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#176 2004-05-08 12:34:53
- Euler
- Member
- From: Corvallis, OR
- Registered: 2003-02-06
- Posts: 922
Re: Appropriate Topics: War & Politics *2*
Social mores and values -have- changed in this nation. Especially in HOW people express frustration, anger, etc. I never heard of pre-planned, execution-style shooting sprees in schools -- even in rinky-dink Alabama towns about the size of my own small town! -- until around 1996.
This is exactly my point. You never heard about school shootings before 1996 because the media was not as fixated on them then. In fact, there in-school murder rate had been going down, with only 25 school homicides in 1996-1997 compared with 55 in 1992-1993. Students are 40 more likely to be murdered outside of school than in school, and twice as likely to be struck by lightning.
People often forget just how big America really is. There are 300,000,000 people living here. That is enough that almost any conceivable method of death, no matter how strange, will happen eventually. When the media starts running stories about a particular method of death, people think that it is running rampant, even though it is usually occurring at the same extremely rare frequency that it always has.
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#177 2004-05-08 12:42:58
- dicktice
- Member
- From: Nova Scotia, Canada
- Registered: 2002-11-01
- Posts: 1,764
Re: Appropriate Topics: War & Politics *2*
Could it be the films and television? "Gangster movies" never used to show bullets going in and out (in lovingly strung-out slow motion yet!). The "gats" were never in the same scene as the victim. Check out the thirties films. The weapons were incidental to the plot. Now, they're the plot, with the storyline the excuse for the violence. Every TV trailer of an upcoming feature action film (and there seem to be no other kind these days) shows someone pull out a handgun in the first few seconds (causing me to immediately switch off) to prove my point. I have no acceptable answer for the poor old U.S. We in Canada have enough of a problem countering the effects of this form of "entertainment" from south of the border, since ALL film distribution up here is dictated by the Hollywood moguls. Unbelievable, but true.
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#178 2004-05-08 16:16:20
- Mundaka
- Banned
- Registered: 2004-01-11
- Posts: 322
Re: Appropriate Topics: War & Politics *2*
Macte nova virtute, sic itur ad astra
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#179 2004-05-10 11:23:40
- clark
- Member
- Registered: 2001-09-20
- Posts: 6,375
Re: Appropriate Topics: War & Politics *2*
Freedom, Justice, and respect for the lives of those who reciprocate.
Cobra isn't an American, he is a Superhero. :laugh:
Well, it's monday. I had a drink (or two). Things are still the same, but at least that's an accomplishment, since we're still here to see that things are the same.
Oh yeah, we had an American holiday of sorts, Mother's Day. I was saddened on Sunday, the day we over here honor our mothers for going through the trouble of bringing us into this god forsaken world. I was thinking of all the sons and daughters, killing other sons and daughters, on Mothers Day.
So I had another drink (or two). Maybe things will look better on Tuesday.
I'm on board the Coltrain express, ye-ah.
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#180 2004-05-10 15:27:24
- Rxke
- Member
- From: Belgium
- Registered: 2003-11-03
- Posts: 3,669
Re: Appropriate Topics: War & Politics *2*
Could this whole Iraqi-jail SNAFU have far-reaching effects on international politics? Bushs]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3692285.stm]Bush's softer approach to Mid-East (BBC)
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#181 2004-05-10 15:29:02
- Bill White
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- Registered: 2001-09-09
- Posts: 2,114
Re: Appropriate Topics: War & Politics *2*
Could this whole Iraqi-jail SNAFU have far-reaching effects on international politics? Bushs]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3692285.stm]Bush's softer approach to Mid-East (BBC)
It should, but it won't.
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