Call of Duty: Black Ops Review

This weekend I decided to treat myself to Black Ops, the latest in the highly successful Call of Duty franchise.  So I went to Best Buy and picked up a copy for my PS3.

There were several issues that concerned me in reading the reviews, not the least of which was the reality that 700 users had given it only three stars on Amazon.com.

Ultimately the game is fucking shit.  Not the shit, just shit.

Now some might say that this statement is a little harsh, and well I don't much care.  I really feel like I just wasted $50 for no reason.  Because the reality of this game is that the ONLY reason it will sell is because of the name.  I strongly believe that if it was released on its own merit and with another name, the sales would be 80% less.

The franchise is owned by Activision who had two companies creating alternate versions of the game.  So each release to this point (and this is the seventh game in the franchise) has been created either by Infinity Ward (Modern Warfare 1 & 2), and TreyArch (World at War and Black Ops).

Modern Warfare 1 (CoD:4) was where I started playing, and certainly enjoyed that a lot, achieving my gold cross and various gold weapons.  Then I tried World at War, which had some serious flaws and a few nice touches.  Then Modern Warfare 2 came out and I spent many happy hours reaching prestige level 10.  My score ranks in the top 2% of players.

I resisted the latest TreyArch offering since I was worried about the reviews, but eventually curiosity caused me to make a purchase.  After an afternoon playing, I feel like TreyArch came and stole $50 from my wallet.

In any freeze frame, the game looks amazing.  The graphics are lovely.  But in playing the game it is horrifically defective.  The engine does render some great images, but once your player is in motion he lumbers around like he has some kind of birth defect.  And if the horrific movement isn't bad enough the sound effects of his feet on the ground are laughable.  Is he doing a tap dance or fighting a battle?  It's hard to say.

My first session left me cold and a little dirty.  I feel like I cheated on my wife with a $50 toothless hooker, and now I wish it had never happened.

I don't care that the game has a great new way to buy weapons with their CoD currency, because the weapons sound like shit, and half of them take half a magazine to kill someone.  It's so stupid when you start to shoot another player, and they turn around as their body is being riddled with bullets, and shoot you dead.

The maps are okay, although some are just too small.  But if they could be loaded into MW2, I wouldn't mind playing them.

In reading the reviews I believe that the single player version of the game is very linear, and the bad guys have stupid AI, and keep re-spawning, making the game utterly unrealistic there too.

The bottom line is that this is just a very average, very ordinary game that doesn't deserve to wear the Call of Duty logo on its case.  Activision should be ashamed of themselves putting out such a mediocre game and using the franchise name to sell such an inferior product.

How Many More?

This weekend, America got to see another fatal shooting of innocent people by a psychotic fucktard who found it so simple and easy to purchase a deadly semi automatic firearm and use it to kill.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is now fighting for her life and six other people (including a child) are dead.  Dozens more will suffer the emotional scars for years.  And the tax payer will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the trial, incarceration, and who knows, maybe the execution of Jared Loughner, the gunman.

Within a few weeks, the NRA will probably have a rally to remind us that their incorrect interpenetration of the Second Amendment is that God Himself demands that all Americans arm themselves.

My first issue is with Sarah Palin and her band of trigger happy idiots who stir violent rhetoric that pushes psychopaths like Loughner over the edge.  Palin used gun crosshairs on a map of America to target the politicians she wanted out of office, and one of the crosshairs was aimed at Giffords' location.

In June of last year Republican opponent Jesse Kelly advertised on his campaign web site to, "Get on Target for Victory in November Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office Shoot a fully automatic M-16 with Jesse Kelly."

In the backlash over health care reform Giffords received death threats and her office was vandalized.  Now she lies in hospital with a gunshot wound to the head.

My question is this, how many more shootings will have to happen before Republicans stop with their dirty tricks, veiled threats, encouragement of violence, and love affair with guns?  Or maybe this is their strategy.  Rile up the base with threats, use of fear, lies, misinformation, cult like religious fervor, and easy access to guns.

It is truly sick that it is so easy to obtain a gun, and so abhorrent that those who assist in instigating deadly violent attacks are not brought to justice.  Jared Loughner did not act alone in this attack, his inner psychopath was encouraged by criminally irresponsible politicians, and armed by laughably lax gun control laws.

Michael Vick

It's not often you'll catch me reading a sports blog, or commenting on a sports person, but I read an article today that compelled me to make a comment.

It was a sports bloggers response to the statement Michael Vick made recently when he stated that one day he would like the opportunity to own a dog again.

The blogger in question chided Vick for daring to make a statement that was simply (in his opinion) too soon to make, and that he should have waited.  Many of the comments on the blog article insulted Vick and made comparisons to letting a pedophile baby sit.

Here's my take, for what it's worth; I think he should be allowed to have a dog or two, and here's why I believe this.

There is a tendency in America to lean towards revenge style punishments rather than rehabilitating criminals and trying to put them back on the path to proper citizenship.  Here we have a case of a man who was fired, spent 19 months in jail, spent a fortune on his legal bills, fines etc.  A sports person like this could have earned insane amounts of money during those 19 months of jail time and a few good bits of publicity during that time could have led to endorsement deals paying the kind of money most middle class families can only dream of saving for retirement in a lifetime of work.

In short Mr. Vick has paid a heavy heavy price for his transgressions, both in loss of freedom and loss of money.  We may never know the true extent of what this man has lost as a result of his conviction.

Now our PETA friends may well point out that this man allowed some horrific animal cruelty to go on, and this should make him ineligible for dog ownership any time soon (or ever depending on who you ask).

But the reality of the situation is that the Pitbull is our nation's favorite dog to kill.  The Humane Society believes that some 100,000 Pitbulls are slaughtered every month in this country.  So let's not pretend that if those dogs had not been fighting over at Vick's house, they would have been living it up in some fancy mini mansion eating caviar and truffles.

Vick has paid a heavy price for his crimes, and now the next phase of his rehabilitation should be to learn to treat dogs with respect.  I'd say he should be allowed to rescue one or two of the Pitbulls that are going to be euthanized in the next month or two and adopt them into his family.  He should be forced to pay for the Humane Society to pay regular visits to ensure the dogs are being treated properly, and he should be asked to make some fat donation to a dog related charity.

Under those conditions, I don't see what the problem is.  Telling him no, when we are only going to kill the dogs anyway, is completely irrational.  I'm pretty sure that given the choice between living with Vick, or certain death, most Pitbulls would take the Vick option.

What Republicans Really Think About 9/11

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For years Republicans have used 9/11 as a tool to win elections and drive home political points. They have consistently ignored the reality that they were in charge when this atrocity happened. They ignore the reality that their President, George Bush froze like a deer in headlights after the attack. We keep hearing how they 'kept us safe' after 9/11 by starting two random wars and making us take off our shoes at the airport.

Now our friends in the Republican party show us what they really think. For nothing more than political reasons they have blocked a bill designed to provide help to 9/11 first responders. The brave men and women who ran into the towers to rescue people while most people were running away, are now denied financial help, health care, and compassion by the same politicians who shamelessly exploited this disaster for political gain.

And why did they do this? Not just because they don't give a flying fuck about you or me, but because they are blackmailing the White House over the Bush tax cuts. Essentially until the tax cuts for the richest 2% of Americans is extended at a cost of several hundred billion dollars, these scumbags are going to block every single new law that they can, including helping the heroes of 9/11.

If this does not help you put into context what Republicans really stand for, then you are beyond help.

Shame on Republicans everywhere for these morally bankrupt and despicable actions. If I believed in Hell, I would suspect that there is a special wing of it for the bastards who act in this way.

Dumping Cable

When I lived in Tennessee I had Charter cable, and I very much hated it.  They had a limited selection of HD programming, an unreliable pay for view movies service, shoddy customer service and various Internet issues that for some reason created some issues with Call of Duty that could never be resolved.

Upon moving to Texas I thought that my proximity to Houston would afford me a state of the art system and waited excitedly for the Consolidated truck to show up and install my service.

To say that I have been disappointed would be a massive understatement.  The remote acted like it was drunk.  The DVR seems to be determined to find an excuse to not record my favorite shows.  There were no HD movies on demand or on pay for view.  The customer service was closed at weekends, and ineffective the rest of the time.  While they got Internet right (albeit very expensive for the speed they offer), they fucked up just about everything else.

The first cable box they gave me would freeze all the time requiring a reboot that could take up to twenty minutes (yes, that's 20 minutes).  All in all they seemed like a phone company that was tinkering with the notion of becoming a cable company.  But instead of getting paid to beta test their buggy and substandard product, I was paying them, and paying them far too much.

So this week, I called them up and gave them their marching orders.  I retained their Internet service as it is about the only option around here.  But I told them to remove cable TV from my bill and promised to return their unspeakably poor boxes to their headquarters.

The replacement I have chosen is Direct TV, in addition to my Netflix account (which I have to say was a wonderful investment - it's little surprise they single-handedly annihilated Blockbuster).

I'm getting the second most expensive package, HD, DVR, HBO, Showtime, movies on demand, insurance against anything getting messed up, and it's going to run about $60 a month.  This in turn is going to save me a good $50 a month over what cable was costing me (including the Internet).

Only time will tell if this was a good move.  But honestly I can't imagine they could be offering a worse service than Consolidated, and retain 50 million subscribers.  Fingers crossed, the install is next weekend, and I'm excited to see the results.

My 2011 Camaro Follow Up

So I've had my Camaro for four months and six thousand miles now, and I thought I would write a follow up piece after my initial honeymoon period had worn off.

I'm still very much enjoying the car.  That's the bottom line.  I've been on long trips, short trips, and medium trips.  In every way the car has performed incredibly well, especially when you consider that it is just around the average price of a car sold in America today.

I've lost count of how many times people have told me it looks amazing, have asked me how fast it goes, or jokingly implied they would have to steal it.  Just today I was parking it and I saw a teenage girl attempt to surreptitiously take a photo of it, before looking embarrassed that I had spotted her doing it.

Despite it being nearly 14 grand cheaper than the BMW it replaced, I have had zero issues with the car so far.  If I am being really nit picky there is the faintest of rattle that seems to come from behind the radio at a certain speed, and once the compass refused to work for 24 hours.  But mechanically, and in terms of fun factor the car is astonishing.

As far as living with the car is concerned, it's clearly more sports car than family sedan.  If you are taking a passenger in the back they had better be small or they are going to have a hard time in that back seat.  The trunk opening is stupidly small, so anything bigger than a large suitcase isn't going to fit.  The glass in the car is very short from top to bottom so the driver visibility is very much reduced.

But the thing is, I wasn't looking for practical this time around.  I wanted a sports car, at a fair price.  What I got was a delightful compromise of performance and economy, sporty feel with a nice grand touring persona, great styling without a great price tag, and something I would enjoy driving each time I got behind the wheel.

Some say that the 2011 Mustang is a little quicker off the line or around a track.  Some say it is a more nimble drive.  But I wouldn't swap my car for a loaded V8 Mustang to be honest.

GM have hit a home run with this car, and have completely demonstrated that they can build a quality car these days.  Five years ago I would not have touched an American car with a stick, but now they have mended their ways and upped their game, and as a result I am very pleased to be a Camaro owner.

If you want something that's a lot of fun, and don't want to be killed on the price, this is the way to go.  There is a reason this car is now outselling the Mustang for the first time in 25 years.

The Stoning of Soraya M

In America today there are those who question why we have a separation of Church and State.  There are those who ask why can't we have the Ten Commandments in court houses and schools.  There are those who believe we need prayer in schools.  And there are those who believe in gender discrimination.

To all of those people I'd like to suggest a look at this movie.  This is what happens when we allow religion to justify every action we take.  This is what happens when the rule of law is perverted by religious figures.  This is what our society becomes when we view women as second rate citizens and/or slaves.

This movie was based on actual events, and is a warning beacon for us all here in the United States.

Senator Bernie Sanders

If only more Americans would understand this, and do something about it.