Feinstein is at it again ....

[unixronin]

Yes, Dear Dianne is trying, again, to resurrect her beloved "assault weapon" ban, despite it having been widely condemned as totally ineffective in reducing crime.  (If by some chance that link doesn't work for you, follow the link from this NRA-ILA page.)

A spokesman for the National Rifle Association, Andrew Arulanandam, said he did not see the political appetite "on either side of the aisle to revisit this issue again." He also contended that numerous studies mandated by Congress, including studies by then-President Bill Clinton's Justice Department, showed the ban to be ineffective in reducing crime.

Feinstein's bill is the same as one that she introduced last year with support from Warner, a Warner aide said.

Sen. George Allen, R-Va., last year opposed the extension of the assault-weapons ban. At a time when the federal ban had not yet expired, Allen called it "a meaningless, toothless law that has virtually no impact on crime."

Still, we could get really lucky .... her obvious obsession over this, at a time when it seems politically ill-favored, could just possibly turn out to be the millstone around her neck that drags her down and ends her political career.

Comments

[sierra-nevada.livejournal.com]

We may yet hope...

[sierra-nevada.livejournal.com]

This is what I hate most about legislators on both sides of the aisle: the unwillingness to measure effectiveness and modify law to suit reality rather than ideology. It's just as bad as the f'ing religious zealots who push "abstinence-only" sex education, creationists (excuse me, proponents of "intelligent design"), etc. They have "revealed Truth" and nothing will sway them from their faith. Gaaaah.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Right. And to hell with those inconvenient "facts", they're not dogma, and therefore they're irrelevant ....

[likefinewine.livejournal.com]

could just possibly turn out to be the millstone around her neck that drags her down and ends her political career.

[big smile] Not only do you have the _most_ sexy Icon on LJ.... You also write joyful words, quoted above. [happy sigh]

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Well, wishful, anyway.... and you're doing that flattery thing again. :)

I'm doing that............?

[likefinewine.livejournal.com]

I'm doing that flattery thing again? You mean: "Not only do you have the _most_ sexy Icon on LJ.... "

Sorry, if you don't like the truth. But, it _is_ an extreemly sexy Icon. [Don't say you didn't know that....]

What drew me in here? Your Icon and your 'About Unixronin' words. Those are the facts.

When I see something I like, I say so. When I appreciate something, I say so. Imho, too much time is wasted in 'stepping lightly' and 'being careful.'

Do I bother you......?

Re: I'm doing that............?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Nope. I was just sayin'. :) Definitely not complaining.

Actually, I agree, too many people waste too much time not saying what they mean ... I think the world would be a better place if people in general were more honest about what they meant and wanted.

(Not that I'm a sterling example. My parents and my schools did too good a job of teaching me that saying what I really thought meant trouble.)

Re: I'm doing that............?

[likefinewine.livejournal.com]

Definitely not complaining.

Good.

Actually, I agree, too many people waste too much time not saying what they mean ... I think the world would be a better place if people in general were more honest about what they meant and wanted.

And my main point was -- When I think someone/something is cool, hot, nice, great, etc. - I tend to tell them so. All humans like strokes. Why do we tend to be so stingy, with giving them? Embarrassment, maybe... Afraid we will be "taken the wrong way." Or sound "odd." Or sound "too-too."

But... Every time we open our mouths [or type on our keyboard or put pen to paper] we take the chance of _someone_ misunderstanding. If carried to its extrem, then we'd _never_ communicate. Life is way too short for that! :-)

Yes? No? Maybe? :-)

Re: I'm doing that............?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Every time we open our mouths [or type on our keyboard or put pen to paper] we take the chance of someone misunderstanding.

Indeed. I think there's a number of problems that get in the way, though ... so many people offer insincere compliments to get something they want, and so many others take offense at a sincere and innocent compliment either because they're charter members of the Pathologically Politically Correct and go through their days seeking something, ANYTHING, to be offended by, or simply because the PPC have conditioned them to think any possible compliment is somehow some form of sexual harrassment. We've made everyday life a minefield to be negotiated.

(And speaking for myself personally, I don't always know how to take compliments because, historically, I'm so unused to them. I don't communicate well socially, face-to-face, with people I don't already know, period.)

Re: I'm doing that............?

[likefinewine.livejournal.com]

We've made everyday life a minefield to be negotiated.

I know all those things [you mentioned, previous to that last line] exist. That people _can_ take a compliment as something [or many things] other than what I meant. But... That's their problem. I'm tired of just going around - reacting. Or not acting, because someone may take something "the wrong way."

Oh I know, this can't be done all the time, in the world of making a living. Gotta' stay knuckled down to a lot of rules, there. If one is smart, that is.

But... I suppose I mean, in personal life. Real Life and Net Life. No financial loss there. If anyone wants to avoid me, for any reason, they can. No sweat. They just
*disappear.*

(And speaking for myself personally, I don't always know how to take compliments because, historically, I'm so unused to them.

Not even some compliments on what you've gone through, all those years since _the_ accident? [Wow, you travel with a tough crowd. :-( ] _That_ [fight back], was one of the first things which I noticed. Sure the sexy Icon and a lot of the things in "About U." and "Interests" -- were interesting. But what you've gone through and kept at, since getting creamed by that car -- I _admire_ you for.

But... Back when I first came to your LJ, I didn't _say_ that part. Funny hu? I guess I was _afraid_ it sounded funny, to say that. To say that your long, hard fight back to walking, was as sexy as your sword interest and a lot of other things. Sooooo - I've been just as cowed into not saying something, as I now say, I'm not. Hahhh... I stand corrected. By myself. :-)

I don't communicate well socially, face-to-face, with people I don't already know, period.)

Does this mean.... face-to-face in Net Life too? And if so, is it a gentle way of asking me to -- back off? :-)

Re: I'm doing that............?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

But what you've gone through and kept at, since getting creamed by that car -- I admire you for.

Well, thank you. :) But really ... what else was I going to do? Roll over and play dead? cymrullewes says that giving up isn't in my vocabulary. I don't know if I'd go that far ... I'll give up on things eventually, if I'm just banging my head against a wall and making no headway. Sometimes I'll try to find a way around (or under or over) the wall, later; sometimes, there isn't one. But I don't give up on anything easily.

(Sometimes I wonder if I pursue lost causes too long ....)

Does this mean.... face-to-face in Net Life too?

No, that's why I specified face-to-face. I can generally talk fine in person with someone I already know online. And I can start up a conversation online with someone I don't know, because there's less risk of ... embarrassment, I suppose, and because I have more time to think. In work-related situations, it's not a problem, because I can just talk about the work and what needs to be done.

But put me in a purely social situation where I need to make an introduction, face-to-face, to someone I don't know and haven't ever talked to in a social context, and ... I fall over my own tongue. I don't in the least know the first thing to say, and most of the time I can't get up the nerve to open my mouth because I'm so certain I'll end up with my foot jammed in it. I've never been in a relationship that I initiated that didn't start online. (And frankly, even then, my judgement on the whole has been memorably bad.)

And if so, is it a gentle way of asking me to -- back off? :-)

Nope, no foul.

[drdemure.livejournal.com]

You know, I don't like guns, and I don't keep one. When my kids were little, they were given lots of information on the dangers of guns (a child they knew was killed when his playmate produced his parents' gun). But I don't advocate gun control. It doesn't work. That's like advocating Coke for yellow jacket control. Can't comment on whether I'd like Feinstein's career ended.

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

Saw this. Read all the comments. Nothing else to say, except good handling.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

What the heck does that mean...?

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

I think we covered that on the phone.