Quote:
The best way to fight gun violience is not to be Big Brother like the UK (sorry guys)

Bwah ha ha ha ha

ROFL!!!

I've still got the ink on my fingers from when I got fingerprinted for going to the US for a skiing trip - hey, no-one ever told me ... did the USSR fingerprint foreign visitors routinely?

Oh and what about the wiretaps for foreign communication?

The NSA? What with their [censored in transit] project and what about [censored in transit]? Answer me that.

Ah, "Homeland Security" - nothing Orwellian about that one eh?

The "PATRIOT" act - gosh, what a coincidence that those initials turned out like that - who woulda guessed! I'll bet an act like that is full of American values like apple pie, civil liberties and the like! Anyone not liking that must be real un-american.

TSA? Ok, that's a joke - or is it they're a joke - never sure.

No-fly lists? Don't you need to be a senator or a dead-terrorist to get on one of them?

And what about those "democratic" elections you have over there?

Puleeez Mr Kettle


There is no rational argument that supports public ownership of guns and prevents making chemical weapons or explosives in your kitchen.

Having said that, this was a statistical blip that was horrid for the families - almost, but not quite, as bad as having a child run down by a drunk driver. Maybe one who's had a DUI charge in the past. Or maybe one that just gets off totally free to drive around some more? How many of them do you have a year in the entire US, 10? 20? maybe as many as 40?

Or is it in the hundreds or thousands? More?

Actually - forget "almost as bad". It's nowhere near as bad.

Its simply that we like our media to put on a circus where they can entertain us with bloodbaths worthy of the Romans.

Oh, if anyone's interested this weeks New Scientist has an article talking about TV, gaming and the like and the relationship to violence. The scientific analysis behind these is complex and subject to media rebuttal (global warming, cigarettes=cancer anyone?) but there's a new tack...

They are analysing the *strength* of the analysis - meta-analysis. It shows that the evidence for TV/gaming to violence is not quite as strong as the evidence that cigarettes cause cancer but it is stronger than:
* Passive smoking causing lung cancer (2x stronger)
* Condoms reducing HIV (2x stronger)
* Calcium making bones stronger (3x stronger)
* Time spent on homework vs academic success (3x stronger)

So if you believe the science behind any of them then ask yourself why you don't (want to?) believe the science behind violence in society and the media.
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LittleBlueThing Running twin 30's