3--2-1 .

fernando · 9th November 2015, 08:00 PM

Thank you for your post, Raf.
Perhaps i wasn't sensitive to the point of considering your original post as relative to the theme of ancient arms and armour ... notwithstanding the romantic and kinaesthetic introductions. In any case, as a topic in itself, with its contents, is better placed in the Ethno Miscelania section, once we have one available.
On the other hand, it is more than visible that, the majority of discussions that take place in these fora, is far from being locked into an academic ambiance.
It is however interesting to notice that, your last post may hardly be found distant from an academic one; however naturally worth to appreciate.
All the best.

.

Raf · 10th November 2015, 04:45 PM

Thanks for that . I will try to be less oblique in future.

ariel · 16th November 2015, 01:34 PM

Political correctness goes amok these days. I just read that a 9 yo boy who wrote a love letter to a 9 yo girl was officially accused of being a sexual harasser. In one of my ( purely medical) papers I referred to a 5 yo patient as a girl. A highly respected medical journal demanded changing it to "a 5 yo woman".
My kids grew around all things sharp and pointy, thank Heavens, and I took them to the Gun and Knife shows when they were 6 or 7. They are likely to be the only human beings in our university ivory tower town to know the meaning of such words as shamshir, panabas and shibria. Tofu steaks are the next step....

I think that the Y-chromosome is slowly but surely vanishes from the genetic composition of the so-called "industrialized" societies.......

No wonder that pharmaceutical companies are so successful in promoting the diagnosis of " low testosterone syndrome": they are undoubtedly correct in identifying its epidemics.

A. G. Maisey · 16th November 2015, 08:19 PM

I think that the Y-chromosome is slowly but surely vanishes from the genetic composition of the so-called "industrialized" societies.......

I agree absolutely Ariel.

Not only do I agree, but this phenomenon is able to be predicted from two existing bases:-

1) behaviour of animals when overcrowding in an animal population occurs

2) human behaviour in times of peace

Before everybody jumps on me and tells me that we are currently at war and points at the prevalence of acts of terrorism, I would suggest that the 38 million people killed in WWI, and the 60 million people killed in WWII rather indicates that although we do currently have problems, we are now, and have been for some time, living in an era of peace.

Other things can be reasonably predicted from the above two bases also, but we won't go there.

Incidentally, the editor of your "highly respected medical journal" was way out of his depth, both politically and grammatically when he insisted on referring to a 5 year old girl as a "woman".

The word "woman" means a mature human female.

In Old English the word "woman" did not exist, the word used was "wifmon, or wif", which gives the Modern English "wife", a married human female.

Surely your editors were not suggesting that a 5 year old girl was fit for marriage?

If these editors were trying to achieve some misguided form of political correctness they should have insisted on the use of "female", not "woman".

Words are important, and should be chosen with care.

fernando · 16th November 2015, 08:26 PM

Different perspectives, different ways of being in life, different cultures.
My heir happens to be a female; society environment determining which are the right toys per gender, i didn't have much difficulty to discourage her from playing with toy weapons, nor my options included narrating my war memories to put her asleep; notwithstanding that she is now a grown up and appreciates my present passion for antique arms ... in their non lethal aspect. I am glad that i live in a less industrialized area of the globe and the chromosomal levels are not yet so unbalanced

.
I must say i hesitated before feeding this line of conversation; i have a feeling that it will lead to a more than political incorrectness.
Herewith my regret

.

drac2k · 30th December 2015, 07:31 PM

Let us carry the discussion further and talk about armor ; have you seen what is mandated by law for a child to ride a bike in this country? Headgear, elbow pads, knee pads, heck, you would think that the kid was going to joust !
I can remember one particularly steep hill, that we would go down at full speed, often times, someone would be sitting on the handle bars as well and while both parties didn't always arrive at the bottom at the same time, there was no limit as to how much we laughed !In the winter we would go down that same frozen hill in a rusty car hood.

A. G. Maisey · 30th December 2015, 09:01 PM

Hi drac, I live in Australia.

I raced bicycles for 26 years, started to race at 16years of age. I still ride a bike, but I no longer race.

The whole time I was racing we were not required to wear crash helmets in any races other than track races.

Several of my friends died from head injuries received in crashes.

I had concussion more than ten times, and was once in hospital unconscious for 3 days, in hospital for over a week.

About 25 years ago mandatory laws requiring all cyclists of all ages to wear crash helmets when riding were introduced.

Now you see all the big name pro cyclists in the big European tours and road races wearing head gear that makes them look like aliens.

I absolutely hated it when those mandatory laws were introduced, and I still hate wearing a crash hat every time I go on a public road.

But the fact of the matter is that if you fall and whack your head with a crash hat on, you don't get concussion, and you most likely won't die.

So --- kids must wear crash hats as well as other protective gear?

Yeah, maybe a bit overdone, but how old is a "child"?

Under 12? Under 8? Under 5?

Realistically I must admit that compulsory crash hats are wise, even though I dislike wearing one.

drac2k · 31st December 2015, 10:56 AM

Greetings back.I guess one must strike a happy medium.As a child I always engaged in some type of contact sport,wether it was a crude game of football we called in the United States "Smear,"or wrestling in high school and the University, or Union rugby for many years.My how that game has changed and probably for the better, but as a front row, I still lament, how they no longer allow the barge, lifting the opposite front row or turning him into his own hooker; in my opinion it takes some of the skill away, where a smaller pack could compete with a bigger one.Yes I know, it has saved broken necks and spinal injuries, but on the other side what is next, helmets ?
In conclusion there must safety rules, but a kid must be allowed to enjoy his childhood ( for those few that come out of their rooms, from playing video games),where he learns what it means to have physical contact and an unkind word might get you a black eye.
Happy New Year

9th November 2015, 08:00 PM	#1
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Thank you for your post, Raf. Perhaps i wasn't sensitive to the point of considering your original post as relative to the theme of ancient arms and armour ... notwithstanding the romantic and kinaesthetic introductions. In any case, as a topic in itself, with its contents, is better placed in the Ethno Miscelania section, once we have one available. On the other hand, it is more than visible that, the majority of discussions that take place in these fora, is far from being locked into an academic ambiance. It is however interesting to notice that, your last post may hardly be found distant from an academic one; however naturally worth to appreciate. All the best. . Last edited by fernando; 9th November 2015 at 08:13 PM.

16th November 2015, 08:19 PM	#4
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	I think that the Y-chromosome is slowly but surely vanishes from the genetic composition of the so-called "industrialized" societies....... I agree absolutely Ariel. Not only do I agree, but this phenomenon is able to be predicted from two existing bases:- 1) behaviour of animals when overcrowding in an animal population occurs 2) human behaviour in times of peace Before everybody jumps on me and tells me that we are currently at war and points at the prevalence of acts of terrorism, I would suggest that the 38 million people killed in WWI, and the 60 million people killed in WWII rather indicates that although we do currently have problems, we are now, and have been for some time, living in an era of peace. Other things can be reasonably predicted from the above two bases also, but we won't go there. Incidentally, the editor of your "highly respected medical journal" was way out of his depth, both politically and grammatically when he insisted on referring to a 5 year old girl as a "woman". The word "woman" means a mature human female. In Old English the word "woman" did not exist, the word used was "wifmon, or wif", which gives the Modern English "wife", a married human female. Surely your editors were not suggesting that a 5 year old girl was fit for marriage? If these editors were trying to achieve some misguided form of political correctness they should have insisted on the use of "female", not "woman". Words are important, and should be chosen with care. Last edited by A. G. Maisey; 16th November 2015 at 08:31 PM.

31st December 2015, 10:56 AM	#8
drac2k Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 1,255	Greetings back.I guess one must strike a happy medium.As a child I always engaged in some type of contact sport,wether it was a crude game of football we called in the United States "Smear,"or wrestling in high school and the University, or Union rugby for many years.My how that game has changed and probably for the better, but as a front row, I still lament, how they no longer allow the barge, lifting the opposite front row or turning him into his own hooker; in my opinion it takes some of the skill away, where a smaller pack could compete with a bigger one.Yes I know, it has saved broken necks and spinal injuries, but on the other side what is next, helmets ? In conclusion there must safety rules, but a kid must be allowed to enjoy his childhood ( for those few that come out of their rooms, from playing video games),where he learns what it means to have physical contact and an unkind word might get you a black eye. Happy New Year Last edited by drac2k; 31st December 2015 at 02:06 PM.

10th November 2015, 04:45 PM	#2
Raf Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 252	Thanks for that . I will try to be less oblique in future.

16th November 2015, 01:34 PM	#3
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Political correctness goes amok these days. I just read that a 9 yo boy who wrote a love letter to a 9 yo girl was officially accused of being a sexual harasser. In one of my ( purely medical) papers I referred to a 5 yo patient as a girl. A highly respected medical journal demanded changing it to "a 5 yo woman". My kids grew around all things sharp and pointy, thank Heavens, and I took them to the Gun and Knife shows when they were 6 or 7. They are likely to be the only human beings in our university ivory tower town to know the meaning of such words as shamshir, panabas and shibria. Tofu steaks are the next step.... I think that the Y-chromosome is slowly but surely vanishes from the genetic composition of the so-called "industrialized" societies....... No wonder that pharmaceutical companies are so successful in promoting the diagnosis of " low testosterone syndrome": they are undoubtedly correct in identifying its epidemics.

16th November 2015, 08:26 PM	#5
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Different perspectives, different ways of being in life, different cultures. My heir happens to be a female; society environment determining which are the right toys per gender, i didn't have much difficulty to discourage her from playing with toy weapons, nor my options included narrating my war memories to put her asleep; notwithstanding that she is now a grown up and appreciates my present passion for antique arms ... in their non lethal aspect. I am glad that i live in a less industrialized area of the globe and the chromosomal levels are not yet so unbalanced . I must say i hesitated before feeding this line of conversation; i have a feeling that it will lead to a more than political incorrectness. Herewith my regret .

30th December 2015, 07:31 PM	#6
drac2k Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 1,255	Let us carry the discussion further and talk about armor ; have you seen what is mandated by law for a child to ride a bike in this country? Headgear, elbow pads, knee pads, heck, you would think that the kid was going to joust ! I can remember one particularly steep hill, that we would go down at full speed, often times, someone would be sitting on the handle bars as well and while both parties didn't always arrive at the bottom at the same time, there was no limit as to how much we laughed !In the winter we would go down that same frozen hill in a rusty car hood.

30th December 2015, 09:01 PM	#7
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	Hi drac, I live in Australia. I raced bicycles for 26 years, started to race at 16years of age. I still ride a bike, but I no longer race. The whole time I was racing we were not required to wear crash helmets in any races other than track races. Several of my friends died from head injuries received in crashes. I had concussion more than ten times, and was once in hospital unconscious for 3 days, in hospital for over a week. About 25 years ago mandatory laws requiring all cyclists of all ages to wear crash helmets when riding were introduced. Now you see all the big name pro cyclists in the big European tours and road races wearing head gear that makes them look like aliens. I absolutely hated it when those mandatory laws were introduced, and I still hate wearing a crash hat every time I go on a public road. But the fact of the matter is that if you fall and whack your head with a crash hat on, you don't get concussion, and you most likely won't die. So --- kids must wear crash hats as well as other protective gear? Yeah, maybe a bit overdone, but how old is a "child"? Under 12? Under 8? Under 5? Realistically I must admit that compulsory crash hats are wise, even though I dislike wearing one.