rhaig

I love buffalo. Tastes better than beef too! -- Rob

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/11/dozens-not-thousands-show-up-for-dc-trucker-protest/ "Dozens" :) I expect more will show up after they drop their loads, but still, the headline is humorous. -- Rob

I think of this one: http://www.artofmanliness.com/trunk/687/gorkha-soldier-saves-girl-from-rape-and-takes-on-40-train-robbers-with-only-a-khukuri/ -- Rob

are you going to start a new thread each time this happens? Aren't there rules about multiple threads for the same topic? Oh I forgot... mods don't care about the rules. -- Rob

First . . . start out as a country music singer. so it's like making a small fortune in aviation? start with a large fortune? -- Rob

Is that the way it's supposed to work? "Hmm... what do we think they want to vote for... let's do that." If it were a Democrat controlled house sending bills to a Republican controlled senate, and the media reported it as "House sends funding bills to the Senate, but they won't vote on them, and if they passed one, the Republican president vowed to veto it!" Then whose fault would it be? -- Rob

my bad... yes... House was the topic of the OP, and I was referring to the Senate. -- Rob

FIFY -- Rob

did you skim the post (with your usual level of attention to posts that don't agree with your opinion) or just purposely ignore the part about "if you ignore suicides" -- Rob

I was going to bring up having a passport and diabetes. no wait... I still am http://boingboing.net/2011/03/08/passport-ownership-p.html -- Rob

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he was there for his friends' ceremony. It's a damn shame it's even an issue up for discussion. And if the post had been "look! this old ass republican ex-president is ok with gay marriage!" then I could see it might have been intended to change minds. Posting just to irritate people is (to me) the definition of trolling. -- Rob

whassamatta? Your dealer get pinched? -- Rob

Have you been taking straw-man creation lessons from rushmc? don't worry... he's nowhere close to your level of straw-man artistry -- Rob

question: does this post serve as anything other than a troll? -- Rob

fixed that for you -- Rob

they won't get off my lawn -- Rob

The truth is probably in the middle. Fair enough. In my experience, with people who have a CHL, there are a variety of reasons they got it in the first place. The ones who got it so that they could carry a firearm for self defense, are the ones who are more likely to actually carry their weapon on a daily basis. They are also the ones who are more likely to seek advanced training in the use of their weapon. I don't know where in the spectrum between advanced tactical super-proficient and bum with a CHL the "average" person lies. But if you're talking about someone who carries their weapon on a daily basis, It's a good bet that the data point in question is closer to the proficient than it is the bum. -- Rob

people dressed as thugs, will be more likely to be considered thugs. It also depends on how people act. I'm a proponent of behavioral profiling. Someone walking around wearing something covering most of their face, slouched over, looking around nervously is more likely a threat than someone wearing a shirt and tie with an uncovered face, standing up straight looking comfortable in their surroundings. I don't think the color of someone's skin contributes to the perceived threat level. The way they behave determines their threat level. (yes, that includes being dressed in "thugwear") -- Rob

really... you have been a sensible poster in the past. Yet now veiled accusations of racism. Why does their race matter to you? -- Rob

they have data previously collected and cited by folks who wanted guns taken away from the general public and from people who wanted to know how often guns were used for defense. Upon actual analysis, it doesn't fall in your favor, so you poo-poo the data. Fine... sure... go ahead. It's your opinion and it stinks just like every other asshole. -- Rob

where in there do you see 3M? No, really. Where? Either you're not actually reading anything I'm posting, you're reading it, but not retaining ANY of it, or you're trolling (again). There is a reason many people here ignore you. I once thought you were (as a man of science) worth having a rational discussion with. But now I see I am wrong. -- Rob

which is one reason I discoutned the 3M number. Also (speaking of selective quoting) the study stated that the some studies reported DGU's as low as 100,000 but those numbers seemed suspect. (who's cherry picking now?) The Kleck numbers are the high end ones. Discard those. Fine... I did. Look at other DGU numbers (the 500K to 1.2M I mentioned). Next time you want to accuse me of cherry picking, look at the part of the post that you quoted that discards the data you're attacking. Then read the part of the CDC study that says the 100K DGU numbers are low because of the way the questions were asked. -- Rob

accidental shootings aren't mass shootings. On one side of the equation you limit based on the mass shooting category, on the other, you don't. Not a valid comparison. How about a comparison between general defensive gun uses stopping murder and firearms murders? The CDC says “almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million per year.” So in the context of 2012 UCR, the right to use firearms for self defense prevented between 6100 and 36000 murders, between 34000 and 208000 rapes, between 145000 and 875000 robberies and between 313000 and 1.8M aggravated assaults. This in the context of about 8800 firearms murders in the US in 2012. So even if you ignore the survey that said 3M defensive gun uses, and go with the 500K to 1.2M numbers, that's still a median of 850000 DGU across surveys, leading to an estimated 10,375 murders prevented by defensive firearms uses. -- Rob

surprised it took this long. I noticed it after I posted it but decided to leave it expecting one of the spelling nazi's to jump on it. I hadn't expected this angle. Well played! -- Rob

it's black on black gun violence. Won't make headlines.... -- Rob