The End of An Era

• October 28, 1994: Stargate is released by MGM and Carolco
• July 27, 1997: Stargate SG-1, a television series based off the 1994 movie is produced, airing on Showtime
• 2002: After five seasons of Stargate SG-1, Showtime drops the show and the Sci-Fi channel buys the rights and continues to produce more seasons
• September 14, 2002: The ill-conceived and ill-fated Stargate Infinity, a cartoon spin-off of SG-1 is launched
• March 24, 2003: After one season (26 episodes), Stargate Infinity is cancelled
• July 16, 2004: Sci-Fi launches Stargate Atlantis, a spin-off of SG-1, that takes place in the Pegasus Galaxy
• March 13, 2007: After 10 seasons and 214 episodes, Stargate SG-1 airs it's final episode
• March 11, 2008: Stargate: The Ark of Truth, a direct-to-DVD movie based on the SG-1 series is released
• July 29, 2008: Stargate: Continuum, the second direct-to-DVD movie based on SG-1, is released
• January 9, 2009: 100 episodes in 5 seasons sees the end of Stargate Atlantis
• October 2, 2009: The 9th chevron is dialed and the third live-action series of the Stargate franchise, Stargate Universe, is launched
• May 9, 2011: The 40th episode of Stargate Universe airs, bringing an end to the second season and the series itself
• 2011: With the cancellation of Stargate Universe, Syfy cancels other Stargate works in progress, bringing an end to the franchise

I cried. I didn't mean too, but later, as I was sitting around playing on the internet, I found tears in my eyes as I thought about Stargate. After 14 years of Stargate (17 if you count the original movie), it was over...the end. But it didn't mark just the end of Stargate. It marks the end of an era of great space-based sci-fi television shows. We lost Star Trek in 2005 with the passing of Enterprise. Battlestar Galactica (even though I wasn't a fan) and it's successor, Caprica (not space-based, but I was a fan), have both ended. We have Star War: The Clone Wars still, but it is a cartoon, and while I love cartoons, no animated series can stand up to a live-action one.

Sci-fi in general is almost dead, and for this I blame none other than the traitor network Syfy. The one station nerds had to their name has changed their name and done a brand reimagining, killing everything science-fiction and replacing it with wrestling and cooking shows. WRESTLING and COOKING SHOWS.

While it's true that we still have movies (Star Trek living on in it's horrible alternate universe, again in hopes of bringing in a different audience à la the Syfy channel), sci-fi TV is slowly spiraling down the proverbial drain. We still have many shows, the strongest being the seminal British hit, Doctor Who. Syfy also has four returning contenders to name, Eureka, Warehouse 13 (both of which are "comedic" light sci-fi), Amanda Tapping's post-Stargate series Sanctuary, and the Stephen King-based Haven, and one new series, Alphas. Torchwood, the Doctor Who spin-off, is said to be coming back. Fox is coming out with Terra Nova, but if Fox has proven anything, it is that it can't hold onto anything that isn't a cartoon (Firefly RIP 2002) or American Idol. And as I said before, there is the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. There are also the non-sci-fi side shows that nerds can appreciate, like the fantasy series Game of Thrones and the nerd sitcom The Big Bang Theory (and in my opinion, the fantasy-ish cartoon series Adventure Time). But I do not expect many of these to last.

Sanctuary, being mainly CGI, has high production cost, and despite it having it's best season to date, I expect the ever-increasingly-non-sci-fi-Syfy Channel to cancel it either mid-4th season or at the end of the 4th season. Alphas has something of a weak premise, sounding almost like a light superhero show, and if anything is true, superhero shows only score about 1-in-5 (Smallville, which is mainly a drama, and Hereos being two out of innumerable attempts). And as I said before, I don't think Terra Nova will last, just because it's on Fox.

But, all-in-all, none of these are space adventures. And if there is one constant of sci-fi that has been around since the Golden Age of Science Fiction (other than the robot), it has been space, and the exploration of, the adventures in, the tales about. It is a staple of science fiction that still has limitless potential. But, as of Monday, May 9th, 2011, no television programming.

Space. The final frontier. One frontier we seem to have abandoned. Farewell, old friend. I will remember you fondly through your reruns and stand vigil at the window, candle lit, waiting for you to return home.

All Sorts of Things

I can't sleep. Go figure. And I need to stop watching romantic comedies.

Conspiracy theory time. The CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, whoever and all of them, had info on terrorist movements in the US. Sure, sometimes something gets through without us knowing. I think the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 might have been one such thing. But they KNEW about the 9/11 attacks. And what did they do? Didn't prevent it, that is for sure. And you know why? They wanted it to happen. The government needed something to distract the people of the US from the debacle that is the election process. I mean, the 2000 elections? I couldn't write comedy like that. So, even though I don't think we had a direct hand in the 9/11 attacks, I don't think we prevented it when we could have. Maybe they thought it wasn't going to be as bad as it was? Maybe they thought it was going to be worse? Who knows, but what I do think is that we needed a villain, we needed a distraction, and we needed an excuse to get oil. The end.

I think I'm going to become a drunkard. It's the only course left to me, I'm afraid. My life is a meaningless shell of an existence. I have no ambition to change it, really. It's easier to not try. And all my contemporaries are pairing off... Cousin Joshua got married. Cousin Shane might as well be. Cousin John Patrick got married. Misti is dating Will. Raymond has a wonderful girlfriend in Krystal and a baby. Steven's married, Irish and Priscilla are together and about to have babies. All my internet friends, new and old, are with someone in some way. So I'm gonna find me a wife in Lady Liquor. Somehow. I'm poor, is the problem. I could just start eating nothing but sandwiches and use the rest of the money for booze, but then you would take my debit card away, right mom?

I miss being 18/19. I was living in Missouri, malnourished, under 200 pounds, drunk, stoned, partying all night and hanging out at the Cheshire Cat, the gaming store, all day. Then Sallisaw sucked me back in, and I've lost the last 7 or so years of my life. Down the drain. Meaningless, productiveless. All I have to show for that time is debt, a PS3, a failed relationship with a schizophrenic, and 300+ pounds. I don't want to go to my high school reunions (going to Central's and Sallisaw's). I'm going to go, but I don't want to.

This summer is going to rock in the movie department. The festivities kick off this week with Thor! The god of thunder, as envisioned by Marvel Comics, has finally come to the big screen. Also this summer will be Captain America, all leading up to an Avengers movie. Other awesomeness: Priest, The Hangover 2, Winnie-the-Pooh (back off, Pooh Bear's my man), Cowboys & Aliens, a remake of Fright Night, another version of The Three Musketeers, Conan the Barbarian, The Thing (a prequel), A Muppets movie, The Rum Diary (Johnny Depp in another Hunter S. Thompson movie), and A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. That's just to name about half. Very exciting, can't wait!

I need a new computer. I wanna play all these new games, and my system can't run anything newer than '05! What a jip. I'm supposed to be a computer tech, and I'm stuck with something I wouldn't give a 5-year-old to play with. Oh well...

I'm off to try and beat this damn level of StarCraft that I've been stuck on forever now. Fingers crossed I don't get pissed and toss my PC to the storm.

Why the Death of Osama bin Laden is (Essentially) Meaningless

(Just a note before I start. NO ONE loves America more than me. I may be critical of nearly every process and institution put forth by this great country, but that is all the more reason I love it. No other nation in the world would allow us such freedoms that border on outright rebellion. Not only allow it, but pretty much encourage it. America is made for those of free minds and open hearts. I LOVE America, even if I disagree with it all the same.)

Let us start with a history lesson, if you will. September 11th, 2001 (Gregorian calender). Four flights are hijacked by members of a terrorist organisation. Two of these were flown into the World Trade towers in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and one, possibly in route to D.C. as well, was brought down in Pennsylvania when passengers and crew fought back against the terrorists attempting to hijack the plane. In total, nearly 3,000 people, mostly Americans, were killed during the attacks and the subsequent rescue attempts. This was the largest and most successful terrorist attack on American soil to date. Al-Qaeda, led by one Osama bin Laden, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Due to these terrorist attacks, then President of the United States of America, George W. Bush, declared a "War on Terror", which spear-headed a movement within the American government which lead to such things as the 'USA PATRIOT Act' (which allowed the government to, among other things, track private communique in search for terrorists), the illegal arrest and detention of over 1,000 people at the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities, and the invasions of Afghanistan and (illegal and undeclared war on) Iraq. (There are many conspiracy theories to do with these terrorist attacks and the following invasions of foreign countries and American rights, but I will leave that alone for now and possibly make a post on it later.)

And now, to the actual point of this particular post. Why the death of Osama bin Laden is (essentially) meaningless. Al-Qaeda was formed in 1988 by bin Laden and other Islamic leaders to bring about a change in the Islamic world, to reinstate Islamic states and sharia law, which many felt had started to fade away. In order to do this, they believed they needed to remove non-Muslim influences from the Muslim people. Bin Laden's group took this a step further, calling for a global Jihad, to remove all non-Muslim influences from all lands bin Laden considered Islamic territory. The biggest target, of course, was the United States. (Needless to say, this wasn't just a random pick from a hat, as America has a need to stick its nose in everywhere and everyone's business...). Many attacks on America by al-Qaeda have taken place, the biggest being the 9/11 attacks. Bin Laden became the FBI's No. 1 Most Wanted. Millions of dollars were put on his head. And then, on May 1st, 2011, a special task force approved by President Barack Obama infiltrated a compound in Pakistan, and there killed and secured the body of Osama bin Laden. Millions in the USA, and around the world, applauded and wept in joy that this mad man was now dead. But for what reason?

The death of bin Laden is not only a small and insignificant occurrence, but it may actually be a bad thing. First off, the death of bin Laden does not mean the death of terrorism. We, as Americans, fight not only al-Qaedean terrorism, but terrorism from many other sources, including many bred upon American soil by American citizens.

Second, the death of bin Laden does not mean the death of al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda proper has, in the last several years, has been lead more openly and publicly by bin Laden's lackeys than bin Laden himself (who has been in hiding because, surprise, we were hunting him), many becoming just as powerful or more-so than bin Laden himself. And al-Qaeda isn't even the major problem that al-Qaeda presents anymore. (Wait, what? Just read on...) Al-Qaeda, those actually pledged to bin Laden, is a rather small group compared to those that are linked to al-Qaeda, terrorist groups that have no official ties to al-Qaeda, but still follow the idea of global Jihad and perform acts of terrorism in al-Qaeda's name.

Third, the death of bin Laden may actually be a bad thing. How can the death of the leader of a global terrorist organisation be a bad thing? Well, we probably just made a martyr of him. Imagine if some foreign nation invaded the White House and killed the President. (Wait, bad example, as many people, Republicans and bigots especially, would probably cheer...) Think back to when JFK was shot? Did the US crumble and fall apart? Did we just shrug our shoulders and move on? No, we hunted down and arrested the man responsible. Now, imagine if JFK were some radical religious leader who hated Lee Harvey Oswald with a fervor and passion? They would have most likely started hunting down and executing everyone Oswald was related too and every loved. Starting to see what I mean here? We may have just inadvertently fueled their religious hatred and Jihad against us, which could mean a rise in anti-American terrorism, home and abroad.

So, in the end, the point I am making is this. We just killed an ant. An ant wearing a religious crown, but what concern are ant politics to humans? None. We may have killed some figurehead, but we ended up doing nothing significant (save giving a sense of justice to people who mistakenly blame one man for all their ills), except possibly making things worse.

Go Team America.