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Voice of the Voter - This Week's Articles

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Rating Responsibility

Recently, video games have been developing a seedy reputation for fostering violence and other undesirable behavior in our nation’s youth. Games like “Grand Theft Auto” and “Bully” seem to be the prime targets recently. I’ll agree, these games have more than their share of disagreeable content; raping and killing prostitutes for power-ups, stealing cars and creating schoolyard havoc is routine in these games. Certainly they are not meant for children at all. So the question is: how do kids get ahold of these violent games?

Well, being the good Samaritan that I am, I took it upon myself to investigate what game developers are doing to keep these violent games out of under-aged hands. I thought I would be lost forever in an endless search engine game of cat and mouse, but to my surprise, I found a website that dealt with this problem right away. A website created by a group called the E.S.R.B (entertainment software ratings board). This site informed me that games do have a way of letting prospective buyers know whether or not they are appropriate for young gamers. As a matter of fact, this warning is printed right on the box, on both sides.

“This is amazing,” I thought to myself. All this time, there’s been a way for parents to monitor what kinds of games their kids play. However, I did find a loophole in this system. The E.SR.B. cannot legally force retailers withhold mature rated games from minors.

“Aha!” I thought. So that’s how kids are getting these games. Concerned with this new problem, I took it upon myself to go to every video game store in town and ask them if they enforce the E.S.R.B.’s standards or if they let underage kids buy violent games. I was baffled at what I found: every retailer I visited told me that their store requires them to check an ID for every mature rated game they sell. The confusion was tormenting me, I had to ask the retailer how, with all these controls on mature games, are kids able get them. Their answer was the parents. When I asked the parents in the stores, how they judged the ratings on their kid’s games, most of them didn’t even know what the E.S.R.B. is.

It overwhelmed me how many parents simply buy games for their kids without even wondering what kind of content is in them. Almost every store I visited informed me that only a minority of the parents buying their kids a game will even ask the clerk what kind of game they’re getting.

It’s become apparent to me through my research that violent video games aren’t the problem. The problem is that parents aren’t involved enough in the choices their kids are making in their games.

Parents, I want you do me a favor the next time you’re out buying your kid a game. Check the rating. On the front side of the box, it’s on the bottom left hand corner. If it says “M” that means it’s probably not suitable for young ones. If you’re still not convinced, flip the around and check the bottom right, the box in that section will tell why the game is rated the way it is. For more information visit the E.S.R.B website at www.esrb.org.
Kevin Green - Staff Writer | E-mail Comments on this article.

The Great Washington DC Disconnect

It seems that in Washington DC there is a great disconnect between the American people and the Congress, Senate, and ultimately with the President of the United States. Today comes the announcement from the President of the new Iraqi Government that the United States can leave anytime that it wishes. Now we all know that the President of the United States is not going to leave the country of Iraq, until he is good and ready to leave. In fact, I would dare to venture that the armed forces of the United States will not begin a full-scale pullout from Iraq, until Bush is safely out of office.

The terrible disconnect is obvious, the America people, Democrats and now more increasingly, Republicans alike, want this War in Iraq over and done with. So what is Congress doing about it? Pretty much playing paddy cake with the President, that’s what!

I have heard many people ask; “What about impeachment? Why isn’t the Senate impeaching the President?” Well, I have an answer for that. At this stage in the game, an impeachment trial against the President and Vice-President could be potentially political suicide for the Democrats. Because this President has made full use (some would say abuse but I shall not wade into waters of partisan opinion) of the powers of “Executive Privilege”. Most, if not all, of the hard evidence of any criminal activity has been either withheld or redacted out of any documents that Congress has in their possession, thus making any case for impeaching the President of the United States a much more difficult one.

I do not by any means defend the actions of this President. It is obvious to this writer that there is and has been criminal behavior taking place in this administration. In fact, I am going to say something in the vein of Ann Coulter. Brace yourselves this could offend. While I believe that the shootings at Virginia Tech were a horrible and terrible tragedy, I am most horribly disappointed that it did not occur at the White House. It was such a tragic waste of good ammunition. That young man had a plausible notion of taking out some of the elitist snobs making life hard on the rest of us. He was just directing his focus at the wrong people. This is, of course, political snark, please; do not fill my inbox with hatred.

Although, I do not think that Congress is totally cut off from the will of the people. I believe that they are playing a game of strategy with the President. Every time he vetoes a bill passed to him, his numbers in the polls drop a little further. I believe that they are simply allowing the President to hang himself, with his own rope.
Chuck Adkins - Editor In Chief - The Populist Blog | E-mail Comments on this article.



Get Involved

Do you sit and yell at the TV when politicians come on? Do you shake your head sadly whenever you see a homeless veteran? Is that all you tend to do?

It's time to put up or shut up America. We all love to talk about how we could do things better or how we would do it if we were in charge. Well, it's time to put your money where your mouth is. If you can think of it, you can write it down. If you can write it down, you can type it. If you can type it, you can e-mail it and if you can e-mail it, you can send it here.

We at Reform America are committed to giving voice to anyone who wants to put their ideas out there to make our nation a better place. As the readership grows, we are able to take those views to a wider and wider audience. Grassroots campaigns begin with voices speaking out. You have opinions. Voice them. We aren't about conservative or liberal. We aren't about pro-this or anti-that. We're about Americans and the First Amendment. Reform America is about politics by, for and of the people. You are the people. You only need to speak up. America is listening. Send your article to: stories@reform-america.net



Have You Been Downsized Due to Outsourcing?

For several years now we have listened to some within the business community tell us that America can't compete on a global scale unless they send our jobs overseas where they can be done cheaper. The question becomes, if we don't have good paying jobs here, how can we sustain our own economy? We want to hear from you. Have you lost your job? Have you been forced into a lower wage job due to outsourcing? Has outsourcing been a success for you? Did you end up in a better job?

Tell us your story so we can make sure the politicians see how outsourcing really impacts the workers who are backbone of America. Send your story to stories@reform-america.net

 

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