+ 6 - 10 | § ¶Mainstream media with a clue
Since I often complain about the media, I figured I'd point out there good deeds as well:The shooting on the Virginia Tech campus was only hours old, police hadn't even identified the gunman, and yet already the perpetrator had been fingered and was in the midst of being skewered in the media.
Video games. They were to blame for the dozens dead and wounded. They were behind the bloodiest massacre in U.S. history.
Or so Jack Thompson told Fox News and, in the days that followed, would continue to tell anyone who'd listen.
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When Jack Thompson gets worked up, he refers to gamers as "knuckleheads." He calls video games "mental masturbation."
When he's talking about himself and his crusade against violent games, he calls himself an "educator." He likes to use the word "pioneer."
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Meanwhile, by Tuesday, The Washington Post had posted a story on its Web site stating that several youths who knew Cho said that in high school he'd been a fan of violent video games, especially "Counter-Strike."
But a short time later, the newspaper removed that paragraph from the story without explanation. Meanwhile, authorities released a search warrant listing the items found in Cho's dorm room. Not a single video game, console or gaming gadget was on the list, though a computer was confiscated. And in an interview with Chris Matthews of "Hardball," Cho's university suite-mate said he had never seen Cho play video games.
None of this seems to matter to Thompson.
"This is not rocket science. When a kid who has never killed anyone in his life goes on a rampage and looks like the Terminator, he's a video gamer," he told MSNBC.com.
And the trippiest part: even Rush Limbaugh is coming down on the side of reason this time.
Not every video gamer goes out and murders 33 people on the college campus though. There's more to this than that… it may desensitize people, but it doesn't turn everybody into mass murderers…
People have a tough time accepting a relatively simple explanation for something of this scale. But how many people are playing video games out there? How many millions of people play video games, and how many millions of people have guns?
+ 8 - 8 | § ¶Vaudeville Tech
I'm sick of hearing about the Virginia Tech shootings.There. I said it. And I'm not sorry. (more)
+ 7 - 8 | § ¶Spitzer disappointment
I liked Spitzer - he seemed like a good, young, energetic, idealistic guy. He actually took on corruption, all that good stuff. And now this:
Gov. Eliot Spitzer will take a shot at violent videos and video games as part his remaining 2007 legislative agenda that includes campaign finance reform, streamlining the courts, and energy development. Spitzer said he will soon provide a bill that would target the ratings of video movies and video games "'that are often violent and degrading"' and can hurt children who repeatedly use and view them.
Yes, think of the children! God knows that we can't, you know, have parents raising their own children in this country! I mean, somebody else, some big, bureaucratic organization, oughta step in and fix thinsg!
When it comes to free expression I take a pretty libertarian view, and when it comes to videogames, well, I play them. I know about them. I know full well that if a kid is "screwed up" by videogames, he was *actually* screwed up by something else first. This sort of "think of the children" political cashing-out is becoming all too comfortable for democrats who feel like they need some way to get "moralistic" appeal. Hillary Clinton is the pro at this, but I was surprised and saddened to see Spitzer follow suit. He should focus his energy on corporations, not consumers.
+ 8 - 4 | § ¶Imus Issues
Now that the Imus uproar is over, I think there are a few issues worth addressing, and I'm not seeing them addressed anywhere else.Issue 1: Imus has been a jerk for years
While people disagree on the severity of Imus' comment, I think everyone agrees that it was an asinine comment to make (for those who have been asleep for the last week, Don Imus called the Rutgers women's basketball team a bunch of "nappy-headed hos"). But this isn't the first time he's put his foot in his mouth, even given his shock jock profession. He called Tucker Carlson a "bowtie-wearing pussy," and he called Howie Kurtz a "boner-nosed, beanie-wearing Jew boy."
I don't understand why we're asking if Imus should be fired now. What we should be asking is, why hasn't he been fired yet? (more)
+ 4 - 5 | § ¶Fox thinks 40 is smaller than 33
Normally I relegate video links like this to the "linkdump" on the side, but this video of Fox April Fools coverage is outrageous enough to actually talk about it a bit. You see them report an opinion poll about who the most foolish American this year was - 40% said Bush, with Britney Spears coming in second at 33%. However, after their "drumroll" Fox proudly reports Britney Spears as the winner of the most foolish, listing her at the top (with Bush's 40% put at the bottom, below other stupid celebrities who got considerably less than 40%).If you needed any more reasons to think that Fox tends to bend things, then I'd say this has got to suffice. Even when the American people clearly identify Bush as foolish, Fox does their best to obfuscate the results. "Fair and balanced" indeed...