Off Topic

[Toinho]

11 hours ago, ...Dan said:

My sister spent years at uni getting her teaching qualifications, went and taught at an international school in Italy, and envied the TAs who had no qualifications, did a fraction of the work she did, and got paid almost as much as her. She only lasted 6 months at this school. It was horrible. She wanted to be a good teacher, wanted the kids to enjoy their lessons, but the headteacher forced her to just write stuff on the board and get the kids to copy.

The other teachers told her...you get used to it, just accept the horrible reality of teaching and enjoy your weekend trips to Italian cities.

Now she's looking into teaching in countries with better education systems like Norway.

It really depends on where you go. I've heard some horror stories from the likes of China and Korea, but then heard good stories too. 

Fortunately I haven't been in a position such as your sisters there. What's her current ASL?

Edited February 24, 2018 by Toinho

[Spike]

I'm sick of every other dickhead thinking that they know the answer to America's gun problem. Especially foreigners like myself, smarmy faced pricks lecturing others from a pedastal.

[Spike]

Just now, Cannabis said:

Agreed.

Banning guns isn't the answer despite every man and his dog thinking it is.

Guns are banned in plenty of places in America. It would only ever work with a federal buy-back initiative and huge raids. I don't think any government could afford the buy-back and I'd hate to be apart of those raids getting bullet sprayed down at you by angry rednecks and gangbangers.

It is quite literally a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario.

[nudge]

They should rather take a look at the mental health of the population; the Swiss have lax gun laws too, yet they don't go on a shooting spree every other day... 

[Spike]

7 minutes ago, nudge said:

They should rather take a look at the mental health of the population; the Swiss have lax gun laws too, yet they don't go on a shooting spree every other day... 

Disagree. The Las Vegas shooter had no history of mental illness and was showing no signs of it. This is an easy thing to palm off onto the mentally ill but unfortunately one does not need to be insane to kill other humans. If that were the case we as a species wouldn't be so marvelous at warfare.

[nudge]

Just now, Spike said:

Disagree. The Las Vegas shooter had no history of mental illness and was showing no signs of it. This is an easy thing to palm off onto the mentally ill but unfortunately one does not need to be insane to kill other humans. If that were the case we as a species wouldn't be so marvelous at warfare.

I didn't really mean mental illness of an individual though, rather the state of the society at large.

[Spike]

Just now, nudge said:

I didn't really mean mental illness of an individual though, rather the state of the society at large.

Humans at large... is it really a mental illness when have killed eachother for so long? I'd say the real mental illness is peacetime... it is uncharacteristic of humans.

[nudge]

Just now, Spike said:

Humans at large... is it really a mental illness when have killed eachother for so long? I'd say the real mental illness is peacetime... it is uncharacteristic of humans.

Rather Americans at large  killing in war is one thing, killing and high violence/crime rates during peace time in general pretty much shows that something is wrong with a certain society.

[Spike]

Just now, nudge said:

Rather Americans at large  killing in war is one thing, killing and high violence/crime rates during peace time in general pretty much shows that something is wrong with a certain society.

That is egregious to state that it is a phenomenon restricted to the USA.

[Eco]

45 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

Agreed.

Banning guns isn't the answer despite every man and his dog thinking it is.

I promise you no one in their right mind is wanting to ban guns. What most we want is stricter gun laws, and the banning of CERTAIN guns, like Automatic Rifles. The fact that you can easily buy a gun is part of the problem. I don't own a gun, but I can buy one without even a blink, which is fine because I'm mentally stable.

There is no need for any body, including an American, to own an automatic rifle unless our country is being invaded.

[Spike]

There is violence on all levels of humanity, it just manifests itself in different ways and to different extremes. Humans are always looking for a socially justifiable method of violence: state, police, gang, hooliganism, military, you'll find no society without some form of group executed violence. There are different acts of individual violence, to the extreme there are massacres, murders, and lesser acts like; bullying, domestic, civil, and other which can lead to murder itself. One can look at a society and see violence but underneath there a peaceful individuals, one can look at a peaceful society and underneath see violent individuals. 

We use violence to intimidate, instill peace, punish, warn, control, dominate, 

[Spike]

Just now, Eco said:

I promise you no one in their right mind is wanting to ban guns. What most we want is stricter gun laws, and the banning of CERTAIN guns, like Automatic Rifles. The fact that you can easily buy a gun is part of the problem. I don't own a gun, but I can buy one without even a blink, which is fine because I'm mentally stable.

There is no need for any body, including an American, to own an automatic rifle unless our country is being invaded.

People are so obsessed with ARs, well you know what? Anyone can shove a Tec-9 down their pants and you'd none the wiser. Small guns are equally horrifying, at least with larger guns you'd think they'd be hard to smuggle in open (but I guess not because LV).

[Eco]

12 minutes ago, nudge said:

Rather Americans at large  killing in war is one thing, killing and high violence/crime rates during peace time in general pretty much shows that something is wrong with a certain society.

Certainly part of it is mental health. No Question.

I also believe a major reason is this ungodly sense of entitlement most Americans have, and one I struggle with myself. Instead of the earlier days when we were focused on learning, doing our job at the best of our abilities, and striving to make this country greater, we are now more worried about our feelings, emotion, and instagram likes. People's sense of self has changed and seems to have made a lot more people who are just mentally fragile.

 

 

[Eco]

1 minute ago, Spike said:

People are so obsessed with ARs, well you know what? Anyone can shove a Tec-9 down their pants and you'd none the wiser. Small guns are equally horrifying, at least with larger guns you'd think they'd be hard to smuggle in open (but I guess not because LV).

Yes - but a smaller gun won't have as large of a clip which means less bullets, whereas an AR can have huge magazines and thus can mow down any target at an incredibly rapid pace.

This is an assumption since I've never touched a gun outside of a BB Gun, but this is the main argument I've heard.

[Spike]

6 minutes ago, Eco said:

Yes - but a smaller gun won't have as large of a clip which means less bullets, whereas an AR can have huge magazines and thus can mow down any target at an incredibly rapid pace.

This is an assumption since I've never touched a gun outside of a BB Gun, but this is the main argument I've heard.

A person can carry more than one small gun. A tec-9 can have a clip up to the size of 50 rounds, a Colt AR15 has up to 30 rounds. Four guns = 200 rounds, it doesn't take long to reload a magazine either. A person with even a little skill can do this. You have to appreciate that smaller arms usually fire smaller rounds. The key difference is that firing and shooting technique that both guns facilitate. An AR15 would be far more lethal in the hands of a skilled shooter, but a tec-9 is far more dangerous to the unskilled. 

These guns are smaller than my forearm.

Edited February 25, 2018 by Spike

[nudge]

18 minutes ago, Spike said:

That is egregious to state that it is a phenomenon restricted to the USA.

I was talking about Americans as opposed to humans overall, yes, but never said it's restricted solely to one nation. 

[Spike]

Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Columbine, Isla Vista, San Bernandino, Orlando, Charleston Church, all have one thing in common. Small arms, every single one of these massacres was perpetrated with small arms fire, some of them used a combination of rifles, assault-rifles, shotguns, knives, and explosives but all of them had some form of small arm.  In fact several of them (Virginia Tech, Isla Vista, and Charleston) only used small arms. @Eco ARs are scary, large, and powerful but they are a scapegoat by the media because they are exactly that; scary, large, and powerful. It is easier to send a message of doom across the news with an AR than a pistol. 

I hate to use Australia as an example but hand-guns are the most difficult gun to procure legally. Fully-automatic rifles are flat out banned but not ARs are fully-automatic. The gun I mentioned earlier, the common Colt AR15 is only semi-automatic, firing in bursts. In fact I'm 95% sure that automatic assault rifles (military grade) aren't legal in the USA.

 

EDIT: I am correct, fully-automatic weapons have been banned since 1986.

Edited February 25, 2018 by Spike

[Carnivore Chris]

The middle finger isn't too bad although the ring finger is fucked. I had to have it straightened the other day and now it's on a splint. I've got a sick note for 6 weeks(then the situation will be assessed)  but you only get 89 quid sick pay per week(and I'll have to wait over a month to see any of that) and there is zero chance you can live off such a measly amount.

It would help if I could go fishing but it'll be a while before that is the case. You can't do fuck all with one hand.

 

 

 

[Toinho]

3 hours ago, Cannabis said:

Agreed.

Banning guns isn't the answer despite every man and his dog thinking it is.

What is then? 

[Spike]

2 hours ago, Toinho said:

What is then? 

Guns are banned in Chicago. Banning them does nothing if the laws can't be enforced.

[Danny]

The problem with America is that it is so open and large that one state can ban guns but they can easily be smuggled from elsewhere.

[Spike]

I bet if guns were banned overnight in the USA, Mexico would be flooded with more guns than they'd know what to do with. 

[Burning Gold]

4 hours ago, Spike said:

I bet if guns were banned overnight in the USA, Mexico would be flooded with more guns than they'd know what to do with. 

Wait a while and smuggle them back to America for a massive profit would probably be the most lucrative option.

[Stan]

found out today that the company I work for has been listed in The Times Top 100 best 'not for profit' companies to work for which is nice   

[Danny]

5 hours ago, Cannabis said:

 

I don't know, but Danny's post is basically what I was going to reply with. Guns are too open to be just "banned".

It doesn't help that America is a "first world country" that is also a "third world country" in its own right. You couldn't compare the US to Switzerland for example.

Its a shame it's taken so long for the discussion on gun control to get this far, and it's a shame that it's taken an assault on middle class white America as blacks and latinos in ghettos have struggled with the use of guns within their communities for decades.

Guns aren't the sole problem, mental health issues that on a large scale will never be addressed anytime soon, extreme poverty that shapes kids and pushes them into gangs, the complete lack of restriction in a lot of places around the states on them. Police being armed when that clearly does not benefit poverty stricken communities.

There are many factors at play but I think all of them come with at least one similar solution and that's less guns, much less guns.