Nuclear Unicorn
Nuclear Unicorn's JournalIf failure to enact gun control makes a person/group responsible for gun deaths
does the fact that Controllers act deceptively, prevaricate about their objectives, refuse consensus and vilify opponents in the most noxious terms make them responsible for the failures of their own efforts?
Free speech again at center of court case involving man's arrest at selectmen's meeting
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Jared Bedrick of Sisti Law Offices, who along with Gilles Bissonnette of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, represents Clay, said his client on Feb. 3 had engaged in constitutionally-protected speech when — without obscenities, anger or physical threats — he asked some of the selectmen to resign for doing a bad job and for violating the state’s Right-To-Know law.
Clay was given five minutes to address selectmen — Clay reportedly set a timer on his cellphone to alert him as he approached the deadline — but just 40 seconds into his remarks, Bedrick said selectmen made and passed a motion that Clay had violated the terms of the public comment by making allegedly defamatory and libelous remarks.
The selectmen’s vote also closed the public input, and when Clay continued to speak, Heath approached him and told him to stop. Because Clay continued talking, Heath issued the command a fourth time, after which he escorted Clay out of the selectmen’s meeting and placed him under arrest — even though Clay still had a minute left to make additional comments.
Subsequently charged with two counts of disorderly conduct, Clay saw one charge dropped prior to Friday’s hearing before Carroll.
- See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150511/NEWS0606/150519939&source=RSS#sthash.EIkDlRNL.dpuf
Even if the charges are dropped the effort to silence dissent had succeeded -- unless the objections become more numerous and frequent.
If saving lives is the objective let's look at the facts
More than half of gun deaths are suicides. Anyone who uses a gun has no allusions about the extremity and permanence of their actions. There is no, "Oh maybe I'll shoot myself and someone will save me" cry for help; it's an act calculated to result in death.
Someone who is that determined to die cannot be dissuaded by what is or is not commercially available; they need help to move past what is destroying their lives.
And to ignoring what moves people to suicide in order to fixate on the chosen method of suicide is effectively saying it is okay to leave someone trapped in the abyss of suicidal depression for nothing more than a fleeting political victory.
Treat the mental health issues and guns become irrelevant.
Of the remaining roughly 45% of gun deaths we have a portion that are accidental and the remainder are deliberate criminal acts.
If banning a thing because of the misuse of that thing has never worked. It brought us Prohibition which turned irresponsible behavior into a criminal enterprise that remains entrenched to this day, decades after its repeal.
What reduces drunk driving isn't banning alcohol but rather a shift in social mores where responsible behavior is constantly reinforced. DUIs are down because people know it isn't cool to be the guy who killed a family of 4 after partying all night. It's better to find a DD and being a DD is considered a worthy cause.
As far as criminal use of guns is concerned, consider the fact that the majority of criminals using guns have prior criminal records. In others words their possession of a gun is already a criminal offence.
Many more are instances of domestic violence. Will a proposed law be.more likely to deter the offender or only end up disarming the targeted victims?
President Obama recently took steps to bolster the flagging NICS database. He is to be applauded for this. Now it is time to open NICS to private sellers as well.
You go, grrrrl!
If someone gives you an octopus in exchange for a favor
Does that constitute squid pro quo?
x-post: Gun violence is the real problem with our country and it's time for our politicians
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/guns-real-problem-country-article-1.2242062
And the other night in Washington, D.C., a 28-year old reporter named Charnice Milton was shot to death in the southeast part of that city while waiting for a bus after finishing her work for the day for Capital Community News.
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When it is over, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier, said this: “Unfortunately, wrong place, wrong time.”
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It is as much a definition of a country of guns right now as anything else: The wrong place in America is a bus stop where a young woman with everything ahead of her is waiting for a bus to take her home from work. One more time, on one of the streets that the police of this country so often try to police in vain, the wrong place at the wrong time turned out to be anywhere.
How can a bus stop be the "wrong place" and after work be the "wrong time"? How is it we as a nation have become so complacent with gun violence that this death can be attributed to "wrong place, wrong time"?
I posted earlier about a bill requiring liability insurance on firearms and cited the cost of gun violence at $12 billion a year. http://www.democraticunderground.com/12628959 I was wrong. According to this article in Business Insider the cost, including medical, extended care, psychological support, rehabilitation, investigation, incarceration and increased security is $227 billion. I was off a bit. That's half the military budget which is the largest single part of discretionary spending.
When politicians talk about cutting spending how about they look at the cost of gun violence and try to do something about that instead of cutting SNAP?
edit to add link to Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/gun-violence-costs-america-more-than-229-billion-every-year-2015-4
DU Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12628986
A couple of points --
First, this is what the OP excised --
In other words this was a deliberate act of pre-meditated murder. The shooter intended to kill someone else; Ms. Milton was caught in that crime. In fact, the intended victim used Ms. Milton as a human shield.
Second, this is Washington DC where the local government harasses law-abiding citizens with nuisance laws. Obviously the gun control regime in place did nothing to prevent the killer from obtaining his weapon.
Third, in the vein of the already in-place nuisance laws, the OP wants liability insurance. This is yet another nuisance law. How this would have changed the outcome is anyone's guess. I'm not sure how liability insurance counts when committing a deliberate act of assassination even if the wrong person is killed.
Do people intent on murder even buy insurance to cover the incidentals of their actions? I strongly doubt it.
In other words, what we have here is yet another cynical exploitation of a tragedy involving deliberate criminal behavior to push yet more laws on people who are the target of criminals.
Obama Takes Unexpected Setback On Trade Agenda As Fast Track Passes Senate
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's trade agenda suffered a setback Friday evening during a series of last-minute maneuvers in the Senate. While the upper chamber eventually passed a bill that would help Obama streamline a trade pact with 11 Pacific nations, the final product threw a wrench into the president's plans.
The Senate approved a bill to "fast-track" trade agreements negotiated by the president. The agreement will prevent Congress from amending or filibustering Obama's controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. The TPP deal would have a hard time surviving without fast-track authority.
But a key crackdown on human trafficking survived the legislative jujitsu. The White House considers the provision a deal-breaker, as it would force one of the nations involved in the TPP talks -- Malaysia -- out of the agreement. An immigration-related amendment authored by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) never got a vote, making it far more difficult for Obama to win over skeptical tea party Republicans in the House.
The slavery provision's survival means that the House will either need to amend the bill and send it back to the Senate, which would cause a delay and complicate the House debate, or pass a bill and go to conference with the Senate, also causing a delay. It also potentially could be fixed in separate legislation otherwise moving through Congress.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/22/senate-passes-fast-track_n_7425614.html
Emphasis added.
I don't curse a lot in my posts but -- What the fuck?
America's first African-American President -- supposedly a Progressive -- is working to allow slavery to go unchallenged in the name of corporate profits? Human trafficking? Sex slavery, i.e. RAPE-FOR-PROFIT!
Mr. President, you have lost your soul.
Posters Go Up Around Columbia Calling Mattress Rape Protester A "Pretty Little Liar"
Early this morning, an anonymous person or persons put up posters around Columbia University—in the 116th Street subway station, outside of Tom's Restaurant, on stoplights and construction walls—emblazoned with the image of student Emma Sulkowicz and her now-iconic mattress. Since September 2014, Sulkowicz has been dragging the mattress around campus as a protest against the school's handling of her rape allegations against another student. (That student, Paul Nungesser, has since sued the university.) This morning's posters accuse Sulkowicz of making it all up, dismissing her as "Pretty Little Liar" with the caption "Emma Sulkowitz" [sic] and "RapeHoax."
A new Twitter account, @FakeRape, has been tweeting pictures of the posters for the last five hours. Another poster, picturing Lena Dunham sticking her tongue out, is clearly part of the series, emblazoned "Big Fat Liar," with the same #RapeHoax hashtag.
Today's stunt coincides with Columbia's commencement ceremony, and follows on the heels of yesterday's College Class Day ceremony, during which Sulkowicz carried her dorm room mattress across the stage. The NY Times reports that President Lee C. Bollinger refused to shake her hand when she passed, as he had done with all the other students—including Nungesser, who crossed the stage minutes before her.
http://gothamist.com/2015/05/20/columbia_rape_protest_posters.php
I dread the thought that this might be a hoax ala Rolling Stone's UVa story because of the harm it would do combatting sexual assault (of course I also dread the thought of the story being true, as well). However, even if the story turns out to be a hoax I'm really uncomfortable with this article. Between the posters and being snubbed by the university president I feel things could descend from ugly to positively horrid.
A few years ago on DU, I opined that 3-D printing would decentralize the means of production
allowing for a more democratized market economy. I continue to see it as a profoundly positive evolution for society.
What, if any, consequence should be born by Pamela Gellar if she holds another such event?
I'm guessing her or a supporter are planning such a thing so what should be the "consequence"?
A) no consequence. Let them hold their event but let the criticisms flow
B) arrested and charged with a misdemeanor
C) arrested and charged with a felony
D) denied access to public venues
E) citations issued to any private venues making themselves available to her
F) denied security / protection
G) other
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Member since: Wed Sep 16, 2009, 07:33 PMNumber of posts: 19,497
