The Video Game Phenomenon

Posted on May 24, 2014 by admin

All the best games are easy to learn and difficult to master. –Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, Inc.

You may have noticed, kids play video games and they don’t quit when they reach adulthood.
Today, gaming is the largest entertainment industry for children.
According to this 2008 survey, 97% of children between the ages of 12 and 17 play video games.
Gender distribution of gamers is roughly 60% male and 40% female, with the average age around 30 and getting older.

Mine was the first generation that grew up with video games.
For better or worse they are a permanent fixture in popular culture, thus they should be understood in their correct historical & material context.

This piece is written from a retro-gamer perspective.

Japan spearheaded the PC and video game revolution that eventually became popular culture, ever since it took the lead in the global electronics industry in the 1960’s.

Early video game templates were SpaceWar! (1962 MIT) & Computer Space (1971 Nolan Bushnell & Ted Dabney).

Atari is a Japanese verb meaning “to hit the mark.”
Atari, Inc, was established by Bushnell & Dabney in California in 1972.
Atari was a pioneer in arcade games (1972 Pong) and home video game consoles (1977 Atari VCS); defining & dominating the industry until the North American video game crash of 1983.

US video game manufacturing was led by Atari, after founder Nolan Bushnell sold it to Warner Communications in 1976 for $28 million.
Bushnell designed the Atari VCS (Video Computer System– later re-named the Atari 2600), and it started retailing at Sears in fall of 1977 for $199.
By 1979, it was the best-selling Christmas gift in the US.

The Atari 2600 was the first true home gaming console of the arcade era.
By today’s standards this machine is archaic.
Memory for computers was very expensive at the time, and the Atari 2600 ran on a mere 128 bytes RAM, 4 KB ROM, with a CPU @ 1.19 MHz.
Graphics were blocky and game-play was limited to 2-D, but the games themselves although much inferior to their arcade versions, were still intense & addicting to many.

The success of the Atari 2600 forever established the home video game market.

The success of Space Invaders (1978 Taito) & Asteroids (1979 Atari) sparked the golden age of arcade video games.
Prior to this era, pinball machines were dominant.
The limitation of pinball was that it tested a very limited skill-set, as every game depended solely on flipper control.

Video games established in the Golden Era of Arcade Games broke through this, with a variety of different types of games; from Shooters to Maze, Puzzle & Platform styles.
Pac-Man (1980 Namco) & Centipede (1981 Atari) crossed-over to females, making video games a permanent phenomenon.

Nintendo entered the market with Donkey Kong (1981), a deceptively simple design that is still one of the most difficult (and simultaneously amazing) games ever created.

Defender (1981 Williams Electronics) was a scrolling Shooter with multiple controls, needing to be used with split-second precision.
Only the best gamers could dominate this mind-blowing masterpiece.

Professional computer programmers soon became professional game designers, employed by emerging Japanese multinational giants including:

Taito (1978 Space Invaders, 1981 Qix)
Namco (1979 Galaxian, 1980 Pac-Man, 1981 Galaga, 1982 Dig Dug, Pole Position)
Nintendo (1981 Donkey Kong, 1983 Mario Bros., 1984 Punch-Out!!)
Konami (1981 Frogger, 1983 Track & Field)
Sega (1982 Pengo, Star Trek, Zaxxon)

In this period, designers were cut out of the royalties for the hit games they created.
Before disenfranchised Atari programmers created Activision in 1979, third-party game developers did not exist.
Atari (owned by Warner Communications) ruled the market, and was the only publisher of games for the Atari 2600.

Activision created a new model, by rewarding, crediting and promoting game developers; along with the games themselves.
Activision included a page to the developer in their instruction manuals, and encouraged players to send in screen-shots of high scores, etc.
This grassroots, fan-based approach helped the newly-formed company attract experienced talent.
In 1982, Activision released Pitfall!, a best-selling game for the Atari 2600.
Today, Activision is one of the largest third-party video game publishers in the world.

Warner responded by releasing the Atari 5200, for the 1982 Christmas season.
The Atari 5200 is both the best and the most-maligned home console from the arcade era (defined as pre-NES).
Released with great fanfare, just before the industry collapsed, the Atari 5200 was rushed to market by Warner with serious design flaws; namely it’s controllers were poor quality & unreliable, plus the system wasn’t compatible with old 2600 cartridges until an expensive adaptor (which didn’t fit all 5200 models) was later made available for purchase.
In spite of these limitations (which were never addressed due to market crash) the Atari 5200 was still the most advanced non-PC gaming console of its time.
All the best titles of the arcade era from Berzerk to Zaxxon (except Donkey Kong which was licensed by Nintendo to ColecoVision) were available on the 5200.
The 5200’s signature game was its port of Star Raiders (1979 Atari; designer-Doug Neubauer), but nearly every title was clearly superior to the 2600 in graphics & game-play.

Industry revenues in 1982 had peaked at $3.2 billion, then fell in 1983 over 95% to around $100 million; wiping out Atari and dozens of other US video-game manufacturers.
The cause was: over-saturation of the market with hundreds of lousy games (on over a dozen different platforms), which resulted in high prices & loss of consumer confidence.
The fastest-growing company in the history of American business, Atari Inc would go on to lose $536 million in 1983, and was sold off by Warner Communications the following year.

The North American video game crash of 1983, was an abrupt mass-extinction in the industry that lasted until the Nintendo Entertainment System arrived in 1985.
It wasn’t until Microsoft’s Xbox in the 2000’s, that a U.S. manufacturer became competitive in the home gaming console market again.

The widespread success of the NES, was made possible by Nintendo introducing a now-standard business model of licensing third-party developers.
This authorized (recognized & paid) game designers to produce and distribute titles for Nintendo’s platform.
Compensating game designers more fairly led to higher-quality titles, and helped restore consumer confidence.

Nintendo would revolutionize the industry again in 1989, introducing the Gameboy, the first high-quality portable gaming console.
The Gameboy bundled-in Tetris, a simple yet addicting puzzle game, which became a cultural phenomenon.

By the early 1990’s the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (1991 killer app–Sonic the Hedgehog) & Super Nintendo upped their consoles to 16-bit microprocessors, which allowed graphics and game-play to approach and even exceed arcade machines.
This was the death knell for mall arcades, as new best-selling titles were now released directly for home consoles or PC.

Video games of this era became more graphic in their representations of sex, death & violence. In 1993 Sega started rating its video games for content, in a similar way to which films were rated.

Best-selling games of this era included:
Grand Theft Auto (1997 DMA Design), notable for its violent content.
Final Fantasy (1987 Nintendo) & Diablo (1996 Blizzard Entertainment) were massively popular role-playing games.
Doom (1993) & Quake (1996, both from id Software) were 1st-person shooters for home computers, which upped the ante on anti-social violence, while pioneering play over the Internet.
One of the best-designed games for PC & Mac in this era was SimCity (1989 Maxis), a city-building simulation video game.

Sony entered the 32-bit console market with its PlayStation in 1994.
The PS2, released in 2000, became the best selling console in history, with over 155 million units sold in its 13-year manufacturing run.

Microsoft’s Xbox (2001) entered the market with it’s killer app, Halo: Combat Evolved; an ultra-violent first-person shooter that fit in perfectly with the cultural militarism of the period.
The Xbox was reportedly sold to consumers at a loss to achieve market penetration, in order to realize its overall objective of being a leader in online gaming which was still in its infancy at the time.

The Nintendo Wii (2006, pack-in game: Wii Sports) capitalized on the intuitive nature of motion control, and once again Nintendo revolutionized video gaming.

By the early 2000’s, mobile phone gaming had been hugely popular in Japan for years.
The popular US conversion to Smart phones and the iPhone (2007 Apple) brought the mobile gaming phenomenon to North America.

——————–

It is always imperative to understand that video games are a form of television, which is boredom-killing entertainment.
Video games are isolationist & voyeuristic by their very nature, making them unproductive while highly addictive.
Video games, along with all other forms of mass media, reflect society’s values which is why they are now largely misanthropic.

Controlling these media means real power & influence, for those who own it.

Imagine this scenario:
Ten people in a room competing for attention– the least assertive person gets pushed into the background.
Next, the marginalized person obtains a remote control to DirecTV or a game console– and suddenly this non-entity transforms into the most powerful person in the room.
His/her choices in volume & programming become impossible for anyone to ignore.
This effect is the same on a global scale, which is the reason why it needs to taken out of the hands of private corporations, and brought under the ownership & democratic control of working people, meaning everybody.

Today, all mass media is far too violent, sexist, misanthropic, etc. to have much educational value for children or anyone else.
Homo sapiens must do better if we are to prepare our children to solve the many problems we have created for ourselves and our planet.

In short, the history of the video game industry is the story of globalization, advances in technology, and idea sharing.
Innovation runs into the barrier of private ownership, which slows down development in the name of profits & reactionary ideology.
This leads to vapid content using sophisticated technology, which dovetails into apathy & militarism.

Steam Locomotion & Modern Economics

Posted on May 13, 2014 by admin

Mount Dora has tried this before.

Here is what I found to be the most helpful review of the Mount Dora Railroad (MDRR) on Yelp, published by Steven I. on 2/27/2010:

“I suppose a child who has never seen a train before might be curious, but on a scale of 1-10, these trains are 1’s. They have bought old commuter train cars from around the country and somehow got them down here. When they arrived, they are rusted hulks in need of windows, paint, chairs etc. Many came from electrified tracks. Well guess what, these tracks are not electrified. So they have to retrofit them with car engines to make them run. Track foundations are not frequently inspected by the government with sections washing away by rain and erosion. No routine maintenance is performed on tracks since it is cost prohibited. This tourist train has been leased out to several companies over the past ten years. None of them had any great success. Most of the track runs along side the road. Great scenery eh?”

Baldwin Locomotive Works originally located in Philadelphia, PA; stopped producing locomotives in 1956. Bankrupted in 1972.

History: steam locomotives are a relic of our nation’s past and part of our history. They deserve to be appreciated in their proper historical context. The steam engine is a symbol of rising American capitalism. It’s revival as a tourist industry in Mount Dora, FL under modern capitalism, is the nostalgic vision of decision-makers who think (& live) in the past.

The introduction of electric locomotives at the turn of the 20th century, and later diesel-electric locomotives, ended the era of 19th-century wood/coal steam locomotives.
Steam engines are considerably less efficient than modern diesels, requiring constant maintenance and labour to keep them safely operational.

According to the engineer and his assistants, the MDRR burns a cord of good wood per day, in its three trips to nearby Tavares & back.

For longer distances, water is required at many points throughout a rail network and becomes a major problem in drought & desert areas.
The reciprocating mechanism on the driving wheels of a two-cylinder single expansion steam locomotive tends to pound the rails, thus requiring more maintenance.
Smoke from steam locomotives is deemed objectionable, although diesels can not be considered “clean” by any modern rational standard.

————All Aboard!!—————

Tip of the Cap— Ric Size, Tom Pearce, Craig Roy, Bill Pelick

As far as the railroad being a modern tourist attraction goes, consider this: How many Floridians do you think are interested in riding at a leisurely pace, without air conditioning in 90+ degree heat? Most Americans consider that a Third World experience, meaning they’re likely not up for much of it.

The city of Mount Dora tries to market itself as quaint, but that shouldn’t mean short-sighted and wasteful.
Over $1,000,000 was spent repairing the tracks which run from Mount Dora to Tavares.
Based on past history, and ongoing maintenance needs; what is this costing? How much of a deficit is it running? These are typical fair citizen/taxpayer questions that are never answered with honesty or accountability, anywhere.

The MDRR runs only on weekends (Fri-Sun), during the snowbird season (roughly Nov-April).

Snowbird (n.)– self-acclaimed, old folk know-it-alls with money, who vacation in Florida during the winter months; then leave when the going gets tough from heat & hurricanes, in order to migrate ‘home’ and gossip to their colleagues about how superior they are.

Sits idle most days

Diesel MDRR workhorse here, as the steam engine is usually only fired up for big chamber of commerce events

There has been an inherent lack of openness & coordinated planning in this whole railroad-as-tourist-attraction scheme.
The resources wasted on this effort would have been much better used for constructing sidewalks, as well as a much-needed FREE public-parking garage; so people can get around Mount Dora more easily & safely.
The owners of Mount Dora have proudly marketed their quaintness; and if that’s their way of saying: it’s the same corruption here as everywhere else since the dawn of capitalism, then Mount Dora is a picture of American quaintness.

================================================================

Football or Baseball Nation?

Posted on May 5, 2014 by admin

The United States of America was once a baseball nation.
Today it is a football nation.
It is in our national interest to become baseball again.
Here is why?

Football tries to win every game, often regardless of cost.
Baseball knows this is not only an impossibility but also foolish, and therefore accepts losing as a cost of the game.
The baseball metaphor more resembles a healthy & manageable life.

In baseball the best team usually wins around 100 games, which means they’ve also lost around 62.
Even in the best years of living, successful people have losing days when they must deal with falling short of expectations.
These (generally) successful people go home to their families, and don’t forget their true wealth is in their happiness, with those they love.
It is similar in baseball where the emphasis is on: staying positive in the face of daily adversity, consistently putting forth good effort, and learning to accept losing– because some days you just can’t win.
This approach avoids extended losing streaks, and its realization is the difference between winning and losing, over a long season.
Life, like baseball, is a marathon.

In football, the best teams are urged to try for 16-0, plus the Super Bowl.
Only the 1972 Miami Dolphins (17-0) ever achieved a perfect season, making them a statistical outlier.
Few experts even list them as the greatest single-season team ever, as compared to the Steel Curtain Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bill Walsh-era SF 49ers, or the 1985 Chicago Bears.

The fact that no team has matched Miami’s 1972 perfection doesn’t keep teams from trying. Every year, the media hypes fans into expecting another statistical miracle.
The problem is: Undefeated is an unrealistic expectation in sports and a dangerous expectation for reality. This becomes a societal problem when it becomes predominant ruling-class thought, imitated by the most backward layers of the working class.
It is unhealthy to not accept losing.
Only insecure losers believe they can completely prevent losing.

Bill Belichick is a certainly a great football coach, but does that make him happy?
I wonder this, because I never see him laugh or smile.
He’s often put forward as a role model to others.

The NFL & College Football seasons unfold in a weekly series of violent spasms, with six days of recuperation before the next battle.
The NFL season is a meat-grinder by any fair description.
The average NFL career length is 3.3 years, as compared to 5.6 in MLB.

The mentality of too many football fans is often one of intolerance towards others (all opponents), with an uncompromising win-at-all-costs approach.
There are too many murders & rapists in the NFL, simply because they help win Super Bowls.
There is too much PED abuse at all levels of football, which only follows the pioneering example of the NFL.
There is no serious comprehensive concussion prevention (or treatment) program at any level of the sport.
Any attempts to question the NFL on these topics, leads to defensive double-speak & fierce lobbying resistance.

Of course, these problems also exist in baseball, but they are much less fundamental & pervasive than they are in American football.
To the extent they have penetrated baseball can be seen as a general follow-the-leader shift (with football leading) in popular sports thinking. Generally, the term ‘sports thinking’ is an oxymoron.
MLB accepted football’s methods such as steroids in the 1990’s & beyond, because it improved player performance (at least in the short-term) and also because many owners agreed that by making the game more like football, it would be more popular.
It worked in 1998 with Sammy Sosa & Mark McGwire chasing (and obliterating) Roger Maris’ season HR record.
In 2001, when Barry Bonds obliterated it again, baseball fans were no longer excited.
The ugly truth, which had finally become apparent to most, could not be ignored. It seemed impossible for most to cheer.

Unfortunately. much of this ugliness goes directly to the heart of what football is.
It is often too violent, too destructive, and too degraded a spectacle– to be watched by anyone who thinks with compassion for others.
When players are lying on the field–concussed, TV audiences are promptly cut to a commercial.
Announcers often only comment on this phenomenon in passing, as their jobs are threatened by the NFL (through its Network broadcast partners), if they raise serious medical player-safety issues on the air.
Football announcers are too often ex-jocks, simply cheerleading for their game.
Their cliched claim to be bringing fans the “inside experience” rings hollow, as their function (besides their celebrity) is to keep fans away from the game’s dirty secrets.
It is the Player’s code: For the good of the game, it is best to deceive the fans about how players really make themselves ready to perform on Gameday.
It’s all about winning the ratings.

The best aspect of the NFL’s concussion crisis is that sports fans are now more aware of the true cost of playing football.
Too many NFL players retire into a life of chronic pain, depression, Alzheimer/dementia, and even suicide.
It is too terrible a trend to ignore, especially when it happens to some of its greatest stars.
Playing professional football is one of the most dangerous & unhealthy careers a man can choose, yet most fans think it is an honor to play in the NFL.
There is a huge disconnect from the wanna-be’s who obsessively follow the game, and the actual players who view the NFL as a short-term, high-risk/high-reward job.
Most NFL players don’t talk about the privilege of playing anymore, as that old-school mentality went out with billion dollar TV contracts, $10-millon signing bonuses, and the medical science on post-NFL life.

Baseball has become more difficult for its core fans to watch, because it has been turned into football, in many ways.
PEDs, Wild Cards, expanded play-offs, garrulous announcers, exploding graphics, replay umpiring, etc… all take their toll on the roots of our national pastime.
Baseball is a game that is deceptively simple in its elegance, and lends itself to contemplation during its periods of inaction.
Its natural rhythm & pace, allows time for actual thought.
Football attempts to fill every second of its broadcasts with hype & pizazz.
There are only 11.5 minutes of actual game action in a typical NFL contest.

When baseball tries to imitate football, in an attempt to close the ratings gap, it loses its identity.
When, We the People, let ourselves be herded into group-think by violent & uncritical mindsets that serves ruling interests, we lose our identity.
These are fascist tendencies, which must be recognized & resisted.

May Day: International Labor Day

Posted on May 1, 2014 by admin

Today is May Day, the great unknown American holiday. It is unfortunate that here in the United States, we don’t know our history.

Outside the US, May Day is recognized in over 80 countries around the world as a day of international labor solidarity.

The first May Day of this kind was in Chicago in 1886, when organized workers energetically demonstrated on May 1st for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, along with other proletariat class demands.

Three days later, the demonstration was broken up by police force, in what is known as the Haymarket Affair. There is still a statue in Chicago commemorating this historical event.

THE DAY WILL COME WHEN OUR SILENCE WILL BE MORE POWERFUL THAN THE VOICES YOU ARE THROTTLING TODAY.

The US history of worker militancy needs to be re-learned by its population, and drawn upon. The war against capitalist exploitation needs history (with the invaluable lessons it contains), to guide the working masses fighting spirit.

Workers of the world, unite!!

What is Grunge?

Posted on April 29, 2014 by admin

Grunge music starts with Dylan, the Velvet Underground, etc… then becomes John Lennon, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band; then the Stooges, Modern Lovers, etc… through 1977 Punk; which is the Sex Pistols, Wire, the Talking Heads, etc…

Post-Punk is early Cheap Trick, U2, etc…existing in the mainstream; and the Minutemen, Sonic Youth, etc…existing underground until REM, Nirvana, etc. brought it mainstream; it continues through Hole, Bikini Kill, PJ Harvey, etc…and never dies.

Post-punk reclaims Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, etc.. and all the greatest Classic-Rock artists back to Elvis Presley.

Grunge claims Prince, Madonna, Gloria Estefan, etc… as great Contemporary Pop music cross-over artists.

Grunge claims post-Classic Heavy Metal artists such as Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Guns N Roses, etc…through to Metallica, Soundgarden, etc… and it never ends.

In Grunge, it is the courage to deliver bold new ideas, that binds.

Grunge claims Fripp, Eno, and all the other pioneering Electronic artists up to today.

Jazz & Rap are understood & appreciated, as African-American versions of Grunge.

Grunge in Jazz starts with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, etc…and never ends.

Grunge reclaims Jazz’s roots in traditional Ragtime, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, etc.

Rap has roots in Punk & Disco.

This allows Disco final redemption from Punk, for its vapid nature.

Rap starts in NYC with Sugarhill Records, Afrika Bambaataa, etc…was at its creative peak when its greatest artists conquered the world; Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, etc…and it never ends.

Black Grunge is originally defined as American Blues; Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, etc…through to the Rolling Stones.

Soul; James Brown, Otis Redding, etc… becomes the new Black Grunge.

In Rock, Black Grunge is originally Fats Domino, Check Berry, etc… through Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, P-Funk, etc…and it never ends.

Great Motown artists; Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, etc… are reclaimed.

American Country Music is Gospel in origin, making much of it the antithesis of Grunge; yet Country Outlaws such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, etc…through Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, etc… are reclaimed as Grunge.

Folk Music artists; Jimmie Rogers, Woody Guthrie, etc… to Bob Dylan & the Beatles are defined as early White Grunge.

Early Country Gospel & Bluegrass Music artists; the Carter Family, Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, etc… are reclaimed because they are great artists.

Reggae’s velvet knife; Bob Marley & the Wailers, Burning Spear, etc… crosses-over & becomes the Third World’s version of Grunge.

Fela Kuti’s Nigerian Afro-Beat literally opens up a whole new World (of) Music, infinite in richness & supply.

It’s all in there, if you listen.

——————-

Tip of the Cap

TomP: percussion & production
Craig Roy: bass
Bill Pelick: lead guitar
RS: gtr & vocal

================================================================

Thoughts on Earth Day

Posted on April 22, 2014 by admin

Every day is Earth Day. — RS

Earth Day (held annually on April 22) needs to be understood in the context of global warming and the imperative task for mankind to convert to solar power for its energy needs. This is no longer a pipe dream to be discussed theoretically, then dismissed into the future. Solar conversion goes to the heart of the issue of the continued existence of human civilization.

Current global greenhouse gas emissions can not continue unabated without catastrophic consequences for everyone & everything on this planet. Earth has a fever and it is getting worse, daily. The graph below shows Earth’s atmospheric CO2 levels for the last 650,000 years, and how far it is above its historic levels. Lowering those levels back to historical norms will be a huge scientific & technological challenge that will test mankind’s ability to innovate & problem-solve. Before that can happen, further emissions must cease, which at this point is more of a political problem than a technical one.

The answer for human society is solar power, which is the only option that is truly clean and infinitely renewable.

Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics, or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, is harnessed using a range of ever-evolving technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity and solar architecture.

As integrated circuitry improves, and battery storage of solar power becomes more efficient; and more than enough electricity can be generated & stored for virtually any use. The total solar energy absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and land masses is approximately 3,850,000 exajoules per year. This is more solar energy in one hour than the world uses in one year. If humanity could capture one tenth of one percent of the solar energy striking the earth, it would have access to six times as much energy as humans consume in all forms today, with neither greenhouse gas emissions nor nuclear waste.

Fossil fuel and biomass only add to global warming; while nuclear, geothermal, hydroelectric, and even wind power are far too destructive while degrading the environment. Needless to say, nuclear power’s potential for catastrophe to human populations is all-too-obvious to anyone who studies history & thinks rationally.

Conversion to solar power can only be accomplished through revolutionary means. The world’s most powerful corporations control the global energy market, and will not voluntarily give up this all-important lever of power. Everyone in the industrialized world depends of electricity and automobile transportation. Solar power is a revolutionary equalizer for the working people of the world, freeing them from their dependence on the energy cartels, while abating global warming.

The endless succession of imperialist wars being fought for control of oil & gas reserves in central Asia & beyond will only end with mankind’s conversion to solar power. Today, oil is the world’s most important commodity, so whomever controls it rules the globe. Solar power threatens that balance, and that is why its technology has been resisted, marginalized, discredited, and kept expensive as ruling class policy for decades.

When people can generate their own power using a solar panel, they free themselves from unregulated utility monopolies. When people can drive solar powered cars, using photovoltaic technology, they free themselves from Exxon/Mobil, Chevron & Texaco. These corporations do not tolerate such threats to their bottom line (and ultimately their existence), without fierce resistance. For them, the future of civilization and our planet are secondary concerns, compared to their short-term fiscal profits.

Complete conversion to solar power will ultimately be the task of working people everywhere who demand a better life for themselves, their children, and everything that exists on this planet. It happens when people everywhere regain their will to fight a powerful enemy as if all their lives depend on it, which it does. It is a revolutionary task that ends with socialism, and it is the true spirit and meaning of Earth Day.

Excerpts from a Trashy Novel

Posted on April 16, 2014 by admin

He was dead tired, from what little restless sleep he had gotten the night before. His appointment was at 11:00, and it was only 10:10, but he still felt an impulse to rush. He didn’t want to be late for her. He got up; went into the kitchen to fix a fresh glass of juice; then jumped into the shower.
By 10:50 he was at the studio, sitting down and resting his eyes briefly; until she woke him in a low voice, “Are you ready?”
She led him into their usual room, which had been prepared with soft music & lighting, incense, and candles.
“I’ll be back in a minute” she said softly as she closed the door.
He then disrobed and slid under the sheet of the massage table.
He was resting his eyes again when she returned and commenced warming up her expert hands with jasmine-scented oil.
She began to rub his firm muscular body with her fingers, knuckles and wrists; coaxing his tightened muscles to release their stress. He felt the pulsating waves of relaxation envelope his being, as he began to drift into that state of consciousness/unconsciousness where no pain or shame is felt, only the pleasure of relaxation.
She worked deep into the muscles of his neck, releasing months of built-up tension.
He groaned slightly at the early twinges of discomfort, which started to turn into moans of delight as the rubbing activated the endorphins in his brain.
His erections came & went as she worked every area of his body.
Energy repeatedly shot like electricity from his feet and inner thighs into his genitals.
The fatigue that he had felt earlier had now left him.
It had been completely replaced with love energy.

——————–

It had taken a while for him to become integrated into his new office environment. Working in a new city, with new people was not a problem for him; he had always dealt with fresh situations in an enthusiastic manner. The staff for the most part was the usual mixed-bag; mostly regular people trying to earn a living, along side elitist middle management–defined by their gossiping & backstabbing nature.
The woman he gravitated towards was the one with a foot in both camps.
She was the quiet type, with long hair & sad eyes– both brown. She was highly sensitive to rude behaviour, and always wore a black suit & pants with high heels. He wondered if she was in mourning, but could never find an appropriate time & place to ask her such a personal question. She was too busy running the office all by herself.
Her personal hygiene was good, except for the fact that she let her hair go lifelessly flat. She rarely smiled genuinely, even though she had nice teeth.
The office stayed extremely busy with a steady trickle/stream of wealthy clients ending up at her desk, ready to pay her whatever she said they owed. She was definitely a killer when it came to collecting the money.
Her marvellous ability to instantly turn on & turn off conversation-mode with clients, while maintaining a high level of empathy & good listening, impressed the new hire. He noticed that clients tended to linger, which helped business. She never objected to those customers who wanted to waste her time.
One day he noticed something different about her. She had styled her hair, very subtly. Noticing instantly, he quickly smiled and told her how much he liked it. She looked at him intensely for a second, before thanking him and then returned to her business.
Freud once said, “There are no accidents”, and that was likely the case at the end of that day, as he lingered for no particular reason. She was alone, closing out the day on her computer. He shuffled into her work area, which was typically off-limits to anyone else.
“May I ask you a personal question?” he inquisitively asked in a direct tone.
“Sure”, she cautiously replied.
He leaned in and whispered into her right ear, “Why aren’t you happy?”
She was stunned and hesitant to meet his eyes. She was usually expert in deflecting any personal overtures, but her suffering & loneliness had been too long, and his tone too sincere to ignore his enquiry.
Her eyes melted into his as she trembled trying to formulate a response to a question that cut her to the quick.
She bit her lip, as he pressed in closer to her body.
He murmured into her left ear so softly that she felt his breath more than heard him say, “You are too beautiful to not be happy.”
His hands started randomly sliding over her body, as he pressed his chest and pelvis into hers.
Any will she had to resist was being quickly consumed by raw desire…

———————

They had fucked for two days & two nights straight; it was a blissful, spectacular orgy of young love. She was leaving for college in six weeks and he was staying behind, entering his senior year in high school.
“No regrets!”, was their rule that gorgeous summer. Everyday seemed to be sunny, 82 degrees with a mild breeze.
They would make love on the patio in the sun, as no one else was around the cabin.
It overlooked a lake that had only a few other dwellings on its shores. Everyone minded their own business.
At midnight they would drift out into the middle of the lake on an inner tube, and become one with nature by making love under the moon & stars.
Then, they would climb up to the roof with a sleeping bag; caressing & fucking, until they fell asleep until morning.
Right now they both lay naked in the afternoon sun, melting the tan lines away from their lithe & athletic bodies.
He especially loved watching her flesh brown in the sun.
A breeze from the lake kicked up and sent a waft of aroma from her pussy to his nostrils.
He breathed it fully & deeply, and was instantly hard again.
He looked at her with unlimited passion as he contemplated how her wanted to take her.
She was half-asleep, hypnotized by the warmth of the sun and glowing in her radiance.
He eased on top of her, and she began to awake only when he started teasing her nipples with his tongue while rubbing the head of his cock gently into her pussy.
She smiled at him in her sun daze, and then pulled him in with voluptuous rapture…

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The artist shook his head and prepared for the worst as he packed his guitar into the trunk and headed to the Shithole.
That wasn’t the actual name of the club he was playing, but it would have been appropriate.
The place was beyond bad, and should have been closed down by the Health Department a long time ago, but that’s how it goes in the backwoods.
It was the type of place where most patrons are alcoholics or potheads, with many missing their teeth. There were never any attractive women in there.
Cigarette smoke was a permanent feature along with skunked Budweiser, making it a favorite biker hangout.
The music at the Shithole is, of course classic rock, which means any kind of artist doesn’t really belong there; but since he was asked to play a few songs by a friend who books the place, he felt obliged.
Now the day had come and he regretted saying yes, envisioning the usual disrespect he was going to have to put up with from the classic-rock die-hards.
“I need to make something happen, otherwise this is a waste of time”, he fumed to himself on the road.
His friend was cool, an ace guitarist who could also play bass. There was no need for that today, as the semi-regular bass player was there, at least in body.
A fair description of the bass guy would be to say that he had pro talent, but was a complete fuck-up–a burnt-out veteran of the 1980’s heavy metal wars.
The drummer was a friendly guy who smoked & drank too much. He kept the beat solid as long as he was provided a good groove, and that’s all that mattered.
The set began and the place immediately came alive, in a completely different way from the other performers in the club.
Instead of stale covers, it was original rock that actually excited the crowd.
At the second chorus of the first song, a strikingly pretty late-20’s blonde in a slinky blue dress begins to shake her stuff in front of the artist.
The combination of both sexes commanding the situation attracted everyone’s attention, and the entire set was a huge party for the performers and the audience.
After the set and a few games of pool, the artist & the chanteuse ducked out the back…

Scholarship Athletes Unite!

Posted on March 31, 2014 by admin

Latest update on this story [8-18-15]: The football players voted on unionization in April 2014, and the ballot box was immediately impounded by Northwestern University & the NCAA. The votes still haven’t been counted, so the reformists don’t know what to do. [1]

Ed O’Bannon won his case, in a ruling that states college athletes can now share in the billions of dollars they generate annually. The ruling is being appealed by lawyers for the NCAA.

The NLRB decided not to approve the Northwestern University football players request to form a union, and this issue will likely eventually go to the Supreme Court.

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The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago, Peter Sung Ohr, ruled on Wednesday March 26 that Northwestern University football players are university employees.

Employees are legally entitled to be paid and to bargain collectively.

The NCAA is a billion-dollar entertainment industry, which has had the advantage of virtually free labor for its entire existence. In a court of law, this brings up anti-trust and worker’s rights legal challenges, which are coming to a head with this landmark ruling by Judge Ohr. Ohr ruled that the primary function of the Northwestern football players is to make money for Northwestern University. The Northwestern football players proved in court that the Wildcats coaches have strict control over their schedules and lives. Scholarships are contingent on athletic performance. This defines them as employees, and renders the NCAA definition of ‘student-athlete’ irrelevant.

This case is being merged with the Ed O’Bannon case and other high-profile legal action against the NCAA, in order to address the exploitation of scholarship athletes. It is being limited in scope to private universities and (as of this writing) only includes football & men’s basketball. If the Northwestern football players win, it would set a precedent that state universities and all of men’s college basketball would have to follow, due to fundamental to free market principles.

Allowing ALL the best high-school athletes in ALL sports to be free agents, with the right to collectively negotiate employer contracts with universities, would be a revolutionary worker’s victory. What is being crafted is a reformist solution, fronted by Ramogi Huma and backed by the United Steel Workers union leader Leo Gerard. Gerard is intimately tied to the Democratic Party machine and organized crime. Unions need to be understood as nothing more than legalized mafias.

Limiting this case to only football and men’s basketball, the two highest revenue-generating sports, is a conscious ruling-class decision designed to keep the process from spinning out of their control. “Limiting this case gives us the strongest case”, Ramogi explained. What he fails to mention is that lack of strength is not the problem, as most legal experts now agree that Ohr’s decision will be difficult to overturn on argumentative grounds.

The NCAA & Northwestern University have mostly declined comment on any of the legal proceedings, and the few statements from their spokespeople are widely interpreted as red herrings or insubstantial. This case wins on the same argumentative grounds if it includes all scholarship athletes.

So why doesn’t it?

It’s because the issues involved go to the heart of capitalist values, while touching a nerve of personal interest for sports fans. Bringing sports into any discussion, especially a political one, generally primes people to begin screaming & cheerleading instead of thinking about what’s going on. That is the nature of sports, and that’s the danger for scholarship athletes; they’ll lose perspective through the hype.

Many U.S. college graduates are passionate alumni. They particularly cheer its athletics, and many donate to its success. It’s a primary reason a significant percentage matriculate to a particular institution. In the end, success in football and men’s basketball is a vicarious pleasure for alumni; a point of pride that drives it. That, and the fact that it makes billions of dollars annually.

College sports is also a job for EVERY scholarship athlete, which they can not quit without losing their benefits. Basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, tennis, etc.. men’s & women’s; they’re all the same.

The ridiculousness of the NCAA’s insistence on defining scholarship athletes as ‘amateurs’ can be drawn out in an analogy with academic scholarships. Academic scholarship students are allowed to attain employment while in school. Many do. Imagine a math major not being able to accept a private tutoring job, because she is defined by the university as an ‘amateur.’ By NCAA rules, if this hypothetical math genius takes the job and is found out, her scholarship is lost. Clearly the rules & institutions for college athletics have become archaic, but what do we replace them with?

The modest proposal from what’s left of liberalism, is mostly an attempt to confuse and disorient these young exploited workers. It’s handling is important to the ruling class because this is happening at institutions of higher learning, where revolutionary ideas & impulses can spread quickly. Scholarship athletes still largely have open minds, and that is understood as a danger to elite opinion.

If the current agenda of Huma Ramogi and his Democratic Party backers win their way through the courts, then little will change for most university scholarship athletes in football & basketball. The black market pay-for-play system will simply be converted into an open market pay-for-play system. The few top recruits that receive large university contracts will make the headlines, but the new revenue sharing deal with the NCAA and the universities will mostly flow to union bureaucrats and machinery. Very little money will flow down to less talented players or to other sports, since they were never part of the discussion.

What needs to be done is the organizing of ALL scholarship athletes, across the U.S. & beyond, into their own union. Athletes need to be their own leaders and represent themselves, otherwise few of their grievances will be addressed. What can Leo Gerard & the Steel Workers Union possibly understand about the lives of college athletes? Can these athletes trust the SWU leader, who has facilitated a list of corporate mergers which have destroyed hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process, to represent their interests? These questions need to be asked & rationally answered, out loud.

University athletic programs will be shuttered whether this case is upheld or overturned, due to the depressed condition of the free market. This modest proposal as-is will only accelerate that process, as open bidding will allow the biggest conferences to monopolize the best talent. Those smaller conferences and institutions that can’t pay the market rate for athletic talent will wither & die.

Every university should have a competitive athletic program that: 1) fairly compensates athletes with full employee rights; 2) does everything possible to protect athletes from injury; 3) treats the athlete for as long as necessary when injury does occur; 4) allows the athlete time to finish his/her education, even after their playing eligibility expires.

This can only happen if ALL college athletes unite democratically under their own leadership.

Sony Open Tennis Diary

Posted on March 30, 2014 by admin

March 2015 Notes: This year it’s the Miami Open, with a new corporate sponsor, a Brazilian bank [1].

Have you ever seen a city with so many banks, and so little manufacturing?

Of course, Miami banks are notorious for laundering South American drug money, so the Miami Open presented by Itaú is a synergistic fit.

Clearly, the Miami Open lacks the prestige of Indian Wells, CA; as Roger Federer skipped Miami this time around.

This Master Series 1000 event should probably change its surface to clay; as it would then have the dual-upside of; 1) being valuable for individual ranking points, as well as: 2) being an early French Open tune-up.

Many top players like like being paid to come to Miami, but also don’t mind exiting early; as it is another punishing hard-court, just when everyone wants to transition to clay.

For those who don’t know, tennis on clay is much easier on the body; and both the men’s (ATP) & women’s (WTP) professional tours are a tough grinds. After Miami, there are no professional hard-court tournaments, until after Wimbledon in July.

For those on a budget, the escalating cost of attending professional tournaments makes the Tennis Channel a fan’s best value. A viewer can watch & learn from the top players, year-round–men & women, singles & doubles; with (mostly) helpful and expert commentary.

As always with television, using the ‘mute’ button appropriately helps.

When you’re ready for any tennis gossip, Mary Carillo (still cute as a button) has it all with a smile.

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Night Session Costs Extra

Second Round Play Friday 3-21-14

All matches are best-of-three

This tournament used to be called the Sony Ericsson Open, but is now the Sony Open because big fish eats little fish.

Forecast: Beautiful weather, sunny with a light breeze. Low-mid 80’s. Bring a good hat & sunscreen.

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The stadium is full for the first afternoon match, featuring Roger Federer (SUI); probably the most beloved athlete in the world.

No one cheers Ivo Karlovic (CRO) after any of the 20-or-so times [stats not available] he aces Federer. It’s a crowd rule: you can’t cheer the opponent doing anything good against Roger Federer, unless that player is a superstar. I wonder how Roger Federer feels about that?

There is one break of serve in the entire match, the first game when Karlovic wasn’t quite warmed up. It cost him any chance at the match.

Ivo Karlovic is 6’11” and has a serve that sits at 132 MPH– reaching 138 MPH. Federer stands helplessly as ace after ace go whizzing past him. Luckily for his opponents, Karlovic has a poor backhand, with even worse lateral movement. It is an interesting match, even though there are only a few rallies. Federer makes only 3 unforced errors [!] and wins 49 of 52 points on his serve, prevailing 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Final thoughts on Roger Federer: I don’t think he can win any more majors, but he’s still beautiful to behold– slipping ever so gracefully. It was a privilege to see him play.

This is followed by Novak Djokovic (CRO)/ Jeremy Chardy (FRA), with the stadium 1/4 full at the start of the match. It never even approaches half-full. I don’t understand why so few people care to see the best tennis player in the world?

The first thing you notice about Djokovic is his conditioning. He is clearly in the best physical shape of anyone out there. In fairness, I didn’t get to see Nadal.

Jeremy Chardy played well until he badly sprained his right ankle at break point to go down 5-3 in the second set. He couldn’t possibly play anymore, but insisted on finishing the match. I thought to myself, “If I was him, I wouldn’t go back out there. He can’t push off his right foot and it doesn’t prove anything to stand out there and get aced/service-winnered four times, then walk off. He needs immediate ice, compression, elevation and ibuprofen; then an evaluation for a possible MRI.”

It is in the nature of these serious athletes to refuse to quit, even when they are injuring themselves more. It seems worth considering why this is? Djokovic moves on 6-4, 6-3.

This is followed by a complete emptying of the stadium for the next match: Romina Oprandi (SUI)/ Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)– the #3 seed and tournament women’s champion in 2012. The first set went 6-0 for Radwanska in about 20 minutes. Time to find another match.

The men’s field is much deeper, with many exciting & competitive second-round matches on the outer courts.

Alejandro Gonzalez (COL)/ Richard Gasquet (FRA) was hard fought mid-day contest of youth vs. experience. Gasquet withstood the young Latin 7-6(7), 6-4 in a match that had high tension, numerous memorable rallies and great shot-making. Match of the day for me.

Marinko Matosevic (AUS) /Kei Nishikori (JPN) in the evening was another interesting battle. Neither player has an overpowering serve and both are scrappers, attacking everything with heavy topspin. The difference is consistency & control, with Nishikori completely breaking down the hot-tempered Matosevic in the second set– winning 6-4, 6-1. Skill & physique-wise, these players are fairly evenly matched. The difference is mostly in what’s between the ears.

Matosevic sent a tennis ball deep into the evening out of frustration during the second set, and then spit on the court after losing match point. He’s one of those guys you want to like, but keeps acting badly; lots of potential, but needs to find a serious coach and listen to him.

[Late Entry 3-29-13] Kei Nishikori would continue to play well in Miami; beating Grigor Dimitrov, David Ferrer and Roger Federer. A re-injured groin in the Federer match would force Nishikori to withdraw from his semi-final match-up against Novak Djokovic. Ironically, this time the fans protested not being able to see Novak Djokovic.

21-year old up & comer Sloan Stephens (USA)/ Zarina Diyas (KAZ) was another cool-of-the-evening match. Stephens displayed good strokes, but needs to improve her focus. Perhaps more importantly, she needs a much stronger first serve if she’s going to step up to the next level. Only one ace in the match, but it was enough to get by Zarina Diyas 7-5, 6-3.

As a side-note Diyas had (by far) the worst outfit of any women’s player I saw. To be fair, she was a qualifier, but her outfit was ghastly. Yellow top, black/grey skirt with red & green shoes. Congratulations Zarina: nothing matches.

Day Session passes last until 8:00 PM, after that you can’t access the Stadium Court without a Night Session ticket. This leaves most of the crowd watching the big screen outside as Venus Williams (USA)/ Anna Schmedlova (SVK) play in front of empty seats.

The early rounds of a major tennis tournament are like spring training in baseball. Things aren’t too serious yet, so fans can get really close to the action. This is a great opportunity for enthusiasts to see the game’s stars, while developing a deeper appreciation of tennis and learning proper etiquette.

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Five Quick Reasons Why Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution is the Most Amazing Book Ever Written

Posted on March 13, 2014 by admin

1. Beautiful narrative

2. Precise characterizations & magnificent portraits of significant historical figures

3. Masterful Marxist understanding of the materialism & dialectics

4. 1300+ pages

5. An authentic non-fiction historical masterpiece, written by one of the event’s central participants; which makes it unique

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If the current stand-off between the US & Russia in the Ukraine proves anything, it is this; people everywhere must understand the historical significance of the Soviet Union, or else we all will be annihilated. Mankind can not survive a Third World War, and we are far too close to that reality.