Gamed 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Andrew Fishman notes that U. S. Senator Josh Hawley has introduced a bill to ban “free to play” games that include “loot boxes” and other money-making “features.” Fishman a look at the pros and cons of the legislation and some of the issues involved. Here’s a bit;
Most of their revenue is earned by relying on “whales,” an industry term for the tiny percent of players who choose to spend money on otherwise free games. Even though whales usually constitute less than 5% of all players, they pay enough to subsidize the game for everyone else.
(snip)
Regardless of whether or not it is a true addiction, few would argue that this type of game is not a problem, especially because games that include optional spending often specifically target children.
Much more at the link.
“Macho, Macho Men” 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., reflects on gunnuttery. A snippet:
For some fantasy of rugged self-reliance. For some shortcut to macho. For some terror of the dark Other standing at the bedroom window.
For nothing.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness takes practice.
According to Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Kevin Casper, two separate parties were target shooting in slightly different areas a few hundred feet apart. Ephram was outside the vehicle when he was struck in the head with a bullet and never regained consciousness. Rounds also struck the vehicle that Ephram and his companions were in.
One more time: “Responsible gun owner” is an oxymoron.
Box Cat Box 0
She pulled the “drawer” open herself. She likes boxes of all sorts.
Facebook Frolics: A Question of Identity 0
At the San Francisco Chronicle, John Diaz considers Facebook’s half-hearted and sporadic efforts to reign in hate speech. After pointing out that Facebook is a private entity and can limit speech if it chooses to, he cuts to what he considers a crucial issue:
Facebook has essentially claimed each role, depending on the convenience of the moment.
Follow the link for his reasoning.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Once again, politeness is child’s play.
(snip)
The shooting took place at around 11:50 a.m. at a home off of Lightview Lane. The 1-year-old’s father had been outside of the house smoking a cigarette when he heard the firearm discharge. Upon re-entering the home, the man and his wife found the two children and a hand gun.
In an unusual development, the victim was only grazed by the bullet.
The Failure of Facts 0
The Colorado Independent syndicates a column by David Barker and Morgan Marietta exploring why facts don’t matter. A snippet:
But it turns out that the roots of such divergent views go much deeper. We found that voters see the world in ways that reinforce their values and identities — irrespective of whether they have ever watched Fox News or MSNBC and regardless of whether they have a Facebook account.
For example, according to our data from five years of national surveys from 2013 to 2017, the most important predictor of whether a person views racism as highly prevalent and influential is not her partisan identification. It is not her general ideological outlook. It is not the amount or type of media that she consumes. It isn’t even her own race.
It is the degree to which she prioritizes compassion as a public virtue, relative to other things like rugged individualism.