Presentation on the World Water Crisis! by Leon Basin

Digesting Current Events Through Similes, Metaphors and the Abstract by Leon Basin

Thoughts on Fire Vol.2 by Leon Basin by Leon Basin

Acceptance a Children's Poetry Anthology by Leon Basin

We Are Born Alone and We Die Alone by Leon Basin

Thoughts on Fire by Leon Basin by Leon Basin

Leonid (Leon) Basin - lives in San Jose, but was born in Kharkov, Ukraine but came to the U. S. when he was only nine years old. Leon describes the United States as a “wonderful literary community that is open to many individuals”. Most of Leon’s writing is based in the United States but he hopes to travel to Sweden and India to share his writings and inspire other people from other countries as well. Leon writes poetry, short stories, lyrics, articles and novels; he has so far written eight books and is currently working on many others. Leon has been writing for 13 years and hopes to continue this tradition. Leon hopes that his writing will inspire children and adults. He has also performed Spoken Word at many venues around Bay Area; CA. Leon is also working on a Spoken Word Poetry Album.

Find Leon on http://www.facebook.com/leonidbasin - http://www.scribd.com/leonbasin

Questions or Concerns; Email LeonBasin@gmail.com

Consumption Is Killing Us (What Are We Going To Do About It?)

In the past three decades, our society has become an abuser of consuming material objects. We forgot that love, is the most precious commodity we posses and instead, we began competing with our neighbors. We love shopping so much, that we have a saying in our culture, “shop, until you drop.” What has been a society content with being with their friends and loved ones has become a society full of zombies, who believe, that a discount of 10% of off, $5,000 is a great buy. The speed we consume; food, clothes, friends, cars, computers and other, unnecessary objects, is atrocious. For instance, instead of making coffee at home, we go to a coffee shop. We don’t realize that the lines at those coffee shops are astonishingly out the door and the time spent, arguing and yelling at a barista, can be ignored by preparing your pot of coffee at home, while reconnecting with your family.

The speed of our consumption is obnoxiously scary. We usually get tired of one thing we recently bought and move onto the next. It seems to be somewhat of a plague, which continues spreading widely. Who is to blame for our ways? I believe the answer lies, in us. We are mind controlled to believe that we must buy; because we believe it is the last computer, car or other material object of its kind. We lack the logical skills, our families had, decades ago.

Our society revolves around consumption. What a scary way of looking at our culture. We feel so patriotic and so full of heart, that we ignore the symptoms, which continue bleeding onto the oceans, rivers, mountains and other parts of our planet earth. Ignoring these symptoms produces an effect of misery, begging and poverty. Do we not desire love and happiness for the people on this planet? Why must we continue destroying and ignoring our children, who will continue living here, after we pass on? Do we not want to take care of the beauty so precious, so pure and so full of light? I’m sure you are thinking, of course we do! Then what are you doing about it? How are you assisting Mother Nature? I’m sure these questions are hard questions to answer, but they are the questions, I ask myself when I fall a sleep at night.

As human species, we cannot continue growing, if we do not heal or help our “weakest links”. Asking for help should not have to be “pulling teeth.” Focusing on an individual group can be one way that could help. One way to do this is to start focus groups, or an online magazine that would offer helpful advice for people who struggle with consumption. We must unite and guide the ones who are having trouble. We all struggle in some way or another.

Image - Merrick Godhaven

Leonid (Leon) Basin - lives in San Jose, but was born in Kharkov, Ukraine but came to the U. S. when he was only nine years old. Leon describes the United States as a “wonderful literary community that is open to many individuals”. Most of Leon’s writing is based in the United States but he hopes to travel to Sweden and India to share his writings and inspire other people from other countries as well. Leon writes poetry, short stories, lyrics, articles and novels; he has so far written eight books and is currently working on many others. Leon has been writing for 13 years and hopes to continue this tradition. Leon hopes that his writing will inspire children and adults. He has also performed Spoken Word at many venues around Bay Area; CA. Leon is also working on a Spoken Word Poetry Album.

Find Leon On: http://www.facebook.com/leonidbasin - http://www.scribd.com/leonbasin

Questions or Concerns, Email: LeonBasin@gmail.com

Five Ways to Find Ideas for Writing

You awoke at 10’oclock figuring out where the next idea might strike its cord. You don’t pay attention to the dead bolts of blocks in your head. You try to ignore the pain, and head out to your kitchen where you find a coffee mug with your name on it. Your wife has prepared it for you, because she knew you were going to have a hard day “working." You smile, and head back to your chair. Don’t feel cozy with that bathrobe on? Well, now that you got that smile out for “everyone to see” you can head back to work. The only question that arises now is what do I write about? Where do I find ideas? Your dog-named Skippy is not going to bark out the ideas for you. Your wife is at work and your kids are at school. You need to get to work, because eventually, you will be crying up a storm of frustration. Do not worry; I am here to share a few powerful tips that will prevent you from having writers block ever again.


1.) Hobbies & Groups: What interests do you have? What clubs, groups have you joined in the past 10 or 15 years. I am sure there are plenty of hobbies, in your box of toys you have stacked away in your garage. Why not dig through them? What about joining an organization? I am sure in the area where you live; there are plenty of clubs and organizations just willing to take you in. Why not take a Karate class, and then write about what it takes to get the white, yellow and even brown belt. You can do multiple things with hobbies and groups. Just pay attention to outside of the spectrum, and I am sure you could find multiple ideas, if you desire to do so.

2.) Magazines: Why not look through a magazine as you always do during that boring evening alone. Read a few of those interesting articles you usually read. If you found an article that speaks to you, why not do a little research online, or phone that friend of yours who knows about the subject you found in the magazine?

3.) Travel: Traveling is definitely one of the best ways to get multiple ideas at once. Choose a map of the area you live in. Take one of your index fingers and start pointing to places that interest you. Get into any transportation that you can. Do not forget to bring that notepad and pen to write down what you see and dialogues you hear. You can write the information down. When you come home from the trip, take out that notepad you took with you when you traveled. It will give you multiple ideas about stories, short stories, poetry and much more.

4.) Television: I do not suggest watching too much television. However, I do suggest watching something worthwhile. A few things I would suggest checking out include Discovery Channel, History Channel, National Geographic Channel, and the Home Channel. Many of these channels provide good and solid information about things around us. Why not include this in your articles, books, and even novels. All it takes is taking the time to figure out what you desire to watch. Have your notepad and a pen to note all of the necessary phrases or ideas you may have. After all this, it simply takes execution to get it done.

5.) Friends, Family, and Neighbors: Friends, Family, and Neighbors are one of the best sources for inspirational ideas. All it really takes is some observation and an ear to listen to your close ones. You usually talk about multiple topics on a variety of subjects. Why not next time you speak to them, take notes or ask them to tell you something interesting that has happened to them in their journey today, yesterday or maybe even events or incidents they have experienced a few years ago. I am sure they would not mind all of the questions, nor would they mind shedding a few details about where they have been and where they are going.

Conclusion: Ideas are everywhere. All it takes is a notepad and a pen to jot them down. It will make you a better writer. Many people will recognize such a powerful voice in your writing because of such detail and explanation of any subject you write about.

Image - Antonio Litterio

James Isaacs: I am a Disciple of Truth…I am an Investigative, Historical Researcher….Philosopher; I am Tsaphah. I am a political activist, dedicated to unveiling, disseminating, and preserving the Truth…at all cost and risk to my life. I stand for Freedom - True Freedom for all of humanity. I seek through the past, to better understand 'our' present…and how it will affect our future. I seek the lost knowledge…and to protect what knowledge we now have.

Most adults and children alike are sadly unaware of not only the amount of information relayed through video-games  but also of the psychological training, evaluation, conditioning, and desensitization that often arises through prolonged ‘enjoyment’. While some of you may already know of what I am referring to, most will not; many will call me crazy. While the concept may sound ludicrous, some simple evaluation should not only explain where I am coming from, but also shed some light on the situation for you. It will not take long and all this information is available to prove through game play.

·         Psychological Training: When I mention training…I am referring to the type of training used by the military, for the military and so similar in style to the games we play that it’s almost scary. Although the general idea of hand-eye coordination reaches into all genres of games, the one I have chosen to use as an example is the Nazi Zombies game available through select Call of Duty^® titles. While all shooter games (especially FPS’s) provide an excellent Hand-Eye Response training, the Nazi Zombies game in particular seems to be extremely useful due to its progressive difficulty…not only throughout the progression of each map or level, but also through each and every new map released. To continue successfully, you must adapt to becoming further and further violent and quick responsive. No camping, sniping, or taking cheap shots in this one…just straight fast paced killing. Problem solving skills are also required, as you must quickly evaluate situations and the optimum response available. As a result, we have a generation of people quick to respond, less easily frightened, and progressively more violent not to mention anti-social due to the seclusion often associated with prolonged game play.

·         Psychological Evaluation: Remember the Original Nintendo^® (NES) Remember how several years after its release it was revealed that nearly all our stats were being tracked? Did you play Mario brothers for two days straight? It tracked that….Did you beat up over 100 bullies on Double Dragon? It tracked that too. You do not remember? Don’t trip…seems like it has been forgotten because I cannot even find anything about it on the Net but the principle should not be lost. Now-a-day’s nearly every action we carry out in game IS tracked. Matter of fact the information is often used in tallying information for Leader boards and rewards based on accumulative actions. Through this statistical data collection, it becomes very easy to identify key characteristic behavioral features or algorithms unique to each and every one of us…more unique than our fingerprints. Fable^® and Fallout^® are two games in particular where your behavioral algorithms are not only tracked but also give a good indication of how you may behave in any given situation. Due to how open this data collection is and how extensive it is psychological, implication may be. I have often wondered if stats aren’t being kept concerning the choices many of us make when confronted with morally compromising situations as portrayed through such COD MW2^® levels as ‘No Russian’ where the player is led into an undercover situation where he is accompanying terrorists as they kill innocent people in an airport. While every player is notified, that the material is graphic and given the opportunity to skip the level; only players who choose to play the level. Got a heads up or have such distaste for killing innocents that they inadvertently discover that as long as you avoid the gunfire from any security personnel and refrain from killing any of your partners, then you can literally walk through the entire level without killing a single innocent person. While this particular point may seem far-fetched, I point out that when the military grades the performance of its personnel that it grades based on not just quick response…but psychological discretion as well.

·         Psychological Conditioning: Conditioning leads to desensitization. Nearly the same in theme, their essence differs. Conditioning is the act of progressively changing the ‘social norms’ without ever alerting those who are being conditioned. It’s much like the frog left in slowly boiling water as opposed to the frog thrown directly into the scolding hot pot. While the latter is sure to attempt to revolt and escape…the former is nearly unaware of any change taking place what-so-ever. Lost in the luxury of warmth without labor and food mysteriously abandoned, left floating around for any hungry fellow, he quickly becomes willing to accept any and all minor changes that he may ever become aware of….like the fact that he is slowly cooking. Conditioning is the slow chipping away at every moral fiber of not only ourselves, but of society as a whole. Through the game market…among others, we are all…children especially, subjected to an unbalanced amount of sex, profanity, and violence. It is through this social conditioning and slow change of socially accepted norms that desensitization becomes key.

·         Psychological Desensitization: Rewards for not just killing…but for killing with style. Achievements for partaking in sexual acts. Free-Roaming, Open-Environments giving the ability to behave morally however you choose…while often rewarding negative behaviors and actions…verbally and graphically video game players are bombarded by psychologically conditioning material that leads to genuine desensitization. Death, dead bodies, blood, killing, sex, and both verbally and physically violent behavior not only cease to seem out of place…but they start to seem normal. No longer equipped to deal with another person in the flesh due to social isolation, kid’s especially become prone to the idea that if they don’t get their way…then they can simply delete (un-friend) you…walk away leaving the issue unresolved…or worse they become violent towards the object of their dissatisfaction. It used to be that hearing the ‘F’ word brought shock….that seeing a woman nearly nude would too. Now, in the days we live however our games cuss at us and if my daughter dressed the way half of these female characters do in videogames…then she would never leave the house. Sex and Violence sells….because we buy it.

 “Knowledge is Great Power and with Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.”

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, most of us are sadly unaware of the amount of information relayed to the general populous though all forms of media…videogames included. The following information is a synopsis of some of the more popular games that I am aware of having relevant information, not readily available or discussed outside of the games themselves.

Assassin's Creed - In 1090, A.D. Hassan-i Sabbah defeats Alamut, and then founds the Hashshashin or Assassins, an Islamic mystery cult. Masyaf was one of their fortresses in Syria.

Fable One and Two - Albion home of the hero…One of the most ‘hidden in plain sight’ bits of historical information in the gaming world is the true nature of Albion. More than just the game world map, Albion (Greek: Ἀλβιών) is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain. It is thought to derive from the white cliffs of Dover.

Fallout - Nuclear war with China, leading to a post-nuclear, war torn third-world America…sound familiar? 3Dogs, Voice of the People behind the lines…sound familiar? While Alex Jones is the real world equivalent of 3Dogs, bringing the message of Truth to the people, nuclear war with China has never seemed such a staunch possibility. Financial turmoil on the American home front has had massive, far-reaching consequences for the entire world. No other nation however has as much invested in the American Empire than China. Not only do they own most of the American debt, but have started considering that debt toxic, selling off most of our bonds to our own Federal Reserve. This in effect leaves the American financial system standing alone. Our debt…we own it. One of China’s most notable historical ways of getting attention is through intimidation…like the launching of ICBM’s at or near an aggressor nation. While the American government has an official explanation, as to what the Nov. 9^th, 2010 ‘mysterious object’ off the coast of California was...I reiterate not only our debt and who we owe it to, but how China has behaved in the past.

Modern Warfare 2 -Thermal Vision Scopes, Machine Pistols, and Remote Controlled IED’s…New and ‘alternative-use’ technology is publicized through the last two games of the franchise. MW2^® blew the lid off Thermal Scope technology and highlighted newer types of hand held weaponry, i.e. fully automatic machine-gun pistols. Where previous games either used well-known, outdated weaponry or simply manufactured their own… MW2^® highlighted newer, lesser-known weapons actually being used in the modern battlefield. Keeping in tune with this innovation, Black-Op’s^® introduced an RC-XD Explosive RC Car, much like the remote controlled IED’s our troops have to face every day. While it's fun to play with in the game…it's important to think about the world we live in and how real these technologies or misuses of them really are.

Ghost Recon - Mexican-American Border War, Drones, & Camera-guns…Released in 2006, G.R.A.W. ^® and its sequel released a year later both foreshadow a war that is just now taking place. Escalated violence from the War on Drug’s has finally taken its toll on the Mexican government and now their inability to control their own citizens has caused blood to be spilled on both sides of the border. Violence spilling over onto American soil has become a common occurrence these days, and our government has been forced to warn Americans to avoid large sections of American land. In an effort to combat this threat, America has deployed a swath of new and innovative technology. Some of these include Drones, Corner-Shooting Camera-Guns, & EMP Weapons.

EndWar - EMP Warfare.Electro-Magnetic Warfare is not officially admitted. While the EMP effect of a nuclear blast is common knowledge, the ability to isolate and implement the capability of directing an isolated, non-nuclear EMP blast is not; hence, the thought of a hand held EMP emitting devise seems almost fiction. Well, not anymore. APELC provides a Compact 2100 Series EMP Suitcase. 125kv/m Typical Radiated Field @ 1 meter.

Image - Game Studies SIG.

My name is Thomas Clements. I am in my mid 20s. I moved 6,000 miles from my home country U.K. to South East Asia 3 years ago. I have not looked back. I have a passion for design and photography, which is my main influence. I take my ideas from the Eastern culture.

Thomas Clements Email: Rogiebooer@hotmail.com