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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.
I expect all Slashdot verbally abusing this guy for being a neocon and an enemy of freedom and a paranoid lunatic but the fact is this guy actually got threatened. This means that somebody has tried to intimidate him and state that he will hurt him/his family. Since no biker gangs have done this but a gamer did(you can never tell how dangerous these people are) he is absolutely right that gamers are scarier to him than biker gangs.
Then comes the internet and blows this totally out proportion and saying that this guy thinks that gamers are generally more dangerous than bikers in order to discredit him. I find that incredibly lame and it reeks of an attack campaign against the Australian Attorney General.
Good job loser(s), you just ruined your credibility. In the meantime this guy has got some arrows on his bow to fire at gamers. Congratulations again, you just helped your opponent by giving him media attention.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
..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.
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"
My thoughts on violence in videogames
Living With a Nerd
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'd give a wide berth to anyone sporting pink leathers...
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.
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 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.
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!
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.....
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.
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.
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!
Dude, I've been to Australia.
Trust me.... Mad Max wasn't a film. It was a documentary.
If gamers are worse than bikers, who are the the 1%ers of the gamers?
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.
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).
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 :(
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).
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 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
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.
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 ...