Embryo of Philosophy

This is a few days old, but Jack Thompson has been disbarred.

For those of you not in the know, Jack Thompson is a conservative Christian, now ex-lawyer, who has engaged in many crusades against whatever has offended his sensibilities, such as violent video games, The Sims computer game, and the Florida Bar Association. (Seriously. To quote Wikipedia, "He said that the bar was engaged in a vendetta against him because of his religious beliefs, which he said conflicted with what he called the bar's pro-gay, humanist, liberal agenda." And he wanted a Florida judge to declare the whole Association unconstitutional.)

Thompson has many words of wisdom, such as, "The Bible doesn't promote killing innocent people, Grand Theft Auto does. Islam does." His sheer ignorance is astounding. To quote him again, "Islam promotes the killing of innocent people. The Quran requires the infidel, whether Jew or Christian, to be killed. ... That's a core essence of the religion. ... Muhammad was a pirate who killed infidels and who advocated the killing of infidels - not a nice guy. Osama bin Laden is in keeping with his fine tradition." Besides being ridiculously bigoted, that's just plain incorrect. To quote the Quran, "And do not dispute with the followers of the Book ["Followers of the Book" refers to Christians and Jews- Veleda] except by what is best, except those of them who act unjustly, and say: We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our God and your God is One, and to Him do we submit." There's also "Verily! Those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in God and the Last Day and do righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve." It's true that there are also Quranic statements that advocate a more adversarial stance, but honestly, how many religious texts don't present their religion as superior to all others? None in the Abrahamic religions, that's for sure.

Some of the things he says leave me confused, and, well, almost like a voyeur. Quoting Wikipedia again, "He also claims that the PlayStation 2's DualShock controller 'gives you a pleasurable buzz back into your hands with each kill. This is operant conditioning, behavior modification right out of B. F. Skinner's laboratory.'" I mean, a "pleasurable buzz?" Into your hand? Just how sensitive are your hands, Jack? It's not a vibrator. (Though, that gives me an idea for a controller/vibrator bundle pack. You'd hook everything up to the console, and when you scored a point...right, I'll stop now.)

I also like (well, for certain values of "like") his reaction the Bully video game. "We just found gay sexual content in Bully as Jimmy Hopkins makes out with another male student. Good luck with your Teen rating now." The ESRB was sort of like, "Uh, yeah, we knew that when we rated it Teen. It's not like it was hidden content." (That's a rather heavy paraphrase.)

But, enough with the boring stuff. I know what you're asking. You're asking, "Just how disbarred is he?" There are some answers here My favorites include:

"Jack Thompson is so disbarred he isn't even allowed to read Shakespeare." (Hee, dis-Bard. Sorry, it's my favorite.)

"Jack Thompson is so disbarred, he can't even file briefs in his underwear drawer."

"Jack Thompson is so disbarred he can't even practice the law of gravity."



You know, I'm actually still on this vibrator/video game. I think I need one for my DS. It would give shouting "OBJECTION!" in Phoenix Wright an extra oomph. And when Franziska hits you with her whip....right, sorry, I'll just be going now. Forget we ever had this conversation. Please.

BLARGH. I feel hot, nauseas, and I have a headache. Damn heat! I should really buy a fan.

Finally finished the first Phoenix Wright game (and OMG so awesome!). I'm back to playing Justice for All, which I was in the middle of when I got the first game. I'm on case four and

Meme from terryn73

1. My username is ____ because ____.
2. My journal is titled ____ because ____.
3. My subtitle is ____ because ____.
4. My journal name is ____ because ____.
5. My friends page is called ____ because ____.
6. My default userpic is ____ because ____.


1. My username is Veleda_k because Veleda is the name of one of the heroines from an old, now out of print fantasy series called "The Daughters of Bast" that I loved. (Basic plot: Egyptian mythology + loose Celtic history.) K is the first letter of my first name.

2. My journal is titled Embryo of Philosophy because, first of all, it's a line from the second Revolutionary Girl Utena ending song. And I really love Utena. Second, I thought it kind of fitting, the idea being that the thoughts in this journal aren't philosophy, but perhaps the very beginnings of it.

3. My subtitle is A Transmission on the Midnight Radio because it's a line from Midnight Radio, a song from my favorite movie, Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

4. My journal name is A Figment of My Own Imagination because of an IM conversation that I had with tekararogue. I originally said it just to be silly, but it can also be interpreted as a statement about my mental landscape and the nature of reality. So, you see, it's ridiculous and meaningless, but also really pretentious. Just like me!

5. My friends page is called These People Should Scare You because I figured that most anyone who would show up on my friends list would be frightening to average people in some way.

6. My default userpic is "Vote Devil '08" with slogans, because I think it's funny, and a well done riff on how politcal campaigns are run.


One a completely, utterly, and in all other ways totally different topic, the first Phoenix Wright game, case five, third trial day, Ema's cross-examination three? ....Fuck. I now have the urge to go back in time and tell Lana, "You know what? You're right, you did do it. I totally agree. Let's not look into this any further." I feel sorry for Lana. She's in court waving her arms saying, "I waive my right to an attorney! I plead guilty!" And everyone around her is all, "Be quiet foolish person, we have a case to solve." Also, Gant is scary. Hey! Who's up for a cage match between Gant and Manfred Von Karma? Would that not be awesome?

I have gotten no sleep whatsoever. It's not my fault this time! I didn't do it on purpose! Ok, it is my fault for staying up until 6:30 am reading manga (all eight volumes of Godchild, provided by the most wonderful keelieinblack). But I tried to go to sleep after that, and I just can't. And I have work today.

So, I'm playing Phoenix Wright, having finally gotten the darn thing to work.

I'll have to make a coherent post on Godchild soon, but right now it has turned my brain to mush.

Arhg, argh, argh. Trying to play Phoenix Wright. On the last case. Trying to find invisible fingerprint to use fingerprint dust on. Except it's not there. I have looked at three different walkthroughs to determine it's exact location, and it just doesn't show up for me. Is my game defective? My DS? I have no idea.

I just want to finish the game! I can't do that until I find this fucking fingerprint that isn't there.

Plus my screen is looking really fucked up. If I had bought the damn thing new, I could try and return it, but I got it off ebay. I'm really getting tired of being burned on ebay.

I realize that this is minuscule problem, but the knowledge that I might have sent $115 down the drain is a tad upsetting. If anyone has any recommendations or knows what I'm doing wrong, please share.

Oh lord, I have been spending far, far too much money lately. It's a sickness! Well, a mixture of a sickness, an ebay addiction, and a brand new Nintendo DS. (Well, new to me. Got it used off ebay.) I got a DS for one reason, and one reason only: to play the Phoenix Wright games. I got the second at a used game store, am waiting for the first one to arrive, and am currently attempting to acquire the third. I will get the fourth, eventually, but it seems easier to get, so I don't have to rush.

The game I have is a lot of fun, though I am suspecting that it would actually be more sensible to rent the games. It doesn't seem like they have much replay value (once you know how the case is solved there's not much to do) and they're kind of short. But the Blockbuster that I work at doesn't have them, and I don't feel like searching all the ones in town. There are a few drawbacks to playing the sequel first. I know that I'm missing important bits of information. However, I love Franziska so very, very much. I'm crushing on her heavily. (What can I say? I'm a sucker for a woman with a whip.)

Buying these games has, however, given me a new glimpse into human stupidity. There's a disclaimer on the box that assures players that the trials and investigations in Phoenix Wright are not true to life. I had a little chuckle at this. I understand that they have to warn for these things, but I thought that surely no one could be so stupid as to honestly think that the games are realistic. Then I checked the amazon.com reviews. Sure enough, one person had given the game a lower rating because they thought it might give people the idea that the court system is random and inconsistent. My thought: "If anyone is basing they idea of real life on a video game, then they've got deeper problems." Real lawyers aren't allowed to bring whips into the court room, and they certainly aren't allowed to hit the judge with said whips to shut him up. Real lawyers also do not function as detectives who have to solve the case to prove their client innocent. Also, the real criminal rarely shows up on the witness stand, only to be unmasked by the defense's brilliant reasoning. Real defense attorneys have to occasionally defend people who are guilty, and if it was revealed that a prosecutor had intimidated a witness into giving false tezstimony, she would get a lot worse than a firm, "Don't do it again."

But you know what? It's a video game! It's fun! To paraphrase Mystery Science Theater, "Just repeat to yourself, 'It's just a game, I should really just relax.'"

In other news, I have got to get to work on my spring kink stories. I'm running out of time.