Wow, that's great. Thanks for the feedback. Glad I turned *someone* onto it!

In reply to this comment by kymbos:
Great find on that interview. It took me most of the morning at work to get through, but totally worth it. Thanks!

In reply to this comment by lucky760:
First heard of Gale Sayers this morning in an interview of Patton Oswalt by Adam Carolla. Interestingly, Patton Oswalt says he watches videos of Gale Sayers on the field to inspire his comedy writing.

Great find on that interview. It took me most of the morning at work to get through, but totally worth it. Thanks!

In reply to this comment by lucky760:
First heard of Gale Sayers this morning in an interview of Patton Oswalt by Adam Carolla. Interestingly, Patton Oswalt says he watches videos of Gale Sayers on the field to inspire his comedy writing.

First heard of Gale Sayers this morning in an interview of Patton Oswalt by Adam Carolla. Interestingly, Patton Oswalt says he watches videos of Gale Sayers on the field to inspire his comedy writing.

Are we sure he isn't just re-enacting a series of natural disasters mime style? Looked like he was holding on to those drink doors with a death grip. It looked like he was hit by a gale of 65-76 mph...

http://lyricwiki.org/Great_Big_Sea:England

We were far from the shores of England
Far from our children and wives
To play our hand in the Newfoundland
Where the wind cuts like a knife
We were far from the shores of England

We shipped on board the Maryanne
To find a better life
And we walked across the water
When she broke up on the ice
We came ashore in Carbonear
With nothing but our rights
And I wondered if I e'er again
Would see my London lights

We were far from the shores of England
Far from our children and wives
To play our hand in the Newfoundland
Where the wind cuts like a knife
We were far from the shores of England

We spend our days amid the waves
Working water, hook and twine
We would go for weeks with blistered cheeks
Waiting for the sun to shine
But as long as the sky hold over us
We will not taste the brine
And we'll curse the cod
With the fear of God
As we haul in every line

We were far from the shores of England
Far from our children and wives
To play our hand in the Newfoundland
Where the wind cuts like a knife
We were far from the shores of England
Far from our native soil
To chase a wish and hunt the Fish
And on the rocks to toil
We were far from the shores of England

Should we find Fortune's Favour
And be spared from the gale
We will live off honest labour
With our hearts as big as sails
But if I should die don't bury me
Or leave me to the sea
Please send my bones back to my home
Where my spirit can be free

We were far from the shores of England
Far from our children and wives
To play our hand in the Newfoundland
Where the wind cuts like a knife
We were far from the shores of England
Far from our native soil
To chase a wish and hunt the Fish
And on the rocks to toil
We were far from the shores of England

Sigh. Such disinformation. He was never Henry Gale

Stan Rogers:The Mary Ellen Carter
From LyricWiki
This song is performed by Stan Rogers and appears on the album Home In Halifax (1994).

She went down last October in a pouring driving rain.
The skipper, he'd been drinking and the Mate, he felt no pain.
Too close to Three Mile Rock, and she was dealt her mortal blow,
And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low.
There were five of us aboard her when she finally was awash.
We'd worked like hell to save her, all heedless of the cost.
And the groan she gave as she went down, it caused us to proclaim
That the Mary Ellen Carter would rise again.

Well, the owners wrote her off; not a nickel would they spend.
"She gave twenty years of service, boys, then met her sorry end.
But insurance paid the loss to us, so let her rest below."
Then they laughed at us and said we had to go.
But we talked of her all winter, some days around the clock,
For she's worth a quarter million, afloat and at the dock.
And with every jar that hit the bar, we swore we would remain
And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.

Rise again, rise again, that her name not be lost
To the knowledge of men.
Those who loved her best and were with her till the end
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.

All spring, now, we've been with her on a barge lent by a friend.
Three dives a day in hard hat suit and twice I've had the bends.
Thank God it's only sixty feet and the currents here are slow
Or I'd never have the strength to go below.
But we've patched her rents, stopped her vents, dogged hatch and
porthole down.
Put cables to her, 'fore and aft and girded her around.
Tomorrow, noon, we hit the air and then take up the strain.
And watch the Mary Ellen Carter Rise Again.

For we couldn't leave her there, you see, to crumble into scale.
She'd saved our lives so many times, living through the gale
And the laughing, drunken rats who left her to a sorry grave
They won't be laughing in another day. . .
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken
And life about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend.
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

>> ^twiddles:

Amendment VIII
"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
pun·ish·ment
1: the act of punishing
2 a: suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution
   b: a penalty inflicted on an offender through judicial procedure
3: severe, rough, or disastrous treatment

Nowhere does it define punishment as being post conviction. Indeed the amendment as a single sentence mentions bail which is certainly not restricted to post conviction. The logical conclusion based on the possible definitions of punishment - even if you were to read the constitution and its amendments literally - is that cruel or unusual punishment (severe treatment) at any time is prohibited. How do you get to punishment as being only something that happens upon conviction? Any case law to back that up? Is it okay if I hit you repeatedly with an iron bar as long as I am "interogatting" you? That flies in the face of logic. If you stretch it enough you can say it is okay if you kill the suspect as long as you were interrogating them.
I agree with NetRunner, Scalia isn't doing his job correctly and he is being a smug prick about it.


rickegee already pointed out the case law.

The dictionary definitions are moot because legal definitions differ from common dictionary definitions. Here is the legal definition of cruel and unusual punisment. Note that it specifies convicted criminal defendants:

"cruel and unusual punishment n. governmental penalties against convicted criminal defendants which are barbaric, involve torture and/or shock the public morality. They are specifically prohibited under the Eighth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. However, nowhere are they specifically defined. Tortures like the rack (stretching the body inch by inch) or the thumbscrew, dismemberment, breaking bones, maiming, actions involving deep or long-lasting pain are all banned. But solitary confinement, enforced silence, necessary force to prevent injury to fellow prisoners or guards, psychological humiliation, and bad food are generally allowed. In short, there is a large gray area, in which "cruel and unusual" is definitely subjective based on individual sensitivities and moral outlook. The U. S. Supreme Court waffled on the death penalty, declaring that some forms of the penalty were cruel and prohibited under the Furman case (1972), which halted executions for several years, but later relaxed the prohibition. The question remains if the gas chamber, hanging, or electrocution are cruel and unusual. Cruel, certainly, but hanging was not unusual at the time the Bill of Rights was adopted. (See: capital punishment)"

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc.

No one is saying it's okay to beat (American) prisoners or the like. The argument is that other constitutional rights and other laws are being violated in those cases: not the 8th Amendment.

Calvados,
"She appears capable."
I had that scene in my mind from "Raising Arizona" when Gale looks at Ed, bottle feeding little Nathan Jr.
Gale "Why ain't you breast feeding? You appear capable."
Evelle ;"Ma'am, you don't breast feed him, he'll hate you for it later."
Ed "Mind your own business."

Tags for this video have been changed from 'shipwreck, tragedy, true story, gales of November, folk song' to 'Gordon Lightfoot, shipwreck, tragedy, true story, gales of November, folk song' - edited by calvados

The two radio DJ's Hamish & Andy are from 101.9 FOX FM radio station here in Melbourne, Australia, they have an afternoon segment weekdays and get up to some funny stuff throughout thier show, both are great hosts and hilarious. Andy happens to be dating Australian supermodel Megan Gale en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Gale

A really outstanding panel of speakers (Gore Vidal, Lewis H. Lapham, Barton J. Bernstein, Robert Higgs and Thomas Gale Moore).

I'm glad you posted this. Thanks.

Oh noooooooo! Oh well, they were offended about something completely different!!
The ever changing, ever growing, gale force winds......

I think we should *ban Comedy Central from the sift, for their linear, self-serving addiction to the current paradigm.

Hail Pirate Bay!
Hail Eris!
Hail Bob!

jlee22:
110 nerd points to wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visionaries:_Knights_of_the_Magical_Light

* Witterquick Light Speed -- "Sheathe these feet in the driving gale, Make swift these legs o'er land I sail!"

Talk about yer lame cartoons. It's almost as lame as Gem.

It seems that the majority of the more visible members of this community are atheists. Would that be fair to say?

If so, for those of you who are atheists, would you say that it is irrational to believe in a god of some sort?

As far as Dawkins goes, while he is obviously a good biologist/zoologist, a philosopher of religion he is not, and his book, The God Delusion, fails in so far as it attempts to do philosophy/theology. See here, here, and here for reviews.

For some good atheistic philosophy of religion, see William Rowe, J.L. Mackie, Richard Gale, Michael Martin, et al.