The society's take on War and the Army

Let's face it even though we Canadian's pride ourselves in being unique, army wise, were really not. Like any other country, we end up glamorizing war and the army as being full of glory and amazing. In reality it really isn't.

If you haven't realized I'm not really positive for the army, and with good reason. Unlike some men who only think with their arms, I inform myself with the truth. War is not something to boast about, you are killing people, whether innocent or not, it's not right. Country's conquer others and they say it's a police act, like in Corea. The United States tried uniting south with north Corea, unsuccessfully. They tried forcing their beliefs into the Corean's.

Forcing beliefs on other cultures is not the way, you may believe that a world with only one belief would be good, it's not. "We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." (Jonathan Swift) The more multicultural the world it, the less hatred we would get. Yet, that is why we have wars, its to expand our own power, get land, resources. That's not the way the government says though they say, it's a threat to their way of thinking, global threat, etc.

Truth is if you ask any veteran, they will say it was hell on Earth. To see your best friend get shot and die before he hits the ground, is that what you call glorious? How about the man who died before shooting one round and the family gets a letter saying he died as a hero, did he really? He may be sacrificed himself for his country, but that's it. (Band of Brothers) Usually a hero is the ones who save a lot of people by one or multiple acts.  

Let's face it, war is not glorious no matter which shape or form. Instead, it's a huge bloodbath where men kill each other with no other idea why than that "It's for their country". They die for a cause they most likely don't fully understand, just that their loved ones will know him for a "Hero".

Band of Brothers. Dir. David Frankel. Perf. Scott Grimes, Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston. HBO, 2001. DVD
"We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another. by Jonathan Swift." Famous Quotes at QuoteDB - Interactive Database of Famous Quotations. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2011. <http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/636>.

Duke Nukem Forever

Duke Nukem is known to be a joke of a game, with the entire aliens taking over and Duke makes jokes about women and other stuff... Duke Nukem Forever is a sequel to the first one, you know 12 years afterwards. You'd think this was made by Blizzard. Much like Hangover 2 was to the first Hangover, Duke Nukem Forever is the same as the first one!

Anyway's, getting back to the topic, this isn't a game review if you want that, here it is. The problem with this game is that this game is SO sexual it's unbelievable! It's obviously rated M, but parents don't care, if you buy it off Steam you can change your date of birth to buy it... The review actually makes a video to show how ridiculous this is, he said: "What I would like of Duke Nukem Forever if I was 12" (Pitts, The Escapist Magazine)



In this game you can slap breasts on a wall, go into a strip club, and guess what the health potion, or Ego medicine, BEER! Yes this game probably fulfills every 12 year old boy's fantasy's, except for getting drunk. Does that make this good? No way. It shows to be a "big hotshot world savior" you have to have the biggest ego in the world and be a complete jerk! The sexuality of this game is over the top, even as a grown man would be repulsed by it. Going to strip clubs, getting private lap dances, and naked women hanging on the roof! If you want to, you can kill them as well, you know just for the fun of it. Oh yeah and we can't forget the grabbing and throwing of human feces, completely unsanitary, but fun for immature people.

The reputation that Duke Nukem Forever is a joke stands up, but this time the joke's on you! (Pitts, The Escapist) Just do yourself a favor, don't buy this horrible game, if it's because it actually sucks, or because of the content.

"The Escapist : Duke Nukem Forever Review." The Escapist. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2011. <http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/8949-Duke-Nukem-Forever-Review>.

Virtual War Crimes!

Well this was unexpected... At the 31st meeting of the International Commitee of the Red Cross (ICRC) guess what they talked about, VIDEO GAMES! Violent video games, to be exact that might be breaking the laws from the Geneva convention.

If in war, there are some things that aren't acceptable, why put those in a video game? It's putting a false image of war in the public eye, but what's new about that one eh? Honestly in war they don't disrespect the International Humanitarian Law (IHL)! Why do the video game companies like Activision Inc. whom created Modern Warfare 3 have the urge to add worldwide illegal activities in games!? The ICRC has even made a video where they were comparing the points athletes would get in a sports game, the kills you would get in MW3 (I want to post it, but it seems it's been moved or deleted :( ). 

• One goal in hockey equals one point.
• A slam dunk in basket ball is two points.
• One touchdown in football is 6.
• One head shot in MW3 is 100 points.
• Land mine kill 250 points.
• A tank kill 150 points.
• An ambulance, 0 points, its just for fun. (ICRC)

 In the games you can destroy ambulances!, This IS against the Geneva convention and sending a message "Oh yeah come and kill whatever you want it's a blast!". The reason that killing ambulances and Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (M*A*S*H) is against humanitarian law, is because they're trying to save human beings from dying.

When I hear of dumb soldiers in the war today, I always think, "Did they learn that from a video game?". A couple of years back there was an accident in the Middle East. A native war photographer was taking picture behind a building and taking pictures of the Apachy helicopter. The pilots mistook the camera for a RPG, they shot the man down. Once the Jeep arrived on scene, it literally ran OVER a body, and the pilots laughed... this was all capture on the flight video and was uploaded on the internet without permission (Again the video seems to have disappeared, but I saw it 2 years ago).

The way war has been evolving and the younger generation taking over as the soldiers, the ones who grew up with these video games. They start to think of that life as a game since they're in the army of a technological superpower, there are so little casualties that they don't realize what is actually happening. I hope that the IRCR makes the IHL apply to video games because younger people will only know those as war when in real life they would be committing humanitarian CRIMES!

"International Committee of the Red Cross." International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. <http://www.icrc.org/eng/index.jsp>

"The Escapist : News : Red Cross Investigating Virtual War Crimes." The Escapist. N.p., 2 Dec. 2011. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. <http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114515-Red-Cross-Investigating-Virtual-War-Crimes>.

Hockey Headshots

S. Crosby after getting hit to the head.

Hockey is a very media orientated sport, every die-hard hockey fan knows nearly every NHL hockey player. The biggest headlines in the NHL have been the hits to the head. Everyone whom I talk to about that seem to think that the two hits that "Sid the kid" got is what started this entire problem. That completely enrages me because the case did not open with him, but with Chara's hit to Max Pacioretty.  Since I  am a Montreal Canadiens fan, I am subjective to this subject, BUT Max Pacioretty's concussion was before Crosby's. PLUS since Boston was Colin Campbell's favorite team. I have no idea why, maybe just by chance because his son is playing for Boston. Because of this such a horrible hit where it is obvious that the hit was intentional, Chara gets no suspension.

Chara was looking at the post as he was sandwiching Pacioretty between him and the boards. He completely deserves a penalty, and he doesn't get one. That's just a huge message to any young hockey player "Oh yeah you can do that go ahead!". If we continue to just let that stuff go, where will hockey go next? Fights won't be penalized? Good thing Cambell resigned from his post after getting so much pressure from players and fans wanting the hits to the heads to stop. There's been a study that shows that most high league players in contact sports suffer from brain degeneration, whether you had multiple concussions or not. This comes from athletes that donate their bodies to science after their deaths. This degeneration of the brain affects their mood, their personality, etc.

I am a huge hockey fan just like a good part of our country is, but it does get very violent and vulgar at times. Some players have grudges against others and target them like the video above. Hits to the head should be abolished and punished even more severely than we do now.