All Video Games Cause Aggressive Behavior, Say Two US Congressmen

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All Video Games Cause Aggressive Behavior, Say Two US Congressmen

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday March 20, 2012 @10:41AM from the not-intended-as-a-factual-statement dept.

Fluffeh writes with news that U.S. Congressmen Baca (D-CA) and Wolf (R-VA) have proposed a bill that would require most video games to have a warning label decrying their "potential damaging" long-term effects on children. "Under the one-page Violence in Video Games Labeling Act (PDF), packaging for all video games except those rated 'EC' for Early Childhood would be required to prominently display a message reading: 'WARNING: Exposure to violent video games has been linked to aggressive behavior.' The proposed label would be required even if the video game in question is not violent."

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Like War by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 10:43 · Score: 5, Insightful

War causes violent behaviour too, but no congressman as ever putting a bill against, have they?
1. Re:Like War by Samalie · 2012-03-20 10:46 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  I was thinking something close to this at least...more along the lines of "morons that hold public office has been linked to aggressive behavior"
  Seriously, when you consider just how outrageously fucked up the USA & world are right now...this is the dumbest shit to be wasting time on I can almost think of. Hopefully the voters in their districts see it the same way. Not fucking likely, but I could hope.
  Of course this is bipartisan douchebaggery too. Morons.
  
  --
  09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
2. Re:Like War by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 11:01 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Ah more nanny-state bullshit from the Baby Boomers. Before they die, they are fucking determiend to make sure the younger generations have no wealth, resources, or freedoms to inherit. It is their personal obsession. Baby Boomers if they was honest would say "I have not died yet so the whole world owes me something. Lots of something."
  
  What's the difference between a two-year-old and a Baby Boomer? The two-year-old might outgrow his sense of entitlement.
3. Re:Like War by similar_name · 2012-03-20 11:07 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I think they are conflating aggression with competition. Competition makes kids more aggressive. Let kids play any game where they are competing against each other and they will become more aggressive regardless of the violence content (I've seen kids fight over Go-Fish). EC games probably don't show 'aggression' because they generally aren't that competitive.
4. Re:Like War by TheCarp · 2012-03-20 11:11 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I play plenty of violent video games but you know....
  NOTHING makes me so violently angry as listening to politicians and their machinations. Can't we outlaw them?
  Doesn't matter which ones it is.... Democrats, Republicans.... they all piss me off to no end...pretty much anytime they open their mouths.
  
  --
  "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
5. Re:Like War by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 11:24 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  "Holding public office have been linked to irresponsible behavior, bad judgement, and wasteful expenditures"
6. Re:Like War by UnknownSoldier · 2012-03-20 11:34 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  No kidding! Cause we ALL know that video games caused all the atrocities of World War I and World War II, right? ... OH WAIT. SOME people are inherently violent -- the "medium" they use to express that is irrelevant !
  Don't you love how every generation just has to blame X for what it doesn't understand?
  e.g.
  '40 Dancing
  '50 Soul Music
  '60 Rock N Roll
  '70 Drugs
  '80 DnD
  '90 Video Games
  '00 Guns / Homosexuality
  Obviously the list isn't 100 accurate, but you get the point.
  What a bunch of fuck tards.
7. Re:Like War by jamstar7 · 2012-03-20 11:37 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  These two bozos are Congressmen, which means they stand for election this year just like every other Congressman. But instead of standing up for a real issue, they're playing it safe and grandstanding for the voters. Do they really believe this bullshit? Probably not. Do they really care? Not about this, they don't. If it goes through, they get to stand up and say 'Hey, I DID something on The Hill besides taking campaign contributions from *AA! I made a DIFFERENCE!' If this bill tanks, they get to stand up and say 'Hey, I TRIED, but those damned politicians voted me down. Vote for me again this year so I can go back to The Hill and try again. Think of the children! Think of my paycheck!! I don't wanna get a real job!!'
  
  --
  Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
8. Re:Like War by Beardo+the+Bearded · 2012-03-20 11:41 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  THIS is an issue?
  MY HOUSE is worth EIGHT DOLLARS.
  
  --
  
  ---
  ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
9. Re:Like War by Moryath · 2012-03-20 11:52 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Well, someone has to step up to the moron plate now that what's-his-nuts has been disbarred and Joe LIEberman is retiring...
10. Re:Like War by Silentknyght · 2012-03-20 12:00 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Piggybacking on this comment, the two senators obviously didn't read the recent WSJ (or was it NYT) article specifically on the benefits of videogames. They had found that gamers--ESPECIALLY gamers who play violent video games--are significantly (like 25%) faster to arrive at the correct decision to a given problem compared with their non-gamer collueagues. Basically, the whole article was a giant middle finger to everyone who's ever said gaming is good for nothing.
11. Re:Like War by Thangodin · 2012-03-20 12:10 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  And let's not forget sports. When are one of these clowns going to ask for a ban on high school football? College football? Never? Of course not, despite the towering mass of evidence that demonstrates that this is a major source of violence in our society. This is not about violence, this is about being a demagogue, which means pounding upon minorities for the benefit of majorities. And who gives a fuck about nerds, right? Jocks rule the world, still, so football gets a pass.
  This is all bullshit.
12. Re:Like War by ae1294 · 2012-03-20 12:13 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  No no they read it but why on earth do you think they would want people to arrive at the correct decisions?
13. Re:Like War by Gideon+Wells · 2012-03-20 12:39 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I see you are angry. Have you been playing too much Tetris? Maybe Bejeweled?
  
  --
  by Anonymous Coward: I, for one, welcome the shift from car analogies to pizza analogies. um.. overlords?
14. Re:Like War by realityimpaired · 2012-03-20 12:40 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Well catharsis and other arguments have been used wrt pornography and violence in TV. Except that we HAVE become more violent and less able to have good relationships. Now, I don't assume that TV and videogames and porn sites are the culprits, but I am pretty certain that they don't work the other way as I have heard for decades.
  Except that we haven't become more violent. Despite more things being illegal, rates for murder are lower now than they were in the 1970's, and all types of violent crime have been steadily in decline for 20 years. News media reports the crime, and thanks to the ubiquity of the Internet and TV, you hear about it a lot more, but the rates are actually much lower.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States
  And the same trend is happening pretty much everywhere in the developed world.
15. Re:Like War by deniable · 2012-03-20 12:49 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  All bribe-takers are also office holders. Something must be done.
16. Re:Like War by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 13:01 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  After playing Super Mario Brothers, I can't even see a mushroom without stomping on it. I can't go to the supermarket, restaurants, it's hell!
17. Re:Like War by lightknight · 2012-03-20 13:01 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  "Wolf's my congressman btw. If someone better wants to run I'd be all for it, but the ones who actually run against him are much worse."
  And that's kind of the problem, isn't it? Are the people running for office the best ones that this country has to offer? I mean, what if that were true, that that's really the best we can do. That's something to tell your kids if you want them to have nightmares for the rest of their lives.
  
  --
  I am John Hurt.
18. Re:Like War by lightknight · 2012-03-20 13:03 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Nonsense. I enjoy the good Senator from Israel's presence, if only because it ensures that a portion of our elected leaders have a vague understanding where that country is located.
  
  --
  I am John Hurt.
19. Re:Like War by lightknight · 2012-03-20 13:06 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Let them. We'll keep the secret of the elixir as such until the last of them is gone.
  
  --
  I am John Hurt.
20. Re:Like War by Ihmhi · 2012-03-20 13:09 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  "Other symptoms made include a 'flip-flopping syndrome', where shit comes out the opposite end of the body. There is no known cure."
  
  --
  Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
21. Re:Like War by hairyfeet · 2012-03-20 13:39 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Are you kidding? One of the R candidates for president has tied his entire campaign to....drumroll....keeping adults from watching porn! Yep, because with American boys dying for corps in hellholes and our country bleeding jobs and having a dead economy THAT is the issue, worrying about whether or not joe and jane public can see a blowjob.
  Let's face it folks, if you are vote you are just wasting your time as the whole thing is now nothing more than a puppet show. anybody who gets a chance at national office has been bought and paid for by the corps so all they are gonna do is pander until they get elected and then kiss the ring of the multinationals. As the late great Bill Hicks said so many years ago "I believe the puppet on the left shares MY beliefs, well I believe the puppet on the right has my interests at heart...hey wait a minute, there is one guy controlling BOTH puppets!" and that is all we get, like pro wrestling, its just a puppet show to make the masses feel they have a say which of course they don't. When you have a former congressman like Chris Dodd go on national TV and OPENLY BRAG about serious crimes like bribery? and nothing gets done and the POTUS even ignores the will of the people and refuses to prosecute? give it up, the game is over, just grab as much as you can before the whole thing falls down.
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
22. Re:Like War by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 14:16 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I would run, but I'm a college-educated atheist who doesn't come from a blue-collar background, don't think that giving up fundamental freedoms is the right way to fight terrorism or child porn, I like single-payer/universal health care, I don't support ridiculously long sentences for literally victimless crimes like marijuana possession, and I'm all for gay marriage.
  In other words: I'm godless and therefore lack a moral compass; I'm an intellectual elitist who is out of touch with the working class; I don't Think of the Children; I'm soft on crime; I'm weak on terrorism; I'm a radical socialist; I support the gay agenda and want to take away our religious freedoms
23. Re:Like War by lexsird · 2012-03-20 16:15 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  We should elect officials and representatives through a system like how we do juries. Picking randomly from the populace would make it nigh impossible to lock down a large enough portion of the government through corruption. It would make surveillance of officials easier. Which makes me think that another easy thing would be to put all of congress and the pres on 24/7 surveillance.
  
  --
  Take the Red Pill.
24. Re:Like War by Opportunist · 2012-03-20 16:24 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  How would I know the person holding that gun isn't going to rob a store? Let's outlaw guns!
  How would I know that person driving that car is not going to use it to run over his spouse? Let's outlaw cars!
  How would I know that person using this computer is not going to use it to download child porn? Let's outlaw computers!
  How would I know that person buying liquor is not going to hand it to minors? Let's outlaw alcohol!
  Get the idea or should I go on?
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
25. Re:Like War by Rei · 2012-03-20 16:43 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I still can't believe that they'd have the gall to try to restrict all video games because they cause "violence". Makes me want to roll up his house with a giant sticky ball and launch it into the sky.
  
  --
  Teach me to love you, you squishy poet from beyond the stars!
26. Re:Like War by silentcoder · 2012-03-20 22:05 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Actually the platform he proposed is essentially socialist libertarianism. Except without the government-by-consensus model (which no politician would support since it would put them out of a job).
  But that you see some parallels is not surprising. Socialist and capitalist libertarianism (a version of it that does not exist anywhere outside the US and is less than a century old so really "libertarian" ought to imply the 500 year old socialist version) only really differ on one aspect.
  That said - my problem with right libertarians (or American Libertarians rather) is more deep. In theory we completely agree on civil liberties. The American libertarian party is on record as saying "we support the Republican party on economic matters but the democratic party on civil matters."
  So why the fuck do American libertarians keep voting republican ? Surely civil liberties is MORE important than economic liberty ? Regardless of which definition of economic liberty you subscribe to ? Surely then American libertarians - having decided that at the ballot you can only vote for half of what you want, are consistently choosing the less important half ? Voting for the party that's pro-censorship, pro-war and pro-religion-in-government because you agree with their tax-plan is, as far as I'm concerned, not libertarian AT ALL nor compatible with ANY variant there-off.
  
  --
  Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
27. Re:Like War by Thugthrasher · 2012-03-21 01:20 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I don't support ridiculously long sentences for literally victimless crimes like marijuana possession
  Victimless? How would you know if the person carrying that isn't going to A) Sell it to someone or B) Not have obtained it by stealing money or whatever from people to obtain it. You know with that level of intelligence, you'd fit right in with the rest of them.
  A) If selling it is still a crime, then convict him of that.
  
  B) Convict him of stealing money or whatever from people then.
  
  It's like the "high driving" complaints. Making drugs legal does not suddenly make OTHER things legal. Driving while intoxicated: still illegal. Theft: still illegal. Assault: still illegal.
28. Re:Like War by Quirkz · 2012-03-21 02:20 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  That's an excellent question. I consider myself socially liberal and financially conservative, and vote almost exclusively Democrat because I put significantly more weight on my personal freedoms than the financial issues. The choice has been made easier in recent decades because most of the Republican candidates I could vote for haven't been all that financially conservative in the first place.
  
  --
  The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
Someone thinking of the Children. by BasilBrush · 2012-03-20 10:44 · Score: 5, Funny

Thank FSM someone is finally thinking of the children!
1. Re:Someone thinking of the Children. by The+Archon+V2.0 · 2012-03-20 10:53 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Thank FSM someone is finally thinking of the children!
  And their parents' votes!
2. Re:Someone thinking of the Children. by Pseudonym+Authority · 2012-03-20 13:43 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Video games cause pedophilia too?
  Touhou might.
It warms the heart. by mmcxii · 2012-03-20 10:44 · Score: 4, Funny

I'm glad to see the parties finally getting together on a public ground in the best interests of the public. This is just the kind of cooperation that we need to see so people can move on from partisan bickering. Very progressive.

Oh, wait...
WARNING by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 10:45 · Score: 5, Funny

Exposure to politicians has been linked to aggressive behaviour.
TV? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 10:45 · Score: 5, Insightful

Shouldn't TV come with the same warning then?
1. Re:TV? by White+Flame · 2012-03-20 11:39 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Playing Monopoly tends to lead to violence. Commence warning labels!
ooh it's bipartisan!! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 10:45 · Score: 4, Funny

That means they can't possibly be wrong, right?? Are they still worried about the effects of Doom on the kids of today? I hear Bart Simpson is a really bad influence as well, and those Teletubbies...straight from Satan himself, there to make your toddler catch Gay.
1. Re:ooh it's bipartisan!! by gman003 · 2012-03-20 11:24 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Doom? Try Mario. Yes, under this bill, every Mario game would get a big scary "CAUSES VIOLENCE" sticker on it. Same for Sonic, or Tetris, or Oregon Trail, or Pong. Same for such nightmarish gore-fests as "Junior Classic Games" (a compilation of checkers, backgammon, etc.), "Nicktoons MLB 3D" (a Nickelodeon-themed basketball game), "Imagine Babyz" (a child-care simulator), "Microsoft Flight" (a flight sim), and "Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster " (a Sesame Street game - need I say more?).
  The "E" rating means "Everyone". To quote the ESRB, "Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language."
  Apparently they need to amend that to "suitable for ages 6 and older who are not elected officials or otherwise mentally handicapped".
Speaking of Labels by microbee · 2012-03-20 10:46 · Score: 5, Informative

How about "Congress has been linked with corruption and abuse of power" for any campaign Ads?
An important caveat is missing by baudilus · 2012-03-20 10:49 · Score: 5, Insightful

Violent video games may cause aggressive behavior in a subset of individuals, likely already predisposed to said aggressive behavior.

The same argument was made about violent movies and the now more prevalent incidences of school shootings. I content that the movies didn't make the kids violent; they were already that way and probably should have had help beforehand.
1. Re:An important caveat is missing by PeanutButterBreath · 2012-03-20 11:21 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  I don't think school shootings are really any more prevalent now than they used to be, they just tend to get more attention.
  "Between 1979 and 1988 there were 27 school shootings. From 1989 to 1998 there were 55 and then they continued to increase from 1999 to 2008 to 66, so there were 148 shootings in the three decades from 1979 to 2008. What’s most disturbing is that in the three years since 2008 there have been 43 shootings, and that’s almost two-thirds of the number of shootings that occurred in the preceding decade." - http://www.salon.com/2012/03/04/inside_the_bully_economy
2. Re:An important caveat is missing by wierd_w · 2012-03-20 13:35 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  It is also important to gauge this as a per capita rate.
  Eg, if you have a 1% rate, you have a 1% chance that any given student will go apeshit and shoot people.
  If you have 100 students, the chance it will happen is now statistically very relevent, as at least one of them will go apeshit by the numbers.
  If you cram 1000 in, you now have 10 shooters.
  Other contributory factors that are not accounted for: degree of student disciplinary action over time. Degree of broken family life as percentage of student population. Degree of truancy enforcement. Degree of personal libery violation of students over time.
  I do believe that you will see a statistical rise in the basic rate of becoming a shooter over time, when adjusted for increased population sizes.
  I believe you will also find correlations between disciplinary activity (including the use of metal detectors, drug dogs, etc.) of the school and the schools which produced shooters, vs the schools that didn't; between the truancy enforcement of the same; and against home income and homelife quality of the student populations of the same.
  Correlation does not prove causation. That is what experimentation is for.
  Find schools with a high shooter rate, do the unthinkable and remove the dogs, the metal detectors, and the draconian zero tolerance rules, and see if there is a net reduction of school shooting statistics.
  It is my personal hypothesis that shooters resort to shooting when other methods of resolving violent problems cannot be explored. (Eg, you get mugged for lunch money by a bully? In the 40s and 50s, you manned up and broke the bully's nose. He stopped trying to shake you down for lunch money after that. These days, doing so will land you in juvenile detention. The only avenue provided is the completely impotent 'tell a teacher' option. The teachers are afraid to take action, should poor, misunderstood snowflake bully boy get punished and feel bad. As such, they say they need proof that bully boy is shaking you down for lunch money. They forbid the use of electronic monitoring and recording devices, except for their own, so that isn't an option. It is impossible to prove that the bully is taking your money, and that you aren't abusing the system to bully the poor misunderstood snowflake, and so you have no choice but to simply take it. Add insult to injury, you get screened daily for contraband and have armed retacops in the hallway as morale deteriorates and people start snapping. Eventually, you can't take it anymore. You would have just punched the little bitch years ago, but the thought of going to jail was undesirable. Now you don't care. In for a penny, in for a pound, you bring a gun to school to end the problem permanently. The penalty is the same as if you punched him: jail time.)
  Basically, I would say american schools are throwing petrol on the fire by trying to "enforce" safety through threat of violence (what else does an armed security guard represent?), through the threat of severe recrimination for petty offenses (suspension for drawing a man with a gun? Really?), and through complete and total beurocratic inaction that repeatedly screws over and endangers students (gotta protect the school from those sue happy parents of joey the bully! He's a snowflake!).
  If anything, simulated violence in a safe venue like video games is thereputic, and not deleterious.
  If you widen your statistical comparison to include the same set of comparisons I suggested above to include sample sets from other countries, (human children are human children, regardless of nation) I suspect the correlation between extreme student violence and extreme school imposed penalties and hightened school security would really stand out prominently.
There should be a warning on the bill. by Hentes · 2012-03-20 10:49 · Score: 5, Insightful

[citation needed]
Signs don't matter... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 10:49 · Score: 5, Interesting

No matter how many sings you put up, the general public WILL NOT READ THEM. You have "No Solicitor" signs, yet you still get people trying to sell you stuff. You put up "No Outside Food Or Drink", yet you still get people bringing it in. You put health warnings on Cigarettes yet people still buy them (because they don't care). These signs won't do anything that the ESRB labeling system hasn't done already. These Congressmen are trying to score political points by doing nothing.
That warning applies to a lot more.. by yakumo.unr · 2012-03-20 10:57 · Score: 4, Interesting

WARNING: Exposure to X has been linked to aggressive behavior.'
x ==
movies
TV
playgrounds
school
religious texts
alcohol
relationships
capitalism
life
They are wrong! by Nidi62 · 2012-03-20 10:57 · Score: 4, Funny

I played violent video games throughout my childhood, and I turned out fine! And anyone who says any different is asking for a beat down!

--
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
1. Re:They are wrong! by lightknight · 2012-03-20 13:21 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  And I've watched Japanese anime filled with all sorts of what would be considered violence and sexual perversion.
  As a result, I am more prone, than in time's past, to take a quiet moment of reflection before condemning someone.
  
  --
  I am John Hurt.
News? by funkatron · 2012-03-20 11:11 · Score: 3, Insightful

Two liars lied. Big fucking deal.

--
"Welcome to our world. We are the wasted youth. And we are the future too." Yes, I know these are stupid lyrics.
translation by Black+Parrot · 2012-03-20 11:14 · Score: 3, Informative

"The videogame industry should spend more money bribing congressmen, like the other entertainment industries. Then we'll start sucking up to them instead of picking on them."

--
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
All congressmen cause violent behavior, by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 11:38 · Score: 3, Insightful

All Congressman cause violent behavior, says 2 video game players.
---Fixed it
Not that far-fetched, actually by Dr.+Hok · 2012-03-20 11:54 · Score: 3, Informative

My sons (7 and 9) have been exposed to video games for a good year now, mainly Wii and Nintendo DS ("The Tendo").
My tentative summary: All is fine as long as they play short duration games, like Sports or Mario Kart, where a games lasts only a few minutes.
But it's different when they play games with a story that swallows them, like Zelda or Lego Star Wars. I'm convinced that these games do mess with their minds. Sometimes it takes them the rest of the day to get back out of the game. They don't respond any more. OK, this is probably normal between kids and their parents, but there's more: After a game they are overexcited and hyperactive, they can't focus on a single thought, they have headaches, they scream and shout, they tell us that they hate us and they look as if they mean it. Sometimes I can almost see fangs grow on them.
I guess it's because we take away their super powers when we tell them it's time to switch off. And the worst part is they realize how they are (namely aggressive) and they're obviously not happy about it. But of course they want to play again ASAP. This is highly unsettling form a parent's pov.
You can argue whether this is really as bad as it looks from my perspective, but IMHO these are clear symptoms of addiction and negative side-effects. I have come to believe that video games are unhealthy (to some extent) at a young age and would have liked to keep them away from gaming for a bit longer, and feed them football, hide-and-seek and some healthy mud-digging instead. The kids appear much more sane (and happy, and human) after some real-world activity. But of course you can't help them gaming if daddy owns a Wii, and everybody else in school boasts with their elder brother's gadgets.
In order to mitigate the symptoms we have agreed never to play longer than 30 minutes per day in our family. This has helped a bit, but only quantitatively. The outbursts of aggression have become rarer but not less harsh.

--
Say out loud: I'm an Aspie and I'm somewhat proud, I guess. Uh. Can I write an email in all caps instead? Hm...
Linked by whom? by chrismcb · 2012-03-20 12:30 · Score: 3, Insightful

Link to violence? By whom? Some quack? Can anyone go around linking cause and effect? As far as I know, no study has conclusively linked violence to video games. And a few have shown the exact opposite, in that violent video games give people an outlet to vent.
Interesting Facts about Rep. Frank Wolf by Salgak1 · 2012-03-20 12:34 · Score: 5, Insightful

He was first elected in 1982, promising to retire from the Congress after 6 terms. That would have been 1994. He's still there, 18 years, and 9 terms after he'd pledged to retire. So much for his word. His OTHER interests are Tibet, Stopping Internet Gambling, and pork (in the form of road construction funding for his district). How do I know this ? I'm a citizen of Virginia's Tenth Congressional District. Somebody: Dems, Greens, Libertarians, Tea Party: PLEASE run someone to replace this clown...
Re:who cares? by netsavior · 2012-03-20 14:04 · Score: 3, Interesting

I don't understand what you are getting at? The article you linked clearly makes my point.
From my post:

Cigarette warning labels (displayed on an actually harmful product) are not effective

From your link:

knowledge of warning labels on cigarette packages and advertisements is not associated with reduced smoking