The Kids are NOT Alright

 












"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet andrespectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful  and impatient of restraint"

 Hesiod, 8th century BC 

I  will give you THREE reasons why the composition of modern youth have doomed the future of the USA
(maybe Canada , maybe Europe).  
There is an unholy trifecta in our youth that has never before been seen in human history:

First;

 a Thought experiment for those of you over forty;

Close your eyes and think back to high school, who was the fat kid?  
Can you  picture him/her? 
What was their name?
That’s right - you can recall the face, probably the name - why?
Because it used to be that obesity was RARE.  Now, more than 1/6^th of kids are obese.  I am not talking 10- 15 lbs middle-age overweight. I am talking fat - so heavy that you look overweight in your high school year book photo. (That’s right, twenty years ago,  Americans called excessive accumulation of   adipose tissue , ‘fat.’)
We all understand, that obesity  does NOT imply lack of moral or intellectual capacity but it is a severe detriment when dealing with health and occupational opportunities.

 …

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html

 …

http://www.macon.com/2009/11/06/906472/most-young-americans-dont-qualify.html

 …

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/04/study-life-span-women/1963093

…

SECOND 

They are illegitimate.
About 40% of US children are born without a father in the house. I understand divorce, we are not talking about unsuccessful marriages.  About 40% of children are born without an extended family structure.  Even in West Germany and Japan after world war II, 40% of children were not born out of wedlock. Illegitimacy is a big predictor of poverty, downward social mobility and dropping out of high school.

http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/article_9712daf1-1980-513c-ab68-3ba2624c9c35.html

 . .. .
http://singleparents.about.com/od/legalissues/p/portrait.htm
 . .. 

http://www.inquisitr.com/1114601/single-parents-hinder-social-mobility-harvard-study-claims/

 . . .

THIRD

They are entitled…

It has been consistent throughout human history that the children of the wealthy and aristocracy felt that they were privileged - the world owes them a living.  Now this defect of the spirit has spread to the middle and lower income quintiles.

(we don’t really have classes in America, ‘class’ is an old world concept -         Kim Kardashian is extremely wealthy, but would anyone honestly label her ‘upper class;’ meanwhile Charles Ramsey is poor, but would any respectable human being call him ‘lower class’). 
Many modern youth narcissistically believe they are entitled to health, employment, housing and protection by virtue of having a pulse – they are required to accomplish nothing, yet the ‘government’ should provide for them forever.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/03/our_entitled_youth.html

http://voices.yahoo.com/a-sense-entitlement-epidemic-amongst-our-youth-2260157.html?cat=25

 …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm40W8HDLH4

Yes, I understand that there are MANY quality young people in this generation; however, the tough question  remains:

 …

Can this minority of quality youth carry BOTH

the heavy load created by the failings of my generation
 as well as the burden of their incompetent peers ?

(70% of young people don't  qualify for military service)

GUN CONTROL

is being able to hit your target

10 rounds in thirty seconds at 7 yards
from a unmodified beretta 92 
not a masterwork weapon,
but very reliable

IF using a DnD style damage system
THEN guns in RPGs need to do more damage;

…

From Animal Faceoff .. .

A ferocious male lion is able to transfer about 2/3^rds of its body weight behind its claw (moving less than 20 mph);

thereby delivering about 300 foot-pounds of force
(about the same energy as a modern 9mm handgun round). 

In contrast, a DnD longbow (d8 damage)  has more than 7 times the velocity of a great cat’s claw yet only delivers about 1/8^th the kinetic energy (about 40 foot-pounds).

Even a lowly .22 long rifle delivers over 100 foot pounds of energy (d10).

 

“From inside fortifications, the gun has no equal among weapons.  It is the supreme weapon on the field before the ranks clash, but once swords are crossed the gun becomes useless.   One of the virtues of the bow is that you can see the arrows in flight and correct your aim accordingly, whereas gunshot cannot be seen.  You must appreciate the importance of this.”         
  A Book of Five Rings  by Musashi  

 

l also  considered ranged combat ROF (rate of fire) to be abstract
as the rate of fire with even 19^th century firearms is remarkably fast.  
Against stationary, man -sized targets at typical ranges (7 – 20 yards) ,
with 95% accuracy,
I can deliver 10 lever action rifle, 10 single action revolver and 4 shotgun rounds
 in 30 seconds or 3 melee rounds …  

I consider myself of above average quickness (13 Dex?) -
The fastest guys in my club will double or triple my ROF. .. .


I will leave the debate to background checks and magazine capacities to politicians and pundits ..


Spengler,  AsiaTimes, 19 Dec 2012

"The slaughter of children is sufficiently rare in the West that it overwhelms us with horror and grief. There have been five school shootings in Europe during the past 10 years with 10 or more dead, and two in the United States - the 2007 Virginia Tech incident and the Sandy Hook shootings. Despite its much stricter gun control, Europe has been the scene of more mass school killings than the United States. We Americans would be fooling ourselves to think that stricter gun laws would help.

"Meanwhile, we in the West suppurate in imagined mass killings. The only surprising thing is that we are surprised when the fantasy turns into reality in the case of a deranged individual. The horror genre consumes a tenth of Hollywood's total output of films and television programs. The zombie apocalypse, with its images of repetitive killing, is the subject of the most-popular cable series ever, AMC's The Walking Dead.

"And that doesn't count the action films (and video games) whose main content is the mowing down of numerous assailants by a heavily armed hero. We should not be surprised at incidents like the Sandy Hook horror. We should be surprised, instead, that deranged individuals do not cross the line between fantasy mass killing with greater frequency. "

Jeffrey Shapiro, Wall Street Journal 13 March 2013

“As a former prosecutor in Washington, D.C., who enforced firearms and ammunition cases while a severe local gun ban was still in effect, I am skeptical of the benefits that many imagine will result from additional gun-control efforts. I dislike guns, but I believe that a nationwide firearms crackdown would place an undue burden on law enforcement and endanger civil liberties while potentially increasing crime.The D.C. gun ban, enacted in 1976, prohibited anyone other than law-enforcement officers from carrying a firearm in the city. Residents were even barred from keeping guns in their homes for self-defense.

“The gun ban had an unintended effect: It emboldened criminals because they knew that law-abiding District residents were unarmed and powerless to defend themselves. Violent crime increased after the law was enacted, with homicides rising to 369 in 1988, from 188 in 1976 when the ban started. By 1993, annual homicides had reached 454.

“ Since the gun ban was struck down (Heller 2007), murders in the District have steadily gone down, from 186 in 2008 to 88 in 2012, the lowest number since the law was enacted in 1976. The decline resulted from a variety of factors, but losing the gun ban certainly did not produce the rise in murders that many might have expected.”

The First War Game

My friend Dr. Dean is a Chess Master;
I never got into that game in youth, because to my young analytical mind
(graduated magna cum laude in college with mathematics degree)
the movement of the pieces made NO sense.
It wasn’t until my 30s when I read the book Born in Blood
by Robinson, that the game of chess became rational. Paraphrasing . . .

Chess is a Persian game that was brought to the west by the Crusaders –
the Catholic Church was against anything that was from the east and/or distracted from religious devotion.

Hence, the game of Chess was banned and deemed satanic
(sound familiar ; - );
however, the game proved too popular to legislate away;
THEREFORE, the church tolerated this new game as long as the pieces were ReNAMED.

Hence, CHESS pieces are as follows:

The PAWN represents spearmen or pike men, defensive units,
that slowly advance, but have to attack a flank for success.

The ROOK is actually the elephant (a Pagan animal) –
 unstoppable and fierce, but only capable of linear attacks/ charges.

The KNIGHT is heavy cavalry,
charges forward, but needs to strike a flank for maximal effect.

The BISHOP (the most important piece on the board?) represents a sailing ship;
notice how it tacks along the board unimpeded while delivering mayhem.

The QUEEN is guarded by elite, light mounted archers;
she can move and strike in any direction with full effect, but vulnerable to attack if isolated.

The KING is surrounded by his elite body guard; however,

  he is loaded down with the TREASURE of his house; therefore,

he may move only one square in any direction.

Even the term ‘check mate’ is a bastardization of the Arabic
“sheik mat”,
which translates to ‘the king is dead.’

 

Happy 21st Birthday Red Planet

Copywrited 16 Jan 1990

Origins of Myth

The bones of the dimetrodon discovered by ancient Greeks were the inspiration for a classical and persistent mythological monster.

What do we have here?

body and tail of a lion,
head and claws of an eagle,
and long support bones,
. . . it must be a GRIFFIN !

100th post, thanks to EGG's & ERB' s IMAGINATION

From the first D&D box set, the forward in the Men & Magic:

"These rules are strictly fantasy. Those wargamers who lack imagination, those who don't care for Burroughs' Martian adventures where John Carter is groping through black pits, who feel no thrill upon reading Howard's Conan saga, who do not enjoy the de Camp & Pratt fantasies or Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser pitting their swords against evil sorceries will not be likely to find DUNGEONS and DRAGONS to their taste. But those whose imaginations know no bounds will find that these rules are the answer to their prayers. With this last bit of advice we invite you to read on as enjoy a 'world' where the fantastic is fact and magic really works!"
E. Gary Gygax, 1 November 1973
Tactical Studies Rules Editor, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin


No work of fan fiction or classic table top roleplaying is possible without the willing and active suspension of disbelief by the participants. Rather then endlessly debate the canonical sections of books I – V clearly quoted herein, it is best for the players and GM to expand upon the uncharted or unexplored areas of Barsoom.

“I might indeed be in some, to me, unknown corner of Mars, and this was very possible since during my ten years' residence upon the planet I had explored but a comparatively tiny area of its vast expanse.” (Gods of Mars, Chapter I).

Do what you love and starve?

“As fish are caught in a cruel net,
or birds are taken in a snare,
so men are trapped by evil times.”

I have and utilize the Esoteric Creature Generator.
I was looking at the numbers from Lamentations of the Flame Princess.
James Raggi is a talented writer and a gifted GM who has a loyal following.
He has poured SIX months of his life into Weird Fantasy
and has generated less than 150 sales ($9000?).

James Mishler was right when he posted 15 July 2009
"Gamers do not need us and our products, the writers,
editors, artists, and publishers of the adventure game industry.
They may want us, but they do not need us.”

I pity those who try to have a primary income from RPGs . . .

http://www.martynemko.com/articles/do-what-you-love-and-starve_id1380

Wednesday Words of Wisdom

“There are some things that can beat smartness and foresight- awkwardness and stupidity can. The best swordsman in the world doesn't need to fear the second best swordsman in the world; no, the person for him to be afraid of is some ignorant antagonist who has never had a sword in his hand before; he doesn't do the thing he ought to do, and so the expert isn't prepared for him.”

Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Happy Birthday America

and thank you Ryan Dancey

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

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Here is an Apocryphal Story

A priest and two of his disciples are walking through the woods having a lively conversation about the meaning of life and the nature of the universe.
They come upon a stream bisecting their path, on the opposite bank is a finely dressed woman staring apprehensively at the moving water. The priest leaves his disciples, wades through the water, and introduces himself to the lady. He then lifts her up and gingerly carries her to the opposite bank.

The priest and his disciples then go along their way in silence. They come to an inn, and the priest is perplexed when his sullen disciples refused to eat. He asked them “What is the matter?”

While the older disciple stared in his stew, the younger disciple spoke up, “Master you touched a woman.”

He replied, “Yes, I did touch a woman, but I put her down. You are still carrying her.”

How to Survive a Recession

During the early 1990s Japan underwent a severe recession and many small businesses failed. There were four lessons learned by small businesses that survived and latter thrived during those tough economic times. When the Japanese economy recovered in the late 1990s, by adhering to these four points, many small businesses were situated to capitalize on new found prosperity in 2000.

1) DON’T COMPETE ON PRICE: Either quality or profits will be compromised; loss of either represents an unsustainable business model. No matter how much you lower your prices you can not outlast the big retailers who are able to command large discounts from suppliers and distributors.

2) LOWER YOUR OVERHEAD: Now is not the time to make improvements in equipment or space. This is a good time to get your family to help in the business on a part-time basis. This is not the time to hire new employees.

3) ESTABLISH A LOYAL CUSTOMER BASE: Courtesy and quality will not overcome low price for some customers; however, in a small business you do not want to entertain the ever increasing demands of price sensitive consumers. Simple things like appreciation letters, commissioned orders and unique (not discounted) products will optimize survivability.

4) DIVERSIFY/ INVEST IN YOUR EDUCATION: Time is plentiful in a down economy; therefore, hours are available for additional training and studying. When the economy recovers, the most skilled are the first to be offered new opportunities and the most resistant to unemployment in future downturns in the business cycle.

These four points are relevant to our current hobby of adventure games(http://jamesmishler.blogspot.com),
  especially since many enthusiasts are now attempting to
self-publish or create their own gaming companies.