Nooree

I love our soldiers.  I send a care package to one of our soldiers every month.  I want them to come home from Iraq and Afghanistan as soon as their missions are complete.

Suicides in the Army are a problem.  But what troubles me is that the media covers Army suicides with no sense of context.  CNN correctly reports that this year marked the highest number of army suicides.  I don't dispute the numbers.  But what needs to be said is that 140 active-duty soldiers killed themselves so far this year, out of ~1,100,000 soldiers in the US Army.  140 soldiers committed suicide last year.  That is 0.01%.

In 2006, 33,300 Americans committed suicide.  That's out of around 285,000,000.  So that comes out to 0.01%.

Assuming the rate of suicides in the US Army continues for the remainder of this year, there will be around 165 suicides this year.  That's 0.015%.  Given the estimated numbers being used here, that difference is not statistically significant.

The US Army is smaller than it was during the Cold War, so the fact that 2009 marks the highest number of Army suicides is of concern.  But the increase in suicide rates is not limited to the Army.  The national suicide rate has been on the rise in recent years, and some evidence suggests that the worldwide rate is on the rise as well.

I don't discount the reality that this two-front war is heavily stressing our soldiers.  It cannot be easy to serve in a combat theatre for long stretches away from families and friends.  But nowhere does the CNN articles put the rise in Army suicides in context.  Being a soldier, particularly in wartime, cannot be easy, physically or mentally.  But Army suicides, while record-setting, are actually in line with civilian suicide figures.

Nooree

Our team just made a major free agent acquisition for Halo purposes.

Here is the new team breakdown, using movie analogies:

Vassili Zaitsev: Div - he can kill you from far away.  He dislikes Germany.

The Transporter: Dantes Assassin - he will get you there and get out and kill people, often with guile and melee.

Capt. Jack Aubrey: ZeroCool - he will relentlessly pursue the objective, despite mounting death totals.

River Tam: Sab0tron - doesn't seem like she's dangerous, until she goes bat-crazy and massacres everyone. 

Peregin Took: The Low Price Leader! - he means well... but man...

Maximus Decimus Meridius: nooree5 - he does well in battle, until he's brutally betrayed by Kalishman, umm, I mean Commodus.

What kind of team member will Z be?  Here are a few suggestions.

Or maybe...

Or maybe...

Anyway, who is not excited about this!

Nooree

That kid can ball!  

 55 points, 7 treys, and 1 million broken hearted NY Knicks fans, who realize that now that he (and not Chris Duhon) could be their starting point guard.

Nooree

Damn it all.  If you need me, I'll be watching JJ Redick highlights.

Nooree

My brother (and, to a lesser extent, I) love scoring point guards.  Recent NBA history has several notable scoring point guards.  My brother once wrote an academic paper on the subject of scoring point guards.

We're ignoring Steve Nash and Chris Paul, who can both score in bunches, but also lead the league in assists.  They are just great point guard, but not scoring point guards.  

Sticking with scoring points, Sam Cassell (aka alien-head) is (was) one of them.  For evidence of this extra-terristerial origin, one need only look at his head.  That guy was a baller, but undoubtedly from outer space.

Another is Steph Marbury, the producer of my beloved $15 Starbury balling shoes and eater of Vaseline.  Undoubtedly another strange character, though my brother is always quick to point out, a 20 point 8 dime guy given the opportunity.

Of course, my favorite NBA player, Tony Parker Longoria, is a scoring point guard.  I profiled him quite recently, so we'll just move on from there.

As for the young guys, you could look at Tyreke Evans, who I think will win rookie of the year, but in my opinion is more D-Wade than a point guard.  Curry probably is more of a Monte Ellis than a point guard (which is part of the reason that backcourt can't work). 

When healthy, the best scoring point guard in the NBA is probably Agent Zero, Gilbert Arenas, of the Washington Wizards (on an off-topic note, I will probably be forced to adopt the Wizards as my team upon my move to DC, so hopefully they stop stockpiling injury prone guys).  He's a career 22 ppg scorer, and between 05-07, he averaged 202 treys each year.  So yeah, he can really score the ball.  And he's a point guard.  A SCORING POINT GUARD!  The real problem is that he's played like 15 games in the two years prior to this one.  He's back now, scoring well (24 ppg) but he's obviously not quite on top of his game (4.8 turnovers per).  He's at about 75%, I think.

Anywho, the Wizards had a very high pick in the '09 NBA draft, a pick with which they could have had Ricky Rubio or Brandon Jennings or Steph Curry or whatever.  Instead, they traded it to Minnesota for Mike Miller and Randy Foye, who look really nice in their new jerseys.

Anyway, I guess the idea was take some veterans on and try to win now.  I wasn't that excited about this move for them, but hey, surely Flip Saunders can make something out of this roster:

• PG: Arenas
• SG: Miller
• SF: Caron Butler
• PF: Antawn Jamison
• C: Brendan Haywood
• Bench: Foye, Andray Blatche, some guy from Argentina, that guard from USC, DeShawn Stevenson's beard, and Javale McGee

Of course, Flip Saunders should have known that this wasn't going to last.  Jamison is hurt, Miller is hurt, Foye is hurt, and Stevenson sucks. Here's their actual line-up, as of Tuesday.

• PG: Arenas
• SG: Stevenson
• SF: Butler
• PF: Blatch
• C: Haywood
• Bench: an injured Foye, Oberto, McGuire, Young

Nooree

Since my last post, the following players are gone:

• JR Smith
• Luis Scola
• Julian Wright
• Pau Gasol
• Trevor Ariza
• Leandro Barbosa

That's right, 5 of my 12 players are gone.  New to the squad are:

• JJ Redick!!!
• T-Mac (if he ever comes back)
• Jameer Nelson
• Q Richardson
• Channing Frye
• CP3

That's right, I've gotten rid of all my big men to go even smaller.  Plus I picked up my main man, JJ Redick!

Nooree

Since my beautiful 17" laptop is going on a 6-week (!) vacation to the HP factory, I have purchased a new smaller laptop to use for my exams in a few weeks.  This computer will be gifted to my mother at that point, as hopefully my old computer will return by then.  So I'm back online!  Just in time to see my fantasy football team kick some butt.

campbell

For those of you planning to purchase/play BioWare's newest RPG, Dragon Age: Origins, you should probably be aware that two prequel novels to the saga were released this year.  The first, The Stolen Throne, sets up the political world of Ferelden.  The second, The Calling, helps detail the nature of the Grey Wardens and their nemesis, the Darkspawn.  I recently got my hands on the latter and am highlighting below elements of the lore that I believe may prove handy to know when playing the game.  Obviously, novel spoilers follow.

Caveat:  These are the details that we are meant to "know" going into the game;  obviously plot twists in the game may render some of the following fallacious.

- Ferelden is not the entire world, but rather a kingdom constituent within the larger world/continent of Thedas.  Thedas is dominated by the Orlesian Empire, of which Ferelden was very recently a client/satellite state.

- The Grey Wardens serve no nation in particular, but Thedas at large.

- The Darkspawn carry within themselves a "taint" that "corrupts" all they encounter.  Evidence of this is particularly noteworthy within the Deep Roads, the ancient Dwarven underground ruins, that have subsequently been overrun with Darkspawn.

- The Darkspawn's senses are consumed by what's described as a "humming" that compels them to search for the "Olde Gods."  Upon reaching an "Olde God," the Darkspawn (via corruption) transform it into an "Arch demon," which allows the Darkspawn to swarm Thedas' surface and ushers in what humans/dwarves/elves term the "Blight."

- One Darkspawn, called the Architect, is different from the others in that he/she senses the humming, but is immune to its compulsive effects.  The Architect is a mage character, and while he/she could be described as the Darkspawn 'leader,' he/she lacks any political, persuasive, or coercive authority over the others.

- Prospective Grey Wardens, upon initiation, undertake a ritual termed the "Joining" that grants an immunity to the Darkspawn taint.  Few recruits servive the ceremony, however, as it necessitates drinking Darkspawn blood.

- This 'immunity' is not one in the truest sense, however.  Eventually, the taint overwhelms a Grey Warden's body, as he/she suffers from dark splotches cropping up over his/her body.  At this juncture, the Grey Warden undertakes another ritual, the "Calling," in which he/she travels down to the Deep Roads and allows him/herself to be slain by the Darkspawn.

- The Architect found one such Grey Warden, Bregan (who, as Warden Commander, was privy to the location(s) of the Olde Gods), and rather than allow him his demise, the Architect kept him locked up in a makeshift cell.  Eventually, Bregan's physical form transformed fully into that of a Darkspawn.  The Architect then explained a plan to Bregan in which the Blight could be purportedly aborted;  Bregan, and possibly others of his order, would assist the Architect in slaying the remaining Olde Gods, in theory ending the compulsive humming (and resultantly, the Blight) for good. 

- However, such a humanoid/Darkspawn alliance, the Architect believed, would necessitate a "middle way" for humanity:  each individual would need to undergo a Joining of sorts, and either perish or become like the Darkspawn.  Thus peace, no doubt "in our time," could be established.

- [Editorializing]:  We may either believe in the Architect's sincerity or not.  I personally do not, as if humanity ceases to be human, but rather becomes indistinguishable from Darkspawn, then what remains to be Blighted?  Further, the idea of slaying the Olde Gods sounds rather similar to what initiated the Blight in the first place, which was a group of magi attempting to place themselves on a level with gods, and being cast down & tainted/corrupted as a result.

- The (co-)protagonist of the novel, Duncan (who figures prominently in the game), starts off as a rather petulant & impetuous thieving rogue who is recruited by the Grey Wardens as a result of his murdering one of their members.  The novel is a coming-of-age story of sorts, as he grows into a sense of duty-bound maturity.

- The King of Ferelden at the time of the novel, Maric, has a son with an elven Grey Warden mage, Fiona, who is to be raised by Duncan.  One can theorize as to the likelihood of this character appearing in the game.

- Many Orlesians make up the mage and other classes of society in Ferelden, and are rightfully viewed warily by many, especially Maric's right hand, confidant, and resistance fighter compatriot, Loghain.  There is an Orlesian plot to overthrow Maric, which is foiled by Loghain and the Grey Wardens.

- Loghain, while more fully developed in the previous novel, comes off as arrogant and the archetypal 'true power behind the throne.'

- The Architect, along with one dwarven Grey Warden whom he has convinced to go along with his scheme, survive the novel's conclusion and disappear.