On May 29 an accident at a power plant near the northern Siberian city of Norilsk led to a massive spill that released 23,000 tons of diesel into the environment, most of which has drifted into the Ambarnaya River. It is one the greatest environmental catastrophes to ever occur in the Arctic, and is being compared to the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989, when about 39,000 tons of fuel flooded into the waters off the coast of Alaska.

The company which owns the plant, Norilsk Nickel, stated that the accident likely occurred because thawing permafrost caused an oil tank to collapse. According to Norilsk, the tank rested on 30-year-old pillars. An area of 350 sq kilometers (135 sq miles) has been contaminated. The Ambarnaya is now crimson red.

Special booms could contain the spill. However, Alexei Knizhnikov from the World Wildlife Fund Russia warned, this “doesn’t mean that toxic elements have not gotten into the water of the lake [Pyasino]. Unfortunately, the most poisonous elements of diesel fuel are aromatic compounds like benzol, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene, which will massively mix with water. It is impossible to collect them using oil booms.”

Environmental groups have noted that cleaning up the spill is difficult because of its scale and the geography of the river, which is located in a remote and swampy area. According to Oleg Mitvoi, the former deputy head of Russia’s environmental agency Rosprirodnadzor, there has “never been such an accident in the Arctic zone”. The clean-up, he said, could take between five and ten years, and cost up to $1.5 billion.

The criminally slow response by both the company Norilsk Nickel and regional authorities has dramatically amplified the scale of the disaster.

Even though the catastrophe occurred on May 29, regional authorities did not take any action until two days later on May 31, when images of the spill had spread on social media. Authorities claimed that they were not aware of the incident until oil oozed onto a highway, causing a car to catch fire.

Sergey Verkhovets from Greenpeace Russia said that in the case of such a catastrophe two days is “a very long time.” He also stated that the company had been reckless in its exploitation of natural resources under conditions where thawing permafrost—a result of global warming—has dramatically transformed the ecological landscape.

Verkhovets warned that the impact of the oil spill would be felt for “many years to come”, further polluting the already damaged water systems in the region. The indigenous population, which depends on these rivers for its livelihood, will be particularly impacted.

“We are talking about dead fish, polluted plumage of birds and poisoned animals”, he said. Authorities have assured the population that the oil has not polluted the ground water, but whether this is true or not is far from certain. About 175,000 people live in the nearby city of Norilsk.

On June 3, Russian president Vladimir Putin, in a highly-staged televised address, chided the company and declared a federal state of emergency. A federal investigation was initiated and state television made a point of showing the foreman at the power plant being led off to jail in handcuffs. He is being made the main scapegoat of the disaster, and is being charged for violating environmental protection rules. He may face up to five years in prison.

In reality, however, it is the government and Norilsk Nickel that bear primary responsibility.

Norilsk Nickel is one of the largest producers of nickel, platinum and copper in the world, and one of the most influential and valuable in Russia. The multi-billion state-owned company has been at the center of intense struggles between Russian oligarchs since the destruction of the Soviet Union and restoration of capitalism. It is now headed by Vladimir Potanin, who is worth over $25 billion, and is close to President Vladimir Putin. In a statement on Friday, Potanin claimed the company would pay for the clean-up of the disaster.

Environmental protection regulations in Russia are notoriously poor, and systematic violations by companies are routinely overlooked by state authorities. Four years ago, an accident at another plant of Norilsk Nickel in the region resulted in an oil spill that turned another river red and transformed an area twice the size of Rhode Island into a “dead zone.” The company was fined less than $1,000, which made clear signal that it had nothing to fear in case of future disasters.

The catastrophe on the Ambarnaya underlies the dangers bound up with the “new scramble for the Arctic” by the major powers and corporations. Rapidly warming temperatures have made the exploitation of raw material resources in the region much more dangerous from an environmental standpoint, but also more alluring for major corporations.

At the same time, the Arctic, which is of major economic and geostrategic significance to Russia, has become a central arena of the US imperialist drive to encircle Russia. This further heightens the danger of military and environmental catastrophes.

As part of the standoff with the US, Russia launched a floating nuclear power plant in the Arctic Sea late last summer. The ship has been called a “nuclear Titanic” and “floating Chernobyl” by environmental groups that warn of the potentially catastrophic consequences of any accident on board. Just a few months before the launching of the floating nuclear power plant, a fire on a Russian nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea killed 14 high-ranking Russian navy officers. An aide to the commander of Russia’s navy later ominously warned that, “With their lives, they saved the lives of their colleagues, saved the vessel and prevented a planetary catastrophe.”

How awesome will you feel after putting on this Savage American shirt (or tank) from American AF? Check out this user review.

“As soon as I put it on, my house started shaking. I walked outside and saw 1776 bald eagles sitting on my roof. They all in perfect unison saluted with their right wing. I saluted back and they screeched the anthem then flew off. In the sky they made an American flag with their formation. It was beautiful.”

That was god damn beautiful.

If you’re still not convinced, you must be dead. My condolences.

I continue my Top 10 list with my Top 10 Best Movies of the 90’s.

In the post-Evangelion landscape, mecha anime became even more serious, deeply philosophical and emotionally overwrought. I say even more, because really those wheels had been set in motion since Gundam, which marked a major shift away from super robots as toyetic kids shows, and towards “war is hell” allegories. However, post-Evangelion, stories tended to be even bleaker. Against this drab backdrop came Martian Successor Nadesico, a perfectly satirical yet incredibly likable love letter to the super robot shows of old. In an era that soon trended towards drab existentialism, Nadesico was a wonderfully unexpected and immensely welcome dose of somewhat more traditional mecha action. It was also a gutsy show as it was so steeped in nostalgia, and much more multi-dimensional than even many shows airing today. However, does it hold together with another 17 years in between it’s original airing and now?

Akito Tenkawa is our lead male, and he’s had a rather rough life. After having lost his parents to an “industrial accident” (read: state-sponsored murder,) he only narrowly escapes death during an attack from invading forces, the mysterious Jovian Lizards. Right in the middle of the blood-bath, he miraculously finds himself on Earth with no idea how he got there, and no interest in fighting the impending Jovian threat, in spite of that fact that he has the nanomachine implants to be a Aestivalis (mech) pilot. He has massive PTSD from multiple traumas, so he tries to keep his head down as a fry cook. Alas, fate never works that way in an anime. He ends up running into an old elementary school classmate of his, Yurika Misumaru, and after a half-second of not remembering her, he pursues her to the Nadesico, the ship she happens to be captaining. Why? Not out of love as Yurika thinks, but to get some closure regarding his parents.

Here, Akito finds a motley but talented crew that might as well be a cross between the A-Team (the best of the best) and the study group of Community (an absolutely hilarious group of weirdos and misfits with more quirks than common sense.) Akito himself is an example of this, as he’s originally brought on the Nadesico as a chef, only to end up thrown into battle because, hey, that’s how it happens in this kind of anime, and this anime knows you know the tropes. Surreal crew members and self-aware antics aside, some absolutely and unexpectedly brutal moments are interspersed throughout the series from the get go. One of the most likable characters is killed quite early on in the show, and in a surprisingly realistic, honest way for a show with such a satirical element. The moment almost crosses over into commentary on how unrealistic death is even in serious mecha series, and yet, it doesn’t actually break the flow or tone of the show. It just clues the audience to never forget that the setting is a massive interplanetary war where good people can die, even if there are some laughs a long the way.

For the most part though, an energetic, light, and generally engaging tone with snappy, clever direction drives Nadesico, at least with the TV series*. It has an absolutely massive ensemble cast of characters since it really does include everyone you’d need to run a corporately-owned space battleship, right down to the cooks and accountants. There are a lot of trope-ish characters in the show as such, including the Nadesico’s pilot, Ruri Hoshino, who was arguably and notably the first Rei Ayanami-clone and who was certainly a template for future tsundere characters. The size of the cast and their initially thin character histories could have killed this show, but instead everyone manages to get development and screen time enough to be more than just window dressing. The pacing and direction never drag because of that development either, and if anything, it’s amazing how much is stuffed into every episode. It also never crosses over into feeling abridged or hyperactive, and when the time come to actually make the dramatic plot elements count, it never falters. If anything, those moments bring the series into a surprising level of plausibility since they often logically fill in gaps in just how a lot of the things in the series work.

The rather likable voice acting from both the Japanese and American casts may also have provided Nadesico with a huge assist in believability. Even Spike Spencer, who often was (unfairly) brutalized for his work in the Evangelion dub, is unquestionably fitting as Akito. He brings a great range between silliness and seriousness, and that’s really works wonderfully in Nadesico. Everyone else in both casts are also a delight as there are no traces of sniff, over-dramatic, or over-saccharine delivery. Even Ruri, who has a deadpan delivery in both languages, sounds less like a character and more like some one actually bored yet annoyed by the occasionally antics surrounding her. The soundtrack is a treat as well, and the opening may be one of my favorite of any 1990s anime; it is almost viral in it’s infectiousness. The audio mix itself is rather smooth as well, with the 5.1 Japanese audio feeling down right cinematic.

Visually, both the animation and the DVD encoding itself are in great form . Yes, there are few scenes that aren’t as synced with the American dub because Nozomi Entertainment has used new masters, but really, that’s a nitpick, and one I wouldn’t have even noticed to make had Nozomi not been so kind as to warn me as the DVD started to play. I’ll certainly take a few out sync scenes that the horrible overlays/replaced visuals that the old ADV release had. The animation is definitely 1990’s by design both for the characters and mechs, but it’s rather good 1990’s animation. The fluidity makes it still one of Xebec’s better titles visually. The mech fights are nicely choreographed, but even the handling of simple conversations feel like they have a nice sense of positioning and flow. Keiji Gotoh’s designs have actually aged alright as well, as they reflect some of the best trends of 1990’s anime character design. Nadesico is not without it’s cheats, but the cheats are used intelligently rather than lazily, and at that point, they go from being cheats to style choices. The retro-style animation used for the Gekigengar 3 scenes (the anime within the anime,) is also expertly done. Taken out of context (as it almost is in the finally released in America and included Gekigengar OVA,) you’d never know they’d made a fake anime from whole cloth for the Nadesico to use and meta-reference.

With all this said, the question comes up of whether it’s worth it for existing fans to double dip. Personally, I feel it’s a yes, as this is the Nadesico we were always supposed to have, in it’s entirety, and for a price that’s quite reasonable. More practically though, as with any double dip, you have to ask yourself how much the show means to you. If you love Nadesico, this is the set to own until we get a Blu-ray release. If you’ve only watched your existing copy once since you’ve bought it, maybe you should think twice. However, if you don’t own it, and you’ve never seen it, this is definitely the Nadesico boxset to get right now as even the packaging is rather nice. More importantly Nadesico is still one of the best ensemble cast mecha shows ever, and it’s now itself a wonderful time capsule of a bygone era of mecha anime.

Today I take a look back at one of the most integral parts of my childhood, the GameBoy Advance SP.

I continue my Top 10 list with my Top 10 Best Movies of the 80’s.

The original Resident Evil trilogy on PlayStation were classic survival-horror games. The genre itself was rooted in the conventions of adventure games. The franchise was not intended to be an action game series.

Players would find themselves scrounging for whatever limited resources possible and always looking for obscure keys. Other times you may find yourself having to figure out cryptic puzzles or where to use some mystifying object to open a way forward. This was a key pillar in Resident Evil games as a whole.

Since Resident Evil 2 was such an enormous hit, Capcom was eager to quickly follow up on it. The next generation consoles were looming on the horizon so orders were passed to make a sequel. Resident Evil: Code Veronica lost its numerical designation and the gaiden game, Resident Evil: Last Escape, became Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, like many 90s survival-horror games on PlayStation, used pre-rendered backgrounds and tank-controls. This staple served a purpose for the genre and it was for the sake of friction. This creates tension while navigating, while also maintaining consistent control between the 2D backdrops.

The picturesque backdrops lend a significant cinematic flair to the franchise, and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis was no different. As far as the PlayStation trilogy goes, this entry proved to have the most detailed and sophisticated environments of them all.

The tank-controls are necessary in a game like this where the camera cuts to various angles. Holding up on the d-pad means that Jill will always move forward, regardless of the perspective.

Some people may struggle with this control configuration but Resident Evil 3: Nemesis wouldn’t work without it. It is not about landing shots since enemies have generous hit-boxes- it is about Jill’s placement.

Unlike its predecessors, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis aims to be different, and embraces situations where players get to be trigger happy and “make zombie go boom”. This means having to stand in one spot and deplete ammo on upwards to seven undead in a room.

Since the environments are laid out in long narrow passages, it is not viable to kite some brain eaters and to John Elway your way past them. The dodge mechanic is just not a reliable means to avoid damage, and how it works is incredibly vague and inconsistent.

It can feel totally random to pull off successful dodges, especially when throwing down with everyone’s favorite beefy boy. While it is optional to fight Nemesis, you ultimately will want to. Putting him in his place means crucial weapon part upgrades.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis does not mess around with its difficulty. You are either going in with a strawberry daiquiri, or you’ll be a man and down the whole bottle of rum. There is no normal: only a virgin easy mode, or the chad hard mode.

This matters because you won’t get to enjoy all that Resident Evil 3: Nemesis has to offer. You must pick hard, and never look back. On hard, Nemesis lives up to his name and is unbelievable cruel in a fight.

Unlike Resident Evil 3 (2020), Resident Evil 3: Nemesis actually has the main antagonist in the title. The reason is because Nemesis is strongly featured through out, unlike the remake. This is where Capcom’s miscalculation on the gameplay show’s, it is just too difficult to fight this leather clad freak and not take several rams to Jill’s baby-maker.

No matter how effective you may get at dodging, it rarely guarantees that you can pull it off every time due to some of the camera angles, and just how fast Nemesis can move. It is a war of attrition regardless because there is no demand for accuracy, since Jill only has to be facing the beast to give him a face full of bullet bukkake.

In the older Resident Evil games, battles were sometimes puzzles or would require to exploit some kind of weakness. Other times you were able to run and quickly land a few shots and run away again. Resident Evil’s strengths and appeal was adventure gaming flourishes; action didn’t become a pillar until Resident Evil 4.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis comes with several interesting puzzle designs. The ones that make the most sense involve getting equipment for city utilities to advance. The stupid ones make no sense in the logic of a downtown city area, and come off as arbitrary Resident Evil puzzle no. 18.

The absolute most egregious example is the ridiculous stone book Jill would have to lug around, to place into a statue, to open a compartment for another absurd stone object, which will lead to a battery, to turn on a lift. The sequence is not inherently bad; the context needed to be rethought out to make sense in a run-of-the-mill American city.

A major departure in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis from its predecessors is the lack of themed keys. While exploring, Jill is more likely to find a few one time use key item that needs to be used in the right area. Rarely will Jill need to put too much thought into her route, since so much of the game is straight forward outside of a few choices.

Unlike Resident Evil 2 or Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Jill’s story is a footnote in the grand scope of the Resident Evil universe. At best, it is a background event of the much more integral predecessor.

The one thing that can be gleamed from Nemesis, is that not all Umbrella goons are totally evil. Carlos and Mikail prove to be some of the more likable characters in the series’ canon. These boys ultimately prove themselves to be resourceful for Jill when the situation gets intensely bleak.

The plot is spartan, with the most basic outline of Jill just trying to get out of Raccoon City alive. There are no revelations or plot twists; just high stakes, and the looming threat of Nemesis and the impending nukes.

Some of the most impressive aspects of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, is how far it pushed details in the 2D backdrops, and how far the low polygon modeling had come. Jill’s model is especially impressive for a PlayStation game, with lot of curves and a wide range of very natural looking motions.

Enemies get the same level of attention of detail, and when playing the GameCube version the jaggies get smoothed out nicely. Impressive touches include the city backgrounds depicting a gradual degradation. As you progress further, you might notice street lights not working anymore, or fire hydrants running dry.

The cold stillness of the pre-rendered imagery truly adds an eeriness, that the full 3D RE Engine renders just cannot capture. It is as if time has stopped, and everything is just dead. There is no need for sophisticated lighting or shaders; it simply is spooky and uncanny.

The sheer size of how much area Jill gets to explore in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is impressive. Even the remake did not allow players to have this much access to Raccoon City. Some areas are optional, and some may get locked out if you go to another.

Subsequent playthroughs will feature altered cutscenes to keep you on your toes, and item placement may vary depending on what you have picked up. This is one of the reasons why Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is still such a highly revered entry despite its shortcomings; it has incredibly high replay value.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis was the first time Mercenary Mode made its appearance. This amusing post-game diversion functions as a arcade like action game that takes pages from the movie, The Running Man.

The Mercenaries: Operation Mad Jackal is not that dissimilar to the 4th Survivor mode in Resident Evil 2, but with some added depth. Every enemy is worth a certain amount of cash, and has a specified time bonus attached. On top of this, you could combo bonuses if you are a fast enough killer.

This mode has you playing as the swarthy Carlos, dastardly Nicholai, or Mikail who reeks of vodka. Each one has a unique play style, but if you are truly clutch, you’re going to use Nicholai’s knife since if it earns a huge time bonus. The other two boys come with standard load outs.

The combat may not be best suited for this style of play, but it is worth playing it for the cash to buy unlockable content. Super weapons like infinite rocket launcher or the many sexy costumes for Jill add new life into the story mode.

There is much to appreciate about Resident Evil 3: Nemesis despite its shortcomings. The visuals were the tops out of the original trilogy, and the music is utterly suspenseful. It is a complete package with lots to do and see.

Acquiring a copy of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is not terribly difficult. There are many versions across multiple consoles that are plentiful to obtain. The best way to play it is on either a Dreamcast or Gamecube for smoothest image quality.

The most accessible and cost effective way to play Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is on PlayStation 3 via a download off of PlayStation Network. It supports cross play with PSP and the PS Vita as well, because sometimes a guy just really wants to be chased by a beefy boy in leather while he is away from his consoles.