Occasional Reader 9/13/2019 5:26:58 AM

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lucius septimius 9/13/2019 5:53:20 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 1:

It is rather bizarre.  They wouldn't for a second come out against the people who are responsible for the overwhelming majority of "mass shootings"  -- inner city gang-bangers.  But they are quick to attack law-abiding citizens.  Perhaps it's because, just as with the Antifa assholes, the Democratic  party is more than happy to have a dangerous, armed adjunct to use to terrify ordinary citizens to keep them in line.

The democrats have always been fascists.  Rigid social system, racial discrimination, para-military arm, control over industries and businesses, "social credit," intolerance of dissent, insistence on the rule of the Party over free institutions.  The only thing they lack are the snappy uniforms.

9/13/2019 6:16:41 AM

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It is time to stop call them the Democrat Party.

It's the Socialist Party.

In a way I applaud Beto's honesty. He really does want to start the Second American Revolution.

Occasional Reader 9/13/2019 6:48:07 AM

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In #3 Unknown user JCM! said: He really does want to start the Second American Revolution.

Robert Francis, I really don't think that would end well, least of all for your side.

Molon labe, you ridiculous pipsqueak. 

doppelganglander 9/13/2019 6:51:39 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 1:

I guess "fellow Americans" doesn't include black inner-city residents who, as Lucius points out, are the primary perpetrators and victims of mass shootings.

Saw your post about Mindhunter. I thought the second season was overall weaker. Wendy's lesbian affair was unnecessary and dragged down the story when you'd really rather be watching prison interviews. OTOH, Tench's personal story felt necessary - you see the toll his work takes on his family. The incident with his son is based on a true story, believe it or not. Ressler, the real-life Tench, had three children and none of them were like Brian. 

9/13/2019 7:05:14 AM

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Reply to doppelganglander in 5:

I did a dumpster dive into FBI crime data for 2017.

The numbers were like this.

Nation wide 2017 11 mass shootings with 117 dead, or 0.03 per 100,000
Chicago 2017 650 homicides, 23 per 100,000 people.

doppelganglander 9/13/2019 7:08:28 AM

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doppelganglander 9/13/2019 7:15:49 AM

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Reply to Unknown user in 6:

Sounds about right. The problem with some studies is the definition of mass shooting - it's hard to compare studies that use a different threshold for number of victims. The event everyone is most terrified of - strangers being shot at random in public - is the rarest of all. There was a guy in Ohio a year or two ago who shot and killed 8 members of the same family at two separate locations - is that considered a mass shooting?

Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed at Parkland, has a new book out that details the overwhelming series of failures by police, schools, and mental health professionals that allowed Cruz to be at Parkland and commit such a crime. The kid had been telling people since 6th grade that he wanted to kill - even the teachers were terrified of him. He was sent to various special schools, but as a matter of policy, he was placed in the "least restrictive environment" - i.e. a regular high school. All the authorities in Broward County have blood on their hands.

Occasional Reader 9/13/2019 7:24:53 AM

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In #5 doppelganglander said: I thought the second season was overall weaker.

Huh.  I'm only partway through season 2, but overall so far I think it's better.  I found some of the dialogue and personal interactions in the first few episodes of season 1 to be rather eye-rollingly bad; and that seems to have improved..  

In #5 doppelganglander said: Wendy's lesbian affair was unnecessary and dragged down the story

Agreed, but so far, at least, i don't find it any more tedious than Holden's relationship with his incredibly-annoying girlfriend in season 1 (and beginning of 2). 

OTOH, Tench's personal story felt necessary 

Oh, it's a brilliant plot twist and very well-done, don't get me wrong.  It just really felt like a punch in the gut; I guess, as a dad of a small boy, etc. (though thankfully, not a boy with "Brian's" issues).  I guess I could just really relate to it in that sense, the toll that would take.  

The incident with his son is based on a true story, believe it or not.

Ugh.  I was kind of hoping that was not the case...

So last night I saw the ep with the prison interview of Charles Manson; the actor portraying Manson is superb, and, as I understand it, anyway, totally nails the character (plus the physical similarity is startling).  I also used the "Soundhound" music-recognition app to confirm, to my astonishment, that yes, the song playing over the closing credits (which we briefly hear during the ep as well, as the team is playing it on a tape recorder and listening with fascination) really IS by Charles Manson; and that... as Holden comments... you have to admit, he's not bad.  [shudder]

The actor portraying Ed Kemper is also superb; if the guy doesn't get an Emmy for it, he wuz robbed.  And, again, it's startling that they found an actor both that good, and that physically similar to the source material (in Kemper's case, a particularly daunting task). 

Another seeming improvement over the early eps is that they're not doing anachronism mistakes any more, and in fact seem to be paying a lot of attention to period detail.  For instance, when the front desk clerk at the Omni hotel in Atlanta hands Holden his "keycard", I was initially braced for that to be a "whoops" moment; but it's one of those thick plastic ones with the little pinholes... I remember those. 

9/13/2019 7:27:42 AM

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Reply to doppelganglander in 8:

FBI, IIRC, uses 4 dead as the threshold of mass shooting.

The left's arguments are completely based on false assertions. The have to KNOW this, but they still make the fear based emotional argument.

The only conclusion I can arrive at it is NOT about public safety by limiting access to firearms but some other motive.

That motive, taking their entire agenda into the scope can only be totalitarian control.

Occasional Reader 9/13/2019 7:28:50 AM

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In #7 doppelganglander said: Wouldn't the best strategy be to angle for the vice-presidency and invoke the 25th Amendment?

I'd say that's a solid "no", because it's never been done (other than temporarily and voluntarily, so to speak, to cover periods in which the POTUS was under anesthesia for surgery, etc.).  A sitting VP attempting to invoke the 25th to remove the POTUS would be, uh, perilous.

Occasional Reader 9/13/2019 7:32:26 AM

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In #8 doppelganglander said: he event everyone is most terrified of - strangers being shot at random in public - is the rarest of all

Yes, but... it's terrifying precisely because it seems harder to avoid.  While killings over drug-turf disputes dwarf the number of "mass shooter" events that the media focuses on,I can mitigate my risk of being shot in the former type of situation by... not being a drug-dealer, and staying the hell out of areas I know to be rife with drug gangs.  I cannot similarly mitigate my risk of being shot by Lone Nutter who's out to shoot up a cinema, shopping mall, etc. 

9/13/2019 7:54:21 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 12:

The only mitigation for the Lone Nutter is the armed good guy.

None of the proposed laws, even confiscation, will stop the lone nutter.

All the laws do is increase the target pool.

doppelganglander 9/13/2019 7:56:23 AM

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In #9 Occasional Reader said: Agreed, but so far, at least, i don't find it any more tedious than Holden's relationship with his incredibly-annoying girlfriend in season 1 (and beginning of 2). 

I'd forgotten about her - I haven't watched season 1 since it originally came out. I don't know what the purpose of that was, except perhaps to show how buttoned-down Holden is. 

The actor playing Manson also played him in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And yes, the use of Manson's own music was incredibly eerie. Kemper was the best thing about season 1, IMO. I am well acquainted with Kemper's history and I've heard some of the FBI's recordings. The actor is absolutely astonishing.

Occasional Reader 9/13/2019 8:06:35 AM

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In #13 Unknown user said: None of the proposed laws, even confiscation, will stop the lone nutter.

Yes, I know.  I'm just saying that the comparator of "gang kllings are so much more numerous" isn't quite apples-to-apples, in a sense. 

Occasional Reader 9/13/2019 8:13:56 AM

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In #14 doppelganglander said: The actor is absolutely astonishing.

High school education, relatively little acting experience... wow:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameron_Britton

The scene in which he provokes a panic attack in Holden by not-exactly-threatening-him, and then hugging him... just amazing. 

doppelganglander 9/13/2019 9:03:58 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 16:

I can't get over thinking of a 6'5" man teaching special needs preschoolers -he's clearly a kind, gentle man - then turning around and playing one of the most twisted and brilliant serial killers in history. That's range.

Occasional Reader 9/13/2019 10:10:28 AM

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 Here is arguably the most terrifying moment from last night's so-called debate, for the reasons stated within the link: 

https://twitchy.com/dougp-3137/2019/09/13/yikes-kamala-harris-got-a-big-laugh-out-of-being-told-her-proposed-executive-order-would-be-unconstitutional/

9/13/2019 10:23:55 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 18:

The Constitution is mostly what Government CAN NOT DO!

Which is everything NOT IN the document.

Occasional Reader 9/13/2019 10:28:41 AM

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