Dale,
You surprise me. That shot landed mercifully between your own two feet, but it came close.
I can think of at least one forum where this thread would already be a flame war several hundred posts long about US attitudes to guns, the law and the Middle East - and it’s a music forum too!
Maybe your aim was good, but it’s better not to play with guns 
A related question, why do people climb trees to “limb” them with a chainsaw?!
On 2002-09-16 15:11, Wandering_Whistler wrote:
Well, I hate to say it, but this whole Az/Steve thread has followed the standard structure of a typical usenet flame war (right down to threats of libel suits and the like) that it’s down right boring. Hadda happen here eventually I guess.
At least no one has pulled out the “nazi” card. It used to come out regularly on the flamenco board I was on.
Mike
My freshman year in high school I participated in a class that happened to have a marksmanship training course. On the first day, while the instructor was discussing the dos and don’ts of proper fire arm management, he told us a story of a kid (in this same class a few years before) that had put his hand over the barrel of his loaded gun. Naturally, it went off and shot a hole clean through his hand. Out of curiosity, is it common for high schools to have their own rifle ranges? Oh well…
On 2002-09-16 03:00, msheldon wrote:
On 2002-09-16 02:57, jim_mc wrote:
If I know that someone is dumb enough to shoot themself in the foot, is it wrong for me to leave a loaded gun where they might pick it up?Only if you’re within range of them.
Sometimes darwinism needs a little nudge.
Ain’t that the truth! I’m firmly convinced that the reason we seem to have more stupid people now than forty years ago is because we’ve got big brother, a million lawyers, and a billion jury members rewarding them for being stupid instead of letting natural selection weed out the dumb ones before they have a chance to breed.
I just had a Lean Pocket for lunch – I sure am glad there was a warning on the doohicky you nuke it in that it would be hot when it came out of the microwave – I mean, who’d have guessed? Food coming out of the microwave hot!!!
John
[ This Message was edited by: OutOfBreath on 2002-09-17 12:30 ]
On 2002-09-17 11:44, Karina wrote:
Out of curiosity, is it common for high schools to have their own rifle ranges? Oh well…
Not anymore, unfortunately. I had marksmanship/safety training in seventh grade in Colorado. It wasn’t a part of the ordinary curriculum but was run after-hours at the school. It was called a “hunter’s safety” course and was required to get a hunting license.
John
On 2002-09-17 11:25, burnsbyrne wrote:
At least no one has pulled out the “nazi” card. It used to come out regularly on the flamenco board I was on.
Mike
Dare I ask what the “nazi” card might be?
On 2002-09-17 14:04, garycrosby wrote:
Dare I ask what the “nazi” card might be?
If a usenet flame war goes on long enough, someone will eventually end up calling someone else a nazi, or make comparisons to Hitler. Thus, the Nazi card. It got to be so prevalent that eventually “Godwin’s Law” was created…a thread is officially dead when nazis get invoked.
On 2002-09-17 14:04, garycrosby wrote:
On 2002-09-17 11:25, burnsbyrne wrote:
At least no one has pulled out the “nazi” card. It used to come out regularly on the flamenco board I was on.
MikeDare I ask what the “nazi” card might be?
The “nazi” card goes like this: In a continually escalating flame war the first one to call the other a nazi looses the flame war, automatically, no matter how good his argument was. I have seen the nazi card come out many times. Also just-barely-acceptable substitutes like calling someone the thought police or culture police, etc.
Mike Burns
(edited because…)
[ This Message was edited by: burnsbyrne on 2002-09-17 15:03 ]
Thanks for the clarification Mike and Greg 
[Edited to add Greg to my thanks]
[ This Message was edited by: garycrosby on 2002-09-17 17:33 ]
I really want to know how a couple of women can shoot a whole town in our collective foot!
On 2002-09-17 15:57, garycrosby wrote:
Thanks for the clarification Mike and Greg >[Edited to add Greg to my thanks]
[ This Message was edited by: garycrosby on 2002-09-17 17:33 ]
And here I was, about to get all offended-like
And here I was, about to get all offended-like >
I’m just trying to avoid getting sued
On 2002-09-17 17:58, Anna Martinez wrote:
I really want to know how a couple of women can shoot a whole town in our collective foot!
How about a VERY large shotgun?
My Grandaddy gave me some advice when I was eleven that has served me well over the years…
Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day.
Never take to sawin’ on the branch that’s supportin’ ya, unless you’re bein’ hung from it.
When you give a lesson in meanness to a critter, don’t be surprised if they learn their lesson.
4)There’s more ways to skin a cat than stickin’ his head in a boot jack and jerkn’ on his tail in public.
On 2002-09-15 02:42, Walden wrote:
On 2002-09-15 01:34, madguy wrote:
The reason is simple… guns shoot people in the foot, not people!I do not believe in so-called gun control laws. But some people don’t behave very responsibly. An old classmate of my father’s tried to commit suicide with a handgun, once. He’s still living, but has no nose.
So this guy with no nose? How does he smell?
Like he could use some Right Guard under his left arm too.
On 2002-09-14 20:08, DaleWisely wrote:
Why do people shoot themselves in the foot?It’s not a riddle. I really want to know.
Dale
Dale Wisely
Chiff & Fipple HQ
[ This Message was edited by: DaleWisely on 2002-09-15 10:02 ]
Easy one. Two very likely answers:
I don’t think this one bears further analysis. Oh, I suppose there is one extension of (2) - The Darwin Factor. Except that in that case, it’d be a shot to the head.
Think Nice Thoughts…
Bill Whedon
On 2002-09-15 10:19, DaleWisely wrote:
On 2002-09-14 21:22, StevePower wrote:
I doubt that your question was actually about guns, in any ‘real’ sense, was it Dale? As usual, it appears that you are being subtle. I’d prefer you to come out with ‘all guns blazing’.Steve
No. I’m afraid I’d shoot myself in the foot.
Taking the question literally, you’re obviously right Dale. Taken metaphorically, I’m not sure why you’re so worried. We all have different reaction thresholds and I think this just adds welcome ironies to the human condition. It’s not bad to shoot yourself in the foot if you can laugh at yourself later along with everybody else.
Let me elaborate a little. I got accused on another thread recently of shooting myself in the foot. I doubt very much whether I actually did this but, IMO, I did something much worse. I went off half-cocked. I made a post when I was angry. To be sure, I segued quickly into mock anger and then downright blarny but in those two sentences I’d said something that hurt another human being and I regretted it immediately I realised that I’d had that effect. So I just apologised—I hope it’s been accepted. (I also resolved never again to post in anger.) How do they put it at the end of Sth. Park episodes: I think we’ve all learned something today. So what I hated was going off half cocked. I shot someone else and in a more painful place than the foot. If I also shot myself in the foot (unlikely) that’s just incidental.
On 2002-09-17 15:02, burnsbyrne wrote:
The “nazi” card goes like this: In a continually escalating flame war the first one to call the other a nazi looses the flame war, automatically, no matter how good his argument was. I have seen the nazi card come out many times. Also just-barely-acceptable substitutes like calling someone the thought police or culture police, etc.
Obviously a useful resource. But one thing puzzles me. Do you automatically lose if you call someone a Nazi if they are openly and explicatly endorsing Nazi views? Seems a bit harsh to me. Of course, you wouldn’t need to do that if you had good arguments but wars like this get tiresome. Logic books tend to treat all arguments against the person as fallacies but I think they do have a (very limited) rational use. If someone buttonholes you at a party, browbeats you with stupid arguments and opinions, won’t listen, won’t stop, won’t take any hint you give however unsubtle, is it unreasonable to make a blunt personal remark at some stage? Sometimes abuse is just the tired person’s shorthand for saying ‘enough is enough’.
