Just dropping in to add a few facts to the rhetoric:

Point Blank, by Gary Kleck, pg 165, citing a study by Wilson and Sherman, 1961:

âoeAt least one medical study compared very similar sets of wounds (âall were penetrating wounds of the abdomenâ(TM)), and found that the mortality rate in
pistol wounds was 16.8%, while the rate was 14.3% for ice pick wounds and 13.3% for butcher knife wounds."

So a single GSW to center of mass is carries a 16.8% mortality rate.

From Wikipedia:

"In 2005, 75% of the 10,100 homicides committed using firearms in the United States were committed using handguns, compared to 4% with rifles, 5% with shotguns, and the rest with unspecified firearms.[48] The likelihood that a death will result is significantly increased when either the victim or the attacker has a firearm.[49] For example, the mortality rate for gunshot wounds to the heart is 84%, compared to 30% for people who sustain stab wounds to the heart.[50]"

OK, carry on.

Min

Hey JJ, long time :)

Arguably when a state entity espouses such a principle in their founding documents, they would have an ethical obligation to not undermine those principles through use of state organs.

I agree that the text says they will make no law abridging the right, however, I would expect an implied corollary to be "Since we believe that this right is so important we won't engage in actions which would have a chilling effect on it."

Min

You know, it's funny but I don't believe I recall seeing "...until we don't agree with your speech, at which point we'll collect dirt on you and blackmail you with it" in the first amendment. Must be in the second edition.

The Great Firewall of China begins to look like a useful protection for their citizens at this point.

(Yes, I realize that the majority of these people were not on US soil, but it's purportedly a principle, and one the US criticizes any country who does not espouse, and as such should apply more broadly then just to people standing on US soil at the time).

Min

How about this:

http://web.archive.org/web/19961025120541/http://www.lycos.com/

Want a nice copy of MIcrosoft Money anyone (ironic eh?)

Min

Yep, I saw this talk:

http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3831956/Black+Hat+Exposes+Smart+Grid+Security+Risks.htm at blackhat in 2009, so what, at least 4 years?

Min

And when they go over to their friends' houses and get access to an unfiltered internet connection, will they have the skill set to self filter?

At the moment our daughter has access to an unfiltered network connection (she's 5) through one of our PCs. She uses it to go to abcmouse.com.

I don't think she'll get a PC in her room, and all our computers are in a public space in the house, but I'm realistic about my ability to shelter her, and more importantly, realistic about her probable eventual abilities to circumvent the filtering at school. She's attended her first Defcon after all.

Just like everything else, I work on blocking the biggest risks and educate about the low incident-but-high impact ones. I don't live my life assuming the worst will happen to me, and don't (or at least try not to) live my daughter's life like the worst will happen to her either.

Min

Min

Perhaps not horse porn, but I knew where the kids stashed their playboy collections in a vacant lot.

Yes, the US is playing Civ, and they keep forgetting the other victory conditions other then military :)

Min

I've been saying for awhile that the smartest thing the US could do would be to get behind a world government NOW, while it still has the clout. It's been obvious for a decade now that the US's time in the spotlight is up. History tells us it couldn't go on forever. If you're thinking 'too big to fail', look at the Roman Empire. THAT was too big to fail. Or the British one.

If the US were as smart as they like to believe, they'd see the writing on the wall now and get behind providing more authority to the world bodies which work to ensure that countries treat each other in a civilized manner, because the US is REALLY going to wish they had down the road, when we're all talking about the ______ian/ise/etc Empire.

Min

Darn, no mod points, otherwise I'd mod up this AC.

Min

Agreed - my message was not intended to suggest that the software was excused, more c/p-ing the remediation instructions from TFA as a public service.

Min

For the TL;DR crowd:

* Delete /core/install and /install directory in all 4.x and 5.x vBulletin installs or block access to same. Do it now.

Min

Take a look at the countries with better education rates then the US. A lot of them have political systems that are more socialized (education, health, etc) then the US.

If you want to solve problems you need to stop throwing idiology at each other and start thinking.

My (US born) wife and I were discussing last night. The word "unamercian" is thrown out a lot on conversations about these things. We live in Canada, and can't recall hearing the phrase "uncanadian", as in, it sounds odd to our ears, feels weird to say.

It's sad that there is a word in the lexicon in a country settled by immigrants and which claims to espouse the ideals of equality which means "You don't belong with us".

Now back to the topic,

If there's one thing I've learned from the political narrative in the US, it is that teachers are government employees, too incompetent to tie their own shoes

Canadian schools are publicly funded, 94.4% of children here are enrolled in public schools (vs private). The US has 90% enrollment in public as opposed to private schools (data taken from statistics Canada and US Institute of Educational Sciences - the latter via google cache due to govt shutdown).

This suggests to me, given Canada's ranking above the US on every survey category mentioned that the "government is too involved in education" answer is at least not the sole deciding factor in the relative rankings.

Min

An interesting tidbit - Obamacare is apparently going forward (check Google news if you don't believe me.)

How could this be since the money is still being held up, as the house has refused to fund it?

Well the answer is that the stuff in the budget that the House approves isn't all the money that the government is authorized to spend. Some things are funded in multiyear chunks for example and can therefore continue to utilize the money allocated to them while the House/Senate/Pres discuss this year's budget.

Obama care is one of these. The ask from the House was not to remove funding for Obama care from the budget they were voting on. That would have been one thing. The House was/is holding the budget hostage against the president/senate agreeing to delay implementation of Obama care by 12 months.

That to me is a whole different thing then if the money for Obama care was in the stack that the house was approving, and they said, "we don't approve this piece over here". Obamacare got funded when the original vote passed the House. What the house is doing is the legislative equivalent of saying "Dat's a nice goverment you have over there. Be a shame if something were to happen to it.... mehaps if you delay Obamacare we could provide some protection to ensure nothing unfortunate happens to it."

And I'm very sorry you got laid off today. That sucks rocks.

Min

*shrugs*

I know GPs who have done a stint in the US and moved back here to practice. When I ask them, the answer boiled down to "Money aint everything kid."

I guess a few years later I can understand. My (US citizen by birth) wife and I are here in Canada with our daughter. I've had offers to go down to the US at substantial salary increases. I run them by my wife and she thumbs down them all. "Not worth it - after you calculate in health care and private school for the kid, the extra money goes quick".

At one point she was paying 500$/mo out of her 10$/hr job for health insurance. Her huge crime? She was born with a congenital heart defect (e.g. a preexisting condition).

Incidentally - her Dad was a vet. They went bankrupt on her infant open heart surgery.

I don't know if Obamacare is the right answer or not, but I gotta tell you folks, I wouldn't trade ya. Sorry.

Min