Tastes like chocolate, looks like chocolate, but its poison fool.

I haven't played very much of Kingdom Heart II so I can't give a full review, but I do have some initial impressions.

First, the game looks pretty good and the fact that you get to beat up a character from Final Fantasy VIII at the very beginning is nifty. Unfortunately, I'm confused by the .Hack type effects and the hooded guys mean nothing to me. This could be because I didn't play the GBA version very long. I couldn't get into the whole card thing, but I might have to replay it just to get an understanding of what in the heck is happening. Craziness.

Don't die.

Reporting the news with as much bias as possible.

The power of the cartoons won't die. Today, Borders/Waldenbooks stated that while they support Free Inquiry's right to publish the Muslim cartoons, their stores have "chosen not to carry this particular issue."

They quote concerns of their customers safety. The Free Inquiry retorts: "To refuse to distribute a publication because of fear of vigilante violence is to undermine freedom of press."

So, here's a lesson for all would be censors: If you don't like what's written, stave off from doing non-violent protests - get a bunch of your fellow worry-worts together and commit some violence. America will bow down before you.

Safety is the new freedom.

The article is here.

Don't die.

The stars are but burning balls of gases.

The debate over if Global Warming is happening has finally ended. After distinct evidence that the world's temperature has been on the rise President Bush says: "First of all, the globe is warming. The fundamental debate — is it manmade or natural?"

Since it took the President so long to admit to this fact, the "fundamental debate" Bush refers to may already be over. Scientists, and even Bush's own EPA, have concluded that global warming can only be explained by one phenomenon: humans. Dr. Barnett's studies have determined the "models based on man-made emissions of greenhouse gases matched the observations almost precisely" and that "natural variation in the Earth’s climate ... could not explain the data collected in the real world."

The fundamental debate is not whether its happening or how its happening, but "what we are going to do about it."

Articles of interest: Think Progress, CD Monitor, Times Online.

Don't die.

Terrorize the weak.

I have just finished listening to Queensryche's new album Operation: Mindcrime II, which is a sequel to (yep, you guessed it) Operation: Mindcrime. Operation: Mindcrime, which debuted in 1988, was one of the greatest concept albums of all time. It was hair with a dab of Pink Floyd, and it was breathtaking.

Consequently, Operation: Mindcrime II pales in comparison. This album will not win them any new fans, it will not be their Bats out of Hell II (which threw Meatloaf back into the spotlight), but it will certainly please (most of) their fans. This is not a bad album, but it does not have the passion of the first nor will it have any appeal to most of today's listeners who grew up on bubblegum pop.

I think that completes my first music review.

Don't die.

Gingerbread men are not for eating - they are for winning wars people.

Although it was a forgone conclusion, there is still some disappointment that Google has joined the political game. Google has decided they can no longer ignore the government as they had done in the past. So, they've hired lobbyists to try and (buy) persuade politicians into the Google way of thinking.

They move closer and closer to world domination every day. Why didn't I think of Google first?

Read more here.

Don't die.

Paper cuts are not the most dangerous injury one can suffer at my job.

An unprecedented number of people have begun to protest an immigration bill which has already passed through the House of Representatives. According to the AFP, "500,000 people marched in Los Angeles against the immigration reform bill." Among them were around 14,000 students. So many students were attempting to leave that schools went into lockdown to keep the children inside.

The law will elavate the crime of being an illegal alien to that of being a felon. Also, anyone found helping or harboring illegal alien's would also be slapped with a felony.

Here's hoping the goverment opens their eyes. I don't want to be here when 11+ million people are told they are felons. Once that happens, they've nothing more to lose.

Read the article here.

Don't die.

The sun needs a dimmer switch for when I want to go to the beach.

"V for Vendetta" has almost redeemed the Wachowski brothers for the movies which shalt not ever be mentioned again. It was a brilliant piece of work, and the anti-hero V is somehow both exhilarating and terrifying behind his Guy Fawkes mask.

"People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people," is one of best written/best delivered lines we will see in cinema over the next few months.

Don't die, all.