The "anything" thread

[AsoBit]

Agreed. Let's get rid of alcohol.

[Krobar]

What an efficient killing machine a gun can be put in a drunk man's hands...

Oh yes I don't like alcohol either, look at the last prohibition, (some) people got equal rights! Maybe this time we can stop global warming. (Serious statement is serious.)

[kablooie!]

Get rid of cars, keep alcohol. Problem solved.

What purpose do cars serve that public transportation can't or becoming active and use a bike?

[Krobar]

WOOHOO!






BUI's? Bicycling under the influence...

[kablooie!]

It's illegal to ride a bike while drunk, isn't it?

[Krobar]

In some places, I believe so.

[kablooie!]

Yeah I thought so.

And let's ban cellphones, too. As a pedestrian in a large city, on a routine basis I dodge cars because the driver is too busy talk or texting to realize they're about to flatten me like a pancake. I even encounter these morons on the sidewalk or randomly standing in a ****ing annoying spot where you have to dodge them. Head down, texting, walking straight, everybody trying to dodge them at the last second. Should we ban walking to and just get those things they use at airports that are like human conveyor belts?

[Crusher]

Originally Posted by kablooie!

Yeah I thought so.

And let's ban cellphones, too. As a pedestrian in a large city, on a routine basis I dodge cars because the driver is too busy talk or texting to realize they're about to flatten me like a pancake. I even encounter these morons on the sidewalk or randomly standing in a ****ing annoying spot where you have to dodge them. Head down, texting, walking straight, everybody trying to dodge them at the last second. Should we ban walking to and just get those things they use at airports that are like human conveyor belts?

I have a better idea!
Let's put everyone in a coccoon sort of thing and project a reality in their mind that lets them think they're actually living there. I will call it the matrix!

[Fedorov]

Agreed with Floyd with the alcohol thing. I personally like the taste of liquor, but is nothing I can't live without.

[kablooie!]

Originally Posted by Fedorov

Agreed with Floyd with the alcohol thing. I personally like the taste of liquor, but is nothing I can't live without.

I can live without video games. Let's ban them.

[Fedorov]

Originally Posted by kablooie!

I can live without video games. Let's ban them.

AFAIK videogames don't kill people.

[Crusher]

Originally Posted by Fedorov

AFAIK videogames don't kill people.

http://www.spike.com/articles/id98jf...by-video-games
Just being the devil's advocate

One time a robber killed a guy because he didn't want to give up his ipod. Let's ban ipods!

Btw, why do we only ban things because people die from it? Isn't it a bit weird we wait for someone to die to ban it, it's too late then, we should ban stuff because they could potentially harm someone.

Let's ban glass because it can potentially break and cut someone, maybe even kill!! Metal can be turned into sharp objects, the same with rocks, plastic and wood! BAN BAN BAN!

I once fell off my bike and got a concussion, I could've died that day! Let's ban bikes, roads, and humans!

[Fedorov]

I never thought I'd say this, but I think I'm starting to understand Ostman.

[AsoBit]

Let's get rid of cats.

[Crusher]

Originally Posted by Fedorov

I never thought I'd say this, but I think I'm starting to understand Ostman.

How so?

[timur]

Originally Posted by Crusher

How so?

you see, there is a little bit of Ostmann in all of us. You just have to find it.

[Moyako]

Originally Posted by =GG= Mr Moe

Don't take offense at this Moyako, but per capita your country Venezuela has some of the highest homicide rates in the world and here in the US we are much farther on down the list, mostly behind Western Europe and some Pacific countries such as Japan and Australia (and a few others). It seems its much safer living here despite what is being said.

No offense taken. Yes, we have a terrible social problem here. I don't want to go into a big explanation, so I'll make it short.

Besides the high lever of poverty, we're experiencing a terrible phenomenon in our society, leading to the glorification of crime life and violence.

Many of the barrios (slums), criminals called azotes de barrio (something like 'Slums Scourge'), keep people in constant fear. The more people you kill, the more "badass" you are. Life is short, so you must drug as much as you can, kill as many guys as you can and earn lots of "respect". Slums are so dense and tight that's almost impossible for the police to even enter there (like in the Bazilian 'favelas'), so the law is dictated by the guy with the bigger gun and more asshole attitude.

I wonder if there's a way to to extirpate that cancer.

If you want to talk more about, I have no problem

[=GG= Mr Moe]

Originally Posted by Moyako

No offense taken. Yes, we have a terrible social problem here. I don't want to go into a big explanation, so I'll make it short.

Besides the high lever of poverty, we're experiencing a terrible phenomenon in our society, leading to the glorification of crime life and violence.

Many of the barrios (slums), criminals called azotes de barrio (something like 'Slums Scourge'), keep people in constant fear. The more people you kill, the more "badass" you are. Life is short, so you must drug as much as you can, kill as many guys as you can and earn lots of "respect". Slums are so dense and tight that's almost impossible for the police to even enter there (like in the Bazilian 'favelas'), so the law is dictated by the guy with the bigger gun and more asshole attitude.

I wonder if there's a way to to extirpate that cancer.

If you want to talk more about, I have no problem

That really sucks

Hope that gets taken care of and that you all stay safe there.

[Alexander Ostmann]

I've grown up around firearms all my life. From military grade assault rifles (I own one personally), to shotguns, to pistols, and to revolvers, I've shot and seen a lot of them. I am 19 and have been exposed to them since I was in elementary school. I have had shooter safety drilled into my head since then. I am extremely comfortable around weapons, and people packing weapons. Just today at the retail store I work at I was helping a man load a firearm safe into his truck and when he bent over, his shirt lifted to reveal a revolver. I was more inclined to say, "Nice revolver, what caliber is it?" than to get alarmed and wonder why this man thinks he needs a revolver strapped to his hip.

I guess I can sort of understand European fear of guns since they have extremely liberal weapon laws, but here in Maine, most anything goes, and that's what people are used to. Sure the law says you can open-carry anything you want as long as you do not step foot on federal property or school campuses (elementary all the way to college) and won't test over .000 blood alcohol. However, people don't walk around with M4s and AKs around their shoulder. They will have the police called on them, and it has happened a few times. When the police get there though, everyone starts joking around laughing, and they just tell the man not to bring it in next time as to avoid a scene. The only time it is commonplace to see rifles open-carried is at gun shows.

People do open-carry pistols in Maine liberally, however, and that is something I am all for. In this state, I read of more deaths from accidental shootings in the newspaper such as disassembly or aiming in the wrong direction than a pissed off dude that just had is car rear-ended so he's going to take some revenge with some hot led.

[[-project.rattus-]]

Originally Posted by Alexander Ostmann

I guess I can sort of understand European fear of guns since they have extremely liberal weapon laws

You might want to consult a dictionary on the term "liberal". Europe, in general has rather restrictive gun laws. And the scepticism towards guns has several reasons, at least in my opinion:

1) Guns are designed to kill. They have no other use. So by buying a gun you sort of indirectly state that you're up to kill people. Which leads us to reason...

2) A person's live, no matter what crime he or she committed or is just committing, is worth more than property. Live is regarded as the highest commodity, thus there is no death penalty. "Noone deservers to die" is one of the laws main doctrines, even if sometimes mob mentality begs to differ.
Also, criminals in general are not regarded as "evil" (because, actually no one is, not even Ostmann), but as being able to rehabilitate and lead a normal law abiding life.

3) Many countries still draft people into military for a certain amount of time. So most male people get a first hand view how the military really is. And it's not glorious. It's an annoying duty. And people who don't think that way are generally regarded as people best not be let too close to things that can kill other people.

4) Wars. Europe's very diverse. Thus, many conflicts have arisen in the past and still arise. While western europe is relatively stable and has not had a war since WW2, there was a real war in my lifetime with battles (allbeit small ones) being fought less than 50 kilometers from where I live. Also, being the eastern most "western european" country and living in a one day biking trip from the iron curtain wasn't really fun times during the cold war.
Thus weapons and militarism are both not regarded as positive, but as very negative. They only bring pain, suffering and death.

Which in turns brings us to the last point: Escalation of violence. Europe, in a process of thousands of years of armed conflicts, has learned that fear and violence escalates proportinal to the means of doing damage. A simple example:
A person wants to rob you at gunpoint. Thus he ambushes you in an alley. He has got the advantage of already pointing the gun at you when you realise what happens. In Europe he'd be relatively relaxed, because he wouldn't fear for his own life. Thus, you'd toss him your wallet and cellphone, he buggers off, you live to tell the tale, call the police and inform the bank.
Now you'd carry a gun, either openly or worse, concealed, the assailant is much more nervous and much more likely to shoot you down to gain things that are replaceable. Unlike your or his life.

So, by the general american gun nut's view of the world, western europe should already be in a state of anarchy where illegally armed gangs rule. But it isn't. where I live, people getting shot at, not killed or even hit, but merely shot at, are making nationwide headlines because it's so uncommon. Heck, two guys shooting bb-guns at random people made nationwide headlines.

Originally Posted by Floyd

What I don't understand is why countries still allow bars that serve alcohol to remain open? What benefit or purpose to society does alcohol provide? Why is Anheuser-Busch even allowed to stay in business?

We all know that tonight (or any given night) somebody is going to leave a bar inebriated, climb into a car and kill someone.

Now Floyd, I do hope you used hyperbole to point out the inherent hypocrisy of being against one thing that kills while tolerating another.

Nevertheless, I have to point out something:

Prohibition never works. History, and current day drug politics for that matter, clearly show that prohibiting something doesn't prevent it. The key difference between alcohol, and more specifically DUI and weapons is the intent. People don't drink and drive with the intent to kill, while people carrying guns do carry them with the intent to use them, and people carrying weapons for personal defense do intend to use them on people.
Thus I think it's justified that different measures are applied, even though accidents are tragic and cannot ever truly be prevented.