[dolanbaker]

Another shooting spree in the US!
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0731/806054-texas-shooting/
An active shooter in the Texas capital of Austin has left multiple victims, police said in a message on Twitter today.

In a message posted on Twitter Austin Police said the shooter was active and urged people to stay away from the downtown area. It is not yet known how many people were shot.

[GHung]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36935365

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ').....Police said in a briefing streamed online that one incident began at a bar around 02:17 local time (08:17 GMT) with a "disturbance between individuals" and that the suspect then began firing a weapon into the crowd.....

[snip]

....In the second incident only a few blocks from the first, shots were fired at a parking garage and a man in his 20s, was subsequently hospitalised after what police said was "an assault".

He is believed to be the person that fired the shots in that incident, police said.

Police said the proximity of the incidents had initially led them to think they were "dealing with an active shooter incident".
In the second incident only a few blocks from the first, shots were fired at a parking garage and a man in his 20s, was subsequently hospitalised after what police said was "an assault".

[dolanbaker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')ounds more like just another wild Saturday night in Texas.

[PeakOiler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('GHung', 'S')ounds more like just another wild Saturday night in Texas.

[PeakOiler]

For comparison purposes, see these stats for Chicago:

Last Week’s Totals (7/24 – 7/30)
Shot & Killed: 19
Shot & Wounded: 77
Total Shot: 96
Total Homicides: 19

July to Date
Shot & Killed: 63
Shot & Wounded: 370
Total Shot: 433
Total Homicides: 67

Year to Date
Shot & Killed: 362
Shot & Wounded: 2042
Total Shot: 2404
Total Homicides: 399
http://heyjackass.com

And this weekend in Chicago, 5 killed and 31 wounded in shootings.
http://abc7chicago.com/news/5-killed-31-wounded-in-chicago-weekend-shootings/1450908/

[ennui2]

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/ ... group-says

"38,300 people were killed on U.S. roads, and 4.4 million were seriously injured, meaning 2015 likely was the deadliest driving year since 2008."

Note that these are NON-AUTONOMOUS cars. This is the status quo, which we accept.

[Newfie]

Spot on VT.

We have started something that won't end easily.

There are too many of us, we will take care of that!

[onlooker]

Have to agree with Pstarr. Violence and/or crime has become a marker of an unraveling of traditional civilized norms. This dynamic has been fueled by the large black markets in arms and drugs. Crime around the world is being bolstered by the lack of legit wage earning options. Every country is confronting deep social problems borne from unjust and unequal social stratification and a marginalization and disenfranchisement of large swaths of people. As a good example in this country our treatment of drug addicts is both inhumane and counterproductive, so that now we have created a dangerous subset of people . In poor countries this is due to natural resource limitations mostly. However, in rich countries unjust and inequitable policies and attitudes are fraying the very fabric of society.

[Newfie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'S')pot on VT.

We have started something that won't end easily.

There are too many of us, we will take care of that!

[Newfie]

Someone(MBS?) recommended a book "Tropic of Chaos" that is an interesting read on how government's tend to swirl into civil war. The thrust is to discuss third world countries, but as I read it I could not help but see how much of the same applies to the USA. We are in the same trajectory.

I've spent much of the last month in Quebec providence. It is quite striking the difference between this culture and the USA culture. I won't go into the differences but just say that it makes the USA feel second rate but also there is a sense of cohesion, general pulling together for the common good that is missing in the USA. I don't know enough to compare this to Ontario. I get some of that same feel in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, but it's more clear here, palpable.

Perhaps it is because of the strong French connection, they are all of the same tribe so to speak, united against the English??? Whereas in the USA we have so many tribes, so many factions all trying to cut one another's throat.

Not saying I want to move here, I could never be "from" here. That's one advantage I have in Newfoundland, my family connections allow me to be only half outsider.

[ROCKMAN]

Just one more druggie popoing folks on a Saturday night: manhunt under way.

"McCray, who records show has several felony burglary convictions, is scheduled to appear in Hays County court in September for a possession of mariguana charge. His attorney in the case said he hasn’t had any contact with him Sunday and that the last time he saw him was more than a week ago.".

[Newfie]

Roc,

You are most likely correct, just one more druggie.

The conversation wandered into more generalized territory.

[dohboi]

Sooo, no connection to this sad anniversary? :

Univ. of Texas remembers 50th anniversary of tower shooting

http://www.kctv5.com/story/32590979/uni ... r-shooting

[dolanbaker]

and the solution to shooting incidents is more guns!

http://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/headlines/36949971

[Newfie]

Well it seems that the solution to glhigheay over crowding is more cars, which means more auto deaths, about 34,000 here each year. Not to mention how the gasses are polluting the atmospher and contributing to CC.

I advocate strictly limiting cars, making ever other street a pedestrian only zone, no new highway building. and other draconian measures.

Seems to to be a matter of ordering your priorities vs knee jerk emotional reactions.

Nobody ranks these gun deaths as a major threat to humanits existence whereas there are four or five existential threats that are widely recognized. So it strikes me as disingenuous to put so much emotional energy into such a small problem, when huge threats are looming. What is the point if not just to poke somebody else in the eye so you can feel superior?

I think we could agree on at least 2 or 3 much more substantial threats and then discuss positive means to cope with them rather than just start another pissing contest.

[dohboi]

SQUIRREL!