Jack Thompson gone too shaq-fuing far. Comments on recent gamer suicide.

[dpatel]

Didn't see this posted. Heard about this a few days ago, sorry if it is a repost.

EDIT: Just realized this should've gone under "General Gaming & Industry News"

January 2nd, 2006 A gamer named Mitchell S. with the online screenname "Kuja105" who posted on a few online videogame forums (including GameFaqs.com and MetalGearSolid.org) committed suicide. He posted a message in both forums detailing his intent to end his own life, citing overwhelming complications with school and finances. Later, members from the site contacted Mitchell's family to find out the grave news. They reported it to their online community, and posted a tribute to their passed friend on the front page of metalgearsolid.org." A very brief period of initial disbelief was followed by a barrage of replies from fellow forum members pleading that he not take his life, trying to talk him out of it. For days, no word was heard from Mitchell. Fearing the worst, members and administration from metalgearsolid.org began searching for contact information, spending hours on the phone trying to get in touch with him. Finally on January 4, Ryan K., an administrator at metalgearsolid.org, got him on the phone and spent hours desperately trying to talk him out of it. Sadly, Mitchell soon ended his own life by consuming antifreeze and painkillers. Mr. Jack Thompson then sent in the following letter regarding the situation to MetalGearSolid.org, one of the forums frequented by Mitchell, where he was known well:

Jack Thompson's response.
"Your "gamer friend" will find peace through the Lord, Jesus Christ, but sadly it's too late for that.

There is a void in every heart. You can fill it up with the things of God, or the things not of God. This unfortunate soul chose to fill it up with combat games. The playing of these video games is masturbatory activity, meaning senseless self-stimulation. If you gamers could use a dictionary you would know that that term is not necessarily a sexual one.

The real tragedy here extends beyond the life and death of this one fellow. There are literally millions of young people and young adults whose despair is deepend by turning to the things of this world and then finding them meaningless.

All of you gamers need to put down the controllers and get a life. The utter inanity of the vast majority of postings here shows how vapid "gaming" really is.

You are one of the cheerleaders for this wasting of time and the wasting of lives. Do you feel any remorse for having contributed to this "culture of death?" Of course not. Hey, let's all play MORE games, and ignore all the really productive things to do with our lives.

Let's pretend to be shocked that a gamer might descend into deeper depression, as his gamer "buds," knowing he was killing himself, couldn't figure out how to call 911 themselves for him. That would have involved leaving their computers I guess. Sad. Sad for all of you."

MetalGearSolid.org responded with this:
"Once again, Mr. Thompson, you've proven that your ignorance knows no bounds. We're not going to participate in this war you wish to wage against us -- we're bigger than that. We're bigger than you.

This is a case where our tragedy is greater than the sum of our transgressions. The fact that you want to exploit the loss that both we and his family have suffered to forward your own selfish, religiously driven ambitions speaks volumes about the integrity (or lack, thereof) of your character, and it only serves to strengthen our resolve.

You can continue to try and discredit us and insult us, though no true man of God would do such a thing. We pity you and your ignorance, and only hope that someday you can come to terms with and mature away from your biggotry. As Metal Gear Solid fans, we have learned to believe in the best of individuals. We've learned to show charity. We've become better people, and through the loss of our friend, we've become a closer-knit community.

We forgive you, Jack, and we hope that God will do the same for you."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson#Other_video_game-related_incidents

[dpatel]

I did frequent the metalgearsolid.org forums, but didn't really know the user too well. It just disgusts me that Jack Thompson is using this tragedy to fuel his ongoing war against gaming.

[RedvsBlue]

I was discussed briefly in the OTT but not a lot of people frequent the OTT so a thread for it isn't a bad idea. Yes, he has definetly gone too fucking far this time.

[2poor]

what a douchebag. i wish he would just get struck by lightning already.

[jmcc]

I did frequent the metalgearsolid.org forums, but didn't really know the user too well. It just disgusts me that Jack Thompson is using this tragedy to fuel his ongoing war against gaming.
What? That's all he does. He's a hideous ghoul. Why is this surprising at all? Anyway, he got hella banned from Game Politics, so that's nice.

[neocisco]

Jack Thompson disgusts me anyway but the fact that he uses Christianity to justify insensitive, crass insults towards people that he doesn't even know makes me sick. He is an insult to the Christians who truly are sincere, caring people.

[dpatel]

What? That's all he does. He's a hideous ghoul. Why is this surprising at all? Anyway, he got hella banned from Gamer Politics, so that's nice.

yea, he has always been a jackass. His other gamer related cases were just idiotic. This is not idiotic though, this is fucking disgusting.

[Reality's Fringe]

I was realtively taken aback when I read his comments a few days ago, especially the part about how this is all of result of us not having "a life"...Then I realized that a lawyer was telling me that I wasn't doing anything productive, and disgust turned to scathing irony.

[AlbinoNinja]

:puke:

[depascal22]

Good ole Jack is trying to tell us that the Lord Jesus will help us to put down those controllers like he wants us to get married, vote Republican, and buy guns. He's not really the problem, it's all the ignorant people that follow his every move and hang on his every word. There will always be blowhards and religious zealots. Let's just see how many follow this one.

[1SwtDeception]

On another forum.. that I go to.. quoted by elemental from animezen... here's some of the news:

Here are links to some articles:

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=2000075&topic=25527152&page=0
(Kuja's final topic)
http://news.gaminghorizon.com/media2/1137635340.3198.html
(announcement)

Jack's bastardism:
Quote:
"Your "gamer friend" will find peace through the Lord, Jesus Christ, but sadly it's too late for that.

There is a void in every heart. You can fill it up with the things of God, or the things not of God. This unfortunate soul chose to fill it up with combat games. The playing of these video games is masturbatory activity, meaning senseless self-stimulation. If you gamers could use a dictionary you would know that that term is not necessarily a sexual one.

The real tragedy here extends beyond the life and death of this one fellow. There are literally millions of young people and young adults whose despair is deepend by turning to the things of this world and then finding them meaningless.

All of you gamers need to put down the controllers and get a life. The utter inanity of the vast majority of postings here shows how vapid "gaming" really is.

You are one of the cheerleaders for this wasting of time and the wasting of lives. Do you feel any remorse for having contributed to this "culture of death?" Of course not. Hey, let's all play MORE games, and ignore all the really productive things to do with our lives.

Let's pretend to be shocked that a gamer might descend into deeper depression, as his gamer "buds," knowing he was killing himself, couldn't figure out how to call 911 themselves for him. That would have involved leaving their computers I guess.

Sad. Sad for all of you."


And Jack's response to tons of e-mails from people that were just plain *beep* by his activity:


Quote:
Yesterday Dennis McCauley reported, by starting this thread, the suicide of an American "hardcore gamer" who alerted his fellow gamers that he was dying. My posts in this regard upset many of you. So, I should like to sincerely apologize for the following:

1. Noting that this is not the first time Metal Gear Solid has figured in a suicide. See my op-ed in the Washington Times at http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040701-085600-3597r.htm. The Wellsboro boy committed suicide in the bathroom when his attempted "Columbine" went awry. His father correctly blamed the game.

2. I should further like to apologize for pointing out to pixelantes that obsessive play of such games feeds depression, and that the "gaming community," especially those in the industry that design these games to be addictive, are partly responsible for his demise. I apologize ahead of time for contacting his parents and telling them they should get a lawyer and sue the makers and distributors of Metal Gear Solid. I won't be that lawyer, but I'll help them find one.

3. I apologize for having to yet again change my email address in response to the great video game defenders of "freedom of expression" who inundated me with criminal threats, extortion, obscene emails, criminally harassing phone calls, and other stuff I had best not specifiy. Oh, and John at 916-***-****, I guess you missed the fact that the last punk who did this wound up in jail in Houston. Nice going, ace. Ever hear of "caller ID?" So, yes, I apologize for once again proving by your vigilantism what hypocrites drive the "gaming community." You people, along with Dennis McCauley, are so clueless that you actually conducted here, at this site, a "pixelante t-shirt contest," not even grasping the fact that a pixelante is one half rung above a bludgeoning skinhead, or cracker if you prefer that term.

4. Finally, I most sincerely wish to apologize for pointing out now that the European press got the facts in this story correct and Dennis McCauley did not. The gamers who had his phone number, his roommate who acted too late--all of them could have and should have gotten the police over there immediately, not "persuade him to call the police." The guy was committing suicide for Heaven's sake! You call the police immediatley, give them the phone number, and they can then instantly get in gear (metal gear, if you prefer) and get over there. Gamers are so out of it, they can't figure even that out.

Dennis McCauley concludes his crocodile tears, let's congratulate ourselves for being such a loving "gamer community" with his bathos-filled "May you find peace, gamer friend." Dennis, and the rest of you, pay attention: You find peace in Jesus Christ, not in GTA or Metal Gear Solid, or 25 to Life. You find it only in Him. The gate is narrow. Further, he was much more than a "gamer." In fact, his gamer status helped kill him, along with those who sucked him into the culture of death that games foment. And Dennis, he was NOT your "friend." You never knew him. You and the gaming community don't want to know him. Because if you know him, which is necessary to be a "friend," you will find that his real friends helped construct for him a world, a death style, that helped take him away to eternity.

I have sat with families touched by such tragedy. I understand it. You all couldn't care less. For that, I sincerely apologize, and for saying this yet again: Put down the controllers and get a life.

Jack Thompson

[crystalklear64]

Hmm.. not surprising, but I thought this guy was done. I try to just ignore everything he says.

[savestheday888]

Insanity. This is my favorite part:

"The playing of these video games is masturbatory activity, meaning senseless self-stimulation. If you gamers could use a dictionary you would know that that term is not necessarily a sexual one. "

There is a very strong level of hatred coming from his words. Maybe he was abused as a child or something. I can't figure out why someone would spew such ignorance. His words are definitely not something a true Christian would use.

[Arikado]

You call the police immediatley, give them the phone number, and they can then instantly get in gear (metal gear, if you prefer) and get over there.

lawl

[Ma12kez]

Man this fart is still running his mouth?:applause:

[2Fast]

I am going to have a large glass of champagne when Jack Thompson is no longer of this Earth.

[evilpenguin9000]

This should come as no surprise to anyone. Jack Thompson is King Douchebag of Douchebag Island.

[Metal Boss]

I used to frequent the metalgearsolid.org forums ALOT, it's really sad and shocking to read about this. The administrator of those forums went beyond his administrative powers to help this kid, and this jack thompson just rhetorically insults them and uses the kids gaming as his reason to commit suicide. This really sickens me, I never read into jack thompson before but what a son of a bitch, i'm sure he could use the publicity, pathetic bastard...

[Francis]

Damn, Jack Thompson is nothing more than a fucking internet troll posting flamebait.

[The Truth]

You know, if Jack Thompson were to die in his sleep, I would still consider it a late Christmas present.

[rodeojones903]

Good ole Jack is trying to tell us that the Lord Jesus will help us to put down those controllers like he wants us to get married, vote Republican, and buy guns. He's not really the problem, it's all the ignorant people that follow his every move and hang on his every word. There will always be blowhards and religious zealots. Let's just see how many follow this one.

Please please please don't put us normal republicans in the same class as him. If thats the way we are heading its time to form a new conservative party. :D

[TurkeyOnRye]

Jack Thompson disgusts me anyway but the fact that he uses Christianity to justify insensitive, crass insults towards people that he doesn't even know makes me sick. He is an insult to the Christians who truly are sincere, caring people.

Couldn't have said it better myself. It's embarassing, as a Christian myself, to have these particular people be some of the most outspoken.

This reminds me of the Westboro Baptist Church (look it up if you don't know). My high school (Boyd Co.) was the one that made national headlines for the Gay-Straight Alliance. Luckily I was already in college.

Jack Thompson might as well move to Kansas and sign up, he's heading that way.

[nwaugh]

My biggest problem with Jack isn't his poorly-formed opinions or his incendiary comments; it's his poor communication skills. His press releases tend to read like childish rants rather than the intelligent commentary he seems to think they are.

No adult engaging in a formal conversation would ever say "All of you gamers" or use "get a life" as a valid part of their argument. Saracasm has its place, but it should never be used in adult conversation relating to a serious matter.

Other examples I found that illustrate his childish tendencies:

Hey, let's all play MORE games, and ignore all the really productive things to do with our lives. That would have involved leaving their computers I guess. Oh, and John at xxx-xxx-xxxx, I guess you missed the fact that the last punk who did this wound up in jail in Houston. Nice going, ace. Ever hear of "caller ID?" ... not even grasping the fact that a pixelante is one half rung above a bludgeoning skinhead, or cracker if you prefer that term. Gamers are so out of it, they can't figure even that out.
This is incoherent and lacks any meaning:
Because if you know him, which is necessary to be a "friend," you will find that his real friends helped construct for him a world, a death style, that helped take him away to eternity.

[jer7583]

lol. Jack never really had any friends so he gets attention from spewing hate at a chosen target. (videogames) Toddlers do the same thing when they throw temper tantrums.

[minqqq]

Wow, I really don't know if this guy listens to himself talk, what an ignorant asshole. Bravo to the excellent reply from mgs.org, I couldn't have put it better myself.

[evanft]

Jack Thompson must die.

[brainstorm]

"Let's pretend to be shocked that a gamer might descend into deeper depression, as his gamer "buds," knowing he was killing himself, couldn't figure out how to call 911 themselves for him. That would have involved leaving their computers I guess. Sad. Sad for all of you."


That just makes me sick... he makes it sound like they just ignored this kid and his plea. This guy truly is a jackass making a sad and serious situation a political opportunity, but then again, is anyone really that surprised?

[javeryh]

I still can't believe this guy is a lawyer. His writing and communication skills are abysmal.

[daschrier]

I'm sure if he keeps this up, he won't be for long...didn't he lose his license to practice in georiga or some state?

[mykevermin]

Westboro Baptist Church (look it up if you don't know)And shame on you if you aren't familiar with Rev. Fred Phelps et al. They exemplify what happens when christian conservative radicalism is taken too far. I don't think Jack Thompson is comparable to Fred Phelps in terms of sheer venom (e.g., Jack Thompson wouldn't protest funerals of dead soldiers with "THANK GOD FOR 9/11" signs); however, both are unnecessarily hyperbolic (which, IMO, detracts from whatever it is that resembles a cogent, logical argument they may have started with). Jack Thompson is more dangerous, though, precisely because few other than hardcore gamers know who he is; he's regarded as an "expert" (citing his television appearances and professional/legislative associations as evidence) in the field; and combining the first two points, those unaware of his irrationality, childish banter, and "trolling" (for want of a better term) will regard him as a learned expert in the harms of video games.

I still can't believe this guy is a lawyer. His writing and communication skills are abysmal.See, I wish I had become a lawyer. If I tried to make half of the arguments that Thompson did, I'd be laughed right out of academia. Lawyers are allowed to make individual-level assertions of guilt and causality without regard for r-squared values, regression coefficients and significance tests. They don't need a theoretical foundation on which their argument lies; they simply need to bray long enough and loud enough to influence a consensus of people. Jack Thompson serves as evidence of what a bad lawyer is (and it is smoething that is separate from what an unsuccessful lawyer is). He is an artist at making claims with no grounding in empirical reality; he can take individual scenarios to paint broad strokes onto the effect of participants in an entire media industry; he is essentially just fantastic at "making shit up" and getting people to believe it (if you want the concise version).

The logic of his assertions are such that he could not currently find any scientific research that suggests games and violent behavior coincide. There was recently released a pilot study that shows those who play violent games can react violently faster than non-violent gamers, but the difference was marginal at best, and would be pretty useless in proving his point.

My biggest problem with Thompson is that he is persistently guilty of committing the logical fallacy of affirming the consequent. He approaches situations believing that video games cause unquestionable psychological and physical harm to people such that any one scenario (a person having committed suicide, for instance) serves as a direct reinforcement of his argument. See, in research, the cause comes before the conclusion; you can approach research with a hypothesis (unless you're some "grounded theory" kinda geek), but the key is that, in research, you must be willing to entertain the notion that your hypothesis can and just very well may be falsified. Thompson can not take the intellectual steps necessary to get that far; moreover, he remains so dead certain about the validity of his claim, that he relies on no evidence whatsoever (that is, his claims that games led this man to suicide can't be proven) to prove his point.

I can believe he's a lawyer; I'm just upset that I didn't take the same road, and I have to be all "ethical" in my approach to making claims. Dammit. ;)

[Vegan]

Damn, Jack Thompson is nothing more than a fucking internet troll posting flamebait.

Quoted for truth!

[Dr Mario Kart]

I dont see where this guy's money that he lives off of comes from. If I was a lawyer, I dont think I'd have the time to:

a) Answer a large quantity of the phone calls/emails that he receives
b) find the time to troll on the internet all day.

[javeryh]

See, I wish I had become a lawyer. If I tried to make half of the arguments that Thompson did, I'd be laughed right out of academia. Lawyers are allowed to make individual-level assertions of guilt and causality without regard for r-squared values, regression coefficients and significance tests. They don't need a theoretical foundation on which their argument lies; they simply need to bray long enough and loud enough to influence a consensus of people. Jack Thompson serves as evidence of what a bad lawyer is (and it is smoething that is separate from what an unsuccessful lawyer is). He is an artist at making claims with no grounding in empirical reality; he can take individual scenarios to paint broad strokes onto the effect of participants in an entire media industry; he is essentially just fantastic at "making shit up" and getting people to believe it (if you want the concise version).

The logic of his assertions are such that he could not currently find any scientific research that suggests games and violent behavior coincide. There was recently released a pilot study that shows those who play violent games can react violently faster than non-violent gamers, but the difference was marginal at best, and would be pretty useless in proving his point.

My biggest problem with Thompson is that he is persistently guilty of committing the logical fallacy of affirming the consequent. He approaches situations believing that video games cause unquestionable psychological and physical harm to people such that any one scenario (a person having committed suicide, for instance) serves as a direct reinforcement of his argument. See, in research, the cause comes before the conclusion; you can approach research with a hypothesis (unless you're some "grounded theory" kinda geek), but the key is that, in research, you must be willing to entertain the notion that your hypothesis can and just very well may be falsified. Thompson can not take the intellectual steps necessary to get that far; moreover, he remains so dead certain about the validity of his claim, that he relies on no evidence whatsoever (that is, his claims that games led this man to suicide can't be proven) to prove his point.

I can believe he's a lawyer; I'm just upset that I didn't take the same road, and I have to be all "ethical" in my approach to making claims. Dammit. ;)

Since you are such a wordsmith I have no doubt you would make an excellent lawyer. The thing I hate most about my profession is that there's really no way to prove anything. I miss my college days of differential equations and structural analysis. "x" always equaled something and I could sleep better at night knowing so. Now I'm surrounded by blowhards and bullshit all day every day.... *sigh*

I can believe that JT makes crazy claims all over the place because that's what a lot of lawyers do - I just can't believe how bad he is at arguing them. A good lawyer makes a claim that may seem absurd but by the end of his argument you can kind of see where he's coming from. JT makes a crazy claim and then just sounds crazier after trying to explain himself. He's just awful but I couldn't pick a better person to take on the industry because I know there's no way anyone will really take him seriously...

[smalien1]

If it is true, and the kids was influenced by video games to commit suicide- I think it's OK, we are taking the 'impressionable idiot' gene out of the gene pool. As long as they don't kill anyone else there is NOTHING wrong with it

[Vegan]

If it is true, and the kids was influenced by video games to commit suicide- I think it's OK, we are taking the 'impressionable idiot' gene out of the gene pool. As long as they don't kill anyone else there is NOTHING wrong with it

No game influences a healthy mind to commit suicide. Just like Hitchcock said a film can have no effect on healthy minds, only sick ones. No one commits suicide because of a game -- this guy must've had outside influences to make him so depressed, and if anything MGS was perhaps that only thing that made him happy.

[depascal22]

Please please please don't put us normal republicans in the same class as him. If thats the way we are heading its time to form a new conservative party. :D

No, I think the true Republican party is nothing like this. I was just using some humor to temper some of the rage in this thread. Some Republicans think this way and it's just like the Democrats who believe America is directly responsible for 9/11. They're religious zealots or nuts with a platform. Democracy at it's finest. I just hope this bastard Jack Thompson doesn't get it in his head to run for elected office.

[ZForce]

It's amazing he goes and judges people who play games like he does. I don't pretend to be a particularly religious person (which is more than I Can say for Jack Thompson) But I'm pretty sure the Bible says something along the lines of "Judge not, lest ye shall be judged"

[smalien1]

No game influences a healthy mind to commit suicide. Just like Hitchcock said a film can have no effect on healthy minds, only sick ones. No one commits suicide because of a game -- this guy must've had outside influences to make him so depressed, and if anything MGS was perhaps that only thing that made him happy.


Note the first four words of my post.

[Lobsterjohnson]

Jack Thompson telling people to get a life is funny. Does that guy even have a job? It just seems he yells and yells till everyone gives him attention, it's almost like it's all a big joke, and that he doesn't really feel this way but he just wants people to notice him.

Either way...he's a douche.

[cleaver]

Man I keep reading these headlines thinking it's the actor and former Senator Fred Thompson. Does that happen to anyone else?

Now I going to go work off some steam blasting Nazis in Call of Duty 2.

[Roufuss]

"May you find peace, gamer friend." Dennis, and the rest of you, pay attention: You find peace in Jesus Christ, not in GTA or Metal Gear Solid, or 25 to Life.

Did Jack Thompson not get the memo that 25 to Life sucks, and no self respecting gamer is playing it?

[RedvsBlue]

Did Jack Thompson not get the memo that 25 to Life sucks, and no self respecting gamer is playing it?


Hopefully he won't because then he'll claim the crappy sales for the game are due to his quest against it.

[nwaugh]

Hopefully he won't because then he'll claim the crappy sales for the game are due to his quest against it.
I'm pretty sure that he'll claim credit even if he does know it was simply bad. This may be common knowledge, but he claimed the NFL wasn't giving its license to Blitz because Blitz was morally bankrupt.

[vietgurl]

i'm tempted to read his book for some laughs and then burn it.

[Kuma]

I hope Jack sucks on a poisonous dick

[botticus]

No no, don't burn his book. Read it, then sue him on account of your two-year old child reading the book and becoming extremely violent due to the excessive accounts of violent video games contained within. Because clearly its not your fault that your two-year old read the book, it's the author's fault for writing the book.

[vietgurl]

No no, don't burn his book. Read it, then sue him on account of your two-year old child reading the book and becoming extremely violent due to the excessive accounts of violent video games contained within. Because clearly its not your fault that your two-year old read the book, it's the author's fault for writing the book.

Good idea!

Although I don't know if I would want to have a child for the sole purpose of having it be destroyed by Jack

[dpatel]

Good idea!

Although I don't know if I would want to have a child for the sole purpose of having it be destroyed by Jack

it'll be worth it.

[depascal22]

I have a 4 year old you can borrow if you ask really nicely....lol

[dpatel]

I have a 4 year old you can borrow if you ask really nicely....lol

..i would, but you have no trader feedback.

[onetrackmind]

..i would, but you have no trader feedback.


:rofl:

[rabbitt]

Wow, that's pretty sick.

[Zing]

It is amazing this guy has not been murdered yet. I bet he is in a constant state of fear for his life.

[RedvsBlue]

It is amazing this guy has not been murdered yet. I bet he is in a constant state of fear for his life.

Unfortunately that's about the worst thing that could happen. It would make the equivalent of a modern day martyr and would be disasterous for the video game industry and censorship in general.

[Reality's Fringe]

Unfortunately that's about the worst thing that could happen. It would make the equivalent of a modern day martyr and would be disasterous for the video game industry and censorship in general.

Sometimes I wonder if that's exactly what he wants.

[SilverPaw750]

Unfortunately that's about the worst thing that could happen. It would make the equivalent of a modern day martyr and would be disasterous for the video game industry and censorship in general.
He just needs to be silenced by the FCC for some reason. I would laugh my ass off if his role models finally told him to shut the hell up.

[RedvsBlue]

Sometimes I wonder if that's exactly what he wants.

I often wonder that myself. Maybe he does this shit because he really wants to be a martyr and that it would be the ultimate way to prove his rabid point. I dunno but the guy is probably damn near crazy enough to do it.

[mr ryles]

me---->:twoguns: :evil:<-----jack thompson

[Graystone]

I knew jack was a dick but now I know jack is an ass. Him assuming that we think masturbatory means only jacking it, and then saying that he killed himself cause of games, but any person with an high school psychology class could see that the boy was suffering from major depression. He's a lawyer so he's going to hell already :D I wish chapelle show would come back and do a skit about jack. I think only chapelle could do it right it would start like this jack coming out of his office, some homeless person asks for change he then blasts them for being homeless, and without a god. Then shows him picking up a hooker getting a boston steamer then grabbing a cuban cigar and then some absithne then he sits on his floor indian style in a suit and start to play the most sexual game from Japan.

[Amano]

Is it wrong that I feel like going into some sort of Hulk-ish rage after reading that? Oh wait, best not to mention violence and Jacko, especially on a gaming board. Ohnoes.

Excuse me while I vent on my LJ.

[Vegan]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060125/people_nm/penn_dc

Actor Chris Penn dead, no sign of foul play-police

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Character actor Chris Penn, younger brother of Oscar-winner
Sean Penn, was found dead on Tuesday at an apartment near the Pacific Ocean in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica, police sources said.

No cause of death was immediately determined but there was no signs of foul play, the sources added.

A family spokeswoman confirmed the death and said the Penn family "would appreciate the media's respect of their privacy during this difficult time."

Penn, 43, was a character actor who appeared in dozens of films including "Reservoir Dogs," "Mullholland Falls" and the 2004 film "Starsky & Hutch."

In one of his best known roles, he played baby-faced criminal Nice Guy Eddie Cabot in director Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs." He also starred along with his brother in the 1986 film "At Close Range."

Recently, Penn voiced Officer Eddie Pulaski in the video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas."

Uh oh, can't wait till JT gets his hands on this one! GTA did it!

[vietgurl]

I was looking around at Fred Phelp's website and it's just....insanely disgusting.

[Skelah]

this guy is treating the hobby of playing video games as if were devil worshipers or at times as if hes racist and were all black..I hope his family if he even has one is very disapointed in him.

[TurkeyOnRye]

I was looking around at Fred Phelp's website and it's just....insanely disgusting.

I think everyone should see it. Not to spread the message of course, but to show everyone that there are people like this out there and to be ready for them.

[javeryh]

I think everyone should see it. Not to spread the message of course, but to show everyone that there are people like this out there and to be ready for them.

It's just sickening that there are people like this out there... I put people like him about a hair above rapists and child molestors on the "should burn in hell for all eternity if there was such a thing" scale of douchebags. I will never understand why people go out of their way to tell others how to live - who the fu.ck is he?

[electrictroy]

I hate Jackass Thompson. I think he's a rude, idiotic person who does not truly understand the Message that Jesus of Nazareth preached. However his statement, "The real tragedy here extends beyond the life and death of this one fellow. There are literally millions of young people and young adults whose despair is deepend by turning to the things of this world and then finding them meaningless."

...has some merit.

I too wasted a lot of time acquiring "things" like games, my favorite VHS tapes, new speakers, et cetera, and then I realized none of this "stuff" was making me happy. On the contrary, it was wasting all of my money & just sitting in my living room collecting dust. Worthless junk.


The person who committed suicide "posted a message in both forums detailing his intent to end his own life, citing overwhelming complications with school and finances," and it sounds like he too was not happy with all his material possessions (and financial complications probably = "excess debt from buying too much stuff").

Jackass Thompson is a lousy messenger, but his message, at least this one, has merit. And is worth listening to.

[mykevermin]

I know many people have very ambivalent about Michael Moore. During one of the seasons of his cable show "The Awful Truth," he followed the Westboro Baptist Church around to various protests (particularly those of gay men who died from AIDS) in a van.

A large, pink Winnebago called the "SodoMobile." That's comedy gold. While the vehicle was filled with the stereotypical kinds of homosexuals (think "To Wong Foo" or "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"), the segment was very very funny. Considering the lack of logic that pervades Phelps and his congregations' thinking, funny is all you can ask for.

But, a scraggly old man in a cowboy hat and Oakley subglasses (the 1989 kind, mind you) is pretty fucking funny, even in the absence of Michael Moore.

[TurkeyOnRye]

I know many people have very ambivalent about Michael Moore. During one of the seasons of his cable show "The Awful Truth," he followed the Westboro Baptist Church around to various protests (particularly those of gay men who died from AIDS) in a van.

A large, pink Winnebago called the "SodoMobile." That's comedy gold. While the vehicle was filled with the stereotypical kinds of homosexuals (think "To Wong Foo" or "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"), the segment was very very funny. Considering the lack of logic that pervades Phelps and his congregations' thinking, funny is all you can ask for.

But, a scraggly old man in a cowboy hat and Oakley subglasses (the 1989 kind, mind you) is pretty fucking funny, even in the absence of Michael Moore.

I agree that it's pretty funny from that stand point. (I chuckled when I read "SodoMobile"), but imagine yourself at the funeral of your best friend who died in Iraq, and they're there protesting, screaming about how your friend is burning in Hell and about how God hates your friend. That's what they're doing. And as much humor as you find in their random headlines and posts (some of them are just so out there, it's kinda funny) it makes me sick to my stomach to think that they can legally get away with it.

The Jack Thompson quote from earlier reminds me alot of what I've read at the WBC site...

[Kuma]

shit that sucks about Chris Penn