JustAnotherAustinOwlStill
Bench Warmer
Posts: 232
Joined: Nov 2017
Reputation: 14
I Root For: Rice
Location:
|
Austin Bombings
Thank goodness they caught the guy. Hopefully there are no more bombs floating around, and if there are, hopefully they find them soon.
This one hit pretty close to home. We have several friends in the neighborhood that was bombed Sunday. They were all in lockdown until Monday afternoon with FBI and police searching the neighborhood for more bombs. My kids have gone trick or treating and had sleepovers in that neighborhood.
Then the Fed Ex facility is in a shopping center we go to all the time. And while it turned out not to be a bomb, the explosion at Goodwill last night was right next to my oldest daughter's former elementary school. So we had friends who for a while last night thought that within less than 48 hours a bomb had gone off two blocks from their house and then right next to their kid's school.
People were getting very freaked out.
But at least for most of us, that's all it was. Other families have lost loved ones...
|
|
03-21-2018 09:29 AM |
|
JSA
1st String
Posts: 1,895
Joined: Nov 2005
Reputation: 16
I Root For:
Location:
|
RE: Austin Bombings
(This post was last modified: 03-21-2018 01:05 PM by JSA.)
|
|
03-21-2018 12:56 PM |
|
JustAnotherAustinOwlStill
Bench Warmer
Posts: 232
Joined: Nov 2017
Reputation: 14
I Root For: Rice
Location:
|
RE: Austin Bombings
Apparently he left a confession, but not an explanation. Not that it the explanation would make "sense"....
|
|
03-22-2018 07:59 AM |
|
flash3200
Special Teams
Posts: 508
Joined: Sep 2017
Reputation: 18
I Root For: Rice/EOLRRF
Location: Cy-Creek
|
RE: Austin Bombings
(03-22-2018 08:42 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: some people are claiming the bombings were racially motivated. I would like to see either a Yes or No put to that.
Seems at best plausible and at worst wishful thinking. I am glad some people have opened their mouth and put that out there though; I now know who not to associate myself with.
|
|
03-23-2018 10:53 AM |
|
JustAnotherAustinOwlStill
Bench Warmer
Posts: 232
Joined: Nov 2017
Reputation: 14
I Root For: Rice
Location:
|
RE: Austin Bombings
(03-23-2018 10:53 AM)flash3200 Wrote: (03-22-2018 08:42 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: some people are claiming the bombings were racially motivated. I would like to see either a Yes or No put to that.
Seems at best plausible and at worst wishful thinking. I am glad some people have opened their mouth and put that out there though; I now know who not to associate myself with.
That would be the Austin Police Department. The first three bombings appeared to be directed at specific households, all three of which were black or hispanic and, to my understanding, fairly prominent in their respective communities. Once it became clear this was a serial bomber, they said they were also investigating the hate crime angle.
The fourth bomb was in an affluent, mostly white neighborhood on the opposite side of town and was a trip wire on a trail as opposed to a package showing up at a specific house, so it didn't fit with the first three.
Long story short: We don't know a motive yet, and may not ever.
|
|
03-23-2018 02:01 PM |
|
OptimisticOwl
Legend
Posts: 58,500
Joined: Apr 2005
Reputation: 854
I Root For: Rice
Location: DFW Metroplex
|
RE: Austin Bombings
Like guns, we also need to control the availability of bomb making materials. There is no use for a bomb other than killing people.
First, we need to raise the age for selling bomb ingredients to 25. Had this law been in force in Austin, nobody would have been hurt, for another couple of years, anyway.
Second, there needs to be a seven day waiting period for taking possession of the materials. Thirty would be better, and ninety would be even better
Third, strict ID checks.
Fourth,no crazies. Sell bomb making material only to certified sane people.
To get this legislation, we need the more aware and knowledgeable segment of out society to demonstrate - teenagers.If they are capable of of organizing and traveling to distant place without adult help or coordination, they can surely organize a few marches in Austin.
(This post was last modified: 03-24-2018 09:52 AM by OptimisticOwl.)
|
|
03-24-2018 09:51 AM |
|
baker-'13
2nd String
Posts: 430
Joined: Nov 2009
Reputation: 9
I Root For: Rice
Location:
|
RE: Austin Bombings
(03-24-2018 09:51 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: Like guns, we also need to control the availability of bomb making materials. There is no use for a bomb other than killing people.
First, we need to raise the age for selling bomb ingredients to 25. Had this law been in force in Austin, nobody would have been hurt, for another couple of years, anyway.
Second, there needs to be a seven day waiting period for taking possession of the materials. Thirty would be better, and ninety would be even better
Third, strict ID checks.
Fourth,no crazies. Sell bomb making material only to certified sane people.
To get this legislation, we need the more aware and knowledgeable segment of out society to demonstrate - teenagers.If they are capable of of organizing and traveling to distant place without adult help or coordination, they can surely organize a few marches in Austin.
See, here's the difference: explosives are actually very tightly regulated. Far more than guns are.
Also, deaths by explosives make up <5% of the number of gun deaths in this country.
Try again.
|
|
03-24-2018 12:01 PM |
|
OptimisticOwl
Legend
Posts: 58,500
Joined: Apr 2005
Reputation: 854
I Root For: Rice
Location: DFW Metroplex
|
RE: Austin Bombings
(03-24-2018 12:01 PM)baker-13 Wrote: (03-24-2018 09:51 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: Like guns, we also need to control the availability of bomb making materials. There is no use for a bomb other than killing people.
First, we need to raise the age for selling bomb ingredients to 25. Had this law been in force in Austin, nobody would have been hurt, for another couple of years, anyway.
Second, there needs to be a seven day waiting period for taking possession of the materials. Thirty would be better, and ninety would be even better
Third, strict ID checks.
Fourth,no crazies. Sell bomb making material only to certified sane people.
To get this legislation, we need the more aware and knowledgeable segment of out society to demonstrate - teenagers.If they are capable of of organizing and traveling to distant place without adult help or coordination, they can surely organize a few marches in Austin.
See, here's the difference: explosives are actually very tightly regulated. Far more than guns are.
Also, deaths by explosives make up <5% of the number of gun deaths in this country.
Try again.
My understanding is he got the components at Home Depot. Is this incorrect? Did he somehow get around the very tight regulations on explosives?
While I understand gun deaths way outnumber explosives deaths, i not aware of the threshold for being concerned. What is it?
In any case, this was not meant to be a serious proposal, but a satirical one, pointing the uselessness of most of the "fixes" being demonstrated for. Surprised anybody took this seriously.
A 19 year old shoots people? Raise the age to buy a gun to 21.
A 23 year old bombs people? Raise the age to buy components to 25.
Either way, problem solved.
It's nice that the kids are demonstrating today. If I were 14, I would probably be with them. But these demonstrations are not organized by high schoolers. Nor are the logistics of getting Florida teens there handled by the teens, or even their parents.
There is a reason we have minimum ages in the constitution for office holders. There is a reason most of the people we elect are relatively older. It is because, in politics, a little child should not lead us.
|
|
03-24-2018 01:11 PM |
|
baker-'13
2nd String
Posts: 430
Joined: Nov 2009
Reputation: 9
I Root For: Rice
Location:
|
RE: Austin Bombings
(03-24-2018 01:11 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: (03-24-2018 12:01 PM)baker-13 Wrote: (03-24-2018 09:51 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: Like guns, we also need to control the availability of bomb making materials. There is no use for a bomb other than killing people.
First, we need to raise the age for selling bomb ingredients to 25. Had this law been in force in Austin, nobody would have been hurt, for another couple of years, anyway.
Second, there needs to be a seven day waiting period for taking possession of the materials. Thirty would be better, and ninety would be even better
Third, strict ID checks.
Fourth,no crazies. Sell bomb making material only to certified sane people.
To get this legislation, we need the more aware and knowledgeable segment of out society to demonstrate - teenagers.If they are capable of of organizing and traveling to distant place without adult help or coordination, they can surely organize a few marches in Austin.
See, here's the difference: explosives are actually very tightly regulated. Far more than guns are.
Also, deaths by explosives make up <5% of the number of gun deaths in this country.
Try again.
My understanding is he got the components at Home Depot. Is this incorrect? Did he somehow get around the very tight regulations on explosives?
While I understand gun deaths way outnumber explosives deaths, i not aware of the threshold for being concerned. What is it?
In any case, this was not meant to be a serious proposal, but a satirical one, pointing the uselessness of most of the "fixes" being demonstrated for. Surprised anybody took this seriously.
A 19 year old shoots people? Raise the age to buy a gun to 21.
A 23 year old bombs people? Raise the age to buy components to 25.
Either way, problem solved.
It's nice that the kids are demonstrating today. If I were 14, I would probably be with them. But these demonstrations are not organized by high schoolers. Nor are the logistics of getting Florida teens there handled by the teens, or even their parents.
There is a reason we have minimum ages in the constitution for office holders. There is a reason most of the people we elect are relatively older. It is because, in politics, a little child should not lead us.
Having interacted with both small children and politicians, we could probably do with a little more listening to them. It is their future we're affecting, after all. I think there's a decent possibility we'd stop running the national credit card bill up as much if the people who will eventually have to pay that bill had a say, for example.
In the meantime, you should listen to them. They're incredibly thoughtful individuals.
|
|
03-24-2018 01:52 PM |
|
OptimisticOwl
Legend
Posts: 58,500
Joined: Apr 2005
Reputation: 854
I Root For: Rice
Location: DFW Metroplex
|
RE: Austin Bombings
(03-24-2018 01:52 PM)baker-13 Wrote: (03-24-2018 01:11 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: (03-24-2018 12:01 PM)baker-13 Wrote: (03-24-2018 09:51 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: Like guns, we also need to control the availability of bomb making materials. There is no use for a bomb other than killing people.
First, we need to raise the age for selling bomb ingredients to 25. Had this law been in force in Austin, nobody would have been hurt, for another couple of years, anyway.
Second, there needs to be a seven day waiting period for taking possession of the materials. Thirty would be better, and ninety would be even better
Third, strict ID checks.
Fourth,no crazies. Sell bomb making material only to certified sane people.
To get this legislation, we need the more aware and knowledgeable segment of out society to demonstrate - teenagers.If they are capable of of organizing and traveling to distant place without adult help or coordination, they can surely organize a few marches in Austin.
See, here's the difference: explosives are actually very tightly regulated. Far more than guns are.
Also, deaths by explosives make up <5% of the number of gun deaths in this country.
Try again.
My understanding is he got the components at Home Depot. Is this incorrect? Did he somehow get around the very tight regulations on explosives?
While I understand gun deaths way outnumber explosives deaths, i not aware of the threshold for being concerned. What is it?
In any case, this was not meant to be a serious proposal, but a satirical one, pointing the uselessness of most of the "fixes" being demonstrated for. Surprised anybody took this seriously.
A 19 year old shoots people? Raise the age to buy a gun to 21.
A 23 year old bombs people? Raise the age to buy components to 25.
Either way, problem solved.
It's nice that the kids are demonstrating today. If I were 14, I would probably be with them. But these demonstrations are not organized by high schoolers. Nor are the logistics of getting Florida teens there handled by the teens, or even their parents.
There is a reason we have minimum ages in the constitution for office holders. There is a reason most of the people we elect are relatively older. It is because, in politics, a little child should not lead us.
Having interacted with both small children and politicians, we could probably do with a little more listening to them. It is their future we're affecting, after all. I think there's a decent possibility we'd stop running the national credit card bill up as much if the people who will eventually have to pay that bill had a say, for example.
In the meantime, you should listen to them. They're incredibly thoughtful individuals.
Individually, yes. Collectively, no.
|
|
03-24-2018 02:31 PM |
|
tanqtonic
Hall of Famer
Posts: 19,079
Joined: Nov 2016
Reputation: 775
I Root For: rice
Location:
|
RE: Austin Bombings
(03-24-2018 12:01 PM)baker-13 Wrote: (03-24-2018 09:51 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: Like guns, we also need to control the availability of bomb making materials. There is no use for a bomb other than killing people.
First, we need to raise the age for selling bomb ingredients to 25. Had this law been in force in Austin, nobody would have been hurt, for another couple of years, anyway.
Second, there needs to be a seven day waiting period for taking possession of the materials. Thirty would be better, and ninety would be even better
Third, strict ID checks.
Fourth,no crazies. Sell bomb making material only to certified sane people.
To get this legislation, we need the more aware and knowledgeable segment of out society to demonstrate - teenagers.If they are capable of of organizing and traveling to distant place without adult help or coordination, they can surely organize a few marches in Austin.
See, here's the difference: explosives are actually very tightly regulated. Far more than guns are.
Also, deaths by explosives make up <5% of the number of gun deaths in this country.
Try again.
Fertilizer sales are tightly regulated? High octane gasoline? Sulfur? Charcoal? Phosphorus? Magnesium?
Wow, glad I filled up yesterday with 94 octane gasoline before those tight regulations kicked in.
Well gun deaths by self-inflicted means makes up 2/3 of 'gun deaths'. So deaths by another due to explosives is about 15 per cent of the number of deaths by another due to another. Or, about 1200 people per year. Seems high enough to regulate.....
|
|
03-24-2018 02:58 PM |
|
tanqtonic
Hall of Famer
Posts: 19,079
Joined: Nov 2016
Reputation: 775
I Root For: rice
Location:
|
RE: Austin Bombings
(03-24-2018 02:31 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: (03-24-2018 01:52 PM)baker-13 Wrote: (03-24-2018 01:11 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: (03-24-2018 12:01 PM)baker-13 Wrote: (03-24-2018 09:51 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: Like guns, we also need to control the availability of bomb making materials. There is no use for a bomb other than killing people.
First, we need to raise the age for selling bomb ingredients to 25. Had this law been in force in Austin, nobody would have been hurt, for another couple of years, anyway.
Second, there needs to be a seven day waiting period for taking possession of the materials. Thirty would be better, and ninety would be even better
Third, strict ID checks.
Fourth,no crazies. Sell bomb making material only to certified sane people.
To get this legislation, we need the more aware and knowledgeable segment of out society to demonstrate - teenagers.If they are capable of of organizing and traveling to distant place without adult help or coordination, they can surely organize a few marches in Austin.
See, here's the difference: explosives are actually very tightly regulated. Far more than guns are.
Also, deaths by explosives make up <5% of the number of gun deaths in this country.
Try again.
My understanding is he got the components at Home Depot. Is this incorrect? Did he somehow get around the very tight regulations on explosives?
While I understand gun deaths way outnumber explosives deaths, i not aware of the threshold for being concerned. What is it?
In any case, this was not meant to be a serious proposal, but a satirical one, pointing the uselessness of most of the "fixes" being demonstrated for. Surprised anybody took this seriously.
A 19 year old shoots people? Raise the age to buy a gun to 21.
A 23 year old bombs people? Raise the age to buy components to 25.
Either way, problem solved.
It's nice that the kids are demonstrating today. If I were 14, I would probably be with them. But these demonstrations are not organized by high schoolers. Nor are the logistics of getting Florida teens there handled by the teens, or even their parents.
There is a reason we have minimum ages in the constitution for office holders. There is a reason most of the people we elect are relatively older. It is because, in politics, a little child should not lead us.
Having interacted with both small children and politicians, we could probably do with a little more listening to them. It is their future we're affecting, after all. I think there's a decent possibility we'd stop running the national credit card bill up as much if the people who will eventually have to pay that bill had a say, for example.
In the meantime, you should listen to them. They're incredibly thoughtful individuals.
Individually, yes. Collectively, no.
There is a difference between being thoughtful and cogent.
As I stated elsewhere, when an 18-20 year old (or younger) can make a cogent well-reasoned argument in a debate about Fed policy, or the pros and cons of the electoral system in the US Constitution, or (with a nod to your list) about national fiscal policy, then without a doubt they deserve a spot at the table in a well reasoned thought out process. And when they meet that criteria I will take their arguments in and about the issue of gun control and the ancillary issues therewith seriously.
(This post was last modified: 03-24-2018 03:04 PM by tanqtonic.)
|
|
03-24-2018 03:03 PM |
|
JustAnotherAustinOwlStill
Bench Warmer
Posts: 232
Joined: Nov 2017
Reputation: 14
I Root For: Rice
Location:
|
RE: Austin Bombings
To get back to the Austin bomber, a friend posted this:
"Here's a thought experiment. Would we be hearing about anything else on the news or from our government if a young man from an insular Muslim community who had terrorized a city with a half dozen bombs was found to have participated in a youth group that combined religious study with weapons training?"
I mean, is it only us crazy leftists that think a Bible study/weapons training combo is pretty effed up?
More to the point, if it had been a Koran study/weapons training would Trump and the Republicans have any qualms about calling it terrorism and using it to justify their policies?
Having said that, I don't have a hard and fast opinion on whether this was terrorism - with what we know now, it's definitely in the gray area.
What I do have an opinion on is that whatever the definition of terrorism we come up with, it should be applied equally regardless of the motivation is "Islam" or "Christianity" or environmentalism or white nationalism, etc.
It doesn't seem like that happens in this country.
|
|
03-26-2018 07:22 AM |
|
Owl 69/70/75
Just an old rugby coach
Posts: 80,599
Joined: Sep 2005
Reputation: 3189
I Root For: RiceBathChelsea
Location: Montgomery, TX
|
RE: Austin Bombings
(03-24-2018 12:01 PM)baker-13 Wrote: Also, deaths by explosives make up <5% of the number of gun deaths in this country.
Which I believe is still significantly more than deaths by "assault rifle."
|
|
03-26-2018 07:56 AM |
|
tanqtonic
Hall of Famer
Posts: 19,079
Joined: Nov 2016
Reputation: 775
I Root For: rice
Location:
|
RE: Austin Bombings
(03-26-2018 07:22 AM)JustAnotherAustinOwlStill Wrote: To get back to the Austin bomber, a friend posted this:
"Here's a thought experiment. Would we be hearing about anything else on the news or from our government if a young man from an insular Muslim community who had terrorized a city with a half dozen bombs was found to have participated in a youth group that combined religious study with weapons training?"
I mean, is it only us crazy leftists that think a Bible study/weapons training combo is pretty effed up?
More to the point, if it had been a Koran study/weapons training would Trump and the Republicans have any qualms about calling it terrorism and using it to justify their policies?
Having said that, I don't have a hard and fast opinion on whether this was terrorism - with what we know now, it's definitely in the gray area.
What I do have an opinion on is that whatever the definition of terrorism we come up with, it should be applied equally regardless of the motivation is "Islam" or "Christianity" or environmentalism or white nationalism, etc.
It doesn't seem like that happens in this country.
I would disagree. The Atlanta Olympics / abortion clinic bomber was (rightfully) characterized as a terrorist.
I dont know if your friend's characterization of learning to shoot firearms at gun ranges is, given the circumstance, rightfully equated as the more generic and heavy sounding 'weapons training'. If there were in fact actively participating in a lot more stuff, I might be on board with that characterization. But given that a subset of the group learned to shoot at a gun range, and they 'talked' of dangerous chemicals, I guess you can label me as a weapons trainee as well, no?
It seems that the majority of the time in the group aside from the hour per week of bible study was doing young adult things like water balloon fights, archery, and (yes this is Texas) learning to shoot guns. Damn, that sounds like my Boy Scout troop from back then.....
(This post was last modified: 03-26-2018 09:24 AM by tanqtonic.)
|
|
03-26-2018 09:10 AM |
|