ha, read that on another forum in a thread about gun debate, a real interesting read that goes into detail about the cultural differences and why one type of law or restriction might not work in a vastly different culture. also interesting was the suicide #'s, as even though japan has almost no firearms, the suicide numbers are still significantly higher as compared to the us. expanding on the cultural differences, it was also a real eye opener to see that there is almost a 100% conviction rate when it comes to arrests over there, and the powers of the police to basically come into your home whenever they want to talk/question you. while i'm a big admirer of the japanese, i would much rather take my chances with the occasional tragedy and live in a society with much more privacy and focus on individual rights!

edit, although that article was similar to the one i was reffering to, they are different. here is the one i was originally talking about, kinda long but a great read nonetheless !
http://www.davekopel.com/2A/Foreign/Japan-Gun-Control-and-People-Control.htm

I am so sick of these mother fucking assholes!

http://www.examiner.com/article/connecti...nning-to-picket

agreed 100%, while i'm in total support of freedom of speech, this is really pushing the envelope, even for me. i have spend alot of time in west virginia, and have alot of very close friends there. back when they had a few of those coal mine incidents, i believe saigo was the worst, these shitbags showed up there to proclaim that the reason for the disaster was that "god hates fags", or something similar. the people down there are as friendly as can be, but lets just say they were luckey the state police were there otherwise none of them would have made it out alive, and thats a fact! they use the same MO regardless of the circumstances, and the worst part is that they indoctrinate the children into that batshit crazy cult. here's to hoping that next time they are protesting on the side of the road, that some good ol' boy does a drive-by with a can of bear mace or worse

That's what going to happen sooner or later. All they are is a cult, like jim jones. I just wished the supreme court would have sided with the families and made it illegal to picket any kind of furinal. They could say it's the same thing as saying 'fire' in a crowded theater or room. They could cause a riot, with harm to certain people (mostly those who picket).

A question to our legal beagles.... what if the local police force (town or state) didn't allow these protestors to gather? What if the law enforcement chiefs claimed that the protestors were inciting to riot?

I too am sick & tired of those assholes AND I don't get what/why they are protesting:

"sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment". WTF is their issue this time.


TIS

https://www.facebook.com/groups/208248072645037/

It looks like that in case WBC do decide to picket funeral's, there will be a wall to block them from protesting. This way the families can mourn in peace, and not see these disgusting POS.

Any court of competent jurisdiction would probably follow two precedents or philosophies: 1) government actions must be independent of the content of any protest. In other words, it must be content neutral; 2) any physical threat must be imminent and not just likely.

These jerk offs make me sick to my stomach. Why don't they go protest Lanza's funeral and leave the families alone?

Those assholes are about as Christian as the Anti-Christ.

Westboro Baptist Church To Picket Sandy Hook Elementary, Praise God For Shooting

Makes me want to puke! No wonder Christians get a bad wrap now and then -- because of ASSHOLE IDIOTS like these!!

Are these the sort who also beat up their women as a way of getting closer to God? Is there any other sort of reformed Baptist at all?

Ripple effects... Barrington High School in suburban Chicago cancels dance last night due to rumors of a student planning a shooting.

If anyone's gonna shoot anyone, someone oughta shoot those protesters, thats freakin rediculous.

If you guys recall, a year or two ago these assholes protested a funeral of a gay soldier. At a funeral, were friends/family are grieving?? Ok, they have a right to protest, BUT I say let them protest, but blocks away. That family had every right to THEIR privacy. God, they piss me off.



TIS

Shooting ranges wrongfully fear Obama will take away their guns

Shooting range employee pitches gun to customer, 'You need to get this going before March. Once (President Obama) is sworn into office no one will be able to get their hands on a gun. Trust me. It’s done.'

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics...3#ixzz2FEi7tXxa

Did some quick research on these issues that you touched on in japan.

A few professors wrote a paper on why the Japanese conviction rate is so high, they concluded it was because of two reasons. One is that judges who come under the control of central bureaucracy are pressured to pass a guilty verdict, ensuring high conviction. Another is that, given that non jury system (there isnt a jury system in japan) under inquisition system has predictable ruling on guilt, prosecutors rarely ever bring a case which have even minute chance of failure.

The paper found that Japanese prosecutors have a far more pressing need to be selective. In the U.S., the federal government employs 27,985 lawyers and the states employ another 38,242 (of which 24,700 are state prosecutors). In Japan, with about a third of U.S. population, the entire government employs a mere 2,000. Despite Japan having a low crime rate, such numbers create a significant case overload for prosecutors. In the U.S., there are 480 arrests (96 serious cases) per year per state prosecutor. (The actual figure is lower as some are prosecuted in federal court). In Japan, the figure is 700 per year per prosecutor. In the U.S., a rough estimate is that 42% of arrests in felony cases result in prosecution - while in Japan, the figure is only 17.5%.

The Japanese criminal justice system, despite retaining the death penalty, is relatively lenient in sentencing by the standard of the United States. Outside capital cases, many of those sentenced to life sentences are paroled within 15 years. Those convicted of less heinous murder and manslaughter are likely to serve less than 10 years. Those convicted of rape will often serve less than two to five years. It is even possible for someone convicted of murder to serve a suspended sentence if the defense successfully argues for mitigating circumstances. Moreover, in Japanese criminal proceedings the conviction and sentencing phase are separate.

http://www.rasmusen.org/published/Rasmusen-01.JLS.jpncon.pdf

On your point about the suicide numbers, there are a few reasons for that. Factors resulting in suicide include unemployment (due to the long economic recession), depression, and social pressures.In Japanese culture there is a long history of honorable suicide, such as ritual suicide by Samurai to avoid being captured, flying one's plane into the enemy during WWII, or charging into the enemy fearlessly to prevent bringing shame on one's family. Japanese society's attitude toward suicide has been termed "tolerant," and in many occasions suicide is seen as a morally responsible action.

And on your last point, I would much rather do the opposite. Have no national tragedies, etc even if it means I have to give up some of my individual rights to guns and lose some of my privacy because lets be honest we have very little privacy nowadays anyways and if an individual is extremely concerned about these issues then that tells me that person is somebody that should be monitored cause they might be up to something or there is a reason that they take these issues to heart most of the time.

Yes, and as far as I know President Obama has changed/enacted NO new gun laws. People are either, gullible, stupid or more likely, simply hate Obama so much that they pretend it's true.

Truth be told, I HOPE in light of recent slaughter of children, something is finally done. (yet, sadly, won't hold my breath.)



TIS

Where does this idea originate that a US President can pass federal laws? Only the US Congress can pass federal laws.

i would say all those things are true.

That's true Oli. People tend to turn to the President I guess cause he's the leader. Even IF the President proposes any gun law changes, I am not enthusiastic that congress (both Rs & Ds) will go for any.

TIS

Stupidity at its finest, its hard to fight the spin machine.

is the last part referring to me? its okay if it is, but regardless, everybody should be concerned with privacy and individual rights. yes, we have lost an insane amount of freedom over the last decade, which is why we should hold on even tighter to what we have left. i'm not even talking gun rights here, but privacy. i don't want the government listening to my calls or monitoring my internet activity for the simple reason that its my business. this whole idea of "well, if you have nothing to hide, it shouldn't be a problem" is total bullshit and about as un-american as can be. things are always taken away incrimentally, and we should all be aware of that. if nobody is concerned with privacy, why not have cameras in all our houses? seems silly, but who's to say 20-30 years down the road thats out of the realm of possibility?

Yea, im referring to you. In NYC where I live, there are already cameras everywhere, streets, subway, etc due to the extreme precautions our govt has taken in the aftermath of 9/11. The feds already have the technology to actively monitor all phone calls which can be automatically flagged and listened to at the drop of certain words, etc. Shit has already hit the fan,I agree that we should fight for our rights, im not condoning us turning into North Korea.The idea of "if you have nothing to hide, it shouldn't be a problem" is not bullshit and is not unamerican. I think it is 100% valid. If you dont have anything to hide then your not going to get in trouble or flagged. It's explicitly stated in the patriot act, and other laws that have been passed. DO I think there is abuse of these laws/technology? obcourse there is, but I think that the number of instances that that would be the case is much smaller than us not taking these measures and dealing with potential national tragedies and then having the people asking "why wasnt the govt doing this or that" to prevent this from happening, etc.

CNN just reported that one of the churches in Newtown had to be evacuated by police after some threat was phoned in. More than likely it was a hoax, but what kind of sick fucked-up individual would do that???

Let's hope THAT person's phone was being monitored. Heartless asshole.

I just saw that PB. Here's the link. Not much info, but constantly updating.



http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Newtown-Church-Evactuated-183704271.html


Btw, at mass yesterday, at my church, they lit candle, prayed for victims and talked about incident. I think every faith will likely do the same today.

TIS

Apparently the Newtown police chief mentioned that some people have made fake social network accounts passing themselves off as the gunman to post stuff like "i will kill myself in Connecticut this friday" etc, he said that was illegal and the feds are actively investigating and those individuals can be jailed.

Yes, I saw that report. Nutjobs all over the place that jump on the bandwagon. They should be punished if they are ever found.

Re: the Catholic church evacuation. I hear the police gave the "all clear" and that it was a bomb threat. (another nutjob. As if this town hasn't had enough grief)


TIS

OK, CNN is reporting that the shooter's father sends his condolences to the parents of the victims. I thought he's father was the body they found in NJ? If not, who was it? How did I miss this big chunk of the story?




TIS

That was the mothers. The news media fucked up big time, and I wish that somebody would bring it up and try to change news reporting back to what it was. Report on the facts, don't just say stuff unconfirmed.