28Feb03 (Monthenor): Bwahaha! Look at what I'm doing for AI class! It's not ranking everything properly yet (you really shouldn't get medium-hitting moves when somebody's blocking high, even if they do great damage), but it's working on some level, and that's MORE THAN I CAN SAY FOR JUELL'S STUFF! As much as I like Prolog, an expert system really needs a simple interface to go along with its rule-making. And now you have one less reason not to play Fighters Kyodotai.

And of course the title is a reference to Reign: the Conqueror. It just keeps getting weirder...now Alexander's army is pushing towards India, and he must face the resurrected corpse of every opponent he's ever defeated before fighting the Indian king. The more I watch, the more I believe that Alexander will just wake up in the last episode and we'll find out that it was all just a videogame.

Paranoid, arrogant, voyeuristic warmongers.
03.01.03 (Morgion)

This one's gong to be a bit long… and chalk full o' rant… but stay with me. You'll enjoy it, I promise.

The other day I was watching MSNBC, just after our "threat condition" was reduced to Elevated. No, it's not just you; it doesn't sound right. It sounds wrong, the same way duck-and-cover sounds wrong. The correspondent was interviewing some random security expert and posed the *snicker* insightful question, "Are we safe now?" Once again, I was forced to do a double-take at a "hard news" program. First I thought to myself, "What crap is Fox news showing now?" Then I realized it wasn't that journalistic abomination which, during the Discovery disaster, assured me the crash wasn't due to terrorist attack because the shuttle was "very high in the sky". *forehead smack* I guess the solution is to never trust an journalist ever again.

Then again, maybe I just can't trust American journalists… many of whom seem to be just as sanctimonious and gullible as the rest of the population… a case of those lacking optic nerves leading those without a visual cortex. Face it people, we're way beyond the blind parade at this point; I think the next generation will most likely be lacking the genetic capacity for objective, analytical, informed observation of our world.

Anyway, returning to my rant on American journalists, take a look at this gem of a hypocrite "hobnobbing with the ruling class". Laurie Garrett, apparently a noteworthy reporter, composed this informal email after her exclusive access to the World Economic Forum and sent it off to a few close friends. Naturally, it ended up on the Internet. The email is worth the read for several reasons. It offers a very candid look at the people that literally run the planet—those with money/power, not figurehead government officials (which, face it, most are… who do you think makes policy: constituents or lobbyists?)—a desperately-needed, non-American source reflecting our current economic and political sinkhole, and a few (unintentional) jokes… "A day spent with Bill Gates turned out to be fascinating and fun." Tee heee!

Follow that up with with her stereotypical treatise on an expectation of privacy—this from a member of the news media—and the well-deserved rebukes from the pathetic "Internet addicts". At least she learned her lesson: "No one can be trusted in this CLICK-FORWARD electronic world." Well, at least not your friends, Ms. Garrett. Be sure to read some of the comments after her admonishments; they're sarcastic witty, and that's always a good time.

Finally, as if you needed additional proof that our culture is on the verge of collapse, I give you this fresh hell: ABC's Are You Hot, not to be confused with the slightly more acceptable hotornot.com. "But Morgion," you say, "you just got done ranting about hypocrites, and now you say that something as petty and scornful as hotornot.com is OK? You bastard, I trusted you, and now the only gerbil left to act as my moral compass is Monty! I might as well treat Purple Pussy as a holy tome straight from the lips of a higher power!"

To which I respond, "Whoah, dude, go back on the meds or meditate or something; you need to mellow." There's something different about occasionally perusing a website… or perhaps putting a picture of a friend up there as a joke *wave to Glothar*… and creating a panel of "experts", one with a freaking laser pointer, to degrade and debase people with already low self-esteem (it's either that, or their an exhibitionist), on national television, over a few miniscule body flaws. These contestants are already way hotter than the average American audience member. For fuck's sake, Lorenzo Llamas is an "expert" in bit parts and nothing else! Oh, wait, this Lorenzo is the crappy actor.

I thank a certain black-skirted friend (while simultaneously resisting the urge to link to her diary blog) for telling me exactly how bad this show is. Seriously, it can be soul-wrenching; with the alternating cold and sleazy demeanors of the hosts, the howls and cat-calls of the audience, and sensation of witnessing at a livestock auction (they actually do say "show me your teeth"), it hurts to watch. Yet you should see it at least once; you'll be a better person for the pain… similar to Requiem for a Dream or Schindler's List… without all that pesky value or meaning present in those movies of merit.

See, now reading all of that was worth it, wasn't it? By the way, I'm stating a disclaimer of warranty; that initial promise is revoked, so don't try to collect anything from me. :-)

02Mar03 (Monthenor): I would like to state that I should not be considered anybody's moral compass, as I am currently covered in raspberry pie filling. But it's ideal raspberry pie filling.