On Genocide

Genocide, a term coined by a Polish-Jewish legal scholar, Raphael Lemkin. Quite fascinating that less than a century ago, the mass extermination of a certain race, religious or ethnic group wasn’t considered a crime, nor did it violate any international laws or human rights. Not until CPPCG (Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide) was held in December 9, 1948 did the ‘term’ genocide gained its malevolence. CPPCG eventually drafted the laws against such atrocity on January 12, 1951, more than two years after the first convention.

Genocide has to be the most destructive crime humans are capable of. It encompasses rape, torture, mutilation, murder, suppression, and all types of repugnant and morbid acts executed on a massive scale.

Why then is there such reluctance from government bodies to acknowledge and address this burgeoning issue? By far, it has been ignored and sidelined by members of the UN and its respective members. The UN Security Council has consistently disagreed on the necessity to quickly oppose and act against it when it occurs.


CNN recently ran an investigative report on the subject matter -- recalling all the major genocides that occurred throughout the last century. One observation reverberates time and time again, the international community’s reluctance to intervene. Such apathy is highly questionable and morbidly intriguing. Why do governments shun such atrocities and disregard human life so recklessly?

With Genocide, one’s survival depend on his/her race, nationality, and ethnicity. Never mind that by default you have the right to live. Never mind that you have the right to be free from fear and oppression. Genocide is the complete dismissal and disregard of our fundamental characteristic as human beings to empathize.


The inaction of government bodies further fuels conspiracies of an ominous shadow government conducting a silent extermination of ‘useless eaters’.

Preposterous indeed, however, matched with the current facts and behavior of the UN and its major members the past half-century, the argument of a global conspiracy to rid of ‘useless’ homosapiens sounds more plausible as each new genocide bears its spiteful façade.

Review: Halo Wars

Although Halo Wars has had a mixed reaction from critics due to its simplistic and casual gameplay, its approach to RTS is a refreshing perspective to an aging genre. And in the end, it might just spur a new breed of enthusiasts.

Real Time Strategy games’ disposition in the industry has generally been stuck on the annals of geekiness and the hardcore. Hardly can you find an RTS in the hands of a console gamer as the genre has relatively been home to the PC where a mouse and a keyboard offer the flexibility and free-reign movement console gamers sorely lack.


Revered RTS franchises the likes of Red Alert, Age of Empires, Starcraft, and Warcraft have all sold millions of copies. And some have even spawned spin-offs that later on became living and breathing cash cows (World of Warcraft). Just recently have we seen ported PC RTS games grace the current gen of consoles, Command & Conquer and Battlefield Middle Earth 2 have both seen the light of day on the 360 and PS3. Fairly good reviews, however, the cry for a more streamlined and simplified control scheme intensified… until, Halo Wars.


Halo Wars’ control scheme is quite revolutionary. The now defunct Ensemble Studios has done an exquisite job with how the game smoothly throws you into the heart of battle. The delicate approach to details is likewise a worthy mention. As a big fan of Halo, to witness the fluidity and precise depiction of vehicle stalwarts makes me drop a tear or two. Amazing on how faithful Ensemble was with regard to the nose-bleed accuracy of animations, audio, and aesthetics of the Halo universe which Bungie so originally and passionately conceived.


Furthermore, the cinematic cut scenes are just stunning, incredibly entertaining, and epic in nature. The visual orgasm is unequivocal, it’s that good (kudos to Blur Studio).

You’d be hard pressed not to appreciate the quality and production value this title offers. Halo Wars easily outshines any other console RTS before it and will serve as a benchmark for future titles in the genre. If you have an unflinching fascination of the Halo universe, invested hours reading the novels, and playing through the FPS trilogy, then this magnum opus deserves an outright purchase.

Red All Over

Is Microsoft serious? A ‘Red’ Xbox 360 for their so-called Resident Evil 5 Bundle. Mockingly -- either intentionally or not -- they’ve matched the color that broke the hearts of millions.

Note that this baby uses the same innards of a ‘Jasper’ unit which masses proclaim is the second coming -- it's believed that it completely alleviates the whole heat sink issue plaguing majority of 360 owners. Gut wrenched logic tells me a youtube vid featuring an RE5 360 with 3 red lights will randomly sprout – knowing what an EPIC FAIL the 360 hardware is.

Tech Feature: Mac's Mini

Finally, a rumored pic of the new mac mini in the wild, an update of Apple's entry desktop has long been overdue. Since most of Apple's revenues last year came from their Macbook line, they seem to be in no hurry to 'officially' revamp their diminutive hardware... yet.

The alleged redesigned mini intriguingly has a multitude of USB ports, 5 to be exact. Ports for Mini Display, Mini DVI, and the coveted FireWire 800 seem to be likewise existent. It also runs at a cool 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo architecture with a 3MB L2 cache and a standard RAM of 2GB DDR3 at 1066MHz.

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Colors of Green and Red

My 360 suddenly jumped ship recently to the land of 3RL and hardware treachery. The screen occasionally froze every 10mins of gameplay and displayed checkered colors of green and red – signs of pre-3RL. Recently had the unit fixed for the e74 and now the more common and mass loving hardware issue has finally blessed me.

Intriguing that consumers choose to even spend their cash for such an inferior system – hardware wise, guess it’s a testament to how strong and comprehensive the games 360 offers. I for one am still drawn to the system due to the upcoming games for ’09 (albeit a so far weaker one compared to the previous years) – the software lineup clearly trumps any hardware issues.

Granted, Sony does offer more of a high caliber lineup versus Microsoft’s, but we’re barely through the first quarter, certainly MS has something under its sleeves.

Here’s hoping for my 360’s revival and a more promising lineup for ’09.