In the Absence of a GoTo Statement: Newbie needs menu-launcher to choose amongst sub-programs

[Tim Peters]

[Moshe Zadka]
> He might be confusing whips with other forms of self-torture, though.
> In Shi'ik Islam (mistakenly considered "fanatic Islam", but if you
> here about fanatics, it's usually Shi'is), they have a ritual of
> cutting the forehead with a razor (only lightly breaking the skin,
> however) -- it's not as much for the pain, as it is for the visual
> effect of blood all over the face, I believe. This is certainly more
> colourful then whipping!

Indeed it is, and the same scientific technique has been employed by
professional wrestlers toward the same end for at least 50 years:  a good
"blade job" on the forehead eventually covers the whole face with blood, due
to a slow but steady drip from this reluctant-to-clot but vein-poor area.
Then an occassional light scraping "punch" from your opponent can keep it
flowing indefinitely.

I haven't found it nearly as effective in programming as in scaring away
unwanted strangers.  But it can be dangerous:  my childhood hero, Maurice
"Mad Dog" Vachon, bladed himself once in a particularly hectic match, but
missed the forehead and sliced into a temple instead.  The blood *spurted*
out of his head, in time with his heartbeat, at least a foot, and clearly
visible from the cheap seats.  Today they'd stop the show, but not then!  His
quick-thinking opponent put him in a headlock, and held it for minutes,
applying direct pressure to the cut until it clotted.  The Mad Dog was
gloriously bloodied, and the crowd whipped into a state of ecstatic frenzy.
Like I said, "toward the same end"!

That was the day I decided to become a professional wrestler.

in-most-respects-programming-python's-the-same-thing-ly y'rs  - tim