REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Republican Sheriff Arrested Trading Methamphetamines for Sex with Men

POSTED BY: KWICKO
UPDATED: Monday, December 5, 2011 18:44
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 1708
PAGE 1 of 1

Thursday, December 1, 2011 7:09 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)





http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/us/former-colorado-sheriff-accused-o
f-trying-to-trade-drugs-for-sex.html?_r=1



Quote:

DENVER — Patrick Sullivan was the kind of lawman Coloradoans loved: a straight-shooting Republican sheriff who once crashed a Jeep through a fence to rescue two deputies from a gunman and pleaded with legislators to keep assault weapons off the street lest any more citizens get shot.

On Tuesday afternoon, though, investigators from the same sheriff’s department he oversaw for nearly two decades found themselves monitoring a home near Denver that Mr. Sullivan was seen entering.

Soon after, the police arrested Mr. Sullivan, now 68 and long retired from the Arapahoe County sheriff’s office, on charges that he had been trying to exchange methamphetamines for sex with a man. He was booked that night at a local county jail that proudly bears his name.




At some point, this kind of behavior ceases to be "a few bad apples" and starts looking like the party's official platform.




"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, December 1, 2011 7:12 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important


Hello,

You should underline 'Republican' just to complete the cycle.

--Anthony



_______________________________________________

"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, December 1, 2011 7:28 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Kwickie is a liar.

This guy isn't a sheriff.


"...now 68 and long retired from the Arapahoe County sheriff’s office"

Says so, right in the story he posted, yet Kwickie knowingly put false information into the subject line, w/ the intent to mislead and distort the facts.

Kwickie is a blatant liar.



"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, December 1, 2011 7:56 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
Kwickie is a liar.

This guy isn't a sheriff.


"...now 68 and long retired from the Arapahoe County sheriff’s office"

Says so, right in the story he posted, yet Kwickie knowingly put false information into the subject line, w/ the intent to mislead and distort the facts.

Kwickie is a blatant liar.




Funny that that's the only thing you could find to be upset about in this story. Not his party affiliation, his alleged crimes, his trading drugs for sex with men - the only problem you have with the story is that I referred to a man by the title he retired under.

Thank you for finally manning up and admitting that Fox News is made up of nothing but blatant liars intent on misleading and distorting the facts. After all, they continue to refer to Sarah Palin as "Governor Palin" and to Dubya as "President Bush", when we all know those people are long retired and no longer hold those posts.

It is not unusual to refer to someone by the title they held upon retirement. It's an honorific to do so. It's also routinely done for military personnel.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 2:17 AM

DREAMTROVE


I'm beginning to suspect Auraptor and Kwicko are both River6213

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 3:00 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
I'm beginning to suspect Auraptor and Kwicko are both River6213



That got a chuckle.



"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 3:07 AM

M52NICKERSON

DALEK!


Quote:

Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Hello,

You should underline 'Republican' just to complete the cycle.

--Anthony



I agree!



I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 3:58 AM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up


Quote:

Originally posted by Kwicko:
Funny that that's the only thing you could find to be upset about in this story. Not his party affiliation, his alleged crimes, his trading drugs for sex with men - the only problem you have with the story is that I referred to a man by the title he retired under.



And what does the gender of the person he's trading drugs for sex with have to do with anything? Have you always been a homophobe, Mike? Or did it start when you turned your back on the First Amendment?

This is fun. I can see why you like doing it.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 4:51 AM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.


Let me point out we've had this discussion many, many times. It's the element of hypocrisy in the party of the religious righteous that makes it relevant.

It's like the republicans supporting bloated military budgets and corporate welfare while decrying fiscal irresponsibility, or the tea party claiming to be the party of the people while gutting their ability to vote, to freely associate for better pay and conditions, and gutting environmental protections.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 6:02 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Amen Kiki. As to the titles, I believe "Governor" and "President" are titles which remain with people after they leave office--I know President is, but I'm not sure about Governor. "Sheriff" is not a title which I believe somene owns after leaving their job, so "retired sheriff" would be more accurate. As to using Republican in the title of the thread, I think that's right in line with Raptor using "Democrat"; the only difference is lack of underlining to make the point.

It's sad, but we do often discover that people who were highly respected turn out to have a darker side which is discovered later. Even a few well-respected sports figures have been found to be involved in dog fighting and pedophilia, if I recall...

The point that the party of family values makes stories like this show hypocrisy is well taken, except that we don't know if this guy was a serious Republican or has ever railed against anyone else's lack of family values.



NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 6:40 AM

BYTEMITE


...I'm not really sure why any of this should be a crime.

Homosexuality and homoerotic behaviour should not be a crime, prostitution should not be a crime, recreational drugs should not be a crime, therefore trading recreational drugs for same sex relations should not be a crime.

I suppose he was hung by idiotic and pointless laws that he may have at one time enforced. But I'm not even sure that's irony. Poetic justice?

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 6:41 AM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.


"... except that we don't know if this guy was a serious Republican or has ever railed against anyone else's lack of family values."

He was a politically active republican and displayed a high level of personal and professional hypocrisy.

"Patrick J. Sullivan was known for ... his concern about teenage drug use. ... several informants gave information attesting that Sullivan was connected to the distribution and use of meth. ... confidential informants ... claimed Sullivan was dealing the drug, and would only sell it if they had sex with him. ... he was named Sheriff of the Year ... >>> for his work as law enforcement chairman of the Colorado George W. Bush for President committee <<<."
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57334054-504083/ex-colo-sheriff
-patrick-sullivan-arrested-in-drugs-for-sex-sting-held-in-jail-named-for-himself
/

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 7:44 AM

WULFENSTAR

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg


This "Sheriff" was an advocate of gun-control.

So, like most people who are, he was a moral deviant with a god-complex.

He was a RINO and shared most ideologies with libs.

No big loss.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"



NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 7:52 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Byte, you're right to a large extent. Given he wsa retired, what he did in private should have been his own business and nobody else's.

And I still can't accuse him of hypocrisy unless it can be shown that he spoke out against someone else's "family values".

Then again, there's certainly hypocrisy in his actions when compared to this:
Quote:

Interestingly, he was also a prominent opponent of medical marijuana, and served as co-chair of Citizens Against the Legalization of Marijuana. The opposition group helped to keep MMJ legalization off Colorado voters' ballots in 1998. http://www.coloradopols.com/diary/16827/former-sheriff-pat-sullivan-ar
rested-held-in-patrick-j-sullivan-jr-detention-facility
]

Actually, given that, in my opinion this is kind of a non-story, put up for partisan reasons.

My gawd, Wulf, you are truly pathetic. You have nothing whatsoever to contribute to a discussion, only parroting talking points you heard...where? My money's on FauxNews.



NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 8:10 AM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.


"And I still can't accuse him of hypocrisy unless it can be shown that he spoke out against someone else's "family values"."

What about his anti-drug stance and his own drug use? I think that qualifies as being publicly and professionally an advocate for one thing, and a private practitioner of the thing he decries.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 8:26 AM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.


Also, Byte, I agree. Our laws should focus on crimes where there is a victim and/ or inflicted damage. What we are doing as a society essentially jailing people b/c we are prissy scolds with our panties in a bunch would be humorous, if we weren't spending so much time, money and effort on it.

Having said that, I do think there are some drugs that should not be freely available to anyone just for the buying. Their addictive and disruptive potential is just too high to allow everyone to just experiment on themselves. What I think we should be doing is de-criminalizing some drugs, and offering treatment instead of jail for those who are addicted to the illegal ones (as well as treatment for those who are addicted to the legal kind as well).

As a sheriff though, he was charged with enforcing the laws of his jurisdiction, including on himself. That is an obligation he knowingly took on when he took the job.

But then again, he wouldn't be the first law enforcement officer to sample and get hooked on the goods that routinely go by. If we had a sane policy, which IMHO we don't, he would get addiction treatment instead of jail.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 9:27 AM

FREMDFIRMA


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
...I'm not really sure why any of this should be a crime.

Homosexuality and homoerotic behaviour should not be a crime, prostitution should not be a crime, recreational drugs should not be a crime, therefore trading recreational drugs for same sex relations should not be a crime.

I suppose he was hung by idiotic and pointless laws that he may have at one time enforced. But I'm not even sure that's irony. Poetic justice?


Indeed.

-F

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 1:35 PM

BYTEMITE


I guess technically there are some worthwhile laws against cooking methamphetamine, relative to lingering toxicity and pollution concerns. So methamphetamine cooking can be considered to have innocent "victims." Other than that, I'm not sure we really have any say against USING methamphetamine. While it'd be nice to protect people against becoming addicts, ultimately people have to make their own choices.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 1:50 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
I'm beginning to suspect Auraptor and Kwicko are both River6213




I think it more likely that Rappy and you are one and the same. After all, I've already outed a few of your sockpuppets, so we know you're no stranger to using aliases to try to bolster your arguments.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 2, 2011 7:32 PM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!


Tennessee leads the nation in sheriffs convicted of dope dealin.

Go VOLS!


NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, December 3, 2011 4:49 PM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.


"While it'd be nice to protect people against becoming addicts, ultimately people have to make their own choices."

Well ... IMO

First of all, young people shouldn't have that option. Their judgment is too unformed, and their propensity to take risks and do whatever they feel they need to do to belong with peers too strong, for them to realistically assess risk.* In addition their brains are still developing, and extremely susceptible to only modestly addictive psychoactive like caffeine, alcohol and nicotine. Even these drugs will alter permanent brain architecture. Very psychoactive substances would be even more risky to a younger brain.

More than that, there are some drugs that I don't think should be freely available to anyone. Giving them a try is like testing your ability to fly by stepping off a cliff.


*There is a new theory that teenage risk taking, peer bonding and disobedience are a function of their need to create a peer society for the time when they need to cooperate to raise families, and to create their independence. Some now think of it as a functional 'dysfunction'. But if you add in freely available drugs, the transition through puberty looks to me like a major Darwin Award gauntlet. Here kids, do want you want. See you on the other side (not). ALSO - one of the things one notices about 'traditional society' - African Bushmen, Inuit etc - is that they have very tight control over the passage of the young into increasingly adult society. I think it does a few things. It gives them a set of measures by which they assess themselves and others assess them. It gives them goals. It invests them in the social rules, important in societies where 'how to stay alive' has been worked out and experimentation is not that valuable. The western model of teenage rebellion and increasing freedom is not universally applicable.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, December 3, 2011 6:01 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by Geezer:

And what does the gender of the person he's trading drugs for sex with have to do with anything?




The sex of the person he's trading drugs for sex with only goes to his own hypocrisy. He - and you - support a party that doesn't believe gays have any rights at all. I suppose you're okay with the prostitution bit of it, just as long as he doesn't try to marry any of these men, eh?

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, December 4, 2011 3:14 AM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up


Quote:

Originally posted by Kwicko:
He - and you - support a party that doesn't believe gays have any rights at all. I suppose you're okay with the prostitution bit of it, just as long as he doesn't try to marry any of these men, eh?



Wrong again, Mike. You'd know if you actually read folks posts instead of just looking for spelling errors.





"Keep the Shiny side up"

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, December 4, 2011 6:48 AM

BYTEMITE


Quote:

First of all, young people shouldn't have that option.


My high school friends, and this is in Utah, mind you, used recreational drugs and bought cigarettes as teenagers despite the laws against it. One of them was a partier and a raver, and regularly partook in binge drinking, drugs, and unprotected sex. Several of them got married and divorced already and had kids out of wedlock and put up for adoption.

I'm willing to admit my friends are all total MORONS. Yet I like they anyway, and there is in fact a wide gulf between experimentation and destroying their lives forever. Or even becoming an addict and never being able to recover.

I uphold their choices are more important than their safety. They would not be the people they are today if they had not made those choices.

Talking about the poor peer pressured children, adults have the same pressures and absolutely no better judgement.

Most of the rites of passage you mention? Take place around puberty. On average, we're talking 13 year olds, though the influx of chemicals in our diet have caused that to maybe be 11, 12. I don't really think elven, twelve, or thirteen year olds are all that different mentally, developmentally, or in the sense of maturity.

Obviously, we EVOLVED having hormone insane teenagers doing what they will. It has not destroyed the human race. And I can't agree with the idea that they somehow need PROTECTION from their own lives and choices.

That's the same argument that was used to keep women second class citizens for millenia. It did women no favours.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, December 4, 2011 6:59 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by 1kiki:
... or the tea party claiming to be the party of the people while gutting their ability to vote, to freely associate for better pay and conditions, and gutting environmental protections.



Gee, great. More false accusations towards the TEA Party types. How novel.





"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, December 4, 2011 7:27 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Kiki, I happen to agree with most everything you wrote. I think the "law" deals with it wrong, but yes, young people are often what you described.

Personal experience: In college I was introduced to drugs, when I was in my "fuck the world" stage after 18 years of my family dysfunction. Most people got drunk at parties; booze has never liked me, and the feeling is mutual, so when I discovered pot and we both immediately liked one another, it became my party drug of choice.

I fell for a guy who was absolutely brilliant but totally fucked up. He and our philosophy teacher would go at it for almost the entire class period occasionally, while the rest of us sat around marveling and not understanding a word of it, and he wrote and sang beautiful songs. At the time, he was shooting meth in one arm, acid in the other, and I couldn't comprehend why someone with so much going for them would be so self-destructive. So I went to his roommate and asked to experience speed. Didn't know his roommate was also a speed freak, so he shot me up with a whole nickle bag. The minute it hit my system, my first thought was "ahhh, now I understand".

I spent the next six months shooting speed with him, until he returned to the Merchant Marines and I discovered his sister, who I liked very much and had done speed with, was seriously ill with--damn, I forget it now, a disease many get from shared needles back then (not AIDS). I stopped shooting, tho' I occasionally did the little cross-top-whites for a few more years, but I moved into my first communal house and discovered mescaline and psylocybin, which immediately became my drugs of choice (I LOVED the color trips!).

A few years later I stopped doing all drugs but pot, which I've enjoyed ever since, for decades now as just an "evening cocktail".

Ironically, Li Sing found me a couple of years ago and visited. He's straight, been through a couple of marriages, fighting to stay in his son's life (who he loves dearly), and it turned out he'd looked me up because he had the same rosy memories of me that I'd hugged to myself all these years, and thought I was the "lost love" of his life, would leave Jim and go off with him I'm not anything like the person he knew, however, any more than he is who he was. He stayed for a couple of days; when I wouldn't go off with him, he left and cut all ties with me. Essentially all he did was ruin a precious memory for both of us.

So yes, in a way the majority of us grew out of it and survived. A few didn't. In that way it's a Darwinian thing, coupled with luck, but the chances we took could have formed our lives, or taken them. Was I smart enough to quit drugs, or lucky enough? Or both? I dunno.

The fact that marijuana is a "Schedule One" drug, given many who are Schedule Two, is abominable to me. I could say it was luck that I didn't suffer permanent harm, but given it was at least half a decision of choice, the other came into it. LSD was the ONLY drug I wouldn't take--I even tried opium and cocaine, once each. They did nothing for me. Even then I firmly believed that one had to know oneself VERY well to chance LSD, and even then it was a risk--I'd talked down too many friends on bad trips.

So yes, in my opinion too
Quote:

Their judgment is too unformed, and their propensity to take risks and do whatever they feel they need to do to belong with peers too strong, for them to realistically assess risk. In addition their brains are still developing, and extremely susceptible to only modestly addictive psychoactive like caffeine, alcohol and nicotine. Even these drugs will alter permanent brain architecture. Very psychoactive substances would be even more risky to a younger brain.
Throwing people in jail isn't the answer (I also had a long-time friend, a good and decent man who briefly dealt pot, who was targeted by TPTB, lured to Texas and busted because the laws there were harsher--did years in prison but luckily came out whole), and I don't know what is, but merely letting them make their own decisions can have disastrous consequences. On the other hand, for MOST of them, even bad decisions are part of being human and growing up, so there's that to consider as well. Most of us survive and grew up okay, which doesn't mean it was right.

Oh, and Kiki, I agree about the Tea Party; we have much in common, and maybe it's a necessary evolution that we have them as a warning and an illustration. I can at least hope so, it's terribly sad what happened to them, and what happened to us as a country because of the excellent manipulation job done to them.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, December 4, 2011 7:38 AM

BYTEMITE


When 1kiki said "young people" she meant "teenagers."

College students are adults.

I still hold that adults are just as irresponsible and stupid as teenagers.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, December 4, 2011 7:41 AM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.


"Obviously, we EVOLVED having hormone insane teenagers doing what they will."

Well, ah, no. All the non-monetary societies I can think of have rigid rites and rituals for passing from one stage to the other, and tightly control behavior from infancy through adulthood. That includes who you will marry, who will raise your children, what you do with the game you hunt and the crops you grow, etc. No one is free to give society the big effyu, and everyone is far too dependent on others for survival to risk going off in a snit.

Oh fyi, I meant till around 21-25. Brains are still actively remodeling till then. Though whether 25 is a realistic age is a big question with me.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, December 4, 2011 11:22 AM

FREMDFIRMA


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
I uphold their choices are more important than their safety. They would not be the people they are today if they had not made those choices.

Talking about the poor peer pressured children, adults have the same pressures and absolutely no better judgement.

Most of the rites of passage you mention? Take place around puberty. On average, we're talking 13 year olds, though the influx of chemicals in our diet have caused that to maybe be 11, 12. I don't really think elven, twelve, or thirteen year olds are all that different mentally, developmentally, or in the sense of maturity.

Obviously, we EVOLVED having hormone insane teenagers doing what they will. It has not destroyed the human race. And I can't agree with the idea that they somehow need PROTECTION from their own lives and choices.

That's the same argument that was used to keep women second class citizens for millenia. It did women no favours.




You go, Byte!
Damn straight.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, December 4, 2011 11:37 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Quote:

When 1kiki said "young people" she meant "teenagers."
I was 18; isn't that a teenager? I was also a VERY late bloomer...having had my first kiss and first date at 16. It was jr. college (I never made it past that) and, come to think of it, given my birthday is in October, I was probably 17 at the time.

I will, however, freely grant you that adults are often no better than kids in puberty...



NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, December 4, 2011 5:45 PM

BYTEMITE


1kiki, when I talk about evolution, I mean pre-society stuff. We're not finding gobs of teenaged protohuman bones out there. Life expectancy was lower but not THAT much lower. Australopithicus almost certainly had the same hormone influx in the teenage years, and weren't nearly so organized as we are. Part of the risky experimental and explorative behaviour we see in teens is actually adaptive behaviour, and we know it's adaptive because it existed prior to civilization and because if they HAD died out at that stage, the human race would have gone extinct.

As such, I must conclude social norms constraining wild teenage behaviour is more about SOCIAL NORMS than it is survival.

I also note that yes, pre-industrial societies can be strictly regimented from infancy to adulthood... But their rite of passage still tends to happen around puberty. Perhaps it isn't true to adult physiological growth or the developing mind, but it IS about the time when the developing human becomes interested in being independent and being a separate entity than their parents. So choice factors very strongly into that age.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Monday, December 5, 2011 3:38 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht


I agree Quicko that's an ooky story, maybe not for the same reasons as you think so but still. I think we can both agree that the hypocracy thing is undesirable. Meth is rutted up stuff.

Kiki, I agree with you about it taking a while for good judgement to come into play with humans. I have a strict age designation system that I opperate by, insuring equalization and respect for all. That doesn't mean that everyone's manhood or womanhood looks the same though. I'm 26, I view myself as just as much a woman as someone my age who has a husband and little ones, and someone my age who is touched and doesn't have those things and needs looked after and seen to is just as much a woman too, our womanhood is just different and has differing aspects to it.

Byte I'm going to have to disagree with you on your points about 13 year olds being just as good at making decisions as 30 year olds, that seems very naive and illogical to me. That's part of why its good for kids to wait until they're grown to make babies, rut, get married, provide for themselves without help etc. In novels and rare cases it works out okay (not the babies thing or the marriage/rutting though) but in real life it isn't advisable.

Drugs: I believe that if a person has mental health differences in their genes that street drugs can bring it out in them, not cause it, but bring it out or cause it to manifest sooner. So street drugs, even marijuana, and young people don't mix.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Monday, December 5, 2011 4:55 PM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.


"... we know it's adaptive because it existed prior to civilization ..."

Well, here is where we disagree. Most people think the best estimate for pre-civilization humans lies with non-monetary societies AKA hunter-gatherers.

I look at humans as being different from Australopithecus. We are a squishy, weak, fragile species compared even to chimps. IMO the thing that kept us pathetic specimens alive when we left our island paradise was our language, which allowed us to gather, remember and transmit our technology through generations.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Monday, December 5, 2011 6:44 PM

BYTEMITE


1kiki: Uh... Sure, but that doesn't mean that being crazy teenagers was ever a dealbreaker for our species. And I can say with certainty that for as long as there's been humanoid species, there's been crazy hormone teenage years.

Riona: Yeah, I know, you believe in the magic number. We both dislike exploitative relationships, but I don't believe in the magic number, simply because it's not universal.

I concede that it's become part of social norms for important reasons, but I believe as a catch all to prevent exploitative relationships, and NOT because of less judgement of teens compared to adults, because I've seen adults make HORRIBLE decisions about their partners and baby making and get into exploitative or codependent relationships themselves. I think everyone here probably has too.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

YOUR OPTIONS

NEW POSTS TODAY

USERPOST DATE

OTHER TOPICS

DISCUSSIONS
The Olive Branch (Or... a proposed Reboot)
Sun, November 24, 2024 19:17 - 3 posts
Musk Announces Plan To Buy MSNBC And Turn It Into A News Network
Sun, November 24, 2024 19:05 - 1 posts
Punishing Russia With Sanctions
Sun, November 24, 2024 18:05 - 565 posts
human actions, global climate change, global human solutions
Sun, November 24, 2024 18:01 - 953 posts
Russia Invades Ukraine. Again
Sun, November 24, 2024 17:13 - 7497 posts
Elections; 2024
Sun, November 24, 2024 16:24 - 4799 posts
US debt breaks National Debt Clock
Sun, November 24, 2024 14:13 - 33 posts
The predictions thread
Sun, November 24, 2024 13:15 - 1189 posts
The mysteries of the human mind: cell phone videos and religiously-driven 'honor killings' in the same sentence. OR How the rationality of the science that surrounds people fails to penetrate irrational beliefs.
Sun, November 24, 2024 13:11 - 18 posts
In the garden, and RAIN!!! (2)
Sun, November 24, 2024 13:05 - 4762 posts
Sweden Europe and jihadi islamist Terror...StreetShitters, no longer just sending it all down the Squat Toilet
Sun, November 24, 2024 13:01 - 25 posts
MSNBC "Journalist" Gets put in his place
Sun, November 24, 2024 12:40 - 2 posts

FFF.NET SOCIAL