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Sesame Street DVD Deemed Adult-Only Entertainment
theodp writes "The earliest episodes of Sesame Street are being made available on DVD, but the NYT notes Volumes 1 and 2 carry a rather strange warning: 'These early 'Sesame Street' episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today's preschool child.' So why are they unsuitable for toddlers in 2007? Well, in the parody 'Monsterpiece Theater,' Alistair Cookie — played by Cookie Monster — used to appear with a pipe, which he later gobbled. 'That modeled the wrong behavior,' explained a Sesame Street executive producer, adding that 'we might not be able to create a character like Oscar [the Grouch] now.'"
"Okay. Tell me which letter of the alphabet you want me to fire."
They got the message, and everyone's favorite slum got a reprieve.
Frankly, I'm glad (and a little surprised) that they just didn't get rid of those old skits. A lot has changed since they were first filmed.
Supposedly "song of the south" isn't going to be released because some people think it's racist or something.
Another victim of the PC era.
Can't remember where I heard that though so I'd double check me on it.
Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.
Full combat gear during World War 2:
35 pounds
Full combat gear in Iraq, 2007:
80 pounds
The soldiers have also gotten heavier. Unfortunately, ankles are still built about the same.
*VERY* good point.
From Army Logistician. May-June 2004.
A study of the combat loads carried by 82d Airborne Division soldiers in Afghanistan found that the loads were too heavy. The study--evidently the first study of battlefield combat loads since one conducted by the Marine Corps in 1942--was sponsored by the Center for Army Lessons Learned at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and led by Lieutenant Colonel Charles Dean, the Army's liaison to the institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Field Manual 21-18, Foot Marches, which was issued in 1990, set the maximum weights that soldiers should carry as combat loads--
* Fighting load: 48 pounds. (A fighting load includes a weapon, bayonet, clothing, helmet, loadbearing equipment, and ammunition.)
* Approach march load: 72 pounds. (This load adds a lightly loaded rucksack.)
* Emergency approach march load: 120 to 150 pounds. (This load adds a larger rucksack.)
The average soldier in the study carried a fighting load of 63 pounds, or 36 percent of the average soldier's body weight of 175 pounds, before a rucksack was added. The average approach march load was 96 pounds, or 55 percent of average body weight. The emergency approach march load averaged 127 pounds, or 73 percent of average body weight.
The study found that--
* Soldiers have greater capabilities, but the increase in capabilities has increased the weight soldiers must carry.
* Less essential items now carried by soldiers should be carried in vehicles.
* Body armor should be lighter.
* Load carriage needs to be improved.
* Climate and terrain can exhaust soldiers carrying heavy loads. In Afghanistan, for example, daytime temperatures during the period of the study (springtime) reached 116 degrees Fahrenheit and nighttime temperatures were frigid.
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I was raised Catholic, so here's my perspective: Homosexuality is not so bad according to Catholics and the Pope (well, John Paul II was very lenient, Benedict is more catious). Many don't believe this, so here's the Pope:
Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered to an intrinsic moral evil, and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder...It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church's pastors wherever it occurs. - Pope Benedict XVI
Condemnation of male homosexuality (girls don't get much of a mention in the bible and are free to munch carpet) extends from rules proscribed in Leviticus, which also call for the stoning to death of those that work on the sabbath and many other antiquated and unobserved rituals. Catholics study the bible the way it was meant to be studied, not literally but interpretively. Also, the new testament tells us that the old ways need not be heeded, only that we should accept Christ and his message, though others interpret this differently. Either way, we have stopped condemning sabbath violators to death as well as homosexuals.
The priest wears a robe as a part of a ritual symbolizing his loss of individuality among other things, which is also why the Pope often changes his name upon ordination - he sacrifices his individuality to become a representative of Christ on earth.
The whole Jesus thing is simply that he cast off the old rules (ie. Leviticus) to say there is only one rule, love your neighbour as you love yourself. You should care because what the world needs now, is love, sweet love.
Religion matters in this day and age because it is still a great way to explore the metaphysical. God matters because humanity matters, and God is just a metaphor for humanity as a whole.
All this said I am strongly (devoutly?) atheist, as I believe there is no mythical creator deity but simply that we are all gods, whose individual and collective achievements create mythical gods as time goes on. I do believe there is more to this universe than matter and time alone, such that science, numbers and even language are powerless to describe. That said, I read the works of the prophets in the bible, the koran, as I do the acts of the gods in the epic of Gilgamesh simply to enhance my wisdom with that of ages past. There is no need to condemn the bible if you just look at it as a nice poetry book, just condemn the acts of those who use ambiguous poetry as justification of their actions.
I think perhaps you should live here first before making a rather incorrect statement. Also Europe is a lot more than on country and one rule...
If information wants to be free, why does my internet connection cost so much?
Note true: Romans 1:26 "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,"
Words "degrading" and "unnatural" -- not good in the Bible.
Not quite. You passed over the a huge point! The Bible says that Jesus came to fulfill the law. This is important because He was the payment for our sins so that the payment for the law will be satisfied on judgement day. Thus fulfilling justice and demonstrating God's grace and love.
Ask and you shall receive. It is part of this torrent http://isohunt.com/download/28611661/song+of+the+south