California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill that prohibits the sale to minors of video games that ``depict serious injury to human beings in a manner that is especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.''What rot!
Have you noticed? Politics can be surreal. Remember the ``Terminator" movies? In his previous incarnation as an action hero, Arnold was exceptionally skilled at inflicting ``serious injury to human beings in a manner that (was) especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.''
Anyway, California isn't alone. Michigan has passed a similar law banning the sale of ``ultra-violent explicit video games'' to minors under the age of 17. And Illinois also has a law on the books that bans the sale or rental to minors of violent or sexually explicit games.
Most of the opposition has come from, shall we say, interested parties. There's the video game industry, which pulls down about $25 billion annually worldwide. And an outfit called the Entertainment Software Association, which has sued to try to block the legislation in Michigan and Illinois from taking effect. The group insists those laws amount to censorship and violate the First Amendment.
I'm going to make a suggestion about ratings on games - I propose that the video industry voluntarily slap a sticker on games, giving THE REAL RATINGS:
- Obviously, your parent has a substance abuse problem
- The kid who bought this game should call The National Association Against Child Abuse
- Does your Mom or Dad run a swingers club from their home?
- The kid who bought this game has a stupid parent
- Do not ring up this sale, just call the cops and turn in the parents
It is not the job of a minimum wage sales clerk to keep YOUR kid from doing something wrong. It's YOUR job. If you're not up to it, turn the kid into a child welfare bureau, and walk away. The kid will then have an opportunity to be adopted by someone who WANTS to be a parent.
Tags = Entertainment
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