Playing and Living Less Intensely
Day 981, 14:54
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Published in USA 
•
by
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by George Armstrong Custer
Porch Sitting, a Pedestrian View
I've got several things on my mind, but I think clearing up this one annoying point
will allow me to move on to future blatherings.
The American Military Party
Dedicated to supporting our US Soldiers' interests in Government
by supporting US Soldiers' campaigns to Congress and the Presidency.
Dateline: Wednesday July 28 (Day 981)
Location: Fort Sill, Oklahoma
Reporter: George Armstrong "F-Bomb" Custer
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad221/ArmyPublicAffairsOffice/cavsabre.gif" />
People Say Things
Last week I published an article that got some attention. "Uh, what?!" you say? "Custer, that mild mannered old gentleman?!" Yes, friends, something I said somehow made an impression on some folks, and they've had a few things to say about it.
Last Thursday I saw that there had been two noteworthy Citizenship Approvals, namely those of PrincessMedyPi and GLaDOS. I was outraged. Far as I knew, both these players were enemies of the USA, and anyone who approves citizenship to enemies is a Traitor, so I blasted off a whopper of a sensationalist piece.
Let's be clear, here. I called PrincessMedyPi and GLaDOS enemies, not traitors.
People have been bitching at me for days that I called PrincessMedyPi a traitor, and that's just not true.
And so people expressed their disagreement.
In no uncertain terms, and it really didn't matter that they were angry about the wrong word, some readers were angry and weren't shy about saying so.
Comments about that continued into articles for days after I dropped the subject. I got a few nasty game mail letters. I was pulled into a few IRC PM's where I was throroughly sliced and diced. It's been six days now, and the... **ahem** strong expressions of disagreement... continued even into the late hours of last night.
But it was only last night, in one of those IRC PM chats with a detractor.. with an experienced player who has only recently come into my eLife.. that some resolution was actually sought and almost reached. And through that refreshingly non-hostile exchange of ideas I had a bit of an epiphany.. a little kick of self-awareness.
So let's clear up a couple things right now.
First of all, I declared to my esteemed collegue that I am an old man playing a game, trying to keep it fun and casual, and all this keeping of IRC chat logs and record of every conversation and forum thread ever is just not my bag. These young geeks seem to thrive on it, and if it makes them better players for their efforts, then more power to 'em. This, like much of what I write, just kinda fell off my fingertips, and as I read it back to myself I realized it was a gem.. an inadvertant deep truth.
I like this game, and I do seek some level of involvement more than as a six-clicker (the V2 version of V1's 2-clickers). I like spending some time on IRC and chatting about game stuff but more enjoy the RL interaction between people.. but I'm not on there all day and night, and I'm not saving Logs of conversations for some future reference.
I'm in Congress and I am active and I do participate-- last month I was named as one of two most active freshmen. I check the Congress Public and Congress Private sections several times a day, I look at active threads and I comment where I feel I have something to contribute.. but I'm not all over and everywhere in the whole forums, reading and commenting and keeping track of every possible movement of every hair on every flea in the game.
This is where we merge with the second point I have to make, the aforementioned thing involving PrincessMedyPi.
I told my conversation partner that I would gladly entertain any information that anyone might provide or direct me to which would change my opinion of PrincessMedyPi being an enemy of the US. He told me to "look it up, there's forum threads all about it." My answer was this: "I'm not looking up shit. I read the papers, I talk with people, I keep up with current Congress threads, but I am not going to search through any forum for topics and threads and individual posts and tidbits to research this, or probably anything else."
"Send me two links, and I'll review the material, and get back to you. If I'm convinced that I was wrong, I'll publish a retraction and apology." Otherwise, it's old news, I stopped talking about it last week, and it's my persistent detractors who continue to make a lot of noise about a simple opinion expressed in the free press that they disagree with. PrincessMedyPi is now a Congressman, is up for Speaker of the House, and as such is a player I will be working with no matter what my opinion is, or whether or not that opinion is well founded.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. ~Lao Tzu
"Send me two links..." I said, and my collegue agreed, and he set off to find the pertinant bits of information to change my mind.
It did not escape me that in five days of my detractors attacking in every nasty manner imaginable, that not one even tried to change my mind. My young associate, here, was the first of many who bothered to be civil at all, and listened, and gave me credit for being a mature person whose opinion is valid enough to be worth trying to change.
I had plenty of time to ponder this and other deep philosophical conundrums...
When my young friend did come back some time later it was to tell me that the information I need to see is in a Secret Forum for Special People, and I'm not one of 'em.
Uh... no shit. That's the same Secret Forum for Special People where S█ K████ posted a Log of a PM we had in which I railed against then CJCS NXNW, a betrayal of trust which ultimately led to the end of my Army career. That must be where the Special People have all sorts of Secret Stuff that we mere mortals are not privvy to, like sharing Logs of PMs we think are Private conversations just because the P in PM says so.
Okay... whatthefuckever. At least I had a civil conversation with a detractor who was interested in swaying my opinion instead of just calling me nasty names. Better'n nothin'.
Okay... now I'm interested in resolving my apparrent misconception. I can't be sure of why I think PrincessMedyPi is an enemy, except that I must have gotten that impression from a year and a half of reading articles and Comments to articles and talking with other players. But I didn't save Logs or memorize Forum threads, so.. according to the junior lawyers and detectives and anal retentive record keepers who rule our eSociety, I got nothin'.
And my young collegue can't share what he has found because it's Top Secret for Special People Only.
So I go to the eUS Forums and click on PrincessMedyPi's ID and write her a letter.
That was pretty late last night, and considering most people have lives, and even when she gets to the game a note from Ol' Man Custer is probably not a priority, I understand not hearing from her yet.
But I have taken steps to learn why I should not think PrincessMedyPi is an enemy, and I do expect someone to enlighten me in a civilized and mature manner, and I do expect to issue a retraction of my statement along with apologies to not only her but also to respected elder Cromstar for the "traitor" portion of my remarks.
Now.. if you don't mind...
click the pic!
"Get off my lawn!
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad221/ArmyPublicAffairsOffice/cavsabre.gif" />
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad221/ArmyPublicAffairsOffice/NatlGuard_Frame_Custer_Congress_AMP_57.png" />
George Armstrong "F-Bomb" Custer
USCongressman, Oklahoma
Party President, American Military Party
US National Guardsman, active
Australian Drop Bear, retired
USArmy Major General, retired
(got a resume longer than your friggin' arm!)
http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad221/ArmyPublicAffairsOffice/cavsabre.gif" />
The American Military Party is dedicated to supporting our US Soldiers' interests in Government
by supporting US Soldiers' campaigns to Congress and the Presidency.
Join the American Military Party, or just contribute to the Party's August 5 Presidential Election efforts.
:::
I've got several things on my mind, but I think clearing up this one annoying point
will allow me to move on to future blatherings.
The American Military Party
Dedicated to supporting our US Soldiers' interests in Government
by supporting US Soldiers' campaigns to Congress and the Presidency.
Dateline: Wednesday July 28 (Day 981)
Location: Fort Sill, Oklahoma
Reporter: George Armstrong "F-Bomb" Custer
People Say Things
Last week I published an article that got some attention. "Uh, what?!" you say? "Custer, that mild mannered old gentleman?!" Yes, friends, something I said somehow made an impression on some folks, and they've had a few things to say about it.
Last Thursday I saw that there had been two noteworthy Citizenship Approvals, namely those of PrincessMedyPi and GLaDOS. I was outraged. Far as I knew, both these players were enemies of the USA, and anyone who approves citizenship to enemies is a Traitor, so I blasted off a whopper of a sensationalist piece.
Let's be clear, here. I called PrincessMedyPi and GLaDOS enemies, not traitors.
People have been bitching at me for days that I called PrincessMedyPi a traitor, and that's just not true.
And so people expressed their disagreement.
In no uncertain terms, and it really didn't matter that they were angry about the wrong word, some readers were angry and weren't shy about saying so.
Comments about that continued into articles for days after I dropped the subject. I got a few nasty game mail letters. I was pulled into a few IRC PM's where I was throroughly sliced and diced. It's been six days now, and the... **ahem** strong expressions of disagreement... continued even into the late hours of last night.
But it was only last night, in one of those IRC PM chats with a detractor.. with an experienced player who has only recently come into my eLife.. that some resolution was actually sought and almost reached. And through that refreshingly non-hostile exchange of ideas I had a bit of an epiphany.. a little kick of self-awareness.
So let's clear up a couple things right now.
First of all, I declared to my esteemed collegue that I am an old man playing a game, trying to keep it fun and casual, and all this keeping of IRC chat logs and record of every conversation and forum thread ever is just not my bag. These young geeks seem to thrive on it, and if it makes them better players for their efforts, then more power to 'em. This, like much of what I write, just kinda fell off my fingertips, and as I read it back to myself I realized it was a gem.. an inadvertant deep truth.
I like this game, and I do seek some level of involvement more than as a six-clicker (the V2 version of V1's 2-clickers). I like spending some time on IRC and chatting about game stuff but more enjoy the RL interaction between people.. but I'm not on there all day and night, and I'm not saving Logs of conversations for some future reference.
I'm in Congress and I am active and I do participate-- last month I was named as one of two most active freshmen. I check the Congress Public and Congress Private sections several times a day, I look at active threads and I comment where I feel I have something to contribute.. but I'm not all over and everywhere in the whole forums, reading and commenting and keeping track of every possible movement of every hair on every flea in the game.
This is where we merge with the second point I have to make, the aforementioned thing involving PrincessMedyPi.
I told my conversation partner that I would gladly entertain any information that anyone might provide or direct me to which would change my opinion of PrincessMedyPi being an enemy of the US. He told me to "look it up, there's forum threads all about it." My answer was this: "I'm not looking up shit. I read the papers, I talk with people, I keep up with current Congress threads, but I am not going to search through any forum for topics and threads and individual posts and tidbits to research this, or probably anything else."
"Send me two links, and I'll review the material, and get back to you. If I'm convinced that I was wrong, I'll publish a retraction and apology." Otherwise, it's old news, I stopped talking about it last week, and it's my persistent detractors who continue to make a lot of noise about a simple opinion expressed in the free press that they disagree with. PrincessMedyPi is now a Congressman, is up for Speaker of the House, and as such is a player I will be working with no matter what my opinion is, or whether or not that opinion is well founded.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. ~Lao Tzu
"Send me two links..." I said, and my collegue agreed, and he set off to find the pertinant bits of information to change my mind.
It did not escape me that in five days of my detractors attacking in every nasty manner imaginable, that not one even tried to change my mind. My young associate, here, was the first of many who bothered to be civil at all, and listened, and gave me credit for being a mature person whose opinion is valid enough to be worth trying to change.
I had plenty of time to ponder this and other deep philosophical conundrums...
When my young friend did come back some time later it was to tell me that the information I need to see is in a Secret Forum for Special People, and I'm not one of 'em.
Uh... no shit. That's the same Secret Forum for Special People where S█ K████ posted a Log of a PM we had in which I railed against then CJCS NXNW, a betrayal of trust which ultimately led to the end of my Army career. That must be where the Special People have all sorts of Secret Stuff that we mere mortals are not privvy to, like sharing Logs of PMs we think are Private conversations just because the P in PM says so.
Okay... whatthefuckever. At least I had a civil conversation with a detractor who was interested in swaying my opinion instead of just calling me nasty names. Better'n nothin'.
Okay... now I'm interested in resolving my apparrent misconception. I can't be sure of why I think PrincessMedyPi is an enemy, except that I must have gotten that impression from a year and a half of reading articles and Comments to articles and talking with other players. But I didn't save Logs or memorize Forum threads, so.. according to the junior lawyers and detectives and anal retentive record keepers who rule our eSociety, I got nothin'.
And my young collegue can't share what he has found because it's Top Secret for Special People Only.
So I go to the eUS Forums and click on PrincessMedyPi's ID and write her a letter.
That was pretty late last night, and considering most people have lives, and even when she gets to the game a note from Ol' Man Custer is probably not a priority, I understand not hearing from her yet.
But I have taken steps to learn why I should not think PrincessMedyPi is an enemy, and I do expect someone to enlighten me in a civilized and mature manner, and I do expect to issue a retraction of my statement along with apologies to not only her but also to respected elder Cromstar for the "traitor" portion of my remarks.
Now.. if you don't mind...
click the pic!"Get off my lawn!
George Armstrong "F-Bomb" Custer
USCongressman, Oklahoma
Party President, American Military Party
US National Guardsman, active
Australian Drop Bear, retired
USArmy Major General, retired
(got a resume longer than your friggin' arm!)
The American Military Party is dedicated to supporting our US Soldiers' interests in Government
by supporting US Soldiers' campaigns to Congress and the Presidency.
Join the American Military Party, or just contribute to the Party's August 5 Presidential Election efforts.
:::
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Comments
Okay... whatthefuckever. At least I had a civil conversation with a detractor who was interested in swaying my opinion instead of just calling me nasty names. Better'n nothin'.
I pray that I am never invited to the Secret Forum for Special People.
Not sure if I'm special (my Mom thinks so!) but I am very bad at being secret.
that was actually funny
I am enjoying your activity and articles. Continue.
It's a political stimulation game...
i didn't read cuz i was focusing too hard on the content of this article.
Custer, this was a good article.
Non-game stuff has as much legitimacy as we give it.
Without a court to fairly apply non-mechanical rules, anything not mechanically related will always be a bit of a sham.
Find me a society that has succeeded with both rules and without courts.
Your complaint was valid (would have merited an investigation and hearing). The place to hear it in real life would have been a court, where you allege a violation of law, and someone defends against the charges.
That said, again, you're dealing with a society with rules, and without courts. Meh. What are ya gonna do. Lord of The Flies. Have a little less respect for the existing system, I imagine.
Btw, none of this to say the two citizens you mention didn’t deserve exceptions to standing immigration/citizenship policies, we’ll never really know. But in real life, they (Immigration) would have had to show the reasons (defense) for these exceptions if a violation was charged (and if Immigration itself even buys into these approvals).
Or the citizen (Congressman/men) in question would have.
Last thought: You are a sitting eUS Congressman. If YOU aren’t qualified to see the evidence, who is? The response you were given here appears to suggest that allowing citizenship is somehow based on some uber-secret national security issue? So secret, that even sitting Congressman can’t review? That’s uber important, wow!
"So secret, that even sitting Congressman can’t review?" Interesting
voted 🙂
"whats in the secret forum stays in there or at least till some one breaks up >.>" quote works for almost anything XD
nice artcle though
Good stuff custer
I'm still reading the Gran Torino quotes. I'm gonna watch that tonight.
Go to the eUS forum and tell me people are civilized.
lolerskates
Voted!
I read half of this rambling before I got bored. Also, I explained to you that GLaDOS is not an enemy of us on the night of the election.
very good work custer.
oh, then you missed it, Der Fuhrer Emerick-gagah. just into the second half is where I explained that I write my articles for your enterainment, followed immediately with a word about how much I give a flying rat's ass what you think.
and.. I'm working on a "post-election wrapup" piece for tomorrow.. tune in for that one, folks, it'll be a Howard Beale special.
V+S
This is awesome. I love crotchety old men.
'special people'
It is probably super-secret because if anyone saw it they would laugh their ass off...you go Custer!
I love crotchety old men. X2
The "Secret Forum for Special People" reminds me of why I hated middle school ...
Custer is underrated.
"The "Secret Forum for Special People" reminds me of why I hated middle school ... " x2, lol
>I'm not looking up shit
THe decent thing to do would be to investigate an issue before publically labelling somone an Enemy of the country.
>That's the same Secret Forum for Special People where S█ K████ posted a Log of a PM we had in which I railed against then CJCS NXNW, a betrayal of trust which ultimately led to the end of my Army career.
>found a public log on pastebin
>posted to #usa-chat
DOn't blame me for your own retardation. If you have a conversation where you badmouth your superiors don't get pissed if they fire you.
>I give a flying rat's ass what you think.
I like how you feel the need to let me know that on every given occasion, like a 15 year old's punk rock song.