WHO has recognised 'Gaming Disorder' as a condition for the first time

A few days ago, in the wake of discussion about how recent hits such as Fortnite may be having an effect on children and young persons, talk turned to how the first gaming addiction treatment centres have sprung up in the UK. The World Health Organisation has also recognised "gaming addiction" as a separate?? disorder for the first time, alongside other more well-known addicti??ons, such as to alcohol or drugs.

The World Health Organisation has ??not classified "gaming disorder" in terms of time spent with ?games, but rather in terms of the effect it has on the individual's ability to interact with society and keep up with their usual lifestyle. Here are the criteria that they use:

• Impaired control over gaming
• Increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities
• Continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences

To me, this seems so far, so good. These cr??iteria do not seem far removed from how we would describe one of the more "traditional" addictions – inability t?o stop drinking after two glasses of wine, drinking to the point that you can't take your children to school in the morning, and continuing to get intoxicated every single day until eventually, you lose your job. So, what is the issue?

The issue is the tendency of the non-games media and general discussion t??o talk about games addiction in terms of time played, in both directions. Standard news outlets gawp at 20 hours a week sat behind a controller or a keyboard, while people who play games may shrug off 30 hours at a comput?er as not a big deal.

Both perspectives are harmful because, as the WHO have emphasised, the issue of games addiction is not about the time spent with games. Of course, a sign of addiction is that games are taking over your life and you are saving no time for friends and family. But it has much more to do with how "your brain is on games", rather than the concrete number of hours.

Games as beneficial for both children and adults

In the discussion of gaming disorder, we mustn't forget that playing games as a hobby comes with a whole host of health and cognitive benefits, just like other less maligned hobbies (reading, taking long walks, etc.). There are the obvious ones, such as gaming as a form of stress relief and as a distracti?on if you're having a bad day. It's no bad thing for people to be a little bit competitive and ambitious, and gaming actively encourages that, since most games' reason to be is to set the player targets to complete.

Enough of my layman assumptions: clever scientists have also found evidence that games can be a force for good (with the evidence collected in this article). They can improve concentration and ability to multi-task, improve visual processing capabilities and have even been shown to reduce crime rates and acts of violence. Games themselves have even been used to treat addictions, in a spectacular about-face for the discussion about the link between video games and compulsive behaviour. So, clearly, there is no need to cast??igate games or to remove all consoles from your household.

Games addiction as a touchy subject

The idea of games addiction has really struck a nerve with some of the community, and it's not hard to see why. Games do seem to bear the brunt of public criticism, when it comes to pastimes that don't involve putting chemicals into your body or setting out to harm other people. This criticism often comes from people who don't play games very often, so make assumptions without facts or experience at hand. Games have a history of being blamed for te?rrible crimes or for a perceived decrease in morality.

I feel like there are two major reasons why some are very?? sensitive to the idea of gaming addiction: 1) this history of games as the scapegoat; 2) misinformed ideas about addiction. It's all very well and good focusing on 1), but some time needs? to be taken thinking about 2), too.

"Addiction", or its cousin "compulsive behaviour", conjure up extreme images of unkempt individuals who can't take care of themselves and hurt everyone around them. That might be ?the case sometimes, but addictive behaviour is not just restricted to the guy whose life is falling apart because he needs one more hit of his drug of choice. More people display addictive behaviours than they probably care to admit.

Smoke ten a day and struggle to quit? You're probably addicted. Eat too much when ??you're feeling blue? You might be using food compulsively. Have a ritual that you have to do before you leave the house, or you have to go back? Check that it's not compulsive behaviour.

It's an issue I've had to face myself recently, as I r?ealised I was using food, unhealthily, as a way to "treat" a mixture of depression, anxiety and OCD-like behaviour. I wo??uld tell myself it was fine because it made me feel better, and I didn't care about my appearance or my weight anyway, but I was still ignoring my underlying illness by shoving junk food down my throat until I wanted to be sick. I couldn't open a packet of anything without finishing the whole thing. I would go into a sort of "trance" while eating and lose awareness of my surroundings. It was not good. But I'm doing a bit better now.

So, at least from my experience, addiction is often an abnormal but understandable reaction to outside stress. Research shows that addiction can also be down to genes, and people might therefore be at risk if a family member has eng??aged in addictive behaviour. But the panic and negativity we feel when we hear the word "addiction" is perhaps not all that helpful. Because addiction is disruptive and awful, but also painfully ordinary and commo??n.

Addiction-hopping

There are many reasons why it seems a little unfair to focus too heavily on games as a source of addiction. The reason that stands out to me is that addiction is often not a static thing; if there's an underlying reason for the addiction, then an individual may hop from addiction to addiction. 

For me, my compulsive behaviour hasn't just been restricted to food. I remember drinking absolutel?y disgusting amounts of wine, sat on my own in my room during my final year of university, because the stress was too much and I literally wanted to knock myself out. For others, quitting smoking might lead a person eating more junk food, an obsessive need for romantic relationships might turn into a sex addiction...the list goes on.

What the recognition of a gaming addiction tells me is that it is not a condition in isolation. People who find themselves knee-deep in a game at 3 a.m., losing sleep because they just have to keep going, might be setting themselves up for a whole host of new unhealthy behaviours. And, in fact, people who use games well into the night might use substances or junk food to stay awake, which? ?only increases the danger of addiction hopping.

Instead of panicking about games addiction or making overwrought claims in either direction, the correct step is to look at the source of the behaviour and the thought patterns be??hind it, so that any affected person can healthily return to their normal patterns of behaviour. And bear in mind that the solution to not all addictions is to cut out the crutch completely; for many, such as those with a food addiction, that's not even possible. 

Addiction as a global issue

Addiction is ultimately an issue that's more about a malfunction of the brain than the way it expresses itself. By focusing too much on the question of whether games addiction exists or does not exist, given that anything can be a source of compulsive behaviour, we're at risk of ignor?ing the underlying question of why people become addicts. And if we ignore that question, then it is not just a games disorder that young people might be at risk of developing.

Looking at the issue from the glib perspective of pure numbers is also not helpful at all – in the end, if you play for one hour a week but could not tear yourself away in case of an emergency, there's probably still addiction at play. Some people can play for 40 hours but just walk away if they feel like it, so they aren't addicted. We should instead think of the issue in ??terms of how people's brains interact with the reward mechanics of games on a case-by-case basis, which is precisely what the World Health Organisation diagnosis criteria seem to support. The experts have it right: the media and discourse just needs to catch up.

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Yesterday, I had the pleasure of watching Jack Thompson take questions from a surprisingly respectable and and open-minded crowd at the ScrewAttack G??aming Convention. I have to say that, after all my dealings with the silver-haired fox, I was impressed with JT's performance. His self-deprecating humor and intelligent ora?tion was a breath of fresh air, and I think everyone left the conference hall with a heightened respect for the man.

I captured some video footage (which isn't too dark this time) and will probably edit some highlights together. In the meantime, have a clip of Jack Thompson explaining just how much fun he's having at SGC. I think this is pretty much the moment that ??really won him over with the crowd.

In all seriousness, I think Jack Thompson did an amazing job yesterday. I d??on't agree with all his views, and I certainly disagree with the way he's put them across over the ye?ars. I think everyone who watched him yesterday will agree, however, that if he continues the rest of his crusade in the polite and intelligent manner with which he carried himself at SGC, he really wouldn't be such a bad guy to have around.

In addition, Thompson took part in a debate which was quite pleasant and very interesting. We liveblogged it, and you can check that out here.

The post SGC 09: Jack Thompson keeps his clothes on appeared first on Destructoid.

By now we normally ignore whatever Jack Thompson says, but since this is also a chance to advertise Penn & Teller's Bullshit! we will jump right on the chance, thank you very much. If you're unfamilar with the show, it's five parts hilarious, five parts social commentary and five parts awesome -- unless you're strongly against Libertarian views. Basically, Penn and his silent cohort Teller go around debunking psuedoscientific ideas and stupid misconceptions. Gaming being evil falls in the latter category and most likely is the subject of the show that Jack Tho?mpson will be featured on.

But enough of the facts! Let's get to the juicy quote that Jack drops in the commercial below for the upcoming seventh season of Bullshit!. Speaking to the camera, Thompson proudly proclaims that "Grand Theft Auto is the worst assault? on childr??en since polio." 

That sunk in yet? Give it a second.

Good. Now go catch up on all the seasons of Bullshit! that y??ou missed, b?ecause I know you haven't all been watching. 

[Thanks, Jonah F.]

The post Thompson: GTA is as bad an epidemic as polio appeared first on Destructoid.

I don't even know wha Jack-o is doing anymore. It's so hard to follow all the stupid things he does and says, so I've kind lost track. Thankfully, GamePolitics is keeping track, and now they point us to Thompson trying to treaten prosecut?ion for  all 104 House and Senate members of the Utah legislature. Jack is pissed because Utah tried to prosecute him for sen??ding them spam.

In an email sent back to Utah, Jack says that he is "not going to put up with it," and threatens to add all of the legislature to his sworn complaint:

If I get one more threat of criminal prosecution for sending you all?? proof, ??as I have, that pornographic video games are being sold to children in Utah ... then I will add ALL of you to the sworn criminal complaint now in the hands of the FBI in Salt Lake City. 

Maybe the real problem here is th?at Utah, as? a recent study proves, leads the nation in consumption of on-line porn.  Maybe some among you are into this stuff, and you feel threatened...

Nice, Jack.? Very professional move there. Calling Utah's legislature porn fiends, and then saying that you'll prosecute the lot of them? Forget disbarring: this guy should be banned from using e-mail.

The post Jack Thompson threatens to prosecute entire Utah legislatu??re appeared first on Destructoid.

Jack. Jackie. Wacko Jack-o. Jackie?? Boy. I haven't decided what I'll call him when I hang out with him in Dallas this summer. J-dogg?

Oh, what? You didn't know we were tight? Okay, we're not really hanging out. But he and I will be in the same building! Ooh! There are definite perks to this job!

Our favorite game hater will be appearing live at the ScrewAttack Gaming Convention on July 4th where he will participate in a live debate with Mark Menthentis, Joystiq's legal columnist. The??y'll have it out on the topic of videogame restrictions. There will also be a pre??-screened Q&A panel for Thompson, so if you're going, have your questions ready. 

ScrewAttack's Craig Skistimas.:

We’re extremely excited to welcome suc??h a controversial figure in the gaming world and provide a venue for a debate that is sure to create fireworks for many people this Fourth of July.

Fireworks indeed. So, we're going, Jackie-poo is going, Nolan Bushnell is going -- hell, everyone is going. Are you?

The post Jack Thompson to appear at ScrewAttack Convention appeared first on Destructoid.

The poorly written and rather pointless HB 353, a videogame/movie bill intended for Utah by Jack Thompson, has been vetoed by Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, thanks to the sloppy writing of the bill ?itself, and some clever lobbying from the games industry.

"While protecting children from inappropriate materials is a laudable goal, the language of this bill is so broad that it likely will be struck down by?? the courts as an unconstitutional violation of the Dormant Commerce Clause and/or the First Amendment," explained Huntsman. "The industries most affected by this new requirement indicated that rather than risk being held liable under this bill, they would? likely choose to no longer issue age appropriate labels on goods and services.

"Therefore, the unintended consequence of the bill would be that parents and children would have no labels to guide them in determining the age appro?priateness of the goods or service, thereby increasing children’s potential exposure to something they or their parents would have otherwise determined was inappropriate under the voluntary labeling system now being recognized and embraced by a significant majority of vendors."

That's really quite a masterstroke on?? the part of the games industry. Choosing to pull out of a voluntary rating system rather than risking the wrath of this silly bill was slick, and?? while Huntsman would likely have vetoed the thing anyway, it still hammers home something important that anti-games lobbyists have forgotten -- the games industry voluntary decided to stick to age restrictions. Nobody made publishers do it, and nobody is saying they have to stick to it. 

Th??o?se that moan about how videogames set out to corrupt young minds ought to remember that.

The post Thompson’s Utah bill vetoed: Another win for intelligence! appeared first on Destructoid.

Ever since Jack Thompson lost his job, I resolved to stop covering the man's antics until he did something supremely stupid. That said, I could not resist following up on the suspicions that had been aroused yesterday when I was flicking through the TV channels and discovered America's premier God-friendly anthropomorphic vegetable kids' show, Veggie Tales.

Upon the discovery of regular character Mr. Nezzer -- a sentient Christian zucchini -- the penny had suddenly dropped. Game-hating ex-attorney Jack Thompson is either in this show, or has an identical (albeit green) twin that teaches children the importance of sharing, obedience and Bible stories. 

Let's look at the similarities between JT and Mr. Nezzer -- frightening physical likenesses aside, both are concerned with the morality of children, both are devout Christian messengers??, and both are vegetables. Mr. Nezzer and Jack Thompson are inseparable twins!

How is this a story? That is the question I know you ask, and ??I cannot answer tha?t because I don't know. All I know is that Jack Thompson looks like a sentient Christian zucchini, and I felt the need to share.

The post Jack Thompson’s secret Veggie Tales twin discovered! appeared first on Destructoid.

Good villains never really die, and Jack Thompson is showing respect for that tradition in his latest attempts to bring gaming down to its figurative knees. GamePolitics was lucky enough to get a press release from Thompson re??cently??, which states:

"Thompson will be in Utah this coming week to work with Utah state officials to pass a new state law that will stop, dead in its tracks, the continuing marke??ting and sale of “Mature” video games to kids. Utah’s new approach to this problem will be constitutional and it will become a model for other states to follow."

Further digging resulted in proof that Thompson is in fact a keynote speaker at the yearly convention held by Utah Eagle Forum, some people that I would be happy never to have to hold a conversation with in person. The schedule for the convention ment??ions Thompson will? speak on the research proving violent games lead to violence in children and this year's legislation to prevent it.

Maybe those Freedom Awards got him feeling confident, or maybe crazy people just have endless confidence, but either way it looks like Jack is far from throwing in the towel just because of a silly little disbarring. What a great guy. Well, if all else fails, target the re??ligious -- just say God hates it and they'll be in the palm of your hand in no time.

The post Jack Thompson targets Utah as his next victim appeared first on Destructoid.

Jack Thompson recently cited God’s wrath as the reason Take-Two’s stocks have been plummeting. In a conversation with Game Politics Thompson created his own headline by saying “GOD STRIKES TAKE-TWO DOWN.” It’s like the New York Post, except with more vigor.

Thompson would go on to elab??orate his belief in a later e-mail with less pop, but just as much passion:

...If you had any ??understanding of the Bible and of God you would un??derstand that persecution comes Christians' way, and we are blessed by it.  There is no blessing for Zelnick, who is not a Christian, when he gets what he deserves...

Ailing economy aside, perhaps Thompson has something here. God probably isn’t a big fan of Grand Theft Auto and its content. Stealing c?ars, picking up hookers, and killing people aren’t exactly wholesome actions. Perhaps we’ll see more evidence of this if Nintendo&rsquo??;s stocks drop unexpectedly. Smashing Goombas is a sin, right?

[via 1UP, thanks Brian!]

The post Jack Thompson believes God struck down Take-Two, doesn’t say it subtly appeared first on Destructoid.

I'm not much for celebrating anyone's hard times, but let's face it, Jack Thompson has incited a lot of rage in the hearts of happy gamers who felt their favorite pastime could be threatened by his antics. With the recent news of hi??s disbarment, some will certainly breathe a sigh of relief, but others may not experience quite the same jo?y until the actual day is upon us.

What better way to count down, then, than with a Firefox add-on that will remind you daily exactly how much time Thompson has left before his law career terminates? Created by GamePolitics reader and comment moderator E?. Zachary Knight, it's free to download and may aid in your e?veryday sense of celebration.

[Thanks Joe!]

The post How excited are you about Jack Thompson’s disbarment? Want a timer for it? appeared first on Destructoid.

Jack Thompson was one of the gaming community's most hated villains. The man waged a one man war on videogames with lies, half-truths and social misconceptions as ??his only weapons, and he received much coverage in the gaming press for his obsessive attacks on the industry.

It is for this reason that former ESA boss Doug Lowenstein has laid the blame for JT's proliferation squarely at the feet of people like me, the games medi?a writers who recorded his actions and words for public consumption. According to Lowenstein, it was the gaming press that gave Thompson his power and that, he implies, reflec??ts very poorly on us. 

"The media knew well that he was a charlata?n who who??lly lacked credibility. But hey, they said, he was news and could not be ignored. That was a cop out. It gave Thompson a platform he might not have had for as long as he did."

Were we wrong to cover Jack Thompson? Did we lack a justifiable reason for giving the preacher his pulpit, or was a man meant to be i??gnored? Read on for some frank and open thoughts on the subject, from a man who interacted? with and wrote about the man more than anybody not called Dennis Mccauley.

"I read with more than passing interest the reports of Jack Thompson's disbarment. Amid all the celebrating among the game industry, one thing I hope emerges is s??ome degree of self examination by the game press of its own com?plicity in making Thompson what he became.

The game press had a schizoid relationship with Thompson. He was the person they loved to vilify and the person they could not get enough of. Time and again, the game p??ress — and mainstream press — would ask ESA to engage with, or respond to Thompson's latest excess. The media knew well that he was a charlatan who wholly lacked credibility. But hey, they said, he was news and could no??t be ignored. That was a cop out. It gave Thompson a platform he might not have had for as long as he did.

Mainstream outlets (The Today Show, CNN, Fox) were worse but the game press knew better. But ?he was the game press' crack. And even as they said privately he was a kook, they treated him as if he was a credible, fair minded critic. That represented an abdication of the critical filtering role the media should play.

There were and are legitimate grounds to criticize the game industry, and there were responsible and fair minded critics like Dave Walsh. But for the game press it was all Jack all the time. So as it takes delight in his apparent demise, it is a good time to contemplate whether the game media itself has matured . You help set the tone for mainstream media coverage and if you validate extremists you give licens??e to the less informed to follow your lead.

It is 35 years since Po?ng. Your readers and the industry deserve a game media worthy of the best that journalism has to offer.

Doug Lowenstein"

Is the coverage of Jack Thompson a sign of our immaturity? I will turn the question around and ask this: Is the pursuit of maturity in an industry where we write about witch touching DS games really such a noble goal? I can only speak for Destructoid, but I sense that a number of? our fellow blogs would agree that part and parcel of our job is to entertain just as much as it is to inform. 

I write to entertain my readers. That is my primary function and my most important aim. Jack Thompson may not really have become important, or even relevant, in the ?long run, but he was entertaining. Not everyone will agree with that of course, but there is no denying that Jack Thompson was good for business. 

Lowenstein calls the relationship between the media and JT a schizoid one. I would refer to it as a symbiotic one. We gave Jack what he wanted, that's certainly true. We provided him with a soapbox to stand on, we fed his ego, we made him feel special and interesting. But just as much as we gave Thompson what he wanted, he gave us what we wanted. He provided us with laughter, with something to pick apart and discuss. He was a villain, and everyone loves to hate a villain. It can't be denied that he used us. It can't be denied that we used him. And both sides loved it.

That is all well and good, but did feeding the troll create a monster? Did we give this man power and turn him from a joke into something serious? No. Jack Thompson was only famous to the people that he despised the most -- the games industry and its customers. While he may have had brief appearances on FOX News, som??ething that cannot even be confidently attributed to us, he was never world famous, and likely won't ever be. He was "popular" only among hardcore gamers, a demographic that is becoming less of a percentage in the games market itself, let alone society as a whole.

Any power he wielded was and is an illusion. His notorious dealings with Penny Arcade, GamePolitics and myself were contained within our own social bubble, and whatever the future holds for JT, it will likely fail to interest the world at large. His importance is make-believe, his relevance a mere fabrication. We didn't help Jack become anything, because ultimately he became nothing.  

Can the coverage of Thompson be defended from a journalistic standpoint? Perhaps. JT was a loudmouth with more words?? than common sense, but in a world where reality TV stars can become credible icons, ignoring Thompson could have been a bad idea. It was thanks to us that Thompson was exposed for the duplicitous, vulgar and disrespectful man that he is. His personal attacks on industry figures and his many documented online flame wars with youngsters helped to damage whatever credibility he may have been able to forge. 

Ultimately, however, I must return to my original question. Is it noble to take the "high ground" and the "mature route," even as the industry's biggest critics rely on childishness, ignorance and outright lies to get their point across? It seems these days that "acting mature" really mea??ns "doing nothing," which is something that many games industry figures see??m worryingly fond of while their work is dragged over hot coals by reactionary and deceptive people who deserve to be told off as publicly and loudly as possible. 

This point goes beyond Jack Thompson and into mainstream media as a whole. As part of a growing medium, it would appear that both the gaming press and the games industry are going through a phase of self-consciousness, where they are afraid of looking immature in front of the older boys, despite the fact that more established mediums are acting like the biggest babies of all. If Geoff Keighley, for example, had told that psychologist to STFUAJPG while debating Mass Effect on FOX News, would he have looked any more immature and pat?hetic than the rest of the cast who were shouting over each other and flaunting their disrespectful ignorance on public television? I doubt it. If anything, it might have actually got a few members of the widespread audience on his side. 

Doug Lowenstein claims that our readers deserve the best that journalism has to offer. I say no. They deserve one thing, and one t?hing only -- to be entertained. If that is through hard-hitting attempts at "real" journalism, then fine. If it is through making fun of an old crank with a big mouth and a small shred of dignity, then there's nothing wrong with that either.

Ultimately, there is but one ??reason why games media covered Jack Thompson as often as it did -- the readers wanted it.

To merely give our readers that which they wan??ted ... was that a bad thing?

Once again I say this. No.

The post Jack Thompson: Were we wrong to feed the troll? appeared first on Destructoid.

It's been a long time coming, but silver-haired game hater Jack Thompson has been permanently disbarred. That's right fol?ks, in thirty days time, the man who once so proudly flaunted his lawyer credentials in peoples' faces will soon have to go from being "Jack Thompson, Attorney" to just plain ol' John Bruce Thompson, Nobody.

The Court approves the corrected referee's report and John Bruce?? Thompson is permanently disbarred, effective thirty days from the date of this order so that respondent can close out his practice and protect the interests of existing clients. If respondent?? notifies the Court in writing that he is no longer practicing and does not need the thirty days to protect existing clients, this Court will enter an order making the permanent disbarment effective immediately. Respondent shall accept no new business from the date this order is filed.

Judgment is entered for The Florida Bar, 651 East Jefferson Stree??t, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2300, for recovery of costs from John Bruce Thompson in the amount of $43,675.35, for which sum let execution issue.

Not final until time expires to file motion for rehearing, and if filed, determined. The filing of ??a motion for rehearing shall not alter the effective date of this permanent disbarment. Consistent with this Court's sanction order, no motion for rehearing will be considered unless signed by a member in good standing of The Florida Bar other than respondent.

Jack Thompson will no longer be able to practice law thanks to a string of misconduct allegat?ions that included lying, making a nuisance of himself to professionals, and generally being both ignorant and disrespectful of his peers. Jack Thompson ??behaved with nothing but contempt and immaturity in his own disbarment trial, so it's hardly surprising that this has happened. He had only himself to blame.

I doubt Thompson's crusade ag??a?inst videogames ends here. But until FOX hands him another paycheck to pretend to be an expert, hit the jump for an exclusive official response to the disbarment from Jack himself.

[Thanks, Radio Guy]

We contacted Jack Thompson asking if we migh?t have an official statement on his disbarment. He answered our request swiftly, but concisely. His statement simply reads:

"Sure. Go to Hell."

I really can't understand why he's not still a ?lawyer. 

The post OBJECTION! Jack Thompson has been disbarred appeared first on Destructoid.

Jack Thompson is famous for being too serious about everything, especially videogames. What a surprise, then, to see this picture posted on GamesPolitics, as a part of a cryptic email he sent? their way? this morning.

The email contained nothing but this picture and the subject line "First feeder bands from Hurricane Ike hit Miami!" Now, since I happen to live in Miami, I know that there were in fact very windy conditions at work last night and this morning, but since when does Jack take funny pictures of himself and mail them to gaming websites??? Isn't he supposed to be ... you know ... trying to wipe us off the face of the planet?

Regardless, it's kind? of funny to see Thompson goofing off for a change. Of course, he's crazier than a bar??rel of monkeys, but I still kind of feel like I saw a new side of him. Maybe next he'll call up Niero and I and ask us over to his hurricane party.

[Thanks, Joe]

The post BREAKING ??NEWS: Jack Thompson finds sense of humor! appeared first on Destructoid.

As you may or may not know by now, it seems likely that Jack Thompson is to lose his career as a defense attorney. The Florida Bar seems to have gotten the strange impression that he's a lying, manipulative, offensive duncebreed and is looking to disbar him ?for no less?? than ten years.

Since Jack Thompson is a good friend of ours here at Destructoid, we do not want to see him unable to earn his daily bread. Playing the role of careers adviser, Destructoid has taken it upon itself to draw up a list of possible jobs that the silver-haired Lothario ??would be perfect for. It is our hope that Jack "Jack Thompson" Thompson takes our advice on board and finds a job perhaps even more lucrative and interesting than getting criminals off the hook for a fee.

Hit the jump as we attempt to employ Jack Thom?pson.

Professional Wrestler:

As I know from experience, if there is one thing ??Jack Thompson is good at, it's trash talking, and this is a trait that professional wrestlers need perhaps even more than athletic ability. Professional wrestling is where men do pretend things for two hours a night, so it'd be perfect for JT, who is already well versed in faking things.  

If you've ever heard a wrestling promo, you'll know that they basically talk into a microphone for up to thirty minutes, finding thousands of words to use while only conveying a handful of information (usually alo??ng the lines of which ass they are going to kick at Summerslam). If anybody coul?d match such insubstantial rambling, it's Jack "Ring Stinger" Thompson and his brutal finisher, The Dis-Armbar.

Beekeeper:

There is but one sound on Earth that can drown out Jack Thompson's voice, and that's the ceaseless droning of a thousand bees. This job is worth Jack's consideration just for the sense of challenge he could enjoy in trying to interrupt the buzzing honey makers. He likes to fight against the odds, and a betting man would favor the bees in an argumen?t. Prove those gamblers wrong, Jack!

Politician:

An obvious choice, Jack Thompson was actually into politics before he took up turning courtrooms into three-ring circuses, ?and even though he swore he'd never do it again, recent rumblings suggest he has dreams of Congress. While some people believe this would be a bad thing, we fully endorse it. Hearing JT's crazy opinions when applied to the political arena would be hilarious, and it'd be interesting to see the scandals he could cause. 

He obviously has all the skills of a politician -- ??the ability to lie and ... well, that's the only skill a politician has, I suppose. Who knows? He might even make President some day. That'd be like accessing a cheat code to skip right to World War III.

Game Developer:

Jack Thompson would make an excellent designer of hyper-violent?? videogames. He has already pitched two twisted ideas in the past -- one where you violently murder other game developers, and another he pitched to me once merely titled "kill all the gamers," (which he claimed would appear on the Xbox 360 when asked).  

Thompson is an inventive man, and is just the kind of innovative bright spark this industry needs. He might even be able to make the Left Behind games playable. 

Rodeo caretaker:

Because he already has experience with bullshit.

Big Daddy:

The Big Daddies are lumbering creatures, prone to attack anything they perceive as a threat with no regard for reason, and possessing a single-minded dedication to protecting children from harm. It would seem that Big Daddies and Jack Thompson are indeed cut from the sam??e cloth. 

Thompson should indeed report to Dr. Suchong and apply for the Big Daddy program. His inability to be re??asoned ??with and his obsession with child safety would see him excel as a custodian of Little Sisters. His belief system might not mesh with Andrew Ryan's hardcore atheism, but I imagine those two would sort out their differences. 

I would kill to hear a conversation between those two. 

Paranormal Investigator:

Thompson spends enough time hunting for things that aren't there, so what better way to lucratively apply his lust for imagi??nary horrors than by becoming a paranormal investigator?  

JT's ability to draw wild conclusions from unrelated mundaneness would be a tremendous boon in the paranormal industry, where self-professed ghost hunters can claim common household dust is evidence of spectral shenanigans. You only need to watch the ridiculous "We wish we were Blair Witch" television shows in which night vision cameras and some sweaty man whispering "I sense someone died here proba?bly" pass f?or entertainment.

Jack could even go so far as to take up clairvoyance. He could tie it in with his current obsession and make dead people claim they were killed by v??ideogames.

"The Ouija board spelled three lette??rs, my child ... G ... T ... A!"

Waldo Replacement:

He'd be brilliant at this because nobody would want to find this asshole.

Mean Game Show Host:

Should the so-called "Queen of Mean" Anne Robinson ever tire of hosting The Weakest Link, I think we have a perfectly suitable queen lined up to take the mantle. Show hosts like Anne Robinson and, of course, Simon Cowell, are notorious for their merciless put-downs of those brave enough to appear on The Weakest Link or Pop Idol, and if anybody could?? match their acerbic wit and unsympathetic acidity, it's our boy Jacko. Just look at some of these choice insults and witty put-downs, and imagine t??hem being used in a hot prime time show. I think you'll agree that these all = ratings:

"... We got a bunch of sociopaths in Edinburgh, Scotland, sittin' around in k??ilts sippin' their single malt whiskey spreading racial, hurtful stereotypes in this country."

"?Gamers are considered by normal people to be cretins. Get used to it."

"Gosh, I forgot. You're a gamer. You c?an't think for yourself. Sony and Microsoft and Take-Two have to do your cerebral stimulation for you."

"With enemies like you Pixelantes and like Game Daily Biz, why, I don't ?need any friends. You honor me with y?our hatred. I serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and you hate me because the world first hated Him. I follow the Creator of the Universe."

"Get behind me Satan. That's you, junior."

"Why don't you just mo?lest children directly rather than through ?Rockstar.  It would be more personal that way."

Let's face it, FOX is already ??going to make ?something like this happen.  

Xenomorph:

I know what you're thinking -- we're on the last job suggestion, and really rea??ching for ideas. Hear me out though, because this actually does work if you think about it. Really?? hard. 

Jack Thompson, like the Xenomorph life form from Alien, is a parasitic c?reature that propagates itself through the deaths of others. With each life brutally snuffed out, Thompson is born again, given a new and bloodstained lease of life. Pain and suffering keep him going, and he is a relentless threat that refuses to die. He is acidic, and has a biting tongue. His plan is to take over, without mercy and without sympathy. 

You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility. I admire its purity. A survivor ... unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality. I can't lie to yo?u about your chances, but ... you have my sympathies.

...

Okay, we were reaching.

The post Employing Jack Thompson appeared first on Destructoid.

Jack Thompson has very recently been paid a friendly visit by a pair of U.S Marshals following one of the silver-maned crusader's madcap letters. In ?writing to Chief Judge Federico Moreno, the notorious defense attorney (for the time being) suggested that Al-Qaeda t??error suspects have more rights than he does:

We find yesterday that enemy comb??atants at Guantanamo are to get more due process from federal judges than what I am to have?. I guess my "mistake" was not killing 3000 people to make my point...

 

I demand a hearing.

Jack's crazy hyperbole prompted the visit from the Marshals, and although the full details of such a meeting are unclear, it's been made obvious that they considered him a threat. This is what happens when you write crazy letters filled with over-the-top sarcasm to judges. He wrote another letter in response (of? course), too lengthy and rambling to post on the front page?? (of course!!), but securely fastened after the jump.

I was visited today by two U.S. Marshals ?who were nice gentlemen, and very professional and courteous in their dealings with me.  My complaint is not with them...

I have been asking the Justice Department simply to meet with me about [the video game industry's] criminal targeting of me fo??r harm...  Our US Attorney here has obstr??ucted that effort...

Instead of being afforded the Justice Department investigation to which I am entitled, I get today haras?sment?? from that same Justice Department...

When you and the Justice Department dispatch U.S. Marshals to my home because of a letter I wrote you last week complaining about ?misconduct by District Court Judges here in the Southern District, the purpose of that visit was  to intimidate and harass me...

The notion that I pose some sort of physical threat to you or to the judiciary or to anyone else down here is a cruel joke.  The two Marshals said, “If you had actually hand-delivered the letter to Judge Moreno, we would be concerned.”  To that I said, “But I did.  I did that last week because the gentleme??n at the metal detectors would not deliver it, and THEY TOLD ME TO DELIVER IT TO YOU.  I buzzed into  your inner offices on the thirteenth floor, and I politely handed the letter to your clerk, who politely took it.

If I were a danger to anyone, that would have been the time for me to have proven it, right?  In fact, I have never threatened anyone in my entire life, and you know that, and the Marshals said they knew that.  They were apologetic about being dispatched to my home.  This is outrageous, Judge.  Simply outrageous. ??

The post Jack Thompson gets a visit from the feds appeared first on Destructoid.

The jaws of karma continue to clamp ever tighter around Jack Thompson's jugular as the prospect of disbarment becomes more and more real. Today, the silver-haired crusader walked out on his disciplinary hearing, in which the court recommended an "enhanced disbarment" for no less than ten years, basical??ly appealing for the end of Thompson's career.

Jack disagreed with Tunis' presence and stormed out in a blaze of harrumphs, but not before submitting a lengthy written objection (viewable after the jump). It is believed that referee Judge Tunis' refusal to let Thompson read the novella was the reason he left. He also apparently argued over the placement of the podium at court. Oh Jack, what are we going to do with you?

If it's any consolation, I am in the market for an assistant, Mr. Thompson. My pay's lousy, but the work??load is plentiful.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA

THE FLORIDA BAR,

           ?     ;                    Complainant,

v.      ?;                                                                    Case Numbers SC 07 - 80 and 07- 354

JOHN B. THOMPSON,
                                      
        ??                              Respondent.

THOMPSON’S FORMAL OBJ?ECTION TO JUNE 4 SANCTIONS “HEARING”

This document is hereby submitted to the referee at the commencement of this non-hearing sanctions “hearing” and read into the record as well, and thus I depart from the traditional id?entification of myself, a party herein, in the third person and instead speak in my own voice in the first person directly to the referee.

I object, strenuously, as I have in the past on the record, to the very notion that this p??roceeding can ?even occur, on various grounds any single one of which is fatal to its legitimacy, including but not limited to the following grounds:

You, the referee, are not even a judge.  The law in Florida on that is clear, and it is found in Florida’s Loyalty Oath Statute 876.05, et sequitur, held constitutional and binding by the United States Supreme Court in ??Connell v. Higginbotham.

We know now from a recently concluded State Attorney’s investigation and Report that your first state loyalty oath was forged.  We also know that your next two oaths, which you signed, did not conform to that statute in that the language deviated from what is required and they were not even notarized.  A number of formal opinions by Florida’s Attorney General state that such flaws are fatal regardless of intent.  The statute itself states that if any state official, including a judge, fails to comply strictly with the loyalty oath statute, then that judge is without legal authority to serve and must immediately be removed from office.  I will accomplish your removal from office in the days and weeks ahead, as the litigation that will achieve that has already been filed by me in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.  The Supreme Court of Florida, which you, the referee think is your ally in what you are doing here has ruled that your loyalty oath screw-up is fatal.
As Richard Nixon found, the cover-up is worse than the initial law breaking.  When I found out about your forged loyalty oath and then about your two subsequent inadequate loyalty oaths, I moved for your recusal.  You then immediately commenced a cover-up, refusing by a false, formal order to acknowledge the loyalty oath problem, pretending it did not e?xist.  Proving the cover-up, you even more foolishly executed on February 4, 2008, finally, a loyalty oath, which I attach hereto, that complies with the state statute, but you did so too late to keep you in office, as the oath must be timely executed, and yours is years too late.  The law is clear; your post facto oath is invalid.   This panicked oath is an irrefutable admission that you never had a valid oath in the first place.  How could you do something so dumb?  Easy; desperate people do desperate things.  You will be removed from office, and all of what you have done in this Bar matter will be voided as a result.

Secondly, we know now that six of the seven Florida Supreme Court Justices never executed valid state loyalty oaths.  I have proven that, as has Florida and Washington, D.C. lawyer Montgomery Blair Sibley, whose own Bar referee, Judge Prescott, had his oath forged by the same person, Saye?d A. Shah, who forged yours.  What a coincidence. 

The Florida Supreme Court entered its order seeking to deny me my right to represent myself before it on this disciplinary matter when I alerted the Court to its loyalty oath problem.  They, too, in a panic, executed too-late, post facto, wholly ineffectual loyalty oaths after the whistle was blown on them.  This just proves that sitting on the highest court in the state neither make you clever.   The consequence of all of this post fac??to oath taking is that all that the Florida Supreme Court has done in this case is invalid and will be voided, and if you think I will not accomplish that end then a) you do not understand the lawsuit already filed, and b) you don’t know Jack.  

Thirdly, we are here today because you issued a written document you called “Recommendations” by which you announced to the world with this document you leaked to the press, that I am guilty on 27 of 31 counts brought by The Bar.   In issuing and leaking this document called “Recommendations,” you have clearly violated Florida Bar Rule 3-7.6 (m) which states in pertinent part:
      The referee’s report sh??all include:

(A) a finding of fact as to each item of misconduct of which the respondent is charged, which findings of fact shall enjoy the same presumption of correctness as the judgment of the trier of fact in a civil proceeding;
(B) recommendations as to whether the respondent should be found guilty of misconduct justifying disciplinary measures;
(C) recommendations as to the disciplinary measures to ?be applied;

English is the greatest of all languages.  It allows its users to be very precise.  Any r??ational person conversant in Eng??lish understands, upon reading Rule 3-7.6, that the document containing findings of guilt must also contain “findings of fact” as to what I am guilty of.  Your “Recommendations” have absolutely no findings of fact, and yet we are here today on that invalid document. 

There is absolutely no provision in our Bar Rules for a document called “Recommendations” devoid of such findings of fact.  You and The Bar have made it up.  You and The Bar have made a lot of things up in? the last four  years, and this is just your latest.

From the day this Bar effort began four years ago and in which you, the referee have become ensnared, although you have certainly warmed to the recruitment, I have been asking for a document that informs me what I have d?one to violate the Rules.  Four years later, I still have no such document an??d no notice and thus no due process by virtue of that failure.  You couldn’t even come up with it in your “Recommendations.”  This is a game of “hide and seek,” Referee Tunis, which you cannot win.

I have said it before??, and I will say it again to you, and of course you will not listen, but the record must be made clear:  You can’t charge ??a lawyer and you can’t charge a rapist with anything unless you tell him in the charging document with specificity—with facts alleged—what he has done.

We went into the trial here in November 2007 with no specific charges.  The Bar said, “Here are the Rules you have violated, here are the documents, you figure it out.”  At the trial, there was absolutely no evidence—no facts—put forth that I violated any of these Bar Rules.  My favorite “testimony,” if you want to call it that, which highlights the problem of not telling an accused what he has done wrong, was from Alabama Judge James Moore, who admitted under oath, that I did not withhold any of my colorful disciplinary history from him, as Blank Rome alleged, but that in fact I gave him more facts than I was required to give.  My sin?? was that I did not tell him how “serious” were my Bar sins.  I didn’t even have to tell him I was merely reprimanded by The Bar in 1992 for trying to protect my family from death threats, but because I did not characterize my sins as more serious than The Florida Bar itself did, when I provided him all the facts, he said I had not “see the whole picture.”   Believe me, I see the whole picture.  I am to be punished for telling the truth because I pose a threat to this white judge who put this black teen on death row in Alabama.  That’s the “whole picture.”  I am also to be punished, you have concluded, for going on 60 Minutes and warning the American people, like Paul Revere, that, inspired by video games, “the murders are coming.”  And they have come.  I am to be punished for trying to save lives, over the objection of Blank Rome, which gives more money to the Bush family than any other law firm in the world.  This is the Bush family that put you on this bench and whom you have protected by refusing to give me a subpoena that puts Jeb Bush under oath about his personal, financial relationship with the two law firms that are behind all of these Bar complaints, Tew Cardenas and Blank Rome.  You are Jeb Bush’s protector and shield from Jack Thompson, and you have discharged your sordid task in that regard effectively.

Fourthly, most of what I am charged with I did not do on behalf of any client but in pursuit of efforts to secure enforcement of laws for the common good.  The Florida Supreme Court ruled, again in English so that any rational person can understand, in Florida Bar v. Brake, that a lawyer cannot violate Rule 4-8.4(d) unless he is “engaged in the practice of law on behalf of a client.”  I had no client, Referee Tunis, in almost all of t??his, and thus you have had no jurisdiction over any of that.  You have ignored this clear Florida Supreme Court ruling, and you will be undone by this cav?alier disregard for the law in this regard as well.

Fifthly, you have received numerous motions to recuse, all of which have been f?acially and legally sufficient.  The law in Florida in state court is clear as to recusal.  Once you receive a motion to recuse which on its face conforms to the requirements of Florida Statute 38.10 and Rule 2.330, Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, you must withdraw from a case.  You are not allowed to assess the validity of the facts in the motion.  The filing of a motion that conforms to the statute mandates recusal, period.   There is no wiggle room on this.  You have wiggled, repeatedly, like a nightcrawler on a hook.  You have thumbed your nose at this Florida recusal law as well, and this alone will undo you and which renders whatever you do today and after null and void.

Sixthly, we come to an issue about which?? The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors and I are in total agreement.  The Governors have come up with a new Rule that before Judges can serve as referees in Bar matters they must be trained as to how to discharge these specialized duties of a referee.  In the other Bar case you ?had Arthur Teele was the respondent, and he solved your problem by killing himself in the lobby of the Miami Herald.  I’m not giving you that out.

The Bar Governors have decided:  No training, you can’t be a referee.  Leaving aside your bias against me, which you have never missed an opportunity to express, proof of your incompetence and total lack of training as a referee has been legion.  You did whatever The ?Bar told you to do, even to the point of refusing to give me hearings, refusing to issue subpoenas, and refusing to afford me any semblance of due process.  Smiling and saying “Have a nice day,” after you have just informed me that I can’t get a continuance for my wife’s cancer surgery and chemotherapy is not due process, Referee Tunis.  It is incompetence wedded to arrogance, poorly masked by a happy face.

Going into this complex “disciplinary” matter with no training on what a referee should do and how you should act undoes all of what you have done and will yet do to me, a?s the new Bar Rule—let’s call it the Tunis Rule—will alone be a basis for reversal. 

There is more that I could say and frankly want to say at this Star Cham??ber, kangaroo court “hearing,” but the record has probably been sufficiently made to date to make it easy enough to undo this mess, but?? I note here, as I conclude my objection to these proceedings:

You have?? been so cruel and at the same time so foolish as to call my pleadings herein “propaganda.”  That word means something, given how propaganda was used in the last century by the Third Reich in Nazi Germany to justify the placement of peo??ple of faith in “relocation centers” where they were starved and gassed as the “final solution” to the problem they posed.  A human spirit that could do that is more than capable of doing to me what you have done.  Clarence Thomas, at his Senate confirmation hearings, spoke of those proceedings as “a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree."

The US Senate, Referee Tunis, has nothing on you and your high-tech lynching of the uppity Christian who stands before ??you.

U.S??. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas warned in Lathrop v. Donohue that integrated state bars, like Florida’s, if they were left unchecked as to their ideologies, would turn into, his phrase “goose-stepping brigades” for nonconforming lawyers who did not fit the majority’s mold.  There is a reason my e-mail address is amendmentone@comcast.net.  It is because of the fascists who run The Florida Bar identified as such by a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

You also smeared me with the epithet that I am involved in some petty “culture war” into which I have tried, you allege, to recruit you.  Some of us, Referee Tunis, simply know and dare act upon the fact that children should be protected from corporate predation, whether it be the violent pornography in Grand Theft Auto IV, sold to my 15-year-old son in a sting he did at Best Buy in Dadeland, in which women proclaim “I’ll suck your cock real nice” then do so, only to be killed by the hero in the game. We actually do something about the sale of simulators to underage teens on how to kill policemen in ways you would not even imagine, which is precisely what Devin Moore did in a police station in Fayette, Alabama.  We come against radio broadcast descriptions, in our hometown on WQAM-AM,  by Howard Stern as kids are going to school at 8 am by female amputees on how to lubricate their stumps and place them into the anuses of men to achieve orgasm.
Those of us who have done something about this do not want you in what you derisively call a “culture war&rdq??uo; anymore than we would want Frank Fuster to run a day care center.  I represented Ileana Fuster in her divorce from Frank Fuster, and she knows more about what I have been trying to do and why I have been trying to do it over the past twenty years than you even care to ??know and yet which you mock.  It’s your and The Bar’s culture war on me and upon people of faith that indicts you, not me.

The Preamble to your and my Bar Rules, Referee Tunis, prohibits the bringing of Bar complaints by opposing parties and counsel as a means of collateral attack.  Such SLAPP Bar complaints are illegal and they are void.  When I provi?ded you a letter from The Bar’s own prosecutor in Ft. Lauderdale saying just that, you refused to have a hearing on the matter.  You refuse to have a hearing on any matter that threatens to derail this locomotive in whose engine you oh-so-primly sit, as it careens toward the bridge that is already washed out.

Just this past week you entered an order asserting that The Bar has never demanded a mental health assessment of me.  I have the letters from The Bar that prove you a liar.  It was in response to those repeated demands that I went to one of The Bar’s own favored forensic psychologists, Oren Wunderman, Executive Director of the Family Resource Center of South Florida, who spent hours examining me, administering tests, and he found me a) wonderfully sane, and b) a person whose Christian faith has enhanced his activities as a lawyer.  The Bar has a real problem in that Dr. Wunderman simply echoes what The Bar itself had to formally admit in 1991 when its insurer paid me damages for forcing me to undergo forced psych evaluations, on the order of the oathless Florida Supreme Court.  The Bar then formally found my actions stemmed from my religious faith, and it has never gotten over being bested at its own game.  This latest installment of this anti-Christian persecution is si??mply payback by The Bar, and you have allowed yourself to become part of it.

You have chosen to ignore Dr. Wunderman’s findings and The Bar’s own previous findings as to why Jack Thompson does what he does, because you must:  To do otherwise would have given me a hearing to which I am entitled under Florida Statute 761, called?? the Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act, held constitutional by the United States Supreme Court, which provides me a total defense in these Bar proceedings and which also, when they are over, gives me a ??cause of action against you personally and against the State of Florida.  This act provides that if my actions stem from a religious impulse, then The Bar cannot discipline me for acting upon my religious impulse.  Good luck to a Bar whose own formal findings establish why I do what I do.

When I wrote a letter to Al Cardenas, calling him to be ashamed of what he and his law firm have done to harm children by fronting for the Howard Stern Show, I was acting upon the Scriptural template of John the Baptist confronting Herod about marrying his brother’s wife and the example of Jesus confronting the Pharisees, who called them “hypocrites, whited sepulchers, and vipe??rs.”  Jesus was not a silent ?doormat and neither am I.

This Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which you arrogantly chose to pretend does not exist and on which you would not give me a hearing as to my defense thereunder, has been found to protect as a religious practice the consumption of p?eyote because there is a religious sect that makes doing so a sacrament.  You cannot be serious, Referee Tunis, if you think that a jury will not look at what you have done to me for what I have done, in the name of Jesus Christ, and not be appalled at your discrimination against this uppity Christian “propagandist” whom you smear as a mere “culture warrior.” 

Finally, and then I am done with this formal objection to these proceedings, over a year ago I taught an evening class at Miami-Dade Community College on the campus a few minutes from here.  When I was introduce?d by the professor as the man who got Howard Stern off terrestrial radio, which Stern himself admits, and despite the Bar complaints of Tew Cardenas and other porn lawyers made at the time,  all of the African American women in that classroom gave me an ovation.&nb??sp; They get it.  They understand the racism and the misogyny  by Stern targeting them.  You, a white woman of privilege living on Key Biscayne, obviously don’t “get it.”

Those black female students are the people who will be on my jury in the trial in which you and The Bar will be a defendant.  I do what I do for them, and not for you, not for the ultra-liberal  extremists on the Board of Governors like Steve Chaykin, my actual designated reviewer who publicly states that lawyers like Jack Thompson who oppose gay adoption are “enemies of The Bar and outside the core values of The Bar.”  My other designated reviewer was Ben Kuehne, to the left of Stalin ideologically who is an operative for the ACLU, which national organization has targeted me for years.  Kuehne is now under federal indictment for money-laundering and you, you obstructionist sitting illegally on that bench, would not issue a subpoena to allow me to depose him.  In that single act of ministerial arrogance you violated any conceivable notion of due process under our Constitution.  I??n doing so, you embarrass the bench more than any words I could write about Judge Ron Friedman.

The Steve Chaykins and the Ben Kuehnes who have hijacked this Bar, and who have hijacked you, ?the referee, are the ones who have fashioned Justice Douglas’ “goose-stepping brigades” that will undo both you and The Bar.  I have put up with your serial breaches of Florida laws, of the Canons of Judicial Conduct, of the Constitution, and of common decency for a year and a half now.  When this is done, and when you recommend my disbarment, and when the Supreme Court does disbar me, as I am presently bound and gagged and unable to represent myself before them in this matter, even though I now have a client whom I represent before them in that very same court, the tables will be turned.  It will then be my time at bat, and a jury of normal people in this County will undo all that you have done.

Even now, this day, I thank God that I am who I am, in the situation in which I now find myself, rather than the one in which  you brazenly put yourself.  From the Gospel of John 15:  18-25 I end with the words?? of Jesus of Nazareth, which you, Referee Tunis, have proven true: 

18"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated b?oth me and my Father. 25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'”

Having only scratched the surface with what is wrong about these lawless proceedings and why they are illegitimate under the laws ??and Constitution that you were supposed to take an oath to uphold, ??I have no choice, as a matter of law, but to depart from these proceedings now and not participate in them other than to object to them, which I have now done.

To do otherwise, to participate in any fashion in these invalid, unauthorized, unconstitutional,  vicious proceedings, waives my objection to them and in fact validates them.  I will not do that because I am too good a lawyer to do that, having practiced law, Referee Tunis, in continuous good standing for 31 years, despite the efforts of the anti-Christian Florida Bar that recruited you to do exactly what?? you have done like a good little soldier in your own little culture war on a man who protects the children you should be protecting.

Jesus said, “If any of you should cause one of these little ones to stumbl??e, then it would be better for you that a millstone be tied around your neck and that you be cast into the uttermost depths of the sea.”

By perseverance and by God&rsqu?o;s grace, I have fashioned a legal millstone tha??t I will place around your neck and the neck of The Bar.  Don’t blame me, Referee Tunis, when you feel the water rising.

 

I have been invited to be one of four honorees this year in Utah at what is called America’s Freedom Festival.  I will ride with the other four honorees in a parade attended in the past by 250,000 folks lining the streets of Provo.  The petty hypocrisy by which you, a referee, seek to har??m me cannot undo the blessing that awaits me, by God’s mercy and grace, in middle America a month from this day.  I attach the news release from the Freedom Festival so that you can see that I am being blessed because I have stood against The Bar, not in spite of that stan?d. I have put myself in harm’s way, at the hands of harmful people like you, Referee Tunis, and in doing so I have “fought the good fight” to protect little ones who mean more to me than anything you think you can do to me.

You are the one who is out of touch, Ms. Tunis.  Senators Clinton and Obama have both warned the American people, specifically, of the danger posed by the Grand Theft Auto games.  The Blank Rome lawyers who protect this game want me disbarred because I dared to sound the alarm about Grand Theft Auto on CBS’ 60 Minutes before Senators Clinton and Obama followed my lead.  Now, in part because of my efforts, a recent poll shows that 65% of the American people want a federal law to prohibit the ?sale of games like GTA to kids.  I am “guilty” of being right and ahead of the curve when it came to Howard Stern and as to Grand Theft Auto.  Bec?ause I took on Bar complainant, Al Cardenas, the Howard Stern Show is off terrestrial radio and his influence diminished.  Because I took on this cop-killing, woman-bashing video game, the Presidential race is now addressing the issue and this particular video game.

Try to get me disbarred. ?? Go ahead, do your w??orst, Referee Tunis.  I will continue to do my best.

I HEREBY CERTIFY that this h?as likely been hand-delivered this J?une 4, 2008, to Bar staff counsel Sheila Tuma in the courtroom.

The post Jack Thompson walks out of hearing, co??urt recommends disbarment appeared first on Destructoid.

Jack Thompson, controversial attorney and hater of Grand Theft Auto has been recommended guilty in twenty-??seven of his thirty-one miscon?duct charges by Judge Dava Tunis.

Last year, the madcap defense attorney was on trial for charges of misc??onduct, many of which revolved around his obsession with violent videogames. Tunis has recommended that 27 of the charges be upheld by the Florida Supreme Court, which will make the official ruling:

After considering the arguments presented by the Florida Bar and the Respondent (Thompson), observing the Respondent's demeanor during the nine-day trial proceedings, and carefully reviewing the record consisting of four volumes of exhibits totaling 1700 pages and approximately 2400 pages of transcribed testimony, the Court finds that the facts, circumstances and evide??nce presented regarding the Respondent's conduct, supports a finding of guilt as to certain Florida Bar rules...

Among the guilty acts are knowingly making false statements in c??ourt, dishonest or fraudulent practices and making statements intended only to embarrass or burden other parties rather than contribute anything of use. Sounds like she knows our mutual friend well, eh?

Of course, Thompson continues to prove Tunis right by attacking her and the Florida Bar. While he stomps his feet and shouts, the Supreme Court n??ow holds the testes of Jack's career in its mighty grip. Let's see if they get popped.

The post Jack Thompson, guilty ??m??an: 27 of 31 misconduct charges recommended by judge appeared first on Destructoid.

We have had many useful commandments for loyal readers over the course of our Ten Golden Rules series. From learning how to be an online gamer and fanboy, to crafting a successful JRPG or Survival Horror, there have been failsafe doctrines of conduct for gamer and game designer alike. This week, though, we??'re catering to the "other" side of the fence, as it were. No, that wasn't a tasteless ??gay euphemism; I am of course talking about those would deem themselves our mortal enemies -- the anti-games lobby.

Be they concerned and clueless parents who want to save the chilluns?? or outraged hardline Christian campaigners Hell-bent on the collapse of the evil games industry, those who are part of the league against gaming have to adhere to a set of rules like everyone else -- in fact, these guys crave laws and regulations more than anybody. How fitting, then, that they too have their Ten Golden Rules. 

Whether you're an anti-gamer scouring the blogs for evidence of yet more interactive torture porn, or a hardcore gamer who's getting bored of all that pretend violence and is considering a move into joining the Parents Television Council, these are the rules for you. L??earn them, love them??, oppress the world with them.

1: Exaggerate, twist, but above all ... LIE!:

If you have a problem with videogames, there's every chance that you have a valid and sensible reason for doing so at heart. Let's face facts, though -- when has being sensible ever made the headlines? If you want your kids to stop playing Grand Theft Auto, then y??ou're going to have to exercise your right as an American to make stuff up and invent things until you get a call from the local news network. This is for America!

Simply saying, "There's no conclusive proof that videogames are psychologically damaging, but it??'s best to play it safe where kids are concerned," is NEVER going to make the public listen. Lying in the name of morality isn't immoral, so do it as often and as loudly as possible. Society enjoys being lied to, anyway — it's how FOX News sti?ll operates — so you're basically doing the public a service.

In order to get your point across, if you want to claim that a game has "realistic sex" in it or that it "simulates murder", then you need to go for it. The stuff in the game is almost as bad as all that, and "almost" is as good as "absolutely c?ompletely" in today's modern, hurl?y-burly world.

2: Fear is the best insurance that money can buy:

Backed by your hyperbole and twisted truth, you need to whip up like-minded crusaders into a fren??zy of terror in order to make sure you really blaze some trails. Scare-mongering was voted America's favorite mongering 2006, beating out fish-mongering and rumor-mongering by 23% of the votes. In ??order to spread your fear like wildfire, you need to target the right demographic -- the bored, overemotional housewife with nothing better to do. FOX-Fodder, as I like to call them.

Housewives are walking goldmines to anybody looking to start a moral campaign against games. They are the Scooby-Doos of society -- easily terrified and barely intelligible. They are also your prime recruiting stock, so make sure to cultivate them wisely. Once most people give birth to a child, something happens in their brains to instantly turn them into confused and ill??ogical loudmouths who will do anything you want them to in the name of protecting the children. We?? have been able to prove this with brain scans from Harvard. I can't let you see the scans, but I assure you they are real. 

People fear what they don't understand, and destroy what they fear. It's pretty much how any dictator rises through the ranks to seize power from a bleating and dazed populace. You do want to be a dictator, don't you? 

Some might say that using terror to get your own way is pretty much what some??one in Al-Qaeda would do. I say that anybody who thinks like that is a terrorist -- GET THEM! 

3: Your experts are experts. Experts that contradict you are not experts: 

Being able to say "research shows..." is one of the greatest gifts that God ever gave us. Nobody can ever argue with research, because it shows so much. The best part of it is that nobody in the mainstream media ever actually ??asks you who did the research, so you don't even have to actually get any real statistics. Just know that there IS research out there, showing thin??gs. We saw a bit of it once.

The problem is, you may encounter some persistently annoying gamers (read: sociopathic basement-dwellers) who have research of their own that shows just as many things as YOUR research. Never fear, though, because you are armed with the SECOND greatest gift that God ever gave us -- ignorance! 

All you need to do to counter the conflicting evidence is to discredit the experts who are contradicting you. It doesn't matter if Dr. Tanya Byron says that there's no conclusive proof over the harm games can do, and who cares what Doctors Kutner and Olson think? You have some colorful patterns on a piece of paper, and NOBODY is beating that! Clearly anybody who disagrees with you doesn't know what they are talking about and doesn't deserve to be discussed. Now you can keep on using your real experts and never have to worry about tackling the educat??ed opinions of those that disagree with you. 

People can find an expert opinion to back up any claim they make. Your expert opinion is the only valid one, however, because it's yours! 

4: Use terms like "desensitize" as if they actually mean something: 

The right buzz words are essential for the budding anti-games lobbyist, because buzz words allow you to make things sound bad without ever?? having to explain what, exactly, is so bad about them. Saying that games "desensitize" people to violence is an incredibly popular tactic. Nobody actually knows the terrible consequences of media desensitization, but it just sounds like they'd be negative, so naturally anything that could desensitize is automatically evil. Even though the desensitization claim doesn't actually mean anything, the population will be eating out of your hand -- if only because you used a word with six syllables in it, and people are too? stupid to understand it.

Since you're already building a new career on half-truths and lies, you might as well make up some brand new terms as well. "Torture porn" is a tried-and-tested one, but this particular writer would also suggest "PreySlay-tion 3," "SINulation," and "Murderac??tive Killtertainment."

5: "In GTA, you can hire a prostitute, beat her to death and then steal her money.":

Get used to saying this a lot, because it's just as shocking as it was when it was first said in 2001. Also, practice being outraged as you say it, as if it'??s brand new and still absolutely inconceivable. People have t?he attention spans of flies, and will have forgotten that they heard the exact same sentence from another pundit only yesterday.

6: Pass yourself off as an expert:

Because nobody listens to just ANY ranting fundamentalist conservative or spineless whiny liberal, you will need some credentials to back up your outrage. Don't worry -- they needn't be meaningful credentials, just something vaguely cobbled together that a news outlet ca?n?? run underneath your name to make it look like you know what you are talking about. 

This is all a matter of perspective. For example, have you ever once spoken to a person in passing who ??might have once played a videogame? Perfect! Now you can claim to be someone who has "experience in dealing with the core interactive software demographic." All it takes is half an hour reading the Columbine Wikipedia page to qualify as a "school shooting and gun crime researcher." It's easy when you know how to spin. 

If you don't quite yet feel legitimate enough, ?you could alway??s join an effectively powerless organization that has an official sounding name. Not only will you be taken more seriously, the undue sense of power is quite addictive.

7: It's always about the children:

Children are wonderful little tools that help you p??ush forth any agenda you want. Don't like alcohol? Have it prohibited in the name of saving the children. Have a problem with wrestling? Say kids will die if they watch it. Building on the fear that parents feel as soon as they squirt a baby out into the world, you can easily shape society in your own image by claiming you're doing it for the kids. Nobody wants to be seen supporting anything that would harm children, which means you will become infallible -- if anybody disagrees with you, they are clearly in favor of children becoming hurt, and that probably means they're a pedophile. Instant discredit to Pedo McTouchyKids, and nothing but applause for your upstanding, morally impeccable self.

8: Circular logic works because circular logic works:

If you're serious about your anti-games stance, then you'r??e going to have to shed that logic like it was a bra and you were Amy Winehouse. There can be no room for level-heade??d discussion here, because otherwise people might realize that everything you've been saying is bullshit, and that's not going to get anything banned. 

Because a percentage of killers have played violent games before, violent games clearly lead to killers. It is this logic that The Sun newspaper uses to imply that everyone in Austria likes to lock their daughters up in basement dungeons and molest them. It really works, too! Once you've found a common thread that joins a murderer with a videogame, however flimsy, you now have an undeniable link?? to crime and gaming. Once those pro-gaming pixelante e-tards hear your stunning logic, they will be instantly silenced and everyone in the games industry shall be sent to prison, where they belong. 

9: Hypocrisy, always hypocrisy:

Why does Matt Damon's mother find violent games a problem, but suffers no such issue with Damon's violent movies? Because Matt Damon is IN those movies, stupid! You don't need any valid reason to justify demonizing one medium while accepting another. Once you become comfortable in your hypocritical skin, you'll find that purs?uing your agenda becomes ten times easier. 

The most amazing thing is that your terrified, braying followers will NEVER question you. You can star in? a movie in which you play a heartless killing machine who relen??tlessly quests to destroy Linda Hamilton, AND star in the game of the movie, yet STILL attack violence in games and those who blindly obey you won't bat an eyelid. How awesome is that? It must be how God feels, and since God's clearly on your side in this crusade, it all makes sense. Maybe you're Jesus. You should check. 

Being a hypocrite is very important, because if you were a true, consistent moral fighter, then you'd strive to ban television and books as well, and you can't do that --? you LIKE television and books.

10: Never actually PLAY the game:

The most important, crucial rule of all. Never, under any circumstances, actually PLAY the game ??-- not because you think it'll turn you into a killer, you know that's bullshit -- but because it's easier to make stuff up if you've never seen it. I think that's how Scientology became so successful.

Why else does FOX News draft in psychologists who haven't played a game, and just tell them what's in it without showing them? Because if they saw it, they'd probably realize all the claims were pulled out of some hack's ass, and we can't have that, not when there's stuff to ban. If you've just been told ??a game is "like porn," then it makes all those little comments about "digital graphic sex" all the more easy to swallow. 

Besides which, why should you have to play the game? After all, YOU have a life, not like these joystick junkies who spend all their free time playing Doom in 2008, on their ... what do they call them, Playing Stations and Nintenders? Whatever they are called, everyone knows that gaming is just for kids, despite the fact that so many adults play them. Actually, the high percentage of supposed 30-year olds playing games were probably just very tall, very hairy in?fants. It's ridiculous to suggest anyone over the age of ten plays a game that's rated 18.

And that's how it's done. I hope you enjoyed these rules, and now feel prepared to enjoy a rich new life dedicated to the systematic destruction of everything you do not know or understand. First games, then the gay people! That's ?how we roll.

The post Ten Golden Rules of the anti-videogames lobby appeared first on Destructoid.

What happens when two of the biggest egos in games media sit back and discuss arguably the biggest release in videogame history? We'll let you be the judge of that, as we welcome controversial defense attorney Jack Thompson to The Podcastle to discuss Grand Theft Auto with yours truly.

This week, we have a very short first half as the usual crew of Jim Sterling, Wardrox and Atheistium chat about Grand Theft Auto IV, and announce a special contest -- simply use our Community Blogs and find an inventive way to mix the worlds of Jack Thompson and Grand Theft Auto together. Be it a short story, image, video, song or -- my favorite -- interpretive dance, the best four entries will receive redemption codes from Atheistium, allowing them to download Xbox Live GTA IV picture packs -- for nothing! 

Then we introduce the main event, as Jim Sterling speaks to Jack Thompson for the very first time. In this historic event, Jack Thompson actually makes good on his promise to appear on a videogames podcast. How do I manage to keep the volatile attorney on the phone for almost fifty minutes? How do I manage to get even a single word in edgewise? Did Jack Thompson confess that his son plays GTA? All these questions are f??or you to decide the answers for, but here ?are the highlights:

Jack Thompson thanked by a gamer? Jacko tells us why.

Jim isn't interested in Jack's testicles. 

What is a "murder simulator?" Also, Jack's expert is better than Jim's expert, apparently.

Tom & Jerry needs to be less fun!

What was in Ted Bundy's Xbox?

Jim tries to explain why Take-Two threatening Walmart is a ridiculous idea.

Jack tries to explain why Grand Theft Auto IV is illegal pornography.

Jack asks Jim to file an American lawsuit, even though he's British.

Thompson is a gangsta rap expert.

At least Jim & Jack agree that IGN getting an exclusive review was rubbish.

Jack pushes for the final solution.

"Have I had my Wii Fix?"

Thompson's terrifying vision of the future.

I really hope you enjoy the show, and that I did videogamers and Destructoid proud. I would also like to thank Jack Thompson for his time, despite the nature of his exit, and tip my hat at someone who, I must confess, was a pretty challenging arguer. As always, check?? out our Podcastle page to listen or download. Alternatively, we can be found on iTunes.

Enjoy.

The post The P??odcastle ?episode 11: When Sterling met Thompson appeared first on Destructoid.

What happens when two of the biggest egos in games media lock horns in a head-on debate over Grand Theft Auto? Two of the most outspoken men in the games violence hysteria will draw their lines and discuss the mother of all interactive hot potatoes -- Grand Theft Auto IV.

This week's episode is, as you guessed, all about the Grand Theft Auto series and its controversial history. The usual crew of myself (Jim Sterling), Wardrox and Atheistium will be joined by community member Insomnia to share t?he years of Hari Krishna roadkill and prostitute savagery that we have come to k??now and love.

And yes folks, you read that right -- in a special one-on-one confrontation, Jack Thompson has agreed to step foot inside The Podcastle and share his views on the Grand Theft Auto series. I intend to ask Jack exactly why he is so tenacious on the issue of game violence and what, exactly, he wants ??to change. The debate has never been anything more than one-sided, whichever side of the fence reports. Now, for the first time, both sides will have their chance to speak and discuss. 

It's S?terling. It's Thompson. It's only on The Podcastle -- Live (except pre-recorded actually) on jbsgame.com!

The post The Podcastle epi?sode?? 11 records tomorrow: Sterling versus Thompson appeared first on Destructoid.

GamePolitics

The Supreme Court will now in future refuse to accept anything from Thompson directly. He will have to go through another lawyer if he wants to make up one of his silly lawsuits. The Court made the ruling late this morning, which you can download via GP here.

Jack, on behalf of gamers everywhere, I'd like to?? echo the ??Supreme Court -- STFUAJPG!

Also, HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

The post Jack Thompson is OVERRULED! Florida S?upreme Court lays down the sanction! appeared first on Destructoid.

As you should know, we have been covering the BBFC's ban of Manhunt 2 for the past year, from the original decision, to Rockstar's appeal, and the BBFC's counter. Well, it seems that freedom of expression has won out, as the BBFC has today lost in its attempts to keep Manhunt 2 from store shelves. The BBFC, in its own words, has "no alternativ?e" but to give the? game an 18 rating.

After a nine month battle, which saw?? the BBFC take its decision to the High Court in an attempt to keep this title away from sensitive British eyes, the Video Appeals Committee has upheld its decision to have the game rated and made available, scoring one for civil liberty.

I don't think this game looks good at all, and I have no strong urge to play it, but it should always have been my choice, not some faceless clique's. Now I will have the option to look at Manhunt 2 on a store shelf and say "this game looks rubbish, do not want??." 

The BBFC always tried to claim this game would present "considerable harm" to society, but thanks to its own brand of controversy, Manhunt 2 is guaranteed to have more promotion and sales than it would have if the BBFC had just taken the barbed wire out of its minge and rated it. I fully expect the inevitable slew of scaremongering and calls for further banning from mainstream press to do the same for Rockstar's title. The sad thing is, Manhunt doesn't even deserve? that kind of promotion. 

[Thanks, Fanfaz]

The post Manhunt 2 UK ban is lifted! Let ??the controversy begin anew appeared first on Destructoid.

The jbsgame.community is abuzz with the arrival of its newest member (and avid Destructoid reader) Jack Thompson. Thompson, a man who still clings to the obsolete belief that gamers are sociopathic children, chose to make his grand entrance by calling us just that, and was even cutting enough to describe us all as E-tards. While most of the community fired right back at ??him, one of our readers sought some manner of rational discourse.

Paying him respect and urging him to engage Destructoid in a less hostile manner, CBlogger Mecha Monkey hoped to crack through the bravado and find a man whose beliefs we could get behind. It was a futile effort, but a noble one. After suggesting he a?ppear on one of our podcasts, Jack Thompson quickly declined his own offer, deciding instead to retort to the up-until-then polite Mecha Monkey with condescending words and finally offering up this amazing description of all gamers:

Gamers are ill-mannered and uninformed, and? they prove it everyday. They couldn't care less about the people ?killed. 

Thompson, the man who has a history o??f being rude to correspondents, called the manners of everybody reading this into question. Thompson, the man who continues to implicate videogames in the Virginia Tech shooting regardless of proof showing otherwise, has called everybody reading this uninformed. Furthermore, the man who used the NIU tragedy to plug his own book as gone on record as saying not a single one of us cares about the people killed.

If it any wonder that gamers treat him like a figure of fun and a com?plete joke when he can't even respond to polite ones with any degree of respect?

The post Thompson: Gamers don’t care about dead people appeared first on Destructoid.

Crack-a-Jack Thompson has been out in full force since the NIU shooting, going so far as to send tips to Destructoid and even join its community. It's very clear that the murders of youngsters excite him, as he grows steadily more active and wild in their wake, especially as he gets to complain about what he deems "murder simulators." In fact, in the comments for yesterday's post, that's the exact term Jackpot used:

"We need to get you sociopathics kiddies off these murder simulators and back?? to doing your homework."

Of course, this begs the question: Do any of we "sociopathics kiddies" actually play murder simulators? What exactly are murder simulators, and is Grand Theft Auto, BioShock or any other videogame worthy of such a label? Don't ask me, try asking simulator expert Robert Gauss. Gauss has worked with simulators for the US Army and knows a fair bit more about them than some defense attorney who's close to getting disbarred. This is what he had to say:

How well does GTA simulate murder? Just even a cursory look can see how? GTA fails this test: Everything is presented via a 3rd person view… weapons auto-load and auto-aim… computer people mostly walk and drive around aimlessly and helplessly… computer people don’t… act in a realistic manner when attacked… bodies disappear and respawn — hardly like murder if they keep coming back to life

Our “gang games” mentioned above do not even represent murder, but rather a cartoony environment… It’s not just unfair t?o call Grand Theft Auto a “murder simulator,” it is laughably incorrect…

Laughably incorrect. That's laughably incorrect, for those unable to read properly (and I'm thinking of a certain new reader here). In fact, to paraphrase Mr. Thompson himself, let me just say that I know facts are inconvenient things for ambulance chasing social parasites, but there t?hey are, and here I am, right, oh so right, yet again.

The post Games as murder simulators = laughable appeared first on Destructoid.

It's been a while since we poked fun at the silver-haired maniac known as Jack Thompson, but the videogame-obsessed protectobot of chilluns everywhere is making sure he's not forgotten. His plans for the new year involve a new target -- the United States Department of Defense. He's not just fighting games anymore, readers -- this is a man that can take on entire armies.

Thompson is going after the Defense Department for forming what he calls an "unholy alliance" with videogames. It's no secret that the military uses games as a recruitment tool, as America's Army has shown. Thompson has obviousl??y started to believe that videogames are inherently evil creations forged in Satan's bric-a-brac shop and that the US DoD is now a malevolent force of darkness for daring to have very loose connections with this soul-fuelled engine of destruction.

In his latest rambling note, Thompson has lied that the Virginia Tech killer was a Counter-Strike enthusiast (it was later shown that Cho played nothing more violent than Sonic the Hedgehog) and makes vague allusions to "proof" of "long term immersion" in so-called "interactive violence." GamePolitics has the full barrel of mistruths and tarbrushing, and does such a great job of co??untering his wild claims that you real?ly should check their post out.

While this is just another in a long line of the washed up old hack's pointless attention seeking, I wonder exactly how he expects the US Department of Defense to take him seriously. This is where I'd take glee from the fact that he's setting himself up to make some powe?rful enemies, but since Microsoft completely ignored his pathetic wailing, I doubt the military will care very much. This man is hilariously irrelevant outside of the very indus??try he hates.

The post Jack Thompson versus T??he Unholy Alliance: Madman targets Defense Department appeared first on Destructoid.

Yesterday we told you that GamePolitics found news that Jack Thompson might be attending the Game Developers Conference as a keynote speaker, but it turns out that the GDC knew nothing of this. Now it looks like Jack is that guy who shows up a?t the party, swearing that someone there invited him.

The GDC sent us a statement of correction:

“The Game Developers Conference has not extended an invitation to Jack Thompso??n to speak at GDC 2008,” Jamil Moledina, executive director, Game Developers Conference, said.  “We loo?k forward to announcing the full speaker lineup closer to the show.”

Guy at the door: Ooh, hmm. [looks at the list] Yeah man, you're not on the list. 

Jack Thompson: Are you sure? Check again.

Guy at the door: No, man, you're not on her??e. Sorry, dude -- but you can leave those beers here if you want. 

The post GDC: We didn’t invite Jack Thompson appeared first on Destructoid.