I suppose based on Oglala's comment above, he/would also support a law against having a child read too early.

More laws! Bigger prisons! Personal and parental responsibility be damned!

Of course they have an effect on the childs mind in a violent way. The wrestling on T.V. also does also, and from some studies so does having your child read to early. I for one will support an 18 and over type law for violent content games if there is not already one. However one must consider is it society that makes the games acceptable to play or even exist or do the kids and others play the games because it is inherent to the human to want to kill for pleasure and plunder? I for one think they only mimic society. America is a violent country, where does this violence stem from? A video game or another part of society?

Bring our war money home!

http://www.opednews.com/articles/BRING-OUR-WAR--HOME-How-by-Lisa-Savage-100815-433.html

This portrait looks ugly.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Tomgram-Chalmers-Johnson-by-Tom-Engelhardt-100817-53.html

n8chz, I agree with you 100%. I was just pointing out a small inaccuracy in how Thom presented certain political figures in Germany today. When I said "old-school libertarianism", I was just trying to find an American analogy for reference to explain the politics of the FDP. In continental Europe, they don't use the term "libertarian". What we think of as completely laissez-faire libertarianism (figures like Harry Browne come to mind) is called "liberal" there, whereas a progressive/American liberal would just be called a "social democrat" or "leftist" there.

Personally, I'm not a libertarian at all. I'd put myself somewhere around Northern European-style Social Democractic or slightly to the left of that. If I were a German citizen, I probably voting for people from any of the three parties on the national scene that are left of center: SPD (Social Democratic Party), Die Grünen (The Greens), and Die Linke (The Left Party). Their coalition-style government makes voting there quite a calculus.

As a Jew you should?

http://www.opednews.com/articles/As-a-Jew-You-Should-by-Mark-Sashine-100817-284.html

Afghanistan is Obama's Vietnam!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/by-us-deaths-as-of-today_b_683441.html

RE: Video Games

2 months ago my family got me an iPad for my 50th birthday-basically so I could resume my passion for reading. Because of glaucoma, I'd gone from 3 books/week since about age 14, to not being able to finish a book in 8 months. The iPad, and it's "abilities" to adapt both to my visual and physical challenges-gave me back at least a piece of my life.

Well, my kids-all "grown" now, in school & working, were all excited for me-but my Son was THRILLED-he said "Mom can FINALLY learn some video games & have some "fun". He knew I wouldn't be into any violent, shootem' up games, so recommended some other pussle-type games, word games, "role-playing games", (I had to look up what RPG meant :), and some game where you build spider-webs and catch fly's-I think there's more to it, but I haven't gotten that far. These were all supposedly "VERY easy" games. I swear, I have become SO frustrated, trying for hours to either figure out what I was supposed to be doing, or to get past the "tutorial level".

Well, last week I ran into my next-door neighbors 5 year old, while I was sitting on the stairs awaiting a delivery. (groceries). The little boy got all excited when he saw my iPad-that I'd brought with me to read whilst waiting. He pointed to one of these games, and pleaded with me to let him play. The game had a ball you controlled by tipping the iPad to get it down this shute-kind of like a water slide. I hadn't been able to get past the "child" level. He and his Mom insisted he'd never even touched an iPad, yet this little boy had made it to the 5th level before my delivery came-less than 5 minutes. I watched in amazement as he played a few more games-skipping the tutorial's I'd been attempting to finish, obviously not reading ANY instructions, just glancing at the screen & playing. One of the games-doodle hop, doodle jump, something like that, my Son had wanted to "challenge" me on-I had this little boy play it-he got something like 10K points-my "high" was about 300-and to his Mom's amusement, had him put "Mom" in as the high score.

I just hope he doesn't ask me to play it again,...I think it'll just disappear? ;)

Scary huh? Oh, and this SMALL Child, wanted to know where my "gun" and "blood" games were... <sigh> :( Thank God my kids are grown.....

VERY NICE -- PUBLIC CITIZEN is the MINUTEMENT

arclite, the word 'libertarian' is more than a century older than the libertarian party. old-school libertarians are decidedly anticapitalist, among other things. It's bad enough that the laissez-faire ideology has hijacked the word libertarian, now we have Ron Paul adding insult to injury billing himself as 'old-school libertarian.' And Ron Paul's stated views look to me more like the John Birch Society then the Libertarian Party. Let alone actual old-school libertarianism.

re:46: too late. for years, kids are being taught to be good consumers, not good thinkers.

First, I LOVE how you put both FOX NEWS and Jim Sterling in the same exact post. I think Jim Sterling is downright hilarious to listen to, but his reporting and methodology definitely shares similarities to the way Fox handles their journalism (stirring emotion over citing facts).

Personal observations aside, the question of "whether it's appropriate for a major corporation to be giving our children an opportunity to play the role of Taliban killing American soldiers." is (alliteration alert!) simply sensationalizing a story. As a father of two that has over 30 years of gaming experience through multiple verticals including games retail, games development and games evangelism, what you are proposing isn't what is happening. It is tantamount to saying that Monopoly is teaching our kids to be land-stealing, hotel-owning monsters who will step on their grandmother's throat for a chance to get Park Place. That statement is equally preposterous to what you've proposed about games.

I am a big fan of the Thom Hartmann show because he is a big-brained, well-read, world -traveled individual that speaks a lot about injustice and truth. However, when you suggest that there are valid arguments or "conflicting science" on both sides I feel that Thom may need some council from a third-party when it comes to videogames.

If you want a REAL understanding of games and their impact on society, please feel free to call me or drop me an email. I live in the Portland area and was the founder of the Temple of Pong store in Beaverton that talks about game history and understanding. In addition, we have worked with Starlight Starbright, Legacy and OHSU to help put games into the hands of kids who are suffering through cancer treatments. Lastly, if you want a real education, please listen to OUR podcast where we share a love of games and express the need for parental oversight/involvement when it comes to the games their kids play.