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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

How stupid are these people?

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Let me file that under fuck it.

The revolution will be supervised.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

No one could have predicted…

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

This blog will pay for itself.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / ‘Ethics in Gaming’ Open Thread: Another Trumpshow of Farce

‘Ethics in Gaming’ Open Thread: Another Trumpshow of Farce

by Anne Laurie|  March 8, 201810:14 pm| 127 Comments

This post is in: Dolt 45, Gamer Dork, Gun nuts, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?

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Pres. Trump revives old debate over whether violent video games can trigger violent behavior, even as decades of research has repeatedly failed to uncover any link. https://t.co/mzxoTCj3P3 pic.twitter.com/hvaAzZ7mJt

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 8, 2018

Trump has reportedly invited the head of Zenimax (Bethesda's parent company) and Take Two (Rockstar's) to the White House to discuss violence in video games:https://t.co/6GYYLcYqOO pic.twitter.com/LG45X0vG3Q

— IGN (@IGN) March 8, 2018

Bethesda. Holy shit. Trump's gonna try to blame WOLFENSTEIN for neo-nazis shooting up their schools before he blames either guns or neo-nazis. https://t.co/b6Nk1W75Nd

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) March 8, 2018

The Verge reports:

Today, President Trump brought together top executives of the gaming industry, parents groups and members of Congress for a meeting to discuss violence in video games. Announced last week as part of President Trump’s response to the Parkland shooting, the meeting was hastily assembled and has been criticized as a purposeful distraction from more concrete gun-control measures.

The proceedings were closed to the press, but by all accounts, the meeting was a strange one. The President opened the meeting by showing a supercut of hyperviolent gameplay scenes apparently compiled from online streamers — a compilation that was later posted to the White House’s official YouTube account…

Attendees said there was little serious talk of government restrictions on content (which would present significant legal challenges), and the conversation focused on more robust age restrictions or voluntary measures that could be undertaken by the industry itself. “The president encouraged [game developers] to explore things they can do on their own to make things healthier in society,” said Media Research Center President Brent Bozell, “and that’s where it was left.”

In part, that may be a result of who was in attendance. None of the three conservative critics in attendance have any particular focus on video games, and each is better known for their work in other areas. Parents TV Council member Melissa Henson writes primarily about liberal values in Hollywood, while fellow attendee Lt. Col Dave Grossman specializes in teaching military tactics to police officers. (He was quoted telling officers “It’s your job to put a piece of steel in your fist and kill those sons of bitches when they come to kill our kids,” in a recent profile in Men’s Journal.) Bozell himself has most recently focused on raising awareness about allegedly anti-Christian bigotry on ABC’s The View…

No doubt it will be explained that it is very triggering for wanna-be Nazis to see their idols treated as the bad guys in games like WOLFENSTEIN. Why can’t we think of the poor lil’ Nazi snowflakes!

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Reader Interactions

127Comments

  1. 1.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 8, 2018 at 10:20 pm

    Balko provides the goods on one of the nutters that was invited:

    Grossman is a police trainer who tells cops they should be using *more* lethal force, and that after killing a man, they'll have the best sex of their lives.

    The White House will hear his I'm-sure-it-isn't-crazy-at-all expertise about video games.https://t.co/too4hos9Yu

    — Radley Balko (@radleybalko) March 8, 2018

    As I was saying . . . NOT CRAZY AT ALL. pic.twitter.com/35wcBPpUp6

    — Radley Balko (@radleybalko) March 8, 2018

    And before anyone asks, as far as I know I’ve never met this guy.

  2. 2.

    Emma

    March 8, 2018 at 10:20 pm

    I hate watching the news. I hate reading the news. I am thinking of an anchorite lifestyle. Maybe that way I can ignore the farce our government has become.

  3. 3.

    lgerard

    March 8, 2018 at 10:24 pm

    Are you sure Bozell didn’t send a stand in instead? He’s famous for “delegating”.

    I’m sure he has some great insights about kids today. I’d love to see him even try to play a game other then solitaire.

  4. 4.

    PPCLI

    March 8, 2018 at 10:27 pm

    Dear Media:
    Every story about this must include the fact that every f*cking country in the world has the same f*cking video games but only one has an epidemic of mass shootings. This is not complicated

  5. 5.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 8, 2018 at 10:30 pm

    @Emma:

    I am thinking of an anchorite lifestyle.

    All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

  6. 6.

    satby

    March 8, 2018 at 10:32 pm

    Honestly, I wasn’t wild about living through the 80s the first time.

  7. 7.

    Bobby Thomson

    March 8, 2018 at 10:33 pm

    @PPCLI: Japan has an even higher usage of video games. And virtually no shootings of any kind.

  8. 8.

    Emma

    March 8, 2018 at 10:34 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I hope so. Because waking up to WTBLOODYF! every morning is getting exhausting!

  9. 9.

    Mnemosyne

    March 8, 2018 at 10:34 pm

    One of the ways that Facebook and Twitter feeds my misanthropy is by revealing that there are assholes out there across the entire political spectrum who think the kids at MSD high school deserved to be murdered because school bullying exists. If we could just stop all bullying, then pathetically insecure adults could keep their Emotional Support Rifles!

  10. 10.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 8, 2018 at 10:39 pm

    @PPCLI: @Bobby Thomson: If it was about the video games everyone in Japan would have killed each other and themselves by now.

  11. 11.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 8, 2018 at 10:40 pm

    Open thread? Seen ’round the internet: How to spot a dragon using an illusion spell

    @Adam L Silverman: Instead they just barricade themselves in their apartments and don’t talk to anybody.

  12. 12.

    fuckwit

    March 8, 2018 at 10:43 pm

    any desperate excuse to avoid facing the obvious fact that racism is what animates our gun addiction and our gun violence

  13. 13.

    khead

    March 8, 2018 at 10:45 pm

    I used to play a lot of Burnout Paradise and one of the GTA’s on the Xbox “back in the day” to relieve stress after the commute. Now, I ain’t gonna lie. I occasionally DID have a moment during the commute where I wanted to pull out of traffic, drive over some people and light posts without hurting the car and then doing a couple of drive bys……. but then I would remember life is not a video game.

  14. 14.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 8, 2018 at 10:46 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Wide scale anomie.

  15. 15.

    Dr. Ronnie James, D.O.

    March 8, 2018 at 10:51 pm

    @satby: Bingo. Between this, the steel tariffs, the hangup on trade deficits, it’s all like a rehash of “stupid red meat shit Republicans stopped caring about in 1990.” And all these things are driven by his gut, totally outside what policy process currently exists in the White House. It’s like his political id formed in the late ’80s and then went into a coma. Maybe it plays well with the Gran Torino crowd… expect him to call for a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning next.

  16. 16.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    March 8, 2018 at 10:53 pm

    This wouldn’t be happening if we had prayer in school.

  17. 17.

    Obvious Russian Troll

    March 8, 2018 at 10:53 pm

    I’m personally just amused to see his Gamergate supporters defend this.

  18. 18.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 8, 2018 at 10:58 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Heh. That’s what my RWNJ fb “friends” actually believe.

  19. 19.

    Mnemosyne

    March 8, 2018 at 11:01 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    And if kids respected their elders like they did back in my day!

    The funniest part of that is that it’s mostly Boomers and Silents saying it. The rebellious “turn on, tune in, drop out” generation is now upset that Kids These Days don’t trust anyone over 30.

  20. 20.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 8, 2018 at 11:02 pm

    I wonder if his younger fans are in full meltdown over this.

  21. 21.

    khead

    March 8, 2018 at 11:02 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Bonus points if they also complain about “too much sin” nowadays after having sinned their way through high school with you. Of course, maybe that’s just the folks on my feed.

  22. 22.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    March 8, 2018 at 11:03 pm

    “Trump: The Videogame” could be a topseller. You gain “Media Cred Points” for banging vapid golddiggers, the occasional young teen that resembles your daughter and an assortment of bar chicks. Money comes from being “tough” and ripping off vendors, investors and banks.

  23. 23.

    Feebog

    March 8, 2018 at 11:03 pm

    I keep running up against this argument in almost every gun control argument I see on the internet. It is so bogus and stupid it hardly merits rebuttal. But I have yet to have anyone explain how other countries who also have exposure to video games manage to avoid mass murders.

  24. 24.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 8, 2018 at 11:04 pm

    Open thread? I really wanna see this fucking door, I hope it’s more impressive than Carson’s $30,000 table, cause that was kinda basic (am I using that right, fellow kids?)

    Interior Secretary reportedly bought a $139,000 door with taxpayer money
    Zinke also wants to cut the agency’s workforce by 4,000.

    This fucker may be the biggest grifter in the cabinet. I hope someday more people notice.

  25. 25.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 8, 2018 at 11:04 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: feel free to check reddit and report back, after we’ve had you de-wormed.

  26. 26.

    Citizen_X

    March 8, 2018 at 11:04 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Grossman is a police trainer that tells cops…that after killing a man, they’ll have the best sex of their lives.

    I want gun control legislation that disarms this psycho, because if that doesn’t describe a person who should never have access to a firearm, I don’t know what is.

  27. 27.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et Al.)

    March 8, 2018 at 11:05 pm

    When the fuck does this shitty movie end? Do we really need to sit through both reels? Fuck, we know how this shit ends. Mueller really needs to break into the projector booth and yank this thing right off the projector already.

  28. 28.

    Mike J

    March 8, 2018 at 11:06 pm

    Mavis Beacon was a bad ass.

  29. 29.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 8, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    @Dr. Ronnie James, D.O.:

    expect him to call for a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning next.

    I’m waiting for the English-Only Movement, Part Deux.

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    March 8, 2018 at 11:09 pm

    Meaningless.

  31. 31.

    khead

    March 8, 2018 at 11:09 pm

    @Mike J:

    She’s lucky she never caught dysentery from other Broderbund products.

  32. 32.

    efgoldman

    March 8, 2018 at 11:10 pm

    Kefauver and comic books in the 1950s
    Drugs and free love in the 60s
    Disco in the 70s
    Tipper Gore and Parents Resource Music Center in the ’90s

    It’s fucking amazing that any of our kids, including mine, grew up to be useful, functioning adults.
    While it is true that a certain number of them grew up to be mouth breathing, knuckle dragging flying monkeys, too.

  33. 33.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 8, 2018 at 11:11 pm

    Remember when Dungeons & Dragons caused satanic ritual murder?

  34. 34.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 8, 2018 at 11:12 pm

    ‘We’re going to burn down your store!’: Trump supporters caught on camera threatening California book shop

    A pair of Trump supporters were caught on camera this past weekend issuing unhinged threats to a left-wing bookstore in Berkeley, California.

    The video, which was posted on YouTube by Berkeley’s Revolution Books, shows the Trump supporters coming into the store and confronting people working there.

    The video begins with a woman Trump supporter asking a store staff member if she really thinks “I’m racist because I support our president?”

    “Yes, basically, yes,” the staff member replies.

    A male Trump supporter, wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, called the staffer “commie scum” and told her that “we’re going to burn down your bookstore.”

    The staffer informed them that she had video of them threatening to burn down the store and told them to “please leave” the premises.

    “This is America, f*ck you!” the man shouted at her.

    Later in the video, the man can be seen telling people outside the store that “Trump is going to get rid of all you pieces of sh*t.”

    He also called the woman who worked at the book store an “anti-white racist piece of sh*t” and said that the only people who shopped at the store were “Antifa pieces of sh*t.”

  35. 35.

    Mnemosyne

    March 8, 2018 at 11:13 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Or to put it a less generationally divisive way:

    The people talking about the “good old days” when teenagers respected their elders and didn’t waste their time protesting about social issues need to let me know when those days were, because I’m pretty sure that the protests against the Vietnam War started before I was born, and I turn 50 next year. ?

  36. 36.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 8, 2018 at 11:14 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Life is too short to visit those parts of Reddit.

  37. 37.

    joel hanes

    March 8, 2018 at 11:15 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Interior Secretary reportedly bought a $139,000 door

    But of course he did. It’s a _security_ door, I’ll bet, and a damned good one. His vault.
    To protect him from us.

    This should tell us almost everything we need to know about what he intends to do while in office.

  38. 38.

    sdhays

    March 8, 2018 at 11:16 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    I wonder if his younger fans are in full meltdown over this.

    You mean just like how the gun-humpers didn’t go ape-shit insane when he said that we should “take guns first, then have due process”? They know he’s full of shit. They know that he’s not all right in the head. They know that he’s incredibly corrupt and stupid. They just believe that it won’t hurt them – it will hurt other, “more deserving” people.

    And so far, it has.

  39. 39.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 8, 2018 at 11:16 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: I could have sworn this literal exact thing happened a year ago.

  40. 40.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 8, 2018 at 11:18 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    That was after the Supreme Court did evil stuff like allowing coloreds into schools and taking god out of them. That was the first sin, in their minds.

  41. 41.

    trollhattan

    March 8, 2018 at 11:21 pm

    @joel hanes:
    Jealous of Pruitt’s cone of silence, no doubt. These people are a plague upon the earth, can we move on to frogs now?

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    March 8, 2018 at 11:22 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    And yet like half the people saying it were born after that happened. So it’s not even like they remember the “good old days” before Brown v Board of Education. It’s a completely mythical time for them, and yet they claim that’s what their childhoods were like.

    It’s like, The 1970s — it was a more innocent time. Really, some people actually say that.

  43. 43.

    Citizen_X

    March 8, 2018 at 11:24 pm

    @trollhattan: Zinke, Pruitt…You have to wonder when the people who demand the highest-level security are the guys at Interior and the EPA.

  44. 44.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 8, 2018 at 11:25 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    I’m sure in their bubbles, it was. My mother, who was born in 1960, wishes she lived in the 1950s. And I always I tell her no, you actually wouldn’t.

  45. 45.

    NotMax

    March 8, 2018 at 11:25 pm

    Repeating this as it seemed to get lost in the shuffle the other day. Indicative in a small way of the morass evident throughout this woebegone administration.

    Gives a whole new meaning to ‘secret service’ (emphasis added).

    The government’s personnel agency is hiding information about federal employees’ bonuses, overtime and cost of living adjustments. A powerful House committee wants to know why.

    Open the Books, a government watchdog group, has for the past 11 years sought the names, titles, agencies, salaries and bonus information for all federal employees. It has received much of the data it sought and then has posted the information publicly. This year, it was denied salary information on more than 250,000 employees.
    [snip]
    While the government traditionally hides some employee information — about 3,500 positions in the 2016 request — the new redactions represent one out of every eight federal employees.
    [snip]
    The Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury had the most redactions, at about 138,000, 75,000 and 19,000, respectively.

    Other agencies with many missing salaries include the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of the Interior and OPM itself.

    Stephen Spaulding, chief of strategy at Common Cause, a nonpartisan organization promoting government accountability, said OPM needs to be more forthcoming about its decision to keep this information secret. He called the jump “jarring.”

    “Why is it now hundreds of thousands more, what’s behind that sudden change?” Spaulding said. “This information isn’t to harass federal employees, this is so taxpayers know how their money is being spent.” Source

  46. 46.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 8, 2018 at 11:27 pm

    @sdhays:

    And so far, it has.

    We’ll see how long that lasts with the new tariffs in place. Either the WTO slaps us down and we leave, becoming a pariah state, or the WTO gets blown up and a full blown global trade war starts. Americans as a whole have become far too soft and privlidged. They have no idea how lucky they are to live here and the position that America has enjoyed is a temporary one. It’s being torn down by stupid idiots. Trump supporters are the ones who should be deported; they wouldn’t last a day in a work torn country.

    Just today I saw some scumbag’ s truck back window said in vinyl lettering, “Veterans Before Refugees”. I tried flipping him off but he was looking in another direction. Like we can’t look after both at the same time.

  47. 47.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 8, 2018 at 11:32 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
    “Work” should be war

  48. 48.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 8, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    @NotMax: yeah but think of how many emails Hillary would have redacted by now. Worth it!

  49. 49.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 8, 2018 at 11:41 pm

    @efgoldman: To be fair, disco did suck.

  50. 50.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 8, 2018 at 11:44 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    You take that back. Disco continued into the 80s in Europe. Without the American stuff, this wouldn’t have been made.

  51. 51.

    sukabi

    March 8, 2018 at 11:45 pm

    @Citizen_X: my guess is that he’s got a few(or more) “off book” bodies racked up.

    He sounds like a serial killer.

  52. 52.

    Arclite

    March 8, 2018 at 11:48 pm

    My son is 10, and no stranger to first person shooters (FPS). He and I were trolling through youtube the other day, and came upon this video of a soldier in a firefight with the Taliban. Since the guy strapped his GoPro to his helmet for this encounter, it’s basically a real-life FPS. My son instantly had a reaction that I’ve never seen him have playing games: “That’s really scary!” and “Why is it taking so long to reload! He’s going to get shot!” expressing genuine concern for the soldier in the battle.

    Even a 10 year old can distinguish between fantasy and reality.

  53. 53.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 8, 2018 at 11:49 pm

    Ooh, new version of Kerbal Space Program. Now there’s a game that creates serial killers…

  54. 54.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 8, 2018 at 11:52 pm

    @ Goku….: Fix your link. It merges with your reply button.

  55. 55.

    Arclite

    March 8, 2018 at 11:52 pm

    The truth is, over the past three decades, as gaming has gained in popularity, violent crime has plummeted. Honestly, I’m surprised there haven’t been any studies on this, as the correlation is quite clear, and the premise is obvious: with young men engaged in playing video games for hours a day, they’re not on the streets, bored, with nothing to do. And just like even poor households have a TV, a console is even cheaper, and games can be shared among people, so the hobby isn’t very expensive.

  56. 56.

    Amir Khalid

    March 8, 2018 at 11:54 pm

    Trump believes that President He can overrule by decree not only federal law but also the facts of science. Now that’s what I call a powerful leader. //

    Since it’s open thread, I’d appreciate some input from los guitarristas de Balloon Juice. Should I lust after the Fender Champion 100 amplifier, or the Marshall Code 100 combo? Both are priced the same in Malaysia: RM1,800. (Higher than the US price in both cases, the Fender by a whopping 33%, but that’s another story.) The Marshall has more features but is complex to set up and use, and might be overkill for a bedroom guitarist.

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 8, 2018 at 11:56 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I am getting the feeling that an intervention may be in order.

  58. 58.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 8, 2018 at 11:56 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Whoops This is the right video.

  59. 59.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 8, 2018 at 11:58 pm

    @Arclite: I believe the evidence is stronger with decreasing levels of environmental lead. Which would have been affecting relevant populations at about the same time.

  60. 60.

    khead

    March 8, 2018 at 11:59 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I once got into a fist fight while playing M.U.L.E. (greatest game ever, btw) on an Atari 800 in college – but, yeah, I never killed anyone. Plus, I think we fought because we always played Friday afternoon during happy hour. Also, I have that Kerbal game on my wishlist on Steam. Might have to get it.

  61. 61.

    Arclite

    March 8, 2018 at 11:59 pm

    There have been a lot of studies trying to correlate playing violent games with actual violence, and they almost always show no link. Here’s one from the WaPo, for example.

  62. 62.

    Suzanne

    March 8, 2018 at 11:59 pm

    Gin & Tacos brings the truth:

    “Trump voters see having sex with an adult film star as a huge plus. They think it’s awesome. Donald Trump is the aspirational brand of every trash-ass white person who dreams of being able to yell racial slurs and hate immigrants and flout the law and cheat on their spouse with a cartoon-looking porn star and not get in trouble for any of it.

    They are garbage humans and he is their avatar.”

    So true. Trash, trash, trash.

  63. 63.

    Mnemosyne

    March 9, 2018 at 12:00 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    That’s what they said after I bought my fourth set of knitting needles. It’s amazing how pointy they are. Needless to say, they don’t say it anymore. ?

  64. 64.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 9, 2018 at 12:01 am

    @Major Major Major Major:
    I got into that game in October 2015, after watching Scott Manley’s channel. It was so frustrating at first until I got Mechjeb, which did things like automated landings and ascents for me. I gradually got better and could do without it, but it was more convenient. I haven’t played in over a year, but it was fun. One complaint I have is that it was too easy to mine for science to unlock the tech tree. I got the entire thing unlocked just in the Kerbin system alone. The furthest I ever got was Duna in science mode.

  65. 65.

    Mnemosyne

    March 9, 2018 at 12:03 am

    @Suzanne:

    Sadly, Ed is a giant misogynist on Facebook who bans women who dare to disagree with him. I don’t follow him anymore.

  66. 66.

    Arclite

    March 9, 2018 at 12:04 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Absolutely, I’m not saying it’s a single factor. I know about the studies on lead as well. But I think that games as a time sink that keep kids off the streets should also be looked at. When I was a adolescent and teen in the eighties, my buddies and I were always outside and getting into trouble. Air rifles, explosives, throwing rocks and snowballs at cars: we were bored little terrorists. Now all of my daughter’s friends are either playing Let’s Dance together in front of the TV, or they’re at home playing League of Legends with each other. If my friends and I had that shit when we were young, we’d have done that than freeze our asses off in the snow shooting at each other with bb guns.

  67. 67.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 9, 2018 at 12:06 am

    @Mnemosyne:
    Who’s Ed?

  68. 68.

    Mnemosyne

    March 9, 2018 at 12:09 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    Ed = Gin & Tacos

  69. 69.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 9, 2018 at 12:10 am

    @Mnemosyne:
    I thought so. I never got that impression just from interacting with him here. Anonymity probably has alot to do with that

  70. 70.

    ??‍? Martin

    March 9, 2018 at 12:14 am

    Say what you will about how video games lead to violence, I am seriously looking forward to wasting some white American religious nutters in Farcry 5 later this month.

  71. 71.

    Mnemosyne

    March 9, 2018 at 12:17 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    You’re mixing him up with Gin & Tonic, who is a commenter here. Different person entirely.

  72. 72.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 9, 2018 at 12:19 am

    @Arclite:

    But I think that games as a time sink that keep kids off the streets should also be looked at.

    Some say high-quality gaming will have strange effects on capitalism itself.

  73. 73.

    Mike in NC

    March 9, 2018 at 12:21 am

    Breaking news: Stormy Daniels nominated to be new US Ambassador to South Korea.

  74. 74.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 9, 2018 at 12:21 am

    @Mnemosyne: Whatever, old white centrist woman

  75. 75.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    March 9, 2018 at 12:23 am

    @Major Major Major Major: worst than that, I think she’s a neo-liberal

  76. 76.

    Feathers

    March 9, 2018 at 12:24 am

    @Mnemosyne: I just tried counting how many I’ve had. Pretty sure it was seven before I found my ChiaoGoos and settled down. I did pass my old ones on to folks who were learning to knit. And I’ve kept a set of bamboos, because sometimes that’s what the yarn needs

    I’m going to binge the new season of Jessica Jones and bang out a Carbeth cardigan this weekend.

  77. 77.

    Yutsano

    March 9, 2018 at 12:26 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Oh look a new rocket engine!
    *final test ignites the atmosphere*

  78. 78.

    eclare

    March 9, 2018 at 12:30 am

    @Mnemosyne: Whew, for a second there I did not see the difference in the name, and I thought wha?????

  79. 79.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 9, 2018 at 12:30 am

    @Mnemosyne: Oh. That’s good that they’re not the same person as the commenter here.

    His website has real, genuine Berniebros infesting it, crying about the DCCC and calling Hillary a “war sow”. Ugh.

  80. 80.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 9, 2018 at 12:32 am

    Canada did a thing

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne

    March 9, 2018 at 12:34 am

    @Major Major Major Major:

    ?

  82. 82.

    Mnemosyne

    March 9, 2018 at 12:35 am

    @Feathers:

    My bad carpal tunnels made me choose between writing a novel and knitting. I’m still sad about it. ?

  83. 83.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2018 at 12:38 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Meh. If you want to go with British electronica and don’t start with this, I am not confident that you know fuck all.

  84. 84.

    Arclite

    March 9, 2018 at 12:45 am

    @Mnemosyne: Maybe you could write that novel now using speech-to-text on the ‘puter.

  85. 85.

    Mnemosyne

    March 9, 2018 at 12:46 am

    @Arclite:

    I made my choice and I’m working on my second draft. I’m just sad I had to give up knitting.

  86. 86.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2018 at 12:47 am

    @Arclite: Or use a 3-D printer to make sweaters.

  87. 87.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 9, 2018 at 12:49 am

    Tantric womb empowerment.

    I’m in.

  88. 88.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 9, 2018 at 12:50 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Of course, I know of that song, but do you know of its reverse side, The Beach?

  89. 89.

    The Lodger

    March 9, 2018 at 12:53 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Hillary’s Polish?

  90. 90.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2018 at 12:54 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Don’t try to out-hipster me about my era.

  91. 91.

    Mnemosyne

    March 9, 2018 at 12:55 am

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Okay, who’s going to break it to him?

  92. 92.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 9, 2018 at 12:57 am

    @HumboldtBlue: oh Arcata.

  93. 93.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2018 at 12:59 am

    @The Lodger: She is also a dessert topping.

  94. 94.

    different-church-lady

    March 9, 2018 at 1:07 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Maybe he’s just trying to protect himself from door-opening robot dogs.

  95. 95.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 9, 2018 at 1:11 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Is that a challenge?

  96. 96.

    different-church-lady

    March 9, 2018 at 1:11 am

    I remember very well all the Atari cartridge spree muderers of the 80s…

  97. 97.

    different-church-lady

    March 9, 2018 at 1:13 am

    @HumboldtBlue: VERTICAL money… whoah…

  98. 98.

    eclare

    March 9, 2018 at 1:14 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Always preferred The Cure.

  99. 99.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2018 at 1:19 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Are you stupid? No, it was more of a fuck you. Don’t pretend you understand something you didn’t live.

  100. 100.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2018 at 1:22 am

    @eclare: Not electronica. But still a cool song.

  101. 101.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 9, 2018 at 1:22 am

    Bozell can go fuck himself. The problem isn’t bigotry against Christians, it’s deplorables who call themselves “Christians” but actually worship Mammon and Moloch, like Bozell.

  102. 102.

    different-church-lady

    March 9, 2018 at 1:22 am

    There was no good music created in the 80s.

    N-O-N-E.

    Your entire debate is pointless.

  103. 103.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 9, 2018 at 1:24 am

    @different-church-lady: needs more capital letters.

  104. 104.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2018 at 1:25 am

    @different-church-lady: You are wrong. if you are too stupid to find it, that is your problem.

  105. 105.

    Yutsano

    March 9, 2018 at 1:26 am

    @different-church-lady: @Major Major Major Major: *cough* Prince *cough*

  106. 106.

    different-church-lady

    March 9, 2018 at 1:26 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Do not waste your life like this…

  107. 107.

    Raven Onthill

    March 9, 2018 at 1:31 am

    Finished Ohler’s Blitzed! a few days ago. Damn! Didn’t realize the Nazis were meth-heads, but it explains a lot. (And Hitler turns out to be a lot more like Trump than I knew. Bah!)

  108. 108.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 9, 2018 at 1:32 am

    @Yutsano: I wasn’t agreeing with her.

  109. 109.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2018 at 1:33 am

    @Raven Onthill: Never read any history before, did you?

  110. 110.

    Mnemosyne

    March 9, 2018 at 1:33 am

    @different-church-lady:

    I’ll get off your lawn when I’m damn good and ready! ?

  111. 111.

    Steve in the SFO

    March 9, 2018 at 1:52 am

    @Yutsano: REM. Replacements. Smithereens. I could go on for hours. But Prince was a strong start to the list.

  112. 112.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    March 9, 2018 at 1:58 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: I just read one of their threads and it reminds me of the of the FDL sewers.

  113. 113.

    Mike J

    March 9, 2018 at 2:03 am

    @different-church-lady: What makes this song great?

    This guy comes close, but he spends 1 minute out of 20 on the drums, which are 15 minutes worth of why the song is great. And then you still need the rest of his explanation about lydian mode to halfway comprehend it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZavJLr5Otq4

  114. 114.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    March 9, 2018 at 2:38 am

    Wolfenstein? I asked my parents and relatives from the old country how they felt about video games that desensitise the player to the concept of killing Nazis (I keep them running in emulation mode in otherwise-unused corners of my brain), and they only wished that there were more of them available 80 years ago.

  115. 115.

    Jay

    March 9, 2018 at 2:54 am

    @different-church-lady:

    Wrong,

    1986,

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dD0xeHKAPOA

  116. 116.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    March 9, 2018 at 3:00 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Wow. You’re kind of an ass. I was just joking. Christ, lighten up.

  117. 117.

    NotMax

    March 9, 2018 at 3:05 am

    @different-church-lady

    Ahem.

  118. 118.

    Jay

    March 9, 2018 at 3:11 am

    @NotMax:

    Yup, ’80’s only sucked for “music”, if your Idea of “music”, was Conway Twittey.

  119. 119.

    frosty

    March 9, 2018 at 3:25 am

    @Mnemosyne: I’m well beyond your 49+ and I don’t recall any teenagers respecting their elders. Even my older cousins, for that matter. Probably my grandparents too, but they’re not around to ask any more.

  120. 120.

    frosty

    March 9, 2018 at 3:33 am

    @Amir Khalid: I’d go for simpler and less features for now. But then, I use a Deluxe Reverb with reverb, tremelo, and an overdrive pedal, which is as simple as it gets. Friends of mine have more than one pedal and programmable amps. It boggles my mind. Keep it simpler and work on learning to pick the notes you want for now. Almost 50 years since I picked up a guitar and I’m still struggling with that.

  121. 121.

    frosty

    March 9, 2018 at 3:41 am

    @different-church-lady: Go-Gos. Bangles. I rest my case. I lived through the 70s while all the 60s Weird got recycled. These two bands, among others, were New Weird and were refreshing to hear. Plus, girl bass players, woo hoo!

  122. 122.

    Jay

    March 9, 2018 at 3:56 am

    Piling on, BTW,

    Greatest Christmas Carol ever writtten,

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j9jbdgZidu8

    If you are not a forced pregnancy, gay hating, double dildo, wetsuit wearing, autoasphiziating Republican prosperity gospel douchebag.

  123. 123.

    Jay

    March 9, 2018 at 4:09 am

    @frosty:

    martha and the muffins

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QEQkIEkxm7k

  124. 124.

    different-church-lady

    March 9, 2018 at 6:58 am

    @Mnemosyne: The joke’s on you: I don’t have a lawn.

  125. 125.

    different-church-lady

    March 9, 2018 at 7:01 am

    You folks are good at taking the bait. ;-)

  126. 126.

    Matt

    March 9, 2018 at 8:24 am

    @Sm*t Cl*de: My favorite was the reply from the makers of Wolfenstein: pretty much, “we aren’t ‘doing politics’ with this release, we’ve been about shooting Nazis for 20+ years.”

  127. 127.

    Kayla Rudbek

    March 9, 2018 at 9:53 am

    @Feathers: hehhehheh, I have at least five sets of circulars (Knitpicks interchangeable in both metal and the square wood, then a personalized set from Louet’s needle of the month 2017, then a set from Addi, and a cheap set of bamboo for plane trips) and I’m contemplating getting a set from Signature as well.

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