texas shooting

[tp4tissue]

18yr old gunman

19x elementary students (4th grade) + 2x teachers killed.

Shot his grandmother in the face, went to the school, barracaded himself in a class room, anakin skywalker.



Now, here's the thing, Republicans want guns because they dream of one day staging a coup and going full fascist.   

Democrats may also want guns as a final check to the power of state.

So, guns are obviously a problem, but is this an OK price we pay for "MAYBE FREEDOM" ?

and it's surely a maybe, because no one can say for sure if this stuff actually works.


Uvalde, Texas is 93% white, 60% republican voter

[Faceman76]

A more thorough background exam is needed.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[tp4tissue]

A more thorough background exam is needed.

Would this make a huge difference given secondary markets, and the low cost (relative to income) of existing guns in the field.

For example, this gunman was 18, he wouldn't have any lengthy/detailed history to research.

in this case, a mere high school dropout with no criminal history and no documented mental health concerns (obviously little access to health care in these locales).

the ar-style weapon used in the gun was only $2000

[fohat.digs]

It is a societal problem.

Given that most terrorist killers also commit suicide, they get to believe that they will become supreme (temporary) celebrities in death in contrast to the miserable pathetic existence that they experienced in life.

If the media never disclosed their names and they were cremated within hours after their crimes, with the ashes flushed down the toilet, then the terror killings would probably mostly stop.
They would just off themselves in their own homes at 2:30 in the morning.

[chyros]

I find it bizarre that Fox News claimed it would be a good idea to install "ballistic blankets" in classroom windows rather than consider banning guns. Apparently Texas even doubled down on their open carry policy now. I've read that there are on average more than one mass shooting in the US per day. I can't believe that gun ownership hasn't come under fire a hundred times more than it has.

I've been a gun nut all my life, I'm fascinated by them, and when airsoft became legal in the Netherlands I immediately set about making a sizeable collection of as-realistic-as-possible replicas; if I could own deactivated actual guns, that'd be even cooler. But my god, am I glad we have such strict gun laws here. As much as I like real firearms, I would NOT want real, functional, deadly firearms legalised here.

[Findecanor]

Now, here's the thing, Republicans want guns because they dream of one day staging a coup and going full fascist.   

... and libertarians want guns because they feel they might need to protect themselves against the government in the future. 

Given that most terrorist killers also commit suicide, they get to believe that they will become supreme (temporary) celebrities in death in contrast to the miserable pathetic existence that they experienced in life.

These are people who were driven to commit suicide anyway, and felt that they had nothing left to lose by committing atrocities.

I'd think that if society removed the factors that drove them to commit suicide in the first place, it would avoid a lot of these suicide-mass-murders.

Yes, the objective for the violence is for the perpetrators to assert themselves, but that's a wide spectrum and not necessarily about fame. USA has an unhealthy culture where violent ways to asserting themselves, often through committing revenge, is often portrayed in fiction as being justified.

I find it bizarre that Fox News...

"Fox News" is bizarre. Period.
Repeat what I said about USA having an unhealthy culture.
Fox News is one festering wound: it is part of the problem that creates these school shootings.
It was never created as a News channel - its founders always intended it to be a propaganda outlet for the wealthy far right.

[chyros]

I find it bizarre that Fox News...

"Fox News" is bizarre. Period.

Well of course, but we're not talking a tinfoil hat tiny minority of the country here, we're talking a major news outlet that what, about half the country consider a normal, reliable information source.

I mean I don't think any of us consider the Westboro Baptist church to be representative for the average American, for example, but what Fox News says is probably a good reflection of the thoughts of half the population — and that's pretty worrying IMO! And when they say they consider ballistic window blankets to be something worth considering but NOT stricter gun laws, that comes across as fairly bizarre.

IOW it's not so much the weirdness of the opinion that's weird, it's that this is not a minority opinion.

[fohat.digs]

we're not talking a tinfoil hat tiny minority of the country here, we're talking a major news outlet that what, about half the country consider a normal, reliable information source.

Fox "News" has about 10 million regular viewers, but its reach of influence is much larger. 
The tinfoil hat tiny minority is rabid and frantically shrill in its attempt to normalize itself, and has successfully tapped into the fear and anger of the shrinking working class.
The interests of moneyed individuals and corporations stands in the shadows behind them, encouraging them with financial and legislative support.

The perversion of the US election system is what allowed and perpetuates the right-wing hold on the political system. Created in the Constitution to ensure that slave states felt "protected" from the rapidly expanding anti-slavery sentiment in the new country, various roadblocks were set up. Allowing state legislatures to control voting and vote-counting within their states, the "3/5 rule", the Electoral College, the structure and power of the Senate, all encouraged anti-democratic manipulation.

Until Bush Jr was made president in 2000 even though Gore had won a majority of the votes, there had not been a popular-vote-losing president since the 1800s, and the Republicans realized that manipulating the vote was their only path to retaining control. Gerrymandering was a powerful tool for them, but since Trump's "Big Lie" of election fraud in 2020, numerous state legislatures have also seized unprecedented control of the logistics and mechanics of the voting process itself.

"Fox News" is bizarre.
USA having an unhealthy culture.
Fox News is one festering wound
It was never created as a News channel - its founders always intended it to be a propaganda outlet for the wealthy far right.

All true. I grew up in a USA where a "Fox News" or right-wing talk radio would have been unthinkable. We had the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) that oversaw the operation of the mass media.

When Ronald Reagan was elected president, he immediately set to work dismantling virtually all of the "societal safeguards" that inconvenienced Big Business or cut into their profits.
I was in my 30s when the FCC "Fairness Doctrine" was eviscerated and radio and TV stations with an unadulterated hard-right agenda sprung up.
Fox quickly became the big dog in the pack.

[tp4tissue]

The other thing is,  why do we even need school ?

internet right there.

[fohat.digs]

When the angry redneck dresses up in battle gear and assaults the enemy target, a closed room full of 8-year-olds is a suitably challenging mission.

[tp4tissue]

When the angry redneck dresses up in battle gear and assaults the enemy target, a closed room full of 8-year-olds is a suitably challenging mission.

no no, these were 4th graders, so 9-11 year olds. I heard they're deadly in packs.

[butre]

as someone who lives in a state with a politician who directly and explicitly called for a genocide that I and many others would be killed in, I think I'm going to stay armed.  once that festering wound is dealt with, maybe then I'll put down my guns, but until the fascist presence in America is stomped out for good I ain't going out with a whimper.

[Faceman76]

The other thing is,  why do we even need school ?

internet right there.

Socialization.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[fohat.digs]

Socialization.

Not a concept on TP4's radar screen.

[tp4tissue]

Socialization.

Not a concept on TP4's radar screen.

we're doing it just fine right now on Gekha,  no bio_transmissible cooties, 97% safe, async, high bandwidth, high efficiency.

[Faceman76]

Socialization.

Not a concept on TP4's radar screen.

we're doing it just fine right now on Gekha,  no bio_transmissible cooties, 97% safe, async, high bandwidth, high efficiency.

If you saw the difference between groups of kids who were virtual last year vs the ones who were not and how they interact together, you'd disagree.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[tp4tissue]

If you saw the difference between groups of kids who were virtual last year vs the ones who were not and how they interact together, you'd disagree.

I don't disagree that different educational mediums would produce incompatibilities with existing interactive infrastructure, HOWEVER.

There's no reason why we can't adapt to new classes of hughmahns and redefine behavioral norms.

The digital medium needs work certainly, but the existing framework of having 1 human babysit 30 kids for 10 hours a day is clearly broken in it of itself.  This is some bull**** greedy scheme capitalists came up with to extract as much labor from their slaves as possible. 

[chyros]

Socialization.

Not a concept on TP4's radar screen.

we're doing it just fine right now on Gekha,  no bio_transmissible cooties, 97% safe, async, high bandwidth, high efficiency.

I can see it in our group as well as other groups in the building, now that we're able to do things again, the students are flourishing. They've had a pretty miserable time the last two years. Frankly I think the students and PhDs didn't have the experience they deserved during lockdown.

[phinix]

I can't imagine the pain and grief of all those parents.
I have a daughter and cannot imagine what would happened if I lost her.
I would probably find a way to get to that guy and cut him up into pieces, then do the same to HIS parents.

Around same day when this happened, there was a post that some 14 year old boy stabbed a 12 year old girl in a neck and killed here after she asked a group of boys to stop filming her and friends, here in UK.
WTF.

[iri]

obligatory

we're talking a major news outlet that what, about half the country consider a normal, reliable information source

obligatory

[Surefoot]

I find it bizarre that Fox News claimed it would be a good idea to install "ballistic blankets" in classroom windows rather than consider banning guns.

You my friend, are not a colonial and that shows: you used the forbidden words. It seems like guns and shooting people are their birth right. They have been sacrificing their lives, and their childrens lives, on that altar. Any kind of logical reasoning is null and void in regards to this axiom. Try and bring these words to Reddit for instance if you have a lot of karma to spend (of course you'll get the usual elements of language, "mental health", "responsibility", etc.)
We could also mention that the NRA is largely funded by Russia.

[tp4tissue]

We could also mention that the NRA is largely funded by Ru551a.

Is this true ?

We know the Repooplican'ts are indeed rv55ian

[Surefoot]

Is this true ?

We know the Repooplican'ts are indeed rv55ian[/size][/color]

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/27/764879242/nra-was-foreign-asset-to-russia-ahead-of-2016-new-senate-report-reveals
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2019/09/27/new-senate-report-alleges-nra-acted-as-foreign-asset-for-russia-before-2016-election/
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/11/nra-russia-money-guns-516804
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Butina
etc. I thought it was well known.

[fohat.digs]

I thought it was well known.

It is only well known to people who pay attention. If you shut down your eyes and your ears and your mind, you can imagine anything you want.

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/6432520/The-NRA-Russia-How-a-Tax-Exempt-Organization.pdf

A British official interviewed today said that there were 4 (FOUR individuals total, not 4 incidents) deaths from firearms in the UK last year.

[iri]

You my friend, are not a colonial and that shows: you used the forbidden words. It seems like guns and shooting people are their birth right. They have been sacrificing their lives, and their childrens lives, on that altar

Bloody colonials!

[chyros]

obligatory

Absolute gold xD .

She's not wrong about what a cesspool Amsterdam is though

I find it bizarre that Fox News claimed it would be a good idea to install "ballistic blankets" in classroom windows rather than consider banning guns.

You my friend, are not a colonial and that shows: you used the forbidden words. It seems like guns and shooting people are their birth right. They have been sacrificing their lives, and their childrens lives, on that altar. Any kind of logical reasoning is null and void in regards to this axiom. Try and bring these words to Reddit for instance if you have a lot of karma to spend (of course you'll get the usual elements of language, "mental health", "responsibility", etc.)
We could also mention that the NRA is largely funded by Russia.

I mean it's not my country, they can do whatever the hell they want, it's not my business. I'm not trying to push anything on them (and not that I could even if I tried). I just find it bizarre that despite non-stop mass shootings, even in schools, guns haven't not just not banned, but the mere mention of banning them is a faux pas.

As I'm a gun nut as well I frequently find myself watching video material where people talk about super deadly expanding or fragmenting ammunition and overkill weapons as being "ideal for self- or home defence" — which poses the assumption that your life, limb and house are under such a state of permanent, life-threatening siege that you need actual deadly weaponry at your side to defend against it. It also makes the crucial mistake that carrying guns makes you safer, while in fact it is the exact opposite.

Like I said, it's not like it affects me in any way, and they can do what they want, I just find it very difficult to understand the mindset behind it, and quite fascinating to observe.

[Surefoot]

Like I said, it's not like it affects me in any way, and they can do what they want, I just find it very difficult to understand the mindset behind it, and quite fascinating to observe.

I'm not that detached, while I also find their propensity to self destruction intriguing, their ideas good or bad tend to filter across the Atlantic over the years, like for instance electing blonde clowns under the influence of Moscow, or always even more corporate control over our politics and public life. In the case of guns specifically of course the rest of the world I think share this puzzled view at someone metaphorically stabbing themselves repeatedly while still refusing to drop the knife (or even talk about it). That will lead to nothing good, and since this is now a very co-dependant world we'll also suffer for it, indirectly. That was an open goal for Russia (and that has been a long standing policy actually) to weaken western countries for them to grab more power / influence, and that's why they heavily invested in these policies (NRA agents, pro-gun Republicans, Brexit, etc.).

[fohat.digs]

pro-gun Republicans

All Republicans are pro-gun these days.

But as to the "common" people who spend a significant portion of their hard-earned pay on "home defense" arsenals, most of them have spent their recent lives in a filter bubble that swirls with the concept that a 2nd Civil War in the US is not only imminent but could actually be desirable, as long as the "right" people are sufficiently well-armed and come out on top.

The prevailing myth is that our society is so fragile that after "x" number of terror attacks it will come unglued, and that after some period of chaos something that appeals to them will magically emerge.

[chyros]

pro-gun Republicans

All Republicans are pro-gun these days.

But as to the "common" people who spend a significant portion of their hard-earned pay on "home defense" arsenals, most of them have spent their recent lives in a filter bubble that swirls with the concept that a 2nd Civil War in the US is not only imminent but could actually be desirable, as long as the "right" people are sufficiently well-armed and come out on top.

The prevailing myth is that our society is so fragile that after "x" number of terror attacks it will come unglued, and that after some period of chaos something that appeals to them will magically emerge.

REALLY reminds of what what The Who sang way back in 1971.

"We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around"

[fohat.digs]

And get on my knees and pray we don't get fooled again.

These ideas have been lurking in the shadows in the US (and probably everywhere) all along. After our Civil War, disgraced former Confederate General Jubal Early spent the rest of his life promoting "The Lost Cause" - and the idea that the Civil War never ended is a solid part of the ethos of the US South. Believe me, I grew up in 1950s-1960s Tennessee.

It got a boost in the mid-1950s in the wake of Brown vs Board of Education (and in the aftermath of McCarthy's nationalism blather) which required the integration of schools in the US, but the hate and anger remained in the shadows until the rise of right-wing media in the 1980s after the dismantling of the FCC.

The interwebs explosion into the world in the 1990s gave the nutjobs the ability to shout their vitriol anywhere everywhere all the time and it really started resonating with the disenfranchised working class.

As I read somewhere recently, this retrograde movement is the result of a large population failing to assimilate into the modern world and the future.

[Leslieann]

Guns are a way to indoctrinate the young into the GOP, they can't give them up because it's one of their primary recruitment methods.

Just wait till all these school kids become voters...
Want a preview of how they will vote, go see how they greeted the Gov when he showed up.

As I read somewhere recently, this retrograde movement is the result of a large population failing to assimilate into the modern world and the future.

Not failed... Refused.

They wear it as a badge of honor in many cases.

[fohat.digs]

why do we even need school ?

[chyros]

In continuation of this topic, I found this extremely interesting video:

What's happening in this video, as well as the reactions in it, are very interesting to see and read, especially as an outsider. It's a shame how legal gun ownership is causing this horrible situation for everyone involved.

[tp4tissue]

don't know how to solve this. education is key, but the rich arn't interested in a literate poor.

[fohat.digs]

as an outsider

My guess is that in your country 99%+ of its citizens would be horrified and appalled to find that a teenager had made a threat to commit a mass murder, and that an adult who had inspired him to do or say it would be seen as a monster - and shunned by those around him who would be supremely disgusted by his behavior.

Unfortunately there has always been an amoral and angry subculture in the US, which has exploded in size with the rise of Trumpism and fueled by social media to the point where there are literally millions of people here inflamed by anger at ?something?

Just today I heard a story on the radio about a group of "election deniers" who travel a circuit around the country to drum up ?something?fear?anger?

And the fact that there are more guns than people here is a time bomb. I grew up in a family with guns, and for my father and uncles and their friends that meant a shotgun for hunting birds and a rifle for hunting mammals - for the table, of course. Today, the minority of (mostly) men who own guns statistically own several of them, and the majority are pistols. Their intended targets are undeniably human.
 

[Rob27shred]

In continuation of this topic, I found this extremely interesting video:

What's happening in this video, as well as the reactions in it, are very interesting to see and read, especially as an outsider. It's a shame how legal gun ownership is causing this horrible situation for everyone involved.

as an outsider

My guess is that in your country 99%+ of its citizens would be horrified and appalled to find that a teenager had made a threat to commit a mass murder, and that an adult who had inspired him to do or say it would be seen as a monster - and shunned by those around him who would be supremely disgusted by his behavior.

Unfortunately there has always been an amoral and angry subculture in the US, which has exploded in size with the rise of Trumpism and fueled by social media to the point where there are literally millions of people here inflamed by anger at ?something?

Just today I heard a story on the radio about a group of "election deniers" who travel a circuit around the country to drum up ?something?fear?anger?

And the fact that there are more guns than people here is a time bomb. I grew up in a family with guns, and for my father and uncles and their friends that meant a shotgun for hunting birds and a rifle for hunting mammals - for the table, of course. Today, the minority of (mostly) men who own guns statistically own several of them, and the majority are pistols. Their intended targets are undeniably human.
 

While fohat.digs does hit on some really good points here the thing that stands out the most to me in this video is the fact the mother is not actively kicking that kids ass all over the front yard! Who just stands there & acts like it's no big deal their kid threatened to shoot up somewhere!? Then on top of that not reprimanding the kid in any way, she actually tries to defend his actions with the always great "well everybody else does it too".... This right here, the fact parents let their kids walk all over them, do not teach them to be responsible or even courteous, teach them that just trying & failing at something is good enough, etc, etc. Is where I really think a lot of the bull**** we see in society stems from. Think about it, if someone is raised with no responsibility, no consequences for their actions, taught you'll be rewarded for just "trying your best", etc. Of course they're not gonna be able handle or cope in the real world where the rules are the exact opposite of how their parents treated them.

Don't get me wrong I agree we got a huge problem with shootings in the US & do think stricter gun control could go a long way to lowering the number of these incidents. Although I think gun control is only a small part of the problem. We need to make many more changes to our way of life before we see violence take real downward trend & the divides between groups of people start to close.

[tp4tissue]

Mothers most typically can only see the fault of the world,  NOT with their own replicant.

No matter how terrible their offspring turns out to be,  it's THE WORLD's fault that the offspring is this way, he's the Victim, not the criminal. 

The lower the mother's education, the more common this mentality.

INCOME inequality, socio-economic gap is directly responsible for this.   Support Unionization. !!

[Rob27shred]

Mothers most typically can only see the fault of the world,  NOT with their own replicant.

No matter how terrible their offspring turns out to be,  it's THE WORLD's fault that the offspring is this way, he's the Victim, not the criminal. 

The lower the mother's education, the more common this mentality.

INCOME inequality, socio-economic gap is directly responsible for this.   Support Unionization. !!

Yep I completely agree, great take on it TP.

[CaesarAZealad]

Every time one of these happens, by far the worst thing directly affecting me is knowing another one of these threads is going to be posted.

[chyros]

as an outsider

My guess is that in your country 99%+ of its citizens would be horrified and appalled to find that a teenager had made a threat to commit a mass murder, and that an adult who had inspired him to do or say it would be seen as a monster - and shunned by those around him who would be supremely disgusted by his behavior.

See, that's the interesting bit to me - I don't think that's the case. The comments are almost exclusively that, but I'm not sure whether those commentors are predominantly European or American.

Personally, to me, a 15-year-old saying something like that ISN'T a major crime, it's just immaturity. Not great behaviour, sure, and not great parenting, sure, but not something I'd personally think would illicit actual prison time nor a felony record (which is definitely going to **** up the rest of his life). To me, in and of itself, that seems an extreme reaction to a relatively harmless act.

The interesting thing to me is that in the US this relatively harmless act is now REQUIRED to be met with extreme countermeasures because the threat of genuine and highly deadly violence is so high that such a reaction is now no longer considered an extreme response, but an appropriate one. I mean, I'm pretty sure nowhere else would such a remark result in jail time and a felony record, and the sad thing is that it's actually kinda warranted when looking at the bigger picture.

It truly is an age of weighing every word on a golden scale before you utter it.

[tp4tissue]

The interesting thing to me is that in the US this relatively harmless act is now REQUIRED to be met with extreme countermeasures because the threat of genuine and highly deadly violence is so high that such a reaction is now no longer considered an extreme response, but an appropriate one. I mean, I'm pretty sure nowhere else would such a remark result in jail time and a felony record, and the sad thing is that it's actually kinda warranted when looking at the bigger picture.

It truly is an age of weighing every word on a golden scale before you utter it.

This is the area of thought crime.

The fact of the matter is, we've always had thought crime. you can only say ****** about the government, if you tell the truth about ****** people , they kill you. ****** *** ***** *******

So, the process is not new, it's just more visible.

Through education (indoctrination),  we for (good or ill),  program desired characteristics into hughmahns. 

The people farmers, (our leaders),  prefer we be completely docile and mired in servitude indefinitely.


There is a balance of freedom/ cooperation.  Through the internet, as power through knowledge is further dispursed,  we should logically move to a more egalitarian so(1alist society,   but the current neo-fas(ists will take their final breath (d3partment of 3n3rgy),    events such as these highlight such frictions.


Gvns are absolutely necessary,  but the best way to handle it is not to take them away, it's to INCREASE EDUCATION + Gvn (ontro1, and TIME WEALTH of the general citizen.    UNIONIZATION provides that distribution.

[fohat.digs]

to me, a 15-year-old saying something like that ISN'T a major crime, it's just immaturity.

would illicit (elicit) actual prison time nor a felony record (which is definitely going to **** up the rest of his life).

an extreme reaction to a relatively harmless act.

The interesting thing to me is that in the US this relatively harmless act is now REQUIRED to be met with extreme countermeasures because the threat of genuine and highly deadly violence is so high

I'm pretty sure nowhere else would such a remark result in jail time and a felony record

Good valid observations, but I don't think that it will actually play out like you are anticipating.

First, in the US a "juvenile" record generally does not follow you after you become 18 - hence the significance of the "will be charged as an adult" specification that is usually attached to the charges when an underage killer actually follows through and does actual harm. I seriously doubt that this child will spend any significant time in jail, maybe a day or 2 just to scare him. There is an excellent chance that the the charges will be dropped altogether in the hopes that he has learned a lesson. The problem here is that while the overwhelming majority of such cases (and indeed most punishments in general) result in the kids going home chastised, there could be a tiny minority who react in the opposite way and become radicalized. Those are the frightening ones.

The huge and existential problem is that pretty much all "speech" on the interwebs can be swept into the "free speech" bin and called "protected" under the US Constitution. But there is a festering pool of fear and anger and hate and just plain evil that dwells in the darkest corners and continuously sends out its feelers to reach and tempt vulnerable and/or gullible people who are feeling marginalized and angry at whatever "something" is perceived to be out there thwarting them ....

Personally, I believe that it is those "influencers" who are the genuinely heinous criminals and who are inflicting immense damage to civilized society, and who were not able to have serious reach and impact until modern social media gave it to them. And I also believe that most of them are too smart and/or cowardly to do, themselves, what they encourage and instruct their followers to do, so they stay in the background and out of reach.

But how can we get to them and "neutralize" their power? Does intimidating 15-year-olds in front of their mothers work to break the chain between the influencer and the influenced? What else is there?

And this particular event happened in Florida, where a small-minded bat**** whacko Governor is trying to stake out a place in American politics to succeed Drumph, and so he needs to try to walk the fence between both sides but never show "weakness".

[chyros]

to me, a 15-year-old saying something like that ISN'T a major crime, it's just immaturity.

would illicit (elicit) actual prison time nor a felony record (which is definitely going to **** up the rest of his life).

an extreme reaction to a relatively harmless act.

The interesting thing to me is that in the US this relatively harmless act is now REQUIRED to be met with extreme countermeasures because the threat of genuine and highly deadly violence is so high

I'm pretty sure nowhere else would such a remark result in jail time and a felony record

Good valid observations, but I don't think that it will actually play out like you are anticipating.

First, in the US a "juvenile" record generally does not follow you after you become 18 - hence the significance of the "will be charged as an adult" specification that is usually attached to the charges when an underage killer actually follows through and does actual harm. I seriously doubt that this child will spend any significant time in jail, maybe a day or 2 just to scare him. There is an excellent chance that the the charges will be dropped altogether in the hopes that he has learned a lesson. The problem here is that while the overwhelming majority of such cases (and indeed most punishments in general) result in the kids going home chastised, there could be a tiny minority who react in the opposite way and become radicalized. Those are the frightening ones.

The huge and existential problem is that pretty much all "speech" on the interwebs can be swept into the "free speech" bin and called "protected" under the US Constitution. But there is a festering pool of fear and anger and hate and just plain evil that dwells in the darkest corners and continuously sends out its feelers to reach and tempt vulnerable and/or gullible people who are feeling marginalized and angry at whatever "something" is perceived to be out there thwarting them ....

Personally, I believe that it is those "influencers" who are the genuinely heinous criminals and who are inflicting immense damage to civilized society, and who were not able to have serious reach and impact until modern social media gave it to them. And I also believe that most of them are too smart and/or cowardly to do, themselves, what they encourage and instruct their followers to do, so they stay in the background and out of reach.

But how can we get to them and "neutralize" their power? Does intimidating 15-year-olds in front of their mothers work to break the chain between the influencer and the influenced? What else is there?

And this particular event happened in Florida, where a small-minded bat**** whacko Governor is trying to stake out a place in American politics to succeed Drumph, and so he needs to try to walk the fence between both sides but never show "weakness".

Hmm, that's good to know. It's difficult to contextualise this sort of news from this distance, hence why I enjoy discussions like these.

I agree definitely that the internet, or even just the degree to which communication is possible nowadays, has been instrumental for bad seeds to spread, and further and more easily too. It has also brought more possibilities for enlightenment, but it definitely comes with its downsides as well. It seems without question that a lot of people are not mature enough yet to be exposed to the internet. Unfortunately I think it'll be a long, long time waiting until people look up things to find out the truth about matters rather than just to find affirmation of their own beliefs without questioning the reliability of the source.

The interesting thing to me is that in the US this relatively harmless act is now REQUIRED to be met with extreme countermeasures because the threat of genuine and highly deadly violence is so high that such a reaction is now no longer considered an extreme response, but an appropriate one. I mean, I'm pretty sure nowhere else would such a remark result in jail time and a felony record, and the sad thing is that it's actually kinda warranted when looking at the bigger picture.

It truly is an age of weighing every word on a golden scale before you utter it.

Gvns are absolutely necessary

Why, though? The majority of the planet gets along fine without them.

[tp4tissue]

Why, though? The majority of the planet gets along fine without them.

balance of power.

[fohat.digs]

The majority of the planet gets along fine without them.
 

balance of power

More specifically, no matter how powerless and insignificant you feel in your mundane daily life, you can't help but feel empowered with a loaded gun in your hand.

Or, as John Lennon put it half a century ago : "Happiness is a Warm Gun"

[tp4tissue]

The majority of the planet gets along fine without them.
 

balance of power

More specifically, no matter how powerless and insignificant you feel in your mundane daily life, you can't help but feel empowered with a loaded gun in your hand.

Or, as John Lennon put it half a century ago : "Happiness is a Warm Gun"

No,  the gvn doesn't make any 1 person that much more powerful.  But thousands of gvns make a rebel army.

The Rebe1 army that will take back demo(ra(y when that day comes.  Tp4 will be there.

Only illiterate morons think gvns make themselves much better.   

[suicidal_orange]

I think it'll be a long, long time waiting until people look up things to find out the truth about matters rather than just to find affirmation of their own beliefs without questioning the reliability of the source.

Maybe when the google and facebook echo chambers are disabled they will be able to do so, not before.  Not expecting it in my lifetime.

[fohat.digs]

google and facebook echo chambers

There used to be a common saying: "Get a life." That you don't hear much any more.

I suppose that for a person who fails to value his (it is almost always males) own life, expecting him to value the lives of others is out of the question.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/24/republicans-embrace-extreme-gun-culture

[chyros]

The majority of the planet gets along fine without them.
 

balance of power

More specifically, no matter how powerless and insignificant you feel in your mundane daily life, you can't help but feel empowered with a loaded gun in your hand.

Or, as John Lennon put it half a century ago : "Happiness is a Warm Gun"

No,  the gvn doesn't make any 1 person that much more powerful.  But thousands of gvns make a rebel army.

(how did I miss this comment??)

You mean like those guys that stormed the capital and somehow didn't get charged with treason and terrorism?

[tp4tissue]

No,  the gvn doesn't make any 1 person that much more powerful.  But thousands of gvns make a rebel army.

(how did I miss this comment??)

You mean like those guys that stormed the capital and somehow didn't get charged with treason and terrorism?

No, that's the moron army,

The rebel army would be commanded by TP4. (joke)


The basis of any Tyranny is the Monopoly on Violence.

If we accept the concept of A STATE by surrendering certain rights for the convenience of organization, then that balance of power has to be maintained by SOMETHING.


More power to the people = slower civics projects, slower decision making, MORE equality.

LESS power to the people = higher inequality, more exploitation


The difference in perspective for most, is that in the Modern West, we exported our Misery/Exploitation, fast fashion, sweat shops, slave labor shrimp boats, slave cocoa farmers,  so it LOOKS LIKE everything is hunky dory at home,   THE REALITY is the lifestyle which we lead is horrific for humans outside our bubble. and horrific for the environment/ other animal species.

It's not even very good for most people within our bubble.


VIOLENCE is the final equalizer.  Revolt will always become necessary at SOME point, when the State oversteps. Which they will ALWAYS TRY TO DO, by their very nature.

Violence is the final solution, Tp4 doesn't think we're there yet but pretty close.




As for gun violence, it involves guns, but it also involves broken educational system, high socio-economic inequality, un-met medicare, lack of mental health services,  problemed CAPITALISM. 


The Powers upstairs want you to TALK ABOUT gun-ownership ,  they don't want you to talk about WHY GUNS have become a problem,  it's not SIMPLY because guns exist or that people have them.



Heartdisease and Most common cancers are squarely Lifestyle diseases, they kill 1.5 million people a year vs ~40k gun deaths.  Mcdonalds, Cocacola, Pizzahut, are history's most proficient, ruthless and successful mass murderers.  This is problemed capitalism.


Animal agriculture kills 80 BILLION animals a year. The animal holocaust,  is Orders of magnitude worse than the Jewish Holocaust.