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REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS
Guns, Guns, Guns.
Thursday, December 20, 2012 9:09 AM
CHRISISALL
Quote:Originally posted by Geezer: Quote:Originally posted by chrisisall: I own more guns than I can easily count. But most are phasers, some are Galactica & Star Wars blasters, three are airsoft Bond PPK's. Sorry, Chris, but you own toys that look like guns.
Quote:Originally posted by chrisisall: I own more guns than I can easily count. But most are phasers, some are Galactica & Star Wars blasters, three are airsoft Bond PPK's.
Thursday, December 20, 2012 10:00 AM
NIKI2
Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...
Thursday, December 20, 2012 10:27 AM
ANTHONYT
Freedom is Important because People are Important
Thursday, December 20, 2012 10:40 AM
Quote:Originally posted by AnthonyT: I enjoyed the latest Rambo film.
Thursday, December 20, 2012 11:18 AM
BYTEMITE
Quote: The 'popular opinion' is wrong. I weep. I like the Sound of Music and Mary Poppins. I enjoyed the latest Rambo film. I love openly and without shame. I enjoy the art of using weapons. I am a man. I am a human.
Friday, December 21, 2012 2:21 AM
JO753
rezident owtsidr
Friday, December 21, 2012 8:07 AM
Friday, December 21, 2012 9:21 AM
Friday, December 21, 2012 9:22 AM
Friday, December 21, 2012 9:37 AM
Friday, December 21, 2012 9:42 AM
Friday, December 21, 2012 9:51 AM
Friday, December 21, 2012 10:07 AM
M52NICKERSON
DALEK!
Quote:Originally posted by AnthonyT: I don't think you even noticed I had been insulted.
Quote:His fear of losing his symbol of manhood (and puh-lease don't tell me you haven't heard that analogy, Anthony, or that you haven't looked yourself in the mirror while you're gun stroking to exactly how perfect a penis-stroking metaphor it is)
Quote:All right Anthony, setting aside the gun-as-manhood thing, (which I guess isn't evident unless you're a non-gun person coming across the gun measuring and comparing threads that crop up here time to time)
Friday, December 21, 2012 10:10 AM
Friday, December 21, 2012 10:14 AM
Quote: whether or not gun companies play into that kind of advertising, it's a stereotype. Some guys happily measure themselves up to that stereotype, sure. But its one that causes a lot of damage. Stereotypes hurt people. Stereotypes are bad. It doesn't matter if by observation it seems justified. It is NEVER justified.
Quote:Maybe people do this to women so often and in so many ways that you can't even see it anymore because it looks like the background wallpaper. I don't think you even noticed I had been insulted.
Friday, December 21, 2012 10:19 AM
Friday, December 21, 2012 10:24 AM
Friday, December 21, 2012 10:25 AM
MAL4PREZ
Quote:Originally posted by AnthonyT: Hello Niki, Let me be clear. The person who said that didn't just say it about 'men' or 'gun owners' but also about me personally. I never rejected that the perception exists. Obviously it exists or someone wouldn't have said such things about me. I rejected it as being a valid perception and one worthy of expression. I rejected that someone should embrace that view, paint all men with it, and then paint me with it specifically. So when, after someone insults men, shooters, AND ME PERSONALLY, you go and find a Bushmaster advert and say, "Look, see?" And you don't know why that should piss me off? Maybe people do this to women so often and in so many ways that you can't even see it anymore because it looks like the background wallpaper. I don't think you even noticed I had been insulted. ETA: I see Byte already expressed it better than I did. Thank you. --Anthony Note to Self: Raptor - woman testifying about birth control is a slut (the term applies.) Context: http://tinyurl.com/d6ozfej Six - Wow, isn't Niki quite the CUNT? And, yes, I spell that in all caps.... http://tinyurl.com/bdjgbpe Wulf - Niki is a stupid fucking bitch who should hurry up and die. Context: http://tinyurl.com/afve3r9 “The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.” -T. S. Szasz
Friday, December 21, 2012 10:28 AM
DREAMTROVE
Quote:War on Guns!
Friday, December 21, 2012 10:56 AM
Quote:Originally posted by MAL4PREZ: Quote:Originally posted by AnthonyT: Hello Niki, Let me be clear. The person who said that didn't just say it about 'men' or 'gun owners' but also about me personally. I never rejected that the perception exists. Obviously it exists or someone wouldn't have said such things about me. I rejected it as being a valid perception and one worthy of expression. I rejected that someone should embrace that view, paint all men with it, and then paint me with it specifically. So when, after someone insults men, shooters, AND ME PERSONALLY, you go and find a Bushmaster advert and say, "Look, see?" And you don't know why that should piss me off? Maybe people do this to women so often and in so many ways that you can't even see it anymore because it looks like the background wallpaper. I don't think you even noticed I had been insulted. ETA: I see Byte already expressed it better than I did. Thank you. --Anthony Note to Self: Raptor - woman testifying about birth control is a slut (the term applies.) Context: http://tinyurl.com/d6ozfej Six - Wow, isn't Niki quite the CUNT? And, yes, I spell that in all caps.... http://tinyurl.com/bdjgbpe Wulf - Niki is a stupid fucking bitch who should hurry up and die. Context: http://tinyurl.com/afve3r9 “The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.” -T. S. Szasz Here's where it applies to you Anthony. When you and your gun-loving cohorts get going with your public gun-stroking, you are not talking about your favorite knitting pattern or most useful power tool. You are talking about a killing machine. Your fondness for this killing machine is not purely for the beauty or usefulness of it, as old ladies may love a sweater they made or a carpenter may admire a table. You have made it very clear that the value you have in your guns is not purely in the devices themselves. It is in how they give you power. Your guns make you feel secure, in control of your freedom, and that security is based on your gun being at least as big as the gun of the other neighborhood alpha males. Is the penis analogy clear to you yet? OK, I'll go on. In living within this paradigm, you have rejected the notion that a man may be valued for more than the girth of his willy, or that a human may have power that is not rooted in violence or the threat of violence. I see these two mentalities as similarity rooted in the stereotype of the MALE, though certainly I have known both men and women who crossed to the other side. Still, I see no better analogy to a person finding power in the size of their gun than a man defining his worth in the size of his johnson. I have lived all my life with neither a penis nor a gun. I have frequently had less physical power than those who could do me damage. I have found ways to ensure my personal freedom and security without either of these stereotypical male tools. Yes, it can be done. You can be verile without your big guns. You can be secure without having immediate means of destroying your "enemy." Ghandi. MLK. Give peace a chance. I wonder if you could try it. I wonder if everyone could give it a shot, (Oh, the pun...) and how it might change the world if people would give up the big penis-gun-nuke contest. I mean, really. Do you really think you have nothing to fear from the constabulary as long as yours is as big as theirs? And you don't see how the metaphor applies to you?
Quote:Yes, it can be done. You can be verile without your big guns.
Quote:Do you really think you have nothing to fear from the constabulary as long as yours is as big as theirs?
Quote:Ghandi. MLK. Give peace a chance.
Quote:And you don't see how the metaphor applies to you?
Friday, December 21, 2012 11:33 AM
Friday, December 21, 2012 11:37 AM
Friday, December 21, 2012 12:25 PM
Friday, December 21, 2012 12:38 PM
Quote:Originally posted by BYTEMITE: Mal4Prez :o Um. What about women who do own guns? Like the mother of the shooter?
Friday, December 21, 2012 12:40 PM
Quote:Originally posted by AnthonyT: It's a very nice replica.
Quote: I would never impose the real thing on you.
Friday, December 21, 2012 12:53 PM
Quote:Originally posted by MAL4PREZ: No, I don't think Anthony is inherently violent, but I do find his gun fascination and his need for security through firearms rather telling. I think this equivalence of violence and personal security is an insanity that I hope the human race can outgrow.
Quote:If you hear someone break in in the night, well, are you really gonna have your gun handy? And if so, wouldn't it be as likely to be picked up by a kid and used on his or her sibling (and there is evidence of that happening). Otherwise, well, frankly if you want to just take a gun and murder someone out of sheer evil revenge, well, there's nothing anyone can do about it! It's not even like Gunfight at OK Corral, where victory goes the one quickest on the draw. It's not like the kids are gonna be armed now is it? Or the teachers. You know, 'Better check my gun today in case there's a massacre..." So I cannot see how liberal gun laws protect anyone, I mean these guys don't forewarn anyone do they?
Quote:On a really serious note, America has to realise that these military weapons of mass annihilation are the problem. Most of the people who defend the possession of these weapons have no idea about defence. In the real world there are many like myself who have been trained to survive by any & all means necessary in a military environment. It seems to me that Americans buy more of these weapons to feel safe, yet the more they purchase the more unsafe they actually get.
Friday, December 21, 2012 12:56 PM
Friday, December 21, 2012 1:03 PM
Quote: One could try to even out the gender stereotype by saying a woman's worth comes of her bra size, but that just doesn't carry the same violent undertones to me.
Quote: And surely that's my bias, that I see men going after size as inherently violent.
Quote: Right, because big men and violence never go together. [/sarcasm]
Friday, December 21, 2012 1:05 PM
FREMDFIRMA
Quote:Originally posted by BYTEMITE: I think I fried my brain looking at Cosmopolitan magazine covers. How does that even exist? "How to please your man!" "How to get a better boyfriend!" "How to get thin!" "Fashion tips!" "Makeup tips!" "Shoes!" "Sexy sexy sexy!" Hey if you have all that, I guess your career and your finances and everything will fall into place BLEAARGH
Friday, December 21, 2012 2:45 PM
Friday, December 21, 2012 7:57 PM
Friday, December 21, 2012 8:18 PM
Friday, December 21, 2012 10:34 PM
Saturday, December 22, 2012 7:39 AM
Quote: It seems to me that Americans buy more of these weapons to feel safe, yet the more they purchase the more unsafe they actually get.
Quote: You talk about how we live in fantasy-land trying to convince ourselves we have control. I see this fascination with high-powered weapons as being exactly the same thing.
Quote: They should just be taken out of the hands of the part of society called 'the people.' The part of society called 'the government' should still have them. This premise might be logical if 'the government' was not made up of 'people.' However, 'the government' is made up of 'people.' The same people who can not be trusted to have these horrific weapons. Now when I decide that it is good and proper to treat all people as the same
Quote: If I have nothing to fear from people in the government with weapons of mass slaughter, then you have nothing to fear from ordinary people with weapons of mass slaughter. If you have something to fear from ordinary people with weapons of mass slaughter, then I have something to fear from government people with weapons of mass slaughter. A man with an assault weapon is a problem for you. A man with a badge and an assault weapon is safe. This is a delusion more striking to me than any I have been accused of.
Saturday, December 22, 2012 9:17 AM
Quote:Marketers have long told potential customers that if you used their product, it would do more than satisfy your consumer desires, it would make you into the kind of person you want to be. You may not be young, hip, and creative, but if you buy a computer from Apple, you can tell yourself that you are. Wearing a T-shirt from Under Armour won't actually turn you into an athlete, but it doesn't hurt to pretend. And if you're anxious about your masculinity, if you aren't quite sure whether those around you find you sufficiently strong and potent, the Bushmaster corporation has an answer for you. If you buy one of their semi-automatic rifles -- like the kind Adam Lanza used to murder 20 children and six adults last week -- you may "Consider your Man Card reissued." That's the message of ads the company has been running, along with a particularly ridiculous social media campaign. Until today -- the page has apparently been taken down, but parts of it are visible here ( http://www.buzzfeed.com/scott/bushmasters-shockingly-awful-man-card-campaign]) -- you could learn on the "Man Card" section of Bushmaster's website that "In a world of rapidly depleting testosterone, the Bushmaster Man Card declares and confirms that you are a man's man." Then you could fill out a little form to bust on your buddies for not being manly enough, to "Revoke a Man Card." Just enter a brief description of the offense and put it into one of five categories: "Cry baby," "Cupcake," "Short leash," "Coward," or "Just unmanly." The symbol for the last is the female restroom icon (a stick figure wearing a dress), but "Short leash" gets some of the best action, like "Steve A. missed a much-anticipated poker night to attend a movie musical instead," or "Heath K, where 'Yes I will' always becomes 'If she'll let me.' " All it takes to get that Man Card back is to get yourself a Bushmaster. You don't have to be a Freudian analyst to grasp the hidden meaning. It's not even subtext -- it's text. As we begin a long-overdue examination of where gun culture in America has gone, we can't avoid the way guns have become so entwined with masculine anxiety, as so many men seek to find their identity in instruments of destruction. With manual labor but a memory for most Americans, we have even fewer opportunities to enact rituals of manhood in the way our ancestors did. The strongest caveman may have led the tribe, but who are the masters of today's universe? A bunch of skinny, pasty kids who spend their days staring at computer screens. Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg may not be able to best you at arm-wrestling, but they could buy and sell you a thousand times over. We have to find reassurance where we can, so even if we can't prove our masculinity on the job and our kids won't listen to us, there is a way to feel that testosterone surge through our bodies. Whatever else you think about guns, no one who has ever held one can deny that they make you feel potent and strong. You don't even need to fire it to appreciate its power -- just holding it is enough. So if watching your fantasies play out on TV doesn't quite scratch that itch, you can enact them yourself down at the range -- or get a concealed carry permit, and convince yourself that the only reason you're not Jack Bauer is that the right opportunity hasn't yet presented itself. Here's something you may not realize: Gun ownership has been declining for decades. According to the University of Chicago's General Social Survey, in 1977, 54% of American households had guns. By 2010, the number had fallen to 32%. Yet gun sales are at record highs. That means that existing gun owners are buying more and more guns. It's not enough to have a hunting rifle over your mantle; you need an entire arsenal, just in case the government falls, society disintegrates, and you have to protect your cave -- sorry, your home -- from the marauding hordes. That's exactly what the gun manufacturers want you to think, so you keep buying. They know that hunting will never again be the pastime it once was, and as more Americans move from rural areas to the suburbs and cities, their natural market withers. That "responsible gun owner" politicians talk about, the one who reverentially passes down to his son the bolt-action rifle his father gave him? That guy isn't good for business. The manufacturers need the other guy, the one who fears he may not be all the man he could be. Whenever that anxiety gets to be too much, he can go down to the gun store and buy another gun, and another, and a few more after that. He'll get thousands of rounds of ammunition too, because you never know what might happen. Then he'll go home and nod with satisfaction at his own little armory, telling himself that when the time comes for him to become the hero of his own action movie, he'll be ready. He's got his Man Card. And maybe he needs one or two more guns. Just to be sure. http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/20/opinion/waldman-guns-manhood/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7] THIS IS NOT ABOUT ANTHONY! It is about the perception that IS out there, that some men (and some women) DO have, that the stereotype IS true in some instances, and that gun manufacturers and their ad companies bprofit from it. "The bearer of this card has averted complete humiliation. Today, he is a Man...The way is before you. www.Bushmaster.com" Tit for tat got us where we are today. If we want to be grownups, we need to resist the ugliness. If we each did, this would be a better reflection on Firefly and a more welcome place. I will try.
Saturday, December 22, 2012 10:42 AM
Quote:THIS IS NOT ABOUT ANTHONY! It is about the perception that IS out there
Quote:the stereotype IS true in some instances
Saturday, December 22, 2012 12:38 PM
MAGONSDAUGHTER
Saturday, December 22, 2012 3:25 PM
Quote:Originally posted by Magonsdaughter: So I might get my hair and nails done and go on some latest fad diet. I know that I'm not trying to please any man, cause my man is happy with me before all that stuff, but part of me is still caught up in prevalent stereotypes of what it means to be a woman. What a woman should look like...
Saturday, December 22, 2012 5:42 PM
Saturday, December 22, 2012 6:08 PM
Saturday, December 22, 2012 6:52 PM
Saturday, December 22, 2012 9:16 PM
SIGNYM
I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.
Quote:Hello, First of all, it has been made about me. This stereotype isn't "Out there." It's in the minds of people like Mal. She is utterly incapable of dealing with me or any gun owner except through the lens of that stereotype.
Sunday, December 23, 2012 6:16 AM
Quote:Originally posted by Magonsdaughter: I think its no bad thing to talk about stereotypes and do some reflection on how much they impact on your behaviour and I mean that for both men and women. I think the thing about advertising and use of stereotypes is that they do seep into your subconscious, so that in the end as a woman you can get suckered into to a whole lot image issues that can end up in you buying stuff. So I might get my hair and nails done and go on some latest fad diet. I know that I'm not trying to please any man, cause my man is happy with me before all that stuff, but part of me is still caught up in prevalent stereotypes of what it means to be a woman. What a woman should look like... Don't know if I am making myself clear, but I guess I think the conversation about men/manliness and guns is worth having.
Sunday, December 23, 2012 7:49 AM
Quote: If you read your posts, they are pretty much on Anthony's side or defending Anthony, and telling someone to leave him alone on top of that kind of indicates you have a side. JMHO.
Sunday, December 23, 2012 8:00 AM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: MAL... I'm a gun owner
Sunday, December 23, 2012 8:20 AM
Sunday, December 23, 2012 8:54 AM
Sunday, December 23, 2012 9:05 AM
HKCAVALIER
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