Pokemon Penance

[cannongal]

Don't know if you heard of the new Pokemon Go app that's taken the world by storm, but this story gave me a chuckle.


Taken From: http://kotaku.com/pokemon-go-fan-trolls-...Socialflow

It is 2016, and at least one religious institution hasn’t let go of the idea that Pokémon is somehow sinful. What a time to be alive.

Late last week, a certain Pokémon started making headlines.



For the two of you that don’t play Pokémon Go, what this picture is relaying is that Westboro Baptist Church is marked as a “gym” in Pokémon Go. This in turn means that players can park their Pokémon at that location IRL to defend a digital title. In this case, someone thought it would be funny to put in a fairy type Pokémon as the defender of a place known for being very hateful and intolerant.

Since then, it is unclear on whether or not the Clefairy has remained in the Westboro Baptist Church gym—the initial “combat power” was low enough that anyone could easily knock it out. Regardless, it seems that the trolling news has reached Westboro itself, and they’ve taken to social media to issue a response:



And here’s the Vine embedded in the Tweet:



Incredible. I want to say that they couldn’t have come up with this without having a fan in-house, because Jigglypuff’s jingle is from the anime, which isn’t as popular anymore...but then, they’ve also said that Clefairy, a digital creature that does not actually exist, is somehow a “sodomite.” Okay then.

Actually, WBC has been on a bit of a Pokémon bender this morning, with disgusting posts like:



**********************

I haven't tried the game yet, I really don't play that many to begin with, but both of my kids and a few nieces and nephews are all raving about it.

I worry their gonna end up jaywalking, or getting picked up for trespassing, while out 'catching pokeman'.

Do you play? What's you take on the game?

[ramseycat]

The county has gone berserk over this. This and shootings.

[sally]

I've seen some reference to Pokémon Go on FB, but I didn't know what the hell it meant until now. The last I remember about Pokémon is buying my son the cards when he was around 10 years old I guess and whatever happened to them I don't know. I didn't understand the appeal of it then and I don't understand it now.

[FAHQTOO]

Hopefully, this game will thin out the gene pool. 3 ppl walked right into the fountain outside of the mall here yesterday.

[Duchess]

I don't know who Pokemon is but I think it's damn funny what they are doing to Westboro Baptist Church. It made me snicker.

[sally]

I don't know who Pokemon is

Yeah right, I suppose you never heard of Pikachu either.

[cannongal]

Hopefully, this game will thin out the gene pool. 3 ppl walked right into the fountain outside of the mall here yesterday.

I told my son that I bet the creators of the game were going to get sued because of someone getting hurt. He told me that there is a disclaimer when you turn the game on about being aware of your surroundings.....



In Other Pokeman news, the first mugging of players took place

Taken from: http://www.fox25boston.com/news/trending.../396504179

Police in Missouri arrested four people early Sunday after they allegedly robbed multiple people at gunpoint using the wildly popular "Pokemon Go" smartphone app.

Authorities arrested Shane Michael Baker, 18; Brett William Miller, 17 and Jamine James D. Warner, 18, on charges of first-degree robbery and armed criminal action. Police took a fourth suspect, who is a juvenile, to the St. Charles County Juvenile Justice Center.

O'Fallon police found the suspects after they were called to a report of an armed robbery around 2 a.m. Sunday. Officers recovered a handgun from the suspects as they attempted to get rid of it while leaving the area, police said.

"You can add a beacon to a Poke-stop (in "Pokemon Go") to lure more players," according to the O'Fallon Police Department. "Apparently, they were using the app to locate (people) standing around in the middle of a parking lot of whatever other location they were in."

The suspects snatched a wallet and a phone during Sunday's robbery, KMOV reported. The teens are also suspected in similar robberies reported in both St. Louis and St. Charles counties.

In "Pokemon Go," players use their smartphones to find "Pocket Monsters" – known more commonly as Pokemon – in the real-world using a phone's GPS information. The augmented reality game was released just this month and attracted more users than the popular Tinder dating app.

[F.U.]

Ok, someone please explain this shit to me.

[Duchess]

I suppose you never heard of Pikachu either.

Guilty. I do know Machu Picchu though.

[sally]

Ok, someone please explain this shit to me.

This is some of what I read about it. "The game assigns real places in the world as locations for in-game places, like gyms or Pokestops that dispense items. These places can be anything from large landmarks like buildings, or something smaller and simpler like a sign.

One of those places is the Darwin Police station in Australia. The Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services had to ask players not to go hunting inside the station."

So far in the search for pokemons there have been robberies, a dead body was found while looking for pokemon in a lake, and a man has complained that several people have showed up at his house looking for them.

But it's getting people out of the house and moving which is a good thing I guess .

[sally]

As if people aren't already crazy enough, now they have them out searching for little fucking monsters on their phones.

[FAHQTOO]

Now I'm wondering how many idiots are driving and playing this game...hmm

[Carsman]

Absurd, absolutely absurd!

[Love Child]

I want to play it, but I don't want to walk around looking at my phone!
P.S. I can't play it where I am anyway. I wonder how far into town I will have to go to play.

[Duchess]

Now I'm wondering how many idiots are driving and playing this game...hmm

That's unnerving. It's already bad enough out there with people texting, putting on makeup, eating, reading, etc. I have a poor opinion of drivers in general. I'm never comfortable out on the road anymore.

[cannongal]

You even have a chance at finding a dead body!

Taken from: http://abc13.com/news/woman-seeking-wate...r/1421189/

RIVERTON, WY (KTRK) -- Shayla Wiggins was only looking for Pokemon, but never expected a new app might lead her to find a body.

"I woke up this morning and I wanted to go get a water Pokemon, so I just got up and went for my little walk, a walk to catch Pokemon," Wiggins says.

Instead, the enthusiastic Pokemon Go user found a body lying face down in a river.

Wiggins says she was "really scared," and called 911.

"They told me to wait up at the highway for a police officer," Wiggins says.

Fremont County Sheriff's Department Undersheriff Ryan Lee says the body of an adult male was found face down in the water.

The Pokemon Go app allows players to catch creatures in real life terrains using a smart phone. In this case, Wiggins was under the bridge searching for a water-dwelling Pokemon when she found the body.

Wiggins says the gruesome find, however, will not deter her from playing again.

"I might go get a water Pokemon," Wiggins says. "I'm going to try."

[Duchess]

This silly game made the Today Show this morning. Normally, this isn't something I would have stopped to listen to but it made me think of this thread. People, a lot of people, are very serious about this game. I don't get the attraction but I'm generally not into games so that doesn't mean anything.

[sally]

People are walking their dogs more often too. Which is a reason I might start playing. I hate walking the dogs, chasing a picachu down the street might make it seem like less of a chore.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

We went to one of the Preserves in the area here Sunday evening. There were maybe 20 people on the boardwalk usually to see the birds and gaters and take pictures. I counted 9 people walking around with their nose buried in the app, walking right past the gaters and birds...

[sally]

walking right past the gaters and birds...

Well they are kind of fucking boring.