just among biggots and republicans ! Oh wait they are the same thing arn't they ?
On Dec 20, 6:51 am, Travis <[email protected]> wrote: > We need a new video game titled "Killing Muzzies For fun and Profit." It > would be an instant hit. > > On Sat, Dec 20, 2008 at 4:54 AM, Florida Cracker 532 < > > > > > > [email protected]> wrote: > > > Kids Learn That Killing Is Fun at the Army's Lethal New Theme Park > >http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/113079/ > > The Army's new recruitment tool lets high-tech video game centers > > desensitize, condition, train and even enlist America's > > youth. > > The Army Experience Center, located in the Franklin Mills Mall just > > north of Philadelphia, bills itself as a "state-of-the-art > > educational > > facility that uses interactive simulations and online learning > > programs to educate visitors about the many careers, training and > > educational opportunities available in the Army." > > > Nonsense. The only thing they're teaching here is how to blow shit > > up. > > If it's state-of-the-art anything, it's state-of-the-art adolescent > > boys' wet dreams. > > > "Too slow! Do it again!" yells the voice in my earphones as a new > > sequence of armed figures in camouflage pop up in front of me. I -- > > the player -- am attached to the foreshortened barrel of an M-16 -- > > and a little embarrassed by that. It's not my thing, really. And I > > wasn't expecting the game to involve having to tolerate some > > dickhead's personal opinion about my marksmanship. > > > But I didn't come here to get yelled at or to play games. I came > > because I was curious about the Army's latest marketing strategy. For > > $12 million, this place has been dressed to kill: 15,000 square feet > > (about three basketball courts) done up in brushed steel, glass and > > low-light glam. But what this place is really about is the bling: > > strings of networked Xbox 360 pods and individual gaming stations. > > And > > the crown jewels: a UH-60 Black Hawk, an AH-64 Apache and a Humvee. > > Simulators. And it's all entirely free. > > > "Potential recruits are afforded a unique opportunity to learn what > > it > > means to be the best-led, best-trained and best-equipped Army in the > > world by allowing them to virtually experience multiple aspects of > > the > > Army," says Pete Geren, Secretary of the Army. > > > Sir, give me a break, sir! You mean the "Career Navigators," those > > fancy touch-screen installations where you can see all the different > > jobs the Army can train you for? No one went near them all day. > > Most > > of these kids can't reach them, anyway. It's the shiny toys and > > virtual adrenaline rush that brings them in. > > > Behind a glass wall, there are 40 more terminals facing a wall of > > plasma screens: the Tactical Operations Center, where local educators > > (principals, superintendents, school counselors and teachers) are > > given an earful about how misunderstood the military is. > > > "Accurate information about the military experience is often drowned > > out, or the information that does get through projects mixed messages > > or inaccuracies," Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakly recently complained to > > the Northeast Times. "The Army Experience Center provides hands-on, > > virtual-reality experiences and simulations for young men and women, > > their parents and others to see, touch and learn firsthand what it > > means to be in the Army." > > > There are no mixed messages at the AEC: being in the Army is about > > getting to play with boy toys, 24/7. Freakly's tidy version of "what > > it means to be in the Army" fails to mention what can happen if your > > Humvee hits an IED, or how it might feel to be splattered with your > > best friend's insides. Or your own. > > > As I considered that grim thought, there's a tap on my shoulder. It's > > my turn -- my Black Hawk awaits. > > > Our orders are to protect a convoy as it moves through enemy > > territory. The video kicks in with a roar of rotors; the chopper > > lurches and bucks as it turns to follow the trucks on the ground -- > > the wind, the vibrations, the report of my M-4 and the staccato of > > incoming rounds make it hard to hear the screamed alerts coming over > > the intercom: "Enemy on the right!" "Look out, RPGs straight ahead!" > > > Bad guys are shooting at me from the alleys, the shadows, the > > rooftops, but I am wasting them. One after another, they get caught > > in > > my crosshairs and -- bam! -- their bodies lift and sprawl in > > haphazard > > death. We're slammed by an IED and momentarily engulfed in flame. My > > hand is getting numb from the rifle recoil, but my lizard brain has > > taken over. > > > Too soon, we emerge from the bedlam and an inspirationally oversized > > American flag indicates that we have successfully achieved our > > destination -- a field hospital where rows of medics attend to > > ghastly > > luminous, very slightly breathing shapes, the bloodless bodies of the > > cyber-wounded. > > > 123Next page » > > -- > *~@):~{>- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
