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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Lit MACLUNKY -- The Lit Forum Maclunky Thread, v3

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Point Given , Sep 12, 2015.

  1. Charlemagne19

    Charlemagne19 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2000
    The audiobook of my humorous urban fantasy murder mystery, I WAS A TEENAGE WEREDEER, came out today: https://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/I-Was-a-Teenage-Weredeer-Audiobook/B079Q644JN

    I also just got to watch JUSTICE LEAGUE (2017) for the first time. I think it says pretty much everything I feel now that despite being a mediocore movie, I enjoyed it a lot more than THE LAST JEDI and am looking forward to its sequels more than the next Star Wars film.

    http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2018/02/justice-league-2017-review.html
     
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  2. Trip

    Trip Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2003
    [​IMG]

    happy belated valentine's day, everyone!
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2018
  3. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    WACKBAR
     
  4. fett 4

    fett 4 Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 2, 2000
    Off topic as it’s an off topic thread. So another mass shooting in Florida and I see the same stuff over and over again it’s like Groundhog Day and I know like last time nothing will get done about it.

    But just to add some interesting statistics. This is the 18th School Shooting this year. Please note that’s School not Mass shooting. Also that this year is 2018 - It’s only February :(
    In the U.K. in Dunblane in 1996 there was a mass school shooting and in 1996 Port Arthur in Australia there was a mass shooting. Both did bans and there hasn’t been a mass shooting since. Why do people think that is ??

    Now I see the same arguments:
    2nd Amendment - (leaving aside the question why an Amendment can’t be amended)
    People need them to be protect themselves from evil government.
    People need them for personal self protection.
    Why should responsible Gun owners be punished for a few crazies.
    Guns don’t kill people, people do
    If more people had guns they would’ve stopped the massacre

    Now I look at all those arguments and think they are bat you know what insane and even if you accepted all them why would someone need Military Grade weapon but I’m not American so I have to ask Americans on this board, what will it take for things to change things [face_dunno]
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2018
  5. AdmiralWesJanson

    AdmiralWesJanson Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 23, 2005
    It will take enough politicians in power not in the pocket of the NRA to actually push through the laws that a majority of Americans support, and a President willing to sign them. And before that, we have to remove the gerrymandered mess the GOP use to gain a disproportionate advantage in elections, so that we start seeing a better representation of the population and opinions of the voters.
     
  6. Vthuil

    Vthuil Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 3, 2013
    Pretty simple, honestly: getting rid of the Republican Party.* And not just throwing them out of power, but totally discrediting their platform as acceptable beliefs for decent people.

    Simple obviously isn't the same thing as easy, but when you look at the evident alternative, I don't find that much of a deterrent.

    *As it exists today, that is - it's important to remember that it came into being as an anti-slavery movement of all things, and obviously there's tons of aspects to their views even now that are more open to question than empowering racists and turning the countryside into an armed camp.
     
  7. fett 4

    fett 4 Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 2, 2000
    Iv just seen calls for teachers to be armed and basically for more guns in schools. I’m so stunned that an argument needs to be made against this. I mean this should be self explanatory at how dumb this is :oops:
     
  8. Dr. Steve Brule

    Dr. Steve Brule Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 7, 2012
    My other favorites that I remember, Paul Scheer as H. P. Lovecraft because Scheer quite clearly has no idea about Lovecraft or his works; and Ben Schwartz as Roald Dahl and learning on the podcast while in the role that Dahl was an anti-Semite and having a kind of existentialist breakdown. The Brothers Grimm one is also really good for the sickly brother played by Matt Gourley.
     
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  9. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
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  10. comradepitrovsky

    comradepitrovsky Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2017
    I mean, I'm all for gun control, but there are places where people do absolutely need to own a gun for personal self protection. If it takes a half hour for cops to come, if there are dangerous animals that absolutely will kill you or your livestock, etc. Basically, if you don't live in a city or a suburb. That's not to say that there shouldn't be changes, but the need for firearms in some areas is legitimate.
     
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  11. Dr. Steve Brule

    Dr. Steve Brule Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 7, 2012
    How many mass shootings in the US take place in areas where the cops take half an hour to arrive or with the type of guns that might legitimately be used to fight off these swarms of wild bears?
     
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  12. comradepitrovsky

    comradepitrovsky Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2017
    I'm not against gun control, dude. I'm just saying that the idea that gun laws in the US should be the same as ones in Britain, for instance, doesn't quite work. No one needs an assault rifle, ofc, but it is perfectly reasonable to own a rifle in, say, Alaska.

    I said in that post that there should be changes in laws, though. It's not a binary divide.
     
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  13. vncredleader

    vncredleader Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 28, 2016
    Don't some countries have a system where people can get guns for hunting/ environmental survival but the process is rigorous and those citizens use of the weapon is actively tracked? Like if they need one to go hunting or cause they live in a really isolated area then it has to be given to the local police station between hunting uses or when you leave the state. Just spit balling mostly. I think you are on the right track with us needing to say "this place does not need weapons for really any reason logically" and so we make sure gun control is enacted there. Figure out the hunting element later, because there is little reason for why someone in an urban area can get a rifle. In fact doesn't Australia have something similar to this? Like farmers and whatnot can get weapons, but after heavy vetting and most paces it's off limits.

    Nothing, I fear. I mean 18 school shootings. If dead kids can't motivate the GOP to make a change then I don't think anything will. Even watered down legislation gets blocked again and again and again. I know the Australian government that put forth gun control there was conservative and was willing to go against its base. But we have had so many chances to shake people into actions and nothing has come of them. The problem is the NRA has so many key politicians in their pocket. Americans are just too dang stubborn for our own good.


    Nothing, I fear. I mean 18 school shootings. If dead kids can't motivate the GOP to make a change then I don't think anything will. Even watered down legislation gets blocked again and again and again. I know the Australian government that put forth gun control there was conservative and was willing to go against its base. But we have had so many chances to shake people into actions and nothing has come of them. The problem is the NRA has so many key politicians in their pocket. Americans are just too dang stubborn for our own good.
    I love the Onion


    Like seriously they are suggesting having armed cops and freaking metal detectors at schools. That's a freaking prison. If we seriously are considering turning our schools into prisons in order to protect freaking guns; then I am done with this nation.....so yeah I am done.
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2018
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  14. vncredleader

    vncredleader Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 28, 2016
    dp
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2018
  15. Senpezeco

    Senpezeco Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2014
    From what I understand of the National Firearms Agreement, yes -- a farmer protecting their livestock from attacking animals is a recognized 'genuine reason' for holding a firearms license in Australia. Owners must complete a safety course and have secure storage for their firearms, which must be registered by serial number to the owner.
     
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  16. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    American kids dying at the hands of other Americans due to American weaponry and American bullets is absolutely worth it so long as Americans get their guns.

    That's what you're up against. What will change it? I have no feckin' clue because there's been too many of these. There's nothing new to say, nothing new to contribute, nothing to help because nothing will change.

    If this was the first school shooting? Maybe it'd have an impact. But it's what? The 18th? There's your answer right there.
     
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  17. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    This was published in october last year but should still be of interest for the current discussion
     
  18. Barriss_Coffee

    Barriss_Coffee Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2003
    What I don't get is how this seems to have become such a black-and-white issue with the GOP. They all seem to think gun control = no guns. But like... it doesn't. But they just block their ears and don't want to even talk about it.

    A painful thing here -- and I can't be the only one -- is when you see folks you like on Facebook and stuff, like friends, advocating "don't blame gun owners, it's just a couple of extremists." (that's an actual quote from someone on my FB... who otherwise is a sweetheart but is like... sheesh). It makes you see people differently.
     
  19. vncredleader

    vncredleader Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 28, 2016
    Was just sending this to my mother last night. That comment he made at the end is getting more and more true, days when there are not mass shootings are getting rarer and rarer

    Yeah issues like these really peel back layers of people, that we often are surprised by. Ben's right, we are so used to these shootings now, that its harder than ever to get people to be willing to shift their stance. More and more death seems to only aid people's ambivalence.
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2018
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  20. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    Have seen Black Panther, me an' my mates loved it. I recommend to all to go and see it
     
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  21. starfish

    starfish Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 9, 2003
    Black Panther looks good, hoping to go see it Tuesday
     
  22. Charlemagne19

    Charlemagne19 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2000
  23. Amon_Amarth

    Amon_Amarth Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2005
    Prequel memes have really made an impact. I swear this is not the first recent pop-y song I've come across whose lyrics repeatedly mention
    "higher ground"...
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2018
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  24. BobaMatt

    BobaMatt TFN EU Staff star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Aug 19, 2002
    Black Panther is great.
     
  25. comradepitrovsky

    comradepitrovsky Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2017
    I’ve found this Star Wars fanfic with a premise that I really like, and a author that’s a really good writer at the dialogue and scene setting level, but damn does it hit all the Star Wars points that I hate. Saxton-esque maximalism, treating the Force like space magic, using the KOTOR classes as actual groups, mean-spirited attacks on the ST...

    And blatant fascist apologia, but that’s usually par for the course, I’m afraid.

    Urgh. And part one even had some promise.