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It may just be a game to you, but it means the world to us

redcross.ca

61–70 of 253 posts

Re: It may just be a game to you, but it means the world to us

#61
post #2

Not to detract from the message here, but > It may just be a game to you but, it means the world to us The placement of that comma really irks me. Isn't "It may just be a game to you, but it means the world to us" the grammatically correct form? I'm somewhat surprised to see this in official communication from the Canadian Red Cross group. I feel like I've seen this "post-but" comma more and more recently. I guess pe…

Came here to say this. Couldn't really see past it, which says more about me than anything else.

Re: It may just be a game to you, but it means the world to us

#62
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many first person shooters and their health power-ups. Also, my googling found this: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/01/17/indie-games-develope...

I can't see how that detracts from the symbol - if anything, it makes it clearer what it represents. If there was a game with Nazis carrying red crosses instead of swastikas or something, this post might make sense, but it just seems unreasonable to me.

Especially given that first aid kits are often marked in similar ways.

Re: It may just be a game to you, but it means the world to us

#64

> Under the Charter Act that was adopted in 1900 under the Geneva Convention (and later amended in 1905 and again in 1910)3, the American Red Cross has the exclusive right to use a red Greek cross4 on a white field, with the only exception being that any user of such an emblem prior to 1905 would continue to have the right to use the emblem. Registrations owned by Johnson & Johnson for red Greek crosses date from 190…

Hold on … I surely can’t go and start a drinks company and call my drink coke? Same with a search engine and Google?

You should call it Red Cross Cola and just mix coke with rat poison.

Re: It may just be a game to you, but it means the world to us

#65
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A green cross definitely means marijuana dispensary to my eyes. Is it actually used elsewhere?

I always thought green cross means pharmacy. But I also spent a lot of my youth in France, where it means exactly that.

And pharmacy in Spain also.

The red cross had issues in the past with the symbols. Muslims didn't wanted to be treated for them (seeing the cross as a symbol for christians), so they needed to create the 'Red crescent' symbol exclusively for Muslims. But then jews, hindi and asians felt excluded also, so a third symbol was necessary, the red crystal, that aim to represent humanitary work without being assimilated to one of the bands in conflict. The red crystal is used in delicate cases to not upset anybody.

The red cross should be named now the red crystal, to hide that it was created in an European context, by a christian, and also that is just the Switzerland flag with inverted colors (he was from Geneva).

Is a good example of how politics and ideology can spoil anything.

Re: It may just be a game to you, but it means the world to us

#66

Can't see how restricting usage of the symbol is helpful at all. Pure rent seeking >In an increasingly uncertain world ...

> Pure rent seeking That's just a categorically false accusation, since the whole point here is that they don't want the symbol to be used at all in certain contexts.

Yes, so they have sole use of the (rather basic!) symbol > more donations

Sad, but all too common with modern charities!

"categorically false". cmon man

Re: It may just be a game to you, but it means the world to us

#67

> In an increasingly uncertain world, this protective use of the red cross emblem has become more and more important. In the past ten years, there have been 162 fatalities among Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement personnel including two Canadians. I don't understand how these two sentences are related and the article doesn't explain it as far as I can tell. They seem to be vaguely insinuating that video games approp…

Seems to be a reference to geopolitical instability. In modern times (post WW II) the Red Cross is seen as responders to natural disasters. But it seems they feel they’re increasingly responding to man-made disasters (e.g. armed conflicts). That’s at least my interpretation. (Edited to clarify timeframe)

Hiatorically, the Red Cross was foundes in response to the suffering caused by the Crimean War in the 1860s and their mission is to help people who get caught in armed comflicts. The symbol is protected by international law as a sign of medical facilities and medical personal who may not be attacked. Using the red cross for any other purspose is considered abusive and is formally a war crime. It may sound absurd, but keeping the narrow and important meaning of the symbol intact saves lives.

Re: It may just be a game to you, but it means the world to us

#68
post #19

What does misuse particularly mean here? I couldn't gather that. Does a child's toy, which is supposed to represent a first aid kit, with the red cross on it constitute a misuse? Can a random private hospital not use the red cross?

> What does misuse particularly mean here?

Use by organizations other than the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

The point is to strictly maintain the neutrality of the symbol in wartime and similar situations, as distinct from merely indicating (for example) an army medic of a particular country. If it ends up broadly used just to indicate 'first aid', that purpose is lost.

Re: It may just be a game to you, but it means the world to us

#70

> In an increasingly uncertain world, this protective use of the red cross emblem has become more and more important. In the past ten years, there have been 162 fatalities among Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement personnel including two Canadians. I don't understand how these two sentences are related and the article doesn't explain it as far as I can tell. They seem to be vaguely insinuating that video games approp…

No, I don't see they claiming that the use in games caused these deaths. What I think they are claiming is that it is necessary to protect the symbol such that when we see it, we know that we really are dealing with the Red Cross, not with some other random thing related to medicine. And that if the symbol becames banalized, this takes away the protection that the symbol should bring to them.

I understand this, but, perhaps in the long term they should consider using a more complex symbol, and including the Red Cross name in it. It is much more difficult to protect a symbol when it is so generic and simple to draw it.

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