It does appear that the law was written that way. I don't know that I agree with it, but it needs to be applied as written ... unless, of course it involves someone claiming self-defense in a shooting then the law goes out the window because "justice".

I expect the case will fall off the radar soon. Usually these kinds of shootings don't hold media attention for long. Just like all the innocent young kids who die as a direct result of careless gun owners in this country.

Are you referring to the case in Philly where the psychiatrist shot the guy who was trying to shoot up the office? I expect we'll see the NRA celebrate that one for a while, until (if) we figure out why the shooter was shooting the place up. We'll probably then find out that the shooter wouldn't have managed to get off many (if any) additional shots of significance and then the whole story will slowly fade away.

I didn't realize I was personally connected to this. In another comment here I did offer a link to another news article on it that supports the notion that the old man did chase them out and shoot the woman in the back in they alley. Unless you want to assume that the 80 year old man - who supposedly had a broken collarbone from the incident - shot her in his house, and then dragged her body out into the alley to make some sort of point.

I have accepted some time ago that you no longer want to read my comments (yet for some reason you reply to them anyways). I never claimed there previously to be a victim here; I only asked why you put so much energy into wasting other peoples' time. If ever there was a victim of this discussion though I would argue it to be you, not me, as you seem blissfully unaware of how absurd you make your own arguments and tactics look.

Wow, how many off-topic memes from the conservative blogosphere can you combine in one response to me? You funneled so much complete BS into that one that you almost - accidentally - gave your own answer to the question that your JE title is asking here.

No. The GOP is certainly your party more than the current leaders of the democratic party are representative of mine. And your clever re-spelling is further indication that you don't actually want to discuss this.

This is the first time I have ever seen you raise the "fiat money" strawman in discussion. If you seriously want to discuss that - and didn't just offer it up in desperation - then I ask you one simple question - where on earth can you find an example of non-fiat money that is in common use and has an agreed-upon value? There is no demonstrated case of how it would actually improve things to move the US Dollar from fiat to non-fiat.

Nobody who actually favors entitlement reform has ever suggested that. I see no reason to suspect that you proposed that for any reason other than to be ridiculous (furthermore as other ridiculous people have also offered it previously to be ridiculous I suspect you copied it from them in hopes of using it to kill the discussion entirely).

I ask you third-grade level questions, to see if you have even third-grade level comprehension, and you generally show that you do not.

FWIW my general weapon of choice - for home defense - is a baseball bat:

• It never misfires
• It never jams
• It never runs out of ammo
• It's silent
• You don't need any special permits to buy or own them
• You already know how to use them

I ask you to make fewer assumptions in the future based on the author's name alone.

You're welcome. I have heard of it happening more than once at universities; in research labs, offices, libraries, even in dorms.

I agree. Some people are quite bold.

I can't speak for them or their motivations. Indeed they could have been after something else entirely or it could have been someone who thought they were at a different door. I will speculate though from what I have read of grab 'n dash crimes previously that they likely didn't think real hard on it; I'd be surprised if they even looked in the window. If they had heard your TV they may have even thought there were a number of people there (party) and that it would be that much easier to walk in, grab something, and walk back out.

I would say think pickpocket, not mugger / murderer.

If you're near the door, and they come in and you shoot before you wait to see if they are armed, I would say you were defending your property more than your life. Now granted some would say that if you wait you are foolish, and gambling with your life or whatnot. Generally the pizza guy knocks, and people seeking help say so from the door (rather than coming through it first), but it could just be someone at the wrong door with no malicious intent.

Personally I would expect that if you just yelled at the person at the door - just a loud "HEY WHO (with or without expletive inserted here) ARE YOU" - they would probably turn tail and run without even pushing the door open.

This is a not-terribly-uncommon strategy for some thieves. They look for doors that they don't have to do anything special to enter through, grab the first thing of value they see, and run as fast as they can. Happens far too often at universities as well; thieve enter in broad daylight, grab a laptop, and run as quick as possible (generally to the closest pawn shop). It's the equivalent of opening someone's shed and grabbing their lawnmower to sell for a quick buck.

You could buy a firearm to defend your stuff, but it seems like your door lock did its job fairly well here, didn't it?

I could just turn it all around at this point and ask you what your goal is here. Why do you come to slashdot and partake in discussions on topics that you are not the least bit knowledgeable - or interested in coming knowledgeable - on? Are you doing this just to waste other peoples' time?

It would be one thing if you were coming here to learn about a topic that you have no working knowledge of. However your comments show that you not only are completely lacking in knowledge but you are also completely lacking in interest in obtaining any.

If those are the only competencies of the current administration then you have just admitted that your conspiracy theories regarding them preparing to invoke a new world order are completely unsubstantiated. Thank you.

No. A clown of any stripes would not attempt world domination. A self-aware clown is aware of his role to distract attention and would not attempt anything else. An ignorant or incompetent clown would just run around pulling silly tricks for an audience.

So if it can't be done, then why do you insist they are trying to do it? You are making your conspiracy theory less believable, not more. That is actually quite a feat, being as you so far have presented not a single fact to support it.

How exactly does that fit in to anything here? And how is the border situation any different in 2014 than it was in 2004 or 1994? You want to resist change; yet now we have a situation where nothing has changed for decades and you are screaming for change.

I substituted in something that you are likely equally as knowledgeable on as the topic you tried to use in this quote.

What a brilliant opening, it really shows plainly the strength of your argument and how well rooted it is in reality.

Believe it or not, there is plenty of finger pointing coming from both parties in DC. Your party is not by any means above it.

I wish you actually presented an argument there, instead of just more snarkiness. I would love to actually discuss this matter with you but that statement does not indicate any interest from you to do so.

You certainly haven't yet countered by demonstrating knowledge.

I'm not entirely sure that I agree with shooting someone in the back - when they are running away from you - under any circumstances. Granted we don't know exactly what happened, but if that were the case I think it warrants some further investigation.

Another article on the same event suggests that he may have shot them while inside the house, and then followed them outside and shot the woman twice more in the alley when she was running away:

...

It is rather hard to balance a budget when a large population of the people tasked with doing that are hard-set ideologues who refuse to negotiate on what should be in the budget in any way, shape, or form. Believe it or not, democracy is supposed to involve compromise.

Well, the same states that want the federal budget to rapidly approach zero - and tend to receive the largest amount of federal spending per dollar collected in taxes - are asking for funding for border security from the federal government. Those are not really compatible aims, there. Frankly if Texas wants to secede, and then deal with the southern border on their own, I say let them (of course if they did secede their border problem would diminish greatly as nobody would want to cross into Texas from Mexico for fear of being shot on sight).

Being as you don't really read what I write there is no point in hashing out that question.

The notion of the entitlements being unsustainable is entirely manufactured. They can be sustained, if congress wants them to be. And the debt can be paid off in the same act, if congress is willing to do it. Unfortunately some members of congress are set against doing so.

You certainly don't do well at offering facts. You also love to lecture on topics that you are intentionally and proudly ignorant on.

It's not a meme, its an observation. You frequently like to discuss things that you are not knowledgeable on. I'm trying to see if I can find something that you are knowledgeable on so we can have a discussion that involves some insight from you.

So again, you substitute what you want to believe, and your favorite conspiracies, for truth. You have no facts to support your paranoia.

Gruber who? I need more than a last name to know who you are semi-citing as a source.

OK, now sing it with me...

A waffling we go...
A waffling we go...
Hi-ho, the derry-o
A waffling we go!

Take a stand, is the administration competent or not? The term "foolishness" goes with your "rodeo clown" silliness and indicates that you believe the administration to be incompetent. If you want to present that case then you need to abandon your bits about them going for socialist world domination as the two are fully incompatible since no incompetent clown could even aspire to pull that off.

It is when there is no action. They've had 6 years and accomplished what, exactly? You are constantly on guard expecting something terrible to happen - and shouting to the world that something is about to happen - but yet nothing happens.