"One failed attempt at a shoe bomb and we all take off our shoes at the airport..."

[WilliamPitt]

[DarkBlue4Ever]

1. Agreed.

[6502]

60. kick +1000

'nuff said.

[liberal N proud]

2. First Rec!

[hockeynut57]

12. you need to update your avatar

i too am a little blue dot awash in the sea of red that is ohio

[liberal N proud]

13. It is just one of the generic avatars

[hockeynut57]

16. i know, just good to know ohio not full of closed minded uninformed people nt

[Kalidurga]

3. Spot on as usual Will. nt

[DanM]

4. It shouldn't take us more than once . . .

. . . to put security in place.

Another example was my kid's school, where a couple of years ago a kid threw up after the annual Halloween in-school trick-or-treating. We figured it was bad candy, and halted the candy exchange. Kids didn't like it, but the majority of parents didn't want the risk.

[spanone]

5. amen.

[srican69]

6. that its because nobody has figured out a way to make money out of banning

Guns..

Removing shoes created a market for scanners and security consultants and such...

Think of a new industry that can replace the lost sales and you can have have your fucking gun control law.



get it???

[gollygee]

7. One of the truest things ever posted at DU nt

[srican69]

8. I am sorry to be so cynical ...but that about seems the only explanation for such foot dragging

... Even pot is not legalized because the ' war on drugs' and private prisons are worth a lot more money .. even though 'war on drugs' is a monumental failure ..


Truth/evidence does not matter nearly as much as money does.

[AllyCat]

15. Well that about hits the nail on the head, doesn't it?

[daleanime]

27. Thats the america dream.....

[Euphoria]

36. bingo!

[duwizrd]

43. From religion to war FEAR is a pretty sure bet - what about CLARITY, INTELLIGENCE and COMPASSION?

Assume for a moment that FEAR is a learned response to trauma. This response typically becomes refined around the
age of two to three in our society (the terrible two's) and along with other adverse childhood experiences contributes
to a wide range and depth of emotional, physical, and social issues. See http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/ace

Traumatic stress produces changes in the brain and heart as demonstrated through heart and brain diagnostics .
In each case, certain patterns of frequencies of energy get depressed while others get promoted resulting in
changes in a variety of areas that can produce chronic physical and mental wellness issues as well as aberrant
behavior. The outcome is lack of mental clarity, reduced emotional intelligence, and challenged compassion and
all the maladies that go along with them.

To get started learning about the potential for heart and brain diagnostics and training, see:
http://touroinstitute.com/biofeedback.pdf for a scholarly introduction to EEG Biofeedback and
http://www.bstx.org/archive/HRV-ClinicalEfficacy-Moss.pdf for the efficacy of HRV Biofeddback.

So ~ with all of this in mind, here is my suggestion for an industry push that over time will not only change
attitudes about gun control, it will change the mind of a nation and potentially the world.

My Proposal:

For-profit, public benefits organizations for K-12 mental and emotional welness and social evolution.
Create a new field of commercial competition with services to individuals and businesses providing profits to finance pro-bono activities for schools. Data warehousing, analysis, diagnostic and prescriptive services and more to create a new competitive space promoting research and development extending the scope and power of the field to include phone apps and more.

Veterans, see ~ http://www.homecoming4veterans.org/providers.html

A few short term benefits of this proposed system at the K-12 level:

Improved academic achievement
Reduced behavior management issues
Intervene in the development of chronic patterns

Long term benefits of mass acceptance:

Every client will benefit from having a more powerful heart and brain (see references noted above)
Annual tracking (mapping) and incident-based reassessment and services keep heart and mind in tune.
Historical records provide rapid testament to legal claims and contribute to case law in the legal profession and judiciary.
Streamline PTSD claim processing and treatment and reduce amounts paid over time
Increase the productivity of the work force with more people capable of producing at a higher level and fewer people on the outside due to preventable physical and mental illness
Reduced chronic illness greatly reduces health care costs.

Business Case:

Billions in biofeedback technology development, manufacture, sales, distribution
Increased individual coping skills, decreased emotional issues, improved decision making producing a more stable society in all respects
Billions saved as the need diminishes for government, law enforcement, incarceration, medical, and social care programs
Increased excellence as children press the system to teach more effectively at a higher level of application
More innovations and discoveries as society achieves a quantum shift in intelligence and humanity
As these people come of age they will create new laws, new social norms, new forms of commerce

Social Case:

There is a clear distinction between FEAR based and COMPASSION based living.

This distinction is at the core of the spirit led existence and pretends to be the basis for religions.
Evidence (see http://goo.gl/d2yKB) indicates that HRV can be used to identify and train entry into
the state of compassion, suggesting a broad range of uses in teaching and therapy.

Going totally outside of the box, there is even the potential for a future where people not only study and
embrace compassion but truly give their hearts to their purpose. See http://goo.gl/MErkb and imagine
a future where the death penalty and life time incarceration are replaced with a compassionate hearts
from volunteer donors.

I submit that here is a path to a society populated with people who express clarity, intelligence and compassion
in their daily lives. A society where the bane of humanity, post traumatic stress and fear, have been exorcised.
One wishes to believe that in this society, gun control is simply not an issue and indeed everyone can freely
exercise their right to own and bear a firearm for self-protection or pleasure whenever and wherever they feel
the need.

Of course, all of this starts with YOU. Use the resources cited here to learn more and reach out into your
community for the resource to help yourself and your family first. You will find the proof. I did.

My Case:

In 1999 I discovered EEG Biofeedback after two years of focused search for a cure for my wife's mental issues. I persuaded her to try it and she completed 10 session in two weeks. Her previously undiagnosed severe to moderate scores on four clinical measures of ADD/ADHD was immediately and permanently vanquished as she gained 20 IQ points and entered into the normal to above normal scale on all four clinical measures. With a high level of spirituality and compassion, her personality did not change but her ability to focus, maintain a conversation, make rational decisions, put off the desire for immediate gratification, and conduct business effectively improved dramatically. She not only increased her income in yellow-page advertising sales by over $20K during the ensuing year, she became the regional star performer and ultimately a corporate executive. The disruption caused in the 6th grade by a payground fall and blow on the head that was only recorded by her brain was finally resolved. One cannot but wonder how different her life would have been had it not taken thirty years, two marriages, five children, four religions, and a lifetime of emotional decision making.

[srican69]

46. I am a bit lost connecting your magnum opus to the thread...but

welcome to DU

[rhett o rick]

53. Well we live for capitalism. Making money is next to godliness isnt it? nm

[Mojorabbit]

56. That is when the terrorists won. At least for me

Lines of people taking off their shoes and being groped by strangers. I am old and all of this just amazes me.

[kestrel91316]

9. Terrorism is no big deal when white men do it.

[part man all 86]

10. Say loud and often, it's ok if a white man does it but anyone else.....

[flamingdem]

11. I think it's more about terror of the destruction of the economy

and the subsequent damage to the 1%

[AllyCat]

14. That's kinda what I posted on another thread yesterday.

Why on earth do we "sacrifice our freedoms" at the airport, submitting ourselves to radiation and cavity searches, but any reasonable regulations on guns are just a no-go for so many people?

[barbtries]

17. ain't that the truth.

we are a sick nation.

[indepat]

18. In America, the right to pack weapons of mass murder on our hips trumps the right

to life, liberty, and happiness for all others.

[IDoMath]

19. If I have to make a choice, I'll take the guns

We see the insanity called the TSA, the PATRIOT Act and the NDAA that we have allowed to happen. All of these things need to be abolished. They are extreme overreactions to panic.

How many terrorists has the TSA caught? ZERO.

If this is the model you want to follow I'll take my chances with the guns.

[fightthegoodfightnow]

21. Choice?

Whose asking for a choice?

[IDoMath]

28. Wow.

I see where DU is going.

[Rex]

30. What choice?

You with your one gun against the govt? Good luck with that.

[Cynicus Emeritus]

51. OWS found out that government is not the threat.

They were neutralized quickly and essentially banned from organizing or protesting. They quickly discovered that the threat comes not from government or politicians, but from those who pull the strings of government. The NY Mayor probably played a part in pulling those strings to protect his Wall Street pals. The string pullers are the threat to America, our liberty and democracy just as they were in many other countries.

[99Forever]

35. Your "choice" helped massacre 20 babies.

Doncha feel so "free" now?

[IDoMath]

37. My "choices" have killed millions, I'm sure

I've eaten at restaurants that no doubt helped destroy the rainforest and smother us all.
I've shopped at stores that no doubt support sweatshops and slave labor.
I've burned oil that has propped up puppet regimes and caused many wars.
I've eaten meat.
I've used electricity provided by nuclear power.
I've sent my garbage off to be burned and pollute the air or to be dumped who knows where.
I've denied money to hungry people.
I've supplied money to people who use it for drugs.
I've contributed to the extinction of species, the rising of the oceans and warming of the globe.
And I refuse to get a flu shot.

My sins are beyond counting.

I feel free as a bird.


(Oh, yeah, and I cost Gore and Kerry the elections in 2000 and 2004. Still not sure of the mechanism on that but somehow it was my fault.)

[99Forever]

38. Ahhh yes...

... argumentum ex absurdum."


Isn't that special?

[IDoMath]

39. You started it

You made the argument that I am responsible for the deaths of 20 children.

If I am then I am just as responsible for those other things. I assume, for this discussion, we are removing the concept of intervening cause?

[99Forever]

40. Followed by...

... ratio respectu novem annorum.

[IDoMath]

41. Yeah? Well, Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah!

wait.... can I have a do over?








(laugh, it's funny and you know it.)

[99Forever]

44. I'm having a lot of difficulty laughing in the face of what this nation..

.. has become. Tho I knew not a single one of those beautiful children or the teachers and staff personally, the pure evil of this tragedy, and the subsequent shuffling of the gun psychos to hang on their precious at any and all costs, has altered my world view. This is not just another "oh well, shit happens" moment for me and I suspect every other decent human being in this country. Not by a long shot. The insanity must end.

[IDoMath]

48. *Sigh*

I offered *myself* up as the butt of a joke while simultaneously acknowledging that your comment had merit. That's called self-deprecating humor. You have demonstrated that this entire conversation is futile. There is no point in talking. We will lobby our proxies and what comes will come.

[99Forever]

52. The lack is in me, not you.

I just didn't express it well.

Peace.

[6502]

61. There are no "choices"... there is only...

... which one is first in line to be knocked.

Then... which is second...

... then third...

[fightthegoodfightnow]

20. Agree

Please cross post in Gungeon land as THEY need to hear this.

[DissidentVoice]

22. It's not going to change

...as long as Wayne LaPierre has the Republican party (and some Democrats) by the short and curlies, the same way Grover Norquist does.

...as long as the Republican right-wing disinformation machine is allowed to set the "standards" on what is "patriotism" and what isn't.

One of my biggest disappointments with Mr. Obama is that he did not rescind the USA Patriot Act. I live in a border city and ever since then coming back from Canada is tantamount to being treated like a criminal by CBP.

TSA are allowed to look up our collective ass in the name of "security" but the NRA are allowed to dictate what is/isn't compliance with the Second Amendment.

This is a Bizarro version of what the USA used to be.

[blackspade]

23. Word.

[Plucketeer]

24. DOMESTIC GUN VIOLENCE

The ONE terror that's doggedly ignored by the ridiculously pursued WAR ON TERROR!

[FailureToCommunicate]

25. Good but inaccurate: There HAVE been changes in regulations... to loosen

restrictions:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/map-gun-laws-2009-2012

[duwizrd]

26. Excellent resource - thanks for sharing - proof that we are moving toward a dictatorship of fear.

For a country that stands on the bravery and courage or our forefathers, we are a bunch of chicken-hearted, lilly-livered cowards who turn in fear from any danger. We bemoan big government, demand laws to protect us from everything, hide in our holes shouting epithets from our sheltered positions, and await a hero to save the day. We live in mythological reality where gun-toters see themselves as the saviors and white knights and anyone who is against their unlimited right to bear arms as enemy. We are moving toward a dictatorship of fear such as exists in Iran and other places only worse. Our laws make it imperative to have organizations like TSA and their onerous rules to protect the corporations and government from law suits.

UNTHINKABLE and UNIMAGINABLE, are the words that leap out at me from the articles on these deplorable atrocities. Take action when you see these terms in print and respond with evidence to show that, rather than unthinkable or unimaginable, these acts are easily predictable and how the media, the government, the law, society, and specific individuals are identifiably responsible for them. Read Gene Sharp's From Dictatorship to Democracy and get involved before it's too late.

[FailureToCommunicate]

50. Welcome to DU! Seems like you'll fit right in. And kudos for Gene Sharp reference

He's a local hero here in Massachusetts

[Rex]

29. Hard to argue with the obvious.

Perfectly stated imo.

[marble falls]

31. And I don't think anybody needs to be routinely taking their shoes off at airports, either.

[CountAllVotes]

32. K&R

Yep, take off those shoes and all of the problems in the world shall be solved!

How stupid can a country get? This solves nothing, nada, as in zip.

[dwigthreeD]

33. If this was a toy

that killed these 20 children, that toy would have banned no questions asked

[TroglodyteScholar]

54. It's true.

Welcome to DU

[99Forever]

34. Thank you Mr Pitt.

[bucolic_frolic]

42. Yeah. WHERE IS Homeland Security on this issue?

GOPigs would be horrified if the subject even came up
for discussion!

[AtheistCrusader]

45. Troublesome analogy since

most of us have been fighting these stupid security theater provisions since day one...

[countryjake]

47. K&R!

[MotherPetrie]

49. Bingo. Proving 2nd amendment distorters don't give a SHIT about the Bill of Rights

[lurky]

55. If guns were made of peanuts,

there wouldn't be a gun allowed within a half mile of any school. Because you can't take any chances with peanut allergies.

[bobclark86]

57. Or 1,000 feet...

just like they are now. Obviously that worked well.

[tavalon]

58. Spot on

I occasionally enjoy shooting zombies at the indoor range and now that I live alone (on that barge in Seattle you once stayed on), more than one helpful guy has suggested I get a gun. I just don't see that being something I would feel comfortable with. Especially since my stepson will be staying with me from time to time.

I don't get America's fascination with guns.

[AntiFascist]

59. "Domestic Terrorism" is not in the political vocabulary...

the main reason to own an assault weapon is to terrorize someone or some group.

[Buns_of_Fire]

62. The shoe lobby doesn't pay (off) congresscritters as well as the gun lobby does. nt

[Eric the Reddish]

63. Numerical Symmetry

Something the NRA idiots will never get!

[Daemonaquila]

64. So now we're supposed to like Homeland Security?

I despise this stupid graphic. We spend 11 years working to undo the overreaches and fearmongering inflicted after 9/11, and now they're being put in a positive light to make a cheap political zinger? Shame on everyone who posts this one.