The Swamp

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2018 11:01 am I just signed a dumb petition to get Amazon to drop the NRA channel. I'm looking at companies still doing business with the NRA and for the first time in my life I think I'm going to actually engage with a boycott.

I live in a state where my vote doesn't really move the needle (in a good way.) But trying to figure out a way to affect change is where I'm at now. I'll probably look at races where an NRA lackey is in trouble as places to donate as we get into the summer and races start to heat up.

Small dollars, to be sure, but it's something.

I was amazed to learn about how many major companies do business with the NRA (discounting rooms and rentals etc.), as if it was just some innocuous group like the 4H clubs or Shriners or something.

Clearly, this is the way to get things done. Shame shareholders at AGMs by protesting with photos of dead students, buy air time, something to show the average person who wasn't aware of the tie ins that these companies are indirectly condoning mass slaughter. Something to keep the momentum building.

Maybe a "reverse boycott" would have an effect - like support companies after they cut ties with the NRA.

Yay for Dicks.

I bought a machete from Dicks. $25, Gerber. Good value.

Does it have a picture of the baby on the handle?

Johnnie wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 1:17 pm I bought a machete from Dicks. $25, Gerber. Good value.

I scored one of those from the white elephant at our work xmas party.

Teacher Opens Fire In Georgia Classroom

No fatalities.

In a sane world, that would effectively end the debate about arming teachers.

P.D.X. wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 1:33 pm

Johnnie wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 1:17 pm I bought a machete from Dicks. $25, Gerber. Good value.

I scored one of those from the white elephant at our work xmas party.

Did anyone think it was odd that a weapon was brought to a work party?

Not with the sex toys there.

Who brought the ponchos?

Pruitt wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 3:01 pm Teacher Opens Fire In Georgia Classroom

No fatalities.

In a sane world, that would effectively end the debate about arming teachers.

Also, that story needs to be edited, needs to be edited.

Rush2112 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 4:06 pm

Pruitt wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 3:01 pm Teacher Opens Fire In Georgia Classroom

No fatalities.

In a sane world, that would effectively end the debate about arming teachers.

Also, that story needs to be edited, needs to be edited.

Dalton is known as the Carpet Capital of the World, since much of the carpet for U.S. and world markets is produced within a 25-mile (40-kilometer) radius of the city. The origins of Dalton’s carpet industry are traced to the making of bedspreads in the community.

I've driven through Dalton, and it is definitely the carpet capital of the world.

A_B wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 4:29 pm I've driven through Dalton, and it is definitely the carpet capital of the world.

Do they make drapes there too?

brian wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 4:34 pm

A_B wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 4:29 pm I've driven through Dalton, and it is definitely the carpet capital of the world.

Do they make drapes there too?

You know some nasty old ho has made a "carpet capital of the world" joke.

Vegas FTW.



ETA: Here's a better pic.

Ah shit brian. CMU is on lockdown.

Two dead in a dorm seems more like some shady stuff went sideways more than a mass shooting, no?

A_B wrote: ↑Fri Mar 02, 2018 10:40 am Two dead in a dorm seems more like some shady stuff went sideways more than a mass shooting, no?

Maybe. Though 9 am on a Friday is a weird time even for shady stuff. All I know is I’m tired of it.

Just got off a plane and hadn’t seen any specifics but guess it’s not students so that’s good in a way. Friday morning before Spring Break the place was probably a ghost town anyway so would have been a dumb time for a mass shooting type deal I supppse.

It's hard for me to come up with a reason why non-students are on the 4th floor of a residence hall other than cleaning crew. Anyone got any ideas?

GoodKarma wrote: ↑Fri Mar 02, 2018 11:58 am It's hard for me to come up with a reason why non-students are on the 4th floor of a residence hall other than cleaning crew. Anyone got any ideas?

I'm hearing it was the parents. (But haven't seen that reported yet.)

GoodKarma wrote: ↑Fri Mar 02, 2018 11:58 am It's hard for me to come up with a reason why non-students are on the 4th floor of a residence hall other than cleaning crew. Anyone got any ideas?

Also (and especially after a Thursday night) it could have easily been friends from out of town. Thursday night at Central is the biggest party night of the week. Wouldn't be unusual some weeks to have an extra thousand or two thousand non-students staying on-campus with friends.

Local news says it was his parents and that he was just released from a nearby hospital this morning.

Moreta wrote: ↑Fri Mar 02, 2018 12:46 pm Local news says it was his parents and that he was just released from a nearby hospital this morning.

Did they say what he was treated for?

Looks like he had police contact the night before and was released in the morning. It might have been a psych hold, which I’m sure will raise all kinds of issues.

When I went to school there at least, it would not have been this hard to find a black kid in Mount Pleasant.

Interest article in the NyTimes:How to Buy a Gun in 15 Countries

For example...in Canada:

1To buy a handgun, prove that you practice at an approved shooting club or range, or show that you are a gun collector.
2For any gun, complete a safety course and pass both a written and a practical test.
3Ask for two references.
4Apply for a permit, and wait 28 days before processing begins.
5Pass a background check that considers your criminal record, mental health, addiction and domestic violence history.
6Buy a gun. If you bought a handgun, register it with the police before taking it home.

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Fri Mar 02, 2018 9:46 pm Interest article in the NyTimes:How to Buy a Gun in 15 Countries

Stunning but not surprising stat...

Yemen has the second-highest gun ownership rate in the world, after the United States. While Yemeni law states that buyers must obtain guns from licensed dealers and register with the authorities, the law is largely unenforced.

I'd like to know how one gets into gun collecting if one owns zero guns. There's gotta be a common sense exemption in there.

Edit:

I really, really, really wish America would adopt the rule about being part of a club that practices though. You can never have too much training.

We have that club. It’s called he NEA apparently.

More people were murdered in Florida than NRA members that used a discount with Delta.

Georgia lawmakers then went the petty route and stripped a jet fuel exemption out of a tax bill that would've helped Delta.

Not like they need the money. They're worth 10 billion, but it's the principle of legislators fucking over private businesses that's unsettling.

Delta doesn't given a fuck saying that “Our decision was not made for economic gain and our values are not for sale" and “We are in the process of a review to end group discounts for any group of a politically divisive nature.”

What’s the point of moving CMU basketball game offsite and only allowing player families to attend?

So can Delta take the government to court over this? I'm unfamiliar with how state law works, but I saw lots of folks on Twitter talking about how this is extortion.

Giff wrote: ↑Sat Mar 03, 2018 8:29 am What’s the point of moving CMU basketball game offsite and only allowing player families to attend?

I think they made the decision before the suspect was in custody and once they did it would have been hard to reverse.

Lots of moving pieces though. They absolutely had to play Saturday since it's the regular season finale and conference tournament seedings are waiting -- first round is played on campus and CMU is the arguably the most affected team. If they beat Western, first-round game is at CMU. If they lose, it's on the road.

The area near the arena was being used as a staging area for police for the manhunt so if it continued into Saturday, holding the game at the arena would have been tough logistically, much less emotionally. There was something like 150 police (campus, city, state, federal) in Mount Pleasant (a town of 25,000 people).

Also, it's a small town. Having a double murderer free and on the loose in town might be a first that I know of so the town was on edge, so having the game in Mount Pleasant was probably a non-starter.

Makes sense. Gracias.

Giff wrote: ↑Sat Mar 03, 2018 6:21 pm Makes sense. Gracias.

I didn’t realize this until just now but the MAC Wrestling Championships were at McGuirk today and tomorrow so that was the biggest reason. (That itself had to be rescheduled to later in the day today because of logistics with the police in the campus parking lots but they were able to move once campus officially shut down for Spring Break late yesterday.)

degenerasian wrote: ↑Sat Mar 03, 2018 10:11 am So can Delta take the government to court over this? I'm unfamiliar with how state law works, but I saw lots of folks on Twitter talking about how this is extortion.

I think it's a very clear First Amendment violation, now that Citizens United gave corporations First Amendment rights. I guess Delta would have to prove the tax break was voted down because of Delta's policy change. Georgia's Lt. Governor flat out said he was going to make sure the tax break didn't go through, but it may not have anyways, so Delta wouldn't have any damages there. In the end, it's probably not worth it for Delta to bring a lawsuit, but it's really fucked up that a Lt Governor would make that threat. Not only does it violate the First Amend, but it violates the Conservative ideal of Free Markets, and it accused Conservative Oppression when a Conservative group was treated the same as everyone else, which drives me nuts.

I think if Delta cared enough to press the issue, instead of suing, they could simply threaten to move their headquarters to a different state, say one that is more friendly to their "values". It would certainly cause a flash point in the state and force Georgians to back either the LG or Delta.

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 11:09 am I think if Delta cared enough to press the issue, instead of suing, they could simply threaten to move their headquarters to a different state, say one that is more friendly to their "values". It would certainly cause a flash point in the state and force Georgians to back either the LG or Delta.

I know Cuomo invited them to NY and some politician in OH did the same thing last week.

Considering their second-biggest hub is in Detroit, officials from Michigan should have as well though the Republican governor there is a spineless quisling.

ETA: I guess I'm not sure if MSP or DTW is "bigger". It's probably pretty close. In any event, the point stands.