After donating blood today, I laugh at all the times in movies where someone gets shot and is just like, w/e. getting shot=down and out
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I don't think military service should be mandatory. mainly because I know a lot of really fucking stupid people who I don't trust to lock my car doors when they get out, let alone protect me or my country. BUT I do like the system Germany has in place (if I'm remembering it right). When you turn 18, you either serve 2 years in an ROTC-type military dealy, or you spend 2 years with a volunteer position, with a specific number of hours per week or month or whatever ladling at soup kitchens or candystriping or scrubbing the animal shelter floors or what have you. They might only apply this to guys, but I'd support this for both sexes.
As for emergency situations: Fight or flight isn't reasonable. Humans have fancied themselves top of the food chain for some time now but they're still mushy and weak and they're still prey. There are two types of survivors in shootings-- the ones who can think fast and go with your suggestions, and the types who go for prey instinct and pretend they're already dead. Someone did try to tackle Cho. He got shot.
With binding your hands, it's a judgement call. Let's say I'm the late night gas-station girl and I'm getting robbed and he wants to bind my hands. There's basically no way I can fight against him, and if I try then I'll *definitely* get shot. But if I let him bind my hands, it's possible he'll just chuck me in the beer fridge while he finishes cracking the safe and getting away. There are definitely people, perhaps not the most skilled criminals, who are confident in their ability to rob a bank but not confident in their ability to kill someone. They bind your hands, they lock you in the supply closet, they drive away. Not all of them, obviously, but some.
The idea of being under gunfire is one of those things where you can't be sure how you'll react until it's happening. Danger, hard moral decisions... where you can say "I'd totally do this" but under the wire it's a bit different. I haven't been in a shooting, thank gods, but in other tight situations I've played both cards. I've gotten away and I've fought back. Bravery isn't always being the hero.
1. I understand people who have a fundamental fear of needles. There is a difference between paralysing phobia and chickening out. 2. Back when they would take my blood, they could never get a good enough stick in my arm, and would just cause me pain, a nasty bruise and no blood given. (all except once) 3. The one time I did give successfully was right after September 11th, 2001. The blood donated from my area was wasted according to the red cross. 4. They will no longer accept my blood because I lived in Europe in the 1980's and early 90's. I am slightly perturbed that they won't give me any medical reason why...
4. Mad Cow. It's the same reason they won't take mine. They're afraid we might have the human variant, something like van-creutzfeld-jakob's syndrome. big long name. It a little bit aggravates me. I know they've shown it can be transmitted through blood, okay. But it has, like, a 20-year incubation period. So they're denying me the ability to give blood because I *might* have a disease that will let a person have 20 years of normal life (before turning their brain into a brick, true). On one hand, I wouldn't want that blood if there were better options. On the other hand, there's usually a blood shortage in my area, and I'd rather get vaguely dodgy blood than no blood at all.
I think that military service of some kind should be mandatory. Not everyone would be frontline grunt type. There are lots of logistics positions and things as well. CO's would be able to get positions as medics and the like. I think it should be for both males and females. We can talk more in depth on skype.
Humans are mushy and weak, but so is the guy with the gun. If *everyone had rushed cho, bitch woulda looked like he went through a meat grinder. And even so, I'd rather die rushing at him with a weapon in hand then under my desk. Same story with the binding of hands. They *might* not kill you execution style after they finish, but it isn't your decision. And just because they have a gun doesn't make them invincible. A determined, adrenaline filled person can have a reasonable chance against anyone else in close quarters, especially if you get the gun out of their hands.
BUT
I do like the system Germany has in place (if I'm remembering it right). When you turn 18, you either serve 2 years in an ROTC-type military dealy, or you spend 2 years with a volunteer position, with a specific number of hours per week or month or whatever ladling at soup kitchens or candystriping or scrubbing the animal shelter floors or what have you. They might only apply this to guys, but I'd support this for both sexes.
As for emergency situations:
Fight or flight isn't reasonable. Humans have fancied themselves top of the food chain for some time now but they're still mushy and weak and they're still prey. There are two types of survivors in shootings-- the ones who can think fast and go with your suggestions, and the types who go for prey instinct and pretend they're already dead. Someone did try to tackle Cho. He got shot.
With binding your hands, it's a judgement call. Let's say I'm the late night gas-station girl and I'm getting robbed and he wants to bind my hands. There's basically no way I can fight against him, and if I try then I'll *definitely* get shot. But if I let him bind my hands, it's possible he'll just chuck me in the beer fridge while he finishes cracking the safe and getting away. There are definitely people, perhaps not the most skilled criminals, who are confident in their ability to rob a bank but not confident in their ability to kill someone. They bind your hands, they lock you in the supply closet, they drive away. Not all of them, obviously, but some.
The idea of being under gunfire is one of those things where you can't be sure how you'll react until it's happening. Danger, hard moral decisions... where you can say "I'd totally do this" but under the wire it's a bit different. I haven't been in a shooting, thank gods, but in other tight situations I've played both cards. I've gotten away and I've fought back. Bravery isn't always being the hero.
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2. Back when they would take my blood, they could never get a good enough stick in my arm, and would just cause me pain, a nasty bruise and no blood given. (all except once)
3. The one time I did give successfully was right after September 11th, 2001. The blood donated from my area was wasted according to the red cross.
4. They will no longer accept my blood because I lived in Europe in the 1980's and early 90's. I am slightly perturbed that they won't give me any medical reason why...
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It a little bit aggravates me. I know they've shown it can be transmitted through blood, okay. But it has, like, a 20-year incubation period. So they're denying me the ability to give blood because I *might* have a disease that will let a person have 20 years of normal life (before turning their brain into a brick, true). On one hand, I wouldn't want that blood if there were better options. On the other hand, there's usually a blood shortage in my area, and I'd rather get vaguely dodgy blood than no blood at all.
Reply
Humans are mushy and weak, but so is the guy with the gun. If *everyone had rushed cho, bitch woulda looked like he went through a meat grinder. And even so, I'd rather die rushing at him with a weapon in hand then under my desk.
Same story with the binding of hands. They *might* not kill you execution style after they finish, but it isn't your decision. And just because they have a gun doesn't make them invincible. A determined, adrenaline filled person can have a reasonable chance against anyone else in close quarters, especially if you get the gun out of their hands.
Reply
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