Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Can you spot the gay soldier?

As most of you know, President Obama campaigned on and mentioned in his State of the Union address that one of his main objectives in the coming year was to work toward repealing a policy implemented by President Clinton, which in itself was a compromise with the Republicans at the time. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a military policy that prohibits homosexuals from serving openly in the military. Thousands of service members are discharged from the military every year due to their homosexuality being discovered, either by accident or self-admission. While this policy doesn't prevent them from serving, it does impede upon their human rights -- the ability to be who they are.

The battle to repeal this policy came to a boiling point recently, with the U.S. Senate halting it's repeal due to several amendments, both by Democrats and Republicans, being attached to the bill. This is just another case of political positioning and party politics, especially with the mid-term elections so near. The parties needed to excite their base. But has it worked? Is it really in good conscience to play politics with an issue which involves the rights of thousands of gays and lesbians currently serving honorably within the U.S. military?

Take a good hard look at the picture posted above and you be the judge.

Can you spot the gay soldier?

Tokens for the carnival!

As a child, I always enjoyed going to the carnival. That is when they came to town. And you knew when they came to town, you could smell them from miles away. The popcorn, hot dogs, funnel cakes, cotton candy, pulled pork and steak, gyros, and anything else you can think of. Not to mention the noise from all of the screaming children and the rides.

 One thing that never appeared at our carnivals were clowns. You had to go to the circus, once again, when it was in town, to see a clown. That's probably why I have a vague interest in clowns, the darker ones though, kind of Steven King's version. To be honest, if you want to see some of the greatest clowns, just turn on your television and watch the news, especially if they are covering politics. There is an abundance of clowns to be found there. What are your opinions on clowns? Thoughts? Comments? Snide remark? Take offense because you, yourself, are a clown? Fire away.

Too late for a review? I think not!

 

 Have you ever heard the expression "if it were a snake, it would have bitten me"? I know have, dozens of times. However, I really never considered it to apply to games, at least not in the literal senses. I cannot tell you how many times I bumbled through the video store, looking for new games to quench my thirst that appeal to my less than normal sense of taste; so as a rule of thumb, I typically stay away from games which have been hailed by the media or thousands (or millions) of gamers across the world. Besides all of that, I'm just too busy working or watching the news. Moving on, this game Dead Space is certainly something right up my alley. I had passed this game up dozens of times as I dumbly strolled down the aisle at the video store, never giving it a second thought. When a game is new, the staff places a title near the top shelf, which is typically eye-level for most people, and as it ages, it slowly moves toward the bottom, and finally they put it in a bin at the front where they sell them for $5-$20. I found Dead Space as it was on the bottom shelf. 

I wasn't expecting a life altering perception of games, especially of the horror genre, but Dead Space opened my eyes to what a great horror game should be. In the game, you take on the role of Issac Clark, a simple engineer who has been dispatched to the USG Ishimura, which had earlier sent out a distress beacon. Upon arriving, however, you're met with the equivalent of Resident Evil in space. At least in Resident Evil they had somewhere to hide -- they could travel far away, hundreds of miles to escape. On the USG Ishimura, there isn't any escape, unless you can make one.

 I know the game has been out for two years now, but I'm sure there are still a lot of people out there who haven't played it, so I won't go any further into the story and spoil it. But if you want to be on the edge of your seat, wooed by very polished graphics, scared but still wanting more.. Dead Space is for you. I'm not a professional reviewer or anything, but I grade things on a scale of 1 to 10. I give Dead Space a 9.3 out of 10.

 Dead Space 2 is currently in production, and that's one game I will definitely be buying when it's on the top shelf.

My first time! Tee hee..hee.. uhh

This is the first of (hopefully many and interesting) posts. I'm not sure this piece of the internet will even have a specific topic it covers. I'm sure it will dive into just about any interest, if it's on my mind that day.. or yours!

 So put on your seat belts as we begin this fantastic voyage into the depths of the mind of a modern day psycho! Albeit he is rather charming, don't you agree? Yeah? Okay.