h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

And then he'd do something really radical

I agree, there's nothing especially outrageous within the list of executive orders, though hopefully several of them will make a decent amount of difference (most notably, in the medium-long term, the research should help be interesting

I read one article (and I may be repeating myself here) that had a suggestion that would probably have the greatest effect on gun violence in this country. End the drug war.

It wouldn't do much to mitigate the mass murders we've seen recently, but it would lower the number of over all GSWs in the country.

In their haste to enact overly restrictive gun laws in New York, they forgot to exempt law enforcement. I hope they can keep the gun fights short.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Fnew_york&id=8958116

I haven't read every single post in this thread so if this info has already been shared I apologise. I heard in numerous places that there have been eight mass shootings in the US in 2012. Well, that figure is wrong. It's SIXTEEN mass shootings in the US in 2012

http://www.thenation.com/blog/171774/fifteen-us-mass-shootings-happened-2012-84-deadhttp://www.thenation.com/blog/171774/fifteen-us-mass-shootings-happened-2012-84-dead

Hmmm that link isn't working for me. Try this

http://www.thenation.com/blog/171774

/fifteen-us-mass-shootings-happened-2012-84-dead

paste both of those in the address window?

okay, if all that doesn't work type

16 mass shootings in 2012

into google and one of the first hits will be from The Nation

http://www.thenation.com/blog/171774/fifteen-us-mass-shootings-happened-2012-84-dead

You simply double pasted the first link.

Thousands of dead fish have washed up on the coast of South Carolina.

The NRA have said that this wouldn't have happened if those fish had had guns.

Double pasted? thanks, Baron

Ah, there's another anomoly with that link , as well!
Can anyone else besides this "genius" (me) spot it?

clare


It does seeem that this is the price of freedom that 'the US' is 'happy' to pay.

88 people dying for the freedom of 70-80million of the US population to own hands.

~1 death for every million...not much of a price really is it?

Darn...missed 3 letters out of last post which ruins th post.

REPOSTING WHOLE WITH CORRECTION:

"""clare


It does seeem that this is the price of freedom that 'the US' is 'happy' to pay.

88 people dying for the freedom of 70-80million of the US population to own handguns.

~1 death for every million...not much of a price really is it?

a friend just posted this

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57566529-504083/georgia-man-69-accused-of-fatally-shooting-22-year-old-who-drove-into-wrong-driveway/

22 year old drove into someone's driveway because his GPS directed him. He was trying to drive out when the 69 year old house owner shot him dead because he *assumed the young man arrived to commit a home invasion*

Seriously - in what way is that even normal? (the shooter, I mean, not the victim)

Secondly, another friend in Seattle just told me about a shooting in a bar there. Guy had a row with his girlfriend, left the bar, came back with a gun shot the bouncer (seriously ill in hospital) shot the gf (no idea if that was fatal, I don't think so) then shot one of the two cops who turned up, and was then shot (dead) by the other cop (ok, that I do understand)

Ok so far so mad and what I expect to read from the USA these days. What I didn't know was that many victims of guncrime then end up bankrupt because of their medical bills. In what way is that even approaching normal? (my friend told me that people organise charity events to help them cover costs)

Is it so dog eat dog over there that the govt doesn't even have a scheme to pay for innocent victims to get emergency treatment?

Nope. No emergency will be turned away for lack of insurance or funds, but you will be billed whether you can pay it or not. The hospitals will end up eating the cost and passing it on to insured patients. The insurance companies raise their rates so everyone pays. We have the worst version of socialized medicine in the world.

Along the similar lines to the shootings you mentioned there was a tragic shooting in Louisiana in '92. A Japanese student was shot as he approached the wrong house on Halloween. Halloween, fervexeck! He did not know the English phrase "Freeze!" Following the tragedy, everyone in Japan now knows "freeze" as it was given ubiquitous news coverage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Hattori

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Hattori

"No emergency will be turned away for lack of insurance or funds, but you will be billed whether you can pay it or not"

So in other words - if you, an innocent person, get shot, not only will you suffer the injuries, any money you have will be taken from you to pay for the treatment you need. If you have no money, fine, other people will pay, but if you've got a house or a car or any savings, kiss them goodbye.

Not for the first time, really REALLY glad I don't live somewhere like that.

That Sho, is the price of Freedom in America...

Living in fear, suspicious of everyone,
afraid to roam, trusting no one, is not
Freedom. It's the price of living in a
society delusionally believing that the
right to liberty and happiness requires
operating with lethal self-defense while
mindlessly consuming.

~jwf~

Amen to liberty and freedom and the Yo SA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOJQFNOQqCY

Not convinced? Why not try:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRJpvUwDlG8