Apoligize to Iraq?

Saw a silly protest sign with apologize to Iraq, bring our troops home scrawled on it. So, what is a proper apology?

The Iraqis want 140 M-1 Abrams tanks, army bases made by the Corps of Engineers, and are paying us top dollar for those services. They need us to stick around with our fighter jets and drones until they can get their own. The one thing they don't need is us leaving completely and quickly. The surge troops are home or coming home, more draw downs are expected, and the Iraqis are modernizing their army.

The best apology for the mess is not getting out of Iraq, but helping Iraq take control of itself, like its currently doing. With billions in oil revenue, more production than before the war, and improved infrastructure, I kinda think we already apologized. But a free-trade deal might be nice, a permanent military alliance couldn't hurt, and a promise to smash Iran if it attacks them would seal the deal. Oh, except I doubt that's what the dippy protester had in mind.

Superheroes and Darkness

DC is officially dumb. The Dark Knight does well, and now they think other heroes need to be "dark". Guess what, thats not why it rocked. TDK qas awesome because it never let up, and had a terrifying villian. The darker tone was because of the fact that its Batman and Joker, two very dark characters. Batman never was evil, or even close to being an anti-hero. Trying to plaster his grim mood on Superman is idiotic.

Batman is the only banner character DC has that seems to work. Its because they are scared of being dorky. Marvel revels in dorkiness, releasing movies willy-nilly. Sure, you get Rise of The Silver Surfer, but you also get Iron Man. Superman needs to have a decent villian and I think he
d be OK. Its just that if he's fighting crime its boring, you feel nothing. If he's fighting an equal foe, people would get into it. Darkness belongs in the villian, not the hero. Watching TDK, Batman never gave into any dark urges. Where the heck did they get that idea?

The next two movie are going to be Supermax (which works for the dark idea, and is not a origin story, but a special comic put into film), and The Flash (Dark? No. Emo? No. If either of these are added to this CSI turned super, it will flop.). One of them does work for darker tone, but The Flash isn't a very dark character. DC needs to just tell good stories, not get the idea that because TDK was dark, everything should be.

Russias Joke Army

Comparing the Ukrainian and Russian armies, who use similar equipment, it amazes me that the Ukrainians modernize and upgrade old Soviet tanks, but the Russian don't. Part of that is the designers were based in the Ukraine, and stayed after it left Russia. But much of it is laziness. The Ukrainians use nearly all Russian weapons, but I'm betting that they take better care of them. The Russians often claim to be working on new better equipment, but it doesn't show up. The fact that they failed to get air superiority over Georgia, allowing their commander to be killed by air strikes, show Russian incompetence. The weapons that shot down their most modern fighters and bombers were old Russian SAMs, which they should have expected. They won only through sheer size and brutality.

However, that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. Though they use older technology, barbarians can win through the laziness of more civilized people. Lets be honest, if no one will use fancier weapons against them, the Russians can use their old crap forever. America is finishing up in Iraq and Afghanistan, which mean we won't help anyone against the Russians. However, the Ukraine has more modern weapons, and while the Russians can play nice to try to be friends, they cannot invade without massive casualties. They probably will be happy to bully smaller countries, so any talk about a resurgant Russia is silly.

On Masks and the new Thugs

The only reason to wear a mask is to hide your identity. However, police and soldiers often go out without a mask. Being a vigilante is usually useless. Defending yourself and spreading the right to self defense are more valuable. In truth, had Thomas Wayne possessed a firearm, Batman would never be created. So then, why do I like movies like Iron Man and The Dark Knight? Because they say that one person can make a difference. Not a superman, just a man with resources and will.

But one policeman could make the difference, one soldier could change history. If people fight, and support those who fight, they might not win, but at least they tried. It is better to give your death for freedom than to waste it on old age. But these days, society acts as if soldiers are dupes and fools, not warriors. They mock the term warrior, as if its some ancient, backwards tradition, but then praise made up heroes who are warriors.

It may be that keeping a mask is necessary, in a world of crippling lawsuits and fickle mobs. One day, even our police might wear masks to prevent certain activists from targetting their families. Already, scientists have found their children threatened by animal-rights activists, and if this spreads to other psycho movements on the far left and far right, we might have to have police forces of Batmen, cowled to protect their families. This will lead to corruption, I would guess, but without it, there would be no police at all.

It probably won't get that bad, as these groups are cowardly, and avoid states with Castle Doctrines, but in states with lesser gun rights, it might develop. With violent activists like Critical Mass and animal liberation weirdos escalating their violence and attacking anyone they view as bad, its hard to stay positive. As I live in the South, however, I probably wont ever see it in my area.

Eureka Seven

Well, the main character is a goober, as I expected. Except he's only a goober about girls, and has trouble flying with anyone but himself at the controls. As to the surfing mecha, lets be honest, it looks cool, and isn't any silliar than magical angel wings on Gundams, or any of a multitude of mecha designed to look cool.

One thing I notice, anime makers seem to love the skater archetype, probably because being a rebel of any kind in Japan is a horrible sin, and entertainers love to shock. Also, they have historically been a fascist country ruled by a god emperor, which means that rebellion is new and cool to them. Remember, we were starting on punk culture in the 50s, they were learning to be free. But the authorities in this fantasy world are definitely based on the militarists of the 40s. So, silly outfits, but not too bad.

The girl that our hero/goober Renton likes is Eureka. I rather like her, which is different for anime love interests. She is some kinda alien or gentically manipulated whatsit, who got taken away from the government by an older lady scientist. She is always followed around by three little kids on the good guys airship, who call her Mama. She is quite amused by Rentons silliness, which, I admit, is kinda funny. However, he also seems to be able to pull out extra power from her mecha, resulting in a rather pretty explosion.

So, its pretty, its kinda silly, and it will probably get horribly weird. I'm going to keep getting it, see where it goes.

PSN, what gives?

OK, the Playstation Network now has the exact same features of the other systems, but they have topnotch downloadable games that put most professional games to shame. For instance, I was playing a game demo called Pixeljunk Eden, where the focus is on jumping around and opening flowers. It is all HD sprites, which are so detailed you can barely tell that they are pixelated. Its pretty, has soothing odd music, and a simple interface. Now, the jumps are fairly hard to make, but it is a 2D platformer.

Another game, Everyday Shooter, does indeed have everyday controls, but everything else is oddly perfect. Enemies explode with guitar notes, chaining explosions makes wonderful melodies, and no matter how insanely difficult it gets, I feel relaxed when playing it.

I believe this has to do with the fact that Sony decided to be nice to little developers who want on the network. Sony has been less effective at keeping big companies exclusive, but small companies are so happy to be included in a bleeding edge console, they are quite happy to stay. Also, small games aren't expected to have realistic graphics and excellent physics. So the maker can focus on the experience, not the perfect graphics. Its true that these games could exist on any console, but Sony has seemed to master the quirky little game.

Hope they keep it up, big games just dont seem to be worth it as much. Pretty? Sure. Fun? Judging from the anger levels I feel, they stink. Unless a big game is made by someone I like and trust, I am going to avoid them.

Xam'd: Lost Memories

OK, the studio that made Eureka Seven has an exclusive deal with Sony, playing this new show only on the PSN (well, I bet DVDs will be released later). I have seen the first episode. 4 Bucks for an HD rental is kinda steep, considering you can't keep it. But this is a very experimental idea. A series exclusive to the network of a game console. I bet part of the problem is the fact that to a Japanese company, a low dollar means that its harder to get money from their games in the US. But enough economic complaints.

It seems worth it to me. English subbed, 25 min (intro and ending sadly included). The animation quality is top notch, the characters seem interesting, and the world looks kinda fun. Freakiness has started occuring already. The male main characters parents are seperated, but not divorced, you can tell they don't like the idea of putting their kid through that crap, wish parents in the real world were that decent. Kinda typical, odd parents, with a good relationship with their kid. I'm not sure if this will help or hurt the main characters dealing with turning into a monster.

The secondary characters are kinda typical, though. His female friend is the normal tough martial artist, and his male friend is another martial artist with a nerdy air. Yeah, anime friends. The crew of the postal airship that is coming in as the episode begins and ends are featured in the intro, but no real info. Theirs a reference to Postal Law, no idea, but certain types of ships or arms of certain navies dont care.

So, an invasion of an island (read, fantasy Okinawa) is about to begin, the kid just got fused with some magic thingy, and the scout of the postal ship (in a air-motorcycle thingy) is going to the scene of the explosion that hit him. Hes freaking out, but thats OK for your first monster transformation, I hope he doesn't make a habit of it.

Is it worth $4 for a episode download (fairly long) that doesn't stick around? No. Will I keep watching? Yes. So, if your budgets tight, I'd wait for the eventual DVD release. If you have PSN, and plenty of money, and want to keep up, go for it.