peacefuljeffrey

Is that Stacy Keach with the puppies?! Mike Hammer!! Tami, I met you at SoBe once and you kindly shared some of your amazing jewelry secrets. Hi!

I would like to think that once I realized that my body was ruined (by torture, amputations, whatever) and also that I was certainly going to be killed, I would be able to steel myself to the understanding that I would soon die, and accept it, and be able to will myself to resist and confound them until my death. I don't know if I could do that, but I hope that I would if I had the need. I agree, which is why I certainly can't fault those who have pleaded in the past. Again, I wonder if you can resign yourself to disassociate the pain of torture if you have mentally made peace with losing your body for all time. I think it's possible. I also question the notion of "extending your life" in this situation -- why would you want to? To live a few days more among stinking filthy degenerate religious extremist murderers? "Oooh! Oooh! Extend my life, please!" No, thank you. I would fight with every fiber of my being to do everything against what they wish me to do, as long as I was still sane and rational. Cooperate with this scum on the preposterously remote chance that you'll be like, the one dude they decide not to kill? I don't think Mr. Bigley didn't cooperate. They killed him anyway. WHAT?! What hostage rescue attempt? In all the killings they have done so far, has there been ANY indication that we are gradually finding out where they are doing these murders?! And let's say you do escape. Why would "what shows up in the video aid in locating your position for a rescue attempt"?! Like they're gonna RELEASE a video that shows a street sign at an intersection, or a particular identifiable building?! They have control over the release of their own videos -- it's not like it's on live television without a delay, dude. If they saw something in their own video that gave away their location, they'd shoot another video, but they wouldn't release that one!! -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Would "not get caught at all" possibly include having your escorts be armed, especially if you were a particularly high-profile target like the head of CARE? I sympathize with the woman's plight, but damned if the fact that she had some sort of stated conscientious objection to having armed protection did not contribute to the ease with which she was taken... -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Waitaminute... aren't we talking about a culture that subjugates women; that considers them chattel; that sentences them to death by stoning for adultery; that regards them as inferior to men; that engages in "honor killings" of their own women for being victims of rape because it "dishonors" the family?? This is the culture that you think will spare a woman's life? Why on earth would you reach that conclusion? I come to the exact opposite conclusion based on what we know of the extremist muslim culture's views of women. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Like you, these brutal murders have got me thinking as well -- on just this topic, too. If, as you say, I had no possible reason to expect that my government or anyone else would negotiate with the terrorists to secure my safe release (as I feel they should not), I would like to think I would not give these pieces of shit the satisfaction of having me plead in vain for my life. I would like to think I would spit on them as my last act before finding peace within myself and dying. And like you, I have no idea if I would be able to remain so calm and resolute in the face of my own impending murder. It's a sad, sick thing all the way around. I can't help but feel it is worth mentioning, though, that in the case of this CARE lady, the first t.v. news story I saw about her said that she was known for declining armed protection -- and that may have ended up costing her ... well, whatever it ends up costing her. I feel she made a silly, futile "gesture" by declining armed protection. What, did she think that the nobility of doing so would impress terrorists into not kidnaping her? I also note that not a single newspaper story I have read since then has mentioned the lack of weaponry of her escorts. (But the papers in this area are notoriously liberal, and do not like pointing out that guns can save lives.) -Jeffrey -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Just a thought here, feel free to put me down if you want, what do you reckon the number of illegal guns per capita is here in the UK compared to the US? Well, I have read reports that there are an estimated FOUR MILLION ILLEGAL GUNS in the U.K. Now, even if you estimate that you have ONE MILLION violent criminals in your midst, that means each dude has four guns. I don't remember what your population is there, what, 60 million? Put four million over sixty million to get your per-capita rate of guns to people. And I'd say that of the estimated 250,000,000 guns in private hands in the U.S., probably a very small percentage of those are illegally held. That's the problem with your laws in the U.K. -- you have guaranteed yourselves that if someone has a gun, he's most likely to be a criminal, and the kind who has sought out an illegal gun to possess. How do you figure it would be so easy to deplete a supply of four million guns? Let's say that estimate is 400% of what it truly should be, and there are only ONE million illegal guns in the U.K. (fair enough that I cut the estimate by FOUR for you?) You think you have so many criminals there that you'd run out of guns giving one to each of one million "thugs"? Wow! Things are worse in England than I thought! And you say this based on admittedly not looking up anything, including your statistical likelihood of getting shot versus ours... Interesting that you can state a belief with such conviction absent any investigation of facts... -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Uh, wait a minute. You went from talking about "crime rates" one moment to "murder rates" the next. Did you think we would not notice? The crime rate in the U.K. IS higher than that of the U.S. The murder rate may be a different story, but ours is going down, that much has been true for over a decade. And our rate of accidental death by firearm has gone down in every single year it has been recorded, since early in the 20th century. Every single year fewer die by accidental gunshot in the U.S. -- and this despite the presence of over 250,000,000 privately owned guns, and an additional 3-5 million new guns purchased each year. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

The U.S. has an immensely greater number of people living in squalid inner-city conditions (an economic problem) than U.K. does. And the significant majority of murders are felons killing felons in this country. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Actually - yes. Been there, done that. The one and only time anyone has tried to rob me was while I was in college. He walked up to me, told me had a knife, told me he wanted money, then as he went for the knife I tossed him against the wall of the building and walked away. I think of the scenario you described as quite different from one in which an assailant, knife in hand, has demanded your money. How confident would you be about fighting, bare-handed, a person whose knife is already presented for combat? (Let's assume a decent-sized knife, too, so that you don't wiggle out of this by saying it might be a small pen-knife -- which by the way could still be lethal.) Think you'd manage to win the fight, let alone not get cut pretty badly? -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

ahhh i still have memories of the bronco chase. such good times. too bad i missed the fall of the berlin wall when i was 4 A friend of mine who has family in Germany brought me home a small chunk of it wayyy back, I think we were in college at the time. (I can't even remember what year it was that it happened!) It's pretty weird. An angular piece of cement, with some blue spray paint on one face of it. (Yay! I got an edge piece!) -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

That's 'cause you know that Monkey's Fists have a mystique. I don't know if you've seen how they're made, but it's really cool. There are some craaaaazy variants of them (actually they're not much related at all) called "globe knots" that, like the Monkey's Fist, can be used as covers for round objects... Some of them would look mighty cool as a throwout handle... but I haven't developed the expertise at making them, yet. Perhaps someday. You will know me by the trail of people behind me asking, "What is that?!" and pointing at my deployment handle! Until then, though, I'm gonna try to start making more of these two-color Monkey's Fists. Maybe if I sell a few of 'em around the DZ, I can begin to pretend that I'm making back the money I invested in all that 550 cord! -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

But I included "other" Is a PUD a pull-out pilot chute system? I know only one person who has that, personally. But it's not all she has. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Aaaand another personal insult. Keep 'em coming. Maybe one will be gratuitously severe enough to warrant a moderator banning you for a couple of weeks. edited to add: After all, one guy got a warning from billvon just for telling Tunaplanet to "get a life"! -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I'm too lazy to look for them, but I would love to see stats about what happens after those HfH people build a house for some poor folks and then leave town. Do the houses remain under the ownership of the people for whom they were built for very long? Do the taxes and utilities get paid? Do the properties get adequately maintained? If these people are so poor, why not put the effort into getting them employment rather than a house that they can't afford to keep? I've never seen them talk about these families ten years later... -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Hey moderators: Does this count as a personal attack if it was spelled wrong? If so, that's two in a row. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

No, but your condescending tone, and your epithets, may end up getting you some time out from this forum. You are out of line. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Ohhh, I'm sorry, I guess I mistook this: as an attempt to tell me what I should or should not feel free to say and discuss. What on earth was I thinking?! Then why can't you allow guns for those who want them (there are those who want them, you know -- probably the same people from whom they were confiscated in 1997!), since the risk you face from psychopaths who would like to kill you is so low? See, on the one hand you claim that there are so many dangerous people out there that you must have draconian anti-gun laws to keep them from being dangerous; and on the other hand, you are in no danger without a gun of your own (nothing to worry about, as you say) because there are so few dangerous psychotics. It's like the gun control argument: "People are not trustworthy; which is why we need gun control laws; which people will obey because they are trustworthy." Do you understand the difference between being made to feel safe, and actually being safe? If you were in a building with those little cabinets for fire extinguishers, and unbeknownst to you, each of them was empty, you'd feel safe because of the presence of fire extinguishers, but you wouldn't be safe because they really aren't there. See my point yet? America never "legalized guns." They've always been legal. The new notion is to make them not legal. I'm sorry, that's just fuckin' stupid. There's no honor in getting beaten for your valuables. When you're in the middle of having your jaw, arm and ribs broken, and your teeth are getting shattered out of your mouth because you have not availed yourself of the tools of self-defense, you be sure to remember to think of the great story that it's gonna make. Provided you survive, that is. Provided that by their good nature the people who are beating you within an inch of your life allow you to keep your life. You know, they'll probably leave you alive, since they're such good blokes, which is why they were beating you senseless in the first place. Put your faith in them; that's a safe bet! Do you have the same low opinion of those pussies who just don't feel safe driving a car without a seat belt on; or those pansies who don't feel safe without a smoke detector and fire extinguisher in their household? Yeah, what a bunch of fairies. Their opinions about safety are meaningless, since they have to depend on the informed and knowledgeable use of tools and the advantages that man's intelligence can afford them. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Why? Both are rights I do not want nor do I want other people in my country to have. Why should I lament the lack of one yet applaud the lack of the other? Dude, a sense of pity swells in me to have to explain to you that - the ownership of guns of and by itself is not malum in se. There is no harm done by the mere ownership of guns. - the perpetration of child molestation most certainly creates a victim every time. So comparing the right to own guns with the right to molest children is absurd on its face. Honestly, when I have to stop and explain this stuff to you, the whole class falls behind in their lessons! Do you think you advance your arguments by making ridiculous comparisons like "the right to keep and bear arms" v. "the right to molest children"?! -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Yeah, I have to admit you're right. In fact I lost 30 cents the other day when the evil republican ice cream company made their box an ounce smaller without sending me a personally addressed, hand written, notarized letter and just put it on the box. Those bastards! THAT'S funny. But you forgot to use the official "I'm just breaking your balls" smiley. Exactly. I noticed that, too, and did not take it to be an oversight. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Yeah, I have to admit you're right. In fact I lost 30 cents the other day when the evil republican ice cream company made their box an ounce smaller without sending me a personally addressed, hand written, notarized letter and just put it on the box. Those bastards! And I was once wrongly imprisoned by the evil Democrat judicial system when some psycho woman I dated made false assertions that I had committed crimes against her. Criminal conspiracies abound, I guess. Those bastards. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Dude, when I was in college, it didn't matter how fucking crazy drunk I ever got (and I think you're pretty drunk when you see four of everything) -- and I never came within 100 miles of ever smashing a store window, or burning a car. (The burning car mention was on the local NBC news affiliate here. I don't have details but they sure as shit said there were cars burned.) -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Wasn't it a Brit who started this thread, and invited people -- with no qualifications about nationality or country of residence -- to comment? So what the fuck are you doing telling me I should silence myself and not talk about England? I'm so glad you feel made safe by cameras. I suppose a camera puts a physical boundary between you and a psychopath who doesn't care about getting caught, or maybe doesn't think he even will get caught. Or a drunk who doesn't have the presence of mind to remember the cameras. And if I can't talk about England since I don't live there, (I beg your forgiveness -- please, please forgive me!) why the hell can you talk about "many countries" that are "alot safer than America"? After all, by your own standards, you should keep your mouth shut unless you live in a country. By your argument, your own comments on those supposedly safe countries are not valid. I guess countries like Jamaica and Haiti and Mexico, where the populace is forbidden to have guns, are really safe, huh? No gun violence over there, right? No black market guns on the streets, right? OH, WAIT! I forgot! The missing magical ingredient!... those countries don't yet have the All-Purpose Safety-Guaranteeing Magical CAMERAS installed yet! P.S. We all know how safe people are in countries like Rwanda, Somalia, and Sudan. People are SO much safer when hacked to death with machetes than they are when shot to death with guns. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

That's just asinine. There is no other way to describe this argumentative tack. That may be why your countrymen are not really guaranteed any. Your attitude toward them is indifferent. Free people don't think that way, or feel that way. And we're sickened when others do. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Because I don't give it much credence at all. Raw numbers, even IF true (and I'm skeptical), are meaningless when we observe your country's crime trends. In the meanwhile, I've read repeatedly -- repeatedly on the very BBC website, over the last few years as Britain's gun- and violent-crime rates have increased in double digit percentages. One of us is full of shit here, it would seem. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Cameras will make you safe. Fear not. When some nut in an alley accosts you with a knife, or three of his friends, those cameras will surely sweep in and hustle you off to safety while holding your would-be assailants under arrest. Didn't George Orwell warn AGAINST a state having the power to observe its people at all times? You people seem to have taken 1984 and used it as a guidebook for what to DO, not what NOT to do... And the rest of us look on in sick horror at what is evolving over there... -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"