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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133334
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| Posted: 17 December 2012 at 9:08am | IP Logged | 1
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Someone made an interesting point on Twitter Friday: one person tried to light their shoes on fire on a plane and now everyone has to take off their shoes at the airport. Yet here we are again; another mass shooting, "debating" gun control.•• Put in a historical context, we see that guns get the free pass mostly because they've been around a long time. The Founding Fathers had to consider guns in the framing of the Constitution, but they did not have to consider automobiles, airplanes, nuclear bombs, the internet, etc, etc. As "new things" -- like lunatics trying to set fire to their shoes -- have come along, we have immediately addressed them. Guns, and the carnage they cause, are not "new". They are, some would hold, part of our "heritage". Owning them is a "right". As noted before, a greater and more important right, apparently, than "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". Of course, that phrase is from the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution, so it's not "protected". (Curious, is it not, that a "right" granted by humans to each other writes over an "unalienable" right granted by God Himself!)
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Leigh DJ Hunt
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 February 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1570
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| Posted: 17 December 2012 at 9:29am | IP Logged | 2
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I've been checking the BBC's coverage of this story, for an "outside" perspective. A curious reminder of my British heritage, as the newsreaders pronounce Newtown as "Newton". I wonder why no one corrects them?---------------------------------------------- Odd you say that JB as I've only heard it said as 'Newton' by Americans notably by Obama in his initial statement. At that point I figured New-Town must be wrong!
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11296
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| Posted: 17 December 2012 at 10:38am | IP Logged | 3
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The BBC newsreaders usually go out of their way to pronounce the names of foreign cities as the locals would,usually to great comic effect,the one exception that i have noticed is that they always say Paris never `Paree` I read in the papers over here,that the mother was a bit of a paranoid survivalist,hence the guns in her house,although why she`d have guns in the house when she knew her son was psychologically troubled beggars belief.To a foreigner like me,it is amazing and frightening that military grade assault rifles are so freely available to the general public.
Edited by Bill Collins on 17 December 2012 at 10:50am
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Marcio Ferreira
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 September 2008
Location: Brazil
Posts: 2518
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| Posted: 17 December 2012 at 11:01am | IP Logged | 4
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10 girls from ages 9 to 13 died today in Afeganistan when one of them accidentally activated a landmine.Undortunatelly, our world, mankind still need to learn a lot before we can trully become civilized people. Shame on us humans for failing with our children.
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Marcio Ferreira
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 September 2008
Location: Brazil
Posts: 2518
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| Posted: 17 December 2012 at 11:05am | IP Logged | 5
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There is a treaty to ban landmines and 160 countries already joined this treaty. Today 10 children died because of landmines.There are 36 countries that have not joined this treaty. China, India, Russia and USA are amongst these countries.
Edited by Marcio Ferreira on 17 December 2012 at 11:08am
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Armindo Macieira
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 15 October 2006
Location: Portugal
Posts: 955
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| Posted: 17 December 2012 at 11:12am | IP Logged | 6
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It's a cultural thing, I guess.
To most of us, Europeans, keeping guns in the house (specially assault rifles) is a strange notion, not to Americans. It's embedded in their culture and cultural habits are very difficult to change, add the NRA influence and I believe that, no matter how many massacres happen, gun regulations won't change much anytime soon. Unfortunately...
Another aspect to consider should be the media influence in all this. Seems that any sadistic f**k who wants kill himself, instead of just shoot himself in the head, wants to go out as another "famous" mass murderer, so he grabs a rifle and goes out to kill more people than the previous one. "That guy killed 20 children? Ah! I'll kill 30 babies and be the worst mass murderer ever!"
I hope this situation doesn't escalate into some kind of demented "competition"...
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Charles Valderrama
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4831
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| Posted: 17 December 2012 at 11:48am | IP Logged | 7
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Why is the NRA so damn powerful?? I know the quick answer is the money they contribute to politicians and key people in government, but isn't it at this point considered BLOOD MONEY??
Will politicians now realize there are better alternatives to making money that don't endanger people, especially our children??
-C!
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Craig Markley
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3969
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| Posted: 17 December 2012 at 12:01pm | IP Logged | 8
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This is the Christmas picture a friend of a friend posted on their Facebook page. It makes me want to throw-up.
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11296
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| Posted: 17 December 2012 at 12:04pm | IP Logged | 9
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Another reason guns maintain their popularity in the U.S. apart from the easy availability is the way tv shows and movies glamourise them.I watched Cobra starring Stallone yesterday,there was a scene that i have seen numerous times in other films...the stripping and cleaning of a firearm,shot,cut and edited to make it seem cool and sexy,almost fetishistic.
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31185
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| Posted: 17 December 2012 at 12:08pm | IP Logged | 10
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The daughter of one of my co-workers is a teacher. She just texted my friend that their school is in lock-down mode because some idiot made a phone call saying they were going to go to the school and open fire.
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Craig Robinson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 November 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 1756
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| Posted: 17 December 2012 at 12:13pm | IP Logged | 11
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The Unites States has not signed the land mine treaty because we are still in South Korea. We sought an exemption for Korea for the Ottawa Treaty but were denied.
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Blowing the arms and legs of Korean children is okay, you see. *** I'm not endorsing the argument. I'd rather our troops and landmines pulled out of South Korea. I hope that President Obama will sign it. The Ottawa Treaty was in the late 90s (I think) and what has our policy in Korea gotten us in that time?
Edited by Craig Robinson on 17 December 2012 at 12:30pm
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133334
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| Posted: 17 December 2012 at 12:15pm | IP Logged | 12
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The Unites States has not signed the land mine treaty because we are still in South Korea. We sought an exemption for Korea for the Ottawa Treaty but were denied.•• Blowing the arms and legs of Korean children is okay, you see.
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Topic Closed)
