The Single Most Evident Sign Of Our Culture's Decline And Impending Fall

[Sturgeon]

The problem with the leashes isn't their design (which is highly convenient) it's the common perception that they are a substitute for training.

A trained dog on an extendable leash will become no less trained, but a stupid owner with an extendable leash will beget many an untrained dog.

[Toxn]

As always with pets, the problem is YOU.

[Sturgeon]

As always with pets, the problem is YOU.

 

Well, that kind of leash might as well be a big rubber-stamped monogram on the owner's forehead saying "I AM AN IDIOT PLEASE KILL ME TO INCREASE THE INTEGRITY OF THE GENE POOL"

[Donward]

^ This is why I worry about Nathaniel reading Nietzche.

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

^ This is why I worry about Nathaniel reading Nietzche.

 

 

LOL.

 

And I don't need no stinking rubber stamp, my wife beater, and mullet already broadcast the message!

[Donward]

My wife brought to our marriage a pair of Akitas as a canine dowry, both of which are currently snoring around my armchair by the fireplace as I type. I'll admit, I didn't know a thing about the breed although apparently in World War 2, the Japanese used the dog's pelt to line the fighter/bomber pilot jackets.

[Walter_Sobchak]

My wife brought to our marriage a pair of Akitas as a canine dowry, both of which are currently snoring around my armchair by the fireplace as I type. I'll admit, I didn't know a thing about the breed although apparently in World War 2, the Japanese used the dog's pelt to line the fighter/bomber pilot jackets.

Using dog fur to line coats?  Is there no end to the things Imperial Japan did to make me hate them? 

[Donward]

The breed has been used variously as a hunting dog, fighting dog (in dog fight rings) and a guard dog which is its best quality given how attached Akitas are to their family and how aloof they are to strangers.

 

In addition to using their fur as a coat liner, Imperial Japan attempted to cull off all of the country's dogs in World War 2 that didn't serve a "military" purpose, presumably to conserve resources.

 

http://www.japaneseakita-inu.co.uk/Files/History.htm

 

The Japanese weren't the only island nation that culled off its pets. It looks like Great Britain did the same, killing off 750,000 pets in one week.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24478532

[Donward]

In my quest to resurrect all of the good old Sturgeon's House posts, apparently there is a company that sells Chicken Harnesses so people can walk Henny Penny.

 

http://www.valhoma.com/

 

 

I guess it looks something like this when in use...

 

[xthetenth]

I loathe chickens, but I must admit that a pet that lays eggs is a pretty cool pet and a good idea on low income.

[Tied]

i got alot:

 

Hippies

 

Hipsters

 

Vegetarians

 

Pacifists

 

anything every said on tumblr, ever

 

Mikhail Goberchauv

 

Nuclear weapon deconstruction based on principal and not cost

Nasizm

 

Ukraine

 

the Holocaust 

 

World War 2

 

animea 

[Brick Fight]

The logical expansion on this thread is what's the forum's take on people bringing non-service dogs and pets into shops and restaurants?

As you can tell in my neck of the woods, any critter can be called a "service animal" regardless of the animal's training or the owner's malady.

I dated a girl in college who had the worst allergy to dogs. She spent the night in a house where a dog once used to live, and she woke up in the middle of the night scrambling for her epi-pen as her airways closed. It always sucked because we live in one of those got-danged Librul College Towns where people wanted to bring their dogs everywhere, so we always had to check. So, I say just let them play outside, check before you bring them to a gathering, etc.

[Sturgeon]

Absolutely nothing could possibly go wrong with holding a "World's Ugliest Dog" competition.

[Toxn]

Pug

pug

pug

dachshund

[Toxn]

Competition winners are also automatically entered into the world's most inbred dog competition.

[Tied]

Participation awards 

[Donward]

School district bans game of tag to ‘ensure physical, emotional safety of students.

 

This is the Mercer Island School District which is in a suburb of Seattle and is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, among others, lives here. I'd be more outraged were it not for the ghetto part of me saying "Fucking rich kids".

 

The district flack had this to say.

 

 

 

Mercer Island School District communications director Mary Grady explained the district’s decision via email:

“The Mercer Island School District and school teams have recently revisited expectations for student behavior to address student safety. This means while at play, especially during recess and unstructured time, students are expected to keep their hands to themselves. The rationale behind this is to ensure the physical and emotional safety of all students.

"School staffs are working with students in the classroom to ensure that there are many alternative games available at recess and during unsupervised play, so that our kids can still have fun, be with their friends, move their bodies and give their brains a break.”

[Toxn]

School district bans game of tag to ‘ensure physical, emotional safety of students.

 

This is the Mercer Island School District which is in a suburb of Seattle and is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, among others, lives here. I'd be more outraged were it not for the ghetto part of me saying "Fucking rich kids".

 

The district flack had this to say.

 

 

 

Mercer Island School District communications director Mary Grady explained the district’s decision via email:

“The Mercer Island School District and school teams have recently revisited expectations for student behavior to address student safety. This means while at play, especially during recess and unstructured time, students are expected to keep their hands to themselves. The rationale behind this is to ensure the physical and emotional safety of all students.

"School staffs are working with students in the classroom to ensure that there are many alternative games available at recess and during unsupervised play, so that our kids can still have fun, be with their friends, move their bodies and give their brains a break.”

Hilariously, the only bone I've ever broken was during a game of tag.

 

More seriously, what the fuck is up with cutting PT/sports and break time? Don't you guys have enough problems with obesity and depression already?

[Donward]

Too true Tox.

 

And people wonder why their kids are fat and on psychotropic medication and think they're a transgendered unicorn.

 

As an aside, I interviewed for a job with Mary Grady once upon a time at the Mercer Island Reporter (the Island's community paper). I didn't get the gig which was no loss but somewhere in a parallel universe I might have had to work with that.

[Toxn]

Interesting

 

I've said this before, but 90% of psychological problems can be made better by a combination of sleep, exercise and being social with other people.

It frankly amazes me that schools, as places where you're supposed to be given the basic skills to carry you through the rest of your life, wouldn't make this stuff a priority.

[Walter_Sobchak]

I remember when I was in grade school we used to have a game we played in winter called "throw each other as hard as you can into a pile of snow and ice."  Also, there was that charming game we played on rainy days of "whip a completely soaked nerf football at each others head."  You would be surprised at how heavy a nerf football gets when it's soaked in rain water.  

[Toxn]

We played fun games like "pull the jungle gym over", "the slapping game", "the fainting game" and stingers.

 

In high school we all toned it down a bit and confined ourselves to making the form ones play live-action alien invaders and the like. The boarders also enjoyed invading each other (not just in the way you're thinking about) and hurling pinecones through open boarding house windows.

[T___A]

I remember playing smear the queer, it was pretty fun. Alas it's probably banned now for multiple reasons.

[Priory_of_Sion]

I have fond memories of playing "wall-ball", which was banned for some reason during my elementary tenure. Oh, and 4-Square which wasn't banned but many kids ended up with bloody knees and the game would end in a yelling contest. 

[Sturgeon]

T___A, you were born yesterday, how do you remember playing Smear The Queer?