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Utah Senate, House Pass Jack Thompson's Game Sales Bill
Ars Technica reports that the Utah State Senate and House have both passed Jack Thompson's proposed legislation that would stiffen penalties for the sale of M-rated games to minors. Oddly, on its trip through the state legislature, amendments rendered it largely ineffective; retailers are in the clear if the employee who sold the game goes through a training program, or if the minor misrepresents his age. It's also possible that the bill could cause some retailers to simply take down their ESRB-related advertising. Thompson's statements about the bill put the focus on advertising, but discussion on the Utah Senate floor had a familiar ring, touching on the story of a Grand Theft Auto player who killed two policemen in 2003. The ESRB wrote an open letter in opposition of the bill, saying it could undo the efforts they've made to popularize their rating system. The bill's sponsors fired back, questioning the industry's overall commitment to ratings, and now it awaits only the governor's signature before becoming law.
He was disbarred, which is sort of like dying for a lawyer. But he's still out there, sort of an undead lawyer now.
Unfortunately, no. You are probably thinking of Jack Valenti, who died in 2007.
That's not Interesting, that's Funny!
For those moderators who don't get it, Morcombe, Slant and Honeyplace are a famous solicitor's office in Ankh-Morpork, on the Discworld; Morcombe and Honeyplace are vampires, and Slant's a zombie.
Second. In a small confined space I can see that smoking should be curtailed. Really though. A lot of place have laws now that you cant smoke outside.
Unless he was talking about some kind of open-air bus, the law referred to here was about confined spaces.
The fact that some other places might have mad laws about smoking outside is another matter. Nowhere did Scrameustache suggest that he was in favour of those laws, so his reasoning of it being about where people's rights end is entirely logical, and arguing against a ban on smoking outside is arguing with a straw man.
Sir you show your true extreme left wing colors when you think that escalating from smoking in a bus to shooting someone is anywhere near the ability to even be mentioned.
What on earth do economical views have to do with this?
He was making an analogy. His analogy, though extreme, was perfectly sound, because the same argument about doing what you like to other people applies to both. Your analogy of comparing bans in buses to bans outside is not, because his reasoning about not harming others doesn't apply there.
Admittedly, I haven't read the actual legislation, just news reports' summary of it, so I am likely misinformed, but frankly, I don't get it either.
Several justifications were presented, but none sound plausible to me. Supposedly, Concerned Citizens think that underage people are going to nick drinks from the bar (has that ever happened in the history of bars?) When I was underage, I just had a friend buy the drink for me and bring it to the table, or better yet, get a bottle from the liquor store and mix it at home.
I heard that one supporter of the bill said something to the effect of "when I go out to eat, I don't want to see people drinking". I think these people should stick to fast food.
There is also the classic "if kids see people drinking, they'll want to drink," which I'd respond to with "so fucking what?"
I don't think the legislation applies to bars, as it is theoretically all people of legal drinking age there anyways. I also think that existing restaraunts all get grandfathered in, so they don't have to renovate to add a mixing back room.
At any rate, it's Utah, and yes, there is definitely a weird culture here. I still like it here, but I wouldn't mind a few changes either.
"The cup is in turn designed for holding hot or cold liquids, and has an open rim and closed base." --US Patent #5425497
It's so that alcoholic drinks are not mixed within sight of minors. Because, of course, once you see a drink being mixed, you want one, even if you are eight years old. (No, I'm not making this up).
As far as the video game bill goes... I predict a spike in video game sales in places like Colorado Springs (towns just over the border into another state - where non-Mormon residents of Utah go to buy booze, cigarettes, and a dose of sanity).