Bookhouse Boy from The Crime Spree has posted a crimeblogging roundtable that took place between Bookhouse Boy, myself, the telegenic Steve Huff, and the lovely and talented Laura James.
Of course, all my answers are oversimplified and make me sound like an idiot compared to the others, but it’s a good read nonetheless. I’m hoping one day soon we can all get together on some kind of voice chat and record it for a podcast.
Video Game Player Guilty in Ala. Slaying:
I originally told you about this story back in February about Devin Moore. He’s the 18-year-old kid who shot and killed three police officers, and when he was arrested, he said: “Life is a video game; everybody has to die sometime.” Of course, the games in question were GTA games. Which in turn prompted a lawsuit against Rockstar Games by Moore’s family, prompted by everyone’s favorite assclown Jack Thompson.
Anyway, Devin Moore was convicted of capital murder. That means he’s eligible for the death penalty. In Alabama, that’s a very likely possibility.
Tip to CB.
The other day I told you about the case of Jonathan Zarate who killed and dismembered 16-year-old Jennifer Parks, then hid her body in the back of his dad’s jeep for a day. Well, now the defense attorney says that he might be going for an insanity defense. That seems to be all the rage lately.
“From what I’ve heard, he was in an uncontrolled rage,” Fusco told The New York Times. “There was nothing going on that you can point to and say they were fighting or something happened between the two of them.”
That’s just more reason to lock him up. Better yet, stuff his ass into a steamer trunk then dump him into the Hudson in February.
He’s not insane. He carried out a very precise and well-thought-out crime. Sadistic psychopath? Yes. Insane? Hardly.
Teens Protest ‘Columbine-Like’ Video Game:
Thank you very much, Jack Thompson. Now everyone who is not a gamer is referring to Bully as “The Columbine Game”. Apparently, a group of teenage busybodies known as the Peaceaholics protested at Rockstar Games’ New York office…
“A lot of youth are playing these games and there’s a lot of violence that people are copying,” said Cordero Sellers, 16. “I’m trying to do my best to stop this release.”
“It’s important that we’re here today because violent images seen on games are copied by kids,” said Anthony Ford, 17.
“We’re trying to stop people getting hurt before it’s too late.”
Oh, and guess who accompanied them…
Florida lawyer and anti-violence activist John Thompson accompanied the kids.
“Columbine changed the face of America but you [Rockstar] are about to come out with a game that celebrates, glamorizes and trains kids to do what [Columbine killers] Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris did,” said Thompson.
“Bullying is not a subject for a video game. We are not asking Rockstar to stop making this game, we are demanding they stop.”
Again with the Columbine comparison.
Do these people do any research at all? I have yet to see any gameplay details from the game outside of Rockstar’s official description…
Rockstar is keeping details of the plot a closely guarded secret but describes it as “humorous” and “tongue in cheek.”
The company states on its Web site: “As a troublesome schoolboy, you’ll stand up to bullies, get picked on by teachers, play pranks on malicious kids, win or lose the girl and ultimately learn to navigate the obstacles of the fictitious reform school Bullworth Academy.”
So, as far as I know, there has been no mention of shooting and killing your other classmates. So these people are just assuming. And we know what happens when you assume. Jack Thompson makes an even bigger assclown out of himself.
New Jersey
Invited her to watch TV, then stuffed cut-up body in trunk:
Reason to Blow Up The World: The fact that this scumbag, Jonathan A. Zarate, invited the victim over to his house then stabbed her, dismembered her body, stashed in a steamer trunk, then left the trunk in his dad’s jeep for a day while a freaking birthday party was being held at the house. Too bad New Jersey is unlikely to execute. This guy was made for the death sentence.
My condolences and prayers go out to the family and friends of Jennifer Parks.
Pregnant Philadelphia woman missing for 9 days:
Please take the time to read the accompanying article and look at the picture…
Police in Philadelphia are searching for a 24-year-old pregnant woman who has been missing for more than a week. Latoyia Figueroa was last seen on the afternoon of July 18 in the area of 59th and Walton.
Figueroa, a 5-foot-2 African American, is five months pregnant and has a 7-year-old child. She has long, dark brown hair and brown eyes and two tattoos — an angel on her right wrist and her daughter’s name on her left arm.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Philadelphia Southwest detective division at 215-686-3183.
The Philadelphia Citizens Crime Commission has established a reward fund for information about the whereabouts of Figueroa. Santo Montecalvo, vice president of the crime commission, said that as of Wednesday morning the fund was up to $10,000.
I know you would probably never see me type those words, but it’s true. Alejandro Avila, who was convicted of abducting and killing 5-year-old Samantha Runnion. Avila was sentenced to death today. I’ll be doubly thankful when it’s finally carried out.
TEA report on former Donna coach telling:
This another follow-up to the hazing scandal that has been going on in Donna, Texas and the subsequent cover-up.
The Texas Education Agency released a report slamming the Donna athletic programs and upholding the Donna School Board’s decision to fire athletic director and head football coach David Evans. It turns out that the incident that resulted in Evans’ firing wasn’t the first…
… female coaches were intimidated, certain athletes were given preferential treatment, and numerous occasions of “sexual exhibitionist behavior” and “assaultive behavior” were never reported to school authorities or law enforcement.
“The practice of hazing/sexual assault went on for several years,” the report says. “(One of the victims) knows this because he fell victim to the practice in the years past.”
And one of the perpetrators in the latest assault, star quarterback Derick Castillo, had previously been addressed by Coach Evans about his “sexual behavior”.
So another sexual predator is allowed to roam the halls free all in the name of athletics.
Computer games train players to be violent?:
I guess it’s not just Americans who harp on the alleged links between video games and violence. Now we have a study coming out of Germany from the “Stuff that we pulled out of our ass Department” at the University of Aachen from renowned German scientist Klaus Mathiak which says that video games are training people to be violent. Mein Gott, here we go again…
Klaus Mathiak, of the University of Aachen, maintains he has discovered for the first time what goes on in players’ heads as a killer character lies in wait on a computer screen.
Their brains react as if they are treating the encounter as real, says the academic.
According to Dr Mathiak, when players know violence is coming, the cognitive parts of the brain become more active and during a fight its emotional parts shut down.
How did Herr Doktor measure these activities?
According to New Scientist, Dr Mathiak recruited 13 young men who played video games for two hours daily. He asked them to play the game while having their brains scanned using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Dr Mathiak studied how brain activity changed during violent interactions.
I’d be more inclined to believe him if he then dropped the subjects into an actual scenario of impending violence like Iraq or any violent big-city neighborhood, then compared findings. Most of these kids would probably crap their pants if they were in a real situation of violence.
At least the British are thinking clearly…
Last night, Mike McClure, director of public education at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said there were individuals who were susceptible to suggestions inherent in video games. But he added: “You would have to say it is a small minority. Most people can distinguish between them as a game and what they would be doing in reality.”
And that small minority has something wrong with them to begin with.
And as an added bonus, a follow-up to Rep. Chuck Schumer’s snit over the game “25 to Life”.
According to the guys at Penny Arcade you can also play as the police. Notice that Chucky boy doesn’t mention that part.
Instead of worrying about the games themselves, maybe scientists and politicians should worry about the parents that are letting these games into their houses for underage kids to play.
Here we go again, folks. Last year, it was GTA: San Andreas. This year it’s a new game made by Eidos called “25 to Life”. This is the first I’ve heard about this game, so let me quote the article…
“25 to Life,” allows players to attack police with an arsenal of Molotov cocktails, broken bottles and baseball bats. When weapons fail, players make strategic moves using civilians as human shields.
The game even lets players choose gang colors and create personalized graffiti tags.
It sounds like a GTA rip off to me. I bet the gameplay will suck. But of course, that’s not the point here. Certain lawmakers have their panties in a wad…
“It’s the worst in a series of violent and gruesome games that lower the common denominator of decency,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is trying to block the game from hitting stores in September.
“25 to Life” makes “other controversial games like ‘Grand Theft Auto’ look like ‘Romper Room,’” Schumer said.
Schumer called on PlayStation manufacturer Sony and Xbox maker Microsoft to cancel their licensing agreements with Eidos. The senator also urged stores and retailers not to stock the game.
Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolman’s Benevolent Association, slammed “25 to Life” for its cavalier treatment of murder.
“It’s outrageous that a company like this would try to desensitize our children,” Lynch said.
First off, have you noticed that when a politician is usually involved in calling for the censoring of a video game, it’s usually a Democrat?
Secondly, these are obviously people who have never held a game controller in their life, or at least not since Space Invaders or the Atari 2600.
Not all video games are aimed towards children anymore, and haven’t been since the dawn of Mortal Kombat back in the early ’90s.
Lastly, the bigger a deal you make out of these games, the more hype you’re giving them. You’re taking what looks like to be a mediocre game at best, and you’re potentially making it a blockbuster by trying to censor it. People always want what they can’t have.
If this game ends up in the hands of children, it’s because of irresponsible parents, and I have yet to hear any kind of blame falling on them. Remember kids, censorship is the solution to bad parenting. Or so says the Democrats.