Left Flank Shooters

It's been a long time... a very long time

2011-05-03T11:57:00.008-04:00

Indeed, it's been a long time since I last posted here at the very first blog I created way back in 2003 (early days of the blogging phenom, btw). Since first creating a Blogger blog, I created a blog using bloki blogging platform (since gone kaput) and, of course, several blogs using the WordPress platform (some by using the free hosting and templates at www.worpress.com and others by downloading the WordPress program from www.wordpress.org and then developing various blogs my own hosted site(s)).

I also have gotten into console gaming after formerly being quite the snob about the superiority of computer gaming. Since purchasing a PlayStation 3 gaming console I've found myself becoming increasingly enthusiastic about the simplicity of console gaming (i.e. not needing to endlessly upgrade components in order to play the latest computer games, nor having to endlessly install updates to said games and their engines in order for them to run properly). There's a real pleasure and absence of anxiety in knowing one can pop the latest gaming dvd into one's console and knowing it will work perfectly from the get go.

As well, I've found many PS3 exclusive games which are excellent, the least of which being the Uncharted series (very much looking forward to the upcoming Uncharted 3 on 11/11/11).

One draw back (spoiler alert: no longer a draw back) with the PS3 initially was that my favourite gaming company, Valve, was not a fan of the PS3 system and for years had no interest in producing content for it. I'm very glad to find this has finally changed.

Although cynics may say this change in attitude toward the PS3 is simply a money-grab by Valve because it can sell its Steam game delivery system through the PlayStation Network, Valve itself is saying that it now believes it can create great games using the PS3 architecture after finally recruiting team members who are skillful with the PS3 platform.

Valve's change of heart (wise decision) has me heading the store soon to purchase a copy of Portal 2 for the PS3 (btw, when you buy the PS3 version you also get the PC version "free").

Anyhow, I've also been watching the new tv series The Killing - "Who Killed Rosie Larsen?" - on AMC. And thus, I get to the impulse to make this posting...

One of the stars of The Killing is Michelle Forbes (wiki pictures don't look like her), who plays Mitch Larsen, Rosie's mom. Michelle is the voice for Dr. Judith Mossman in Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, and Half-Life 2: Episode Two.

2009-12-05T19:05:00.002-05:00

Woopie... my avatar.

Source Engine vs. CryEngine 2 vs. Unreal Engine 3 graphics comparison

2007-05-28T03:11:00.000-04:00

N4G.com has a bunch of pictures that compare these top game engines.

Water in Source Engine is frigging incredible! But of course, you gotta have a real good video card to really get the full impact.

Actually the comparison pictures are at PC Games Germany (but so much for technicalities).

It's right here in my back pocket...

2007-05-24T09:30:00.000-04:00

Pulling out the ol' "here's your proof, right here in this intelligence report" justification, Bush plays the al_Qaeda boggyman again. Al Jazeera English - News - Bush: Iraq War Is War On Al-Qaeda Funny how we haven't heard much about al_Qaeda for ages. Do ya think it has anything to do with his war funding request? Really?

Bush wants nearly $100 bn to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on Thursday, before sending the bill to the senate for final passage of the measure that will bring total war spending to more than $500 bn since late 2001.

I just had to laugh at former President Carter's fighting words about Bush and his administration last week:

"I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," said Carter in an interview with The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette released Saturday. The Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2002 came down hard on the Iraq war, saying Bush had taken a "radical departure from all previous administration policies."

"We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered," he said.

Greatest Game of All-Time

2007-05-19T14:16:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Game Spot adding Half-Life to its list of the greatest games of all-time. That ranking hardly comes as a surprise. It is just another of the huge number of accolades bestowed upon this ever-popular first person shooter (at least 100 Game of the Year or Greatest Shooter of All-Time from the most respected gaming sites on the planet).

One of the amazing things about Half-Life is all the modification games it is has spawned (Mod Datatbase lists some 292 complete mod games - both single and multiplayer- created from Half-Life). Counter-Strike, the most popular online shooter, and Day of Defeat (see Sidebar), together comprise around 80% of all FPS players online! Both were essentially created by teenagers using software development tools that Valve, the company that developed Half-Life, originally released with the game. Subsequently, Valve actually hired the young developers and released the popular mod games as Valve products.

Planet-Halflife's list of HL mods

I still find it fun to give Half-Life a run through, once a year or so. But its online in its multiplayer games where the real action is. Day of Defeat being my favourite. And, btw, DOD has one a few accolades itself. Even way back in the day when it was independent, before its team got employed at Valve. Those were exciting times to be a DOD player. There was a deep symbiotic relationship between "the team" and "the community" with many community members creating further mod material for DOD itself - such as custom maps and custom models. And everyone shared in the celebrations of DOD's successes. The online parties over mIRC were amazing when a new release was about to be launched.

btw, it appears the Half-Life 2's Black Box release has bite the dust. There's just going to be an Orange Box release. Here's an early review of Half-Life 2 - Episode 2 which is the main game that will be in the box, along with the an updated version of the massively popular, innovative, grand-daddy of online multiplayer games, Team Fortress 2

Passively Online Multiplayer - life as a game!

2007-05-19T14:12:00.000-04:00

Yesterday as I surfed around for info on Bill Burroughs and I came upon a blog page about Justin Hall's visit to Lawrence, Kansas in 1996. If you're not familiar with Justin Hall he is one of bloggings most prominent personalities. Justin began blogging back in the earliest days of the World Wide Web, and his blot, links.net, was a hugely popular, highly intimate record of Justin's living adventures. I read his blog frequently, and had actually read his piece about Burrough's many years ago.

I had stopped reading links.net a few years back, round about when he moved to Japan, even though Justin continued blogging from there (of course!). After reading over his Burroughs' piece again, I decided to catch up, and clicked on the homepage link. Surprisingly, it didn't look like links.net whatsoever. It turned out Justin stopped regular blogging a couple years ago.

Justin is the dude on the left

So, what's he up to these days? Well, he'd always had a big interest in gaming. In fact, he'd worked for a year or two at Gamers.com and later he contributed to Game Girl Advance. Now, it seems, he has been developing a game himself (well, him and some of his cool, geeky pals). And not surprisingly, given Justin's hyper-interest in the web, the game he's invented has everything to do with the web. And again, given his populist soul, everyone can be a player.

The web and video games are merging. All of information space is a shared multiplayer adventure. I am working to make that merging happen faster by developing "Passively Multiplayer Online Games" where your history of web browsing defines your online character.

The game is called Passively Multiplayer Online Game (PMOG) and it's basic gameplay consists of its players web browsing. It's really just as simple as that, with a few tricks and treats thrown in for good measure. All that is required to play is a sense of adventure, and a simple little Firefox add-on. I signed up right away. After all, I've got a fairly heavy web surfing habit so this game is right down my alley.

You can read a whole lot more about Passively Multiplayer here at the game site. Read some of the larger theory documents about the game to really get a sense of where its creators are coming from. Of course, PMOG has its own Wiki.

V-Tech Rampage Creator Demands Payment to Remove Game

2007-05-17T20:26:00.000-04:00

GamePolitics.com » Blog Archive

In the history of video games, perhaps in the history of the Internet, this is something never seen before: an audience held hostage.

The jerk who created this game used the lamest excuse in the book - "it's my right to free speech".

His site seems to be suspended due to billing reasons. Possibly his monthly bandwidth was exceeded by curious people wanting to check out the game. If so, that's kind of a shame.

Crap like this should simply be boycotted.

Google To Track In-Game Behavior?

2007-05-17T09:10:00.000-04:00

Google and ???? watch every other aspect of online behaviour so it comes as no surprise that they finally as going to survey online gaming behaviour in a big way.

See article

Google believes that it will be able to track in-game behavior in order to determine crucial information about an individual's purchasing tendencies. The information gathered in this manner could then be sold to advertisers for a pretty penny, we imagine. The details of the patent state that Google will be able to monitor people playing on any game console that hooks up to the Internet, including the PS3, the Xbox 360, and the Wii.

I assume they just forgot to add "PC". Or maybe they're already listening in as your team goes to plan the bomb in Counter-Strike?

User Group video presentation of purpose...

2007-05-08T10:41:00.000-04:00

I like what this woman says, and I like how she says it...

Fascinating story about the early days of computer gaming...

2007-04-26T20:11:00.000-04:00

SpaceWar

In December 1972 Stewart Brant, one of the luminaries of the San Francisco hippie scene, watched as a bunch of computer geeks (or "bums" as he calls them, as in ski bums, or surf bums) enjoyed late night forays into computing centers to play a hack they'd created called SpaceWar. By that time this underground computer bum phenomenon had been played for nearly nine years by rebel computer programmers.

Reliably, at any nighttime moment (i.e. non-business hours) in North America hundreds of computer technicians are effectively out of their bodies, locked in life-or-Death space combat computer-projected onto cathode ray tube display screens, for hours at a time, ruining their eyes, numbing their fingers in frenzied mashing of control buttons, joyously slaying their friend and wasting their employers' valuable computer time. Something basic is going on...

October, 1972, 8 PM, at Stanford's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Laboratory, moonlit and remote in the foothills above Palo Alto, California. Two dozen of us are jammed in a semi-dark console room just off the main hall containing AI's PDP-10 computer. AI's Head System Programmer and most avid Spacewar nut, Ralph Gorin, faces a display screen which says only:

THIS CONSOLE AVAILABLE.
He logs in on the keyboard with his initials: Click clickclickclick click.
L1,REG
CSD FALL PICNIC. SATURDAY 11 AM IN FLOOD PARK . . .
He interrupts further announcements, including one about the "First Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics" at 8 PM, with: CLick ("run") clickclickclick ("Space War Ralph") click ("do it")

R SWR.

WELCOME TO SPACEWAR.
HOW MANY SHIPS? MAXIMUM IS 5.

The Generator Blog

2006-06-25T18:48:00.000-04:00

A brilliant collection of generator sites. Don't know what a generator is? Well, check it out, dummie!

The Generator Blog

Rightwing Narco's Family Paid $83 Million to the U.S. to Avoid Prosecution

2006-03-13T05:35:00.000-05:00

U.S. Government profits from drug trafficers paying to avoid prosecution. They were hoping to keep this cozy arrangement secret. Haha, no such luck this time. See full story in
The NarcoSphere

SUBLIMINAL CINEMA - Teen-Age Devil Dolls --

2006-02-19T13:07:00.000-05:00

Teen-Age Devil Dolls

1950's propaganda at its best (worst?). Interestingly, it states that youth hard drug addiction skyrocketted 2000% between 1948 and 1952. Why?

60 Minutes to Impact: eSports Hits Home

2006-01-26T00:28:00.000-05:00

// Amped eSports - 60 Minutes to Impact: eSports Hits Home

I've played against some younger kids who're pretty amazing. No doubt one day I'll be kicking myself in the butt that I didn't go the manager route and sign 'em up on exclusive contracts. Ah, the opportunities missed!

Going for broke with the coke

2006-01-18T20:54:00.000-05:00

Coke Researcher does personal particpation study, and becomes all-consumed in the process.

Article is from Monkey, a coalition of professionals, users and ex-users from the Greater Manchester area of the United Kingdom.

Octogenarian Gaming Goddess

2006-01-11T08:03:00.000-05:00

Well, I just had to laugh: Old Grandma Hardcore

Although on a serious note, I've been fantasizing for years about one day retiring to an old folks' home with an awesome LAN room. I won't let the kids put me in any home but one that has such a facility.

War on Drugs a Big Success

2005-12-23T01:53:00.000-05:00

Article by Michael S. Rozeff

For the State, for politicians, for government bureaucracies, and for many others, the War on Drugs is a big success, a program for other government programs to emulate.

For all these reasons, it is not hard to understand why in 2005, the U.S. continues its War on Drugs, even though it inflicts ever-rising harm on many U.S. citizens with no countervailing good to the public at large.

For all these reasons, it’s not hard to understand that when the authorities totally fail at the futile aim of preventing individuals from using selected molecules, when they inflict enormous damage on citizens of the United States, they are succeeding in the War on Drugs. They are accomplishing their aims.

The War on Drugs exemplifies the State strangling the society it governs. It is government of the State’s minions, by the State’s minions, and for the State’s minions. For them, the War on Drugs is a winner.

Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS paper on Injection Drug Users

2005-12-13T11:45:00.000-05:00

20051212UKIDU.pdf >News Release

“Governments that limit access to needle and syringe exchange, to opioid substitution therapies and related services do more as endangering the lives of injecting drug users, their sexual partners and children,” says Carmen Tarrades, development officer at ICW and former injecting drug user: “These governments are actively supporting the spread of HIV and AIDS. They make the HIV pandemic worse.”

Website

Human Rights and Prisoners who inject drugs

2005-12-13T10:56:00.000-05:00

Article

"The authors argue that prisoners who inject drugs have a right to access harm reduction measures - those that reduce the harmful consequences of drug use without necessarily reducing drug consumption. ... Ultimately, this approach benefits not only prisoners but also prison staff and the public, and does not entail lessening of the safety and security of prisons."

Gaming fanatics show hallmarks of drug addiction

2005-11-18T22:48:00.000-05:00

"... excessive computer game players showed classic signs of craving when they were presented with [game related imagery] from some of their favourite games – they desperately wanted to play, expected to feel better once they did, and fully intended to indulge again as soon as possible."

Would gamers stop if it gaming was outlawed?

Full article

Keeping the Door Open: Dialogues on Drug Use

2005-11-04T16:19:00.000-05:00

I recently had the opportunity to attend an excellent conference in Vancouver entitled Beyond Drug Prohibition: A Public Health Approach

A significant paper was released during the conference by the Health Officers Council of British Columbia which outlined a rationale for a comprehensive system of drug regulation to replace the current criminalization "war on drugs" approach.

You can access the paper, A Public Health Approach to Drug Control in Canada, here

Absurdities & Atrocities

2005-10-06T14:33:00.000-04:00

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities- Voltaire

Enjoyable Rant ... you've heard it all before, but it always bares repeating... read it like its poetry... it flows with a horrendous cadence.

The Strange and Seedy Case of Marc Emery, Canadian

2005-09-24T15:13:00.000-04:00

Article

From the Los Angeles City Beat:
“The whole business proposition was to raise money to start a revolutionary botanical movement to destroy the U.S. drug war and to stop this vicious gulaging that goes on with our people,” he says, adding, “So I was very good at what I do, ’cause the DEA noticed.”
- Marc Emery

How the Free Market Killed New Orleans

2005-09-05T20:43:00.000-04:00

How the Free Market Killed New Orleans by Michael Parenti

In New Orleans there would be none of the collectivistic regimented evacuation as occurred in Cuba. When an especially powerful hurricane hit that island in 2004, the Castro government, abetted by neighborhood citizen committees and local Communist party cadres, evacuated 1.5 million people, more than 10 percent of the country’s population. The Cubans lost 20,000 homes to that hurricane---but not a single life was lost, a heartening feat that went largely unmentioned in the U.S. press.

DOD Source ... as good as gold now.

2005-09-01T23:19:00.000-04:00

PickItUp announces he's finished his bug fixing.

Official thread

The war on whatever

2005-08-26T18:21:00.000-04:00

The war on whatever

Any ol' war will do, eh? Let's face it. Canada is a frontline state ... errrr, I mean a neighbouring state... and neighbours are supposed to do what the neighbourhood bully wants, or else?

We will never be allowed to go independent, not without a fight.

Juanes: Legalizing Drugs the Only Way Out for Colombia

2005-08-26T17:30:00.000-04:00

Juanes is the biggest male pop star in Columbia, if not all of Latin America. He calls for legalization in an interview for a Spanish newspaper.

see interview and report in NarcoSphere

US reaction to Venezuela kicking out DEA

2005-08-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

Here we go again. Uncle Sam says: We've only just begun!

US revokes Venezuelan military visas

"The measure came less than a week after left-winger Chavez ended anti-drug cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration after accusing its agents of spying, in the latest blow to relations between Washington and Caracas...

Following Chavez's announcement on the DEA, U.S. officials said his decision would influence next month's ruling in Washington [certification] on whether Venezuela had cooperated in the fight against illicit drugs."

More concise reporting from NarcoNews :

On the one hand, the “de-certification” threat is a pathetic one, as it appeals to the old logic that a country had to bend over backwards to win approval from the U.S. in order to maintain international legitimacy. Chávez has been one of the principal people to break that trance, and such a move won’t faze him or his supporters. But read between the lines and there is the further threat of violence that Chávez has so often denounced and U.S. officials so indignantly dismiss. The United States has only ever denied counter-narcotics certification to two Latin American countries. One is Colombia. The other is Panama, and that certification denial was quickly followed by a bloody U.S. invasion.

Pain and Chemical Dependency: Addiction & Pain

2005-08-17T08:45:00.000-04:00

Pain and Chemical Dependency: Addiction & Pain

This societal decision to regulate medical practice and criminalize the administration of opioid drugs in some contexts led to secondary phenomena, with effects of their own. Prescribers became increasingly concerned about the potential for investigation and sanction or prosecution. To some degree, this concern has contributed to the underuse of opioid drugs. Equally important, the criminalization of opioid addiction fostered an illicit drug trade that, in turn, brought new problems, including the involvement of organized crime and violent gangs in drug trafficking. Over time, all these problems--the undertreatment of pain, the occurrence of opioid abuse and addiction, and the criminal activities surrounding opioid trafficking--have increasingly undermined the public health. Clearly, pursuant to pain management and opioid analgesia, there is a pressing need for rational and consistant policies, initial and continuing education of healthcare professionals, and application of sound principles of assessment, prescribing, and management.

Bottom line...

2005-08-06T10:35:00.000-04:00

Rigorous Intuition

2005-07-27T12:52:00.000-04:00

If you don't find something that catches your attention at Rigorous Intuition then what the hell are you doing reading here?

Step in right direction... get drug offenders out of jails and prisons

2004-04-16T15:57:00.000-04:00

Historic Drug Treatment Bill Waits for Gov's Signature in Maryland

Everyone has a stake in ending the war on drugs. Whether you’re a parent concerned about protecting children from drug-related harm, a social justice advocate worried about racially disproportionate incarceration rates, an environmentalist seeking to protect the Amazon rainforest or a fiscally conservative taxpayer you have a stake in ending the drug war. U.S. federal, state and local governments have spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to make America “drug-free.” Yet heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illicit drugs are cheaper, purer and easier to get than ever before. Nearly half a million people are behind bars on drug charges - more than all of western Europe (with a bigger population) incarcerates for all offenses. The war on drugs has become a war on families, a war on public health and a war on our constitutional rights.

Many of the problems the drug war purports to resolve are in fact caused by the drug war itself. So-called “drug-related” crime is a direct result of drug prohibition's distortion of immutable laws of supply and demand. Public health problems like HIV and Hepatitis C are all exacerbated by zero tolerance laws that restrict access to clean needles. The drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse.

Safety First: reality-based approach to drug education

2004-04-08T16:08:00.000-04:00

It's been said before, "the truth will set you free". That is the orientation behind honest drug education programs such as Safety First

As opposed to the same old shit that leaves the kids up the creek without a paddle of preventative education:
Just Say No Again: the old failures of new and improved anti-drug education

Army Massively Multiplayer Project Interview ...

2004-02-23T19:26:00.000-05:00

HomeLan Fed : Exclusives : Army Massively Multiplayer Project Interview : with Robert Gehorsam
As I noted, we are not designing a game so much as a large-scale, flexible and powerful environment that can be used for training and mission-rehearsal across a range of objectives. So unfortunately, it's probably a bit early to talk in detail about the gameplay. But simply put, the project will enable a commander of a unit to say, "Hey, my unit needs to train for its upcoming peacekeeping duties in Kumar." He works with a trainer to develop a specific environment and scenario (or better yet, modify an existing one out of a repository), figures out who is going to play the bad guys, the civilians and the "others" -- like the Red Cross, the UN, etc. -- and then prep his unit for the exercise. These exercises could last anywhere from a couple of days to months for all we're concerned, that's the beauty of an MMP, of course. And so at a certain time, the participants would start to show up. Bad guys would be given their assignments, good guys theirs, etc. and off they'd go. People play themselves, on the ground, interacting with their team, other units, civilians, the enemy, etc. It's not all combat by any means, there will be a lot of intelligence, patrolling, planning, collaboration, negotiation with civilians, etc. In many ways, MMPs do all of these things today, but each MMP today is highly specified for its particular entertainment and social goals. That's absolutely the right thing to do for a commercial product, but because There was always conceived of as a virtual world platform, it enables us to be more adaptive and general purpose. I expect there will be several dozen different styles of gameplay when this is up and running.

Gamers truth serum...

2004-02-14T16:18:00.000-05:00

Amytal - A Total Information Awareness Project

Videogame Theory - it's an academic question

2004-02-14T15:53:00.000-05:00

Ludology.org - Videogame Theory
According to the Entertainment Software Association, 50 percent of Americans over the age of six play computer games, and the industry had $11.4 billion in sales in 2003, more than the film industry. Last year, 63 percent of U.S. parents said they planned to buy a video game.

So why shouldn't it merit serious academic attention?

Academics turn to video games

US engages in opium opportunism?

2004-02-14T08:44:00.000-05:00

Nato happy to ignore explosion in Afghan opium output, says Russia
Another bumper crop is Afghanistan, warlords entrenched, and no election this summer - hey, that's business as usual.

Free junk for junkies - a fix or folly?

2004-02-06T15:40:00.000-05:00

Edmonton Journal - Story - canada.com network
Very informative article which appeared in several papers across Canada on January 25/04. The article describes serveral heroin maintenance programs worldwide, and how Canada is embarking on a pilot project of heroin maintenance in three cities. As well, a overview of the laws against opiates and the impact since late 19th century.

With maintenance being re-discovered in country after country, hardliners in the UN and the White House are doing their best to discredit the idea.

John Walters, the U.S. drug czar, attacked the British system in the Wall Street Journal last year.

"When British physicians were allowed to prescribe heroin to certain addicts, the number skyrocketed," Walters wrote. "From 68 British addicts in the program in 1960, the problem exploded to an estimated 20,000 heroin users in London alone by 1982."

This is deeply deceptive, says Fazey. Not only had the British system been in place for decades before 1960 without any increase in addiction, it was effectively dead "by about 1972."

Exploring options for ending prohibition - eight legal variants

2004-01-22T10:30:00.000-05:00

Illicit IV Drugs: A Public Health Approach
As the debate on harm reduction and drug policy reform intensifies, our understanding of these eight policy options and their health, social and criminal consequences needs to be expanded and developed. The process of examination of these eight legal options for all currently illegal drugs will produce significant benefits for society, drug users and drug abusers. The desired end result is an evolution of our illegal drug laws and policies... society will not manage its “drug problem” effectively until we reach a place where addiction is viewed first and foremost through the lens of public health, and addicts and drug users are treated with dignity and respect.

WWII Aerial Photo Archive to Go Online

2004-01-18T17:10:00.000-05:00

Yahoo! News article
Ah, how primative was the technology of war in the mid'20th century? Get out your magnifying glass, and figure out what we should bomb Winston.

Heroin Assisted Treatment in Switzerland

2004-01-15T16:38:00.000-05:00

Starting in 1994 Switzerland began trials for heroin maintenance. One of the doctors involved talks with Vancouver's Four Pillars Newsletter: A Chat with Dr. Christophe Burki

Vancouver's safer injection site is doing well after four months. Over 2000 clients registered, and upwards of 500 people using it daily. (synopsis0

Drug Enforcement and Crime - myths and realities from NY

2004-01-14T14:01:00.000-05:00

Drug Enforcement and Crime

However, there are also several reasons why enforcement of drug laws can lead to increased crime, including:

1) Distribution networks that are established within illegal drug markets are disrupted, leading to increases in disputes over market share and informal contractual arrangements within the illegal drug markets. This may lead to more violence, a favored dispute resolution mechanism in illegal markets (Miron 1998).

2) Disruptions in the market may also lead drug sellers to switch to other forms of economic crime that are considered substitutes, such as robbery and burglary, to obtain income when supplies are disrupted (Kuziemko and Levitt, 2001).

3) Drug users with dependencies or addictions and those who use illegal drugs to treat (diagnosed or undiagnosed) medical conditions may resort to crime as a result of pharmacological effects from physical or psychological withdrawal, or from behavioral changes resulting from ending self-treatment.

4) Intensified enforcement may drive up prices and profits for remaining suppliers, providing more incentive for potential suppliers to engage in crime or violence to obtain a share of the market and leading to more economic crime by users who need to obtain income to support a habit.[26]

5) Resources spent on drug enforcement cannot be used for investigating and making arrests for other types of crime. As a result, enforcement effectiveness for other crimes may be reduced (Rasmussen and Benson, 1994).

6) The incarceration of drug users and sellers takes up scarce prison cells. With prisons at full capacity, an increase in prisoners for drug offenses reduces imprisonment for other crimes, or results in early release of other criminals, prison overcrowding, or new prison construction. There is a cost to society because other crimes can be expected to increase due to lower rates of incarceration and because the resources used to expand prison capacity could have been used for other purposes (Kuziemko and Levitt, 2001).

Brick by brick good analysis such as this will surely dismantle the cruddy edifice of prohibitionist lunacy

Say Goodbye To 'Just Say No'

2003-10-17T10:33:00.000-04:00

An article by President of the Canadian Bar Association reprinted at Media Awareness Project

creative original images to fight the powers....

2003-10-17T10:30:00.000-04:00

very cool stuff at beehive collective

I can't believe I'm paying attention to all this...

2003-10-14T18:48:00.000-04:00

This is almost old news now...

Over the past month, there was a security breach of the company producing the most highly anticipated computer game ever. The source code for the new game was copied, and a playable hacked version of the game released through file-sharing programs over the past few weeks.

One gaming company rep says:

"Whoever did this is an enemy not only of game developers, but of gamers. I can understand anti-globalization protestors picketing the G8. I can understand AIDS activists shutting down the Golden Gate Bridge. I can even understand people who pirate shipped games. But I can only imagine the person who did this was a gamer. To him I say, 'Congratulations: Thanks to you, developers are going to spend more time worrying about security and less time making fun games. Nice going, loser.'"

What's Next for Half-Life 2?

CIA pursues video game...

2003-10-13T16:28:00.000-04:00

Aparently the CIA wants to teach its agents to "think outside the box" with a video game designed to better understand terrorists - reports an article at the The Washington Times: Nation/Politics

Games meet political cartoons...

2003-10-13T16:14:00.000-04:00

Ludology.org - Videogame Theory Thoughtful, insightful... and check out the Game called September 12 which deals with certain aspects of the War on Terror.

A Drug War Carol

2003-10-12T18:04:00.000-04:00

A Drug War Carol With apologies to Charles Dickens... hehe... yet I imagine ol'Charles would be well on-board with harm reduction were he alive today.

The Poppy Primer

2003-10-10T13:42:00.000-04:00

Grow your own. It sure beats supporting narco-profitteers. The Poppy Primer

Hero or Big Fat Idiot, Rush Limbaugh Should Not Face Prison

2003-10-08T18:03:00.000-04:00

Another well-argued position about Rush's case... that no one should be a victim of the War on Drugs...
from AlterNet

In Defense Of Rush's Right To Drugs...

2003-10-08T16:59:00.000-04:00

I oppose the prosecution of Rush Limbaugh, his former housekeeper Wilma Kline or anybody else, for the delivery or purchase or possession of narcotics. Call Limbaugh a hypocrite if you want but don't call for his prosecution, or use the racially divisive term of "drug addict" when referring to Limbaugh, if you are serious about the fragile state of liberty in this country. Infoshop News

Gotta luv ur local anarchistic thinking!!!

Antipsychiatry links to check out... More power to ya Rick

The War on Terrorism is Bogus...

2003-10-07T16:30:00.000-04:00

That is quite a thing to say, eh? A provacative statement which is the title of an article appearing last month in The Guardian in England, and reprinted by the Canadian Action Party
The War on Terrorism is Bogus does indeed make some strong points which make more evident sense with every passing day. Think about it...

Gimme some H... Y... P... O... C... R... I... S... Y... !!!

2003-10-07T16:21:00.000-04:00

Rush Limbaugh In The Shadow Of His Own Words at Newsday.com

a klog apart

2003-10-07T16:15:00.000-04:00

a klog apart I enjoy the ecclectisism... you might too.

Southcom Commander Warns of Narco-terrorist Threat in Latin America

2003-10-01T12:08:00.000-04:00

Southcom Commander Warns of Narco-terrorist Threat in Latin America This is the sort of crap that can become irrelevant if the cystem wasn't so interested in maintaining a War on Drugs. Note the sentence - "Contrary to popular myth, Latin America is the least militarized region of the world, accounting for only 4 percent of the world's defense spending" - it is almost a lament. No doubt U.S. government/corporate arms dealers will have no small hand in increasing the militarization of the region in the decades ahead. Afterall, isn't selling arms much of what it's all about????

The Information Warfare Site

2003-09-30T18:09:00.000-04:00

IWS - The Information Warfare Site
If you're interested in this sort of information, you'll find lots to delve into.

The latest works...

2003-09-27T20:24:00.000-04:00

The latest works
Eye candy or eye strain for the eyes of the beholder.

Get on the bus...

2003-09-26T17:20:00.000-04:00

KWRU: Drug War Reality Tour
Kensington, PA is one of the nation's poorest and most neglected neighborhoods. Once a thriving industrial hub for the textile sector, during the late 1970's Kensington was hit by a wave of de-industrialization which saw American jobs lost to the growing pool of sweatshop labor in Mexico and South East Asia. Today, Kensington's two major sources of income are welfare and narcotics. As one of the biggest heroin distribution centers in the country, it is not uncommon to find addicts of all ages, crouched in broad daylight, shooting dope with purities ranging from 80 - 90%.

A Clean, Well-Lit Place to Shoot Dope

2003-09-21T14:55:00.000-04:00

Western Hemisphere's First Government-Approved Safe Injection Site Opens in Vancouver

Comprehensive article from Stop the Drug War

Canadian models for Day of Defeat ...

2003-09-21T14:37:00.000-04:00

wunderboy.org... the power to kill a yak from 200yds away with mind bullets

A little online fun and games has been a neat diversion during "my recovery". Omg, it's another addiction.

Donate please!

2003-09-20T12:45:00.000-04:00

DrugSense: An Exceptional Occassional to Help Us Help You. Absolutely - this is one cause that definitely helps us all.

Aside: being reasonably impoverished, I tend to run out of money by the last week of every month. Nevertheless, I sent a cheque. Although I tried to time it so the cheque would be cashed when I was flush, I guess I didn't time it right. Unfortunately I received an Insufficient Funds charge at my bank, costing an extra $20... but what the heck, I still consider it money well spent... lol.

Every wonder where CRACK came from?

2003-09-20T12:30:00.000-04:00

How come crack appeared suddenly? Was it because of a Dark Alliance?

Ah... if only everyone could get a kiss!

2003-09-20T12:15:00.000-04:00

Winners in the War on Drugs Well, maybe not winners... but definitely not losers. As is said, it's not what you do, but who you know.

A kiss is when you get leniency from the courts. Sweet!!!!

Economic analysis of Drug War

2003-09-16T14:16:00.000-04:00

An article at Business Standard analyses how the prohibition of drugs creates an immense incentive for illegal prodution.

With regard to the concern that ending the War on Drugs would open the floodgates for drug related domestic crime, Deepak Lal keenly observes:

The great societal fear is that this increase in addicts would fuel crime. But, as Miron and Zweibel show from the US evidence, drug related crime is not committed by those under the influence of drugs but rather to finance their drug habit.

Thanks to Last One Speaks blog for posting this excellent article.

2003-09-16T11:45:00.000-04:00

Vancouver opens first safer injection site...

2003-09-16T11:32:00.000-04:00

Yeah Vancouver! This is a fantastic accomplishment.

Research about use of site - raising concerns that protocols insisted upon by Health Canada may detrimentally reduced the number of users who feel safe to access the site.

Vancouver also had N.America's first big needle exchange - but in retrospect, it had some protocols which were regressive. Because of its one-for-one exhange policy, and registration of clients, many more people were infected with HIV or HepC than might otherwise have.

Hopefully, similar restrictions will not negatively impact the accessibility to the site.

Wasted Days and Wasted Nights...

2003-09-15T06:53:00.000-04:00

CNN.com Specials

Radio Against the Drug War

2003-09-15T06:13:00.000-04:00

A bunch of rants against the drug war available from Cultural Baggage

Got your Controlled Substances Permint?

2003-09-11T21:10:00.000-04:00

One alternative vision

Now that's a good bunch of ideas... indeedeeeoh!

Cyber-gamers reaching critical mass...

2003-09-11T20:31:00.000-04:00

BBC NEWS | Technology | Is this Britain's best chance of gold this year? One gaming centre for every 1000 people in Seoul. Wow!!! that's incredible.
p.s. Leeanne rocks!

Accountability

2003-09-04T21:10:00.000-04:00

Slashdot | Reducing Pesky Fan Noise?

Sad, but true, true, true, true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Patience is part of the game...

2003-09-04T19:33:00.000-04:00

Hypnotic beauty of Amanita Design

Selling sterilization to addicts

2003-09-03T09:41:00.000-04:00

Project Prevention Bribing addicts to have "long-term birth control ".

"long-term birth control"... Now that's a hum-dinger of a clever ephemism for permanent sterilization, isn't it? No surpise it's being used by a clever genocidal eugenist, Ms. Barbara Harris.

Ms Harris, who was quoted in one of her first interviews as saying "[b]We don't allow dogs to breed.[/b] We spay them. We neuter them. We try to keep them from having unwanted puppies, and yet these women are literally having litters of children," has since toned down her language.

Her project was initially referred to simply as Crack (Children Requiring A Caring Community). Now it frequently uses the warmer term Project Prevention. But the essence of her project remains the same. It offers drug addicts and alcoholics a sum of $200 for opting for a long-term form of birth control, such as sterilisation or a contraceptive implant.

Something tells me Ms. Harris hasn't had any change in where she's coming from. Why not assist drug addicted mother's financially if they choose abortion? Why only for preganacy control or "long-term birth control"?

To its critics, Project Prevention or Crack - an American organisation which pays drug addicts and alcoholics to be sterilised - is a terrifying throwback to the neutering of "defectives" during the 20th Century. But the woman [Ms. Harris] who runs this not-for-profit programme believes she is offering a service to everyone: the drug addict, the taxpayer, the child who has not yet been born, and if she has her way - will never be born.
The project targets poor women - and you tell me what sort of choice it is when it's made by someone living in poverty and desperate for money.
- Wyndi Anderson, National Advocates for Pregnant Women

Astonishing defensiveness...

2003-09-02T01:04:00.000-04:00

I find it profoundly disturbing how "patriotic" Americans are so quick to condemn and accuse angrily those who expess opinions which are considered "foreign". There is an absoluteness to their dismissals of those with whom they formerly regarded with well, if confronted with an opinion they consider anti-American. Why so defensive? The government never was so beyond reproach previously.

This American defensiveness and anger was evident again because the case of Faith Fippinger was brought up. Faith is the 62 year old, retired school teacher, who had the adacity to go to Iraq last winter to act as a human shield. And now "the U.S. government is going after Fippinger with a vengeance, saying she owes at least $10,000 in fines for violating U.S. sanctions that prohibit "virtually all direct or indirect commercial, financial or trade transactions with Iraq" and threatening imprisonment.

It's almost as if merely having the opinion that the government is being a tad heavy-handed puts you in bed with with the likes of bin Laden and Sadaam.

2003-09-02T00:25:00.000-04:00

You like to keep a balanced perspective... don't you?

For the reading pleasure of those who only understand English: Aljazeera.Net - Home Page

2003-09-01T10:01:00.000-04:00

Can you change your mind?
It appears a former anti-drug warrior has. As have many police, judges, prosecutors. Like a Seattle attorney noted: ""The news story is not that the war on drugs has failed. It's who's saying it now."
Read more in Reason Journal article
Altered Minds

2003-08-29T14:36:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Canada - once again for concientious American freedom fighters?
The deGaulle Project
Today in the United States, massive, so-called "legal" violations of civil liberties and constitutional rights have caused many loyal Americans to question whether staying in their country under the current regime is a wise idea.

Americans who love their country, and who see the frightening creep of George W. Bush and John Ashcroft's totalitarianism, should disregard the "love it or leave it" rhetoric and think long and hard whether you should stay in an unstable political environment, or retreat to a safe area and regroup for the liberation fight.

2003-08-26T14:37:00.000-04:00

Foreign Policy: Addicted to Failure
The United States' leading critic of prohibitionist drug policies,
Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, has published an explosive proposal in the summer 2003 issue Foreign Policy magazine.

"Rather than continuing to wait for a regional partnership that exists in communiqué form only, Latin America must begin to act in its own best interest," writes Nadelmann. "It can start by disentangling itself from the unwinnable war on drugs."

Excellent source of information from Latin America is The Narco News

Part I of a series of article on "Reform and Democracy from Above and Below" in Argentina

Visit the Coca Museum This site "spotlights an incredible war:....
humans against a plant..!!!!!"

2003-08-22T13:08:00.000-04:00

Stalemate in the Drug War George Shultz, former US Secretary of State, has "warned that the global war on drugs is now causing more harm than drug abuse itself."

Now that Arnold has George in his corner for the gubenatorial fight in California, it is a great opportunity to pin him down on policy regarding the war-on-drugs.

If Shultz could be encouraged/put on the spot to give an anti-war-on-drugs statement at this time, it could potentially get large coverage. Here's hoping California harm reductionists flood Arnold/George at press conferences, etc. and bring some sanity to an otherwise silly spectacle.

2003-08-21T00:56:00.000-04:00

Drug WarRant
There's a war going on. It destroys lives and families, spawns violence, suspends civil liberties, tramples on the infirm, locks up millions of peaceful citizens, costs billions, and subjugates reason with fear. This blog looks at the front lines of the drug war, with news, analysis, and the occasional rant.

Another excellent blog eloquently speaking out against the inhumane War Against Some Drugs is Last One Speaks

Sudents for a Sane Drug Policy Good trend which I hope we see more of is students organizing against the absurdities of the current drug policies. Definitely some Canadian contribution, but certainly a real need to get harm reduction onto the university agenda in Canada.

2003-08-18T19:55:00.000-04:00

stripcreator I like this site. I really like Exploding Dog - ah, lovely - such emotion in MSpaint.

2003-08-04T17:30:00.000-04:00

The Canadian Harm Reduction Network Want to find the low down on the new pot possession laws in Canada? Or North America's first safe injection site for hard drug users? This is the place to go.
The war on drug users rages still... but freedom and justice will one day prevail. Survive through these dark days...

Mr

2003-08-04T16:37:00.000-04:00

Read a funny quote today:

"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as
kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills
and listening to repetitive electronic music." - Kristian Wilson,
Nintendo, Inc, 1989

Come to think of it, I did play a few games of Pac-Man while hanging out in malls casing Brink's Trucks while conspiring to pull off a big score. But I preferred Galaga.

I'm finding the elitism evident in Day of Defeat servers of late completely boring, and demoralizing. There's nothing that turns off my interest in playing than being in a server full of jerks who brag about winning, and get off on laughing about each and every kill. To qualtify some evidence of community deterioration, I kept an informal record of the number of "gg" written at map changes, and it is abismally low. Roughly 25% bother writing "gg" any more. Ah... the good old days, when people actually enjoyed playing for playing's sake.

There's something to be said for the newness of a game. I've had a few fun times playing Underworld:Bloodlines. Designed as a movie promo, it is a complete mod for the HL engine. It's free, it's quite simple, and it is well-set for teamplay if the objective is to be accomplished. I kind of gag at the thought of even virtually locking a free creature into a jail cell, but if you're able to find any teammates who've also read the manual, then they too will know that's the objective. Hint: find the Hybrid and return 'em to your spawn's jail cell. Hybrids hang out in Bars and Resturants. And... Toot, toot!!!! watch out you don't get squashed over by the train... LOL. Unless you want to be called nOOb! by all and assundry.

In case you've been mezmerized by patriotic drivel, back in the real world: SOLDIERS DIE FOR REAL!!!
Neat flash video called Army of One (fantastic Cranberries tune accompanies) It is bizarre how media were embedded with the troops, and this Iraq War is called the most media covered ever, and yet the amount of blood that's appeared on the tube is less than in Saturday morning cartoons. With all that coverage, the dead are still just lifeless statistics. So much for reality television... er, not.

Mr

2003-07-06T10:56:00.000-04:00

[OwP]Forums -> What's So Bad About Hate?
Laws evolve to a great extent as a reflection of society's and their changing attitudes. OwP and FF (Forum Fighters) have combined their Forums into a gaming discussion board where you're certain of finding some well-developed threads. I've decided to lurk a bit, as I'm finding the old saying, "the older you get, the less you know for certain" is quite applicable to me of late. How odd to not have a strong opinion. Or maybe it's just the drugs have got me into a state of perpetual confusion... lol.

Machinima is the future on game-based movie making? Lots of excellent downloads and tutorials are at this main site for quality movie makers. Good stuff on using Half Life engine for machinima.

No question but that machinima-style movies make possible far greater creative endeavours than have been generally released by DOD players thus far. That's a good thing. A very good thing. I'm looking forward to seeing the potential of machinima realized by some of the creative geniuses who are part of DOD's community.

A couple of ground-breaking DOD movie sites are Chaos Films and DOD Studios. And if you really get blown away and become a uber-fan, you can't be seen without a little fashionable apparel ... hehe ... it might help you get uncompressed.

So far DOD "movies" (quote/unquote intentional), with a couple excellent exception, have been almost entirely frag-style. And if you've seen one ego-trip fragging movie, you've pretty much seen 'em all, imho. Calling them movies is a bit of a stretch, really! Without any plot, most offerings are endlessly repetative and boring.

However, illustrating frags and gameplay ain't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, if done right such offerings can give players much to learn from. As a matter of fact, I've found very effective illustrations of good skills can be gleaned from in-game demos. With simple cutting and pasting/editing from in-game demos, tutorials illustrating game skills could be an excellent learning tools... well-edited demo material of "how to use KAR" or "sniper skills and spots", etc. Or, "movement and timing on Donner" or other tactics. Those sorts of demo-based tutorials would be useful.

In other words, fraggers would do well to leave the movies field to the real movie makers, and stop trying to present their frag-crap as movies. They ain't movies, but so what? But as tutorials, if that was the concious purpose of 'em, with some thought put into their presentation, no doubt they could definitely help elevate many newbie's games.

2003-06-28T19:35:00.000-04:00

There is a great little piece of history at DoDNetwork :: Day Of Defeat Resource Center about the Hitler Assassination Attempt of Nov.8/39. An excellent book regarding the most famous attempt is called Secret Germany. But this individual effort deserves full credit. May there always be individuals whose bravery and compassionate takes down tyrants and evil men of power.

2003-06-27T17:17:00.000-04:00

I thought yesterday was a significant date for me. Today I recall why. It was 19 years ago yesterday I was sentenced to 22 years. Whew! how time flies...

I got into gaming about two years ago by accident. I was strolling home one day and by fluke decided to look around a pawn shop. It was probably just an excuse to get out of the sun for a rest. Anyhow... the pawn shop had two computer games. One was in a bright florescent orange box and looked kind of cool. It was Half-Life Game of the Year edition for $20. I didn't know a thing about computer games, but I figured I'd give it a try. The pawn broker encouraged me when he said he'd knock off the tax (which is a saving of $3 on $20 - we pay 8% federal and 7% provincial tax on items in Ontario).

I was totally amazed by the game. Like most first timers, it took forever to figure out how to get Gordon into his suit, but once I accomplished that feat and got into playing the game for real, I was hooked. I couldn't believe how incredibly intense it felt. The fear the first time a headcrab jumped out at me... lol ... I can still recall the shock!

The Rolling Stones and others are doing a benefit in Toronto on July 30 to demonstrate that the city is safe after the SARS scare. Tickets are going for $28 bucks today because record shops are tacking on a service fee. I could wait until July 4th and try my luck at getting some of the 150,000 being sold through A&P Supermarkets for just $21 bucks. But I'm thinking three in the hand today is worth the extra expense of taking my chances on getting some cheaper ones come the 4th. The concert is expected to have upwards of half a million in the audience and for a rocker who was too young for Woodstock, hell, I think I wanna catch this event. With corporate sponsorship, and full government support, it is going to be so new millenium.

2003-06-26T19:11:00.000-04:00

Searching for allies...
I wonder if I can find any recruits for this blog? It will be a dangerous mission looking for lefties among a first-person shooter gaming community, but...

The exception proves the rule?

What's that mean? I don't know? I wonder if I can link to graphics?

2003-06-26T18:46:00.000-04:00

Dying... or a holding pattern?

What's happening with DOD? Maybe people are taking a wait and see... waiting for v.1.1 patch to see if it helps.

Maybe they figure anything on the old Half-Life engine is beating a dead horse?

Speaking of Half-Life 2... Half-Life2Mods.com-THE DEFINITE SOURCE FOR HL2 MODS