7 dead, 7 wounded in Santa Barbara shooting rampage

That is not the way you posted it. If you had said that some of these diagnoses are legitimate, but there are cases of kids who are just assholes being incorrectly given a label and meds, that would have been a valid argument. But you didn't do that. Either you did not decide that was the way you wanted to go until later or you failed miserably in stating your point the first time around.

 

Should we even ask him what the fuck he is talking about this time?

 

To the argument that 2 + 2 = 5, no coherent counterargument can -- nor should -- be made.

 

What who is talking about? I quoted a graf from the Slate piece.

 

He's comparing Article I of the Constitution with the benefits of flossing. It's a strained comparison, I'll grant you.

 

‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens

http://www.theonion.com/articles/no-way-to-prevent-this-says-only-nation-where-this,36131/

 

So, you want us to accept it is wrong because you say so. Yeah, that ain't gonna happen.

Bottom line is I am making a coherent point and supporting it with logic and references to the discussion. You are flinging poo.

 

Edited to correct typo.

 

There's a lot of "see how easy that is" remarks being rolled out in this thread, but let me contribute a few points that might show the issue to be more complex/complicated than some believe it to be.

1. Akhil Reid Amar's book about the Constitution includes his take on the Second Amendment. To sum up: When the amendment was first written, the Founding Fathers were thinking about their admiration for the Minutemen and the role they played in the Revolutionary War. After the Civil War, certain states passed black codes, which included laws that said blacks could not own guns. After the 14th Amendment was passed, Congress passed a civil rights act which said, among other things, that you could not deny gun ownership to somebody just because he was black. Amar's take is that was Congress saying the Second Amendment was about firearm ownership.

2. There are hundreds of different types of firearms. Some are only for military usage, some would only be used by hunters, some would only be used in shooting sports, and some can only be classified as antiques. Then there are the firearms which would only be used for one of two purposes: To commit a crime or to defend yourself.

3. That begs the follow-up question: Where is it written that people absolutely must have the biggest firearm possible to protect themselves? Because one factor about the criminal element is that the criminal is likely going to do whatever he can to stay one step ahead of the law-abiding citizen and will adjust accordingly to what the law abider may do.

4. Guy A wants you to leave his guns alone but wants violent video games restricted. Guy B wants you to leave his violent video games alone but wants guns restricted. The similarity between the two is each one embraces the gun culture in his own way, whether the guys realize it or not.

5. There is a difference between reporting a criminal activity and your approach to reporting it. I would say the real problem with reporting criminal activity is that, when a mass shooting happens, it's usually reported in this way:

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STORY OF THE DAY. WE MUST ANALYZE EVERY LITTLE ASPECT 24/7 AND HAVE BREAKING NEWS WITH EVERY LITTLE DETAIL THAT COMES OUT. BECAUSE DEBATE IS IMPORTANT, PLUS WE MUST HAVE RATINGS, WEB HITS AND PUBLICATION SALES. AND WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN.

6. Discussing mental health issues seems to be the one topic few want to take seriously. We can't just look at it as giving somebody a pill and then have them attend counseling. Sometimes you have to make sure somebody with mental health issues gets something changed in his/her life to make a difference. (I will say I believe this is what Songbird was trying to get at earlier.)

7. Just because somebody has mental health issues does not mean they are absolved of responsibility for their actions. The only exception is somebody whose mind is so far gone that they cannot understand why what they did was wrong... and such cases are rare.

All right, I'm done.

 

It sounds like the cultural influence was not World of Warcraft, but "Superbad" or possibly "Can't Buy Me Love."

 

You're in no position to judge who's winning or losing this argument, junior.
You're barely conscious of your surroundings here, yourself.
Can you prove this loser was on the autism spectrum?
I have not seen that expertly stated.

 

Listen, dude, Patrick Dempsey can learn many a young snot-nosed punk about the power of a dollar, and persistence. In the end, she rode a mower with him into the sunset -- AND wore his hipster-doofus hat.