Are israeli Teachers Really armed?

Somewhere in an alternative reality lies the gunloon universe where armed people walk about happy, but it's not really Switzerland, or Israel, as this blog post points out.  The post is written by Ron Cantor, the executive pastor of Tiferet Yeshua congregation in Tel Aviv who also leads a ministry in Tel Aviv called Messiah’s Mandate. His comment about this picture is:

There is a picture going around the Internet that I have seen about a dozen times today that claims that Israeli teachers are packing heat. Well, are they? The answer is “NO.”

The author then goes onto point out the realities of guns in Israel.  His conclusion:

Israel’s successful gun ownership laws both serve to make sure upstanding, brave and mentally sound citizens have access to guns, and that those who present even a minor threat are prevented from possessing one. It would be a mistake to use Israel as the poster child for more weapons in the US, as our success here is much more connected to limiting weapons and enabling strategies such as gates, fences and armed guards (not armed teachers), to protect our children. Sorry to disappoint, but the truth is important.

Yet another gunloon myth bites the dust. In fact, there was hostility when someone tried to form an Israeli version of the NRA in 2008.

Yet it remains doubtful whether pro-gun advocacy will become as important in Israel as it is in the U.S. "The general trend to transplant American ideas to other countries is often not successful or very useful," said Gerald Steinberg, chairman of political studies at Bar Ilan University and an expert on American culture. The arguments put forward by the Israeli NRA are not convincing, he told Anglo File.

"We don't need a situation where hundreds of people shoot in all kinds of different directions in the case of a terror attack. That's the job of the police or the army," Steinberg said. He said that if more people carried guns the chances of more people getting hurt would be greater than the chance of neutralizing an attacker more quickly. "The last thing we want in Israel is an American gun culture," he added. "Israel has enough dangers, and making it easier for people on the street to carry guns is not what we need."

About that slide fire billboard

You know the one that equates a slide-fire equipped weapon to baseball and apple pie:

I know that you don't get why this might be offensive given that you actually believe "guns save lives", which is an obviously idiotic statement.

How do weapons which have a purpose of killing or causing serious bodily injury "save lives".

Or if you are going to skirt that they are weapons by trying to call them tools, then tools with the purpose of killing or causing serious bodily injury.

Anyway, perhaps this is correct since gun violence is pretty much unique to the United States if we are talking developed nations. If you want to add in the third world nations, then the comparison becomes more ominous.

After all, the US is pretty much the only developed nation that has mass shootings happen on a daily (or at least seemingly daily) basis.

Toss in that the larger the body count, the more the gun loons want the weapon!

Just think if the person shooting up a cinema had a slide fire equipped weapon (and knew how to clear a jam) how high the body count might have been!  Better yet, think of the sales if there had been a huge death toll.

Lamar may have actually hit the nail on the head with this ad--Mass Death from Guns is as American as Apple Pie and Baseball.

And even better--you gun loons know that you aren't better than this.

You are wallowing in the gore.

Adam Kokesh - Back on Top of the World

Threat v. Wish

You would think that someone who claims to teach English would know the different.  On the other hand, the rest of you are idiots.

threat  THret/ noun noun: threat; plural noun: threats

1. 1.

   a statement of an intention to inflict pain, injury, damage, or other hostile action on someone in retribution for something done or not done.

   "members of her family have received death threats"

   synonyms:

   threatening remark, warning, ultimatum More "Maggie ignored his threats"

   • Law

     a menace of bodily harm, such as may restrain a person's freedom of action.

2. 2.

   a person or thing likely to cause damage or danger.

   "hurricane damage poses a major threat to many coastal communities"

Another legal definition is:

ThreatsSpoken or written words tending to intimidate or menace others.

In other words, there needs to be an actual menace and/or ability to carry out the threat.  \but, that's one of the reasons for "get away with murder laws".  Normally, if you make a mistake in law, you can still be found guilty, but the "get away with murder laws" allow for your subjective judgement to carry the day.

Even if it is plainly wrong.

For something to be a threat there needs to be actual menace.  That is a mere threat that does not cause any harm is generally not actionable. When combined with apparently imminent bodily harm, however, a threat is an assault for which the offender might be subject to civil or criminal liability. In most jurisdictions, a plaintiff can recover damages for the intentional infliction of severe mental or emotional suffering caused by threats or unlawful communications.

So, I am going to (menacing statement here) is a threat.

On the other hand, saying something like "I wish", "I would have liked" implies something other than a threat. It is more like a desire or wish.

Does that make sense to you, or do I need to dumb it down further?

I should add that wishing don't necessarily make it so, or I would make the world a much better place.

Adam Lanza Speaks from the Grave

From the Trenches

In audiotape of a call Lanza made to an Oregon collegeradio station obtained by the Daily News that was verified as authentic by an old friend, the madman waves a giant red flag that he is about to explode almost exactly a year before the Sandy Hook massacre.

Adam Lanza has spoken from the grave.  

In an audiotape of a call Lanza made to an Oregon college radio station obtained by The Daily News – and vouched for by two old friends – the madman waved a giant red flag that he was about to explode almost exactly a year before the Sandy Hook massacre.

Using the name Greg and apparently taking pains to disguise his voice, Lanza weighed-in on mass murder by comparing “a teenage mall shooter” to Travis, a chimpanzee who became infamous after ripping the face off a Connecticut woman in 2009.

In doing so, Lanza provided a frightening look not seen thus far into the twisted logic and troubled mind of the 20-year-old killer.

Weinstein's "The Senator's Wife" Takes on the NRA

The Brisbane Times

Hollywood heavyweight Harvey Weinstein has revealed plans to expose the National Rifle Association in a new movie starring Meryl Streep, saying "they're going to wish they weren't alive after I'm done with them”.

The Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company co-founder's straight-shooting comments went to air on Howard Stern's popular radio show in the US on Wednesday.

Weinstein has since confirmed to Deadline that the movie will be titled The Senator's Wife. Thewebsite reports that Weinstein will focus on the NRA's behind-the-scenes influence in Washington, which helped defeat a bill that would have secured tighter gun control in the US.

Director Harvey Weinstein. Photo: Getty Images

Weinstein is a known supporter of President Barak Obama, who tried to introduce the legislation following the shooting deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary School and Aurora theatre in 2012.

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Weinstein told Stern the film wouldn't be a documentary but a “big movie like a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, referring to the 1939 classic about one man's impact on a corrupt Washington.

Weinstein revealed his plans when Stern asked if he owned a gun.

“I never want to have a gun… I don't think we need guns in this country, and I hate it, and I think the NRA is a disaster area," Weinstein said.

“I shouldn't say this but I'll tell it to you Howard, I'm going to make a movie with Meryl Streep, and we're going to take this issue head on.”

Weinstein said the movie would do so much damage to gun manufacturers that their stocks would “crash and burn" upon its release.

Alabama Man Shoots Himself Accidentally - No Charges

Local news reports

A Vestavia Hills man has been transported to the hospital following what appears to be an accidental shooting.

At approximately 1 p.m. this afternoon, authorities responded to the 1800 block of Laurel Road in response to a report of a person shot. When officers arrived, they found an adult male suffering from a single gunshot wound.

The man appears to have shot himself accidentally, said Gilham. No other injuries were reported.