All these doom-and-gloom "what happened to the US" posts ignore that obscenity law used to be much, much stricter.
Right, but we were hoping that they were gone for good! It's mainly a feeling of "how much progress have we really made if people can still be thrown in a prison cell for hurting people's feelings?"
If you look at the link to the so-called "refuting" article, it is about an entirely different topic, morning sickness. The text "oral" and "sex" do not appear in the article. The text "semen" appears, but only as a subset of the word advertisement!
When you try to shut down a conversation by invoking the idea of censorship rather than deal with the issues at hand, you perversely prove the point of the censors: that people are too simple-minded and incapable of true reflection to be allowed to manage their own media consumption.
But you were responding to a post which said that virtual murder is not murder and was referring to laws regarding such, which would thus make censorship be the issue at hand.
I agree with your general point that some games have no inherent merit, and that someone who is always playing such a game is likely to have serious problems.
That being said, that doesn't mean that anyone who plays that game is racist, just in the same sense that not everyone who watches Birth of a Nation is racist.
Nothing posted indicates that people shouldn't be allowed to manage their own media consumption.
I understand the "papers please" argument, and reject it because we simply do not have the manpower to set up checkpoints and run around asking everyone for "papers, please".
We do have such checkpoints. Various cities have them under the guise of protecting you against drunk drivers. Almost no one cares.
Don't buy it if LAN isn't supported. Starcraft is the only PC game I've ever bought and I was planning on buying SC2, but I won't purchase it without LAN support. Hopefully other potential players will do the same.
So when consumers buy/rent a new BluRay/DVD, they may have to hook their player up to the Internet to download the software to play it? I can't wait to explain this to my grandmother, who has no internet connection. If she asks, I will tell her to skip BluRay.
If you know someone that is always playing "Virtual KKK," running around lynching black men and burning crosses in a virtual setting, are you going to say, "oh, he's not a racist, those aren't real people?" No, you're going to make a connection between the representation of a thing and the thing itself.
And while he may be a racist, that doesn't mean the government has any business censoring such a game.
Well, yeah. It's more of an issue of principles than anything. I'd rather support a company for making the world a better place than one making the world a worse place.
Lenovo has adware in their updates, but they might sell a laptop without a caps lock key! It's like they're simultaneously the worst and best computer company at the same time.
I was considering buying a ThinkPad for my next laptop purchase. Not that I was going to keep Windows on it anyway, but I won't buy one on principle now.
ACORN? What? They were registering people just to get money; nothing to do with Obama.
No, ass-kissing is not diplomacy.
How exactly has he asskissed?
Guilty or innocent, people like KSM can't get a "fair trial" for the same reason that domestic spies can't get the jail time they deserve, and those rousted from their homes by the military can't get "fair trials" because they are captured by low-level soldiers/Marines 5+ years ago. No rules of evidence, chain of custody, etc, etc.
They're going to be brought to real prisons instead. If it frees at least a few people based on evidence, then improvements have been made.
Mussolini made the trains run on time, and the National Socialists really pumped up the German economy.
Non-sequitor much? Just because they both improve the economy/infrastructure doesn't mean they are the same in terms of fascism.
The US gov't paid for a lot of stem cell research during the W administration.
Sorry, I meant embryonic stem cell research.
I'm not a fan of Obama (or McCain, (or anyone who voted for the PATRIOT Act for that matter)) but he is simply not as bad (thus far) as Bush was.
Sometimes the news needs to be opinionated. When someone does something wrong, there's no reason to let them get away with it simply to be an "objective" source.
Slashdot Mirror
All these doom-and-gloom "what happened to the US" posts ignore that obscenity law used to be much, much stricter.
Right, but we were hoping that they were gone for good! It's mainly a feeling of "how much progress have we really made if people can still be thrown in a prison cell for hurting people's feelings?"
Actually, sodomy laws were struck down by the Supreme Court in 2001.
That kind of mistake is a huge cognitive speed bump for many readers.
You are assuming that many readers actually RTFS. I, for one, take offense to that notion!
If you look at the link to the so-called "refuting" article, it is about an entirely different topic, morning sickness. The text "oral" and "sex" do not appear in the article. The text "semen" appears, but only as a subset of the word advertisement!
When you try to shut down a conversation by invoking the idea of censorship rather than deal with the issues at hand, you perversely prove the point of the censors: that people are too simple-minded and incapable of true reflection to be allowed to manage their own media consumption.
But you were responding to a post which said that virtual murder is not murder and was referring to laws regarding such, which would thus make censorship be the issue at hand.
I agree with your general point that some games have no inherent merit, and that someone who is always playing such a game is likely to have serious problems.
That being said, that doesn't mean that anyone who plays that game is racist, just in the same sense that not everyone who watches Birth of a Nation is racist.
Nothing posted indicates that people shouldn't be allowed to manage their own media consumption.
I understand the "papers please" argument, and reject it because we simply do not have the manpower to set up checkpoints and run around asking everyone for "papers, please".
We do have such checkpoints. Various cities have them under the guise of protecting you against drunk drivers. Almost no one cares.
Don't buy it if LAN isn't supported. Starcraft is the only PC game I've ever bought and I was planning on buying SC2, but I won't purchase it without LAN support. Hopefully other potential players will do the same.
So when consumers buy/rent a new BluRay/DVD, they may have to hook their player up to the Internet to download the software to play it? I can't wait to explain this to my grandmother, who has no internet connection. If she asks, I will tell her to skip BluRay.
If you know someone that is always playing "Virtual KKK," running around lynching black men and burning crosses in a virtual setting, are you going to say, "oh, he's not a racist, those aren't real people?" No, you're going to make a connection between the representation of a thing and the thing itself.
And while he may be a racist, that doesn't mean the government has any business censoring such a game.
Well, yeah. It's more of an issue of principles than anything. I'd rather support a company for making the world a better place than one making the world a worse place.
It was on Slashdot a few days ago.
Lenovo Software Update Stealthily Installs Adware
Lenovo has adware in their updates, but they might sell a laptop without a caps lock key! It's like they're simultaneously the worst and best computer company at the same time.
No, his copy has the Bill of Obligations and Bill of Responsibilities, and he's tired of everyone focusing on civil liberties!
I was considering buying a ThinkPad for my next laptop purchase. Not that I was going to keep Windows on it anyway, but I won't buy one on principle now.
Instead, many just say, "Don't ever use Wikipedia! It is full of lies and deceit!"
It was like a past-tense German sentence
You should replace Bad Analogy Guy!
"Well my parents turned my television off at 10 pm as a child and I was fine, so lets let the government control our televisions"
Your government doesn't control television? You must not live in America.
"Well my parents spanked me as a child and I was fine, so lets let the government deliver corporal punishment"
Your government doesn't deliver corporal punishment? You must not live in America.
Please, illuminate us with your wisdom, as I see absolutely no connection between the two.
You must be new here.
Yes, revenge is ours! Take that, swine!
In the US it has still been about 10x more fatal than seasonal flu. I'm not sure what seasonal flu you are talking about.
In the US, one baby died from the swine flu. That's not really enough for a statistical analysis.
Marshall law
Yes, everyone knows that the best way to fight terrorists is with Heihachi Mishima.
eight (8) confirmed deaths in the US
Eight confirmed CASES. None of them died. In fact, they've all recovered.
Which day would I not have received it on?
The day the shipping tracking indicates it was supposed to have arrived.
Throwing money at ACORN isn't "quality".
ACORN? What? They were registering people just to get money; nothing to do with Obama.
No, ass-kissing is not diplomacy.
How exactly has he asskissed?
Guilty or innocent, people like KSM can't get a "fair trial" for the same reason that domestic spies can't get the jail time they deserve, and those rousted from their homes by the military can't get "fair trials" because they are captured by low-level soldiers/Marines 5+ years ago. No rules of evidence, chain of custody, etc, etc.
They're going to be brought to real prisons instead. If it frees at least a few people based on evidence, then improvements have been made.
Mussolini made the trains run on time, and the National Socialists really pumped up the German economy.
Non-sequitor much? Just because they both improve the economy/infrastructure doesn't mean they are the same in terms of fascism.
The US gov't paid for a lot of stem cell research during the W administration.
Sorry, I meant embryonic stem cell research.
I'm not a fan of Obama (or McCain, (or anyone who voted for the PATRIOT Act for that matter)) but he is simply not as bad (thus far) as Bush was.
Sometimes the news needs to be opinionated. When someone does something wrong, there's no reason to let them get away with it simply to be an "objective" source.