Abishai100
VIP Member
- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,959
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Here's a patriotic tale about the World Wide Web and pluralism challenges related to the political (and cultural) troubles associated with the Irish Republican Army (IRA). This tale is also a nice ode to the simple magic of Battle-Chess (a video game) and the commerce-politics relevance of 'TrumpUSA.'
There's no reason we can't coordinate media chatter with patriotism-art (e.g., Born on the 4th of July) in this new age. Our last two U.S. Presidents (Barack Obama and Donald Trump) can either be called 'token diplomats' of the new age (multiculturalism/consumerism) or 'representative champions.' Besides, I'm tired of Reaganomics jokes!
That's something to brood on this Memorial Day, no?
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Dave O'Ryan grew up in Belfast (Northern Ireland) playing Battle-Chess on his home-computer. All around him in his hometown were the sounds of political troubles, terrorism, and news stories of Catholic dissidents of the British government unhappy with Protestant rule. When Dave went to college, he read Thomas Hobbes' politics-uncertainty treatise Leviathan and started thinking about how his days of playing Battle-Chess at home helped him forget about 'political uncertainty' (and terrorism!). Dave decided to write peace prayer editorials in the Belfast Gazette after graduating from college.
Dave's editorials received much praise, since they mostly focused on the spiritual humility and happiness of playing Battle-Chess as a young boy and using intelligent mental stimulation to metaphysically transcend the terrible 'troubles' associated with British Protestant rule, the IRA in Belfast, and terrorism. In the second year of his writings, Dave was nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. It was then that Dave met three Irish individuals in Belfast --- two young women named Megan and Lara and a young man named Danny (they were all members of the IRA).
Dave started falling in love with Megan and started feeling sentimental towards the romanticism his three IRA friends embraced. Danny told Dave about the troubles and how Battle-Chess 'transcendence' may not be enough to resolve Protestant-Catholic differences in Belfast. He also told Dave that the real tragedy of the Irish struggle since the days of the Easter Rising was the partition of Ireland and the cleft between Dublin and Belfast. Dave found Danny to be passionate and sensitive, and he found Lara to be intelligent and interesting; and he thought Megan was amazing. However, he felt conflicted given his writings about 'peaceful spiritual transcendence' (since the IRA advocated direct and even violent resistance to British rule).
Dave's boss at the Belfast Gazette wondered why the Nobel-nominated editorial-writer stopped writing his inspiring 'Battle-Chess pieces,' and Dave explained he was soul-searching and needed more 'street-research' before he could continue his politically-conscious writings. Dave remembered reading Leviathan (Hobbes) and considered how British-Catholic troubles on the Emerald Isle represented a true ghostly fragmentation of social contracts. Dave resolved to himself that even if the 'troubles' never ended, he would always think fondly of the 'small hometown miracle' of Battle-Chess. It was at that time that Dave discovered the magic of the World Wide Web and how it facilitated wide dissemination of open public discourse. He started writing culturally-beautiful women's fashions on the Internet about Megan (now his wife) and the capitalism-oriented administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which he claimed had the potential to 'sell peace.'
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There's no reason we can't coordinate media chatter with patriotism-art (e.g., Born on the 4th of July) in this new age. Our last two U.S. Presidents (Barack Obama and Donald Trump) can either be called 'token diplomats' of the new age (multiculturalism/consumerism) or 'representative champions.' Besides, I'm tired of Reaganomics jokes!
That's something to brood on this Memorial Day, no?
====
Dave O'Ryan grew up in Belfast (Northern Ireland) playing Battle-Chess on his home-computer. All around him in his hometown were the sounds of political troubles, terrorism, and news stories of Catholic dissidents of the British government unhappy with Protestant rule. When Dave went to college, he read Thomas Hobbes' politics-uncertainty treatise Leviathan and started thinking about how his days of playing Battle-Chess at home helped him forget about 'political uncertainty' (and terrorism!). Dave decided to write peace prayer editorials in the Belfast Gazette after graduating from college.
Dave's editorials received much praise, since they mostly focused on the spiritual humility and happiness of playing Battle-Chess as a young boy and using intelligent mental stimulation to metaphysically transcend the terrible 'troubles' associated with British Protestant rule, the IRA in Belfast, and terrorism. In the second year of his writings, Dave was nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. It was then that Dave met three Irish individuals in Belfast --- two young women named Megan and Lara and a young man named Danny (they were all members of the IRA).
Dave started falling in love with Megan and started feeling sentimental towards the romanticism his three IRA friends embraced. Danny told Dave about the troubles and how Battle-Chess 'transcendence' may not be enough to resolve Protestant-Catholic differences in Belfast. He also told Dave that the real tragedy of the Irish struggle since the days of the Easter Rising was the partition of Ireland and the cleft between Dublin and Belfast. Dave found Danny to be passionate and sensitive, and he found Lara to be intelligent and interesting; and he thought Megan was amazing. However, he felt conflicted given his writings about 'peaceful spiritual transcendence' (since the IRA advocated direct and even violent resistance to British rule).
Dave's boss at the Belfast Gazette wondered why the Nobel-nominated editorial-writer stopped writing his inspiring 'Battle-Chess pieces,' and Dave explained he was soul-searching and needed more 'street-research' before he could continue his politically-conscious writings. Dave remembered reading Leviathan (Hobbes) and considered how British-Catholic troubles on the Emerald Isle represented a true ghostly fragmentation of social contracts. Dave resolved to himself that even if the 'troubles' never ended, he would always think fondly of the 'small hometown miracle' of Battle-Chess. It was at that time that Dave discovered the magic of the World Wide Web and how it facilitated wide dissemination of open public discourse. He started writing culturally-beautiful women's fashions on the Internet about Megan (now his wife) and the capitalism-oriented administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which he claimed had the potential to 'sell peace.'
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