yorkshire
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Posts posted by yorkshire
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I meant as far as a humor thing.
To be fair I don't know why British comedians do it either. Although the only 2 I can think of that do it are Eddie Izzard and Lily Savage (Paul O'Grady). It is a little strange.
One of my favourite British comedians is from Scotland. He's Frankie Boyle, and he's quite notorious over here for going over the line. I won't post any videos of him in case people are offended, but feel free to look into him...
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Regarding you question about the Va. Tech shooter and the DC sniper - I believe these people would have killed even if there was gun control. I believe they would've gotten guns by whatever means necessary. Same with the guy in Arizona. If you want to kill somebody bad enough then the law or getting your weapons by less than honest means is not going to stop you.
I just feel that when someone applied to have a gun, if they were profiled and had to do a few tests, for example, then some lives might be saved. Even if it was just 1 it would be worth it. But yes, there will always be the ones that get through, so to speak. It's clear that there is lot to to discuss when it comes to guns, it certainly is a huge topic for debate.
I guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree. But I appreciate your points, you make some very good ones. And I appreciate that you made them with respect rather than throwing about wild accusations. As many differences as we may have culturally you are still our friends, our allies, our ancestors and our brothers in arms.
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You're right, I'm an American and I disagree. Gun control. That horse has already left the barn. If guns had just been invented and we saw the potential for them and put a control on them from the start that would be one thing. But now they're already out there. If you try to control or outlaw guns then you're just taking them out of the hands of law abiding citizens. If there's gun control the only people that will have guns will be law enforcement and criminals. Criminals will always be able to get guns, you can't stop that. But if you take guns away from regular citizens then they will not be able to protect themselves.
It is a big problem that guns are already so prevalent in the US. I assume they are legally supposed to be registered, but I wonder how many are kicking about that are not registered. Logistically, getting them completely under control would be very hard, but I still believe it should be done.
And I agree criminals will always be able to get guns. But I believe gun supply will be constrained and there will be a lot less criminals who are armed (but then you get knife crime, which is a bigger issue in the UK than gun crime). The main point for me is I reckon it'd be a lot harder for psychopaths to get their hands on firearms if there was better gun control, and that's the issue here, these mass killings.
I'm sure it does seem like shootings happen all too often in the US. And they do. But they happen all over the place it's not just here. You just tend to hear about it more here. What happened was a tragedy and should be news but a lot of what happens here isn't news but makes it onto the news anyway in order to fill air time. We have a plethora of 24 hour news channels and they all have to fill their programming time with something. A lot of it is filled with worthless crap so when something like this happens they all jump on it and then analyze it ad infinitum. The media in the US is crazy and non stop. That's why you hear about every little thing that happens here (Lindsey Lohan going to court - that's not news). This stuff happens all over the world, you just don't here about it as much. If a news story like this were to come out of the middle east then no one would bat an eye because we've all come to expect that out of such war torn areas.
In less developed countries gun control is essentially non existent, and you're right we do come to expect it. But should we expect it in our developed nations? I'll just take the UK as an example seeing as I live here. The last gun massacre I can remember was in Cumbria last year. Before that? The only one I can think of is Dunblane, which was 1996. Before that, Hungerford, 1987. Yes they happen, but they're rare.
If you take a look at the wikipedia page for school shootings (note, not all shootings) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_shooting), you can see how the US compares to Europe as a whole, as well as Canada, South America etc. Do you really think that these shootings would have happened if gun control was in place? I agree that citizens having guns can stop these sorts of situations escalating into huge numbers of deaths rather than, say, 2 or 3, but prevention is better than the cure, surely?
Would you call the Virginia perpetrator Seung-Hui Cho a criminal? Yes, he was, but ultimately he was not right in the head. What about that Washington sniper a few years ago? He was a terrorist I believe, and would have had a damn hard job getting hold of a sniper rifle if there was more legislation. I don't think your average 'criminal' who wanted to use a gun to rob a bank ever really want to go and kill 30 odd people for no reason. Having no legislation makes it easier for these lunatics to get guns and go on a rampage. Criminals will always get guns, yes. But I still think control is needed to stop guns going into the general population, making them easy to access for these maniacs.
The reason Americans are so serious about their second amendment rights is because that's they way a people keeps themselves from oppression. Look at governments that oppress their people and you'll see that regular citizens couldn't have firearms legally. It was that way in Nazi Germany, it was that way in Communist Russia etc. This is how a people protects themselves from an oppressive government lest they be headed toward an Orwellian future.
Good point, although it does seem a bit extreme. We live in developed countries. We have democracy and thus oppressive governments won't get into power. Plus, the US and Europe seem all too keen to invade any country they deem to have an oppressive regime, or at least to impose pressure and sanctions on them.
I just don't feel that guns are justified by the need for a general population to have a huge revolt in the case of a totalitarian government coming into power. Not today anyway, but the world changes, so who knows when we're 50 years down the line.
Forgive me for saying this, but from an outsiders perspective it seems like guns are an important part of US culture, and while they might not be totally acceptable in the US, they are definitely tolerated. It's kind of part of your national identity. Over here there is zero tolerance. I don't feel the need to be armed when I go outside my front door. There might be more 'hostile' communities in certain parts of the country, but i'd be far more worried about being knifed than shot. (Knives are a whole different issue though, but I don't think they're quite as dangerous as guns. Regardless, getting rid of guns does seem like out of the frying pan, into the fire with regards to knives).
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I will, maybe controversially, raise the issue of gun control. I personally think there's no place for guns within the general population. I'm sure many Americans here disagree with me. After these shootings, no one has raised the issue of gun control, yet at least one congressman has said he will now carry his gun with him at all times, and the Arizona's Citizen's Defense League is calling out for members of congress and their staff to receive firearms training.
I know that gun control isn't 100% effective, but it just seems like shootings in the US happen all too often. What are your thoughts?
Also, on a related note, I was recently trying to get into a club in New York. The bouncer refused to let me in because I was wearing only a vest. I thought that in the US one has the right to bare arms?
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When I read the thread title, it reminded me of a certain genre of film, where generally that is the only line spoken, when someone walks in on someone, if you know what I mean...
But yeh, I swear that article is just rehashing old info. But she doesn't have to spend the money, I suppose there's nothing wrong with banking it and using it when you need it. Although, if I had that much, I'd take a Rupert Grint approach and buy a hovercraft and ice cream van, quad bikes etc. Maybe a plane for myself.
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Well, Leeds had a valiant attempt at Arsenal. Would have won if Theo Walcott hadn't dived! But at least he was honest about it when he owned up to up. It will be interesting to see how Arsenal cope at a packed out Elland road, the atmosphere in that place is just electric. Then again, Leeds just crumble when under pressure of their own fans when they play big games, so who knows.
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the United Kingdom still has the Pound.
And always will
e^x is the only mathematical function that stays the same if differentiated or integrated.
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There's only one thing I like about the movies. I HATE the movies exept for this one thing. Emma Watson's in it. That compleatly takes away the fact that it barly follows the story of the book. If they didn't choose Emma Watson for Hermione Granger, I would never watch them again because Emma Watson is HOT.
Subtle.
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I've just got it, seems to be a good way of getting software. Everything is more expensive than iPhone apps though, which I suppose is justified as the apps are much fuller with more features.
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I'm a Leo. And I have no idea what a moon sign even is!
I'm not really interested in astrology, but I'm very interested in astrophysics.
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Unless you believe that the universe will continue to expand, as it has since the big bang, until every star has died and there is nothing but darkness and the total lack of heat.
But, that would require you to believe in the Big Bang theory, and the idea that absolute zero is achievable. Anywho, some super interesting theories out there!
Yes, lots of theories out there! The simple truth is, we know almost nothing about our universe as a whole. The idea of the big bang is the most plausible theory with our current knowledge, but I have no doubts that within 10, 20, 30 years that there will be a new theory. The Large Hadron Collider should prove very insightful and might help us better understand our origins, but I wonder if we will ever truly know.
But yes, it does show our insignificance. Jupiter is a relatively close planet, yet looking from Jupiter, all we are is a 'pale blue dot'.
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Can you imagine what the world would be like if every single person had seen this?
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I was also thinking about doing that too
! I forgot to post it though. Thanks for reminding me! The iPads just went up a few pounds in England because of the VAT rising to 20%, correct?Yep, a nice round 20% of almost everything we buy goes back to the government. It's necessary, of course, because our last government got the country into a huge deficit.
Any idea what the sales tax is in California?
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Wait until iPad 2 comes out.
Buy iPad 2.
Sell iPad 1.
Buy People Tree clothes with money from iPad 1.
Sorted!
Incidentally, I'm gonna pick myself up one of the new iPads when I'm in the US next May, I'll save a fair amount of money on the rip-off Britain price.
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I think Roy Hodgson is most at risk at losing his job at the moment, I think it's only a matter of time.
It's good to be back, i've been offline for the past week or so as our router was bust, but I am back now. Stoke have had a mixed time while I have been gone, beating Blackburn and Everton but losing at home to Fulham.
Tonight we face a very tough task when we play Man Utd at Old Trafford, we have been playing better away from home recently so I hope we can cause an upset, I would be delighted with a draw.
Well, I'd love to see you come back from Old Trafford with something. !Never forget 3/1/10, Manchester United 0-1 Leeds United
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Well, I've still not seen it, and based on what you were saying, I don't intend to. It just does not appeal.
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Anchorman.
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I'm surprised to see how anti alcohol everyone here is. If one is responsible, it is perfectly fine. Only drink what you can handle. When I'm out I'll drink quite a lot, but not so much that I start falling over etc. If you drink responsibly, you can enjoy yourselves a lot.
I don't think raising the drinking age is necessary. There are 15 year olds that are sensible enough to drink, and likewise there are 22 year olds who aren't. You'll always get some idiots.
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Well it was a war of aggression. The United Nations did not approve, Bush did it without a 'yes', hence war of aggression, hence it's humane for you. Well he didn't find any weapons of mass destruction I believe. But he got what he wanted anyway. Well if Bin Laden is there, why didn't the US and it's allies find him in all this years. Chasing a shaddow much? Yeah, the two bombs on Japan weren't necessary because Japan would surrender anyway.
I think when we were talking about being humane, it was with regards to giving foreign aid and not about going to war.
But yes I do believe that the 2 wars are pretty unjust.
And the debate of the bombs is another kettle of fish. Japan may have surrendered eventually, but only when the US army had reached the capital. How much more bloodshed would have been needed to do that?
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Yeah, but who do they call when they need help?
You can't just take our money or supplies or manpower or hard work etc. when you have an earthquake, famine, tsunami, explosion, attack, military invasion or some other tragedy and then just tell us to f--- off the rest of the time. It doesn't work that way.
True, although when it comes to international aid, I don't think it matters. We should help them because it's the humane thing to do.
When I think of Afghanistan, I try to imagine another country invading the UK and taking away our government, imposing martial law and telling us it's for our own good. Obviously the 2 scenarios are different, but you can see why the Afghans aren't so grateful. I'd be pissed off if it happened here. Many of them probably now associate the invasion with the increase in roadside bombs, suicide bombs etc, and I think in general they fail to see that the armies are there for their own good. Think about it though, we've been there since 2001 and there seems to have been relatively little improvement to their lives, so you can see why they're frustrated.
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Maybe Emma was there with Daria Zhukova. She is a model and fashion designer along with other things. Maybe they are friends through that.
It must have been something to do with that. I can't think of any other way Emma would have a connection to Roman Abramovich, or any connection to Chelsea FC. I'd wager she probably doesn't care too much about football.
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Forrest Gump.
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I spy a magic mouse! I have one, they are brilliant.
I might get myself an iPad next year as well.
Wars In Iraq And Afghanistan
in Current Events and Topical discussion
Posted
Our countries are not trying to 'conquer' Afghanistan though, we're trying to stabilise it. If we wanted to 'conquer' it, I don't think the war would be going on nearly as long.