f13.net

If this is posted somewhere else then please delete.

http://gawker.com/5636011/stupid-california-police-warn-parents-of-pedobear-the-pedophile-mascot (http://gawker.com/5636011/stupid-california-police-warn-parents-of-pedobear-the-pedophile-mascot)

So they understand it's an internet joke, but they don't get the joke.

To be fair to them, pedophiles do have a history of coming up with subtle "recognition signals" by which to identify each other, and were early adopters of the Internet as ways to find like-minded persons.  So it's not completely outside of the law enforcement history to see Pedobear as just another step in the process.

That being said, this is still stupid, on a par with the great "don't flash your lights at cars with no headlights, it might be a gang initiation" scare from the late 90's.  Because it's such an established internet meme, the false positives rate for actual pedophiles outing themselves to random /b/tards would be rather high.

--Dave

This is silly. Pedophiles already have (http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=spot_the_pedo) a perfectly good recognition signal.

Heh. I don't remember seeing that before.

The best part is the bulletin that the police sent out.  I've got half a mind to print this up and post it around the office for lulz.

Doesn't seem like too much over reacting to me and it seems like they do get it. Point being, if you want to dress up in a costume depicting a pedophile bear, be prepared to get kicked out of conventions/events. I hate to godwin this but it's very similar to a hitler costume in that it could be funny but a lot of people just aren't going to consider it so because of what it implies.  Sure pedobear is a joke and can be amusing but it's dark humor at best and that's not for everyone.

From the phrasing of the bulletin, they appear to be under the impression that PedoBear is a real individual (creature?).  I'm pretty sure they don't get it.

They also seem to think that the guy in a pedobear costume was an actual sexual predator rather than making a funny.  They don't say that his costume was in poor taste, they say that he was "malignant" and making "victims" out of children.  Durr hurr hurr.  If anything I would argue he was providing a public service by reminding everyone (in a light-hearted way) to keep an eye on their fucking kids because real pedos aren't going to be as "obvious".

Pedo Bear/4chan has done more to raise awareness about sexual predators than anything else.

FIFY.

Statistically, "Creepy Uncle Jack" is the real pedo, not some random guy pulling kids off of streets. This whole thing has gotten completely out of hand; you know we're in crazy land when cops are called because some guy is sitting on a bench reading a book, within sight of a playground.

Its been crazy for a while now, to be honest. There was a episode of a Channel 4 program called "Brass Eye" on British TV that was panned in 2001 for satirizing the sensationalist coverage "Evil PEDO" cases were getting in tabloids and the mainstream media, and channel 4 came very close to being fined.

I'm guessing you've never been to a convention; there were several Nazis and Hitlers at this years Otakon and no negative reaction that I saw; if anyone was offended they kept it to themselves. There were also a couple Pedobears.

Now I'm confused. I thought he was an Olympic mascot.  :grin:

Kids these days. No respect for shit because they've been raised to be unfeeling little narcissists in life only for the lulz.  I look forward to never hiring a single one of their asses.  :awesome_for_real:

Give it long enough and you'll be depending on them for care. If I were you I would take them under your wing and show them a better way.

Are you sure they were not dressed up as Hellsing Ultimate characters?

You're assuming I won't die of cancer in my 50's or 60's.  That's a losing bet.

A couple of them were from Hetalia, and some might have been from Hellsing Ultimate; I haven't seen enough of it to recognize the character. There were at least two who were distinctly Hitler, though.

All I have to say is:  :pedobear:

*shrug*. Nothing beats the mob that attacked a pair of British doctors because said mob couldn't distinquish between "pedophile" and "pediatrician".