Random Thoughts #7

I am a cynic. I LIKE being a cynic.
I am a pessimist. I LIKE being a pessimist.
I am a loner. I LIKE being a loner.
They mean a lot more for my sense of identity than (lack of) masculinity, sexuality, or racial pride.

The Beginning...or the end?...of Some Artsy Thing

There are no mortal or divine messiahs.
And if the world should meet an early end
It will not be by whim of God or Gaia
But by the darkest vagaries of men.

Even More Does Not Help

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ODk1Zjc3M2NhYTkwZDIyZWQ1MzQ1YWMwODY1MmNlOWQ=

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2VkYWI2MDFmMTAyMTBlODc4ZGMzMDMwMjE3ODZlYjU=

And check zombietime and Little Green Footballs for more.

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn!

After looking over all of my posts about everybody around the world having gone or going insane, the reason is obvious!

Cthulhu has insomnia, and he must be on the very verge of waking up if the madness has spread this far.

Everybody practice your elder languages!

Does Not Help!

Now that I have your attention with that mangled version of an internet meme:

Accusing the president of having some sort of vendetta against the caucasian race does not help. (I'm looking at YOU, Glenn Beck and all those who stand with him.)

Explaining all criticism of the president with charges of racism does not help. (I'm looking at YOU, Maureen Dowd, Jeremiah Wright, and all the rest of you who believe skin color correlates with immunity to criticism.)

Accusing the one side of wanting to create "death panels" does not help. (I'm looking at YOU, Sarah Palin.)

Accusing the other side of wanting to "pull the plug on Grandma" because they disagree with your side does not help. (I'm looking at YOU, Charles Grassley. YOU too, Jacob Weinberg. )

Having people in ranks on your march who advocate killing the president and who would distort your numbers does not help. (I'm looking at YOU, Tea Party men who refuse to eliminate the radicals from your ranks.)

...no matter which side of the line you are on. (I'm looking at YOU, all you who marched for the death of Bush with claims he stole the 2000 election.)

Referring to said marchers by crude gaming and sexual practices does not help. (I'm looking at YOU, Anderson Cooper.)

Clamoring that the president is somehow illegitimate does not help. (I'm looking at YOU, all you Birther types out there.)

Antichristic tendencies do not help. (I'm looking at YOU, Westboro-church-types who want the president to die in office.)

Messianic tendencies do not help. (I'm looking at YOU, Joe Klein, and all you college kids who thought Obama had a magic wand.)

Throw down your own "do not help!" in the comments!

UPDATE 10/1:

From Dark_Falcon:
Accusing the other side of having a health care plan that entails having sick people "die quickly" does not help. (I'm looking at YOU, Alan Grayson.)

And from ArchangelMichael:
Pretending like it's your job to prop up the stock market and failing businesses instead of controlling inflation does not help. (I'm looking at YOU, Ben Bernanke.)

Also from ArchangelMichael (and he makes a very good point very succinctly, one that every nominally rightist blog on the intarwebs should have burned into their monitors):
Doing and saying outrageous things just because the other side did it when their guy wasn't in office does not help. (I'm looking at YOU, Right Wing Blogosphere and Talk Radio Hosts)

From Sharmuta:
Claiming the President is brainwashing children doesn't help. (I'm looking at YOU, Michelle Malkin.)

Also from Sharmuta:
Saying we should slit our wrists and be blood brothers to save America doesn't help. (I'm looking at YOU, Michele Bachmann.)

Check http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/34806_Overnight_Ocean_Thread/comments/#ctop for any more.

Thanks lots!

Why no Pyro?!

I make no secret of my love for the supposedly skill-less pyro in Team Fortress 2, so allow me to mention why I figure the pyro deserves to be in competitive play, which is usually 6v6 with very ossified teams (i.e., two scouts, two soldiers, one demo, one medic).

1) Overwork the medic!

There's rarely enough health or water on any map to put out everybody who's on fire, which leaves the job to the medic. And when he's putting out people on fire--or even better, trying to put himself out!--he's not supporting attacks, giving soldiers and demomen the HP boost to jump about with impunity, ubercharging friendlies...

2) Flank attack! (especially true for the backburner)

The pyro is slow-moving compared to the other classes who can jump about like quick little bunnies? If you're attacking the enemy head-on as a pyro, you're doing it wrong. Instead, act like a wild-card; find the medic and extinguish his life, counter enemy flanker scouts by setting them on fire (if they're using the sandman, it won't take very long at all to kill them, and afterburn can do it very effectively after a short, half-second burst, particularly if you control any nearby health packs and/or have already offed the medic), give your friends an unanticipated edge in a soldier-vs.-soldier fight...

3) Neutralize enemy attacks! (for the normal flamethrower)

The two soldiers and the demomen are both distinguished by their primary weapons being explosive projectiles. This means that a pyro with an airblast and some skill or a low ping (reasonable enough to assume at competitive levels) can effectively stop incoming rockets, grenades and stickies dead in their tracks, forcing the soldier to shotgun combat and the demoman to melee. It can also break an ubercharge very effectively, if the pyro has plenty of ammo. It might not do much for the scout, but it can hold them in position for a friendly scout or soldier to finish them off, and again, with their low HP, a quick flamethrower burst will force them to break (especially if you're good with the shotgun or flaregun and can hit them while they run).

So why don't we see more pyros in competitive play, if they can turn half of a "normal" competitive team into glorified shotgunners/melee men? Is the stigma of "W+M1" (so called because of the buttons held down by newbie pyros--move forward and attack) that great?