Mowgli1647545497

How many of these f**king gun debate threads are gonna get made in Parking Lot this year? 500? 1000?

 

Do a 5 second search here and everything you'd need for your paper is already there.

What you don't really address is what good guns actually do in the hands of every single citizen, to preserve democracy from "hitler wannabees". No, you could not in fact go shoot some aspiring dictator no matter how sure of yourself you are. You are not a militia, thats the bottom line. It would take a lot of people, and a lot of guns, (something on the order of a state militia, perhaps?) in order to practically guard against that risk.

I never said every single person. But I do believe in the *right* to do so. I thought I did address this, I'll do it again, see below. Hitler was a metaphor, btw. That tangent was called humor: illustration by extreme absurd. Its sometimes a useful tool for getting a point across. Since you balked, I'll keep it straight for now on.

Your reaction to anyone suggesting a law alter the second amendment in any way is to basically put your hands over your ears and insist that if you have a gun, you will be ok.

No it isn't. Please don't put words in my mouth. So we'll just drop this one and move on.

The sad truth for the many many people who are victims of gun violence is that it's simply not the case. Am I saying we should ban guns? No. Am I saying that alternate legislation and enforcement should always be considered to reduce the many tragedies that occur in this country daily as a result of handguns? Yes, that would be my point.

Not sure about the first part- you lost me. The second part, I don't disagree. What I'm quoting Franklin for is that this slippery slope needs to be watched. Repeating myself: legislating away this citizen empowerment and sendi govt goon squads out to physically yank them away seems like two different things but both roads land you at the same destination: An emasculated public.

Here is a thought experiment for you. Say the government passed a law stating that any gun owner, whose gun was used to commit a crime by a person other than the owner and whom would not have otherwise legally been able to purchase a gun (felon, warrant, etc.,) would be charged as an accomplice to whatever crime was committed. What would you do?

Lets expand that to include: cars, knives (hunting, steak, butter, and hell lets throw in forks too), lighters, motorcycles, baseball bats, lawn poison, and oh, various types of food.

 

Wondering why? Aside from the fact that I can recognize a hackneyed debate trap called the strawman, and won't bother with it, its actually because more Americans die from those things per year than guns. See, I just replied with a different hackneyed debate tactic. How about we withdraw both of those piles of crap.

 

So now if you'll agree I'm not an idiot lets proceed.

 

If you confuse the power of a bullet with the power of the concept of the armed citizen then that is not grasping the full set of the issue. Not asking you to agree, but let me take another swing at it.

 

I'm not referring to the literal power of an armed (singular) citizen. I am referring (and so was Benjamin Franklin, btw) to the empowerment that the ability to be armed gives the american citizen. It is, beyond the obvious, the social agreement that we are a land of empowered humans, who each matters, and not a chorus or crowd of mere lemmings, and that we agree that we are surrounded by like adults all fully entitled to, capable of and enabled to realize and defend their liberties. It has been referred to as the American Spirit. It is part of what separates a socialist or communist or, say, a kenyan democratic citizen from an american democratic citizen.

 

People, individuals, *matter* in the United States. And they matter more than the Government. It makes it a whole lot messier, it makes it a whole lot harder to govern and protect. It also makes it a whole lot damn harder to take away. And I can understand that to otherwise good hearted individuals who'd like to protect us all from ourselves, liberty really just gets in the way of that tidy neatness.

I don't believe owning a handgun will save democracy - although if I had to load up in my Caddy and drive down to capital hill and lay waste to any Hitler wannabe with my 9, I could do it action movie style, sure - but the last 3/4 of your post says you're going to where I'm standing conceptually. The last lego is this: armed citizen translates to state militia (note I make a clear distinction here to state run military constructs, those ostensibly given their mandate by the local people collectively) translates to a federal standing army. And all of these separate from a police. These armed separations of the absolute argument ending authority of a gun is what keeps (our) society standing.

 

No other governing and empowerment model currently in the world has the same track record as measured on a combination of liberty and longevity (and my wife is Dutch so I see all the european models first hand every time we visit the inlaws). England? Close but no cigar. England has illusionary freedom born more from their more homogenous demographics than by model, and its breaking down as immigration takes the %s away from the tea sipping traditional englishman - their model never would work in the melting pot America has always been. Ditto (modern) Japan.

 

I don't think you hate the second amendment but I do beleive you hate my interpretation. And I'm here to tell you that legistating away gun ownersip, while more palatable and easy to swallow than other means, is just as pacifying a totalitarian governmental power play than just sending the nazi youth goon squads out into the neighborhoods and raidng homes taking away their guns. It amounts in the end to the same thing. Taking power away from the people. By pen or by sword it is *the* *same* *thing*.

 

Ultimately all I'm trying to say is this: Demogracy isn't a recipe for success. Look at all the failed democracies around the world plagued with regional or even national corruption and oppression. No. What's genius about the US design is the system of checks and balances. An armed populace is as much a part of that instrinic check and balance system as is any other overt part such as a free judicial system.

 

Eh you don't have to beleive it. Smarter men than you or I along those that have lived thru the worst of man's inhumanity to man understand it. Luckily for us both a body of those men were were in the group we call our founding fathers.

 

An armed populace is a cornerstone to the surety of your liberty and freedom.

Well yeah, and zombies too.

 

 

And fat chicks.

jeffmeden I think you are missing a big point actually.

 

Read the Benjamin Franklin quotes again.

 

Its not just the petty criminals an armed populace gains protection from. In fact I would say they are inconsequential.

 

No, it is the organized crinimals. You know, those things called fascist states, dictatorships, kingships, religious regimes, and other unsavory "governmental" constructs. All of which need a cowed populace to thrive.

 

Is the United States the same as it was in the lat 1700s and early 1800s when the federals and states very literally vied for authority and power? No. But the constitutional presence of that gun-wielding amendment you seem to hate so much, and the idea behind it, were absolutely crucial to forming the entity you now llive in and benefit from. And even granting the difference of today from the land of our forefathers, don't be so naive as to think the need has evaporated just because its never been actively excercised.

 

And so - to quote myself:

You can't have a free USA without an armed populace. Period.

 

Throw your distaste for the cost away. The bill for the alternative is much steeper.

No. But AK clones do.

I would hate it if they DID find earth. Then they'd have to explain away why we can't go outside, look up and see them.

 

The show is too smart to have to rely on whatever cheesy ass plot device that would require. The suspension of disbelief they've cultivated so hard over the past 5 years with their attention to detail would just go down the toilet. So far nothing they've done has disrupted the possibility that all this *could* actually be happening right now lightyears away.

Gents - remember that the series' creators and writers said in no uncertain terms: "They will never find earth. Never. Never. Never. It will not happen."

 

Apparently they both hated Galactica1980 so much that whatever they do it will NOT involved them coming to earth. also - remember the mythos of the storyline has this happening TODAY, not in the future or past, or in an alternate reality. So if they came to earth they'd find US, not our remains or us in the middle ages. Both creators said they are keeping that bit of the mythos. The timeline is now.

 

Lastly - Starbuck= hottest. Grace Park is shaped like a 13yr old boy (where are the bewbs?). Tricia Helfer has got great expresssions and the tallness is a plus, but she needs to put on some pound- who wants to hug a sack of doorknobs? Starbuck? Curves and can move that cigar around her mouth real skillfully...

 

D'Anna - Just because they box a line doesnt mean you can't get em out of the crates later. Duh.

 

Last cylon? I like Zarek - Richard Hatch could do that well.

A couple quotes for the conversation:

 

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

Benjamin Franklin

 

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.

Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."

Benjamin Franklin

 

You can't have a free USA without an armed populace. Period.

 

Throw your distaste for the cost away. The bill for the alternative is much steeper.

 

/thread

+1 for shooting the neighbor's dogs, and then beating his ass, and then charging him $20 for the ammo.

 

Condolences for your pet. That had to be tough, but you did the right thing by her.

I saw where they said something along the lines of "other individuals are stepping up trying to save the calendar of events that they can" but no idea what this shakes out to.

 

Tough to find details on any upcoming shows at this point.

 

Anyone have any info?

 

(Man I wouldn't want to be that guy that stiffed all those vendors)

 

(i also work in an level 1 trauma ER and can vouge for this...)

 

You work in an ER and can't spell???

 

note to self: do not suffer gunshot wound in Columbus Ohio.

It looks like its closer to giving an MIT grad student a handjob than taking over the world.

 

Mmmm dextrous hand manipulation....

 

Look at it, its just asking for it. Oh your voxspeaker says no, but your programmatic expresive facial interaction light sensors say yes.

 

Slut.

Thats not any different than any other online game, pc or console, shooter or other. They're always better in a crowd. But if a game *needs* to that to be fun I submit its not a good game since there are games that are fun alone or in small groups that become awesome overload in the crowd/modded setting you describe.

 

Ah, the LAN party. (thing of the past now)

cod4 on pc > cod4 on console

*10

QTF

/thread

 

+thread

 

Oh yeah and all the Halo were yawns - nothing more than the 10 year old pc game Tribes. Great for the kids too young to know what it was a copy of - that would include everyone 20 and younger btw

 

/thread

Dont get a PS3 to get a Bluray player - you're punching yourself in th cunt.

 

There's a lot of features on deck for bluray discs that first gen players cant' do - including the PS3.

 

Wait 12 months to 18 months when the bluray selection of movies is actually large enough not to suck and the player prices will be in the $100 range. And more feature rich than a PS3's player.

 

Get the XBox - it'll have a bluray player within 6months anyway.

 

 

EDIT - and bluray will be dead in 5 years anyhow...

Buy it. You won't be sorry.

 

Run the rear end thats in it til it dies (it will, mine is whining from the years of abuse I've inflicted on it, but nothing a stereo cant fix) - and then get yourself an 06 rear end.

 

Good luck getting the dealership to just "give" you an 06 rearend. But even if you pony up for it, added to the price you're paying you're getting a hell of a car.

I thought about waiting on android actually. it looks pretty cool, but since all thats been demo'd is circuit boards in closed door presentations if I could I'd wait on the next tradeshow to see if any new announcements hit. But I probably won't wait.

 

As I said I'm staying away from iPhone. bricking = suck. and PDAs are just too beefy - I would like to be able to put this thing in a pocket and still walk, as opposed to slinging it on a belt holster like some Star Trek nerd. lol It may be the most efficient way to carry them I'll give you, but sorry but every time I see some guy with those things on their belts I crack up. Besides I don't wear belts that often (much less pants).

 

I'm surprised some of you are recommending Cingular/AT&T - when I last had them (just prior to switching to Verizon) they really sucked ass. completely incompetent in billing, quality of service, rates, you name it. Maybe its changed in the last year. Can't be worse than Verizon's content control.

Thanks all, this is good info. So what carrier should i be looking at? (Sounds like nothing is beating the N95 phone choice so far.)

 

In short - I'm looking mainly to use as a phone, browser and email a close second, mp3 player third, international a DISTANT third (I no longer do any business in europe and I try to inflict only one visit to the inlaws in holland on myself a year.) I really have no carrier allegiance and I am completely and totally over being locked into content/software/os choices by a carrier. Fuk that. I won't go with a carrier with restrictions. Trouble is, they all go out of their way to hide their limitations on their official sites/materials to cell phone laypersons like myself.

 

So as I troll the forums and reviewer sites it all looks like hearsay and speculation on what you can and cant do on each carrier's network. ugh.

I'm talking about the GUI not the phone itself.

 

Verizon slaps a GUI on *top* of the motorola GUI - which isn't bad but isn't great to begin with. Imagine a status bar on the top of your phone that shows signal strength, time ,etc. Well, the Verizon version of the krzr and razor have FIVE. Two on top and three on the bottom. The same phones from other carriers have two - one on top one on bottom. I'm happy to hear Verizon didn't saddle all their phones with this craptastic GUI overlay.

 

Back on Topic - not thinking a 8130 is an alternative to the n95 being a blackberry - apples to oranges and all. but I'll look more into other blackberrys now.

--------------------------

EDIT: Wife's phone is a LG VX8600 - same GUI overlay - thogh not as bad: 4 ribbons, two top two bottom. Still an irritating waste of space as they NEVER go away.

I should clarify - the verizon overlay of the motorola os (on my krzr and the wife's razor) is cack. Its the thing I said takes up 1/3 the screen and no way to turn it off with Verizon's blessing.

I heard AT&T's EDGE network is... how did they put it: "slow as frozen molasses".

 

Isn't Sprint 3G? I always thought Sprint was boasting the fastest data network. Is that wrong?

 

We left Cingular a while back and I don't plan to return (also ruling out the iPhone. Well that and Steve jobs is a douchebag).

interesting. nice pricepoint, but the browser is giving me pause. they say its "improved" over the previous bog standard blackberry browser (which imo is kludgey) but don't say how it is improved.

 

The thing i hate about verizon on my krzr is how they eat up a good 33% of the screen with that crap software overlay of their. Do I really need to have the verizon red band at the top and bottom of my screen? is this blackberry saddled with that?

 

I can get it from Verizon. But then I give up VCast offerings- no big loss -and I'm not sure about how transparent the verizon network is for surfing.

 

hmmm, still its $300 less....

 

i dunno.

 

I guess this begs another question: what carriers work easiest with self-bought unlocked phones? meaning which make you jumnp thru the fewest hurdles to get it onto their network.

Now thats its been out for awhile and the second gen has settled in, what are the phone guru's opinions on the Nokia N95?

 

Also - what are your thoughts on which carrier in columbus to go with with this phone? Which carrier diesables the least functionality?

 

I was thinking of buying an unlocked N95 and then going with Sprint because of its data network speed (I need it primarily browse).

 

I will also be going to europe in May to visit the inlaws and would prefer to be able to use it then but its not a huge criteria.

 

Also - if there's a better phone than the N95 I should be looking at by all means let me know - I'm not married to it. I just liked it's platform, its smallish size (for what it does) and its features.

 

thx in advance

 

(PS I'm on Verizon now using a Krzr - like the phone, but outgrown it - in my new position i need true email and browsing - and i hate Verizon's network, so I'll be ditching this contract)

I have a lever arm that needs to take a pound or two of force that's snapped off its base. I was wondering if there are various forms of JBWeld for different metals?

 

I'm not sure this is pot metal but I'm pretty sure its not pure or good steel either. The break is a clean break more like a broken epoxy joint than a weld as the lever arm and base are clearly two separate pieces and from the look of it they weren't welded together to start with.

 

I'm hesitant to fall back to welding it because I don't know what metal it is and I can't replace the part if I mung it up with too hot a flame.

 

Maybe braze it? A cold Welco 52?

 

Anyway, I'd like to try epoxies first, safer I think - JBWeld, Gorilla Glue, some other epoxy - any recommendations on what might be best?

 

thx in advance.