http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2012/12/14/gunman-killed-in-connecticut-elementary-shooting Comments On: UPDATE: 26 reported dead in Connecticut elementary shooting by Max Brantley en-us Copyright 2013 Arkansas Times. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Arkansas Times readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Arkansas Times. robert@arktimes.com (Arkansas Times Webmaster) Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:01 -0500 Fri, 24 May 2013 07:15:00 -0500 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
When I started posting here two years ago, I took on the persona I use at BalloonJuice, which is a free-wheeling, often foul-mouthed kind of place. What works for BJ isn't always appropriate for our Arkansas blog, and I have reverted to the real "me".

Sadly, I think sleuthgirl is the real deal and not a persona.

I do reserve the right to point out the assholery of some commenters. I may not be a proctologist, but I know an asshole when I see one!
Posted by the outlier]]> Sat, 15 Dec 2012 09:59:16 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Yellowdogdaughter]]> Sat, 15 Dec 2012 08:22:55 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by HopeI'mTheOneToSaveYourLifeWithAGun]]> Sat, 15 Dec 2012 07:47:06 -0600 Arkansas Times It was just a couple of days ago when our Secretary of State made a sick joke about putting a gun to someone’s head. I got so angry about the insensitivity of the remark, I gave myself a headache. But it passed. Then yesterday happened, and you introduce yourself to us at 3:53. All we know about you is that you love guns, love killing things, call people names, are somewhat of a bully, and are very quick to fly off the handle. Many of us are seeing an all too familiar and uncomfortable pattern developing here.

You ask the question why you get three times as many “dislikes” as “like” comments, after Jennifer already had already posted the answer. Why would you come onto a liberal blog with right wing opinions expressed is such an aggressive manner, insult our beloved and longtime commenters, then expect your aggressive and personal attacks to be welcome with open arms? Would you go into a stranger’s house full of people and behave the same way, because that is exactly what you have just done.
Here, you have to EARN respect, you can’t bully your way in out of nowhere, pick on people, then have the right to wonder why no one likes what you say.

Had you read the blog over any length of time at all, you would know we have all sorts of opinions, ideas, and feelings about every issue imaginable. Sometimes it gets heated and at the end of the day, we rarely agree 100% on everything. But we do RESPECT varying opinions, and sometimes the exchanges can be the chuckle of the day if one is clever enough.

This is like a big, close knit, sometimes dysfunctional family here. Some of us are close personal friends and many of us have bonded over time and written words through political issues, current events, and maybe more importantly by sharing personal experiences. Regardless of our varying views, the people here never fail to offer support or sympathy when a member of this blog family has a personal misfortune. Had you done any prior reading before entering into the discussion yesterday with your guns blazing, you would have known that Verla, a kind, intelligent and beloved member of this family had just suffered a personal loss equivalent to what happened yesterday, only without guns involved. So you were wrong. She did pick a side. She picked the side that knows firsthand the pain of losing a small child because it just happened to her.

Calling yellowdog daughter an idiot was equally uncalled for. She is far from that.

Outlier is probably the most intelligent, well read, well-traveled, open minded and articulate woman here who can hold her own with anyone who comes onto these pages and can always back up her comments with facts. That’s a “big dog” you probably don’t want to get on the porch with. Based solely on the few things you posted yesterday, that doesn’t seem like a fair fight to me.

You are welcome here…..everyone is. You have a valid point in that we can’t place 100% of the blame for these tragedies on guns alone. There are many social problems that need to be explored and evaluated to figure out why our country, more than any place on earth, has ownership to this problem. But no one will give credence to your thoughts and views unless you can relate them in a reasonable manner and enter into a discussion without name calling and bullying people. You sound like a good mother who has prepared her children well for the difficulties life could bring. Just as important will be the ability to coexist with people of varying views and opinions.
Posted by mountaingirl]]> Sat, 15 Dec 2012 07:31:15 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by 70%er]]> Sat, 15 Dec 2012 02:43:02 -0600 Arkansas Times

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkbl…


“People will generally accept facts as truth only if the facts agree with what they already believe.” Andy Rooney
Posted by Zatharus]]> Sat, 15 Dec 2012 00:06:40 -0600 Arkansas Times
http://fleshisgrass.wordpress.com/2012/07/…
Posted by the outlier]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 23:32:41 -0600 Arkansas Times
Go after illegal guns and illegal possession of guns. How about a war on weapons instead of a war on drugs?
Posted by Vanessa]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 23:07:12 -0600 Arkansas Times Lots of people carry concealed weapons; here's how to spot them.

http://www.upworthy.com/when-that-pants-bu…


“To injure an opponent is to injure yourself.
To control aggression without inflicting injury in the Art of Peace.”
Morihei Ueshiba
Posted by Zatharus]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 23:06:43 -0600 Arkansas Times
Washington, DC can't tell if you just sold a gun to a crazy person. Bartenders go to jail for selling booze to drunk guys, yet all the gun dealers walk around with clean hands despite the carnage that came with their sale.

Find the person or people who sold this crazy man enough guns and ammo to fill all the funeral homes in Newtown, Connecticut and put them away for 50 years to life and I bet the next crazy white loner finds it damn hard to buy a gun.

Crazy killer kills a whole building full of people = the seller of the weapons & ammo gets locked away for decades. Let's give that a try for 10 years and see how it works! There must be consequences for enablers of senseless killing!
Posted by DeathbyInches]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 22:56:45 -0600 Arkansas Times
I didn't raise my kids to be idiots. I didn't raise them to be victims either. It's a mean, hard, cruel world and the more you know, the better chance you stand to survive in it. I bet your kids get bullied, huh? I bet everyone is mean to them, aren't they? And you're probably on disability/foodstamps/whatever other handouts the government gives because I've noticed that the people who cry out the most for the government to control the population are the ones on the receiving end of all my hard earned tax dollars.

Yes, life is amazing. My kids are witness to that as well. Knowing how amazing life is, that's what makes them cherish it. That's what keeps them from taking it for granted. And when they grow up, that will be what keeps them from shooting up a mall or a theater or an elementary school.

I presented you with FACTS and you come back with conjecture, emotions, and assorted other bullshit. One does not need to breed in order to have an intellectual opinion on whether or not gun laws are relevant. The very fact that you dragged my kids into proves that you are operating off of emotion instead of intellect.

A gun is a tool, just like a hammer. People choose to use that tool for evil, just like a hammer can be used for evil. It's NOT all about the guns. It's all about the sick individuals who want to harm innocent people just because they're having a bad day. It's about WHY, out of the millions of possible outcomes, they chose that one. It's about how to stop people from thinking that MURDER is an option just because you're upset. IT'S ABOUT MURDER, YOU IGNORANT ASS. Whether it's with a gun, a bat, a hammer, a car, a knife, some rat poison...I can go on here. The problem is MURDER, not guns.

Put a parent in front of me. I'm not ashamed of my words.



And: I noticed that three times as many people so far have "disliked" my comment to outlier. I guess that's proof that the truth hurts and only 25% of the population wants to admit to a fact.

Enjoy your little bubble of ignorance. In the meantime, I'll be refreshing my kids on what to do in this type of situation.
Posted by sleuthgirl]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 22:09:32 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Yellowdogdaughter]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 21:51:26 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Jennifer Coates Johnson]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 21:49:12 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Yellowdogdaughter]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 21:44:32 -0600 Arkansas Times
I just checked the stats for the UK and you guys have almost as many murders by knife as we have by gun, so do me a favor and get off your high horse.
Posted by sleuthgirl]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 20:48:50 -0600 Arkansas Times
As for Yellowdaughter: I guess you didn't hear about the guy in China with the knife and 22 kids.

And maybe you're too young to know about the Irish religious wars with molotov cocktails and really big rocks.

Perhaps you never knew about the tribal wars in Africa, where they eviscerate the men and cut off the breasts of women so they can't nurse their children, effectively starving the children and killing the tribe.

Attila the Hun didn't have a gun. Neither did the Romans. Nor did Vlad Tepes and that motherfugger killed over 40,000 people. The world was not skating along peacefully until some jerk invented guns.

-General reply-

I'm sick and tired of all the liberals blaming guns instead of the monsters who pull the trigger. 8775 gun murders a year out of a population of 311 million. And I got my statistic: according to the CDC, " 80% of which are caused by felons/career criminals/gang member activities."

These are not people who already own a lawful firearm. These are black market guns that would not be affected at all by "making stricter gun laws".

So that leaves 20%. Assuming that every single one of those 20% are lawful gun owners, that means they cause 1755 gun deaths per year. Car Crashes cause 22% more deaths at 40,000 and drowning claims twice as many lives. Should we outlaw cars and water? Should we hold Aquafina and Chevy accountable for those deaths?

You people are all focusing on the wrong part of this story. Instead of trying to determine what drove this man to murdering so many innocent people, you are only screaming about guns. THAT WONT SOLVE ANYTHING. Figuring out what CAUSED his rampage is the key here. Was he crazy? Was he on antidepressants? Was he on drugs? What caused him to decide that this was a good idea? I assure you, owning a gun doesn't make people want to shoot people, just like owning a car doesn't make people want to mow down pedestrians and having a steak knife doesn't make you want to shank your neighbor.

What about accountability? What about blaming the criminal for what he has done? What about some good old fashioned personal responsibility? It looks like the criminal is getting a free pass because no one is even talking about who he is and why he did it. No one is trying to get inside his head and determine what made him snap. The only thing I saw here was a smartassed, "the guy was crazy. BAN GUNS!" That's asinine.
Posted by sleuthgirl]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 20:40:11 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Jennifer Coates Johnson]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 20:06:52 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Gordon]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 19:43:43 -0600 Arkansas Times http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entr…

Arkansas's most famous idiot puts in his two cents.
Posted by evil monkey sez]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 17:45:54 -0600 Arkansas Times
Even the alcohol purveyors make something akin to effort at telling us alcohol shouldn't be abused.
Posted by Vanessa]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 17:01:12 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Cato]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:31:34 -0600 Arkansas Times
Now, I'm filled with loathing and hatred for the perverted cowards who worship these goddamned guns. I'm up to my eyes with disgust that our political leadership continues to do nothing because of their own fear of these perverted cowards in the NRA. And I'm totally despairing of anything good ever happening for our nation again.

Fuck you gun lovers, I hope your holidays are as dark and despairing as my mood.
Posted by 70%er]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:27:52 -0600 Arkansas Times
It's the senselessness of today's tragedy that sickens us all. Pointless. Ridiculous. Keep your handgun if you're such a chicken. But please don't ever try to argue that one man with with a steak knife could murder 26 others within minutes. Gun control advocates would prefer that automatic and assault weapons be banned. Assault weapons are designed to kill people, not protect them. Put a sock in it if you can't if you can't find compassion for people traumatized today. Find another blog to spew your idiocy.
Posted by Yellowdogdaughter]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:20:59 -0600 Arkansas Times
Now, I'll tell you what Obama is not going to do - he's not going to propose any more gun control. You know why? Because unlike me, he's not a gun grabbing socialist. Were I president I'd come for your guns personally.

When you're without your cold hard fetish, may I suggest a blow up doll to jack off to?
Posted by 70%er]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:14:35 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Verla Sweere]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:09:51 -0600 Arkansas Times