Again, 'Murrica. How Many More

[Aroura]

Why does the news keep saying they don't know if it is politically motivated or terrorist motivated? Aren't those the same thing???

[Crossless2.0]

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So the priorities go like this?

1.  Electric
2.  Internet
3.  Cell phone
4.  Food
5.  Water
6.  Children

I'm just fucking with you. I'm sure basic sustenance and children rank higher than at least the cell phone.

But given what you wrote, I'd say a remote island in the middle of the ocean is the last place you should get stuck on.

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LOL of course not in that order. Food, water and children are all number one. But why should a remote island be the last place for me to be stuck on? Inquiring minds wanna know.

No good reason, really. When I hear 'remote island' I think Gilligan's Island rather than civilization.

But if you did go primitive, I suppose there must be some way to rig up electricity for your computer and phone. The professor would have made something out of bamboo and coconuts. You could do the same, and the kids could supply the mechanical energy for conversion by peddling furiously on a bike you made from sand and coral.

Just beware of Japanese sailors who don't know the war ended.

[Brian37]

It would seem like 2015 is the year to be disgruntled. How much worse is it going to be in 2016? At this point, I'd settle for a remote island in the middle of the ocean. As long as I have electric and internet and my cell phone, I'd be content. Well, I'd need food and fresh water, of course, but give me all of those things and my kids...

Yeah. I need that. Like yesterday.

No this crap has been going on forever. Even when I was a teen, my 1984 Jr HS yearbook had a couple pages called "Year In" depicting world and national events, one picture was of the San Ysidro McDonalds mass shooting.(overhead shot, nothing gory, but still).  Before that there was the 1966 UT clock tower shooting. But since my 85 graduation, you had Lubies Cafeteria, other school shootings, Columbine of course, and they have been increasing since.

[brewer]

I know I've posted this before but here ya go.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012...otings-map

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012...-full-data

[Crossless2.0]

Why does the news keep saying they don't know if it is politically motivated or terrorist motivated?  Aren't those the same thing???

Allow me to help. I speak fluent "Liberal Mainstream Media", as the conservatives insist on calling it.

Terrorist motivated = Muslim whack job.

Politically motivated = Tea Party whack job.

[Minimalist]

14 dead, 14 wounded

So far.

[Clueless Morgan]

From my standpoint, they seem to be increasing.

Which was why I asked the question; is it only because the media is reporting more on the shootings that they seem to be increasing or have they actually been increasing in frequency comparable to their coverage in the media?

Aurora indicates that for the last 40 years they have increased in frequency by 4 times, so I suppose the second scenario is more the case.

Another shooting.  Maybe if we start labeling them Terrorist attacks, something will be done?  Or is that only if it's people in other countries getting killed?

Domestic terrorism is a thing; Timothy McVeigh was a domestic terrorist for example, and Wikipedia has the SC church shooting from June, 2015 listed as domestic terrorism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_t...ted_States

[Brian37]

Why does the news keep saying they don't know if it is politically motivated or terrorist motivated?  Aren't those the same thing???

Allow me to help. I speak fluent "Liberal Mainstream Media", as the conservatives insist on calling it.

Terrorist motivated = Muslim whack job.

Politically motivated = Tea Party whack job.

I get really sick on people stuck on motives, who gives a shit if it was a Muslim, Tea party nut, or wack job. We have a flooded gun market. And again, these types of shootings that make national news are the tip of the iceberg as far as total gun deaths of all types. WE HAVE TOO MANY GUNS AND THEY ARE TOO EASY TO GET.

[Aroura]

Here you go.  Violent crime is down by about 50% (murder is down 54%, general violent crime down 51%) over the last 20 years, a very steep decline. In that same 20 years, mass shootings have increased more than 400%.  These are FBI statistics, I'm not just pulling numbers out of my ass.

The big question is....why?

Here is one theory.

Why America is prone to mass shooting

Meanwhile, a just-released study finds that although the United States has just about 5 percent of the world's population, the country has 31 percent of the world's mass shooters. The reasons for these numbers are complex, researchers say, but the data suggest that the availability of guns, and perhaps the American obsession with fame, may be to blame.

The United States has more private gun ownership and more desire for fame than any other country in the world, said Adam Lankford, a criminal justice professor at the University of Alabama and author of the new research, presented Sunday (Aug. 23) at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. 

I'm sure it is a deep, complex issue with many causes.  This seems plausible for some of the cause, at least.

[Aroura]

The live news is terrifying. Looks like they found the shooters, but had a shootout in a residential area. It's still in progress. I hope all the people in the houses right there are ok, and those cops too.