In a world of 6 billion people and more, is everyone so afraid to die? I read this article and found it well written and well argued. But you are 65 years old. Do you really want to live another fifteen years and die of something possibly more prolonged and painful? If you visited the facility where my mother lives, you might be more hesitant. I will be sixty this year. I don't want to die this year, but if the issue came up, I would not fight to prolong my life. It's been a good one, has to end sometime. I can understand a person in his or her twenties or thirties, with small children, making every effort to stick around, but by the time you are 65, you should have come to terms with the end. I don't get the point of this big effort and this appeal to others.

the wingnut ask us why we think he's a corrupt, cruel, self-centered, lying, self-deluded, hyper-masculine, foolish, blind, perverted jerk? Why can't the wingnut take no for an answer? Why does everything the wingnut says sound like the mouthings of a crazy person who is unable to learn anything new? Most importantly, why is the wingnut given yet another forum for his delusions? Is the wingnut related to someone on staff?

for the info. COuld you please also supply a reference? Thanks.

Sorry--I had to leave for a bit. Back to the subject at hand. Now that the wingnuts have brought this country almost to destruction fiscally, militarily, socially, in terms of world opinion, and psychologically, how can a wingnut still have wingnut beliefs? Is a wingnut just a brainwashed idiot, or does some rudimentary thought process still exist? Has the wingnut ever looked within and said, "I am an authoritarian knee-jerk power freak who either has to take orders or give them?" Does the wingnut understand that he is enthralled by various fetishes, or is he too thick-headed to realize this? Would the wingnut give Dick Cheney the time of day or would he, like any sane person, spit in his eye? How about George Bush? When the wingnut sees tabloid headlines that George Bush is suicidal, does the wingnut sing hallelujah, like the rest of us? Has the wingnut been short selling? Keeping his money in offshore accounts? Avoiding taxes? Luring suckers into investments in subprime real estate? Has the wingnut ever made fun of the French, and called them cheese-eating surrender monkeys? Does the wingnut always think in terms of domination and submission? That's enough for now.

gun violence: a sanctity of life issue

A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used to kill or injure in a criminal assault or homicide, an attempted or completed suicide, or unintentional shooting than to kill or injure in self-defense. (Kellermann, AL et al, 1998 Journal of Trauma, 42:263-67)

In the U.S., 8 children and teenagers are killed, and more than 47 are injured, by a firearm every day. (CDC, NCHS, December 2006)

The risk of homicide in the home is three times greater in households with guns. (Kellermann, et al, New England Journal of Medicine, 1993)

The risk of suicide is five times greater in households with guns. (Kellermann et al, New England Journal of Medicine, 1992)

A 1990 law banning the sale of "Saturday Night Special" handguns in Maryland was associated with reduced use of these guns by criminals, and a 9% lower rate of firearm homicides in the state between 1990-1998 than would have been expected had there been no law.

Policies that deny handgun purchases to individuals with prior misdemeanor or felony convictions are associated with a decreased risk of subsequent convictions. Misdemeanants who had allowed to purchase handguns prior to the passage of a California state law prohibiting such purchases had a rate of criminal offending 29% higher than that among misdemeanants who were denied handgun purchases after the law took effect.

Every day in the U.S., 8 children and teenagers are killed and more than 47 are injured by a firearm.

In 2005, 595 California children and youth under age 21 were killed with firearms and 1,554 California children and youth under 21 were hospitalized with nonfatal firerarms injuries.

One-third of U.S. children live in homes with firearms. Almost half of homes with children and firearms keep a gun unlocked.

68% of the attackers in school shootings obtained the gun(s) from their own home or that of a relative. 61% of the attackers used handguns.

Many young children, including children as young as three years old, are strong enough to fire a handgun.

In 2004, guns were used to murder:

5 people in New Zealand

37 in Sweden

56 in Australia

73 in England and Wales

184 in Canada

and 11,344 in the United States.

Thank you, Vasumurti, for these statistics.

In my opinion, everyone who keeps a gun in the home and loses a child deserves it. We are a murderous nation and we will destroy ourselves through our fetish for firearms. And no one will miss us. The rest of the world will be happy to see us go.

Thanks for the great link! I loved the Ivins piece.

Let's be specific about just who is untrustworthy--the Republican administration under George W. Bush pursued an aggressive and active policy of endangering citizens and coddling corporations. Previous administrations have had better regulatory agencies and more honest personnel. So DO NOT blame this on the dems (yet).

Masson may not make me a vegetarian or a vegan, but he did beat up Sigmund Freud with some success. So maybe he's a prophet. Seriously, I think he's a nut, but he was raised to be a nut, so it's not his fault. He's just too smart for his own good.