snafuMeh.
snafuYou are right.
But it was not so much desperate measures as downright stupid measures. Granted, his local authority maybe could have taken notice and explained what was going on to him a bit better; maybe they had and this was not covered by the media reports. Maybe they had totally ignored him after his initial query.
But it needs to be stressed that his self-amputation appears to have failed since the pain has moved up his arm – a clear indication that, for the most part, the pain is more in his mind than it was in his hand: a ‘phantom’ pain in his nerves, rather than actual damage to his hand. He has given the authorities until December to sort out his pain or he will go through the whole procedure again, but from the elbow – where does he go to if that fails too? The shoulder?
Maybe giving the story the title ‘silly news’ (part of a series of occasional posts) was not the greatest idea, but the story is one that might be recalled for years to come: the man who chopped off his own hand with a hand made guillotine, the man who went out of his way to make sure he beat the pain – but failed. I hope he gets the help he (obviously) needs and gets the pain sorted out, but there had to have been better ways of going about it.
snafuMy mother said to me that she wished I’d never been born
That is one thing that should never be said to a child; there will be other things too, but that is the worst of the worst. If you have low self esteem or depression before that then you are definitely going to feel much worse afterwards, but no child should be told they are unwanted.
Did you ever make it up with your mother, or was it just part of the downward spiral?
Sorry – you don’t need to answer that, but know that sometimes it is good to talk it out of your system. Even with a weird and sarcastic bunch like us.
snafuSorry, you after a condom?
snafuIncidentally, does that barbaric Dolphin slaughter still happen in Japan? :/
Of course, and all in a scientific fashion too, undoubtedly – to see how quickly a species can be brought to the verge of extinction for fun by the actions of one nation.
Its at Taiji.
Japan claims the slaughter is traditional, but it was never undertaken in such carnage until relatively recently, when the fishermen got together and created a sound ‘wall’ to herd the dolphin into the shallows and kill them in their hundreds, rather than individual boats taking one or two a week as was the tradition. As it is the dolphin are stabbed at repeatedly and die long, lingering and painful deaths, their blood turning the water red.
Defend dolphins, not a ‘tradition’
FEB 1, 2014 Japan Times editorialIn mid-January, somewhere between 250 and 500 dolphins were driven into the cove near Taiji, a small town in western Japan made famous in the award-winning film, “The Cove.” There, at least 100 of the dolphins were slaughtered for their meat. Others were packed up and sold to aquariums.
The dolphins are herded, butchered and sold every year, but this year, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, together with CNN news uploaded videos of the dolphin hunt. The video, available online, is not for the faint of heart. Despite claims of humane killing methods, the video shows the fishermen hacking into the heads and backs of the panicked dolphins, then leaving them to bleed to death, turning the entire cove bright red.
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Photo courtesy Michael D SellersPrime Minister Shinzo Abe defended the practice in an interview with CNN and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters at a news conference that marine mammals including dolphins were “very important water resources.” Suga insisted “Dolphin fishing is one of the traditional fishing forms of our country and is carried out appropriately in accordance with the law.”
Their argument that the force of tradition justifies the herding, capturing and slaughtering of dolphins is a flimsy one. Many past cultural practices, such as slavery, bordellos and beheading were stopped for ethical reasons. Tradition and culture are forces that change in accordance with new scientific understanding and evolving ethical standards. In addition, the Taiji hunt didn’t even become institutionalized on a large scale until 1969, so its roots are quite shallow.
Their argument that the slaughter adheres to principles of the law is equally questionable. Veterinarians and behavioral scientists who viewed the covertly recorded video contend that the killing method used in this year’s Taiji dolphin hunt would not be permitted in any slaughterhouse in the developed world.
Indeed, it is open to question whether the method would be acceptable if used to slaughter cows or other livestock in Japan.
Japanese law states that all methods of killing livestock should reduce the animals’ suffering as much as possible. The method of sending “fishermen” into the water with knives to stab the dolphins, clearly evident in the video, does not begin to meet that guideline. The desperate flailing of the wounded animals and the long time it takes them to die go against the accepted animal welfare standards employed in advanced societies.
Japan has already stopped invasive research and other harmful practices on species such as chimpanzees. Intelligent animal species have always held a special closeness to humans because of their intelligence, capacity for suffering and complex social relations. Dolphins are even known to commit suicide when distressed or confused.
Japan has another tradition, one of deep respect for nature and the creatures in it. That tradition would be much easier to defend. The dolphin hunt is an inhumane practice that should be stopped.
Another case of inflicting pain and death on another species in the most inhumane way possible.
snafuThey hunt Mike??? I bet that annoys him.
Did you mean Minke? (Cue Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau hunting a ‘minkey…’
The only people who should be allowed to hunt whale are the native peoples for whom it is part of their life, not the developed people doing it on a large commercial scale.
snafuJapan has said thy will abide by the decision, saying it
“regrets and is deeply disappointed by the decision”.
Are Iceland and Norway still whaling after not signing the moratorium that even Japan signed in 1986? I could Google, but thought I’d leave it to someone else…;o)
snafuGowns and mortarboards ‘could be compulsory’ under Gove
Proposals part of raft of measures on the table if education secretary gains HE
Students could be asked to wear gowns and mortarboards on campus in plans by education secretary Michael Gove to “restore rigour” to higher education, the Times Higher Education has learned.
According to a leaked memo seen by THE, the minister is looking at introducing the strict dress code across all universities over concerns over the “scruffy” clothes worn on campus.
The new sartorial standards are believed to be the first in a series of measures being considered by Mr Gove if he succeeds in his bid to bring the sector under his department after next year’s general election.
It is hoped the new dress code will usher in “a return to the golden age of higher education – the 19th century”, the memo says.
“Universities are always being told to modernise, but maybe we need to look back to some of the traditions that made British universities great,” the memo advises.
“You still see gowns worn in our Oxbridge colleges, which do well academically, so why shouldn’t other universities follow that trend,” it adds.
However, some have said the new dress code idea is too prescriptive, particularly for final-year male students who will be required to wear formal black tie attire at dinner and wheel around a bicycle between lectures.
Some vice-chancellors are believed to have questioned the move on the grounds of institutional autonomy, but their appeals have been rebutted.
“Kim Jong-un has just ordered all male students to have the same haircut – his own – so wearing a gown isn’t really much to ask in comparison to that,” said one Whitehall insider.
“In fact, we haven’t heard any complaints from North Korean students, so a similar move might prove quite popular here.”
Some leading higher education experts have already backed the move, saying it may help to increase overseas recruitment.
“Everyone loves the Harry Potter films and these gowns might give our campuses an air of Hogwarts, which is bound to pull in a few more students,” said Joanna King, head of the Institute for Pedagogic Inquiries.
However, some have questioned some of the other Oxbridge-inspired proposals apparently drafted by Mr Gove.
The mandatory introduction of punting may prove impractical, said one vice-chancellor, who did not want to be named.
“Many rivers near universities are just not suited to this type of leisure activity,” he said. “The ornamental lakes on campuses are probably not safe either.”
[email]avril.olof@tsleducation.com[/email]
Actually, this one might be true…we’ll find out when Gove either gets upset because of the leak or flat out denies it.
Maybe I should email reporter Avril Olof to check though.
snafuI was almost taken in by this one…
Scotland to switch to driving on the right if independence given green light
Current road signage system would also be scrapped under scheme nationalists say helps show country is ‘part of Europe’
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/01/scotland-driving-on-right-independence-road-scheme
Or
Exclusive: UN draws up peacekeeping plans in event of Scottish Yes vote
UN’s traditional ‘blue helmet’ colour scheme is in doubt as it could be misinterpreted as a show of support for an independent Scotland
Not sure about this one though…
Piers Morgan Recruited By Nick Clegg As Media Advisor To Liberal Democrats Ahead Of 2015 Election
snafuI hope the title of this thread is meant to be ironic.
I am sure the good people of Albuquerque will be able to sleep easily in their beds tonight knowing the authorities are watching over them!
Worse, knowing that they can be shot dead for illegally camping in an open space should bring them peace of mind…
Un-freaking believable…..this is when police act like they’re in a police state….if you watch the clip the homeless man was posing no threat….no human deserves to die like that….shot like a dog…..his hands were by his side….
Best time to do it, knowing that he can’t shoot back. Oh wait, he is unarmed… Even better.
I can’t comment on America but I’m glad this is fairly rare here (though I remember the Brazilian killed in the tube when the police plain lied on the night of the killing to cover their mistakes by deliberately creating doubt and confusion when the actual facts were the complete opposite….I followed that story closely having just flown back to London from Guernsey the day of the tube bombings….and even now wonder why no one got done for such a blatant lie.
Some of the lies on the night of the shooting included: he wore “heavy clothing” (supposed to be concealing God-knows-what but actually he wore normal clothes and had a small jean top on) and they also lied that he jumped over the tube turnstiles in some kind of hurry (he didn’t….he had walked calmly in the train to work)…..by the time the truth is out most people forgot the police lied their socks off to deliberately create doubt and cover their mistake…..classic throwing sand in people’s eyes.
Jean Charles de Menezes.
Of course there will undoubtedly be those on this forum who will declare that it was right that he died – he had out stayed his visa, he was foreign, he looked suspicious – but they forget that when the police get the gun out then whoever gets shot is in the wrong (whether they had a gun in their hands, a table leg, a walking stick or blind stick or – better yet – nothing) until the lawyers get involved and money invariably changes hands…
Just seen the full video on You Tube.
In my eyes, the poor chap was clearly executed, having been taken down by the first rounds and incapacitated. (When told to put his hands up, he says, “I can’t move’).
Still, one would have thought that would have been enough, but the officers offload several more rounds into him, and seeing his lifeless body, they still seem to think he was threat to them! (An officer can be heard saying ” “Somebody step on that right hand real hard”).
There are other video’s of other incidents where US cops are plainly yelling stop resisting to corpses so that they can claim they didn’t know it was dead. Mind you there are other video’s of other similar ‘executions’ of unarmed suspects. And so frequently – as in Britain – the word of the police is taken as being beyond doubt because they are supposed to be above suspicion…
But the good old police department of Albuquerque has gone and produced another stunning PR stunt that, no doubt, helps somebody’s cause…
Police: Man dead after officer-involved shooting
Updated: 03/26/2014 4:59 PM | Created: 03/26/2014 7:01 AM
By: Elizabeth Reed and Johnny Cordoba, KOB.com
Albuquerque police confirm a man shot by officers Tuesday night has been pronounced dead at a local hospital.
APD Chief Gorden Eden said officers responded to a 911 call that a suspect had pointed a gun at a juvenile at an apartment complex in the 200 block of 60th Street.
According to Eden, officers established a safety perimeter in the area and attempted to communicate with the suspect prior to the shooting. Eden added that “the suspect exited the apartment with a firearm, and fired the firearm,” prompting police to fire at the suspect.
But the suspect’s sister told KOB she saw the entire incident and said her brother was holding a cellphone, not a gun.
A video uploaded on YouTube early Wednesday claims to show the shooting scene. It appears to show the same apartment and a chaotic scene. In the background, a person who is believed to be the suspect can be seen.
Several people scream and the sound of shots fired can be heard. The person in the video then falls to the ground and people run toward him.
The suspect, identified as Alfred Redwine by his sister and confirmed Wednesday afternoon by police chief Gorden Eden, died at the hospital.
Later Wednesday morning, four people from the apartment complex left with police. They all had towels over their heads. These people were not under arrest, but police have not said why they left with officers.
The case is still under investigation by the Albuquerque Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police.
This new officer-involved shooting comes at the heels of large-scale protests by the community after Albuquerque police shot a homeless man with a history of mental issues on March 16.
Helmet and lapel camera videos of the incident show the suspect, James Boyd, being shot after illegally camping in the Sandia foothills and a five-hour standoff with police. Boyd was armed with knives during the incident.
Stay with KOB Eyewitness News 4 and KOB.com for updates on this ongoing investigation.http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S3375842.shtml#.Uzp1kKiICSp
A cellphone. Where have we heard that before?
Not that it helps the guy any but they had a major protest about this and other APD “indiscretions” which eventually turned somewhat violent against the cops, this occurred on Sunday. Supposedly it will be investigated by Internal Affairs but that’s cops investigating themselves, no good will come of it. this is a growing trend in the USA, it seems to have started by cops killing peoples pets to intimidate them, now its just shooting people under very dubious circumstances, its only a matter of time till they try to kill the wrong person and he gets the drop on them. People here are getting fed up with this scot free murdering and something is going to give,,,,
I occasionally look at the Photography Is Not A Crime website (http://photographyisnotacrime.com/) – there are any number of stories of police and/or security guards flexing their non thinking muscle and declaring that a camera is a terrorist tool on there, but there is also a lot of stories involving camera phone footage which contradicts the official police line, to the point that phones do get confiscated by the police/guards so that they are not posted on the net looking like d!cks. So frequently the video’s that do make it out show the police to be totally uneducated in any form of law other than (cue South Park snarl) ‘Respect mah authoritah!’ When confronted with reason or logic the average cop appears to revert to the kind of mindset that would be expected in place’s like North Korea: it is almost as though they fear the citizen before them or they were slave owners in previous lives and you either do what they say or get a taste of their authority.
I once saw a movie where only the cops and military had guns,,,, it was called “Schindlers List”
Oh, you make me laugh.[/sarcasm]
Just one film?
Maybe you should keep to films with a lower rating for a while…maybe those in colour, with the subjects animated animals rather than human?
What, exactly, was that statement meant to say? I know what it says about you, but to me all it says is that you want death, destruction, unnecessary slaughter.
Are you trying to say that if the Polish Jews had had guns it wouldn’t have happened? ‘Coz the Polish army didn’t have guns did they? (Yes they did, and that didn’t prevent it)
Are you trying to say that the US people should have their guns taken away so that your comparison with the Holocaust can be worked through? Ha – some chance.
Are you saying the US people should stand up and massacre the US police force because that is the only way to get them to stop and think? What a crazily dumb idea. You cannot sincerely believe that the police would think again just because there is a chance that the citizen might be armed – hell, they are shooting people for having phones in their hands at the moment!!!
An eye for an eye would make the world blind…
snafuYou’ll be telling us that Santa doesn’t exist next…
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snafuHe concludes his article …” The English need to wake up to the fact that Scottish independence won’t help the Scots, and it will screw them too.”
Well we’ll see – certainly the majority of my “English” friends, couldn’t care less, if that’s what the Scots want. But as I have said elsewhere I don’t think most of the Pro-yes voters actually have a clue as to the realities of what they are voting for, just the Salmond dream. And neither do most of his party either…..
You do know that it was an April fool and not really true, don’t you?
And whilst most April fool pranks display a certain amount of meanness there was one that was positively fantastic for the prankee…
April Fools’ 2014: Waitress given her dream job and $1,000 in Best Shift Ever prank
…to show that pranks don’t have to be cruel, a popular YouTube channel tricked a hardworking waitress by giving her the best shift ever.
In the introduction to the heart-warming video, which will see its makers Break donate money to charity with every view it receives, presenter Kevin Brueck explains why Springstreet Smoke House waitress Chelsea Roff deserves a ‘positive prank’.
“She struggled financially, had to raise her little sister from when she was just a girl, overcame a severe eating disorder, and her car is a complete piece of junk,” he says.
“The limited free time that Chelsea does have is spent running her own non-profit that helps people recover from eating disorders through yoga. If anybody could use a break, it’s Chelsea.
“So today we’re going to ‘prank it forward’ by sending in some of the best tippers we’ve got to see if we can give Chelsea the best shift ever,” he adds.
During the prank, fake customers tip Chelsea $1,000, an all-expenses paid trip for two to Hawaii, a dream job offer, and a free car.
When her old friend and first yoga teacher Diana Roehl gets out of the new car she is given by a customer, Chelsea realises she has been fooled.
“You’ve just had the best shift ever!” says the ‘customer’, as Chelsea screams and leaps outside the restaurant.
Not sure how she was given her dream job, unless they mean her dream was to get tipped lots…
snafu…and no doubt had tasers available too…
Reports do state that there is confusion over why they used guns and not their issued tasers.
snafuSorry, I’ve not seen the Airfix range of witches, vampires, ghosts, and Hello Kitty…
snafuIf a whale is all they say they are (and I’m not saying they’re not) then is not the harvesting of a whale by “indigenous natives” (btw: isn’t that a redundancy?) as bad as one taken by Japan?
Harvesting is an emotive word; it implies gathering huge amounts of a product (ie wheat, or corn) with an aim in mind – in this case (if you believe the Japanese) they were purely harvesting whales for research (seemingly to see if they can comeback after having a proportion of their number killed for research) and then, very magnanimously, providing the carcass – processed, would you believe – to the Japanese people to eat. Whereas your natives might take one or two whales a season per village (being generous on numbers) the Japanese take 850±10% Minke whales and 50 fin whales a season – that is very much an industrial scale compared to what the native population take.
The same could be said of cows, sheep, birds, dogs, and other animals that humans eat.
Show us, please, the cows, sheep, birds, dogs, etc which are eaten by humans and which are on the verge of extinction.
The Japanese research, for all my jokes, seems not to provide any detail about the lives of whale except that they can be caught and processed for consumption in relatively vast numbers, whereas some species of pig and sheep are kept alive by the very fact that they are bred to be eaten.
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