Most of the people out there shooting people aren't exactly what you'd call marksmen. They're still getting pretty close most of the time.

That's precisely why guns are important. A 90 pound woman is not going to be able to fight off a 250 pound man with her bare hands. She'll be able to do it with a pistol.

LK

They don't need to spread the disease, they only need to spread the fear. In other words...terror.

LK

Or even more specifically, having an item that was too easy to turn into a gun without a license.

LK

Even if it comes to pass that metal 3D printers become cheap enough for people to start whipping up high quality guns at home, people will still be willing to pay for new and innovative products.

I suspect that you do not have much personal contact with the American gun culture. I am deeply immersed in it. I see guys selling their Third generation Glocks to buy Fourth generation versions of the same model.

Despite the fact that the 1911 is old and proven technology that nearly any manufacture can copy, people are will willing to pay more money for a Kimber because they make a really high end product.

If you're going to argue that eventually 3D printing will be able to produce pieces that are identical to those that can be made by high end manufacturers, how can any law be enforced against them? Once they're out of the printer, there's no way to tell where it came from.

LK

How do you explain the fact that Japanese-Americans have a lower homicide rate than Japanese in Japan?

LK

Well... while I'm not one for hate and vitriol like most of the politically oriented people out there (it seems), I sit back and watch and: 1) I agree with the other response that neither of the two major parties actually represent a majority of anybody but politicians and businesses, and 2) I thought the tea party was an interesting idea until they became right wing on steroids. I thought they were interesting until they started campaigning against abortion, and inviting people like Sarah Pailin to speak at events. Again... I don't run out and start hating on either abortion or anti-abortion activists, I know they both have their opinions and beliefs, but I think it should largely stay out of politics at this point, and it's not going to change any time soon - both parties use it to rile up their bases, though.

So no hate against the Tea Party, but they are hardly a big difference between them and republicans - more like republicans demanding what the party SAYS they represent as opposed to how republican candidates actually act when they get into office. The GOP just needs some house cleaning, IMO.

People SAY they want freedom and liberty, but neither major party offers it. There's really only one out there that does (besides complete anarchists), and everybody thinks they're "crazy" because they want freedom and liberty, which, OMG, requires people to take back some responsibility for themselves.

Nope. It's identity eminent domain

haha, only they might actually argue along those lines (no shame). They're also appropriating Facebook's computer resources to make these profiles operate - it's no different than seizing property or money on a small scale, and the 5th Amendment has something to say about that (n.b. I'm playing the game that the Constitution is still in effect, rather than used to paper over "trouble").

Federated systems like Tonika can provide authentication of friends - Facebook makes authentication nearly impossible.

If the nucleus really had been 50km in diameter (original estimated maximum), and if it had hit Mars, it would've significantly increased Mars' atmosphere with one blow.

Some folks have recommended nabbing some passing asteroids and detonating them in the Martian atmosphere, just to create more atmosphere as they burn up. I still don't know how they deal with the lack of gravity, though.

That happens to me when fixing bugs in a particularly old piece of code (usually the stuff done by overseas consultants... friends don't let friends outsource programming)... once getting the thing fixed, I often fail to understand how it could have ever worked in the first place.

If I recall, this goes all the way back to their first European contact, where guns were outlawed in order to preserve the advantage the feudal lords and their swordsmen had over the people.

Over 100 car companies disappeared by WWII.

Now in 2014 a half dozen former "cell phone" makers have sort of slipped out of sight; Palm, BB, Moto, Win, Nokia, Dell & HP something.

The world contracts to a few super usable designs but instead of taking 50 years for cars, now it took only about 5 years with "the smartphone."

Is this the scenario for the future; Be right, Be first, Be best or else?

Then you're not exactly a rational being; you're just a barbarian.

Right!

Hopefully you get thrown in jail/fined, and hopefully you learn your lesson.

And then it goes off the rails, calling for vengeance.

Statists are just one ladder rung up from barbarians, painting a thin veneer of excuses over group-backed violence. Take the next few steps and learn about peace-based alternatives! It's the means, not the ends, that determine whether an act is just - this can be easily proven with reason.

"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind." - MK Gandhi

Where does the freedom to "say what I don't like" end and harassment begin?

Jefferson had a good rule of thumb: "it neither breaks my bone, nor picks my pocket".

That's more useful than most law libraries for determining standards of justice.