text:
Jack Thompson is insane. I'm making that statement boldly and probably with more evidence than a lot of the stuff you're about to read from Jack Thompson himself. I'm going to guess he has a narcissistic personality disorder. It's also possible that he's simply not very bright and compensates with spouting off nonsense. I'll let you be the judge.
Thompson has made it his personal crusade to bring down the violent video game industry. Any time a kid under the age of 18 does anything violent or criminal, all they have to do now is say "GTA made me do it", and they get free representation from Jack. He'll get on the press and get lots of coverage for his cause and threaten to sue Rockstar millions. To date, I haven't been able to find record of Thompson's cases actually going to trial. Needless to say, the definition of a crusade has changed a lot since our parent's time.
Thompson's argument is that video games are murder simulators. According to him, children lack the ability to distinguish violent fantasy from violent reality. So to a 14 year old, shooting an alien with a plasma gun is roughly equivalent to shooting an old lady with a revolver. Thompson claims he has scientific evidence of this. The problem Thompson has is that every study which tries to prove actual causation between games and violence comes up short. And this is the way it plays out in court:
"The issue is the causation. How do you prove the connection from the game to the violent act. Lawyers have tried [to prove the connection] but they haven't really succeeded yet." - CNN Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
So let's put that down right now. Thompson has no case. He's empty handed but full of words. The only case he'll ever have is by coercing a young kid into blaming a video game for his actions instead of taking responsibility for them. This is a disservice to every side of the argument. It hurts those hoping to curb violence in the media by reducing their cause to a one note media train whose only end will be to pad Thompson's wallet. Eventually Thompson alone will have created so much legal precedent that nobody will try to bring anything resembling such a case to trial. It hurts those in defense of video games by inappropriately branding them the cause of American violence. It hurts those effected by violence by robbing them of a real day in court.
Right now, Devin Thompson is awaiting trial for shooting two police officers and a dispatcher. Jack Thompson (clearly, no relation) has the families going after a game developer. Instead of the focus being on the kid, or the parents, or the actions of the officers that day - it will be on Rockstar and Take Two. And when Thompson loses this case, which he most likely will, everyone involved will be worse off thanks to the man.
CBSNews has recently interviewed Thompson, so let's cross-examine some of his statements. (Bold = Thompson)
I can tell you that some crimes would not occur but for the violent entertainment. For the families of the deceased, that is the only statistic that matters.
This is not a statistic, however, that Jack can actually prove. So it's really what one would normally call an opinion.
Armies have been known to go on rape rampages after battles because the violence stimulates sexual aggression. How lovely that GTA weds sex and violence in the same game.
So you see, in Jack's mind there is a direct analogy between a barbarian horde raping and pillaging a countryside and playing GTA. To him, there's a connection between the rape of Darfur and raising your wanted level in a video game. I think there is a person out there having trouble distinguishing fact from fiction - but I think that person is Jack Thompson.
The heads of six major health care organizations testified before Congress that there are "hundreds" of studies that prove the link. All the video game industry has are studies paid for by them, which are geared to find the opposite result. Lawyers call such experts "whores."
Actually, Jack, I'd call someone trying to profit off of an 18 year old cop killer a whore. But that's just me.
Jack is of course engaging in spin here. For the record, the testament of which he speaks is here. Nowhere in the document does it link video games to criminal behavior. It says that studies indicate that over time, they can lead to more aggressive behavior and desensitization. It also says, quite clearly:
We in no way mean to imply that entertainment violence is the sole, or even necessarily the most important factor contributing to youth aggression, anti-social attitudes, and violence. Family breakdown, peer influences, the availability of weapons, and numerous other factors may all contribute to these problems. Nor are we advocating restrictions on creative activity.
Somehow, I don't foresee Jack quoting that in the future. However, it's the underlying problem he has. By reducing the entire problem of violence into one issue he lets all the other issues off the hook. And he won't win on that issue because he's insane - so in the end, nobody will be to blame and we won't get anywhere with this. Jack will probably make some money though.
Of course, as you actually grow neural pathways called dendrites that enable you to perform more easily the physical acts of violence.
The way Jack puts it, it sounds like Rockstar is actually capable of altering your brain chemistry to make you into a serial killer. In truth, your brain is doing this kind of stuff all the time. Sure, it's easier to commit acts of violence as you get older. It's also easier to hold a beer, click the remote and dance the tango. While video games might improve your hand-eye coordination, there's no proof that Counter-Strike would improve your aim with a sniper rifle.
One instance is Pandemic Studio's Full Spectrum Warrior. If it works for soldiers, of course it works for teens. The video game industry has absolutely no rebuttal to that argument. NONE.
Really? I'll sell them one for free. The Army has used video games since Doom. They've used it to practice tactics and communication. They have never used it to make a more physically capable, violent soldier. That's just more of the old Thompson spin.
Yeah, playing Full Spectrum Warrior might make a teen a better soldier. But a) it's not going to cause him to start shooting people and b) it's not going to start replacing boot camp anytime soon - which is where all the things Jack accuses video games of actually take place.
You just watch. There is going to be a Columbine-times-10 incident, and everyone will finally get it. Either that, or some video gamer is going to go Columbine at some video game exec's expense or at E3, and then the industry will begin to realize that there is no place to hide, that it has trained a nation of Manchurian Children.
People, I couldn't make this up if I tried. Jack actually believes that the PlayStation 2 is a vehicle of child brainwashing and that the entire video game industry is one step away from footing the bill for the next great massacre.
Let's get that orientated. To Jack Thompson, a video game console is brainwashing your child. Through no fault of yours or the child's, the child will become a psychotic killing machine and go on a rampage. Without the console, this never would have happened.
That is insane.
Witch-hunters always like the black and white argument. As Thompson's own evidence indicates, the truth is much more grey. We deserve a more complicated, deeper discussion about violence in our society. I'm not going to say that entertainment and media might not play a role, but singling them out as the sole problem is an even greater travesty. And the only ones that will benefit will be the lawyers.
We have a couple more notable witch-hunt follow-ups here and here.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Quotes from Jack Thompson
Jack Thompson is insane. I'm making that statement boldly and probably with more evidence than a lot of the stuff you're about to read from Jack Thompson himself. I'm going to guess he has a narcissistic personality disorder. It's also possible that he's simply not very bright and compensates with spouting off nonsense. I'll let you be the judge.
Posted by Josh at 6:10 AM Share on Facebook
45 comments:
- Denis said...
Somehow, it makes me glad he's insane.
If he won somehow, it would be truly awful
- Monique Mendoza said...
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- Monique Mendoza said...
I am working with an Oakland, CA prosecutor in a murder trial in which the older gang members used GTA 3 to train teens to do carjackings and murders. The Army uses these games to break down the inhibition to kill of new recruits.You know, as someone who's played a number of games - fighting, racing and others - there's a large difference between driving a car, and playing Gran Turismo, kicking someone in the head, and playing Tekken 5 (I'm still waiting to godfist my roommate though), so the thought that GTA trains people to 'do carjackings' is ridiculous - it's absurd, it's beyond me how he could even argue that it's possible.
Buckley brought in a good point that I really appreciated, that many football and sports stars in general as associated with violent acts - be it rape, murder, etc - and yet, no one suggests that this violence is due to the sport, and further suggests that we end high school sports.
Thompson truly is a crackpot.
- Brian said...
Something a lot of people missed, is that CBS News actually cut out a question and an answer from the original Q&A with Thompson. In it, Thompson called the head of the ESA the Goebbels of the gaming industry.
I wrote up the details here: http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/editorials/esa-pressures-cbs-news-034398.php
- Jessica said...
I'm absolutely shocked that such a man exists.
There are hundreds of thousands of people who play video games out there, and yet, how many of them have gone berserk and killed someone in reality? The ratio is ridiculous.
While I understand why a person wants to change the violence in our society, I believe this Thompson fool could do a lot better putting all that energy into fighting a cause that's much more important. Like cancer. Something that kills *lots* of people, rather than drawing imaginary parallels to add money to his own accounts.
- Jonn Wood said...
I quoted you in my post about the issue; [link]
- Don said...
Unfortunately Thompson isn't a glory hound (or if he is it's a secondary goal), he's a True Believer. He's been involved in this kind of nonsense in other areas in Florida for years - his anti-porn/obscenity obsession peeks out a little in this interview and he's got a long history of whackyness in FL. You can read about a little of it here.
BTW, although he is a nut, the Kendall Coffey thing is 100% true - he bit a stripper on the ass and tried to cover it up. We grow em interesting in Florida - Carl Hiassen's novels are labeled fiction but they're damned accurate.
- Knuckles Dawson said...
Please note the important observation contained in this comment:Jack Thompson said: Sure, the sex and violence centers of the brain overlay one another, which is why the increasing mix of sex and violence is troubling. Armies have been known to go on rape rampages after battles because the violence stimulates sexual aggression. How lovely that GTA weds sex and violence in the same game. We are training a generation of teens to combine sex with violence, just what America needs. In response to: Does age or sex play a factor in violent, aggressive behavior? Alright. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the word "sex" in the context of the question regarding gender, and not intercourse? I mean, when you have "age" and "sex" in a question like that, it's referring to a demographic, not the relation of sexual behavior and violence. Doesn't that misunderstanding on Jack's part make him at the very least look foolish, and seeming to hear only what he wants to hear?
- Falen said...
I'd just like to leave a comment for every religious person that blames video games...its called original sin!
- Malthus said...
I thought it might be interesting to email Jack myself...so I did. If you wish to read what I sent him I just haphazardly uploaded a simple text version of it.
- Remlack said...
Intrestingly enough, I learned of Thompson while reading the latest Penny-Arcade newspost.
I see what he wants to do with his whole "Video Games spawn satanic children" spiel, or something akin to that; it's like he's trying to follow Lieberman (Senator Joe Lieberman, Gamer enemy extrodinaire--the one who wanted to ban video games following the infamous "Mortal Kombat Investigation"). His assertation of a disgruntled gamer causing "a Columbine-times-ten incident (which he has absolutely NO right to mention--the two students were acting on their own accord, not following instructions from any game) is stupid, and shows how much he flounders to try and put up a front for his cases.
I really can't see how playing a violent, M-rated game will change your brain chemistry either. Example--Conker's Bad Fur Day. The Sunflower and King Bee scene, to be precise. After playing CBFD, did I want to run out into a field and pollinate every sunflower in sight? No. And I realize that most of the games Thompson targets are with human characters, but according to him, every game with an M rating will forcibly change your mind.
He has no case. He's a hack as a lawyer, only because he tries to target something he himself doesn't truly understand. The people who commit violent crimes have their own agenda--video games are just the scapegoat that allows them to say, "Yes officers, I did horribly mutilate my little brother, and yes, I did steal that car, but Video Games brainwashed me into doing it." Instant protection by idiots who can't see past the dollar in front of their nose.
- puck said...
man yet again some one climbs up that sturdy crutch to blame some thing for American violence. it's movie it's comic books,it's video games, hey wait a second how come no one ever blames the media????
when will we hear the story of one teen shooting another becasue of all the violence on CNN??
- John said...
It's the standard "One Flew Over the Cucoo's Nest."
The "crazy's" rise to the top.
- Nathan said...
As someone who is actually in the Army, I am always amused when people refer to the amazingly lifelike videogames that we use to become mindless, cold-blooded killers. If such games exist, I need to get my hands on them, because they must be pretty damn good. There is a laughably large difference between being good with at Ghost Recon and being able to hit anything on the rifle range. The America's Army game comes a little close, because it's designed by the Army and geared towards realism, but even the colonel in charge of that development product admits that it's more of a public relations tool than an actual training or recruitment device.
What people like Thompson will never understand is that even if videogames could transfer combat abilities to the person playing (which trust me, they don't), it's not about the capability to inflict violence, but the choice to do so. My commander is a huge Metal Gear Solid fan. He also spent a year in Iraq doing stuff that desensitizes you a lot more than a PS2. Yet, amazingly enough, he's still a loving husband and a great guy, the kind you wouldn't mind babysitting your kids.
People who engage in indiscriminate violence do so because of a lack of impulse control. It's not about how many dangerous skills or resources they have accumulated, but simply that they are unused to being held accountable for their actions. What a surprise then that thanks to Thompson, they still don't have to be held accountable.
- Atomisk said...
I can say without a doubt that yes I am decensitized to violence because of Video Games, but that dosnt mean Im going to go on a rampage and kill everyone without feeling anything about it. In my opinion being decensitized to violence means that you are less likely to be horrified by choped off limbs on movies and whatnot, but going around and killing people is just insanity. Besides VG's dont train people to go kill. I could garantee you that if you put a gun in my hand I could unload an enitre clip at a firing range and not hit a single thing. There is a big difference bewteen shooting someone in a VG and shooting someone in reality and its called common sense. I could probably say that coming home, and playing Halo2 online and killing people there has prevented me from lashing out at classmates when they decide to pick on me or just act plain anoying in the classroom. But yes Jack Thompson in crazy. WHen he says the ESRB rating isnt working because parents buy M games for their 14 year old kids who have lost touch with reality already, and then the kida go and kill someone that its the publishers fault. Thats like saying that a dad went out and bought a gun, and beer for his kid to entertain him, but when the kid goes on a murderous rampage later it wasnt the dad's fault. And like the author of CTRL-ALT-DLT says in his response to the questions
Q: Is the self-imposed rating system for video games enough? Is the ESRB working? What is the relevance of a rating system for video games if the powers that be will black-list certain games because of their graphic content?
A: As with any rating system, it's only as good as the people who enforce it. There is no "magic system" that will automatically keep mature games out of the hands of kids. If we put an "Adults Only" tag on a video game, but then the parent still goes out and buys it for their child, or the store clerk still sells it to a minor, nobody turns and yells at the parent, or fires the store clerk. That same parent will even turn around and attack the video game companies for putting out a violent game, when it was their own ignorance that placed it into the hands of their child
- Publius Americanus said...
I would like to point out that there is some legitimate research showing that violent media can have different effects on abnormal persons than it has on normal persons.
An abnormal personality with a pre-existing propensity for violence can indeed become obsessed with any kind of violent image -- a poem, a movie, etc. -- and use it as a textbook of violence.
In particular, the research of Diana Russell, when applied to the FBI's annals of violent crime, is very revealing.
Sociologist David Finkelhor has developed a very useful multicausal theory to explain the occurrence of child sexual abuse (1984). According to Finkelhor's model, in order for child sexual abuse to occur, four conditions have to be met. First, someone has to want to abuse a child sexually. Second, this person's internal inhibitions against acting out this desire have to be undermined. Third, this person's social inhibitions against acting out this desire (e.g., fear of being caught and punished) have to to be undermined. Fourth, the would-be perpetrator has to undermine or overcome his or her chosen victim's capacity to avoid or resist the sexual abuse.
According to my theory, these conditions also have to be met in order for rape, battery, and other forms of sexual assault on adult women occur (Russell, 1984). Although my theory can be applied to other forms of sexual abuse and violence against women besides rape, the following formulation of it will focus on rape because most of the research relevant to my theory has been on this form of sexual assault.
In Sexual Exploitation (1984) I suggest many factors that may predispose a large number of males in the United States to want to rape or assault women sexually. Some examples discussed in this book are (1) biological factors, (2) childhood experiences of sexual abuse, (3) male sex-role socialization, (4) exposure to mass media that encourage rape, and (5) exposure to pornography. Here I will discuss only the role of pornography.
Although women have been known to rape both males and females, males are by far the predominant perpetrators of sexual assault as well as the biggest consumers of pornography. Hence, my theory will focus on male perpetrators.
A diagrammatic presentation of this theory appears in Figure 1. As previously noted, in order for rape to occur, a man must not only be predisposed to rape, but his internal and social inhibitions against acting out this rape desires must be undermined. My theory, in a nutshell, is that pornography (1) predisposes some males to want to rape women and intensifies the predisposition in other males already so predisposed; (2) undermines some male's internal inhibitions against acting out their desire to rape; and (3) undermines some male's social inhibitions against acting out their desire to rape.
And note:
Given the intense debate about whether or not pornography plays a causal role in rape, it is surprising that so few of those engaged in it ever state what they mean by "cause." A definition of the concept of simple causation follows:
An event (or events) that precedes and results in the occurrence of another event. Whenever the first event (the cause) occurrs, the second event (the effect) necessarily or inevitably follows. Moreover, in simple causation the second event does not occur unless the first event has occurred. Thus the cause is both the SUFFICIENT CONDITION and the NECESSARY CONDITION for the occurrence of the effect (Theodorson and Theodorson, 1979).
By this definition, pornography clearly does not cause rape, as it seems safe to assume that some pornography consumers do not rape women, and that many rapes are unrelated to pornography. However, the concept of multiple causation is more relevant to this question than simple causation.
With the conception of MULTIPLE CAUSATION, various possible causes may be seen for a given event, any one of which may be a sufficient but not necessary condition for the occurrence of the effect, or a necessary but not sufficient condition. In the case of multiple causation, then, the given effect may occur in the absence of all but one of the possible sufficient but not necessary causes; and, conversely, the given effect would not follow the occurrence of some but not all of the various necessary but not sufficient causes (Theodorson and Theodorson, 1979).
As I have already presented the research on males' proclivity to rape, I will next discuss some of the evidence that pornography can be a sufficient (though not necessary) condition for males to desire to rape (see the list on the far right of Figure 1). I will mention when the research findings I describe apply to violent pornography and when to pornography that appears to the viewer to be non-violent.
More information can be found at:
- XenoManx said...
Okay, if this idiot really does believe that video game violence somehow causes otherwise rational people to immitate things they would otherwise never do, why is he wasting his time on small fries immitating Tommy Vercetti when there are so many old 'Scorced Earth' players out there possibly risking the destruction of all humanity?
That being said, perhaps he would feel better if his victims had been stoned to death or crucified, to say nothing of killing with the jawbone of an ass, because the other idiots were forced to get their 'ideas' from wholesome sources like in good book? In fact, one could easily make the argument that the descriptions of death and violence in religious scripts are causitivly linked to immeasurably more killings than any video game (I don't mean to pick on any religion more than any other, but aren't the concepts of martyrdom and jihad just perfect examples of this?) so while we're gutting the first amendment, why not ban organized religion as well?
There's still the classics as well. Who could forget Shapespeare's Tidus Andronicus wherein two brothers rape a young girl and cut out her toung so she can't identify them? I guess all literature is subject to censorship as well.
When you think about it, I'm sure people have been raping and murdering each other since long before the advent of the written word, so free will has to go as well. The fact of the matter is, thats just not possible. Furthmore, taking away free will, like all of these rhetorical infringements mentioned above or any real infringements dreamed up by radicals like Jack Thompson, would just be wrong, regardless of any possible benefits. If he can't see that then he is in no position to lecture anybody on issues of morality.
- Josh said...
jack's email is : email@example.com
let's all have fun.
- Josh said...
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- Rajin said...
i belive it should be "it hurts those affected." instead of effected.
- Rajin said...
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- Rajin said...
It hurts those effected by violence by robbing them of a real day in court.
- Rufus_Kain said...
"Of course, as you actually grow neural pathways called dendrites that enable you to perform more easily the physical acts of violence."The average joe might believe this, but the truth is that a dendrite is the receptor site of every single neuron in the brain. You are born with as many as you will ever have, and they do not involve violence directly. Though without them, the brain could not communicate with the rest of your body or even within itself.
Thompson is just working on elevating lawyers past the point of ambulance chasing. The new legal fad is to follow the car as it leaves the blockbuster parking lot.
- Steven said...
So, Jack Thompson is a nutcase, that much is glaringly obvious.
But, speaking as a gamer in his 30's, who has been playing games for years and years, whose favorite games are First and Third Person Shooters like Bf1942 and GTA:SA, I can tell you that I am not, by any means, desensitized to violence.
I have seen a single dead body-aside from in a mortuary_in the span of my lifetime, and that has haunted me more then I care to admit for the last 10 years. In contrast, I have killed thousands upon thousands of people online and not had trouble sleeping. How does that work? Could it because-wait for it-I know the difference between "games" and "reality"?
The problem with an argument like what he is saying is that he's trying to remove the responsiblity from the parents. Also, notice his love of the blanket statement? "Are parents paying asttention to what their kids are playing?" he is asked. "Nope" is his one word response.
Speaking as a parent with a child who plays video games, I can say, unequivocally, I VERY much pay attention to what my daughter plays, and I live 3000 miles away. I know her mother does as well, because we're gamers ourselves, and there are some things that we know are not appropriate for her to play.
What the REAL problem here is, that kids are growing up today with no supervision and interaction from their parents. That's because those self-same parents were latchkey kids growing up, and so they have no real idea how to ineract with their own children. "I was left to fend for myself when I was their age," they think, "and I turned out alright!" Meanwhile, their kid's in the bedroom, playing doctor Frankenstein with the Bratz dolls or watching internet porn or sucking down prescription painkillers because the parent can't be bothered to even make an attempt to interact with their kid because they barely even know how.
Besides, Thompson seems to be forgetting something important about "Manhunt", his secondary target: that game SUCKED. And why? Because there was no real storyline, the graphics were terrible, and the enjoyment factor was minimal at best. It's not really that fun to kill mindlessly in a video game.
Plus, let's look at the GTA series from a serious perspective for a moment: what could you learn about crime-indeed, life itself-if you did it solely based on GTA?
All cars either A: have the keys in them or B: can be hotwired and driven off in a matter of seconds.
Carjacking someone is easy because, no matter how big or small you are, you'll be able to pull them out of the car and get into it inside of 5 seconds.
You can be shot, stabbed, blown up, and fall off of a really high building multiple times; so long as you've got full health and are wearing body armor, you'll survive just fine.
If you have the cops after you, ducking into a nearby pay n'spray will instantly grant you powers of invisibility and you'll be able to walk into a police station without any further incident.
No matter how many times you shoot someone, so long as an ambulance is nearby, they can be revived.
Flipping a car upside down means it will explode.
Ditto shooting the gas tank.
A large portion of the population is armed, regardless of age, gender, career, or location.
There are only 10 radio stations, and they play the same 10 songs over and over again. *wait, that's actually true*
I'm sure I missed something, but the point is, GTA is no more a murder simulator than listening to Black Sabbath would make someone want to go burn people at the stake. If those things happen, then the problem lies with the person doing it, not the external stimuli.
And, finally, we are talking about a man who actually used the expression "rue the day" in the first paragraph. Seriously, how can you take a guy like that with a straight face?
- Zifnab said...
To be fair, while this guy may be a nut, he's a nut with a point. To say that video games don't at least desensitize people indicates that you just don't understand the impact the games have on you or that you just won't admit it.
So is the video game the direct cause of child violence? No, of course not. We all know tons of people - sane and rational people - of all ages that play video games on a daily basis. I've seen people curl up playing Soul Caliber or Warcraft or Halo for hours and not finish the games with any more or less desire to commit some hanous act of violence.
That said, between violent video games, easy access to drugs and alcohol, poor parenting, and weak firearm restrictions this country has cooked up a cocktail for disaster. Video games are only one ingredient, but after you've shot someone in the head for the thousandth time in Counter Strike, the trigger on your friend's 9mm feels just a little bit lighter.
Everyone has to take responsibility here. While by-and-large games don't make people violent, many go too far. Some of the more graphic displays in GTA, Mortal Kombat, Soldier of Fortune, and the like really do go to far. Parents need to take care of their kids, but the video game industry also needs to watch out for itself. Same goes with retailers. You wouldn't feel right seeing a ten-year-old getting a lap dance from a stripper, why should you feel any better if the stripper is digital?
Responsibility cuts both ways. Everyone needs to look out for their own. And if anyone tries to dodge the bullet - parents, siblings, schools and teachers, police, retailers, and game manufactorers - they need to be brought back in line.
Everyone's fucked up. Everyone deserves a hard slap across the face.
- heavyweather said...
Fellow blogger, thank you.
It can't be said enough that these people are blithering idiots.
- Tom said...
Jack Thompson is the ultimate example of a fanboy, just, you know, without the games. I'd be willing to bet he's never played any of the games he claims to know so much about, under the pretense that he would end up being brainwashed, or worse, himself.
- Tony said...
Excellent post, man. I posted a round-up of comments from other bloggers on my site, with some of my comments here. You really did a bang-up job on this, I tip my hat to you. You, sir, are a blogging genius.
I'll be watching tomorrow's 60-minutes episode with trepidation and antcipation.
- CrystalBlaze said...
i belive it should be "it hurts those affected." instead of effected.
# posted by Rajin : 11:39 AM Actually, 'effected' maakes for a dandy Freudian slip on Thompson, as his so-called case is all effected, not about actually affected folks. They were weak and violent and troubled before they played the games, just as the Heavy Metal listening folks didn't kill themselves because of Metal.
Guys, it's just our turn. It was Gaming on paper in the 80's, Music in the 90's, and for that matter cartoons with actual stress or non-happies in the 70's!
It's video games now. America has never cease the witch hunts, and never will. They just change what defines a witch, and get back to burning away!
- Kirk said...
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- Kirk said...
As a psychology student and gamer I've studied a lot of the research on violent behavior and video games. What I've found is video games do make people violent, sort of. Just like any other competitive activity agressive behavior increases while playing games. Video games don't make people any more violent than a game of soccer or basketball.
- ampers& said...
At first I only thought he was misguided, but you've convinced me he's insane. Great work, good read.
- XenoManx said...
i belive it should be "it hurts those affected." instead of effected.
# posted by Rajin : 11:39 AM Actually, 'effected' maakes for a dandy Freudian slip on Thompson, as his so-called case is all effected, not about actually affected folks. They were weak and violent and troubled before they played the games, just as the Heavy Metal listening folks didn't kill themselves because of Metal.
# posted by crystalblaze : 10:53 PM
I beleive the quote rajin was referring to was the one by Josh earlier in this blog, not an actual Jack Thompson quote. Although I do agree with everything else you said.
Additionally, regarding steven's post at 12:31 PM, when he said "I'm sure I missed something," I think that something is you can easily outrun a speeding vehicle over short distances, and of course the biggest one of all, if you get caught you can just reset and try again, no harm no foul.
- dr_draik said...
I'll be honest. Playing computer games has desensitised me to violence. What a blow. So, if someone gets shot in front of me, I won't stand around gaping, but be able to help them. But wait, that's very unlikely, so maybe if someone breaks a limb? Being desensitised to violence (and thus blood and gore, damn those games!), I will be able to help them, instead of being squeamish about the blood. If I got hold of a gun, went utterly crazy and began shooting everyone in sight, even though my current mental state was not at all conducive to rational thought, and what normally applied in logical processes would no longer be as important, having played video games would OBVIOUSLY allow me to keep attacking and killing people, instead of immediately snapping back from my insane state of mind and beginning to cry.
If video games kill people, then so does Jack Thompson. After all, all publicity is good publicity, and his crusade brings video games a lot of publicity, and obviously create a lot of interest in them, which means that more people will play terrible, violent video games, and thus be desensitised to violence, which ALWAYS leads to insane killing sprees. Always. Of course...
Lets look at another point - he describes video games as 'murder simulators'. Right. So lets sue Tom Clancy. I'm sorry? You don't see the connection? Well, in Tom Clancy's books he has told us how to make a nuclear bomb, where to get the equipment and the expertise, and how to smuggle it into the US. Or, we could consider the detailed plan of spying on someone, and attacking their home even while protected by Secret Service agents! And who could forget how to ruin the West's economy in one blow! I mean, he's positively Columbine times a thousand!
If anyone reading this has missed the logic, then you're in the same boat as me. Personally, I find reading a well written book as absorbing, if not more, than a computer game. Should we ban all books? Come now, let's be logical and consider the real world, rather than that of a single-track, closeminded, witch-hunting (the parallel is unbelievable), attention grabbing (and please note, I've given him the benefit of the doubt on money-grubbing) lawyer.
Ultimately, violence rests on a huge number of issues. Genetic predisposition, childhood guidance, media, weapon and opportunity availability, and motive all combine to form a bridge out over the abyss (if I want to take a page out of Jack's book and use lovely, emotive language). In my opinion, any one of those requirements being missing would prevent the violence. So instead of destroying legitimate entertainment, why not establish a culture of parent-child involvement or simply properly regulate public and criminal weapon distribution? It is hard work, certainly, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done - after all, stopping Hitler was hard work, and some heroic people did that...
- miklaw said...
Why doesn't he blame potatoe farmers? I'm sure that all of these kids who have committed videogame violence have also eaten potatoes. In fact, I bet that more violent criminals have eaten potatoes than played video games.
- lull said...
I can see how some people might think that playing video games can cause desensitization towards violence. Several people have even commented that they believe this to be true of themselves. Perhaps it is true. I believe however that if it does do this it is on such a small scale as to have no real effect. There is a profound difference, which I believe may be difficult for some to truly understand, between seeing someone shot in the head right in front of you in a video game and having the same thing happen in real life. I've been playing video games for about 15 years now and cannot recall ever having felt truly bad about violence that I have committed or seen committed in a game. If I were to experience something similar to one of any number of situations that I have played through in many games I'm certain that it would have serious and long lasting effects on my life. As an example, I would like to draw attention to a comment made by someone else earlier.
I have seen a single dead body-aside from in a mortuary_in the span of my lifetime, and that has haunted me more then I care to admit for the last 10 years. In contrast, I have killed thousands upon thousands of people online and not had trouble sleeping.
- NoRealLife2 said...
I am a dedicated Sims2 fan, and spend quite a bit of time on their BBS. Talk of Jack has dominated for the last 2 days, and this morning I read the Gamespot article. This guy doesn't have his facts straight, so I politely and professionally emailed him. He immediately replied 4 times, threatening me, using vulgar language, and calling me names! He has emailed my emails to Hillary Clinton, Lieberman, and others, so when he emailed me that he prayed I wouldn't have more children, I forwarded everything to Clinton, Lieberman, and all the rest! Stupid jerk!
- AssaultOnFreeSpeech said...
Does anyone else see the plain as day resemblance to Josef Stalin? Jack Thompson's assault on free speech (and human nature) is almost as bad as Stalin's communist propaganda.
Thompson refuses to acknowledge his opponents, creates false truths, and tries to grab his audiences' attention using popular buzz words.
Somebody needs to expose his lies and present this information to the same audience he is appealing to. That is the only way to catch this neo-Stalinist in his game.
- TheClinicallySaneForTheDisbarringOfJackThompson said...
I would like to say hello to you all, and read my first post. I loook forward to some fairly intelligent conversation, some of my views on Jack Thompson that havent already been posted here, can be found in my first post. Thank you.
- TheClinicallySaneForTheDisbarringOfJackThompson said...
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- collova said...
As a survivor of the Columbine school shootings, I am personally appauled at the usage of the Columbine as a verb by Jack Thompson. We are not a statistic, we are people and that was a school, it shouldnt be used as someone to "Columbine" somewhere. How dare you Jack Thompson. I am also been a gamer before and after that horrific horrific event. Id like you to tell me im desensitized to violence.
- Boomer85 said...
"Dear Mr Thompson,
You sir, are a jackass. I live in the United Kingdom so do not think about threatening me with any form of legal action as It will not hold up in the court of law in a country where we use more than heresay and scarmongering to determin facts.
First of all how DARE you mention Columbine. Do you know the families, were you adversly affected? Do you even know what the 2 kids plans were? I didnt thinks so, because if you did you want not correlate the killings to video games, as they HAD NO RELATION TO EACH OTHER. You say videogames are bad and evil, well If we were to create an perfect game, of no violence and no sex, no bad language and no mature content what would it be? It would be a pile of steaming cow shit. Mature audiences would turn away from such drivel and there would be no more games.
Why have you chosen video games as your personal crusade? Do books not offer graphic depictions of violence and sex? Have you ever read any of Stevn Kings novels? Even your prectious bible talks about crucifiction, on the mound where Christ was crucified, there was defication, stagnant ground from the dead bodies and blood from the wounds. Sounds nice doesnt it?
Only in such a country as the US could a complete tool such as yourself gain any backing or momentum. How dare you try and parry the blame onto video games, when it is the families or the people who have commited the attrocities fault.
I hope you realise that no-one takes you serious in anyway, you are the laughing stock of the internet. People actually like listening to what you have to say, so when you open your mouth you make everyone laugh so much that people now quote your innapropriate and quite often wrong opinions. Which is to say all that they are. You have no science backing, you have no real evidence, just heresay and opinons.
I bet you love to hear the sound of the cash draw, because we can all see that that is all this is, a money making scheme.
Please reply, I would love to hear what you say on the matter, It is most interesting to hear what someone has to say about videogames when they have never played a videogame in their life. If you had then you would know that violence is in human nature and that letting it off in video games is far better than real life. It is the people who have a problem in the first place, be it mental or social that go and commit these crimes.
As i said, shame on you for mentioning Columbine - mere scaremongering, using an image of violence and videogames to creat hype.
Yours sincerly,
Mr Kite gamer of 12 years and have never had an incling to create an effegy out of someones skull then drink the blood of my enemies and random children I have slaughtered to fulfil my sexual desires.
p.s. I cant wait to hear what you have to say about the game prey!!"
This is just the first of many e-mails that I am sending to this prick. You have some real nutters in your country, and this is what everyone needs to do, e-mail the fruitballs letting them know that they are alone in their fight for whtever it is they are fighting for!!
- Rob W said...
"If we were to create an perfect game, of no violence and no sex, no bad language and no mature content what would it be?"
It would be Pac-Man. Or Tetris. Neither violent, nor sexual, and no foul language in sight.
Thompson talks about the "number of violent games" as units shipped - presumably, because this vaguely indicates the number of people playing.
I think we can fairly GUARANTEE that pretty much everyone who has contributed to the unit count of GTA has played Pac-Man and/or Tetris, and besides those people, there's everyone ELSE who has played the latter two games without EVER touching GTA.
The picture's there, hanging on the wall, right next to the writing.
- Unknown said...
It may just be me, but maybe, just maybe, Jack Thompson overlooked the fact that Tetris is a game that practices suicide bombing. Who knows, maybe he'll draw the line between lining up blocks with a little cheezy explosion sound and, excuse my comaprison, flying a plane into the World Trade Centres. The highjackers must have been practicing Tetris for years!
- ken said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.


text:
Lake Secession, South Carolina
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Baron has always been serving others before his own interests. His twin brother, Brock, was born mentally retarded. He endured the loss of all 658 of his co-workers at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. on 9/11. Baron graduated from the University of Arizona on a full academic scholarship (for grades and philanthropic commitments) from the University of Arizona.
Baron also earned an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, where he has been asked to serve on several Boards, serving the interests of future international students and alumni around the world.
His vast professional career has included being a bond trader, institutional equity sales-trader, environmental consultant, training & development coach, commercial and residential real estate agent and acquisitions director. His commitment to the communities he serves and philanthropic fundraising have included: Cystic Fibrosis, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Boys & Girls Clubs, Scottsdale Active 20/30 Club (where he served as Events Chairman for two consecutive terms).
Baron holds the highest standards of personal and professional ethics, works tenaciously as a creative and collaborative partner. His passion and love for people have brought him here to serve you and your interests as Assemblyman for the 62nd Congressional District of the State of California.


text:
Stop This Outrageous Purge (STOP)
A hastily formed organization created during the "Lost Year" of 1958–59—in which Little Rock (Pulaski County) public schools were closed in the wake of the desegregation crisis at Little Rock Central High School—Stop This Outrageous Purge (STOP) emerged as a powerful local counterweight to segregationists. The group successfully challenged the dominance of segregationists on the Little Rock School Board, and their efforts marked a turning point in the city's desegregation controversy.
In September 1958, citing the recent passage of state laws designed to avoid further integration, Governor Orval Faubus closed Little Rock's four high schools: Central High, Hall High, Little Rock Technical High, and Horace Mann. Black and white students were thus denied public education for an entire school year. This only served to exacerbate racial tensions within the city, dividing segregationists, integrationists, and moderates. The latter group—which did not necessarily support integration but instead opposed Faubus's flouting of federal courts—formed the core of STOP.
On May 8, 1959, after moderate board members had walked out of the meeting in protest, segregationist board members held a rump session to fire forty-four teachers whom they believed to be supporters of integration and thereby a threat to the status quo. The dismissal of these teachers touched a nerve among many in Little Rock's business and civic community, most of whom had been reluctant to speak out during the Central High crisis. Roughly 180 Little Rock residents attended a meeting at the Union Bank Building to organize a recall effort aimed at ousting segregationists from the school board. STOP emerged out of this meeting. Many of its members were the husbands of members of the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (WEC), which had stridently opposed Governor Faubus's decision to close Little Rock schools. Irene Samuel, a prominent member of the WEC, served as STOP's executive secretary. Vivion Brewer, Pat Murphy, Adolphine Terry, and Gaston Williamson, along with Samuel, were among the key members of the WEC.
As STOP began a petition drive to garner mass support for a recall, a group known as the Committee to Retain Our Segregated Schools (CROSS) formed in opposition to STOP. CROSS launched its own effort to recall the three remaining moderate board members. On May 25, 1959, the recall vote was held, resulting in a narrow victory for STOP. The three moderate board members were retained by margins ranging from 50.8 percent to 52.4 percent, and the board's three segregationists were removed from the board by equally tight margins. As Bob Douglas, managing editor of the Arkansas Gazette at the time, later related, STOP's victory in the recall marked the first real setback for Governor Faubus: "Although he went on to remain in the governor's chair for a long, long time…after that he never had the power that he'd had."
On June 11, 1959, the Pulaski County Board of Election Commissioners appointed three new members to the Little Rock School Board, thus shifting control of public schools toward moderates. Out of the forty-four teachers and administrators who had been fired, thirty-nine were rehired. A week later, the U.S. District Court declared the 1958 closing of schools to be unconstitutional, and in accordance with this ruling, the Little Rock School District announced that schools would re-open in the fall of 1959. Although STOP soon disbanded, many of its members continued to actively participate in Little Rock politics.
While STOP achieved its immediate goal of reversing the dismissal of teachers, the group also posed a direct challenge to segregation in general and helped awaken the previously dormant business community of Little Rock to the economic consequences of sustaining school segregation.
For additional information:
Jacoway, Elizabeth. Turn Away Thy Son: Little Rock, the Crisis That Shocked the Nation. New York: Free Press, 2007.
Kirk, John A. Redefining the Color Line: Black Activism in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1940–1970. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2002.
Miller, Laura A. Fearless: Irene Gaston Samuel and the Life of a Southern Liberal. Little Rock: Center for Arkansas Studies, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2002.
Murphy, Sara. Breaking the Silence: Little Rock's Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools, 1958–1963. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1997.
The Lost Year Project. http://www.thelostyear.com/ (accessed August 11, 2023).
Brent E. Riffel
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
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text:
WJ Grand Cherokee Moog Spring Isolator package
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text:
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High-quality prints are available in your choice of two beautiful finishes, ready to put in your favorite frame.
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text:
America by Joseph Heller
"America," he said, "will lose the war. And Italy will win it"
"America is the strongest and most prosperous nation on earth," Nately informed him with lofty fervor and dignity. "And the American fighting man is second to none."
"Exactly," agreed the old man pleasantly, with a hint of taunting amusement. "Italy, on the other hand, is one of the least prosperous nations on earth. And the Italian fighting man is probably second to all. And that's exactly why my country is doing so well in this war while your country is doing so poorly."
Nately guffawed with surprise, then blushed apologetically for his impoliteness. "I'm sorry I laughed at you," he said sincerely, and he continued in a tone of respectful condescension. "But Italy was occupied by the Germans and is now being occupied by us. You don't call that doing very well, do you?"
"But of course I do," exclaimed the old man cheerfully. "The Germans are being driven out, and we are still here. In a few years you will be gone, too, and we will still be here. You see, Italy is really a very poor and weak country, and that's what makes us so strong. Italian soldiers are not dying any more. But American and German soldiers are. I call that doing extremely well. Yes, I am quite certain that Italy will survive this war and still be in existence long after your own country has been destroyed."
Nately could scarcely believe his ears. He had never heard such shocking blasphemies before, and he wondered with instinctive logic why G-men did not appear to lock the traitorous old man up. "America is not going to be destroyed " he shouted passionately.
"Never?" prodded the old man softly. "Well…" Nately faltered.
The old man laughed indulgently, holding in check a deeper, more explosive delight. His goading remained gentle. "Rome was destroyed, Greece was destroyed, Persia was destroyed, Spain was destroyed. All great countries are destroyed. Why not yours? How much longer do you really think your own country will last? Forever? Keep in mind that the earth itself is destined to be destroyed by the sun in twenty-five million years or so."
Nately squirmed uncomfortably. "Well, forever is a long time, I guess."
"A million years?" persisted the jeering old man with keen, sadistic zest. "A half million? The frog is almost five hundred million years old. Could you really say with much certainty that America, with all its strength and prosperity, with its fighting man that is second to none, and with its standard of living that is the highest in the world, will last as long as… the frog?"
"Well, frankly, I don't know how long America is going to last," he proceeded dauntlessly. "I suppose we can't last forever if the world itself is going to be destroyed some day. But I do know that we're going to survive and triumph for a long, long time."
"For how long?" mocked the profane old man with a gleam of malicious elation. "Not even as long as the frog ?"
"Much longer than you or me," Nately blurted out lamely.
"Oh, is that all? That won't be very much longer then, considering that you're so gullible and brave and that I am already such an old, old man."
"How old are you ?" Nately asked, growing intrigued and charmed with the old man in spite of himself.
"A hundred and seven." The old man chuckled heartily at Nately's look of chagrin. "I see you don't believe that either."
"I don't believe anything you tell me," Nately replied, with a bashful mitigating smile. "The only thing I do believe is that America is going to win the war."
"You put so much stock in winning wars," the grubby iniquitous old man scoffed. "The real trick lies in losing wars, in knowing which wars can be lost, Italy has been losing wars for centuries, and just see how splendidly we've done nonetheless. France wins wars and is in a continual state of crisis. Germany loses and prospers. Look at our own recent history. Italy won a war in Ethiopia and promptly stumbled into serious trouble. Victory gave us such insane delusions of grandeur that we helped start a world war we hadn't a chance of winning. But now that we are losing again, everything has taken a turn for the better, and we will certainly come out on top again if we succeed in being defeated."
Nately gaped at him in undisguised befuddlement. "Now I really don't understand what you're saying. You talk like a madman."
"But I live like a sane one. I was a fascist when Mussolini was on top, and I am an anti-fascist now that he has been deposed. I was fanatically pro-German when the Germans were here to protect us against the Americans, and now that the Americans are here to protect us against the Germans I am fanatically pro-American. I can assure you, my outraged young friend"- the old man's knowing, disdainful eyes shone even more effervescently as Nately's stuttering dismay increased-"that you and your country will have a no more loyal partisan in Italy than me-but only as long as you remain in Italy. "
"But," lately cried out in disbelief, "you're a turncoat! A time-server! A shameful, unscrupulous opportunist!"
"I am a hundred and seven years old," the old man reminded him suavely.
"Don't you have any principles?"
"Of course not."
"No morality?"
"Oh, I am a very moral man," the villainous old man assured him with satiric seriousness, stroking the bare hip of a buxom black-haired girl with pretty dimples who had stretched herself out seductively on the other arm of his chair. He grinned at Nately sarcastically as he sat between both naked girls in smug and threadbare splendor, with a sovereign hand on each.
"I can't believe it," Nately remarked grudgingly, trying stubbornly not to watch him in relationship to the girls. "I simply can't believe it."
"But it's all perfectly true. When the Germans marched into the city, I danced in the streets like a youthful ballerina and shouted, 'Heil Hitler!' until my lungs were hoarse. I even waved a small Nazi flag that I had snatched away from a beautiful little girl while her mother was looking the other way. When the Germans left the city, I rushed out to welcome the Americans with a bottle of excellent brandy and a basket of flowers. The brandy was for myself, of course, and the flowers were to sprinkle upon our liberators. There was a very stiff and stuffy old major riding in the first car, and I bit him squarely in the eye with a red rose. A marvelous shot! You should have seen him wince."
Nately gasped and was on his feet with amazement, the blood draining from his cheeks. "Major – de Coverley!" he cried.
"Do you know him?" inquired the old man with delight.
"What a charming coincidence !"
Nately was too astounded even to hear him. "So you're the one who wounded Major – de Coverley!" he exclaimed in horrified indignation. "How could you do such a thing?"
The fiendish old man was unperturbed. "How could I resist, yon mean. You should have seen the arrogant old bore, sitting there so sternly in that car like the Almighty Himself, with his big, rigid head and his foolish, solemn face. What a tempting target he made! I got him in the eye with an American Beauty rose. I thought that was most appropriate. Don't you?"
"That was a terrible thing to do!" Nately shouted at him reproachfully. "A vicious and criminal thing! Major – de Coverley is our squadron executive officer!"
"Is he?" teased the unregenerate old man, pinching his pointy jaw gravely in a parody of repentance. "In that case, you must give me credit for being impartial. When the Germans rode in, I almost stabbed a robust young Oberleutnant to death with a sprig of edelweiss."
Nately was appalled and bewildered by the abominable old man's inability to perceive the enormity of his offense. "Don't you realize what you've done?" he scolded vehemently. "Major – de Coverley is a noble and wonderful person, and everyone admires him. "
"He's a silly old fool who really has no right acting like a silly young fool. Where is he today? Dead?"
Nately answered softly with somber awe. "Nobody knows. He seems to have disappeared."
"You see? Imagine a man his age risking what little life he has left for something so absurd as a country."
Nately was instantly up in arms again. "There is nothing so absurd about risking your life for your country!" he declared.
"Isn't there?" asked the old man. "What is a country? A country is a piece of land surrounded on all sides by boundaries, usually unnatural. Englishmen are dying for England, Americans are dying for America, Germans are dying for Germany, Russians are dying for Russia. There are now fifty or sixty countries fighting in this war. Surely so many countries can't all be worth dying for."
"Anything worth living for," said Nately, "is worth dying for."
"And anything worth dying for," answered the sacrilegious old man, "is certainly worth living for. You know, you're such a pure and naive young man that I almost feel sorry for you. How old are you? Twenty-five? Twenty-six?"
"Nineteen," said Nately. "I'll be twenty in January."
"If you live." The old man shook his head, wearing, for a moment, the same touchy, meditating frown of the fretful and disapproving old woman. "They are going to kill you if you don't watch out, and I can see now that you are not going to watch out. Why don't you use some sense and try to be more like me? You might live to be a hundred and seven, too."
"Because it's better to die on one's feet than live on one's knees," Nately retorted with triumphant and lofty conviction.
"I guess you've heard that saying before."
"Yes, I certainly have," mused the treacherous old man, smiling again. "But I'm afraid you have it backward. It is better to live on one's feet than die on one's knees. That is the way the saying goes."
"Are you sure?" Nately asked with sober confusion. "It seems to make more sense my way."
"No, it makes more sense my way. Ask your friends."
(Joseph Heller, Catch-22)


text:
OptimusLaw® DE Lawyer DirectoryCivil Rights Law
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text:
{outfit} Camping
Animal Tee: Madewell, Shorts: rag & bone c/o Marshalls, Sunglasses: Cole Haan c/o Marshalls, Bikini: XOXO (TJ Maxx - old), BOOM Sweatshirt: 3.1 Phillip Lim x Target, Jeans: Target
These photos have me all excited to go camping again this weekend (also, you look way cuter camping that I ever manage to me...with me it's usually all grubby sweats and no hair brushing all the time in the woods!
Courtney ~ Sartorial Sidelines
You do know how to make camping chic - I love your animal tee, how perfect!
Chic on the Cheap
You are so cute!! Hope you had a good time!!
How fun, man I have not been camping in forever, need to! Love the BOOM sweatshirt in the woods.
XO Chelsea http://www.shesaidhesaidfashion.com/
You have to be the best dressed camper I've ever seen :)
How adorbs! Cute Madewell top.
Aww I'm terrible at camping but this looks like so much fun! Love your safari top :) really cute!
Haaappy Summer!
Hailes Hearts Fashion.
Great photos!!!!
You look fantastic!!!!!
these tops are so awesome! I love them! and boom, so fun!
Fantastic outfits.. i love this post!!
BOOM ! I love that sweatshirt.ReplyDelete
Haha you are such a goof Megan!! I can't believe you go camping every year - I've never really been properly, closest I've come is glamping ;)ReplyDelete


text:
ARP(4) BSD Programmer's Manual ARP(4)
arp - Address Resolution Protocol
pseudo-device ether
The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is used to dynamically map between Internet host addresses and Ethernet addresses. It is used by all of the Ethernet interface drivers. It is not specific to Internet protocols or to Ethernet, but this implementation currently supports only that combi- nation. ARP caches Internet-Ethernet address mappings. When an interface requests a mapping for an address not in the cache, ARP queues the message which requires the mapping and broadcasts a message on the associated network requesting the address mapping. If a response is provided, the new map- ping is cached and any pending message is transmitted. ARP will queue at most one packet while waiting for a response to a mapping request; only the most recently transmitted packet is kept. If the target host does not respond after several requests, the host is considered to be down for a short period (normally 20 seconds), allowing an error to be returned to transmission attempts during this interval. The error is EHOSTDOWN for a non-responding destination host, and EHOSTUNREACH for a non-responding router. The ARP cache is stored in the system routing table as dynamically creat- ed host routes. The route to a directly attached Ethernet network is in- stalled as a "cloning" route (one with the RTF_CLONING flag set), causing routes to individual hosts on that network to be created on demand. These routes time out periodically (normally 20 minutes after validated; en- tries are not validated when not in use). An entry for a host which is not responding is a "reject" route (one with the RTF_REJECT flag set). ARP entries may be added, deleted or changed with the arp(8) utility. Manually added entries may be temporary, static or permanent, and may be "published", in which case the system will respond to ARP requests for that host as if it were the target of the request. A static entry will not time out, but may be overwritten by network traffic, while a per- manent entry will not time out and can not be overwritten. In the past, ARP was used to negotiate the use of a trailer encapsula- tion. This is no longer supported. ARP watches passively for hosts impersonating the local host (i.e., a host which responds to an ARP mapping request for the local host's ad- dress).
duplicate IP address %x!! sent from ethernet address: %x:%x:%x:%x:%x:%x ARP has discovered another host on the local network which responds to mapping requests for its own Internet address with a different Ethernet address, generally indicating that two hosts are at- tempting to use the same Internet address. arp info overwritten for %x!! by %x:%x:%x:%x:%x:%x on %x An existing route has been overwritten with a new Ethernet address, for example when the other host has changed Ethernet cards. If the route previously was static/non-expiring, the new route will expire normally. arp: attempt to overwrite permanent entry for %x!! by %x:%x:%x:%x:%x:%x on %x As above, but the existing route had been manually set up as per- manent. The routing information is not modified. arp: attempt to overwrite entry for %x!! on %x by %x:%x:%x:%x:%x:%x on %x ARP has noticed an attempt to overwrite a host's routing entry on one interface with a routing entry for a different interface. The routing in- formation is not modified. arp: received reply to broadcast or multicast address ARP received a response which is a broadcast or multicast address. This might indicate an ARP spoofing attempt. arp: ether address is broadcast for IP address %s! ARP requested infor- mation for a host, and received an answer indicating that the host's Eth- ernet address is the Ethernet broadcast address. This indicates a miscon- figured or broken device. arp: ether address is multicast for IP address %s! ARP requested infor- mation for a host, and received an answer indicating that the host's Eth- ernet address is the Ethernet multicast address. This indicates a miscon- figured or broken device. arp: attempt to add entry for %s on %s by %s on %s This usually indi- cates there is more than one interface connected to the same hub, or that the networks have somehow been short-circuited (e.g. IPs that should have been present on interface one are present on interface two). arplookup: unable to enter address for %s An IP received on the inter- face does not match the network/netmask of the interface. This indicates a netmask problem.
inet(4), route(4), arp(8), ifconfig(8), route(8) Plummer, D., "RFC 826", An Ethernet Address Resolution Protocol. Karels, M.J. and Leffler, S.J., "RFC 893", Trailer Encapsulations. MirBSD #10-current April 18, 1994 1


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This article will help you migrate servlets and JSPs deployed JBoss v4 to Apache Geronimo. This article is part of a series of migration articles covering different types of applications migration.
This article covers the migration one of the most fundamental aspects of J2EE; servlets and JSPs. The sample application used for this migration exercise is College Fest which just contains servlets and JSPs for handling the flow of control. The College Fest sample application does not use any database, for details on migrating JDBC applications refer to the JBoss to Geronimo - JDBC Migration article.
After reading this article you should be able to reconfigure the JBoss build files and the deployment descriptors to set up the Apache Geronimo destination environment and then deploying simple Web applications.
This article is organized in the following sections:
- Servlets and JSPs implementation analysis
- Sample application
- The JBoss environment
- The Geronimo environment
- Step-by-step migration
- Summary
Servlets and JSPs implementation analysis
Servlets and JSPs implementations may vary from one application server to another. The purpose of this section is to provide servlets and JSPs specific feature-to-feature comparison between JBoss and Apache Geronimo so you can clearly identify the differences and plan accordingly before migration.
Apache Geronimo includes a Web application container supporting J2EE Web applications. The Web container itself supports basic configuration such as network ports and SSL options, and each Web application may include Geronimo-specific configuration information as well. Web applications participate in the Geronimo security infrastructure, so authenticating to a Web application allows access to secure EJBs and Connectors as well.
Apache Geronimo currently supports two Web containers: Jetty and Tomcat.
Jetty is a 100% Java HTTP Server and Servlet Container. This means that you do not need to configure and run a separate Web server in order to use servlets and JSPs to generate dynamic content. Jetty is a fully featured Web server for static and dynamic content.
Unlike separate server/container solutions, Jetty's Web server and Web application run in the same process without interconnection overheads and complications. Furthermore, as a pure java component, Jetty can be easily included in your application for demonstration, distribution or deployment. Jetty is available on all Java supported platforms.
In Geronimo, you need to explicitly configure the pathways used by browsers attempting to connect to the Web container. In the case of Jetty, the default Web container, these pathways are known as connectors. The standard configuration includes a Jetty connector supporting HTTP on port 8080, as well as a HTTPS connector on port 8443.
Each Jetty connector is a GBean, so the process of configuring a Jetty connector involves configuring a GBean.
Apache Tomcat
Apache Tomcat is the servlet container that is used in the official Reference Implementation for the Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages technologies.
The differences
JBoss v4 supports only Tomcat 5.5, which is the default Web container. The embedded Tomcat service is the expanded SAR jbossweb-tomcat55.sar in the deploy directory. The web.xml file that provides a default configuration set for Web application is also found in this exapanded SAR directory structure.
The HTTP connector is set up on port 8080 and port 8009 is used if you want to connect via a separate Web server such as Apache HTTP.
In addition to the default Web container, the second major difference lies in the deployment plan. A deployment plan in Geronimo is similar to a J2EE deployment descriptor in the sense that it is an XML file that contains the configuration information for a specific application module or service.
For very simple Web applications with no security nor resource references, a Geronimo deployment plan is not required, a default context root and dependencies will be provided automatically at deployment time.
The Geronimo Web application deployment plan is geronimo-web.xml. The corresponding deployment descriptor in Jboss is jboss-web.xml. For further details on Geronimo deployment architecture you may refer to the Understand Geronimo's deployment architecture article.
Another difference with servlets and JSPs lies in the way the Web application is deployed. In Geronimo, the application package (ear, war, rar or jar) is deployed using the deployment tool deployer.jar located in the <geronimo_home>/bin directory.
The deployer.jar deploys the application module based on the information provided in the deployment plan (if a plan is provided) to the Geronimo server. The server then saves the metadata to a configuration store and the executables to a binary repository. The following figure illustrates the behavior of the deployment tool.
In JBoss, a Web application is deployed by simply copying the application package (ear, war, rar or jar) into the <jboss_home>/server/<your_server_name>/deploy directory from where the server detects its presence and deploys it accordingly.
The following table summarizes the differences between JBoss and Geronimo.
JBoss v4
Apache Geronimo
Deployment descriptor/plan
Method of deployment
Copy the package (ear, war, rar or jar) to the deploy folder of the JBoss server <jboss_home>/server/<your_server_name>/deploy
Deployer tool available in server's bin directory
Web container
Apache Tomcat 5.5
Jetty and/or Apache Tomcat
Sample application
The College Fest application handles registration for events at a college festival. This is a very simple application that does not use any type of database. The College Fest application has the following four pages:
- Welcome page
- Event List page
- Event Details page
- Registration page
The following figure illustrates the application flow:
The user access the Welcome page and enters user name and college. From there the user can see the list of available events. The user can access the details for each Event by clicking them from the list. From the Event details page the user can register for that particular event.
Application classes and JSP pages
The College Fest sample application consists of the following two servlets:
- WelcomeServlet - Handles user login and then grabs the user name and dispatches this to the next servlet.
- PersonalServlet - Personalizes the page for the user and hands over control to welcome.jsp.
The College Fest sample application also includes the following JSP pages:
- welcome.jsp - Displays the events list to the user so that s/he can choose on what event to register.
- dc.jsp - Displays the details for the Dumb Charades event.
- pp.jsp - Displays the details for the Pot Potpourri event.
- wtgw.jsp - Displays the details for the What's The Good Word event.
- gq.jsp - Displays the details for the General Quiz event.
- team_reg.jsp - Handles the user registration for one event.
Tools used
The tools used for developing and building the College Fest sample application are:
The Eclipse IDE was used for development of the sample application. This is a very powerful and popular open source development tool. Integration plug-ins are available for both JBoss and Geronimo. Eclipse can be downloaded from the following URL:
Apache Ant
Ant is a pure Java build tool. It is used for building the war files for the College Fest application. Ant can be downloaded from the following URL:
The JBoss environment
This section shows you how and where the sample JBoss reference environment was installed so you can map this scenario to your own implementation.
Detailed instructions for installing, configuring, and managing JBoss are provided in the product documentation. Check the product Web site for the most updated documents.
The following list highlights the general tasks you will need to complete to install and configure the initial environment as the starting point for deploying the sample application.
- Download and install JBoss v4 as explained in the product documentation guides. From now on the installation directory will be referred as <jboss_home>
- Create a copy of the default JBoss v4 application server. Copy recursively <jboss_home>\server\default to <jboss_home>\server\<your_server_name>
- Start the new server by running the
run.sh -c <your_server_name>command from the <jboss_home>\bin directory.
- Once the server is started, you can verify that it is running by opening a Web browser and pointing it to this URL: http://localhost:8080. You should see the JBoss Welcome window and be able to access the JBoss console.
- Once the application server is up and running, the next step is to install and configure all the remaining prerequisite software required by the sample application. This step is described in the following section.
As mentioned before, Apache Ant is used to build the binaries for the College Fest application. If you do not have Ant installed this is a good time for doing it and make sure that <ant_home>\bin directory is added to the system's path variable.
Apache Ant can be downloaded from the following URL:
Build the sample application
The College Fest application included with this article provides an Ant script that you will use in order to build the application. Download the College Fest application from the following link:
After extracting the zip file, a college_fest directory is created. In that directory open the build.properties file and edit the properties to match your environment as shown in the following example:
#Replace java.home with your jdk directory java.home=<JAVA_HOME> #Replace j2ee.home with the parent directory of lib/j2ee.jar j2ee.home=<jboss_home>/server/<your_server_name> #Replace with jboss home directory jboss.server=<jboss_home>/server/<your_server_name> #geronimo home directory geronimo.home=<geronimo_home>
In the college_fest directory you can also find two build files, build.xml and jboss-build.xml. build.xml is the default build file so if you just type ant this file will be used for building the application. For this particular sample application the jboss-build.xml file is provided.
From a command line, still within the college_fest directory type the following command:
ant -f jboss-build.xml clean deploy
With this command, ant will use the targets defined in the jboss-build.xml file to build the College Fest application and deploy it to the JBoss server. Take a special look at <target name="deploy" ...>, here is where the jboss-build.xml tell ant where to deploy the WAR file. The following example shows the definitions in the jboss-build.xml file.
<?xml version="1.0"?> <!-- build file for building a war --> <project name="build" default="war" basedir="."> <property file="build.properties"/> <property name="src.dir" value="src"/> <property name="dest.dir" value="bin"/> <target name="clean" description="Delete all generated files"> <echo message="Deleting bin directory" /> <delete dir="bin" /> </target> <target name="compile"> <mkdir dir="${dest.dir}"/> <javac srcdir="${src.dir}" destdir="${dest.dir}"> <classpath path="${java.home}/lib/tools.jar"/> <classpath path="${j2ee.home}/lib/j2ee.jar"/> </javac> </target> <target name="war" depends="compile"> <war destfile="college_fest.war" webxml="WEB-INF/web.xml"> <zipfileset dir="jsp" prefix="jsp"/> <zipfileset dir="pix" prefix="pix"/> <classes dir="${dest.dir}"/> <webinf dir="WEB-INF" /> </war> </target> <target name="deploy" depends="war"> <copy file="college_fest.war" todir="${jboss.server}/deploy"/> </target> <target name="undeploy"> <delete file="${jboss.server}/deploy/college_fest.war"/> </target> </project>
The war created by the ant build contains a JBoss specific deployment descriptor, the jboss-web.xml file in the WEB-INF directory of the WAR is shown in the following example.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <jboss-web> <context-root>college_fest</context-root> <context-priority-classloader> false </context-priority-classloader> </jboss-web>
Deploy the sample application
The previous step showed how to deploy the application at build time by specifying a customized jboss-build.xml file. If you used the default build.xml file at build time you still need to deploy the College Fest application manually. To deploy the College Fest application in JBoss, copy the college_fest.war file you just built with Ant to the following directory:
If JBoss is already started, it will automatically deploy and start the application; otherwise, the application will be deployed and started at the next startup.
Testing the application
To test the application, open a Web browser and access the following URL:
You should see the Welcome screen where you can login with your name and college. When you enter your name a college and click Submit you will see a message at the end on the page stating your name with a link to "Click here" to enter the site. Browse the site and check the options, at this point the College Fest application is configured and running.
The Geronimo environment
Download and install Geronimo from the following URL:
The release notes available there provide clear instructions on system requirements and how to install and start Geronimo. Throughout the rest of this article we will refer to the Geronimo installation directory as <geronimo_home>.
TCP/IP ports conflict
If you are planning to run JBoss and Geronimo on the same machine consider to change the default service ports on, at least, one of these servers.
Step-by-step migration
In order to migrate the College Fest application to Geronimo you need to replace the jboss-web.xml file with a geronimo-web.xml file which is the Geronimo specific descriptor file. The geronimo-web.xml file is located in the WEB-INF directory withing the college_fest directory structure. The Geronimo deployment plan geronimo-web.xml is illustrated in the following example.
The following geronimo-web.xml was generated using the J2G tool.
<web-app xmlns="http://geronimo.apache.org/xml/ns/j2ee/web-1.1" xmlns:naming="http://geronimo.apache.org/xml/ns/naming-1.1" xmlns:security="http://geronimo.apache.org/xml/ns/security-1.1" xmlns:sys="http://geronimo.apache.org/xml/ns/deployment-1.1"> <sys:environment> <sys:moduleId> <sys:groupId>j2g</sys:groupId> <sys:artifactId>web-module</sys:artifactId> <sys:version>1.0</sys:version> <sys:type>war</sys:type> </sys:moduleId> <sys:dependencies/> </sys:environment> <context-root>college_fest</context-root> </web-app>
Given that College Fest is a very simple application, the Geronimo deployment plan will also be very simple. Remember that this application does not use any database access nor has security configured. While reading other articles in the JBoss to Geronimo migration series, you will notice how the complexity of the deployment plan increases as the sample applications for the different migration scenarios also grow in complexity.
Earlier in this article it was discussed the behavior of the deployment tool. During the deployment process, you provide to the deployment tool the application module and a deployment plan. The College Fest sample application is so simple that you may choose not to provide any deployment plan and let Geronimo do the deployment with a default set of values (a default context root for example).
Last time you built the College Fest sample application it was configured for ant to use the jboss-build.xml file instead of the default build.xml. The following example shows the content of the default build.xml file.
<?xml version="1.0"?> <!-- build file for building a war --> <project name="build" default="war" basedir="."> <property file="build.properties"/> <property name="src.dir" value="src"/> <property name="dest.dir" value="bin"/> <target name="clean" description="Delete all generated files."> <echo message="Deleting bin folder" /> <delete dir="bin"/> </target> <target name="compile"> <mkdir dir="${dest.dir}"/> <javac srcdir="${src.dir}" destdir="${dest.dir}"> <classpath path="${java.home}/lib/tools.jar"/> <!--classpath path="${j2ee.home}/lib/j2ee.jar"/--> <classpath path="${geronimo.home}/repository/org/apache/geronimo/specs/geronimo-servlet_2.5_spec/1.1/geronimo-servlet_2.5_spec-1.1.jar" /> </javac> </target> <target name="war" depends="compile"> <war destfile="college_fest.war" webxml="WEB-INF/web.xml"> <zipfileset dir="jsp" prefix="jsp"/> <zipfileset dir="pix" prefix="pix"/> <classes dir="${dest.dir}"/> <webinf dir="WEB-INF" /> </war> </target> </project>
To build the migrated application run ant from the command line without specifying any additional parameters, a college_fest.war file will be created in the root directory of the College Fest application directory structure.
To delete the generated files for a clean build run ant clean followed by an ant.
Deploy the migrated sample application
To deploy the migrated College Fest application, make sure the Geronimo server is up and running.
From a command line, change directory to
<geronimo_home>/bin and type the following command:
deploy --user system --password manager deploy <college_fest_home>/college_fest.war
Once the application is deployed, open a Web browser and access the following URL:
Repeat the steps you did when Testing the application on the JBoss environment.
This article has shown you how to migrate a simple Servlet and JSPs application, from JBoss to the Apache Geronimo application server. You followed step-by-step instructions to build the application, deploy and run it, and then migrate it to the Geronimo environment.
Some remarks after reading this article:
- Apache Geronimo provides two different Web containers, Jetty and Apache Tomcat.
- You learnt how to use the deployer too for deploying an application in Geronimo.
- Not always a Geronimo deployment plan is needed, if the application does not use resource references you can accept the deployment defaults from Geronimo.


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Congrats! You have now purchased your learning management system. I'm sure you feel relived and elated.
Enjoy it will you can, because the next stage can create more stress than waiting in line at Disney World.
Many people will ask their potential vendor what is the implementation time, but will forget to ask if the vendor has a dedicated project manager.
Why is this important? Because this person is going to either be your new BFF or someone you will gripe about to your salesperson. Sadly, I've seen both.
Let's break it down
Assuming that your system will take more than 48 hours to go live, you will need a project manager.
This person handles everything from the vendors' side of thing. They create the project plan (which you should always review), set the time table and may assign others within the company to assist with the launch.
Let's assume you have signed the contracts and ready to implement.
The next call you should receive is from your vendor's project manager. If you receive a call from your salesperson who is handling the project management duties, that is not something you ideally want.
Because their number one job to land more clients – as in sales. This is their priority. You? Not so much. Sure, they will be there for you, but a good LMS company will have a team in place for you, rather than the salesperson.
Team Time
As noted above, you will be assigned a project manager. A typical LMS team will consist
- Project manager – the person who handles it all, who will deal with your issues, etc. – they will set the deadlines and inform you that once you sign the implementation schedule, then it will be delivered on that date, unless you decide to add things or mass customize or forget to return docs needed to move forward. Then the date changes.
- IT person – this can very from companies, but this person is in essence a programmer or someone along those lines. Some companies call them a technology consultant, but this is the person who works behind the scenes to get it moving forward (assuming that the system does not require any skinning, etc. – that you can not do yourself)
- Others behind the scenes – you won't know them, so ignore
Post Implementation
A good LMS vendor will put together a nice support team for you. Please note that they are not only dedicated to you – so while any issue that arises, is deemed high priority for you, it is not always the case with the vendor. They typically have a system in place, will they assign by colors or terminology, what is high, medium and low priority.
But I digress. Let's go back to the ideal team.
- Person from support dedicated to you (again, they may be dedicated to 20 companies). I've seen some vendors who have such a person, and honestly it is a nice touch. Because when the going gets tough or more importantly your end users gripe about tech related problems (assuming it is existing in the system and not on your end), this is the key person to connect and help you.
- Training person. They train you on how to use the product. Ideally you would want a person who is actually a trainer or who has extensive training background. Sigh, this is not always the case.
You would think that all LMS vendors would have people whose background is in technical training or heck even training. Especially when the people buying the systems are: TRAINING FOLKS.
Guess what? You would be wrong. For many LMS vendors they do the following
- Setup webinars for you to view on your own
- Provide training guides, materials and other assorted docs
- Have a walkthrough on how to use the product with fellow new customers. Something I totally hate.
- Have the salesperson provide the training. The assumption here is that the person knows the product inside and out, thus they can train you
I believe that vendors who go this route assume that anyone can train, similar to folks who believe anyone can teach. Yeah in theory they can, but they will stink at it – because they do not understand the effective ways/means to train, nor understand all the nuances with adult learners.
I always put it this way to the vendor.
Would you hire someone who has no sales background and assume that they can sale? Sure, they can do it, but how effective will they be compared to someone who has previous sales experience, especially in the LMS or e-learning space?
- Assign a tech person to train. Awful. They tend to fire off jargon and zing all over the place, rather than follow a path (which by the way, sales people tend to do to – i.e. zing all over the place)
- Offer on site or at their location. I have mixed feelings with this approach. While I can see value in it (one company where I ran training and were strong on e-learning – we had this option), I can also see a downside to it. What is it? Time and training. Especially the training.
I've attended some training sessions with e-learning vendors and it can range from wonderful to absolute garbage. The only thing you get out of the garbage is a trip paid by your company to hopefully a cool location.
Training Packages
On the LMS side it runs the entire gambit.
- Support and Training for free (for the length of your agreement)
- 1st year of training and support for free
- Training packages
- Support packages
I like the first option. However many vendors argue that because there is additional cost involved they can not follow that structure. What they forget is that anything can be wrapped into the overall pricing.
Many vendors will do so by putting into the "setup fee". What I love to see is the ultimate spin when it comes to "updates and maintenance".
Nowadays I'm seeing more vendors use this pitch:
- Within setup (updates and maintenance included)
- Updates and maintenance included – as if it would be optional
99% of the LMSs out there include updates and maintenance at no additional charge.
I always use a car as an example to a LMS. When you buy a new car it typically comes with a warranty. This doesn't matter if the car costs 12K or 500K.
Why then would you purchase a LMS that does not come with updates and maintenance? Or better yet, why pay extra for it?
Bottom Line
Purchasing your LMS is only the first stage in the overall process.
A process that may have taken you one month or more than a year.
Your implementation, training and support will be either more relaxing or more painful depending on the vendor and what you have agreed to.
Don't assume that training is going to be handled by actual training folks, with actual training experience.
Don't assume that your support is free or dedicated only to you (and not with other companies too).
Don't assume that your salesperson is always going to be there for you, night and day awaiting for your beckoned call.
Because they won't.
E-Learning 24/7