(no subject)
OK, this is decent, but still on the cheap/lame side. Too many questions that go directly for the "hard" side of questions that people rarely answer honestly. Because, frankly, some are impossible to answer as they lay in the ground of "what won't you say publicly".
From thefridayfive:
1. What are you most self-conscious about?
My unwillingness to act as much as my convictions ask.
2. What's your favourite word?
The f-bomb. or Vegan. or Liberal. all three work best if used sparingly... too often, and one sounds like an unconscious, ineffectual idiot.
3. What's your biggest fear?
Dying a coward. Or slowly. Or frankly, discovering that I've made horrible mistakes all along due to sheer ignorance.
4. What's the weirdest thing ever to happen to you at work/school?
Someone once openly made fun of my vegetarianism in a group setting. The person promptly left when I pointed out that they were behaving oddly. I actually was rather well prepared to give the person a proper dressing-down, publicly, in about 5 seconds. Was amusing and glad that I didn't need to do so.
5. If you were going to have a revolution, what kind of society would you create?
The kind that evolves without revolution. Equality, peaceful, sustainable economy, lack of threats to other species.
This set seems totally unrelated to the internet. I thought one of the cool things was to get away from basing cultural norms on this sort of trite crap, so this might be the last time I populate my lj with results to this quiz.
From fridayfiver:
1. What is your shoe size?
A number less than half my age, and rather irrelevant on the internets.
2. How many hours did you sleep last night?
I think 7.5. Less than I needed.
3. Area code of your phone number:
Totally irrelevant.
4. Last grade of school completed:
I have a B.S.
5. Time it takes you to get ready in the morning:
About 45 minutes between waking up and locking my front door, usually.
Dude! Ok, this one's tricky for me to answer.
From the altfriday5:
1. Have you ever fired a firearm at a target or other inanimate object? Why or why not?
Target practice, and learning how to properly do so.
2. Have you ever fired a firearm at a living entity (animal or human)? Why or why not?
I've hunted successfully.
3. Have you ever owned a firearm? Why or why not?
I'm currently a vegetarian and a pacifist. Neither requires a firearm. I have not witnessed, even indirectly, situations where I would have wanted a firearm if I were another person. Firearms seem to escalate the level of violence, and turn a mugging into a gunfight. Also, most of the gun nuts I've talked with state that they would (or do) own firearms as protection from The Man. Yeah, right. If a platoon of fellow Americans comes busting down your door, or worse, anything that can be bought over the counter ain't going to help. Our local police forces fight people with frickin' machine guns. Armed confrontation against the U.S. government by its civilians has been particularly stupid and pointless for over 130 years.
4. Do you feel that there should be restrictions on what types of firearms people can own? What should the restrictions be (ranging from "none available" to "no restrictions")?
I feel their should be restrictions. I've contemplated the "none available" end of the spectrum, but I don't quite believe it's feasible. Certainly I feel that restrictions should limit assault rifles and regulate most of the mass-produced (semi-)automatic weapons. They're rarely useful, in my opinion, for anything but attacking groups of people. They are weapons of warfare, not self-protection while the rule of law holds. I'd argue that a revolver and a pump shotgun provide an absolutely scary level of "home" protection, and larger is dangerous to bystanders. Lastly, I really don't think U.S. Constitutional arguments about 2nd amendment rights hold. If they did, then arguably we have the right as citizens to weapons which have always been highly illegal.
5. What do you feel a person should have to do or be in order to purchase a firearm (ranging from "it should be impossible" to "walk to the corner store")?
Between impossible and a background check to verify a lack of violent offenses. I'm not happy with either, and wonder whether legal remedies alone will do much. Having seen the states where background checks fluctuate and are generally lax, they seem like one of the best solutions currently used, and may fill a void that no other solution fills. I don't think government-mandated training will help, that sounds a bit too much social control, and I believe would be more racist in effect than other restrictions (even background checks, which appear very racist to me when they're loose).
From thefridayfive:
1. What are you most self-conscious about?
My unwillingness to act as much as my convictions ask.
2. What's your favourite word?
The f-bomb. or Vegan. or Liberal. all three work best if used sparingly... too often, and one sounds like an unconscious, ineffectual idiot.
3. What's your biggest fear?
Dying a coward. Or slowly. Or frankly, discovering that I've made horrible mistakes all along due to sheer ignorance.
4. What's the weirdest thing ever to happen to you at work/school?
Someone once openly made fun of my vegetarianism in a group setting. The person promptly left when I pointed out that they were behaving oddly. I actually was rather well prepared to give the person a proper dressing-down, publicly, in about 5 seconds. Was amusing and glad that I didn't need to do so.
5. If you were going to have a revolution, what kind of society would you create?
The kind that evolves without revolution. Equality, peaceful, sustainable economy, lack of threats to other species.
This set seems totally unrelated to the internet. I thought one of the cool things was to get away from basing cultural norms on this sort of trite crap, so this might be the last time I populate my lj with results to this quiz.
From fridayfiver:
1. What is your shoe size?
A number less than half my age, and rather irrelevant on the internets.
2. How many hours did you sleep last night?
I think 7.5. Less than I needed.
3. Area code of your phone number:
Totally irrelevant.
4. Last grade of school completed:
I have a B.S.
5. Time it takes you to get ready in the morning:
About 45 minutes between waking up and locking my front door, usually.
Dude! Ok, this one's tricky for me to answer.
From the altfriday5:
1. Have you ever fired a firearm at a target or other inanimate object? Why or why not?
Target practice, and learning how to properly do so.
2. Have you ever fired a firearm at a living entity (animal or human)? Why or why not?
I've hunted successfully.
3. Have you ever owned a firearm? Why or why not?
I'm currently a vegetarian and a pacifist. Neither requires a firearm. I have not witnessed, even indirectly, situations where I would have wanted a firearm if I were another person. Firearms seem to escalate the level of violence, and turn a mugging into a gunfight. Also, most of the gun nuts I've talked with state that they would (or do) own firearms as protection from The Man. Yeah, right. If a platoon of fellow Americans comes busting down your door, or worse, anything that can be bought over the counter ain't going to help. Our local police forces fight people with frickin' machine guns. Armed confrontation against the U.S. government by its civilians has been particularly stupid and pointless for over 130 years.
4. Do you feel that there should be restrictions on what types of firearms people can own? What should the restrictions be (ranging from "none available" to "no restrictions")?
I feel their should be restrictions. I've contemplated the "none available" end of the spectrum, but I don't quite believe it's feasible. Certainly I feel that restrictions should limit assault rifles and regulate most of the mass-produced (semi-)automatic weapons. They're rarely useful, in my opinion, for anything but attacking groups of people. They are weapons of warfare, not self-protection while the rule of law holds. I'd argue that a revolver and a pump shotgun provide an absolutely scary level of "home" protection, and larger is dangerous to bystanders. Lastly, I really don't think U.S. Constitutional arguments about 2nd amendment rights hold. If they did, then arguably we have the right as citizens to weapons which have always been highly illegal.
5. What do you feel a person should have to do or be in order to purchase a firearm (ranging from "it should be impossible" to "walk to the corner store")?
Between impossible and a background check to verify a lack of violent offenses. I'm not happy with either, and wonder whether legal remedies alone will do much. Having seen the states where background checks fluctuate and are generally lax, they seem like one of the best solutions currently used, and may fill a void that no other solution fills. I don't think government-mandated training will help, that sounds a bit too much social control, and I believe would be more racist in effect than other restrictions (even background checks, which appear very racist to me when they're loose).