Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

TheLeviathan

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    21,582

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    49

 Content Type 

Profiles

Minnesota Twins News, Rumors & Analysis

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospect Rankings

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Minnesota Twins Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Minnesota Twins Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by TheLeviathan

  1. TheLeviathan
    Again, what will gun controls do about the current proliferation of guns? I hate to make this practical, but at the end of the day any law that doesn't literally take guns away from people is probably going to be an ineffective solution. The issue here is this. Guns are just friggin everywhere in this country and they have been since the dawn of our existence. And, since apparently I have to continually say this, this isn't to say we do nothing. But we should go into this discussion with our eyes wide open about the real scope of the problem. We need to be careful how much we argue "more money for mental health" will help this. We're already diagnosing and treating mental health at a rate almost double any other country. I'm worried about how we untangle this web without pulling too hard on one and making the problem worse. I don't want to give up hope, but the solutions need to be very thoroughly thought-out.
  2. TheLeviathan
    I have deep concerns about how we approach mental health as a solution. I think mental health changes are the more effective way to attack this particular problem (gun control laws in general are a worthy discussion to have to see if they can help gun violence in general, but appear to be a pretty poor form of solution to this problem), but we already diagnose and treat mental health at a rate like nowhere else. From ADHD to depression to all sorts of things, I worry about our very concept of mental health and how we should respond to it. Throwing more money at the issue worries me that it will become even more of an industry on to itself. Let me be clear: that doesn't mean I want people untreated, but offering more money for something has a way of inviting a host of problems. Mental health is a difficult issue as it is without adding profiteering (even more so) to the mix. It needs to be a very delicately handled part of the solution.
  3. TheLeviathan
    Karma and winning are so much better forms of retribution.
  4. TheLeviathan
    I guess it depends, there isn't really any pattern to how these guns are obtained. Usually they are stolen from parents or loved ones who wouldn't be affected by most of the gun laws proposed.
  5. TheLeviathan
    Again, that was obviously not the point. Added criminalization and restricted access is just not going to fix this. This is much more about our perception of guns and our unique idea of mental health in this country. If people haven't looked at that difference relative to the rest of the world, I'd suggest reading up.
  6. TheLeviathan
    It doesn't appear you have either. Unless you think the general conservative refrain of "illegal makes it go away" is somehow a viable strategy on this one issue only.
  7. TheLeviathan
    Gee....what else does that sound like? And how has that worked out?
  8. TheLeviathan
    Sign me up for the taxing plan, though it will also create a black market effect. At least in that situation you continue to have regulatory oversight plus the punitive measures of the taxes. Cigarettes are a good example of being to win the culture war and do major good moreso than with laws.
  9. TheLeviathan
    No, the mass shootings thing is very American as well. As are many mental health issues, quite frankly. Our culture is very strange on that front and may go a long way to explaining this moreso than even the gun culture can. Also, legalizing things is how you best regulate them. Criminalizing them makes regulation far more difficult, that's the whole point on the drug war.
  10. TheLeviathan
    And they are idiots for it. Why are you joining that chorus of stupidity?
  11. TheLeviathan
    The gun worshippers and their power over the government are a bane on our country, no doubt. We do need to push back with laws, but we need to do much more than that. The laws themselves are a pretty superficial fix. Some of the other things are larger scope issues on poverty and criminalization. Which run into a host of problems. It's a really hard issue.
  12. TheLeviathan
    Look, I don't know if you and mike have comprehension issues today or what, but i'll say it a third time: Pass whatever laws you want. Go ahead and see if they help. I'm just telling you it's highly unlikely they will unless you're willing to go farther and not just limit guns but impose stop and frisk and a variety of other programs most people against guns also bitch about. That includes more media and entertainment censorship. More restrictive laws for those with mental health issues. And more aggressive policing. I have had unique experiences working with actual criminals. Have you? I don't like the conclusions it lead me to, but I'm not going to be in denial of them either. Criminalization isn't going to have the effect people want. Pass whatever laws you want, I could care less. (Fourth time if you're keeping score) It's just not going to work any more than criminalizing drugs limited the availability of those. Illegal weapons trafficking is happening already, to the tune of billions of dollars, just fine even in a legal environment. And drugs, illegal in all forms, are freely available to half-wit burnouts and teenagers. The truth is that criminalization is just not all that effective as a deterrent.
  13. TheLeviathan
    Not all drugs can be manufactured under a heat lamp either, don't intentionally miss the point because you don't like it. You can't use the argument against illicit drugs that criminalization doesn't work and then turn around and expect it to be a magic elixir for gun violence. That's not how it works. The availability of guns is a symptom of the problem. We want them available and we make them available because people have the perception that they are the difference between safe and unsafe. That to own one is cool. That it makes you a man. That walking around showing it off makes you sexy or cool. That attitude is no more changed about guns than it is about drugs. Criminals don't care about the law, they don't take subliminal messages about it to dictate their day to day life. That isn't how it works. I'm telling you as someone that has worked with criminals in Chicago that the gun laws there, and the failures of them, have nothing to do about availability in nearby locations and everything to do with the perceived need to own and possess a gun at all times. Making a law against it isn't going to change that perception or the desire to obtain it.
  14. TheLeviathan
    Again, the very idea of the gun is different here. When is the last action movie in America you've seen that isn't almost constant gunfire. Foreign action films are dramatically less dependent on guns. We have made guns sexy, powerful, cool, and all these other things. That culture is what matters. You can't turn around in our culture without guns being a part of our daily life. They are part of children's shows, TV shows, advertisements, and on and on and on. They are as engrained in America as apple pie. Pass whatever laws you want, I don't care. I'm just telling you that won't work like you think it will.
  15. TheLeviathan
    Ask the Pirates and McCutcheon about the real cost of this buffoonery.
  16. TheLeviathan
    Im confused by how that makes it easier to eliminate trafficking and supplying illegal goods.
  17. TheLeviathan
    We are criminalizing all sorts of things that are still readily available everywhere. You think we can stop that with guns anymore than weed? Look, I hate the NRA, can't stand conceal and carry, and have no interest in owning a gun. I'm just identifying the real problem: our culture of guns. Change that. It's just going to be hard as hell, but nothing short of that is going to work.
  18. TheLeviathan
    I think a lot of good would be done for the sport if we could convince those involved and those defending to drop the ridiculous notion of unwritten rules. It would do so much good for the game. So 8 pages to try and convince a few more people to join the side of sanity seems well worth it to me.
  19. TheLeviathan
    I don't think the rest of the world is a good argument. Within our own borders these laws are shown to have a negligible effect on gun violence. How our country started and the close relationship it has had with guns makes us a very unique situation. We're better off comparing state and municipal ordinances on guns and see how effective they are. Most studies seem to indicate the effect is difficult to pin down and varies significantly from place to place. The problem isn't the availability of guns, the problem is our nation's notion of what the gun is. Because of that notion, we find ways to make guns available regardless of the laws and it completely changes the way in which we use them and react to them. If you want to pass more restrictive laws, I could really care less. I'm just telling you it won't be as effective as you think because it isn't the root of the problem.
  20. TheLeviathan
    Fine, pick your place of physical injury. Does Carlos Gomez deserve to ice his thigh for a week because he was happy to hit a homerun to help his team? Unwritten rules allow vague, ridiculous interpretations. That's the problem. Then idiots employ them for their own butt-hurt, vindictive actions.
  21. TheLeviathan
    I really don't think gun laws are all that effective, particularly in these cases. I'm convinced the real issue is a culture born on the gun that celebrates and makes it sexy and powerful. It's not laws that will fix that. (If anything can)
  22. TheLeviathan
    Oh, and if bat flipping really is going to cause a baseball apocalypse....make an official rule against it. Otherwise - who cares?
  23. TheLeviathan
    No, the unwritten rules embolden jerkish behavior. Carlos Gomez being excited about hitting a homerun isn't causing the apocalypse. He's having fun and adding some colorful elements to a drab game. For that people throw at his head. Whose the real jerk? The guy throwing the baseball or the guy excited for accomplishing something he only does 30 times a season that helped his team? If you are SO butthurt that something has to be done? Call the other manager and have him ask his kid to be a little more respectful in his celebration. That one to one conversation about respect for your opponent is going to go a lot further than a baseball at the brain. Or a juvenile, expletive filled tirade from your dugout steps.
  24. TheLeviathan
    Unwritten rules are the worst precisely because they are unwritten. They're left that way to give a lot of room for butt-hurt jerks to employ them at their own discretion. Written rules are written precisely to avoid that same latitude of interpretation. That's what makes them effective and not jerk emboldening.
  25. TheLeviathan
    Um, no. If it did work, we'd see actual changes in behavior. Yet it keeps happening (and will continue to happen) precisely because it doesn't work. Hell, we're a year removed from a manager having his players throw at a guy for bunting against the shift in the first inning of a 5-0 game. Or stealing a base in the 7th up 3-1. The unwritten rules and self-policing emboldens the jerks to act like jerks, not improve decorum.
×
×
  • Create New...