Posts by Aliens! Aaaah, aliens!

Friends are good... Also, consider doing something useful or creative. And exercise is a good idea as well. Both those things tend to result in the release of natural endorphins, and should make you feel good about yourself. <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> Exercise has the added benefit of likely making you more attractive to others in future. <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>

Um, for the nine dots thing, do the lines all meet/cross in the middle? If so, I figured it out. <font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>You should have said that at the start you twerp! <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> A-HEM! You should have read my posts you twerp! <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>

I have an idea! How about, instead of simply saying, &quot;no, I disagree&quot; all the time, why not actually tell us what traits <i>you </i> think &quot;have or show a contemptible, mean-spirited, or selfish lack of human decency&quot;?

If it´s very long, you won´t be able to. Put a short message in the topic post, and paste the bulk of your argument into the first actual post. I still think you´re not using the same definition of base as Wilde.

Are you two sure you´re both using the same definition of &quot;base&quot;?

From TFA... <font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>Five proof-of-concept viruses that target <b>Monad, </b> the next version of Microsoft´s command prompt... <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> Am I the only one who finds that (Monad) hilarious? WTF is a &quot;Monad&quot; anyway? Is it like a &quot;mesticle&quot;? Movary?

Uh, Killa? 1999 called. It wants its movie back.

Very true. Though I think this is more a misguided attempt to reduce recidivism. I still say the victims should be the ones to decide punishment. Being a victim is being powerless. Nobody like to feel powerless, to be at someone else´s mercy. It´s, depending on what exactly was done, probably one of the worst feelings a person can have. Very traumatizing, to be sure. So how do we fix it? We give the victim power over the perpetrator. We turn the tables so it´s now the victim who holds the perp´s future in his/her hands. That is the only way to achieve real, actual <i>justice. </i>

Yeah, okay. Whatever. All you folks who were calling for castration can know that you´re not alone. <A href=´http://wpmi.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=22BF95E8-AA4D-4CED-A79A-BE18618D13B2´ Target=_Blank>Lawmakers in Alabama are currently debating the use of castration as punishment for violent sex-offenders who prey on children.</a> It will be interesting to see where this all goes.

<font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>I am REALLY thinking about leaving <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> Is that a threat or a promise? Frankly, I find both your antics and Wilde´s witless harping on about wit to be <i>very </i> tedious. It´s like listening to the bickering of a husband and wife. I do agree with Wilde about the title. Not sure where I´d put it myself though. Hmmmm...

Oh fer chrissakes you <A href=´http://ablecd.wz.cz/starwars/postavy/ewok.jpg´ Target=_Blank>silly ewok-man.</a> This ain´t the place for that. A better question to ask would be about abortions. He says that a baby dying of neglect is a tragedy, so what about a foetus being murdered? Is that not a tragedy as well? Oh, and let´s not forget Doohan´s Alzheimers. He could easily have been functionally dead as a person for a while before this. Edited by - Aliens! Aaaah, aliens! on 7/23/2005 7:38:39 PM

Just like to add a bit, though Spanner´s done a bang-up job overall. J Dawg used the word &quot;seems&quot;. Seems. It <i>seems </i> that... and so on. He didn´t say &quot;all parents are incapable...&quot; Rather, the said that, based on what he saw, or has seen, it appears as if there is a decline in parenting. Appears as if. Not &quot;is&quot;. That´s the limitation. That´s the qualification. Not so hard to notice, imo. I think that in many respects J Dawg is correct. I, too, have seen many examples of what appears to be extremely poor parenting. And this in families from all walks of life, and all social backgrounds. But it´s not *all* the parents´ fault of course. They´re competing against a &quot;culture of rebellion&quot; which automatically assumes that any sort of anti-parental activity is &quot;cool&quot; or whatever, for one. There are also increasing economic burdens foisted upon people (keeping up with the Joneses) which require greater work-hours and so on. So what´s an overworked parent to do? It´s so easy - and very understandable - that they´d just plonk the kid in front of TV. At least while they´re there they shut up and the parent can get some peace. Of course it is sacrificing long term stability and whatnot for a few minutes rest, but still. Anyway. I´m rambling. Edited by - Aliens! Aaaah, aliens! on 7/21/2005 5:25:29 AM

But you´ve also removed the deterrent effect of the death penalty. It doesn´t matter if you´re guilty or innocent, you´ll die regardless. So, if that´s the case, might as well just do something to deserve it in the first place. Nevermind the fact that you´d try to undermine the system if you got caught in it. If you´d do, then it´s not unreasonable to think that lots of other people would do it. Your precious &quot;order&quot; is looking more and more imperiled. And then there´s the question of why &quot;order&quot; is important at all. If it´s important because it keeps people safe, then this system destroys the foundation upon which it´s built.

Remind me again, why are you bothering with this idea? I mean, if you´re going to support state-sponsored murder, why not just let the criminals get on with it and do their thing? In the end you´re going to wind up with the same thing - a terrorized population.

<font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>When people realise that a successful trial would have them living and working in dangerous and horrible conditions or result in their execution, that would deter them. What would be more important, robbing the local store and mugging people to get money and live better? Or avoiding the pain and possible death of conviction. Or what about when they realise that once they are convicted for killing someone, they will lose everything they own and be impovershed? <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> Unfortunately, criminals tend not to think about the potential punishments. Some might, perhaps, but studies have shown (read <i>Burglars on the Job: Streetlife and Residential Break-Ins </i> by Richard Wright and Scott Decker for a better idea of how the &quot;criminal mind&quot; works) that mostly they are concerned only with immediate obstacles. Whatever is down the road just doesn´t factor into the equation. Evil - &quot;Ooops&quot;? No. We´ll execute those responsible for the mistake! <img src=smilies/icon_smile_big.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> And I think in this case Balthazar is advocating the more Devilish proposals. But that´s just me. I still can´t understand why everyone is so freaking obsessed with the criminal though. He´s really not the one any of us should care about. I´ve seen a lot of anger in this thread and very little actual sympathy for the girls. That´s quite telling, I think.

Except that it (the death penalty) isn´t (a deterrent). I mean, look at Saudi Arabia. Public executions are, if not commonplace, then at least a reality. And there´s still crime there. Look at America. I think there are hundreds of executions every year there, and yet crime continues unfettered. Death isn´t such a wonderful deterrent, unfortunately. Ultimately, it´s probably all but impossible to stop crime entirely. The best we can ever hope to do is minimize it. That´s not something I know how to do, but I´d wager that it would involve creating a society that isn´t quite so hyper-sexualized, consumerist, celebrity-worshiping and unequal. But that´s still a *long* way off. All we can do now is help the victims. *They* should be our main concern, not the rapist. If they want him dead, fine. He´s dead. But everyone else calling to kill the kid really isn´t in a position to do so. Perhaps someone who has been the victim of a sexual assault him/herself could give insight into what the girls are feeling, but even then, he/she isn´t the victim in this case and therefore can´t really demand death. And yes, death should be an option for the victims when they decide what punishment should be meted out. Given that the rapist did something very wrong, and given that the victims did absolutely nothing wrong (in this context), the victims needs are given full precedence. I don´t care what the kid´s mental capacity is or was. It´s irrelevant, really. All that matters is that he has caused an immense amount of hurt and it is now incumbent upon us as a society to fix that as best we can. If killing him is the only way to do so, so be it. I wouldn´t shed a tear for a dead rapist, even if he is &quot;just a child&quot;. Evil guy - I think you need to put the empasis on the &quot;for his crimes&quot; bit. Balthazar wants the kid dead, though not necessarily for this act in particular. I think. Edited by - Aliens! Aaaah, aliens! on 7/18/2005 6:00:23 AM

<img src=´http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/8207/clueless5cy.jpg ´> More on topic, I´m partial to tea (white) and gingersnaps.

<font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>The violation of the bodies of others warrents taking the life of the offender? That´s even harsher than an eye for an eye. The punishment wouldn´t fit the crime, it would exceed it. <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> How is it harsher? The girls will have to live the rest of their lives with the memories of being stripped of one of their two most fundamental of human rights (the other being the right to life; think about it, either one is pointless without the other). If the boy is killed, he´ll be too damn dead to worry about anything. Death could be as much a release as it is a punishment in this case. Overall I´m inclined to agree with athena. <font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>Jail is probably worse than death, for the most part. Lock someone away in a bleak, hostile environment for years on end and forget about them. <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> Don´t forget the prison rape. That´s pretty damn awful, too. And, truthfully, I don´t think I could wish it on anyone, even a convicted rapist. <font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>... you-know-who will deal with him ... <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> Voldemort? <img src=smilies/icon_smile_tongue.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> <font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>I really love these quote box things. They´re fun. <img src=smilies/icon_smile_big.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2>

<font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>So don´t presume. <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> <font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>Don´t be a cynic ... it´s presumptuous. <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> <font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>I take it then you have no understanding of the meaning of the word &quot;compassion&quot;. Interesting. <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> If? Consistency is your friend. Tossing in one or two prepositions here and there is meaningless. And it renders anything else you try to modify irrelevant since obviously when you say &quot;if&quot;, you mean &quot;because&quot;. <font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>Of course I was wrong to take that and connect it to the actual psychological control drive. <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> Yes. Yes you were. I give you Exhibit A: <i>&quot;Have you studied any Ayer or Stevenson?&quot; </i> It would seem that you haven´t. However, you could easily have looked them up. If you had, you would have seen that they weren´t psychologists. Nevermind the fact that my mention of logical positivism and emotivism should have clued you in on the fact that I wasn´t interested in psychology, given that emotivism in particular is non-cognitivist. Balthazar - I´ve always been a bit leery of blaming the parents. Ulimately, while they may be responsible for raising the teen poorly, they did not commit the crime. You want to punish them? Then mete it out for something they actually did. Otherwise, what´s the point? It won´t stop the kid from reoffending, and it won´t stop stupid parents from raising tragic children. I do agree that the parents should be punished, but really their punishment should be over and above the consequences given to the teen. As far as the specifics of the punishment go, you ask, &quot;What gives you the right to decide to end someone else´s life?&quot; Well, one could argue that, in violating not one, but four young girls´ rights to bodily privacy, the boy has given up his own right to life. Of course this does assume he was cognizant of his own actions, something which you and Wilde - perhaps rightly - shy away from assuming. However, after doing a bit of research I´ve come across an article which seems to show that the boy is at least aware enough to be tried in court. <font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>Teenager in court on rape charges Press Association Thursday July 14, 2005 A 14-year-old boy appeared before Salford magistrates today on charges of rape against four schoolgirls. The four girls were allegedly attacked after playing on swings in a park in Salford, Greater Manchester, on Sunday. The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of raping the two eight-year-olds, a seven-year-old and a 10-year-old in a secluded area of Mandley Park. Dressed in a green T-shirt and with cropped ginger hair, the youth spoke to confirm his name and personal details. Article continues His grandmother and aunt attended the 15-minute hearing at Salford magistrates court. His aunt sobbed as the charges were read out while the youth remained emotionless. The attacks allegedly took place between 5pm and 6.40pm at the park, which is close to Leicester Road in Salford. The boy was arrested at around 3.25am on Monday and charged with the offences yesterday afternoon. No plea was entered and reporting restrictions were not lifted. He was remanded in custody to appear at Manchester´s Minshull Street crown court on July 21. <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> The lack of emotion may indicate that he´s some sort of sociopath, but that´s not really surprising since most teenage boys are, to a certain degree. In none of the articles I´ve managed to find is there any mention of mental illness. Not even a hint. Now, there <i>could </i> be something undisclosed or undiagnosed at this point, but one would think that by now information of that relevance would have at least been hinted at. Parenting is still a possible issue, but you already know how I feel about that.

<font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>the Master and Slave complex <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> And I´m the one projecting? Riiiiight. I never once said anything about masters or slaves or anything even remotely approaching that. You assumed a whole lot. Control in and of itself isn´t bad. And it´s not the intentions behind it that are important either. No, intentions are just something to hide behind if things don´t go as planned. What´s truly important is the outcome. If people are made happy, then the control is fine. If people suffer then, well, things aren´t so rosy and you just have to accept responsibility, &quot;Yes, I did exert some control over this person, and yes, the results were bad. I apologize and will pay the price.&quot; That sort of thing. Oh, and I´d appreciate it if you´d lay off the assumptions about me, my experiences, impulses and the like. Not for my sake, mind you. You just look like a real idiot doing so. &quot;No, don´t judge the rapist! You don´t know anything about him!&quot; yet &quot;You´re projecting! And cynical and animal and presumptuous!&quot; One thing that´s plainly evident is that you´re a hypocrite of the highest order.