When you need to rant...

[CensoredAlso]

Not to mention how broad stroke it is to diagnose mental illness. And if we're going to go after depressed loners, we're going to go after everyone that fits in that profile and pre-diagnose them as mentally unbalanced for not conforming to a societal norm, even if said people want to. I've got serious depression and I'm not going to plan a terrorist attack. I'm not even going to punch some one. I shouldn't be lumped in with potential mass murderers.

Then responsible gun owners shouldn't be lumped with maniacs either, should they?

 

[D'Snowth]

I think I've gotten to a point where I actually am no longer proud to consider myself a nerd, because nerds have REALLY gone to extremes in absolutely crazy and insane behavior in the last few years... I mean, I thought the chronic cosplaying, and these insane anime/comic book/sci-fi conventions were bad enough, but now we got reality shows that are basically Wipeout ripoffs, only with nerds instead of... whoever they pay to be on Wipeout? And The Big Bang Theory must be an even worse influence than I thought, because it seems like more and more nerds IRL are bigger sex maniacs when sex used to be one of the farthest things from nerds' minds.

Yeesh, if this is what it means to be a nerd, I don't any more part of it.

 

[charlietheowl]

But that assumes there is only one definition to being a nerd. Just because you don't find yourself fitting into the "mainstream"/Big Bang Theory type of nerd shown in the media doesn't mean that you can't be a nerd. It just means you don't identify with that perception of it.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

My friend came up with the word "gerd" as a way to fight the mainstream idea of a nerd...it's a cross between "geek" and "nerd"

nerds used to be shown as intelligent, but seems like lately it's a word used to throw around the idea you are really obsessed with something...while geeks are still usually considered intelligent.

 

[Drtooth]

Then responsible gun owners shouldn't be lumped with maniacs either, should they?

Conversely, maniacs shouldn't hide behind responsible gun owners. That's flawed logic. We can't directly after the crazies, why? Look at it this way. Not every Mormon is Warren Jeffs. When we captured him and punished him, we did it specifically to deal with him, and we didn't round up every single sane Mormon and punish them. For "responsible" gun owners to think any legislation that, at worst, would amount to a couple days more of a waiting period, and the inability to buy a thermonuclear doomsday device is the height of ridiculousness. If we ever have zero tolerance gun banning across the board because they don't want to make the slimmest of compromises that, in fact, give them more rights as responsible owners, then they ONLY have themselves and their refusal to change their culture to blame when the government actually DOES come to take their guns.

Explain to me this. How is going after illegal dealers and gigantic weaponry that you only need for combat which is specifically manufactured to kill as many people as possible going to hurt the responsible? I fail to see that. Anyone who runs to a dealership to stockpile on assault rifles every time a tragedy strikes out of fear they won't be able to own something they shouldn't couldn't possibly be responsible. Not to mention those who alter their guns to make super guns. If you buy a DVD and rip it to your iPad, there's a huge chance you can get arrested for piracy, even if it's on your device. Yes. A DVD has more legislation than guns. Something's wrong.

Really... it's like the people who whined about seat belts being law. Yeah, if you're irresponsible and stupid, the government has to step in and be your parents to protect you from your own idiocy. Legislation might not help, but self regulation and the barest of effort on their part that they refuse to do could. They can use the term "responsible gun owner" till it loses all meaning, but if they want to keep those up, they need to change themselves. Everyone else has to, they are supposedly mature, well adjusted adults, they need to act like them. End of story.

In the words of Kenan Thompson: WHYYYY?!

Because the pinheaded Tea Party politicians still have a small amount of power. A bunch of jerkbags was elected by a loud, vocal minority of crackpots, entitled old fogies, Glen Beck Worshipping dimwitts, and passive aggressive bitter regular republicans (an the teeny tiny amount of former conservatives that became libertarians because they actually saw how corrupt and wasteful their party has become... the ones that were edged out in a heartbeat when the corporations took over), all unwittingly under the control of the greediest, most entitled, callous, and vaguely reptilian corporate stooges and rich people who just happen to have money out of nepotism. These people weren't sent to Washington to change it, they were sent to Washington to destroy it. All because of some Atlas Shrugged Bullcrap.

Rich people don't want to be told to give up a small fraction of their money to pay off a debt incurred because of some war they profited on but refused to pay for/have their spoiled brat kids fight in. Nor do they want to be told that they can't take shortcuts and cut corners that would allow for products to be safe or air quality to be upgraded to "not entirely cancerous." Basically they want to spend all day doing whatever they want like the spoiled entitled greedy stupid man-children they want to be. And then this entitled class goes on to spend a fortune calling anything that gives the poor a hand up to buy their garbage "entitlements," making the rich look like the victims of the poor.

 

[mr3urious]

I've heard that some place in Connecticut now wants people to turn in violent video games in the same way as guns.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I've heard that some place in Connecticut now wants people to turn in violent video games in the same way as guns.

*headdesk*

If you will excuse me, I will take out my rage on these people by playing Madword, the most violent game on the wii

 

[Drtooth]

I've heard that some place in Connecticut now wants people to turn in violent video games in the same way as guns.

Like I said...

Real life guns= HANDS OFF! That's crushing my civil liberties! We need to arm more people to prevent violence and not manufacturing combat weaponry for civilian use is UnAmerican! Any action taken here won't do any good.

Fictitious Guns= GET RID OF THEM! Impressionable nimrods can't differentiate between reality and fiction. People who make violent video games and movies are completely sick and they turn normal people into desensitized killing machines. To completely violate free speech and censor everything is completely American, as long as it censors and bans things that we personally don't take a shine to or understand. Any action taken here will solve everything forever.

or translated... "Hey, it's everyone else's fault but mine! Don't make me have to change one aspect of my comfy lifestyle, but make everyone else change everything about them to be more to my taste. The government shouldn't parent me, but rather everyone else."

 

[charlietheowl]

Here's the link to a CT story about the video game trade-in.

http://www.wfsb.com/story/20485373/southington-to-hold-violent-video-game-return-program

As a CT resident, I can safely say there are few more isolated and insular places than Southington. They make great pains in the article (I didn't watch the video clip) to state they are linking the shooting in Newtown to video games, but instead make a general vague statement similar to what Dr Tooth said.

 

[Drtooth]

As a CT resident, I can safely say there are few more isolated and insular places than Southington. They make great pains in the article (I didn't watch the video clip) to state they are linking the shooting in Newtown to video games, but instead make a general vague statement similar to what Dr Tooth said.

To link violent video games to mass murder, no matter how many botched/suspiciously funded studies say, is the height of blame passing and Nanny State idealism. Saw is a popular franchise. Does that mean everyone going to see it is going to kidnap/lure victims to an abandoned meat packing plant and force them to slaughter each other for their entertainment? No. In fact, guys take girls to those movies so they can cuddle them out of fear and disgust (only to yell at them later) and also for revenge for having to sit through Valentines Day/New Years, or anything with Catherine Heigle or Hugh Grant in it. People who watch gorn like gorn, and aren't crazy psychos for the most part. They're sick and disgusting and not my thing, but I don't hold anyone against liking them.

Same deal with video games, even though I suspiciously look at the "war video games are meant to subliminally recruit new soldiers" conspiracy theory with some validity (but that's on the part of army/navy recruitment ads purposely likening them to video games, not the games themselves). Most people who play GTA know it's not real, that's why they play it. You can't live life without consequence of your actions, but in simulations, you can do whatever the heck you want because it's not real. You might as well blame Mario and ban his games because one stupid kid stomps on turtles. Not to mention the chicken and egg problem. How come it never dawns on anyone that some people who like violent games/movies/TV shows aren't violent to begin with? That's why they like those things. It can't turn anyone violent if they were already.

Here's the thing. When Mortal Kombat came out, parents were whining for a video games rating system/content warnings. We got them, and they've done their best to completely ignore them. Retailers are forbidden to sell MA games to kids. Their parents buy them anyway, being the stellar parents they are, and then freak out when it's violent and has a nude code. They want tighter ratings... we got them. I don't even think we need ratings. The covers and names alone pretty much say "buy your kid Kirby instead of this." Of course, this buy back thing can be beneficial. If they offer more money than GameStop, gamers can finally get a decent amount of scratch for getting rid of games they got bored with.