We seem to be discussing two very different understandings of what the ESRB is and what role it should fill. I have advocated the use of the ESRB and other rating mechanisms as tools for use in effective parenting, placing the onus and responsibility on the parent to research both what the item was rated and why. You appear to consider the ratings boards as a replacement for parent's critical thinking and a censorship apparatus.
Laying the censorship issue to the side for a moment (I'll come back to it), the ratings boards could fit either model of parenting, both responsible or irresponsible. However, the question you should ask is whether the ESRB and the like should be done away with because some parents will use it inappropriately. Should we get rid of genre designations in the local library because some parent may decide that anything that looks "cartoony" must be okay for kids? To reverse the question, should responsible parents be forced to deal with the morass of entertainment and media options for their children? Is it going to do more good or more harm to remove this tool?
Returning to this idea that ratings are a form of censorship, I must point out that ESRB rating do not, I repeat, do not effect whether or not you can write a game. Assuming you have the means (a computer and familiarity with a programming language) you can write anything you like. However, the simple fact of the matter is that, for the most part, entertainment is a business venture. Businesses that take on the expense of publishing games want to see those games sold to the largest audience possible. PG-13 movies regularly out-earn movies that are rated R (http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4729717-1.html); this just makes sense, as more teens and families are likely to go to a PG-13 show. Writing an edgy or controversial game does not fit the format of maximizing earnings. You can write it. But no business is required to sell it. And no consumer is required to buy it. That's just the way the market works.
"Trying to jingoize words to fit a fascist/fundamentalist right wing political simplification based on what you think they might mean just makes the world a stupider place. Please stop, our country is already stupid enough without your contributions."
Am I the only one that sees the irony of that paragraph, vis-a-vis the "fascist/fundamentalist right wing" bit. From Wikipedia: "Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and other societal interests subordinate to the interests of the state." This seems to follow more closely with a socialist viewpoint than with the free-market ideology of the American right.
The parent's point about the GP's lack of understanding, however, is right on the mark.
The ESRB rating system should be used by parents to review the content of games for what they believe to be acceptable for their children. And yes, different games may get the same rating for completely different reasons. IIRC, SWAT 3 got an M rating as well. However, anyone could look at the 2 or 3 lines of text underneath the rating to find out exactly why the game was rated what it was. Using the example of Halo 3 in a church outreach or fellowship activity to say that the ESRB rating is flawed is exactly wrong.
The ESRB rating tells you what is there. Some parents and church leaders will decide to not allow M rated games. Others will look at the descriptors and prohibit certain games based on that. But this shows that the system, properly understood as a tool that informs parents and responsible adults, is not flawed. What is flawed is the idea that some regulatory body, whether mandated by government or not, is responsible for what children and teenagers see and experience in video games today. That responsibility should always rest on the parents.
Your post brings up several issues that face the Church today.
You say that you trust science over the "rantings of Jewish nomads". The term "science" is used in a couple of different ways in modern language. First we have the "scientific method" of hypothesis, testing, and observation. To my knowledge, this kind of science does not contradict the Bible. The other understanding of science is the great realm of theory that cannot be proved or disproved. For example, the theory of evolution has been circulated for over 100 years; however we have yet to find an example of one species evolving into another unique and separate species. (I am assuming the definition of species as a group of animals whose members can interbreed.) We have yet to uncover an in-between animal form in our various diggings around the world. And, yes, this means that Creation is on equally theoretical footing due to the fact that it also cannot be observed or recorded by modern man. I am not saying that science is a bad guide; indeed, science properly understood is a great boon to our lives. However, science improperly understood or misused can result in a very narrow understanding of the world, no matter which side you choose to follow.
Your statements on the values of the modern Church is unfortunately accurate for far too many congregations. However, there are churches that have large congregations because of the message that they preach. One example is Mars Hill in Michigan. Yes, there are pastors and churches that focus on Christianity as some kind of "good life" ticket. They need to remember that Jesus himself said that in this world, those who follow Him would have trouble. Christianity is about relationship with God, not about getting the best stuff and having the best life. Too many people forget that, and it turns people off.
I will not excuse the behavior of the youth pastors that you described. The first two, who betrayed the trust of their congregation, are especially without defense. And without knowing the full context of the situation involving the third one, I cannot comment on the appropriateness of the action taken. However, your point about the Christian prohibition on sex and cohabitation outside of marriage is contradicted by studies in this area. I recommend the following study: http://www.family.org/socialissues/A000000629.cfm As far as knowing if a person is right for you, that is what Courtship/Dating and prayer are for.
Finally, I would like to point out that Christianity doesn't make people perfect overnight. We spend years, in some cases, destroying our lives. Why should we expect to fix years of destruction in a matter of days? Yes, there are hypocrites. Yes, there are people who fall and make mistakes or choose to do wrong. But the difference is that the average church-goer sitting in the pew recognizes that he did wrong and asks God for the strength and guidance to do better. Just like parents are pleased when their young child attempts to walk even though he falls down, so too is God pleased with our faltering attempts to follow His way. However, the parents expect the child to grow up and walk on his own at the appropriate time; God also expects us to grow in our maturity and our ability to follow His commands.
So far my favorite "episodic" release has been Guild Wars. They've released three major, stand-alone titles in 18 months, plus a high-level "expansion pack". All have been top-quality.
Out of curiosity, what is the difference in tax rates at the salaries you quoted? They don't pay "nothing" for healthcare, they just never see the money in the first place. I guess it's harder to feel robbed that way.
Small problems with your line of thinking. "America" did in fact exist, governed under the Articles of Confederation. Thus, the Constitution was a change of the way government worked, rather than the formation of a new nation.
And how on earth can the claim that persons who do not live under the law derived from the Constitutional government are somehow deserving of the rights granted by that Constitution not sound idiotic? The very concept is devoid of reason, and requires a serious lack of critical thought to maintain.
If you want the rights and privileges, you have to qualify for them. Some people qualify because they were born in the US. Some, because they have US citizens as their parents. And some qualify by pledging themselves to their new nation, giving up the rights of their past and claiming the gift offered by the greatest nation on earth. You do NOT qualify for hospitality by sneaking in the back door and stealing the food out of the fridge. You qualify by being born in the family, or getting adopted in.
You may not like it, but that's the way it is. And it pains me to realize how screwed up the education system must be in regards to teaching American government if this is the understanding that people have of how the Constitution actually works.
How do you have thousands of managers and not have someone who needs to be laid off (for real reasons)? And to have 1000 that can be shown the door just seems to indicate that such an action is loooooong overdue.
Actually, I never specified the ethnicity of my friends, nor did I specify my own. The reason for this was to try to avoid getting knee-jerk reactions (though I seem to have posted too late to be seen by the/. masses). I understand what you are saying, though. I did consider the possibility that such a paragraph might be misconstrued as an "I'm better then you" pat myself on the back. I decided to include that information because I was trying to drive home the idea that there can be relationships that cross ethnic (or gender, though that topic was not the main subject of the thread) boundaries without conflict.
I thought you could already do that! Yeah just try it out. Stick the Duke Nukem disc in the XBOX 360 and turn it on. You will see Duke Nukem with DNF graphics... What, you're screen is black? Yeah that's normal. Like I said, DNF graphics...
[sarcasim]Oh, you're absolutely correct! The only way we are ever going to get those selfish bigots to stop being racist is to subject them to racism and see how they like it! [/sarcasim]
Sure, it's a dumb ad idea. But jumping on the company for "racist" imagery doesn't help stop racism. Nothing gets fixed by screaming "Racism, Racism" every time somebody gets offended by the recitation of "Eenie, meenie, miney, mo..." (Guess which word used to be in the place of tiger. That's right, 3 year olds can be racist too, apparently.). Here's a novel idea, one that I have observed in practice and found workable: when you see something that might, possible, just maybe be qualified as racist, don't give it the dignity of a response. And that goes both ways, for both the white person and the black, the man and the woman.
It's been 40 years since the 1960's, and there were a lot of proactive, integrationist folks alive then. The only reason I can see for racial tensions to still be causing problems is that there are people on both sides of the issue who want to be mad at someone. They want to have another group to blame for their own failures. Can't get a job? Must be because of all them colored people getting the jobs at lower wages, because it couldn't be that you're a lazy jerk that never worked an honest day in your life. Can't get promoted? Well, it must be that the big white "Man" is keeping you down, trying to put you back out in the fields, and it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that every time your projects are late it's someone else's fault.
Some of my best friends were of a completely different ethnic background or of the opposite gender of me. That didn't change the fact that we were still great friends. And you know what? we never had majority/minority problems because we simply didn't allow those kinds of things to become problems. It's time for the world to grow up, take some responsibility, and quit making excuses.
... until then, this is all just a bunch of he-said/she-said in my book. As far as this so called article goes, it looks more like an attempt to get the great unwashed masses to holler and shout about the so called abuse of the law. Everyone gets all worked up about these things, even the ones that end up not being true. "Oh no, it's the Big, Bad, Government(TM) coming to invade my privacy again!"
Well there is a funny thing about government in the Western world (read the US, Canada, U.K., France, Germany, Mexico, etc, etc...), it's representative. As in, if you don't like it, then go do something about it! I know too many people who will spent lots of time complaining about what they think is wrong with the system without ever getting up out of the chair to go and actually vote on Election Day.
I'm not even going to get into the merits of the Patriot Act or the existence of the vaunted right to privacy, because, to be brutally honest, I'd rather wait and discuss the subject in a format that is conducive to a logical and reasonable analysis of the facts and possible outcomes, even if the other person happens to disagree with my point of view.
Grab the IETab extension, and set it to auto-render your intranet in the IE engine. I'm not sure it will use the IE7b3 engine, though. If it does, you'd have a "best-of-both-worlds" setup for your current situation.
My Econ prof in college always phrased the question "All other things being equal, if x changes in this direction, y will change in that direction." Problem with trying to apply economic analysis to life is that it's fluid, meaning all the other things are never staying equal.
Only problem is that the Wii isn't the GC. Sure, the proc and graphics may not be a major new innovation, but the hype about the Wii has always been the new controller. Speaking as a marketing student, Nintendo has done a very capable job of marketing the new product, keeping it in the public eye, and giving encouraging price point nods. I predict this analyst prediction will be totally off the wall. Can I get paid too, since I have just as much insight on the yet-to-be-released PS3 and Wii as this writer?
Why? He had at least three written memos given express permission for him to do what he did. The problem here wasn't with the worker, it's with the policies and directors that signed the memos.
One of the articles quoted the permission granting documents, saying that the analyst needed real SSNs for his work. I don't understand why that would be the case. Couldn't they have generated a fake list, verified that no two numbers were alike, and assigned a bunch of random names? It seems like the whole issue could have been eliminated from the start by doing this. Also, it's just shameful the way a bunch of middle-management types are trying to shaft the analyst when he's had written permission for ~4 years.
Will this limit access on that great free wireless lan called "linksys"? I hope not; I didn't want to have to actually pay for Internet access after college.
Umm, no. Having no enemy to direct attention at and no more free rice to distribute (or not) to the starving masses will reduce North Korea's ability to take advantage of the situation.
"In the last twenty years, the real wages for college educated US workers have barely kept up with inflation."
Does that include the rise of benefits as part of the payment package? Also, on what grounds do you claim that free market reforms have harmed nations other then the US? And which nations? If you are referring to countries like Germany or France, their problems derive from having too little capitalism, not too much, as their extensive and pervasive social security nets and accompanying high taxes reduce income that could be used to further economic activity.
Many of the former Soviet Bloc and Warsaw Pact nations have improved per-capita income drastically since embracing the free market and capitalism. Several have applied for inclusion in the EU and NATO. Even China, though still nominally and politically Communist, has allowed some capitalist forces to work in their economy successfully.
Take a look at the lawyer's hourly fee and ask yourself this question: "Is it more costly to deal with a bunch of supeanas or to lose a few customers."
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We seem to be discussing two very different understandings of what the ESRB is and what role it should fill. I have advocated the use of the ESRB and other rating mechanisms as tools for use in effective parenting, placing the onus and responsibility on the parent to research both what the item was rated and why. You appear to consider the ratings boards as a replacement for parent's critical thinking and a censorship apparatus.
Laying the censorship issue to the side for a moment (I'll come back to it), the ratings boards could fit either model of parenting, both responsible or irresponsible. However, the question you should ask is whether the ESRB and the like should be done away with because some parents will use it inappropriately. Should we get rid of genre designations in the local library because some parent may decide that anything that looks "cartoony" must be okay for kids? To reverse the question, should responsible parents be forced to deal with the morass of entertainment and media options for their children? Is it going to do more good or more harm to remove this tool?
Returning to this idea that ratings are a form of censorship, I must point out that ESRB rating do not, I repeat, do not effect whether or not you can write a game. Assuming you have the means (a computer and familiarity with a programming language) you can write anything you like. However, the simple fact of the matter is that, for the most part, entertainment is a business venture. Businesses that take on the expense of publishing games want to see those games sold to the largest audience possible. PG-13 movies regularly out-earn movies that are rated R (http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4729717-1.html); this just makes sense, as more teens and families are likely to go to a PG-13 show. Writing an edgy or controversial game does not fit the format of maximizing earnings. You can write it. But no business is required to sell it. And no consumer is required to buy it. That's just the way the market works.
"Trying to jingoize words to fit a fascist/fundamentalist right wing political simplification based on what you think they might mean just makes the world a stupider place. Please stop, our country is already stupid enough without your contributions."
Am I the only one that sees the irony of that paragraph, vis-a-vis the "fascist/fundamentalist right wing" bit. From Wikipedia: "Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and other societal interests subordinate to the interests of the state." This seems to follow more closely with a socialist viewpoint than with the free-market ideology of the American right.
The parent's point about the GP's lack of understanding, however, is right on the mark.
The ESRB rating system should be used by parents to review the content of games for what they believe to be acceptable for their children. And yes, different games may get the same rating for completely different reasons. IIRC, SWAT 3 got an M rating as well. However, anyone could look at the 2 or 3 lines of text underneath the rating to find out exactly why the game was rated what it was. Using the example of Halo 3 in a church outreach or fellowship activity to say that the ESRB rating is flawed is exactly wrong.
The ESRB rating tells you what is there. Some parents and church leaders will decide to not allow M rated games. Others will look at the descriptors and prohibit certain games based on that. But this shows that the system, properly understood as a tool that informs parents and responsible adults, is not flawed. What is flawed is the idea that some regulatory body, whether mandated by government or not, is responsible for what children and teenagers see and experience in video games today. That responsibility should always rest on the parents.
from Japan to the US. I still can't get one in a major metro area of WI. And I can see at least 5 games that I want to play.
Your post brings up several issues that face the Church today.
You say that you trust science over the "rantings of Jewish nomads". The term "science" is used in a couple of different ways in modern language. First we have the "scientific method" of hypothesis, testing, and observation. To my knowledge, this kind of science does not contradict the Bible. The other understanding of science is the great realm of theory that cannot be proved or disproved. For example, the theory of evolution has been circulated for over 100 years; however we have yet to find an example of one species evolving into another unique and separate species. (I am assuming the definition of species as a group of animals whose members can interbreed.) We have yet to uncover an in-between animal form in our various diggings around the world. And, yes, this means that Creation is on equally theoretical footing due to the fact that it also cannot be observed or recorded by modern man. I am not saying that science is a bad guide; indeed, science properly understood is a great boon to our lives. However, science improperly understood or misused can result in a very narrow understanding of the world, no matter which side you choose to follow.
Your statements on the values of the modern Church is unfortunately accurate for far too many congregations. However, there are churches that have large congregations because of the message that they preach. One example is Mars Hill in Michigan. Yes, there are pastors and churches that focus on Christianity as some kind of "good life" ticket. They need to remember that Jesus himself said that in this world, those who follow Him would have trouble. Christianity is about relationship with God, not about getting the best stuff and having the best life. Too many people forget that, and it turns people off.
I will not excuse the behavior of the youth pastors that you described. The first two, who betrayed the trust of their congregation, are especially without defense. And without knowing the full context of the situation involving the third one, I cannot comment on the appropriateness of the action taken. However, your point about the Christian prohibition on sex and cohabitation outside of marriage is contradicted by studies in this area. I recommend the following study: http://www.family.org/socialissues/A000000629.cfm As far as knowing if a person is right for you, that is what Courtship/Dating and prayer are for.
Finally, I would like to point out that Christianity doesn't make people perfect overnight. We spend years, in some cases, destroying our lives. Why should we expect to fix years of destruction in a matter of days? Yes, there are hypocrites. Yes, there are people who fall and make mistakes or choose to do wrong. But the difference is that the average church-goer sitting in the pew recognizes that he did wrong and asks God for the strength and guidance to do better. Just like parents are pleased when their young child attempts to walk even though he falls down, so too is God pleased with our faltering attempts to follow His way. However, the parents expect the child to grow up and walk on his own at the appropriate time; God also expects us to grow in our maturity and our ability to follow His commands.
Lawyer: "This is not the DNA you are looking for."
So far my favorite "episodic" release has been Guild Wars. They've released three major, stand-alone titles in 18 months, plus a high-level "expansion pack". All have been top-quality.
Out of curiosity, what is the difference in tax rates at the salaries you quoted? They don't pay "nothing" for healthcare, they just never see the money in the first place. I guess it's harder to feel robbed that way.
Small problems with your line of thinking. "America" did in fact exist, governed under the Articles of Confederation. Thus, the Constitution was a change of the way government worked, rather than the formation of a new nation. And how on earth can the claim that persons who do not live under the law derived from the Constitutional government are somehow deserving of the rights granted by that Constitution not sound idiotic? The very concept is devoid of reason, and requires a serious lack of critical thought to maintain. If you want the rights and privileges, you have to qualify for them. Some people qualify because they were born in the US. Some, because they have US citizens as their parents. And some qualify by pledging themselves to their new nation, giving up the rights of their past and claiming the gift offered by the greatest nation on earth. You do NOT qualify for hospitality by sneaking in the back door and stealing the food out of the fridge. You qualify by being born in the family, or getting adopted in. You may not like it, but that's the way it is. And it pains me to realize how screwed up the education system must be in regards to teaching American government if this is the understanding that people have of how the Constitution actually works.
How do you have thousands of managers and not have someone who needs to be laid off (for real reasons)? And to have 1000 that can be shown the door just seems to indicate that such an action is loooooong overdue.
Actually, I never specified the ethnicity of my friends, nor did I specify my own. The reason for this was to try to avoid getting knee-jerk reactions (though I seem to have posted too late to be seen by the /. masses). I understand what you are saying, though. I did consider the possibility that such a paragraph might be misconstrued as an "I'm better then you" pat myself on the back. I decided to include that information because I was trying to drive home the idea that there can be relationships that cross ethnic (or gender, though that topic was not the main subject of the thread) boundaries without conflict.
I thought you could already do that! Yeah just try it out. Stick the Duke Nukem disc in the XBOX 360 and turn it on. You will see Duke Nukem with DNF graphics... What, you're screen is black? Yeah that's normal. Like I said, DNF graphics...
[sarcasim]Oh, you're absolutely correct! The only way we are ever going to get those selfish bigots to stop being racist is to subject them to racism and see how they like it! [/sarcasim]
Sure, it's a dumb ad idea. But jumping on the company for "racist" imagery doesn't help stop racism. Nothing gets fixed by screaming "Racism, Racism" every time somebody gets offended by the recitation of "Eenie, meenie, miney, mo..." (Guess which word used to be in the place of tiger. That's right, 3 year olds can be racist too, apparently.). Here's a novel idea, one that I have observed in practice and found workable: when you see something that might, possible, just maybe be qualified as racist, don't give it the dignity of a response. And that goes both ways, for both the white person and the black, the man and the woman.
It's been 40 years since the 1960's, and there were a lot of proactive, integrationist folks alive then. The only reason I can see for racial tensions to still be causing problems is that there are people on both sides of the issue who want to be mad at someone. They want to have another group to blame for their own failures. Can't get a job? Must be because of all them colored people getting the jobs at lower wages, because it couldn't be that you're a lazy jerk that never worked an honest day in your life. Can't get promoted? Well, it must be that the big white "Man" is keeping you down, trying to put you back out in the fields, and it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that every time your projects are late it's someone else's fault.
Some of my best friends were of a completely different ethnic background or of the opposite gender of me. That didn't change the fact that we were still great friends. And you know what? we never had majority/minority problems because we simply didn't allow those kinds of things to become problems. It's time for the world to grow up, take some responsibility, and quit making excuses.
... until then, this is all just a bunch of he-said/she-said in my book. As far as this so called article goes, it looks more like an attempt to get the great unwashed masses to holler and shout about the so called abuse of the law. Everyone gets all worked up about these things, even the ones that end up not being true. "Oh no, it's the Big, Bad, Government(TM) coming to invade my privacy again!"
Well there is a funny thing about government in the Western world (read the US, Canada, U.K., France, Germany, Mexico, etc, etc...), it's representative. As in, if you don't like it, then go do something about it! I know too many people who will spent lots of time complaining about what they think is wrong with the system without ever getting up out of the chair to go and actually vote on Election Day.
I'm not even going to get into the merits of the Patriot Act or the existence of the vaunted right to privacy, because, to be brutally honest, I'd rather wait and discuss the subject in a format that is conducive to a logical and reasonable analysis of the facts and possible outcomes, even if the other person happens to disagree with my point of view.
Grab the IETab extension, and set it to auto-render your intranet in the IE engine. I'm not sure it will use the IE7b3 engine, though. If it does, you'd have a "best-of-both-worlds" setup for your current situation.
My Econ prof in college always phrased the question "All other things being equal, if x changes in this direction, y will change in that direction." Problem with trying to apply economic analysis to life is that it's fluid, meaning all the other things are never staying equal.
Only problem is that the Wii isn't the GC. Sure, the proc and graphics may not be a major new innovation, but the hype about the Wii has always been the new controller. Speaking as a marketing student, Nintendo has done a very capable job of marketing the new product, keeping it in the public eye, and giving encouraging price point nods. I predict this analyst prediction will be totally off the wall. Can I get paid too, since I have just as much insight on the yet-to-be-released PS3 and Wii as this writer?
Why? He had at least three written memos given express permission for him to do what he did. The problem here wasn't with the worker, it's with the policies and directors that signed the memos.
One of the articles quoted the permission granting documents, saying that the analyst needed real SSNs for his work. I don't understand why that would be the case. Couldn't they have generated a fake list, verified that no two numbers were alike, and assigned a bunch of random names? It seems like the whole issue could have been eliminated from the start by doing this. Also, it's just shameful the way a bunch of middle-management types are trying to shaft the analyst when he's had written permission for ~4 years.
But of course! We all know the dangers of feral access points. Good to see someone doing something about it.
Will this limit access on that great free wireless lan called "linksys"? I hope not; I didn't want to have to actually pay for Internet access after college.
They did! Remember all those Free Speech cases involving over-age men and under-age boys?
Umm, no. Having no enemy to direct attention at and no more free rice to distribute (or not) to the starving masses will reduce North Korea's ability to take advantage of the situation.
"In the last twenty years, the real wages for college educated US workers have barely kept up with inflation."
Does that include the rise of benefits as part of the payment package?
Also, on what grounds do you claim that free market reforms have harmed nations other then the US? And which nations? If you are referring to countries like Germany or France, their problems derive from having too little capitalism, not too much, as their extensive and pervasive social security nets and accompanying high taxes reduce income that could be used to further economic activity.
Many of the former Soviet Bloc and Warsaw Pact nations have improved per-capita income drastically since embracing the free market and capitalism. Several have applied for inclusion in the EU and NATO. Even China, though still nominally and politically Communist, has allowed some capitalist forces to work in their economy successfully.
Take a look at the lawyer's hourly fee and ask yourself this question: "Is it more costly to deal with a bunch of supeanas or to lose a few customers."