Are the manufacturers / distributers of video games responsible for the actions of a 'few' mentally twisted persons who obviously were not able to distinguish between fiction and reality? By the same token, should we sue the newschannels for the content they broadcast each and every day?
I am getting sick of this ongoing "are the media the cause of society's violence?" debate. It is time parents start raising and educating their children again. For some reason, that is what seems to be sorely lacking. Furthermore, the 'claimculture' which has grown in the U.S. over the years isn't helping at all. It's no longer a matter of common sense (absent in most), it's about lawsuits and big fat $$$-signs.
The article concludes with: "We need to wake up. These kids don't need to be playing violent games. But corporations don't have social consciences. You have to force them through economics."
Odd, how the quotee blissfully ignores the fact that most games aren't played by kids, but by mature (though that is questionable as well) adults. Do we see people charging down the highways, mowing down pedestrians a la Carmageddon? The answer, as anyone with a few braincells is able to understand, is no. If we follow his logic, we should try, for instance, the weapon industry. Or car companies because their vehicles can kill. Or... you fill in the absurdities.
"It is guaranteed that more monsters will be created and more school killings will occur" - yes, if drastic educational measures aren't taken to stop this kind of crap from being spewed in the first place. Is it some form of mass delusionism that prevents us from seeing the bigger picture? Or are we only concerned for the $$$ ?
America, land of limitless possibilities, land of limitless ways to draw attention to yourself and make big money out of an argument that any rational person can refute easily.
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"Cry havoc and let's slip the dogs of Evil"
[This message has been edited by The_Evil_Lord (edited April 24, 2001).]
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In this crazy world of lemons, baby...you're lemonade!
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"Of course I'm paranoid! Everyone's trying to kill me."
- Weyoun, "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River"
What's he expect Carmack to do? Hang around Walmart game sections, and attack any kid who tries to by Deus Ex?
And since, apparently, in the US, it's illegal to actually enforce ratings on computer games and films, what exactly can the software companies do anyway? Change the law? Burn the always-correct Constitution?
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You know, when Comedy Central asked us to do a Thanksgiving episode, the first thought that went through my mind was, "Boy, I'd like to have sex with Jennifer Aniston."
-Trey Parker, co-creator of South Park
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"Instructed by history and reflection, Julian was persuaded that, if the diseases of the body may sometimes be cured by salutary violence, neither steel nor fire can eradicate the erroneous opinions of the mind."
-Edward Gibbons, The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire.
Interestingly, the BC provincial government just passed a law requiring 18+ games to be sold and rented in a separate areas of stores closed off to minors, somewhat akin to adult videos. *shrug*
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"I can be creative when I have a good idea. That just happens way too rarely."
-Omega, April 6
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Disclaimer:
--Directed towards no one, this is an example statement
There is usually no need for this kind of clarification, but people seem to enjoy twisting my words from their original and BLATANTLY OBVIOUS meaning to suit their own purposes, this is why from now on I will include these disclaimers.
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"Well if it's gonna be that kind of a party, I'm putting my dick in the mashed potatoes!"
-Nimrod 16/4/2001
I'm going to ocme back to this when I'm not quite so trashed.
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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted)
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"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
***
"I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.
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God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the weaponry to make the difference.
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�
[This message has been edited by TLE (edited April 24, 2001).]
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"Although, from what I understand, having travelled around the Mid-west quite a bit, apparently Jesus is coming, so I guess the choice now is we should decide whether we should spit or swallow."
-Maynard James Keenan
This is off topic now but those cases against the tobacco companies are nonsense too. "I was smoking 60 cigarettes a day for 50 years of my life and it gave me cancer. I blame the manufacturers for giving me cancer". For fucks sake, IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE FOR HUMANS TO BE THIS STUPID!
Your lawyers perpetuate this nonsense too so it is partly their fault. They don't care if justice is served or not as long as they make lots of money from it.
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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #9
Who let that fucking woman drive? - Captain of Space Shuttle
[This message has been edited by Orion Syndicate (edited April 24, 2001).]
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"One's ethics are determined by what we do when no one is looking" Nugget
Star Trek: Gamma Quadrant
Star Trek: Legacy
Read them, rate them, got money, film them
"...and I remain on the far side of crazy, I remain the mortal enemy of man, no hundred dollar cure will save me..." WoV
When I grew up and watched movies such as Jaws, Alien, Escape From New York, Highlander and soforth, I was physically shaken and sometimes very scared by the sights, music and actions in these movies. "Platoon" was no picnic either, for a 11-year old. I was really scared sometimes. That's why I've had problems playing AvP, I don't want to encounter those hissing things.
But it never affected my attitude towards violence, other people's rights or anything the puritans claim. It didn't blunt my psyche either, more likely it made me feel sympathy and remorse sometimes.
Then there's "martial arts"-movies. If kids go out and beat eachother bloody, in the street or the schoolyard, that bullying, abnoxious and proud attitude was there even before they watched the Bruce Lee movies (who is king, btw).
Some kids are brought up to loathe weak persons, some have wonderful parents and grow up in a favorable environment, yet turn out 'evil' anyway.
Food for thought...
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Don't kill me, I'm charming!
Star Trek has influenced our lives. Otherwise, why would we all be posting at Flare?
Paramount produces Star Trek. It does. Universal produced Back to the Future, Paramount produced Star Trek.
Therefore, Paramount is partly responsible for turning us into Trekkies.
We are partly responsible for turning into Trekkies, because no one forced us to like the show.
... food for thought.
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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted)
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
***
"I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.
Now, about Paramount's responsibility, how many Trekkies would actually go out, find Malcolm McDowell and shoot him as retribution for the death of Captain Kirk? Not many. The ones who were responsible for the death threats against McDowell for that very reason are screwed in the head -just like the people that kill others. You can't blame TV companies or programmes for the fucked up personalities of people who were probably like that before they ever saw the programme. About your Paramount argument, how many Star Trek fans are there in the world? Now, how many aren't fans? I think any sensible person would agree that the figure would be ridiculously higher in the 'non fan' category. A lot of these have probably seen Star Trek and weren't converted because they don't like it. We like the concept, so are Trekkies. That's not Paramount, it's us. The TV company is just providing a service, upon which we act according to our personalities and preferences.
I think it's about time people started to accept that not everything is everyone elses fault, especially in these cases. If someone commits a murder, it isn't a TV show, but the person themselves who are to blame. There are obvious exceptions like little children for whose crimes their parents should be held accountable. After 12 or 13, it's the persons own fault. The sooner people stop blaming others and accept responsibility, the sooner things can start to change.
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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #9
Who let that fucking woman drive? - Captain of Space Shuttle
[This message has been edited by Orion Syndicate (edited April 24, 2001).]
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Lisa: "Don't you remember the story of Oedipus?"
Homer: "Maybe five dollars will refresh my memory."
Lisa (angrily): "Oedipus was the story of a man who kills his father and marries his mother!"
Homer: "Uggh! Who pays for that wedding?"
Shabren's Final Prophecy: Star Trek: Legacy
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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted)
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
***
"I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.
quote:
This is off topic now but those cases against the tobacco companies are nonsense too. "I was smoking 60 cigarettes a day for 50 years of my life and it gave me cancer. I blame the manufacturers for giving me cancer". For fucks sake, IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE FOR HUMANS TO BE THIS STUPID!
Um, would I be stupid if I said I agreed with anti-tobacco litigation?
The companies knew the link to cancer, got together and signed a pact to stand united and try and fight off the critics. They agreed not to try to lower tar levels to undercut one another. With full knowledge of this and the fact that their market would die off quicker, they agreed together to market their product to children.
This isn't lawyerish speculation, this is real documents, slowly being extracted tooth and nail from the tobacco companies.
How is what the tobacco companies are doing any worse than a car company knowing a car will blow up but not recalling it? It's far, far worse, IMHO, given the death toll tobacco has exacted since ignorance on the part of the tobacco companies no longer was an excuse.
The only numbers that come to mind are Canadian ones, but I'll have you know that Tobacco-related disease cost the Canadian health budget three to four times of what's recouped by cigarette taxes. (And our cigarette taxes are high.) That's before we take into account the ill effects smoking has on society outside hospitals: reduced productivity in the workplace, poor levels of general fitness, a mass consumption of the disposable income of addicts that could go into the economy somewhere other than big tobacco.
Frivolous litigation is everywhere, yes, but this isn't an example of it.
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"I can be creative when I have a good idea. That just happens way too rarely."
-Omega, April 6
Is this a referece to the Remsey family? Not that I really care in all honesty........
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"We have to get drunk immediately."----Gattaca
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"I'm beginning to think that there'll be NO forced mating at ALL!" --Professor Hubert T. Farnsworth
I'm only aware of Deus Ex and the upcoming Deus Ex 2.
More information would be very much appreciated!
I live in the UK and things are moving slow where I live, so I don't hear of things until months after they happen. 
Maybe I should try getting out of bed and away from the computer once in a while! 
Hehe!
Death threats against the guy who 'killed' Kirk - what is the world coming to? It's TV/Movies/Etc.! *IT IS NOT REAL!*
Madness! Can't people just watch this stuff and have fun anymore? Do they have to act daft and do such idiotic things?
OK, that's my 'verbal abuse session' over.
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"Well if it's gonna be that kind of a party, I'm putting my dick in the mashed potatoes!"
-Nimrod 16/4/2001
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In this crazy world of lemons, baby...you're lemonade!
One goes for Day-us Ex.
And the other goes for Do-s-sex.
And according to some dictionaries, Daryus-ex is a valid pronouciation as well. Our Aussie's famous.
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You know, when Comedy Central asked us to do a Thanksgiving episode, the first thought that went through my mind was, "Boy, I'd like to have sex with Jennifer Aniston."
-Trey Parker, co-creator of South Park
I'd say it's pronounced Dee-ooh-s Ghoat See Ehks.
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"Instructed by history and reflection, Julian was persuaded that, if the diseases of the body may sometimes be cured by salutary violence, neither steel nor fire can eradicate the erroneous opinions of the mind."
-Edward Gibbons, The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire.
[This message has been edited by Ultra Magnus (edited April 24, 2001).]
They just don't teach Latin in schools these days.
Tom:
What the tobacco companies did behind closed doors is irrelevant. They told the truth about their product, right on the package, and if people are too dumb to read the provided information about something they're putting in their body and die because of it, it's their own darned fault.
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"Omega is right."
-Jeff Karrde, March 18, 2001 08:47 PM
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"Although, from what I understand, having travelled around the Mid-west quite a bit, apparently Jesus is coming, so I guess the choice now is we should decide whether we should spit or swallow."
-Maynard James Keenan
[This message has been edited by TSN (edited April 25, 2001).]
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Don't kill me, I'm charming!
[This message has been edited by Nimrod (edited April 25, 2001).]
Tom: I don't think you're stupid for supporting anti-tobacco litigation, just misguided. If you were a 60 a day smoker and contracted cancer and then went on to blame the tobacco companies, THEN I'd consider you stupid. Everyone knows that smoking can cause cancer yet people continue to smoke. When they take this action despite the warnings on the packets and intense reporting about the effects in the media, they must be accepting this and taking the risk anyway. If they take the risk and lose, that's their fault, not the tobacco companies. They can't be allowed to profit from their own stupidity or poor judgement.
I know all about the tobacco companies policies about not reducing tar in cigarettes, the weird chemical reactions that make 'light' cigarettes more potent that normal strength ones, targeting children, etc etc. Your use of the car companies not recalling faulty cars is however flawed because if they know full well that the car will blow up and don't tell anyone, then the public can't make an informed choice. The car company is therefore grossly negligent and the chairman and chief executive should be hung up by their balls in full view of the public. People however know about the dangers of smoking, but continue to do so. By doing this, in my opinion, they relinquish any right to compensation if they are dying from their own stupidity.
National governments know all about the actions of tobacco comapnies and yet do nothing. If the elected representatives of nations do nothing, you can't blame companies for looking after their own interests and using any loophole available to them to maximise growth, profits or whatever their corporate aim is. They know cigarettes kill people, and more importantly the smokers themselves know that they're killing themselves by smoking. The blame therefore lies with the smoker.
MIB: That wasn't a reference to any particular situation. It's just what I feel people are doing when they make frivolous claims like this. Their family members die, and they try to profit from it. There are situations like gross negligence on the part of one party when this could be excused, but when the dead person probably dies because of their own stupidity or a mental situation which was always there, the only place any blame can be attributed is with the persons themselves and no-one else.
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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #9
Who let that fucking woman drive? - Captain of Space Shuttle
[This message has been edited by Orion Syndicate (edited April 25, 2001).]
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Don't kill me, I'm charming!
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"Omega is right."
-Jeff Karrde, March 18, 2001 08:47 PM
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"It strikes me that there are enough episodes of the Simpsons that people could speak entirely in Simpsonese, using references from the show to explain or describe an endless series of situations. Nelson and Apu . . . at Tinagra.
But now I�ve brought Star Trek into it again, haven�t I. Sorry."
- James Lileks, 09/04/2001
25 years of smoking an average of 30 cigarettes a day would give a person 5,475,000 to 8,212,500 repetitive motions. That is something a person gets accustomed to.
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"One's ethics are determined by what we do when no one is looking" Nugget
Star Trek: Gamma Quadrant
Star Trek: Legacy
Read them, rate them, got money, film them
"...and I remain on the far side of crazy, I remain the mortal enemy of man, no hundred dollar cure will save me..." WoV
My dad tells me this story about how back in the early 60's he and some of his friends decided to take up smoking. For weeks, they experimented with different brands of cigarette, and finally cigars and pipes.
Their conclusion, in the end?
"This shit is expensive, smelly, and we're not getting anything out of it. Forget it." And they quit, just like that.
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The government that seems the most unwise, oft goodness to the people best supplies. That which is meddling, touching everything, will work but ill, and disappointment bring. - The Tao Te Ching
Tobacco revenue from taxes would inevitably fall, and other taxes would therefore have to increase to fill this deficit. I for one, even as a non smoker would be willing to pay higher taxes in this event if it went on improving education, health services, roads, etc etc.
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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #9
Who let that fucking woman drive? - Captain of Space Shuttle
[This message has been edited by Orion Syndicate (edited April 25, 2001).]
Imagine the person that started after the Doc told them that it was what was needed to take care of that breathing problem they had, they took it up, then 30 years later the same Doc tells him to quit smoking, never should have started....
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"One's ethics are determined by what we do when no one is looking" Nugget
Star Trek: Gamma Quadrant
Star Trek: Legacy
Read them, rate them, got money, film them
"...and I remain on the far side of crazy, I remain the mortal enemy of man, no hundred dollar cure will save me..." WoV
That still doesn't excuse the fact that people should give up if they know it'll kill them. Yes I know it's difficult, but it can be done. My grandfather gave up smoking completely 30 years ago after about 20 years of smoking and my dad gave up in 1991 after about 15 years although he started back again in 1998 after some serious shit going on in the family. No nicorette patches were used, no chewing gum, none of those hand mouth replacement thingies, just self control and a lot of inner strength and will power. I'm hassling my dad to give up again at the moment, and he is folding. He'll have given up again soon....hopefully.
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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #9
Who let that fucking woman drive? - Captain of Space Shuttle
[This message has been edited by Orion Syndicate (edited April 25, 2001).]
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"There comes a time when the mind takes on a higher plane of knowledge but can never prove how it got there. All great discoveries have involved such a leap."
--Albert Einstein, on intuition.
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"In a completely unrelated news story, I have a date tomorrow night."
- Omega, in trying to explain why pigs are now flying, why Microsoft products are now working perfectly, hell freezing over, and George W Bush giving a flawless speech. 04/06/01, 12:17AM