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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: MsKeyboard on Thu, 18 February 2010, 11:49:48

Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: MsKeyboard on Thu, 18 February 2010, 11:49:48
itlnstln,
Looks like someone in your neck of the woods is having a dispute with the IRS!  Hopefully not tooo close to you.........Later
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: hyperlinked on Thu, 18 February 2010, 11:59:13
Texas is a big state. Austin might as well be another country to San Antonians.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: itlnstln on Thu, 18 February 2010, 12:13:55
Wow, that's crazy.  First, a guy carries a gun into the Capital buiding and lets off a couple, now this.  Maybe, when we are our own country, we turn back into the Wild West.  I bet this was some upset Teabagger.  I'm headed to Austin this weekend for a Disc Golf tourney, I might be able to see the aftermath off the highway.  I feel sorry for the people that were in the building; no one deserves this.
 
Austin is right next door.  It only takes about 45 min. to get there from where I live in SA.  The cities, culture-wise, are worlds apart, though.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: MsKeyboard on Thu, 18 February 2010, 12:19:30
Seems like there are more constructive ways to show "civil disobedience".  Actually this is pretty chicken ****!  Not a good day for Texas..........
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: ironcoder on Thu, 18 February 2010, 12:21:47
Civil disobedience is a good word for it, didn't it start at the post office? "Going postal?"
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: kishy on Thu, 18 February 2010, 12:21:54
An excellent argument for making possession of a firearm illegal.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: itlnstln on Thu, 18 February 2010, 12:24:58
You would hope things like... I don't know... voting, petitions, etc. would be the preferred method of addressing issues in politics.  Instead, in the land where "gun control" means using both hands, we settle things like the Wild West.  Texas is so bassackwards.  I am ashamed today to be a Texan.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: ironcoder on Thu, 18 February 2010, 12:25:01
Why don't they just make murder illegal. Oh, it already is.

You leftists don't get it, laws just apply to decent people, the criminals, by definition, don't abide.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: itlnstln on Thu, 18 February 2010, 12:29:05
Quote from: kishy;159165
An excellent argument for making possession of a firearm illegal.

Christ, it's not even like the guy who fired shots at the Capital snuck the gun in there. It's actually legal to carry firearms in the Capital building, as long as you're licensed to carry concealed weapons (not a hard license to get, BTW). If my life wasn't so entrenched here, I would find a way to leave quick. Our "cecessionist" candidate is actually doing suprisingly well. I'll need to move quick, so I won't need a passport to leave.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: itlnstln on Thu, 18 February 2010, 12:31:19
Quote from: ironcoder;159168
Why don't they just make murder illegal. Oh, it already is.
 
You leftists don't get it, laws just apply to decent people, the criminals, by definition, don't abide.

In the case of the Capital builiding shooter, the law, or lack thereof, backfired. Had he been searched, and the gun taken away, this probably wouldn't have happened.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: kishy on Thu, 18 February 2010, 13:09:16
Quote from: ironcoder;159168
Why don't they just make murder illegal. Oh, it already is.

You leftists don't get it, laws just apply to decent people, the criminals, by definition, don't abide.


If it were illegal to have a firearm, someone might have seen it and actually realized something was amiss before he used the thing.

I'm not saying he never would have been able to OBTAIN the gun...or even use it...but people would have realized something was wrong based on him having one to begin with.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: MsKeyboard on Thu, 18 February 2010, 13:23:00
Seems the pilot set his home on fire, left a suicide note, stole the plane, then charted a course to IRS specifically (FBI right next door).

FWIW, if someone wants to do something bad enough they will!
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: hyperlinked on Thu, 18 February 2010, 13:54:08
Quote from: itlnstln;159160
It only takes about 45 min. to get there from where I live in SA.  The cities, culture-wise, are worlds apart, though.


I know about the culture wise part of it. I was in San Antonio a few years ago on my way to Kerrville for the music festival and when I talked to strangers about cities and places in Texas, I really got the feeling like people considered the other cities to be much farther away than the distance would otherwise indicate.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: itlnstln on Thu, 18 February 2010, 14:11:40
That's true.  Each city has it's own feel, that's why I love being in Austin.  I think after I pay my car off and a couple of other, minor things, I might go and get my alternative certification for teaching.  I will, then, try to get a job in Austin and sell the house.  The job market for what I do is thin right now, and teaching has much better time off.  The tax structure is nice for teachers, too.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: InSanCen on Thu, 18 February 2010, 15:12:35
No amount of legislature can eliminate idiots hellbent on doing stupid things.

Gun crime is on the rise in the UK, and it is illegal to own any pistol/handgun other than a .22 rimfire (And then only locked up on a shooting range when not being used on a shooting range). Granted, I lived in the US for a while, and my Grandfather was a Gamekeeper, so I have grown up around guns, and have an FAC (Firearms Certificate) that allows me to use Rifles and Shotguns in the UK.

Idiots and Criminals will always get, and use, a gun if they want to. All legislating further does is criminalise law-abiding people, and reduce their rights further. People doing this kind of thing will never think about how it impacts other people, ruins lives etc.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: TexasFlood on Thu, 18 February 2010, 16:01:52
I used to live in Austin, right near an IRS building although not the one in this story.  Just heard about this from a relative who still lives in San Marcos.  Sad and scary what some folks are capable of.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: majestouch on Fri, 19 February 2010, 02:15:12
Quote from: TexasFlood;159236
Sad and scary what some folks are capable of.


What is really sad and scary is how apathetic and accepting most of us are of the system of taxation we've allowed our government to perpetrate. I don't support violence as a solution to anything, but this guy was not alone in his frustration and anger with the IRS.

Every year the tax code of federal and state gov'ts grows without bounds by 100s and 1000s of pages of rules, deductions, exemptions, penalties, etc. There IS no end, under the current "design" (if you can call it that), to the depths with which we'll be required to allow our gov't to meddle in our personal lives and businesses. And with it there will be no decline to the amount of stress, frustration, and violation we will have to endure.

Frustration isn't justification for violent acts, but if one is committed under such a pretense, even if it is committed by someone who has irreconcilable perspectives or mental sickness; it should be a wake up call that perhaps, just perhaps, it's time to reconsider what we're doing to ourselves.
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: MsKeyboard on Fri, 19 February 2010, 08:32:24
Atlas shrugged, maybe we should as well :)
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: ricercar on Fri, 19 February 2010, 09:23:45
Who is John Galt?
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: MsKeyboard on Fri, 19 February 2010, 09:37:34
$
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: Rajagra on Fri, 19 February 2010, 13:14:29
Quote from: ricercar;159342
Who is John Galt?


Is he Keyser Söze?
Title: Hey itlnstln, upset in Austin
Post by: ricercar on Fri, 19 February 2010, 13:39:56
Same force of will; different ethical baseline.