We all know the phrase " I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. "  There is so much more. 

Here is Martin Luther King Jr. Speech in its entirety. 
 

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream." 

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last

“The end is nigh! The world is headed for a global ecological catastrophe! Telltale signs are everywhere and we need to make a change, now!” These are some of the prominent ideas from the 24 June 1974 issue of the Times Magazine.  My attitude towards global warming, or global climate change, is one hundred percent skeptical.   Looking at the data, there is only one right answer to whether global warming exists: “We don’t know.”   My belief is that there is too much uncertainty in our knowledge of weather and climate change to make definitive interpretations on future global weather patterns.

 What has helped install the idea of global warming is the measured increase in global temperatures since the 1980s.   While it is clear the temperatures did rise, this climate trend could have multiple interpretations. Scientists supporting the global warming theory state that the cause of this temperature rise is the increase of greenhouse gases, especially from industrial sources.  However, I believe this is just one interpretation of the data. An examination of global average temperature estimates for the past several hundred years reveals that temperatures have been rising and falling for hundreds of years.   Some scientists suggest that a rise in greenhouse gases may be a side effect of the earth’s natural climate fluctuation toward a season of higher global temperatures rather than the cause. Other scientists propose that the temperatures correlate more closely with the behavior of sunspots than the emission of greenhouse gases While our consumption of fossil fuels has significantly increased, I believe that it cannot be concretely correlated with the increasing temperature.  

Because of the uncertainty of climate science and the variety of interpretations from the data, I believe that it is foolish to decide to follow one theory of thought without concrete evidence.   It is irrational to make political and legal decisions affecting the livelihood of millions of Americans based on one interpretation of climate data, especially if the suggested interventions are unlikely to make much of a difference.  Many people blame the perceived global warming on other human beings consumption of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide.   While our consumption of carbon dioxide has increased, the majority of carbon dioxide (97%) comes from forest fires, decaying plants, and volcanoes.  So, if seven billion people in the world (which includes all the factories in the world), why the huge focus on the three percent?   How much of the three percent is America?  

The cost is all too high.   Global warming enthusiasts want us to give up our way of life and many of our comforts for something that may not be happening.   Therefore, our government has no right to enforce businesses and individuals to change their way of life, likely causing many Americans to become bankrupted and jobless, based on one interpretation of climate change data. While minor policy changes may be permissible, such as giving tax credits for “green” construction and business practices, extreme policy changes are inappropriate until we have more concrete evidence that global warming exists. In my life, I will make personal changes to my lifestyle dependent upon the cost of the changes.

Another concern is that I’m convinced the global warming issue is being used as a spearhead for political agendas supporting global governance.  Redistribution of wealth has been a phrase commonly used with environmentalist.  A news story from 18 November 2010 stated that Ottmar Edenhofer said, “climate policy is redistributing the world's wealth,” and “it's a big mistake to discuss climate policy separately from the major themes of globalization.”   Americans shouldn’t be forced to pay for climate change that may or may not be happening, especially if climate change policy is being twisted to be used for political aims.  

 It comes down to the question of how does one take control of a county whose population is ingrained on idea liberty? Consensus science holds the key. Through mass media global warming supporters relay their ‘scientific’ message of global warming as a fact rather than one of the theories. Their message in one of hate, fear, and danger; not a message of dispassionate reason and logic which considers all the evidence.    Scientists who question their wisdom is removed and mocked.  Global warming supporters have settled the facts and have come to a consensus, but they forget consensus is not science.  

OK, so I'm just going to throw this out there, this partnership raises serious journalistic integrity questions.   I don't care how it's pitched, or spun, but something should have clicked, and IGN should not have partnered with GameStop. 
 
So, personally, I'm OK with games media going to lavished review / preview events.  It's a perk of being in the media.  It's OK, that Giant Bomb Crew didn't tell us that they went to the Black Ops Review event in LA (or did they, I can't remember, but I remember them being there).   Whatever, it was Call of Duty: Black Ops, the biggest game of the year, coming from one of the largest publishers, this review event was bound to happen.  The same is true of Epic Mickey, there was a review event in Disneyland.  What about the Assassin’s Creed 2 event in Italy?   You could argue that the Assassin’s Creed Italy event was needed because the first game wasn’t that great, but it reviewed well and Ubisoft wanted something extravagant to get everyone’s attention to prove that there second game was far better.  
 
Which would you rather have, Jeff either having a fun and enjoyable review on the day of release or having to wait a week after its release, for a Call of Duty review?   Many of the smaller video game review sites just can't afford not to attend review events.   You need readers and page views to get ad support so at the end of the day you'll have a pay check.   All a journalist has is their integrity.   Once a journalist has lost their integrity, because money was slid under the table, a games journalist doesn't have a job anymore.   Why, because no one reads or trust their reviews or points of view.   Is a Mickey Mouse hat worth that?   Losing a job in the industry they love.
 
Back to the main point.  
 
The majority of IGN's readers go there for the number score.   While we might read the review and want to learn all of the games issues, the unsuspecting causal gamer (or parent, grandparent, etc.) will see a high number score and think it's a good game.   How much would raising a half point cost?   What about an extra 1 point?  How many sales would that extra point bring in?  It would benefit both the GameStop and the publisher.  
 
You might be thinking to yourself, how is this deal different than advertising Halo: Reach, or NFS:HP on a gaming site?   The truth is, is that it's not.   The advertisers want to advertise to those who are interested in their product, the gaming web sites want to have advertisements their readers will click on and generate them some revenue.  If that's as far as it goes, everything is gravy.  It's when the publishers and advertisers start asking for a better score that an issue that arrives.  "If you don't give us a 5 five star rating we'll never send you a game again."  That's on the publisher / advertiser and they should be called out on that.  I remember when Assassin's Creed came out, and (redacted) didn't give the game a great score so Ubisoft stop sending them review copies of their games.  It happens.
 
I guess, at some point, it's far better to be open and frank with your readers / listeners because you don't want it to come out as some shadowy deal, on the other hand just announcing it will immediately raise red flags.  Maybe the best solution is to not be in bed with the brick and mortar retailers. 
 
Bottom line is this, it is all about money; adverting money.  I hope IGN doesn't tweak there review scores for money, but they sure threw out their journalistic integrity on this one.

So, I’ve had it with myself.   I’m not in the same shape I was a few months ago let alone a year.   Working in DC made my body soft.   My active duty abs have turned to flab.   I guess not doing PT does that.   So now I’m going to change it.

I bought “The Biggest Loser” game.   I’m going to see how well it works.

My criteria for the last PT test I took (in the reserves) was 50 pushups, 62 sit-ups, and a 16:45 2 mile.   It passable,   barely.   I want 55 pushups**, 70 sit-up, and a 14:30 run.   I want to go from my size 33 Abercrombie to size 31, and I want to go from 200 to 190.

I’ll be changing my eating habits (alcohol once a week (and not in access), no more Starbucks, I’ll try for no soda).

I’ll be playing “The Biggest Loser” on challenging every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (for 50 minutes) and a 2-4 mile run every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.   Sunday, I rest.

30 days and I’ll see where I am.   I don’t need washboard abs (right away), but I do want to flatten my core.

**OK, the only way to get better at pushups is by doing more pushups. If it doesn’t offer them, they may not increase all that much.

Buying the Kinect was a great, but foolish idea. I knew that it, like the Sony Move and Wii, would have a lot of shovelware.   Dance Central is awesome, and the Kinect entertains our nieces and nephews when family comes over.  

Dance Central has captivated my wife.  She plays it all the time, she is plays it for the exercise, and bragging rights.   “Who’s on top, and who’s on bottom now,” is something I’m getting used to her saying as she five stars Soulja Boy on hard.   This means I have a lot less time to play games (like New Vegas) or my PlayStation 3 since she is using the TV.  I guess this is good because I still have to study for the GRE, which I’m planning on taking in December.

Before the Kinect, my wife and I used the Xbox for mainly Netflix.  We would watch the show Bones together before she left for work and I hit the books.   Now she has discovered the world of the 360 and has figured out how to add movies and shows Netflix.   For not being a technologically savvy person she’s really pick it up quickly.  The downside is Netflix offering me “India Romantic Comedies” as a desired suggestion for my movies.   I miss the days of “Action 80s Titles” and “Dark Comedies.” C'est la vie.

So, my PlayStation 3 has decided it doesn’t like the internet.   It logs me out every couple of minutes. It’s annoying as can be.    I like to play games online, given I’m not the best, but I still enjoy playing with my friends.   It’s connected to the router by a cat5e so I don’t know what’s going on.   The Xbox 360 doesn’t do this, at all.

As I’m typing this short blog I’ve been trying to get the COD:BO update and it has logged me out five times.  Now, six. Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful. The error code is 8002AD23 followed by 80710723.   I know that code is the correct number because now I have seen it for the seventh time.   I do enjoy watching the system get to 34% and increases in time from 30 second to 15minutes followed by the error code.

Well it made it to 3% that time.   Eight times in 4 minutes… Damn you PS3

Top Gun 2

So, I heard Top Gun 2 is being made.   I wrote up my own story synopsis of the way it “should be made.”   Enjoy.

The Beginning:

                  Maverick has been dishonorably discharged from the Navy after refusing to deploy to the Afghanistan theatre.   But hey, It’s an unpopular war, so everyone one overlooks his discharge and he lands a contracting position with the Navy making seven figures a year training Top Gun pilots.

                 Goose’s son (Goose Jr.) has joined the Top Gun program.   Maverick trains him, and soon Goose is deployed to Afghanistan.   An Army position is being overrun by the Taliban.   The Soldiers call   for close air support. Goose Jr. is in the air, but can’t respond because there might be a civilian in the mix attacking the group.   Goose Jr. attacks anyway saving the Army troops.

                The Taliban tells MSNBC that they were only women and children in the group.   And so, because the Taliban are totally trust worthy, MSNBC and CNN run the story.   Goose Jr. is demonized by the media and forced out of the Navy.

                The American people are upset, devastated even, that the Taliban were attacked.   How dare the US Government!  

                The American people are outraged.   So, they turn to those who are known for thinking critically, Hollywood’s actors and actress.   These actors convince the people to demand what they are entitled to, whatever that is.  The people vote for change, and a new America.

                 The newly elected government administration sees this as an opportunity to advance their own legacy so they give the people almost free healthcare for ages 15-45 (if they are contributing members of the society).   This is fine with the majority of the population.   Old people are a drain on society and have more health issues anyway.   The American people then decide that healthcare that they are entitled to isn’t enough.   So, they ask for free hand outs from the government.   The government says this is brilliant and continues to sell US Bonds the Chinese at 0% interest and all Americans get a check in the mail for 35 cents (after taxes).

Then in the end of the movie a Chinese diplomat comes on screen and says, “we own you bitches.”

This leads in to “Top Gun 3 – GI –Joe, Communist Hero.”

Was anyone else who purchased the StarCraft 2 Collector’s Edi dissatisfied with the art book? Yeah, they have some great art, but would it have killed them to establish, through text, what the image was and how the design changed from concept to finished product. Am I asking for too much?

My brother just turned me on to this little 20 questions game,  http://us.akinator.com  It can get the Giant Bomb crew in around 20 questions. It's pretty scary. Anyway, I'm going to go dig into my obscure video game character references bag and see if i can overcome this challenge. 

I’ve always been a fan of the Subaru WRX. So, after spending thirteen months in Iraq working 14-18 hours a day, seven days a week, and only earning $40,000 (E-5s don’t earn that much) I decided to treat myself to a WRX. I found a used 2004 model on Craigslist. I bought the car, and had it waiting for me for when I returned.

While I was in Iraq I was shot at by 107mm and 240mm rockets; 60mm and 80mm mortars; was 30 feet from Iran and had Iranian soldier pointing there AK-47 and AK-74 at me while a BMP-1 had its 30mm cannon pointed at me and my team. Needless to say, I was very close to death on several occasions.

Due to a unique skill set I was taught the Army Reserves, I was a highly valued asset to policy makers here in DC. I moved to Catonsville, MD to be near my fiancée while working in DC. I have an hour long commute to-and-fro work every day. The Bombcast and a few other podcast get me through the long and tedious drive.

All was going well until last night when someone decided to break into my car to steal my GPS. This cur smashed a rock through the driver’s window breaking the window and door. The idiot stole the GPS but left the charging cable. The total value of what the dolt stole was about $100.

Now I have to replace the door and window for approximately $1500. I worked my ass off for this car and to have some heroin addict destroy what I earned keeping my country safe, that includes this dolt, is the most heart breaking moment of my life.

The lesson is this, before you act, think about what you’re doing and who you’re doing it to. Who knows what that person is going though and how your selfish act of vandalism is likely compounding that person’s troubles.