# Omnibus Stupid MFers in the news thread (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 31, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945 "2021-01-31T21:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 390
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7791 "2023-06-29T13:48:38Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > The article is a bit hard to parse, but best I can tell nobody was put in jail, and nobody was arrested. He took his own child to the station as punishment and _told_ him he was being arrested. The article talked about “confining a child in a jail cell at the city’s Public Safety Building” so that’s the allegation. The thing is that it isn’t said what actually happened because the judge sealed the info via court order. Half of the article discussed the dispute regarding privacy laws. I agree that there is no way the child was formally arrested, but it’s unclear whether they were left in a cell. I’m a dad and sometimes with a very young kid you have to use simple concepts to explain why something is wrong. Saying “bad people go to jail, so don’t be bad” is something I might have said to explain why a kid shouldn’t misbehave, especially if the kid knows I put bad people in jail. Though taking a child to a jail isn’t something I’d do, not at that age, and **if** the child was actually locked in a cell and left there for any length of time, that sounds like abuse (of the child and of your position as a LEO). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7792 "2023-06-29T13:49:57Z")
In September 2020, a janitor turned off a freezer containing 20 years worth of research specimens. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is suing the cleaning company. [https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/27/us/janitor-alarm-freezer-rensselaer-polytechnic-lawsuit-new-york/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/27/us/janitor-alarm-freezer-rensselaer-polytechnic-lawsuit-new-york/index.html) > “Defendant, by and through its negligent, careless, and/or reckless supervision and control of [the janitor], caused damage to certain cell cultures, samples, and/or research in the Lab,” the university claims… > > “The core of the case… is that the cleaning company failed to adequately train their personnel. A cleaner should be trained to not attempt to remedy an electrical issue.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7793 "2023-06-29T13:55:29Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > The article is a bit hard to parse, but best I can tell nobody was put in jail, and nobody was arrested. He took his own child to the station as punishment and _told_ him he was being arrested. > > Not great parenting, but objectively he just took his child to work. Given the real stories about grade school children being arrested for acting out in school (behavior that previously would have been handled as a disciplinary matter), I was not unprepared to believe an article saying that a three-year-old was arrested. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7794 "2023-06-29T14:26:58Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Saying “bad people go to jail, so don’t be bad” is something I might have said to explain why a kid shouldn’t misbehave, especially if the kid knows I put bad people in jail. That still reads to me like a threat to put a small child in jail for ordinary child misbehavior; which isn’t legal to happen, and which seems to me a bad thing to threaten. Small kids ought to know actual consequences for misbehavior, and those consequences ought to be appropriate for the age of child and type of behavior. "bad people sometimes grow up to wind up going to jail, so don’t be bad’ would be another matter. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7795 "2023-06-29T15:15:29Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Saying “bad people go to jail, so don’t be bad” is something I might have said to explain why a kid shouldn’t misbehave, especially if the kid knows I put bad people in jail. That sounds like threatening a child who has normal child behavior with incarceration, and I consider such a threat to be emotional abuse. It’s wildly disproportionate to the offense. And in the case of potty training a _three_ year old, the child has no control over whether they are ready or not to use the potty. It’s just cruel. (Speaking as the mother of an actual three year old who is more than happy to sit on the potty as long as we get to count, but has no apparent interest in doing anything other than sit. Readiness is a very individual to the child thing and depends heavily on where they are at developmentally, whether they can control their bladder/bowels etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7796 "2023-06-29T15:24:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Given the real stories about grade school children being arrested for acting out in school (behavior that previously would have been handled as a disciplinary matter), I was not unprepared to believe an article saying that a three-year-old was arrested. At my previous school, we had to do this online training thing about Restorative Practices, which the administration told us we’d be using in the school. One of the examples in the training was a couple of kids getting in a fight in school, and a compare-and-contrast of the right and wrong way to handle it. The “wrong way” included the police being called, and I said to myself “What a ridiculous strawman; no school would ever do something as absurd as calling the police over a couple of students fighting”. The very next day, we had an after-school faculty meeting, and one of the administrators told us about a situation which had developed with a couple of students fighting, “and naturally, we called the police”. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7797 "2023-06-29T15:31:12Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Readiness is a very individual to the child thing My daughter had just turned three. I showed her panties with butterflies and Baby Bop we had bought for her and explained that once she went on the potty she could wear pretty panties. Boom, she was done with diapers. My son on the other hand, kept arguing that diapers were great. I assumed he’d be taking diapers to college with him one day. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7798 "2023-06-29T18:10:57Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My son on the other hand, kept arguing that diapers were great. I assumed he’d be taking diapers to college with him one day. Dud you offer him butterfly Baby Bop panties? ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7799 "2023-06-29T20:10:10Z")
My granddaughter took what seemed like forever! She was well over three. Her favorite thing was to hide behind something, like the couch, to poop. She knew better, but didn’t want to go sit on the pot! I can’t remember what “fixed” her… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7800 "2023-06-29T20:12:02Z")
I noticed one or the other of my brother’s kids would do that; hide behind the sofa when they were toddlers and pooping in their diaper. It may be what all kids do. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7801 "2023-06-29T20:14:56Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > How in the hell has the process of evolution resulted in such stupid fucking humanity after all this time? It’s not evolution, per se, it’s the fact that advances in medicine have allowed people who would have died in their childhood survive and breed. You can’t cross Gomer Pyle with Barney Fife and expect to get an Einstein. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7802 "2023-06-29T20:39:14Z")
Let’s be honest. You don’t need to be all that smart to survive into adulthood. As a species, we have never selected for maximum average intelligence. Just enough to live long enough to successfully survive and to breed. And it shows. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7803 "2023-06-29T20:46:09Z")
> [@Dogginit](#): > > You can’t cross Gomer Pyle with Barney Fife and expect to get an Einstein. If you actually expect that those two could produce biological off-spring, we need to have a talk. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7804 "2023-06-29T21:23:31Z")
There was a well-known documentary about this very subject, hosted by Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger! Don’t tell me you missed it? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7805 "2023-06-29T21:46:29Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > My granddaughter took what seemed like forever! She was well over three. Her favorite thing was to hide behind something, like the couch, to poop. She knew better, but didn’t want to go sit on the pot! My son announces “No yucky poops!” apropos of nothing to reassure us that he is not in fact pooping right that minute. Genius. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7806 "2023-06-29T22:45:13Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > That sounds like threatening a child who has normal child behavior with incarceration, and I consider such a threat to be emotional abuse. Yes! This is what shocked me so much about the article. > [@kayaker](#): > > I showed her panties with butterflies and Baby Bop we had bought for her and explained that once she went on the potty she could wear pretty panties. Boom, she was done with diapers. I was bribed with a big, ‘grown-up’ wallet featuring a favorite cartoon character. The panty thing wouldn’t have worked; all of my panties were destined to be plain white, because Mom’s doctor said colorful underwear was a cause of irritation for lady parts. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7807 "2023-06-29T23:05:10Z")
Is that true? It sounds like it’s probably not true but I’ve had weird reactions to different colored sheets, so who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7808 "2023-06-29T23:22:36Z")
> **[An Economist’s Guide to Potty Training](https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/an-economists-guide-to-potty-training/)** > > Incentives are as risky in parenting as they are in business. > One issue I should raise right at the start is that this is all partly the fault of the comfortable disposable diaper. In the olden days — say, three decades ago — cloth diapers were the repository of choice. These had the feature that when they were wet, everyone knew it. Parents knew it, but the child also felt the discomfort. > > As the child grew older, the discomfort grew with them. The causal link between what they were doing, in a bodily function sense, and the discomfort was felt early and often. Thus, not only did parents want their child out of these things quickly, the child was on board too. > > The disposable diaper has changed that relationship. > But for the child, it is comfort that can continue forever. When they are told it is time for the diaper to go, the expression on their face says it all. They appreciate the beauty and functionality of the design. Perhaps they also suspect they will be wearing one again in 70 or so years’ time. Why deny them in the interim? > > The unintended consequence of the disposable diaper is that it changed the ‘‘toilet or not’’ cost equation for the child. Incentive issues arise from a misalignment of interests. The disposable diaper was something both parent and child wanted, but when it comes to taking it away, their relative benefits are quite different. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7809 "2023-06-30T07:21:15Z")
I wasn’t sure where to put this. Here or stupid Gun news? > **[Man with weapons and Jan. 6 warrant arrested after running toward Obamas'...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-with-weapons-arrested-near-obamas-dc-home/)** > > The suspect had material to make explosives and an active warrant from the U.S. Capitol Police connected to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. I found this really disturbing. Here’s a quote from NBC “Truth Social post on Thursday from former President Donald Trump that purported to include Obama’s home address.” ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945/7810 "2023-06-30T08:15:52Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > s that true? It really sounds like something that originated with old suspicions surrounding dyes, but in my experience the material matters much more (cotton, or a blend that’s breathable, is preferable). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945.md?page=389) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-1/931945.md?page=391)