[bridgejoker]

Rome, Italy. --a seven-year old boy was at the center of an Italian courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him.

The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the degree possible.

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him.

After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.

After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to Lanzarotti and Buratti whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

[luke warm]

hahahahaha

[nickf]

a. the joke just isn't funny, sorry.

b. making light of domestic violence is pretty uncool.

nickf
sydney

[chicken]

agreed

[luke warm]

oh geez, what's wrong with everyone? lighten up, it's just a joke

i'd like to know what comedian, if any, you find funny

[zasanya]

In the version which I heard the boy wanted to be adopted by Indian Cricket Team.The reason of course was same .Some of you may not have heard of Cricket but it is almost a religion in India.

[pbleighton]

"oh geez, what's wrong with everyone? lighten up, it's just a joke

"i'd like to know what comedian, if any, you find funny"

I didn't find the joke funny (Lanzarotti and Buratti are great players - a good joke with them would be about cheating), though I wasn't particularly offended.

Robin Williams, Dana Carvey, and Billy Crystal, to name a few. In the late
70's and early 80's I saw a LOT of standup live (I lived in SF, which at that time was the standup Mecca), including Williams and Carvey. In my grumpy middle age, few standups seem more than occasionally funny - I haven't been able to watch a full SNL show for years, and have pretty much stopped trying. I do want to see Sarah Silverman's movie, which is supposed to be quite funny, and offensive to everyone. I don't know how a whole movie of shock comedy will wear, though. I found Eddie Murphy and Andrew Dice Clay to be too much after about half an hour.

Peter

[nickf]

luke warm, on Dec 17 2005, 02:35 PM, said:

oh geez, what's wrong with everyone? lighten up, it's just a joke

Of course it was intended as just a joke.

And what about those jokes about Muslims, Jews, Blacks, Indians, Poles, Protestants, Belgians, Aborigines, women, fat people, the handicapped, Blondes, Asians, Catholics, Iraqis, the French etc etc?

Do you think they are just jokes or really really offensive?

nickf
sydney

[luke warm]

some are offensive, yes indeedy... that's why i asked about your favorite comedians... almost all comedians (or at least almost all of those who make a living at it) tell jokes that are offensive to *somebody*

my wife is blond and she loves blond jokes.. my niece is a lawyer and some of the most offensive, and funny, jokes around are about lawyers.. hell, they even pass lawyer jokes around about one another

ever laugh at a joke that could *possibly* offend anyone? me too...

[EricK]

nickf, on Dec 17 2005, 08:47 PM, said:

luke warm, on Dec 17 2005, 02:35 PM, said:

oh geez, what's wrong with everyone? lighten up, it's just a joke

Of course it was intended as just a joke.

And what about those jokes about Muslims, Jews, Blacks, Indians, Poles, Protestants, Belgians, Aborigines, women, fat people, the handicapped, Blondes, Asians, Catholics, Iraqis, the French etc etc?

Do you think they are just jokes or really really offensive?

nickf
sydney

The original joke wasn't making fun of the child abuse victim. It was making fun of B & L. Whereas, the offensive jokes about Arabs, lawyers or fat people, for instance, are intended to mock some perceived aspect about these groups.

So while child abuse is no laughing matter, that doesn't mean that a joke can't mention child abuse without being offensive.

Eric

[mr1303]

As an example, in the Jasper Carrott trials, he was accused of making jokes that "insult" people. After showing lots of footage of him doing it, he eventually pleaded guilty, and then made a joke that insulted no-one. The only person who laughed was the counsel for the prosecution....

Point well made I think

[Chamaco]

Cynical jokes are fine, I like them , but in my opionion they should not hit open wounds.

E.g. if you joke about the wars in the middleage, it's fine, but if you make a joke about, say, the war in Vietnam or in the middle east conflicts or the 11 september, that's worse: many people are still suffering about its consequences.

Similarly, the Buratti Lanzarotti case - as all the cheating cases - is still a defeat for the bridge world, whether they are guilty or not, and is still a fresh and open wound for the bridge community and for them (especially if they were innocent)

I'd say it's a painful case, in the limited context of bridge competition and the prestige of the game.

Secondarily, even if they are cheaters, I think that the statement that they can't beat anyone is way out of place, so this does not make the joke funny, or at least well-directed.

Finally, if the joke had to be realistic, it should take into account that in Italy every court appeal takes about 10-20 years to complete

[Free]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Since when are jokes analysed?????? Someone tells it, some people laugh, some people don't find it funny, some just don't get it. What's the big deal? Djeez (almost) everyone, open your eyes and look outside the box for a change...

[Al_U_Card]

It seems there was this bridge player who took himself too seriously........

[kenberg]

I am a mathematician and a retired college prof. A double whammy for being the butt of jokes. I once attended a lecture by a statistician that was intended for a general audience. Apparently statisticians are not high on the social pecking order either, because he explained that at parties he tries to disguise his profession by telling people he is a mathematician. Sort of like a bank robber trying to pass himself off as a car thief.

The internet is great for many things but I have seen a danger in humor there. I think it's the time and distance. Face to face, you tell a joke and notice you have stepped on someone's toes, you can smooth things over quickly. On the internet, it festers. In the early days of email I was on the campus senate when they were considering extending health benefits to domestic partners. We adjourned for the week-end, to resume on Monday, and the emails were flying. One very insistent voice was heard from someone who was identifed only by his machine name of penguin. He went on and on about the campus code, only he kept calling it the campus cod. So I made some remarks about penguins and cod, and closed by quoting Jimmy Durante "Everybody wants ta get inta da act". I received a furious response from the penguin telling me I was being "exclusionary" etc etc. We finally smoothed it over after I agreed that in the fuuture I would attach smiley faces to messages that were not intended to be taken seriously. Apparently mentioning Jimmy Durante did not count as a clue. He was young, probably.

[mike777]

kenberg, on Dec 20 2005, 08:19 PM, said:

I am a mathematician and a retired college prof. A double whammy for being the butt of jokes.  I once attended a lecture by a statistician that was intended for a general audience. Apparently statisticians are not high on the social pecking order either, because he explained that at parties he tries to disguise his profession by telling people he is a mathematician. Sort of like a bank robber trying to pass himself off as a car thief.

The internet is great for many things but I have seen a danger in humor there. I think it's the time and distance. Face to face, you tell a joke and notice you have stepped on someone's toes, you can smooth things over quickly. On the internet, it festers. In the early days of email I was on the campus senate when they were considering extending health benefits to domestic partners. We adjourned for the week-end, to resume on Monday,  and the emails were flying. One very insistent voice was heard from someone who was identifed only by his machine name of penguin. He went on and on about the campus code, only he kept calling it the campus cod. So I made some remarks about penguins and cod, and closed by quoting Jimmy Durante "Everybody wants ta get inta da act". I received a furious response from the penguin telling me I was being "exclusionary" etc etc. We finally smoothed it over after I agreed that in the fuuture I would attach smiley faces to messages that were not intended to be taken seriously. Apparently mentioning Jimmy Durante did not count as a clue. He was young, probably.

I am not sure who is Jimmy Durante, a math prof or stat prof? hachaa chaaa chaaaaa

Rim shot smitty please

Is he talking about campus cod pieces? Are they shared and passed around?

Do only international partners get health benefits?
I agree with the student this does not seem to be very inclusive.

Are you talking about Uncle Fester or someone else?
How do emails fly?



This is very confusing.

[kenberg]

I'm a math prof. I am supposed to be confusing. It's in our contracts.

[Kalvan14]

kenberg, on Dec 20 2005, 10:32 PM, said:

I'm a math prof. I am supposed to be confusing. It's in our contracts.

Since when did you get the same benefits as the phys profs?
I was under the impression that they were the only ones under an obligation to maximise confusion (it's written in the laws of thermodynamics, you know)