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Denver, 9:36 PM
Sat Nov 7
23 posts in the last 24 hours
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Stephen Totilo
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Senior Editor:
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Brian Ashcraft
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AJ Glasser
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Leigh Alexander
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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
10/26/09
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A gun in the hands of the public would do more to curb violence then it would encourage it. If a criminal knew that more people were packing a firearm, I guarantee that things would get a lot quieter in a hurry. #crime
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Neither of these things caused this domestic tragedy. The guy is just an idiot. People kill people, no matter what outside enablers are involved.
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10/26/09
Let me share a bit:
A good friend of mine (I actually mentioned going to his intervention on Kotaku about 5 months ago) has a serious drinking problem. When he's sober, he's the greatest guy in the world. He's smart, caring, always willing to help a friend, and a complete pacifist.
Get him going on some booze and he begins telling everyone how much they suck, how awesome he is, begins yelling constantly, will talk over everyone so that no one else can possibly be heard over him, becomes physically aggressive by pushing people and getting in their faces.
His drinking, exhibited anger and frequency of blackouts got to be so bad that a few friends were worried that he was going to actually hurt them. So, we had an intervention. It was a cluster-fuck and didn't work. He lied about how much he drank and about how often he was getting drunk. People let it slide. It was one of the saddest moments of my life so far (and I've lived through some crazy shit, btw). Here was one of my best friends for 16 years and I now feel like, not only that I don't know him anymore, but that the type of person he has become is not someone I want to know.
After about 2 months of not showing up for shifts and forcing my roommate (another of his longtime friends) to come in and cover his shifts, making an ass out of himself around the customers (last night he was walking around shirtless with his fly down and screaming, "welcome to my world, bitch motherfuckers!"), picking fights with co-workers, being banned from drinking at the restaurant, and so on... it looks like he's going to finally lose his chef job. After everyone repeatedly giving him second, third, fourth, etc chances. They didn't call the cops on him because they didn't want that extra burden on him. Most places I've worked, if an employee or anyone started doing that shit, the cops would have been called almost immediately.
This will be the second job in a row where he's lost a prominent position because of his drinking and drug problems (the other was sous chef at a country club frequented by local politicians).
As for the man who shot his son; was alcohol to blame? No. Was the gun to blame? No. Was the individual in this story to blame? Yes. However, to try and say that he would not have shot his son even had he been sober is rather misleading and completely discounting the irrational and compulsive behavior people exhibit under high amounts of alcohol and during blackouts. Again, this doesn't excuse his actions, but given that he then fled the scene and engaged in a stand-off shows, to me, that he most likely had remorse and regret. Otherwise, why didn't he kill his wife, who was witness?
The man shooting his son was an impulsive action. He was angry and argumentative. The son tried to bat the gun away from him, making him angry that someone would try to usurp or hinder his authority, he became enraged, the kid ran and he shot his kid in the back. The shock and realization of his actions are, most likely, what caused him to run. #crime
10/26/09
Forgive me if I am not as understanding when it comes to drunken bastards as I "should" be. #crime
10/26/09
I know exactly where you are coming from. I have a few friends and a father who have major issues with drugs and alcohol. #crime
10/26/09
Also, there is a huge difference between being a drunk driver and an alcoholic. The vast majority of DUI offenders are not alcoholics, but people who made poor choices.
But, whatever. Feel free to ignore everything pertinent I said because of some perceived slight. #crime
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And I didn't give a rat's ass if you knew my personal life story or not. I was just letting you know my view on it and where I was coming from. If you took offense at that, then I can't help that. Your world must be different than the world I come from. #crime
10/27/09
Why no one called the cops? Well, because that's not going to make the matter better. Despite what people might say, incarceration is purely about punishment, not rehabilitation. Calling the cops would only make a bad situation worse. Unfortunately, it's a matter of being between a rock and a hard place. You can call the cops and potentially cause more harm, or you can deal with it and, hopefully, try to mitigate the damage.
There's the theory of "hitting rock bottom", and most people don't want to be the one to cause that. Primarily because there is zero absolution that hitting rock bottom will == recovery. It's hard to call the cops on someone you've known and cared about for years on end. Especially knowing that doing so only exacerbates the situation.
As for drinking where he worked, it's common practice. Most restaurants give employees a discount on their drinks (as well as food). He was cut off from drinking there, but there's several other bars/restaurants within a few seconds walking distance. The GM (general manager) tried telling the nearby bars not to serve him, but they did anyways. In their mind, it's someone else's problems, not theirs, and they still get to make money off of selling drinks to him.
@relic1980: Funny thing is, there's no hardline statistical database for DUIs. However, from listening to public defenders and law enforcement, the repeat offender rate amongst DUI offenders is relatively low. This isn't to say that DUI offenders are not alcoholics, they certainly can be. But while MADD might like to say that all DUIs are the cause of alcoholism, it is vastly unfounded and lacks any proper evidence to prove such a claim.
Basically, there's no way to prove my point, nor the contrary. however, there is anecdotal evidence to support both, if one looks for it.
Don't give me this "your world must be different" bullshit. Pull the fucking butt plug of self-entitlement from out your ass. My world is NO different from yours. You make an apples-to-oranges argument and expect it to be some truth? Give me a break. A DUI does == alcoholism, and if you think it does, then you don't know shit about about the subject of alcoholism.
All you've stated is "you don't know shit. I know what I'm talking about." If you want to have an actual discussion, I'm all for it. But this "I know what it's really like, so fuck you!" exchange is mediocre high school bullshit that I don't care to entertain.
Again, I'm sorry for what you've endured. It's not easy and I understand where you're coming from. I've had 2 friend die from wrecks caused by drunk drivers. I've seen at least 8 people, first hand, ruin their lives through drinking. Throw in illicit drugs, and I got another 10 I could tell you about. My own personal life has been one hell of a roller-coaster in itself.
My main problem is that you are taking a VERY complex situation and problem and condensing it into "well, he was probably always an abusive shithead anyways." My position is merely that I seriously doubt, given the man's actions and responses after killing his son, that he would have done such a thing sober. Obviously, it's not alcohol nor guns at fault, but the individual. However, if it weren't for his alcoholism, I sincerely doubt this would have occurred. If he was always a cold blooded murderer, then why did he not kill the witness? AKA: his wife? This was obviously a crime of passion fueled by his lack of comprehension and reasoning due to his alcoholic impairment.
Nonetheless, if this conversation is going to devolve into some "whatever, you don't know how it feels!" pissing competition, then I see no reason to continue this discussion. #crime
10/27/09
For instance, the guy who murdered my dad (and IMO, it was murder, simply because if you decide to drink and drive, it's your fault if you kill someone even if it doesn't fit the legal definition of murder) , got 6 months for vehicular manslaughter. The day he got out of prison, he went straight to the local bar and got hammered (one of the benefits of living in a small village is that you pretty much know who does what.).
But I am not going to excuse a drunken bastard. If the person decided to drink (preferably in moderation) in his/her home, or in a bar where he/she could take a bus or taxi home, or go home with a friend, or not get violent, I am not going to hold it against them.
However, the moment they do, in my eyes they are a drunken bastard and they should be put away. Period. And that includes my own brother, if he were driving and hit someone.
And you seem to make a lot of assumptions about a guy you know nothing about outside of my comments on a blog. Self-pitying? Nah, I haven't been into that shit since HS. But ultimately you can think what you want about me,
I won't care.
Or in other words, xin loi.
10/26/09
My deepest condolences to the family.. #crime
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We arent angry at you AJ, we love you, just do what you do best girl and make this thread right;) #crime
10/26/09
10/26/09
Yes, somebody died. And Kotaku isn't trying to make light of the tragety. But accusing Kotaku of trying to make this into a joke is taking things a little far, and I don't see how using a relevant piece of art factors into this little equation. #crime
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10/27/09
You see where I'm getting at? I have no problem with the image, in fact I was surprised AJ found it, but its kinda disrespectful to the family and those close to the kid, I really dont care about it, I just assumed the people of the kids family might not apprciate their trajedy being summed up by this artwork. #crime
10/27/09
You see where I'm getting at? I have no problem with the image, in fact I was surprised AJ found it, but its kinda disrespectful to the family and those close to the kid, I really dont care about it, I just assumed the people of the kids family might not apprciate their trajedy being summed up by this artwork. #crime
10/27/09
You see where I'm getting at? I have no problem with the image, in fact I was surprised AJ found it, but its kinda disrespectful to the family and those close to the kid, I really dont care about it, I just assumed the people of the kids family might not apprciate their trajedy being summed up by this artwork. #crime
10/27/09
I also highly doubt that the close friends and family to this kid are currently checking up Kotaku for the latest news. My regards go to the family, but political correctness really gets to me. It's like, naive viewer, meet the internet. #crime
10/26/09
10/26/09
First of all, this is something I believe belongs in the Kotaku gaming news blog. The kid was killed by his alcoholic father because he lost a game... how exactly does this not relate to videogames? Although the connection is a sad one, it's still there.
Also, how exactly is this hypocritical? Nowhere in the story are videogames given the blame for this horrendous incident. They clearly state that the father was heavily drinking and that he had a previous DUI record, which leads me to assume that his alcohol problem is to blame, not videogames.
Kotaku isn't just a GAMING blog, it's a GAMING NEWS blog. It would be downright hypocritical of them to censor this story and not post it up just because some people feel uncomfortable with it. #crime
10/26/09
Complex family issues beget tragedies under myriad circumstances. Video games happen to be a part of this family's culture, in one way or another, so it's reported on here because it's an event that happened in a family that shares some interests with Kotaku's readership. #crime
10/26/09
10/26/09
I am damned. #crime
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10/26/09
Talking about DWI?
Well...there sure are quite a bit of DWIs in our country....sad, huh. #crime
10/26/09
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Yet here in the US, crime is pretty much the only thing the media talks about, and thus we need to shorten the crrime names so that we can say as many as possible in as little time as possible... #crime
10/26/09
I'm sure they have DWI too.
They are different.
DWI- Driving While Intoxicated
DUI- Driving Under the Influence.
DUI can also be drugs...while DWI is mainly alcohol. #crime
10/26/09
You must never have watched Japanese new then... #crime
10/26/09
I'm not saying prohibition is needed, as we all know it didn't work too well the first time it was tried.
But something needs to be done.
I don't want my hobby ruined for me because some totally wasted idiot rage-slaughtered a small village because he got fragged.
Question:
Would this story have the same cultural impact if it was an argument over a lost chess piece?
I think not. #crime
10/26/09
Why does something have to happen to one thing, but not the other.
You find people who blame videogames for the problem to be ridiculous...then go and blame something else?
You aren't any better than those who point at videogames as the cause of all woes when you try to blame some external cause.
Not everyone on alcohol acts violent, not everyone who plays videogames becomes violent. #crime
10/26/09
10/26/09
There's more punch ups, throwing up and littering around pubs and teens loading themselves with alcohol than there is at your local game shop. Wonder why? #crime
10/27/09
"Still alcohol may just do the same as gaming and make already violent and sick people then go on to do the things they wanted to do "
I think some people should not touch the stuff. Just like I think some people should not play video games, or do drugs, or anything else that may mess with an unstable mind. #crime
10/27/09
I wasn't blaming the alcohol, I was merely stating that if this story didn't have a videogame in it, no one would be interested in it.
Plus, how many times have you lost your inhibitions from a Halo marathon or Unreal match?
Rage from playing a game may lead to anger outbursts, but that could come from anywhere. Like loosing a sports match, or breaking up with a spouse.
But alcohol causes a change in the way you think and react. It's a drug, altering the perception of everything.
And more importantly heightening emotions. People that are hurt easily become depressed, even to the point of hurting themselves, people who care a lot become emotional towards others, and more importantly, and more appropriate to this story, people who are easily angered become dangerous.
The facts are that a man under the influence of alcohol took another life. And for what? A petty, inconsequential thing.
I do blame the alcohol this time, because it is the reason for the act. The lost videogame was just a match to the fuel.
But, the reason this is news, where all the countless other alcohol related killings/attacks are not, is because a videogame was involved.
Alcohol crime happens all the time, and no one sees it, but as soon as a "hook" is there suddenly the "hook" is the reason. In this case the "hook" was the lost videogame. #crime
10/27/09
We are agreeing more than disagreeing.
I just believe that anything can cause problems with someone who already has problems.
I've never done anything totally different from the way I normally act on alcohol, however, alot of people I would assume do. #crime
10/26/09
10/26/09
It's by the Russian painter Ilya Repin and named "Ivan the Terrible And His Son Ivan".
That's, what Wikipedia is saying about it:
"In 1581, Ivan beat his pregnant daughter-in-law for wearing immodest clothing, which may have caused a miscarriage. His son, also named Ivan, upon learning of this, engaged in a heated argument with his father, which resulted in Ivan striking his son in the head with his pointed staff, causing his son's (accidental) death. This event is depicted in the famous painting by Ilya Repin, Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on Friday, 16 November 1581 better known as Ivan the Terrible killing his son." #crime
10/26/09
*nods* That's what it was. Thank you. This would've bothered me all day. #crime