rudi49jr

There are plenty of polls that show most Americans want stricter gun laws. This one: 71% of Americans want stricter gun laws, including about half of Republicans, the vast majority of Democrats and a majority in those in gun-owning households: https://apnews.com/article/gun-violence-covid-health-chicago-c912ecc5619e925c5ea7447d36808715 This one (see points 7 and 8): 61% say it’s too easy to legally obtain a gun, and 58% favor stricter gun laws: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/

I think your math leaves a little something to be desired. This year there have been 565 mass shootings in the USA. There is no widely accepted definition of a mass shooting, but here’s a list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2023 Some 650 deaths of mass shootings this year. With over two months to go. Here’s the list for 2022: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2022 Some 762 deaths from mass shootings. Slightly more than the less than 60 you claim. Over 14 deaths a week. Slightly more than the 1 a week you claim. Plus almost 3,000 wounded in mass shootings in 2022. I find your casual attitude towards mass shootings quite appalling, to be honest, downplaying the number of victims, and comparing dying in a mass shooting to dying in an accident at home.

Okay, then you tell me why lawmakers are blind to what the (vast) majority of the American people want: stricter gun laws.

There are 20 million (or more) AR15’s in circulation in the USA. In the majority of mass shootings, the AR15 is the gun that is used. https://www.businessinsider.com/us-20-million-ar-15-style-rifles-in-circulation-2022-5?international=true&r=US&IR=T Still think I’m talking cr*p?

What might it be then? Please enlighten us.

Followed by “we’re not going to fix this”. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/28/tim-burchett-republican-nashville-shooting There is a pretty substantial majority in the US who are in favor of (much) stricter gun laws, but these gutless cowards are not going to do anything because they’re in the NRA’s pockets and/or they’re afraid to antagonize part of their gun-nut base and lose votes. Despicable.

As a percentage, fewer households in the US own guns than they did in 1990. Then explain to us simple souls how it's possible that there have been over 500 mass shootings in the US this year alone, while there are hardly any in other countries (with much stricter gun laws). Like you side: yeah, it’s got to be the guns.

You already should know I'm pro firearms. Do you think civilians should be allowed to own assault rifles like an AR15? Because I think it’s completely nuts that millions of people in the US apparently (most of them legally) own some kind of assault rifle like that.

Surgeons call these people (or motorbike riders in general) ‘organ donors’. This guy will end up in the morgue soon enough, if he continues to ride his bike like an idiot.

I have yet to see a post from you, in any thread, that is not a deflection. As several posters before me have already pointed out: over 500 mass shootings this year in the US, with more than two months to go. Want to bet we’re going to get to (at least) 600? Fall and winter are always good seasons to get a nice depression and go on a shooting spree. And yet surprisingly few mass shootings (almost non existent) in countries with much stricter gun laws. I wonder if you can connect the dots…

Well, for a long time Trump ordered Cohen to lie for him. Trump, on the other hand, has been a pathological liar all his life, lying comes as natural to him as breathing. Slight difference….

Bullheaded ignorance and stupidity is what gets me. On the one hand, all these MAGA idiots claim to love their country so much, they love democracy and just want to uphold the constitution. But on the other hand, they storm the Capitol to overthrow the result of a legitimate election, and worship a fascist, racist two-bit conman who doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself, and wants to abolish democracy and become a dictator like his buddies Putin and Kim. Those two things clearly don’t match, but apparently that’s not a problem at all for the MAGA cult members. Go figure.

How is this news? I’m pretty sure most family members of most ministers and MP’s have (many) shady deals going on, like extorting companies for kickbacks. How else would they be able to afford their luxury lifestyle?

Somehow I don’t really buy these crocodile tears. You also see that with a lot of those Jan. 6 Capitol stormers, that suddenly they are overcome with remorse. Looks to me like they are much more sorry that they got caught, than sorry that they did what they did. Or maybe that’s just me being cynical…..

Maybe you should try sticking to facts instead of rehashing debunked Republican talking points. There hasn’t been one (not one) Republican president in the last 40-50 years who has been fiscally responsible, even though Republicans keep screaming at the top of their lungs that they’re the only ones who can save the nation from the big spender Dems. Ronald Reagan vowed to limit the size of the government, but doubled the national deficit. Bush senior then increased the deficit by another 50%. Bill Clinton left office with a budget surplus. Bush junior managed to go from a $236 billion surplus to a $458 billion deficit. Quite an accomplishment. Because of the global financial crisis, the deficit at first skyrocketed under Obama, but was then brought back to $440 billion. Under Trump, the deficit hit more than $1 trillion. You still want to maintain that Republicans are fiscally responsible? All they ever do is cut taxes for the rich, cut welfare programs and (hugely) increase the Defense budget. https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/030515/which-united-states-presidents-have-run-largest-budget-deficits.asp#:~:text=Donald Trump%2C Barack Obama%2C and,budget deficits in U.S. history.

That’s because most Thai governments have absolutely no comprehensive views or plans on how to develop the country. It’s all ad hoc decisions, often poorly thought through. Then there is the enormous corruption, which goes all the way to the top and is crippling every effort to actually do something worthwhile. And last but not least: I often get the impression that none of the bigwigs give a damn about anything other than lining their own pockets. The same problems keep coming back every year: floods, droughts, smog in the north and in the BKK metropolitan area, and so on and so forth, and no one in power seems to have any interest at all in actually dealing with those problems. It’s all talk and forming committees and ‘closely monitoring the situation’, but in the end, nothing actually gets done.

“leads to a national crackdown on all illegal activity and corruption” Yeah, right. No one is going to slaughter the goose that lays the golden eggs. Ain’t never going to happen.

Yeah, that’s exactly what we want from the American president, the most powerful man in the world: someone who keeps breaking the law and trying to end democracy in the US just for laughs and entertainment. Not your most thought through post, to say the least.

Even the naive deserve protection, don’t you think? What you’re doing is victim blaming.

Why do you keep telling people they need to go home? Can’t take a little honest criticism of your country? As far as I’m concerned, this sentence of yours says all I need to know about your attitude towards foreigners: “Thais only look down on foreigners who are miserable losers.”

‘It doesn’t try to impose its culture on others’: I’m pretty sure the hill tribes up north and other minorities in Thailand would strongly disagree with you. ‘It tries to be friends with all countries in the world, recognizing nuances in international relations’: Being friends with oppressive and murderous regimes like those in Myanmar and Russia, to name but a few, is not something to be proud of. ‘It isn’t ashamed to be patriotic, without being xenophobic’ : You claim to be Thai, so you should know that many Thai look down on foreigners. When something bad happens, the knee jerk reaction is often to either blame the foreigners directly, or say that a Thai could not have done that. Even Anutin, as then health minister, made some very questionable claims and remarks, and he was by far not the only one among the Thai cabinet members.

If the election results had been honored and Pita hadn’t been railroaded so he couldn’t become PM, then probably yes. With Shretta (i.e. Thaksin) at the helm, not so much.

No doubt the authorities will be ‘closely monitoring the situation’, or maybe even setting up a committee or two. But actually doing something about it seems to be too much to ask. Probably too busy thinking of new ways to get even more kickbacks. Anyone wants to hazard a guess what will happen when the burning season starts? My money is on nothing, zip, zilch, nada, not a damn thing.

What’s amazing to me is how many Putin fan boys there are in this thread. Must be a busy day at the troll farms in St. Petersburg. The one in Russia, not the one in Florida.

I think you’re mistaking Sleepy Joe for Sleazy Don. How many indictments again on Trump and his cronies? And how many on Biden?