The Battle with Time

So there we were, on that field of battle... Bodies strewn across both sides, the moans and screams of the unlucky heard in the darkening light of the evening as we looked over the scene of such triumph and such trajedy. 

"We do this every year King Arthur. It's never going to be 'easy' again." said Miles. Not pleading, not questioning, just a declaration of fact, as he put his arm around Ekaterin. It was a statement without energy, as if it had escaped with a long sigh. 

"You're absolutely right. The forces of Time never stop, they can only be held at bay. The battle will continue for all eternity." I said.

As with all young men, the struggle had seemed like fun at first. "Time never wins!" we would tell ourselves. "Their forces are weaklings! Let's have some fun and test our mettle against them!" We were so naive back then. It seemed so easy to come to the field every year, put on our armor, all shiny and bright, and show our comrades, our family, ourselves, just how invulnerable we were. Just how strong we were. Just how smart we were.

And it WAS fun. Don't let anyone tell you anything different. We would do crazy stunts! We would charge the enemies of Time single handed! We would fight them blindfolded! We would bet each other on the outcomes. Who would slay the most, who would do it in the most interesting or challenging way. We were so... young?

Vlad and his Jhereg, teleporting in and out, behind enemy troops. Honor and her treecat, hair and blade, tooth and claw, a blur. To this day I still can't believe some of the things we did on those fields of battle. Glorious, crazy, stupid, exhilirating, fun.

But the Forces of Time have a limitless army with which to fight. Tireless, innumerable, relentless.

Those heady days aren't over completely, of course. There are still those of us who will get up the nerve to do something nutty for posterity, or pride, or just to rally the troops. You still see one of the Goonies grab a Bottle Rocket and shoot it from their hand at the enemy with no thought of the possible consequences. Ugh, the baseball bat and the stick of dynamite! And the camaraderie is always there, Ghimly, Neo, Ripley and the rest. Batman is looking haggard as ever, still bringing his A-game every time we meet. Spiderman hasn't been his old self, but he really did distinguish himself this year. 

And the lost ones. The ones that time has taken away. We musn't forget them. But that's exactly what time does... It takes their memories, the joy they brought, the excitement they gave. Oh Han, Luke, Yoda... You were giants amongst men in the early days. Before I really knew what this fight was about, what time could do to the forces of the Golden Morning. You not only brought your A-game, but you raised everyone else's game. You're with us now, but mostly in spirit. Thank you... Out of the corner of the eye, a glimpse might still be seen during a quiet moment in the battle, a shudder might be felt from those old days. M.A.S.K, G.I. Joe, Optimus, Mr. Gygax. Your presence will always be felt. Your influence on these younger soldiers is omnipresent.

These newer fighters... though they came less often as the years went by, we didn't see a problem. We had been given a trump card!

Years back, NIKITA, a fighter that would overmatch any and all of comers fought with and for us, and her skills were legendary. It felt like the old days. There were laughs, there were stunts, there was time to goof off, time to crack jokes, time to heal wounds. It was as if Time had not only been vanquished each go-round, but it felt as if Time had actually been driven back many years, and it's recent effects had been undone. I truly felt like a King again! The battle was something to look forward to. With the Sword of Kas in my left hand, and Excalibur in my right the air shimmered. Oh, they would sing through the air, they would dance in my hands. It was as if I was merely watching myself vanquish the forces of time. It was easy, it was liberating, my heart flew!

This battle was different. Sacrifices were made. This patch you see on my face? I don't think anybody understands. The forces of time cannot win, it is simply not an option. I had to find the Eye of Vecna and "meld" with it. Oh, the pain. Can you see me taking my own eye out and doing that? Nobody could. Nobody. Such a painful ritual. It had to be done. 

"But you have the Sword of Kas!" said Mario. 

"And you've got Excalibur, the greatest sword in the land," said Joe, with that little cigar sticking out of the corner of his mouth, "You didn't have to do that!"

"Why did you do it?" asked Indy. "We've been winning easily for all these years! It makes no sense!"

They didn't know... Heck at the time I didn't know for sure, it was just a gut feeling. 

NIKITA was gone.

It felt like it should have, but the fight didn't end. We couldn't let Time win. So once again into the breech we went, and once again, Time's forces have been driven back. Yet it is not the same... As I gaze into the fallen Battle Standards of the Cupcake Horde that nearly broke our lines, their red plastic stems lying quietly in the mud, I think about the future, about the past, and about the next battle, and the next. Hit-Girl brought two of them back with us from the battle... So young... 

The battle... it's not so glorious anymore, but it certainly must be fought, every year. For the future is always uncertain. Maybe Luke will return to his former glory. Maybe the Cylons are NOT all evil robots. Maybe a new hero will arise and we'll all forget the fallow seasons. Maybe NIKITA will come back... 

Time simply cannot win... It's not an option.

Isn't this what Journo-School supposedly tells us?

So, the NYT Ombudsman asks

I’m looking for reader input on whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge “facts” that are asserted by newsmakers they write about.

[...]

Another example: on the campaign trail, Mitt Romney often says President Obama has made speeches “apologizing for America,” a phrase to which Paul Krugman objected in a December 23 column arguing that politics has advanced to the “post-truth” stage.

     Huh....  So you're wondering if the Grey Lady should question whether or not something a "newsmaker" asserts?  As in...  Fact Checking?  There's a debate on this?  Seriously?  I mean if Barack Obama would declare that the sky was red, I'm pretty confident that the NYT reporter that was writing the story would "fact check" that.

Today Barack Obama in a speech in UpperWestern Jalopistan made reference to the fact that the he needed the help from labor unions to make the sky blue again, which President Obama erroneously claimed was the "color of blood", despite the fact that this reporter could plainly see it was actually a deep blue with puffy white clouds.

     I mean, come on...  This just sounds so tone-deaf, it's ridiculous.  Now, to make a brave attempt at mindreading, I suppose we can guess that Mr. Brisbane is arguing that the NYT should simply "report what they are told" by the "newsmakers".  So a newspaper should simply be a deliverer of data from Point A(the newsmaker's mouth/PR) to Point B(my eyeballs)?

     My god, it's called the 21st century!?!  We have 9 quintillion different places we can get "data delivered" on the internet today.  Twitter, Faceboo, Google+, email, blogs, aggregators, AP, Tumblr, etc.  What we need is interpretation, distillation, and yes, FACT CHECKING for gods sakes.  The whole idea is that we (the public) don't have the resources, time, money, knowledge, etc to delve into each and every single sentence and utterance you get from a "newsmaker".  We want to PAY SOMEONE or at least VIEW THE ADS OF SOMEONE who has the ability, time, resources, interest, knowledge, etc to do that for us.  That's the reason we might choose to pay for your paywall!  We're not going to pay for something we get 10000 other places?  We're going to pay for "unique" or "better" content.  The NYT and many other "premium/national" newspapers are able to do that "better" content, and they make money because of it.  

     To hear this guy innocently ask "hey, you know I have this question, this friend of mine...  suppose he went to this place, you know, and he um, well he did this stuff..."  In my opinion it's insulting.  To seriously ask if the readers of the NYT would want the content they're presented with to be fact checked, and overt lies either pointed out or at least questioned is just... I don't even know the word...  Infuriating?  Embarassing?  Face-slappingly obvious?  

Apple's Foreign Cash Hoard - Seeking Alpha

Increasingly, Apple's cash lies overseas out of easy reach, a trend that will pose a considerable challenge for the company in instituting a significant dividend, buyback, or U.S. acquisition. For the foreseeable future, Apple's foreign wealth will keep getting larger: Ultimately, Apple may become more of an overseas business with a U.S. division hindered from a lack of ready cash.

Wow... So seriously....  with a U.S. division hindered from a lack of ready cash.  How on earth is 28 BILLION dollars in cash considered a "lack of ready cash"?  That makes zero sense to me.  

Granted, if Apple wanted to buy HTC, you might say they had a "lack of ready cash", but seriously, such a ridiculous statement.  

What really got me going is actually related to the whole "tax repatriation holiday" conversation that's been happening throughout 2011.  Corporations (including Apple) have been lobbying congress hard to get this holiday.  And as a "non-person", it makes sense for corporations to try and get this enacted.  Not because it's good for the country, it's yet another way that "corporations" can get a nice fat Tax Cut, while the Rest-Of-US™ need to understand that our belts need tightening, just like a household, and we should get used to 7-8% unemployment, stagnant wages, and reduced Social Security/Medicare/Unemployment benefits down the road...

These are just hard times and the little people just need to suck it up, because you know if the Jaaahb Creators get to bring that money home at 3 or 5% instead of 35% taxes...  Well...  You just *KNOW* they're gonna generate them a whole heapin' pile of jobs.  They certainly aren't just going to pocket that money, or hand it out in Dividends to rich investors...  That would just be...

Wrong?

Why not Begin at the Beginning

So after several years of no blogging, (twitter/facebook/Google+ don't count) lets see how this goes.