Not An April Fool’s Joke

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This column must be read to be believed, not that anyone with more than two brain cells would be convinced by such poorly reasoned psychobabble. Check it out, and check out the comments — some of them are excellent.

(Via Of Arms & the Law.)

UPDATE: Or perhaps it really is an April Fool’s joke?

10 thoughts on “Not An April Fool’s Joke”

  1. The author of the article accuses whites of opposing gun control because firearms are their substitute for sexual impotence.

    For the sake of argument, let us say that there is an element of truth there.

    Blacks constitute approximately 13% of the US population.

    Blacks [according to FBI statistics] commit at least 5% more [37% -v- 32%] of all the firearms crimes in the country. The majority of gun killings in this country are black-on-black crimes. Keeping in mind that according to the Centers for Disease Control, the 5th highest cause of death for black males is homicide. The only other group where homicide reaches the top ten causes at #10 is Native Americans.

    Remember, blacks are 13% of the population. Whites are 72%. Blacks have a far higher gun crime total than a group that is 5 1/2 times larger.

    And note that gun control efforts are deliberately focused away from blacks and towards whites. You don’t ever see BATF trying to disarm black gangs at all.

    So if firearms abuse is a substitute for sexual potency; what does that say about the black population of this country?

    Subotai Bahadur

  4. Well this is pretty much spot on. Come folks, it in no way partakes of subtly.

    You have, as we do, a very safe general society and all weapons add to that is accidental and semi accidental death in large numbers. It also empowers the crazy people who’s numbers are rising steadily.

    Crazy people come in basically two flavors, this is to some extent comment on the illusions comment. There are people born with bad chemistry, I have known a few and lost a couple. The rest are driven crazy by the world. It’s too much for them and they react badly.

    Anyhoo it seems to me that those who would make a relatively peaceful situation dangerous by arming everyone fall into the second category.

  5. There was a rush to judgment after the Conn mass murder. The common thread in all these mass killings is the murderer has been on powerful prescription psychotropic medications whose long term effects are not well understood at all and very well may be contributing to crime.

    The reason more males than females are involved is because boys are nine times more likely to be sent for a clinical assessment a some psychiatric condition and five times more likely to be medicated for it.

  6. Grurray, I doubt you mean what you appear to mean – that the powerful drugs are prescribed disproportionately to men and that is the cause of the dirproportionate violence done by men? I suspect you mean that men’s biology is more likely to take these turns?

  7. Boys are more likely to be prescribed the anti-psychotic medications and prescribed in higher doses. The reason is the increase in the diagnoses of developmental disorders like ADHD, autism, & disruptive behavior disorder and also mood disorders such as bipolar disorder. There is an apparent greater prevalence (imagined or otherwise) in boys than girls.

    Starting with preschoolers, medication rates go up as these kids get older. Possibly as many as 2/3 of diagnosed teenagers are on some psychotropic drug. The pattern of overmedication is carrying on into young adulthood with disastrous long term effects.

    Also, kids with private insurance are more likely to be prescribed, so there’s a much lower rate of medication for non-whites and Latinos.

  8. THIS comment is so good I’ll quote it — it’s beautiful snark:
    ====================================================
    jack burton ”¢ 2 days ago −

    Mark, please allow me to express my deep admiration of the sexual appendage you are evidently able to deploy for self-defense in place of a gun. You must be very proud. I am certain every lady you know feels safer in your presence than with nearly any other man.

    I admit that my own, personal penis is pitifully inadequate for self-defense purposes.

    It appears that you would prefer that women should be left defenseless, since they are anatomically unsuited for it. Plus, it makes them so much easier for you to subdue.

    It’s also apparently a true belief of yours that the elderly and handicapped, regardless of size, do not deserve the right to self-defense, since their wang-fu will likely be inadequate for a variety of reasons. You obviously think that we don’t need such human rubbish, anyway.

    I admit, I’ve always found it disturbing that the police and military, being unable to find recruits of your mighty dimensions, instead must brand them as the puny weaklings they are by issuing handguns and rifles.

    Congratulations to you again, and I am sure we will hear more of your exploits as you defend your self, your family, your neighbors, and your nation with your wee-wee..

    I implore you to post the resulting news pictures.

  9. }}} that is the cause of the disproportionate violence done by men?

    The cause of the disproportionate violence is almost certainly the stuff called “testosterone”. Violent behavior by random males gone off the trolley is hardly a new thing. I’m put in mind of the White-Thaw affair, a central event in the book-movie-stage musical “Ragtime”. I also don’t think Andrew Kehoe was on any psychotropics.

    Men are wired for violence, it’s part of our job description. That some of us go off the trolley is the way the universe works. How few of us go off the trolley seems to me to be of notable significance. Humans manage to trot that fine line between being violent animals and being civilized beings remarkably well. And yes, the universe, ruled by Entropy, does favor the being that retains its capacity for violence, while tempering it with compassion and collective spirit (aka, “We’re all in this mess together!”).

  10. Male aggression may or may not be part of the answer and the debate is one of evolutionary psychology vs cultural biases.
    I would caution about drawing too many conclusions from possible abberations and anomolies, but there are instances on both sides:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurie_Dann

    The point is that we’re now dealing with an entirely different animal, so to speak. The latest string of mass killings and school shootings are not being perpetrated by digruntled and criminally deranged adults, but by teenagers and young adults under psychiatric care and under the long term influence of psychiatric drugs. This glaring fact is being ignored and instead gun ownership is put forth as a red herring.

    Someone is being protected and someone is being attacked, both for the wrong reasons and with very bad consequences.

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