When we ride... Whoop! Whoop!
It's like an air wave...Oh shit!
When we ride... Whoop! Whoop!
It's like an air wave...Oh shit!
When da rydas is ridden up on ya
Duk da fuk down!
When da rydas is ridden up on ya
Duk da fuk down!


When we ride... Whoop! Whoop!
It's like an air wave...Oh shit!
When we ride... Whoop! Whoop!
It's like an air wave...Oh shit!
When da rydas is ridden up on ya
Duk da fuk down!
When da rydas is ridden up on ya
Duk da fuk down!

The only thing funnier than that video is the comment list below it...

I'm just going to assume you've figured out that the Psychopathic Rydas are a gangster rap satire w/ the guys from ICP, Twiztid, etc. ; and are therefore moreso laughing with them, than at them. They're so thug that they even steal most of their beats.

I'd hope you would prefer simply to not have the violence, rather than to have the eye for an eye opportunity.. the reality is that guns ARE precisely the problem, because the instigate, provoke and exaggerate violence. Fist fights and arguments blow up way out of proportion with even the HINT of a gun..

I never wanted a gun to defend myself, I just wanted people with guns to stay out of my business ;)

Yes but again you're missing the mark in assuming that the US should have a STRONG government. It doesn't. It isn't France. It's not the UK either. This is a much bigger country, it's composed of 50 (that's 50) different states each with their own Constitution and laws and local governments that are different from each other. There are overriding federal laws but those are quite limited. Germany might be a closer comparison, or Spain with is autonomous regions-- and you know what happened when Franco tried to ban Euzkera or Catalonian, right?

Here we had a civil war 150 years ago on the issue of "states rights". Not slavery per se, but the power of the Federal government to dictate what states can or cannot do. It was a bloody fucking carnage and the feds won but the distrust of the Federal government remains high in a lot of places.

Besides, there is a HUGE libertarian streak in this country-- it's not necessarily that Ron Paul is going to get a lot of votes, but the ideas are spread much further than his radical fringe. The basic notion is that the government is evil and intrusive and that the best government is the smallest government. Reagan won 2 elections with that platform. Newt Gingrich took over Congress in the mid-90s on a similar platform-- to gut the Federal government to its minimum possible size. Clinton played chicken with him (shut down the government) and won-- but he was still hamstringed on many fronts.

The point is, while in other countries people expect a lot, if not all, from their government, the American government is indeed weak and people tend to put the responsibility on the individual more than on the collective. I don't necessarily agree with this, and I have campaigned for the "godless liberals" (yes, the Bible & the Gun go together like peanut butter and jam), but I know enough to know that the government can only take small steps and that the notion of banning guns in America is utterly laughable-- you might as well try to squeeze orange juice out of chunks of marble.

And then there's the Senate! It's like, imagine if the House of Lords had huge power to entangle and delay legislation forever if not kill it-- sure, Senators are elected, but that's another clusterfuck that's too long to discuss.

See here about the American form of government:
http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/Am...ts/demrep.html
(I don't endorse that website but it shows well what I'm talking about).

Long story short: Americans like their government weak and small, and Obama is a Black Power Muslim Communist! (You won't believe the things people say here. I hear them every day).

OK, back to work...

Oh, of course. Everyone knows the best way to win a fight is to not get into one in the first place.

Don't worry, I wasn't talking about you you.

But let's think of the cycle: why are criminals walking around heavily armed?

The great many that are responsible shouldn't be made to suffer for the few that aren't (and most gun owners are very responsible).

In my mind, freedom will always win over safety. That's just me though.

I'll argue for a bit...I got some time to kill today and quite frankly I'm in a fantastic mood.

Funny you should say this, because safety is defined as freedom from danger or hazards. So in essence you're saying total freedom will win over freedom from danger.

Do you see that as a good thing?

It's kind of pointless to ask, you'll see. I'll just make it short for you:

"My freedom is more important than your freedom"
"Freedom for the poor is their freedom to pay the consequences for being poor"
"Your freedom to live is not more important than my freedom to have something I don't need"

The last can be applied to the whole scheme of consumerim too.

Conclusion: freedom is for some.

Oh, what you can do with the WORD 'freedom' these days is fantastic.


(this would make dr.benway proud)

Yeah, I do realise this. I don't want to sound like a reaming hippy, but I think it's sort of important to demand more from politics. Some demands will likely never be met (say, communism or my desire to have sex with Nigella Lawson) some are met in spite of a lack of public support (Britain's involvement in the Iraq war, Obama's health care reforms if you read the right-wing press) some are part of ongoing struggles (end of apartheid in SA, abolition of slavery in general)... I think the point that lots of people are saying 'it's the way it is' is really defeatist. Sure, America has a weak form of government (many years ago I read up loads on how it works, and it baffles me quite frankly) but it's hardly like America is completely incapable of making lasting and meaningful positive reforms.

That'd only make sense if you didn't have a government. You do, it's there, you elect it, you pay for it, it uses your money and interferes in your life and tells you what to do. But you'd say you shouldn't demand anything from it? Is that the idea of liberalism? Sounds like they're free yeah.

This is called twisting words around + making them mean what you want them to mean.

I'm one of those that doesn't mind walking down the street at two am, knowing that I MIGHT get mugged/shot/raped/beaten....I don't mind, because I know when I walk the streets at 2am, I'm taking a a risk. I'd rather that risk be allowed, then to not be. I enjoy walking around late at night after most have already turned in, and the streets are pretty and quiet. I enjoy this in the same way some might enjoy target practice....it's relaxing. + I don't think it's fair when people assume things about others they know nothing, absolutely nothing, about ( and that isn't directed at you Genetic...). People should have the right to do whatever they want, as long as it isn't hurting others....and most with guns ARE NOT hurting others. Again, there's always going to be a few bad apples...that's just part of the risk.

The majority should always win when it comes to these things.

An overly safe world ='s an overly boring world.

And again, there is NO SUCH THING as criminals without guns. It's not even worth fantasizing about. A world w/ out guns is the same thing as a world without drugs or sex...it's just a stupid concept..an idea...a dream coming from those that favor a government in control of absolutely everything.

but the people have to WANT TO make those reforms. you can't impose an unpopular law from above. "hey, i'm the king of england, and i tell you americans you can't own guns". well...

i don't think that people want to have gun reform legislation at this point. that is a matter of state by state. california, by the way, has one of the most stringent gun laws in the country, and look at the murder rate in los angeles.

actually, states with more permissive gun laws have a lower homicide rate. the argument is that criminals can always get guns if they want to and you're only restricting law-abiding civilians with the laws. i don't think this is such a simple argument, but that's how it goes.

by the way, health care was overdue-- it's been attempted for 100 years! theodore roosevelt first proposed it! and the majority of people filing for bankruptcy do so because of medical bills. so while there was tremendous opposition there was also overwhelming popular support for health care reform. the medical system has been broken forever and people were just fucking fed up with it.

it's just not the same case with guns. americans at large don't believe that they have a gun problem. some people do, but i don't think it's the majority of the country. if anything, there is a movement to expand "gun rights" at the moment. d.c. just had its gun ban lifted in court and there are lawsuits in other cities that ban guns-- like chicago. see: http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-i...-gun-mindset-1

the electoral climate is not there to amend the constitution or to fuck with the regulation provided by each state. it's not a monolithic government. while from the outside this might look terrifying i don't think this is a priority for most people in this country. really. what people want is to keep guns away from criminals, but not to curtail the rights of civilians to own guns. it's a different country and it wants different things from yours.

It sounds REALLY fucked up in combination with your avatar.
I don't know if I should laugh?

[quote=!@#$%!] if anything, there is a movement to expand "gun rights" at the moment. d.c. just had its gun ban lifted in court and there are lawsuits in other cities that ban guns-- like chicago. see: http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-i...-gun-mindset-1
.[/quote

somebody is paying for that.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to GeneticKiss again.

The Gun Culture of the American West

"Full embrace of firearms may be a scary thought in Washington, but not out West."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=artslot

"The full embrace of guns is fervent in Montana, where nearly two-thirds of all households have firearms."


Gun-toting soccer moms a scary thought in D.C. area, but not out west

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...081402547.html


Md. crime victim sues over denial to renew permit to carry concealed handgun

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=artslot

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