Most parents of teenagers don’t even KNOW how to operate these games and certainly cannot jump into the “levels” where the purported “entertainment” can get more intense.

I happened into my sons playing a video game at their friend’s house. I was stunned to see that my teens were being “entertained” by the graphic image of a U.S. MARINE BEING BEHEADED BY HIS JAPANESE CAPTORS!!!

I grabbed both of them by their arm and literally yanked them out of there and told the parent of their friend who had bought the game. THEY HAD NO IDEA SUCH IMAGES WERE BEING DISPLAYED TO THEIR KID. Turned out, he had swapped the game for one his parents had bought and the ratings were nowhere on the box.

If you’re shucking for this industry, you should be as ashamed of yourself as the pornographers who peddle Gangst Rap to impressionable kids. In Rap, they learn that women should be called “Ho’s” and “B—es”. In video gaming, they learn to kill without any remorse.

I can GUARANTEE YOU THIS: The guys who manufacture this PORNOGRAPHY don’t let THEIR KIDS anywhere NEAR IT!!!

Its all about the Benjamins, baby; nothing else.

Do you have to be a parent who games to understand this? The range of games that rate an M is incredibly diverse. GTA gets all the headlines because it’s extreme, and people who don’t game seem to judge all M rated games by this one example. However, the entertainment of some M games, like God of War, Fable, Mass Effect (to name some of our recent faves) is perfectly appropriate for teens whose parents engage with them. Bad parenting will out no matter what kind of entertainment is available; don’t blame the games for it. This is just to argue the bill on its merits. Your points about the use of CA’s money and the restriction of the First Amendment inherent in this bill should have killed it long ago.

…and as far as I have heard, California has a multi-billion dollar pornography “industry.”

Which the politicians are happy to tax, of course!

Morons are a usually a constant percentage of any population, but as Frank Lloyd Wright once said, the country seems to be tilted on its back, and every loose nut in the nation has tumbled into California.

Beyond satire!

…and as far as I have heard, California has a multi-billion dollar pornography “industry.”

Which the politicians are happy to tax, of course!

Morons are a usually a constant percentage of any population, but as Frank Lloyd Wright once said, the country seems to be tilted on its back, and every loose nut in the nation has tumbled into California.

Beyond satire!

…to stop electing ninnies to run the state.

http://www.megwhitman.com/ (Governor)
http://stevecooley.com/ (Attorney General)
http://www.damondunn.com/ (Secretary of State)

And, at a more local level – turn the state senate & assembly map red!

http://www.chandler2010.com/ (State Assembly, district 24 – Silicon Valley)

the law is unenforceable anyway. If a 12 year old has the wherewithal to come up with $60 for Grand theft Auto, he most certainly will find someone over 18 to buy it for him. As a gamer myself I can understand parents concerns over this issue. Some games offend me, but as a believer in liberty I believe everyone has the right to make that decision for themselves.

Milton Friedman needs a rebirth and soon…

By the way to all the those in CA who may hesitate to vote for Prop 19 the same thing applies. Marijuana is not leaving our society. Would you rather the money continue to fund the cartels and criminals or legalization that would minimize the harm caused?

I for one will be voting YES on 13. That is my ethics and conscience. Liberty must be expanded EVERYWHERE to defeat this Marxist monster we’re facing.

If you disagree , fine. But please do not follow up my comments with accusations of liberalism. I am a Republican (Capital R) and a libertarian (Lowercase L) and I believe in the freedom for all of us to choose.

So it’s lucky that Leland Yee guy didn’t see Postal 2. (Probably the most offensive video game ever…and one of the most fun.)

Ever.

who elected as their governor a man who killed an average of about 30 people in each of his movies.

but pornography is not covered by the First Amendment. That’s a leftist fable from way back. The 1st Amendment was designed to ensure the freedom of POLITICAL speech, not obscenity. Sorry, but the Founding Fathers didn’t pledge, risk and many times lose their names, their fortunes and their sacred honor because they weren’t getting enough porn in the Old Country. They were fighting for the right to criticize the king (gubmint) without being thrown in a dungeon somewhere or worse. If you are really worried about “censorship,” you’re righteous anger should be turned toward “campaign finance reform” and other such speech-limiting and 1st Amendment-violating nonesense.

As far as pot, well, it’s criminalization is a moral hazard now. Its use has become commonly accepted and has thereby made de facto criminals out of a vast number of Americans citizens. The money and power associated with it can only work to ensure and entrench corruption in our land. The analogy to Prohibition is quite strong.

OTOH, driving while high is dangerous, not so much as when drunk, but you know you are impaired when you are high — heck, that’s why you smoke the stuff. (Speaking from PAST experience.) At any rate, it is used more easily than liquor to make children pliable and suggestive, so legalization would be a boon to predators.

Finally, as a professional drug counselor, I am loathe to endorse legalization of an addictive substance. (BTW, unless you want a LONG fight, don’t tell me it’s not addictive — you’re just kidding yourself.) Unfortunately, it’s sale, purchase and use have and are making a mockery of our laws.

Nationally, we need to fish or cut bait, i.e. draconian enforcement of existing pot law or de-criminalization. Since we, as a society, have a weak stomach even for punishing murderers, the only real solution will be the latter. So, with great regret and while holding my nose, I think its use should be de-criminalized. But no use in public, please.

bonded over several hundred rounds of Battlefield 2, He’s 17 now, and he is about as normal a teenager as there is around here. This was also a time, when it was just him and I, and I was doing the single dad thing for a few years. His older siblings were living with their mother then. we played because it was fun, we spend time together, had competitions to see who could earn a badge, ribbon, or unlock before the other. We talked about school, girls, life, history, and a myriad other subjects. He has grown, he is 17 now, he works hard, bought his own car, cell phone, and is buying his own computer “in a couple of paychecks”. That said, games like GTA, Resident Evil, and others did not see the light of day in my house. I have issues with random, bloody violence that is tinged with evil, it just bugs me. Fortunately for me, my youngest kids, while they like the video games, don’t play that often. My 8 year old daughter likes to write, play Webkinz, and draw, make crafts, or collect bugs. My 9 year old would rather draw on Sketch-Up, write stories, or design fire engines, tanks, airplanes or fire stations. Both prefer playing outside with friend than spending all day in the house playing games.

Video games, are fun, I love them, always have, I got hooked when we got an Atari back in 1979, but they are also a time waster. I can guarantee you, ANY kid who would rather play games than interact socially with other kids, already has problems. “Little Frankensteins” have been around since time immemorial, video games don’t make them that way.