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Aussie Attorney General Says Gamers Are Scarier Than Biker Gangs
Sasayaki writes "South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson claims, in an interview with Good Game, that gamers were more of a threat to his family than biker gangs. This is the man who has been the biggest opponent to Australia receiving an R18+ rating for video games and who has the power to veto any such law introducing it."
if you are a bag of Doritos.
THL phish sticks
I hear a challenge Hells Angels/Mongols/Pagans/Insert your club here. This guy just called you all a bunch of pussies!
Where does Australia find these whack jobs? I mean, either the guy is a paranoid schizophrenic or a mental retard.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
...it would be opposite if he was proposing a ban on motorcycles.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
They are a bunch of spawn camping llamas.
Biker gangs playing video games while driving - that's double scary.
But what about Biker gangs playing video games about biker games playing video games while driving, while driving???
Or what about ERR_STACK_OVERFLOW
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Are the biker gangs in his town dressed up as teddy bears with pink helmets or something?
Gamers sometimes learn bad fictional behavior. (Consider the evil character paths in various D&D games.) Gamers frequently learn good fictional behavior. (Consider the hero character paths in many D&D games.)
In contrast, a chapter of Hell's Angels in Hamburg ran multiple houses for the rape of teenage girls and women held as slaves. (Sources: Victor Malarek's The Natashas, Terry Lee Wright's River of Innocents.) They were responsible for enabling thousands of rapes in the real world.
Yes, it's atypical for a biker gang. But all things considered, it's more rare for the gamer.
-- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
I can't count the amount of times I've felt threatened on the highways here as a beat up, patchy painted Honda Civic pulls up with a triforce or horde sticker in one of the windows. If it's one car, you can usually outrun it as they're not really going to be paying attention, usually debating the merits of pixel shading with others in the car at this point. However, if it's more than one car, you can bet they have you in their sights. Especially after playing that brutal and vicious car game I saw in the arcades once.. Spy Hunter I think it was?
Or if I actually make it to a gas station and am fueling up, one of em might come over, push his glasses up or adjust the tape holding them together, asking what if I'm gonna reserve the new StarCraft! The horror!
I always feel much safer knowing that the guy next to me on that bike on the highway has a full body tattoo and a mustache, and so does his girlfriend on the bitch seat! I mean, at least they're not gamers, right?
* PS - This is intended as a lame attempt at humor, don't hurt me, I play games too! >.>
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
Conservatives want to blame the gays; Liberals want to blame open media and expression of thought. On the right hand we have austere government imposed morality, on the left hand we have censorship nanny state. I'm not really sure which I hate more.
"Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad." [Ecclesiastes 7:3]
What he's saying is, every person under 30 who lives in Australia is scarier than Biker Gangs?
Does he ever leave the house?
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
*pulls out lvl48 warhammer w/+10 damage spell* THIS is a knife.
..there has been many a victim of a gamers....getting up, wheezing, using his inhaler and then starting a hate thread on 4chan.
This is really a two-sided failure of understanding on his part OR a purposeful tactic to push his agenda. Either way is stupid. First off, to say the gamer demographic in AU is several orders of magnitude larger than the outlaw biker demographic is a GROSS understatement. So it follows that you are going to get more 'fringe' elements in the gamer segment. There's bound to be a few nuts in a box that big. Combine that with the fact that it would be totally in their worst interests for the bikers to do something like this, and of course he's going to get more threats from gamers. And honestly, he should feel more threatened. Not because they're going to take violent action against him, but because he's pissed off a large group of people, and a good deal of them may have political clout and means to make his life a public servant miserable. And they should, because he's an asshat.
Wow, the AG has the power of the veto in .AU? That's a pretty strange arrangement where the guy charged with enforcing the law gets to decide if something should be a law.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Of course they are scarier - they get multiple lives!
As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a reference to Godwin's Law approaches 1
And Bikers would be more of a threat to me than terrorist if I tried to outlaw motorcycles.
Christians would be more of a threat than street thugs if I tried to ban religion.
It's stating the obvious here....
The greatest revenge in life is massive success.
Jesus, who are you, his wife? Hur dur, a random crazy threatened him, but no bikers have... why might that be? Let's see him support legislation outlawing biker gangs, see how many threats he gets.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
Aren't all Australians compelled by law to watch Mad Max? Surely that should provide suitable education on the dangers of biker gangs...
"He was later forced to apologise. The animal was not a cat, the incident happened at another location and bikies weren't involved."
This bloke is a dill mates.
I'm not sure whether my biker self or my gamer self is more offended by this arsehat. I've met and hung out with dozens of "biker gangs" at various rallies - yes including the patch clubs that people refer to here like they're comprised of mindless hooligans - and felt safer in their company than when taking a trip through a town centre on a Friday or Saturday night.
In short, "biker gang" is not shorthand for dangerous thug. Nor is "gamer" shorthand for brainwashed serial killer. And while we're at it I'm pretty sure that "Australian politician" doesn't mean paranoid, misinformed and dangerously ignorant jerk"... but I could be wrong.
Just a thought Mr Atkinson but perhaps your ill-considered bigotry is what causes people to take such a dim view of you. A single gamer harrassing you is more likely indicative that you've pissed someone off personally than that all gamers are out to get you and your family. Gah.
I think he is!
Thats to say... I agree that biker gangs are about as ridiculous of a thing to worry about harming your family as video games.
Unless you have lots of contact with a biker gang, or have 1%er in the family, or have some other factor which makes you more likely to be involved in biker gang violence (maybe you are a meth addict with a penchant for not havening the money?) or maybe if you live next door to a particularly disliked gang member or chapter president, then... really.... what a stupid thing to worry about.
Theres what, maybe, one biker gang member per couple of million per capita here. Are they like 15%ers in Australia? Are biker gangs like soccer hooligans? Do the outlaw bikers have a national political party?
I mean seriously.... why not compare the danger of video games to lightning strikes or shark attacks as dangers to your family. How do they rate against.... dust mites! I garauntee bed bugs are worst!
-Steve
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
This guy is going to piss himself if he meets a gamer that's in a biker gang.
It that something like anal bum cover?
I retract my previous post, as I finished the article and it turns out he did exactly that. Bleh.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
this guy thinks that gamers are generally more dangerous than bikers in order to discredit him.
Quote:
He didn't say "from a gamer" he said "from gamers", as in the whole group. As opposed to the outlaw motorcycle gangs, as in their whole group. He feels that gamers are more dangerous than bikers. If he's never received a death threat from anyone but a gamer, then perhaps he's justified in feeling that way, but I'm seriously surprised that this is the first death threat an AG would get.
I do have to say that the motorcycle gangs have a better long term plan than the gamers do at this point. Someone should start a gamer party and run for election on the grounds that you actually know something about what you're trying to regulate.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
I'd give a wide berth to anyone sporting pink leathers...
He's pissed the biker's off enough that they are running a candidate against him. It seems that he compared the childish, illogical response to the mature, productive response and made the correct assessment.
To be fair, the article does say that he banned biker gangs and he's suggesting that he's under more threat over this games business than he was over that. Given somebody has evidently been round his house, slipping a note under the door, I can understand why the guy might be freaked out.
But as you pointed out, he's only banned / restricted biker gangs, not motorcycles. Banning motorcycles because of biker gangs would have annoyed a larger section of the population, many of whom would resent being grouped in with gangs just because of their transportation. Perhaps a larger number of indignant people makes a response like this more likely, although still not acceptable. In a sense the situation of banning motorcycles would be somewhat closer (although still more severe) to his stance on video games. At least he's not banning video games outright but he doesn't exactly seem to be being reasonable if he's allowing there to be an R18 rating. Aside from anything else, not having an appropriate rating encourages developers - and potentially the regulators themselves - to skate on thin ice and try and push products through that would more appropriately have a higher rating if it existed.
This is a political issue, so doing things like slipping a note under his door during the night is not going to help anyone. A sensible letter-writing campaign / publicity / demonstrations would seem more appropriate, something that will add political pressure for him to reconsider instead of making gamers look dangerous, which would only support his case.
He did. The "Bikeies" as they are called down under are running a candidate against him. The gamers are stalking him and leaving personal threats. Yes, I actually did RTFA.
That which is done from love exists beyond good and evil
Isn't this guy is responsible for delaying, censoring, and outright banning numerous games released in Australia. Maybe there is a merit to gamers being more of a threat to him and his family than bikers. I kinda doubt he has gone out and intentionally kicked any full-patch Hell's Angels in balls recently, but he has gone out and neutered Left 4 Dead 2, just saying.
For the ultimate thrill and hundreds of death threats, try pulling a few freight baits and get a scam gang to pay thousands of dollars for trash and insults.
http://thescambaiter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1132
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzz1tNppsIM Warning adult theme and language
This guy lost count of the death threats. ;-)
He has an ax to grind after the loss of $4,000 due to a bounced check. He grinds them well.
If you wondered about all those scam emails, this is the place to see how they all work.
Fake checks, Auction site scams (seller beware), apartment rental scams, it's all there.
Baiting scammers is a great hobby. Collect trophys, bust bank accounts, collect fake checks and more.
http://thescambaiter.com/ For the geeks, check out the gold coast bait! A GPS tracked case of cash adrift in the Atlantic. Fun stuff.
The truth shall set you free!
That would be like if an Asian woman once cut in front of my car on the highway, so now I'm justified to think that all Asian women are jerks. Conversely, if a black guy once held a door for me, it would make sense for me to respect all black men regardless of their personal history or temperament.
Judging any group by a sampling, however large or small, is sheer bigotry. There are always exceptions, and the smaller the sample being judged, (in this case, one) the more likely that there are a lot of exceptions.
Today is just not my day. I accidentally checked the AC box on that... no karma for me.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
That a bunch of gamers got together and raised 1.7M dollars for charity last year to give to sick kids in the hospital, including two hospitals in Australia on the east coast...
Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
So did I, and retracted my previous post before you even started yours, unless you type really slowly.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
No. That generalization of his quote is incorrect. You are correct in gernealizing from "a gamer" to "gamers" -- but you are incorrect in generalizing from his family being at risk to other families, or individuals, or all of society being at risk.
Considering that he claims a credible threat was made against him by gamers, and none by bikers, you can see his rationale for believe that *his specific family* is more threatened by gamers.
That does not mean that you can generalize his beliefs to include *gamers in general* are more dangerous than *bikers in general* regardless of the subject of the risk assessment.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Interesting to note, that he basses his views of the groups as a whole on the behavior of individuals.
Were he to say, "I am more worried about black people* than Mexicans because a black person slipped a note under my door." he would get eaten alive by the public outcry. Apparently, it's ok to generalize based on traits that are chosen rather than inherited...
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Someone should start a gamer party and run for election on the grounds that you actually know something about what you're trying to regulate.
Awesome idea! Who do we know that has an 18 charisma to head up the party?
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
I'm not saying there are no holes in his argument. His statements have more to do with pandering to his constituency than with how he feels about the safety of his family. I'm just pointing out that he is publicly at odds with bikers as well.
Karma is overrated.
If you ever wiped a raid in World of Warcraft, you'll believe this guy, those guys can get really scary, specially when they found out you did it on purpose just to see what the "fear button" did :P
Believe me there is nothing more scary than 24 angry players with huge repair bills, and no epic loot.....
Someone should start a gamer party and run for election on the grounds that you actually know something about what you're trying to regulate.
Or even just join the Bikers party and stand a better chance of fixing both asinine attitudes at once. In my opinion politicians as a group represent more of a danger than bikers _or_ gamers.
Our plans have been discovered early! Now our time has come! Gamers everywhere, flock to your mopeds and your scooters, or borrow a ride from your mother. We shall gather and overthrow the authority known as government. Our battle cry shall be fearsome, as we scream “Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A”! And as our numbers fall, we shall terrify the enemy, for our army will rise again, as we know the cheat code for infinite lives! Gather your arms, your light guns and joysticks. We shall prevail!
I might be a little bit late... My guy is almost to level 30 and I can't find a save point anywhere...
I'd agree that gamers are more of a threat to my family than biker gangs. But that's just because, as far as I have observed, biker gangs don't exist; or at least they don't exist in my world. However, gamers do exist, I've seen them with my own two eyes.
However, if they did exist and a biker gang were trying to break into my house, I'd want a bunch of gamers with me. I mean, if there isn't already a training simulation out there with that story, I'm sure there will be one soon.
Coming soon from Big Lizzard Entertainment: Bikers versus Gamers.
Sean
Guys like this like to throw a fit whenever they get some sort of death threat or other violent threat as if there was a real risk of it happening. The source needs to be taken into consideration with this stuff. How likely is it that the person actually meant the threat rather than that they were just being an annoying asshole? If they did mean it, how likely is it that they can or will follow through with it?
Just because someone says "I'm going to kill you" doesn't mean I actually think they are. I'm certain 99% (or more) of supposed "death threats", especially in places like Australia, the US, western Europe, etc. are a bigger sign of the threatener being an immature loudmouth than of them being an actual physical threat or having any intention of even trying to be one.
I remember when me and my clan defeated the Hells Angels. They didnt even know how to plant the bomb properly. LOL NOOBS. One of them was using an aimbot and still lost! After going 30-4 (they got lucky a couple of times) we kicked them out. They packed up their alienware laptops and rode into the sunset broken and defeated.
but you are incorrect in generalizing from his family being at risk to other families, or individuals, or all of society being at risk.
If "society" isn't at risk, then what exactly is his justification for banning the various games? It basically becomes "people are having fun doing stuff I don't like" as opposed to his stated concerns about encouraging crimes.
JACK THOMPSON, WHERE ARE YOU? I miss that guy sometimes *wipes tear from eye*
...with the intelligence of a nasty mold.
Any further comments needed?
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
No karma? Would you expect to get karma for stating that the sun is bright, water is wet, or ElectricTurtle is a karma whore who doesn't RTFA?
BTW, wouldn't an electric turtle short out, since most of them live in water? Sure, box turtles are terrestrial (except for Malaysian box turtles), but most of them are aquatic. Just wonderin'.
You don't wanna mess with the Yu-Gi-Oh! Card-Gaming Gang.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
This is the type of politician that gives "populist" bad name. Hell.. what this dude did was banned all productions of a whole artistic genre that don't come to australia to register. He is asking for it. Please never vote thid dude again Australia.
-Woof woof woof!
From the article:
"Mr Atkinson was involved in introducing tough new laws to outlaw bikie gangs in South Australia several years ago."
So, I'm not really sure what you're saying.
not much, just being forced to manually insert line breaks into my comment
You must be new here. Stating the obvious, regardless of facts or RingTFA (and I did realize my error and did retract my post before anybody even said anything, but mods aren't paying attention), is frequently modded way the hell up. Yes, I'm a karma whore. So what? Eat me.
/.)
And as for electric turtles, by your reasoning, there are no such things as submarines. (I love
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
Dude, I've been to Australia.
Trust me.... Mad Max wasn't a film. It was a documentary.
You may have done a better job than I did of reading the article before posting, but you failed at reading the thread.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
If gamers are worse than bikers, who are the the 1%ers of the gamers?
I agree. My initial reaction to the article was that the motorcycle gangs are smarter than the gamers. Or a particular gamer. A threatening note under his door? What is the point of that? Did somebody think that was going to make him change his mind?
I'll assume the gamer was some teenage idiot who had zero intent or ability to carry out the threat. If he did intend to carry it out, however, that is even dumber. It certainly would not convince anyone to take a more favorable view on an adult gaming rating. A backlash is more likely.
No, because you suggested that the reason he had not received threats from biker gangs was because he had not previously supported legislation against them. However, that is completely, irrefutably incorrect.
Hur dur.
not much, just being forced to manually insert line breaks into my comment
Wow. You really are dense. I just linked to where I retracted what I said because I finished reading the article. Hours ago. You're obviously as dumb as the mods who keep modding it up even though I retracted it.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
Which leads me to believe that Aussie biker gangs aren't quite the same as US biker gangs.
There is a war going on for your mind.
Well, what do you expect? They call them 'bikies' for chrissake. If you said 'hey bikies!' in bar full of bikers in the States you'd be lucky to leave with all your limbs.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
It's not a generalization. He said "I feel that my family and I are more at risk from gamers than we are from the outlaw motorcycle gangs who also hate me and are running a candidate against me".
Of course, this "note" could easily be bogus, like the cat incident. Perhaps it will turn out that the note wasn't slipped under his door, it was placed on his refrigerator. It wasn't written by a gamer, it was by his daughter. And it wasn't a death threat, but a grocery list.
Me and some gamer mates are going to beat up the Amsterdam chapter of the Hell's Angels. I mean, we are thougher then them right? What could possibly go wrong? They are wusses and I will make sure to tell them loudly and clearly, what are they going to do? None of them has scored as many kills in Counterstrike as I have.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
So basically, this guy is to Australia what Jack Thompson would be to the US if he ever got into a position of power. Guys like him would probably faint at the words I typically use to talk and think about them, not because of any actual obscenities, but because phrases like "enemies of freedom" would remind him too much of the way them thar turrists talk about the West.
That said, I can't help but wonder if maybe JonKatz was onto something. Not even 15 years ago, gamers and geeks of all kinds tended to be seen as mostly harmless: bumbling and socially-inept, but generally well-meaning (albeit odd). We were condescended to, and even bullied from time to time, but we were more or less given the benefit of the doubt.
That's changed, and it hasn't been for the better. The condescension and bullying haven't really gone anywhere, but now there's a palpable sense of fear mixed into it. We're seen as ticking time bombs, holding on by a thread that a pin drop in the wrong direction could snap. Some see us as pre-murderers, others as pre-rapists, yet others as pre-saboteurs, but the common thread is clear: we are sleeping monsters to be tiptoed around.
The stereotype is of course false, or at least it's no more true than it's ever been for any group of people. But like the old stereotype, the new one wasn't born in a vacuum. Gaming and geekdom have always had a few Creepy People doing Creepy Things, but it's only recently that they've risen to the forefront. That's our image problem, and it would do us as a group a lot of good to think about why it happened and how to reverse it, before people like Thompson and Atkinson manage to do it for us.
I think you will find that there are worse things then nerd rage.
You might think you are cool because you capped 10.000 people in the head online, and they can count their kills on the fingers of one hand, but their score is in real life.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
...Gamers say that Aussie Attorney Generals Are Scarier Than Rape Gangs
It is a shame that he is taking this (somewhat mis-directed) critisism personally now and putting his effort against gamers because one threatened him... personally.
It seems we always get these nut-jobs when it comes to political dis-agreements, Pauline Hanson even did a video eulogy.
On one side he feels that gamers are 9 years old and need to be protected from adult based content, on the other he feels threatened by a letter, purpotedly posted by one of these kids. That's not to say he shouldn't be concerned, but really, these are the knocks you get in current day politics. What he has received is a letter of complaint and he should be taking this on board along with the majority of concerns over his appoach to this topic. The reality is that we want these games, we have the right to them, the rest of the world agrees so why is Australia trying to maintain a back-water illusion of goody-ness where we don't have bad web sites, adult games, drugs or guns. In reality we have all these things and given that the government thinks they are controling it by pretending to stop it is wrong because prohibition does not work, but if you manage it and monitor it and judge it as it happens and it is recognised for what it is properly then it is better controlled. Stupid Government.
He is like any other "see I told you so" politician that wants to make up all these strange scenarios just so he can get legislation passed that would resolve any misapplication of laws that is unstable mind would think could screw-up his prosecutions. People like him are the reason why terrorists aren't afraid of the people, because we all get disarmed and the terrorists get recognitions and protections of special handling and treatment that we can't get as a whole. Where can I live for 4 years with 3 meals a day and no rent, and all I have to do was pretend to be a little loose around some MP's just get away from my 3rd-world shithole of plowing fields with my bare-hands and fighting-off starving locusts?
Gitmo is quite a hotel on the failed-prosecution side of things.
The statement is dumb, though. Slashdot might be wrong in their reasons for calling him stupid based on this article. But after reading the article, he is still stupid.
It would be like saying that a conservative sent Obama a threatening letter and then saying that conservatives are more dangerous than liberals. One bad person does not make the whole group bad. Gamers aren't pro-violence to officials. Some kid got pissed and did something dumb. I'd expect an elected official to be more mature about it. haha, what am I saying, the older I get the more I see how even the people in the highest positions are morally and intellectually inferior.
Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
Australians like to add -ie to the end of everything. To an Australian bikie sounds just as hardcore as biker, if not more so.
If you actually insulted a bikie, you'd better be able to run real fast.
Is 1563649 a prime number?
If teenagers playing games in darkened rooms threatens your way of life, you should probably change to a better way of life...
between him and conroy we will soon be back to book burnings and witch hunts. Oh I do hope he says something against the bikies then we'll see who's more scarier (actually to be honest the bikies probably wouldn't care).
This just makes Aussies (lol) a bit of a joke to the rest of the English-speaking world where an 'ies' ending on anything is almost always diminutive and/or feminine. There's a reason why it's 'pussies' not 'pussers'. It's one reason there was a push to rebrand 'Trekkies' as 'Trekkers' because many thought the former sounded too pathetic.
You mean like Gamers for Croydon
It's not a generalization.
Red Flayer is saying that my mistake was in leaving off the "to my family and I" when I said "he feels gamers are more dangerous".
Given the AG's decision to campaign against creating a ratings category that would "unban" some games, I'd say that he considers the games that can't be rated to be dangerous to society, if not the gamers that play them.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
Someone should start a gamer party and run for election
An group called Gamers for Croydon has already done exactly that. They have denied any involvement in this scare and condemned it.
When one guy can hold an entire country of gamers to ransom, it's not hard to understand the frustrated reactions of those who are effectively politically disenfranchised. Australians have very low levels of political consciousnesses compared to the rest of the world's population and part of this is reflected by the way the system was setup over here. It's not as if the convicts ever had much say in what went on and this top-down and top-heavy system of governance has developed as such, such that we have a nanny-state style of organising society. The wowsers are in control and don't you forget it! Sit down, shut up, or you won't EVER get your R18+ gaming classifications. I think it's fair to say it's never gonna come without a little pressure, but immature notes under the door probably isn't the sort of pressure that will work. Having said that, the dickhead deserves nasty things said to him. Very nasty things. I would say R rated things, but he's probably never heard any :(
this guy thinks that gamers are generally more dangerous than bikers in order to discredit him.
Quote:
He didn't say "from a gamer" he said "from gamers", as in the whole group. As opposed to the outlaw motorcycle gangs, as in their whole group. He feels that gamers are more dangerous than bikers. If he's never received a death threat from anyone but a gamer, then perhaps he's justified in feeling that way, but I'm seriously surprised that this is the first death threat an AG would get.
I do have to say that the motorcycle gangs have a better long term plan than the gamers do at this point. Someone should start a gamer party and run for election on the grounds that you actually know something about what you're trying to regulate.
They have...
It's called The Pirate Party.
Get out and VOTE!
Then comes the internet and blows this totally out proportion and saying that this guy thinks that gamers are generally more dangerous than bikers...
Well, what point was he trying to convey by saying this on a gaming show? Are you trying to argue that it was just a totally unrelated personal anecdote, and he didn't actually mean anything by it? That the comment was not supposed to relate to gamers in general in any way?
... and then they built the supercollider.
Gamers scarier than bikers? Clearly the bikers need to step up.....
the context was that a gamer slipped a threatening note under his door.
Jesus christ, what a pussy. How in the hell did he ever make it through grade school?
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
FWIW he's the AG of *South* Australia, one of Australia's six states and two territories (the American equivalent for S.A. might be Arkansas).
requesting charcoal briquettes, lighter fluid, BBQ sauce, paper plates and napkins, and a trip to the pet store...
"Make it a pretty calico, daddy! They're the best!"
I think it's all a load of bullshit.
1. The contents of the note haven't been made public, so we don't know how threatening it really was. My guess on the contents: "I want my left 4 dead 2 you fucking fucker"
2. There is no indication that the police have been involved. If Atkinson was actually scared of the supposed death threats you'd think he would have called the cops.
3. It is currently legal to leave a note under someone's door, even at 2am.
4. He is more at risk from bikie gangs than gamers. SA has some nasty anti-bikie laws that he introduced recently. These laws are a horrible attack on freedom of association, and in theory could be used to rule other groups illegal in the future.
Ooooohhhhh. you mean like this political party? oh, wait, that's the site for the party of gamers that are running against Atkinson.
But if it's not in the article, it mustn't be true! Gamers are clearly all stalking Atkinson and completely eschew the political process!
I do have to say that the motorcycle gangs have a better long term plan than the gamers do at this point. Someone should start a gamer party and run for election on the grounds that you actually know something about what you're trying to regulate.
Gamers are also running a candidate in Mr Atkinsons electorate - http://www.gamers4croydon.org/
Also, Mr Atkinson is a state attorney general (not the federal one). As a SAG, he forms part of the committee of attorneys general, which must form a consensus in order to change the classification system. As the only AG against the R18+ rating for games, he's out of touch with the other states AG's and the only person stopping the change from happening.
There's a reason why it's 'pussies' not 'pussers'.
Could that reason possibly be that it's the plural of "pussy", not "pusser"?
Not to belittle your overall point, but what a stupid example.
Yes, yes, i know he's talking about the leather wearing crime syndicate types... but...
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
I'd always thought that a Trekkie was someone that got into Star Trek The Original Series, and a Trekker was someone that got into Trek via the other series... I'm not sure where I heard it, so it's probably wrong. :P
But us Aussies do use "ie" and "o" a lot... "Did you see those bikies at the servo this arvo?" translates to "Did you see those bikers at the service station (gas station) this afternoon?".
http://www.gamers4croydon.org/
Someone did.
http://www.gamers4croydon.org/
I find it interesting that anybody found out where he lives, given that Michael Atkinson refuses to reveal where he lives.
With no proof one way or the other, I suspect that the note story is made up. Just like the barbecued cat story.
I heard that your library burnt down and destroyed your only two books - and one was not even coloured in yet.
Where bikers can drive while playing as an AG, where they direct the AG into a prison cell to insult bikers and they count how many inches they can phist post their AG under control?
bring me my rape shoes, helmsman Zakhary Wylde...
Jesus christ, what a pussy. How in the hell did he ever make it through grade school?
Actually if I had a family and someone slipped a threatening note under our door I'd take it pretty damn seriously.
As a gamer, does being scarier than a biker gangster make me that much more attractive to women?
Michael Atkinson is a Labor Attorney-General.
The incumbent South Australian Government is Labor.
Vote for the opposition (Liberal, Independant, etc.) in the impending South Australian State Election on the 20th of March 2010 and the new government will invariably give us a new AG.
If you are in the Croydon electorate - which is where Michael Atkinson's seat it - then you should rally all your friends and vote for the opposition - then he won't even have a seat, let alone be AG.
Democracy at work people.
Here is a copy of the note itself
http://imgur.com/CeACw.png
How does this constitute a threatening letter?
"Dear Mick, I Can Has R18 Rating Pls? kthxbai"
Screen shot Taken from http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/02/16/2820930.htm (not by me)
Talk about the media taking it and running with it and blowing out of proportion
There is a gamer party running against him in his electorate. http://www.gamers4croydon.org/. This is why he's trying to discredit gamers so desperately.
Um.. He did support legislation that outlawed bikie gangs.
About a year ago, after a certain horrific incident at a Sydney airport.
That was the entire point that he was making. Even after bikie gangs have been forced underground in most places in Australia, in no small part due to the actions of this man, he still feels more threatened by a gamer who targeted his house with a perceived threatening letter, the content of which we know nothing.
I still think this guy is an idiot however and it's clear as day that most gamers statistically speaking are probably going to be less involved with truly harmful illegal activities than bikers.
Politicians making it through grade school? What planet are you from? ;)
What would you do differently? Why aren't you doing it now? One way or another, a threat is just a promise of violence. Certainly a worrying thing. But what would the politician guy have done if he had just been attacked, instead of threatened? Would he defend himself while keeping himself and his family safe? Would he be able to? If he could, this threat ought not worry him.
The labour government is facing defeat in the next election. Do not fear them their Hit Points are low. They are proposing the internet filter and will protect us from the evils of child pornography/internet freedom and will make the net safe for everyone. So they say.
liberare massarum ex ignorantia, clausa descendit molestie.
Fear and loathing in Attourney General Michael Atkinson's head.
WOW! I didn't realize Australian biker gangs were such pansy's.
"Throw a shrimp on the barbie" was a joke, it's saying "everything is NOT bigger in Texas", eg: Anna Creek cattle station is more than 10X the size of the largest US ranch. Americans failed to get the joke and thought the phrase was part of our lingo.
BTW, Most Aussies including me enjoyed the first Crocodile Dundee but Hoag's lost his popularity with Aussies when he dumped his wife of 20yrs and ran off with the woman from the movie.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Praise jeezers
And then he goes home and fucks his wife in the arse.
.
Voting up, Voting down - If I really gave a fuck about your approval or not, I'd come and ask you.
It's never the ones who make threats you have to worry about. It's always one of the ones who seem to pay no particular attention to you - one of those ICAC supporters who seems so quiet...
Enjoy:
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/in-depth/bikies-plan-to-ride-on-polling-booths/story-fn2sdwup-1225831112809
Fine, I have a family and I agree wholeheartedly. So call the police, get it investigated using proper channels instead of calling the nearest hack with the "scoop".
But he is elected by the people, and is supposed to represent the people. Just because 90% of the population is apathetic and could care less about an R18 for games (even less trivial these days, since anything you really want is available online anyway), that's no reason to ignore the other 10%.
I'd imagine bikers are less than 10% of Australia's population, yet they seem to get a free pass from the police and the government, despite being (at times), a bunch of bad bastards. So instead of going after the hard target, let's take away another freedom from honest hardworking people who AREN'T Puritanical throwbacks.
I think he's watched "Mad Max" too many times.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
This is the same guy who made headlines recently in regards to people posting political comments in news papers etc he wanted to make it illegal to do it as anonymous ...
We're talking phonetics here, not spelling. There's a difference. An 'eee' sound becoming plural.
Aussie, Aussies. Barbie, barbies. Bikie, bikies.
All *phonetically* similar to pussy, pussies or pansy, pansies. And keep it in context, we're contrasting 'bikie' with the phonetics of 'biker', so it is completely appropriate to look at bike, biker, bikie, bikies vs. puss, (hypothetical) pusser, pussy, pussies.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
they have, www.gamers4croydon.org