SPCS

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY STANDARDS INC.

Video games linked with murders

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A UK sailor has been jailed for 25 years after a shooting spree inspired by a violent video game.

Able Seaman Ryan Donovan had been obsessed with the video game Grand Theft Auto – linked with murders in the US. After being disciplined for disobedience, Donovan told shipmates he was planning a killing frenzy based on the game. He later shot dead an officer and seriously wounded three others (The Guardian, 19/9/11).

Not long afterwards, UK and Swedish researchers identified evidence of “Game Transfer Phenomena”, where some gamers integrate video experiences into their real lives (Daily Mail, 21/9/11). The study involved 42 in-depth interviews with participants ages 15 to 21, all of whom were frequent video gamers.

Almost all had experienced some type of involuntary thoughts in relation to video games, and half sought to use something from a video game to resolve a real-life issue. [Read more…]

Hamilton Councillors Should Reject Sex Expo – says Family First NZ

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Family First NZ, a registered charity with the Charities Commission, has issued a media release today, calling on Hamilton Councillors to refuse an application t0 stage a Sex Expo, promoting hardcore pornography, in council-owned buildings.

Family First NZ Media Release 18 November:

Hamilton Councillors Should Reject Sex Expo

Family First NZ is calling on Hamilton Councillors to reject the application for the Erotica Expo to be held in the council-owned Claudelands Arena.

 “Council buildings should only be available for family-friendly events which are beneficial to the community. The Erotica Expo is simply an attempt to normalise the hard core pornography industry,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

 “Pornography has a damaging effect on intimacy, love, and respect and at its worst, leads to sex role stereotyping, viewing persons as sexual objects, and family breakdown.”

 Research at Australia’s La Trobe University recently concluded “This is not about couples going to the porn store to spice up their sex lives. Men in growing numbers are using porn in ways that are secret, shameful and damaging. It is having a damaging impact on intimacy and sexuality.”

Research has also shown that children who are exposed to pornography develop skewed ideas about sex and sexuality, which lead to negative stereotypes of women, sexual activity at a young age, and increased aggression in boys.

A meta-analysis of research by the National Foundation for Family Research and Education (NFFRE) at the University of Calgary found that viewing pornography leads to perceptions of sexual dominance, sex role stereotyping, viewing persons as sexual objects, sexual aggressiveness, and sexually hostility and violent behaviours.

“We are asking the Hamilton City Council to exercise moral leadership and act in the best interests of families by rejecting this application. The Council should not be associated in any way with the promotion of the pornography industry which harms our families,” says Mr McCoskrie

ENDS

Disestablishment of Charities Commission – Update

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“Cabinet recently decided to transfer the Charities Commission’s functions to the Department of Internal Affairs. It is expected that this transfer will take place from 1 July 2012, subject to legislation [The Crown Entities Reform Bill] being passed.”

This statement appeared in a special “note” attached to a Charities Commission job vacancy advertisment for “Manager, Monitoring and Investigations Team” – first published in the Dominion Post on Wednesday 16th November. (applications close midday Monday 28 November 2011).

There has been an open call for public submissions to the Government Administration Select Committee which is considering The Crown Entities Reform Bill – a call made prior to the dissolution of parliament on 20 October 2011. If enancted into law, it will disestablish the Charities Commission and the registration and deregistration of charities will be carried out by a new independent decision-making board of three people. (The Commission was established under The Charities Act 2005).

Art shock ‘kills’ PM [John Key] in alley – Sunday Star Times

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ARTIST SAM Mahon has painted a picture of John Key as a corpse and made it part of an interactive game on his website called, “Who killed John Key?”

Mahon, who calls himself a socialist, says he hopes the image “will simply make people curious”. He wants to “put a bunch of ‘Key crtimes’ on to one ring,” he told the Sunday Star Times.

“The painting shows Key’s body slumped against a wall in an alley with a rifled wallet beside him. A half-empty wine bottle, a rat and a half-eaten apple are among the detritus nearby.

Viewers are invited to discover Key’s “killer” by viewing 24 video clues embedded on the picture, most of which are interviews with Key taken from the web. People who guess the killer will be eligible for prizes including a Mahon cast bronze of a dying dove (
“a metaphor for dying hopes”).

Asked if he was worried that people would find the image offensive, Mahon said: “All art is expression and metaphor and the job artists have is to make people feel uncomfortable. Now once you’ve made people uncomfortable you’ve got their attention. And once you’ve got their attention you can begin to change their mind.”

The image will be put on Mahon’s website tomorrow and the names of those who guessed the killer will be posted on election day, Novemberr 26.

Story by Anthony Hubbard (abridged) Sunday Star Times. Page 1, November 13, 2011

Comment: One of the objects of the SPCS is:

“To support responsible freedom of expression which does not injure the public good be degrading, dehumanising or demeaning individuals or classes of people.” (S. 2[f] of SPCS Constitution).

The Society contends that the vast majority of New Zealanders would consider Sam Mahon’s image of our Prime Minister John Key and its use in an “interact game” on his website, as outlined above, highly offensive. It deliberately seeks to degrade, dehumanise and demean John Key over the next few weeks leading up to the elections.

Naked Ambition – TVNZ doco

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The new director of hardcore porn company Eden Digital Ltd, who has replaced American investor John Malcolm Carr, effective 13 September 2011, is Raymond (“Ray”) Sydney Corben Simpson – a resident of Mt Eden, Auckland (see www.companies.govt.nz).

See: US-based critic of economy [John M Carr CPA] has lots more to say

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=154653

see Photo of John M Carr http://www.carr.co.nz/images/jmc.jpg

(John M Carr CPA remains sole director of CVC Group Ltd which owns Eden Digital Ltd and he is a “business partner” of Stephen (Steve) Peter Crow. Carr directs and owns Payroll Solution Services Ltd, which was put into liquidation on the petition of the Inland Revenue Department on 2 September 2011 by the High Court of Auckland pursuant to s. 241(2)(c) of the Companies Act 1993, as well as about 30 other NZ companies. As at liquidation, Carr has advised the liquidators that Payroll Solution Services “held no realisable assets” It “provided services exclusively to companies related to the director” and “ceased to trade in April 2011”).

See: https://www.spcs.org.nz/carr-consulting-p-a-porn-company-director-john-m-carr-and-his-companies-us-shareholder-connections-unmasked/

Ray Smith was Production Manager for the hardcore porn film directed by Steve Crow entitled “RIPE” – featuring 22-year old “Nikki” (not her real name), a three-and-a-half pregnant “wannabe porn star”.  The making of this video was dealt with in graphic detail on the 43 minute TV documentary “Naked Ambition” (recorded on 30 January 2003 and screened on TVNZ Channel One in May 2003);  produced by Creme Media (now owned by Greenstone Pictures, Auckland).

It featured Steve Crow – referred to as “Porn King” and owner at that time of Vixen Direct – a hardcore porn distribution company. It included several scenes with Raymond Simpson together with Steve Crow involved in the filming of the pregnant “Nikki” having sex with two men – co-stars “William a “stripper” aged 24 years and “Andy” a self-declared “exhibitionist” and printer by occupation aged 39 years. Both men were recruited by Crow to take part in his film project. The programme noted that both co-stars were filmed having sex a number of times with “Nikki” over several days, commencing 10 minutes after meeting her “co-stars”.

There was considerable controversy in 2002 when Crow’s plan to use public hospital facilities to film “Nikki” giving birth – in order to include the footage in his porn film, became public knowledge via the media. Critics were incensed by the intended exploitation of the soon-to-be-born child who they claimed would forever be dubbed “the porn baby”. Crow argued that “Nikki” had a right to have the birth filmed and have it included in the film featuring her. It was all about “freedom of expression” he argued. [Read more…]