Fun with the fear-mongering local news

[Unchainme]

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-pastor-petric-video-game-dangers-teen-murderers-txt,0,5109966.story

some great journalism here.

Going to sum it up right here. Kid shoots parents because they wouldn't let him play a popular video game, Dad survives and becomes a crusader against violent video games and claiming that they are mostly responsible for his wifes death and the fact his kid went nutso.

so let's break this down:

"We have a young man who's normal, a normal young man until he starts viewing video games," attorney, James Kersey said.

O RLY? I mean, it's not like today every kid in this country has a video game system, some since a very young age (I've been playing video games in some form since age 5). So, what's defined as normal in this case? Because to have not been playing video games in this day and age generally means you're outside of the norm of being a living being ages 5 to 35. But go on Mr. Expert.

"He says, 'close your eyes, I have a surprise' and we said 'okay,' " said Petric. "The next thing I know, I wake up and my whole head is completely numb."

Daniel had shot his father in the head with a 9mm handgun and then fired multiple shots into his mother, Sue Petric, instantly killing her.

How come it's not mentioned that him procuring a gun is the problem? I never see this mentioned. Granted I'm pro-gun in general, but one would think the fact that this mentally disturbed kid having access to a weapon that could kill someone would be more of a problem than say, playing a fucking video game.

Danny first began playing video games after an snowboarding injury that kept him confined to the home for more than a year.
It is thought that at that time, Danny also became depressed.

DING DING DING DING

We have ourselves a winner! Dude has mental issues possibly either before this occured or because of the fact he was bummed he didn't probably have near enough human contact. Being stuck at home sucks and would probably cause one to go Jack Nicholson in "The Shining". The parents could not have tried to get him out of house more? really? I have had a broken ankle before due to football, yet I went out of the house all the time during that whole ordeal.

"I am convinced that violent video games played a key role in this crime," Chalmers said.

Chalmers says, by all accounts, before the video games and the injury, Danny was a normal kid.

Chalmers and Pastor Petric think the video games turned him into a murderer.

"They become desensitized to murder and all the lines between reality fade away, and they act on impulse...exactly what Danny did," said Chalmers.

So I suppose people like Charles Manson, Adolph Hitler, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer must have all been MAJOR gamers due to the fact they appeared to be "Desensitized" to murder.

What a weak ass argument. I play Madden and NCAA Football on a good regular basis, does that suddenly make me "Desensitized" to pain inflicted upon me?

Chalmers disagrees. "The medical community has released a joint statement that says if children are exposed to violent media, they're gonna become violent. But they make it politically correct by saying some or maybe."

Most studies show that there is no determinable link between violent video games and aggressive behaviour. This was said by the former Surgeon General of the United States after a study on the subject and he found that there was no link that could be scientifically ascribed to connect the two phenomenon.^1^ Many studies are not neutral, and a majority of studies have found little or no connection, and these include studies from the British Medical Journal, ^2.^ and the Journal of Adolescent Health.

1. "Video Games and Health", Mark Griffiths, British Medical Journal vol. 331, 2005 2. "Video Games and Real Life Agression", Lillian Bensely and Juliet Van Eenwyk, Journal of Adolescent Health, vol. 29, 2001

BY. THE. FORMER. SURGEON. GENERAL. OF. THE. UNITED. STATES. Seriously dude, fuck off. You're argument is bullshit.

And he is not alone, both the New York Police Department and FBI have spoken out against violent video games.

"The F.B.I. made a statement that this stuff is pushing kids over the edge," said Chalmers.

The teen killer expert says every parent could take away something from Mark Petric's story. "Learn from this case. This could be you."

Yes, well this is an outright lie:

# In the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report on school violence, Lessons Learned: An FBI Perspective School Violence Seminar, they include a school shooter profile listing thirty factors that may be indicators of potentially devastating violent acts, but the FBI excluded playing video games from that list.

It's just bullshit. Rather than, you know, doing something important like placing funding in mental health services which could have actually helped in this situation or say encouraging parents to be more understanding and talking with their children. NO TAKE AWAY THE VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES OR MUSIC! THAT'S THE PROBLEM! CENSOR!

Fuck You Fox 8.

[Sensible Shoes]

I think you need to revert to Ms. Pacman

[chefcraig]

A Florida kid killed his parents with a hammer after they refused to let him have a party he'd already invited people to on Facebook. Along with video games, maybe it would be a good idea to get rid of social networking sites as well.

Florida Teen Kills Parents for Not Letting Him Host Facebook Party

[Sensible Shoes]

Just think of all the things we could get rid of.

[chefcraig]

Hunger, poverty, selfishness and stupidity in general would be a good start. Oh, and the Florida Marlins.

[VanHalener]

Let's be realistic and start by getting rid of bras.
~Power to the Jiggle~

[VAiN]

A Florida kid killed his parents with a hammer after they refused to let him have a party he'd already invited people to on Facebook. Along with video games, maybe it would be a good idea to get rid of social networking sites as well.

Florida Teen Kills Parents for Not Letting Him Host Facebook Party

Looks like I wasn't the only one hammered at that party.

[Nitro Express]

Now I know what set Vlad the Impaler off, it was all those damn violent video games.

[SunisinuS]

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-pastor-...,5109966.story


Fuck You Fox 8.

Apparently this kid tries to screw his girlfriend....all parents hate this fact. The two young people involved both kill themselves.


Breaking News: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_juliet


I say we sue the author!

Obviously he caused it!

[fryingdutchman]

A Florida kid killed his parents with a hammer after they refused to let him have a party he'd already invited people to on Facebook. Along with video games, maybe it would be a good idea to get rid of social networking sites as well.

Florida Teen Kills Parents for Not Letting Him Host Facebook Party

I'm guessing that your suggestion of getting rid of social networking sites is probably a little tongue-in-cheek because of the ridiculous nature of the "video games made the boy a killer" argument....but you may actually be onto something there.

Sometimes it seems like Facebook is getting to be more trouble than it's worth. How many suicides, murders, criminal flash mobs, etc... have been caused by actions that occurred on Facebook? Granted, people are still ultimately responsible for their own actions (even though it seems like nobody seems to actually subscribe to that reality anymore).....but there's only so much some people can take when their personal lives and issues are splashed onto the WORLDWIDE web.

It's a double-edged sword. These Facebook-addicted douchebags seem to think that the entire world is interested in the minute details of their everyday lives...yet they go Charles Manson on themselves or others when "too much information" gets out.

But...on the topic of the post....the entire "blame the videogame industry" argument is totally bogus. The kid had serious mental issues, and he obviously had premeditation because he tried to jam the gun in his crippled father's hand to make it look like a murder-suicide.

I've played the entire Halo franchise and I don't ever remember Master Chief staging a murder-suicide scene after killing two enemies side-by-side....

[Nitro Express]

The internet just brings the world together for good and for bad. I worked at American Express when the internet just started to become available in the workplace environment and the new problems it brought. I guess one guy got caught looking at some porn on his computer and a female employee got a glimps and complained to the company. The company was concerned about sexual harrassment law suits and gave the IT department the task of monitoring employee's internet use. One of my friends at work was put in charge of this assignment and during lunch he would tell us he was finding more about people at work than he wanted to. The internet can expose people's dark side and in the early days of it this was more true than ever because people thought they had true onimity. Other people become someone entirely different on the internet living a fantasy life of lies. Some people use it to bring markets together or shop. Technology is moving ahead even faster because technical information can be shared in real time. I think the most challenging aspect of the internet is trying to decide what's bullshit and what's truth.

I just see it all as another stage for people to act out on. Unlike television which only those who had access could participate everyone can participate on the internet and it's interactive. Has it made society better? To be honest, I don't think so. In some regards it has made things easier. It obviousely is a challenge to the mainstream media and politicians who want to regulate it. I think Wikileaks scared the shit out of them. It's a medium where there is a lot going on for good or bad and in some ways, I think society as a whole isn't going to make the next step without upgrading some of it's disfunctional and eithical weaknesses. Technology in the end only multiplies what it's fed. It can't fix broken homes and the resulting social carnage that results from it. It can't fix bad parenting or and overall decline of social behavior. In many ways computers and all this media saturation has made us lazy and even more disfunctional. If the future is 300 pound electronic media addicts who munch cheetos and live in filth. Fuck that shit.

As a parent all this electronic noise drives me crazy. When I was growing up the only distraction was television and now we have several things. Kids can't even ride two hours in a car without freaking out that there is nothing to do. They don't seem to be able to entertain themselves like we used to. In many way all of this is making the next generation mentally distracted unable to focus on a task long-term and unable to cope with the lack of constant stimulation. There's just too much fucking information and I don't think human beings can process this bombardment long-term without something snapping. Take a group of kids on a campout and you will see what I mean.

[twonabomber]

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-pastor-...,5109966.story

some great journalism here.

i saw that too. usually i don't mind FOX 8 but that's just stupid. 19 is WAY worse though.

at least they didn't blame Marilyn Manson, like they did for Columbine.

[tojoro]

This made me think of the Canadian kids Moore interviewed for his Bowling For Columbine film...they have the same access to music, movies and video games, but don't have the same problems with violence as kids in the US.
I had read an interview with Lemmy in the past decade where he said the same thing about kids from the UK.

[Unchainme]

This made me think of the Canadian kids Moore interviewed for his Bowling For Columbine film...they have the same access to music, movies and video games, but don't have the same problems with violence as kids in the US.
I had read an interview with Lemmy in the past decade where he said the same thing about kids from the UK.

Canadians have their share of mentally fucked up people as well, see Paul and Karla (actually don't..because it'll keep you for nights on end)

Flat out there's fucked up people out there. Nothing more, nothing less. If people want to truly prevent the violence that occurs in the Western Hemisphere, investing in mental health services on all ends of the spectrum would be a great start.