^ Meaning we should stop listening to meteorologists.

But it does need to be in some order... specifically one that is universally understood (otherwise you'd have to learn a new order every time you opened a file). The current order has been decided upon, so that's what it needs to be in. Right?

Frustrating, huh? I know how you feel. :P

I agree. These posts don't leave any room for middle ground, when in reality most people live there. It's not hypocritical to be opposed to gay marriage just because there are a lot of other things that are destroying the family. All those things are terrible and need to be fixed. But just because gay marriage isn't as bad doesn't mean it's automatically good.

The dumb thing is that people try to twist this into some kind of support for gay marriage. If you want to make an argument for gay marriage, go ahead, but there are a lot of arguments to choose from that are better and more honest than this one in every way. This is just a crappy argument all around.

oh come on. This conversation stopped being about sexual assault several days ago. You guys are no fun. :P

Haha hey look, I was right! I've always felt like I would get downvoted just for breathing too hard, but I wanted to find out for sure. Now I know -- I don't even have to say anything and people will still think I'm offensive. That's oddly comforting in a way. It's good to know that the downvotes aren't actually a result of people disagreeing with my points, it's just a vendetta against me.
Thanks guys.
I'm really done now, I just had to do that. :)

[Breathes heavily]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to put words in your mouth, I was just referring to general tendencies if people in general. Not you specifically.
That's fine, if you don't want there to be middle ground, you can keep the battle lines formed. But in my experience, this "middle ground" not only exists, but is a pretty cool place to hang out.

I love how it's always about gender too. Every time, it's "you're a man. Therfore, shut up." Do you think I would be liked more if I were female? Or will these people be satisfied with no less than total intellectual surrender and submission? It would be interesting to find out... 'cause I don't see how gender has anything to do with the validity of my points.
*sigh...

I'm not saying we should be total pushovers who believe nothing, just that we should be humble enough to admit that we don't know everything, and that there's a lot we can learn even from the people we disagree with.
Besides, you can have strong opinions and still not clash heads if you're honest enough to give the other side their due credit. You don't have to agree - just don't lie to yourself and say they are evil or stupid.

We don't have to clash heads. We just do because it's easier to do that than it is to live with ambiguity. It's a psychological defense that pretty much everyone is guilty of, sadly. I think we can learn to find a lot of meaning in uncertainty, we just have to be willing to let go of some things.

Interesting, I noticed that that Snopes article was making a different point than what you guys are making. Okay, so maybe that one list is unreliable. Okay, that's good to know. But I noticed that the article refers to a guy named Pat Malone who gives seminars on protection. It also counters the weak list of protection techniques and provides its own list of ideas that are better. You're trying to say that this advice is hurtful. But obviously neither Pat Malone nor that Snopes article agree with you.
Anyway, enough of this. I still don't understand why at least seven of you are repeatedly downvoting everything I say. If I'm being offensive, I'd love to hear how. I suspect I'll never know. Whatever.

Probably the addition of the word "regular" to marriage. That word usually isn't there. Marriage is marriage, that's it. "Gay marriage", then, is really an oxymoron in many people's minds.

Besides, educating the public on safety doesn't do anything to take away from efforts directed at the potential rapists themselves. Why not both? It's not like teaching people to protect themselves means you can't ever do anything to help rapists themselves. Sure, maybe it's "less productive", but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. It's also "less productive" to put in bullet-proof glass in all the banks than it is to try and actually prevent bank robberies, but that doesn't mean is not still a good idea.
My big question is this: if you can help somebody, why shouldn't you? "Oh, I'm sure she's heard it before." "I don't want to come off as a victim-blamer." "I don't want to sound sexist." "If she gets raped, it's not her fault anyway, it's the rapist's." Those are all pretty lousy excuses to not do something that might save someone from a terrible experience.

I think it's foolish and unsafe to just assume that women (and men) have already heard it all and therefore don't need to be given updated self-protection information. I promise, not every woman on the planet has heard everything you have, and if a post is deemed repetitive and annoying (can't imagine why it would be) by most people, it may be new to one or two viewers, and if it's enough to possibly prevent just one rape, it's worth it.
Just the other day I read something someone had posted (I don't remember if it was here or somewhere else) that described some of the current trends in rape/abduction techniques and some of the traps criminals are using to lure women into vulnerable positions. This was new, updated information released by a police station that most people hadn't seen before. You can't tell me that those kinds of things are "not helpful". That's just ridiculous.

Man, even in the full video, the guys in the back are completely apathetic. Wow.

I think the problem here started when matrix and I both made totally neutral comments that advocated both types of rape prevention -- fixing rapists and teaching women (and men) basic precaution. And for that we got downvoted halfway to hell. I think that's where the defensiveness started. Neither of us said anything that was even remotely victim-blaming, but we got pushed into that position by everyone here.
That happens to me pretty much every time I say something here, so I'm used to it. Maybe matrix isn't yet.
Anyway, I think we all mostly agree here. Rape is the fault of the rapist. That's it. We need to help them take responsibility for their actions, even as we take steps to protect ourselves.

Yes, kill the child. Put it out of its misery. Let's just nuke Ethiopia while we're at it. It's for the best.

Re: the above about birth being a punishment, it's not. It's a natural consequence. It's also a very positive, fulfilling experience (according to everyone I know who's done it).