Maybe it's just me, but I've noticed a bit more colorful language on the net lately. It's one of the reasons that I won't link to a popular game-themed web comic on this board. The author boasts a rather extensive vocabulary and the intelligence to use it, but can't seem to get past posting a comic filled with crude slang referring to excrement and reproduction. I'm sure the authors of such literary masterpieces can come up with all sorts of justifications for always reaching for the cheap laughs in their comics, but my question to them is why can't they use their creativity to come up with a better way to express themselves? If one truly wants to be recognized for their creativity, they're going to have to work up a little sweat once in a while.

But civility has taken a major nosedive in this country and one cannot lay the blame at the feet of the gamers and the webcomics - they're just the symptom. And certainly the anonymity of electronic communication makes it easier for one to be bolder in their delivery of crude and obnoxious vitriol. But they've been spurred on by an army of pundits and radio hosts that believe it is "entertaining" to dehumanize those they don't agree with and give their millions of listeners justification to lead with their mouth instead of their brain. To them, it's okay to curse and swear angrily at a problem instead of finding help to solve it. But to do that would involve real work and it seems that they too would eschew the challenge in favor of the easy way.

Well, that's my two cents.

(P.S. - Don't forget to vote for my video game in the 2006 Video Game Awards!)