If average citizens or the police intervened in every nasty human interaction, nothing else would get done. Besides, cops will tell you that intervening in domestic disputes is very dangerous. You, being a nice person, might intervene in a couple's nasty dispute and lo and behold, they both vent their wrath on you instead.

If I see somebody hit somebody else, I might ask the victim if they need help or want me to call the cops, but that's it. Humans are hotheads and the dopey ones hit each other. I also won't intervene if I see someone forcibly taking money from another person and then leaving. If the victim walks away more or less unharmed, then life goes on.

The line to cross occurs when the attacker doesn't just hit the victim once out of anger, but piles on and keeps hitting and hitting and hitting. (Rape is also a must-intervene moment). At that point, you're looking at someone who is in danger of being beaten to death or permanently crippled, and then I think the moral thing to do is intervene (yell stop, call the cops, pick up the nearest heavy object and clobber the attacker, etc.).

I'd be happy to see Senator Craig, a metaphorical raper of the enviroment in my opinon, go down (so to speak) on perv charges. Whatever it takes to get rid of these godawful Republicans is fine by me.

"GOP: Group of Perverts." Good one, Dataguyx!

ElephantMan, your arguments never rise to a level above that of the average flatworm, so why do you bother bothering us?

GOP = Party of rabid homophobia. Larry Craig is a prime example (alleged, natch) of GOP hypocrisy regarding gays.

Oh, for some holy water...

Now that Vick is facing prison time and no longer playing and losing millions and millions of dollars, now he's sorry.

Vick wasn't so sorry when he saw and heard dogs screaming in pain as their flesh was chewed off. Vick wasn't sorry when the dogs he hung or drowned struggled desperately for breath. Vick wasn't sorry when terrified and suffering dogs whimpered for help, only to be picked up and slammed to the ground.

Fuck Michael Vick. Let him suffer for awhile. Let him understand what pain and misery is. After that, if he says he's sorry, then just maybe I'll be ready to believe him.

As for Jesus: after Vick spent years torturing animals, Jesus is the last deity he should pretend to worship.

If so, then do what they want and become a doctor.

LW, it's your life to live, not your parents'. If you give in to their demands, you will be unhappy and for years and years look back with regret at your decision to allow your parents to dictate the course of your adult life.

You do not owe your parents the rest of your life. You owe them love and respect, but now that you are an adult, you do not owe them your obedience.

Pursue what you want to do with your life, LW. You're 20 now, but you won't be forever, and you will never again have the freedom to pursue your dreams as you do now. In 10 or 20 years, while it may not be too late to do what you want, it probably will.

The color of Michael Vick's skin does not matter one goddamn bit in this case. Michael Vick was a man who participated in dogfighting. He helped abuse dogs to the point where they became vicious killers. He had dog rape racks in his mansion. He fought dogs against dogs, letting them rip each other to shreds so that he and other men could gamble on the outcome. He killed poorly performing dogs in slow and painful ways. Did he do what other dogfighters do, which is feed kittens and small dogs to the fighting dogs to hone their bloodlust? If not, rest assured that other dogfighters do that, and worse.

Dogfighters torture and kill animals, period, and you Vick supporters, you race card playing motherfuckers and insensitive assholes, try to shrug it off with irrelevant arguments, all the while ignoring the most basic fact, which is that your hero, your martyr Michael Vick, is a sadistic, heartless piece of shit.

You're as low and despicable as Vick.

I've tried both Netflix and Blockbuster, and found that Netflix has consistently had better service both in timeliness, delivery of the film(s) I ordered, disc quality, and it's vaunted customer service when problems occur.

Moreover, I have had it with going to actual video stores. You get lousy service from bored and indifferent teens, the lines are long, the selection is usually limited and crappy, films are misplaced in the wrong genre or alphabetical order, and throughout the entire ordeal you have to listen to the loud sounds of whatever idiot movie they are hyping at the time. No thanks.

Lastly, while I understand that the thoughtful drama, "The Melody of Hearts as Perceived Underwater" which you ordered on Monday may not satisfy your lust for "Attack of the Zombie Cheerleaders" on Saturday night, presumably you still have a desire to see the former. In that case, you are always free to hang onto it and still venture out to videostore hell and get the crap you want (if they have it, if you can find it). Thus, I do not see the advantage of going with Blockbuster.

Stilleto, thanks for bringing up Hollywood Video: without a doubt, Hollywood Video is not only the most godawful video store in existence, but it just may be the most godawful business ever to exist in this or any alternative universe.

Thatboy, if you manage to locate an actual DVD copy of "The Worm Eaters," please let us know, but all indications are that it will be an even worse movie than you imagine and will make you regret not having rented "Attack of the Giant Leeches" instead (which actually has its merits).