And people still find it impossible to believe that sometimes individuals are "too smart to become a cop". Google that phrase in quotes if you don't believe me.

The good news is now that the officer is gone, any other parents that may have walked there to 'pick up' their children can do so with interference.

I foresee the day when the wrong cop picks the wrong day to be an ass to me and I either get arrested or subdued or both. In fact considering the state of things they need to come up with a new Hundred Code (507 is public nuisance; so maybe in the 500-range) to account for "intelligent dispute with an insistent LEO".

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by eric3579.

This may run long, so bear with me.

Law Enforcement employees tend to come from two specific groups of people. The first group is going to consist of people who actually joined up to try to protect people and make things safer for them. They are idealists who may grow jaded over time; because realistically if your only input on what being a LEO is the internet and reality TV, you are not prepared for the type of mental assault you will endure day in and day out. I'm not talking about angry people, but stuff like drawing circles around little chunks of brains on the highway from a teenage girl that went through a windshield.

As an officer at any level (except maybe a small town), you are going to see the absolute worst side of humanity on a daily basis and you aren't on a tour of duty like the military. You don't get to 'rotate' home and put it behind you. This will wear on anybody who is not a sociopath, it will grind you down to a nub. You could see professional help for this, but I will go into that later.

The second type of person who goes into law enforcement is someone who likes authority, a sense of power over someone else, a bully. This person is in the job because it gives them power over others and the law will protect them because it is vaguely worded in SO many cases. This person will shrug off the effects that cripple the first type over time, because they feel in charge of every situation. After a while, if they don't tone it down, they will get caught. Thankfully the cell camera and the internet tends to be helping clean them out due to their own incapability to see they can't ALWAYS be in charge, but it will be a long road because this group is the BULK of the ones that join LE organizations.

Now why do these two groups tend to be the ones that you are going to run into on a consistent basis? The simple, hard answer is that we pay our front line LEO's very little compared to other services that risk their life or experience the mental grind. Your average patrol officer is going to pull a median salary of about 35k with comparable benefits to someone working in a office job. A firefighter is going to pull around 45k and scales up much quicker, not to mention their benefits are beyond good. EMT's make about the same as patrol officers, but their benefits are also very good and they don't have the same stressors. I know that ranges will vary and State LEO's are very well paid on average, but we are talking about the people you are going to encounter most often.

If you have to choose between a job where you are going to be considered a 'hero' or a job where everyone is going to be biased towards you being a 'villain, and the hero jobs pay better, which would you logically choose? Assuming of course that you are not sorted into one of the two groups I described, most are going to run away from serving in LE. In fact, this is why more of the 'bullies' tend towards LE and the 'idealists' don't. So you already have created a situation where the 'stormtrooper' mindset is going to prefer this job and haven't considered options to rectify it. The people you don't run into that much are going to be the people that took college and got pushed through the ranks quickly. If you didn't take college or just took an Associates Degree, you have to beat these people out. It is extremely hard to do that, even if you do your job much better than they did.

The final factor that runs into this is the mental issues I mentioned earlier. If you seek help from your employers for mental stress, they are going to handle it differently if you are a LEO. You are going to find out quickly that you are expendable. If you seek help and get classified as PTSD, you set a chain of events in motion that is inexorable. You will be rotated to a desk. You will see a Psychiatrist who will prescribe anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medication. This person will meet with you for around 15 minutes 3-4 times a week, ask you questions, and ask if the medication is helping. If you return to functional status in a month or two, you get put back on duty. If you don't, they put you on short term disability for up to one year. Your visits drop to once a week, then once a month. One year later, your employment is terminated. They hire a new recruit and start the cycle again about the same time that you start your short term disability. You get to try to salvage your career in anyway possible, hopefully you paid through the nose for long term disability, or you can try to find a smaller department that doesn't bother to dig too deep on background checks.

Other related fields like firefighters/emts comprehend PTSD and work with their people much harder. They have better benefits so you they can see outside therapists as much as needed. There is less stigma if you have a problem, because they understand. You go on the fritz as an LEO and you will overhear people who used to respect you call you weak or a pussy. Sadly this type of thing happens at all levels of LE, even as a State Trooper you are expendable.

In any case, the point to this essay is that the system is flawed and is going to drive out the good LEOs and save the bad ones to protect itself from litigation. Protect yourself at all times with video, be advised of the laws and loopholes in them that bad LEos will exploit, and don't force confrontation with a LEO if there is a loophole. If the man had stepped outside and talked calmly, the incident would not have escalated as it did. In this case he did not inform himself of the loopholes correctly and got tasered (which was improper, they didn't warn him correctly or anything), and the LEOs look like villains again.

Leo has posted the animatic (story board reel) version. He says:

All drawn and edited in the program TVpaint(made in a month).
I think you are able to see the difference between the final, and also some of my thinking process.

Interesting vid

There have been a few articles in The Register over the years as the rebuild was planned and executed:

http://search.theregister.co.uk/?q=harwell+dekatron&site=&psite=0

I think it's probably worth mentioning that some of the other early British computers were interesting too:

*related=http://videosift.com/video/Ferranti-Atlas-Britains-first-supercomputer

Not only the Atlas, but J. Lyons & Co's LEO was interesting for being entirely commercial at a time when most computers were either research machines, or used by the military.

The odds were in his favour. Nilai had to wager to win, where Leo just had to not try.

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by oritteropo.

Damn... you're right. I wish I had made that observation in my original post.

>> ^Yogi:

>> ^SpaceGirlSpiff:
It really pains me that this religious tard is representing America in the Olympics. Granted there are plenty of religious tards in America, so this guy is actually representing America... just the ignorant superstitious part of it.

Well he's representing his country...and there's tons of religious people in the country sooo it makes sense.

>> ^SpaceGirlSpiff:

What he was actually doing was marking crosses on various parts of his body... with saliva.
It really pains me that this religious tard is representing America in the Olympics. Granted there are plenty of religious tards in America, so this guy is actually representing America... just the ignorant superstitious part of it.
This is a perfect example of reducing religion to its core principle... control. This guy is crossing himself in the hopes (deluded and baseless as they are) that it will prevent any accidents and/or help him perform better. He is seeking to remove himself from the seemingly chaotic nature of the universe where events may/will occur beyond his illusory control by giving himself a ritual that he believes will protect him. It's no different then people who have OCD and have to do things a certain way or certain number of times. Heck, all sorts of athletes have things like this... his is just religious. It's all about control. "If I do this, I can exert a form of control that will prevent bad things from happening."
But... you can't. Control is an illusion. Bad things will happen. You deal with them. You learn from them. You move on. Unless you're a religious tard who does the same thing over and over, thinking that, "I must have missed crossing myself somewhere.", or "Last time it was because I didn't use enough saliva when I crossed my leg.", or "Maybe God doesn't like the sports drink I had before crossing myself and he would prefer Orange over Grape... yeah, I'll drink Orange next time!". Yes, I'm aiming for a laugh or a chuckle... but the reality is that this practice... is just as absurd.
Look at you... you came in here looking to laugh at the oddity of a guy appearing to rub his own saliva on himself and you got all this. Sorry bout that.
Crazy guy licking himself! omg! Ewwww! ; p


Well he's representing his country...and there's tons of religious people in the country sooo it makes sense.

Academy award winner Melissa Leo. She is great!

And Leo DiCaprio looks exactly the same now as he did when he was 12 years old!

Sorry, but this needs some unnecessary censorship.

I've lived with _____ all my life and have been breeding ______ ____ for about five years now. I can absolutely guarantee the temperament of my _____. Playing with ____ is a great way to teach them where the lines are. Biting is OK, as long as it isn't hard. They can learn where that line is. I can play fight with my big boy Leo (7.5kg Ragdoll) and he mouths me but never hurts me. He never puts his _____ out and it's great fun. You can play with ____, but you do need to teach them where the lines are and be strict about stopping them when they do cross the line. Do this when they're little and they'll be great _____ when they grow up.
Indiscriminate play without teaching is where the problem is but play-fighting with a great big bundle of fluff is great fun and well worth the effort. I just find it a bit more interactive than a toy on a stick.>> ^robbersdog49:


That's better.

>> ^critical_d:
I would recommend not using your hand to play with the kitten. This can reinforce behavior (it's ok to bite fingers) and this will be a problem when they get older and are capable of doing real damage. Try using a feather wand or any of those cat toys that have a string on a stick design. This will still allow you to play interactively with the kitty and the cat will focus on the toy as "prey" and not your hand. A win-win situation for the both of you!
Let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to help.
More info:
http://www.perfectpaws.com/cat_training_and_cat_behavior.html
http://www.squidoo.com/cat-bites
>> ^messenger:
Question for experienced cat owners:
I love playing like this with kittens, especially encouraging them to bite me because I like how it tickles, and I find it cute how ineffectual it is. I've also heard that doing that trains cats to bite people whenever they play, a habit which they retain into adulthood and become those annoying cats that bite your guests. Is that really true, or is it just in the personality of the cat whether they'll bite as an adult?
Thanks!


I've lived with cats all my life and have been breeding pedigree cats for about five years now. I can absolutely guarantee the temperament of my cats. Playing with kittens is a great way to teach them where the lines are. Biting is OK, as long as it isn't hard. They can learn where that line is. I can play fight with my big boy Leo (7.5kg Ragdoll) and he mouths me but never hurts me. He never puts his claws out and it's great fun. You can play with cats, but you do need to teach them where the lines are and be strict about stopping them when they do cross the line. Do this when they're little and they'll be great cats when they grow up.
Indiscriminate play without teaching is where the problem is but play-fighting with a great big bundle of fluff is great fun and well worth the effort. I just find it a bit more interactive than a toy on a stick.

>> ^critical_d:

I would recommend not using your hand to play with the kitten. This can reinforce behavior (it's ok to bite fingers) and this will be a problem when they get older and are capable of doing real damage. Try using a feather wand or any of those cat toys that have a string on a stick design. This will still allow you to play interactively with the kitty and the cat will focus on the toy as "prey" and not your hand. A win-win situation for the both of you!
Let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to help.
More info:
http://www.perfectpaws.com/cat_training_and_cat_behavior.html
http://www.squidoo.com/cat-bites
>> ^messenger:
Question for experienced cat owners:
I love playing like this with kittens, especially encouraging them to bite me because I like how it tickles, and I find it cute how ineffectual it is. I've also heard that doing that trains cats to bite people whenever they play, a habit which they retain into adulthood and become those annoying cats that bite your guests. Is that really true, or is it just in the personality of the cat whether they'll bite as an adult?
Thanks!



I've lived with cats all my life and have been breeding pedigree cats for about five years now. I can absolutely guarantee the temperament of my cats. Playing with kittens is a great way to teach them where the lines are. Biting is OK, as long as it isn't hard. They can learn where that line is. I can play fight with my big boy Leo (7.5kg Ragdoll) and he mouths me but never hurts me. He never puts his claws out and it's great fun. You can play with cats, but you do need to teach them where the lines are and be strict about stopping them when they do cross the line. Do this when they're little and they'll be great cats when they grow up.

Indiscriminate play without teaching is where the problem is but play-fighting with a great big bundle of fluff is great fun and well worth the effort. I just find it a bit more interactive than a toy on a stick.

Uncanny valley...they look just like my childhood friends Mike, Leo, Raf, and Dom.

His name is Leo. >> ^rottenseed:

Is his name "Russell"?