Comments on: I See Dead People Everywhere

By: Cream

Cream — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:57:21 +0000

what a story…

By: Timberwoof

Timberwoof — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 07:25:18 +0000

Timberwolf, when blacks could be owned as slaves, each slave had the choice of leaving slavery. Why did they not?

Aroo? I think you’re trying to make a subtle rhetorical point with that question, but I had a GPF at “each slave had the choice of leaving slavery”. Did you mean suicide? What does American slavery have to do with gadiators or football players? Don’t try to be subtle or Socratic; just say what you mean.

By: Doug Alder

Doug Alder — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 06:51:00 +0000

Art – my next door neighbour is a 91 year old Italian whom I could only stop from cutting both his and our front lawn by doing it myself. As I don’t like cutting lawns, in fact find manicured lawns to be a total environmental disaster, I let Jack cut our lawn for us. Actually I let him do it because it makes him feel useful and when afterward we are out in my back yard, where nary a blade of grass is to be seen amidst the garden and paths, sipping on some 12 year old rum Jack is wont to say that he would rather shuffle of his mortal coil when he no longer feels wanted or useful. Best neighbor I’ve ever had. (still plays trombone, trumpet and a few other horns at his age too)

By: Captain Patriot

Captain Patriot — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 02:00:28 +0000

People who play football choose to do so on their own free individual will. They know the dangers of injusries before they ever start. Leave up to the secular oppressives to screw up even a game. All your regulations will one day come crashing down into the pile of crap its built upon. The sooner the better. Just let people have fun and be themselves. Leave the helmets alone. Leave gun alone. Leave us all alone. Stop regulting crap to death. If you want to regulate something how about regulating your mouth and your one brain cell. Just leave stuff alone for the love of GOd!

By: Paco

Paco — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:12:21 +0000

Bread and circuses, baby!

College sports are a good morality play to prepare the next generation for their eventual exploitation by the monied classes.

Get used to it!

By: Tina

Tina — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:33:39 +0000

Timberwolf, when blacks could be owned as slaves, each slave had the choice of leaving slavery. Why did they not?

By: Timberwoof

Timberwoof — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:24:03 +0000

An emergency room nurse once told me that most of their sports-related injuries were from hockey.

Markita, is selection bias at work? In what emergency room does she work? In Toronto, the explanation might be that people play hockey more than other sports. In LA, the explanation would be that hockey causes more injuries than other sports. (It’s the same thing as ER workers calling them “donorcycles” or “murdercycles” because the only motorcyclists they ever see are injured ones. Yet they don’t call cars “murdermobiles”.)

Art, you said some confusing things. On the one hand, you talked about people using professional sports as a way out of economic hard spots, but on the other said that no one forces anyone to play dangerous sports. I’m not sure that pro sports are an economic “way out”. You have to be very, very good to even get a chance to play professionally. By contrast, in ancient Rome anyone could become a gladiator. (You had to be very very good to survive long.)

Tina, did you jump to a delusion about Art? I’m not sure how you got from Aussie white boy to “needs to take an anthropology class.” Aside from Caribou Barbie’s hockey mom friends, who is forcing people to play dangerous sports?

By: Tina

Tina — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:20:24 +0000

Alan, you need to take a anthropology class to learn how exploitation works. You are obviously a privilaged white male (working class or better) and have no idea of what you speak.

By: Alan

Alan — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:33:11 +0000

When I was a kid I noticed the old man next door mowing his lawn in the hot Aussie sun. Knowing he had just recovered from a heart attack I went over and told him he shouldn’t be mowing his lawn and that I would be glad to do it for him. He thanked me for the offer and said “I enjoy mowing my lawn and I’d rather die than give up doing what I enjoy”. Sure enough he died less than a month later, doing what he enjoyed.

My point is, unlike the roman gladiators, nobody is forcing people to play dangerous sports, they simply enjoy it.

By: Geoff Rogers

Geoff Rogers — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 03:05:25 +0000

Boxing has decreased in popularity for a number of reasons, not least being the head-injury rate. Other combat sports (Mixed Martial Arts, primarily) have vastly lower rates of head injury, since MMA involves victory by submission as well as knock-out.