evenstar said:

Thailand number 3? I was shocked. And then I realised how much the far south would skew the statistics for the whole country. It's basically a war zone down there with bombings and murders daily. Take away the troubles near the border with Burma and pretend the most southern 3 or 4 provinces just don't exist and the numbers would be very different. Still not great though, I'm sure.

Whitnail said:

USA helped fund the IRA that bombed parts of England LOL
[Edited 2/14/08 23:46pm]

thesexofit said:

LOL?

Fauxie said:

The "LOL" was for the fact USA seems to have no shame in supplying or helping to fund weapons, no matter what the cause. (as we know they use to with Saddam many years ago).

England does this shit too, but not on such a scale I imagine.

I wasn't implying its funny what the IRA did
[Edited 2/14/08 23:54pm]

thesexofit said:

probably, i would not know

But, I will tell you one thing, that mess made me understand things alot clearer

with out getting into it here, my heritage is very colourful and i am very proud of the fact, that I was involved in pushing the peace process forward


peace edit
[Edited 2/14/08 23:56pm]

Anybody still think a Republican will win the elections?

Gun Control

Obviously we have serious issues regarding gun control in the USA, not to mention how a bunch of yahoos at the NRA interpret the Second Amendment of the Constitution as an inalienable right. However, this is what the amendment officially says:

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

When this was drafted, it menat that the government had no reason to confiscate all weapons from the people, but it also seemed to indicate that this was not an inalienable right to buy so many guns to start your own army.

Having said that, it reflects badly on us as a nation not just because of guns, but because it makes us appear unstable to other people around the world, as though we don't know how to manage our anger and/or rage. Why is it that we as Americans feel that the only or most effective ways to resolve our conflicts is through violence? And why has it become somewhat acceptable among Americans for people to resolve conflict in such violent ways?

728huey said:

It's part of our history and culture. Guns & violence are as American as baseball & apple pie.

This shit needs to stop already

uPtoWnNY said:

Then we need to change that. We also need to help mentally ill people more. I know first hand how expensive therapy and medication are.

I don't know how some people are "LOL."

People are dead.

This isn't about gun control. It's about a psycho who wants to be in history books.

The best thing we can do to avoid this is keep this sick individual's name and info about him or her out of the press. We also need to step up security on campuses. People have already done that, but we need to take it a step further. We also need to consider that elsewhere we essentially are doing the same thing to people simply for fuel.

We have gun control. In most states you have to go through all kinds of red tape to have a gun. There are all kinds of weird rules about storing it and legally using it, so much so that people who may be protected by them don't bother.

No amount of gun control is going to keep these weapons out of the hands of people evil enough to want them for this reason.

I can post a bunch of news stories about the worst things you can imagine happening to women, men, and children at the hands of monsters, and I'm not an NRA member, but you have to wonder how those situations would be different if they protected themselves. I wouldn't want to live in a place where the only people that had access to protection were the crooks.

Stymie said:

yup. i've read other articles suggesting that the shooter may have been off medication for something.

Dance said:

ugh, as always, it's amazing how people in the UK manage to go about their lives without being gunned down. this guy got his weapons legally. & not like you'll believe me, but the average college student (which this guy was) doesn't have access to a criminal network to get illegal weapons.

Stymie said:

Almost all the people who do this are evil to the core.

The only medicine that can cure them is poison.

The rest can only be helped so much. It's not like a broken leg.

What a scary world we live in. When my son was at CalPoly I was always jumpy somethinglike this would happen, but sadly it can happen any where, people are crazy all over the place, even sitting eating a burger with your kid at the local McDonalds, you are in danger.

evenstar said:

Sweetheart, no country in this world is immune. Don't play that game.

The average college student has done illegal substances. They have access to all kinds of things including weapons. They also have access to info that shows someone how to turn a street legal handgun into a war tool.

Dance said:

People get to the point where they begin to want to kill people for a reason. This type of thing is going to continue to happen of we as a society don't do anything about it. We do nothing for kids who are bullied and wonder why they take out their rage this way. How many times have we read later about how some of these people were picked onor talked about killing other people? When are we going to take this stuff seriously?

I remember a few years back when I was finishing up an economics exam when I went to school at William and Mary. In the middle of the exam, a student got up, yelled out "NO MATTER HOW HARD I STUDY, I WILL NEVER PASS THIS STUPID EXAM! I HATE THIS CLASS AND I HATE THIS SCHOOL". Now, at the time, I thought this was hillllarious. With all these school shootings going on it could have been a completely different story. There is alot of anger problems going on that need to be addressed.

Dance said:

honey, maybe you should look up statistics on gun crime in countries with more gun control compared to those with less. it's not a game.

drugs aren't comparable to guns. i'm a college student, btw, and if you're assuming that guns would be traded illegally as often as drugs are if they were banned you're sadly mistaken.

Dance said:

Are you talking about the average college student or the average member of a Militia?

evenstar said:

Other countries don't have the NRA, one of the most powerful lobbyist groups in America. They have serious membership, tons of money and Washington D.C. in their hip pocket.

Stymie said:

That's nonsense created by the media.

There are plenty of kids who are bullied and don't respond this way. It takes much more than that for someone to do this.

The crazy thing is, when this happens in certain areas in the US, it's not news.

When it happens in others, it's a tragedy that we should all pay attention to.

Shawnt25 said:

I'm a college student and so is my son and I do not have the hookup on how to turn a gun into a war tool. WITF?

Shawnt25 said:

I'm talking about the people doing all kinds of things in those dorms.

I'm talking about someone who can easily find the people and information necessary to carry this out. If people believe otherwise they are doing so because they want to.

Dance said:

Dance said:

Yes, a few people have access to illegal firearms and other weapons. However, those people are not the average.

Dance said:

How many bullied kids that turn to violence do you need?

And I have no idea what you are talking about but EVERYTIME a school shooting happens, it's on the news.

evenstar said:

http://www.timesonline.co...328368.ece

Shawnt25 said:

No, anyone who wants it has access.

Just like anyone who wants weed or coke has access.