>> ^jmd:

Chaos, not so much. Gladiator fights doesn't seem like the type of thing that would make a robber re-offend. infact stuff like this could be considered a good deterrent. I don't find it unusual for private jail facilities. The government is always known for its inability to streamline cost, so there is money to be made by doing just that. Unfortunately much like red light cameras, once something is moved out of official hands, they no longer want anything to do with it, no official supervision. Eventually corruption weaves its way in with the lure of money and this happens.
Just like red light cameras, I am fine with privatization of correctional facilities, but I am severely dissapointed in the lack of oversight, because even those with the best of intentions eventually do something wrong if not supervised and this is one of the areas where you cant fck up...even just once.


wait...what?
you are fine with correctional institutions being privatized?
and your main point is streamlining cash?
did i read your comment correctly?

have you even considered the implications of a powerful lobby driven by this privatized institution you have no problem with?
considered how they may use these lobbyists to influence lawmakers?
because an empty cell=NO MONEY!
so it would be in their best interest to lobby for stricter and harsher sentences that include mandatory jail time.
oh wait....
thats riiiight.they already did that didnt they?
or have you never heard of the "3 strikes" rule?
now go look up who pushed for that to be implemented...
notice anything? think thats a coincidence?

america has more people in prison RIGHT NOW than any other country combined.mostly non-violent.
but its so heart-warming to know that you consider a good ass kicking a good "deterrent" for re-offending.
i KNOW!
lets televise these brutal beatings so you can bet actual cash and watch from the comfort of your sofa!

christ on a stick.please tell me your comment was sarcasm.

I feel so old...

>> ^razzyl:

>> ^hpqp:
promote this delicious Sailor Moon parody!

I only wish it was just Sailor Moon.
Here in Osaka I can't get through the day without my daughter bouncing off the sofa, re-enacting a transformation scene in one of her shows.
This one's currently her favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28c0Bj-SBtU
I usually avert my eyes lest I go into seizures.

>> ^hpqp:

promote this delicious Sailor Moon parody!


I only wish it was just Sailor Moon.

Here in Osaka I can't get through the day without my daughter bouncing off the sofa, re-enacting a transformation scene in one of her shows.

This one's currently her favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28c0Bj-SBtU

I usually avert my eyes lest I go into seizures.

Heh I still have the aeron. Well actually, my mum has it, strangely. You can't dismantle them, so they're hard to get around >> ^spoco2:

No leather sofa... and sadly no Aeron chair like in the heady dot com days... oh how I miss that chair!

>> ^L0cky:

>> ^spoco2:
It's that whole 'getting into the zone' thing with coding (yes, I'm a coder by trade).Same. I also try to get my procrastinating done in the first hour of the day; then it's on with the headphones. Unfortunately I'm a nicotine and caffeine addict which gets me when I'm between tasks.

Do you have a KARLSTAD two-seater leather sofa as well?


No leather sofa... and sadly no Aeron chair like in the heady dot com days... oh how I miss that chair!

>> ^spoco2:

It's that whole 'getting into the zone' thing with coding (yes, I'm a coder by trade).Same. I also try to get my procrastinating done in the first hour of the day; then it's on with the headphones. Unfortunately I'm a nicotine and caffeine addict which gets me when I'm between tasks.



Do you have a KARLSTAD two-seater leather sofa as well?

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

Aber beklecker nicht das Sofa, Sofa!


So THAT'S what you're into ;-)

Aber beklecker nicht das Sofa, Sofa!

W00t. Looking forward to the sofa.

From my little suburban world I am not at the mercy of the seasons. I don't have to worry about my livelihood getting killed by predators. I choose which part of the world I want my dinner to be from not worrying if I am going to be eating at all, and go on vacations to places like England, New Zealand, Australia, Germany in less than a day.

I just don't think the freedom of being able to walk your camel a dozen miles a day in any direction compares to the staggering amounts of freedom you get from an industrialized civilization. The fact that I am debating this topic with a complete stranger from potentially anywhere in the world thanks to the internet should be mentioned as well. I could still travel to places like this if I really felt the urge to.

Or, you know, watch a documentary about it in an air conditioned room with a comfy sofa and coffee from Java...

Kudos, bad boy.
In reply to this comment by kulpims:
*promote *electronica

@GenjiKilpatrick No I don't like the UFC because they have so many rules which benefits ground fighters. As I stated. Please don't put words in my mouth. If I disliked them because I felt that people should be allowed to paralyse each other I would have written that, as in "I don't like the UFC because they don't allow fighters to paralyse each other.", I did not. (Well, until I wrote that example.)

Although the fights would be a lot shorter if they did (People doing the guillotine would go for snap and not tap.)

Also broken bones happen from time to time when you fight whether it is allowed or not. The latest I can recall is the fight between Lidell and Franklin where a standing kick broke Franklin's arm but he kept on fighting anyway. Another example would be a former club mate (not former due to events described here) of mine who broke his arm in the first round of a WTF Taekwondo fight from blocking a kick and he fought the rest of the match with a broken arm.

@ghark Nope, no trolls here. I even checked under the sofa

@ToKeyMonsTeR Thank you. The problem is that MMA has become a style so every single fighter fights exactly the same way, using the same 10 techniques that everybody else does. This goes against the intent of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) IMO as no one is mixing anything anymore. Heck there are gyms who teach the style MMA which is ridiculous.

@Ryjkyj Thanks and see comment to ToKeyMonsTer

@Contrarian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-ownership either you agree to it or you don't.

@rottenseed Thanks for the link! It was an interesting read and he makes some valid points in there.

To all a good night/morning/midday/whatever it might be at your location!

>> ^Gabe_b:

>> ^ForgedReality:
>> ^Gabe_b:
It's like a cat version of The World's Most Useless Machine
Angry declawed cats are the best. Ours was tearing up the wallpaper and my hands till we had her declawed. Now all she has is marshmallows of rage

Declawing is horrible cruelty. I think it should be made illegal. What's wrong with clipping the cat's nails every so often? Don't be lazy. It pretty much shows your lack of affection and concern for your animal.
Please read this: http://www.declawing.com

No doubt it is. I had to watch her pad around on bloody bandaged paws for a fortnight. We did it as a last resort. Living as expats, not sure of how long we could keep an animal it didn't seem moral to get a kitten so we got a shelter cat. Turned out she'd been abused by her first owners fiance, and then spent several months locked up alone in a tiny box. By the time we got her it wouldn't have even been accurate to call her feral as a feral cat has survival skills and will often be quite friendly.
After a couple of months of her tearing up everything, and attacking us for petting, sitting near or just walking part her we asked the shelter guy for advice. He suggested dumping her out on the street, but at 3 years old already, and in a country where it's common to abuse and cut the tails of stay cats for kicks, it didn't seem fair. She was going to live as an apartment cat for the rest of her life, and if every interaction with humans resulted in her panicking and hurting them, making them freak out at her and reinforce her fears, then it was going to be a pretty miserable life.
I have lived with half a dozen cats that have lived since kittenhood in stable situations and never have for a second considered having their claws ripped out to make my life easier. This seemed, after exhausting plenty of other options, to be the best option.
Since we had it done, things have improved considerably for her. She spends most nights on the sofa snuggling with me or my girlfriend and sleeps in bed pretty much every night. She still has attacks of rage, but when she does now she isn't confronted by a yelling similarly pissed of human. If that's too much ambiguity for you then shrug


Sad. I can say I would probably have tried harder to work with her, and teach her we're not all out to get her, but then I wasn't in that particular situation, so I don't really know. The story you relate softens the blow a bit, but it still personally feels a bit extreme. Maybe if I had been in your situation, I would be able to better relate.

I could never have a cat declawed. Even if it took years of therapy and calming down, I would do anything in my power to rehabilitate, rather than chop my cat's toes off. It seems like adding more abuse to an already disturbed animal. But like I said, I wasn't there, so I'll assume you did everything in your power.

I do commend you for taking in a shelter cat and not having it put down when you discovered its mental state, though. That at least shows good intentions.

>> ^ForgedReality:

>> ^Gabe_b:
It's like a cat version of The World's Most Useless Machine
Angry declawed cats are the best. Ours was tearing up the wallpaper and my hands till we had her declawed. Now all she has is marshmallows of rage

Declawing is horrible cruelty. I think it should be made illegal. What's wrong with clipping the cat's nails every so often? Don't be lazy. It pretty much shows your lack of affection and concern for your animal.
Please read this: http://www.declawing.com


No doubt it is. I had to watch her pad around on bloody bandaged paws for a fortnight. We did it as a last resort. Living as expats, not sure of how long we could keep an animal it didn't seem moral to get a kitten so we got a shelter cat. Turned out she'd been abused by her first owners fiance, and then spent several months locked up alone in a tiny box. By the time we got her it wouldn't have even been accurate to call her feral as a feral cat has survival skills and will often be quite friendly.
After a couple of months of her tearing up everything, and attacking us for petting, sitting near or just walking part her we asked the shelter guy for advice. He suggested dumping her out on the street, but at 3 years old already, and in a country where it's common to abuse and cut the tails of stay cats for kicks, it didn't seem fair. She was going to live as an apartment cat for the rest of her life, and if every interaction with humans resulted in her panicking and hurting them, making them freak out at her and reinforce her fears, then it was going to be a pretty miserable life.
I have lived with half a dozen cats that have lived since kittenhood in stable situations and never have for a second considered having their claws ripped out to make my life easier. This seemed, after exhausting plenty of other options, to be the best option.
Since we had it done, things have improved considerably for her. She spends most nights on the sofa snuggling with me or my girlfriend and sleeps in bed pretty much every night. She still has attacks of rage, but when she does now she isn't confronted by a yelling similarly pissed of human. If that's too much ambiguity for you then *shrug*

Same here, though I enjoy both.

Seven thoughts as I watched this vid:

1. Gangs of New York was such a nothing film. The Departed and Shutter Island were terrific.

2. Scorsese's early work (Who's That Knocking on My Door, Mean Streets, and Taxi Driver) was very artistic. His movies since that time: not so much.

3. "We Are the People is not the same as We Are the People. Let's not fight. Look, I'm gonna make it real simple. We don't pay for the buttons, We throw the buttons away."

4. The only Kubrick film I was really disappointed with was Eyes Wide Shut. That was also a nothing film.

5. Kubrick's movies are timeless and infinitely re-watchable. But then, so are Scorsese's.

6. Kubrick started as a photographer and so his films are meticulous and beautiful, especially Barry Lyndon. Kubrick was an artist through and through.

7. "Hey Dad. There's a strange fella sittin' on the sofa munchy-wunchin' long tics of toast!"