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An Excellent Metaphor for Government

Anenome — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:07:44 GMT

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirtbag

How about, before talking about any more taxes, the government has to get rid of waste, excess workers, redundancy, and abuse, and make do with what they've got, just like the rest of us.

What we need is a government that stops treating us like chickens in the roost, to be plucked and plundered, and more like chicks in the nest, taught to fly and then set free.

I adapted this metaphor from something I read in CS Lewis's "The Abolition of Man" where he used something similar in reference to the way schools teach children versus how they should teach children. Such a beautifully succinct and apt way to put it.

I spoke before about societal ossification. The US is ossified, resistant to change and refusing to adapt to the new realities. It can only end in some crisis which either wakes it up to the new reality or causes it to double-down on a failed policy.

It was fiscal policy that ruined the Romans. The Byzantine empire too failed for fiscal reasons, not having enough money to pay the army that installed the new ruler, leading to that army sacking the city :P They were never the same and fell to the Turks soon after.

It was fiscal problems that led to the end of the Soviet Union, when it realized its failed socialist economic model could not keep up with American capitalism and that it would always be militarily vulnerable and increasingly so under that failed model.

It is fiscal reasons that cause crisis now in North Korea, where starvation is the worst in the world due to their stubborn insistence on remaining socialist economically.

Government becomes addicted to wealth it legislates to itself from the people, treating them as the goose that lays the golden egg, to the point that some politicians have said tax money belongs to politicians, not the people.

Is it their money? Or is it in trust to them? After all, they did not earn it, they are there to steward it, with a fiduciary responsibility.

All of this is driven by the perverse incentives of government. And by this you can see why government always fails when it tries to do things:

- When a private company lives within its budget, it makes a profit. This allows it to expand, attracts investment capital, and the enterprise flourishes. The incentive on business is to be as efficient as possible in all things.

- When a government entity lives within its budget, it's deemed to have been given more money than it needed to accomplish its goals and has its budget reduced. The incentive on government is to spend your entire budget, and then some.

- If a company posts a loss continually, it eventually goes out of business and will be replaced by a better leadership team or another company.

- If a government entity posts a loss, meaning it spends more that its budget, it can lobby that its mission is much larger than its budget, and will usually be given a larger budget next year. This is why the post office lost like $9 billion last year >_>

If a business is failing, the realities of the market will force it to stop operating and give that capital to other entrpreneurs.

If a government entity is failing, will it be disbanded? No. There are almost no historical cases of such being done.

That's why the gov spent $1 trillion more this year than we paid in taxes.

Do You Remember: Hybrid Heaven

Anenome — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:06:16 GMT

I'm, kicking off a new theme called "Do you Remember" where I, and anyone who wants to join in, will do a quick review piece on an ancient title, acting as the ghost of video-gaming past:

Yes, that's the ghost of videogaming past ^_^

Today I'd like to talk about an awesome game from way back when, good ol' 1999 B.F., that's 'Before Facebook'.

Developed by Konami, back when that name meant something more than another lousy SNAAAKE! sequel, Hybrid Heaven pre-release press had me whipped into a frenzy ready to buy this game and buy I did. What resulted was... well read on to find out :)

When you popped the Hybrid Heaven cartridge (remember those) into your N64, you immediately knew the game was awesome, because it was so demanding on the N64 hardware that it could use the N64 expansion pack to continue, which you may recall raised the system's memory from, get this, 4 megabytes to 8 megabytes!!!

Now that's you've finished laughing, let's move on :)

Hybrid Heaven had a lot of things that we think of as standard today. It could be switched into 'hi-res' mode, to 640x480. And it actually had voice-acting! Here's a video of the intro sequence of HH, in hi-res mode:

Plot: You play Mr. Diaz, an alien-created human-alien hybrid. You turn on your alien masters and the fight begins. But, actually, you're not Diaz at all you're, well, it's a bit confusing. Wikipedia, can you explain please.

Quote:

As the game progresses, it is revealed that the player is actually assuming the role of Slater, who was disguised as Diaz by the Gargatuans. The Gargatuans are an alien race around three feet tall who, after being betrayed by a member of their species who awoke from hypersleep and piloted the ship to Earth, are forced to help said traitor with his genetic experiments. The alien creates clones and hybrids (a genetic mix of human and Gargatuan DNA, resulting in extra-powerful creatures) and intends to conquer the earth through a replacement of its leaders, beginning with the United States. A few Gargatuans have escaped the traitor, and conduct a underground resistance in the woodwork. They found Johnny after he had been cloned and disguised him as Diaz, who they incapacitated and kept unconscious. Johnny regains his memories, which were blocked while he was disguised. The player then must travel even further down the bunker in the hopes of stopping the aliens from replacing the president with a clone and by request of the Gargatuans to defeat the traitor. Johnny's personal motive to help him stay focused is that he must make it back in time to meet his girlfriend under the christmas tree in Times Square.

Because aliens. That's all you need to know :P

Gameplay is corridor-based with a rather good follow-camera, with the typical annoying system of needing to grab keys to advance.

What's incredibly unique about Hybrid Heaven is that it is a menu-driven beat-em-up RPG game!

The game starts reeeeeally slow too, violating one of the major principles of good-game design: get players into the action ASAP. It's literally 19 minutes before your first actual hand-to-hand fight where the game gets interesting. This probably accounts for its middling reception. But once you get into it, it's addicting and unique.

Then things really get out of hand when the genetic experiments accidentally get released from their cages.

Check out the fighting in the video below (skip to 24:20):

If you didn't watch the video above, I really suggest you do! Skip to 24 minutes and watch that fight! Menu-based RPG hand-to-hand combat allows a level of control not possible in Street Fighter, Tekken, or other real-time games.

Imagine if someone resurrected this genre today and turned it into a multiplayer-turn-based game. Would be interesting. Also interesting that I don't like playing SF and Tekken style fighting games, yet really enjoyed Hybrid Heaven.

So, long story short, Hybrid Heaven is equal parts WWF wrestling, Final Fantasy, and Scifi Alien Invasion story. I give it an 8 out of 10 with points for originality.
And to this day, I still remember it :)

Jagged Alliance: Back in Action Wallpaper

Emabulator — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:34:05 GMT

Full set of three wallpapers in three sizes.

Why Things Don't Change

Anenome — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:40:57 GMT

Xbox 720 Blocking Used Game Sales?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anenome

But devs and publishers think it would benefit them. So if all the devs flock to that system, you don't think gamers would follow? They'd follow.

One day a man visited his friend in the country, and they sat outside on the porch as the sun dipped low, sipping sweet tea, and the man had an old hound dog who laid out there with them. And as the two chatted, every so often the hound dog would pick his head up, cry out whimpering pain, then put his head back down.

After this happened a third time, the visitor says to the man, "Your hound sounds like he's in pain, what's going on?"

And the man said, "Well, he's laying on a nail head sticking up out of the floor, and it hurts him."

"Well, why doesn't he move?"

"Because it doesn't hurt bad enough."

Too often, in games, in politics, and so many other spheres where only coordinated mass action could cause change, we act collectively like that old hound dog, yelling every once in awhile but not moving.

Star Trek is a Depiction of Socialism :\

Anenome — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:03:14 GMT

(Link to original post)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capt_Thad

Think that sums up the ME tech nicely. Everything is done by the same "mystery" technology used in different ways. I mean it's cool and all, and I enjoy it, but it's a single excuse to explain everything they can't explain. It's basically magic.

You're just focusing on one aspect. Both properties use fictional science, sure, and Mass Effect uses it better, but Star Trek assumes some social and economic changes that are both ridiculous and a product of a 60's mindset--and in this area Mass Effect is far more realistic:

Quote:

Star Trek, in all its spin-offs and manifestations, has always been one of my favorite entertainment franchises. But lets face it, the world of Star Trek is a Utopian socialist fantasy.

Realizing this fact actually makes watching Star Trek more enjoyable. I get a kick out of watching and pointing out the absurd economic and political fallacies in the show. There are two main aspects to the socialist fantasy of Star Trek, the economic and the cultural. Economically the show is yet another instance of the classic utopian socialist fantasy of a society without money. Culturally the show reflects the prejudices and misconceptions of modern paternalistic liberalism. Gene Rodenberry imagined The United Federation of Planets as a society that had moved beyond money.

Supposedly the invention of replicator technology, in which energy can be transformed into any kind of matter, had created a post-scarcity society for which money was now superfluous. We are expected to believe that the citizens of the Federation have moved beyond greed to a higher level of human consciousness. With replicators people are now free to follow a higher purpose than the base acquisition of personal wealth. A couple of quotes form Captain Picard illustrate the general attitude towards money and wealth taken by the writers of the show:

A lot has changed in three hundred years. People are no longer obsessed with the accumulation of �things�. We have eliminated hunger, want, the need for possessions.

The economics of the future is somewhat different. You see, money doesn�t exist in the 24th century� The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity.

This attitude towards money is utopian, wrongheaded and naive. Money is not evil or a symbol of greed. It is simply a universal medium of exchange. Money is necessary for any society functioning above subsistence level. Not using money is in fact a step backward towards primitiveness, not a step forward into the future.

...Probably the worst example of present day liberal prejudices coming through is the treatment of the Ferengi, the only civilization in the galaxy whose society is based on free trade and private property. While Starfleet officers are all depicted as handsome, noble, heroic, and self-sacrificing, a sort of �New Socialist Man� if you will, the Ferengi are depicted as monkey-like, money grubbing, sniveling little wretches. Many of their physical features as well as their behavior are reminiscent of the worst Nazi stereotypes of Jews. This reveals far more about the bigoted nature of liberalism than it does about how societies with free enterprise look and operate.

The writers get everything backwards when it comes to the Ferengi. The culture is depicted as backward and misogynistic. The government is depicted as bureaucratic and oppressive, while the communist government of The Federation somehow preserves individual freedom. This may be the biggest lie of all peddled by the writers. There is never any reference to rules or laws in the Federation, while the Ferengi supposedly have a huge code of 285 laws known as �The Rules of Acquisition.� They even have an enforcement agency called the FCA to make sure no Feregi step out of line and accidentally treat their employees well or give a customer a fair deal. Yet contracts are also supposedly sacred to Ferengi.

When the home planet of the Ferengi is visited the bureaucrats are shown to be nasty, venal and greedy � just as we would expect bureaucrats to be. But why aren�t Federation bureaucrats like this? Why is it the society based on free trade that has backward cultural values and an oppressive government when in reality we see the exact opposite? In the real world countries that have a greater degree of economic freedom also tend to have more personal freedoms, progressive social values and gender equality. But this is not how liberals would like to see the world. They dislike reactionary social values, and they dislike capitalism and economic freedom. So naturally they put the two together to please themselves.

As long as there's money in Mass Effect, it's a more realistic portrayal of the future than Star Trek. Money ain't going anywhere.

The leftist idea that money and property are the root of all evil is their most pernicious fallacy.

Awesome K-Swiss commercial (NSFW)...

sai tyrus — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:56:00 GMT

From our very own 3Suns over at his group, The Stranded.

In case you missed my SOPA and PIPA new story...

sai tyrus — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:23:03 GMT

If you don't know about SOPA and PIPA, two legislative acts that can hurt YOUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH, check it out at my blog. Also included are ways to contact your Senators and Representatives. Remember, you have a VOICE.

Project C.A.R.S. Trailer (DX11) (1080p)

Emabulator — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:00:31 GMT

Project C.A.R.S. is under development at Slightly Mad Studios with
help from a whole assortment of developers and community members.
Read about their unique development strategy here.

So uh.. reviews may be slow for a while

Mav — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:14:58 GMT

I got laid off at work yesterday, they cut ten percent of workers in my call center and I fell within that ten percent ;(

I've still got plenty of games on my phone I can review, some new (Final Fantasy Tactics) some older that I haven't reviewed so that'll keep up with review content for weeks to come. Hopefully I can get unemployment and begin job hunting soon.

Sigh.

Friends might win a wedding

Mav — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:20:43 GMT

Some friends of ours need some help winning a wedding, toss a vote to them from from our great EvAv gaming community of friends http://www.mix1073fm.com/article.asp?id=2367393

Kotaku Core?..

Mav — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:01:43 GMT

I remember a time before Gawker decided to completely hose Kotaku's site making it look, unpleasant. Crecente posted more often back then. Now a sub news site to make news for news?.

lol, thats all I can. I'll stick to here for my gaming news and discussions as usual. funny stuff

Oh yea

Mav — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:51:11 GMT

The new very-Tagamotchi like game for iOS is out, Hatchi http://itunes.apple.com/app/hatchi/id489479624?mt=8

If you were a fan of Tagamotchis in the mid-to-late 90's, this is one faithul homage / clone. For 99 cents. One of my most embarassing stories is I used to carry my Tagamotchi with me in my backpack to school, so one day when I was 17 circa 1998, in the middle of 11th grade English class, dead silence in the room as the class is working on a reading assignment. The damn tagamotchi starts beeping loudly in my bag, not only had I forgot to feed it but I left the sound on :( Needless to say it drew some laughter lol. Not funny then but funny now to look back on.

Check out Hatchi, for a buck it can't be that bad.

Final Fantasy Tactics.. wow

Mav — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:46:34 GMT

So one of the greatest things about iOS is it's given me insight into older titles I never got around to trying, primarily the vast Final Fantasy franchise. Once they moved from SNES to PS1, they lost me. Not because the games were bad but I never owned any Playstation console. When the PS1 was big, I had a Sega Saturn which I loved cause you'd always find the games on clearance so I easily had a library of like 40+ titles. And when the PS2 was around (at the beginning of it's timespan) I was hip deep into my Dreamcast and PC gaming.

Anyways I picked up Final Fantasy Tactics. The most expensive game, on the App Store. And it is bloody freakin awesome so far. Retina compatible, great cut scene animation, more strategy than you can shake a stick at and more.

This will be my next review title, but I want to put at least a week of it under my belt. Time to go navigate some squares :)

Amazing Battlefield 3 video...

sai tyrus — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:03:43 GMT

I'd hate to come across this guy. Fortunately, I play in the North American servers.

Although there was a bastard raping me and my team last night...

Thanks to our very own 3Suns over at his site, The Stranded to bringing this to my attention! I've already watched it 3 or 4 times!

Bastion soundtrack... LIVE!

sai tyrus — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:31:33 GMT

I don't know if you've had the chance to play Bastion, a sweet-little indie gem on XBL and Steam, but I highly recommend it. It doesn't necessarily do anything new, but the world, art style and music are what really set this game apart from the rest.

So take a moment, and listen to the awesome!

Good slab of Metal...

sai tyrus — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:56:28 GMT

Really enjoying this album of late.

Dumb video, great song.

Snake Canyon Outlaw

Evil Avatar — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 03:42:29 GMT

My friend Bear Brubaker sends along word that his western novella, Snake Canyon Outlaw, is now available on the Kindle.

Great cover!

The Proper Response to Any Johan Post

Anenome — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:50:42 GMT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johan

...

That is all :P

Portugal Ends the War on Drugs

Anenome — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 07:33:36 GMT

(from a deleted thread that, I suppose, they deemed too political, even though it's actually about social issues. I only kept a few comments...).

Five years ago, Portugal decriminalized drug use and possession and began treating addicts as a health concern rather than a criminal problem.

The results are in:

Quote:

...The paper, published by Cato in April 2011, found that in the five years after personal possession was decriminalized, illegal drug use among teens in Portugal declined and rates of new HIV infections caused by sharing of dirty needles dropped, while the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled.

It has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the problem far better than virtually every other Western country does.

Compared to the European Union and the US, Portugal drug use numbers are impressive.

Following decriminalization, Portugal has the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 in the EU: 10%. The most comparable figure in America is in people over 12: 39.8%, Proportionally, more Americans have used cocaine than Portuguese have used marijuana.

The Cato paper reports that between 2001 and 2006 in Portugal, rates of lifetime use of any illegal drug among seventh through ninth graders fell from 14.1% to 10.6%. Drug use in older teens also declined. Life time heroin use among 16-18 year olds fell from 2.5% to 1.8%.

New HIV infections in drug users fell by 17% between 1999 and 2003.

Death related to heroin and similar drugs were cut by more than half.

The number of people on methadone and buprenorphine treatment for drug addiction rose to 14,877 from 6,040, after decriminalization, and the considerable money saved on enforcement allowed for increase funding of drug � free treatment as well.

Property theft has dropped dramatically (50% - 80% of all property theft worldwide is caused by drug users).
...

Read more here.

So, yet another libertarian solution to the modern problem proves effective. (No one tell Johan :P)

I've never done a drug in my life; I've never even so much as smoked pot; I don't even like to get drunk or anything else that alters my consciousness.

This is not about vicarious thrills, it's about a rational conclusion, drawn from the evidence, based on good theory and principles, that anyone can see would be objectively positive for society as a whole. Let's end the war on drugs.

Need for Speed World

Emabulator — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:27:12 GMT

Porsche 911 Carrera S