Responsible Gamers

Filed under:Culture War,Gaming,Technology — posted by Q Ball on 7/31/2008 @ 3:33 pm

In 2003 the nonprofit organization Child’s Play was created by gamers in response to wild accusations that video games only hurt children. The organization is dedicated to making a child’s visit the the hospital more comfortable by donating money and games to hospitals around the world. Many other examples of charitable organizations formed around video games include: Get Well Gamers and Fun for our Troops.

Here is an example of what can happen when games are introduced into what would otherwise be a somber situation, from ArsTechnica:

Ryan related a story about how he witnessed two young amputees—one missing the left hand, the other missing their right—joining forces to master the guitar in Rock Band. “One child strums with their one hand, and the other child frets with their one hand. It’s truly an amazing act, and they’ve gotten through songs on the Hard difficulty together! I can’t even finish most songs on hard!”

IOC Censors The Internet

Filed under:Technology — posted by Q Ball on @ 1:15 am

The IOC has capitulated to the Chinese government over the censorship of the Internet for foreign reporters:

Jonathan Watts, president of The Foreign Correspondents Club of China, said he was disappointed that Beijing had failed to honor its agreement to temporarily remove the elaborate firewall that prevents ordinary Chinese from fully using the Internet. “Obviously if reporters can’t access all the sites they want to see, they can’t do their jobs,” he said. “Unfortunately, such restrictions are normal for reporters in China, but the Olympics were supposed to be different.”

This is why the IOC should have never agreed to let a country that is so obviously on the wrong side of human rights host the games. Although, maybe this will put the spotlight on China and the people of the world will realize that “free” citizens in China have access to less internet sites than do prisoners in the United States of America.

Obama’s “Economic Justice”

Filed under:Culture War,Our Money — posted by 3wire on 7/29/2008 @ 1:46 pm

What will”Economic Justice” mean for you?

During his NAACP speech earlier this month, Sen. Obama repeated the term at least four times. “I’ve been working my entire adult life to help build an America where economic justice is being served,” he said at the group’s 99th annual convention in Cincinnati.

And as president, “we’ll ensure that economic justice is served,” he asserted. “That’s what this election is about.” Obama never spelled out the meaning of the term, but he didn’t have to. His audience knew what he meant, judging from its thumping approval.

It’s the rest of the public that remains in the dark, which is why we’re launching this special educational series.

“Economic justice” simply means punishing the successful and redistributing their wealth by government fiat. It’s a euphemism for socialism.

More from: INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

A Brit, on Politcal Correctness vis-a-vis Islamofacisim

Filed under:Culture War,War on Terror — posted by 3wire on 7/22/2008 @ 11:06 am

Video From: dotSub

The Saudi Arabian Human Rights Commission, now there’s a collection of words to boggle the mind, but apparently this organization does actually exist, and they intend to complain
later this month at an event in Copenhagen that Muslims living in Europe are denied human rights and are not allowed to freely practice their faith. How about that?

Move Polar Bears to Antarctica. Really?

Filed under:General — posted by 3wire on 7/17/2008 @ 11:21 pm

From: Wired

If the most dire climate predictions come to pass, the Arctic ice cap will melt entirely, and polar bears could face extinction.

So why not pack a few off to Antarctica, where the sea ice will never run out?

Why not? Ask the fu**ing penguins why not!  Do you suppose it’s just a coincidence that there are no penguins in the Arctic and there are no Polar Bears in the Antarctic. Or have these rocket scientists learned everything they know about biology from Disney movies and Coke commercials? WTF?

“Knife Crime” on the rise, BBC reports

Filed under:Bill of Rights,Culture War,General — posted by 3wire on 7/14/2008 @ 6:42 pm

From: BBC

“Tackling knife culture, especially among young people, is paramount to the safety of our communities, and I am determined to reduce the devastation caused by knife crime,” then Home Secretary Charles Clarke said in the spring of 2006.

Since then there has been a knife amnesty, numerous government initiatives and photo opportunities, with ministers slamming home the same message – that knives will not be tolerated.

But still the deaths caused by knives go on.

“Knife culture”, really? Great Britain has banned almost all forms of firearms and yet violent crime continues to rise. How can that be? I’ll tell you how, they haven’t banned enough classes of inanimate tools  to make the country truly safe. Next on the list, kitchen knives. This quote is from 2005 but typifies that bizarre mindset.

As knives are so readily available, does a culinary reason exist for so many domestic knives…

In the same article the author says that other weapons of choice include bats, chains, and screw drivers.  OK, why do baseball (or I suppose in this case Cricket) teams need so many bats? Can’t the whole team or even both teams all use the same bat? One that can be carried to and from the field in an armored car (when its not locked in its government regulated bat vault). Why can’t bicycles use rubber bands to rotate the wheels instead of chains? And don’t get me started on screwdrivers, why in the world do mechanics and handymen need so many of them? We could have them all serial numbered and chained to 500lb concrete blocks. Then anyone found with an unregistered, untethered screw fastening tool could be put behind bars where they belong.

No iPhone without a SSN and Government-Issued ID

Filed under:Technology — posted by 3wire on 7/8/2008 @ 11:39 am

What about illegal aliens, foreign terrorists, and domestic paranoid types living in shacks in Montana?

From: Apple

To purchase and activate iPhone 3G, you need the following:*

* Credit card
* Social security number
* Valid, government-issued photo ID
* Your current wireless account number and password or PIN (if you’re new to AT&T)

Blogging: Punishable by Death

Filed under:Bill of Rights,War on Terror — posted by 3wire on 7/6/2008 @ 9:16 pm

From:BoingBoing

New legislation has been proposed in Iran that could make blogging a crime punishable by death. Cyrus Farivar has a story on today’s edition of the PRI radio show The World: Iran considers harsh penalty for some bloggers

Over at Global Voices, Hamid Tehrani writes: On Wednesday, Iranian members of parliament voted to discuss a draft bill that seeks to “toughen punishment for disturbing mental security in society.” The text of the bill would add, “establishing websites and weblogs promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy,” to the list of crimes punishable by death.