Why Is the Economy Failing?

I want to start off by saying that I'm sorry I haven't posted in a few days. Been busy. I'll try to keep it at least one post a day.

Does anybody know exactly why the economy is falling apart at the seams? The long answer is that everybody has a different theory. Every news station will tell you something different. Every politician will spread the blame around. Obama blames the car companies, car companies blame consumers, consumers don't know who to blame. The short answer is no. Nobody knows what the hell is actually happening. Theories will fly, blame will spread, and our leader will continue to be on late-night television.

I have a theory. It all has to do with the snowball effect - a snowball rolling down a snowy hill will continue to gain size and speed as it goes. The problem started with the insanely high price of oil (and in turn, gasoline) a few years back. People simply couldn't afford to drive and the auto-makers suffered. The auto industry is a critical part of the American economy. When it suffers, everything suffers. You now see that the snowball is growing larger. Millions of hard-working people lost their jobs in the failing economy and millions of others struggled just to keep their wallets afloat and their families fed. The snowball keeps rolling and picks up all aspects of American consumerism in the process. Alas, we have a recession.

People now are asking what can be done to bring our wounded economy back to its former glory. First, we end the costly war in the Middle-East that's slowly draining our cash and our lives. Secondly, bailouts that my children will end up paying for must stop. If AIG gets one and Chrysler gets one, why can't the closed-down corner store up my street (a victim of the recession) get one? Our president can't pick and choose. It's all or nothing. Thirdly, the American people need to stop buying things that they can't afford. It only hurts everybody else to buy a $300,000 house when you only have $50,000 to spend.

Then again, what do I know.... or anyone for that matter?

So there you have it. Our economy is taking a nose-dive because of war, wasteful spending, and a killer snowball.

Zombies

Where can I possibly start with zombies? They have such a storied history in folklore, film, literature, video games, comics, and even music. Most people credit George Romero with popularizing zombies with his ground-breaking vision of the "Living Dead". He is without a doubt the man responsible for starting the trend that has become a multi-billion (trillion?) dollar concept: surviving the zombie apocalypse. A group of people banding together to fight impossible-odds in an impossible situation. I've been flamed for this in the past, but I truly feel that Zack Snyder's 2004 remake of "Dawn of the Dead" best conveys the situation of fighting the undead. It all comes down to personal preference.

Again, we see the word diversity come into play. Zombies - like vampires - have such a storied history throughout the generations that they've been portrayed. The original concept of a zombie was that a Voodoo priest could bring a man back to life with no soul or will of his own (just like Ann Coulter). George Romero took this story and gave it a firm kick to the guts. In the original "Night of the Living Dead", radiation from a destroyed space probe brought the dead back to life and gave them a hunger for brains and the ability to pass on the zombification through their bites.

The zombie was truly given a facelift in the 2002 masterpiece "28 Days Later". The film take the zombie horde to a new locale: London. What could be better than seeing a grand city like London empty of anything but the mobs of infected? The undead were truly revisioned in this film. These killers weren't the living dead. They technically weren't even zombies at all (but close enough to earn the film a paragraph), rather diseased citizens infected with the "rage". To put it clearly, rage is like rabies.... on steroids. The movie was followed up with an equally impressive sequel, "28 Weeks Later". It can be said that this film inspired the cinematic return to zombies. The "Dawn of the Dead" remake followed in 2004 and George Romero made a return to his films with "Land of the Dead" and "Diary of the Dead". Zombies were only further popularized by the recent video game hit "Left 4 Dead"; a game which I encourage gamers who haven't already played (why wouldn't they have) to play.

In closing, zombies own. I've been working on my own plans for a zombie mini-series, but that's a whole other blog post. Be sure to vote in my poll: Zombies or Vampires?

Vampires

I have two favorite things. Vampires and Zombies. Why? I'll explain.

Vampires are just plain cool. There is no denying that. Whether it's the classic vampires like Count Dracula or the more modern versions like the ones in 30 Days of Night, a vampire is the textbook definition of a scary thing that you can't stop watching; the perfect horror movie character. Another thing that astounds me are how diverse they are. You have classy vampires (Dracula), savage vampires (30 Days of Night), teenage vampires (The Lost Boys), sexy vampires (Bloodrayne - the game, not the craptastic movie), the list goes on.

Edward Cullen is not a vampire. I'm prepared to defend that on any point. Edward Cullen was created by an author who admits that she has no real knowledge of vampires in any degree. Vampires don't go all "sparkly-glowy" when they step out into the light. They can't read minds either, but that's enough of my mini-rant.

Vampires = awesome
Edward Cullen = not-so-awesome

Next Blog: Zombies

Guitar Hero: Metallica

Neversoft (always hard) has done it again. Guitar Hero: Metallica is their latest in games that feature notes timed to colored circles. I didn't buy it - and don't plan on buying it - for two reasons. A. I'm saving up my money. B. I'm not a huge fan of Metallica. Sure, their old stuff is great. The sad thing is that their new stuff is utter poop. In all fairness, I haven't listened to Death Magnetic so I can't judge that just yet. I have heard from fairly reliable sources that it sucks though.

I've been watching a few Youtube videos and the setlist that I've seen looks pretty solid. Tuesdays Gone by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Turn the Page from Bob Seger. It seems workable. I'm just not looking forward to some 8-year-old who seemingly gets 100% on every single song post videos or morons edit some clips to make it seem like they nailed Master of Puppets. It all comes down to your appreciation of Metallica.

I'd much rather buy this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPYnqWqZtNw

Yeah, it's a fake.

Rebels

I don't know how I forgot to mention this. I'm part of a great forum called Rebels. It's an RP forum built around Star Wars with a great, active community. Even if you're not into that, there are plenty of other things that you can do there. There is a ton of non-Star Wars stuff on there that you can do. My name there is Sirak Sazen. At least check it out if you have the time. It's worth the time.

http://rebels.myfreeforum.org/

New Blog

Firstly, I'd like to say thank you for actually checking out this blog.



Secondly, I'd like to ask how you actually found it.

I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Jacob. Many others in the shadows of the internet will know me as Sirak. I enjoy writing. It's just unfortunate how darn slow I am at doing it. I work primarily in fanfiction, working in somebody else's universe. I've attempted a few times to create my own. I just don't have the power in me to create my own Middle-Earth or Galaxy. Maybe someday.

The purpose of this Blogspot account (they call it Blogger now?) is more or less to present to you some of my views on different things or just kinda vent. I'd also like to present some of my work and keep you up to date on what I'm doing (like you actually care).

That's it for now. More to come.