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10794. thoughtful - 3/19/2013 1:57:37 AM I think it has a lot to do with gun control and the big assumption that gun control enthusiasts make that controlling guns will solve the problem. I don't believe guns can be controlled effectively and even if they were somehow, it would not stop violence against others. It isn't the gun, but the nut behind the gun that's a problem. If we could instead laud compassion and empathy instead of one's ability to kick a football or block a pass or "pull a train", then whether guns were available or not, violence against others would be reduced.
And speaking about guns and violence and video games, there's an update on sandy hook shooter and how he was so heavily involved in gaming that he wanted to try and get himself to the top of the list of mass murderers. This was not a case of a kid gone wild, but a sicko who was planning this event for years. He was trying to get to the next level and make sure no one else was going to get all of his "points". 10795. thoughtful - 3/19/2013 2:20:53 AM I don't know about you, Arky, but I find it especially shocking to gang rape a girl who is so unconscious that they don't know if she's dead or not....I find it especially callous that they even think she might be dead and for no one present to check and make sure. I find it especially cold to lie to your own victim and say that instead of accusing him, she should've been thanking him for "taking care of her" while she was passed out. 10796. thoughtful - 3/19/2013 3:35:27 AM Re the Ohio rape case, this really says something about fox news:
Up to this point, Fox News has not named the convicted minors, yet it allowed the victim's name to air. 10797. arkymalarky - 3/19/2013 4:37:29 AM No one has suggested any gun control legislation "solves" any problem any more than any other law does, and the segue from the Ohio case is a non sequitur. If you want to regulate video games, all the same arguments can be made against that as against gun control. Working to make people better people is an important goal, but it's a continual and unlegislatable process. And we are moving forward. I've seen that directly, despite how shocking some people find modern entertainment. Kids are more compassionate and tolerant than they used to be. A lot more. News makers are by definition the exception. I couldn't have made a fantastic career as a teacher otherwise.
The Ohio case is appalling and I would have been fine to see them tried as adults. But 30 years ago, partly due to the differences in communication technology, but also due to improved moral perspective of society, the same incident would likely have had the one result of ruining the victim's life.
And Fox is, as usual, despicable. 10798. alistairconnor - 3/19/2013 9:59:01 AM "I think it has a lot to do with gun control "
Earth to Thoughtful :
When a case like this comes up in Europe (and they do), nobody thinks it's about gun control.
Think about that, thoughtfully. 10799. alistairconnor - 3/19/2013 10:03:33 AM Hey folks, did you catch this?
Not exactly current events, but there's no history thread. And some things never change anyway.
BBCAt a July meeting in Nixon's New York apartment, the South Vietnamese ambassador was told Chennault represented Nixon and spoke for the campaign. If any message needed to be passed to the South Vietnamese president, Nguyen Van Thieu, it would come via Chennault. In late October 1968 there were major concessions from Hanoi which promised to allow meaningful talks to get underway in Paris - concessions that would justify Johnson calling for a complete bombing halt of North Vietnam. This was exactly what Nixon feared. Chennault was despatched to the South Vietnamese embassy with a clear message: the South Vietnamese government should withdraw from the talks, refuse to deal with Johnson, and if Nixon was elected, they would get a much better deal. So on the eve of his planned announcement of a halt to the bombing, Johnson learned the South Vietnamese were pulling out. He was also told why. The FBI had bugged the ambassador's phone and a transcripts of Anna Chennault's calls were sent to the White House. In one conversation she tells the ambassador to "just hang on through election". 10800. Wombat - 3/19/2013 5:31:46 PM This has been floating around for a while. Ironic, ultimately, in that Nixon totally shafted the South Vietnamese. 10801. alistairconnor - 3/20/2013 6:19:39 PM You may have seen...
 10802. anomie - 3/27/2013 6:21:28 PM The marriage question seems simple if we think of it as what it really is - a religious sacrament. As such, the government has no business teling people how to practice religion. For all practical purposes (especially since divorce is so common and accessable), the government treats marriage as a contract, sometimes with children as an interested third party. But these are secular concerns and should be enforced without regard to gender. So the government shouldget out of the "marriage" business altogether. Marriage is something people do within their religious context. If the government has an interest in protecting contracts between couples, then it's obvious they should do so equitably without regard to gender, etc.
Gotta believe someone on the court is thinking this way. I can even imagine Scalia agreeing that a rose by any other name is still a "contract" and should be enforced equally. I mean, if the equal protection clause can give us Bush in 2000, it ought to give us this.
10803. judithathome - 3/27/2013 6:39:41 PM i The marriage question seems simple if we think of it as what it really is - a religious sacrament.
I have never once thought of my marriage as a religious sacrament. And millions of others don't think that way, either.
If it were simply a "religious" union, we wouldn't need to register it with the government. 10804. judithathome - 3/27/2013 6:40:27 PM Sorry, the quote should be italicized....I keep forgetting shortcuts don't work here. 10805. anomie - 3/27/2013 7:17:40 PM Judith, you make the point for me. Our society treats marriage as little more than a contract now. It has less and less of its historic religious aspects in the minds of most people. So it's a little hypocritical for folks to be so protective of its traditional religious definition. It's a contract. If the court were deciding the issue on the basis of contract law, I believe it would be settle easily in favor of equal protection. 10806. judithathome - 3/28/2013 6:39:18 PM You're right...but I fear they aren't going to lean that way. 10807. judithathome - 4/1/2013 7:16:16 PM Anyone else worried about Dennis Rodman's new best friend in North Korea? 10808. judithathome - 4/1/2013 9:40:05 PM Dozens Indicted In Atlanta Cheating Scandal
This is depressing. 10809. arkymalarky - 4/1/2013 10:32:18 PM Welcome to the world of high-stakes testing. I'll love watching Michelle Rhee Suffer the same fate one of these days 10810. arkymalarky - 4/4/2013 3:17:13 PM I've decided not to go to yahoo any more. They're getting really out there IMO 10811. anomie - 4/5/2013 2:36:27 AM I don't like their teaser headlines. I just ignore them and check the Daily Mail for all the hot gossip. 10812. arkymalarky - 4/5/2013 3:28:40 AM They started interspersing that With some conservative Whack job Opinion pieces 10813. anomie - 4/5/2013 5:40:14 PM Whack job conservative opinions are everywhere these days. Shame.
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