BANG !

[crux]

In America there are about 2.4 million deaths per year from all causes, most attended by medical personnel.
There are also about 17,400 suicides per year by gun, almost none attended by medical personnel.

So deliberately shooting yourself through the head is 138 times less likely to kill you than seeing medical personnel.

...fascinating...simply fascinating...

[ParkerLongbaugh]

I'm stumped.. I cannot stand it another minute. It's driving me nuts. I consulted my Greek alphabet and dictionary and get zip. Please translate, and tell us the significance of, your Avatar?

Well, I suppose this is an appropriate thread for this.

It's a quote from the battle of Thermopylae in 480BC, and a photo from the monument that is there today. After several days of holding off a vastly superior force, it became apparent to the Greeks fighting there that they could not do so or survive much longer. The Greeks, under Leonidas, were offered their lives by the invading Persians if they would simply step aside, allow the Persians to pass through and subsequently live peacefully under Persian rule. All they had to do was surrender their weapons.

Leonidas' answer was Molon Labe- it means "come and take them"

[Juggler]

Thanks! Google Translate has its limitations, "μολων λαβε" being translated as "moles received"
This reference exposes the intricacies of Greek grammar involved here. It's beyond me.

[ParkerLongbaugh]

Well, that would certainly change the backstory on the whole thing!

[crux]

Concerned as I am for his welfare, I recommend that Crux do the smart thing and act on these statistics.

I would like to know for the record. What does this mean. This seems to be rather COURSE.

[Wise One]

You probably mean "coarse."
You didn't get Fangz' joke so it somehow does not surprise me that you do not get mine either.
How sad to live so dimly in world devoid of humor.
I laugh at damn near anything, from a slip on a banana peel on up to tricks in statistics.
Feels good.

[crux]

...and thank you! COARSE. Yes... I do not catch every joke it is true. So it was a joke, with an edge, which is your tone of late.

You seem to have blown your cool fiend.

[crux]

It is in the public interest, and therefore a function of government...

...is WHERE you went astray...

...and the reason is so apparent to me and illustrated here. There are some very bad folk about.

The thug with gold teeth, and his thug bud, are certainly "good boys" who "went astray" or were "someone's loved one's", who yes, might kill one of their family members... Now you would chalk them to be victim of domestic violence, or another incidence of "PUBLIC HEALTH" concern, but CERTAINLY you would FAIL UTTERLY to label Mr. Gold Teeth a "CRIMINAL"!

These are the perceptions of a Dunce, from my way of thinking, in my opinion and from not only my perspective, but the dead relative too!

WORSE still is the facts of the article detailing the brutal murder of a good Samaritan that intervened in an altercation while picking up a hot chocolate at McDonald's between Mr. Thug and another patron. Upon leaving McDonald's, he was chased and cornered in an alley, savagely beaten, shot three times after tearfully begging for his life, and this father of three had his bloody corpse laughed over by these ANIMALS...

...in London.

[crux]

You don't even need a gun OR a human to commit murder on a LOVED ONE!

crux ...silly criminals...

[ParkerLongbaugh]

That cartoon is just absurd- pretty darn sure the cartoonist has absolutely no experience overseas like the subjects of his comment, nor much experience with firearms or self-defense here in the US either.

[Sam]

I think ole OBL was shot with a gun. Just hope they don't show the pictures

[crux]

That cartoon is just absurd- pretty darn sure the cartoonist has absolutely no experience overseas like the subjects of his comment, nor much experience with firearms or self-defense here in the US either.

I am glad for this comment. This cartoon IS "off".

[coondog]

I'm with you, Sam. While somewhere deep inside, I'd like to see the photo, not publishing it leaves the burdon of proof on the nay-sayers. It's like......if he's alive, let's see him!

What bums me out is all this jibberish about who gets credit. I got the inevitable right wing generated e-mail today giving Bush 95% of the credit. I would have been happy if Bush hadn't developed a case of Saddamy and accomplished this years ago. Then he could have had 100% of the credit.

I give it all to the Seals. You can appreciate map quest for telling you where you need to go, but it's what you do when you get there that counts!

Coondog

I suspect OBL is NOT fish food, but layed out in Area 51 next to the other non-human remains from Roswell.

[Sam]

Hey what bothers me is the way our country men and women cheered as they learned of his death. That is exactly the way many Muslims cheered upon learning of the deaths on 911. Funny how their smiles look so bad when they did it yet we did the same thing. I don't rejoice at his death but am glad he was caught. I believe he was marginalized but I could be wrong. Maybe all those files and his hard drive will yield some information. Will the terrorists stop - no I don't think so. You cut off the head of their snake and another one will re-appear. I have no desire to see anything so gruesome. Yuck as my one grandson says.

[crux]

We missed Bin Laden in Tora Bora. OK, fine. That has NOTHING to do with Iraq. OBL eluded us in Afghanistan. True. This was separate and aside from Iraq. Iraq happened many many moons after dealing with the Taliban. The Left likes to link them vis-a-vis OBL. This is silly-ill-logic. Then we have to endure "corndog praise the SEALS, after scolding all that got them there...

!. Gitmo
2. Enhanced Interrogation
3. Patriot Act
4. ...even a whole lotta Bush...

Not showing the photo of OBL witha hole in his head is OK by me. Probably best. I remember feeling poorly to show dead old Saddam, but WHATEVER. Good riddance.

PART TWO: AO, like I said, with LOVED ONES like this "DADDY", who needs enemies. I'll take a good dose of common sense, and retain my 2nd amendment rights, THANK YOU. This poor little girl was the VICTIM of her Father's CRIMINAL act...not the KNIFE.

PART THREE: This WWII Vet warms the heart. He was a scout sniper, and at 84, still has SKILLS!! This is a heart warming piece, which shows our Soldiers in the LIGHT your cartoon mocks...

[ParkerLongbaugh]

Hey what bothers me is the way our country men and women cheered as they learned of his death. That is exactly the way many Muslims cheered upon learning of the deaths on 911. Funny how their smiles look so bad when they did it yet we did the same thing. I don't rejoice at his death but am glad he was caught.

Yep, I reacted the exact same way- this entire war has apparently drug many of us down to their level. Being happy in general about such things is not new at all, but the specific manner of it certainly is. Think of the hypothetical difference between:

"Hitler is dead, AND THE WAR IS OVER!"
and
"WE SHOT BIN LADEN, and AQ has been decapitated."

I was especially embarrased by seeing other folks in uniform acting that way- being happy about a successful mission and accomplishment is one thing, but specifically celebrating a shoot is quite another. I've seen it in person overseas, but even there it's an aberration and not reflective of the values and beliefs we espouse.

[Wise One]

I'm with both of you, Parker & Sam, on this.

International relations and the exercise of political/military power, all the complexity that entails, is not a football game.

There are too many rubes on the sidelines behaving as though that's all it is. It's serious business and deserves a serious demeanor, if only to avoid exactly the appearance you both decry.

[crux]

...and I think I know who will be buying one...The One!

Personally I like the Joker figure...Bo as SEAL is an insult. Bo as Rambo is an affront to my 80s sensibilities as well.

[crux]

...to the list of items needing common sense regulations. ACID.

[Wise One]

There are too many "geniuses" like this running around already.
And gun nuts seem only to want more of them.