Racial Stupidity

What I find really curious up here in Canada is how many Black folk I run into who are sold on this concept of 'Racial Tension' and the 'Crimes of the Old White Man'. 

I grew up in Vancouver.  There weren't a whole lot of Blacks (Mostly East Indian and Chinese) but the ones I met?  At least a third of them were total assholes.   My best friend in grade 2 was black.  His name was Ray Clark (Yeah Like the singer).  I played with him and fought with him and whatnot.  You know.  What kids do.  His dad stormed upstairs with him and I watching TV.  He brought a newspaper with him.  He ordered me to read an article in a newspaper he brought up.  I faked it because I didn't want to read a fucking newspaper article (did I mention GRADE 2).   He then kicked me out of his house.  

My first exposure to racism in regard to black folk was a black person's unreasonable racial intolerance  of me.

The last time was by a customs agent at the airport a few months back.  He didn't like me and it was emanating from his voice, his body language, everything.  He kept interrupting and correcting.  He was very demeaning.  The only time he was nice was when he was trying to get me to say something that would keep me out of the country.  Then when I was answering one of his questions, he stamps and shoves my passport back in my face, gives me his best 'Fuck You' look and tells me to 'Go'.   
   
I had a black friend attack me while I was looking at my cards while him and I were playing crib.  A flurry of fists as I was falling back in my chair.  That fucker beat me black and blue.  I finally stood up and fought back when I was able.  I told him to knock it off and he did then he kicked me out of his room.  Because I was all 'Loyalty over Integrity' in my early 20s, I didn't get him kicked out.  He told me later that he attacked me because 'He felt tension between us'.  That was it.  

As I said before; I have lived in Vancouver almost all my life.  I'm white and practically a minority here.  If I were to feel racial tension at all, don't you think it would be toward one of the other main groups of minorities!?  

Yet most of the black folk I see around here (what?  Like 1%!?) carry this massive chip on their shoulder...you know like all this history we've had with them.  You know.  Slave owners of the Alberta Oil Sands.  And what?  Who can forget The Emancipation Proclamation 2. 0 by Alexander MacKenzie (except everyone because it didn't fucking happen).   

You know?  I've gotten so much shit for being 'Racist' by way of my being 'Older and White' not just by the few black people I happen to run across but by young white people.  I've had reasons not to like certain people who have happened to be black.  If I were to categorize then I would say that a third of all black people I've met were total shit heads.  Is it because of a perceived tension?  Is it because of my history with certain individuals that make me classify them subconsciously based on a proportion of experience?

I don't know. 

But what I do know is that when I get into an elevator and there is another person who doesn't know me and is absolutely dripping with hatred toward me:  There is something really wrong.  

The New Generation Needs to Focus on Critical Thought

I was listening to the MTV music awards the other night.  I figure between the terrible music and the errant bullshit that drops out of some of these 'PC' folk's mouths, it would be like a test of stamina.  It didn't take long before I had to switch it off.  The opening statements where one of the announcers started -

Kevin Hart told the audience they were "allowed to kneel," He continued: "You can do whatever you want, there's no old white men to stop you."

So 'Which' old white men specifically?  Oh.  So you are prejudging based on age and race.  Otherwise you would have said "Old White Man" in reference to Trump.  

See...The Devil is laughing his ass off.  If I get onto a bus and I see two double seats unoccupied.  One next to a black guy (and I don't give a fuck if you think my using the term 'Black' is racist. It isn't) and the other is next to a white guy.  They both look up and see me.  The black guy recognizes that I'm an older white man and has views about that.  He gives me a look.  I give him a look back.  I sit next to the white guy and some millennial douche bag in the back calls me a 'Racist'.  

This is a microcosm of the problems today.
  
The thing you have to understand about racism is that RACISM is the problem, not RACE.

As long as you are announcing on TV that all old white men are racists then you are no better than some redneck in the deep South using the 'N' word in anger.  Worse, in fact, because you are promoting a faulty belief system on national TV.  The same "Belief System" that caused African Americans to suffer for 300 years!!!  You have, effectively, become the thing you hate.  

The Devil is ROFLHMFAO and Martin Luther King Jr. is spinning in his grave.  

It drives me crazy how black servicemen were treated in WW2.  They deserved to be treated exactly like the heroes they were instead of - what they got (scoffing in disgust).  

The truth of the matter is that we are all a little prejudice.   We are all a little racist.  The trend toward perfection is unrealistic.  I've met black people I don't like.  I don't judge them by their shade, I judge them for being idiots, assholes, drama queens and whatnot.  

Back in the day I was part of an organization.  There were a lot of different races in there.  There were 4 black fellows that I remember.  3 brothers.  The oldest was a little high on himself.  The youngest had a small man complex.  The guy in the middle was a good man.  I was proud to call him a friend.  This other guy; Edwards - man.  Him and I competed all the time trying to out do each other.  He was a good man too.  We all gave each other shit.  We never got all "sensitive douche bag victim" about it.  We were like brothers and I was happy to call them brothers.  This was back in the '70s.  

This is where we have gotten to.  We have a President (okay the US) who is a populist.  

Once again, we are trying to attack they symptom and not the disease.  Donald Trump is not an anomaly.  He is indicative of the fact that our minds are not prioritizing correctly on a national scale.  Instead of siding with the person who wins an argument, side with the person who wins the argument based on facts and logic.  Vote for the mind and not the "Winner".  

Donald Trump is very skilled at the art of the bullshit.  He is also skilled at getting people to like him (despite his character).  It is the responsibility of every American Citizen to take charge of the future.  Don't assume that he is okay "cause he says what I'm thinking".  Look this guy up.  Check what he is about.  If you think he is a nice guy, you will be unpleasantly surprised.  (And FFS!) STOP GETTING THE STORY FROM FAUX NEWS!!! 

There is a little Trump in all of us...

We complain vehemently about the US President but who is he?

He is a son of a rich man.  A man who sells half a million dollar condos for 5 million.  He is a man who will always tell you something that someone else thought up was his idea.  That something that someone else did was his doing.  He wins arguments by switching to the attack and discrediting while never actually answering the original question.  He expects the moon and stars for any contracts and won't pay if he can get away with it.  He appears to be a nice guy, a successful guy, a knowledgeable guy, because that is his stock and trade.  Lying is his business and business is good. 

The simple reason why Trump won is because people needed to buy what he was selling.  People needed hope.  People needed to have confidence in the possibility of a better future. Populism is at an all time high.  People will believe the appearance of truth over empirical reasoning.  People will choose the winner of a debate based on appearances.  Logic has no place in this populist ideal.  In any good martial art, a defense will seamlessly blend into an attack.  One of the many skills that Trump has is the ability to do this with words. 

Trump becoming President isn't an anomaly unto itself.  This phenomena is the logical conclusion of errant thinking. 

Every time you choose to 'Win' a discussion by putting the other person on the defensive... that's a TRUMP.

When two people are arguing when, out of the blue, one person declares himself the winner while everyone isn't really paying that much attention believes him.  That's a TRUMP.

Someone takes credit for something done by someone else and you don't say anything?  That's a TRUMP with a side of McConnell.  

You and someone else are up for a job.  It's a promotion.  Not so much larger with the money but much higher status.  You know that they would do a damn fine job and serve the position.  You know that not only would you suck at the job but your lack of knowledge would endanger other people.  You also know that your contacts would get you that job if you asked.  So you say "I want the status.  Fuck the other guy or the danger to other people".  That is an EL TRUMPO SUPREMO! WITH A SIDE OF CHEESE AND BACON.

It is not just the people doing this.  It is an acceptance of the people who do this that brought about the election of the supreme icon of errant thought.  

Donald Trump is going start a Trade War.

Being a Canadian, I love my US brothers and sisters.  We're not going to follow you into rash action all the time because we have our own minds and sometimes we think you are acting fucking stupid.  

Electing this guy as leader of your country?

Was Fucking Stupid.  Here's your Helmet, Brother:

Donald Trump is a wrecking ball.  He is everything a President SHOULDN'T BE.  The wealth of evidence was there before he took office and it's tenfold now of how who he is doesn't fit the role!  This isn't about "Acting".  I don't care if he "Acts" like George Washington or Gilbert Gottfried just so long as he was an effective administrator.  This is about character.  Donald Trump is wicked shy-sty.  It's there...it's ALL THERE!   You just have to open your eyes and look.  

Now Donald Trump has started a trade war with Canada, Mexico and the EU.  The thing is that no one ever "Wins" a trade war.  It damages long term relationships and imposes administratively costly fees (that is fees that require costly management to impose).  

Thanks to Donald Trump, the US is making enemies out of long term friends.  Vladimir Putin is laughing his ass off.  

That Donald Trump thinks he is entitled to a bigger share of the money made on Free Trade is natural.  He's an old rich kid.  His sense of entitlement is VERY well developed.  He figures that, like the business contracts that he screws over due to his being able to afford better lawyers and keep it in court, he can use the US economy as leverage to get what he wants internationally.  The problem is that other countries won't go for it...and they have a choice.  The only thing he is going to succeed in doing is to piss people off and make enemies.  Everyone's goods will cost more in the US as well as other countries.  This all comes from Donny's deluded thought that ALL money made on free trade should belong to the US.  To him, money made by another country benefiting from Free Trade is money HE'S not MAKING; therefore is a "Loss".  Think about it.  How can you lose money by buying your goods at the best price you can find?  Who the fuck believes this idiot!?  Helmet Time!

The arbitrary decision to take an additional 25% of OUR MONEY has been met with resistance and a counter attack.  What?  Did you think that we would just let Donald Trump take our money?  Learn some history.  Canadians are meek and mild on the surface but we are fucking fierce.  

Donny tried to steal our lunch money and Justin punched him in the nose right away.  It's the only way to treat a bully.  A Trade War has started and EVERYONE loses.  Donald Trump is the worst President you have ever had.  He will tell you that he is the best.  It's in his nature to do so.  

US and Canadian citizens are suffering enough from just daily expenses.  Now we all have to pay more and who knows how long the situation is going to take to get back to normal.   

What next?  Canadian Aluminum and Steel from "Jyna".  Most people around the world already hate the US enough.  What do you suppose this is going to do?  

In Canada we are getting up to 36000 illegal immigrants from the US a WEEK!   Maybe WE should build a WALL.  

I task every person in the US that didn't vote for Trump to grab someone who did, shake the fuck out of them and tell them to wake the fuck up!

Roseanne Barred

Back in the 90's, I was "Who is this large mean woman and who thought the stuff she said was actually funny enough to have given her a show?".  I watched several episodes at different times to see if any of it caught on...it never did.  Add to that was the fact that I really disliked Roseanne personally.  The way she threw her emotional weight around like the female versn of a Little-man complex.

Not that long ago, it was announced that they are bringing Roseanne back...and she is also a Trump supporter (both the character and the real person).  Trump supporters are idiots.  The evidence of what he said and did is public record but he will smile and call it 'Fake News' in  his charismatic folksy manner and these folk will turn from fact and continue living in fantasy.

The 'Mean Tweet' from Roseanne about Valerie Jarrett looking like what would happen if the Muslim Brotherhood and The Planet of the Apes had a baby.  My first thought was:  "Of course she would say that.  She would absolutely say that.  Not only that, given her lack of imagination, she probably would have used that joke repeatedly because you can fit in 3 of just about anything.  It's the same "Joke" kids used to use in High School...and it wasn't really funny then either...just mean...and immature.  This coming from a woman that thought singing the national anthem off key in front of millions was hilarious.  Then she grabbed her twat and flipped the crowd off for good measure.  Roseanne is the mother of the 'Shock Value' not funny Jokes that gave rise to such "Comedians" as Will Ferrell and influences culture today.  A whole generation learned that laughter was being flashed grandma's tits (as in Something about Mary) was humor.  Roseanne's entitled shameless immaturity was vaunted as 'Bold'.  Madonna defended her but she is a shameless no-class bitch herself.
 
Madonna shaped the music industry by getting away with damn near sex on camera so as to sell her  music.  She was the first to take things as far as she did.  This leading to almost every female recording artist would objectify their own looks to sell their music and videos.  A whole generation of young women would identify with this as 'The New Culture'. The Slut Culture. 

Now, in the aftermath of that, we have the #MeToo movement.  That's another story all together. 

Now Roseanne is cut from her own show because, after how many years on TV initially, and a return to it (almost unheard of) someone said "Hey!  She said something racist.  Maybe Roseanne isn't a nice person after all.  Gee what was your first clue!?
 
Now she is all apologetic.  Saying that she "made a mistake and it wasn't her intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable".    I don't doubt she's feeling sorry but 99% for herself.  She has to manage the situation or, rather, her publicist does.  Maybe call in a few favors from up high to help 'Give it a spin'.  I guarantee that if left to her own devices, '93 would have been "Roseanne who?  oh that idiot who killed the national anthem thinking it was funny.  I heard she is living in a trailor park in Tuscon."

I don't think Roseanne should be giving ANYONE grief on how they look.  Honestly, I can't seem to find anything good to say about her.  She has no acting talent.  She isn't funny.  She isn't very pretty. Her voice is like 2 crows surfing down an icy aluminum banister.  She's a mean, no talent cunt with delusions of superiority.  Actually, I can find something nice to say.  Despite all that she is, she has made a name for herself on TV.  Maybe, in those early years, her one skill was that she owned a Polaroid and knew how to use it.

Great Games - Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines

This Series of blogs titled 'Great Games' will feature reviews on games which, though may even be buggy and severely flawed, have features which elevate them to an epic level.

Today we look at 'Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines'.  I'll try to keep it clean but there may be spoilers.

In 2001, Troika Games teamed up with 'WhiteWolf''s RPG and started work on this masterpiece cult classic game.  The 3 heavy hitters of the computer RPG world; the power players from the excellent Fallout series (1&2):  Jason Anderson, Tim Cain, and Leonard Boyarski were at the heart of it.  Troika consisted of 32 people all busting their asses to make the best computer RPG ever made.  That was the goal, anyway...and it had heart.

Troika attempted to add code to Valve's unfinished source engine (the finished one was used in Half-Life 2).  That is where most of the bugs happened.

Ideas flourished while those in the trenches with blowtorches and wrenches (metaphoric) struggled to catch up.  Eventually, David Mullich was hired as a game producer and said 'I know you want the moon and the stars but the budget says you need to start trimming and get a game out or all this code and media goes the way of 'Duke Nukem Forever'...and Troika with it.  DNF had been scrapped twice(?) even by that time.

Even with the cuts, and a little sneeking a peek at Valves code improvements, in November 2004 Activision released the most bug filled RPG ever...competing against (ironically) Half-Life 2.  Doom 3 and Quake 4 came out around that time.  Gamers, who only had a limited amount of money, had to make a choice.  What VtMB had that those other games didn't was heart.  The Soundtrack and ambient sounds were amazing.  Choices and variety of characters?  Awesome!  Dialogue options and individual experience.  Superb!  Combat wasn't anything special except that you could use abilities and essentially spells to make that a unique and fun experience.

So loved was VtMB by the users that they started supporting it well after Troika went belly up (2005).  Troika went broke because they over extended themselves and the returns from sales of this game weren't enough to bring them back.  They were dropped onto the market at the same time as Valve's Half-Life 2 (Some would say this was Valve's intention in response to the 'Stolen' code) and HL2 squashed them in sales.  HL2 was big budget and ran like a well oiled machine compared to VtMB.  Having over extended themselves in this project and sales not compensating for it, the company folded.  It's a damn shame.  We could really use more of this sort of game now! Yet, with more people comes less creative control and the heart can get lost.  There are examples where, even though the business is big, the heart is still there (Far Cry 3 is one example) but it is rare. 

I originally picked it up at a sale on STEAM in 2011 for about $5.  This game has provided me with at least 20 times that in value.  Even now, the objects sometime don't work so well with the environment...or the sprites forget themselves and you find a chair where the door knob is supposed to be.  Just smile and sigh...save and do a restart of the game.

"I can't tonight, hon...Copper, Julius, E, Lilly and Rosa are having a party down by the pier"

Difficulty?  the game is hard enough made more so in the fact that hard choices need to be made early "Do I take an extra point in Strength or buff out my persuasion skill for a test that I know to be coming up?".  This game seems more like comfort food for the haggard gamer.  I was just playing Just Cause 3 before and the guy was surfing a plane while firing an RPG7 at ground targets.  I think I rolled my eyes so hard they actually made a sound!  I thought there would be a choice?  No choice... point and click...and I felt my brain die by the second of this non sense.  This game - the guy has a grappling hook mechanism in his arm.  You can launch yourself to the top of a ten story building in a second...guess what?  if a person actually had this?  Their arm would get there but that's it.  Everything is all super sized and stupid now.  It's funny how an old game about vampires seems more physically realistic than a new game about regular people.  

I enjoy a game where I have to earn being a major badass...not one where it is given to me.  VtMB does that.  The success of this game 'In the wash' has not gone unnoticed.  Paradox games acquired the rights to it in 2015 following their purchase of White Wolf.  They will work on a new project when the time is right.  Could this be a new game of the ages?  When the stupid 'Supersize' bullshit wears off and people realize that you can't fall 10 stories without going 'SPLAT!'.  A game with Troika imagination and the backing to kick it into gear.  The mind reels.  I do love the thought though.