Brenda Stardom [ Video Game IDIOCY and A CRAZY LAWYER ]

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Last 15 Articles

24-10-2003 - Video Game IDIOCY and A CRAZY LAWYER

12:15 pm GMT

I woke early and opened mIRC and entered the world of the living. It's not only real time communication I seek, it's also information. Today I was steered to news that grabbed my attention. It seems those idiotic stepbrothers in Tennessee are back in the spotlight. The victims are suing!

I wrote about their being bored and shooting at cars, killing a guy and then blaming it on playing GTA (Grand Theft Auto) in September and their subsequent sentence to a juvenile facility. I'm disgusted with what I read today.

I wandered over to Yahoo News to get their spin. It recapped the shooting and the blame being placed on GTA, including some slick lawyerspeak about how he tried to stop its sales before the incident. Lawyers!

"In a suit filed Monday in Cocke County Circuit Court on behalf of the victims, Miami lawyer Jack Thompson and local lawyer Richard Talley alleged the game "inspires and trains players to shoot at vehicles and persons."" That is so much BS I'm having to hold my nose to ward off the stench.

The Thompson dude's claims reek.

"These kids simply decided to take the thrill of that game out to Interstate 40 and started pointing at cars," Thompson said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Thompson, who said he sent letters to Sony and Wal-Mart to drop the game before the shootings, said, "It's not like this is coming out of the blue, they chose to ignore this danger.""

This isn't about the game. It's about money, honey. I can understand the victims' families wanting some sort of revenge, but this isn't the way to go. Gut says Thompson coerced them into filing suit, the money most likely twisting their arms, all the while eyeing his piece of the pie with drool running down his chinny-chin-chin.

Another source says, "A 246 million dollar lawsuit has been filed against the creators of the video game Grand Theft Auto III by the families of two people shot by teenagers apparently inspired by the game. Reuters reports the suit claims Take-Two Interactive Software and Rockstar Games are liable for 46 million dollars in compensatory damages and 200 dollars million in punitive damages. Also named in the complaint are console manufacturer Sony Computer Entertainment America and retail outlet Wal-Mart."

It also reveals something about Thompson that validates gut feelings.

"Thompson has made similar claims in the past and lost - including a 33 million dollar lawsuit against video game makers stemming from a 1997 school shooting in Kentucky by a 14-year-old boy. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the case last year that it was "simply too far a leap from shooting characters on a video screen to shooting people in a classroom.""

This is all over the place. From yet another source, ferrago.co.uk.

"Without wishing to sound like a broken record, I fail to see how any court in it's right mind can even entertain a case such as this; given the amount of cultural inherencies which would already have influenced the boys long before and after they played GTA3. Should the parents be blamed for letting them play the game/gain access to the weapons used? Perhaps the rifle manufacturers should be blamed for not having the foresight to predict that their products might be used to kill? We may as well sue the news corporations too, for reporting and presenting real-world violent events." Right on.

This site has comments and again the voices are lashing out at Thompson.

"The kids are blaming their behavior (which they must have known was wrong) on the game. Lawyer scum like Mr Thompson then rake it in after convincing the victims to sue.

Its the easy thing to do - blame it on the game."

"This Thompson fella is like the Lionel Hutz of the world where games are to blame for insane acts. One things for sure he doesn't opperate on a no-win no-fee basis otherwise he'd be destitute by now. The twat."

Once again, each source offers up something new and omits things from the others. This one addresses the parents of the kids as they, too, are being sued and this very important fact isn't included in what I've read so far. It also makes no mention of Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive Software.

"The action charges the parents were negligent in allowing their minor sons to obtain possession of the firearms they owned, and which were stored in the residence."

Screech. A deep Google cavity search turned this up dated September 6. The recent news is but a further outcome.

"The Hamel family hired attorney Jack Thompson and filed suit Thursday against TAKE2interactive, the video game maker. Thompson says it's time to send a message to the video game makers.

"We want to send a message with a huge verdict to Sony and TAKE2interactive and the entire video game industry that if they're going to continue to market adult-rated games to children with these horrific consequence, then we're going to take their blood money from them and send a message to their boards that they have to stop this practice or there will be other suits on behalf of other people, killed by these games," Thompson said."

What a pitbull! What motivates him? Who is he really working for? These questions need answers.

Ohyeah. Paydirt. I found his bio from newsmax.com, for whom he's writing.

"Jack Thompson of Miami is a nationally recognized commentator and lawyer. He is currently writing dispatched on the Elian case for NewsMax.com. Has appeared on 150 college campuses debating and lecturing on First Amendment issues, and has appeared on 60 Minutes, Crossfire, Nightline, 20/20, Politically Incorrect, ABC World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News, Oprah, Donahue, Fox News Channel, and more. Mr. Thompson is a Vanderbilt Law Graduate, Class of 1976, and has lived in Miami since 1976. A trial lawyer, he specializes in medical malpractice defense as well as First Amendment law."

That makes him sound rather reputable, but further reading elicits some aha's.

"Mr. Thompson secured the first decency fines ever levied by the Federal Communications Commission (1989), was court-appointed amicus curiae in the 2 Live Crew federal obscenity trial(which resulted in the first verdict in history that a sound recording was obscene), and represented Ollie North's Freedom Alliance at the 1992 Time Warner shareholders meeting and along with Charlton Heston persuaded them to pull rapper Ice-T's "Cop Killer." In 1988, Mr. Thompson was Janet Reno's Republican opponent in the general election for Dade County (Florida) state attorney." Ahem, he's a Republican. I still want to know who is 'daddy' is.

Ohboyohboy this guy is a piece of work. I didn't intend to get into the lawyer part as deeply as I have, the focus was supposed to be the lawsuits, but now this wank behind them as captured my attention. This has to do with the past 2-Live Crew incident and he's being lynched.

Jack's house is full of BATMAN memorabilia. Jack wears a BATMAN wrist watch and a huge poster of his hero covers his fridge. In fact, Jack is so obsessed with the "CAPED CRUSADER's" character that he has taken on his identity. Another obsession of this "born-again" overdone fruitcake, is that he alone is going to save the world (or at least the state of Florida) from all that he decides is evil. And for now, Jack has decreed that we must be saved from Luther Campbell and 2 Live Crew.

Our self described "dull person" claims his only motivation in this ordeal stems from his Christian beliefs and his concerns for women and children. Being so obsessed, Jack has even tried to meet with Campbell "to discuss the musician's salvation." Even though fellow attorneys have questioned his mental stability, Jack contends that God "chose him to be the savior of widows and orphans." R.O.C. believes that Jack has other motives behind his attacks against Rap musicians. We believe he is an outright racist! Why has he only made a fuss about a black group? There are a number of white groups and individuals doing material equal to 2 Live Crew. Jack claims he listened to a number of albums and "found only one is obscene." Does Jack intend to stop with just getting 2 Live Crew's material banned? Hell no! On CBS's 48 HOURS he showed his true motive when he stated, "I want to see Luther Campbell do hard time in a Florida prison.""

I am sensing who's behind this nut. Bush is down with God as is that preaching general and I can't help but think Thompson is part of their 'cult' and was sent on this mission not by 'God' but by the religious right. This is longer than expected, but too fascinating to stop now and it to shows the depths of his madness.

"Second to Luther Campbell on Jack's hit list is Dade County Prosecuting Attorney Janet Reno. In 1988 Jack tried to get Reno to prosecute Miami DJ Neil Rogers for saying something on the air he didn't like. Reno would not, so Jack began harassing Rogers. Rogers got a Temporary Restraining Order issued against Jack, and Jack is forbidden to even mention the DJ's name. Pissed off at Reno, Jack ran against her in the elections. At a public debate, this demented mind presented Reno with a form demanding she fill it out. It read: "I, Janet Reno, am a 1) Homosexual; 2) Bisexual; 3) Heterosexual." Reno was expected to check an appropriate answer. The form went on to say, "If you don't respond by such a date, then you will be deemed to have checked one of the first two boxes." We wonder if "dull-boy" Jack would fill out a questionnaire of this type? It might give us some additional insight into his hang ups. After all, here we have a man who "gets off" enumerating how many times a Rap group says "FUCK!""

Another good read, which led me to the above is an article called, "Exhibit 8: Is This Guy Nuts?" A gasping read is Thompson plugging his services and his warped beliefs. It also paints him as a psychic who foresaw Columbine and every other thing which has followed and he needs work, he's begging for it. Twit.

The whole thing is nuts. The only sensible voice was this one. "Douglas Lowenstein, president of the industry Entertainment Software Association, called the shootings ``an unspeakable tragedy'' but said blaming a game played by millions for the boys' actions was ``misguided and counterproductive.''

"There is no credible evidence that violent games lead to violent behavior,'' he said. ``While video games may provide a simple excuse for the teenagers involved in this incident, responsibility for violent acts belongs to those who commit them.""

"Lawyers spend a great deal of their time shoveling smoke."
--Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Brenda Stardom
Portugal

Related Reports:

-VIDEO GAME NEWS: ARRRGH
-``nice try, idiot´´ --Jack Thompson
-Video Game EPILEPSY: First Person Account