Too much sex and violence or just oversensitive critics?

The long-awaited and much-anticipated “Grand Theft Auto IV” comes out this week and already the battle lines are drawn.

Opponents say the game is promoting a negative systemic change in society’s views on violence and sex.

Proponents argue that the game is no more glorifying violence or sex than the movie or television industries.

For years, attorney Jack Thompson has been vocal criticizing the game, saying that the GTA series has made violence attractive to kids when played obsessively. Thompson was a part of a few lawsuits against the game makers to hold them accountable on the behalf of the families of several murder victims.

But is it the game’s fault for these real-life violent acts?

On the front of every copy, there’s an “M” for mature rating clearly listed on the corner, which means that the game is not intended for anyone less than the age of 17.

Most places, including the toy store I worked at during college, require employees to make sure the person purchasing the game is of age. Heck, I even made sure that the parents knew what the game was about before they bought it — probably to the dismay of their 11- and 12-year-old kids.

The biggest argument is that movies and TV showcase the same levels of sex and violence — “South Park,” for example, regularly features a healthy dose of blood, guts and fecal matter. The only difference is that the user is in control of the character’s actions.

While I do agree that the GTA series isn’t something that younger children should be playing, it’s the responsibility of the parents to keep their kids away from these games. The rating system is there for a reason.

The last stand

C'mon Nuggs, what's going on?

Three games, three lackluster performances. When the opposing team is averaging 117 ppg and you're only putting up 102, there's no way you can win games.

The 30.7-to-18 assists per game difference doesn't help either.

I wouldn't mind the 3-0 deficit as much if Denver actually kept their minds in the game past the first 24 minutes of the game. It's not that they give up, it's that they stop playing team ball.

I watched games one and two, and they simply abandon their run-and-gun offense in the second half, Everyone starts playing one-on-one basketball and the Lakers know that. It's hard to win a one-on-one when four other guys back him up.

Then they have to get back on defense and actually defend. The Lakers have far too many weapons to be lackluster.

Here's what my plan would be:

• Start A.I. and Melo in the backcourt with Camby, K-Mart and Linas Kleiza in the front.
• Put Melo on Kobe. Melo's defense isn't that great, but he's our superstar and it's time he takes the responsibility to guard theirs.
• J.R. gives us a good fire burst off the bench.
• Play Steven Hunter. The Lakers have size and lots of it. Hunter will give us a good sized body on the court.
• Pray that Nene is OK. His size would help immensely and give Camby and Martin much needed rest.
• Pass the ball. Passing the ball opens up the court. It's fundamental basketball.

Call me an eternal optimist, but the Nuggets were on the brink of elimination when they last advanced to round two. They were also the eighth seed back then, too.

If you don't like America, you can git out!

Step up your game, Douglas Bruce. Arizona’s got bigger blowhards than you.

Last week, an Arizona legislative panel endorsed a proposal from State Rep. Russell Pierce, R-Arizona, that would bar public schools from teaching anything that is considered “counter to democracy or Western civilization,” according to The Arizona Republic.

It would also prohibit students at the state’s universities from creating race-based groups.

“This bill basically says, ‘You’re here. Adopt American values,’” State Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Arizona told The Arizona Republic. “If you want a different culture, then fine, go back to that culture.”

Yeah all you non-American bastards. If you don’t like America, you can git out!

(My apologies to Matt Stone and Trey Parker.)

Now, far be it from me from stating the obvious, but the United States is made up of folks with origins from around the world — not just Europe. This proposal is nothing more than xenophobic tripe.

What does Kavanaugh mean by “American values,” anyways? We are a nation of people who have adopted the values of our ancestors — ancestors who have come from myriad of places.

From my understanding, this proposal would make it illegal for public school students in Arizona to learn about non-European history. This seems stupid. Don’t we want our kids to learn about everything and have a well-rounded knowledge of the world?

And what is with the prohibition of letting university students create race-based groups?

I’ve heard the argument of these students self-segregating themselves, but I don’t buy it. Having been in race-based student groups in college, I find them to be an arena for young adults to share their ethnic culture with the greater community.

When I was in the Vietnamese Student Association in Boulder, we held our Tet culture show every year. Yeah, our Vietnamese was bad and we didn’t always get the stories quite right, but it was an opportunity for us to share a part of who we are.

I’m an American of Vietnamese descent. I bleed red, white and blue, but don’t tell me that I’m not allowed to hold on to the values my family has passed along to me just because they don’t necessarily fit in with your own.

Pierce and Kavanaugh are trying to turn the U.S. into a melting pot — where everyone is the same. I like to think that our country is more like a salad with each group adding its distinctive flavor.

About a year ago I made a beer out of Skittles. They were different colors before I put them in the boiling water and it became a puke orange mix.

What would you rather want? Boiling melted Skittles or a salad?

Daddio video

That's right, I made a video to complement Brandon Johansson's piece about Jim "Dr. Daddio" Walker's return to the airwaves.

Check it out!

Another notch on my belt

Sixty-six.

That's Joey Chestnut's world record for most hot dogs eaten in 12 minutes. I hope to eat 1/3 of that tomorrow.

As the reigning two-time Taste of Colorado ice-cream eating champion, I can eat cold food fast. But Hot dogs are another matter. Tomorrow I foray into the world of competitive eating with my first hot-dog-eating contest. The last winner of this local competition had 16.

I don't know if I'll win, but I want to make a good showing. I figure if I can eat a hot dog every 30 seconds, I could do 24 — hopefully.

That's a total of 6,000 calories in 12 minutes. Or three days worth of food.

I don't know how much I can eat, but I want a respectable showing. Apparently one of the competitors is ranked No. 20 in the world according to the International Federation of Competitive Eaters.

If I eat 24, I'm trying for the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Passing of a hero

“Hero” is a word that is thrown around far too often. Many are proclaimed for doing nothing more than what they’re supposed to do, but few actually reach the echelon of heroics.

Photojournalist Dith Pran was one of those few. Pran died March 30 in New Brunswick, N.J. He was 65.

On April 17, 1975, Phnom Penh — the capital of Cambodia — fell to the Khmer Rouge. While the U.S. pulled their troops out, reporters such as The New York Times’ Sydney Schanberg stayed to cover the war. Pran had been serving as Schranberg’s interpreter for the better part of four years.

Amid the chaos, Pran, Schanberg and two other reporters ventured to a hospital where they were met by a group of armed Khmer Rouge soldiers. With guns pointed at their heads, Pran frantically tried to convince their anti-Americans captors to release the three “French” journalists.

His pleas worked and the reporters were able to escape. Schanberg returned and won a Pulitzer for his coverage of the war.

Pran, however, was stuck in Cambodia. For the next four years, he endured torture and starvation before making his escape to Thailand.

Over the course of his 40-mile escape through land-mine infested paths, he encountered pockets of human remains — something he called the “killing fields.” The Khmer Rouge had killed approximately two million of the seven million population in Cambodia.

He arrived in the U.S. in 1980 and found a job as a photojournalist with The New York Times. His story was turned into the 1984 Oscar-nominated film, “The Killing Fields,” for which Haing Ngor won best supporting actor for his portrayal of Pran.

Pran and his wife worked hard to make sure that the horrors of the past would be remembered, and started the Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness Project, which aims to document and educate about the Cambodian genocide.

As journalists, nothing is more important than getting the truth out to the public. As human beings, nothing is more valuable than life. Pran’s ability to save his peers and subsequent efforts to keep the past alive makes him not only a hero to journalists, but to people everywhere.