You can understand the confusion when American nationalism/patriotism/whatever frequently includes claims of the best democracy in the world, a government "of the people, by the people, for the people", etc. If US nationalism was turned down to a sane level, maybe this confusion wouldn't happen?
"By being narrow and simple minded you lose the respect of others" - hence the scorn piled up on the US by most of the rest of the world.
Individual freedoms and protectionism have nothing to do with left/right. European countries think that people deserve to not die in the gutter because their last pay cheque was late, that their jobs should not be taken away from them in a heartbeat for no apparent reason, that taxes are required to build civilisation, etc. They also believe that protectionism is perfectly fine when for the greater good. The US is not "more socialist" than many other nations (at least not European nations - of course some right-wing hell holes can be found which are truly to the right of the US). The US is inherently right-leaning. It has some left-leaning policies in place, but these are ignored as being left-leaning and are just accepted as being "American". You're right, though - the political conversation in the US is skewed and ignorant of what "left" and "socialism" mean.
You don't see a lot of gun violence in Switzerland because you're not looking. It's there, and more than in countries with far fewer guns. And no, they are not "regular citizens" but people who have had training, and whose weapons are closely monitored by the government, and which can be removed by the government. Plus ammunition is tightly controlled. That all helps to reduce the amount of gun crime in Switzerland, but the simple fact that lots of guns means more people are being shot. I guess everyone could be given a gun and a boat-load of ammo in order to protect themselves, but then there would be even more gun crime, and even more people would die.
Because a cultural issue (gun ownership) is exactly the same as a health issue (drug use). You're only hurting your own position when you trot out useless nonsense like you just have.
So if guns are taken away, hundreds of people from neighbouring tribes will take machetes to other tribes? You do realise your infantile logic is only making you look foolish, right? You are seriously comparing the US - a supposedly developed country - to areas of Africa which are experiencing tribal conflict. Wow.
They're not racist, but your interpretation sure as hell is. You're missing out the poverty statistics, and any information relating to the racism exhibited by many US institutions and society in general.
People keep saying this, but it's untrue. The US state with the lowest gun deaths (NH, I believe) is still way ahead of most developed countries. And if you remove the inner cities from the other developed countries (why not, if this is ok for the US?) the US retains its seemingly-desired place at the top.
Nonsense. Having a highly-effective method of killing oneself means people attempting suicide are far more likely to succeed. This is not voodoo or guesswork, but established fact. The best thing for people who are suicidal is time, and that's what a gun is best at removing. The more time people have to think about suicide the more likely they are to not do it. And those 67k people includes those who were still hurt/raped/killed even while having a gun - if you'd read the post you replied to you'd know this. Your logic is incomplete, and paints a picture of someone desperately trying to justify their addiction in the face of overwhelming evidence highlighting its danger.
Until the legal guns are stolen, illegally sold, etc... Where do you think all the illegal guns come from? They're not sent over the border in massive trucks from Mexico - they're sold over counters, and subsequently become illegal when they drop off the radar. This isn't rocket science.
I like the cut of your gib, but unfortunately you are incorrect. There is evidence that, at various places across the world and at various times, flooding has occurred. There is no evidence for anything approaching a global flood.
I'm sure you think it's made slashdot, but as it hasn't happened, I doubt that. Get a grip. Reducing the population does not mean killing people - it means improving healthcare and quality of life for poor people.
The same Europeans who got great public transport and infrastructure links out of the higher taxation, while the US is full of terrible roads most European countries would laugh at... Your point? Taxes pay for civilization.
Aaah - the old "but they're worse!" line of defense. It doesn't matter what protections other countries have - the US screams loud about how awesome and free it is, yet it appears from the evidence it's far from either.
Why do so many people seem to have difficulty with the words "republic" and "democracy"? They're not mutually exclusive. The US is both - it is a republic with democracy. The fact you're banging on about the Bill of Rights and don't seem to even understand what sort of government you have speaks volumes about your education and arrogance.
You missed out all the economic spying on allies, etc. Lovely stuff. But then you're a bible-thumping nutter who clings to anything which seems to give your life purpose or meaning, and especially if it also purports to offer you protection. Can't pay attention to the man behind the curtain, right? That'd ruin everything.
The act of stealing is unlawfully depriving someone of property. He copied something, leaving the owner with their property. That is in no way stealing, as no-one was deprived of property. Just as copyright infringement is not stealing, him copying data he was not allowed to is not stealing. If he'd deleted the original after he made a copy, you'd be right, but he didn't, so you're not.
3. Ask why they are attacking, and deal with their grievances (be they real or imagined) by rectifying real grievances, and proving the imagined as such.
That's what happened in Northern Ireland, and it seems to be going incredibly well. I'm sure you could rush off and Google for some recent violence in the area, but to compare NI now to how it was will show the true success of the peace process.
But I guess ignoring #3 and just continuing the cycle of violence is fine and dandy, especially if the suffering on your part is minimal, and the violence itself gives carte blanch to extend one's own borders into the land of your "attacker".
You are comparing a public health issue (drugs) with a cultural issue (guns). Conflating the two only serves to make you look ridiculous, as you have clearly only given this discussion a cursory glance before wading in thinking you know it inside-out.
Because you drenched the "facts" with your opinion and left out the changes in the gathering of statistics which skew the results massively. If you are going to troll with your queer idea of facts, don't act surprised when you get called out for it.
Slashdot Mirror
You can understand the confusion when American nationalism/patriotism/whatever frequently includes claims of the best democracy in the world, a government "of the people, by the people, for the people", etc. If US nationalism was turned down to a sane level, maybe this confusion wouldn't happen?
"By being narrow and simple minded you lose the respect of others" - hence the scorn piled up on the US by most of the rest of the world.
Individual freedoms and protectionism have nothing to do with left/right. European countries think that people deserve to not die in the gutter because their last pay cheque was late, that their jobs should not be taken away from them in a heartbeat for no apparent reason, that taxes are required to build civilisation, etc. They also believe that protectionism is perfectly fine when for the greater good. The US is not "more socialist" than many other nations (at least not European nations - of course some right-wing hell holes can be found which are truly to the right of the US). The US is inherently right-leaning. It has some left-leaning policies in place, but these are ignored as being left-leaning and are just accepted as being "American". You're right, though - the political conversation in the US is skewed and ignorant of what "left" and "socialism" mean.
"Agents provocateurs" is the correct plural, fyi.
Drugs are a health issue, guns are a cultural one. Comparing the two is idiotic.
You don't see a lot of gun violence in Switzerland because you're not looking. It's there, and more than in countries with far fewer guns. And no, they are not "regular citizens" but people who have had training, and whose weapons are closely monitored by the government, and which can be removed by the government. Plus ammunition is tightly controlled. That all helps to reduce the amount of gun crime in Switzerland, but the simple fact that lots of guns means more people are being shot. I guess everyone could be given a gun and a boat-load of ammo in order to protect themselves, but then there would be even more gun crime, and even more people would die.
Because a cultural issue (gun ownership) is exactly the same as a health issue (drug use). You're only hurting your own position when you trot out useless nonsense like you just have.
So if guns are taken away, hundreds of people from neighbouring tribes will take machetes to other tribes? You do realise your infantile logic is only making you look foolish, right? You are seriously comparing the US - a supposedly developed country - to areas of Africa which are experiencing tribal conflict. Wow.
They're not racist, but your interpretation sure as hell is. You're missing out the poverty statistics, and any information relating to the racism exhibited by many US institutions and society in general.
People keep saying this, but it's untrue. The US state with the lowest gun deaths (NH, I believe) is still way ahead of most developed countries. And if you remove the inner cities from the other developed countries (why not, if this is ok for the US?) the US retains its seemingly-desired place at the top.
Nonsense. Having a highly-effective method of killing oneself means people attempting suicide are far more likely to succeed. This is not voodoo or guesswork, but established fact. The best thing for people who are suicidal is time, and that's what a gun is best at removing. The more time people have to think about suicide the more likely they are to not do it. And those 67k people includes those who were still hurt/raped/killed even while having a gun - if you'd read the post you replied to you'd know this. Your logic is incomplete, and paints a picture of someone desperately trying to justify their addiction in the face of overwhelming evidence highlighting its danger.
Until the legal guns are stolen, illegally sold, etc... Where do you think all the illegal guns come from? They're not sent over the border in massive trucks from Mexico - they're sold over counters, and subsequently become illegal when they drop off the radar. This isn't rocket science.
If you put them in a different order and make the lengths of each day different, then it's spookily accurate!
I like the cut of your gib, but unfortunately you are incorrect. There is evidence that, at various places across the world and at various times, flooding has occurred. There is no evidence for anything approaching a global flood.
I'm sure you think it's made slashdot, but as it hasn't happened, I doubt that. Get a grip. Reducing the population does not mean killing people - it means improving healthcare and quality of life for poor people.
The same Europeans who got great public transport and infrastructure links out of the higher taxation, while the US is full of terrible roads most European countries would laugh at... Your point? Taxes pay for civilization.
Aaah - the old "but they're worse!" line of defense. It doesn't matter what protections other countries have - the US screams loud about how awesome and free it is, yet it appears from the evidence it's far from either.
Why do so many people seem to have difficulty with the words "republic" and "democracy"? They're not mutually exclusive. The US is both - it is a republic with democracy. The fact you're banging on about the Bill of Rights and don't seem to even understand what sort of government you have speaks volumes about your education and arrogance.
Roald Dahl was Norwegian.
In the EU the seller has to handle all issues and warranty claims, for 2 years.
~ "Right in the balls"
You missed out all the economic spying on allies, etc. Lovely stuff. But then you're a bible-thumping nutter who clings to anything which seems to give your life purpose or meaning, and especially if it also purports to offer you protection. Can't pay attention to the man behind the curtain, right? That'd ruin everything.
The act of stealing is unlawfully depriving someone of property. He copied something, leaving the owner with their property. That is in no way stealing, as no-one was deprived of property. Just as copyright infringement is not stealing, him copying data he was not allowed to is not stealing. If he'd deleted the original after he made a copy, you'd be right, but he didn't, so you're not.
Or, the one you missed out entirely:
3. Ask why they are attacking, and deal with their grievances (be they real or imagined) by rectifying real grievances, and proving the imagined as such.
That's what happened in Northern Ireland, and it seems to be going incredibly well. I'm sure you could rush off and Google for some recent violence in the area, but to compare NI now to how it was will show the true success of the peace process.
But I guess ignoring #3 and just continuing the cycle of violence is fine and dandy, especially if the suffering on your part is minimal, and the violence itself gives carte blanch to extend one's own borders into the land of your "attacker".
You are comparing a public health issue (drugs) with a cultural issue (guns). Conflating the two only serves to make you look ridiculous, as you have clearly only given this discussion a cursory glance before wading in thinking you know it inside-out.
Because you drenched the "facts" with your opinion and left out the changes in the gathering of statistics which skew the results massively. If you are going to troll with your queer idea of facts, don't act surprised when you get called out for it.