Little things that annoy the hell out of you

[Blinge]

I so love my little tub of Vicks. Essential survival tool for dealing with stink-ass motherfuckers. MP3 player+earbuds around my neck like a rosary, vapor rub in jacket pocket like a commuter IDDQD.

I've found a really good cheat code to get through life, it's called IDGAF

[BIL]

If you die on the bus you die IRL too. :[ Still gotta watch out for those IDCHOPPERS but at least you don't need to smell them!

[Skykid]

If you die on the bus you die IRL too. :[ Still gotta watch out for those IDCHOPPERS but at least you don't need to smell them!

Can't believe that guy got off with an insanity plea. Everybody knows Chinese people eat anything.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

If you die on the bus you die IRL too. :[ Still gotta watch out for those IDCHOPPERS but at least you don't need to smell them!

Great story. This actually happened the week before I was due to move to Canada.

[jonny5]

What's even scarier is the guy has been free since May of this year.

[BIL]

Poor kid had the worst luck. I'm doubtlessly a bit paranoid but FUCK sleeping in public.

[jonny5]

Ya, in my opinion, if you cut off a stranger's head and proceed to eat parts of them, crazy or not, you don't see the light of day ever again. I certainly wouldn't expect that person to be free and back on the streets in 5 years.

Our country is a little light on stuff like this, same with drunk driving. You can kill people driving drunk and be out in a couple years, if that; it's a joke.

[Xyga]

And now you put in charge a teenager willing to welcome bloodthirsty terrorists ! Kanada is doomed !

[jonny5]

And now you put in charge a teenager willing to welcome bloodthirsty terrorists ! Kanada is doomed !

He's 43, and all main parties were down to let the Syrians refugees come over - it's Canada, it's our responsibility to babysit the rest of the world . We were long due for a change after the last decade with the Conservatives. I don't really agree with the Liberals immigration policies, but everything else seems a turn in a much better forward thinking direction for our country. Heck, we may even see Marijuana legalized/decriminalized in the very near future - something more than 70% of our population is fine with, and yet the Conservatives have been continually perpetuating lies and refusing to lighten criminal penalties surrounding it.

It's a good day for us as a country. We shall see how everything plays out

[Xyga]

Jking of course. I wish we had more politics his age over here.
As for the refugees of course I would expect Canada to at least show more dignity in dealing with this, you know how some people are going full ape over it in Europe. The new Mayor of Köln was even stabbed, crazies rising everywhere I say.

PS: oh and, not related but on-topic: please drop the idiots who made this: #BoycottStarWarsVII ... in a pool filled with excrements.

[Ed Oscuro]

Ya, in my opinion, if you cut off a stranger's head and proceed to eat parts of them, crazy or not, you don't see the light of day ever again.

That's just an awful sentiment to have. I'm happy to question how good modern treatments of mental disease really are, but everybody seems agreed he literally didn't know what he was doing at the time, and they've obviously made huge progress here. He's not being allowed to roam just anywhere. What purpose would it serve to keep somebody cooped up in jail forever, even if they are treated and have control of themselves again?

From what I saw, even the officer who killed himself, and his family, didn't criticize the state for putting him out for release as much as they were for not offering better care for PTSD. The old throw-away-the-key mentality isn't going to do anything for the other victims of this crime.

[BulletMagnet]

What purpose would it serve to keep somebody cooped up in jail forever, even if they are treated and have control of themselves again?

I don't know if Canada has for-profit prisons like we do here, but in this neck of the woods there's an easy answer to that query.

[Edmond Dantes]

Lately I've been annoyed at DVD prices. Game collecting is bad enough, but it seems any random old cartoon can suddenly become collectable now too.

Case in point, Filmation's Blackstar: on ebay people are trying to get $200 for the complete series (mind you, this series only lasted 16 episodes).

Recently Captain N: the Complete Series (which isn't really "complete" but whatever) jumped up to nearly $100 online. It's Captain freaking N, a cartoon most notable for being written by people who had no clue what they were writing about.

on the anime side of things, I've been seeking Armored Fleet Dairugger XV volumes 2 and 3 for awhile now. The results: scalpers want $40 for volume 2, and volume 3, when it appears at all, is in the triple-digits.

You'd think the value would sink once people rip the ISOs and host them on torrent sites, but strangely it seems that western animation never gets torrented unless its part of a mega-franchise like Transformers, and whoever ripped Dairugger severely suppressed the quality to make the file sizes smaller. So its "get the DVD or don't get them at all."

Lesson learned: Get it while its new.

[Skykid]

Recently Captain N: the Complete Series (which isn't really "complete" but whatever) jumped up to nearly $100 online. It's Captain freaking N, a cartoon most notable for being written by people who had no clue what they were writing about.

It's Captain freaking N and it's Captain freaking awesome - easily in my top 3 childhood cartoons of all time. Just fantastic, especially when Tokyo Movie Shinsha were involved (that Dr Wily ship transformation - wow).

However - and it's a huge but - it's certainly not worth paying $100 for. Do people not realise the only version published to DVD is completely ballsed up? The company who did the transfer didn't want to pay for the rights to the original token music tracks, which were versions of tracks licensed from movies, including The Heat is On (Beverly Hills Cop) and Danger Zone (Top Gun) amongst others.

So every time there's a special sequence, usually something adrenaline induced, it switches to a crap stock theme that they just keep repeating. Totally ruins the buzz.

I understand someone somewhere is working to get the original tracks from VHS tapes published to YouTube, extract the audio, and try to resync it, but it's a WIP that may possibly never see the light of torrent.

[Edmond Dantes]

I wasn't aware Captain N was also jacked up by the licensed music issue. That might be a part of why I didn't enjoy it.

I just remember a friend of mine bought the set months ago and we were laughing our asses off at how the game Donkey Kong contains a "warp zone" to Metroid. I WISH my Nintendo games contained secrets that allowed me to enter completely different games, because that would be the bomb!

The portrayals of Simon Belmont and Mega Man though totally need to die. Sad fact: I've seen people criticize the 1995 Mega Man cartoon's portrayal of the character and his universe but then turn around and defend Captain N's version. I seem to remember this person having done so, but I can't find the articles at the moment.

[jonny5]

Ya, in my opinion, if you cut off a stranger's head and proceed to eat parts of them, crazy or not, you don't see the light of day ever again.

That's just an awful sentiment to have. I'm happy to question how good modern treatments of mental disease really are, but everybody seems agreed he literally didn't know what he was doing at the time, and they've obviously made huge progress here. He's not being allowed to roam just anywhere. What purpose would it serve to keep somebody cooped up in jail forever, even if they are treated and have control of themselves again?

From what I saw, even the officer who killed himself, and his family, didn't criticize the state for putting him out for release as much as they were for not offering better care for PTSD. The old throw-away-the-key mentality isn't going to do anything for the other victims of this crime.

Ya, tell that to the dead kid without a head or his family. Being crazy is not an excuse for anything. Does them being 'cured' bring back the person they killed?

There shouldn't have even been a trial. They should have taken the guy off the bus and shot him in the back of the head. Done and done. Sick and tired of the rights of the criminals trumping the rights of the victims and their families.

If you are crazy enough to be eating people and cutting off heads, there is no place for you in this society, and the sooner they are forcibly removed, the safer the rest of us are.

Please don't respond with several paragraphs full of text, Ed. I don't read your posts if they are more than a few lines and you won't be changing my mind on anything anyway.

[lilmanjs]

Probably posted at some point in here, but I heard it again this past week when my parents tv finally died and they upgraded to an HDTV. My mother flat out says more times than not, I don't see the hype with HD. I don't see a difference. So what is the point of spending tons of money on an HDTV if you're not seeing a difference. Got the blu-ray player hooked up correctly now for HD output and looks fantastic. Seriously hope I'm not the only person to have heard this. She also says, man movies look amazing when the parents go each week, but she couldn't see a difference with my sister's 4KTV either. I think she's losing her sight or something. So frustrating.

[Skykid]

I wasn't aware Captain N was also jacked up by the licensed music issue. That might be a part of why I didn't enjoy it.

I just remember a friend of mine bought the set months ago and we were laughing our asses off at how the game Donkey Kong contains a "warp zone" to Metroid. I WISH my Nintendo games contained secrets that allowed me to enter completely different games, because that would be the bomb!

The portrayals of Simon Belmont and Mega Man though totally need to die. Sad fact: I've seen people criticize the 1995 Mega Man cartoon's portrayal of the character and his universe but then turn around and defend Captain N's version. I seem to remember this person having done so, but I can't find the articles at the moment.

No no no, those completely flipped out portrayals of the Nintendoverse and accompanying objects and characters made it all the more entertaining. Motherbrain a disembodied drag queen, Eggplant Wizard a bumbling stooge, Simon Belmont a toffee nosed fool - it's all part of the fun. What's more important is Captain N was incredibly entertaining and well-written, and the concept of a gamer being warped through his TV into Videoland and putting his skills to the test for real was a concept any 7 year old could really get behind.

It also had instances of exceptional animation, which went a long way for me as an anime chasing kid. I'm quite convinced some of The Real Ghostbusters staff had a hand in it, there are a lot of similarities in the comedic elements and general production.

I'd probably put it nearby Galaxy High and Batman: Animated Tales as one of my all-time faves, but there were so many awesome 80s cartoons it's always a tough one to stagger.

[Ed Oscuro]

Ya, tell that to the dead kid without a head or his family. Being crazy is not an excuse for anything. Does them being 'cured' bring back the person they killed?

There shouldn't have even been a trial. They should have taken the guy off the bus and shot him in the back of the head. Done and done. Sick and tired of the rights of the criminals trumping the rights of the victims and their families.

If you are crazy enough to be eating people and cutting off heads, there is no place for you in this society, and the sooner they are forcibly removed, the safer the rest of us are.

Please don't respond with several paragraphs full of text, Ed. I don't read your posts if they are more than a few lines and you won't be changing my mind on anything anyway.

It's not about him anymore. The "perp" in this case was a guy who was sick and still has a full life ahead of him. I'm sure when it's you who's made a mistake or is sick, though, you'll be pleading that you need a second chance really.

As far as your odious attempt to drag The Family into this, I already mentioned the victims. Glad you've admitted you're ignorant, at least.

[trap15]

I dunno, murder's one of those things where I don't think it's really ok to be allowed out... Pretty much anything else is ok, but killing a dude? Don't think so.

[Ed Oscuro]

"Murder is bad, so let's go murder somebody"

In a normal case where we're sure that somebody made their choice and stuck with it, I don't really care if society decides to execute them. But this isn't one of those cases. The guy was a software developer who was suffering schizophrenia. For people who don't know, when you're suffering from schizophrenia you're literally not in control of yourself.

Saying that we need to solve all problems with state-sanctioned killings and incarceration just throws away the potential of fixing our future. We can either learn to treat people like this now, or we can enjoy a future full of perfectly preventable crimes and waste (especially for the less fortunate, so it would have a racist and classist angle as well) that we could have stopped if we had put a premium on treatment and not killing. If we don't put our efforts towards treatment and diagnosis, we'll have nobody but ourselves to blame.

[Squire Grooktook]

I think the bigger and more important question is "is he cured?".

If you dug around, you could probably find a lot of cases of somebody being let out after being judged sane, only to turn out still crazy and murder someone else. I'm not an expert, but I've always understood that schizophrenia is not something that simply goes away with medication and a few years of therapy. I'm not familiar with this case though.

[Ed Oscuro]

I already said that, though. None of us is going to diagnose this guy from our chairs. It doesn't alter the argument that if he can be cured that he should be freed and allowed to get back to his family and life.

If this was a science-fiction movie about brain worms or puppet masters, everybody would get it! But it's not, and I realize these things are complicated. It doesn't mean it's not a good goal for society, though. And it also doesn't mean that the disgusting politicians who run on "tough on crime" are right to cynically throw away the lives of other people to suit their ends.

Hinckley, the guy who shot Reagan and James Brady, has had a fair number of people trying for his release over the years, but he doesn't get it because there's a concern that he could re-offend.

[Squire Grooktook]

Yes, I can agree with the philosophy that "if someone cannot control their actions and commits a crime, they should be released once they are cured".

But back in reality, neurology is really not at the level where it can "cure" many of these issues, or even detect if they are "cured", which is why many people (rightfully) view the decisions to let psychopaths and killers back on the street after allegedly being cured as foolish and irresponsible. It's not a matter of punishment, it's a matter of putting more lives in jeopardy.

[trap15]

^ this exactly

[Ed Oscuro]

You're saying this as an expert now, right?

To be clear, in this case the supposed "release" of the killer is...to a group home. He is going to be one of the most highly monitored people in Canada.

There are lots of people who will fall through the cracks, and that's a big problem. Budget hawks will not allow proper treatment and surveillance options to be available, and many other people will not get the level of care this guy might, precisely because his case is infamous.

Being able to talk about incarceration in terms of "risk of reoffending" is a lot better than what we had in past times, when the knowledge that some innocent people would be hanged led to the idea of presumption of innocence - which, as it turns out, leads to the certainty that we are letting off unapologetic murderers who go on to write books with titles like "If I Did It."

According to this article, "regular" criminals are much more likely to reoffend once they've exhausted their sentence, so what good is the "pay the price" attitude about somebody who has a minor offense? Or should we start keeping people in jail indefinitely because we just won't commit to treating them and trying to improve outcomes? We could even go further: Go about hunting for people who are part of some group of "disturbed" persons that scare us, and lock them away, just in case. And, just as importantly, we could also get rid of the presumption of innocence, because it inherently puts the public in danger to preserve individual liberties.

Finally, it's not illegal to be a psychopath. You may well know some and they have a right to try for success just as any of us. (It gives some people an edge in business over their more emotionally contemplative peers, in fact.) One again, this is a group of people that we shouldn't just destroy, because we're talking about a lot of young people who often do quite well when they're just given some pointers about living life as a psychopath - rather like we'd do for an autistic person.

[Blinge]

It's not illegal to be a psychopath. You may well know some.

Should be. They are predators standing in the way of humanity's progress.

[Ed Oscuro]

Not sure if serious. Some psychopaths are dangerous people, but others are basically like your average dumb teenager who hasn't learned how the world works. Psychopaths often end up harming themselves more than others, if they harm anybody at all.

We have got to stop basing our public policy ideas on movies.

How about autistic people? Or trans people, who are (after all) more likely to be homeless than other people, and therefore more at risk of mental illness... and you guessed it...already are more likely to be schizophrenic!

We can go full circle if we get back to people who beat homeless persons to death. After all, they're just protecting society against potential schizophrenic cannibals, right?

Much like the clear-thinking heroes behind this patriotic act.

[Skykid]

It's not illegal to be a psychopath. You may well know some.

Should be. They are predators standing in the way of humanity's progress.

Or they could be the key to humanity's progress, especially if you look at aspects of mental illnesses as a result of social conditions.

Most people would call all the school shooting teens psychopathic, but I consider them a mass produced product that occasionally goes really defective.

[Ed Oscuro]

I think you're onto something there.