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Mike Huckabee on women's right to NOT have birth control coverage, or The Ballad of Uncle Sugar:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...nd-womens-uncontrolled-libido-or-uncle-sugar/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...nd-womens-uncontrolled-libido-or-uncle-sugar/
A Scottish couple on holiday in the US almost don't see the bear cub near them. Couple Fails To Notice Their Bear Stalker (VIDEO)
Blobbenstein
.......
I saw that on BBC breakfast. It doesn't look like a very big bear. I don't have any idea if it is dangerous or not though.
ledboots
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thefadedone
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I can't even...
http://news.yahoo.com/police-identify-2-employees-killed-md-shooting-224019731.html
So many shootings over the past few years.
http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story...icates-49-percent-americans-pro-football-fans
49% of Americans consider themselves NFL fans. Of course TV ratings indicate the real number is much lower than this, so I'll trust the TV ratings.
49% of Americans consider themselves NFL fans. Of course TV ratings indicate the real number is much lower than this, so I'll trust the TV ratings.
Caveat: I'm old and whatever, so take this for what it's worth, but:
I know there is no easy answer to this, but I am baffled as to why is it that people, especially younger people, turn to guns and violence when they are depressed or suffering from mental illness or whatever. I'm really trying to understand this. I have not myself suffered from severe depression or mental illness, though members of my family have. Guns and violence were never involved. What is it about today's society that compels people to go "postal" as it were? I was just watching a news report on the Maryland mall shooter, who was 19....19??!??!?! I don't deny that I haven't had my ups and downs in this game of life, but never, ever did guns enter into my thought process of how I would get whatever nastiness was in my system out of my system.
I mean, I get revenge. I can understand, say, someone wanting to take out whoever did them harm, with regard to say, a murdered family/friend victim. What I don't understand is people who target completely innocent people in their quest to assuage their rage. I don't know the motive for the Maryland mall shooter's actions, but it just seems there has been more and more of this method of blowing people away in mass quantities for whatever reason. When I was a kid, guns just never entered into the equation when scheming to get back at some ***** in high school who did me harm. I don't know what the answer is, but it's so frustrating and scary. Is it a desensitization to violence? I grew up watching violent films and cartoons, and it has never entered into my mind to take a gun and shoot somebody because I was ****** at someone. It's not just young people, I know, but still. It's really disconcerting to me.
Sorry for the rant. This has really been bothering me of late. I feel so unsafe and exposed sometimes.
I know there is no easy answer to this, but I am baffled as to why is it that people, especially younger people, turn to guns and violence when they are depressed or suffering from mental illness or whatever. I'm really trying to understand this. I have not myself suffered from severe depression or mental illness, though members of my family have. Guns and violence were never involved. What is it about today's society that compels people to go "postal" as it were? I was just watching a news report on the Maryland mall shooter, who was 19....19??!??!?! I don't deny that I haven't had my ups and downs in this game of life, but never, ever did guns enter into my thought process of how I would get whatever nastiness was in my system out of my system.
I mean, I get revenge. I can understand, say, someone wanting to take out whoever did them harm, with regard to say, a murdered family/friend victim. What I don't understand is people who target completely innocent people in their quest to assuage their rage. I don't know the motive for the Maryland mall shooter's actions, but it just seems there has been more and more of this method of blowing people away in mass quantities for whatever reason. When I was a kid, guns just never entered into the equation when scheming to get back at some ***** in high school who did me harm. I don't know what the answer is, but it's so frustrating and scary. Is it a desensitization to violence? I grew up watching violent films and cartoons, and it has never entered into my mind to take a gun and shoot somebody because I was ****** at someone. It's not just young people, I know, but still. It's really disconcerting to me.
Sorry for the rant. This has really been bothering me of late. I feel so unsafe and exposed sometimes.
I feel the same way. 
I literally see danger everywhere I go. I feel like anything can happen at any moment...it no longer matters if you live in a so-called safe area. Evil is now everywhere. I especially fear the whole home invasion thing.
I literally see danger everywhere I go. I feel like anything can happen at any moment...it no longer matters if you live in a so-called safe area. Evil is now everywhere. I especially fear the whole home invasion thing.I hear you. I don't know where we have gone wrong as a society. This sort of thinking was just not on my radar. I so hear you on the home invasion thing. Being single has actually kept me from wanting to buy a home, not that that is the only thing. Families are invaded, too. I don't know. I think of Bill Cosby's son, who was carjacked. He had a pricey car. It's almost not worth having anything of value for fear of it leading to robbery or a home invasion. When I go to NYC, I dress like a bum, I swear. No jewelry, no fancy clothes, etc. It's sad that I can't enjoy the things I've earned for fear of them being taken by violence. It started with kids' jacking other kids' sneakers about what, 15 years ago or so? There's been a breakdown in everything from civility to manners to I don't know what. There is a sense of entitlement like I've never seen before, and tons of envy. I won't even take my iPad on public transportation for fear of being followed and robbed. It's crazy.I feel the same way.
Violent crime is meant to have fallen in the UK in the last decade but I think perceptions are that they have gone up. There are a ridiculous amount of crime shows on TV and film. I have a fear of crime but I think I'm too wary in some ways but I don't want to let my guard down in case something happens to me again.
ledboots
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In most places in the US, violent crime has plummeted in the past few decades except in a few very poor inner cities.I feel the same way.
The media just descends upon crimes and exploits the crap out of them to frighten everyone into fearing to let their children outdoors, or to venture out themselves. Check the stats for your area; chances are the crime has gone down. Home invasion is just the scary new word for armed robbery.
The 20 most burgled postcodes in Britain - ITV News
I live in one of the top five most burgled postcodes in Britain and I used to live in the second most burgled postcode.
I live in one of the top five most burgled postcodes in Britain and I used to live in the second most burgled postcode.
thefadedone
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According to the statistics, violent crime and property crime rates have gone up in my area within the past several years.
The city violent crime rate for my city was higher than the national violent crime rate average by 80.32% and the city property crime rate was higher than the national property crime rate average by 61.59%.
Wonderful.
The city violent crime rate for my city was higher than the national violent crime rate average by 80.32% and the city property crime rate was higher than the national property crime rate average by 61.59%.
Wonderful.
It may be that overall numbers are down, but the types of crimes, like mall shootings and mass shootings and such, seem to be on the rise, though that could be a function of the media reporting. We just hear about them more? I don't know. It just seems as if these things are happening more and more in suburbia as well as in the inner cities. I know that "home invasion" is just a fancy word for armed robbery, but it still makes me think twice about having to live alone and buying a house (more places for criminals to hide, lol).
das_nut
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I think it's a combination that media reports them more (inspiring others) and that media reports them more (making us think they are more common than they actually are).
Just remember, the single act of mass murder at a school happened in the US happened over 85 years ago, when a disgruntled person staged a series of bomb attacks, culminating in the murder of 38 children in Bath, Michigan.
Such violence wasn't that uncommon (although the scope of the the Bath School Massacre was exceptional). If you ever read "Wisconsin Death Trip", there's plenty of violence for just a decade in a small Wisconsin town.
Even your local history may be filled with violence you don't know about. I live a block from a small, unassuming house. Back in the late '40s, the owner of that house was involved in a rather unconventional religious sect that whipped each other. In 1951, two people were whipped to death - one died in the house, the other died in the hospital.
If you didn't know local history, you'd never have guessed what happened there.
Just remember, the single act of mass murder at a school happened in the US happened over 85 years ago, when a disgruntled person staged a series of bomb attacks, culminating in the murder of 38 children in Bath, Michigan.
Such violence wasn't that uncommon (although the scope of the the Bath School Massacre was exceptional). If you ever read "Wisconsin Death Trip", there's plenty of violence for just a decade in a small Wisconsin town.
Even your local history may be filled with violence you don't know about. I live a block from a small, unassuming house. Back in the late '40s, the owner of that house was involved in a rather unconventional religious sect that whipped each other. In 1951, two people were whipped to death - one died in the house, the other died in the hospital.
If you didn't know local history, you'd never have guessed what happened there.
das_nut
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Great, now I'm reading a google book that I searched for to find how many people died due to the whipping group, and it has other local crimes.
In 1957, a boy strangled his 90 year old grandmother with a belt because the grandmother had seen him with a gun and the kid thought she might ruin his plan to kill his father.
Then there's another story from '53, where a farmer went berserk and killed his mother, his bed ridden brother, and a teen that was just driving by at the wrong time...
The good ol' days weren't.
In 1957, a boy strangled his 90 year old grandmother with a belt because the grandmother had seen him with a gun and the kid thought she might ruin his plan to kill his father.
Then there's another story from '53, where a farmer went berserk and killed his mother, his bed ridden brother, and a teen that was just driving by at the wrong time...
The good ol' days weren't.
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