First of all, there is no "norm in America." It's a big fucking place, and schools are locally managed. I suppose waivers are relatively normal when children are expected to be in a risky situation without the supervision of their guardian. Suppose for example your kids were going to go on a rock climbing field trip. Would parents not be asked to consent to that? That's fucking weird. The weird part is that this waiver is clearly not related to the situation. These particular people at this particular school are clearly particularly stupid. That's why it's a video on the internet. It's not weird that they want 5 year olds' guardians to arrange for some sort of supervised transport home. I think it would be strange to just let a 5 year old walk miles down a highway to their home. The school would clearly have some liability if they allowed the child to do that without their guardian's permission.

As for the cop, well, again, that's a locale to locale sort of thing. He might not be a permanent fixture at the school (although some schools have rent-a-cops). He may have been called in because the guy caused a ruckus off camera. Do you not have cops go to places where there is an incident? So, for example, if someone went to a school and refused to leave until his demands were met, would you not call in a cop to mediate the situation?

Are all Brits really stupid enough to think this video in any way reflects the American status quo?

That's why he left the dinosaurs. Duh.

Can you point me towards a comparable situation? I can't recall a situation where he was making an emotional plea about an important topic and was ripped for his usual stutter. People like Jon Stewart pick their spots. Comedy is about timing.

I'm not saying you can't get your digs in. I'm saying there's a time and place. Shannon Sharpe's speech impediments and questionable word choice are widely joked about:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/cbs-producers-ask-shannon-sharpe-to-use-at-least-3,7044/

That doesn't bother me. He's plenty self deprecating about his "book smahts." My issue is with context. 99 percent of the time you could crack these jokes in his face and he'd laugh right along with you. If you did it here, he'd rip you in half. The guy grew up dirt ass poor in rural georgia. He made himself a millionaire. What does he need to do for the peanut gallery to shut the fuck up for 2 minutes while he talks about something important? If he was being granted a shred of respect, they would.

Stay classy.

This probably requires some background. The details of the story are not totally clear, and won't be pending an investigation. The facts are that Jonathan Martin left the team after what was described as a "breakdown" in the cafeteria. Apparently the team was pranking him by banding together and refusing to sit with him. This is the sort of behavior you see. Afterwards allegations of physical beating and voice mails were revealed that suggested Richie Incognito (I know, ironic name) was the primary perpetrator of the abuses.

Focus has been on the use of the racial epithet in question. Frankly, I think this is a red herring. I, like many of you, don't really care about the use of that word. That said, I think Shannon is correct in stating there are signs of something deeper here. That is, real actual issues of race relations.

You've heard here that Incognito is thought of as an "honorary black" in that locker room. More background is that Jonathan Martin would have been the third generation in his family to graduate from Harvard, but he decided to go to Stanford instead. It's been suggested that Martin was ostracized more for this reason than anything. He just came from a completely different place than most of the other guys playing. At its root, the allegation is that they made him feel uncomfortable for coming from a wealthy black family.

What I find much more upsetting than any epithet is what I interpreted to be a continuation of the sort of attitude Shannon was talking about. By implying he had used an incorrect word rather than emotionally flubbing its pronunciation the implication, to me, is that his intellect is not being respected. Since this clip is most definitely about race, and that is a common stereotype about black men, I couldn't help but wonder if his skin color biased your judgements. That, to me, is much more troubling than throwing around nigger, fag, or kyke with your friends.

In the end, I think this whole story will blow over. It's just as likely to me that Martin was replaced as a starter, and is now trying to lawyer up (call his parents) to cash out his career. We won't know until they look into it. Still, in this context, I was surprised people here of all places would belittle this sort of commentary, and by extension the commentator. It's disrespectful to the message if nothing else. If you don't find discussions of race relations worth being dignified then I guess I think you're kind of a dick even if you aren't a bigot.

Perhaps not. This clip certainly is. Perhaps you haven't fully appreciated your own prejudices?

The implication is that he doesn't know the words he's using. That is, they are implying he's dumb. That's a racist implication. Given the nature of the content, it's surprising to me that sifters wouldn't be more sensitive to that.

If I were to imply some guy with a lisp must wear panties in the bedroom you all would be up in arms.

Being honest guys, he didn't enunciate it perfectly, but it clearly ended in a t, and he clearly meant epithet. I can't help but wonder if the tone of these comments would be different if the speaker weren't black.

"Physical transformation"... you mean a haircut and a shave? Let's take another look at them teef.

Sounds a little optimistic to me.

Yup. Great voice, great track.

I like radiolab. I agree, they could leave a bit more air time. They're well researched though. I follow this topic relatively closely, but they still showed me something and managed to keep me entertained.

My mistake. I thought I wanted real actual talking filibusters back. I was wrong.

Is that before or after you piss on her?