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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134726
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| Posted: 15 July 2010 at 9:38am | IP Logged | 1
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Guns are in essence a way of killing by remote control: you point, click, dead. By removing a person from the act of killing by hand (knife, rope, candlestick), it becomes easier to kill. •• This goes directly to the mentality found in the use of the machine gun in war. Before the introduction of the machine gun, riflemen were all essentially snipers. They had to pick a target, aim at that target, and make a conscious choice to kill that target. The machine gun removed this, by firing a stream of slugs that went out like the water from a hose. Spraying a whole area detaches the shooter from a direct visceral connection to the kill.
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Brad Krawchuk
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 June 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 5814
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| Posted: 15 July 2010 at 9:42am | IP Logged | 2
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...introduction of the machine gun...
---
Makes a sad kind of sense that something called a "machine" would dehumanize an act, doesn't it?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134726
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| Posted: 15 July 2010 at 9:47am | IP Logged | 3
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...introduction of the machine gun...--- Makes a sad kind of sense that something called a "machine" would dehumanize an act, doesn't it? •• Especially the first machine guns (including the Gatling Gun) which were big, clumsy, cumbersome machines that took several men to operate and were prone to jamming and other kinds of malfunctions. The team operating the gun were principally concerned with just that, OPERATING THE GUN, not with where the bullets were going!
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Ted Pugliese
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 December 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 7985
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| Posted: 15 July 2010 at 7:59pm | IP Logged | 4
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My craziest ideas also include my thoughts that simply buying our country is not enough. The foreign powers that be have worked very hard to convince the American people that having guns and needing to defend yourself against tyranny and/or criminals (who commit heinous acts of violence daily) is crazy. Soon, we the American people will no longer have the means or the will to defend ourselves against the invaders that are first buying our country.
So while I no longer have a gun in my home (where the rest of my young family lives too), I firmly believe that it is the right of all Americans to own guns and defend themselves, their families,and their homes.
In today's global economy, it is possible for the foreign oil companies and illegal drug cartels to own not only the American/international companies that have pushed the small business owners out of work, but the politicians that run the joint and keep giving them the money and power.
One can easily imagine a scenario where foreign interests control our country and simply take over. We gave up the weapons, because only crazy people own guns, and we were surprised when the Muslims took over because we were too busy arguing about religion and atheism. Maybe the Chinese will take over, while Americans continue to divide themselves into Blacks and Whites.
Seriously, there are billions and billions of Chinese and Hindus and not enough room or opportunity for them in their own countries.
Sounds like racism, but it isn't. I do not care what you are or where you came from, but if you do not want to be an American, become part of our mosaic, and learn the language, then maybe you don't want to be here.
My grandparents came from Italy, but my father and I were born here. He spoke two languages, including English without an accent, and basically forgot Italian after his parents died. I never learned it. He fought in WWII and I served during the first Gulf War, Americans both of us, aware of our culture, but Americans first. I see us losing our identity as a nation every day.
I do not want that to happen. I want us to be a great nation of diverse people, from diverse backgrounds, who SHARE a common identity with a common language. One Nation, e pluribus unum.
When I lived in Korea, I learned to read, write, and speak Korea. Growing up in Miami, I began to learn Spanish and studied it in middle school, high school, and college. I love different languages, and cultures, and religions, but I know we need to maintain a common national identity too.
We can have both, and it's ok to feel that way. The same forces that work to make you think guns are bad, work to make you feel like national pride or nationalism is wrong. Like wanting to maintain a national identity and feeling that sharing a language helps do that is wrong too. Bunk! They simply know you should divide to conquer.
And being against illegal immigration does not make you a racist either.
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William McCormick
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 February 2006
Posts: 3297
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| Posted: 15 July 2010 at 8:30pm | IP Logged | 5
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So let me see if I've got this straight, I'm against everyone owning guns because I've been brainwashed by a foreign power that is hellbent on taking over America as soon as all the law abiding citizens hand over their guns.Or is it the Muslims that want me to give up my guns. I'm confused.
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Jeremiah Avery
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 2431
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| Posted: 15 July 2010 at 8:33pm | IP Logged | 6
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If someone wants to own a handgun for some sense of security or a rifle for hunting, okay. However, a private citizen does not need an uzi. If you need to bring a gun to restaurant so you'll feel safe, maybe you should go to a less dangerous establishment.
In the state I live in, it was recently passed to allow people to carry concealed guns into bars. Booze and firearms, what can possibly go wrong?
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Koroush Ghazi
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 October 2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 1698
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| Posted: 15 July 2010 at 8:50pm | IP Logged | 7
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Ted Pugliese wrote:
| My craziest ideas also include my thoughts that simply buying our country is not enough. The foreign powers that be have worked very hard to convince the American people that having guns and needing to defend yourself against tyranny and/or criminals (who commit heinous acts of violence daily) is crazy. Soon, we the American people will no longer have the means or the will to defend ourselves against the invaders that are first buying our country. |
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Bam. And there it is. The whole plot has been unraveled and us foreigners now have to go back to square one to find another way to undermine the US.
Ted Pugliese wrote:
| And being against illegal immigration does not make you a racist either. |
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As long as you also hunt down western european illegal migrants with the same fervor, then no, it isn't racism. When I was in LA, there were no shortage of Australian, British, and other white western people living and working illegally there in bars and restaurants. These people are stealing your jobs - get after them!
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Ted Pugliese
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 December 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 7985
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| Posted: 15 July 2010 at 9:00pm | IP Logged | 8
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LOL
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Al Cook
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 December 2004
Posts: 12735
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| Posted: 15 July 2010 at 9:00pm | IP Logged | 9
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And like that, Ted Puglise vanishes from my Facebook friends list.
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Jason Mark Hickok
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 February 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 10472
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| Posted: 15 July 2010 at 9:23pm | IP Logged | 10
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Al - I assume I safe on your list right? =)
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Ted Pugliese
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 December 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 7985
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| Posted: 15 July 2010 at 9:29pm | IP Logged | 11
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Firstly, try to understand what I meant by craziest ideas. Like I was talking about ridiculous extrapolations that spring from my basic point, which is Americans have the right to keep and bear arms. I believe that, even though I do not currently own a gun.
In a forum where we discuss all kind of rights and beliefs, I'm proud to share mine and to say I think this right is just as important as the right to free speech, religion, and all the gay rights we discuss.
As long as I have the right to keep and bear arms, then you should have the right to say you don't like it. Similarly, if a man has the right to live with and sleep with another man, then someone else should have the right to say they don't like it. Not sure why I am using this example, but those men sleeping together and some other person owning a gun (or two or three or more), do not impact anyone else's life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness. They are both harmless and both should be allowed in a free society.
But the minute you shoot someone or murder them or try to murder them, i.e. infringe upon someone else's right to life and liberty, is the minute you forfeit your rights. But until you do that, having a gun is no worse than a man sleeping with another man.
As for the crazy stuff, the media IMHO has done much to help gay rights and much to paint the nutty gun picture, and I don't get that. You are either for freedom or against it.
And while no illegal immigrant can take my job, I do not think anyone born in this country, living in this country, should lose a job to someone who shouldn't be here. Unfortunately, the real problem is probably closer to Americans are spoiled and lazy and don't want to work than to some crazy conspiracy.
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Al Cook
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 December 2004
Posts: 12735
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| Posted: 15 July 2010 at 9:29pm | IP Logged | 12
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Jason Mark Hicock wrote:
| Al - I assume I safe on your list right? =) |
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Um, remind me again, who are you?
Kidding!
Edited by Al Cook on 16 July 2010 at 8:12am
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Topic Closed)
