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Quick search had a couple of hits on sawed off shotguns:

http://bethel.kval.com/content/police-bicyclist-pulls-sawed-shotgun-officers
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20130102/NJNEWS/301020055/Police-Blotter-Criminal-mischief-Madison-sawed-off-shotgun-Long-Valley

Anti-gun people are trying to pick the low-hanging, easy fruit on their slippery slope to out-lawing all firearms.

You advocated that inexpensive models of pistols should be banned, noting that the poor could purchase rifles, which are not suited to concealed carry.

The urban environment is not merely soul-crushing, it is also mind-crushing. It really is a dumb place for high-tech. Which is why so much of high-tech over time has been developed in the suburbs.

From an article about a recent study:

NEW YORK (AP) — This may come as no surprise to residents of New York City and other big urban centers: Living there can be bad for your mental health.

Now researchers have found a possible reason why. Imaging scans show that in city dwellers or people who grew up in urban areas, certain areas of the brain react more vigorously to stress. That may help explain how city life can boost the risks of schizophrenia and other mental disorders, researchers said.

Previous research has found that growing up in a big city raises the risk of schizophrenia. And there's some evidence that city dwellers are at heightened risk for mood and anxiety disorders, although the evidence is mixed. ...

The study is certainly not conclusive, but it is is consistent with a large body of existing research (and common sense) that does indicate that city life is quite stressful on the mind and body. Just looking at exposure to pollution alone, the big city is a big loser for cutting down on one's risk of cancer and many other serious sicknesses. And then we have exposure to disease, especially foreign diseases that one's body has weaker defenses against. Another strike against the big city.

It would seem to me that the only thing drawing high tech companies to big cities is big office spaces at low rents. And then coming up with how to spin this as a good thing. There is little good about a big city. Which is why for hundreds of years, a life in the suburbs has been the dream that so many have strived for.

• Exhibit A
• Exhibit B
• Exhibit C

Just about everything you said is incorrect. You said:

You said: People aren't buying Windows Vista and Office 2007 because they have Windows XP and Office 2003 that does the job just fine, and possibly better, and it costs nothing to continue using it.

But the facts are: "Better-than-expected worldwide PC shipments, tougher anti-piracy measures and growing numbers of businesses switching to long-term volume software licenses helped boost revenue for the two Microsoft divisions responsible for Windows and Office to a total of $9.14 billion, 50 percent more than a year ago."

Microsoft has never depended on people going out and buying Windows and Office as shrinkwrapped software. People buy them when they buy computers because it is the easiest thing to do.

You said: . None of their other attempts to diversify - Zune, X Box, Windows Live etc have been very succesful, so there are problems ahead.

But the facts are: "The division responsible for the Xbox 360 video game system swung to a profit on rising sales of games and accessories, which deliver better margins than the console itself. Microsoft said the division is still on track to be profitable in fiscal 2008."

You said: They aren't bankrupt yet, but they are taking action to try and avoid it while they still can.

But the facts say: "Microsoft blew by Wall Street's expectations for a second consecutive quarter." (announced just a couple of weeks ago) Quantitatively speaking they are not only "not bankrupt yet" but not even heading in that direction.

My reference: http://www.kval.com/news/business/14266747.html

Do I think that all is well in Microsoft land? No way: but no massively profitable company with a gargantuan bank account can be said to be "on the ropes". There is a big difference with "perhaps pointed in the wrong direction" and "on the ropes". It would be more accurate to say: "There are indications in the early rounds of fighting that the current champ will have to adjust strategy to win against a promising upstart competitor."

I'm no Microsoft fanboy: I think that they need to fire Ballmer and reform the culture. But that's actually an easier thing to do than the sorts of things that their competitors need to do to become as entrenched and powerful as Microsoft is. Or to put it another way: Microsoft will lose if they don't adjust strategy, but the fight is still theirs to lose. i.e. they are a bit bloodied, not "on the ropes".

You've been watching way too much Fox news. If you're really that scared of someone breaking into your house, buy some big steel doors and bars for your windows. Maybe even get an alarm system. Having a gun doesn't really stop anybody from breaking into your house. Unless you actually sleep with it under your pillow (bad idea), what are the odds that you are going to get to your gun faster than the raping gun toting burglar you described? Guns just give you a false sense of security without actually providing you with a sufficient level of protection.

Tell that to the woman whose rapist got shot yesterday by a neigbor who owned a gun and knew how to use it:

Eugene - One man is dead, another is being questioned and a woman says she was raped.

This happened not to far away from my home... I happened to be a block away from the location when the police responded. If I'd been there 5 minutes earlier and witnessed the rape happening in the middle of the day in front of a house, it just might have been me who shot the rapist.

http://www2.kval.com/x30530.xml?ParentPageID=x2649 &ContentID=x47627&Layout=kval.xsl&AdGroupID=x30530 Same company. This time in oregon. I hope these people pay for their crimes.