tvashtarkatena

Oh, and I can tell you from travelling to 35 countries that America isn't really any more 'selfish' than any place else. Yes, we consume more - as would India if they had the per capita bucks and largest imperial military the world has ever seen. The world's most generous folks, IMO? Mexicans. Also one of the world's most violent. So much for that stupid theory. Mostly, I've been treated right when abroad no matter pretty much everywhere I've gone. So keep making up stupid theories to obfuscate what we've known for decades, gun nutz. Keep that love going as long as you can.

LOL. Look, 5% or so of the population of any society exhibits some level of psychopathy. Here, elsewhere, 10,000 years ago, today. If we had gasoline running in our rivers the whole place would be on fire, but instead we're awash in guns. In addition, we've got the most productive violence creation machine on the planet - the War on Drugs. Primary supply nations suffer the most - Colombia, Mexico, but we've got our share of bang bang because of it. We were the last 'civilized' nation to ban slavery. We fought a really, really violent civil war over it. That has left its cultural mark - an anti intellectual, hyper religious, and pro gun culture that has remained remarkably steadfast...until the Innernutz and its liquidity of information - particularly in the form of conversations just like this one, came along. Ignorance is becoming scarcer, and IQs are actually going up pretty fast. Bye bye, gun totin' Jebus. It's not about TV. That's a fucking side show brought to you by the GOP with its mouth firmly secured around the NRA's gun selling cock. Yes, there are copy cats due to new media - there were in the days of print, too, but per capita gun violence, particular gun murders, is about what it was in the '50s. Prior to that, America was even MORE violent than it is today. The 1800s, a gun nutz paradise, was super violent. So save the 'video games must be the culprit' bullshit. The culprit is guns. Lots and lots of readily available to just about anyone guns. There seems to have been a rash of mass gun murders lately. Whether that's a trend or not is an unresolved question, but the most lethal mass school murder in US history took place in...wait for it, 1924. This is a problem we've had long before TV and Grand Theft Auto. My GF and I love Deadwood, the Wire, and a host of other violent (but well written and acted) TV. That hasn't exactly lead to us eating babies raw (Personally, I'd stuff and roast). Seriously, come fucking on. If 'life of the mind violence' drove real life violence, there'd be no one left in Japan save a few teenage rape victims who got away. Ever read Japanese Manga? Do you guys ever go anywhere outside this country ever? That shit is beyond violent with a healthy side of kiddy porn - yet Japan remains one of the least violent societies on the planet. Oh, and they love their video games, too. The people who drive America's high levels of gun violence are folks like you, DD and Billcoe. Good little citizens who continue to believe that more guns = less violence and vote accordingly. People who purchase guns and thus keep the NRA and gun makers in business. You, yes you, are the faithful stewards of America's gun culture, with all its lies and tragic consequences. By supporting the gun industry with your dollars, you're like the shitheel LA dentist who enjoys tootin' the nose candy, never giving a thought about the chain of misery, from Colombia, through Mexico, through East LA, coke dollars perpetuate. So don't look into your flatscreen for who's responsible - look in the mirror, assholes.

Don't sell yourself short, KKK. I only treat dumbshits like you with a wire brush. You kinda beg for it, and I like to oblige because I do love the language. The vast majority of people in my life are smart and cool, however. It's a choice. Mostly, though, I've provided sound journalism and science to support my arguments with a sprinkling of recreational embellishment as befits the general civility of this forum. Now, I realize practically no one's going to actually read any of it, but I've aggregated it for my own benefit. Linking it here is just for fun. As a former Catholic, the title Pontif is a natural compliment.

When you're done with USA Today and want some peer reviewed studies on gun violence: Harvard School of Public Health studies on gun violence No matter how you slice it, more guns = more violence. Not hard.

Thanks for the post, Bill. I've provided the whole article, which pretty much refutes everything you've stated about the Brazilian gun ban (fictional - they simply have strict policies on concealed carry), and the ineffectiveness of strict policies (refuted by the stats from Japan and Switzerland, as well as anecdotally by the Brazilian law enforcement quoted in the CSM piece you provided). The article covers 3 countries in all of a single page, hardly comprehensive, but it clearly supports the efficacy of stricter gun control policies in the countries discussed. LOL Gun policies and violence in Japan, Switzerland, and Brazil

IBS.

Tiny.

Idiots wouldn't be such a problem if they would just STFU. Unfortunately, the greater the chasm between actual and self described intellect, the more energetic the geyser of bullshit. Despite immediate self identification as buffoons, they still manage to make the world a little dumber due to shear output. Hence - gun nutz. Even when they acknowledge they're simply tools in an extremely obvious, fear based gun marketing campaign, one that has actively quashed most real studies of the horrific levels of gun violence in the US which is so obviously and directly tied to nearly zero restrictions on gun sales, they still can't seem to take a breath through their nostrils. Whether it's secret hero fantasy, tiny penis syndrome, or just proverbial fear of the Black Revolution, it's the same old shit, different bowlful of morons. Meanwhile, kids continue to die in their schoolrooms because of it. Thanks for that, assholes.

Oh, and regarding Brazil (I took an extra 3 minutes to google it) - should be no surprise to anyone here considering the poster that its an "Um - no" again. Brazil voted AGAINST banning the sale of guns to civilians in 2005, not for it. Guns do need to be registered and are subject to taxation in Brazil - about half are. Perhaps pics of dead kids or personal penis enlarger collections is more up the OP's alley than Big Boy issues like this one. Fucking Oregon kooks. That must be some shitty drinking water down there, boys.

HEROES.

A always feel a lot safer in a crowded public event when there's lots and lots of guns around. Combine that with copious quantities of that other American staple and you've got yourself one helluva good time. That's why I like to attend Hell's Angels and Washington State Militia (yup, we got one!) parties. It's a window into what our society could be, if we only had the will. I think concerts, bars, and sporting events would be MUCH safer if everyone was armed appropriately. Oh, and courthouses. More guns = safer, so why do we put up with all these time, place, and manner restrictions?

I woke up one night staring into a shotgun barrel. I was beach camping while kayaking the N coast of the Dominican Republic - the gunman was Coast Guard - no boat, just a horse. Fortunately, I had uncharacteristically bothered to go through customs after making the crossing from Puerto Rico. I dug out my passport and went back to sleep.

Please launch your own country. TIA, Tvash

Schwacking up to a ridgeline in the Jefferson Wilderness, I was greeted by the barrel of a hunting rifle pointed at my chest by a shirtless, chamoed longhair who was extremely high on something and, by his own admission, ignorant of the location of both himself and his buddy. My only real surprise was to find a gun nut more than 100 feet from his truck. I tore his heart out with my bare hands, took a bite, and spat it out because it was unworthy, choosing instead to dominance mate with his aorta. I later spent a frosty, starry night watching a herd of elk gently graze on the shores of a mirror lake, not a hunter in sight.

Um...no. Mexicans 'enjoy' the right to own firearms just like we do. It's more restricted, but the population hasn't been disarmed. Gun politics in Mexico Gun murder rates are about the same in Mexico as in the US. The overall murder rate is substantially higher, however. Reforming US drug policy would do more than anything else to rectify this. Didn't bother to check on Brazil - I'm sure there's a dank nugg of ignorance at the heart of that one as well. Apparently, Yellowlabia feels that knives are just as lethal as guns. I suppose its only a matter of time before the military figures this out and opts for swords instead of firearms - way cheaper. Same desperate, mouth breathing arguments as always - its just that folks, better informed by the innernutz, are finally recognizing these turds for what they are - gun ads to keep sales propped up in an age of declining interest in gun/blood sports. Hard the beat back the idiocy, not that anyone actually reads it (it's painful enough to skim over) when the snow is so nice and fluffy and the sun so nice and warm up there.

And i think we can all come to a consensus that marigold, grey, black, and cream is the apex predator of color schemes for backcountry appearances. Accenting with a bold sky blue or less racey sage is fine, but lets leave the primaries and forest greens at home, shall we?

I'm inspired by my friends. How these reprobates get up anything, ever, with my somnambulent ass in tow even, remains a dark mystery. It is a testament to the quasi-human spirit.

I'll bet Mighty Mouse could take him.

Although the papers do want to know who's shirts you wear, GC.

I think most of us have bigger fish to fry in our lives than to worry about what the celebs are wearing these days.

INCREDIBLE ANALYSIS. Does Nate Silver know about you?

TIA

WHICH PART????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

2 ounces of pot on every chick and the car out of the garage - if only we'd abolish that damn electoral college!

Might I suggest filtering your Columbia River water prior to ingestion, gentlemen.