uncool2pillow

Yeah, I agree. I have no idea what Hixter looks like, but I totally imagine him at Solid Sound looking like this:

I was disappointed. I've got nothing against Mumford & Sons, but they just don't do anything for me. I'd rather listen to Wilco playing it w/ Levon.

2 replies to Ghosts of Electricity 1) Enforcing current laws could do a great deal. It would include giving the ATF appropriate resources to press charges against gun dealers violating the law, for example. 2) Hixter isn't a statistic. He is a living, breathing human being. Just because gun owners in general are more likely to be victimized rather than stop criminals does not mean he fits into this statistical norm. There are lots of variables. Women in general make less money for doing the same job as men. I am a public school teacher. I work with a lot of women who have more exper

I think I -- and others -- said this before, but it bears repeating as, Hixter, you call for the current laws to be enforced. The NRA and their friends in Congress are a roadblock to this. IIRC, when someone posted a link to a Daily Show bit that you ignored as you don't like Stewart. I could have imagined this or it could've been someone else on your side of the debate. Anyhow, it's worth a watch. It's a really well documented story, not just Stewart spouting off. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-january-16-2013/there-goes-the-boom---atf

Also, all this discussion and a moderate case of insomnia just brought this album to mind. Haven't listened to it in quite a while. I'll have to give it a spin soon. http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-minus-5-mw0000357117 Good night, I hope.

As I read Lost Highway's post, all I think is that everyone -- myself included, I suppose -- is more interested in scoring points in some debate we're having rather than having an honest search to solutions of gun violence. Tweedling says Hixter is "owning" his opponents. Lost Highway says if you're really trying to protect your family, you wouldn't own a car. Cars suck. They pollute, they're dangerous, they're fucking expensive to buy and maintain, yet most of us own them because they conveniently and quickly move us from point A to point B. Guns suck too, unless you happen to have one

Tweedling, I am not dreaming of being a small European country, if I am the target of that particular charge. I just want to point out that it is clear that we pay a hefty cost for wanting to protect our right to own guns. You know the saying "Freedom isn't free"? It doesn't apply only to those brave souls who have paid the ultimate price in defense of our country. It also includes every innocent victim of gun violence because we have, as a country, determined that the right to bear arms is worth the cost of the gun violence we put up with in this country. The rocket launcher question i

I just wish you and other gun advocates acknowledged more honestly other parts of my argument.

This is a point that's been brought up before, but the experience of the U.K. shows that this statement is simply inaccurate. We just aren't anywhere close to going down the same road as them and I'm not sure we should. The U.K. pretty much did away with firearms. Period. It has saved lives. Period. These are points that are simply true and cannot possibly be debated by reasonable people. One could argue that it has created other problems. There is a lot of evidence that it emboldens burglars to break into homes while the homeowners are at home. The right to bear arms can empower both

Never heard the term Travis Picking. Would that describe what Richard Thompson does on the sublime 1952 Vincent Black Lightning?

Look at what a few laws and A HUGE SHIFT IN CULTURAL THINKING has done to the amount of smoking in the U.S. Smoking hasn't been banned, but it sure has been reduced and ostracized. The same thing can happen with guns. We outlawed Joe the Camel, can we outlaw the marketing of guns that equate owning a particular gun with manliness?

I can't imagine there's a fan of Wilco who wouldn't love Workingman's Dead.

There aren't even close to enough of you.

Excellent. Some common ground. Also background checks minimize, don't eliminate, risk.

I have no problem with the government regulating person-to-person sales of guns. They are deadly weapons. Just like I may appear to not be a pedophile (I generally do not wear trench coats, Members Only jackets, or glasses with large frames), I may be. Therefore, the school ran a background check on me to see if there I had any criminal record suggesting I might be. You may sell a gun to someone who doesn't look like a sociopath (the Aurora, shooter, e.g.) but I bet you or any other "responsible" gun owner, would've sold to that L.A. cop now on the lam.

And therein lies the problem. Can't we admit that it's an incredibly stupid loophole.

All LEGAL gun sales require background checks? Even at gun shows?? That's my question.

This is how I feel about pretty much every jam band besides the Dead and the Allman Bros. I'm not a major deadhead like Lammy, MB, or AMan, but I have all the Dick's Picks on Spotify and am usually thoroughly entertained by listening to them live or studio. All of them are fantastic musicians and when they are bouncing off each other right, it's as good as a lot of the jazz (including Coltrante) I listen to.

1. Gun check are mandated for ALL gun sales?? 2. I never said, if it saves one life, but more than the slightest difference, which was your argument. I work for a public school system and work with kids at my church as a volunteer. In both cases, I submitted to background checks at about $40+/each paid by the school and the church. That's pretty damned expensive, but I am pretty sure if you had kids @ my school or church, you'd be glad those background checks were performed. I would feel a bit more secure knowing 100% of legal gun sales involved background checks. And, frankly, I would

Hixter, your reply pretty much ignored the premise of my argument, which was to admit that background checks are not going to be a panacea, but that it would make more than a slight difference. The arguments I hear from the anti gun control crowd seem to be focused on the idea that if new restrictions aren't going to solve all or most gun crimes, then it's not worth the effort. I say that's bunk.

Slightest difference? Really?? So it's completely out of the realm of possibility that a few dozen (or hundred, or thousand) people who may be denied a gun under a stricter background check law would get frustrated and give up the pursuit of a gun? Certainly lots, maybe even most would continue that pursuit into the black market, but I think it could make a significant difference. One argument against any new gun control regulations seems to be, they won't stop many gun crimes, so why bother?

Yes, that was fantastic.

The Hagar and "class reunion" bits were gold. Also, the frequent use of the word, "fuck". I really liked that.

The Band. Last 5 years or so.

Right Stuff was a fav of my teenage years. Had no idea who Levon was then. Discovered he played Ridley about 2 years ago.