From WCBSTV: Uzinagaz, a French internet game maker proves that Europeans can be just as crass and insensitive as Americans, with their game, New York Defender, in which the player attempts to shoot down airliners before they can crash into the World Trade Center and other targets.
"Use your mouse to fight the feeling of impotence" is the tagline. On the face of it, they seem to be marketing a game designed to give frustrated Americans the illusion of fighting back against the perpetrators of the most horrific act of terrorism ever committed on American soil.
From where I sit, it looks like a profoundly disturbing example of society's desensitisation to violence. As an American, this is way past the line between entertainment and tastelessness, and on into obscenity territory.
So why would anyone create such a thing? Basic economics - where there is a demand, supply = profits. And there is a huge demand for simulated death and destruction. According to the McPaper...I mean, USA Today, Grand Theft Auto 4 sales topped $500 million in the first week after it's release.
I'm not a GTA fan. Gratuitous violence does not make for compelling gameplay for me. I have no desire to shoot police officers, throw Molotov cocktails into crowds, or stomp prostitutes to death, even in a simulation. And I'm pissed off almost all the time. I don't like war games or "shooters", either. The closest thing I have to a shooter game is Army Men: Green Rogue. (Which I suck at, probably in large part due to my lack of experience in the genre).
I don't see the appeal, but clearly, millions of people do. I'm sure that violence in video games does lead to violence in real life, mostly because people are stupid. Some people are definitely stupid enough to confuse video games with real life. Hell, some people replace real life with video games.
So, yeah, it's offensive. And, it's potentially dangerous. OK, well, what's the answer here? The ratings system doesn't work. Should the games be banned? And even if they were, would that stop them, or just increase their allure? I'm not in favor of censorship on general principles, and I doubt we would get much agreement on where the line should be drawn, anyway. I don't like "for your own good" government intervention, either. But since we're doing that anyway, here's a thought: why not a "sin tax" on violent video games, with the proceeds going to anti-violence education? Anyone else got a better idea?
Monday, January 12, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Forms, Finances, and Finally, an Explanation
I haven't mentioned the current financial crisis because I don't understand it. I've never had enough credit to get into any real trouble, and so I have always lived within my limited means. I don't say this with any kind of hubris. I don't have crushing debt not because I'm so much smarter than everyone else about money, but rather because I have such a limited understanding of it.
When I was a young adult, I got my first checking account and my first credit card. It was a department store card, I can't remember which store now. I remember being told that a store credit card was an excellent way to begin building my credit. I vaguely understood that credit was a good, grown-up thing to have.
I used the card to buy some clothes, and I may have even made a payment or two before I lost interest in the whole idea. Long story short, I defaulted on the debt and never got another credit card again until bank cards started sporting the little Visa logo. I've had checking accounts, off and on through the years, mostly with similar results. I'm very good at bouncing checks, but not so good at balancing a checkbook.
Yes, I know it's irresponsible. I have no excuse. I just....don't get it. It's not that I want to be a deadbeat, and I usually do pay my debts, eventually (although that was not always true). Money itself does not confuse me. If something costs $40 and I have $3, I don't get to buy it. That's how that works.
Numbers in general though, have not been a friend to me. I flunked freshman algebra three times, eventually dropping out of college because of it. I'm still convinced that the quadratic equation is an elaborate hoax perpetrated by all the rest of you on me alone.
Even more than numbers, I dread forms. Application forms, tax forms, insurance forms, all forms baffle and often enrage me, and I try to give them a wide berth. Did you know some forms are numbered?! Each little "field" has it's own number! I shudder at the very thought of it. Maybe it's my ADD, but something in the way my brain is wired just hopelessly jumbles up anything form or mathematically related. But I digress.
So, anyway, the whole financial collapse is alarming to me, but I can't say I have a very firm grasp of the situation.
I realize most of ya'll probably understand it better than I do, but just in case it isn't all that clear to you, either, The Wall Street Journal has an excellent little series of three short videos that does a pretty good of explaining the whole thing with a minimum use of numbers. I highly recommend it.
When I was a young adult, I got my first checking account and my first credit card. It was a department store card, I can't remember which store now. I remember being told that a store credit card was an excellent way to begin building my credit. I vaguely understood that credit was a good, grown-up thing to have.
I used the card to buy some clothes, and I may have even made a payment or two before I lost interest in the whole idea. Long story short, I defaulted on the debt and never got another credit card again until bank cards started sporting the little Visa logo. I've had checking accounts, off and on through the years, mostly with similar results. I'm very good at bouncing checks, but not so good at balancing a checkbook.
Yes, I know it's irresponsible. I have no excuse. I just....don't get it. It's not that I want to be a deadbeat, and I usually do pay my debts, eventually (although that was not always true). Money itself does not confuse me. If something costs $40 and I have $3, I don't get to buy it. That's how that works.
Numbers in general though, have not been a friend to me. I flunked freshman algebra three times, eventually dropping out of college because of it. I'm still convinced that the quadratic equation is an elaborate hoax perpetrated by all the rest of you on me alone.
Even more than numbers, I dread forms. Application forms, tax forms, insurance forms, all forms baffle and often enrage me, and I try to give them a wide berth. Did you know some forms are numbered?! Each little "field" has it's own number! I shudder at the very thought of it. Maybe it's my ADD, but something in the way my brain is wired just hopelessly jumbles up anything form or mathematically related. But I digress.
So, anyway, the whole financial collapse is alarming to me, but I can't say I have a very firm grasp of the situation.
I realize most of ya'll probably understand it better than I do, but just in case it isn't all that clear to you, either, The Wall Street Journal has an excellent little series of three short videos that does a pretty good of explaining the whole thing with a minimum use of numbers. I highly recommend it.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Exploiting Sarah
From CNN — Sarah Palin is credited with making Tina Fey a world-wide star and boosting Katie Couric's ratings at CBS.
But in a recent interview with conservative John Ziegler, Palin said both "exploited" her twelve-week candidacy — a fact, she said, that "says a great deal about our society.” Exploited? Really? That seems a little naive, doesn't it? Comedians lampoon public figures, and television news anchors interview them. I'm not sure what Governor Palin expected when she decided to run for Vice-President, but I don't see anything outside of the norm here. (Besides a VP candidate woefully unprepared for an interview, that is.)
Fey's widely-applauded portrayal of the Alaska governor boosted SNL's ratings, while Couric’s audience grew after a series of interviews during which Palin now-famously faltered. I'll get back to you on that.
“I did see that Tina Fey was named entertainer of the year and Katie Couric’s ratings have risen," Palin said in the interview. "I know that a lot of people are capitalizing on, oh I don’t know, perhaps some exploiting that was done via me, my family, my administration — that’s a little bit perplexing, but it also says a great deal about our society.” That's so true. We will laugh at you if make a fool of yourself on National television. We are a cruel and heartless folk.
The Alaska governor was particularly upset with an SNL skit during which Fey's version of Palin said, "I believe marriage is meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers."
The line was a clear reference to Palin's 18-year-old daughter Bristol and her fiancé Levi Johnston. The two announced shortly before the GOP convention that they were expecting a baby and had plans to marry. Oh, lighten up! That was probably the line of the year. Besides, I think the horse is outta the barn, as far as sheltering Bristol, don't you?
"The mama grizzly rises up in me, hearing things like that," she said of a skit. "Here again, cool, fine come attack me. But when you make a suggestion like that that attacks a kid, it kills me."
But in a recent interview with conservative John Ziegler, Palin said both "exploited" her twelve-week candidacy — a fact, she said, that "says a great deal about our society.” Exploited? Really? That seems a little naive, doesn't it? Comedians lampoon public figures, and television news anchors interview them. I'm not sure what Governor Palin expected when she decided to run for Vice-President, but I don't see anything outside of the norm here. (Besides a VP candidate woefully unprepared for an interview, that is.)
Fey's widely-applauded portrayal of the Alaska governor boosted SNL's ratings, while Couric’s audience grew after a series of interviews during which Palin now-famously faltered. I'll get back to you on that.
“I did see that Tina Fey was named entertainer of the year and Katie Couric’s ratings have risen," Palin said in the interview. "I know that a lot of people are capitalizing on, oh I don’t know, perhaps some exploiting that was done via me, my family, my administration — that’s a little bit perplexing, but it also says a great deal about our society.” That's so true. We will laugh at you if make a fool of yourself on National television. We are a cruel and heartless folk.
The Alaska governor was particularly upset with an SNL skit during which Fey's version of Palin said, "I believe marriage is meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers."
The line was a clear reference to Palin's 18-year-old daughter Bristol and her fiancé Levi Johnston. The two announced shortly before the GOP convention that they were expecting a baby and had plans to marry. Oh, lighten up! That was probably the line of the year. Besides, I think the horse is outta the barn, as far as sheltering Bristol, don't you?
"The mama grizzly rises up in me, hearing things like that," she said of a skit. "Here again, cool, fine come attack me. But when you make a suggestion like that that attacks a kid, it kills me."
In the wide-ranging interview, Palin also faulted the McCain campaign for agreeing to a series of sit-downs with Couric after the first one appeared to go so poorly. Poorly? I thought it was even funnier than the SNL skits! I'd call that a success!
“I knew it didn’t go well the first day, and then we gave her a couple of other segments after that," she said. "And my question to the campaign was, after it didn’t go well the first day, why were we going to go back for more…going back for more was not a wise decision either.”
During one of those follow-up interviews, Palin took heat for appearing to be unable to name the newspapers or magazines she reads: "Um of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years," was the Alaska governor's response.
In the interview with Ziegler, Palin called that answer "too flippant" and suggested the question itself offended her. If by "flippant", you mean asinine, then I agree.
“To me the question was more along the lines of, ‘Do you read, what do you guys do up there, what is it that you read?’”
"…Katie, you’re not the center of everybody’s universe," Palin added off-handedly. Oh! Burn!
Palin, who has long criticized media coverage of her campaign performance, also said she is interested to see if reporters are equally tough on Caroline Kennedy as she pursues the appointment to the likely-vacant Senate seat in New York.
“I’ve been interested to see how Caroline Kennedy will be handled, and if she will be handled with kid gloves or if she will be under such a microscope,” she said.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out and I think that as we watch that we will perhaps be able to prove that there is a class issue here, also that was such a factor in the scrutiny of my candidacy versus, say, the scrutiny of what her candidacy may be," she also said. She has a point there. After all, Caroline Kennedy lives on Park Avenue, while poor Palin couldn't even afford to pay for building her own home (allegedly)!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
...but I swear it was in self-defense...
I noticed this story on Yahoo! news about a California sheriff being indicted for accepting bribes and kickbacks today, and it seemed kinda familiar. I guess it reminded me of this story, which was making the local news back when I was living in Virginia.
That sheriff had a nifty little plan to sell confiscated drugs. Gotta like the profit margins on that! This poor schmuck in Oregon just threatened to fire any department employees who ran against him. Weak! I doubt I'd have remembered that one.
I bet it was the Valdosta sheriff who liked to shake down prisoners for cash and free labor. Or maybe it was the Seneca County, New York debacle that evidently the whole Sheriff's department was in on. That one's memorable, what with the tire theft, free vacations, and a mysterious fire.
Of course, they don't get much bigger than former DeKalb County sheriff Sidney Dorsey's murder and racketeering indictment. That's probably the one I was reminded of.
Could have been payoffs in Texas, DWI in Catskill, embezzlement in NC, or a nice sex with prisoners scandal in Jackson County Tennessee. I particularly enjoyed Jackson County's Sheriff Kenneth Bean's impassioned defense, “I'm not guilty yet. I've got to go to court.”
I was also impressed with Page County, Virginia's Daniel Presgraves, whose 22-count indictment includes everything; sexual assault, appropriation of public funds, intimidation of potential witnesses, and accepting bribes from the fine folks operating the local cockfighting ring.
Remember kids, the police officer is your friend!
That sheriff had a nifty little plan to sell confiscated drugs. Gotta like the profit margins on that! This poor schmuck in Oregon just threatened to fire any department employees who ran against him. Weak! I doubt I'd have remembered that one.
I bet it was the Valdosta sheriff who liked to shake down prisoners for cash and free labor. Or maybe it was the Seneca County, New York debacle that evidently the whole Sheriff's department was in on. That one's memorable, what with the tire theft, free vacations, and a mysterious fire.
Of course, they don't get much bigger than former DeKalb County sheriff Sidney Dorsey's murder and racketeering indictment. That's probably the one I was reminded of.
Could have been payoffs in Texas, DWI in Catskill, embezzlement in NC, or a nice sex with prisoners scandal in Jackson County Tennessee. I particularly enjoyed Jackson County's Sheriff Kenneth Bean's impassioned defense, “I'm not guilty yet. I've got to go to court.”
I was also impressed with Page County, Virginia's Daniel Presgraves, whose 22-count indictment includes everything; sexual assault, appropriation of public funds, intimidation of potential witnesses, and accepting bribes from the fine folks operating the local cockfighting ring.
Remember kids, the police officer is your friend!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Not Again!
See, this is why I don't let people crash on my couch. Because they won't go away! Daddy Bush says he'd like to see Jeb in the White House. How much money and power does this family need, anyways?
In fairness, he did allow that "...right now is probably a bad time, because we've got enough Bushes in there." More than enough, I'd say. Also, the timing might be a little off, in that the last election just ended and the new President (who is curiously not a Bush) hasn't even taken the oath of office yet. So, that might be kinda awkward, huh?
He suggests that maybe Jeb could be Florida's new Senator in the meantime. Well, it'd be hard to do worse than Mel Martinez, I'll give ya that, George.
George also comments that the New York Times' many criticisms of his namesake son were, "grossly unfair." Not as unfair as you and Barbara foisting off your feckless spawn on this country, big guy.
He did praise President-elect Obama, saying "I've very impressed with his style on the campaign and his coolness and his articulate nature. I think he can give a sentence and it'll sound like it's been thought out by Shakespeare or something." Here's hoping he gives a cool, Shakespearean-sounding sentence to your boy, George.
In fairness, he did allow that "...right now is probably a bad time, because we've got enough Bushes in there." More than enough, I'd say. Also, the timing might be a little off, in that the last election just ended and the new President (who is curiously not a Bush) hasn't even taken the oath of office yet. So, that might be kinda awkward, huh?
He suggests that maybe Jeb could be Florida's new Senator in the meantime. Well, it'd be hard to do worse than Mel Martinez, I'll give ya that, George.
George also comments that the New York Times' many criticisms of his namesake son were, "grossly unfair." Not as unfair as you and Barbara foisting off your feckless spawn on this country, big guy.
He did praise President-elect Obama, saying "I've very impressed with his style on the campaign and his coolness and his articulate nature. I think he can give a sentence and it'll sound like it's been thought out by Shakespeare or something." Here's hoping he gives a cool, Shakespearean-sounding sentence to your boy, George.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Sick or just Stupid?
I've been debating whether or not I should comment on the whole D'Orazio vs. Mozzocco battle over comic kiddie porn. In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a huge fan of Valerie and her blog Occasional Superherione. I'm less impressed with Mozzocco's Newsarama column. It just seems like the comic world's version of a gossip column. Which isn't to say that's a bad thing, just not something I personally enjoy. I find the overall Newsarama site is very well done, and can't be beat for content.
The heated debate on both sites on this topic got pretty ugly for a while there, complete with name-calling (mostly in the comments). Once again, free speech gets tangled up with the perception of obscenity.
Now, I'm not making light of the horrible damage wrought by child pornography. No one here is even remotely endorsing that heinous garbage, and anyone involved in it oughta be castrated. But this?.....isn't that. The images in question here are evidently drawings of Bart and Lisa Simpson engaging in sexual acts. I haven't actually seen the drawings (although in researching for this post, "Simpson's porn" produced a staggering and unsettling number hits). So I may be way off base here, but it sounds to me like the kind of "artwork" one might find on a bathroom stall. Which, while certainly crude and tasteless, isn't inherently harmful, in my opinion.
So I guess my take on the whole mess is that the pictures in question are undoubtedly offensive, but aren't worth getting het up over. Save the righteous anger for the real thing.
The heated debate on both sites on this topic got pretty ugly for a while there, complete with name-calling (mostly in the comments). Once again, free speech gets tangled up with the perception of obscenity.
Now, I'm not making light of the horrible damage wrought by child pornography. No one here is even remotely endorsing that heinous garbage, and anyone involved in it oughta be castrated. But this?.....isn't that. The images in question here are evidently drawings of Bart and Lisa Simpson engaging in sexual acts. I haven't actually seen the drawings (although in researching for this post, "Simpson's porn" produced a staggering and unsettling number hits). So I may be way off base here, but it sounds to me like the kind of "artwork" one might find on a bathroom stall. Which, while certainly crude and tasteless, isn't inherently harmful, in my opinion.
So I guess my take on the whole mess is that the pictures in question are undoubtedly offensive, but aren't worth getting het up over. Save the righteous anger for the real thing.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
My New Year's Resolutions
2008 is over! Everyone gets a chance to make a fresh start, get rid of those bad habits and begin the year with a new attitude! With that idea of hope and positive change in my head, here's my list of New Year's resolutions:
Gain Weight - At a meager 195 lbs, I just don't feel like I cut a very imposing figure. I plan on beefing up on healthy, nutritious foods like Fudge Rounds, buffalo wings, donuts, and Doritos.
Smoke More - I'm not listening to those anti-smoking sissies and their vicious propaganda. Big tobacco is my friend! Plus, smoking is cool. Everyone knows that.
Make Less Time For My Family - If you've read my previous posts, then you know that spending time with my family makes me crazy. In fact, I don't know anyone who doesn't have a dysfunctional relationship with their family. If you do, don't tell me about it, that's just weird.
Try To See The Worst In Everyone - You know you want me to....
Issue Random Insults and Commit Arbitrary Acts of Assault - What the world needs in these troubled time is more bullies.
Try to Increase My Carbon Footprint - I've been feeling like I'm not really taking my fair share lately. Why should the Republicans have all the fun? I wanna help destroy the planet, too!
Take More - Charity is for suckers. I'll keep whatever's mine, and take what you've got, too. Jesus would want me to.
I know, it's a pretty ambitious list, but I think I'm up to the challenge. I'll check it at the end of 2009 and we'll see how I did.
Gain Weight - At a meager 195 lbs, I just don't feel like I cut a very imposing figure. I plan on beefing up on healthy, nutritious foods like Fudge Rounds, buffalo wings, donuts, and Doritos.
Smoke More - I'm not listening to those anti-smoking sissies and their vicious propaganda. Big tobacco is my friend! Plus, smoking is cool. Everyone knows that.
Make Less Time For My Family - If you've read my previous posts, then you know that spending time with my family makes me crazy. In fact, I don't know anyone who doesn't have a dysfunctional relationship with their family. If you do, don't tell me about it, that's just weird.
Try To See The Worst In Everyone - You know you want me to....
Issue Random Insults and Commit Arbitrary Acts of Assault - What the world needs in these troubled time is more bullies.
Try to Increase My Carbon Footprint - I've been feeling like I'm not really taking my fair share lately. Why should the Republicans have all the fun? I wanna help destroy the planet, too!
Take More - Charity is for suckers. I'll keep whatever's mine, and take what you've got, too. Jesus would want me to.
I know, it's a pretty ambitious list, but I think I'm up to the challenge. I'll check it at the end of 2009 and we'll see how I did.
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