Burma, Monks,Demonstrations, Violence, Murder... Where's the outrage and responce?!

During these last few days the problems in Burma have really come to light for the whole world to see- again. The military government there has crossed the line with the recent massacre's and crackdowns on their citizens. Murdering, violence, arrests, human abuses, etc have escalated beyond anything that should be allowed or tolerated by other nations. We cannot ignore that the Burmese government has committed unforgivable atrocities and human abuses. Yes, many in our country and abroad have "taken the time" to give public comments to the world via media outlets, but that's not action. It's high-time that someone, anyone do something about this. We as a world are just standing on the sidewalk of life while watching as many thousands of others are being run over and killed in the street. Where do we draw the line? When is enough, enough? I am thinking a frightening thought- what if they had oil we needed? I think we would, then, have an excuse to go in and depose the leaders who are ordering these killings and crackdowns. Funny thought, really, that this may really come down to, "What do they have that we need?". If the Burmese had some kind of resource that First World countries needed or relied upon I think that we would be more prone to act on this. Another great example is North Korea. People are getting killed for the most ridiculous reasons, they are imprisoned for looking at the wrong person the wrong way, the masses are starving and have nobody to speak for them, but we just sit around and do nothing. Why? Well, what does North Korea have that we need? Nothing. So, let's just ignore them. Darfur and other atrocities caused by rebels and decades of inter-cultural/inter-tribal warfare. We have yet to intervene and quell the fighting with a mass immobilisation of troops to actively pursue the murderers. Iraq. They have oil. So, we go in to remove a dictator that can't begin to come close to the other leaders of the aforementioned atrocities, but Iraq does have oil. Interesting. Some of you will disagree with me on everything. Some will at least think about what I am saying. Still others will see the truth in what my thoughts are.


Good reading: Free Burma

Halo, Halo, Halo...

Halo is obviously has a world-wide cult following- this cannot be argued. I was playing Halo 2 the other day with some friends when it dawned on me- how do people get so good? I have been playing for a quite a while, but cannot imagine how much some people play to where they can run around with a sniper rifle and "no-scope" players right and left. If you are not too familiar with Halo then let me explain. "No-scoping" is when you run around with a big 'ole sniper rifle and don't need to use the scope to aim and pick people off with one shot. It's nearly impossible to do this accurately and efficiently yet some people are great at it. Amongst my friends I would say I am about in the middle when it comes to skill at Halo. One of my friends, Lockvine, is unbelievable when it comes to grenades. Plasma grenades, in particular, are his favourites. Plasma grenades, also commonly known "sticky grenades," essentially stick to a player or vehicle and have a few second delay before they blow your world to pieces. Lockvine can consistently lob a grenade at you from across the map or right in front of your face- it doesn't matter- he will kill you with one. Another favourite tactic of his is to beat you at your own game- by this I mean- he will figure out your tactic and use it against you. This is not to say that his tactic is dirty, but it does suck to be beat at your own game.

Lockvine has one fatal flaw- he sucks with energy swords. "Sucks" here is used loosely as he could kill about anyone with these wonderful, undulating purple blades of delight, but I have a sort of knack at owning people with these beautiful hand-held objects of death.

Our battles still rage.


On a second note, I found a terrific site- XBConnect.com. The creators of the site have written a top-of-the-line program that allows you to legally trick the Xbox into thinking it is playing a local LAN game when, in fact, you are connecting via the internet to other players around the world- and it is FREE! Yes, that's right- FREE! They have a Premium package (XBCONNECT PRO) that can be purchased for $14.95(US) that gives you a few extra features that the standard free package does not. I have heard of a couple of other "free" internet gaming tunneling titles for Xbox, but most of my friends said they pretty much blow. I find that XBConnect is fast, easy to use, and provides you with a multitude of gaming choices and options. I also believe that they can pride themselves with a great community. One of the reasons I did not end up purchasing Xbox Live was that most of the people I encountered in the Halo rooms were rude, arrogant, cheating, glitch-using pieces of garbage. I did encounter a few nice folks, but for the most part the previous statement holds true. XBConnect users have all been quite kind, albeit VERY skilled at Halo, and willing to put up with someone who does not have the time to play hundreds of hours a month and can't get to fifty kills in ten minutes. I would suggest this software to anyone looking to either get around M$'s stupid fees, the jerks in most of the community rooms, or if you are just wanting to join a better community (in my opinion). Also, I would say that the $14.95 is a small fee to pay for an awesome online gaming experience- also- XBConnect supports an array of titles (please see below). I, for one, am considering upgrading to the Premium package.


XBConnect Supported Titles