That’s probably an unfair statement to make, but what is there left to say at this point? Here’s an article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/us/politics/05poll.html?_r=1
Though the polling is being conveyed through the evil liberal media bastion that is the NY Times, I doubt that many Republicans would take issue with this particular data set. People (to put it simply) are displeased.

Democrats blame the Republicans. Republicans blame the Democrats. Everybody blames congress. It’s Bush’s fault! It’s Obama’s fault! It’s Clinton’s fault! While the juvenile finger-pointing blamefest rages on, the country burns. Though it is not a recent development that real issues must take a back seat to selfish politics, it has never been felt in such an acute manner.

There is no way that the latest debt talks that passed through the White House and beyond were anything but bullshit political posturings. How else can they be described? Nothing was accomplished. No compromises were possible because the act of compromise would make the compromising party look weak before an election year. (I tried to use the word “compromise” as many times as possible in that last sentence. You’re welcome.)

So — what’s the solution? Though there are (I hope) individuals inside the government working hard in an attempt to bring some semblance of pragmatism to the Washington machine, those individuals are far outnumbered by the mass of thoughtless politicians roiling in their own affluence. Government isn’t the answer.

Write letters! Write e-mails. Sent letters to the editor. Make noise. Most importantly, though: VOTE. You cannot have a say in the political system if you do not participate.
” But Josh,” you say, “they (politicians) don’t listen to us anyway! I may cast a vote, but what good does it do me?”
Short answer: Shut up. Vote.
Long answer: Politicians don’t listen to us because we have not proven ourselves to be an active demographic politically. Why should they pander to a group of people who have no real bearing on the elective process? It’s no happenstance that the issues of senior citizens are often the issues that get attention — seniors vote.

If you want to be heard … make noise.

What can be said about this image? Though it is no great secret that people posting on Facebook generally forget to filter the fecal matter spewing from their brains, these statuses are altogether something quite special.

I honestly do not understand how such profound ignorance can be displayed by an individual. What is the thought process that goes into posting a message like the ones above? Does it make them feel better? I’m sure that the majority of the people who posted those messages have no more knowledge of what happened during WWII than what the movie Pearl Harbor told them.

In order to illuminate the mind-blowing levels of stupidity as displayed in these posts, I’ll deconstruct a few of the winners.

- God Did It
“Apparently God hasn’t forgotten about Pearl Harbor either … “

So two nukes weren’t enough for you? Destroying two areas of Japan while leaving a legacy of cancer must not have been retribution enough. God wanted more destruction than what mere atomic weapons can afford! I understand. More destruction! More death! That’s how God wants it.

Idiot.

- English?
“why us lord only in america where uther country’s blow us up and we or our back stabine pres wan’ts to help out the people that blu up pearl harbor. maybe to you to remember, oh thats he was only what 4 yrs old lol“

This highly philosophical statement carefully examines the political ramifications of the tragedy. Though it may be unfortunate to have a “back stabine pres,” this man is at least aware of the timeline involved.

- The Winner
“those dam krauts deserve to be hit by a earthquake tsunami for nuking pearl harbor“

I am tempted to say that this one just cannot be real. Calling the Japanese “krauts,” for example, implies either intentional irony or truly impressive ignorance. Nuking pearl harbor? Really? Your history might be a bit backwards, buddy.

These people are stupid. They have brains, and they are not using them. Earthquakes happen. Tsunamis happen as a result. The people affected by these circumstances are human; why does the nationality matter? People are people. Why shouldn’t we help them? WWII was almost seventy years ago. Here’s a news flash: the war is over.

By their logic, what did America do to deserve the natural disasters that have hit our shores? What was Katrina retribution for? Oh, what’s that? America alone has never done any wrong? We are shining examples of righteousness to the world! Bask in our collective glory, for we are better than mere natural disasters!

Truly, though, these people who posted these statuses are just horrifically ignorant. They didn’t think about what they were typing, and the result is as seen above. The result is sickening.

Grow up — think before you post. The world does not revolve around you. It does not revolve around America. Get some perspective.

Here is a simple three-step process that will enable any person (yes, even you!) to be on time for important events and occasions.

Step #1: Be Prepared
It is impossible to be on time if one does not know what time it actually is. It is recommended that the novice early aspirant have at least four separate time telling devices present at any given moment. Assuming the person has a cell phone, the number requirement may be lowered to only three extra devices. In this case, watches are highly recommended. Though it may be a societal “norm” to wear only one watch, why should any person not wear more than one? What if your single, solitary watch breaks? What if the battery goes dead? You will then have no direct access to the time that is belted to your body. A cell phone is undesirable backup. It has to be taken out of the pocket! What a waste of motion.

The ideal watch wearing practice is symmetry. One watch on each wrist, for starters. This balances the inner clock of any individual, and allows for quick temporal reference in case of a severed arm. “But Josh!” … you declare, “What if both of my arms are severed at the same time?” This is why you also have a pocket watch available and at the ready. Though the pocket watch must remain in the pocket at most times, a bit of chain is expected to hang out of the pocket in order to show that there is, indeed, a pocket watch present. If you find yourself armless, merely hook the chain on the nearest pole or piece of wood and thrust the hips until the watch flies free. Problem solved.

Step #2: Know the Land
If you plan to be on time, you must plan to be early. Natural disasters can occur at any moment. What if the road is washed out by a horrific hurricane? Tremendous tornado? Earnest earthquake? Pitiful pan-flute playing porcine plague? You must be prepared for all of these eventualities. There is no solution, then, but to leave for any appointment far earlier than you need to. Ideally, you should plan to be at your destination with at least a thirty minute lag time.

Unfortunately, however, this may result in unwanted spare time at the destination before the scheduled appointment. Have the nearby public locations scouted … know the parking lots, the gas stations, the churches, the schools! As it is not acceptable to arrive at an appointment very early (in general), one must use these public spots to wind down the time until the rest of the journey can be made from only a short distance away. Use this extra time to synchronize your watches.

Step #3: Arrive
This is the simple one. Plan to enter the place of the appointment at exactly ten minutes until the designated time. Ten minutes is the golden number of minutes in these situations. Earlier than ten minutes implies an overachieving attitude. Nobody likes a suck-up. If you are too early, you may be unwanted! Ten minutes early, however, is the ideal.

Follow these steps, and you’ll never be late again!

I’m been struggling to create a standard of review that can be applied across different genres and mediums of books. Any number scale ends up being hopelessly arbitrary, and who am I to declare whether a book rates an 8.0 or 9.0 on a scale of 10? So, instead of assigning a number or rating to the book, I’ll just say whether it is worth a read. In my opinion. 

The Left Hand of God is one of those advertised “must read” books of the summer. Paul Hoffman, the author, is diving into a genre of fiction that has exploded in recent years. I’m not sure if this particular genre of fiction has a name yet, and I doubt it ever will. Basically, it takes the formulaic underdog/hero/against all odds/magic?/prophecy/love story angle of most staple fantasy titles, but infuses it with a very dark streak. This “dark fantasy” genre has a certain appeal because of the enhanced realism of the stories, but they suffer from an overindulgence in their new-found freedom of brutality. It’s easy for a mediocre story to hide behind loads of blood and gore – look at most summer movie releases as proof of this.

This novel follows the story of a young man named Cale, who is an acolyte of the Redeemers, an incredibly religious group cloistered behind the walls of a sanctuary where they train and brainwash the young children who come to live there. Cale is “talented” in the realm of warfare and murder as a result of a traumatic head injury. Yes. A head injury gave him powers. The Redeemers who run his life use and exploit his abilities to push their own agendas. So naturally, Cale discovers the nefarious nature of his holders and manages to escape into a greater world of various adjectives.

On a side note, why do religious organizations tend to be evil in modern fantasy works? I read many, many books, and I cannot think of an example of a positively portrayed religious group outside of Christian fiction. It’s lazy. Can we scapegoat a different group for a change? This isn’t coming from a religious angle, mind you, this is coming from a literary angle. It’s boring.

The story, after this point, becomes predictably predictable. Cale discovers new problems and creates new enemies in the wider world, and eventually his new world and his old world collide in the conclusion.

You’ve seen this story before.

Are there positives in this book? The writing is good, and the story flows very well. The characterization of Cale is strong. I’m not the greatest fan of his attitude through most of the book, but it is believably annoying, if that makes any sense.

Read this book if you’re looking for an easy read to fill dead time.

It is merely acceptable.

 
Pretzel > Peanut Butter > Peanut > Regular

Yeah, you messed up … but I still think you have the snazziest gas stations.

There was a suspicious lack of leg-sweeping.

 
Better than Mario Kart because I created a cow riding a John Deere with nitro boosts … Top that, Toad.

If I wanted to listen to an incessant droning that makes me feel violent impulses for no rational reason, I’d watch The View.

Speaking of which …

He lives in my nightmares.

This is the latest entry in the vampire-love-fest genre that has sprouted up in this country. This one differs, though, in that it isn’t a trashy piece of shit.

 
This is a start of an excessively long series about Marines. In space. Written by a former Marine. What makes it stand out, though, is the idea that no true exploration would be done of the solar system until there were economic/militaristic reasons supporting it. It’s very realistic and well written.

Looks like a Harry Potter rip-off, right? It isn’t. I’ve read them all … trust me … and this series stands out as truly imaginative. Great light reading.

The “first Earth colony” genre is one that doesn’t have many standout entries in it, but Coyote takes the cake. Set in the near future, it describes a struggle of people to leave the used up Earth to settle in a new land. It’s extremely well researched, and it’s hard to find any room for disbelief in such a well-written tale of exploration.

The “Lost Fleet” series, which starts with the book pictured above, is a story about a … wait for it … lost fleet. It trends toward military sci-fi, but the characterization isn’t wooden enough to earn that tag. This series stands out, though, in completely accurate descriptions of light speed battle and travel, with the necessary adjustments for relativity. It’s ambitious, but Campbell pulls it off. These books aren’t great works of art, surely, but they are excellent popcorn novels.

This fellow pictured here is a wizard. He is a wizard working as a wizard in a modern world (today) where people do not believe in wizards. Butcher is an excellent author, and he manages to infuse great amounts of humor and depth into his work without making it heavy. This is the first in a too-long series, but it certainly worth a look.

GO NOW, DO AS I HAVE COMMANDED.

Massively massive Lost spoilers ahead.

I cannot think of a way to better end the show than what the finale presented to the world last night. Many people are frothing at the mouth in anger over the way in which the finale played out, but I think they rather missed the point of the entire series. Lost was tricky, you see.

- This was a show about people.
- This was a show about people on an island.
- This was a show about people on a weird island.
- This was a show about people on a weird island where weird things happen.

The “weird things” were the setting and the flavor of the story … not the point. We hardcore science fiction fans have come to expect a certain amount of nit-picky explanation of every possible nuance of our beloved shows and movies, but the Lost finale rolled our collective greasy faces in the fact that it is not the extraneous minutiae that matters, but the central heart.

The characters in the final few episodes are seeking to protect and preserve the “heart” of the island, which is left purposefully vague. In the end, it didn’t matter what exactly that “heart” was or was not. In saving the heart of the island, Jack fulfilled his personal quest. As he so often said earlier in the series, if the survivors did not manage to live together, they would die alone. In the end, they didn’t have to “die” alone because they were able to find each other and, ultimately, live.

A FEW POINTS

- No, they weren’t dead the whole time. They were only “dead” in the flash-sideways universe which existed completely outside of any linear time for all of the characters. We know that Hurley/Ben lived for an amount of time on the island after Jack’s death due to a short exchange between the two, and we can assume those who managed to escape the island lived lives as well. They appeared to each other as they knew each other best because of the emotional bonds they created while they did live together on and off the island.

The flash-sideways universe was sprinkled with all former Lost characters, save a few, who now make sense within that universe because it was constructed by the characters themselves. Jack and Juliet were once together, as in their actual lives, but grew apart because they needed to find their personal “truth” in the form of Kate/Sawyer. Once their quests were complete were they able to move on in whatever fashion they will.

- Michael is stuck on the island whispering because he was a bad boy.

- Walt got tall and manly.

- I guess Desmond knew it would be OK to slam Locke with his car because he knew they were already dead, no?

- Take a look at the stained glass images in that church from the final scenes — pretty telling.

Really well done show, on the whole. Much better than the BSG finale, as well! Both were character-centric finales, but at least Lost respected its primary characters.

So that entire series collectors edition on blu-ray will be nice and cheap, right?

My name is Josh, and I enjoy reading YA fiction.

Shoo. That was tough. YA fiction is overlooked, I think. The kids who comprise the target audience don’t actually READ, so it falls on myself and other intrepid individuals to actually read these works.

Moving on.

This week, I’m reviewing the first book in a series called The Tapestry. The first installment, The Hound of Rowan, finds itself at the height of literary mediocrity. The major fault of the book lies in its mere premise:

A young boy learns that he has magical powers and is brought to a boarding school to train said powers.

Look, I know Rowling doesn’t have a copyright on this particular storyline, but it so completely overshadows The Hound of Rowan that comparisons can’t help but be made to Harry Potter.

And if a comparison is made to Harry Potter, it will not end well for the contender. This isn’t because Harry Potter is the best example of YA fantasy that has ever existed, but because of its ubiquity.

Our protagonist of this tale is named Max (which really is an excellent name). Max lives in a world where individuals who are “Talented” get invited to a special school to cultivate their gifts. Max specializes in Mystics (magic) that enhance his body and natural abilities. Because of this, he turns into the star player of his school’s wacky team sport.

Sound familiar? Yeah.

Ultimately, there is a some deal with some bad guy and something good happens and then the book ends. There’s also a weird critter about that doesn’t really do anything but confuse the reader with its incoherent purpose in terms of the plot.

HERE’S THE DEAL: The Hound of Rowan flies to close to the sun (J.K. Rowling). If you didn’t enjoy Harry Potter, don’t attempt this one. If you enjoyed Harry Potter, don’t attempt this one. If you have youngish kids who you want to ease into some form of literature, read Harry Potter.

Now that you have watched it, let’s think about a few aspects of it. The group that produces these series of videos, New Left Media, are obviously left-leaning. That said, the interviewer does a good job of not giving his position away too clearly. He remains reasonably objective through the interviews that we see, and that’s important. What is also important to note, however, is that we only see what this group wants us to see. We are presented with the most entertaining interviewees, not necessarily the most well-informed and “intelligent” ones.

PERSPECTIVE, K?

That said, I am impressively appalled at the level of ignorance shown in this video and others like it. This trend of willful ignorance goes back decades, and it was also seen clearly in the most recent presidential election. The side of the Democrats was particularly guilty of this in the most recent cycle. Obama was using his incredible level of difference from Bush to get votes. Lots of citizens my age didn’t vote for Obama because of his policies — they voted for him because he was “cool.” They were just as uninformed about politics as the individuals in this video.

Why is it that this country doesn’t seem to have individual thought about politics anymore? The citizens in this video claim to understand the issues at hand, but they are woefully misinformed. They claim that Glenn Beck is an educator, brought from O HOLY GOD to present them with unbiased information. REALLY? SERIOUSLY? Glenn Beck is a fine individual, I’m sure, but to believe that he is presenting anything but biased party-line information is delusional. Sure, watch him and enjoy him if you understand the issues that he is talking about, but don’t go to him for NEWS. The Fox network delivers fine actual news, but it is important to remember that the talking heads who have so many shows on that network are not delivering news, they are delivering opinion.

I don’t care if you’re Republican, Democrat, or somewhere else entirely … THINK FOR YOURSELF. Forget TV and radio and newspapers and any other sort of media imaginable. Forget what your family says. Read the source material, which IS available online, and decide for yourself.

If, after you have done independent study to understand the issues, you find yourself agreeing with individuals such as Glenn Beck … by all means watch and support them. If you have not come to a conclusion on your own, go dig a hole and live in it.

You will then become the Morlocks of our society, and you will like it.

ONE MORE THING

Hey! You so-called constitutionalists! Stop being stupid. The constitution is great, don’t get me wrong. But why is it such a mystically strong standard that you hold all of your views against? It is not infallible. Who knows what the founding fathers would have thought of the way we view it today? You do not know, so stop pretending. We live in a society so vastly different from the one that they had that it is impossible to make any direct connection between their thoughts from then to now. If they were around today .. drafting a brand new constitution … I would bet my considerable lack of wealth that it would look quite different from our classic constitution.

Again .. even though this is a good standard to base your personal opinions off of … think for yourself.

THINK. BRAIN. USE IT. THANKS.

A book about a man who inscribes symbols onto his flesh to ward away demons that try to kill humans every night? Definitely a good choice. Also involves fiddle-playing.

Locke Lamora is like Oliver Twist, but not a whiny little punk. He’s in a gang called “The Gentlemen Bastards”! Instant success.

This book was made into a decent movie a few years ago, but nobody saw it. This book has a very Matrix-like vibe, in a strange way. If you enjoy pseudo-apocalyptic novels, have a go!

In the FUTURE, who will fight our wars? Why don’t we draft all of the old people, make them young through magical sciences, and have them fight for us? Really intriguing perspective introduced in this novel.

Napoleonic Wars. Dragons. Dragons acting as an airforce. Dragonheart-level intelligence for said dragons. Beautiful.

This is almost like Harry Potter. Except the protagonist here is a badass musical prodigy who goes to a school of magic and finds that it isn’t as easy as a swish and a flick.

It’s a good Oprah book. Strike me down now. 12th Century architecture? YES PLEASE. Seriously, very interesting read.

Let’s drop kids underground and make them run through a labyrinth that has no end, which is also filled with weirdo monsters trying to kill them. Why? Because it makes a good novel.

Soon to be a movie, it seems. Greek Gods are still about being little Olympian sluts, and this book is about on of the little bastards. It’s quite good.