The French have a proper National Anthem.
Very powerful and moving.
Very powerful and moving.
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Off Topic Bill Nicholson Arms
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With depressing predictability, American gun nuts are jumping up and down saying last night's Paris shootings "prove" that gun control doesn't work.
When a country has the gun crime rate of a Third World nation, in fact one that is worse than the majority of Third World nations, pointing the finger at other nations when a single mass shooting happens not only sounds hollow and dishonest, but borderline sociopathic.
When a country has the gun crime rate of a Third World nation, in fact one that is worse than the majority of Third World nations, pointing the finger at other nations when a single mass shooting happens not only sounds hollow and dishonest, but borderline sociopathic.
The NRA say 'guns don't kill people, people kill people' It should really say 'people WITH guns kill people'
"...and it just so happens that, in a nation where guns are freely available like the United States, they do it far more in one year than most countries manage in a decade."
There are more guns than people in that country, so realistically banning guns completely is an unrealistic aim. However, they could start by restricting the sale of automatic and assault weapons. Weapons whose only purpose is to kill people.
They could also tighten up dramatically on the virtually non existent checks on purchaser's criminal and mental history in some states. That, at least, may hopefully reduce the amount of weapons in the hands of psychotic teenagers.
A more straightforward way is to limit the sale of bullets. After all, there's no centuries old piece of parchment that can be bastardised into reading "bullets for all!", and considering the psychotic levels of reverence Americans have for their Constitution it makes sense given that, at the time the Bill of Rights was drafted, the only weapons available were single-shot pistols and rifles.
Of course, there's a couple of other suggestions...
a.) What Chris Rock suggested, which is increasing the price for each bullet to $5000
b.) Point out to Americans that sticking with the first Constitution you came up with is idiotic. For example, since the US wrote their one and only Constitution in 1776, France has had fifteen (plus one that wasn't adopted due to a revolution and another that was never ratified) so coming up with something that isn't three centuries out of date isn't unconstitutional, it's common ****ing sense.
Unfortunately, common sense doesn't apply when dealing with the NRA. They have the funding, and the support of right wing republicans. Many other politicians are too scared to go up against them. They have so far frustrated every attempt at any form of gun control.
Drafting a new Constitution wouldn't mean dealing with the NRA, in fact it expertly navigates around them and leaves them ranting and raving in isolation.
For a visual representation of this, here's what the people building the M62 did when one stubborn farmer refused to sell
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The NRA's stance would be as worthless as that farm.
I get your point, but the NRA has a huge amount of political clout to resist things like that. Plus you'd have the problem of explaining to 300 mill Americans why you're trying to install a new constitution after 240 odd years. I can't see any sane politician volunteering to take that one on.
The only way change will come is through popular opinion. Hopefully, a younger generation of voters will bring that about before too many more are slaughtered.
A sociopath would say it as they cannot feel guilt and/or remorse, or because they fail to acknowledge the rights of others - on the other hand, a complete ****ing moron might say it to spread some pro-gun or anti-Obama rhetoric. Being a complete ****ing moron isn't the same as being a sociopath, but they certainly do share some personality traits...
Not the first time a conversation has segued from sociopathic behaviour to West Ham...
I despair at the barbarity of humans, but sadly it is something we are more capable of than we would like to think. We might try and make out these ISIS barbarians as exceptional but sadly people have been too ready to sink to these depths throughout history. It only takes the right indoctrination, or the belief that someone else will take responsibility, or in some way it was not your personal responsibility to indulge in certain actions before you get genocide. Of course we rightly condemn this version of Islam, but it was not so many years ago that "Christians" were ethnically cleansing Moslems in Bosnia. Yes it wasn't as simple as that but it never is, is it? The fact is that humans are prepared to do this sort of thing, and unfortunately ISIS are not exceptional.
Incidentally I also despair at the West's reaction to such events. One day they announce that acts of terrorism will cannot affect our freedoms, the next day we have a new law taking some of our freedoms away. The terrorists must laugh their heads off when we do that.
Incidentally I also despair at the West's reaction to such events. One day they announce that acts of terrorism will cannot affect our freedoms, the next day we have a new law taking some of our freedoms away. The terrorists must laugh their heads off when we do that.
I despair of the people playing Tragedy Top Trumps on social media, demanding to know why the media gave more prominence to the Paris attacks than the Beirut bombings.
The fact these people didn't mention those same Beirut bombings, even though they happened a day before the Paris attacks, until some website asked that question weakens their stance just a tad...
The fact these people didn't mention those same Beirut bombings, even though they happened a day before the Paris attacks, until some website asked that question weakens their stance just a tad...