How do you make a game of the real thing, when the real thing is a game?
Tell the truth. Hiding is what the game is made of.
Today was the first meeting between myself and the Executive Producer (though that's not what he's calling himself) of the MMORPG I will be involved in designing. We are very much of the same mind about the importance of making the game as close an emulation of "reality" as possible. The fear of others on the project is making it too "real", unacceptably "real".
The purpose, it appears, will be to describe the process and complexities of getting something done through the machine of the United States government. The goal is to ensnare and engage the minds of 13-18 year olds trapped in the corporate-industrial education system and show them how power is amassed and wielded - often for the 'greater good', and just as often, not.
The message is empowerment. I mean that.
Know the game and know that you have to play it, or you have to change the rules.
8.22.2007
8.13.2007
Dead In The Water
In politics, when your most loyal and crucial supporters start to leave your side "for the sake of [their] family", you're dead. Your friend capital is gone, the bank of good will completely bankrupt.
Yes!
The question is, where is Karl Rove going?
From The New York Times
August 13, 2007
Karl Rove, Top Strategist, Is Leaving the White House
By JIM RUTENBERG
WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 — Karl Rove, the political adviser who masterminded President George W. Bush’s two winning presidential campaigns, is resigning, the White House confirmed today.
In an interview published this morning in The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Rove said, “I just think it’s time,” adding, “There’s always something that can keep you here, and as much as I’d like to be here, I’ve got to do this for the sake of my family.”
Mr. Rove said he had first considered leaving a year ago but stayed after his party lost the crucial midterm elections last fall, putting Congress in Democratic hands, and Mr. Bush’s problems mounted in Iraq and in his pursuit of a new immigration policy.
He said his hand was forced when the White House chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, recently told senior aides that if they stayed past Labor Day they would be expected to stay through the rest of Mr. Bush’s term.
“He’s been talking with the president for a long time — about a year, regarding when might be good to go,” said Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman. “But there’s always a big project to work on, and his strategic abilities — and our need for his support — kept him here,” she said.
Ms. Perino said Mr. Rove would leave at the end of August.
Mr. Rove was not only the chief architect of Mr. Bush’s political campaigns but also the midwife of Mr. Bush’s political persona itself.
It was widely believed inside and outside the White House that he would walk out the door behind Mr. Bush at the end of Mr. Bush’s term in January, 2009.
Throughout Mr. Bush’s tenure, Mr. Rove vilified Democrats, and they vilified him right back, complaining about his infamously bare-knuckled political tactics on the campaign trail and what they considered his overt politicization of the White House.
He has been the focus in the Congressional investigations into the firings last year of several federal prosecutors, and he was until last year a focus of the C.I.A. leak case investigation that led to perjury charges for Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby.
Mr. Rove emerged from the cloud of the investigation to try to stave off Republican defeats last fall. The subsequent failure was his biggest political loss during his tenure at the White House. Afterwards, he continued to take a central role in key initiatives such as Mr. Bush’s attempt to create a new immigration law that would legalize millions of workers that are currently living in the United States illegally.
A political strategist who solidified his reputation by bringing together the sprawling coalition that put Mr. Bush in office, and which he believed would sustain a prolonged Republican majority, he had considered Hispanic voters to be a potential source of new Republican voters.
In his exit interview today, which was with the editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal, Paul Gigot, Mr. Rove had a parting shot for his political nemeses, telling Mr. Gigot that he believed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton would be the Democratic nominee but called her a “tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate,” and predicted a Republican victory in the 2008 presidential race, the sort of political boasting that had become his hallmark.
Yes!
The question is, where is Karl Rove going?
From The New York Times
August 13, 2007
Karl Rove, Top Strategist, Is Leaving the White House
By JIM RUTENBERG
WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 — Karl Rove, the political adviser who masterminded President George W. Bush’s two winning presidential campaigns, is resigning, the White House confirmed today.
In an interview published this morning in The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Rove said, “I just think it’s time,” adding, “There’s always something that can keep you here, and as much as I’d like to be here, I’ve got to do this for the sake of my family.”
Mr. Rove said he had first considered leaving a year ago but stayed after his party lost the crucial midterm elections last fall, putting Congress in Democratic hands, and Mr. Bush’s problems mounted in Iraq and in his pursuit of a new immigration policy.
He said his hand was forced when the White House chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, recently told senior aides that if they stayed past Labor Day they would be expected to stay through the rest of Mr. Bush’s term.
“He’s been talking with the president for a long time — about a year, regarding when might be good to go,” said Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman. “But there’s always a big project to work on, and his strategic abilities — and our need for his support — kept him here,” she said.
Ms. Perino said Mr. Rove would leave at the end of August.
Mr. Rove was not only the chief architect of Mr. Bush’s political campaigns but also the midwife of Mr. Bush’s political persona itself.
It was widely believed inside and outside the White House that he would walk out the door behind Mr. Bush at the end of Mr. Bush’s term in January, 2009.
Throughout Mr. Bush’s tenure, Mr. Rove vilified Democrats, and they vilified him right back, complaining about his infamously bare-knuckled political tactics on the campaign trail and what they considered his overt politicization of the White House.
He has been the focus in the Congressional investigations into the firings last year of several federal prosecutors, and he was until last year a focus of the C.I.A. leak case investigation that led to perjury charges for Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby.
Mr. Rove emerged from the cloud of the investigation to try to stave off Republican defeats last fall. The subsequent failure was his biggest political loss during his tenure at the White House. Afterwards, he continued to take a central role in key initiatives such as Mr. Bush’s attempt to create a new immigration law that would legalize millions of workers that are currently living in the United States illegally.
A political strategist who solidified his reputation by bringing together the sprawling coalition that put Mr. Bush in office, and which he believed would sustain a prolonged Republican majority, he had considered Hispanic voters to be a potential source of new Republican voters.
In his exit interview today, which was with the editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal, Paul Gigot, Mr. Rove had a parting shot for his political nemeses, telling Mr. Gigot that he believed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton would be the Democratic nominee but called her a “tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate,” and predicted a Republican victory in the 2008 presidential race, the sort of political boasting that had become his hallmark.
8.05.2007
Howard Bloom, Ladies and Gentlemen...
I just saw you for the first time in months, thank God. Could you help me get the word out on something allegedly "monumental" by sending it to your emailing lists?
I've just published a book, How I Accidentally Started the Sixties, through a new service for established writers, Amazon Shorts. (Could Amazon Boxers be far behind?)
According to Timothy Leary, How I Accidentally Started The Sixties
"is a monumental, epic, glorious literary achievement. Every page, every paragraph, every sentence sparkles with captivating metaphors, delightful verbal concoctions, alchemical insights, philosophic whimsy, absurd illogicals, scientific comedy routines, relentless, non stop waves of hilarity. The comparisons to James Joyce are inevitable and undeniable. Finnegans's Wake wanders through the rock 'n roll sixties. Wow! Whew! Wild! Wonderful!"
But what does Leary know? For one thing, he died four months after he penned these words. So here are some more recent opinions.
"Howard Bloom's raucous ride through the 60s is a treat you cannot deny yourself. The book possesses all of the exhilaration of the era it recaptures: the fantasies and follies, the search for truth, peace, and of course, true love. How I Accidentally Started The Sixties is youth itself‑‑tentative, tenacious, charming and cathartic‑‑a journey you'll miss when it's finished." Patrice Adcroft, former Editor, Omni Magazine, former Editor-in-Chief, Seventeen Magazine, author of Everyday Doughnuts
"A dazzling, dizzy, uproariously funny descent into the Sixties. Howard Bloom is a brilliant raconteur." Sol Gordon author of Why Love Is Not Enough
"I absolutely loved How I Accidentally Started The Sixties. It reminded me of the best novels by Tom Robbins and Clyde Edgerton. The weird thing is, the whole story is true." Don Cusic, author of Cowboys and the Wild West: An A-Z Guide from the Chisholm Trail to the Silver Screen and Reba McEntire: Country Music's Queen
“Howard Bloom is an unparalleled literary stylist and a rip-roarin' storyteller. I could easily return to the hippie life that young Howard Bloom invented and which I read about with such fondness in his e-book-- but I can't take my wife with me.” Joe Quirk, author of Sperm Are From Men, Eggs Are From Women and From Monkey Business to Marriage
"How I Accidentally Started The Sixties is wonderful. Howard Bloom is one of the greatest stylists I have ever read." William L. Rivers, Paul C. Edwards Professor of Writing, Stanford University, author of Free‑lancer and Staff Writer
To find How I Accidentally Started The Sixties, simply go to Amazon.com and type in How I Accidentally Started the Sixties or Howard Bloom.
I've enclosed a copy of the book so you can figure out whether the words of praise above were coerced at gunpoint or are genuine sterling.
The more email lists you can flog this supposedly "glorious literary achievement" to, the more I'd appreciate it.
All thanks--Howard
----------
Howard Bloom
Author of The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of History ("mesmerizing"-The Washington Post), Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind From The Big Bang to the 21st Century ("reassuring and sobering"-The New Yorker), and How I Accidentally Started The Sixties ("a monumental, epic, glorious literary achievement." Timothy Leary).
Recent Visiting Scholar-Graduate Psychology Department, New York University; Former Core Faculty Member, The Graduate Institute
www.howardbloom.net
www.bigbangtango.net
Founder: International Paleopsychology Project; founder: Space Development Steering Committee; founder: The Big Bang Tango Media Lab; founding board member: Epic of Evolution Society; founding board member, The Darwin Project; Member of Board of Governors, National Space Society; member: New York Academy of Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association for Psychological Science, Aerospace Technology Working Group, Academy of Political Science, Human Behavior and Evolution Society, International Society for Human Ethology; Scientific Advisory Board Member, Lifeboat Foundation; advisory board member: Institute for Accelerating Change; executive editor -- New Paradigm book series.
I've just published a book, How I Accidentally Started the Sixties, through a new service for established writers, Amazon Shorts. (Could Amazon Boxers be far behind?)
According to Timothy Leary, How I Accidentally Started The Sixties
"is a monumental, epic, glorious literary achievement. Every page, every paragraph, every sentence sparkles with captivating metaphors, delightful verbal concoctions, alchemical insights, philosophic whimsy, absurd illogicals, scientific comedy routines, relentless, non stop waves of hilarity. The comparisons to James Joyce are inevitable and undeniable. Finnegans's Wake wanders through the rock 'n roll sixties. Wow! Whew! Wild! Wonderful!"
But what does Leary know? For one thing, he died four months after he penned these words. So here are some more recent opinions.
"Howard Bloom's raucous ride through the 60s is a treat you cannot deny yourself. The book possesses all of the exhilaration of the era it recaptures: the fantasies and follies, the search for truth, peace, and of course, true love. How I Accidentally Started The Sixties is youth itself‑‑tentative, tenacious, charming and cathartic‑‑a journey you'll miss when it's finished." Patrice Adcroft, former Editor, Omni Magazine, former Editor-in-Chief, Seventeen Magazine, author of Everyday Doughnuts
"A dazzling, dizzy, uproariously funny descent into the Sixties. Howard Bloom is a brilliant raconteur." Sol Gordon author of Why Love Is Not Enough
"I absolutely loved How I Accidentally Started The Sixties. It reminded me of the best novels by Tom Robbins and Clyde Edgerton. The weird thing is, the whole story is true." Don Cusic, author of Cowboys and the Wild West: An A-Z Guide from the Chisholm Trail to the Silver Screen and Reba McEntire: Country Music's Queen
“Howard Bloom is an unparalleled literary stylist and a rip-roarin' storyteller. I could easily return to the hippie life that young Howard Bloom invented and which I read about with such fondness in his e-book-- but I can't take my wife with me.” Joe Quirk, author of Sperm Are From Men, Eggs Are From Women and From Monkey Business to Marriage
"How I Accidentally Started The Sixties is wonderful. Howard Bloom is one of the greatest stylists I have ever read." William L. Rivers, Paul C. Edwards Professor of Writing, Stanford University, author of Free‑lancer and Staff Writer
To find How I Accidentally Started The Sixties, simply go to Amazon.com and type in How I Accidentally Started the Sixties or Howard Bloom.
I've enclosed a copy of the book so you can figure out whether the words of praise above were coerced at gunpoint or are genuine sterling.
The more email lists you can flog this supposedly "glorious literary achievement" to, the more I'd appreciate it.
All thanks--Howard
----------
Howard Bloom
Author of The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of History ("mesmerizing"-The Washington Post), Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind From The Big Bang to the 21st Century ("reassuring and sobering"-The New Yorker), and How I Accidentally Started The Sixties ("a monumental, epic, glorious literary achievement." Timothy Leary).
Recent Visiting Scholar-Graduate Psychology Department, New York University; Former Core Faculty Member, The Graduate Institute
www.howardbloom.net
www.bigbangtango.net
Founder: International Paleopsychology Project; founder: Space Development Steering Committee; founder: The Big Bang Tango Media Lab; founding board member: Epic of Evolution Society; founding board member, The Darwin Project; Member of Board of Governors, National Space Society; member: New York Academy of Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association for Psychological Science, Aerospace Technology Working Group, Academy of Political Science, Human Behavior and Evolution Society, International Society for Human Ethology; Scientific Advisory Board Member, Lifeboat Foundation; advisory board member: Institute for Accelerating Change; executive editor -- New Paradigm book series.
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