What's in the news?

[Lustful Bride]

Huh. I never even noticed. Nationwide the internet crashed but was repaired.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/internet-goes-down-nationwide-but-then-returns/ar-AAuwtAQ?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

[Trigon]

Huh. I never even noticed. Nationwide the internet crashed but was repaired.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/internet-goes-down-nationwide-but-then-returns/ar-AAuwtAQ?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

I didn't even notice it at all. But then, I'm no longer in the USA

[Lustful Bride]

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon threaten to worsen.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/saudi-arabia-says-lebanon-declares-war-deepening-crisis/ar-AAuvn27?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

[Beguile's Mistress]

Despite the atrocities committed, I want to say that the people who actually stood up to the shooter deserve some praise. Very few people out there would have the fortitude to push back against evil.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/breakingnews/an-unlikely-hero-describes-gun-battle-and-95-mph-chase-with-texas-shooting-suspect/ar-AAuuwvr?li=BBnb4R7&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

The sad thing is that so many people stand aside and let things happen without intervening or trying to help.  Small close-knit communities are much better than that and get involved because they see the need to be a part of each others lives rather than turning away or turning their backs on their fellow man.

[Beguile's Mistress]

A day after a gunman massacred parishioners in a small Texas church, the Air Force admitted on Monday that it had failed to enter the man’s domestic violence court-martial into a federal database that could have blocked him from buying the rifle he used to kill 26 people

.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/us/texas-shooting-church.html



Eight members of one family - four children, the youngest 18 months, their father and pregnant mother and their grandparents, who were guest preachers that fatal Sunday, all lost their lives. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/us/shooting-victims-texas.html?emc=edit_ta_20171106&nl=top-stories&nlid=72754896&ref=cta

[TheVillain]

Can we officially recognize that the usual response to mass shooting events of "thoughts and prayers" doesn't work and we actually need to actually do something?

[Rayne Bluestone]

do what finally realize that no one can be trusted?

That banning guns is a matter of temporary security at the expense of personal liberties. No matter what mass killings are committed by someone with mental issues, committing an illegal act. banning or restricting guns further will not put an end to such things.

per a founding father this is what I have to say to anyone wanting to take away anyone's freedoms.
Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

So you can give up your liberties but leave mine alone please.

[Oniya]

Just going to point out that TheVillain didn't mention 'gun control' at all - just that some kind of action is needed instead of just hand-wringing.  Fixing our mental health care system would be 'doing something.'  Imposing stricter sanctions for domestic violence would be 'doing something.'  Teaching our kids how to treat other human beings like human beings would be 'doing something.'

[LisztesFerenc]

That banning guns is a matter of temporary security at the expense of personal liberties. No matter what mass killings are committed by someone with mental issues, committing an illegal act. banning or restricting guns further will not put an end to such things.

  Europe, Canada and Japan suggest this isn't true, as they have gun control and less gun deaths.

per a founding father this is what I have to say to anyone wanting to take away anyone's freedoms.
Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

  100 years ago you could by dynamite at the general store, now you can't. Are you upset at the loss of liberty?

[Lustful Bride]

Massachusets high court to decide whether schools can be held responsible for student suicide.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/court-to-examine-whether-school-can-be-blamed-for-suicide/ar-AAuwKYk?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

I personally feel it depends. There are times when schools obviously sit on their hands while students treat each other like garbage and then play dumb afterwards when someone kills themselves to shake off the blame. In those cases when they could have acted I feel that yes they should be held accountable.

[Regina Minx]

That banning guns is a matter of temporary security at the expense of personal liberties. No matter what mass killings are committed by someone with mental issues, committing an illegal act. banning or restricting guns further will not put an end to such things.

The evidence from Australia suggests that the Australian gun control and gun buyback programs did work, both in reducing the number of shootings, mass shootings, and suicides.

[Yukina]

Massachusets high court to decide whether schools can be held responsible for student suicide.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/court-to-examine-whether-school-can-be-blamed-for-suicide/ar-AAuwKYk?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

I personally feel it depends. There are times when schools obviously sit on their hands while students treat each other like garbage and then play dumb afterwards when someone kills themselves to shake off the blame. In those cases when they could have acted I feel that yes they should be held accountable.

Personally (as a background as constant target of bullying makes me quite biased), I feel schools should be held accountable. Most of them dawdle about and those sad excuses that are "anti-bullying rallies" aren't exactly doing anything. Especially when their "no tolerance" policies are more to avoid getting sued than actually helping the students that need it.

[MiraMirror]

I'm also biased, as someone who was bullied constantly but said nothing about it.  I think it depends.  Some bullying happens outside, off of school grounds.  I don't think it's quite okay to hold schools accountable for that, since they legitimately might not know about it.  However, I do think that they should try to be more involved or more perceptive, and talk to people who they either see getting bullied, hear about, or see evidence of bullying on.  It's just...not the easiest thing in the world to do because there are people who think like I did, with this mindset of "It's not worth telling anyone about.  I don't want to bother anyone, and it could always be worse."  Then it gets worse and...yeah.

[TheGlyphstone]

"Zero Tolerance" policies definitely tend to do far more damage than they prevent, though, since they punish victims who fight back as harshly as if they were the aggressors.

[MiraMirror]

Oh no, I don't mean Zero Tolerance.  I just wish schools would talk to the victims, try to urge them out of silence somehow so they didn't feel like burdens after getting beaten.  That kind of stuff hits close to home for me, but I also understand how difficult that is to do because of that.  Once I went silent, nobody could get me to talk.

[TheVillain]

do what finally realize that no one can be trusted?

That banning guns is a matter of temporary security at the expense of personal liberties. No matter what mass killings are committed by someone with mental issues, committing an illegal act. banning or restricting guns further will not put an end to such things.

per a founding father this is what I have to say to anyone wanting to take away anyone's freedoms.
Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

So you can give up your liberties but leave mine alone please.

Yeah, this immediate leap to assuming that "do something" means banning all guns is part of the problem.

I blame the NRA personally. If you watch what they actually do you see very quickly that while they claim they're a rights advocacy group they're nothing of the sort. They are, at best, a sales group for the major gun manufactors that has absolutely no qualms with exploiting the prejudices of racists for profit, and at worst are literially a branch of the American Taliban.

[TheVillain]

Huh, that's weird. I can't modify my own post.

Well I was going to tweek it to say that it would be more accurate to say the NRA is - at best - a sales and PR group for the major gun manufactorers that has absolutely no qualms about exploiting the prejudices and fears of racists and conservatives.

[Sara Nilsson]

Huh, that's weird. I can't modify my own post.

Well I was going to tweek it to say that it would be more accurate to say the NRA is - at best - a sales and PR group for the major gun manufactorers that has absolutely no qualms about exploiting the prejudices and fears of racists and conservatives.

Yeah edits have been removed from this forum due to people misusing it.  https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=277794.0

[TheGlyphstone]

Oh no, I don't mean Zero Tolerance.  I just wish schools would talk to the victims, try to urge them out of silence somehow so they didn't feel like burdens after getting beaten.  That kind of stuff hits close to home for me, but I also understand how difficult that is to do because of that.  Once I went silent, nobody could get me to talk.

Sorry. That wasn't at you in particular, just in general.

[Trigon]

Some good news on the education front, Betsy DeVos may actually resign from her post at the Department of Education: https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/education-officials-expect-ineffective-betsy-devos-to-step-down-as-her-agenda-collapses-report/

[Lustful Bride]

Racist Messages that caused controversy at the US Air Force Academy have been investigated and the writer has confessed. Turns out it was an African American student who wrote them (Some on his own door) and did so as an attempt to get out of other disciplinary trouble he had gotten himself into.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-black-student-wrote-those-racist-messages-that-shook-the-air-force-academy-school-says/ar-BBEIiFq?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

[Beguile's Mistress]

Some good news on the education front, Betsy DeVos may actually resign from her post at the Department of Education: https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/education-officials-expect-ineffective-betsy-devos-to-step-down-as-her-agenda-collapses-report/

She has been unpopular since Trump appointed her and her lack of qualifications for her office, which many see as being as bad as Trump's, has been the talk of the town among parents around here.

[FeveredDreams]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/danica-roem-will-be-vas-first-openly-transgender-elected-official-after-unseating-conservative-robert-g-marshall-in-house-race/2017/11/07/d534bdde-c0af-11e7-959c-fe2b598d8c00_story.html?utm_term=.e0f66102441a

This makes me super happy,  I know it's just a small win but seeing that people are willing to elect a trans official makes me smile.  Not only that but she's a metal head.  *Horns up*

[FeveredDreams]

Sorry saw this had it's own thread after posting, I apologize for the spam.

[Sara Nilsson]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/danica-roem-will-be-vas-first-openly-transgender-elected-official-after-unseating-conservative-robert-g-marshall-in-house-race/2017/11/07/d534bdde-c0af-11e7-959c-fe2b598d8c00_story.html?utm_term=.e0f66102441a

This makes me super happy,  I know it's just a small win but seeing that people are willing to elect a trans official makes me smile.  Not only that but she's a metal head.  *Horns up*

it deserves being said many times :) it is a wonderful thing