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5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

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Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#121

Post by ehsanu1 »

mkr-hn wrote: post #108
todayiamme wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it is easier to create slapstick than meaning. Humor may be a part of life and discourse, but in certain cases, and especially on the internet, it distracts from the real issue at hand, as most slapstick fails to convey meaning. If you can make me laugh and then think, then more power and karma to you, but most of us are unable to produce such witty insight on the fly all the time. We try. We fail, and we spa…

The initial criticism and long discussion any time someone cracks a joke isn't much of an improvement.

Except that it at least prevents the discussion devolving into a long chain of jokes, like you see on Reddit, and generally keeps this kind of thing to a minimum overall on HN.

There's a place for those chains of jokes, and that's mostly on Reddit (which I enjoy browsing often). But I would prefer to keep the discussion here on HN a bit more meaningful.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#122

Post by justincormack »

burgerbrain wrote: post #82
mileszs wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find your comment quite disturbing. I can get behind leaving a looter (slightly) bloody and bruised, I suppose, but the nonchalance with which you proclaim these other humans "deserve to die", and state that it's "only fair" is ... well, disturbing. That's the best word. It's disturbing. The whole damned thing is disturbing.

If a looter sees that someone has a metal baseball bat and doesn't decided to walk away, then they are responsible for what happens to themselves. Anyone with two braincells to rub together knows that if you go up against somebody with a giant metal club, you might die. Let's be honest here, these are not sniper rifles, in order for someone to be killed by someone wielding a bat defensively they have to opt-in. What…

In my experience of these London kids a lot of them are smoking heroin during these types of violent events, so I would be unlikely to trust their rationality.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#123

Post by rgraham »

hugh3 wrote: post #106
gburt wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> rule of law loses its grip for a moment. Really? You're a non-violent, non-rioting good person because of the law? I think you meant "civility loses its grip for a moment."

Really? You're a non-violent, non-rioting good person because of the law? I think you meant "civility loses its grip for a moment." I'm not a non-violent non-rioting good person because of the law, and I'm prepared to give the grandparent the benefit of the doubt and assume that doesn't apply to him either. However... Most people, I think, are fairly good, and are restrained from rioting and looting by their own cons…

I think the 'grip' is referring to the power of social proof. People are capable of both good and evil. You take a lot of cues from what you see around you.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#124

Post by egor83 »

mkr-hn wrote: post #105
TheFunkyMonk wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a recent Reddit convert who would like to follow the rules, why?

HN is allergic to humor. It's not entirely unfounded, but sometimes people take it too far.

It's not allergic; jokes are just off-topic here.

I like good jokes, but when I want some, I go to bash.org or the like ('Humour' folder in my GReader has more feeds than 'Technology'); but HN is not for jokes, it's for good discussion, so let's keep it like this.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#125

Post by mhb »

davidu wrote: post #113
NathanKP wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An aluminum bat to the head would greatly increase the chance that the person will be killed rather than just knocked out. I certainly disapprove of the looters and rioters, but I don't think they deserve to die.

The force and momentum of a solid wood bat will trump a hollow light aluminum bat any day. The only thing you get with aluminum is a greater velocity.

Force, momentum, velocity. They all seem somewhat related. Maybe mass too?

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#127

Post by georgieporgie »

mkr-hn wrote: post #105
TheFunkyMonk wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a recent Reddit convert who would like to follow the rules, why?

HN is allergic to humor. It's not entirely unfounded, but sometimes people take it too far.

I find that HN's comment policies seem much more relaxed on the weekends.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#129

Post by MrScruff »

frederickcook wrote: post #96
MrScruff wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any evidence that would suggest that?

I found this post from last night insightful: http://pennyred.blogspot.com/2011/08/panic-on-streets-of-lon...

Yes, I read that earlier. What did you find insightful in it? The people involved aren't commenting on government policy. They're looting. I think some on the left are desperately trying to spin this as some sort of popular uprising but it's nothing of the sort.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#130

Post by mikeklaas »

davidu wrote: post #113
NathanKP wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An aluminum bat to the head would greatly increase the chance that the person will be killed rather than just knocked out. I certainly disapprove of the looters and rioters, but I don't think they deserve to die.

The force and momentum of a solid wood bat will trump a hollow light aluminum bat any day. The only thing you get with aluminum is a greater velocity.

  force = 1/2 mv^2
  momentum ~= mv
Velocity matters.
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