Horrific Newtown, CT school shooting

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

I'm so glad you had some kids at your school to reach out to you, Doug. That makes me feel better about high schoolers in general.

I was probably a lot easier for them to reach out to. My only full brother was a very good athlete, still has the school track and field record for the javelin, I think. My oldest brother (half) was the best pitcher in the city. I had two younger brothers and two older ones, and just from studying them, I knew how to act to fit in with guys.

The Asperger's diagnosis saved me from my parents.

My mom and step dad would take me in the basement and beat the hell out of me with a huge wooden paddle.

Eventually, they got so frustrated because all of the paddling, ear-pulling, and head slapping wasn't working...that they took me to a few doctors.

Dr. Barber diagnosed me with it. And liked me so much that he went around filming me. The Barber Center here used me as the film for sort of the textbook case.

Anyway, my mom and stepdad just backed off of me at that point. All of the efforts to discipline me stopped ... all of her dreams that I would one day be a CEO were crushed -- and she accepted it.

I refused to do homework -- but I would shuffle up and memorize 3 decks of playing cards ... stuff like that would drive her almost to violence.

[satan's twin]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

I was probably a lot easier for them to reach out to. My only full brother was a very good athlete, still has the school track and field record for the javelin, I think. My oldest brother (half) was the best pitcher in the city. I had two younger brothers and two older ones, and just from studying them, I knew how to act to fit in with guys.

The Asperger's diagnosis saved me from my parents.

My mom and step dad would take me in the basement and beat the hell out of me with a huge wooden paddle.

Eventually, they got so frustrated because all of the paddling, ear-pulling, and head slapping wasn't working...that they took me to a few doctors.

Dr. Barber diagnosed me with it. And liked me so much that he went around filming me. The Barber Center here used me as the film for sort of the textbook case.

Anyway, my mom and stepdad just backed off of me at that point. All of the efforts to discipline me stopped ... all of her dreams that I would one day be a CEO were crushed -- and she accepted it.

I refused to do homework -- but I would shuffle up and memorize 3 decks of playing cards ... stuff like that would drive her almost to violence.

Jeezus. With all that ear-pulling and head slapping, I'm guessing s.hit roles downhill. Is that when you'd rub one out and then 'naughty' up your socks?

[SOREHOOF]

So what exactly is the definition of "assault rifle"? Civilian versions of military weapons? Scary looking guns? They are no more dangerous than any other semi-auto rifle and a lot less powerful than most. A friend of mine has a semi-auto 30-06 that wouldn't be touched by an "assault weapon" ban, but makes an AR-15 look like a childs' toy. There was no spike in crime when the federal ban expired. These mass killings get the attention, thanks mostly to an anti-gun media, but your odds of being shot by one are less than being hit by lightening. There are definitely a lot of whackos out there, and that fact doesn't make me want to give up my guns any time soon. This guy was plenty intelligent enough to build a bomb if he had no access to guns, and could have done just as much damage with the handguns he had with him. Hundreds of millions of gun owners did not shoot up an Elementary School last week. One deranged kid did. It wasn't the gun. It was him. There is more violent crime in the UK per 100000 people than in the U.S.. Mexico has the strictest gun laws in the world. How's that working out for them? I don't want the same Govt. that thinks it's a good idea to arm the Mexican Drug Cartels deciding who should own a firearm in America. I'll take my chances with Freedom and the Constitution. Including the 2nd Amendment.

[SOREHOOF]

Whatinthehell is MAR?

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by GPK

Military style assault rifles

Thanks. I didn't know either.

[GPK]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Thanks. I didn't know either.

Some cal them MSR. Evidently the CEO has made the call to stop selling them ASAP.

[joeydb]

Originally Posted by GPK

Some cal them MSR. Evidently the CEO has made the call to stop selling them ASAP.

They are a business and can run it however they like.

It is a symbolic (and meaningless) gesture. The demand will simply be met by someone else - legally, until they ban it, then illegally afterwards.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

I was probably a lot easier for them to reach out to. My only full brother was a very good athlete, still has the school track and field record for the javelin, I think. My oldest brother (half) was the best pitcher in the city. I had two younger brothers and two older ones, and just from studying them, I knew how to act to fit in with guys.

The Asperger's diagnosis saved me from my parents.

My mom and step dad would take me in the basement and beat the hell out of me with a huge wooden paddle.

Eventually, they got so frustrated because all of the paddling, ear-pulling, and head slapping wasn't working...that they took me to a few doctors.

Dr. Barber diagnosed me with it. And liked me so much that he went around filming me. The Barber Center here used me as the film for sort of the textbook case.

Anyway, my mom and stepdad just backed off of me at that point. All of the efforts to discipline me stopped ... all of her dreams that I would one day be a CEO were crushed -- and she accepted it.

I refused to do homework -- but I would shuffle up and memorize 3 decks of playing cards ... stuff like that would drive her almost to violence.

I attended a workshop on teaching classes of special needs kids and the woman leading it recalled a class she taught that included a severely autistic child, who spent the class standing in the back, swaying and talking to himself. She let him be, and conducted the class. His regular teacher later told her (via his mom) that when he got home that night he recited what she had said, word for word. He clearly got a great deal of things, if he was left to experience them in a way that worked for him.

I think your incredible gift for seeing patterns is one of the things that makes you such a good handicapper.

Temple Grandin referred to NASA as one big workplace for people with autism. Speaking of, did you ever see the HBO Temple Grandin film? I thought the filmmakers did some pretty clever things in attempting to help the viewer "see" the way Grandin does, and I was very curious if someone who has tested on the spectrum thought they did a good job at it. (Have I asked you this before? I can't remember.)