, she told me to get a job and buy it myself. When I was young and refused to do something, she made me. And when I needed her help and she knew I could not do it on my own, she was there to support, not guide, me.

And with all of that said, she came to me Saturday crying. You see, for a while she was on Government aid when I was young. She knows first hand how so many people so eagerly rip the system off. And with that in her mind, she asked me to explain to her everything I can about the health care bill that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid were trying to pass. So, I sat her down and I told her the truth that I knew. In fairness, I tried to sugarcoat it.

The people who honestly need help will finally get it with this. There will be higher taxes, but those taxes will not affect you. Etc, etc, etc…

Unfortunately, it didn’t help. She understands the basics of the bill: more money taken from the people who employ her. She’s got a decently nice job and not long ago they were all given a small raise. When someone at her work complained their boss came back and informed them that they were lucky they even had a job.

Oh, by the way, my mom works for one of those big, evil insurance companies.You know, the ones that give her amazing health care coverage, allow her to work overtime when they don’t have to, and have promoted her a half dozen times because they have faith in her ability.What bastards.

My mom put two and two together and realized that the first people who will be affected by this, with exception to the doctors perhaps, will be the insurance companies. They will begin to see their profits fall – its rare the Government lives up to its end of the bargain – and they’ll be forced to do one of two things: lay off hundreds and lower the paychecks of those who still work there (except the CEO’s, but that’s just business) or move their company to a third world nation and take advantage of the people there. Obviously, this will directly affect her.

The unemployment rate in Sacramento, where she lives, is 12.2 percent at this moment. Many outlining areas are not much better, some far worse. And who amongst those hiring would hire a fifty-four year old woman? Oh, and by the way, she has severe medical issues which sometimes forces her to see doctors all day – its not always planned either, sometimes she just can’t help it. Oddly enough, that happens to be another concern of hers. You see, she has several specialists and she likes having to take five tests instead of the one that Obama so proudly proclaimed she would need. She likes her doctors, but as Mr. Obama said: She can keep them.

Obama is right. She can keep them… unfortunately, with the higher taxes on business she’ll probably lose her job, which means she’ll have to find one on the spur of the moment – McDonald’s – and she’ll lose all of her health care coverage. Since she’ll be getting less and whatever job she’s at probably won’t give her any (it’s cheaper to pay the punishment than give health insurance to employees) she’ll be forced to take Obamacare.

It’s a lovely system.

-Irish

P.S.: This post has not been proofread or edited in any way or fashion. Enjoy my idiocy.

Less than likable characters, a rambling storyline, and a forty page speech. Actually, I don’t know if its forty pages, but it felt like it. The whole of the novel is over one thousand pages, which, while I respect it, forces me to automatically yawn. Still, I like the book and I love the philosophy behind it. I am more than open to admitting that I am biased, but in the end I enjoyed the novel because when I finished reading it I had no regrets doing so. I can proudly say the same about many other books, many of which go against my political beliefs but I still enjoyed reading  for one reason or another(e.g. anything having to do with the anti Semite Jimmy Carter)

And with that in mind, let me now shift my attention to BioWare and their Dark Fantasy series Dragon Age. Admittedly, I am not a fan of fantasy, so when I heard the story was mainly about the righteous Grey Wardens fighting a seemingly impossible battle against the evil Darkspawn I let out a big sigh and twirled my finger in the air. Unsurprisingly when I got the game and played it I was equally unimpressed. The graphics were pretty good and the story was decent, but it just didn’t quite grab me.

After not even beating it (I got lost in the Fade and gave up) I tossed the game aside and went elsewhere. Recently, in the last few months at least, I started playing the game again and found myself aware of my own folly. Before I even installed the game I hated it. So this time I went in with open eyes and I played the game as it was meant to be played. Ever since I have been addicted. That being said, I still hate the idea that dwarves are perpetually underground stonemasons, that elves are tree huggers, and that all evil things must be 1) entirely stupid yet strangely effective, and 2) Dark or Black or somehow not white.

Complaints aside, I love Dragon Age: Origins. So I dove head first into the latest game in the Dragon Age series: Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening. No, really, that is the full title. A bit long, but it’s an RPG. And, oddly enough, nine hours and forty-eight minutes after putting the disc into my PS3 I was finished… no, I’m totally serious. I finished a BIOWARE (specifically capitalized) game in under ten hours. I have never, and I mean NEVER, finished any BioWare game in under ten hours. Hell, the quickest I beat Dragon Age: Origins was my last run through, which took me thirty-seven hours and I skipped almost all of the dialogue since I’ve beat the game about six times now.

I also found the story to be a little lackluster. I simply did not care about the new characters, the scenery was much the same, and the idea of a talking Darkspawn (something so astounding and yet it is mentioned in the Codex for the Hurlock that its possible for them to speak) is only cool when you and the Architect have a nice little meeting. The one thing that this expansion has forced me to do, however, is play through the original game one more time. Why? Well, I don’t need a reason – clearly my actions are not governed by logic or thought.

Now that I think about it, however, I must correct myself. Of all of the new companions you find in Awakening, there is ONE who pops out as amazingly awesome. In the first game, for me, it was Shale. The mere fact he says “Pigeon crap..” when you drop him from your party is enough to make me love him. Well, this time around my favorite is easily and without argument Justice, the undead Grey Warden whose being used by a spirit as a vessel. Why? ‘Cause. Justice don’t need no reason beyond that. He’s just that… alright, it was an accident, but I don’t want to ruin it for you.

I have a bit of an issue with the first game now that I’ve gone back and begun paying attention to it. Much like I did the second time I read Atlas Shrugged, I came across a few problems that I didn’t before. And while I still love Atlas Shrugged, I openly admit that it is NOT a perfect novel. Some people will refuse such an idea, while others would call me an idiot for not burning it. The same can be said for Dragon Age: Origins.

I. Loading Times

This was a problem only for the PC’s, and, much to my chagrin, continues to be a problem for the PC’s. You see, I have two copies of Dragon Age: Origins – one for the PC, obviously, and one for my PS3. I only bought the PS3 version because I wouldn’t have to restart it every hour because of a memory leak issue that BioWare apparently refuses to fix. While many would consider this complaint to be groundless since I can just restart the game, which takes a minute at the very most, I think it is a prime example of nonchalance on the part of BioWare. Either this problem is too big for them, which I find to not only be hard to believe but shocking since they’re making an MMO specifically for the PC, or they do not care.

II. Downloadable Content

I am a capitalist, obviously, but I’m also pragmatic – or rather, I like to think of myself as. The fact that BioWare has DLC ready to be released as soon as the game hits the shelves shows me that they care more about money than about their gamers. While I am a fan of money, I am always the first one to admit that a business that deals with the public needs to make sure they do not then screw over the public. Much of the DLC is rather worthless and, to a certain extent, easily passable. Actually, with the exception of a few items, all of it is forgettable. The greatest thing to come from the DLC is Shale, who was originally supposed to be in the game but was taken out. To get Shale you have to either buy a new sixty dollar game, or buy the pricey DLC. It’s still cheaper, mind you, to buy a used copy.

III. Wonky Sound Quality

The voice acting is pretty damn good, though I hated Jowan and the nine hundred copies of him all throughout Fereldan. Nevertheless, I haven’t any issues with most of the VO. The problem I have is how strange some of the sound is, and even how some of it seems to either be missing or never put it. When you’re at the Battle of Ostagar and running across the bridge to the Tower of Ishal you are essentially in the midst of an enormous storm. Yet, the only sound effects that you hear is thunder every now and again. The rain is running sideways and the wind is damn near visible, but you hear NONE of it.

IV. Odd Controls

The game is immensely fun, yet there is something to be said for the odd controls. Sometimes its hard to put yourself in the right position, which doesn’t necessarily matter unless you’re playing on a harder difficulty.

V. Stretching out the Story

There are many parts of this game that feel overly long, as though they stretched them to add otherwise unnecessary hours to the game while not adding anything particularly spectacular. The best example which comes to mind is the Fade event while doing the Circle of Magi quest. Not only is it frustratingly hard, unless you’re a mage, but it’s strangely and painfully long. Oh, and you’re not done yet – you just battled your way up the entire tower, you’re sunk into the Fade for an hour or so, and then you have to fight one hell of a hard boss. Did I mention that anything you might find the Fade, which rare exception to stat boosters, cannot be brought back into reality? So yeah, that hour or so, depending on the difficulty you’re playing it on and how experience you are with the rather annoying puzzles, is entirely useless. You don’t even get money from it!

VI. Darkspawn

This is one of those problems that I have logically with any fantasy game that employs these types of enemies. The very idea that a group of barbarians are able to destroy a world simply because they’re evil and have the word dark in their title is inane. It would be easy to point to the Visigoths or Genghis Khan, but ultimately those examples are poor at best. Rome fell not because the Visigoths were amazingly well put together, but because Rome was internally weak. As for Mr. Khan, he was a genius when it came to military strategy. The Darkspawn in Dragon Age: Origins are not even able to speak – or, at least most are not. I am intellectually offended by the idea that a group of idiots are somehow able to beat back and army of well trained, highly evolved, and expertly armed soldiers.

VII. Graphics

The graphics in the PC version (the one that has to be restarted every hour) are damn nice. On the other hand, the graphics on the console version is horrible in comparison. I expect that, mind you. Actually, I would be shocked if it was the other way around. Nevertheless, the reason I bring up the graphics is not necessarily because the PS3 and 360 versions are ugly in terms of facial features, but because many of the textures used are absolutely pathetic. Yet, somehow, the reviewers touted this game as having spectacular graphics.

VIII. Animations

Some of the animations for the characters are laughably bad. These are mostly seen in the cutscenes, which while the dialogue is good are, alone, B Movie-ish at best.

/rant off

The point is that even though I love Dragon Age: Origins, I know that there are problems with the actual game. I find it offensive, if I cared that is, when reviewers are so blatantly biased. Admittedly, the entire point of a review is to give your opinion about the game, but it seems so often that they are unwilling to admit when there is an actual problem with that game. They become defensive and, much to my displeasure, unwilling to admit the truth.

-irish

P.S.: This has not been edited or proofread in any way.

-Irish