bcl05

I'd be thrilled with any legislation or action that led to a 50% reduction in gun deaths. Please propose one.

I have a Kamado joe. Incredible for heat control, even in my Minneaota winter. I love it. For most cooking and most climates, not much better than a Webber kettle.

Saw folks on twitter using the hashtag #yallqueda. Laughed heartily.

So, hypothetically speaking, lets pretend Tamir was an adult with a real gun. Given his size, I don't think his actual age is a giant strike against the police in this situation. Still, though, should he have been shot without being questioned? Should he have been arrested? Of course not. He was playing with a toy. He wasn't menacing or threatening anyone. We have a system of laws in Ohio that specifically state that people can openly carry firearms. I may not agree with it, but that's the law. At what point does a person openly carrying become threatening and shoot-able? Pure gut feeling by a cop? That system didn't end well here. I think it is reasonable for police to question people with guns to make sure that they are not a threat. I don't think it is reasonable for police to shoot people carrying guns before determining if they are a threat. No attempt to actually assess this situation was made.

I don't understand how we can have a legal system where citizens are (rightly or wrongly) allowed to own and openly carry guns and yet in the same state police are allowed to shoot a person with a gun without that person having actually fired the gun or actually threatened anyone.

The cop quite literally shot first and asked questions later. This is nearly never the right thing for law enforcement to do.

Don't you see? Filing a false police report and obstructing justice is only illegal if you're not a cop. For cops involved in shooting civilians, it's standard operating procedure.

The most obvious and important first step that I would like to see is a very large investment in research (primarily through the CDC) to figure out the origins and possible solutions to why we have so many gun deaths each year. That would at least be an acknowledgement that ~35000 deaths a year represents a real and serious problem that we should try to solve. My fantasy proposal (recognizing that its unhinged from reality) would be to truly put the states into a "laboratory of democracy" blender and apply dramatically different approaches to the gun death problem in each state. Have one state where the gov't confiscates all the guns. Have another where guns (and training) are given to every high school graduate. Have another where mental health is the big focus. Basically take 50 very different approaches to guns and violence. See what happens to crime/murder/suicide. Go with what works. I am frustrated that we are all arguing about what we think might work, when in fact no one really knows for sure. I feel like more gun regulation and less guns overall would lead to less crime and death, but I know plenty of reasonable people who feel the opposite. I am a scientist at heart (physician by trade) and would like to see some real data. The congressional refusal to fund research (at the behest of the NRA) is to me the biggest frustration of the whole topic. I feel like one side doesn't even want to acknowledge that the current state of affairs is a problem. That drives me nuts.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/11/25/chicago-cop-charged-in-deadly-shooting-has-a-history-of-misconduct-complaints/ Jeez. This story just gets worse and worse. And people wonder why trust in LEOs is at an all-time low.

Also - The vast majority of these refugees are fleeing violence (fleeing ISIS - not collaborating with them). They are incredibly desperate and are facing incredible odds. We should help. Watch this video: https://www.facebook.com/SamaritansPurse/videos/10153016512126809/?fref=nf There are many good charitable organizations. I have a lot of personal experience with Samaritan's Purse (I've been on a number of medical mission trips with them in East Africa). They would be a good one to choose if you are looking to help. I'm sure there are others, but I would personally vouch for them.

This whole topic is so depressing and disappointing. We are a young melting pot of a nation that has historically assimilated people from more diverse backgrounds and more effectively and more smoothly than any other country (a low bar for sure). Not that there haven't been issues with immigrants/refugees in the past, but this is an area where we can generally be proud and where we can hold a moral high ground. We welcomed Vietnamese refugees in the 60's and 70's. We welcomed Somali refugees in the 90's. We welcomed Kurdish and Sudanese refugees in the last decade. These are just a few examples. I think we need to view this refugee crisis in the context of the larger culture war that we are fighting. ISIS is promoting a violent, repressive, horrible, apocalyptic vision of the future. This vision is winning converts who see no place or hope for themselves in the prosperous outside world. I think that the way we defeat radical jihahdism at the root is by showing that all have a place and an opportunity in the multicultural, peaceful vision of the world that we aspire to here in the US. It is certainly true that if we allow refugees in to the US that some small number may wish us harm, and may even succeed in an attack. Preventing that by pushing away the masses may win a battle, but we lose the war. Bringing them in and welcoming them warmly (and simultaneously destroying the ISIS true believers) is how we win the war. Bringing in a large group of refugees won't be easy - it hasn't been in the past either. That shouldn't stop us. We've done better with harder challenges in the past. I think this country can handle it. I hope.

It seems to me that in the long run, the best way to ultimately defeat radical, apocalyptic jihadism is to do our very best to bring our ideal values of freedom, safety, acceptance, and multiculturalism to the world. By refusing refugees and demonizing whole swaths of people we help fit the narrative of the US as the enemy of islam that is being pushed by the enemy. I say we let them all in. For every one who sneaks in wishing to do us harm, there will be thousands who (hopefully) see the generosity and warmth of America and send that message home. That's how we win, in the end...

Pork will be "done" at 145, but you really want your pork shoulder to be 190-200. That's the point where it pulls real well. I take it to 170 for sliced shoulder. Pork shoulder has a ton of intramuscular fat and connective tissue that you want to melt away slowly. Shoulder will still be fairly tough at 145. Pork loin I like at 140-145 - it is so lean that any hotter and it will get dry. 7 hours seems like a long time for a 3.5 lb shoulder. My last shoulder was 11 lbs and took 12 hours at 225. Is your thermometer accurate? Maybe do the boiling water check - you know it will be 212, so if the thermometer says something different, there's your trouble. If you don't have one, get a thermopen. They are coming out with a new model, and the old ones are on sale now. They are the best thermometers, bar none.

Reminds me of the (in)famous "reality has a liberal bias" talking points...

So, for all the non-NRA pro-gun people on ES: would you support funding into research (eg, CDC - though other institutions should be involved too) into why so many more Americans die from bullet wounds than other countries? Would you support legislation suggested by said research results geared to reducing gun deaths? Why or why not?

Agree wholeheartedly. I wrote this earlier- repeated for effect. I’d like to see some real science applied to the problem. One of the most frustrating things for me is how actual academic research into mass shootings (and gun deaths in general) has been so summarily suppressed. This is clearly a national health problem. Tens of thousands of people die from bullet wounds here every year – vastly more than any other country. Why? Its not a simple question, nor is it going to be a simple answer. I’d love to see the CDC devote a ton of money and manpower to try and get to a real, data-driven, non-political answer. I suspect that the answer will be some variant of “all of the above.” The approach to reducing death will need to address drug violence, suicide, “random” mass shootings by crazies, and accidents. It won’t be straightforward, but if we don’t study it systematically, it all comes back to overheated empty arguments. Let’s really try to identify where the problems are, and what the most effective and painless ways to address them will be. We have a system for this. The CDC does mostly great work at identifying root causes of complex health/safety problems and can find real-world approaches to fix them. Let’s unleash some science on this. I’m a scientist at heart (physician by profession) and that’s where I see a potential for real, meaningful answers. We can’t be afraid of the results of research. I bet they’ll tell us (basically) that we are all wrong. The problem is not just guns and not just culture and not just law enforcement and not just mental health. I suspect all of these as well as that there is some component that might be identified by research that isn’t on our collective radar screen yet. The suppression of scientific research into gun violence by the NRA (and its adherents) is just infuriating and is a huge part of the problem.

So...the good guy with a gun (hypothetical, idealized) is basically the dictionary definition of a vigilante, right? This strikes me as not something to aspire to. We should be better than that.

My goodness, this subject is so depressing. Its just awful – we lose so many lives to these ridiculous and senseless shootings, and nothing seems to be changing. There is clearly not going to be a single, simple, easy solution. We’ll never get rid of violence all together, but we are a pitiful excuse for a society if we don’t try. I’d like to see some real science applied to the problem. One of the most frustrating things for me is how actual academic research into mass shootings has been so summarily suppressed. This is clearly a national health problem. Tens of thousands of people die from bullet wounds here every year – vastly more than any other country. Why? Its not a simple question, nor is it going to be a simple answer. I’d love to see the CDC devote a ton of money and manpower to try and get to a real, data-driven, non-political answer. I suspect that the answer will be some variant of “all of the above.” The approach to reducing death will need to address drug violence, suicide, “random” mass shootings, and accidents. It won’t be straightforward, but if we don’t study it systematically, it all comes back to overheated empty arguments. Let’s really try to identify where the problems are, and what the most effective and painless ways to address them will be. We have a system for this. The CDC does mostly great work at identifying root causes of complex health/safety problems and can find real-world approaches to fix them. Let’s unleash some science on this. I’m a scientist at heart (physician by profession) and that’s where I see a potential for real, meaningful answers. We can’t be afraid of the results of research. I bet they’ll tell us (basically) that we are all wrong. The problem is not just guns and not just culture and not just law enforcement. I suspect there is some component that might be identified by research that isn’t on our collective radar screen yet. The suppression of scientific research into gun violence by the NRA (and its adherents) is just infuriating.

Totally agree. But I would say that having the video is better than nothing. Without it, this murdering cop would be paraded around like a hero. Of course, give the internet a few days to spin and he still might be. Ugh. At least he's been indicted. Baby steps.

At least the murderer is being held accountable. He's been indicted and his supervisors with the Cincy PD all appear to be appropriately disgusted at his behavior. If the video didn't exist, all we would have is his account. People would be defending him all over and would be saying that it was the victim's fault for having provoked the officer. Or some variation of the same BS we've heard about in way too many cases over the past year +. The video here has allowed the truth to be seen and led the guilty to be charged. In that way, this case is an outlier. Thank goodness for the video.

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/mother-wolf-spider-squashed-hundreds-babies-scatter This is hard to watch.

Being drunk is never an excuse. If you're drunk and doing something wrong you're....still doing something wrong. That's on you.

I've seen longer footage from that play. After the interception, the "dead guy" starts to get up and gets absolutely trucked. Even more hilarity. I'll look around and see if I can find it...

I really don't get how this encourages companies to drop insurance for their employees. It seems to explicitly penalize them for doing so. They didn't generally do it when there weren't penalties, so why would they now that there are? Is there something real that I'm missing, or are the right-wingers just talking nonsense?

I'm heading to Africa later this week for a ~3 week trip. One of my goals is to get a photo of a kid in a Pats superbowl shirt. I'd love to get that for some pats fans I know...