one more example of why humanity is doomed

[Theres]

http://msn.espn.go.com/page2/s/caple/020626.html

[Sequoia]

anybody hear that huge explosion??

That was the future crashing and burning. :mad:

[AradiaSupernova]

I've played nearly all the games he mentions in that article (except the ones where you pile on ppl and shove them against walls and whatnot). I agree that they have their danger of injury, but he's right that it helps you keep fit and helps your reflexes and hand-eye cordination.

"Of course, when the kids are all so fat, lazy and sensitive that they have to pay for two seats on Southwest Airlines, we may have to take further appropriate action by suing someone."

and I totally resent that statement.

[Twig]

Just when I thought humans couldn't get any more stupid, THey up and amaze me every time.

[seawitch]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,43958,00.html

well companies are being sued. obesity cost tax payers billions each year.
we are surely doomed.

[AradiaSupernova]

I realize this may be totally off topic, but I totally don't see how it is that ppl just HAVE to focus on weight CONSTANTLY. And then I wonder what's really wrong with people. Not only are the people on Earth stupid, they're also shallow.

[Theres]

Aradia, i agree with you from a purely aesthetic point of view.
but airlines are in the business of moving stuff from one place to another, and their capacity is very limited. and while i don't neccessarily agree with the new Southwest Airlines policy, i do understand the logic. after all, we pay more if our luggage is overweight. and if seats are limited, why should they give away two for the price of one?
no, it isn't sensitive. but when has ANY large company ever shown any sensitivity when profits are at stake?

[AradiaSupernova]

*nods* true, Greenman, very true. Sadly true :(

I'm overweight myself, and I don't get how it is that ppl supposidly spend billions of dollars a year on obesity :/ I do understand the logic behind it, but if someone were to tell me that because I'm not a skinny little twig, I am somehow partly causing the downfall of corporate america, I'd suggest that the people re-examine their priorities :/ I agree with the article on the fact that those games aren't all together horribly dangerous. I just don't see the point in throwing in the "fat" comment :/

[Flaire-FireStar]

And come to think of it, no jump rope, either. Not only can children trip while jumping in place, they also are susceptible to repetitive stress injuries while twirling the jump rope. Better to replace it with "rope." No jumping or twirling. Instead, children would create wonderful belts, necklaces and wall hangings by tying the rope in macramé knots.

This one's got my head spinning... I could go on and on about the dangers of my good friend the jump rope.


I now realize these games scarred me deep down with emotional trauma I wasn't even aware of until undergoing hypnotism therapy that drew out my repressed memories.

I'm sorry....I had to laugh at that.. I played most of these games; some were even worse (violence wise) than the ones mentioned in the article.. And I'm fine - just anti-social, but that's genetic.



Heck, if they ban dodgeball, which I've never seen anyone get hurt at, or tag for that matter....Why don't they go ahead and ban Red Rover as well - I could name off a list of people injured in that specific game.

Now excuse me while I go make myself a padded suit to wear the next time I go play any sort of sport with my friends. :rolleyes:

[SimplyStrange]

:rolleyes:


I do believe that is the appropriate smiley...

[Hamelyn]

I could, possibly, be wrong about this (which is a polite way of saying that I really don't think that I am) but I believe that the person writing the article was making a satire. While some of the comments seemed horribly outrageous and exagerated, that was sort of the point- poking fun at the people who actually did believe that these sorts of things were emotionally scarring on everyone who messed with it.

As for the obesity thing... while not for everyone, a lack of balance in dietary and eating habits with physical activity will make someone obese, generally (my spelling is probobly off). Also, I have to admit that I did like the growing stupidity comment- as pagans, I think that most of us can understand the value of extracting knowledge from the pain that we've received. Again, however, it seemed geared towards the people that the author would consider in the "Now I Insult the Overly Paranoid Official-Type Peoples" category.

Just my three cents.

[SilverHawk]

when it comes to children nowadays, people are so worried about lawsuits and treating the newer generations with kid gloves that we are completely smothering them. when i was about 7 and went to sleep away camp we were allowed to roam all over camp w/out supervision and do pretty much what we wanted to. now, when i go back to visit, the kids of that age group have to have a counselor with them at all times and can only stay around their cabin during free time unless there is someone to take them around, and that change only happend within the last 16 years. i don't understand what is going on these days, but banning TAG of all games is ridiculous. if we keep trying to "protect" our children from the "dangers" of tag and other games, when they grow up, we are going to end up with a generation of people to scared to walk outside the door.

the fact that we keep doping up kids with pills to make them calm down, upsets me the most. it's getting to the point were, if a kid is just being a kid, they are considered ADD and imediately put on pills to make them comotose. there are definately some kids out there with that problem, i know, i was a camp counselor and a swim teacher. i've had to teach kids with ADD, but alot of the kids on drugs, are just spirited kids. and what kind of message does that send them.

as for obese people. well, i don't see how there obesity affects me. as for the use of rising health insurance costs as something that i am paying for b/c of rising obesity problems, that's completely incorret. health insurance prices are up b/c it's a money making business, and they want to make money, which they are intitled to do. unfortunately, it's usually at the expense of the patient, but heathcare costs is really a whole other ball of wax. and at any rate, just b/c someone is overweight, it doesn't decrease their i.q. i 'm sure they understand that eating unhealthy food is bad for them. and when they are ready to really take on their food issues, they will.

[Lauralu]

I just turned 18 and I can remember my elementary school days playing on the playground. They (the official-like people) have been banning games for years. I recall that when I was in 6th grade 7 years ago we weren't allowed to play football. Well, we could, but you could only "tag" your opponents softly. If you tagged them too hard, like a push, you sat out. If you tackled them, detention. We had to play dogdeball with tiny, little, fluffy nerf balls that were impossible to throw if it was windy. We had three little swings. The big swings had been removed. Kids should be allowed to really play. Kids should allowed to get dirty and get scraped up. I was always showing off my scabs and scrapes to my friends when I got them. Go wild and having fun is what being a kid is all about!! You get sick of older, adult-like ppl telling how to play and have fun. 'course, now I'm the adult. "sigh" What I wouldn't give for a good game of Cops and Robbers....being tackled to the ground, put in plastic handcuffs, and taken to "jail". These bans on childhood games makes me physically ill.

[Theres]

i think we are truly entering a "Brave New World"!

[Myst]

Hamelyn, that's the impression I got.

Otherwise, I could find better reasons why humanity is doomed :)

[Sequoia]

oh my god, that article on obesity. . . .

OOOH! OBESITY IS A DISEASE! OOOH! IT'S CAUSED BY EATING MC DONALDS! OOOH THEY SHOULD BE PUNISHED FOR BEING BAAAAAAAD LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS!!

Give me a F*cking break. I shouldn't have to pay more for my health insurance or anything else. According to those stupid charts, I should weigh 150lbs. Ok. If you take my entire skelatol structure and internal organs, that should about make up that weight. What am I to do about muscles and breasts and everything else? Oh, taht's right, I'm an american. I can go lay in a hospital bed watching TV all day if I want. Thanks, insurance guys!!

Jimany Christmas!! I eat more vegitables than my little brother even DREAMS about, yet here I am at about 270 (even, no matter if I diet, run up and down stairs all day, or don't change my habits at all, it's stayed that way for three years now), and there he is at about 120 or so. He eats fast food, potatoe chips, soda up the yin-yang, you name it, he eats it. Yet he's still skinney bones, and I, the veggie-munching, stair-running, hill-hiking "obese" person. . . stay "obese"

Now give me a break. I'm a DD cup, I know a very large amount of my weight is right there. I have big hips, big breasts, broad shoulders, nearly-impossible-to-break bones (dude there were times I REALLY should've broken something, and I didn't), and yes, a bit of a tummy. I have that "hourglass" shape that most women are missing these days. I eat fairly healthily, get a good amount of excersize (walk about a mile and a half every work day), and eat in reasonable amounts. The insurance papers lable me as obese because I"m not f*cking anorexic. And I'm not about to be, so I can pay the same insurance bill as that pathetic little model in the room next to mine. Give me a freaking break. Why should I be un-healthy, just so that I match up to their ideals? I don't think that's right, and I don't think that's intelligent.

I seriously doubt they're concerned about my health, here. Yes, there are probably cases where the person is obese because they eat too much. And yes, those folks do need help, because it can be hard. Personally, I have a problem that sometimes I don't eat enough, get really sick, and end up eating too much. Mostly because I feel like everybody stares at me when I go to eat something, simply because I'm bigger. The truth of the matter is, I eat much less than most people do. And it kind of sickens me that this society has gotton to me enough that I am worried about how I look if I eat when I get hungry. That's sad, isn't it? To be afraid to eat, even though you're hungry? To be waiting till you nearly pass out, because you don't want to be reguarded as a pig? This culture really embarrasses and saddens me. It's not healthy, and it's not right.

I can understand about two seats on the airline. . . but I still think the rest of it is BS. And how embarrasing. Who determines if that person needs two seats or not?

[SpikesPet5150]

I enjoyed the heck outta that article. It was quite funny.

On to a more serious note... I cannot freakin believe someone banned Tag!! That was one of the best games ever!!! I remember playing that allllll the time when I was a kid. And Kick the Can. And Red Rover. And *tackle* football (I was the only girl on the boys team.. I rocked.. of course I was only 7). Those games kept me in shape. Yes I had ALOT of injuries... but they never bothered me. I, too, used to show off my scrapes and bruises proudly to my friends.

And that other article... I think it's ridiculous for people to be suing fast food places. As that one guy said, people *know* fast food is bad for you. It's their choice to eat there. The only thing that will come out of this is higher food costs, therefor less business, therefor less jobs. And he also made a good statement... genetics are a big part of obesity... it's not always over eatting.

I just hate the fact that when someone doesn't get their way, they sue. Sometimes sueing is good. Sometimes it's needed for justice.. but this? It's ridiculous.
~Bree