Oh bugger.

    I hate politics with a passion, and while like every other human I have my own thoughts how things should be done but in the end none of it truly matters. I have decided not to vote this year because no matter who I pick it will make me part of the problem. And despite the saying if you do not vote you do not have the right to complain, you have every right to gripe because let me ask this if that were the actual case then this country would have never been more than a British colony. I am not overly fond of Obama and detest Romney and frankly think this country will get 4 more of the same crap or 4 more years of new crap. Yeah love the “choices” in this one. The government is not doing their job at all in a way that would have gotten those regular folks that still have a job fired. Can it with the social issues and all of the other pointless ass distractions because folks that as I have said before is all that social issues are just a distraction from anything real. And it’s both parties screwing around not just one of them. And wake up your vote doesn’t count especially now that labor unions and corporations can toss ungodly amounts of money around to fund their puppet, and religious organizations have been doing it for years.

   People gripe about the president, but let’s get real folks it’s congress and the house that say yes, no, or duhhh to anything that is purposed and they introduce some serious bs when they actually do something. Our country is failing because it has become stagnant it has happened throughout history to countless nations. Greed, corruption, and backwards thinking have left this country in a mess.  Congress and the house sit on their thumbs doing really nothing but griping and using our lives as bargaining chips and pawns, none of these people have to worry about how to pay the light bill or after they get voted out what to do because they are set and were set before they got into office. Gone are the days when our presidents could do anything, think we’ll see another FDR? Oh he introduced Social Security……evill!!!! We pay for that out of taxes yup more money for the government to mishandle. And I do not care nor really believe what numbers say about what percentage of Americans pay taxes and who doesn’t it’s well known those things never tell the whole story how many of those are the ultra-rich?  And if you buy anything you pay taxes in some form quit defending corporations geez people you defend them and they laugh as they send your job away.

   And some random chicken place doesn’t like gay marriage big damn whoop. Don’t eat there it’s no big deal I have and well didn’t really like the food. Take your business elsewhere it’s not the only place with a chicken sandwich. And for those who cheer it please go back to the South in the 50s there is no difference in your behavior as it was directed to people then as it is now. And frankly gay marriage one day will be recognized as perfectly legal and that is just looking back at history. And think hard about this if one guy not converted to Christianity that would still be illegal everywhere. Be they rights or privileges people of all stripes have fought and died to make it possible for people to be able to speak their minds, to have different views, to have a religion of their own and not be (in theory) persecuted for it. The politicians have won the people that should be able to fire them can’t because by Cthulhu they made it so that if we try or even think about trying what the founding fathers did we end up in undisclosed locations  having chats with people who do not exist. We blindly defend these idiots that wave, smile, and pander to the biggest and richest section of voters. I can almost guarantee if suddenly Atheists became the majority then all of the politicians they claim to be Christian would start to pander to them. 

I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite store on the Citadel

    I was reading an article today about how Amazon may start charging sales taxes in certain states in order to have distributions centers there that could conceivably make it to where Amazon could deliver products next day or possibly even the same day. Now of course I had to go to the comments section and see what the internet troglodytes were saying about this move. Of course the main issues were buying American, avoiding, sales tax, and buying locally in mom and pop stores. Fist issues about buying American is this most of the things we use today is not made here due primarily to American companies having outsourced to China, so consumer’s not buying things made here isn’t the fault of the consumer buying things made in China because let’s be honest damn near everything is made there unless it’s clothes or food. And corporations have made it that way, what gets me is Amazon also carries products made here and it’s a bit easier to find them with a little *gasp* effort. Now buying locally is a thing I do not quite get locally how exactly?  All I really ever see are chain stores my fiancé and sister both run what could be seen as local businesses for their areas but also ship their products just about everywhere; the main problem with some local places is that they simply do not carry what you are after. For example I used a local computer company to build me a computer I gave the guy all the specs  and I heard that he was supposed to be really good at his job. What I got was a $600 POS, oh it looked pretty but did not run crap and I had to purchase separately an external WI-Fi adapter…that was supposed to be built into it already. None of the specs were used at all and he put bootleg programs on it, and a graphics card that couldn’t run well anything at all oh and to top it all off the damn thing died in less than 6 months due to a error the guy made.

   So I ordered a Toshiba laptop from Amazon…most likely made in China and guess what…no problems. The guy who made my monster POS was getting good reviews  for one reason…he was a local preacher then of course I find out later that many people who sent it a computer for repair or whatever  either had to wait months or got back the comp unfixed or half fixed and were still charged. He sold the place to somebody else since then.  Many times people will go to a local mom and pop for things like crafts or it’s a restaurant I honestly have never seen a local place to buy things like games or well anything most are chain stores. One post I saw mentioned book store and how Amazon’s lower prices have made them all but disappear…no it’s not Amazon having lower prices even though that helps its selection . Local used bookstores are a crap shoot at best and most times their selection stays the same for months if not years or their prices are just ridiculous. I understand making a profit but it is when you charge almost cover price for a used book just due to who the author is. An example is a bookstore we used to have in Paris TN where I am from, me and my friends went there to buy our gaming manuals because back then you had to drive to a mall to get stuff like that. Dice are normally $10 for a very decorative set, but she was charging that price for unfinished dice ones that normally went for less than $4, and the previous mentioned silly book price was her as well. After she went out of business she tried to sell us the manuals for full price even though they were all out of date.

     The same goes for a chain bookstore the last time I went to one I purchased maybe $30 in books, one two that I was after were both almost $25 each so I skipped them…one I found in a digital version for $9 bucks and this book was fairly old. The other I got for $15 digital….hmmmmm. Another issue with used bookstores is they may only carry books that the owner approves of or some of that shockingly awful paranormal romance/teen bs that is popular now. But what if you wanted a book about say Alistair Crowley or that satanic Harry Potter? You’d be out of luck. Amazon helps you find obscure books or ones that a local or store doesn’t have not to mention a ton of other products that you just cannot find on a local level. Now I do love shopping at local pawn shops because you may find some things there that you won’t anywhere else and also cheaper…such as seasons of TV shows. People will go and use the store that carries what they want.  And if Amazon starts with adding sales tax hell just add it in to the feature price and nobody would really notice at all. Personally I’d rather they did not charge it but that is because like many humans I like to get a deal or at least feel like I am. It’s not about avoiding paying taxes…even though I may feel the government gets enough from us.

Seriously here in GA you have federal tax, state tax, land tax, your car tags cost more if you have a newer car, and sales tax….so if a person wants to order something that skirts some tax in more power to them. I mean damn rich people can write off or avoid some taxes all together…so if you are reading this and are one of those that feel  that a person should have to pay extra on an online order the by all means give the crooks more money and shut the hell up junior!  Local businesses go under due to many factors either they charge more than a competitor, have no selection,  or could just be bad at business to name just a few of the reasons. Yeah online retailers take business from locals, but many locals have started to run just an online business. And yes Wal-Mart does hurt small business but at the same time it’s competition and folks many hate to go there for any reason so small chain stores and local places get more business  just due to Wal-Mart being a wretched hive of scum and villainy…complete with mutants and other strange individuals.

      What hurts local business and the whole buy American thing is that American corporations want to make their products as cheaply as possible and sell it to the consumer for a far higher profit. And as we have seen and experienced there is nothing to stop them from sending manufacturing jobs away. Oh they can blame unions and I agree to an extent unions have gotten away from the original purpose they were created for, but workers do need protection from corporations. It was not that long ago that people were seen as no better than disposable tools, they still are really but in not such obvious means. But corporations found a way around it all…just send the jobs to places like China. And *gasp* the government lets them….and then sit wondering why there are no jobs and why the economy is in the tank…it’s all those bills they signed allowing this to happen under the various presidents.

I was an adventurer like you...till I took an arrow to the knee.

    I was watching TV tonight and saw the commercial for Gamefly, where people are going into obviously what is supposed to be a game stop to trade in games and then having hissy fits for only getting nine bucks. Now not being a customer of Gamefly I have no real knowledge of how they operate and I will probably never become one due to certain concerns. For instance if this is a game rental company what is stopping people from getting messed up games? I get the whole try before you buy thing but at the same time what if it was like renting games back when video stores still existed? I remember one night having to take back three games in a row because they were so messed up they did not work and this was just a local store, I can only imagine what a national rental company’s games look like especially if they are sent by the postal service. Another issue I see is this commercial seems to be saying that you should get full value for a game you wish to trade in, now like any product once out of the package its value decreases quite a bit , and say you play it for a while and hate it so you want to take it back well sorry not goanna get the 60 bucks you dropped on the newest Call Of Duty: Same Ol Shit As Last Time game. What this commercial shows with people flipping out over not getting what they want for a game return is the sense of entitlement that not only permeates the gamer world but a lot of aspects of society today. I go to our local Gamestop often and have traded and bought a variety of games but unlike some it seems I know the drill. If you trade toward a new game you can get a $60 one for half that or more hell you could even if you have a few games that are crap get more for your trade.  It’s not a perfect system nor is it truly fair but folks neither is any aspect of life, and these are just video games.

       Video games are made to be disposable otherwise we’d still have those old cartages that could survive a nuclear war, not a DVD that one scratch can kill.  Simple research can help you avoid getting a game you will hate; a game has great graphics…so a lot of movies look good buck suck, that shiny car? The engine is about to blow, never judge anything by its look especially a game because that is all it is. When I decided on an Xbox it wasn’t because I was a fanboy of some type it was because I liked the games offered that the PS3 did not have. I looked into each and every game almost obsessively to avoid such pitfalls and I have to say I ended up with games with a bit of replay value and enough DLC that all I have to do is drop some cash or what not to add onto a game I love. DLC is annoying but hey what isn’t?  It is another way to make money on a product that may or may not last, I mean come on look at the sheer number of accessories we buy to add on to other products.

  This of course brings me to piracy in a roundabout way and I had no other way to jump topics lol, but it does fit. I have pirated music, movies, and yes committed the sin of pirating a few books (why did you make me do it George RR Martin!?!?!). Is it stealing yes I make no illusions about the morality of it. Why have I done it? I like free stuff like any other human, argue with me if you do that silly extreme couponing shit I DARE YOU.  I also do not like paying an outrageous sum to see or read something that could be a potential load of crap, if I like it then I do buy it. Now just to play devil’s advocate here what truly is the difference in downloading a song and it coming over the radio?  I have heard the song without having to pay for it so the artist gets no money from me or any other person that hears it on the radio unless they like the group or song. Now what about books? Does the author get any money from me if I buy it from a used books store? Or from however many people owned the book before me? The same goes for movies and games from places like a pawn shop or Gamestop if you buy used nobody that made the product gets the money for it. Well they did once when it was new, but after it changes hands from the original owner then what happens after no artist gets anything from it. Now what is the difference between me checking out a book from the library, reading it then returning it or borrowing a copy and doing the same from a friend and downloading a book then deleting it? The author got the money from one person buying the product. Other than the moral stealing is wrong argument with the existence of places where a person can buy used products makes most arguments circular. People will argue for both sides and toss up any argument they can yes entertainment companies are greedy and produce a lot of crap but at the same time well we still buy it. I have downloaded and probably will again like I said mainly to test something out before I buy it later I mean we test drive a car before we buy them, hell dating is test driving a person before making a commitment.  I know I’ll get some crap for admitting to raising the Jolly Rodger but hell I’m human, and in the eyes of the corporations anybody that ever borrowed something or bought it used has committed piracy. Why do you think that most of them want to make all of their products digital? They can code in all sorts of ways to make it to where it cannot be sold used or borrowed.

Some may call this junk, me I call them tresures

  

   Most of the time I have little to say about stuff and when I finally get my thoughts together enough to write  then I actually do one of these things. Now those who have read my first two blogs already know where I stand on what some call important social issues, but now it’s time I wrote about something far more personally important to me than religion or politics and that subject is the sheer amount of crap entertainment. Yeah I know how is this more important than world events??? That answer is simple my opinion on politics or religion will not change the world nor is it all I think about. We as people have to be entertained it’s that simple, look around how many forms of entertainment do you own? Video games, TV, DVD, cell phones, various forms of computers, books, and e-books…wow now flash back to your child hood how much of this did we have then? I had a TV that maybe got 3 channels, an ATARI the later a Nintendo but I had to wait for those to be invented also toys and books. I remember the first time my parents rented a VCR it was amazing to me at that time. Now I have a lap top,XBOX360, a Kindle, DVD player more movies than necessary , and of course books. This brings me to the sad state of media for these forms of entertainment.

   I am a big horror movie buff but sadly there are not that many good ones anymore, too many today are the same movie with the plot of deranged family that tortures/eats people. Where are the good ghost stories?  I was looking for a movie to watch online and could not find anything remotely tolerable and as my sister will be quick to point out I am the guy who liked Death Tunnel at first. I have held off watching Dream House or Insidious mainly because I feel they may be the last of a dying breed of movie. You know one that isn’t a remake, reboot, or sequel (granted the new Nightmare on Elm St was great). I understand why people download movies you pay the outrageous cost to go to the movies and leave feeling like you just got socks for Christmas. Or wait for the DVD and pay 20 bucks and well then not being able to get two bucks for it from a pawn shop. And today everyone is a movie critic with the medium to instantly tell you how bad or good something is. The movie industry has no farther to look than the crap they pump out and the way technology works in order to see why they have a problem with piracy, and the fact people like free stuff.  

  Music has gotten just as bad as movies I cannot stand certain types of music mainly country or gospel. But rap has become so well stupid that I cannot tell one song from the next, having seen the good stuff from the late 80s-early 90s today’s version just seems like it’s playing to bad stereotypes. Rock if it exists still is just as bad the bands that I consider good have been around for a while, and yes I still hate Nirvana. I do not actually understand the hate people have for Nickleback  I have seen them twice during the tour for Silver Side Up and find them to be just as good. Sure they seem to keep the same sound but to me consistency is good and they sell a shit load of albums. Do I need to remind you people what happened when Metallica tried to change their sound...hmmmmm?

        This brings me in a way to the root of all evil…reality TV. Who was the chucklefuck (pardon my language here) that came up with this concept? I will grant that some shows are good I enjoy Ghost Hunters and Pawn Stars you know the ones where you can learn something. But then we have Jersey Shore and The Real Housewives of wherever…these shows make my brain bleed just knowing they exist. In many cases the whole show are rich people that argue every 2 seconds there are more bleeps in some of these shows than I heard when some network tried to air an Andrew Dice Clay show. Or shows where a washed up actor or musician looks for love…that works since most of those have three seasons. It would not be so bad if these shows were just here and there on the many channels available…but oh no every channel has to have a few of these turds floating around some networks are dedicated to them anybody remember when TLC  was The Learning Channel? We have shows that glorify teen pregnancy not the possible hardships that happen but drama that happens with the mothers and random other people. Hell none of the teen parents have any hardships now since they get paid for the shows. But people watch this stuff so it will be continued to be pumped out in amounts that make good shows get buried. There are so few good shows in general now Supernatural, Psych, The Walking Dead, True Blood, Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory, and well that is about it for me lol. I still enjoy watching wrestling but that has went downhill from what it was.

    Ok now on to books most of those are still as always hit or miss many are great but there is some crap that is everywhere. What annoys me the most is the sheer amount of paranormal romance novels out there it seems that with the surge in e-books there seems to be countless numbers of these things but sadly these were all inspired by the Twilight series….yeah the books are crap, but if they inspire people to read more power to them.  I have too many books if that is possible something like 200 regular books and maybe 600 or 700 e-books quite a few are just digital backups for books I have and e-books are a great way to save on space.

        Video games are something  I grew up with I was born the same year Pong was invented and there were still these things called arcades and yes I was deep in the Street Fighter 2/ Mortal Combat craze of the 90s. I have always enjoyed a good game having been a Dungeons & Dragons geek RPGs have always held a special place. Now until recently I also loved wrestling games but those have really lost their luster I may get WWE12 when it gets to 20 bucks but probably not. I recently got an XBOX 360 and I love it I waited till the many problems were fixed before getting one. I do not like the PS3 at all mainly due to the menu, and no Left 4 Dead. Now I was a big computer gamer for years mainly with Neverwinter Nights, Age of Empires, and Dragon Age Origins but I got very tired of having to wonder if a game would be compatible with my computer. The XBOX made that a non issue, and with a couple of exceptions I have loved all the games I have played on it. The exceptions would be Dead Rising 2, Assassin’s Creed, and Eldar Scrolls:Oblivion.  Assassin’s Creed is a good game great story and graphics but I felt like I was playing Mario or some shit. I hate jumping around and to me that series was too focused on that aspect. Oblivion well it is probably a good game but I started that series with Skyrim so yeah it was doomed. But Skyrim is one of the top ten best RPGs I have ever played three of my top ten are taken up by the Mass Effect series…the only flaw in that series as everybody knows would be the ending of Mass Effect 3. Skyrim is an amazing game the only flaw to me is the repetitive NPC dialogue. I also love the Left 4 Dead series I have yet to play Alan Wake since Mass Effect and Skyrim have taken up a lot of my game play time.  I’m picky as hell with games I do not want to pay say 60 bucks and be left with something that just takes up space.