yhwx

I found this interesting.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/the-real-common-sense-tactics-the-debate-is-missing/542229/

The deadliest mass shooting in American history has restarted the long debate whether something can be done to impede these recurring slaughters. That debate is conducted pursuant to rigid rules.

Rule 1. The measures to be debated must bear some relationship to the massacre that triggered the debate. If the killer acquired his weapons illegally, it’s out of bounds to point out how lethally easy it is to buy weapons legally. If the killer lacked a criminal record, it’s out of bounds to talk about the inadequacy of federal background checks. The topic for debate is not, “Why do so many Americans die from gunfire?” but “What one legal change would have prevented this most recent atrocity?”

Rule 2. The debate must focus on unusual weapons and accessories: bump stocks, for example, the villain of the moment. Even the NRA has proclaimed itself open to some regulation of these devices. After the 2012 mass shooting in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater, attention turned to large capacity magazines. What is out of bounds is discussion of weapons as in themselves a danger to human life and public safety.

Rule 3. The debate must always honor the “responsible gun owners” who buy weapons for reasonable self-defense. Under Rule 1, these responsible persons are presumed to constitute the great majority of gun owners. It’s out of bounds to ask for some proof of this claimed responsibility, some form of training for example. It’s far out of bounds to propose measures that might impinge on owners: the alcohol or drug tests for example that are so often recommended for food stamp recipients or teen drivers.

Rule 4. Gun ownership is always to be discussed as a rational choice motivated by reasonable concerns for personal safety. No matter how blatantly gun advocates appeal to fears and fantasies—Sean Hannity musing aloud on national TV about how he with a gun in his hands could have saved the day in Las Vegas if only he had been there—nobody other than a lefty blogger may notice that this debate is about race and sex, not personal security. It’s out of bounds to observe that “Chicago” is shorthand for “we only have gun crime because of black people” or how often “I want to protect my family” is code for “I need to prove to my girlfriend who’s really boss.”

Instead of doing a little image after the moderator’s name that would be incomprehensible because of its small size, I think there should be a little snippet of text saying “MODERATOR” with a different background color.

The signature seems to me to be just a stopgap measure.

http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Oldest-OTcom-Thread/id/18104

This is currently the oldest thread on the website, with id 4.

It took me a minute to figure out what role Christopher Lee played in the prequels.

I finally remembered it was Count Dooku.

ChainsawAsh said:

Or better yet, don’t drink soda at all! Almost 8 months pop-free now, minus the ginger ale or ginger beer I mix with my bourbon. Generally feel much better (though that may also correlate with my increase in water and tea consumption since ditching pop).

You monster.

I think the best would be in between 3 and 4.

The prophecy is fulfilled! It’s true, children! The tale is true!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5QpfAUUxGc&feature=youtu.be

(It’s probably fake news, but I wanted to post it here anyway.)

Age is a state of mind.

Sunny. Highs in low 80s. Nice wind.

I don’t think I’m as bad as Sean Spicer, but I do really like Mentos sugar free gum. I particularly like Spearmint.

DuracellEnergizer said:

I’m an overripe banana.

Which one are you?

DuracellEnergizer said:

yhwx said:

I paid for my own thanks, thank you very much.

So that’s what they call sex for money these days.

Hmm…

(link contains potentially suggestive/vulgar content)

TM2YC said:

moviefreakedmind said:

Cars are heavily regulated, but pretty much anyone can drive them, no matter how incompetent.

You don’t have driving tests to determine competency? You don’t have driving licenses that the courts can revoke due to mental incompetence, physical disability, or dangerous behaviour?

We have all of those things. It’s just that the driving tests people take are often said to be too easy.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver's_licenses_in_the_United_States

We all must remember Billy Bush Weekend. #NeverForget

As for me, my dears, I am GONE WITH THE WIND.

Wrong movie?

Adding this to the pile-on:

http://mashable.com/2017/10/06/fema-website-puerto-rico-data-removed/

The Trump administration continues to follow the playbook it has used since moving into the White House — delete or otherwise block easy access to unflattering information on government websites. This strategy is evident at the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where climate change pages have disappeared, and many other agencies.

And now, the same thing is happening with Puerto Rico hurricane response efforts.

Until sometime between Oct. 3 and Oct. 5, one could find information on how many Puerto Ricans were without power and without access to clean water via FEMA’s website.

But those statistics are no longer readily available, perhaps because it goes against the administration’s narrative that the situation on the ground in Puerto Rico is improving.

According to a report in the Washington Post and an analysis by the watchdog group, Environmental ​Data ​and ​Governance ​Initiative (EDGI), FEMA has removed statistics from its Hurricane Maria webpage that pertain to access to electricity and drinking water. In addition, EDGI wrote that “additional ​statistics, ​descriptive ​bullet ​points, ​and ​images ​were ​also updated.”

According to the EDGI report, one subsection of FEMA data, titled “Power Restoration ​and ​Fuel ​Impacts,” was completely removed, while other bullet points on water access and a logistics snapshot for the storm were taken out as well.

Another section, which stated that 50 percent of Puerto Rico residents have access to drinking water, was removed as well.

The power and water statistics are now available on a website maintained by Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló, but that site is in Spanish.

The disaster response agency told the Washington Post that the information is still available, just not its website.

"Our mission is to support the governor and his response priorities through the unified command structure to help Puerto Ricans recover and return to routines. Information on the stats you are specifically looking for are readily available,” a FEMA spokesman told the Post.

TV’s Frink said:

http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/354205-former-apprentice-producer-trumps-behind-the-scenes-comments-were-very-much

The missing word in that link text is “racist.”

A lot of words could have gone in there.

I think you’ve gotten carried away.

Today was a long day for me. Too long.

I don’t really like haikus. Limericks are a superior form of poetry.

Nobody should drink Dr. Pepper.

Coca-Cola is the only rightful soft drink.

Possessed said:

I wonder when it’ll be my turn to get banned?

October 27

Jani-wan

TV’s Frink said:

I’ve heard too much Radiohead that sounds more like noise than music to me.

This is fake news, but I’ll post it here anyway.

Tyrphanax said:

yhwx said:

Tyrphanax said:

dahmage said:

Guns shouldn’t be a right.

but part of what Tyr and Jeebus seem to be advocating is that it is just to hard to force a fix that too many people fundamentally diagree with (but guns are my American RIGHT). It is true in a very pragmatic sense, but it is also very frustrating to me.

Part of what i do is software development, so i certainly tend to think in terms of ‘that old software is fundamentally wrong, lets replace it!’, and so part of me just screams against the idea of accepting something is guaranteed to yield bad outcomes. it is like keeping on using that buggy product, even though every now and then it corrupts the data. (deleted a way too long and drug out analogy that doesn’t even make sense)

All i can say is, i really do think that guns are the problem, but sure, we can also try some other solutions. But solving peoples desire to murder is even harder than just getting rid of some of the murder weapons…

I mean… you can say they shouldn’t be a right, but you’d be wrong (tee hee).

Wrong.

It serves a symbolic and practical purpose by saying that we as a people will not be ruled by tyrants, and giving us the means to defend ourselves against that eventuality. A huge part of American identity is the Revolution and throwing off the mantle of oppression, which wouldn’t have been possible without the average American citizen being able to pick up their rifle to fight for what’s right. I like the idea of that, and considering we’re not yet at the point that we don’t elect dangerously insane senile old white men into the highest office in the land, I’d kinda like to hold onto that kind of right, personally.

It was necessary back then. It’s not now.

Our pitiful little guns would never be able to hold a fight against any modern military.

Guns and gun ownership are parts of an issue, sure, but a much much smaller part than the overall issue in my mind (we have more guns in the country than people, but we’ve not all been murdered yet). Tackling that issue is going to be difficult and hard, like you said, but I’d rather go after that than ban guns… and then ban knives… and then ban sticks and rocks… and then ban karate lessons… and then tackle the root cause. Let’s get the hard part done first and I think we’ll find that the smaller problems solve themselves to an extent.

Bad arguments.

First, you say that we haven’t all been murdered yet because of guns. Well, of course we haven’t! Whoever said that’d happen?

Secondly, you make a tired slippery slope argument. Nobody is going to ban knives. What is the purpose of a gun other than to kill (whether that be a human or an animal) in this modern age? Knives have more usage than to kill.

All of this has been addressed in subsequent posts.

Sorry, I was just catching up.