On Killing Review

On Killing: The Psychological of Learning to Kill in War and Society, by Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman, is a book that is often cited by proponents of video game legislation, but is one that rarely discussed by video game sites themselves. As gamers, are we unfamiliar with the literature? Or do we just close our ears every time someone says something about censorship in the media? Recently, this issue of censorship and violent video games has become another hot button issue; in Germany, there was a tragic school shooting, and in Utah a bill was vetoed by the governor that would fine stores if they sold violent media to minors. I decided to read On Killing in hopes of becoming more intimate with the pro-censorship in violent media camp. Since I’m a lifelong gamer, I already know the common arguments of anti-censorship in violent media. We cannot expect to work towards a solution that will satisfy both camps without first understanding what these camps believe. So when I was reading On Killing, I was actually surprised with what I found…

More on the Wall-Street Mindset

This was originally going to be a sort of post-script to my previous post, but it got long enough and strayed far enough from the subject that I thought it deserved its own post.

Here is a funny little article wherein the commentator tries her hand at portraying those at AIG who did not have a hand in the current mess as martyrs by using the letter from Jake DeSantis, a top AIG exec, recently posted in the New York Times . These are the people getting the big bonuses, she says, not the villains who were the real architects of the collapse. She even invokes the mighty Hawthorne to title her piece (although for no apparent reason). She labels them as simply patriots, doing their duty to their country out of pure love; and yet, big bad Congress wants to take away any and all compensation that these selfless beings deserve.

The Cancer that is Killing America’s Economy

America has a malignant tumor eating it away from the inside; and instead of extracting it or treating it, we’re giving it all the delicious nutrients and mutating radiation it could ever hope for. It’s convinced us that we need it to survive in order for the country to survive; that, contrary to reality, it is what nourishes us, and… we, all of us, we’re falling for it. We have decided to help it, we are deciding to help it, and we will continue to decide to help it. Squabbling about the little things, the easily-comprehensible things, we will let it continue to consume us, like a parasite feeding off its host, until it’s too late. Because we only care about the little things; and we’re content to ignore the tumor as long as we’re trying to fix the symptoms.

A new class of people in America have found a way to exploit our innocent little republican democracy, to feed, like parasites, on its idealistic foundations and oblivious public, in order to line their pockets. How? Like street magicians; with smoke and mirrors, imaginary phantoms, mirages–-and, above all, with meaningless words, a convoluted language that only they can speak or understand. The Wall Street elite and their kin are the cancer that is killing America, and they’re desecrating the honest citizens right now.

An Open Letter to Germany

Dear Germany,

What happened in Winnenden on March 11th was a tragedy. 15 innocent lives were lost, as well as the shooter who apparently committed suicide. I am here to mourn with you, Germany, and I sincerely hope that nothing like this will ever happen again.

However…

Controlling the Joystick: Table of Contents

Here is my preliminary timeline for my feature, Controlling the Joystick. Nothing is set in stone and the finished feature will probably look very different. I plan on releasing different parts of it at a time (So it probably won’t be in this order), so I’ll just update this post with links, info, etc. I’m also interested in being current and commenting on recent controversies, so I’ll also add those links to the bottom of the table of contents.

I would love to hear suggestions and comments about this structure.

Knowing Nothing

I’m sorry for this radical shift in my type of posting. I am going from Japan -> video games -> to now philosophy. However, this problem has perplexed me beyond belief and I believe that if I write about it, I may be able to figure out my own ideas, and know what I am getting at. So, if you do not like complex, mind-numbing content I advise you to skip this post. No one will judge you, except me.

Do you like Animal Crossing? How about Little Boys?

In the most epic facepalm of the century, a news organization is claiming that the old turtle mayor from Animal Crossing could be a sexual predator.The best part of this story is that, a cop who works for the Mid-Missouri Internet Crime Force, states that “there is no reason an adult should have this game”. Because of this new found wisdom, once I finish writing this post, I will be turning myself in. Why? Because I played a kids game for no reason.

BEWARE!

How Japan Can Restore Itself to a Glorious Nation and Save its People

Sorry for the long title, but I feel like it’s the only accurate way to describe what follows. In this post, I’ll explore some potential ideas that can be pursued by the Japanese government to return Japan to a glorious nation.

As you may or may not know, a week ago there was an interesting opinion piece about how Japan sucks. It outlines some of the problems of Japan, but mostly how the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party, the main political party of Japan) is failing. While reading this Op-Ed, I was displeased with Tamamoto for not offering any practical solutions to the problem. He just kind of points out the problem, and then expects other people to figure it out. Well, I am one of those other people and I will talk about some feasible solutions Japan could take to return itself to a glorious nation.

The first, of course, is to build an army of robots.

AP Cites “Counterstrike” in German School Shooting

Earlier today in Germany, a teenager went rampant with a gun and killed 15 people, starting in a school and ending in some backyard with a bullet through his own head. Then, a couple of hours later, the Assosciated Press filed this report, wherein they report, as is their wont, on the event. Yet the reporting reporter, a certain VANESSA GERA, reported on something very interesting in an attempt to give the fellow a background.

A 17-year-old who would give only his first name, Aki, said he had been studying this year with the shooter at a private business school, and described him as a quiet, reserved person.
Aki said the two played poker together, both in person and online, as well as a multiplayer video game called “Counter-Strike” that involves killing people to complete missions.
“He was good,” Aki said.

Miyagebanashi: The Blast

On August 6^th, 1945 the United States unleashed the power of ‘Little Boy’ onto the unsuspecting citizens and military personnel of Hiroshima. On August 9^th, 1945 the United States would drop another atomic weapon–this one dubbed ‘Fat Man’–onto Hiroshima. 60 years later, I would visit Hiroshima to witness the aftermath.

First off, let me provide some background to this story, the second in our series of Miyagebanashi (you can find the first here). On March 11^th, 2005 for whatever crazy reason, I decided it would be a good idea to spend 10 months of my sophomore/ junior year of high school living in Japan–without any previous knowledge of Japanese or Japanese culture. Sure, I knew about ninjas, samurai, and tsunamis.. but that was about it. I had never spent more than two days away from home, and had never even left the east coast of the United States. As for the end of World War II, during the course of my high school education, I had of course heard about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki and the destruction these bombs caused, but nothing beyond that. For all I knew, the city was still destroyed, a desolate crater in the middle of Honshu. I’m of course exaggerating but I’m sure you still get an idea of the level of my knowledge on this subject.