BioShocking Poo

Do NOT Buy BioShock!

Normally I don't do game reviews, but I'm really ticked off about this one. I was looking forward to BioShock until I found out that 2K Games has hobbled the game with some idiotic copy protection scheme that only allows two installs on a PC. Then, to excuse their actions, 2K games tries to say that this is only a problem for thieves, thus calling their customers dishonest. They say that all you have to do is uninstall the game before you reformat. Yeah right, like I'm reformatting because the computer has NOT crashed past recovery??? I have better things to do.

I've been burned by this kind of thing before. I've been told, during a support call, that I couldn't play a game on a SATA dvd drive because the copy protection was incompatible with "newer technology." I've had to call for a reset of the copy protection because Windows was just a little too crash-happy and I used up all of my activations. I've paid good money one too many times for this kind of useless, time-wasting garbage!

If the only way I can get a quality copy of a game is to steal, then I will, and I do NOT steal games. Way to go game companies, you've succeeded only in encouraging theft!

One final note on BioShock. It seems they also screwed up widescreen play. As a widescreen owner, I'm completely sick of game developers promising, and then not providing, widescreen support.

BioShock Shock

Congress Coddling Criminals

Right now Congress trying to sneak past the American people with bills and amendments to decriminalize illegal immigrants, offer more benefits to these criminals, and increase a fraudulent H-1B program. What next, decriminalizing murder and offering benefits to rapists?

Meanwhile, Americans are being ripped off by credit companies, losing jobs to bad corporate management, and being killed by an unsupported infrastructure. Just how much more of this arrogant disregard for their constituents does Congress think the American people are going to take.

The strange thing is that Congress could have gotten most of what they wanted in the previous immigration bill, but they absolutely refused to agree to secure the border. They wanted to make promises, as was done 12 million illegals ago in 1986, but they would not agree to secure the border before getting amnesty for their cheap labor force. Now, the Democrats (and Arlen Spector, a faux Republican) are trying to sneak the parts of the bill that they liked past the American people who overwhelmingly objected to the amnesty portions of the bill. Oh, excuse me, Spector is just trying to decriminalize the illegal acts but that's not amnesty! Yeah, that sound you heard was my head banging off my desk.

Additionally, Congress is still looking to expand the H-1B program, even though that program is now known to be criminally fraudulent. Congress seems intent on putting every American out of work by whatever means possible. Meanwhile, they do nothing about Americans having to shoulder the burden of bad corporate management with higher and higher credit card rates and continued universal default rules. Nothing has been done to truly address these issues.

Gas-Guzzling Poo

I was riding in a car with someone the other day when a Hummer went speeding by us at at least 90 mph. The Hummer's bumper proudly displayed a sticker in support of American troops in Iraq. My companion shook her head and muttered, "That's ironic. They say they support our troops, yet they've just killed another five soldiers driving that gas-guzzling beast."

Hmmmmmm.....

Online Purchasing Poo

I just shipped some defective DVDs back to an online company and it cost $10.00. Most companies do not pay for the shipping even when their product is bad. This makes me wonder why I even bother to shop online. Essentially, I ended up paying $10.00 for storing their defective merchandise at my house. Had I purchased from a local store, I would have simply taken the product back to the store and saved myself the better part of $10.00.

After the Bridge, Can We Repair Our Society?

The simple fact, now obvious to all but the completely blind, is that the wealthy have gutted this country to the point that we can no longer even support our infrastructure. Mindless adoration of greed has left us with a country where no one wants to do any job that will not make them a millionaire in six months. Those who do those jobs get the shaft and then rich people mount disdain upon them. We've created a culture where work is for suckers.

Our economy is crashing under the weight of thieves who steal and then respond that their victims simply should have been more careful. Our laws now provide cover for this thievery and punish those who object to being ripped off. Fixing bridges won't buy anyone a new yacht, so you can bet it will still be a low priority, even after this tragedy.

Insurance companies are some of the worst thieves. No doubt they will respond to this incident by canceling the policies of anyone who has to cross a bridge to get to work. These same companies have already destroyed the health care system. I'm pretty sure we can solve the entire health care "crisis" by simply jailing the lot of them and distributing their bloated wealth to the medical community so they can actually provide MEDICAL services.

The wealthy have demanded and received tax cuts. In return they promised more jobs and better services. None of those things have materialized. Personally, I'm ready to vote for the first candidate that shouts "No New Tax Cuts!" Privatization lines the pockets of the rich but solves no problems. What kind of fool does one have to be to think that a corporate mindset will support the needs of a society? Bridges and roads and health care are not profitable, rather they are necessities. They don't increase stock prices or provide golden parachutes, instead they support a healthy and safe society. No corporation is ever going to solve the day to day problems faced by a democratic society. As has often been said, "A corporation is not a democracy." Why then are we letting them run this one?

We live in a country that creates nothing. Today's new wealth is created by lies and theft, by cutting necessities, and by taking jobs away from people who need them to support their families. Corporate leaders mismanage their companies and then punish workers who had no control over the bungling boardroom. Lives are lost on a daily basis so that the wealthy can buy bigger cars and bigger houses and ravenously devour far more than their fair share of our resources. Believe me, they will continue preying upon us just as long as we fail to defend ourselves.