Thursday, March 9, 2023

Beyond Two Flags, a Deeper Question Lurks

 

Utah Senators love to boast of their conservative bona fides, but their recent behavior during the debate over SB31, the efforts to change Utah’s flag, raises legitimate concerns over their governing style. You see, they never had public support for this change, yet SB31 did end up passing, and at the moment, we are getting a new flag. Whereas the will of the people was ignored, efforts are underway to get a ballot referendum to stop it. So while those Senators responsible boast about how conservative they are, one tends to wonder… is it Conservative to ignore the Will of the People? Should that referendum even be necessary? For many, the answer should be no.

 

  At the heart of conservatism is a belief that government should be small, its role limited and defined, and that government ought not to engage in things that cost time and money that are not necessary. You see, many polls showed that as much as 70% of the public didn’t want this new flag. Countless videos exist of various public meetings where the subject is brought up, only to have few, or in some cases no one supporting this change, and yet, this was brute forced through despite the fact that our current flag is uncontroversial and even unoffensive. One senator was so determined to push this through he even torpedoed the effort to reform his last controversial bill, SB54, despite pledging support for the reforms. Worst of all, this Senator did so, while  blaming the Grass Roots activists advocating for preserving our traditional 100 year old flag, and reforms to SB54, at one point going so far as to say that one activist, “loves the old flag so much, he used it to burn down the SB54 repeal.”

 

   The behavior of some of these Senators during this debate notwithstanding, the fact that they ignored the public at large, and responded with hostility, flippancy, and mockery and then did this anyway raises concerns. Do we live in a Representative republic, or not? Should those elected to public office be representative of the will of the people or should they do what they feel is best regardless?

 

   The effort to repeal SB31 by ballot initiative is a means by which the State may resolve this question. 

A flag for all of us? Or the aristocracy?
It is the deeper issue at the heart of the matter. You see most people who are upset with this change to the State’s iconography are more upset by the flagrant disregard of public feedback during the process, and the flippant behavior of those pushing this change, knowing full well they did not have public support. One Senator even lamented to the press that, “Flag bills are hard,” yet had he the support of the public, it would not have been. The difficulty was born from the fact that he was, in fact, representing his own personal interests, rather than the will of the people. I have a hard time reconciling that behavior with the values and principles of conservatism which would generally require a government not take action against the will of the majority of the citizens they represent, or more importantly, not spend or grow government in frivolous ways on unnecessary things.

 

   On the surface, it seems as though there are those in a position of power who believe it is their obligation to use that power as they see fit. But fundamentally, if this is the government we have, then what we have is, at best, an aristocratic government, not a representative one. And surely one can surmise that if that is the case, then the path towards dictatorship is self-evident, and one cannot fault concerned citizens for a more raucous tone when they are blatantly being ignored by some, and ruthlessly mocked by others in power. Never mind the off-putting image of those with power punching down at those without. We hate it when Democrats do this to our grassroots activists, is it any better when a Republican does it to those same activists?

 

   For many, however, the job of a representative is to represent the will of the people, and that includes an obligation to stop unpopular legislation, something Republicans seem unable or unwilling to do of late, whether it’s SB31, SB54, or even expanding to the national level, Obamacare and Biden’s reckless spending packages. When those unpopular measures come from a Republican, like Trump’s Bump Stock ban, or Bush’s Patriot Act, the party is even more unwilling to truly represent the people they’re supposed to represent. Calls for a reduction in spending, a restoration of lost liberties, a repealing of Obamacare, a sunset of the Patriot Act, and an Audit of the Fed have fallen on deaf ears for decades now. To illustrate a point… I have been involved since 2008… and virtually all these problems remain. Add SB31 to a growing list of issues Republicans won’t do anything about… but will gladly fundraise on later.

 

Denver's flag and Utah's flag.
Utah's new flag will blend in, not stand out...

   That’s why this referendum is so important. We need to answer the fundamental question, is the job of a representative, within a Representative Republic, to represent or just do what they feel is right, at the moment? It is my opinion, and the opinion of my friends and fellow concerned citizens that it is the former, and that the only time a representative should go against the will of the people is in instances where the people are demanding things that violate the US Federal Constitution, or the Utah State Constitution. Otherwise, a Representative has the obligation to listen to his or her constituents and take those positions back with them to Capitol Hill.

 

  I hope you will agree with us and join the effort to answer this question by supporting the Referendum on SB31. We will need your signature, and we can use as many volunteers as we can get, but as you can see, it’s not about the flag. It’s about determining exactly how our leaders ought to be conducting themselves, the flag itself is merely ancillary to that larger contest of ideas.

Sunday, March 5, 2023

The Kamala Khan game, feat. The Avengers… a bit…


Some games were destined to fail. This was one of them. When Marvel and Square-Enix announced a partnership, visions of an MCGU (Marvel Comics Game Universe) danced in all our heads. Marvel Video Games have never been grade AAA and had a long history of being, well… bad, but the recent Spider-Man games had begun turning things around, alongside the Marvel Ultimate Alliance titles. There was hope, and aren’t superheroes all about inspiring hope? So what went wrong?

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Armed and Dangerous: The Sort of Comedy I Would Have Written In High School

Shooting games are a mixed bag. Cheap and generic, most of the time, it’s rare to find one that truly stands out the way Halo did, or… nope, Halo’s the only one that stands out as unique for me. But look, I’m a JRPG fan, running and gunning aren’t my thing. I’m pro 2A, but firearms are my wife’s thing. I like swords. But throw in some ridiculous, deliberately bad writing, a story that mocks everything and everyone mercilessly and doesn’t apologize or care at all if you’re offended? I’m so there!!!

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Ico, I should have played this long ago…

Once in a while, you find a game the critics and players alike, love. Ico was that game eons ago. Originally released on the PS2, I bought it then and never got around to it. Then it got a 3D to remaster on PS3, and I bought it again because I have a 3D TV and I actually enjoy the feature… but I never got around to it. These days, with the economy in shambles, and the future uncertain, my wife has asked me to beat three backlog games for every one new game I buy. I cherish my wife, and so I have been honoring this request. Thankfully she is flexible enough to let me buy Re-releases, remakes, and remasters and count them. Sadly, this game has not been Re-released since its PS3 remaster. I wish it had.

Saturday, January 21, 2023

When is it okay to plant your flag? Steven Crowder State of the Conservative movement

There’s a battle going on between people you would think would be allies, even friends, and it is raging across the Internet like a California wildfire. Not too long ago, Conservative pundit and comedian, Steven Crowder, shocked us all by announcing he was leaving his successful gig at The Blaze. From what Crowder himself had said, it seems as though renewal negotiations didn’t go the way he had hoped. I surmise that Crowder wanted more money because he wants to break from YouTube and was looking for the funds he believes are needed to go YouTube-less. What it seems he was told is that, while he is a massive draw, he does not bring in the size of audience that would justify the numbers he was asking for… and so he opted not to renew his contract.

Friday, January 20, 2023

The Evil Within, and the BS Without

 Imagine you’re a police officer. Your wife and daughter have been lost to you, and your efforts to solve the case have been stonewalled. You’re already in a pretty bad mood. Then you have to go to some mental hospital to respond to a crisis. When you arrive, you and your partners quickly discover the scene of a massacre. You quickly find a survivor, a pale patient, and the doctor who is trying to help calm him down. But then your attention is drawn to a nearby security console where you witness a hooded man take out some of your fellow officers with supernatural ease. Then he appears behind you and you are out like a light.

Saturday, July 30, 2022

Rise of the Tiger Chapter San (3)

Rise of the Tiger, Chapter 3, by Daniel Moir (Danier Mai De Nu) Copyright 2022. This sample is a work in progress and may not represent the final product. 


Chapter 3:

   Hung Tsi Kwan stirred as rapping at the gate which kept the wagon closed up got louder. He hadn’t slept much on this trip, and the last thing he wanted was to wake up right now. He had been dreaming of sitting under his favorite tea leaf tree with Liu Yingchun, his beautiful betrothed. He was running his fingers through her silky raven hair when the knocking got too loud to ignore. He snapped upright. “What?” He called. Though his heart burned like white-hot fire, his tone was bereft of emotion. He knew he had to mind his manners, especially since the wagon had stopped, and he knew that this likely meant that he had arrived at his destination. The gate to the wagon opened, Kwan winced as the morning light hit his eyes causing his pupils to immediately constrict. He tried to block the light by tucking his eyes into his elbow.

   “We’re here, Kwan,” the voice of the old man sounded. “I need your help to get set up. Come along.”

   Kwan wiped the sleep from his eyes, then forced his way out of the wagon before realizing he was not wearing his shirt. He clasped the stripe-shaped burn scars on his left arm, then turned back toward the wagon and reached for the shirt he had discarded before going to sleep. He threw the long sleeve clothing on, then turned toward the old man. “Okay, I am ready Liu Huo Hou. Let’s make some money.”

   The teenage Hung Tsi Kwan worked alongside his guardian, the elderly Liu Huo Hou, to open up the wagon, and set up their traveling tea shop. Thousands of different varieties of leaves and flavors filled a large shelf which swung out from the wagon and settled on the ground. Kwan was tall, lean, and dark. Although his birth family had been wealthy, he was never the sort to let the Hung family employees do all the work for him. He worked outside, he was extraordinarily fit. His white, long-sleeved shirt fit very loose against his frame, and his black pants fit snuggly around his waist, but were otherwise fairly loose as well, allowing his movement to flow like water. He was able to work quickly while his guardian, however, was severely aged and overweight. Huo Hou focused on getting the signs set up to lure in the farmers who they had hoped would buy from them today.  He wore a blue Magua and a black cap that covered the balding head, though he had far too little hair to sport the queue, as young Kwan did. The two worked well together, as though they knew which cog they were in a machine, and how each of their roles would impact the other. Within a few minutes, the wagon had been transformed into a small tea stand, ready to serve its products to the farmers who would normally not have access to goods such as this.

   Huo Hou took a step back and placed his hands on his hip as he inspected their stand. “One day my boy, we will own several wagons that can go all over China selling the Hung family tea to places that have been out of reach. The kind of money we will make by expanding beyond Quanzhou will be…”

   Kwan positioned himself next to the old man, “… what?”

   The old man smiled and slapped the young man on the shoulder, “More than you can imagine, that’s for sure!” He laughed hard, “we’ll be so rich the Manchu could never take it all. Your parents will be proud of you.”

   “Thank you, sir.”

   “And my Granddaughter can marry you never having to worry about finances.” He paused and let out a deep breath, then turned towards Kwan. “There’s just one thing,” the smile on his face vanished. “No matter what, do not let people know who you really are. While we’re here, you will go by Jyu.”

   Kwan head snapped backward, then he turned to face his guardian. “Why?”

   “This,” Huo Hou replied, while gesturing to the farmlands before them, “is the home of the famous Leung Bok-Chau, and his wife, Yim Wing Chun.”

   “Really?” Kwan’s eyes widened in delight. “Wing Chun?”

   “Yes,“ said the other, “they are members of the Red Lotus Society, and the Heaven and Earth Society… Hung men. If they know who you are, they will try to rope you into their war against the Manchus. That would put you in serious danger, and I wouldn’t be able to keep my promise to your father.”

   The young man nodded.

   “They would want you because you are a descendant of Emperor Chongzhen, the last Ming Emperor.”

   Kwan shook his head, “So they say. Yet my father served in the Manchu government, and always told me to obey the law. Why wouldn’t he have told me if we were meant to be more than the tea merchants we’ve always been?”

   Huo Hou shrugged, “Who can say? The Ming Dynasty fell a long time ago. Personally, I think we tend to romanticize the past when we ought to look to the future.” He smiled brightly again. “One day the Han will rule China again, but until then, we may as well make loads and loads of cash.”

   Kwan smiled and began moving towards the display they had set up in front of the wagon. There were only four shelves, but it had a large number of slots for the various flavors of tea they had brought with them. The young man stepped around the wagon to the back and gripped a latch on the bed, lifting up a wide, green board and opening a compartment where they kept their merchandise. The young man began fishing through the various bags filled with ground tea. “Why they think I would want to lead a rebellion is beyond me.” He lifted several bags and moved back toward the display. They were smaller bags, several days’ worth in each one. He began organizing them on the shelf while his guardian supervised him.

   “The Manchu fear your claim to the throne. The Hung Men want you to lead them. In either case, you would become involved with the rebellion, and that is something that your father simply couldn’t tolerate if he were…” Huo Hou frowned. His brow furrowed slightly before relaxing. The old man smiled brightly again and slapped young Kwan on the back, “let’s not worry so much about the past. Securing a rich and bright future for you is the best way to honor your father’s memory.”

   Kwan couldn’t hold back his smile. He loved his father, and he was taken from him far, far too early. Still, Ting Man Hung, was already a wealthy tea merchant, but the government confiscated much of the family wealth when his father was accused of being the criminal, the Red Dragon. The evidence against his father had not been scant. Much to his family’s dismay, when their home was raided, the uniform, the broadsword, and a collection of confiscated flying guillotines had been enough to cement the accusations. Kwan now lost his smile, as he remembered his father screaming for his wife as her throat was slit right in front of them. He closed his eyes as his recollection turned red, and he remembered leaping toward one of the guards with his hands clawed as his father had taught him. Then he felt a shaking at his shoulder. He opened his eyes and turned his head towards his guardian.

   “Are you okay, boy?” Huo Hou asked.

   Kwan shifted his gaze towards the necklace he wore around his neck. It was leather and held a piece of jade with the Hung family emblem carved delicately into its surface so that the diamond shape and the characters within were raised. The characters simply read, Hung Family. It was the last gift his father had given him before he was taken away. Kwan frowned, pushing the memories to the back of his mind as he heard the distant voice of his father screaming, once more, for his mother. But it was in the past now, and there was nothing that could be done now, but to keep moving forward. To be as a stone, rolling down the hill, as his father would say, never looking back, and never allowing anything to get in his way. He closed his eyes, then tucked the jade medallion under his shirt. “Okay,” he said to his guardian, “I am ready.”

   Huo Hou let out a rich belly laugh, “then let’s get going!” He took a deep breath, but then clutched the left side of his chest. He paused and rubbed his left pectoral gently.

   “You okay?” Kwan asked as he began stocking the shelf with their product.

   “I’m fine,” The old man laughed. “Just gassy, I am old, after all.”

   “I’ll be sure not to stand downwind.”

   The two laughed as their first customer approached. She was a tall, lean woman, dressed in a blue top, and loose-fitting matching pants, clothing more like what one would expect a man to wear. Her gate was narrow, her form willowy, and she moved like flowing water. Graceful, delicate. Yet her face was darkened by exposure to the sun. Her lips were hardened, her gaze unbreaking. Her hair was not tied up the way that women were supposed to, but rather pulled back into an unbraided ponytail. Atop her hair, she wore a simple white-colored headband with the knot tied below her ears, rather than behind them. It kept her sweat from her eyes, and she was very sweaty. She approached Kwan’s guardian, then covered her right fist with her left palm. “Liu Huo Hou,” She said, her voice surprisingly deep for a woman, “I see you received our invitation. Thank you for coming.”

   Huo Hou returned the bow, “Shifu Yim Wing Chun, I am honored to serve.”

   Kwan’s eyes widened as his gaze snapped back to the woman before them. This was the legendary Yim Wing Chun? Somehow the young Hung Tsi Kwan had always envisioned a more imposing form for someone who was so legendary a Ming Patriot, and anti-Manchu rebel. He had thought she’d be ten feet tall, so muscular she would be indistinguishable from a man, so powerful her gaze alone would cause Manchu soldiers and bandits to melt into puddles of jelly she would then feed to the dogs. Yet the real woman before him was clearly very feminine. Her delicate figure was clouded only by the loose-fitting men’s clothing she wore, likely because it was easier to work the farm dressed this way, than if she had adorned more traditional women’s attire. Her hardened face was only due to the intense labor she engaged in, which belied a softness to her that almost worked in contradiction to her appearance. She was at one, soft as thread, and hard as iron. She was beautiful, but not someone Kwan would want angry at him.

   Yim Wing Chun looked the young man over, then bowed slightly, without her hand in prayer position, “Good morning,” she offered. Kwan returned her greeting but before he could get her order she turned to his guardian. “Is this him?”

   Huo Hou’s face soured. “Wing Chun,” his voice was low and measured, “I told you I promised the father we would not involve him. You have to understand, the Hung Family is being watched very closely…”

   “He looks like Hung Ting Man, is this his son or not?” She pushed. There was a long silence as the three exchanged glances, each not knowing how to answer the question, or be satisfied with any answer that might be given.

   “I’m called Jyu,” Kwan lied, “We have all kinds of flavors of tea for you to sample. What would you like?”

   Wing Chun nodded, “very well,” she placed her index finger on her chin and studied the stock the two tea merchants had brought.

   “We have plenty of Green and red and…” Kwan started his sales pitch, but the old man clutched his right breast again and groaned.

   Yim Wing Chun rushed to Huo Hou’s side and caught him as he started to fall, leaning him against the wagon, and guiding him slowly to the ground, resting his back against the wheel. The horses began to whinny as if they sensed something was wrong, Wing Chun gestured for the young man to calm them down, but several of the bean farmers that were to be their customers approached him and started to list off their orders. Kwan felt his own heart started to race, the horses had been hitched to a post, but that post was starting to shake as if it would not hold, if the animals were not calmed. Meanwhile, his guardian was losing consciousness, and their host was now shouting for help.

   Several of the customers rushed to Yim Wing Chun’s side, reaching for Huo Hou and lifting him off the ground. As they began to carry the old man away, Kwan saw that his eyes had rolled to the back of his head, and saliva was running from his mouth. He heard a gurgling from his guardian’s throat, and then it seemed that most of the sound around him became muted. He may have heard orders for radix astragali, or maybe something like notoginseng… he had ginseng root, they used it in their teas, so he grabbed that from the wagon, and placed his hand on his bay-colored Datong mare, Hua Nu, calming her. Once she calmed down, Huo Hou mare calmed in turn, though Kwan was not sure he was going to be able to calm himself. He let out a deep breath, then turned towards Wing Chun and her helpers and followed after them.