• 7Mar 13

  Ditching the Paradigm: Chavez, the Anarchist Outlook, and the Third Way

  Ditching the Paradigm: The Death of Hugo Chavez, the Anarchist Outlook, and the 'Third Way'.

  

  If you're a regular reader of OT, you'll be somewhat familiar with the fact that I always seek to attack what I deem are flaws in arguments or logic regardless of where I stand (feel free to contest this in the comments). There's been many threads where I would attack Islam where it deserves to be attacked and also defended Islam from what I deem to be unfair criticisms. Same thing with Israel, I attack Israeli policy where it deserves to be attacked and I often defend Israel where it deserves to be defended.

  What does this have to do with the title? Well, lets start with Mr. Chavez. I was arguing on Reddit with someone who said I was an American/CIA apologist when I criticized Chavez's human rights record and because I called him an "authoritarian criminal." When I received this response (being called a CIA apologist) I told the user "Don't even get me started with the CIA. If you think I think Chavez is criminal, just listen to what I have to say about America and the CIA."

  

  There's a paradigm in modern international relations. It is that you either support and kiss the shoes of U.S.A et al, or you're with the "anti-imperialist freedom fighters" of Iran, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela and other criminal states who justify their existence on the basis that America once f*cked with them (which has some merit, don't get me wrong. America has committed crimes in some of these places). So, within this paradigm, one is forced to pick a side, either support America et al when they are right and ignore when they are wrong or do the same to Iran, Russia, Syria, etc. 

  Now, regarding anarchism. I won't get too deep in my thoughts about the anarchist form of social organization, but my relevant thoughts on anarchism can be summarized in the following: we live in anarchism. For me at least, anarchism is simply the idea that no state is holy or deserves to be worshipped because it is simply a human creation and if your going to run a state, you can expect to also do some immoral and criminal things. Perhaps its unavoidable. I start with the assumption that all states are predisposed to do harm. This allows me to criticize every state where it goes wrong regardless of my current biases, why? Because I don't consieder the state to be holy.

  

  So for me, Chavez is a criminal, Obama is a criminal, Khameni is a criminal, and the list goes on. 

  If one wants to properly judge the action of a state, or look at international affairs with a sense of morality and justice, they're going to have to start ditching this paradigm that has been forced upon our mindsets by both sides in the game (America v Iran/Russia, etc). They're also going to have to stop consider their states as holy entities and they're going to have to stop apologizing for their crimes. Criticize all where they desrvie it and defend all when they deserve it. 

  Now, the "Third Way."

  

  So, this is going to mainly relate to Arab politics, but it can apply in other places going through the same dilemna really. 

  The paradigm that has been established in the Arab World is similar to the one established in the global arena, it is that you are either with secular dictators or you are with Islamic fundamentalists (or as I like to call them, "bearded a55holes."

  Don't support Assad? Well then surely you must support the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists! Dont' support Mubarak? Well then surely, you are with Morsi and his friends!

  This paradigm is re-established constantly in international and Arabic media and it is what is holding Arabs back. I've said before that there are no bigger ciminals in the ME than the "bearded a55holes" because it is their existence which has helped justify and solidify decades of tyranny by secular dictators. There is a perception that there are only two options in the Arab World: secular dictators or a theocracy.

  There is a "Third Way" though. It is the way of Democratic Arab Secularism. Elections in Egypt and Tunisia have showed that there is support for secular parties and Arabs are slowly starting to realize that there is a "Third Way" to move forward, one that doesnt involve religious authoritarianism or secular authoritarianism. There is a way for the Arab World to move forward that doesn't involve bending down to America or bending down to Iran. The "Third Way" ditches the old paradigm and looks out for the rights and genuine interests of the people of the Arab World by establishing a democratic and secular society. 

  I can only hope more people start to see this third option. 

  • Posted Mar 7, 2013 6:22 pm GMT
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• 7Oct 12

  An Analysis of News Outlets

  One's world view is defined by the news sources he consumes. There's a variety of news sources each with different biases and spins. Some more sensational than others. So I'm gonna do a rundown of the biggest news sources and review them.

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  ...I'm of course talking about gaming news.....

  

  I've been following the GI site for a couple years now, and they usually have really good gaming articles, although there are few articles generally. The site isn't as full as their print magazine. But the main prize here is the cover reveals. Countless games lie BF3, AC3, Dishonoured, Skyrim all had their first information and screenshots covered by GI before anyone else.

  

  Now this is a site I visit at least once a day. Really good commentary on gaming as well as regularly updated gaming news. If there's one issue I have with these guys is that they never have any first hand news (or barely). They always report on ground breaking news from conferences, leaks, expos from other sources.

  

  Now this isn't really your average news site. There's no reporters or staff writing. It's all user generated. Users scour the internet searching for articles and the stories get rated on degrees based on the amount of hits they get. The real treat here is that stories that us gamers are really interested in as consumers often make it to the top, so you'll see stories here that you won't see anywhere else. Another benefit is of course, you have all the gaming news from all over the internet in one place. The downside though is that you might sometimes see stories on the front that is more or less some rambling from a random guys blog. So you might get excited from seeing a news story on the Xbox 720 on the front page, but the story itself accounts to nothing. I should add that the comments section is filled with really smart gamers as well who know a lot about the industry.,

  

  I visit PCGamer often as well to get news on PCgamers(obviously). But seriously, this platform is way too neglected in this day and age its good to see real gaming journalists (sort of an oxymoron lol) talk about the issues that face PCgamers such as crappy ports, drm, delays, etc. I should warn you however, that the comments section in this site contains some of the most cynical and bitter human beings the world has to offer. You may have to take some antidepressents when you're done here.

  

  CVG is really good as well. They have really good access to events and expos so you'll often get first hand impressions of games that are yet to be released, and they often have a lot of detail in them as well such as this latest one on AC3

  http://www.computerandvideogames.com/369688/previews/assassins-creed-3-monster-3-hour-playthrough-new-gameplay-videos/

  So there you have it. These are the sites I visit the most to get my gaming news. There are some really big ones that I don't go to such as GT or IGN, so I can't say these are the best ones on the internet, but these are the one's I visit the most.

  Honourable Mentions:

  Gamespot: Outstanding E3 coverage and the Quoted for Truth show is really good as well.

  Electric Playground: A gaming tv show you can watch online. I've watched it for years (since the days of PS2) and the host (Victor Lucas) is a gaming commenter I have a lot of respect for.

  Destructoid: Mainly beause the main editor Jim Sterling is a funny guy.

  The Worst site?: Kotaku bar none. They are the worst, most lazy and sensational garbage you can find. The only thing that MIGHT on some distant planet redeem them is the fact that they break some news once in a while like that massive PS4 "Orbis" leak.

  Feel free to comment.

  • Posted Oct 7, 2012 2:35 pm GMT
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• 29May 12

  What I want from E3

  The most important week in gaming is almost upon us and I wanted to write this blog before hand to say what I want to see from the different companies at E3 as well as give my predictions of what we are going to see. Im going to look at each publisher and say what Im hoping to see from them.

  SONY

  

  What do I want to see from Sony? Many things. I want to see some gameplay from God of War 4 and the Last of Us as well as (and more importantly) a gameplay video or a trailer from The Last Guardian. If we dont see anything at all from the Last Guardian, then I can guarantee you the game will never see the light of day.

  I also want to hear more about Sony's alleged partnership with a cloud gaming company which I think seems impossible only because cloud gaming is unrealistic for most people because of their internet speeds.

  However, knowing Sony, we are probably going get what I asked for (except for the Last Guardian gameplay since I have a feeling that game has been canned). We are also probably going to get a lot of announcements for the Vita that nobody will care about and some more PSMove crap that will just piss off the hardcore gamers.

  And of course, how could I write a wishlist blog without saying that it's about time for the PS4. It's a crime against gaming imo to make gamers wait nearly a decade for new consoles. Alright fine, perhaps that was an exaggeration, but you get the picture. Sony should at least hint that a PS4 is coming down the line. But given how much the PS3 is still selling abd how much exclusives Sony has planned down the line, I doubt we will hear anything about the PS4.

  MICROSOFT

  

  Microsoft is going to have to have some tricks uo their sleeve if they want to remain relevant this year. The only big exclusive I can see them presenting is Halo 4, and even that seems bland at this point in time. Im not much of an Xbox gamer, so there isn't much I want from Microsoft besdies an announcment for the next Xbox. However, like with Sony, Im sure we wont hear anything about the next Xbox. Instead we will probably hear about more crappy Kinect titles...

  UBISOFT

  

  Ubisoft is literally the most predictable company in gaming history. They have done the same show for about 3 years now, and I can tell you exactly what's going to happen.

  -Some cheap unfunny comedian they hired from L.A is going to come onto stage and make a bunch of unfunny jokes.

  - They will demo Assassins Creed 3

  - They will demo Far Cry 3

  -They're going to announce some Kinect crap such as a dance game

  - Something that has to do with Rayman

  These things are guaranteed. But: what is still up in the air are some new games that they might announce. Im hoping that they will at least show a trailer for the new Splinter Cell game they have been working on and perhaps some gameplay or a trailer for Beyond Good and Evil 2.

  ROCKSTAR

  

  While Rockstar games wont be attending E3 this year, i was hoping they would announce a release day for GTA V and some more news and information regardign their PS3 exclusive games 'Agent.'

  EA GAMES

  

  Aside from filing for bankruptcy and perhaps going to hell, there isn't much I want from EA this year.........alright perhaps that was too harsh. But there is literally nothing from EA that has me excited this year. Crysis 3? Looks exactly like Crysis 2. Medal of Honour Warfighter? Ive had enough grey military shooters for my taste during the past 2 years. The only thing I could want from them is to announce some cool new IP's, but I doubt that will happen.

  UNREAL ENGINE 4

  

  Perhaps this is the closest we will get to to seeing new consoles at this years E3. The snapshot above is from the Unreal Engine 4 demo that was shown privatley to developers. it will be shown in depth during this years E3 and while we might not see a console, Epic games knows more than any of us what specs the next gen consoles will have and Im sure this demo was built with that in mind. So im hoping these visuals are a glimpse into what is in store for us next gen.

  SQUARE-ENIX

  

  There isnt much to say about Square other than the fact that we are going to see some Hitman Abslution gameplay and some Tomb Raider gameplay. However, Im hoping that we will also see an official announcment for Thief 4 which is being made by Eidos Montreal, the same studio that brought us Deus Ex: Human Revolution (my personal goty for 2011).

  Thanks for reading and feel free to comment.

  • Posted May 29, 2012 7:13 am GMT
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