Resonance Point

Unsolicited Punditry #8

2009-04-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

Urf Day Lamentations

Pundit's Note: These are my opinion. They are borne out by years of listening and looking around. If you want proofs on this, I will not be your research monkey. Do the leg work and prove or disprove me to yourself. If you want to tell me about something and introduce some new information to me, go right ahead. Be warned, I look at human behavior and the source and take all reports with a grain of salt. What you may think is true, I may see other traits behind it.

I am not a fan of Earth Day. As a matter of fact, I'm an out and out detractor of what I see as a fraud perpetrated on humanity. What makes it all the worse for me is the ubiquitous nature (bad pun not intended) of this fraud being ramrodded down everyone's throats, especially children! These poor kids are being terrorized with images of drowning from melting icecaps, dead polar bear cubs and burning sun! I mean it's like this was produced by Monty Python. "And now the Penguin on top of your TV set will now explode."

So, why do I say that Earth Day is a fraud?

1. Man cannot, never has and never will affect the way that weather and the climate works.

A friend of the family was a Doctor of Vulcanology. He put much of man's impact on the globe into perspective for me as a kid. One small/moderate volcanic eruption will put out more pollution in our atmosphere than all mankind ever did in it's history. I remember when Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1990ish, there was one year that we had practically no summer. It was a cold year but not so cold that it was insurmountable. Even the eruptions of Mt. St. Helens wasn't so bad. Krakatoa's explosion only dealt a blow to the world climate for 2 years. This is why mankind cannot possibly affect the atmosphere.

What mankind CAN do is poison our environment, make species extinct and generally kill ourselves off, but the Earth will survive. We can make the air impossible for us to live with. We can poison the water. We can irradiate the soil. This will not stop nature. It will adapt and survive. What it will do is change the nature in which it WILL survive, most likely without us. Nature put the dinosaurs out of business after millions of years. Will we be able to knock ourselves off in the brief period between ice ages? Could we destroy the world in a scant 7 thousand years? Hardly.

2. All the solutions for this bogus climate crisis only serve to enslave people and control them with big government.

I call them Watermelons. Green on the outside, red on the inside. They basically started with the solution: World Socialism (Fascism really) The problem was, nobody was gonna buy what they were selling. They knew they needed to create a situation where people WOULD accept their control, and started to look for solutions. Then we get Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir. Suddenly the concept of the environment having rights starts to crop up. It explodes in the 1960's under Rachel Carson's fraudulant thesis in "Silent Spring" equating bird deaths to DDT. Since then the tests have proven her theory false, but yet the laws created banning the substance continue on. Before Rachel Carson, Malaria was on the run all over the world. Mosquito populations had plummetted. You do realize of course that as pests go, mosquitos are the #1 killer of mankind than any other animal? After Rachel Carson? Malaria has rebounded as well as yellow fever, scarlet fever and many other mosquito borne illnesses. To save birds from a threat that did not exist.

So you continue on, building on the little steps created by those before you. Next, you have the population bomb theory and "Soylent Green is People!" nonsense. Hollywood gets in on the act because apocalyptic stories are always en vogue helping amplify the terror visions in adults and children's heads. You start saying things like this is a problem for the whole world. Nobody can be left out or we all die. The Ozone hole (which has been shown to have it's own cycle, and not manmade), still holds sway over many thinking CFCs did it. Then you get a crazed former VP and presidential candidate to make a slide show based on false data and force feed it into as many schools as you can as "irrefutable truth" to corrupt the minds of kids in a form parents won't notice till it's too late.

Then the ground is prepped for your solution. And the only solution to a problem this big? Government. Oppressive totalitarian governmental control over your entire life. It's a crisis covering the whole world, we all must act together or die together. That's the joke. Collectivism on the march for a crisis that doesn't exist. International agreements, treaties, limits, cap and trade, economic measures to stop you from living the life you want because they wish to control you, and this is the crisis that makes you panic enough to enslave yourselves to them.

3. The science is NOT settled, and there are many many reputable detractors showing that it has become politically manipulated for the ends of others.

Lord Monkton is often a constant source of good information on bad science. You can look up what he's found. But here's a website you can find to prove that this "sudden rise" of temperature is based on faulty data collection. www.surfacestations.org This site catalogs NOAA surface stations, where they collect data about the atmosphere and turn it into the weather reports you see on TV. For decades these surface stations have become compromised due to sprawl and poor location, but yet the data has been taken as unaffected. We need this fixed.

Oh, and the computer models? Well, small error in one of them. The hockey stick graph which is often used, forgets to take into account that the atmosphere is not infinitely deep! Yes, it has a top to it and then space! Kind of changes the parameters of the test now, doesn't it?

Garbage in, garbage out.

BTW, the NASA scientists who suddenly spoke out against this growing threat ignored by the Bush administration? They were protecting their pet project of trying to prove the effects of man-made global warming. That couldn't have had any effect on their choices to speak out, could it?

4. Those pushing the hardest are demogogues and looking for personal wealth. Many have and will profit from insane government overreach for a problem that does not exist.

This is ultimately summed up with the energy crisis the world is currently facing. Once again, it's a fraud. It is brought on by political machinations and an out and out lie of "Peak Oil". For those who don't know, Peak Oil is the theory that we have found all the easy deposits of oil, and there are no more. We have not only plateaued in oil productions, we have started to fall and once out of oil, it's all over but for the screaming. I'm not a real believer in "Abiotic Oil" or other forms of constantly renewable oil, but I do think we have been fooling ourselves in saying we looked the world over and found nothing more.

Summed up? Horse hockey. Here's WHY we haven't found more: Governments are preventing companies from looking for and exploiting new resources for political gain. Those people who are desiring the success of the Green movement are working hard to prevent cheap energy, especially hydrocarbon based energy. They want to starve the world of energy so they will enslave themselves to the nihilistic theory that mankind is the problem and needs to be depelted. Read Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six to see this theory of "mankind is evil" in action. I haven't read it yet myself, but Michael Crichton's last book "State of Fear" is basically a dissection and decimation of the whole global warming theory.

They want to force us into "effective alternate forms of green renewable energy". Bravo, good thinking. Small catch, the only thing that's really true about that statement are the words 'alternate' and 'energy'. Ethanol is neither green nor effective. It will raise food prices as it diverts crops from feeding people and will cause massive starvation if not stopped. It produces more "greenhouse gases" that petroleum. It destroys your engine, making it less reliable and breaks down easier. Most of all, it's an inefficient fuel that produces less energy than it takes to produce it. Solar is decades away from prime time, plus works only 30% of the time when the sun IS shining. Same with wind power, that requires it not be run on too windy of days for fear of breaking the turbine and blades. Not to mention the chopped up birds phenomenon.

Oh... and these are all heavily subsidized by governments, and if this money was removed, it would be far far more expensive than current petrochem or nuclear or hydro forms of power.

So why is it pushed? The people who stand to profit or who are CURRENTLY profiting from this fraud are protecting their gains. They are charletains worse than Enron ever could have been. Al Gore is profiting billions, personally, from his green energy enterprises being given your tax dollars. He also is a major shareholder in the carbon credit exchange that is due to be implemented by President Obama once the legislation is passed. Conflict of Interest? Noooooo..... I don't see any here!

T.Boone Pickens, former oilman has invested so heavily in windpower, he started putting out "public service announcements" showing how windpower is going to save America. Right, more like save his bank account.

These are frauds and charletains who should be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail, assets from these dog and pony shows given back to the people.

5. The Green Movement has become a religion. No proof is neccessary, mankind is the threat and needs to be stopped. It is anti-human and nihilistic.

If it gets cold it's proof of the globe's warming. If it gets too hot it proves global warming. This is the mantra of a blind zealot. They believe, like a Christian believes in Jesus, that the world is burning up and it is mankind's fault. You cannot debate people like this, you can only shut them down, get them out of power and isolate them. They are insane. Their religion leads towards only one end: the extinction of the human race. If they want to die as a species, they should lead the way as far as I'm concerned, I'll be following shortly after (yeah, right).

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These are the basic tenents for my hatred for Earth Day. I refuse to be caught up in such hackery, and feel that those tormenting our children should be confronted, called out and shut down. We need to seriously look at ways to expunge this religious holiday, from our nation's schools and television program. Conservatives and Libertarians who believe that government is selling us down the river have to start getting angry enough to fight back instead of saying 'yeah yeah whatever." That time has long since passed.

We need a new movement in this nation: Anti-Green. It doesn't mean that you are against clean water, clean air, food and animals. It means you are against the socialist solutions and your forced sacrifices to a nihilistic religion of death.

So when someone asks you to "Go Green", tell them "No, I've gone Black." Fight the tide of enslavement and death that is slowly creeping towards us all.

Don't go Green, go Black. It's time to fight back.

Unsolicited Punditry #7

2009-04-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

Feel the Need, the need to Secede?

It has been coming to my mind more and more as of late, that the central government has grown out of control and has become a cancerous mass of politics. What used to be the binding glue of commonality between the states has evolved into an oppression of power run amok in our name’s sake. The people seem to have less and less of a voice as those who are in power are securing it more firmly than ever by creating a protective wall of courtiers in the government bureaucracy who wish only to continue their sense of entitlement to their current way of life. Our suffering does not matter as long as they maintain power. What used to be only a sensation only felt by radical fringes is becoming a creeping note of unease in the populace as a whole.

When Governor Rick Perry, stood on the steps of the Austin, Texas City Hall and reminded people that Texas may at some point feel the need to secede from the union, it was like a loud warning bell. Trust me, although people are trying to shout down this statement as the act of a crazed right wing radical, it is far from true. Governor Perry is putting into speech for the first time, from a respected office, a feeling that has long since been growing. After all, how long had secession fever grown in Colonial America with our founders wishing to shake off the shackles of Mother England? How many decades of the Anti-Bellum period of the US were there fights over who has the final say of how we live our lives in the form of states rights?

We have now entered our own second Anti-Bellum phase I suspect, where the stresses build and the players choose sides. The War on Terror not withstanding. We are seeing our economy collapse, with possible hyper-inflation to come. States rights having been trampled, realistically speaking, since 1865. The speed and severity of this trampling only increasing as time wears on. People who were once willing to get along with what was happening because it did not affect them, or, because they had had their senses dulled by the opiate of the masses purveyed by the media, are waking up.

What are they waking up to? Simply put? The end of their life as they know it. A consolidated central government that has franchised itself over states rights, forming a homogenous whole. You will no longer be able to “vote with your feet” to another state, for the laws there will be the same. You may be able to emigrate to another nation, but then the question becomes, who is better? Unfortunately, there almost is none better, evening this insane state of creeping oppression. Yes, we face a soft constriction of our lives to the oppression and total power of the central government.

You may ask, ‘what is there to fear?’ from this creeping ‘consolidationism’. The fears are many actually. If you disagree with a law that legalizes homosexual marriage or drug use or prayer in school, you will have no where to go. You cannot change states, you would have to become an expatriate because of this franchising of the American Way ™ over the whole land instead of allowing the 10th Amendment to take affect in it’s proper place. And of course, with a remote and insulated central government, you have very little avenue to redress your grievances. Much better paying and organized interests will be able to bury your voice without worry of reprisal. Your local authorities will be bound by central law.

That leaves the final response of the states, secession, as the only line of defense. You don’t like the way the federal government is oppressing your rights in violation of the constitution, you have to, as a population of a state, fight to leave the union. Unfortunately, precedent is not on your side, as the confederacy has shown. Although the factors then do not mirror the troubles and factors now. Secession is the final protest and threat of a state to the federal government: Change course or we will leave you, by force if necessary. I do believe we are rapidly coming to that point in some parts of this country, but we are not there yet.

To combat secession fever, the consolidationists will employ many tools to try and quash this natural flow towards the dissolution of the union. The first is already in play en masse: mockery. Yes, the traditional media outlets are in full discredit mode. They are mocking those who have the audacity to foist such statements. They are smearing character of those who even mumble such words as being treasonous, or lunatics devoid of all rational thought. They will get louder and louder as time goes by too till it is either clear that words alone will not stop people from saying it. This is the point when government will start criminalizing these words and crack down on those who push for redress of grievances in an effort to head off secession fever, at the cost of consolidated power. This will be the equivalent of John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry or the Bleeding Kansas affair. They will push tensions even higher and more acutely drawing lines between friends and kin.

The question remains what would be the tipping point. That was given to me tonight by Jason Lewis in one of his monologues. The central government could dissolve any state legislature by declaring a state a disaster area and declare martial law. This I think is the key point. Trying to silence leaders of the rhetorical revolution will fail as it often causes a “hydra” like effect. For every one head cut off, two will rise. Same will most likely hold true if human character remains the same. But dissolving state governments with military force I think will be the point that goes to far. Of course a crisis of some sort will have to be manufactured or exaggerated. The willing accomplices in the major media will be all too happy to do this. They are the consolidationist’s mouthpiece. Like Pulitzer and Hearst before, they can manufacture a war out of pictures and their own elaborate exaggerations. The media are nothing if not experts at wagging the dog.

So here we sit, staring at the opening symptoms of what could ultimately become our next Civil War. What worries me the most is that instead of mirroring the American Revolution or Civil War, it will take its inspiration more from the French Revolution. When classes turned on each other with frightening ferocity, and the guillotine’s reign of terror fell heavy on all. Can we dodge such a result? Absolutely, but not until the American people stand up and take back the electoral process and political parties from the consolidationists and socialist radicals who wish to make us in Europe’s or even Asia’s image.

Those who stand on the founding principles need to fight to get back into the system they have neglected for other duties or desires. Those who see this attempt to pave over the constitution with consolidationist clap-trap need to be opposed at every turn. Their arguments debunked at even the local level. The fraud of benevolent socialism must be exposed for what it is. Run for local office, get involved in party politics, or if your party is abandoned to the consolidationist goals, join a new party willing to fight them.

If we do not stand up for what is right now, when will we ever be able to?

Unsolicited Punditry #6

2009-03-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

The Inconcievability of Hope (with many pop culture references)

Every time I hear of a new government initiative or wrinkle to the bailouts, spending packages and government intervention, I keep flashing back to the movie "Demolition Man". Now before you think I've taken complete leave of my senses, consider the source material. A world that went through such turmoil, pain and agony they turned to anything possible to restore the peace, and fulfilled Ben Franklin's proto-prophetic words of "Those who desire peace and security at any cost deserve neither."

So, I keep thinking of a single quote from the movie when Westley Snipes, playing a horrific villain from "pre-utopian" days was set loose to end the last threats to this perfect world realizes what kind of a person it was who reanimated him from cryo-stasis. One of the best lines in movie history in my opinion: "THAT'S who you remind me of! An evil Mister Rodgers!"

This is what we are seeing the beginnings of today.

You've heard of Compassionate Conservatism?... Now let's meet it's twin sibling: Benevolent Fascism! Yes, that's right. The State is good for you, and will be good TO you! It will provide all your needs and wants. All you need to do is obey. Obey and be happy little sheep and work hard for your State.

I don't know about anyone else, but this seems to be the philosophy put forth by Jonah Goldberg in his book "Liberal Fascism". If you have seen the cover, you'll get my drift. Fascist Utopians will come, not with the strength and fury of militarism, but with a kind and compassionate yellow smiley face button. They will constrict you with kindness, feelings and saccarine platitudes and ideals of "caring", "tolerance", "diversity" and "good intentions". They won't mean to enslave you, but their ends will justify the means they use on you. It's all good, after all.

Don't forget one of the hallmarks of any totalitarian philosophy is summed up with the old joke about the World Workers Party (a stalinist front group) which is: "You Work; We Party". It's nothing less than old nobility based systems where a special class gets all the benefits, but the vast majority of civilization suffers under the yoke. Another pop culture reference that springs to mind is an episode of the BBC Sit Com "Black Adder 3" called 'Nob and Nobility'. When talking to an exiled French Aristocrat during the French Revolution BlackAdder asks him if he'd like to earn some money. The response is exactly what I see our current liberals and political class wishing: "No, I would like ze people to earn it, and give it to me."

Now P-BO is firing exeutives at GM. Only one so far, but don't worry, that I suspect is a trial balloon wrapped up in the warm blanket of "it's a condition of your bailout". How's that supposed to be comforting? I mean SERIOUSLY? How would you feel if the President of the United States said to your company and the American People at large that he would provide you capital for your business to survive... only if you resigned? I find it outrageous and untenable.

What is even more disturbing is that this successful move by the administration now sets precident. It is just a matter of time (possibly only days or weeks at the rate this administration is moving) before it is abused. If the state can fire people, I'm sorry, I meant request they resign, they may as well own the company. They are exerting direct control over it, without risk of financial investment. At what point does the administration come to the realization that it can control any business by this fiat is unknown, but when it does, we will cease to be a republic and become a "constitutional" dictatorship... till that becomes an inconveinence and is done away with as well.

Power by fiat of the state, I can see why it corrupts so effectively.

A Bit of Unsolicited Punditry #5

2009-03-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

This was originally posted on hannity.com forums while discussing the concept of healthcare as a right on 3-29-09. It just felt appropriate here.

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Your rights end where mine begin.

My money is my property and I am entitled to it for it is my means in which to pursue happiness and facilitates the means in which I exercise my right to life and liberty. You want food, water, shelter, clothing, work, TV and healthcare, you need to work for it yourself and not take what is my property and deny me the way I wish to live my life and use my liberty as long as it also does not take from yours. If my life is not able to provide for my wants, I must learn to work harder and better for what I desire in my life or learn to deal with what I cannot have.

Now, I have entered into a social contract to provide some assistance to others in the form of government, but government has no more rights than I allow it. Unfortunatley our government is out of control for certain citizens have turned it into a thief to profit themselves and their own moraes and philosophies regardless of my opinion of them forcing me to participate against my will. In this same manner, I cannot require a similar sacrifice from you.

This needs to stop, and it is my duty as a citizen to do just that and stop all those who support this type of life as well. I am seriously beginning to wonder how extreme an end needs to be reached in which I must go to secure my rights in this day and age if people will not agree to follow the same social compact.

Government is a means for social harmony... not a charitable foundation or religion or experiment in utopia.

Fairness as it relates to equality of results is incompatable with freedom, equality under the law and liberty.

Unsoliscited Punditry #4

2009-03-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

Uncle Sam’s Courtiers

For a while now, I’ve become more aware of a disturbingly dangerous trend. Really I’d been aware of it since college back in the early 1990’s, but never quite pinged the radar as to what was really going on. That is the training of a political class of people. Poli Sci programs in university churn out people who want to spend the rest of their life on the public dole in a public role. Now this doesn’t sound bad till you start considering the ramifications of it all.

I suspect it’s perfectly involuntary at first. Kids and adults are desiring to make the world a better place by their own participation in it. Some intoxicated by the potential power they may wield someday and go for that express purpose into public service. As to what proportion of these people they are, I’ve no idea, but I doubt it’s more than a significant minority. Others fall into the life and just never seem to find their way out. But far too many become permanently ensconced in the bureaucracy and elected offices.

The danger starts creeping in under the guise of voter apathy and government manipulation. Administrative politicking with cabinets and the agencies often leaving large swaths of the bureaucrats and government services untouched and unchanged for sometimes many decades. The People were supposed to watch and be vigilant of these kinds of entrenchments. There was never to be a permanent class of people devoted to the service of government, only temporary services that were to be considered sacrifices by those who partook of them.

Of course, when you look at it more thoroughly, you see many of these jobs are little more than chefs and servers, and cashiers and janitorial staff, maintenance staff, accounting staff, human resource staff and many of the day to day operations of the government. So what would the big deal be anyway? It is good to have people who are good at their jobs providing the best service possible for government. The answer is that the question itself is deceptive.

There are two major threats to the American People through this current arrangement. Over time, these public servants develop a sense of entitlement and idea of class “otherness” from the rest of America. They do not have to worry about the standard stresses of business. Their pay is protected by both taxation and unions. They are safe from consequences of poor performance and incompetence except for the most egregious mistakes. There is no profit motive to protect, no real ability for the public to threaten the safety of the operation as is often the result of poor business practice and policy. The People cannot simply find another vendor for government assistance; there is no where else for them to go. A de facto monopoly by the nature of national structure. Plus, when this is compounded by federal, state, county and municipal levels of government bureaucracy, it is amplified all the more. At least elected officials have, to some degree or another, prove their worth on the campaign trail and prove their effectiveness to their electorate.

The second threat comes from unionization and organization of these services. Not only do the officials and bureaucrats have a monopoly that is not effectively beholden to the public by dint of force, it now is demanding more and more pieces of the monetary pie regardless of economic reality. Thanks to unionization of government work, it has become that public sector jobs are the best paying, best benefited jobs in the country for similar work at a private concern… but with no danger caused by poor performance. Furthermore, when the public sector unions lobby for pay hikes and more benefits, they have conflict of interest with the American People since they can use their close proximity with their fellow political classmates to gain raises and benefits despite the objections of those who actually pay them: the American Taxpayer. There is no real performance incentives or controls on when and why raises and cost increases happen. This rapidly spirals out of control, as we have seen since the creation of government unions and since 1980 when Reagan busted the Air Traffic Controller union. This was probably the last time any government union was effectively fought.

These two factors have created in essence “Uncle Sam’s Court”, the same way any king would create a group of “courtiers” to serve his needs. As long as the king is satisfied, they can do anything they want. Except with no king only related politicians who decide their own worth, there are few bulwarks against corruption, graft and other horrid aspects of human behavior and abuses of power. Ultimately the majority of the political class feels that they are separate from the rest of America as special and better than those they “serve” or “rule”.

Don’t get me wrong, the American public has been extremely delinquent in dealing with this problem and should not be excused much as well. This is partially due to ignorance, willing stupidity and the unwillingness to believe the evidence before them. Currently, the bureaucracy often pays better than other similar private sector jobs, with benefits that are the best in the nation. Low retirement ages with massive pensions that are known to be unsustainable. Benefits that extend to spouse and family at large, and this is just the highlights. The political class has created an environment that doomed to collapse, and they are doing their best to “get theirs” and get out before it tumbles down and they are held accountable.

So what are we to do? If we cannot get the apathetic public to do it’s duty towards liberty and be vigilant consistently, we must offer an alternative. Currently the best one out there is term limits. Take the choice out of the hands of people being pandered too, or benefiting from corruption. We are, after all, a nation of laws, and sometimes laws are needed to force us to do the hard things that need to happen. This is especially true when the people are being seduced by promises of personal gain to sway their better judgment.

But even if we slap term limits on elected officials that solves only half of the problem. Bureaucrats who have been in the ranks of “government service” also are problematic. This means there needs to be a maximum total time in government for all contractors, civil servants and employees. I personally like the figure of 25 years in government service at any level or elected office as a lifetime total allowed, including military service. You should be forced to live under the laws you’ve helped create, enforce or facilitate. Not only that, there should be a 10 year bar on all elected officials from any career associated with lobbying government from the private as it often leads to corruption as well. There must be time spent where inside connections need to wither and die off as to help prevent nefarious corruption from without.

Next, we should de-incentivise government service over private sector. Currently, because the private sector is not as secure as the public, it can never compete with wage and benefits offered by a monopoly like government. Although government workers should not be penalized, they should get equal benefits and wages to the mean private sector in similar jobs at about the 25%-50% percentile in the wage range for that job. If there are no private sector jobs similar, then you need to look at value and need of the job among other factors to determine salary and benefits.

Lastly, public sector unions need to be banned. Workers DO have the need to unionize, and private sectors show good reason why. But when you have a monopoly and the ability to demand nearly by fiat of taxation more money from the public, it is a direct conflict of interest and needs to be ended.

Another solution in this vein would be to privatize as many government services as possible, and put them out for bids, effectively making the government unions private with no ability to demand by fiat anymore. Allow for the creation of competing services that are non-union and see who can and will perform the duties better as to break an industry wide monopoly as well on all shops that had become privatized.

Of course, the major struggle in doing such things is the people affected themselves will band together and fight tooth and nail against any trimming of the way their life has gone regardless of sustainability. A parasite will not give up it’s growth till the host is dead, and that is too late. With the economy is going south and the private sector is getting pummeled, the public sector jobs are snug as a bug in a rug…and apparently laid eggs if you look at the current Administration’s proposed deficits. This will have to be a grass roots effort, and possibly a very long and hard struggle to pass these limitations on an out of control government.

On the other hand, we should never let a good crisis go to waste in justifying the trimming of government at all levels. Now is the best time possible to start pushing for thrift and reorganization from those who serve us. If not through this administration, the next. If not at the federal level, then try the states. If not there, try local. Work upwards, if starting at the top fails.

It worked for the radical left in the 1960’s, why not for the patriotic right in the 2000’s?

A Fearful Vision of the Future

2009-03-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

Mixing Unsolicited Punditry and Gaming

I recently was trying to run a superheroes game set in the near future. I set it in the year 2015, and had no idea how potentially accurate it may actually turn out to be with the current moves of the government. In this world, I put into play the following aspects:

National Unemployment at approximately 25%.
The Executive Branch completely snowed under by the Legislative branch.
No more international lenders, so the country was bankrupt and consuming itself by selling off it’s assets to the richest people in the world to line the pockets of corrupt senators
Nationalization of most industry and their subsequent closure except for massive WPA style work projects
Shantytowns named Obamavilles
Huge tracts of McMansion housing developments turned into slums and low rent apartment housing.
The collapse of the dollar to 10% of its current value.

I did this kind of as a “worst case scenario” of what the news could become. Little did I know that we are fast on track to actually having this happen! The more I look at the future, the more I think this country is entering it’s first collapse like Rome did. Many of the fundamentals still there, but irreversibly changed. Maybe it’s our second such change, after the civil war of course, but still. I worry for the future of this being our second Anti-Bellum period.

A strange and dangerous world we are living in when your nightmares are threatening to become real.

Unsoliscited Punditry #3

2009-03-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Lowering the Bar for Evil

You do understand, it's Craigslist's fault, right?

No, you can't blame the murdering sociopath who killed that girl in Savage, MN who was looking for a babysitting job that did not exist. He was not to blame for the fact that his intent was to lie to get sex. Why he killed her? Irrelevant. it's Craigslist's fault for allowing him to be able to do this.

Then the second shoe dropped. We are a more psychotic as a culture. There are more and more crazies out there every day that want to be the next H.H. Holmes or Jeffrey Dahmer, and we must make sure to spot them before they can even intend to do the rest of us sane citizens harm. Therefore, we must shut down Craigslist and other information exchange systems in the public venue. They just are not able to handle themselves safely and must be protected.

Yes and no.

Yes, there are more crazies out there. This is just a natural aspect of a larger population. I doubt highly the proportion of crazy to sane has dramatically increased. We know of such things because of two things: We are more aware thanks to technology and it is easier to do crazy things because we have become enabled by technology to do more with our lives. Productivity has reached the nutty dangerous fringe.

Imagine if you will, Charles Manson with a blog in which to spread his diseased dogma. Frightening, isn't it? Marshall Applewhite and the Heaven's Gate Cult had a website trying to convert those out there to join them behind the Schumaker-Levy comet where the UFO was going to take them away. It is fortunate that less than 100 died with that cult. Without a webpage, would the Heavens Gate cult have even existed or would it have just become like the manson family of only a dozen or so real actors in the insanity that followed? The bar was lowered for crazy evangelism between the 1970's and the 1990's, and even moreso nearly ten years later.

Convenience and productivity has enabled people to do things for good or evil much easier than they had been able to in the past. Cellphones, the Internet, Blackberries, Digital TV and LED Billboards have all paved the way to a higher quality of life and information consumption leading to better choices and options. This does not make these tools evil, it makes the people using them to do horrible things all the worse and prolific in their acts.

Evil sometimes is casual because we do not have a personal connection and is created out of ignorance or blatant stupidity. Lacking relationships to even the idea of a shared reality is incredibly dangerous. We don't see the other person as even real. We don't consider their families, there right to exist or the consequences of the events.

Often the excuse for evil is it was an accident or they had different intentions. We, as a culture, have created a whole industry of soft sciences and even softer hearts and minds to forgive and understand why evil is as evil does. Ultimate, all this does is grease the skids for evil to continue on it's way. It is touted that we must understand why evil does things. No. This is not required to fight evil. What needs to be done, is recognize what is not right and act against it. Understand after victory.

You may have heard this quote:

"All evil needs to succeed is for good men to sit back and do nothing."

It may even sound silly in it's simplicity, but it's amazing how every day, we all sit back and do nothing with casual evil. It may be due to apathy, or fear, or the training society foisted on us to stand by and do nothing till it directly affects us. By then, usually, it's too late. Things have spun out of control or have escalated to unstoppable proportions and now the only course of action is damage control. As a society, we need to wake up to the fact that evil has been assaulting good for years unchallenged. It is time to realize that evil will not stop till it is made to stop. And it has grown cunning too.

Yes, evil now has justifications based in twisted logic and manipulative emotion. It has counsellors, lawyers, treatment programs, arbiters, 401c political action committees, lobbyists and politicians lined up to protect it when the right thing needs to be done to stop it. Now those trying to do the right thing are being made the aggressor. The concept of doing the right thing has been turned on it's head and good is evil and evil is good. Once evil has become ensconsed as authority, it can operate with the respectability of being right, even when it is not, and use the oppressive tools that should have been used against it years before, but were not thanks to it's chief defenses of pity and unwise mercy.

How does this relate to lowering the bar? It is easier to do things, even bad things. Intellectual theft is incredibly easy in the information age. You have Identity fraud as well that is bilking millions of people out of billions of dollars. Cyber terrorism takes only a flaw in a program's code and someone's idle willingness to exploit it for fun and profit. A child molestor can troll for under aged children to prey upon, and that sexually frustrated loner who never quite had people skills to function in society can lure a woman to her death based on the premise of a job that doesn't exist. These people would have been hard pressed to do many of these crimes 20 years ago because the level of conveinence wasn't there, thanks to technology and the internet. They may never have committed those crimes either because the bar was too high, making the risk too great or even the technology did not exist.

But the desire was in their heart unsated... till the bar was lowered.

mdb

Unsolicited Punditry #2

2009-03-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

Earning Money the Old Fashioned Way

The Sunday morning news shows prattle on about the AIG bonuses today and the proposed 90% redacto tax that congress is looking to file on them. I started thinking about these events going on about the Congress voting, knowingly, deliberately trying to "game" the Constitution and finding a loophole in which to violate it.

Then I had a conversation with someone that started me considering the question of how does one actually "earn" their wages? What entitles someone to the pay they get? I realized quickly that this is not an easily determined question and is highly subject to opinion, conjecture and personal involvement. So how can government, or even individual citizens say, with a straight face that someone has actually "earned" his living? I don't think they should be allowed to continue with these statements unchallenged anymore.

There is a serious flaw in the argument that someone does or does not earn a wage. The best way that I can concieve to illustrate it is to ask them what they do for a living and why they actually DO earn their wage. Most people when confronted with how much pay they are recieving from their employer is that they are underpaid for the amount of work they put in. Almost everyone believes that they are worth more than what they are paid for their time and effort. This is the foundation of the flaw in the argument. Nobody, except for a small few, believe they do not deserve higher pay.

Now, when you look at the situation of someone ELSE'S pay, often the statement is that they are overpaid. This sentiment is usually shared by everyone who is underpaid or a congenial busybody, concerned more with what's going on in other people's lives than their own. They discount, by near reflex, duties of the job as not worthy of pay, when they themselves would count the effort as needing even more pay if they were doing the job. This requires a certain level of intellectual dishonesty and/or a lack of self awareness. Unfortunately, these diseases are totally rampant in today's society as well as highly difficult to cure because the process is painful and often transformative.

So, here we are, stuck between those who believe they deserve more when they are doing it, but everyone else deserves less if they do a job. But the complications do not end there. We must also look at the entrepreneur who's arbiter of pay is not based on what an employer pays based on the negotiating prowess of the employee, what the competition is paying and market pressures. No, the self-made businessman's only arbiter of earnings is his own personal greed and success of business versus what the market is willing to pay for his services. In some regard this is the case for all employees, it is just more evident in the case of an entrepreneur because the market is much more visible.

If a product is overpriced, people will buy it less or not at all, directly affecting the bottom line. The owner may decide to turn down his current profits from the work he does for future, larger gains. Growing his business over growing his own wallet. Where the issue becomes almost a monstrous joke is when a company becomes SO successful, that the profits cannot be helped but be considered extreme due to the relative scale compared to other businesses. Most people cannot relate or even sympathize with a business owner that is suddenly faced with tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in profit due to it's sudden popularity or success. Now, the money's there, goods and services have been traded fairly on the open market, and his business has EARNED them. Then in come the jealous saying... but does he really DESERVE them? Yet often, if this level of growth occurred over an extended period of time, the question would nary come to the fore. People think that it is only "natural". Sudden change seems to be a major catalyst in this level of jealousy.

But flip the argument and put the person who questions the justification of keeping earnings in the same position, a vast, vast, vast super-duper majority of them would say yes! I made the company, I own it, I deserve it. It's only "fair" after all I should profit from my hard work. Of course, this requires a level of intellectual honesty that is rapidly failing in this society at large. It gets back to the general hypocrisy of "I deserve it but they do not" for the same job; and unless that basic hypocrisy is expunged, you can never win the discussion.

With corporations, this is a much harder path to follow, but a similar one none the less. You have shareholders to consider as well. Hence why, till the Clinton Administration, you could compensate your executives with massive salaries and perks to keep them, and make sure you had the best and brightest running your company. Talent costs. And talent that can run a massive global corporation costs much more than most poeple can concieve. These people make decisions that affect thousands, if not millions of lives. One signature can make or break whole economies. It's the law of scale in action. Yet now, thanks to the perception that large salaries are not deserved, companies must find other ways to compensate fairly for the talent they hire. When wage and price controls were enacted by FDR, we suddenly had the creation of "benefits" like paid, health insurance, vacation time, perks like cars and homes. It was the only way to retain the people who could do and had done so well, even in times of crisis. Today, it's stock options and outright "performance" bonuses.

Unfortunately, we have government interference in executive pay in the form of wage controls that is considered to be ineffective. They were all negotiated and both sides agreed (Board of Directors and potential executive) that they were fair. This is the capitalist system at it's finest. You want how much? This is what we want to pay. You and I negotiate to X amount and find it agreeable. It's only the monday morning quarterbacks, busibodies and the jealous who complain and lobby government to stop others from getting what they deserve or negotiate for. Harming the earnings of others is never a recipe for personal satisfaction (unless you are particularly sociopatic or malicious) or incentive to keep those who have skills others will pay the massive salaries for that you cannot control.

Now, the politicians and society at large are trying to use shame and austerity as the new values to force people, personally (sometimes also through threats of death and violence) refuse taking what they worked so hard to earn. Intimidation is a horrible weapon to aim at common citizens for doing what they can for their family and personal life. Working hard and being rewarded fairly. Now yes, there can be times of unfair compensation, but of what harm is it to the public unless it is a service they are all forced to use, or a product they cannot avoid? It is a company's fault for bad negotiation, or failure to factor in changes that could adversely affect them in the public sector of opinion or to their bottom line.

So, here we sit. Those who can't are not only criticizing, but attempting to insert themselves into the equation to STEAL from those who can, and have, and are contractually owed for their work. The politicians, who many knew well in advance, of AIG bonuses being contractual obligations, are having a tantrum and furor over something they should have no problem with or should have taken into account before public money became involved. Yes, the government now owns 80% of the company, but it is still illegal to go back and take from those people what is owed them and was negotiated out. It is in fact a direct violation of the Constitution for them to do so. The matter that it is also not the Constitutionally mandated business of the government doesn't seem to even enter into their thoughts. I leave that aspect for a future column.

But no, their political dander is up in an effort to redistribute wealth from those who deserve to those who do not. Their clarion call is one of "Fairness" and "Equality" and "Earned Wages". They are so blind to their lust for riches and power, that they cannot see that they are the ones being unequal and unfair, and the people they wish to give the money back to (which they never will to begin with) do not deserve it either. What makes matters worse is that the overall tenor of the government is that it has become one vast charitable organization, backed with guns and law requiring you to participate and be complicit with it's desires. A far cry from the original intent of the Constitution.

These are the words of those who wish to end a nation where we are all free to pursue, life, liberty and happiness. No, we enslave ourselves to the opinion of others who through some arbitrary and nebulous personal formula decide for themselves when we've had enough life, liberty and happiness.

The mob is trying to rule, and unless stopped, we all will suffer.

Unsoliscited Punditry #1

2009-03-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

Hard Choices, Blame and the Price of Liberty

What is the sound of freedom dying?
Is there a color to tyranny rising?
Can you smell the death of your rights?
Do you feel the Constitution shredding?

The instant that Congress moved to enact a tax of 90% against AIG and other corporate bonus recipients, we became a dictatorial state with the trappings of a democracy just like any other banana republic like Venezuela and Cuba. It is only a matter of time before we become the targets of such avarice and greed by the political class. The war against the common citizenry of America has begun, and this was our 'Boston Massacre'.

The Congress of the United States, or at least select members of it in charge of running the system. Chris Dodd, Chuck Schumer, Barney Frank, Maxine Waters and Nancy Pelosi seem to be prime movers in this economic debacle, but many more are stretching from it's epicenter and roots are complicit as well. The new administration is far from innocent with P-BO and Hillary also being tied to strings of corruption and payola to the source of the economic collapse. Whatever could I mean? Just this:

AIG, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae all were massive donors to each one of these people's campaigns. Chris Dodd recieved sweetheart loan deals from Countrywide due to his collusion and illicit protection of corruption and probably illegal activities in Freddie and Fannie. Combine this with Dodd being the largest recipiant of AIG "contributions" to his campaign. Next in line behind Dodd for buy off "contributions" would be Clinton, Obama and Frank. If their actions following this monetary assistance to their campaigns present past and future is not conspiracy to defraud as well, it is at least a conflict of interest and bordering on bribery. There needs to be ethics and potentially criminal investigations going on right now into the involvement with these people. If they are willing to tie AIG to the stake and burn it, they need to be considered as well.

Now these are people currently in power to blame for this mess. Some, are continuing to make it worse to protect their own personal agendas and power. Unfortunately this collapse was long in the making, with origins stretching back to the Carter administration and "Community Reinvestment Act" and the creation of sub-prime loans. The administrations and congresses since then are not out of the woods either, for many of them expanded and or protected the continuing problem as the fundamental flaws of this crisis grew, fertilized by greed and personal ambition. Heads of Freddie and Fannie mistating earings so they could gain big bonuses like Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelick are to blame as well for covering up the eventual collapse with fancy accounting and outright lies on the real situation.

At least the W Administration tried to rein in Freddy and Fannie... but too late. The question was only of when it would collapse by then. It would have collapsed at a particularly inopportune time for all involved, and the protectors of Freddie and Fannie by those Congressmen and Senators currently in charge of this disaster were never going to do anything to threaten this power structure for their own re-election.

So now, we the people, look at the smoking financial ruin of our nation, in a strange form of freefall. As if somehow it had a velocity of it's own and is still being kept aloft in a floating miasm of it's own disintegrating wreck, beginning to fall to earth. We have to figure a way to make this a controlled crash or impact. Something to walk away from. The issue is one of who should be at the controls. Those currently there are either at fault for this and are fighting for their phoney baloney jobs, or incompetant, or attempting to use policies created 80 years before that failed. FDR was a cataclysmic failure, and the current admin wishes to return to these??

No, we need to stop this. We, as a people... as a NATION... need to stand up together and demand accountability for mismanagement. For corruption. For greed. For personal power grabs of the most heinous sort... from our representatives in government. We need to shake ourselves from shock and deal with this crisis, shoving those who are trying to protect themselves and their friends from righteous blame and anger, out of the way.

This is no longer a time for children to play, but a matter for men and women to deal with the horrible realities we now face, as a way to save ourselves and those we love from true hardship not seen since the 1930s.

This means assessing problems and fixing them post haste. Credit and blame can be assigned after we are safe again. Those that hamper real solutions by offering convoluted fixes to cover their own agendas and illicit gains need to be bulldozed to the side and dealt with appropriately after this is over.

The ultimate question is: Are we a people capable of doing such hard choices and tasks on our own, or have we softened to the point of permanent victim status till someone else takes us over?

Time will tell.

Retasking my Blog

2009-03-19T20:36:00.000-07:00

Due to stupidity beyond my control, I have come to the conclusion I need to re-task my blog. Since I can't seem to find a good host for a portfolio of my work, I'm going to turn to more things political. Starting this month, I will begin my series of thoughts I'm calling "Unsolicited Punditry".

Nobody has asked me for my opinion, and It will be up to individual taste on whether or not anyone even listen, agrees or reads this. That is okay with me. I am writing this to get things off my chest and maybe... MAYBE get some people to realize or become educated on the disasters going on in our world right now in the areas of economics, culture, politics and related issues.

Who knows. Maybe this will do you some good too. I know I may feel better.

mdb

My Artwork for Cover Accepted

2007-07-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have had one of my pictures accepted as the cover of the upcoming "Shadows of Midnight" book, "Monstrous Mythos of NJ", by Dana Jorgensen. Hope you like it as well, or the Hookerman will get you. ;c)

Consolidation Time

2007-07-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

Time has come to begin focusing more in hopes to getting the game done. To that end, I am setting aside, temporarily the Modern Setting core rules for SATURN and working exclusively on integrating it into Akiniwazi, the first setting. I believe that this will make the job both easier, and more straight forward for me. Not to mention it will help me accomplish both tasks of setting and rules simultaneously, making the product ready for the market quicker.

After the consolidation is complete, and sections are tuned to fit, I hope to create some pre-rolled characters and actually test out the setting, as well as system.

Don't worry, I'll keep everyone updated as to what's going on as I go. Maybe this week I'll post some game elements too.

Improvements, we hope...

2007-07-04T00:07:00.000-07:00

Modifications have been implimented. From the results of the playtesting, I've made some changes.

The biggest being in the THL. It is now organized much more clearly. The DoS is directly related to sensitivity, while the Biological System may vary (hitting the heart is much more dangerous than the femoral artery, so there is a bigger damage bonus for the Torso Circulatory system than the Leg Circulatory System) Also, to mimic the proportionality of a system to a body part, the DoS spread varies according to largest and smallest proportions in that bodypart.

Most attacks are now slower than many defenses. This isn't a huge difference, often only 1 or 2 AP, but the difference is there. DD levels and Stun penalties have been tweaked as well. Defenses now also cut down on Stun dice.

DF will now function all the time for any defense for the allocation of DD, but will only lessen damage if successful. This compensates for blocks and some other forms of defenses potentially taking damage despite succeeding.

Also, I have realized that Maneuvers will be expanded in the future to include "Combos". This was an original concept, but proved problematic to implement. To that end, Combos will return with the addition of 'Rate of Fire' (ROF) to them. This can determine how many moves are made, and by using this method, an accounting of combos can be made. This will ultimately allow for martial artists to utilize "one step katas" and more elaborate moves that include multiple strikes and defenses against single or multiple attackers.

That's it for now. Have to see how it playtests later this week, and maybe again this weekend. I'll keep you all informed if anyone's out there. :c)

Combat Playtesting Session #1

2007-07-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

The first playtest of the SATURN Combat System v0.8.0 is complete.

Dan and I did a bunch of playtests on one on one combat and got some good data. Unfortunately, the system wasn't as sound as I had hoped, but found some serious issues that are now being corrected for the next playtest, I hope will happen this weekend. What we discovered was the following:

1. The THL was improperly organized. Big damage should be the focus of it, not ease of striking a location by proportion of it's composition. That being said, it is being reorganized to better reflect this new, more game balanced philosophy. How this was realized was that massive "location damage" was being applied way to easily for too small a DoS. Punching a target in the head, does mean it's pretty easy to cause damage to the brain because of it's proportional content of the head, but then again, knockouts inside of one second so rapidly as was tested shouldn't be a regular occurance.

2. The initiative system works very well, but the AP costs of maneuvers is skewed still. Defenses tend to get overwhelmed early, or "Free" defenses are not effective enough to make them worth while considering.

3. Stun, (penalties direct to AP) although accurate, is too powerful, often causing the person stunned, to remain at the mercy of the attacker. Stun needs to be limited more tightly to what types of attacks can get stun, and defenses need to be able to prevent it.

4. Defenses need to be partially usable when a target is struck, the same way some defenses still allow for damage when attacks fail. The current philosophy is to allow any defender to still use their DF to align DD in their damaged traits. Although I'm not the most happy with this, and know it needs some further consideration on what to do, currently, it makes for better game balance even though it is not precisely accurate.

5. Speed of combat is pretty good. We were able to simulate 5 one on one combats inside of 2 hours. This allowed also for learning time and discussion on what was going right or wrong.

6. Damage can cause death spirals in one on one combat, if DEX is attacked. Since damage to a Trait directly affects skills used in combat, this quickly decreases the ability of your opponent. Something may have to be done about this... but what?

7. If the attacker has control of the DD, it is in their advantage to pile damage onto one trait based on their intent. (END for knockouts, DEX for knockdowns, RSL to kill) Defenders can utilize their ability to control damage by spreading it out over as many affected traits as possible.

8. Throws and grappling is effective and can turn the tide of battle very quickly. Counter Damage is also very effective. Gives a little Bruce Lee effect and makes you change tactics quickly. This type of defense may need to be expanded upon.

9. A difference of more than 4 points can quickly lead to insurmountable differences in those that choose to use the full skill cascade of "Foundation + General + Niche" skills. If your Trait is 4 greater than your opponant, and you max your practical limit is maxed, this gives you an instant 12 point advantage, if they two are maxed. Of course, generalizing must become expensive to help minimize this.

10. It's very important players don't just assume their roll is worthless, because there is the off chance of getting an exploding die, and it is neccessary for DoS.

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So these are some of the observations found when play testing. Next week, it would be nice if someone else wants to particiate in playtesting when we engage v0.8.1 so we can try multi-person combat.

Playtesting!

2007-06-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

Yes that's right people. This weekend on Saturday June 30th, I'm going to Outpost 2000 in Brooklyn Park, MN to playtest my new combat system with my partner in insanity. I've a lot to set up for it, and may be looking for an extra playtester or two, or at least some people interested in throwing ideas around after some basic work on it gets done.

I don't expect many are actually reading this posting, but if they happen to know their way to Outpost 2000, I'd be more than happy to talk with them about the SATURN project and Akiniwazi. I'll be there in the morning sometime between open and 11ish. Beyond that, I'm on God's good humor on what happens next. If the place is too crowded, we may have to relocate somewhere else, but we'll figure that out as we go along. If by some freak of nature you do wish to help out with playtesting, please send me an email before Saturday morning so I can kinda plan on anything.

What's on the Agenda

Playtesting SATURN combat v0.8.0
Review and Discuss the Skill List (probably begin paring it down too)

Ciao for now.

Akiniwazi Logo, version 4e

2007-06-28T00:02:00.001-07:00

I think I got it finally. I think this is the one that will do the trick. But I'm interested in anyone who's got an opinion on it. The colors are nice, but I will probably futz with them. The font was a lucky find that is absolutely fabulous in that it gives a lot of character to the chaos and battle going on behind the scenes in Akiniwazi. Here's hoping you like it.

Logo Version 4

2007-06-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

After fiddling around for a while, finding that the font I wanted to use was used already by White Wolf, and recieving a few "I don't get it" responses, I figured out some of the things that were missing and hopefully I've corrected them. Here is the latest version of the Akiniwazi logo. I think only the font is in minor question, and the colors may change.

Fantasteam Logo?

2007-06-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a logo for my "Akiniwazi" Fantasteam project just for the heck of it. I showed it to my wife who said "I don't get it." So hopefully, I can get some feedback from anyone interested on their impressions of this logo concept. It's rough and needs a lot of editing, but think it has something here. This is version 2b.

What do you think?

Draft Two and More!

2007-06-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

I've finally completed the second draft of the Akiniwazi History. I'm getting more and more happy with it as I go. Now's time for me to get a second opinion... if my printer haddn't run out of ink so late at night. grrrrr... Oh well, tomorrow. In the mean time, I've also started playing around with logos for the setting as well. No where near Eberron's calibre yet, but we'll get there. Just have to find the right hook.

For those of you curious about Akiniwazi, I can give you a few little bits to what the setting is all about.

From the Introduction:

What is Akiniwazi?

The setting of Akiniwazi began with one question and grew from there:

“What if an isolated culture discovered steam engines but not gunpowder? What would a society that could make steamships and railroads look like without explosives, guns and cannons? What changes would occur in the technology because of a pre-renaissance design aesthetic and philosophy?“

The result of this thought experiment was the beginning of Akiniwazi. The setting then fleshed out based on Native American mythology, Great Lakes Lore, Lumberjack Stories and culture and a Norse/Viking immigrant culture. All these blended together to create the concept we call “Fantasteam”.

Akiniwazi is also a setting of struggle in the temporal as well as spiritual world. A culture of immigrants is struggling to survive against the natives who are bent on destroying them. The Immigrants are trapped and cannot leave and need to forge their own survival against a whole continent that sees them as a threat on the physical as well as spiritual level. Their only defense is their technology and their faith in a God who has commanded them to conquer the Land. As for the natives, their way of life has been terminally interrupted and they must fight tooth and nail to preserve their culture, lives and land from the invaders who ignore the rules of their traditional existence and are directly confronting the gods of their people.

In the Spiritual realm, a war of titanic scale is taking place. Akiniwazi is a demon-infested land. They have ruled for millennia over the natives of this continent without contest to their power. The natives have suffered greatly under their power, and have had their lives warped into backward savagery of blood and violence and sacrifice, keeping them from what they fully could be. But now, God has sent His Church into their midst, and sealed them there. Their goal is to carry the spiritual war for the souls of man to the demons and free the land of Akiniwazi from their evil domination.

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In other news, the Combat System v 0.8.0 is DONE! Yes, in the next week or two I plan to playtest it for the first time and see how she rolls. My partner in crime is working on turning our skill section into an access database right now so we can quickly sort through, trim, edit and fill in through our nearly 2000 different skills. Like I said before, I don't know where it's going to end up, but it's going to be a fun trip getting there.

mdb

The Next Phase

2007-06-23T00:11:00.000-07:00

The next phase of development for Resonance Point is coming soon. Originally I have created this blog to use as a resource point for my artwork, but am going to expand it to include my RPG development. I will be in the near future posting information regarding the development of my SATURN project as well as the setting for the same RPG called "Akiniwazi".

As the situation now stands, There's been a lot of progress with the core rules of SATURN, and we are going to get into some of the last major nitty gritty, involving Skills. This game is going to be a MONSTER with skills. Currently our list is over 1750 different skills. This is going to shrink some, but after that, it will grow as we start contemplating Schools of Martial Arts and combat skills. The default scenario for SATURN will be the modern era 1990 to Present plus a little bit.

As for Akiniwazi, the back history has been written in its first rough draft. We're working on the spiritual and mystical rules and backdrop as well, and should provide quite an interesting change for fantasy fans. A lot of the linkages to the core rules have not been applied.

As things progress, there will be a call going out for potential beta testers and those interested in helping edit the game. So watch this space here for more information as time goes on. I will be making a definate effort to keep this site current with the state of game development as well as other stuff going on with the projects.

Ciao for now.

The Gallery Is Up!

2007-06-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I discovered that my online art gallery at Renderosity.com was no longer visible to the public. Not so good. I know I haddn't been the most active member, but it hurt when I could no longer show items to people online who were curious on my work. That's the primary reason I got this blog going, so I could show people my work and get some comments on it from those interested. So, here you go, all the pictures worth looking at in my collection. If for some reason my links go dead, lemme know if I don't catch them first. :c)

mdb

Coming Soon

2007-06-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

This is just a preliminary test. Resonance Point will be coming soon. It will be a starting point for displaying my artwork, my game design and other personal rants and raves as things go along.