Concerning the SCOTUS ruling for Gay Marriage

The recent SCOTUS ruling that gay marriage is now legal in all 50 states is, beyond all doubt, a monumental achievement, and is truly one of the defining historical highlights of the year 2015. The LGBTQ community now possesses the inherent rights that should have been granted to them decades ago during the civil rights era of the 1960’s and 70’s. In the eyes of the law, LGBTQ individuals are no longer second-class citizens. Alas, the bravura and pageantry of the white house lit up in rainbow veneer is something I never expected to see. The world is changing at breakneck speed. 

It is a fantastic time to celebrate human rights, yet it is imperative to be aware of the opposition. 

As for the blustering bigots who are blowing their collective fuses in the aftermath of the SCOTUS ruling, I can only say my levels of Schadenfreude have never been higher. Let’s be honest here: their real world encounters of actual homosexual activity will be limited to witnessing Jacob and Steve holding hands with matching rings as they shop for fabric, and dropping their spectacles aghast into their decanters of sherry as they open their morning papers to see Suzie-Q and her lezzie Lulu having posted their glorious wedding reception in the Mainstreet Gazette. The vast majority of their exposure to gay marriage is what they are indoctrinated into on Sunday morning by their hate-filled preachers and the hyperbole that is spoon-fed to them in the afternoon by over sensationalized Fox news commentators. 

The demographic of old, church-going white republicans has been shaken to the core. It should be pointed out that the landmark ruling for the legalization of marriage for LGBTQ citizens is not the only mitigating factor that distresses them, it is that homosexuals are now, by virtue of this ruling, viewed as EQUAL citizens on EQUAL footing to them. This is the underlying, subconscious ‘threat’ that rocks the foundations of their warped psychology. 

Of course, when the next major natural disaster hits (and trust me, it WILL happen, it’s a FUCKING part of nature) be it hurricane, earthquake, or rising floodwaters (Global warming made this a certainty long before the ruling) conservative pundits along with fire and brimstone preachers will rejoice and be all too eager to be putting the blame solely on “TEH GAYS” getting hitched. 

But alas, we should pity them. Their reptilian ape-brains do not possess the capacity to differentiate between arbitrary natural processes conducting themselves according to plate tectonics and the volatile weather patterns of the tropics. This mode of primordial thinking is barely a notch above:

“URRG URRGH VOLCANO FIRE GOD ANGRY! URRGH!” 

The sheer arrogance that they claim to speak for ‘G-d’ is audacious as it is erroneous, for they speak only for themselves and their prejudiced ilk that helps reinforce their confirmation bias. They will continue to rant, rave, and project their ‘hate’ and ‘wrath’ onto ‘God’, while claiming that they are free of guilt for harboring the aforementioned hate within their own hearts. This tired tactic will not absolve them in the eyes of future generations; as much as it has spared us the ire of the fanatics who organized the witch hunts of the 17th century. The tide of history is against them, and they will be left behind as future generations move forward toward the shining beacon of egalitarian progress both societal and technological, since the dogmatic control of the Judeo-Christian establishment is losing its stranglehold on humanity faster than they can grasp.  

And yet, we must remain vigilant, for the momentum of this ruling must be maintained. The LGBTQ community still has a long, tough road ahead of them, especially in underdeveloped countries around the world that are still governed by laws mired in the dark ages. The triumph of the 26^th of June cannot be understated: It was a remarkable event whose aftershocks will be felt for decades. Although we have yet to confront the challenges that remain, I am confident that the up and coming generation being raised today will meet these challenges and carry the torch another mile further.

I would also like to add that it is not a proper course of action to hate or dehumanize those bigots who, in turn, hate and dehumanize gays, for it would make the LGBTQ community no better than they are.There are a great many issues concerning the legal framework of how this ruling will be implemented across each state, though ultimately I believe the legacy of this ruling will help reinforce the separation of church and state and therefore define marriage in the context of a legal and civil union that can be carried out in a secular institution without the authority of the church to oversee it's consummation. It is my hope that this ruling will become a social catalyst that will inextricably lead to greater emphasis on equality in the workplace so that anti-discrimination laws regarding sexual orientation will become a federal mandate that protects LGBTQ individuals from harm and injustice. The intolerance of a corporation firing someone because they are Gay is just as antiquated and derisive for firing someone because they are Black. Possessing religious liberty does not grant individuals or groups of individuals the right to discriminate others based on their inherent faculties. What we are witnessing is civilization reaching maturity with growing pains.

My message is clear: The right wing spewing their religious vitriol and ultraconservative rhetoric cannot curb nor hinder the success that has been achieved here in this great country. This was a milestone step forward for human rights, human dignity, and love.

#lovewins

-Fox Crimson

Unheard from beyond the Kitsune cloud

As a longtime flight enthusiast and a trainee pilot, I’ve maintained a fascination with unusual aircraft and aviation in general since I was a child. It is one of my foremost passions in life, and I fondly reminisce upon the past-time of spotting commercial airliners with my father as they came in to land while he parked just outside the Miami airport tarmac fences back in the early 90s. Nowadays, I live relatively close to Hartsfield Jackson International airport, one of the busiest airports in the world. Air traffic is ubiquitous, and on any clear night, the blinking beacons of many commercial jetliners on a typical flight path is a very common sight indeed as I sit upon my bench on my back porch at night and stargaze with the occasional cigarette in hand.  Meteors are more uncommon, but still clearly visible, particularly the Perseids of August and the Leonids that shower down around November. There is one outstanding incident which I’ve kept largely silent about that I feel compelled to share with any who read this article.

The following anecdote describes the night I saw a UFO.

I am entirely without concern upon running the risk of sacrificing any notion of credibility upon revealing this story, since I stake my word on it with complete and total confidence. Many skeptical ‘UFO hunters’ pay no heed to anecdotes that do not provide some form of photographic or video evidence, and to that end, I simply do not care. What I saw remains one of the strangest events I had ever bared witness to.

I was a passenger aboard the ‘Cormorant’ Catamaran, a dual hulled vessel on an expedition venturing throughout the Galapagos Islands.  On the night of July 19^th, 2012, our charter was sailing en-route from Isla Santiago (San Salvador), to Isla Genovesa (AKA: Tower Island), a remote shield volcano boasting a dormant crater lake called Darwin Bay. There is nothing but open ocean between these two islands, and it should be noted that the Galapagos Islands are a ‘dead zone’ for international air travel, with the only exceptions being flight paths between southern California (Typically LAX or SFO) and Lima or Santiago, which, if referenced on any world flight path chart, do NOT cross directly over the island chain.

We were crossing the Equator for the second time on our course (0°0′N)north, and my fellow passengers were busy carousing with the crew on the bridge. I left my camera bag behind in my cabin to make my way up to the upper deck to stargaze and relax on the outdoor chaise lounge.  As I am sitting on the lounge bench, winding down from a long day of diving and hiking, I gaze up into the night sky. It is truly remarkable to see the stars in the night sky in the Galapagos due to the complete absence light pollution. One can see the spiral arm of the Milky Way with unparalleled clarity arcing across the midnight expanse; and all our nearby star systems shine with a vividness that all but made my jaw drop. It’s an amazing spectacle in and of itself.

After about 15 minutes of stargazing, I saw a bright, bluish-white, pulsating light appear high in the skies directly above me, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

“…What the F*ck…” were the only words that came out of my mouth.

The pulsing light seemed to travel at a constant speed as it headed due north, in the same general direction that our craft was heading. I knew what I was seeing was extraordinary, having never seen anything even remotely like it. I stared in rapture as the pulsing light raced across the sky and started to veer east on a smooth, parabolic orbit, now speeding toward the horizon. I got up and hurriedly made my way to the ship’s railing, and watched the pulsing light continue onward at a steady speed, descending down to greet the horizon far to the east as it got dimmer and dimmer the further away it traveled. It did not leave a trail of any sort.  Within a minute of having first seen this spectacle appear in the skies, it had disappeared over the horizon.

I stared over the railing of the ship into the dark expanse of roiling, empty sea and dusky grey clouds, my mouth agape. I stared out to sea for several minutes facing east where the craft disappeared and then raced down below decks, dashed into my cabin, snagged my camera bag, and ran back to the top deck with my heart racing. I pulled out Nikon D5100 with haste and turned it on, forefinger hovering over the shutter release, eager to capture anything I could.

I must have spent the next hour and a half up on that deck, camera clutched in my hands while hoping to see something else again, anything at all, but nothing else appeared: Just gazing up into the cosmos and trying to comprehend the magnitude of what I saw. I didn’t’ tell anyone on-board the ship.

In the years gone by since I witnessed this event, I mulled over many explanations. I’ve gone to great lengths using all available contemporary logic to rule out what it ‘wasn’t.  

The rate of speed at which this object traveled was hypersonic and maintained more than enough velocity to have broken the sound barrier many times over, causing a series of sonic booms if it was within atmosphere, so it was certainly in orbit above the planet. The entire experience was utterly silent. Contemporary Supersonic jet fighters travel within the atmosphere and emit sonic booms as they push past the sound barrier. Smaller meteorites streak across the sky and typically burn up within a second. Larger meteors (which are very, very rare), most notably the ‘Chelyabinsk’ Meteor that impacted Russia the following year, will however, burn up steadily as they descend to earth. Due to the laws of thermodynamics they will burn in the ‘orange-yellow’ spectrum (burning sodium & or iron) as they descend on a downward tangent. These natural phenomena do NOT travel on parabolic orbital paths, nor do they pulse bluish-white. Thus, these natural phenomena have been ruled out.

The international space station, however, can be seen with the naked eye. It is as ‘slow’ as molasses compared to what I saw, and simply cannot change paths with such incredible maneuverability, appearing directly overhead, turning on a dime, and then disappearing beyond the horizon within the time span of one minute. While the low orbital path of the ISS is indeed curved along the Earth’s axis, it is a very broad-sweeping orbit and does not delineate from its course at such a sharp trajectory from the vantage point of an observer standing atop a ship on the surface.

The object witnessed did not change course at a sharp right angle, but plotted a very rapid elliptic curve east. I’d estimate the course change was between 80-90 degrees, something which the ISS is simply not capable of making within the time frame of being observed for less than a minute during one of its orbits. The total duration of the craft I witnessed from its Zenith directly above me to its disappearance over the horizon was roughly one minute, with the course change taking around only about 6 or 7 seconds.

Re-entry vehicles such as the Jules Verne ATV do emit a bluish-white glow, but are designed to burn apart over remote swaths of the Earth’s oceans in a shower of sparks, heading in one direction on a downward plunge. It’s a one way trip. 

There exists only a scant few possibilities which present themselves to me, and as such, offer the likeliest explanation: 

One of the few types of  craft capable of fitting the profile of what I saw would be a highly classified suborbital scram-jet vehicle, such as the SR-75 Penetrator, AKA “Project Aurora” which has been rumored to exist since the 1980s, supposedly as a surveillance vehicle and a successor to the SR-71 Blackbird which was introduced in 1966. We’ve come a long way since then. There have been numerous claims by many enthusiasts who believe the “Aurora” to exist, even though the U.S government never fully acknowledged its existence.  It could have also been an as of yet unknown ‘Skunk Works’ vehicle, a true ‘Black Project’. But we all know we can trust the government completely, word for word, right?

Let’s not forget the U.S government has a history of misleading the public with its experimental military aircraft, since the F-117 ‘Nighthawk’ Stealth Fighter and B-2 Spirit Stealth bombers were both formally denied as existing back when they were classified as ‘black’ projects until they were unveiled publically in the late 1980s.

Classified reconnaissance vehicles of a similar nature originating from Russia or China would also plausibly fit into the criteria. Yet another plausible explanation is that the craft was an unmanned scram-jet drone such as the Boeing X-51 ‘Waverider’, or an experimental hypersonic vehicle such as the NASA X-43 or some other, newer variant thereof.  According to the X-51’s Wikipedia entry, its scramjet engine utilizes ethylene fuel, which as it turns out, glows bluish-white when ignited at full burn. 

As farflung as it may be to others, these types of classified military or experimental crafts are what I believe to be the most logical conclusion to describe what I observed. I would even venture so far as to say that the craft I saw behaved in a manner that was not entirely beyond the bounds of the laws of physics as we know them, nor did it perform in a such a way that would have made it entirely incapable of being built by human hands (as extreme as it was), especially with today's sophisticated aerodynamic technology.

The only other possibility that remains is that what I saw was not of this world.

Saving the World and the Earth

 I have a message for the world.  On June 15, 2015 at 2:00 am Eastern time, adjusted for where you live in the world, I want at least 8 MILLION people to join me in a concentrated, world wide prayer.  Whatever you believe; Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Agnostic, New Age, pagan, however you put your energy into a single idea, I want everyone to join me in pushing back negative Entropy.  This world is plagued with wars, famine, pestilence, greed, indifference; all of these are only symptoms.  The disease is Entropy.

Our world is on the cusp of transitioning into a higher vibration ... or a lower one.  There are many entities both here on Earth and in the varied spiritual realms who want us to die out.  Who want us on that lower vibration.  There are millions of “Light Workers” on Earth right now, trying to make this a better place, but they are focused on the “problems” they can see, not the CAUSE of the problems.  June 15, 2015 at 2:00 AM Eastern Time, adjusted for where you live, I want to change from the “nursing” work all Light Workers are doing to “Warrior” mode.  I want to attack the CAUSE of the problem.  That cause is 'spiritual' Entropy.  We CAN push it back, in all levels of vibration, if we work together.

One person can not turn the tide, put maybe, just maybe, 8 MILLION can.

Join me.  June 15, 2015 2:00 AM Eastern time, adjusted for where you live.

Sony drops the bomb: 'The Interview'

Sony drops the bomb: ‘The Interview’

So, I really wanted to see the upcoming Seth Rogan movie ‘The interview’ in theaters sometime after Christmas. Would you believe my dismay upon finding out the movie was pulled and/or postponed due to hacked emails and bombastic threats coming from a hacker group? Can you fathom my sheer agitation upon finding out that Sony thought it would be a good idea to allow the stuffed shirts in the theater biz to start conforming to terrorist demands threatening moviegoers in retribution for its release, and that these fat-cats decided yanking the flick was an acceptable course of action? Simply appalling!

Back in November, thousands of emails were hacked and subsequently leaked by a group calling itself ‘Guardians of Peace'. Ironic name for a terrorist org!  This group, believed to be affiliated with the DPRK, apparently pulled this stunt as retribution for Sony’s upcoming release of ‘The Interview’ since the plot deals exclusively with the assassination of their ‘Dear leader’. This group then proverbially crapped itself by releasing warnings stating that ‘The world will be full of fear’ and then proceeding to wave the boogeyman of 9/11 over our collective heads, warning people to stay away from  theaters showing the film despite there being no credible evidence of an upcoming attack by our intelligence agencies and homeland security.

This just goes to show how pussified we have become as a society that we allow ourselves to be swayed by fear and terrorist threats issued by the gutless agents of a rogue nation.  Shame on the major theaters (Regal Cinemas, AMC Entertainment and Cinemark Theatre) for their cowardice and for the smaller chains in following suit like dominoes, excusing the postponement of this film under the guise of ‘public safety’ .This is exactly the kind of meek sensitivity and apologetic political correctness that is fraying at the fabric of our American society.  I find it audacious how Sony has responded to this threat, and stooped so low. Sony knew the consequences this film would have, and I highly suspect this coordinated turn of events was staged to drum-up hype and increase revenue for a comedy whose production budget was (holds up pinky finger to corner of mouth) 44 MILLION dollars. That is a lot of dough for a comedy. It’s as though the DPRK’s propaganda films about destroying America and turning Washington D.C into a crater are any worse than a Hollywood comedy.  The fact that the major theaters have been swayed by this double standard only enforces the position of DPRK loyalists, who will view this as a triumph and a great victory in their eyes. This therefore sets a precedent by enemy regimes: Hack, threaten, instill fear! Surely we will get Americans to shut the hell up and give in to our demands if we scream loud enough! 9/11! Fear!

Now, consider that there is a deeper political and/or corporate motive behind Sony having the plug pulled on this movie’s release that is not being publicly stated: The two main actors in the movie are journalists that are employed by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jung Un.  While it is true that any western Journalists who manage to enter the DPRK already face immense skepticism, many argue that this movie will only increase the paranoia and mistrust of future journalists and political negotiations.

I say screw them.

Did the USA kowtow to Adolph Hitler during WW2? No, Walt Disney made a parody with Donald Duck depicting him as a lunatic buffoon and told him to shove a missile straight up his Austrian kiester. 

Maybe Seth Rogan and James Franco will make a straight to DVD follow up film based on actual events about how Kim Jung Un murdered his uncle? That'd be grand! 

Even if there is a political and financial motive behind the scenes of this debacle, even if Sony is somehow encouraging pulling and postponing the film to increase audience demand to see it in a bid to make up for the losses suffered in the hack remains to be seen. Although this seems very suspicious, it doesn’t make much financial sense at all for Sony Corp, since they would surely be facing tens of millions of dollars in penalties, lost marketing costs, lawyers fees, et al. All for, what, increasing public hype for Amurricans to see a Seth Rogan flick? Costs of the breach are already being estimated between 150-300 million dollars. It could very well be that Sony's postponement is just making the best of a bad situation. The film is going to get spread one way or the other now that it has a political stigma attached to it, and I feel this is exactly what Sony wanted.

Personally, I wanted to see the movie before this drama unfolded. Would it be a crappy comedy? Sure, probably, thought I, however cliche it might be.I liked the premise and the dark humor. People are talking (and writing) about it now that there is hype surrounding the film.The fact remains that this fiasco bears a testament to how radicalized the DPRK is, and that Sony (and the theater corps) are responsible for putting a dent in American bravado, somehow suggesting that we are at fault in this idealistic clash of nations and cultures for having the nerve to parody a tyrant who has killed millions of his own people while engorging himself on Swiss cheese. We are combating a rogue regime with comedy, and it is no less debasing than Matt and Trey Parker releasing ‘Team America: world police” back in 2004.

How times have changed.

On #Gamergate and what it means to be a modern Gamer

Back in the 1990’s when video games were under attack from the media and landmark titles like ‘Doom’  ‘Mortal Kombat’ and ‘Quake’ were all the rage, many concerned parents were wetting their collective panties regarding the overt violence and gore exposed to their fragile, sheltered youth. The target audience of your average gamer was between the ages 8-24, male, and either hung out in Hot Topic at the local mall or Chuck’E Cheese.  The popularity of mall arcades were dying, while PC and gaming consoles were ubiquitous trappings in the cheetoh’s coated realm of the common nerd. Many characters were often over-sexualized and overtly macho to the point of parody. Duke Nukem wantonly swung stacks of Benjamin’s at skimpy dressed pole dancers while spouting crude one liners (Gasp: Objectification of women!) and Leisure suit Larry introduced us to the art of seducing two dimensional broads with artistically rendered bosoms (Simply Abhorrent!) all the while, the bloodletting effects in your arcade style fighting games had more pixelated red squares than a Minecraft server:

I am taking this opportunity to weigh in on ‘Gamergate’ as well as segueing into the progression of  video gaming and the direction of the industry as a whole.

Running the spectrum

The proliferation of console gaming into truly mainstream culture really began in the late 90’s early 00’s and delineated a shift from a mere child’s ‘toy’ and curio-gadget of the niche hobbyist to a fixture of the social nexus essential to any modern home entertainment center. Video gaming itself is one of the hallmarks symptomatic to what so called ‘social psychologists’ have dubbed the ‘Millennial’ generation. Along with the internet, social media , smartphones, and the influx of anime and Japanese culture injected into the veins of the Western adolescent,  it represents one of the underpinnings our generation just inherently ‘get’s’ without having to exacerbate its significance. While all of the aforementioned technologies and cultural assets were developed in the mid to late 20^th century by preceding generations, they weren’t embedded into the social fabric of their upbringing in quite the same way.

The term ‘gamer’ has also changed. To put this in perspective, your average six year old playing angry birds in mom’s minivan could be considered a ‘gamer’ just about as much as your average senior citizen playing video poker in Vegas while wearing black oversized shades and a sun-visor: Both examples are a radical departure from the grizzled gaming enthusiasts leveling up their Paladin to level 80 in DOTA 2. So sure, the prevailing stereotypical tropes  will enjoy the medium of gaming to their own degree, just as much as your average Joe-moviegoer  chortles on his extra buttery popcorn while watching ‘Jackass’ appreciates cinema in the same way as a jaded, balding film-buff does while critiquing the finer points of ‘Citizen Kane’ in his studio chair. 

This only becomes a problem to the self-identified ‘gamers’ who have adopted the title as an identification label, nothing more than a dispute of terminology that they have made exclusive to themselves which is largely irrelevant outside of their social strata. No longer is the traditional core audience being targeted by the major marketing developers: Therefore affecting the sensibilities of hardcore enthusiasts who have been playing video games for their immersive plots, creative gameplay, artistic visuals and moving soundtracks or just for the thrill of competition, stress relief and escapism, or to vent frustration and anger playing GTA5 rather than recreating the missions on the streets, pacified by the warm glow of their LCD screens.  This was the inevitable repercussion of gaming going main-stream and appealing to a far wider audience which was once largely the realm of young male teens, and 20 something’s.  And yet, there persists a relevant analogy that can be applied to any other form of entertainment media: The more widespread it becomes, the more it becomes oversaturated with content that the initial audience cannot relate to as it garners a fan-base that is just as estranged.

Attack of the 50 foot SJW

Now, along comes a small but growing group of very vocal fringe feminists that seek attention, publicity, and most importantly of all, money, by lambasting the gaming community and exposing what they perceive as misogyny in gaming by putting it on par with its history of violence and sexist portrayal of women. In opposition to this, actor Adam Baldwin coined #Gamergate to rally gamers against this onslaught, witnessing that their inclusive hobby (and some may say life-style) is under attack by outsiders. For anyone already familiar with the debacle, Gamergaters have long touted that the integrity of gaming journalism is the core issue and the legitimate talking point, not misogyny in gaming; further confusing matters since both issues overlap. But this has been overshadowed by the accusations of misogyny, in particular, those made by Anita Sarkeesian, an active critic and blogger. These involve harassment and trolling of female game developers and game ‘journalists’ in the workplace, objectification of women in games, and general violence toward women, claiming that the gaming industry is inherently sexist against them. A small part of the self-professed ‘Gamergaters’, who, in actuality, represent a pretty insignificant portion of ‘Gamers’ as it stands, have responded in kind by posting death/rape threats to Anita and other ‘feminists’ involved in the over-arching scandal including Zoe Quinn and Brenna Wu, giving them exactly what they wanted: The fuel for the media outrage they needed to acquire talk-show appearances on TV, dialogues with radio hosts, and publications with magazine editorials giving them the money they wanted. The seedier underbelly of the internet has spawned endless flame-wars on chan-boards, twitter feeds, and tumblr forums in response. This form of online harassment has been ongoing since the internet itself went mainstream, and has been directed at every single race, ethnicity, gender, orientation and subculture that has ever existed. It is nothing new, it is not excusable to those making the threats, but it is not exclusive to women. These threads are highly effective at attracting the lowest common denominator of both Gamer and SJW (Social Justice warrior) alike who thrive off conflict and drama, festering like flies on a shit-pile.  

Gamers have awakened to the fact that they do not have traditional news media outlets to represent themselves; only a handful of crackpot websites, blogs with PC police pushing personal agendas, youtube video commentaries, and a smattering of community forums which provide the only real platform for them to voice their concerns. There is no legitimate foundation for gaming journalism or reputable news sites to cover what is now a multi-billion dollar a year industry. I personally feel the ‘core’ gaming community provides an easy target for radical left wing social extremists that harbor a quasi-political feminist agenda to spew their vitriol without much backlash, mainly because the traditional ‘Gamer’ stereotype is quite negative, and that young, ‘privileged’ white males represent the core audience of that stereotype are at a disadvantage when addressing these issues because their inherent attributes are used against them by these fanatics much like a race-card is used when hot-button issues about race are discussed. Conversely, some of the ‘Gamergaters’ are to be just as reviled since they have brought out the worst aspects of the gaming community.  Many of the harassing tweets made by some Gamergaters have proven counter-effective and have played right into the hands of these radical feminists who have used this broad-stroke victimization as a PR example to justify their accusations and vilify Gamers as a whole.

All in all, this is further marginalizing the adherents of a hobby that has been under siege for decades now. The result is typical of human behavior, as we are using overgeneralizing labels to describe sweeping social ideologues that pander to the simplistic human dichotomy of an ‘Us-Vs-them’ mentality. The fact is, some ‘social justice warriors’ as well as some ‘Gamergaters’ are equally repugnant, and are to be held just as responsible for souring the well.   For the details of the scandal, I refer to the following youtube videos for those interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRaAJBKmi5I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F7Xze27wKE

The gaming industry is being hijacked by con-artists and feminist radicals, and this is bad.

Once predominately male, the title of ‘Gamer’ is far more encompassing now than it was in past, and now many Gamers are women. This is a great thing, all told. I feel that female gamers and developers have every right to voice their input and participate in the industry, putting their unique talents and perspectives into the fold. Many women in this field have sided with Gamergate, realizing that the radicalized absurdities vomited by Sarkeesian and her ilk are generally reviled by sane individuals. 

Sure, straight men tend to enact a ‘power fantasy’ of white-knighting for a damsel in distress. It’s an inherent, embedded genetic trait for masculine archetypes to protect women, and appeals to the tribal, hunter-gatherer male psyche when we apply this to entertainment. There is nothing wrong with this. Sex sells, and women have been catering to this since the dawn of time. Straight men view women as sexual beings, and radical feminists believe this somehow enforces objectification, in the same way that cheerleaders on the sidelines of the football field are ornamentation to the male libido. This drive is expressed in typical heteronormative dominance over women, viewing them as something to be seduced and conquered: This is what radical feminists hate. They can’t stand healthy, straight, male energies projected toward females in any form, seeing what they view as enforcing a patriarchal hegemony.  This is the heart of the issue.  Ethics in Gaming journalism, while just as valid in hindsight, ties into the issue because Zoe Quinn used her gender to have affairs with numerous men in gaming journalism. A writer for Kotaku is the notable example and she allegedly did this in exchange for positive reviews of her game ‘Depression quest’, and was exposed by her Ex boyfriend for her wrongdoing. Gamers have seen the ongoing corruption taking place in gaming journalism and realize that it should be exposed for what it is. The SJW’s want the public to believe this has provided a false flag to cover for their supposed misogyny toward women, but the fact remains that bribery for biased gaming reviews, while little more than a sideshow for an already overinflated issue, is a serious problem that is undermining the industry. This has been widely arraigned by the entirety of Gamergaters , touting “Ethics in gaming journalism!” as their battle cry.  

 Am I a Gamer? Absolutely. I love games, and always have. The Metroid series, featuring female protagonist Samus Aran, is one of my favorite franchises of all time. It is refreshing to see plot directions take a different twist from the ‘save the princess’ re-hash not for its own sake, but because it is crucial for character development and unique storytelling and that is what should be explored in this day and age. Games like Bayonetta, Remember me, No one lives forever, Tomb Raider, Beyond good and Evil, and Portal all possess female protagonists, and can appeal to male and female Gamers alike.

I grew up playing video games; it was a joyful part of my childhood as much as it was a part of those awkward, angst filled adolescent years where retreating into a virtual world was the most appealing option when faced with dealing with the life of a high school student and the social hardships that come with it. Being a teen outcast is something many past generations can identify with, and although I used gaming as form of self-imposed virtual isolation and escapist therapy, it had its merits in helping me cope and eventually become more social and branch out. Only those who have experienced this form of alienation will find sympathy in the plight of young gamers today, where others will merely scoff, abject to their own ignorance and lack of empathy for the issues that teenagers must struggle with.

We must collectively realize what is at risk; the backlash from the current Gamergate controversy has the potential to alter future game content through political lobbying and enact content laws that would put more pressure on the gaming industry should this SJW movement gain any more momentum, destroying mainstream gaming as a realm of virtual experimentation and fantasy. This would inhibit artistic creativity in gaming by forcing more concessions by game developers to appease fundamentalist social extremists, as well as further stigmatizing gamers.

Rather, I’d advocate on behalf of gamers of all stripes to be able to enjoy a socially acceptable hobby without the unwarranted ridicule or hostile preconceived notions projected at them by contemporary society and feminist fanatics, partaking in a past-time that is generally shared in the collective social unconscious typical to their peers.  Interpreted in the context of communication and media theory, video gaming would have been termed a ‘Hot’ medium by Mr Marshall McLuhan, a renowned philosopher of the digital age. Objectively, video games are immersive, interactive entertainment that engages all the human senses at once save for smell, and this mode of interaction externalizes the psyche into a transmigrated state while reducing awareness of surroundings to varying degrees. Gaming can tie people together, expand their imagination and horizons, and provide rejuvenating escapism and avenues to vent negative feelings, sharpen deductive powers and problem solving skills while honing situational awareness, hand eye coordination, timing, and mental reflexes outside of the game.

While I strongly advocate artistic freedom, I validate the safeguards keeping violent and sexual themes from being viewed by underage players are quite necessary as well.  In the kangaroo court of public opinion, fact checking and credibility are thrown out the window and decisions are based on emotionally charged, knee-jerk reactions. This is a dangerous prospect to those who push the boundaries of artistic creativity for shock-value and for adults who can appreciate adult themes. This only helps to levy strength in the hands of powerhouse publishers such as EA, which exploits these issues to their benefit by launching ad campaigns that will play both sides of the field for profit, since their bottom line is to outperform the competition through any means necessary. This is also highly polarizing in an industry where Indie developers simply do not have the funds and backing necessary to compete with the big house publishers, and while they may not possess crack-dev teams and the massive licensing agreements and capital investment that the major houses get, indie developers are crucial to keeping the industry fresh, and producing truly unique content for the modern gamer to enjoy. Some of the best games in recent memory are indie titles, and this is a breath of fresh air in a industry bogged down by innumerable 'variations on a theme'.

State of the Industry

It is small wonder that today’s youth are more familiar with the mythology of the Kingdom of Hyrule rather than that of Troy and Athens.  Video games spin intricate lore that speak to the modern psyche in a way that the old tales cannot, and yet these interactive stories often possess powerful symbolism that used to be expressed in these old stories that still taps into that subconscious mind, continuing the proliferation of modern myth in different form. 

Gaming has changed drastically over the years. It has become ‘piecemeal’ since the advent of DLC  (downloadable content) for profit that has been milking as many intangible virtual commodities from a game as possible. This tactic has been successful in maximizing revenue for the gaming houses even on titles that may be incomplete, only to be patched at a later date. This is very much a double edged sword with positive and negative consequences. DLC (and expansion packs) are often met with mixed reactions by gamers, but can also be used as an excuse for developers to cheapen the initial release of their game with sparse content and hook the core audience of a popular game while dishing out an endless stream of virtual trinkets, maps and updates.

There is also no question the US military has embraced video games and see’s their value as a propaganda tool, loosely using the ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘Battlefield’ series to glorify warfare and help boost their ROTC enlistment numbers in high schools around the country, preparing the American youth for combat scenarios. How hyper-realistic will first person shooters get until they stop being a game and start becoming a gore simulation that would make even the most hardened players flinch as they pump virtual bullets into a virtual hooker? Where do we draw the line?

If there is one major shift that underscores the ‘au courant’ of modern gaming, it is the fact that it has become predominately mobile to the ever growing mainstream audience: The vast majority of mobile, java and flash based games on smartphones are more popular than ever, providing highly accessible, cheap, and, most of all, extremely addictive distractions: little more than a delivery platform of a Pavlovian reward mechanism flooding the primitive ape-brain with bright colors and gratifying sounds and jingles for advancing game progress, thereby hooking the deductive centers of the mind and providing only the illusion of input, ala ‘Candy Crush’, or ‘Tetris’. Many of the gameplay factors in these types of games are completely left up to pure chance in the same way gambling does in making addicts out of players.

Perhaps this could also be said of the early titles like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, which are just as stimulating and repetitive, yet we hold these titles in high esteem as the cornerstones of classic gaming. Granted, this was mostly due to the novelty of gaming during the early 80’s and the fact that there were many technical and graphical limitations at the time. Doubtless to the sensibilities of your seasoned gamer, that it would seem though desecrating a masterpiece to compare them to something as pedestrian as Candy Crush, yet they all essentially fuel the same reward centers of the brain while triggering the same addiction pathways, and influx the conscious mind with a façade of immersive escapism.

I would venture that video games can be as moving and emotionally charged as a feature length film or a book of prose; and yes, some works in particular I would strongly consider have so elevated their craft and inspired us that they invoke the senses as a work of Art. This may be contrary to what some feel is accurate to their worldview, but I digress. This, however, can be exemplary of any consumption media which requires active participation, (Film, books, music, graphic novels) and it is noteworthy that Gaming in particular has one Achilles heel that robs the end-user of a certain virtue: Video Games have the peculiar quality of forming chronic addiction, and a very wide range of personality types are susceptible to it. Procrastination and eventual stagnation is the inevitable product of this type of addiction, and those who have succumbed have found themselves squandering away their lives away playing video games in a sordid cycle that they might not even consciously realize they are trapped in: Perpetually consuming media rather than creating it.