World of Suck

Zach Wigal is a 17 year old junior in high school.

He had a vision. Not like a prophetic one, but a figurative one. He was going to hold a tournament. A Halo2 tourney to be exact. He gathered up $650 and set out on his mission. He got a permit to use the school commons area. Printed up fliers and advertised on the internet. He got a list of 300 players who would be willing to pay the $5 entry fee. Talked 10 parents and teachers into chaperoning. Set a prize at $300 for 1st place and $150 for second.

Basically, he showed initiative and organization and put something together that would be enjoyed by many people, while giving him valuable experience for a young adult.

But he made a mistake. He called the cops to give them a courtesy call that the event was taking place.

Big mistake. Turns out, instead of having all of his planning paying off and rewarding him, he got to learn another lesson: People suck.

Let me back up some. When Zach approached the school to get permission to hold the event, they raised a concern. Halo2 is rated M. Mostly due to language. Zach explained at that time that the Mutliplayer version doesn't include bad language so it shouldn't be an issue. The school agreed.

But the cops... they cops... four days before the event... contacted the school and suggested that the school cancel the event because Halo2 was rated Mature, just like other games like Manhunt, Grand Theft Auto, and 25 to Life, which all have been in the media spotlight recently.

Having played Halo 2, this type of comparison is Bullshit. Pure and simple.

The decision to cancel the event... just four days before the event... four FUCKING days...just goes to show how large the gap is between gamers and the rest of the world. Because some schmuck cop got his panties in a twist and scared off the school administration. Zach was unable to find a new location and had to cancel several months worth of work, and lost all the money he spent. All because they didn't take the time to actually look into the game. To actually see if if comparing it to GTA was valid.

Fuck 'em. The pig cops and the pussy school admins should be burned at the stake.

From the NY Times: Income Gap Is Widening, Data Shows

"Income inequality grew significantly in 2005, with the top 1 percent of Americans - those with incomes that year of more than $348,000 - receiving their largest share of national income since 1928, analysis of newly released tax data shows.

The top 10 percent, roughly those earning more than $100,000, also reached a level of income share not seen since before the Depression.

[...]

The gains went largely to the top 1 percent, whose incomes rose to an average of more than $1.1 million each, an increase of more than $139,000, or about 14 percent.

The new data also shows that the top 300,000 Americans collectively enjoyed almost as much income as the bottom 150 million Americans. Per person, the top group received 440 times as much as the average person in the bottom half earned, nearly doubling the gap from 1980."

I'm sure that for those who knew all along that a government run by some of the richest, fat cats in America weren't at all interested in seeing anyone below them catch up... the numbers support you.

For those delusional bastards who felt that electing an "average joe like me" or "a family values representative", well I'm sure there are lots of excuses you can make to rationalize the fact that our President and his government never really had your interests in the first place. Enjoy.

Apparently Iran, confident that the US and UK are tied up in Iraq is pushing to make all the trouble it can. The idea being, naturally, that while the big boys have their hands full, they can get away with anything they please - from actively pursing nukes to snatching British sailors that wander too close to their border.

Clearly the other big dogs, Russia and China, are on their side. Unwilling to take any action against Iran and actively impeding any other countries that want to. Seems like a field day for Persia.

It's really not all that atypical behavior for the Middle East, where saber rattling and chest pounding is what symbolizes a "man" and social or political reforms are not even on the horizon.

Still it takes some nads for a government to actually take hostages in this day and age. Genuine members of the international community do not hold hostages, stage mock trials, or parade foreign nationals on TV. It essentially validates the position that they are really nothing more than a bunch of terrorists in suits.

While I hate people that feel compelled to talk and drive I am willing to give credit to people who go "hands free". Ok so you gotta talk? Fine, keep both hands on the wheel and I'll live with it. At least in an emergency you have the ability (even if not the attention or reflexes) to deal.

Bluetooth headsets are a dime a dozen. Frankly, the $40 unit I got for free with my last cell-renewal didn't even get a single bid on ebay at a starting price of $20. NIB even. The point is that they're cheap, easy to use and serve the purpose for hands free.

The question I run into, however, is why the fuck don't women seem to use them? Especially when they're driving? Women are supposed to be great mutli-taskers. Their brains are wired to process multiple signals in parallel, sure - maybe on paper that would seem to be an advantage in doing more than one thing at a time - but in practice? I'm sorry there's no two ways about it - the majority of fuckheads I see swerving around, missing stop signs, trailing into other lanes, cutting over three lanes at the last second and overall acting like diabetics about to collapse are women jawing away on the phone.

Maybe it's because most of the headsets look stupid when you wear them. Maybe it's because they don't fit with big, garish earrings. Perhaps it's simply because women don't dig technology enough to find headsets to be cool. Whatever the reason here's my big "fuck you" to all the Ho's who couldn't shut the fuck up long enough to turn their head before driving into my lane while I was still in the space next to them.

Please, next time, try it with a wall instead mmm'k?