A fresh new contraversy!

Yep Adam I agree there. It's so two-faced and just them caving into political pressure to look "family friendly".

As I said in my post, we have a video store here locally....funny enough with the word Family in it's name...where you can't rent certain games but they have that lovely little room in the back corner that any kid can sneak in to, they would rent me porn that comes home to a house full of kids, and they have in the past rented movies that were clearly R rated to one of my kids who was just as clearly NOT 18. Talk about a ridiculous double standard.

I'm not advocating for Grand Theft Auto. It is a very violent game that I personally, in my own home, would restrict certain age groups from playing. I just dislike political pressure that thinks it should replace my decision as a parent or a person.


~~Joanna~~

Lawsuits:

In the Mc. Donalds case, from a medical stand point, yes, she could have very well of totalled those huge amounts in medical expenses, you have to take into account infections and things happen during the healing process that we cannot always control. This coming from not only a former surgical technician who worked in a hospital, and a person whose son was almost killed last summer due to a car hitting him. The complcations that came from the intital injuries cost just as much to take care of as the initial injuries themselves.

Initial Injury: Lacerated Liver
Fix: X-tra blood and surgery
Secondary Problem: More bleeding and infection- causing more surgery and meds

It all really adds up and until you see it, you really have no idea. Was not trying to sound mean there guys and gals, just making apoint.

But I do agree, Mc. Donalds should have settled initially when they had the chance, and she was at fault too, common, COFFEE IS HOT! She should have used some common sense, Mc. D's error was not initially putting "CONTENTS HOT!" on the cup and someone took advantage of that cause she could Mc. D's thought everyone had common sense, unfortunately, they were wrong.

Censorship:

Censorship really makes me mad. B/c I as an adult am old enough to decide if I want to watch/play/participate in any thing that others deem not moraly right. Besides, I waited till I was 21 to be legal to do anything I want.... I was good..most of the time :evil grin: .. up till then. I should have the right to make my own choices. My Mom raise me and my brother in a house that we could talk about and ask about anything and get honest answers. Now this does not mean Mom neccessarily told us "ALL" of a story with all detail when we were younger, she more than likely told us what we needed to know for our age till we got older. She had to use common sense and her own judgement. I remember that Mom did not senesor our music, our video games or stuff on tv and cable tv.. but porn was not allowed~ I asked her about this before she died, I wanted to know why she rasied us the way she did. She began reminding me that most of what we watched, was watched as a family at home anyhow, and that often times, we did talk about situations brought up in programming, she also reminded me that she could tell me what album I was listening to at any time ~ reason why, she made it her business to listen to some of the new music, b/c she knew it would produce opportunities to talk with us more about right and wrong and responsibilities. She made it her mission in life to bring things up in a way we were receptive to talking to her about this stuff... she also went on by saying that the most important lesson SHE learned while raising us was this: Pick and Choose your battles wisely. I asked her what that meant, she told me, that she realised that when my brother and I left the house with our friends for the day/weekend/whatever, we were not in her direct knowledge of things we were doing, and that she knew she could not guide us then, and that she had taken the opportunity to teach us in our home the things that meant the most, and hoped we would carry those lessons with us outside of her home. She knew that the things we were exposed to outside of her home we would most likely see no matter what b/c there is always another parent who really dont take the time she took with us, but at least there was more chance it was something she had discussed with us at some point and that we would choose to not copy that in our daily lives. I feel my brother and I faired well, me more so. I know right from wrong and I know all about responsibility and taking responsibility for my actions. It really is a pity that ppl must put the blame and responsibility on things like movies and games and such, when it is they that decide their own actions. I guess what she meant was that she knew she could not fight and win the "battles" caused by being out of her home, but she could win the ones in her home... I know she did not spend much energy fighting us on stuff outside the home that would have been out of her control, but she sure did use the energy at home. I think Mom raised us well, all b/c she left the lines of communication open to us, we felt comfortable talking to her..so we did. Mom did not leave much a secret, not even about sex type stuff. She offered birth control (appropriate to each child) and told us she did not condone us out having sex, but that she knew we would do it anyway if we chose to do so and that she would rather have us protected. I feel it was her not hiding stuff, and being realistic about what she could and could not control outside her home and honesty about everything that made her job as a parent easier for her. In fact, it was her candidness about sexual stuff that left me not really interested in it to try it too early. However- I remember a time where she messed up, and made alcohol a mystery to me a bit much, it in fact made me more interested, cause I had questions... well, that back fired on her.. I started drinking from a 15 year old bottle of JD that had never been opened.... (it was from her wedding party).. got me sick and in the hosp. with my stomach pumped and filled with charcoal at 14 years old. And her a hosp. bill and ambulance bill. Let me tell you, she did not yell or anything later about it.. she knew that my quiet misery with a head ache was merely enough to make me not want to do that again for awhile.. and she was right.

In short... it is us parents who teach our children right from wrong and about responsibility.. but it is not our faults if they choose to be butt~monkeys later in life; esp. if you have done as my Mom did and taught us. I do not feel it is neccessarily the movies and video games and music that make someone be a butt~monkey, it is thier own decision.. they just may get ideas... and to me, even if given the idea via another carrier, they still can choose not to carry it out. Ppl should start taking responsibility for themselves and quit blaming other factors or other ppl for thier mistakes and indecretions.

The stores do not sell certain materials because they think the kids will do something bad and it will get blamed on them. When situations of children committing violent acts hit the news, everyone is always looking for someone to blame. People blame the artists who write music and the companies that make video games, but you rarely hear people blame the parents. I come from a really close family and I have some good friends that don't. I have seen what role parents play in what kids think is right and wrong. When I was growing up, my parents always knew what I was watching, what I was doing, and what I was listening to. They made sure to tell me the differences between reality and what i saw in movies or video games. I remember when I was a little kid, I got 'spanked' and lectured by my father because I pointed a toy gun at my bother and was pretending to shot him(we were playing cops and robbers or something like that)....I never have point any gun...real or fake... at a person since then. That one little correction that my dad made changed the way I look at guns. I am 100% what my parents made me, and if any parents out there wants to blame their child's bad behavior on movies, music or videogames then they need to quit placing blame on others and admit that their child is messed up because they have screwed up.

I have spent the last 10 years of my life serving this country in the USAF to preserve the freedoms I was born with, not so that some christian rights activist can tell me what I can and cant play/listen to/watch. Now in the same respect I also serve to give stores like Walmart the right to sell or not to sell certain games/movies/music.

I have to say, that in some way, this thread is like a breath of fresh air to me. Why? It just proves that there ARE people out there who, like me, are just plain SICK of being morally forced into submission by "religious" zealots. I have my own set of morals, and I do not in ANY way consider myself "immoral", just because I don't let myself be controlled by fundamentalists. I am sure that most of you would agree with me on that point!
About the shop in your area, Pumba: there was a similar shop in my town (it shut down due to poor leadership.) All of the people who played/rented computers there were adults, and were there basically to be able to hookup with others who wanted to play (they played mainly Unreal and Quake.) They harmed no one in doing this. When the night was done, they went home and fell asleep and woke up for work or school the next day; they didn't go out and shoot people! They had a simple hobby, and so did other grown adults. They were not criminals! What, is it going to be like that one movie (forget its title) where we are judged guilty now for crimes we haven't even committed "yet?"
I seriously hope that I will be dead and buried before all of our entertainment is screened and deemed "sanitary" by insane zealots whose only goal is to make me convert to some religion that's outdated and sexist. There, I went off on my rant for tooday. :)

Oh in my long rant previously I forgot this lil nugget. Our nice little community way up here in Michigan can't keep a teen center going for love nor money. Everyone who tries either can't seem for "some" reason to even get a business license or they get shut down for ridiculous reasons.

We had a lovely one going for awhile. The man originally opened it as an internet cafe but then realized our local teens had nothing to do so on Friday nights it was a teens only night. Music, dance contests, computers, Xbox and PS2, a pool table and snacks and pop to buy. Get this...he even bought pizza out of his own pocket as he felt some of the kid's hadn't had a proper dinner before they came out. It was a really reasonable entrance price and a great tool for us parents.....be good or no Friday night deal! He even had security people there.

Well geesh they shut him down! Let's see....well some kids went outside and around the corner into an alley to smoke cigarettes....he was told that he had to put a stop to that. It wasn't on his property but somehow our lil town said it was his fault. He can't legally prevent someone from stepping outside his establishment, he can't babysit a flippin 16 year old, but it was his fault so they said. Oh and the kids sometimes hung out outside. His security did ask them to either enter or move along....but apparently it was okay for the adults at the bar down the street to hang out and talk outside!

I went to see this place when my oldest wanted to go there. It was fantastic, I would have died to have such a cool place to hang out at her age. It got the kids off the street and out of their cars and having fun! The owner commented that hardly any parents bothered to check the place out...they were just glad to dump their teens there or didn't even know where their kids were. That's why he fed them free pizza (even if all he could afford was 1 slice per kid).

Sorry for the long post but isn't it sad. Our town "fathers" decided this place was just not okay....guess we really need yet another stupid gift store for the silly wealthy tourists to buy yet another silly useless Michigan souvenier which was likely made in China anyways.

End of story, the gentleman moved his business to another town (lucky them) and our teenagers are back to hanging out at the waterfront where they continue to be harrassed because oh my they might bother more silly rich folks in their silly yahts who like to go to bed at 9 p.m.

~~Joanna~~

Jo, your post hit the nail right on the head. Think of how you feel in your teenage years; there's all thie energy, all sorts of emotional upheaval, and nowhere to let it out. Unless you go with your friends and seek out hidden places to "hang out" and drink or smoke, and then you're considered bad. And what was your alternative? Go sit at home and listen to your parents argue? Oh wait, I am describing my own teen years again! hehe.
It is so sad that the guy who made that youth center, was forced to move. Sounds like he was a guy who actually cared, heaven forbid, and was realistically tryin to make an alternative place for kids to hang without breaking the law. I might have sunk to some pretty bad lows in my life, and I might still hold jobs that I am not thrilled about (including shoveling horse poop), but nothing would disappoint me more than being on that low level of smarm which is occupied by your town's governors! ::waits for someone to either sue me or blame my attitude on being the product of a divorced home, or some other crud:: lol!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

What, is it going to be like that one movie (forget its title) where we are judged guilty now for crimes we haven't even committed "yet?"

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Minority Report

Yeah I can so see that happening in this country. If it can be dreamed up for TV the US will figure out a way to apply it to everyday life.

The McDoodles thing I think was drug out on purpose for publicity. I remember when that happened, there were a lot of people in the town I lived in that started going more ofter to see if something would happen to them so they could sue. Greedy you know what's!

When we're children we pout and say that we can't wait to be grown-ups so we can do whatever we want. When we grow up and try to do whatever we want, there's someone there trying to tell us what to do. I just want to live my life, do as I please. I'm not hurting anyone. No I'm not like a lot of other people in this world. I like being a individual. I live a happy life with my husband, two dogs, a snake, and a lizard. I haven't gone out and killed anyone though I've wished that certain people I know would just drop dead (that's a whole nother rant). Who hasn't felt that at some point? I'm not an immoral person. I just think and believe and act a little differently. I'm pagan, extreemely opinionated, and hate seeing people getting hand-outs instead of hand-ups. The general population in this country has gotten so damn lazy it's absolutely rediculous. When will the stupidity and madness end!?

Yep it was maddening Gin. Some of us wrote to the paper but nothing was done. It wasn't even a real teen center....just one night a week it was teens only but apparently one night is one night too many for some folks.

Your comment about that movie made me think of something I saw on t.v recently about genetic testing. They were talking about testing for some inheritable diseases and helping people make decisions about their future based on their probability of actually exhibiting the disease. Sad to say some people didn't take the testing not out of a personal decision but because they were terrified the information would get out if they tested positive.

Now this isn't positive for anything except a higher risk factor for something but apparently that information can wreck a life, give insurance companies a reason to refuse or charge more for coverage, etc. I would have thought that kind of information was priviliged but we all know not much of anything is anymore.

Isn't that awful that! Bad enough you might find out that you have a genetic risk for something but to be made to suffer for a disease you might well never actually get or not even take a test that could help you make more informed decisions for your future or your children's future is just so wrong.

~~Jo~~

That's sad. Even a person's cell phone records are publicly available, if someone pays a fee to certain websites. Not that I have anything to hide, but, please... that IS the one drawback to this era of amazing Internet and wireless technology. :(