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Re: What the heck is a long gun? - Yesterday

BBC: We have the most guns per capita in the world, more than double that of number 2, and closer to 4 times the closest Western first-world countries. We are awash in guns. A different visualization from Wikipedia: Also, QuoteBBC Nearly 53 people are killed each day by a firearm in the US, according to the data. The data also shows that the vast majority of murders, 79%

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Police response to school shooting be questioned - 2 days ago

QuoteLemon Drop The initial police version of events is looking mostly like self-serving fiction. He entered the building unobstructed. The police seem to have been running around doing everything except apprehending the shooter. Border Patrol finally got into the locked classroom by having a staff member open it with a key. Nevertheless, two police officers and one school safety officer w

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: What the heck is a long gun? - 2 days ago

QuoteRacer X why wasn't this stuff happening prior to 1968? Back them you could mail order a fully automatic M-16. Could it be that there weren’t 300+ million guns in this country then? Could it be that if an 18 year old wanted to buy two military-style assault rifles (or semiautomatic rifles that resemble military weapons) some adult would have been concerned? I think either of those

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Front Page of The Uvalde Leader-News - 2 days ago

I’m surprised and impressed that a west Texas town of 15000 has a newspaper.

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: a well-armed citizenry can defend against any home invasion - 2 days ago

QuoteAmmo I’ve always wondered why we stop at allowing military grade rifles for the average citizen. Why aren’t bazookas and mortars legal, too? No good reason, based on SCOTUS’s current view - nutjobs should also gave the right to “keep and bear” those arms too.

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Oklahoma governor signs nation’s strictest abortion ban (women's rights? what rights?) - 2 days ago

QuoteSam3 Quotepdq A letter-writer (not me) in the local dead-tree paper today had a suggestion, which while not new, was pretty well formulated. If the government is asserting control over a woman’s body, it should remember that it takes two to get pregnant. Women should have the right to prove paternity by requiring the father to submit to genetic testing. If the man is confirmed as the fa

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Police response to school shooting be questioned - 2 days ago

Then how were two police officers (and one school security officer) wounded? QuoteWhen the attacker crashed the truck, it prompted a 911 call from a resident who added that the driver apparently had a rifle, said Travis Considine, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. The gunman encountered a school police officer and “they exchange gunfire,” Considine said, with the shooter

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: What the heck is a long gun? - 2 days ago

Well, they don’t like the TV saying this barely-18 year old walked into a gun store and bought two military-style semiautomatic rifles to kill as many kids as possible. “Long guns” sounds more like the hunting rifles we saw as kids. In other words, it’s just a version of newspeak, and I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t focus-group tested and promoted by GOP leadership.

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Yes, he's Larry's great-grandson: a real Florida Republican stooge Randy Fine - 2 days ago

Quotegabester I am tired of these disingenuous people perpetuating the lie that the 2nd Amendment protects individual weapon ownership. It just doesn't, it never did, and strangely only popped up in the last 70 years around the same time as early race rights equalization attempts by the Federal government, and its bedfellows are radical libertarianism and religious sectarianism, all intended to g

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: The Far Right Is Falsely Blaming a Trans Woman for the Texas School Shooting - 2 days ago

Quotebfd Are any of them held accountable? For anything? They don't even get voted out of office … …which is one of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime, and a fairly recent development. A politician publicly (and recklessly) shooting from the hip like this should get him/her censured if not expelled, and certainly ought to impact their chances at reelection among the public. But

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Oklahoma governor signs nation’s strictest abortion ban (women's rights? what rights?) - 2 days ago

A letter-writer (not me) in the local dead-tree paper today had a suggestion, which while not new, was pretty well formulated. If the government is asserting control over a woman’s body, it should remember that it takes two to get pregnant. Women should have the right to prove paternity by requiring the father to submit to genetic testing. If the man is confirmed as the father, he pays for t

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Here is a list of the 27 school shootings that have taken place this year - 2 days ago

…and here’s an (updated) graphic I’ve seen before, but which kind of lays it all out: (It also has a reference to GunPolicy.org, where you can dive into the numbers yourself. BTW, GunPolicy.org uses data from the University of Sydney (ie Australia), which would seem to have no dog in the US political fight.) As they say, correlation is not causation, but given the extreme outlier

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Better news: trump got his a$$ kicked in Georgia primaries - 3 days ago

Also, Hershel Walker, the one guy who Trump endorsed in Georgia who actually won, is an odd, odd duck. Georgia candidate Herschel Walker is a serial promoter of false 2020 conspiracy theories Okay, so that’s a basic qualification to run as a Republican these days, but… Herschel Walker claims Donald Trump never said 2020 election was stolen Huh. Srsly? Herschel Walker’s ca

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Lotsa primaries tomorrow - 5 days ago

There's an entertaining US House one here in MN. Three Repubs are falling over each other trying to be the most looney conservative. One says Biden and "Washington Socialists" consider Minnesota flyover territory (horrors!); this guy was appointed to some obscure position in the Trump administration and says he will "fire Nancy Pelosi". Another has gotten Rand Paul (!)

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Does anyone use MSFT "OneDrive"? - 5 days ago

Quotebtfc Woot! Thank you, thank you, thank you btfc!

by pdq - Tips and Deals

Re: Does anyone use MSFT "OneDrive"? - 5 days ago

QuoteN-OS X-tasy! OneDrive is in fact MS's cloud storage solution. They have been pushing it much harder lately than in the past. Why not delete Office and reinstall only Excel? Do you think that would work? I should also probably keep Word around to open the occasional .doc/.docx.

by pdq - Tips and Deals

Does anyone use MSFT "OneDrive"? - 5 days ago

I'm continuing to troubleshoot the wife's computer (or the wife's "side" (ie account)) on our shared M1 Mac mini, which still slows to a crawwwllll from time to time. One thing that the suspicious part of me suspects is Office (in this case, 2016). It _always_ launches on restart, even though it is not in login items in System Preferences in her account. Also, Microsoft Update seems

by pdq - Tips and Deals

Top Southern Baptists stonewalled clergy sex abuse victims - 5 days ago

…is the title of this piece from NBC News. QuoteLeaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost two decades while seeking to protect their own reputations, according to a scathing 288-page investigative report issued Sunday. Unfortunately, no link to the actual report, at least not

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: The world is changing and I don't like it [rant] - 6 days ago

re: 100 mm socket: eBay? ...or a good hardware store.

by pdq - Tips and Deals

Re: The United Theocracy of America - 6 days ago

QuoteTed King Banning birth control - in general - isn't going to happen nationwide and probably not even in any particular state. From a Yahoo/You Gov May 3-6 poll: QuoteDecades ago, the Supreme Court ruled that both married and unmarried couples have a constitutional right to buy and use contraceptives without government restriction. Do you favor or oppose this ruling? Favor . . .

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

“Trumpy Bear” Beverly Hills cosmetologist wants to rescind her Jan 6 guilty plea - 6 days ago

When last we visited Ms. Bisignano, she was obviously a little uncertain about the guilty plea she entered in 2021 regarding her Jan 6 activities: Now she says she was “bullied” into signing the plea deal with federal prosecutors. She was to be sentenced July 12, prolly to a few months at most, but has now announced through her lawyers that she wants to withdraw the guilty plea to the

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Russia bans 963 Americans, including Biden and Harris — but not Trump - 7 days ago

What a surprising oversight...or maybe not... QuoteOn Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry published an updated list of 963 Americans barred from entering Russia...featuring a wide-ranging collection of Biden administration members, Republicans, tech executives, journalists, lawmakers who have died, regular U.S. citizens and even actor Morgan Freeman. ...Those barred include rabbis, an LB

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: I'm a Sandra Bullock fan... - 7 days ago

In general, I don't really go for her or the other America's Sweetheart, Julia Roberts. I had to grit my teeth when Bullock married Jesse James, well known for being a promiscuous "bad boy", and then she found out he cheated on her! "Poor Sandra!" And most of her movies were not the least bit appealing to me. (Miss Congeniality had all of the believability of Kindergarten

by pdq - Tips and Deals

Re: The United Theocracy of America - 7 days ago

Cordileone’s action is opposed by some radical liberal in Rome: QuoteThe Vatican has warned against denying communion to politicians supportive of abortion rights. Pope Francis has preached that communion “is not the reward of saints, but the bread of sinners.” …but who cares what he says? PS- remember when the Republicans said Kennedy couldn’t be President because he had to obe

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

No American press allowed into CPAC (Hungarian Edition) - 7 days ago

QuoteBesides VICE News, journalists from Rolling Stone, Vox Media, and the New Yorker were turned away from the conference on Thursday, despite repeated assurances from the American Conservative Union that access would be provided. Journalists from other non-Hungarian media outlets, including the Guardian and Associated Press, tweeted that they had also been denied accreditation, despite months o

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: I am continuously surprised by the fixation on 'child trafficking - 7 days ago

I think it’s a popular (albeit despicable) theme/meme because who can be against child sex trafficking? And so the right has built up this whole alternate universe of Democrats as child sex abusers that also drain the blood of children for “adrenochrome”. It has historical parallels to anti-semitic smears wherein Jews ate babies and/or drank their blood in rituals. It’s just been updat

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Good news/bad news out of GA guv race - 8 days ago

Trump washes hands of Perdue in Georgia as his campaign limps into final stretch QuoteTrump, who recruited Perdue to challenge GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, groused about a lackluster effort and won't make any more appearances ahead of Tuesday's vote, sources said. As noted above, Trump’s endorsement in neighboring Georgia hasn’t done squat. But wait: Sarah Palin endorses David Perdue in Georg

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Ibuprofen or Aspirin for mild arthritis inflammation? - 8 days ago

The wife (apparently) has degenerative arthritis from oddly-angled hip bones, which has now manifested itself primarily as pain in the knees. Appears to run in her family; they’ve all had joint replacements as they aged. She had one hip replaced last year, and the knee on that side is now far less painful, although now the other side is acting up. Anyway, she swears by a “cocktail” of

by pdq - Tips and Deals

Re: Will it ever stop? Cawthorn calls on “Dark MAGA” to rise up and avenge him. - 8 days ago

Initially missed this above - lost in the rant-iness of this guy: QuoteHe also wrote that the time for "gentile politics as usual" is over, declaring that it's "time for the rise of the new right, it's time for Dark MAGA to truly take command." More misspelling, or something darker?

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting

Re: Oh yeah? “Masks DO NOT PROTECT YOU !!! They protect others FROM YOU“ - 8 days ago

BTW, I have appreciated PeterB’s knowledgeable input and background while we have waded through this thicket of misinformation/disinformation.

by pdq - 'Friendly' Political Ranting