Red Cross: 600m videogamers may be war criminals Move aside, Milosevic. Out of the way, al-Bashir. It's the world's videogamers who should be hauled up on war crimes charges, some members of the Red Cross seem to think. During the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which took place in Geneva last week, attendees were asked to consider what …
It's one thing to find that piece of enemy scum, place your crosshairs over them and blow their brains out in a game. It's quite another to do it in real life where one knows someone is actually going to get hurt/killed. And the kind of person who would willingly do it IRL is so far gone, I rather doubt the game has much influence.
Are they considering "Risk" a breach of human rights as well? Chess?
This is just a piece of PR grabbing straight from the PeTA game book and it is shameful for an institution such as the Red Cross to stoop so low.
> This is just a piece of PR grabbing straight from the PeTA game book and it is shameful for an institution such as the Red Cross to stoop so low.
They didn't, they just stuck a note on a conference agenda. This story is essentially just click bait bullshit from the Daily Mail and various other sensationalist crap spraying outfits.
The red cross are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing at a red cross conference; debating issues that may have an impact on IHL and finding ways to promote awareness of this law.
http://kotaku.com/5866359/red-cross-wont-go-after-you-for-playing-war-games
YOU CAN use your PC, XBox, or Wii to fly an ACTUAL "Predator" drone from Afghanistan to Pakistan for a unilateral strike on Islamabad.
Well, I hope YOU in fact can't. But THEY can.
Recently all their PCs got viruses, remember...
So, maybe that video game SHOULD have a drop-down Geneva Conventions cheat sheet.
America still hasn't closed Guantanamo, the UK still locks unaccompanied immigrant children up indefinitely, Syria is a nightmare, Iraq is a nightmare and Afghanistan is a nightmare, but hey, lets go after game players hey?
Remind me what the Red Cross is for again...
... it doesn't prove anything one way or the other. There's no methodology or mention of even the lightest attempt to et ceteris paribus.
As we all know, correlation isn't causation, and similarly, a lack of a correlation does not imply a lack of causation. Because of all those other pesky variables the chart doesn't bother with.
Slapping a chart in, in the hope that it proves something is Daily Mail journalism at its best, and Tim, you appear to be a candidate for Daily Mail Reader of the Year.
Take a look at one of their 'powerful' adverts, here:
http://inventorspot.com/articles/9_red_cross_ads_no_7277
Specifically the second photo, showing the woman collapsed at the bottom of an escalator. Someone the the RC or their advertising agency is clearly responsible for pushing this poor woman down the escalator, conking her on the back of the head or maybe even posioning her!
Oh, hang on a minute! It's not reality and it didn't actually happen. See that great and good people of the RC? I can tell the difference, but you are clearly incapable of doing so.
Have they not got anything better to do ? Virtual Human Beings are not assigned any form of Human Rights as they are not actually Humans but the virtual representation of Humans.
Perhaps the Red Cross would prefer that 600M gamers sign up to the armed forces and get stuck into a Deathmatch for real? Pass the AK
"In a side event, participants were asked: “what should we do, and what is the most effective method?” While National Societies shared their experiences and opinions, there is clearly no simple answer. There is, however, an overall consensus and motivation to take action."
I am donating for this kinda shit?
If you've been donating to the RC then I guess so. I have a suspicion that you won't in future and I wouldn't blame you. If they think this is a serious topic for discussion then the delegates have clearly stepped too far away from reality and the fundamental aims of the Red Cross, and they are in grave danger of losing future donations.
So virtual humans in games should not be killed... then neither should animals be harmed (angry birds), aliens shot down despite their aggressive attacks? (space invaders)...... so can we look forward to a 40billion dollar creative industry in pong, tetris and farm ville?
The publicity account must be running dry for this one, trying to scamp a freebie column inch or two, Red Cross?
What they fail to note is that the curve also matches to proliferation of Android Smartphones, something crapple has been at pains to try & prevent by whatever means necessary. Google are the obvious ones to drag into court here, so, Mr Red Cross, get drafting that writ!
Apple. Humanitarian philanthropists. Whodathunkit?
If you follow the link, you see that this was a discussion held at a side-event and therefore presumably involved a small and self-selecting group of people rather than the sane majority.
I imagine it will never be Red Cross policy to campaign on this issue because the vast majority of the donating public would close wallets if they thought their donations were being spent on this. It's not like the world is short of good causes to donate money to.
Let's extend that to books..out goes all of Harry potter, George Orwell, Tolkien (trolls and orcs have rights too, as does poor old Gollum, a victim if there ever was one)
we'd better ban ALL of John Buchan and the whole cowboys and injuns genera too.. While we are at it 99% of chiclit is discriminatory and insulting to women., and Biggles is so full of violence murder and gender, race and political stereotypes that is really not to be tolerated...
..and we can finish up with Teletubbies, which is a total insult to humanity in general, and, frankly, if I'd been brought up on it, I'd be so deeply scarred by the experience I too would pick up the crack pipe and a machete and go out looking for the sort of people who thought it was a good thing for children to be exposed to....
Nah, you don't take out the books. You simply sue the authors and make them cough up a huge amount of cash so that they learn not to do it again. Esp. in the case of Harry Potter this might be very lucrative for the Red Cross.
"Helping people? Well, that will just have to wait, this is more important because it will allow us to help even MORE people.".
How about some examples from THIS millenium - it's not like we're short of 'em: Bush, Blair and their entire cabinets (given collective cabinet responsibility).
The whole War Criminal concept comes from Nuremburg where the Nazis were prosecuted for using lies, deceit and misrepresentation to 'justify' invading sovereign nations- sound familiar?
As for the RC: leave the gamers alone and go after THESE f*****s!
I think this is a good idea... in theory.
Theory being that if people can't accept that lolicon and other drawn pornography (Dangerous Cartoons Act) != children; then they should have to obey this quite obviously retarded humanitarian crap which treats fictional video game characters as "real people." (Murder is a crime, don't forget.)
I'm sorry, but you can't have one and not the other. It's either both or not at all.
In all the war games, there are hoards of enemies charging at me with the single goal of using my nipples for target practice. Damn right I shoot them back. They've just virtually invaded my virtual country, I am virtually going to virtually shoot them virtually with my virtual gun.
Virtually.
So... If the Russia really did invade the US (as per MW2 and 3) and the US troops returned fire while defending their country, those US troops are committing war-crimes?
Dear Mr. Red Cross,
Are you sure? Did you invent your own game where you abuse civilians, and then complain about it? Aren't you all guilty of horrific war crimes yourselves by playing these games in the name of 'research'?
Yours sincerely,
Barry Shitpeas.
I am reminded that this is the same bunch who found it economic to replace donated
blood from Canada (which was resold at a premium $), with bargain-brand squeezings
from US prisons.
Looks like the bats at the Red Cross are confusing the smell of money
with the smell of blood, instead of vice-versa this time.
Anonymous 'cause I dig the masque.
Fubar
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