posted
As I understand it, they (THEM, the ones who make such weighty decisions for the rest of us) almost didn't allow the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to be called as such on saturday morning cartoons. Ninjas are apparently demonic things, best swept under the rug so the neo-conservative can't see them.
Southern Baptist were the cause, I think. Never trust a man who doesn't drink.
Unless they're a recovering alcoholic.
[ May 25, 2002, 23:28: Message edited by: thoughtcriminal84 ]
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
Didn't the Brits get all smart and send away all those sorts of people off the edge of the Earth on a rickety old boat called the May-something?
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Yep. They sent the other bad seeds to some place with a lot of marsupials, and those people learned to say "Mate" a lot, because they liked chess so much.
So you can fully blame the British for everything.
Including Earl Grey tea.
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
Surely India is more to blame for Earl Grey Tea than us?
Just to lower the coolness level slightly, Shredder actually had three voices, I think. The Uncle Phil one (James Avery) was the first.
And, yeah, the word "Ninja" was taken out. As were lots of shots of Michaelangelo's nunchuka. Now, I don't know why nuchuka are worse than swords, but I'm not a clever censorship person. And anyone whose played Soul Caliber will tell you that Don had the best weapon anyway.
Incidentally, lots of censorship TV rules were relaxed over here as of late 2000. To celebrate, the BBC showed the laserdisc extended version of Terminator 2, all our Simpsons episodes became uncut (and instantly better than the US syndicated ones), and people were allowed to say "cunt" and "motherfucker", but only in reality shows. I still await the day when Buttercup can call Mojo Jojo a "Monkey-fucking monkey fucker" on early morning television.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Just to get back to the suicide issue for a minute [edit.. and rant a little ], I think that public understanding and awareness of suicide and "mental problems" is rather lacking. The girl killed herself because of how she was brought up, combined with the cumulative effect upon her consciousness of every other experience she had since she was born.
In a society such as ours, the mind is often subjected to conditions for which it simply isn't geared. If you grow up in a sheltered environment where everything (i.e. food, drink, clothing) is provided, their importance dwindles in your mind. It's possible that the only challenge (which, in a way, defines our existance) in the girl's life was in academic form. This would then have taken on an exaggerated importance in the girl's mind. It's easy for us to say, from our perspective, that killing yourself over a primary school maths exam is ridiculous, but when that's all you know, when it is, in effect, your life, it isn't so crazy.
I don't know how the education system is in other countries, but where I was brought up (Ireland), the psychological preparation of young (4-8 years old) children was inadequate, to say the least, and I see this more and more when I think back.
"God says we can't love others unless we love ourselves".
This is an example of the kind of thing that was flung at us in our early years at school. I remember being confused by this, and wondering vaguely "Why? And how can you make yourself love yourself?". But I was too young to articulate these questions. I understand the message (notwithstanding the God part) now, in retrospect, but only through a very general understanding of the importance of self-esteem and related concepts as seen from the point of view of evolutionary psychology (and personal experience). Without more active help from teachers (or anyone in a position of influence), young children don't really have a chance of grasping such esoteric concepts of value.
My point is basically that the people who formulate these little value-building exercises either aren't given due consideration by the education authorities, or just don't know how to research, and most importantly THINK about how to enable children to become well-adjusted to their society.
Oh yeah, btw, what's wrong with Earl Grey tea? I'm actually quite partial to it.
-------------------- "Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing. To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking: Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!"
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
Nothing is wrong with Earl Grey. I just don't like the way it tastes, and when I was poor last year it seemed that was all we drank here at Ft. Scum due to my living with a tea-fetishist.
In more recent news: Vanilla Coke is worse. It's like drinking a pastry.
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As far as the actual topic goes: I don't respect suicide as an option except in special circumstances, such as when you're going to die anyway but you don't want to be in blinding pain the entire time you shuffle off the mortal coil.
It's sort of difficult to reconcile how one guy will gnaw off his own arm to escape from a burning car wreck, yet another will blow his head off just because he's in debt to the bank.
I've dealt with extreme depression, and I know there is no easy answers here. But the only thing that really kept me from the edge was the simple belief that life is too short anyway...
After you're dead, you're going to be dead for a looooonnnngggg fucking time. No reason to rush into it.
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
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posted
Plus, really...who wants to be a social worker?
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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Calling all people who commit suicide mentally unstable is like calling everybody who disagrees with you evil. It's sweeping the problem under the rug. I sort of agree with Gurgeh that school was probably this girl's WHOLE life, and I don't think anyone who's never been to an Eastern European country should judge, because you can't imagine what it's like growing up with a different set of ideologies. On the other hand, when I lived in Taiwan every so often you'd hear a blurb on the news about a student who jumped off a building because of school stress. Basically the competition to get into good colleges is so great a student from junior high and on who wants to get ahead (without being a prodigy) has to spend about 2/3 of his waking hours studying, doing homework, and getting tutored. And then you have to remember three years' worth of materials from junior high to take exams for high school, then remember three years' of high school to take exams for college. People judge you by the prestige of your school. Nowadays they're trying to reform by taking on more of an American grading system by looking at grades over 3 years rather than just the exams, but that only means you have to study all along the way instead of cram. I think from when I was little it was understood that if you fail in school, you fail in life, and even now I maintain high grades out of habit, because I can't bear the thought of anything else.
posted
Not sure that's the best phase to use under the circumstances...
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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capped
I WAS IN THE FUTURE, IT WAS TOO LATE TO RSVP
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posted
quote:Originally posted by Wraith: Not sure that's the best phase to use under the circumstances...
I wish this is the kind of technobabble they actually used on Trek
-------------------- "Are you worried that your thoughts are not quite.. clear?"
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
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posted
quote:Originally posted by Wraith: Not sure that's the best phase to use under the circumstances...
What?
Oh! The sig! Haha! I didn't even think about it. It's made even funnier since my girlfriend (whose quote that is) is Korean.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
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![[Smile]](smile.gif)
], I think that public understanding and awareness of suicide and "mental problems" is rather lacking. The girl killed herself because of how she was brought up, combined with the cumulative effect upon her consciousness of every other experience she had since she was born. 
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