Rants *enter at own risk*

[Ego Eram Reputo]

< ^ Thanks Pyrochild

[AGJM]

Remind me not to make any changes to mine, for the moment...  

 

Anyways, I'm trying to finish a project for school at the moment.  I think taking some medicine would help.  

[barbieq25]

Thank you so much Pyro!

[RedBeard]

I got an email from MoveOn.org petitioning for gun control in the wake of the shooting in Connecticut.  Those poor kids aren't even cold yet, and these political twits are using this tragedy to push their anti-gun agendas.  Makes me sick.

 

Then, there are the religious nuts shouting about how this would not have happened if we had not "taken God out of our public schools".  Really?  Because I can point them to a few stories of similar tragedies occurring in churches in recent history that would seem to disprove that notion.  

 

Let the families grieve and stop using their losses to try to force your own agenda on the rest of us.

Edited December 16, 2012 by RedBeard

[barbieq25]

Minor rant: I cannot see my gallery nor can I edit it to say that I have a new work up. What is the go with the thumbs? They no workie?

[minners71]

I can't post images aaaAAAARGH!

[Visual]

I got an email from MoveOn.org petitioning for gun control in the wake of the shooting in Connecticut.  Those poor kids aren't even cold yet, and these political twits are using this tragedy to push their anti-gun agendas.  Makes me sick.

 

Then, there are the religious nuts shouting about how this would not have happened if we had not "taken God out of our public schools".  Really?  Because I can point them to a few stories of similar tragedies occurring in churches in recent history that would seem to disprove that notion.  

 

Let the families grieve and stop using their losses to try to force your own agenda on the rest of us.

I'm of the same feeling. I own and carry weapons responsibly. I have training. The weapons in question were legally purchased. I can kill with a Bic pen or a pencil if needed.

What boils my blood is the news crews shoving cameras in peoples faces to get ratings from forced emotional responses. They want to gain ratings from this? This shows how sad the industry has become.

More teens are killed with phones and texting while driving, than all of the drunk drivers and incidents like this combined every year. None of them will go on record to condemn texting or phone usage for teens on the road. There's no emotional news worthy story with that angle.

[Kemaru]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/right-to-own-handheld-device-that-shoots-deadly-me,30742/?ref=auto

Rant: So cold

[Ego Eram Reputo]

My brother posted this cartoon on his blog.  Powerful.

 

[Kemaru]

As Fiona Apple once put it: "the world is bull****."

People are stupid and wicked.

[barbieq25]

I'm of the same feeling. I own and carry weapons responsibly. I have training. The weapons in question were legally purchased. I can kill with a Bic pen or a pencil if needed.

What boils my blood is the news crews shoving cameras in peoples faces to get ratings from forced emotional responses. They want to gain ratings from this? This shows how sad the industry has become.

More teens are killed with phones and texting while driving, than all of the drunk drivers and incidents like this combined every year. None of them will go on record to condemn texting or phone usage for teens on the road. There's no emotional news worthy story with that angle.

 

 

It is indeed a sad world we live in. Yes, the camera crews & reporters are quite reprehensible in their actions to increase ratings. However, think about what drives the ratings? It is viewers! There have been many studies that show why humans like to see the macabre, whether it is television or newspapers. Think about what makes up a newspaper - any newspaper. The types of stories they tell is generally about bad things - misfortune, crime & violence. They describe horrific accidents with photos just in case you need further clarification to go with the text. If on the front page you had a headline like: Local zoo's volunteers welcome first monkey in state or Mad gunman kills 18 - which would sell more? Now imagine that these 2 articles had interviewed witnesses. Which of the 2 stories would most people read? Why?

 

So is it really the industry? I believe there is a symbiotic relationship here. I do not condone it. 

 

I too have owned & used guns. None of my guns ever killed a human. Let's be quite clear on this - guns do not kill people - people kill people. 

 

Mobile phones don't kill anyone either but using one when you should be paying attention (like in my class, stepping straight off a kerb to cross a 4 lane highway like one woman I almost wore as a bonnet badge) is a behaviour so dangerous that it could get you hurt, maimed or even killed. There is no restart button with this. There are no extra lives. There are no special powers to save you. 

 

EER, very sad as a parent to contemplate. 

[minners71]

These comments remind me of two tool songs,even if it's not your musical taste try and listen to them both

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egTJEGrhPTg

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrCI6h_ZgMg

[Kemaru]

Guns kill people, because people use them to kill people. Guns are destructive and there is no denying that without a gun this perso would not have killed that many people.

Still I believe that instead of a complete ban, stricter regulations are in order.

Just because a marginal group uses something wrong doesn't mean all use of it is bad.

[barbieq25]

Knives, cars, rope, glass all kill people. The list is endless so can we please restrict their use too?

 

Since stricter gun laws came into effect (term used loosely) what has this done to minimise shooting deaths? Since speed limits were lowered & blood alcohol levels were reduced to 0 for young drivers, how has this changed the death toll for this cohort?

 

Can we assume that the above worked so well that increasing the restrictions on guns laws is going to save people? 

[RedBeard]

The problem with "gun control" (I put that in quotations because of the ridiculous nature of the propositions put forth by politicians) is that it assumes everyone gets their guns through legal means.  You can't regulate the black market.  That's why it's called the BLACK MARKET!  You can make all the laws you want to restrict the use of weapons, but those who don't observe the laws in the first place aren't going to be affected.  Most of the public gets that.  It's a shame the politicians don't.

[barbieq25]

Yep, just like the assault rifle used most recently. Well said Redbeard.

[Kemaru]

Well I considered it from a local perspective. The shooters here all have had legal guns

[barbieq25]

Kemaru, that is an interesting thought. Up to know I really had not thought about this from your perspective since all of the guns as far as I am aware in my country were illegally obtained.

Here in Australia, you cannot obtain military style assault rifles. Nor can anyone buy or own an automatic or semi-automatic. To own a gun you must do a course, show why you need to have one such as sporting shooter or farmer & these have restrictions on when they can be used & even carried & stored.

It was just today I was saying how our personal experience influences how we think about the rest of the world. In both cases our ethnocentricity was showing.

Thanks for sharing your views & I now see them in a very different light. You are quite correct that the type of weapon will determine the death/injury toll & by tighter control on the sale of guns, spur-of-the-moment type of rage shootings could be minimised. Schoolyard shootings are not new - 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Don't_Like_Mondays

 

  To my way of thinking Geldof's heart was in the right place but one has to wonder if it was the right thing to do, like put ideas into disturbed minds?

 

EDIT: Code fixed. URLs have been a pain for the last couple of weeks.

 

Visual - quite apt your description of December. 

Edited December 18, 2012 by barbieq25

[Visual]

The problem with "gun control" (I put that in quotations because of the ridiculous nature of the propositions put forth by politicians) is that it assumes everyone gets their guns through legal means.  You can't regulate the black market.  That's why it's called the BLACK MARKET!  You can make all the laws you want to restrict the use of weapons, but those who don't observe the laws in the first place aren't going to be affected.  Most of the public gets that.  It's a shame the politicians don't.

Agree. And when the bad people think that in my state that nobody can carry a weapon, all hell will break out. Crime increases when bad people think there is no deterrent. They buy military weapons from illegals, gang members, or across the border. I'm talking about the full auto type.

There is nothing wrong with a semi, though a 100 round drum should be banned.

Second point: I heard a commentator on a broadcast say that this young man didn't even have a facebook page. Nobody that i associate with has one. Does that mean that the group of us are to be singled out, because we are more likely to go on a shooting rampage? When you actually read their privacy statement, you'd leave them too.

This is a bad situation. This is going to be sensationalized. More people die from heart disease from eating fast food every year. Fast food is a weapon of mass destruction, but they will never go in to public and disclose that fearing reprisal from the ones who pay for advertising slots. They quietly take their money and let the worse carnage continue. Get the cameras the hell out of that town and let them heal.

[doughty]

Barbieq, your link needs fixen.

 

I hate December. It's like the tail end of a trash truck.

 

January, so refreshing

[Visual]

Everyone has my permission to hit me on the back of the head with a tire iron if you ever hear me, or read about me, asking for people to visit a facebook or blog page related the the deaths of 20 children. This is crass, insensitive, self-absorbed, selfish and totally out of touch with respect to these families. The nerve of people looking to get hundreds or thousands of new friends or hits so they can tell you their opinion on something that is nothing more than face time television. I've lost so much respect for a few which i cannot have any longer. Choke on your new facebook hits. You are no longer part of the human race.

[RedBeard]

This quote has been attributed to Morgan Freeman, but it really doesn't matter who said it.  Truer words were never spoken.

 

 

"You want to know why? This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single victim of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem."

 

Smart man, that Morgan Freeman.

Edited December 18, 2012 by RedBeard

[barbieq25]

Yes, I saw that too Redbeard. 

 

I read a book once "The Biology of Violence". It enhanced my understanding of what goes wrong with the human brain, as did my studies but I sure cannot feel sorry for the perpetrator. Ok so it is a sickness, part of me understands that, part of me cannot since I cannot get past the notion that we make choices. 

 

As a diabetic, I love sugary foods but avoid them since I know what will happen if I give in. I have to make a choice & it is very hard. I was shattered with my choice in not continuing with my studies but I knew that I could never be objective enough. 

 

Redbeard, I agree with your idea that the horse has bolted so shutting the gate is far too late. Instead we need to look out for each other, see the warning signs & do more before the fact rather than react later. 

[BoltBait]

I just loaded up Visual Studio 2012 (for the first time) and HATE the new flat look.

[Rick Brewster]

Use the dark theme.