Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

NIMF To Close Its Doors

Posted by Soulskill on from the but-where-will-nicodemus-go dept.

eldavojohn writes "One of the driving forces behind the ESRB toughening its ratings is closing its doors on December 31st, 2009. The National Institute on Media and the Family was funded by Fairview Health Services, and simply could no longer justify the yearly $750,000 price tag given today's economic climate. NIMF's reign of nagging has been pretty consistent since 1996, and was often indirectly featured on Slashdot. Don't worry, president and founder Dr. David Walsh promises to keep writing and giving speeches ... and imploring us all to think of the children."

68 comments

  1. Sad news by Kagura · · Score: 4, Funny

    A lot of us NIMFomaniacs will miss this organization. It always worked to satisfy us in creative ways. :*(

    1. Re:Sad news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They aren't needed anymore - now we have Jack Thompson and he can keep us safe and satisfy us in creative ways instead of NIMF.

    2. Re:Sad news by LrdDimwit · · Score: 1

      Rule 34? Of NIMF? Are you insane? Didn't anyone tell you to never cross the, uh, streams!

  2. Maybe the NIMF junk scientists... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...can go from working for Tipper Gore to working for Al Gore in the AGW bullshit dept.

    1. Re:Maybe the NIMF junk scientists... by ehrichweiss · · Score: 1

      Can someone explain the acronym "AGW" I get that the "GW" is probably global warming but does the "A" mean "Anti"??

      --
      0x09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
    2. Re:Maybe the NIMF junk scientists... by smussman · · Score: 1

      From wikipedia AGW stands for "Anthropogenic global warming".

    3. Re:Maybe the NIMF junk scientists... by WCguru42 · · Score: 1

      try Al Gore Warming department.

      --
      "Educate the mind but never at the expense of the soul."~Blessed Basil Moreau
  3. Fortunately by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is one good thing that comes with economic hardship. Idiotic, wasteful, inefficient ideas like this get swept away in the tide while people start focusing on more important issues, like keeping a roof over their heads or feeding and clothing themselves and their children.

          We need many more years of economic hardship to get rid of all the free-loaders who make a living from telling other people how guilty they should be feeling, or making nonsensical claims with no evidence to back them up.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    1. Re:Fortunately by morethanapapercert · · Score: 1, Interesting
      so what you're saying is that we can look forward to a huge wave of ignosticism to sweep the world? I think that would be wonderful, but I do see a small problem with that prediction. When times are tough, when the common person feels helpless in the face of forces and circumstances larger than they are, they tend to seek out explanations that are larger than they are. Religion *thrives* when things are toughest. "There are no athesists in a foxhole" is one common way of phrasing that. As I see it, every generation looks at it's kids, looks at the way society is evolving and finds that they don't really understand either one. They also tend to fear the worst. It is all too easy to take heed of those who prophesy a doom that we already suspect ourselves and at the same time promise that doom can be averted if we all just make a few changes in what we are doing.

      To my mind; the fundamental problem with groups like NIMF isn't that they View With Alarm, that is a enshrined tradition of priests, politicians and the power-hungry since the dawn of human history. The real problem is human arrogance and an inability to keep from meddling. If can't we can't accurately imagine the future, how can we hope to shape it as we desire? The law of unintended consequences still reigns supreme

      --
      I need a wheelchair van for my son. Help me get the word out. https://www.gofundme.com/wheelchair-van-for-jj
    2. Re:Fortunately by Machtyn · · Score: 2, Interesting

      While I disagree that this is an idiotic and wasteful idea, I will agree that it is inefficient. It is not idiotic, because it gives us a baseline of what content to expect. It's not wasteful, because some of us use these ratings. It is inefficient because it makes the more hardcore games seem more appealing and some parents just don't care and will let their kids play anything. And when they find out their little precious boy is severely depressed, grades have dropped, and has no social life they are *shocked*!

      Be it known, I am not saying that playing violent games will lead to this, but it can be a side effect of playing violent games too much.

    3. Re:Fortunately by 91degrees · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There's nothing inherently wasteful about game age ratings.

      There's nothing wrong with parents wanting to prevent their children playing certain types of games. If you think they're harmless, that's fine. Let your own kids play them. A lot of parents do care, and do like some sort of age rating. The NIMF encouraged this in a generally fairly reasonable manner.

    4. Re:Fortunately by mpe · · Score: 1

      This is one good thing that comes with economic hardship. Idiotic, wasteful, inefficient ideas like this get swept away in the tide while people start focusing on more important issues, like keeping a roof over their heads or feeding and clothing themselves and their children.

      Pity other extremist political groups appear to have rather deeper pockets. No doubt some even thrive in times of economic hardship :(

    5. Re:Fortunately by noidentity · · Score: 1

      This is one good thing that comes with economic hardship. Idiotic, wasteful, inefficient ideas like this get swept away in the tide while people start focusing on more important issues

      Except when the bad ones get bailed out, and thus make the good ones suffer more than the bad ones. :(

    6. Re:Fortunately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is one good thing that comes with economic hardship. Idiotic, wasteful, inefficient ideas like this get swept away in the tide while people start focusing on more important issues, like keeping a roof over their heads or feeding and clothing themselves and their children.

      Which is why Democrats always get elected to clean up the economic problems of the previous Republican administrations. But don't worry, though, times will get good again and the Republicans will get re-elected once the country is ready to focus on sex education, intelligent design, flag burnings and other trivial shit.

    7. Re:Fortunately by hairyfeet · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think the problem isn't the games, it is parents that use the games as a babysitter and don't actually interact with their kids. My boys have always been allowed to play any game they want, but I actually interacted with them. I showed them how things like DOOM Wads (remember those) could be manipulated to alter what is rendered on the screen, showed them how 3D graphics are drawn, explained and showed them scripts work and how voice actors gave voices to the monsters, etc.

      Of course it ended up with a rather funny side effect, they way my oldest 'curses" at the screen-"Who designed these levels? Look at all the tearing! I can see seams everywhere! What do they think this is, 1995? And what lamer wrote the AI for this thing? Can't they see I am standing not 30 feet away with a big rocket launcher? DUCK YOU DUMMY!"

      I don't worry about my boys because there is no chance of them mistaking fantasy for reality. It has also made them shy away from the games that are all about violence and bad language, as they have seen how often that is used as a crutch to sell an otherwise piss poor game. The problem is too many parents just dumping little Billy in front of a screen and not caring WHAT little Billy is doing, as long as he ain't bugging them. How sad that some of my boy's friends have never even had a story read to them, just dropped in front of a game or DVD player and left. My mom read Asimov to the boys just as she did to me all those years ago, and the difference between them and their friends is just unreal. My boys think and question everything, and after playing a game it is like listening to Siskel and Ebert do game reviews.

      To paraphrase an old movie "You need a license to drive a car, hell you even need a license to catch a fish, but they'll let any asshole be a parent". Sad but true. I have NO problems with ratings, except when companies like MSFT and Sony use them to ensure adults can't have certain games. But sadly too many times these things are just used as yet another excuse on why they don't need to interact with their kids. Like all 10,12,14 year olds have the same maturity level. It is just sad.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    8. Re:Fortunately by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      A lot of parents do care, and do like some sort of age rating.

            You obviously don't care enough to fund it, hence the insolvency.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    9. Re:Fortunately by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      Nope. I'm not a parent and live in a country with a much more competently handled age rating system.

    10. Re:Fortunately by Grimbleton · · Score: 1

      You think it's not idiotic to have a company devoted to screaming "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!" at the top of their lungs 24/7?

  4. violence is go by czarangelus · · Score: 5, Funny

    We lost the war on exploding craniums, explicit torture, and visible viscera - but as long as penises, vaginas, and boobs are still kept off limits in a game by adults for adults, we can consider this a victory.

    --
    When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.
    1. Re:violence is go by bigngamer92 · · Score: 1

      And Europe just swaps the variables.

      --
      Common Sense
  5. That is terrible! by gavron · · Score: 3, Funny
    These people protected our MORALS and our VALUES and our CHILDREN.

    *sniffle*

    You are thinking of the children, aren't you? Michael Jackson did.

    E

    1. Re:That is terrible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know, but it's kind of funny. Not awesome, but worth a mod point or two.

    2. Re:That is terrible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hmmm, the kid who accused him of that commited suicide not too long ago, telling the world that MJ did not sexually abuse him.
      Restored a bit of faith in humanity for me.

  6. FOX News job (ie. nonsensical claims with no evide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey, is this the same David Walsh who is a meth addict and likes to have sex with children? Wonder what kind of speeches he gives....

  7. Economic climate... or lack of concern? by Somebody+Is+Using+My · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is NIMF's inability to procure funding just a sign of the harsh economic climate or is it an indication that people are becoming less concerned with the issues it promoted. 15 years ago, computer and video games were making the transition from "toys for children" (Sonic, Mario) to more graphic and mature titles (Doom, Duke Nukem). Parents and (older) adults saw these gore-soaked, stripper-filled games and wondered what effect this would have on the younger generation. Worriedly, they funded -through contributions or taxes- groups like NIMF.

    More than a decade later, a generation has come of age having played these games for most of their lives and -surprise, surprise!- they are not any more messed up than any previous generation. Video games, it seems, are not the corrupting influence people thought they might be. Not only are the supporters of yesteryear lest likely to fund these groups, but the same generation NIMF etal were meant to protect -now grown up themselves- are equally unlikely to open their pocketbooks to them.

    Claiming it is merely the "economic climate" that is shutting down these groups is buying into their argument that there is a necessity for the services they provide but that harsher realities requires our finances to be redirected to more essential things. People generally consider "protecting the children" to be a priority. That NIMF is closing is just as likely an indication that we recognize they are not necessary to keep the kids safe because there never was any real danger to them in the first place.

    1. Re:Economic climate... or lack of concern? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or, the corruption has succeeded in warping our fragile little minds into accepting these things as the norm! Hooray!

    2. Re:Economic climate... or lack of concern? by Tim+C · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Either that, or the Video Game Bogeyman has been replaced by the Terrorism Bogeyman, and people are simply concentrating on that instead.

      --
      It's official. Most of you are morons.
    3. Re:Economic climate... or lack of concern? by WCguru42 · · Score: 1

      "toys for children" (Sonic, Mario)

      Sonic has, is and always will be a mans (or womans) game. Despite the fact that it's nearly 20 years old it's still one of the most fun games I've ever played.

      --
      "Educate the mind but never at the expense of the soul."~Blessed Basil Moreau
    4. Re:Economic climate... or lack of concern? by mpe · · Score: 1

      Either that, or the Video Game Bogeyman has been replaced by the Terrorism Bogeyman, and people are simply concentrating on that instead.

      Don't forget the "e-safety" bogart :)

    5. Re:Economic climate... or lack of concern? by frosty_tsm · · Score: 1

      Either that, or the Video Game Bogeyman has been replaced by the Terrorism Bogeyman, and people are simply concentrating on that instead.

      Sad but true.

      This touches on another trend. If you want power over a man, don't make him feel secure. Instead, instill a fear of a great evil and position yourself as his protector. Then he will willingly give you his wealth, servitude, and even family.

    6. Re:Economic climate... or lack of concern? by jonwil · · Score: 1

      Considering the number of attempts to pass video game regulation legislation in various states (all of which have so far been struck down as unconstitutional AFAIK) I dont think the "war on video games" is dead by a long shot.

    7. Re:Economic climate... or lack of concern? by cavebison · · Score: 1

      More than a decade later, a generation has come of age having played these games for most of their lives and -surprise, surprise!- they are not any more messed up than any previous generation.

      Two words: [citation needed]

  8. well.... by Kierthos · · Score: 1

    Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

    --
    Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
  9. Crying Wolf3D by clinko · · Score: 1

    Wolf3D was "too violent" for these guys.

    Now when I play Mario Kart or the new COD, I get the same violence warning (to skip).

    To their credit, I was warned about the slaughtering of all those Green Shell, Red Shell, and the rare Blue Shelled turtles.

    1. Re:Crying Wolf3D by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The warning on Mario Kart was not due to any violence in the game, it was there to warn people of violence caused by being hit by a blue shell by some cheating whore CPU player, pulling blue sparks out of there ass and all sorts of fuckwittery that the AI was doing to win. Fuck that game.

  10. Already said, but true... by painehope · · Score: 2, Funny

    Whenever someone brought up "think of the children" to me, I always asked them "What, are you a pedophile?".

    Has resulted in the occasional fist-fight and me having to bail before the cops arrived, but I think it's worth it just for laughs (and knocking some sense into an idiot - you can't teach a moron, but repeated beatings at least discourage them). If you need proof, look at the protesters at Marilyn Manson concerts. When they started out, there were hundreds of fundamentalists. The last time I saw him play, it was one teenage girl who looked so pathetic and discouraged that I offered to buy her a ticket.

    Now if that guy who writes all those fundamentalist pamphlets suggesting that rock'n'roll or whatever leads to demonic possession or what-have-you dies, and the MPAA/RIAA goes away, they legalize drugs, and the government gets to deport illegal immigrants (like it was for a while and should be - I never minded waiting the extra 8 hours or so when getting released from jail while ICE came in and hauled off every one of those fucks away, before the PC crowd managed to tamp that down as "civil rights violations"; this is one of the few times I've seen a government agency actually doing it's job effectively and properly) my native country will be a better place (and before you start in with bits about American Indians, I'm part Cherokee as well as a White, so shut it).

    Ah, if wishes were fishes...

    --
    PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
    1. Re:Already said, but true... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      before the PC crowd managed to tamp that down as "civil rights violations"; this is one of the few times I've seen a government agency actually doing it's job effectively and properly

      That's the problem with the two party system in America. It's the Democrats' job to be pansies for the sake of being pansies. It's the Republicans' job to be pansies in order to prove that the government can't do anything right.

      This is also why there's psychos roaming the streets: Democrats said insitutionalizing the insane is inhumane (won't anyone think of the murderers?!), Republicans said institutionalizing the insane is too expensive (won't anyone think of my wallet?!), and so all the institutions were closed.

      Pansies, the whole fucking lot of them.

    2. Re:Already said, but true... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and so all the institutions were closed.

      Pansies, the whole fucking lot of them.

      Yes. All institutions are closed.

    3. Re:Already said, but true... by Tim+C · · Score: 3, Informative

      my native country will be a better place (and before you start in with bits about American Indians, I'm part Cherokee as well as a White, so shut it)

      Irrelevant. If you were born there, you're a native. Doesn't matter if your parents invaded the country and stole the land your house is built on, you'd still be a native.

      Without the Cherokee blood (and perhaps even with it) you can't claim to be a Native American, but that is not the same thing as claiming to be a native American (= native of America).

      --
      It's official. Most of you are morons.
    4. Re:Already said, but true... by painehope · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Point taken. But I like to shoot down the PC crowd before they get one in.

      And, yes, by law I meet the standards and I can claim the reparations/benefits by virtue of being part Cherokee. I meet the qualifications more than a lot of people who claim to be so. That I choose not to do so is a personal decision. I'm predominantly White, my mother is a German citizen, and I feel that it would be hypocritical of me to do so.

      Why? Because we have enough parasites in this country, playing up on events that happened a century or more ago. Or who aren't even citizens, yet feel they deserve the rights of citizens simply because they fucked up their own country or community.

      Why would I participate in that sort of behavior if I find it reprehensible in others? I don't need anything the government has to offer. Not that they give White people anything anyways - the one time I claimed unemployment, I received 300 USD twice a month (despite having a previous salary much higher than the average citizen - this amount was not even the maximum allotment) and it was terminated after 6 months (despite full compliance with job search regulations). This wasn't even enough to pay my house note, and I lived in a working class neighborhood. They wouldn't even give me food stamps. The only way my ex-wife and I made it through that period was by taking under-the-table work and some illegal activities on my part. Meanwhile, I could look right next door at the black "family" (almost all females) with about twenty kids, who were all unemployed, yet were wearing expensive clothing and driving vehicles that cost at least as much as my own truck. And they weren't having to sell dope or risk their lives by collecting debts for loan sharks whose clientele were mostly armed and paranoid. Makes one a bit bitter.

      Full-blooded Native Americans, I can understand. They're by-and-large dirt poor, got royally screwed through no fault of their own (it was their land and they fought to defend it, or were decimated by plagues, so I have sympathy there), and deserve a chance to go to college and better their selves. Descendants of Black slaves (there were plenty of White slaves in America as well...they just called them "indentured servants" who had been "transported")? Sorry, but you were sold by your own people when slavery was acceptable (read the history of slavery in Africa). You've had many opportunities and grants to fix your problems, but you'd rather sell crack and shoot each other (or prey on White civilians). Mestizos? You fought wars and lost, you still have your countries - fix them.

      And just because you're born somewhere does not make you a citizen. Ever heard the term "anchor babies"? I find it ridiculous that a Mestizo woman can give birth to a child in this country and it's a citizen. I'm a citizen because my father is an American citizen who married a German woman he met while stationed in Europe (if they divorced, she would not be a citizen). If my mother had somehow illegally entered, say, Australia and given birth, I would not be an Australian citizen. I would be deported along with her.

      So you might be right about one thing (the actuality of citizenship of American citizens), but you're completely full of shit about Native American laws and being born somewhere making you a de facto citizen.

      --
      PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
    5. Re:Already said, but true... by painehope · · Score: 0, Troll

      AC, to be factual - most murderers are not insane. There's a reason why people like Ted Bundy and the like receive so much attention. Because they are an extreme minority of the murderers in this country. And they're generally smart enough to get away with it...for a while.

      Most violent crime is committed for money (or drugs, but that relates back to money - compare Prohibition-era crime with War On Drugs crime and you'll see very similar situations, which is why I am all for decriminalization or legalization of drugs) or out of irrational hatred. And, for the record, most crime is either Black-on-Black or Black-on-White. Despite what the media circus likes to play up. Look up the national statistics if you don't believe me. They're easily accessed (I believe the FBI website has them, can't remember off the top of my head) and completely contradict how mainstream news sources spin things.

      And, yes, two-party systems are bullshit. Maybe 8 years of Bush (aka Chimp Jr.) and (hopefully only) 4 years of Obama (aka Chimp PC) will start people thinking. Then again, American Idol is on...

      --
      PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
    6. Re:Already said, but true... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "What, are you a pedophile?".

      What in heck have foot-fetishists got to do with this?

    7. Re:Already said, but true... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But I like to shoot down the PC crowd before they get one in.

      You have never done so. You are not the maverick you want us to think you are, and you know it.

    8. Re:Already said, but true... by LoRdTAW · · Score: 1

      And just because you're born somewhere does not make you a citizen. Ever heard the term "anchor babies"? I find it ridiculous that a Mestizo woman can give birth to a child in this country and it's a citizen.

      It may make then citizens but it does not earn his/her parents the right to stay here in the US. My friend is a US Customs officer working at a major international airport. Many pregnant women come to the US from Central and South American countries trying to give birth in the US with the mistaken hopes they will be granted some type of residency to stay with their now American child. And guess what? They send then right back on a return flight all the time because they know that is why they came here. They often have false papers and say they are visiting relatives. But when they can not come up with names, addresses or phone numbers they are sent home on a return flight. One woman flew in with her four year old child who was born here and she thought that entitled her to say. Bzzzzzt Wrong. She was sent back along with her American son. Until he is 18 or has family who are citizens who can watch him, he cannot enter, PERIOD.

      So yes the government is actively preventing these people from entering. But once they are here illegally its a whole other problem.

    9. Re:Already said, but true... by painehope · · Score: 1

      I was speaking about people that come here illegally. But I'm glad to hear that someone is actually enforcing part of the US law that's worth enforcing. Thanks for the info.

      --
      PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
    10. Re:Already said, but true... by diogenes.lantern · · Score: 1

      The land was stolen out from underneath your ancestor's feet, their villages razed and their society pressed to the most useless stretches of this country, and you claim that the order that did this are the rightful owners and citizens of this country, and that any of their descendants have the same right to the land? This is utter nonsense and I would expect you to recognize the dissonance in your life when you rail against immigrants. With the exploitation of workers in mexico and south america by sattelizing US companies , and the huge toll that has been exacted from them by military and economic pressure, I think their citizens have some cause to attempt to wrest some reciprocation from this land.

      and, by the way, your rant about unemployment was truly racist.

    11. Re:Already said, but true... by dangitman · · Score: 1

      If you need proof, look at the protesters at Marilyn Manson concerts. When they started out, there were hundreds of fundamentalists. The last time I saw him play, it was one teenage girl who looked so pathetic and discouraged that I offered to buy her a ticket.

      People pay to see Marilyn Manson? Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper just to wait for him to come to your house as he goes door-to-door?

      --
      ... and then they built the supercollider.
    12. Re:Already said, but true... by vaporland · · Score: 1

      All "Americans" should be required to take the same citizenship test at age 18 that legal immigrants have to take to become naturalized US citizens, and if the 18 year old fails, they get deported to Mexico, or China . . .

      --
      Ask Me About... The 80's!
    13. Re:Already said, but true... by painehope · · Score: 1

      If you're stupid enough to say this, then you're not going to get any explanation that I put forth. Do us all a favor and walk into traffic.

      --
      PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
    14. Re:Already said, but true... by painehope · · Score: 1

      Yes, these gatherings are called concerts.

      Get out more.

      --
      PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
    15. Re:Already said, but true... by vaporland · · Score: 1

      sorry you cannot recognize sarcasm when you see it... I agreed with most of what you originally said, didn't realize you were an ignorant lamer....

      --
      Ask Me About... The 80's!
    16. Re:Already said, but true... by painehope · · Score: 1

      I don't think you really read what I posted. Firstly, I think Native Americans got screwed and deserve a chance to better their selves. Which they often do. Though I'm a bit dubious about the casinos, since they benefit much fewer people than scholarships and the like. But what the hell - it's their community. And remember - I'm only part Cherokee, predominantly German-Irish. So I see both sides of the historical and modern-day issues.

      Secondly, Blacks got screwed by both their own people (who sold them to European slavers) and have been given reparations (and still are) - which mostly get spent on Air Jordans and the like - and opportunities (which I have yet to see anyone but one of my Black friends/acquaintances actually use to better himself and his family). I don't see any White people that were forcefully transported to this land and made to work as indentured servants (often in hazardous jobs such as mining, which killed them before their contracts/sentences were up) behaving this way. So Blacks sold Blacks to slavers, and Whites were sold to transporters (sometimes to pay for their travel, other times as criminal punishment for things that would now get you no more than 6 months in jail). It's estimated by historians that approximately 80% of the European population that came to America prior to the Revolutionary War were transported. And transportation meant that they suffered the same sorts of travel conditions as slaves, just that their contracts were only binding for a fixed term (and not a measly 6 months or what-have-you, but anywhere from 3 years to decades, though the harsher sentences were for people who criminals), and if they had children then those children were free citizens even if their parents could still be bought and sold. So they had it a little better than slaves, but not much. Oh, and children were often transportees as well (or redemptioners, another common term).

      Thirdly, I'm firmly against exporting jobs over to Mexico, India, or wherever so that the management team can get healthy bonuses while turning out an inferior and/or cheaper product. Or companies (with the collaboration of such wonderful agencies as the CIA) that rape and pillage another country's resources. That doesn't mean that they have a single goddamn claim on citizenship in this country. It means that the exploitation should stop (and reparations be made, if you can get at the CIA and a bunch of wealthy, influential individuals...good luck; of course, you might have to do something about the citizens of that country that participated in the process...and that would be racist, right?), not that I and my fellow citizens should suffer economically and socially for things that we didn't do. You don't have a clue about what justice really is, do you?

      Fourthly, there is a difference between the pre-Revolutionary War colonies and the United States. Just as there is a difference in the US now and then, except the War made a lot bigger difference.

      And, last but not least (except when compared against the macro-scale problems we're discussing), I'm not racist. I'm racialist, as well as a realist. I don't believe everything I'm told - I actually check the facts and then base my conclusions on them. And being pro-White doesn't mean that I'm anti-anybody until they give me a reason. Actually, you'd be surprised if we could sit down and drink a few beers, talk things over.

      That is, if you'd open your eyes and your mind as much as I have. And you could keep from being offensive long enough for us to establish a dialogue, instead of immediately launching into a misguided and uninformed attack that would end with you taking a trip to the hospital.

      --
      PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
    17. Re:Already said, but true... by painehope · · Score: 1

      Sarcasm requires an identifying bit to it that enables one to recognize it as such. Your comment did not. Plain and simple.

      The next time you level up, spend a few points on Bluff or Diplomacy, it would enable you to make comments that can be recognized as sarcasm or jokes, instead of appearing as outright belligerent stupidity.

      But I retract my walking in traffic statement, in deference to your original intent. The rest stands - it was a stupid comment that was not identifiably sarcastic.

      Better luck in the future.

      --
      PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
    18. Re:Already said, but true... by dangitman · · Score: 1

      I go to plenty of concerts... but you're talking about Marilyn Manson concerts. What's the point? Wouldn't it be better to go to a good concert?

      --
      ... and then they built the supercollider.
  11. Now, now. Be nice by Telecommando · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm sure there will be quite a few disparaging remarks about the NIMF in this thread. And while some comments may be deserved, we should all just step back and take the time to say something good.

    I'll start.

      They're gone.

    Good.

    --
    Beta sux! Join the Slashcott! http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4760465&cid=46173047
  12. NIMF closes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... and nothing of value was lost.

  13. The secret of NIMF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But who is going to create super-intelligent rats now?*

    * yes, I know. NIMH = NIMF. But that's the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw this story.

  14. Let's face facts by east+coast · · Score: 1

    Groups like these have little to no pull anywhere. The fact is, and we've all seen it first hand, that if the US government wants to tighten the screws on something or someone they're going to do it regardless of cost, common sense or public support. Until there is some serious political reform in this nation neither we nor the NIMF will have any serious voice in these decisions.

    --
    Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
    1. Re:Let's face facts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What kind of political reform do we need? You didn't provide examples!

  15. And so we say farewell... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...to the Rats of NIMF.

  16. Nimfy. by Snufu · · Score: 1

    Not In My FRONT Yard?

  17. If that's your point... by painehope · · Score: 1

    Then why are you posting as an Anonymous Coward?

    Christ, and to think I got on here today to read up on anything to do with the Supercomputing Conference.

    I am way too easily distracted.

    --
    PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
    1. Re:If that's your point... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why are you pretending that there's anything relevant about the fact that I posted anonymously? The only possible answer, of course, is that you've been so badly rattled by a complete stranger's spot-on analysis of you that you feel compelled to try a distraction.

    2. Re:If that's your point... by painehope · · Score: 1

      Well, the local bar's dead tonight, so I'm back here dealing with an asshole like you.

      Neither of us know each other. But at least I have the balls to say what I think and feel with some degree of openness. You, on the other hand, are trying to psychoanalyse someone online. You presume that I'm playing myself up as a maverick. Please. You don't know what I think about myself. You can read my history of comments and note that I have a tendency to make comments on social and political issues that don't jive with what most people think. That does not necessarily imply that I think I'm a maverick.

      I don't even bother to give such things any thought. You do. I don't know you, so I don't know what drives you to think that I'm rattled by your sniping or that you're qualified to form any kind of opinion of who I am or what I think (beyond what I say). I'm not rattled, slick. I'm pleasantly buzzed, smoking a cigarette, having a few more drinks, and reading a book.

      You, on the other hand, are a genuine asshole who either (a) doesn't have an account or (b) doesn't have the guts to use it when attacking people online. Online. So it's not like I could beat the shit out of you on here, or do anything to you beyond call you out.

      Which implies that you're the one who's worried about losing face. Not I.

      So just give it a rest already, huh?

      --
      PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
  18. Isn't it NIMH? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What are they going to do with all those super smart rats?