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slakr007's comments:
on Unpacking Heat
How constructive echolynch. I guess we can only have a conversation if we all agree with you?
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
There IS a message sent by openly carrying a firearm. The message is that the person carrying the firearm is prepared.
No, my mom was never prepared to use the pistol she carried for a short period of time, and I would venture that is the majority of people. Killing someone is not something that most people can do at the drop of a hat. People like to talk tough, but they will never know if they can really pull the trigger until they really have to pull the trigger. And, if you pull your gun, you HAVE to pull the trigger.
One of the guests said he was just going to pull his gun and hit a passenger that was going to attack the driver. Thankfully, the person ran off the bus.
That seriously bugs me. If the person had not run off the bus, what then? The guest admitted he was not prepared to shot the guy. If he had tried to hit the guy, missed, and the guy took his gun, what then?
Bluffing is dangerous, and it scares the s**t out of me that people like that are carrying guns.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
Last time I checked, 35,000 people die a year in motor vehicle accidents. Driving somewhere to advocate open-carrying guns for safety just seems silly.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
People legally carrying guns are the most law abiding citizens in this state.
Yeah...about that. The more time I spend at a range, the less confidence I have in people that own guns. There are no qualifications to own a gun, and an alarmingly large number of gun owners I have run in to are just stupid. They may be law abiding, but they are stupid.
I was a state range in Florida where a group of guys were shooting a Barrett .50 sniper rifle...at a target 25 YARDS away...AND MISSING...ALMOST EVERY SHOT.
I lost count of the number of times I have been at a range with punks just rapid-firing their handguns at targets 7 yards away.
I was at an open range. All of us on the rifle range cleared our rifles and declared the range cold to swap targets. As I was walking down the range a bullet zinged over the wall separating the rifle and pistol ranges and over my head because some idiot was shooting a large caliber rifle at a metal target on the pistol range.
I am a person that owns guns and I do not trust gun people.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
Heinlein said, "An armed society is a polite society"
And I say it's not. Is my opinion more valid than a science fiction writer's? Let's see... Violent crime has had an overall decreasing trend while, at the same time, guns have a decreasing relevance in everyday life.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
Carrying an unconcealed weapon, in a holster, should show those around them that they are the good guy. They are the guy who cares about himself/herself and their loved ones enough to be able to protect them.
Really? Because to me, it is just a person with a seriously overblown sense of danger who, most likely, is not really prepared to use the gun, worse may be too ready to use the gun, may or may not understand all of his/her responsibilities, etc.
It's pretty nice the way you imply that people not carrying guns just do not care about themselves and their loved ones enough.
Seventy-four percent agreed with the statement that "One reason burglars avoid houses where people are at home is that they fear being shot during the crime."
Since you are ignoring crime statistics to justify carrying a gun, I will ignore that statistic. It probably will not make my friend who had his guns stolen from his home feel much better anyway.
I would say he should have had a safe...but then the guns would not have been readily available so that he could spring into action and protect himself and his loved ones.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Unpacking Heat
Interesting. I own several firearms; rifles, shotguns, and handguns. I have a gradient of comfort around people with firearms, even as a person very familiar with firearms.
If I were a hunter and ran into another hunter. No problem.
When I am at a range, I find it bizarre to see range employees walking around with handguns on their hip as if they might need to spring into action at any moment and defend the range. But, still not terribly concerned. Just a little uncomfortable because of the attitude.
If I were to see a person open-carrying, or perhaps just catch a glance of a concealed weapon, in, say, the REI in downtown Portland, I would be extremely concerned. Mainly because I am very familiar with how lacking concealed carry permit classes are in preparing people for the responsibility of carrying a firearm.
In Florida, my mother was able to get a concealed carry permit by taking a two day class about general gun knowledge and a brief overview of the law followed by an exam. The instructor gave all of the attendees the answers to copy.
To this day, I still cannot figure out how that qualified her to carry a firearm in her purse. I asked her what would happen if someone attempted to steal her purse? Would she be able to get to the gun? Would she be able to stop the person from using the gun against her? Would she be able to live with the uncertainty of what happened to the firearm if someone did steal her purse (e.g., is it now in the hands of some gang-banger wannabe?) She has since stopped carrying it. There was really no reason for her to carry in the first place.
But, that is only the main reason people with guns in public concern me. Honestly, I feel very uncomfortable around police officers. I used to eat lunch at a restaurant frequented by Florida Highway Patrol officers and Alachua County Sheriff's deputies. It made me very uncomfortable sitting next to them.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on Water: From the Bottle or the Tap?
Yes, thank you.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on Oregon's Death Row
I am surprised people like Rachel Hardesty overlook the crimes committed by death row inmates.
I am sure they have not overlooked the crimes.
Most have committed multiple murders. Some have killed entire families. Dismembered victims and stuffed their bodies in suitcases.
And? How does that really matter when...
Their victims suffered horribly.
...which is true, but nothing anyone can do can ever change that.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on Oregon's Death Row
Good book... "Who owns Death?" by Robert Lifton. The section on the reactions of those who witness executions and the reactions of victims' families is quite interesting.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on The Economy and Domestic Violence
It's not scientifically wrong. Mafia families help each other too, that doesn't make them unselfish.
Let go of the evil comment for a second. I said in my last post that I only made the evil comment because some people think selfishness is the root of evil. I do not, and my post reflects that. I think we all act in our own best interest, we just learn...though teaching and through the examples of our parents...that short-term sacrifice for long-term gain is superior to short-term gain.
Just as an example, can you think of a baby that has a way of saying: "I'm hungry, but go ahead and finish what you are doing first."
Every baby wants something and wants it now. Every parent has to ween a baby. Every parent has to teach a toddler manners. Every parent has to teach a child to pay for something instead of listening to his instinct to just take it because he wants it. Every parent has to teach a teenager to call if plans change.
Parents have to do all of that to give their selfish little offspring a broader, empathetic view of the world around them. Otherwise, their "perfect little innocent selfless" babies grow up following their base instincts and desires to disastrous ends. ...and, in a lot of cases, that happens despite the best efforts of the parents.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on The Economy and Domestic Violence
Some people consider selfishness to be the root of evil. Children are purely selfish, and thus my evil comment.
Children are selfish. That's a straight up fact. That's the "wildness," the "freedom." A child is going to do whatever they feel is in their best interest. Which is the way we all operate, but a properly reared person realizes a much wider sphere, a more complex notion of best interest.
Left on their own, some may learn to think of others along the way, but most wouldn't. In fact, many still do not even with proper guidance.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on The Economy and Domestic Violence
That is the Old Testament religious teaching but it is scientifically wrong, it is one of the worst "Great Lies" that religion promotes.
No, it is every experience I have ever had with a child.
If children were perfectly innocent, wonderful beings, then what is the point of parenting?
You say you are against "negative" parenting, and that's fine. But you say you are for "positive" parenting. OK, so what is "positive" parenting if it is not teaching kids how to be good people?
In fact, most religious people I know think kids are wonderful, innocent, gifts from God despite what the Bible says.
What science proves kids are inherently good?
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on The Economy and Domestic Violence
Another thing that flew over my head at first...
The guests dismissed the studies to which I linked by saying the studies ignored the context.
Well, the MUSC Fact Sheet on violence in Lesbian relationships shows that the rate of violence is similar to heterosexual relationships. Another study listed in the Wikipedia article on domestic violence found a higher incidence of violence in Lesbian relationships versus heterosexual relationships.
What context is missing in those reports?
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on The Economy and Domestic Violence
Libel against children?
Children are born evil, man. A child is the physical manifestation of selfishness. Lord of the Flies was more than just an allegory.
Even sparing the rod, you still have to teach kids to be decent human beings.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on The Economy and Domestic Violence
Emily,
Just to clarify... I'm not saying women are worse than men and I am not trying to "degenderfy" the issue.
What I am doing is pointing out that there seems to be a lot of evidence coming out that things are not what they seem and that focusing so much on men as abusers may be ignoring possibly much wider issues.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on The Economy and Domestic Violence
Maybe there is nothing wrong?
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/ipvus.pdf
I'll believe a downward trend over 12 years is a signal that things are getting better before I will believe a slight, perceived uptick over a couple of months is a signal that something is wrong.
Even rape, assault, and robbery among intimate partners were down 66% over that 12 years.
As for Chiquita Rollins' claim about video games: get off it. There is still no evidence that video games cause any sort of violence. It is still just as likely that the only correlation is that violent people play violent games.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on The Economy and Domestic Violence
There's an awful lot of equating "abuser" with men in that post. Be careful doing that...
2006 Study in the Journal of Family Psychology (women initiate violence 33% more often than men).
2007 Summary of a 2001 CDC Study in Psychiatric News (women initiate violence more than twice as often as men among 18-28 year-olds.)
MUSC Fact Sheet on Lesbian violence.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on End of the Special Session
OK, so let me get this straight...
The value of a credit check for determining anything related to job performance or possible criminal activity has never been substantiated, but, rather, has been shown at least once in a 2003 study to be non-existent.
The credit bureaus are completely opaque; considered criminal by at least one state, Florida, which spearheaded law suits that ultimately resulted in Experian admitting it violated FTC rules; they have no vested interest in keeping accurate data; have a history of refusing to correct errors; and have a vested interest in selling these products to people like you.
The methods for calculating credit scores are completely unknown, but are obviously subject to forces outside of the potential employee's control.
...and you still think it is an "important resource" for hiring?
By the way, I agree, there should have been no exemptions.
posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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on Going to School Online
Preston,
Really, what I'm getting at is that the students leaving the classroom are not necessarily gifted, they just have parents that care and have time, and that is the biggest reason they should stay in the classroom. Parents that care generally benefit all students. But, the more this drumbeat of "schools have failed" persists (deserved or not) and the more popular alternatives become, the more parents are going to pull their kids.
And, there is no reason to assume that this would lower the student/teacher ratio (teachers can flee too) nor is there any reason to assume this would make things better for the students still in the brick and mortar schools.
Anyway, there are probably parents pulling their kids for the wrong reasons, these online schools are fixes for a small percentage of kids, and they leave a lot of other kids in limbo because this is not part of any comprehensive, coherent strategy.
I will scale up my example from earlier. Imagine Algebra class with 30 kids, 10 are disruptive (because they don't care, have parents that don't care, have learning disabilities, whatever), 10 just do not have parents that can dedicated the time to do online school, and the other 10 have parents than can put them in an online course.
What's better: pulling the 10 with caring parents that can dedicate time to online school, or finding alternatives for the 10 with issues and keeping the caring parents with time in the system?
We just seem to be railroading kids through school on a single track toward college and view other options as options for stupid kids. Pulling kids out and creating a separate online education system does not fix that problem.
posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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