Disagree with your assessment on this one, Newt.

The guy's intention was to suicide by cop. The cop clearly wasn't hoping to have to shoot the guy, and he made the right call in my opinion after trying repeatedly to get the guy to stay away from him while also calling for backup.

It matters not that the guy was "shuffling" in the cop's direction. Once in close enough proximity it wouldn't take much to engage in fisticuffs and potentially subdue the officer.

The guy wasn't just being stubborn or unruly. He was intentionally demonstrating that he was a threat by reaching under his shirt multiple times then asking to be killed while threatening the officer's safety by advancing toward him.

Thank goodness the cop wasn't charged for murder. He's no cowardly murderer.

I reckon I could take on one of these guys if it came to fisticuffs.

More from the article:

In a blog post afterwards, Lebedev wrote that he had to "neutralize" Polonsky before Polonsky hit him first.

Russian political shows often devolve into fisticuffs. In perhaps the most famous incident, nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky fired his drink, glass-and-all, at his opponent during a TV debate in 1995.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/09/18/2011-09-18_russian_media_tycoon_alexander_lebedev_attacks_billionaire_sergei_polonsky_on_li.html

> I think I have enough money and does being famous online (e.g., VideoSift) count as fame?

Ant, I believe all you need to do is walk up to this man, and slap him across the face with a pair of white gloves, and challenge him to a round of fisticuffs.

Oh he definitely doesn't. I mean... as much as I dislike republicans, this russian dude is hardcore straight-up INSANE. Just check out the wikipedia file on him. He's not only anti-semitic, he's racist, nationalist, defends the use of nuclear weapons, has had actual fisticuffs with other people, etc.



this is the part of russia that's actually scary. I can deal with the scariness of someone like Putin (and he is really scary), but at least he doesn't seem or act insane.


This guy? Give him the nuclear codes, and watch the world burn to the ground in the same day.

Is this what they're trying to keep you from doing around pools? I always assumed horseplay looked more fisticuffs.

Anybody else hoping this would end in fisticuffs?

>> ^blankfist:
Taking out trash is a man's job, she says, and I'm fine with that. Protecting the household is a man's job, and I'm more than fine with that. Doing anything that requires heavy lifting is my job, and that's cool.
As one of her Christmas gifts, I bought her a Roomba because we're both busy ... She thought it was sexist ...
What if she bought me a robot to carry out the garbage? You think I'd complain? Hells to the naw. I'd love it.


But therein lies the discrepancy. You accept that taking out the trash is solely your responsibility. She does not accept that it is her job to clean the floor. You said yourself: "We're both busy" which implies it's a job for both/either of you, not for her alone.

As far as the rest of the subject goes, there will never be true equality betwixt the genders because we simply are not equal.

The female gender will always be the one responsible for child birth and their biological chemistry can alter their psychology as a result. The male gender as an overwhelming majority possesses significantly more testosterone than females, causing them to be more aggressive as well as physically capable. (Note this isn't true for every male versus every female; again, it's just an observable fact for the vast majority of males versus the vast majority of females. Also, these aren't the only differences between men and women, but my point is that our inequality is inherent on a biological, not just societal, level.)

The whole feminism movement arose from the ancient oppression of women by men inflicted and accepted almost everywhere throughout human history (and is still carrying on today in many cultures). Feminism (and women's suffrage) was needed to improve the treatment and perception of females as a whole by society in general, but on a lower level provided the opportunity for any individual woman to seek treatment equal to that of her male peers.

While this equality is a available to any female who wishes to exercise it (even if it is not recognized/respected by every other male or female), the feminism movement did not and could not force all women into the role of a feminist, nor all men into the role of equals.

The points I'm getting at are:
- If a man chooses to be chivalrous, then it is a personal choice regardless of how it is interpreted or received by anyone else. His chivalry will be ignored by some women, vilified by others, and appreciated by the rest.
- If a woman wishes to be treated as an equal, she is relieved of the right to expect any male to, strictly on the basis that she's a female, provide her any special courtesy.
- If a women feels that she is entitled to special treatment just based on the fact that she's female, she'll likely look down on essentially all males and expect that they kowtow to her.

I think most women in America nowadays lie in the neutral camp; they don't seek true, full equality and they only feel slightly more entitled/deserving than males in general, but they appreciate a chivalrous male.

All of that is my long way of saying the bottom line is chivalry is not dead nor is it appreciated by everyone. If you choose to be a chivalrous male, you have to bear with the unfortunate fact that it will go unappreciated or even discouraged by some. (That's part of the package.) But in any case, if you do it, you should do it for yourself, just to be happy with and proud of who you are.

On the other hand, if you actually make an effort to intentionally lack all chivalry, then you probably don't care what females think about you anyway, so just be happy treating everyone else as equals. There's nothing wrong with that. No one is born automatically deserving of anything except common human courtesy, and that should be shared in all directions between all persons regardless of gender.

(P.S. Isn't it funny there is never any discussion about men who wish to be treated by women with some kind of fem-chivalry?)
(P.P.S. Funny to imagine what this conversation would have been if the two ladies on the sidewalk were two guys instead. Maybe the title would have been "Fisticuffs!" instead of "Chivalry?")

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

After having a sleep on this, I'm more disappointed. The writers violated my trust. I trusted that when all these mysterious plot points were developed - that they were actually thinking of how they would resolve - I'd say that's not how their writing process worked. I feel like they were probably only thinking 1-2 eps ahead at any time.

It's kind of like when someone promises to tell you an amazing secret next week, and then it's like:

"uhmmm, guess what?"
"What?"
"chicken butt."

(fisticuffs ensue)

I like the cut of your jib. Welcome to the Sift!

In reply to this comment by Edeot:
I'LL FIGHT YOU! YOU DON'T WANNA EXCHANGE FISTICUFFS WITH ME, GOOD SIR!

I'LL FIGHT YOU! YOU DON'T WANNA EXCHANGE FISTICUFFS WITH ME, GOOD SIR!

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Cool! Scrambled egg fight! Man, if I had a dollar for every time fisticuffs have broken out over scrambled eggs ... I'd still be making more money than VideoSift.

fisticuffs? never!
even poetic
violence breeds violence.
it's rather pathetic.

had mccain spoken up
about bush's pushpollin'?
the SC primary
would not have been stolen.

hillary voted
for kyl-lieberman.
two wars not enough?
how can you win?

so if i can't vote
for kucinich, or paul?
obama's my pick
in the election, this fall.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'pool, fight, spring break, abuse, ass beating' to 'pool, fight, spring break, abuse, ass beating, douchebag, punch, fisticuffs' - edited by MycroftHomlz

Good stuff. If the jealousy explanation does help (even if only part time) then it's better than nothing and one more useful tool to employ. My father actually took to using that exact same angle but in my case it couldn't help because, as I say, I was getting thumped, and while it's hard to ignore words, it's impossible to ignore being hit and tripped and thrown to the ground. I was also kind of OC, too, as was (is?) my dad, incidentally. (I'm honestly not convinced that "they're just jealous" is generally correct re bullies, although it's absolutely true that bullies want to make others feel as bad and small as they do.)

I do respect your opinion and I'm glad that this discussion is happening. There are grey areas too, of course, which I haven't addressed: what if it's thumbtacks on his chair, or gum in his hair? Does that call for a physical response? I don't know. What if it's a girl that's doing the hitting, rare as that seems to be? What about a climate where kids sometimes bring weapons to school now, does that change the equation? (although none of the bullies appeared to want to start a cycle of violence after I fought back; they just got confused and stopped their shit.) Those and others are things that are outside my experience and I can't say anything authoritatively there. I agree we're probably pretty alike after all in looking at this ugly thing. Thank you as well, KP.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
Dude, I appreciate that you took the time to explain yourself. I didn't make myself clear when I wrote my previous remark because frankly I was a little upset by the glib response from Memorare. Upon rereading my comment I'm a little embarrassed, because I don't like talking to complete strangers like that. I apologize.

Of course I tell my son that he's a great, smart kid and not to let those girls get to him. He knows he has me as a safe haven to unload all his problems, and I'm glad he shares with me. I've explained to him in detail that those girls are simply jealous and just want him to feel as bad as they do about themselves, and sometimes that actually makes him feel better. Other times it doesn't. After all, he's only a 9 yr. old kid who doesn't fully understand what motivates people to act in the ways they do. Plus he's also got ADHD and obsessive-compulsive disorder (the latter of which I also have), so it's not easy for him to let go of things.

Long story short: I respect your opinion and it sounds like you respect mine. We both understand there's no easy answer to every bullying situation, so I don't think we're actually TOO far away from each other on this issue. Thanks for sharing.

In reply to this comment by calvados:
@KP: You'll note that I said "the only thing that worked and I believe the only thing that does work against bullying (the physical kind, at least) is fighting back". So no, I did not and wouldn't advise that he hit them. Come on, man.

Believe you me, I underwent lots of verbal bullying as well. I remember once during a free period when one Chris F. kept stalking up to my desk repeatedly to whisper that I was worthless and slap me lightly about the head. I'd never cried from the pain of being hit, and the slaps didn't hurt, but after a few of his visits my tears rolled. That was just one example of (mostly) verbal bullying that I experienced; I got it almost every school day for a period of 2-3 years. I got it more often than the physical abuse. So yes, I know there's more to bullying than just physical force, thanks very much. I heard for so long from a variety of my classmates that I was useless, ugly, etc etc that I ended up believing it and it took years to crawl out from under that. So yes, KP, there's more to it than just force. You used the term violence to indicate striking, but I assure you there's violence in words as well.

I don't have all the answers about this, KP, although I get the sense you weren't genuinely asking me for any. That said, maybe I can say something that you can end up using anyhow. For my part, I tried to ignore the harsh words as best I could, though it didn't stop them coming and you can't fully block them out anyway, at least not when you're a child. Perhaps that's the best anyone can do, though. Did you think I'd say that he should talk shit in response to them? That might work, but probably not, and either way it seems like a lot of energy to sacrifice to negativity (which these unhappy girls are already doing to themselves). The single best thing that you can do is buck him up and tell him he's a great kid, that you're proud of him, that you love him, all the other parent things that you know better than I since I don't have kids. Tell him that this will pass. Between you reminding him of what he's worth and him doing his best to shut out the namecalling -- that's probably as good as it gets and will probably be enough. You could also try meeting with his teacher to discuss the situation, and it is surely worth a shot since it's one more thing you can do, although in my experience (many meetings between my parents and my teachers to discuss this very topic) it will amount to bupkus. Still, go for it. I don't think I'd recommend talking to the bullies' parents as this also generally results in sweet dick and the bullies will come to school riled up the next day and seeking revenge if mommy and daddy cared enough to give them hell.

To sum up: ignoring is probably the best way he can deal with verbal bullying (while you do your best when he comes home to give him courage and make him feel that he's worth everything; you patch him up, you are the Medic). That said, telling him he's a great smart kid if ever he's getting punched and slammed into lockers is not going to restore the balance. He will need to fight back, probably only once or twice, and then it won't be fun for the bullies anymore. The bullies aren't fighters and they aren't looking for a fight; they've found that they get a hot mean rush out of slugging a human punching bag. It is like a drug hit for them and if one waits for the bullies to outgrow their fisticuffs one will be waiting far too long. (Obviously this is from my own experience and extrapolations on the matter; others' mileage may vary, but it seems to me that kids are the same kids wherever you go, with bullies the same too, and I don't see how different it could be for somebody else.)

I'm sorry for your son's predicament, KP, it bothers me every time I hear about a kid getting tormented by his peers. I hope it goes well. Buck him up. One request, against the day when he may find himself actually getting hit: please, please don't tell him he's not allowed to defend himself.