Comments on the State of The Union Address.

A war without end. Deceptions about Iran and their nuclear program. An economy that is down and could be heading toward a recession. This is what the administration of our 43rd president George Walker Bush will be remembered for. A disaster that is the Iraq War. Intentional lies about Iran's uranium enrichment program which was once thought to be a horrifying reality, only instead to learn that said program was suspended in 2003 according to the National Intellegence Estimate. A sluggish and weakening economy that cost the jobs of the American people, raised gas prices, and declined the value of the U.S. dollar. This was the work of this current adminisrtation. These topics were highlights in the President's annual State of the Union address. In the address last Monday Night, President Bush addressed the status of Iraq, Iran's uranium enrichment program, and the economy. This State of the Union, however, was not, in my opinion (like all of my commentaries) an actual report on our country. Instead, President Bush spun the status of the Iraq War, Iran's urainium enrichment program that was suspended for almost half a decade, and the economy of the United States. President Bush's speech was a cut and paste from his previous annual addresses. We, regardless of political affiliation, are tired of this. We have heard the same old song and dance year after year.

President Bush's statements about the success of the surge are not truthful. Although the surge did work from a militarily standpoint, thus Al Quieda being driven out of Iraq and an overall drop in violence, the primary goal of the surge was to give security for political reconciliation in Iraq. This has not happened. Iraq continues to be an unstable country. Iraq is still in a state of chaos and dissarry while our brave men and women in uniform are continuosly dying from roadside bombs, suprise attacks, and suicide bombers. President Bush is telling the American people that things in Iraq are better than they once were. I agree that things in Iraq are better, but it is far from good. Our troops are still losing their lives and our military is straining in a war that is growing pointless every single day. A war that made more enemies while we lost allies and our standing in the world. No political progress was made. The surge, while succeding militarilly thanks to our excellent army, is not working politically.

President Bush made comments about Iran's suspended uranium enrichment program in his address Monday Night. He told the many viewers of his speech that if Iran wants to negotiate, they need to end their enrichment program. Did our elected president just all of a sudden forgot about the NIE report that said Iran suspended said program in 2003? That same report that President Bush got back in August, but still brought up a nuclear holocaust and World War 3 if Iran was allowed to continue said program? President Bush got it all wrong. Those who watched the State of the Union and listened to the president make those remarks about Iran could only imagine how most of the American people felt and how the Democrats felt about the insane and utterly false comments President Bush made. The American people do not want and do not need a president that is delusional. We do not need a president that instead of running a country in the real world, rules the country in a fantasy world. GET BACK TO EARTH MR. PRESIDENT. Get back to reality.

The economy, which was also addressed in the State of the Union, is not in a recession...but it is heading in that direction. Although time will tell of the new economic agreement between the White House and congress, time will not be essential to tell of Bush's economic policies. They, just like his presidency, was a flop. The value of the dollar has declined. Jobs went overseas. The housing market is in a mess. President Bush's economic policies were the cause of the aforementioned. His economic policies raised unemployment and foreclocures. His policies are a factor in the rising of gas prices and the devaluing of the dollar. Despite the Dow rising as high as 14,000 points, the economy is in a freefall and possibly heading into a recession, the second one of his presidency. President Bush's economic policy was a disaster.

President Bush's State of the Union address was nothing more than falsehoods. It paints a false reality of this nation. It was not reflective of the actual state of the union. You do not need a pundit to tell you this. You do not need a blog to tell you this. If you saw the State of the Union, you can see just how wrong the president was and how devisive the parties were. When President Bush mentioned the complete success of the surge, the Republican half of the audience applauded while the Democratic half sat still in solid disagreement. When President Bush mentioned about Iran's suspended uranium enrichment program, the Democrats, while calm on the outside, were screaming bloody murder and complete objection on the inside. However, the Democrats were not alone in their objection. You can ask the near seventy (70) percent of the American people that object to Bush's policies. It does not matter whether they are affiliated with any party. You do not need to be a liberal or a Democrat to realize that this nation is on the wrong track.

It is a damn shame President Bush does not recognize this. He does not realize the nation is in the wrong direction and that his policies put this nation on that track. It was his job to put this nation on the right track. He has failed. His State of the Union address is further evidence that President Bush does not know how to run this country. His state of the union was an hour of falsehoods. What is more depressing is that we all heard the same thing year after year. Iraq is getting better. The economy is thriving. Iran is trying to get nuclear weapons. This is sounding like a broken record.

WE, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, HAVE HEARD THIS, PRESIDENT BUSH, AGAIN AND AGAIN. LISTEN TO YOUR PEOPLE FOR A CHANGE, WILL YOU?

Good night and good luck.

Brief Commentary on Electronic Arts' Resopnse to Fox News "Mass Effect" Smear.

Earlier this week, the XBox 360 game "Mass Effect" was unfairly slammed and defamed by author Cooper Lawrence and Fox News. In a debate on the midday show "The Live Desk", guest Cooper Lawrence and host Martha MacCallum sensationalized the game and its tastefully done love scene. They claimed the game featured full nudity and graphic sex. The segment was even titled "'SE'XBOX? New Video Game Shows Full Digital Nudity And Sex". Spike TV's Geoff Keighley did a tremendous job defending the game, but was not given much time to give his response. In all, it was a sad and disgraceful display from Cooper and Fox News. Cooper, Martha, and the "A-List" panel slammed "Mass Effect" unfairly. Adding to the disgrace and the lack of credibility on the issue is that Cooper Lawrence, during the debate, said she never played the game. Just sad, but not suprising from Fox News. Yesterday, Electronic Arts, parent company of "Mass Effect" developer BioWare, called out Fox News and demanded them to correct themselves about the game. VP Jeff Brown also called out Fox for their hypocrisy, pointing out that Fox Television Network shows like "Family Guy" and "The O.C." have more sexual content than "Mass Effect".

It is about time.

It is about damn time that someone in the industry called out Fox News on their lies. When games are slammed, it is not the game itself that feels the heat. Game companies are painted as those who push porn on kids. They are portrayed as sick individuals, smut peddlers, those who target law enforcement. Gamers themselves are portrayed as perverted, twisted, and violent. Brown finally did something that should have been done a long, long time ago. He fought back against Fox News and Cooper Lawrence. He took a stand. The rest of the industry need to follow suit when a game is unfairly slammed.

Fox News as well as the rest of the mainstream media needs to take more responsibility and to check their facts. Back in 2004, former CBS Evening News host Dan Rather ran a story about President Bush's National Guard service record. When he reported the story incorrectly, Rather lost his job and an accomplished jounalist had his reputation wrecked. If Dan Rather gets fired for not fact-checking, then Martha MacCallum and Cooper Lawrence should be admonished and disciplined for their lies about "Mass Effect". This is a sign that the game companies are not going to be slanderized and bullied around anymore.

Good night and good luck.

Commentary on Fox News' Sensationalistic Deceptions and Hypocritical Outrage Over "Sex" Scene in Mass Effect.

It should be no surprise and no mystery that Fox News is neither fair nor balanced. Their deceptive tactics and rampant sensationalism are well-known among their former viewers like myself. Fox News has sensationalized hostage situations and school shootings. They added inappropriate and gratuitous sexual imagery when they covered a serial killer prowling around the beaches of Florida near Spring Break. In fact, Fox News adds gratuitous sexual images in almost any story they cover, especially sexual-themed stories. When Bill O'Reilly devoted a segment of his show to a Carl's Jr. television advert staring Paris Hilton, he displayed the ad for 19 seconds running. Instead of responsibly showing the ad to his viewers for only five seconds, he shown the ad for nearly a third of a minuet. If you are showing an ad you are outraged at for only five seconds, I would not mind. When you do that for almost twenty seconds, you are using that ad gratuitously and it makes you a hypocrite. This is what Fox News does best. Spin the story to make whatever they do not like look bad. They take what democrats say and twist it into something negative. It is wrong and is not reflective of what I thought Fox News was...fair and balanced.

The tactics of Fox News was on display again yesterday on their midday show "The Live Desk". The segment was on the supposed sex scene in the Xbox 360 game "Mass Effect". Hosted by Martha MacCallum, the segment featured a debate between author Cooper Lawrence and Spike TV's game reporter Geoff Keighley (transcript and YouTube video here). The segment was titled "Se"Xbox? New Video Game Shows Full Digital Nudity and Sex". Keighley defended the game well, but it was obvious the game along with Keighley himself was not going to get the "fair and balanced" treatment. Geoff was not given much time to give his replies while Cooper Lawrence was misrepresenting the game, a game she admitted that she never played, and was just being rude to Keighley, even telling Martha to "Let me at him".

Geoff should be praised not only for defending the game, but for even going on Fox News, which is never kind to video games or the industry itself. He had tremendous poise and kept his cool while he was being rudely interrupted by Lawrence along with being bombarded with sensationalized exaggerations of the scene and the game itself. Full nudity? Explicitly graphical sex? This could not be further from the truth. The scene (which is in the YouTube clip here) only features a bare backside and one breast. No full nudity. No graphic sex. Cooper Lawrence, along with Martha and the "A-List" panel, made the false claims of graphic sex without even playing the game. Does this sound fair and balanced? Were the words of Lawrence about the game as a whole and the way Martha moderated the debate reflective of that slogan? Look at the title of that segment. "Se"Xbox? New Video Game Shows Full Digital Nudity and Sex". That alone should be a red flag not only for sensationalizing a story, but also for slander. Microsoft and BioWare should call an attorney.

When Martha interviewed the panel about the scene, one of the panelists criticized the ESRB for not giving the game the Adults Only rating, which would get the game pulled from store shelves. If Mass Effect should get such a rating for the "graphic scene", then Fox News should be declared obscene and be available only through the adult pay-per-view channels. The sexual images they shamelessly exhibit while covering news stories are more graphic and more gratuitous than the supposed sex scene in Mass Effect and are on the screen longer on all of their shows than the scene in the game. Fox News is being hypocritical in their outrage. Not only do they display sexual images without any qualms, but their salaries are paid by the same man who owns the Fox Television Network, which has shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, House, and 24 among other shows that are not suitable for children. These shows feature more sexual content than Mass Effect. Fox News is owned by the same company that owns MySpace. I do not need to tell you about the stuff one can view on the social networking site. Fox News and their employees are in no place to criticise those who develop games with any sexual content. If they want to go after adult content, they should start with their own channel. How about if they not show sexual content gratuitously and inappropriately?

Fox News' coverage of the "sex scene" in Mass Effect is nothing short of sensationalism and a complete distortion of facts. The so-called graphic nudity is nothing more than a brief shot of a woman's rear and a bare left breast. This is not pornographic. This is not AO content. Fox News is doing what they do best. They sensationalize. They spin the facts. They are not fair to who they do not agree with. Fox News is lying to their viewers. Their viewers are not getting all sides of any story they "report". This is fear-mongering. The act of deliberately twisting facts and research to scare viewers and to defame anyone or anything is a violation of journalistic ethics. We have seen this from Fox News so many times. This is the same network that gave anti-game crusader and lawyer Jack Thompson air time during their coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre. Fox did nothing but listen to this massacre-chasing monster blaming video games for the shooting before any investigation took place, before the identity of the shooter was known, before the final body count was known, while students were worried sick about the well-being of fellow students and professors, while family members were waiting for the conditions of their loved-ones. Just sad and disgraceful. No one at Fox News objected. No one at Fox News had any qualms about Jack Thompson capitalizing on a tragedy that was still going on. DO THEY NOT HAVE ANY SHAME?

My anger with Fox News is not a right-wing issue or a left-wing issue. This is about holding journalists who sensationalize and spin the facts responsible. The journalists at Fox need to take a long look in the mirror. They need to look at themselves and take stock. When they do that, they should ask themselves this question: Who is worse, the game developers who make the games or those in the media who sensationalize and distort the facts about the game to scare the viewers and to fit an agenda? If you think the former is worse, I got these six words to say:

YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS BEING JOURNALISTS!

Good night and good luck.

Thoughts on Universal Healthcare

The health of a human being. It is a paramount essence to ones' livelihood. The very thing that keeps a person alive and judges a persons' odds of living into tomorrow, next week, next month, or even next year. Our health is based on our heart, lungs, bone strength, and muscle strength among other factors. The proper maintenance of the factors of overall health is a top importance to anyone if they want to live a long life. A person alone, however, can not check how his or her heart is working and whether it needs to be examined. A person alone can not check their own teeth to see if they need fillings or a root canal. A person alone can not perform surgery on themselves to repair a torn ACL. This is why we have doctors, dentists, surgeons, and many other medical professionals. We visit them to get our check-up. We visit them when something in our body goes wrong. However, they, lust like anyone who has a job, needs to be paid. The bills are usually paid by the patient. The bills can be expensive, sometimes costing as much as a thousand dollars. Luckily, we have insurance that can co-pay the fees and bills.

Sadly insurance companies at times do not co-pay for operations. It is a depressing fact, but many who do not have good insurance and can not afford for surgeries that can save a person's life do not get the mandated treatment. They are turned away from the help they need. They are denied of the care that they mandate. Instead of having a doctor to take care of them, those who could not get the care they need to save their lives because of a bad insurance policy are left for dead. This is a sad dose of reality. It is heartbreaking to hear the stories of those who lost loved ones because some insurance companies are too cheap to co-pay for a surgery that could have saved their lives. This is a serious problem in this nation and it is a topic in the presidential campaign. A solution is needed.

The easiest solution and the one favored by the democratic presidential candidates is universal, or socialized, healthcare. Universal healthcare is a program used in Canada, England, and France among other countries that guarantees everyone healthcare regardless of insurance. The idea of universal healthcare in America sounds like a great solution. All of those who were turned away from healthcare because of affordability will get the healthcare because it is paid for by the government. That sounds like a good idea, doesn't it? Our government pays for the police force and for the fire department. They also pay for the roads and their maintenance. Imagine if we had to pay for our police force or for the fire department. I tremble at the thought of the people not getting help from law enforcement because they could not pay for it. I wince at the thought of not getting help from the fire department because I could not pay them. If we do not have to pay for the police or fire departments, then why should we have to pay for healthcare. Universal healthcare is a fabulous idea...

...on paper.

Universal healthcare is not the best solution. In fact, it is far from the best solution. One of the flaws of universal healthcare are waiting lists. Those on the list have to wait several days or even months to get the treatment they need. They can not move ahead regardless of the severity of their condition. They have to wait some time in order to get the treatment they need. Imagine that you need a surgery as soon as possible, but you are put on a waiting list. You could wait for months, not getting the care you need while your condition worsens. You could even die while you are waiting for your operation. Even if the average waiting time is only a couple of days, a day or two could be the difference between life or death. This flaw is worsened by those who would go to the doctor when even the littlest thing in them goes wrong. Those who do that clog up the lists and holds up those who are in more need of medical care than those who may have nothing worse than a runny nose or morning sickness (the feeling you get when you wake up and quickly goes away).

Universal healthcare has other flaws, but none of which are as paramount as this. Earlier in this commentary, I noted that the police department, the fire department, and our roads are paid for by the government. Where does this money come from? It comes from...OUR TAXES. Those who claim that universal healthcare is free could not be further from the truth. The government uses our tax dollars to pay for law enforcement, our firemen, and our military among other things. Imagine your tax dollars going to a person who sees a doctor over nothing worse than a cough, or a person who sees a doctor to get a prescription for medicine to make meth, or even to those who commit fraud. The thought of those who abuse something that is paid by our taxes is sick, but those who would commit fraud with our tax dollars is beyond sick. It is repugnant. This can happen and possibly will happen with a universal healthcare system. This is a society that cares for others, but it is not selfish to think to yourself sometimes. The higher tax rates that come with universal healthcare will leave you with less money for the things you need. You will have less money for your home, your groceries, running water, electricity, and other essentials. Low-income families will be under a heavier burden with the higher tax rates and homeless rates could increase. Universal healthcare is paid by tax dollars. It is not free.

Backers of universal healthcare accuse hospitals of denying care to those who enter emergengy rooms if they can not pay for it. This is not only false, it is illegal. Federal law obligates emergency rooms to care for those who need it regardless of affordability.

The healthcare system in this nation is broken, but a universal healthcare system is not the answer. The waiting list will have patients needing an immediate surgery waiting either a day or half a year and taxes will sharply increase. In fact, nations that have socialized healthcare have higher tax rates than the U.S. France has a tax rate six times the rate in this country. Universal healthcare sounds good on paper, but it may not work in the United States.

Good night and good luck.

Did a Rush to Beat Sony Cause the Red Rings of Death Controversy?

According to an anonymous inside source who was involved in the testing of the system, the Xbox 360 had "purposefully cheap heat sinks" and was rushed just to beat Sony. The sinks were the reported cause of many RROD problems. Also adding to the pain is the chance that Microsoft may run out of replacement systems for those who had the dreaded rings.

This is of right now a rumor. If it is true, then Microsoft should be ashamed.

Source of article: Joystiq

Website of the Week: GameTrailers

Imagine a website that has all of the following: previews, reviews, retrospectives, user-submitted content, and a bunch of other things on and about video games.

Well, no longer imagine. GameTrailers has all of that in one place. You will get video reviews, video previews, the ability to watch any video either in Standard Definition or High Definition. GameTrailers also features interviews with gaming luminaries and gives you an inside look at various industry events. I reccomend this website. Visit it often.

Website of the Week: GameTrailers

Directors Guild and Studios Reach Deal.

Could the writers strike come to an end soon? It could. The Directors Guild reached a deal with major film and TV studios. The deal is likely to put pressure on the writers to end the strike, which is ten weeks old and hurting the industry badly.