I tried. then i tried again. and again. i gave it a second and third chance. i gave it more of a chance to prove itself to me than anything else on this planet. and finally, im done. flat out, fucking finished. never again will an xbox darken my entertainment center.

the first clue should have been its initial release. when i ran out and bought one (not immediately on release day, but shortly thereafter)… for the first two months, i spent more time waiting on warranty issues, than actually playing the damned thing. that should have been clue 1.

clue 2 came in the form of a horrendous screeching sound one evening while playing cod2. as i sat there, the screen flickered, the xbox made a sound, and it all came to a screeching halt. i walked over, hit the power button and it rebooted without a problem. so i go back into my game… but it wont load. i eject the tray and look down, and there is a nice gash the size of the grand canyon in the disc. that should have been clue 2.

now, peter moore (exec at microsoft) wants to sit back and tell me that they are fixing the problem. no recall. just, whenever yours breaks, they’ll fix it. you know what i say? fuck you. fuck you right in the ass with a chainsaw. after the latest red ring of death, i was done. thats it. sold. i went through 5 of these piles of shit. im not doing it anymore.

i had a small clash of opinions this morning at the gas station on the way to work. normally, i will do everything in my power to jump right into it, and escalate it to a point that the other person is ready to pull a gun and kill me… but, this guy was extremely elderly and i was tired… so i let it go.

as i was standing behind him in line… i caught about half of his conversation.. one line stuck in my head though as i have heard it over and over again. “july 4th is a time of celebrating our country, its independence, and remembering those soldiers that have died for our country. we still have soldiers in a war… and we cant forget them.”

ok… sure. i agree with some of that. but one part catches me the wrong way. “remembering those soldiers that died for our country”

who in iraq has died for our country? lets make a distinction… the soldiers that died in ww2…. those soldiers died for our country. we were attacked by another country… they fought to defend us all, and gave their lives for it.

with this current war… our soldiers arent dying for us. they are dying for our government. iraq did not attack us. it was the decision of this government to pre-emptively attack them. they arent dying to protect any of us, from anything. they are dying because a group of men in office think they should be there fighting for someone else. if anything… they are dying for iraq.

it doesnt make these men any less honorable… or their loss worth less. but it hardly strikes the patriotic display of emotion when when saying “remember the men that died for iraqi freedom” ………does it?

our country is fucked up. and fucked up badly. this july 4th… remember the true meaning of what it means to be a patriot… stand up… and do something to help fix this shit. even if its just a letter to your congressman… protesting… planned marches… whatever. just decide to DO SOMETHING so this country doesnt slip back into the oppressing state that our forefathers fought so hard to free us from. this country is halfway there now. lets make sure it doesnt get any closer.