Booker DeWitt is a Chode

Booker DeWitt has exploded as a popular character. He is being cosplayed to death, which is fine, but what shocks me about his new fame, is that people seem to admire him. Booker DeWitt has no empathy, no concern for his fellow man. He can see racial injustice and calmly continue on his way. He can be thrust into a revolution where those who have never had anything desperately strike against their oppressors, and say dark evil things like, "And what happens when the rebel leader takes over? More of the same if you ask me." Booker DeWitt is indifferent, out for himself, fighting to increase his standing, achieve his personal goals, the welfare of others never plays into his decisions, and to me, that certainly isn't deserving of anyone's praise.

Video games create these characters occasionally, and almost all of the examples I can think of have gotten pretty popular. Sam Marston here, just wants to tend his ranch and live out his days in peace. Too bad he lives on the Mexican border during the perfectly named Mexican Revolution, and is forced to witness some of the atrocities that tend to accompany regime changes. Like DeWitt though, Sam Marston sees it all as a waste of time, a struggle to replace a leader with a similar figurehead. This way of thinking is lazy, but the gaming industry tends to lean towards these characters, and I think it's because playing a character like that elevates the player above the questions the story is asking. To feel smarter than all of the other characters by being indifferent, watching things play out. Seeing a revolution as a futile attempt to obtain your rights isn't a smarter way of thinking, it's just dickish.

Now Tidus is rarely called cool, but I would admire him long before DeWitt or Marston. Tidus makes mistakes, and is incredibly naive, but his heart guides his actions. He cares, and risks his life to ease the pain and suffering of others. He loves his friends, and more impressively, he loves the people he has just met, instantly placing himself in someone else's shoes as soon as he learns of a hardship. I feel the same way about Solid Snake, (who is an exception, very popular, very moral), who reluctantly practices the craft of espionage, refusing to let the bad win over the good. These are men we should applaud.

Sure, it's cool when Booker DeWitt jams his pinwheel knife into some soldier's neck, or when Sam Marston wins a shootout against forty-five bandits, but isn't it cooler when a protagonist resists temptation and does the right thing anyway? Isn't it cooler when Solid Snake tells Otacon that his only goal is unconditional world peace? Isn't it more admirable, when Tidus dies protecting a country that he has lived in for a month? I'm not saying don't dress up as evil femshep for your next convention, I'm just asking that those characters who accomplish truly noble things are talked about too.

Bioshock Infinite DLC

I love the Bioshock trilogy, and it's latest installment, Bioshock Infinite, somehow managed to be even better than the first two. I beat the game, and then beat it again, getting every achievement, waiting patiently for some sort of DLC announcement. Here it is. A combat pack will be released today, called Clash in the Clouds, which will feature a type of horde mode, but the big news is Burial at Sea, which will let you play as Elizabeth in Rapture. I won't spoil anything, because Infinite's plot twist is truly jaw-dropping, but they just barely hinted at a link between the libertarian city of Rapture and the capitalist fuck awful city of Columbia. It seems this DLC is going to actually explore that in-depth.

Video games today make political and religious statements all the time. I love the Bioshock series because it isn't just a point of view that is offered, but it really does feel like a chance to explore social experiments. What if a libertarian man who wants to be free of god, government, and entitlement actually got the money to build a city with those principles? (Turns out, he's a maniac.) Or what if a loud sister-fucking-baptist-minister got to govern an entire city built in the sky? You get to examine points of view like this behind John Galt-esque protagonists who don't seem to give a shit one way or the other until a pretty girl starts getting hurt. The games are well written, and all three installments have a signature plot twist, that turns the whole story upside down.

Bioshock 2 had a ten dollar DLC called Minerva's Den, and I consider it the best downloadable content that I have ever purchased. Never have I played a game add-on that had so much to offer, with such a tear jerking story behind it. If this new DLC for Infinite is anything like Minerva's Den, then I will be one happy splicer.

Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power

The last book I read was Everyday is an Athiest Holiday by Penn Jillette, and the book before that was Penn's other book, God, No! Before that was Dan Barker's book Godless, and although the ride was great, I was certainly ready to cuddle up with a different subject. How about the idiocy that is today's modern American military? Now, I am a Maddow superfan, which makes me quite biased, but I will try my best to review her first book professionally, and without hyperbole. This is the best political book that I have ever read. Ever.

America's military was something we used to be proud of. I have always wondered what happened to our country's confidence in our troops, in our military leaders. I watch shows like Band of Brothers, or old History Channel WW2 docs with wide-eyed amazement as I see this country, (apparently, it's the same one I live in today) coming together to support our troops, support our involvement in something bigger than us. Rachel Maddow really explores the decisions we made in the last 70 years that changed the way things work in our armed forces. From privatization of maintenance jobs to the elimination of Congress's approval being necessary to go to war, Rachel changed my mind about a lot of things with her writing here. I needed my highlighter. A lot.

The part of the book that really stunned me, was around chapter 7 when the idea was presented that maybe the draft is a good thing. The idea presented is that if average citizens had to personally sacrifice, like we did before 1950, by buying war bonds, conserving paper, or dying, maybe we would take this war shit a little more seriously. Maybe we would actually, as a people, look into it when a president says that there is just cause to send our kids to Iraq. Perhaps we would demand quicker resolutions to our armed conflicts if it meant our next door neighbor got to stay home because of it. We've been in the Middle East for a decade, we were tricked, knowingly tricked into going into Iraq and we can prove it, but nothing is being done about it. This book asks great questions, at just the right time, and it doesn't hurt that it is beautifully written. If you are at all interested in some of the bigger blunders that our military has been responsible for, or concerned about our fighting forces going into the future, then buy this. It's one hell of an impressive narrative.

Jorge Ramos

Do you know who Jorge Ramos is? You should. Mr. Ramos has been the top news anchor for Univision since the late 80's, and is one hell of a journalist. He has personally interviewed Fidel Castro, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Hugo Chavez, Joe Biden and George W. Bush. He even mediated a debate between then senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton when they were trying to get their democratic nominations back in 08. Jorge Ramos is very liberal, and very passionate about immigration reform. Why should you care about a Univision news anchor and political talk show host? Well, Univision just became the most watched television channel in the United States. In any language. Period. Univision has the most viewers over 55 of any other channel spanish or english, but also have the most viewers under 30 of any spanish or english television station.

This is a really big deal. When a television station reaches ratings on that massive of a level, and then start to voice a political opinion more frequently than ever, the consequences for opponents get higher. Steve King is a Congressman from Iowa, who recently in a speech compared illegal immigrants to dogs. Steve King then went onto Ramos's political show, Al Punto, to um, not apologize for it. Here, watch.

Did you watch it? Did you see Jorge tear Steve to pieces? This isn't just funny, it's a stern message. Republicans, if you really are trying to save the latino vote, then your first step would be to take the latino people seriously. Going on the #1 rated television show in our hemisphere and trying to justify your bigotry isn't a good idea. No matter how you spin it, like Jorge Ramos said, "I don't think it is complimentary to compare people to animals." If you would like to see the actual video of Steve King comparing illegal immigrants to bird dogs, here it is, just so you don't think that I'm taking something out of context.

Am I the only one who thinks that we, as a country are losing our empathy? Did we somehow stumble in our ability to put ourselves in other peoples' shoes? How come our elected officials are so full of generic hate? Ready to get really mad? The committee that is going to decide whether or not comprehensive immigration reform is going to get done or not has this man, Steve King, Mr. Frisky Latino Bird Dogs as a member. Joy. Go look up other videos of Jorge Ramos's interviews. Familiarize yourself with him, he is a very important leader for immigration reform, and the ethical treatment of our fellow human beings.

I Want To Be Your Next Earth Councilor

Mass Effect's multi-species council is a monumentally important group. We all know that being an American president is a difficult job, but imagine being the judge and enforcer of intergalactic law for over sixteen space traversing species, each with their own governments and home planets. Being a member of the council, (there are only four), means being the most important member of your species that has ever been born. To be Earth's councilor means you have more control over humankind than George Washington, Albert Einstein, or Bryan Adams ever had. I also happen to think I would be perfect for the job.

Here's how it works. The council is the governing body of Citadel Space. Citadel Space consists of nine species who agree to be members. Only four of these Citadel Species are considered council races, and are granted representation on the council. To become a council race you have to prove to the Citadel community that the galaxy couldn't stay together if it lost what your people are contributing. So, obviously, you won't vote me into such an enormous position based on my personality alone, here is my platform.

Put The Volus On The Council

As Earth's Councilor, I would push to allow every race residing on the citadel to have a councilor representing them. I know that a task that huge would take some time, but instating a Volus Councilor is something that could be done immediately, and should have been done a long time ago. They are the wealthiest race in the galaxy, which more than makes up for their peoples' lack of military power. The Volus spent a lot of money saving a Citadel that didn't equally represent them, and they should be rewarded for it. Also, space abortion is legal. 

 Start Arresting Batarian Slavers

The Batarians have an economy based on slavery. While it is outlawed in Citadel space, actual prosecution and apprehension of known Batarian slavers is rare. This is a consequence of the "that's just our way", argument that certain cultures use to justify atrocities. Everyone but the Batarian government disagrees with the practice of slavery, and now, the laws that keep it outside our space borders need to be used to hunt these assholes down too. No tolerance for slavery, it's the year 2186 CE for fuck's sake!

Eliminate The Spectre Program

This isn't as controversial as it sounds. The only reason you like the Spectre program is because it is fun to play as a Spectre in the video game. Look at what Spectres really are. A branch of the Citadel government who specially assigned agents are IMMUNE TO ALL LAW. Every Spectre agent can legally commit murder, rape, torture, terrorism, etc, as long as they claim that it is in the best interest of the galaxy. (Shocker, they say that it is in the best interest of the galaxy every time, go figure). This is a stupid idea, and I'm not just against Spectres in principle, they have caused very real, irreversible damage, and were able to do so because of the infinite power bestowed upon them by their adoring council. Let us equip our Citadel spectre candidates in a similar way, but hold them accountable for their decisions. This might make the job less appealing, but that's kinda the whole fucking point. Also, why not two person spectre teams? Like Mulder and Scully.

I've got lots of ideas on how to make our galaxy safer, (granted you daydream in the Mass Effect universe like I do), and if this post gets a good response, I'll do a part 2 or something. On  the flip, if you don't agree with the things I stand for as your future Earth Councilor, well, just remember, we are appointed, not voted on, so all I have to really do is grease the right palms.

Barack Shepard

I know what you're thinking, Barack Obama is the closest thing the real world has to an actual Commander Shepard. Savior of the galaxy, humanity's last hope, uses his machismo to appeal to other cultures and bridge us as a species. Yep. Obviously, somebody else thought the same exact thing and made a Commander Shepard that looks just like our beloved B-Rock. Doesn't it just feel natural? Also, I had never noticed just how similar The Illusive Man and Mitt Romney look. Interesting. 

What an evil son of a bitch.

If Barack Obama had been Commander Shepard, then there would have been no need for Mass Effect 3, he would have wrapped it all up nicely with just two terms. Is there anyone else that would do as good a job as Obama? Anyone?

Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim is certainly a change of pace, half Godzilla, half Gundam, this mech vs big fish movie was a lot of fun, even if the story itself seems to have been written by a hamster.

These big fish called Kaiju are attacking big cities that harbor the Pacific, like San Francisco, Sydney, and Anchorage, and the world must come together to figure out a plan to stop these things. So what is the plan they decide on? Tactical nuclear strikes? Perhaps a controlled seismic event that covers the creature's underwater dimensional portal with rocks? None of those good ideas, instead, every country builds a mech and fistfights these things. Awesome.

Every second outside of the fights is bad. There is a tempermental hotshot rival who eventually respects the protagonist, but not until after they have a macho punch-out. The female lead must prove her worth as a pilot in a male dominated workplace, and the leader exudes a cold, calm exterior that shelters a traumatic military past. The leader, (Marshall), also gives the worst pep talk speech I have ever heard. "Today, we cancel the apocalypse!" It's laughably bad.

Charlie Day here, was easily the best part of the movie, even though the entire scientist sub-plot could have been omitted. This movie is about the fights, and when they do happen, they are fucking great. Using a freight ship as a sword, rock bottoms through skyscrapers, the giant brawls are really cool, and make this movie worth seeing. It's a fun theater movie, and if shitty Evengelion episodes impress you, then this movie will make you very happy.