Day: January 31, 2014

MSNBC’s Hate Unleashes Twitter Storm of Racial Harmony

/ Thomas L. McDonald

The interesting part about the fallout from MSNBC’s hateful Cheerios/”right-wing” dustup is that everybody wins.

MSNBC followers win because the network just said what they and their viewers know to be a rock-solid truth, regardless of anything like evidence or logic: conservatives are all racist.

So, when they tweet this in reference to the Cheerios ad featuring a bi-racial family…

… they’re just reaffirming their own and their audience’s bias, because belief in limited government and personal freedom means you automatically hate people who look different than you. (Which party had an Exalted Cyclops of the Klan as a respected elder statesmen and opposed the Civil Rights Act, and which one ended slavery?)

Cheerios wins because you just can’t buy that kind of publicity. Also, the kid’s pretty cute:

And on Twitter, conservatives have turned MSNBC’s kneejerk idiocy to their advantage with the hashtag #MyRightWingBiracialFamily. People from the right are tweeting photos of their multi-racial families using the hashtag, which started with writer Michelle Malkin (the victim of incessant racist and sexist comments from the left for years) and just snowballed.

Predictably, people came back with stupid and hateful messages, such as saying that even if a conservative white person marries a black person, the white person’s still a racist because something something Obama.

Yeah, I don’t get it either, but leftism isn’t grounded in reality in the first place. If Democratic social and economic policies are so wonderful for minorities, why don’t they work? Could it be that their patronizing, paternalistic, infantalizing character is more deeply rooted in racism than the freedom of opportunity, equality under the law, and personal responsibility offered by conservatives?

Predictably, the reaction to the hashtag was enthusiasm from the right, and hatred from the left.

After posting this pic, Cong. Tim Huelskamp was even accused of renting a black family:

See, it’s easy for a modern leftist to identify a racist without ever hearing a word from his lips, or even in the face of photographic evidence: you’re a racist if you don’t agree with the left. Going with this assumption saves an awful lot of effort that might be chewed up by the hard work of thinking for yourself and judging each person as you encounter them: like individuals.

Bumpy Road [App o the Mornin’]

/ Thomas L. McDonald

Bumpy Road (iOS/Mac/PC: $3) is the sophomore effort from the creators of Kosmo Spin, and it has a delightful aesthetic, with a muted but eye-catching color palette and charming art. It’s a look that works perfectly for game about an older couple out for a Sunday drive on a corduroy road past windmills and impossibly narrow houses.

The gameplay is just as interesting as the visual element. Bumpy Road uses a novel mechanic to create a twist on the 2D platforming, move-to-the-right genre that has thrived on mobile touch devices. In this case, you don’t control the car, which moves at a steady pace, but the road itself, which is comprised of a series of little bumps. Touching the road raises it a little bit. Touch behind the car to create a hill that makes the car go faster. Touch in front of it to create a hill that slows the car down. Touch beneath it to make the car hop.

It’s as simple as that. The levels consist of multiple platforms and occasional water hazards, with minor variations for the two gameplay modes. In Evergreen Ride, you need to go as far as possible without falling into one of the water hazards. The trip is endless, with little powerups found along the way to close traps and allow you to focus on gathering items to improve your final time. There are no traps in Sunday Trip mode, so the goal is to get to a finish line as fast as possible by grabbing the accelerator powerups and avoiding the brake powerups. The result is a great little app, with a novel mechanic and engaging gameplay.