America & the World V: DOGE Business

[Yakumo]

If there were a majority that wanted it, which would affect who got elected, I believe the political parties would be embracing tighter gun laws.

The 2nd Amendment is sacrosanct to the majority and nothing is more important to them.

By the 9th of Jan, there were already 21 mass shootings.

I got an error when visiting https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/r.../mass-shooting.

Error code: 1020

Ray ID: 7886ff073bc88323

Country: JP

Data center: kix03

IP: 153.184.129.133

Timestamp: 2023-01-12 15:41:24 UTC

I guess they don't want the whole world to know.

[QualityChimp]

I couldn't access it when I had my VPN on, but was fine when I turned it off.
They're not trying to hide anything, they're actually logging all of the mass shootings.

[Anpanman]

Have we missed this?

Biddy Biden forgets he had some dossier's in his shed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-64248626

Can't blame him I keep walking into a room and wonder why I'm there.

[Asura]

Have we missed this?

Biddy Biden forgets he had some dossier's in his shed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-64248626

Can't blame him I keep walking into a room and wonder why I'm there.

For ****'s sake. After Trump got in trouble for a similar thing, he really needed to be ABSOLUTELY BULLETPROOF on this.

[Wools]

Wow, they're on a roll this year, set themselves up to smash the 648 they scored in 2022: https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls

Wow. God bless America and the free world.

I know some states do ban specific gun elements (Large capacity mags, ammunition that splinters, open carry etc.) but you do wonder if the US will ever be able to dig itself out its bomb shapped hole.

Back in 2015, I went to the US and stayed with some work friends who were Brits but moved to San Francisco for work, and had been their for about 5 years. I talked about the gun laws and one of the guys said something that stayed with me; He said that for most Americans, the gun is a God given right and owning a gun is not just to protect themselves, but an intrinsic part of their freedom. It's that belief that allows very inteligent and kind people to always vote to keep guns, despite knowing the harm it does. The phrase this is the price we pay for freedom seems to be the calling card they always use when another kid has their brains blown out by another school shooting.

Seemingly, they keep mistaking that owning a TAR-21 in the spare bedroom with boxes of ammunition is a twisted privilege, rather than a right, to any sane human being.

[nonny]

But what freedom did God offer them before guns or America existed?

They can be highly intelligent people of faith but surely they would look to people of the dang faith living in other parts of the world, happily without guns or mass murders and maybe think it's a construct if their own making...

[QualityChimp]

you do wonder if the US will ever be able to dig itself out its bomb shaped hole.

They could. Look at Australia and the UK. After a mass shooting, the gun laws were changed, so it is possible.
The shooting of Elle Edwards on Christmas Eve is still headline news this morning because it's so unusual.
In America, news of a mass shooting is just a daily occurrence. You might as well pop it on the end of the news with the pollen count.

A combination of politicians being in the pocket of the gun lobby and, let's be honest, the majority of Americans like the thought of owning a gun, means they'll never resolve it.

Hence I've stopped worrying about a problem of their own making.

[Asura]

But what freedom did God offer them before guns or America existed?

You can't really analyse religion like that though (or at least, you can, but it always breaks down).

Family Guy had a pretty good joke about the Amish with this; relating to the idea that God sent his son to die in 0CE, then, decided, 1795 years later, that this was the correct level of human progress. The Flying Shuttle was in, but the Spinning Jenny was out.

It's always a line in the sand; that comes with the territory.

[Neon Ignition]

American Gun Control in 2023

[charlesr]

American Gun Control in 2023

Such a great film

[Wools]

A combination of politicians being in the pocket of the gun lobby and, let's be honest, the majority of Americans like the thought of owning a gun, means they'll never resolve it.

As you say, anything's possible.

I think it would take a massive civil war where guns were the main weapon, and even then, it would just revert to people saying we need these to protect ourselves. And when your neighbour owns a small arsenal of weapons like Arnie at the start of Commando, can you blame them? I think they call that escalation.

It reminds me of another Forum I visit which is US centric and one of the posters started a thread about UK knife crime. It was discombobulating seeing Americans express the real, sheer horror of UK knife crime, stats and stories with several saying the UK has gone to the dogs. And this Forum thread was posted just a few weeks after the 2017 US Las Vegas shooting, where nearly 500 people were injured and around 50 people killed.

As always, it's an echo chamber and only the enlightened few who can see above the trench can get a better perspective.

[briareos_kerensky]

Iran will receive an unspecified number of Su-35S fighter from Russia starting from the 14th of February. These will most probably start replacing the IRIAF's aging F-14s and F-4s, as well as Mirage F-1s. Iran's most recent fighter acquisition were 19 Mig-29s in the 1990s.

Part of the payment has probably been made in suicide drones currently used in Ukraine.

[Neon Ignition]

Given the state of things in Ukraine I'm not sure those fighters will be much of a win for Iran

[Cassius_Smoke]

Aren't these the same planes that are very easily being taken out of the sky by SAM sites? Not a great track record.

[briareos_kerensky]

Any non-gen 5 plane without proper ECM cover (and tactics, and planning, and training) is easy prey for SAM sites. These Su-35s are properly modern planes, bad usage notwithstanding.