Elflocko

Thanks. And what a dumb fuck. So much for OSU dominance...

Who in the hell is Zach Smith? #outtatheloop

I found it interesting that he described the displays as "disgusting", as that is how I've felt about them for quite a while now. That and unsettled. You have to hand it to the military marketers, though, because they learned their lesson in Vietnam. Control the narrative and don't let the citizenry know what the military is doing in their name. Then deify the troops so their actions are rarely questioned. (To be clear, the vast majority of vets I know aren't comfortable with this deification and incessant fawning , either).

Tom Nichols wrote one of the best books I've read in the last 5 years or so: The Death of Expertise.

Nah. I've got four years of a music degree under my belt, and I know shit when I hear it. Even then it only sounded good when you were drunk. And I was also being facetious...

The tune itself is pure shit. An abject, atonal abortion...

Didn't used to be, shouldn't be now. It's a jingoistic recruiting tool by the DOD paid for with your tax dollars. Plus our national anthem is a shit piece of music...

I found the entire site to be highly partisan and suspect. And what I meant to elucidate about the regional differences was more about Prague and Brno, in that they hate each other. There are some small regional differences in food, and Moravia is the wine region. That and the slivovica from that region seems to be better. And my favorite beer is Radegast, which is brewed in Moravia. Other than that... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That second link is complete tripe. I was suspicious of the data I was seeing In general, and then I hit the line on Czech Republic. Complete and utter bullshit. This country has had exactly ONE mass shooting not associated with the Communists over the last 50 years. And that was a crazy mofo in a small village who thought people were out to get him, locked them in a pub, and killed them with a hunting rifle. The country as a whole freaked the fuck out. That said, come and visit. The people, the culture, and the food are outstanding. And yes, there's a big difference between Bohemia and Moravia. It's like New York and Boston. Both are awesome here though... ETA: My wife and I are great tour guides. Just ask Sois or CincyInDC.

Perhaps I should have specified "Industrialized Nations"? I ask as a lot of the nations in those comparisons are rife with drug cartels (mostly due to our drug policies and meddlesome nature) and awash in weapons (also due to our drug policies and meddling, AKA likely from the CIA). Or, they are dangerous just due to our meddling (read Iraq). And I touched on what I believe is the underlying cause, or at least one of them, up-thread when I stated that the USA is deeply psychologically damaged when it comes to firearms and violence in general. A dysfunction that runs deep in the history of this country, a fact you pointed out previously. Here's the thing. Having the opportunity to live in another country and culture, I can tell you that the culture is simply different. Speaking for my current residence, the Czechs are simply non-confrontational. A lot of it stems from being ruled over by the Germans, the Hapsburgs, the Soviets, dating back hundreds of years, but they simply don't get in your face for no fucking reason and keep to themselves. This in turn means they don't have an overwhelming desire to arm themselves to the teeth just to run down to the grocery store to buy some milk. It's part of why the Czech Republic is listed as the sixth most peaceful country on the planet; we've never felt safer anywhere else but Japan. Is it a utopia? Hell no, it has its problems, just like every country. However, it is refreshing no longer feeling compelled to scope out exit plans every time we walk into a building in case someone starts shooting, having to wonder if everyone I meet is armed, or worrying that someone will think I'm looking at them funny and gun me down. And BTW, they really do have a high rate of gun ownership here compared to much of the EU. They just don't feel the need to whip the fucking things out every chance they get like a 12 year that just learned to masturbate...

Every country has mentally ill people, some with even shittier healthcare than the US. Where are all of their mass shootings?

My opinion differs from many here in that I don't think you should be allowed to own any weapon without a written test, physical aptitude test, and a psychological evaluation. "Assault" weapon or not. And I think you are in denial if you think the ridiculous availability of weapons doesn't influence and exacerbate the recent pattern of mass shootings. That said, the underlying issue is that the US is deeply damaged psychologically in regard to violence and the fetishization (is that a word? No? Fuck it) of firearms.

Let's reenact the 18th while we're at it! The founders built in a mechanism to remove amendments that became useless or harmful over time, and gave the citizenry the right to choose. The second isn't fucking sacred. If it were they would have exempted it. You're usually so even keel and logical about things, but this issue makes you as irrational as an anti abortion protestor. But whatever. I don't know why I even let myself get sucked into this argument. Not my circus, not my monkeys...

That amendment should be repealed...