Ian84
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Everything posted by Ian84
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That was intertesting, thanks freethefly. For some reason I had it in my head that they were a fairly recent invention.
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I should have been clearer. I wasn't looking to correct anyone here but was wondering whether anyone had come to a different conclusion about their effectiveness as a preventative measure and how they came to that conclusion. ie is there any legitamite scientifinc evidence to show that they are not very effective? If there is not then why is there so much apparent misinformation circulating and why do so many people seem to make a concerted effort to disseminate it? As for using "incredible" as a description, that was based on my experience and the statistics I was able to find. Possibly overstated but I did say it was my opinion.
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From the story I gather it was a screw up on the part of the cops. I wonder why it took so long for the man to be cleared if indeed he had been inspected and cleared not long before. I would hope that it was due to a lack of communication somewhere, because at least that would mean that the error might be avoided in the future. It would be more unfortunate in my opinion if evidence had been ignored because of someone's personal anti-gun agenda. If that were the case it would be reminiscent of the Duke rape case.
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There's a great show called "Skins" made by Channel 4 in the UK. Its about a bunch of teenagers in Bristol who are generally up to no good. The acting and the storylines are excellent. It gets my vote as something worth watching if you can get it in the states.
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I stumbled across a thread in another forum on the subject of sexually active teens. Based on some of the opinions that were expressed regarding condoms I thought I'd ask around here for peoples' general attitude towards condoms or other birth control, or indeed methods to prevent STIs. I'm of the opinion that condoms provide an incredibly effective method of prevention for pregnancy and many diseases. I reached that conclusion because of facts given to me by people I knew to have my physical health and well being in mind as well as my own (primarily online) research. Based on that information I relied solely on condoms for protection for over two years (successfully). I was compelled to become involved in the discussion over in the other forum because I felt there was an abundance of misinformation being passed off as good advice. What do you think?
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When I was 13 and in boarding school my uncle sent my cousin and I a copy of Playboy which he noticed us trying to sneak a peak of in a newsagents on the Isle of Man. That particular magazine did several rounds of dorm
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HP 7 - The Spoiler's Thread (ie don't look if you don't wanna know...)
Ian84 replied to skybytch's topic in The Bonfire
I absolutely loved the book. The most gripping part for me was the pensieve at the end where Harry witnesses Snape's memories. We knew Snape fancied Lily but it was quite emotional in the way his love for her and for Harry was revealed. Would have liked Mrs Weasly to give Bellatrix a good old bitch slap before she killed her. Neville's part was great. I always tought he'd come into his own and play a major role. I really hope that the remaining two films are done as well as the Order of the Pheonix. -
When I was 18 I found it incredibly patronising how in America I was not thought of as responsible enough to consume alcohol. Maybe it has its benefits, but as far as I could tell from hanging out with Americans of a similar age to me at the time, it simply delayed the onset of accepting real responsibility and adulthood. Although the law is the law and if you break it you are responsible for the consequences.
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Well, we do need to inform those kids somehow. Parental involvement doesn't necessarily mean that the kids' only source of information about sex and sexuality be their parents. It means that the parents need to be satisfied one way or another that their child is armed with the information required to protect themselves.
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I agree 100% and thats what it comes down to. Often the choice is not made under those circumstances. Again, the study Nightingale cited seems to demonstrate that there are many kids for whom abstinence programs coupled with a lack of knowlegde of alternantives or indeed false information, ends in disaster. There are a lot of those kids out there and we need to think about informing them. I'm well aware that the average parent probably isn't as polarised as people think, but the number of kids who are falling through the cracks suggest that many of them (parents) are over reliant abstinence programs or kids finding out on their own. Parental involvement is key.
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I think the criticism wasn't so much that the pledge was broken and was therefore useless but that when it was broken the kids were significantly less likely to protect themselves from pregnancy/std's. So in spite of any delay which may have been achieved, the lack of further education and a villifying of condoms etc rendered it ineffective for preventing what teaching abstinence set out to achieve in the first place. I guess my problem with abstinence only education is that its all or nothing. A large portion if not most of the kids who are taught it will fail to live by it and those kids, in the majority of cases have not been taught how to behave responisbly in that event.
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Parents should indeed be the main source of their children's moral/ethical understanding. I can see why you, as a parent, would appreciate a potential delay in sexual activity due to a pledge or a ring. To me though, the utilisation of a pledge that has been shown to be broken so consistently has no real educational/health/social benefit. The study that Nightingale referenced seemed to draw some fairly negative conclusions. It may however serve as a powerful personal symbol to those who choose to live up to the promises they make (talking about the ring here) and I would never wish to belittle those people for whom this is the case. I'm not a parent though, in fact I'm only 22 so my opinion is based on the reasonably fresh memories of the myriad broken promises my mates made to their parents in school.
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You're right, my statement was a bit of a blanket. No doubt there are kids with genuinely held beliefs on abstinence and for those kids, if a ring or anything else helps shore up those beleifs then thats great. I just get the impression that many kids take on this "promise" in an effort to appease/please/impress their parents. None the less my use of the word "meainingless" was a poor choice.
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I don't think the school wanted her to remove the ring because of it percieved religious significance. They wanted it removed becase under their dress code rings (I presume of any sort) are banned. Although I'll agree there was a good deal of anti-religious sentiment among the posters on that board. As for my opinion of it: 1. If she and her parents have a problem with the dress code then she should go elsewhere. 2. Convincing a 14 or 15 year old to wear a ring as some kind of promise not to have sex till marriage is a meaningless gesture that will mean little or nothing to that kid whe he/she is 17 or 18. The ones who abstain from sex are the ones who probably would have done so anyway.
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My thoughts exactly. I think for a man, a false accusation of rape carries a similar emotional and psychological trauma as actually being raped causes a woman. Even if found innocent it always hangs over them. I knew a woman a few years back who almost destroyed a good mans life and career by crying rape. All becasue she was too much of a coward to admit she'd cheated on her fiancee.
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The same reason I would be uncomfortable with granting police the right to search my home summarily wtihout warrant. Its just another step in the erosion of privacy. You can view it as a small step or a large step but it is a step all the same and in the wrong direction. You have to ask yourself what'll they do next to protect us? Technologically, they could film inside every persons home or place tracking bugs under peoples skin. Granted those are pretty extreme but if a society becomes accustomed to being filmed and identified everywhere they go then more drastic measures become a matter of routine. That worries me.
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I am quite troubled about the introduction of the National Identity Registry and agree wholly with the closing reamrk in that article. If we give up our privacy and identity so comprehensively we won't get it back. The main reason this is going to happen is because people are too f***ing apathetic to care about or realise whats being taken from them. It's the whole, "If I've got nothing to hide then I've got nothing to worry about" mentality. I take issue with a requirement that I carry around a license to exist.
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I'm glad there are people like Bono out there. He could give every penny he's ever earned to charity and it would be a drop in the ocean compared to the good he has done by applying pressure to world leaders. To be honest, if there were no Bonos or annoying charity workers trying to guilt me into helping I'd probably be too lazy or selfish to do so. I think the world is much the better for people like him.
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Hey Superman, Having worked in a diveshop I, like one of the previous poseters, would recommend you stear clear of Mares equipment. As for companies that offer warranties of various types, beware, they are often not worth the paper they're written on if you plan to dive abroad. For regulators I would consider Apeks/Aqualung to be the most reliable and best value for money brands. Atomic have some pretty good stuff too but it is pricy. If your looking for something inexpensive then the Aqualung Calypso and Titan are both very robust and well suited to most recreational diving. The most important thing with a BCD is that you're comfortable with it but again, avoid Mared/Dacor and even Cressi as my experience has been that a lot of their equipment is poorly designed and shoddily constructed. The console instruments are mostly generic with various manufacturers names printed on them so dont worry too much about that. Hope this helps. Ian.
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I felt sorry for the children and particularly the young women in the family. They seemed like they would be such nice happy people if they hadn't been born into that freakshow family. None of their arguments made much sense and the old fella came across as a complete c**t I wish we'd have found out a bit more about Steve (the documentary maker) who joined the WBC having gone their originally to film them. I thought Louis Theroux did a good job all around.
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In Ireland there has ben a tax on plastic bags for the last 5 years or so. Rather than banning plastic bags, charging for each one is probably a better idea. Since the tax was introduced the vast majority of shoppers now bring their own canvas bags or boxes with them to do the shopping. Personally, I think its been one of the most well recieved taxes of all time
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I didn't present anything as fact. I explicitly stated that what I was posting wasn't fact of any kind and that it was simply my opinion. This implied an invitation for others of differing opinion to correct me where necassary, which they did. Now, as I just said, I've learned something. No harm done.
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Well I did admit I hadn't done any research on the topic and that it was just a feeling I had on it. Now I know a little more than I did yesterday. Knowledge is power, hooray for books and all that
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Hi John, Having done no actual research into the topic, my feeling is that a school shooting in the UK is unlikely because: 1. The average misguided British teenager has no knowledge of the illegal firearms trade. 2. Even if they did they are unlikely to have the resources to acquire a suitable weapon. Conversely, in the US that same youth could simply walk into Wal-Mart with his pocket money and purchase a fairly effective, easily concealable weapon. That said, someone older with more money and a little criminal knowledge might have a slightly easier time of it.
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We've still got the cricket world cup! I think viewing numbers in Ireland will be up to over 100 people after our victory over Pakistan.