What the Word "Terrorist" Actually Means

After seeing the back and fourth arguments in our political system about who and what is and is not a terrorist, I am getting tired of having to argue the point with both sides of the aisle.  Once again I am reminded that I am surrounded by idiots

But lets look at two statements that are said by differing parties.  

Conservatives like to repeat the following statement: "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims"

Liberals like to repeat the following statement: "America and Israel are the real terrorists in the world."

I would like to point out that neither of these statements are true.

Now, here is what is true.

A terrorist is an individual who uses fear to influence actions, usually through violence, but sometimes through threats.

What does this mean?

A Radicalized Religious Fanatic that acts on it is a Terrorist.

A Radicalized Nationalist that acts on it is a Terrorist.

A Radicalized Computer Hacker that acts on it is a Terrorist.

You get the point.  Religion, (or lack of) or a belief system alone does not make someone a terrorist.  

Action makes one a terrorist.

Isis is a Terrorist Group

The White Supremacist that attacked Planned Parenthood is a Terrorist

Boko Haram is a Terrorist Group.

The Klu Klux Klan is a Terrorist Group.

Chinese Nationalist Hackers are Terrorists.

A bully who terrorizes students in class is a Terrorist.

It is time for us to identify the truth to the word, and use the label correctly.  it is the first step to a more peaceful world.  For to defeat an enemy, you must first understand it.

On Thanksgiving

This time of year is always the hardest of the year.  Most people look forward to going home to their families and seeing old friends.  They get to reflect on their pasts.  They get to reflect on a simpler time for themselves.

I have a different relationship with Thanksgiving, although it is related to the same ideas outlined above.  I do not wish to return to my past.  Chicago is no longer my home.  My past was wrought with weakness, pain and a version of myself that I chose to gut and skin long ago.

I have no interest into returning to who I once was.  I have no interest in even remembering who that person was.  They need to stay buried.  Even worse, my family is not exactly the paragon of healthy.  I love my parents, but I cannot be around them too long before I wish to be away.  One of my brothers I find there is still some lingering strain although I have a great relationship with my other one.

Many of the friends I had back in Chicago have moved away.  The ones left, most of them are not really friends of mine anymore.  Just people I used to know.  There is no reason for me to revisit my past.  I have a future to focus on.  Yet Thanksgiving is a holiday that focuses on the past.

Being that I have no interest in this concept, I find myself very alone.  Even worse, I am constantly reminded of these problems through the month of November.

I think I understand how Harry Potter feels when everyone goes home for the holidays and he is at Hogwarts all alone.  Like him, I dread the Summer and Winter, while enjoying the Spring and Fall.  For it is in those months that I feel wanted, and not alone.

Why Climate Change Always Has been and Almost Always Will Be the Greatest Threat to Civilization

As usual, something that is common sense and shouldn't even be part of a debate has become political charged.  What a surprise!

So lets explore the malcontent.  Many people are upset that multiple politicians, namely Bernie Sanders, are making statements that Climate Change is above and beyond more dangerous than Isis (or Isil, or Daesh)  Predictably, this has been hit with criticism by a majority of people.

I don't think that it needs to be pointed out that a majority of human beings on this planet lack vision, or really have a grasp of common sense (oops, did I point it out again?) But instead of going on some Calvinist Rant about how hopeless our species is, instead I'll explain why Sanders is right and a majority of the Human race (as usual) is wrong.

Lets compare the two groups.

Isis in the worst case scenario, gets a nuclear missile with launch capabilities and fires at a a densely populated city.  Lets use New York which has a population of roughly 8.5 million.  The explosion will kill almost all of these people, the radioactive decay will kill roughly another 1 million over the next 10 years or so.  Also New York will be rendered uninhabitable for a while along with the surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, lets look at a scenario that is pretty bad considering climate change, but is not the worst case scenario (Ill get to one of those in a moment.) The water levels rise a couple hundred feet due to melting ice.  New York City goes underwater, along with about 1/3 of its population, which is not 8.5 million.  Here's the problem, New York won't be the only city affected.

EVERY SINGLE CITY ON THE COASTS WILL BE HIT

Sorry for the all Caps there, but I needed to get the point across.  Now I don't know how many people total live on America's coast, but I can assure you that if roughly 1/3 of that population is killed in floods, its a much higher number than 8.5 million.  Also unlike the nukes, these areas are permanently uninhabitable.  Nuclear Fallout pales in comparison to flooding on this scale.

Now lets look at how to stop both these problems.

Isis, can be stopped by a combination of not letting fear control our lives and military might.  The good thing about Isis is that it is run by people.  People have this unfortunate problem of being able to get killed.  Its called mortality. You may have heard of it.

Climate change can be stopped by a combination of...  actually, it can't be stopped, it just kinda happens.  We can slow it down so we don't get hurt by it, (which is what needs to be done) but if a flood is coming, the best thing to do is run away from the problem.  You can have all the guns and weapons you want.  Mother Nature laughs in the face of your pathetic mortality, and when she is done with you, you will be killed like the gnat you are.

So yes, clearly one of these is a bigger problem than the other.  Also, should (when) the floods happen, lots of people will become refugees.  And since most of the refugees in the world have for our history, been considered terrorists and or enemies of the home country, I curiously wonder what happens when the people who are most hateful of refugees become their own enemy?

Oh and to go back to my older point about worse disasters, there is a volcano in Yellowstone National park, that when it erupts, will kill every single person in North America.  Good luck fighting that.

Overwatch: Impressions

I was fortunate to finally get a chance to play Overwatch this weekend during the stress test event. And for those of you who were not lucky enough to play, I will, leave you with some impressions.

I like how the games are objective based rather than kill based.  This stops a lot (but not all) camping.  Also those lovely kill-streak rewards that make games like Call of Duty obvious within 5 minutes of the game starting which team is going to win.

In Overwatch, I have lost games that I thought were easily in my grasp.  I have won games that seemed hopeless.  It was quite rare in my experience where the game was very one sided.  And even when you keep getting wrecked, every time you do what is intended by your role (shooting bullets, healing people, capturing objectives) your ultimate bar fills.  And most of these abilities are strong enough to be game changing.  One mistake by the enemy team can change the balance for the rest of the match.

The cooldowns that the characters make use of to activate their abilities are quick enough that they can be utilized multiple times a game adding to dynamics of the battles.  Best of all, none of the characters seemed absolutely broken.  There were times that a skilled player was capable of making a character seem broken (looking at you Bastion) but that was more due to the player being skilled at the game rather than the game being unfair.

The ability to switch characters is vital in this game.  Certain team compositions can render other characters completely useless.  I appreciate this dynamic as it allows both teams to keep each other on their toes.

I played many of the heroes and will make a nod to Bastion, Soldier 76, McCree, Lucio and Reinhardt as my favorite heroes to play.  I wanted to be good at playing Reaper, but I am finding this to be difficult with the way I play.  I also want to master Widow as I have never been good at sniping, but that will have to wait for another time likely.

Instead of telling you what each of them do, I challenge you to check that out for yourself.  This game will certainly be worthy buying and my only regret is that my beta access vanishes tomorrow.

Reflections

I wanted to take some time and reflect on what I have accomplished over the last year.  I have written an entire novel, have a blog with almost 5000 views and have gained the confidence to manage a website and promote myself.  I am the most free I have ever been.

But the work is only beginning.  i have long to go before I reach the acclaim of the elite writers like JK Rowling.  For those of you who read this, let your friends and family know about me.  I seek to educate, entertain, and tell compelling tales with as many mediums as I can get my hands on.

Its been a great year and this next will be only better.  Thank you to those of you who have joined me on this journey.  One that I will continue to take.  I appreciate your support.

Fear: The Most Powerful Emotion

There is a famous saying that love conquers all.  But this is a foolish notion.  Love is itself a derivative of a far more potent emotion.

Fear.

When you love someone, that is an example of fear, the fear of losing them.
When you hate someone, that is an example of fear, the fearing of losing to them.
When you own a gun, that is an example of fear, the fear of being killed.
When you climb a mountain and look down, that is an example of fear, the fear of falling, fatally.
When you are alive, that is an example of fear, a fear of death.

All things are born of fear.  They fade in fear.  Xehanort claimed it was darkness in Kingdom Hearts, Slaanesh claimed it was desire in Warhammer.

But as author HP Lovecraft said so eloquently, "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."

And you can see how that fear of the unknown destroys good, aids evil, and breeds wickedness and chaos.  The abandoned Syrian Refugees, the paranoia and fear of Muslims and Jews, the hatred that blacks have for whites, these are all out of fear.  Fear of the unknown.

I tend to preach about defeating hatred is to love, but how does one defeat fear?  Fear is the derivative of both love and hate.  Is it possible to defeat the key emotion that makes a human a human?  The emotion that makes a being alive?

Is it possible that the meaning of life is to be afraid?

The more I look around at the world, especially as a response to all the too recent terror attacks in Paris, I wonder if Thomas Hobbes was right about Human nature.

I wonder as I feel the darkness consuming us all, if the reason we stop being afraid of monsters under the bed, is because we realize the monsters are actually all around us, and inside us.

I am beginning to winder if there is no point in hoping for a better future.  How can we have one when fear controls us no matter what we achieve, or no matter what we create?

The End of an Era

Today I will take a break from politics, and instead talk about Starcraft II Legacy of the Void.

This is a game that has been long in the making and ties up the plot of the Starcraft Universe while also adding new units for the sake of multiplayer.

I will not spoil the campaign for those of you who have not finished it, but most of the story is satisfying.  Its gets a little weird at the end but what story that involves eldritch abominations doesn't?

As far as Blizzard is concerned though, I think this is the end of the line for Starcraft.  There is just much more to gain financially from Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm.  those are Blizzards two largest money maker and it would not surprise me if Overwatch also contributes to the money once it is released.

The problem is, RTS (Real Time Stratagy) games have fallen out of favor with players who have flocked to MOBAs (games like League of Legends, Dota2, and Heroes of the Storm)  Its not hard to see why.  RTS is a solo game with a steep learning curve.  MOBAs by no means have an easy learning curve, but the curve is lessened by having teammates.  In Starcraft, when you lose, it is your fault alone.

This high stress factor is why I gave up on learning the game and playing at any reasonably competitive level.  I gave up ever being good many years ago.  Still, I had to play the campaign, I am a story driven person after all.  So now that its wrapped up, I feel like I should enjoy the game, but I do not know if I am ready to deal with the stress.

Still, I will give Starcraft what its due.  It is the reason many of my friends call me so, and I did spend a large portion of the last 4 years playing it.

My Life for Aiur, but since I'm not good at this game still, to the Shadows, I go...