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[Jackrabbit]

I don't know you well enough to say I love you, but thanks bro. All the best in the future.

[KaelGotDwarves]

Was this posted yet?

The American Psychological Association says it's crazy that we haven't legalized same-sex marriage.

Important parts:

"We knew that marriage benefits heterosexual people in very significant ways, but we didn't know if that would be true for same-sex couples," said Anderson, who is also director of the APA's Office on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns.

Now that six U.S. states permit same-sex marriage, researchers have been able to conduct studies with those couples.

The research, Anderson said, indicates that marriage "does confer the same sense of security, support, and validation" to same-sex couples as to heterosexual ones.

The resolution also points to evidence that ongoing political debate about marriage creates stress for gay men and lesbians and perpetuates stigmas and prejudice about their communities. This stress can make people physically and psychologically sick, the APA says, calling the link between stress and illness "well established."

[Siquo]

Bwahahahaha:

Iran called for London police to exercise self-restraint in dealing with protesters in Tottenham, north of London.
Saywhat?

[Jackrabbit]

Man, we hear about this shit up in Tottenham and we are like, Tottenham? Get your shit together, Britain, if stuff's getting all crazy up in there then what's gonna happen to the rest of the world? We expected better.

- Iranian Foreign Secretary

[RedKing]

Hell, tag isn't even violent like Steinem claims.

Pfft. Kids these days, with your non-violent version of tag. 

Seriously, in Boy Scouts when we were on camporee (large group camping event with multiple troops), after dark the assembly field became our battleground for playing "war". Which was essentially full-contact tag, only instead of tagging someone you basically ran out of hiding, ambushed them and knocked their ass to the ground. That was usually the extent of it, though. Once you were knocked down, you yielded and were "captured". Some minor bruises and skinned knees was the worst most people got out of it.

Our matches were banned though, after one time when there was a troop from a military academy, because two of them ended up on opposite teams, and one guy refused to submit to the other and it basically turned into a fight to the near-death. There was a lot of blood and some broken bones. 



In other news, Wisconsin gonna get their recall on today!

[Virex]

Well, the problem with tag is that it's often anything but consensual. If your friends are playing it, there's a lot of social pressure to join in, even if that means that creepy kid from two grades up is going to be chasing you and tagging you on the chest all the time. Saying no isn't that easy when dealing with peer pressure.

[Kay12]

I haven't heard anyone saying anything like that so I don't think it's that common.

[Durin Stronginthearm]

Hell, tag isn't even violent like Steinem claims.

I'd hate to see what she thinks of British Bulldog, which is essentially where you get two lines of kids and CHARGE them at each other. Golden days.

[RedKing]

Well, the problem with tag is that it's often anything but consensual. If your friends are playing it, there's a lot of social pressure to join in, even if that means that creepy kid from two grades up is going to be chasing you and tagging you on the chest all the time. Saying no isn't that easy when dealing with peer pressure.

...yeah, I don't remember games like that. Mostly because we all would have ostracized or kicked the shit out of said creepy dude. There were unspoken codes of conduct with regard to the other gender. Even if we didn't fully understand why, we instinctively knew there were certain things you just didn't do. At least, until puberty kicked in. 


The British riots thing...I mean, WTF? I haven't even heard a good explanation of *why* they're rioting. I heard it was triggered by police shooting someone in Tottenham (I didn't think the police carried guns, except for the SRTs), but that doesn't explain why it's spreading to other cities. Is it a racial thing? Class thing? Random excuse for football hooligans to practice their chops? I don't know much about British social geography, so I've no idea if Tottenham is ghetto or upscale or primarily immigrants or what.

[Kay12]

Got to agree about the riots. I guess some are in for the "fun" of being criminal without being responsible as everybody else is doing it too, some are doing it for pragmatic reasons like looting and some just are angry at something.

[Virex]

Well, the problem with tag is that it's often anything but consensual. If your friends are playing it, there's a lot of social pressure to join in, even if that means that creepy kid from two grades up is going to be chasing you and tagging you on the chest all the time. Saying no isn't that easy when dealing with peer pressure.

...yeah, I don't remember games like that. Mostly because we all would have ostracized or kicked the shit out of said creepy dude. There were unspoken codes of conduct with regard to the other gender. Even if we didn't fully understand why, we instinctively knew there were certain things you just didn't do. At least, until puberty kicked in. 


The British riots thing...I mean, WTF? I haven't even heard a good explanation of *why* they're rioting. I heard it was triggered by police shooting someone in Tottenham (I didn't think the police carried guns, except for the SRTs), but that doesn't explain why it's spreading to other cities. Is it a racial thing? Class thing? Random excuse for football hooligans to practice their chops? I don't know much about British social geography, so I've no idea if Tottenham is ghetto or upscale or primarily immigrants or what.

I'm not sure, but I think the regions where the riots are happening are essentially third-world areas in a first world country, so discontent about their social situation could be a major factor. (For example, the "Volkskrant", a Dutch newspaper, recently had a story about how English companies are no longer outsourcing their call center work to India because labour is currently cheaper in some English industry towns)

[Andir]

Got to agree about the riots. I guess some are in for the "fun" of being criminal without being responsible as everybody else is doing it too, some are doing it for pragmatic reasons like looting and some just are angry at something.

Mob mentality has been highly studied... there are various sources as to why people do it.  The real question is why it started.

Also, on the topic of tag... it's a game both sexes can play, fairly.  Heck, my niece likes to chase me around the house to tag me... when I'm tagged, I turn around and let her run and vice-versa.  It's a fun game for kids... and it's good exercise!

[Max White]

Hmm, something on those riots on the news right now... I'm sorry but has the entire world gone insane? What the fuck? How does this happen to humanity? First Vancouver and now England, all of England! The hell?!?

[Heron TSG]

Perhaps the most violent game I played as a child was called Firing Line. It started with everyone but one person lined up on a wall, and one person with a tennis ball trying to hit someone. (Not in the face or groin, or they were out.) The people on the wall had to keep at least one hand on the wall, but could otherwise move around. If you were hit, you grabbed a tennis ball and joined the throwers. The last person to be unhit won. Generally it was only fun at all because 3rd graders throw tennis balls really slowly and we only played with a large number of people once. 5 other people throwing a ball is okay. Thirty kind of sucks.

[anzki4]

On the subject of violent games: I can remember few.

Especially I recall king of the hill on icy hill. One class = one team. Whichever of the four classes got out to break first, went to stood on top of the hill. When three other classes came out, they tried to get up. Because of the ice, quite few injuries occurred (although nothing serious IIRC) and quite often someone was hurt to the point of crying.