WTF??

Dinner with Sarah Palin. I don't think I need to say anymore, but I will anyway. This sounds like one of the most bizarre things to spend your money on, right up there with cat-feces coffee and gold-flavored ice cream. Could you get both of those at the dinner? The dinner comes with more than a price tag, an extensive background check and other stipulations are added at no cost! No more than four hours, could be less!
Now, if I just happened to have several thousand dollars just taking up space in my bank account, I would consider bidding purely out of morbid curiosity. I doubt I would pass the 'extensive background check,' possibly due to content on this blog. However, it's for a good cause (100% of proceeds?), and if I did hypothetically attain this dinner, the one question I would want answered is this: Are you for real? Seriously.
As of this posting, the bid stands at $39,702.99.

Daily Douchebaggery

Normally, if you were to rob someone, never having that person see you again would be ideal. Home invasion robbery is already enough of a douchebag activity, but to return two hours later like this Columbus, Ohio douchebag did, only to attempt to ask out the victim.
How does one go about that? "Hi, you might not remember me, but I was just here two hours ago with some buds, we trashed your place and took your things, and roughed you up a little bit. I was curious if maybe you'd like to go try that new Italian place on 1st with me."
Anyway, this guy had either some serious balls, a complete lack of common sense, or just such a deluded confidence in his own charm that he thought this would be a good idea. Of course, she recognized him and he ended up in jail, like all thieving douchebags should. And on top of it, he's probably a complete dumbass. Way to go, Stephfon.

Next: Identification Papers, Armbands and Relocation Camps

When you hear of a government coming out against its citizens intermarrying with certain groups, you might think of pre-1900's America, or maybe 1935 Germany, when the Nazi regime banned all marriages to Jews and nullified any current ones. But, no, this is from a modern democratic country, one supported both monetarily and ideologically by America. This country is, of course, Israel, who recently pushed their support behind a policy to report any Jew marrying a non-Jew, or 'in danger' of doing so. It is already forbidden to do so in the country, and only outside intermarriages are recognized. The purpose for this policy may be an effort to keep their bloodlines clean, a startlingly familiar tone coming from a certain piece of history called the Holocaust. The Israeli government's open disdain for the Palestinians is already well known, but now they are trying to push for a worldwide abhorrence of anyone marrying outside their faith. This falls right in line with some Nazi beliefs, and is frightening to me. I'm already pissed that millions of our taxpayer dollars are sent over there every year so they can buy more guns, jets and badass tanks with which they oppress the Palestinians. And kill them by the dozens. So I'm guessing the next step will be to move them out of Gaza and into some sort of internment camps in the desert, and tattoo numbers on them, but just to keep track. And those big ovens? They're just for flatbread.

Covert Geek Weekend

I spent the weekend in Seattle, attending the Penny Arcade Expo at the behest of my significant other, and driven by my desire to visit this part of the country. Seattle lived up to its reputation as gloomy and wet, and PAX came through with a wild assortment of one of the nation's (and some of the world's) most poorly understood and highly exploited demographics: the Gamer.
Those of you familiar with the 'scene' may already know what I'm talking about, as I mixed with the pale, portly and petulant segment of our society that only seems to get a face when comic-book-store-type stereotypes are used on TV or when some psychopath kid shoots up a school and someone shoves his copy of GTA under the media's nose.
I've never been an avid gamer myself, I'm more what you might call a casual gamer. It is more of a social event for me, unless I get some goal in mind, like trying to beat Halo II alone--on legendary. Still working on that, and if you have ever tried, you know why. I can pretend to play with the veterans, but my skills are always lacking, particularly in anything head-to-head.
There are as many types of gamers as there are games, with various levels of commitment to the way of life. That IS what it is, a way of life. The hardcore gamer can give you a rundown of his gaming experience starting with the first time he/she picked up a controller or grabbed a joystick. They usually immerse themselves into gaming, it is their life's work. Clothes, friends, conversation, they all revolve around gaming. They understand why it's still okay to play Pokemon when you are in your thirties. And don't get them started on console vs. PC gaming.
During this convention, I constantly made snide comments and wisecracks about the other attendees, much to the annoyance of the gf. Being the smartass that I am, it's hard not to say something when you see a 250 lb Princess Peach. Or the six-four, 150 lb guy ogling the booth models. And can I really be blamed when I wonder out loud who is manning the West's comic-book stores, drive-thru's and IT help lines?
I did manage to somehow fit in despite my relative physical fitness, relationship status and inability to finish most games. My scruffy beard and Threadless t-shirts definitely helped. Since Due to my ability to infiltrate, I was able to observe the various geeks and gamers in as close to their natural habitat as you can get without spooking them. Black clothes, white skin, immaturity and acne abounded, with a pervasive awe and general lack of concern for personal hygiene. Seriously, one guy smelled like cat food. However, all these people had managed to leave their basements across the nation and congregate in one place, all drawn by their passion for gaming. The lines to test some of the most anticipated games of the year never abated, and the wait was up to one and a half hours just for a few minutes of gameplay.
I must had it to these people, they really do enjoy what they do, which is hard to say for most people. They may lack in areas such as refined social skills and ability to play actual sports, but they could sure kick your ass in the digital version, and make jokes at the expense of your sexuality and your mother while doing it. I even managed to enjoy myself, although I really didn't get to play anything but Plants vs. Zombies, a relatively simple game.
The market that gamers represent is huge, and gets bigger every year. People will eventually quit making fun of or worrying about people that play way too many video games, as they realize the power that they wield as a consumer and social group. No longer is a gamer a kid who wastes quarters on Pac-Man, but someone who invests hundreds of dollars yearly into something they are passionate about, even to the extent of dressing up as characters in games, something called costume-play or cosplay, and it has nothing to do with Halloween. It's a type of commitment that goes beyond Star Wars/Trek geeks. Way beyond.
Gamers are becoming more omnipresent, powerful and mainstream, and for a weekend, I was one.

Evil See, Evil-doer

As you may know, the Bush Admin. was very enthusiastic about 'enhanced interrogation.' No, it isn't torture, just like death isn't an 'enhanced coma.' Right. Well, the chattering about these issues has been getting loud again, mostly due to the ACLU pushing the CIA to release documents in its quest for the truth on the techniques used to interrogate terrorist suspects. Claiming that such documents would harm national security, they are openly violating the Freedom of Information Act. But, hey, if they told us, they'd have to kill us, right?
McCain gets another gold star for sticking up for Americans who believe that torture isn't cool, and another for bashing Cheney's assertions that it is. McCain, like many others, understands that torture never provides reliable information, like this former military interrogator openly admits. (Also, watch Shepard Smith get seriously pissed on the matter.) Just try explaining this to any high-level Repub trying to cover their ass on a stance that was even argued against by their White Messiah Reagan. Liz Cheney doesn't think we did anything wrong torturing innocent men, either.
The evidence shows that, if anything, torturing has only prolonged these two wars and given the terrorists more ammunition for recruitment. No information has been gleaned that could have stopped an attack. And the opposition are quite fond of torture and go after it with a gleeful abandon. Anyone who sports one of these or any similar bumper sticker should spend a couple minutes being waterboarded. (And whoever designed that page should be sent to Gitmo.) If we continue to torture prisoners for the slight chance we may be able to get some bit of useful information, then we are no better than the evildoer's themselves.