DocManhattan's Comments (506)

“...or that a girl will say when she wants to think she's 'purer' than she actually is ...”

“Sure, and I could just decide 'red' is actually 'green' and it won't be my problem if I hit someone driving through a so-called 'red' light.

I mean, I can understand you wanting to manipulate language to mean what you want it to mean, rather than what it actually means. I just think that it'll make living alongside other human beings difficult sooner or later ...”

“Why's it called 'oral sex', then?”

“Interesting that they think these "isolated tragedies ... cloud the debate" about the bill. It always seemed to me that the fact that unacceptable cases like this occur is at the very heart of the debate. It's the whole reason why reform is needed.

It astonishes me how callous people can be.”

“OK - can't seem to reply to your latest post. You say I don't find this stunt hilarious "because it resembles torture". You're mistaken. I think it's repugnant because it's excessively cruel. I'm using the torture parallel to point out the degree of cruelty.

Your argument about primetime shows and football is irrelevant because at no point in either of those is anyone genuinely being made to think they are going to die. Violent entertainment is one thing - I like watching fighting sports, because I've participated in them myself. But fighters know what they're getting into when they step in the ring. If, on the other hand, someone was FORCED to step into the ring with a trained fighter, then I would find that spectacle cruel and repugnant.

And 'get off your high horse', by the way, is something people say when they know they're wrong, but resent having it pointed out to them.”

“Are you serious? At what point in a game of football does anyone think they're going to get killed?

You've run out of arguments.”

“You seem to be carefully sidestepping the point. The point being, you think it's funny to make someone believe they are about to die. I think it's twisted and sadistic.

To back that up, I'm pointing out that this is a tactic used by torturers and interrogators. I doubt many people here approve of fake executions and this stunt was, basically, the moral equivalent.

Whether there was any real danger to Streeter (there was) is irrelevant to my argument. Professionalism won't save you when you're fighting in mid-air with a panicking, adrenaline-charged novice jumper. And as far as I know, if you ever have to resort to your reserve, then you can expect broken bones when you land.”

“Even if you were right about the lack of danger -- and you're not -- then you're still missing the point. The point is you think it's funny to make someone think they're going to die. I say it's twisted and sadistic -- and I'm pointing out that it is a tactic used by interrogators and torturers to terrorize their prisoners.

I'd be surprised if anybody here on this board approved of fake executions, which are a form of psychological torture, any more than they'd approve of waterboarding or the rack. Yet you seem to think it was OK in this case. Amusing, even. What does that make you?”

“That worries me deeply. It was about as funny as Abu Ghraib.”

“Seriously though, get a sense of perspective. This was putting someone in fear of imminent death -- there is no more extreme fear. This was torture, by the book -- like waterboarding or fake execution. Fruthermore, the victim could've had a heart attack, or panicked and got both himself and his instructor killed.

There is nothing to lighten up about here. I'm astounded that some people on this board think there is.”

“And anyway, he could've been in danger of a heart attack. Nothing places more strain on your system than the belief you're going to die.”

“But he thought he was. Prisoners being waterboarded or having unloaded guns fired against their heads aren't in any danger either -- that doesn't make it any less torture. This was just as abhorrent.”

“Just a little food for thought from the dictionary:

tor·ture [táwrchər]
2. cause somebody anguish: to cause somebody mental or physical anguish

Can you imagine any greater mental anguish than the fear of imminent death? I hear they've got some awesome jobs in Cuba for guys like this.”

“Lighten up? Over a man being placed in mortal terror for other people's amusement?

As I've said elsewhere, this is the exact ethical equivalent of putting an unloaded gun to a prisoner's head and pulling the trigger. I'm disgusted.”

“This is seriously the unfunniest, cruellest freaking idea for a 'joke' I have ever heard. That anyone would consider this funny is profoundly disturbing to me. It is -- precisely -- as funny as a fake execution at a prison camp. Are we going to be laughing at those now?

The line between humour and sadism is one that should be a lot clearer than it has become. This kind of stuff makes me despair of humanity.”

“What do you think gives you the right to speak for "the majority of men"? What did you do, conduct a poll?

I've been in a relationship a long time ago where my girlfriend cheated on me with another woman. If she'd asked for my approval, I would've probably said it was hot. She didn't - she cheated, end of story, end of relationship.

I've also seen other men destroyed when their partner left them for a woman. So don't tell me that it's different having same-sex sex, because it isn't. Relationships are more about emotional intimacy than biology, and sex outside the primary relationship undermines the intimacy of that relationship. It's a betrayal of trust (unless the primary relationship is open - and even then I have my doubts).”

“If that's the arrangement between you and your partner, then fine. But if my girlfriend were to sleep with another woman without my knowledge or go-ahead, then that's cheating. Just as it would be if I were to have sex with another man (unlikely, since I've no desire to do so).

Sex is sex, regardless of who you do it with. And sex outside of a relationship that's supposed to be monogamous is cheating.”

“"But just because I enjoy women doesn't mean I'm allowed to have affairs in my relationship. I learned through talking with my therapist that it is still cheating even if it's with girls, so there is a rule there."

She had to go to a therapist to figure that out? Don't suppose I should be surprised ...”

“Unfortunately, this review is pretty accurate. Shame, because the source material is fascinating ... Part of the problem is, we don't know what's based on fact and what is pure fantasy. The people that laughed in the showing I went to here in Vancouver were locals looking for another excuse to sneer at those crazy, war-mongering Americans. But, honestly, the movie failed to provide even that much ... Utterly pointless.”

“No ... Gaga is much more under control than Amy Winehouse. I certainly don't wish Wino any ill -- I hope she gets it together, as she's got a lot to offer. But Gaga strikes me as a really shrewd operator -- she's already gone far and I have a feeling that she's going to go much further.”

“Britney LIP-SYNCHS? Get out! Next you'll be telling me that the Pope's Catholic ... Seems to me you've got to be pretty naive to go to one of her shows and expect anything else.”

“You say "religion cannot be proven or disproven" ... but elements of religious dogma can be. You can't prove or disprove that an immaterial God exists, but you can sure as hell prove that the Earth is more than 10,000 years old. I don't think you'd disagree with me on that point ...

The fact is that as time has gone by and science has helped us understand our surroundings better, religion has had to give way over and over again. If people want to hold on to belief in the immaterial then that's fine -- spirituality is very appealing in a lot of ways and brings out a lot of good in humanity. But to insist on a belief in something that is demonstrably false (creationism, that the world is flat, that the sun orbits the Earth) is irrational and demeaning to human intelligence.

My Catholic mother was adamant that man should never have gone to the moon - she said that if God had meant us to fly, He would've given us wings. My response was always that if God hadn't meant us to think, He wouldn't have given us brains. (Or, indeed, curiosity.­)”

“Thank you, Cara! There are times when I feel like beating my head against the wall as this false science-religion debate goes on. There should be no debate at all!

I guess I was lucky in that scientific method and thinking were explained to me pretty clearly at school (in England) when I was about nine or ten years old. Do people not learn this stuff any more? It should be as basic a foundation of education as arithmetic.”

“Robert -- are you sure you've actually listened to much U2? If you have, then you haven't listened very carefully.

What they created was an unmistakeable timbre -- largely because Edge played guitar in a way that nobody had ever heard before, but many have imitated since. That's what made their early songs sound consistent, but, man you really don't have to listen that hard to much of their stuff to conclude that what you wrote is nonsense.

U2 developed stylistically over the years in a way few bands do. Radiohead comes to mind, although Radiohead have done it even more radically. (The Stones, on the other hand. Well, they've been treading water stylistically for decades. And I like the Stones.)

Boy and War sound like they were recorded by a completely different band than the one that did Achtung Baby and Zooropa, which sounds like a completely different band than released No Line on the Horizon. I am NOT the world's biggest U2 fan, but I fail to understand how you can give a crap about music and be so dismissive of them.”

“Oh for crying out loud ... It always makes me laugh when I hear people whining about something that was offered to them for free. Oh my God -- U2 only gave out 10,000 free tickets! What a bunch of b@star@ds! How unfair to the billions of other living human beings who didn't get to see the world's biggest rock band for absolutely no money whatsoever!

Where did everyone develop this amazingly overblown sense of entitlement? I remember how some people whined about Radiohead's pay-what-you want download of their last album because the bitrate just wasn't high enough ... Give me a break!”