Be safe, forklift truck drivers of the world. Be safe.
Differences in culture can be astounding.
Too bad, its not real:
Forklift Driver Klaus – The First Day on the Job (in German, Staplerfahrer Klaus – Der erste Arbeitstag) is a short film from 2000 about the first day of Klaus’ work as a forklift driver. The film is a parody of work safety films from the 1980s. The film was written and directed by Stefan Prehn and Jörg Wagner. Konstantin Graudus plays the role of Klaus, and Egon Hoegen is the narrator. It adds to the air of authenticity that the narrator’s voice is well known from road safety films.
Guns are a deep part of the often-violent U.S. culture. Americans are among the world’s most heavily armed people, and the country has among the highest murder rates.
There are an estimated 250 million privately owned guns in the United States, which has a population of about 300 million. About 30,000 people a year die from gun wounds, about evenly split between murders and suicides.
Polls show Americans favor tougher gun laws. But gun-rights groups have helped stop such action by rallying their members, many of them hunters, against it.
But, by far, this has been my favorite, misguided argument for why school shootings do or don’t happen:
Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America said the shootings that left 33 people dead, including the assailant, at Virginia Tech on Monday showed gun bans are the problem, not the solution.
“Isn’t it interesting that Utah and Oregon are the only two states that allow faculty to carry guns. And isn’t it interesting that you haven’t read about any school or university shootings in Utah and Oregon,” Pratt said.
Isn’t it interesting that his logic is so flawed, yet he still has a snotty attitude?
Also, more guns will not ever equal less gun crime. It is an equation that can never work. Yes, a teacher with a glock might be able to shoot a student with a gun, but then, isn’t that still a school shooting?
Today, Tuesday, production day. I have time, to sit, read, think, as I wait for Bri to layout my pages. In that time, I sit, reading Wikipedia’s entry on the VT massacure, which is a pretyy good source for updates. I read aloud details. I get goosebumps. Bri does too. So sad…. it’s all we can say.
It happened in a German class, in an engeneering building. I had a German class, in an engeneering building. It amazes me to think that one of those days, while I was preoccupied with Ellyn, getting yelled at to stop talking, something like this was only one decision away for someone.
How do we get this out of our culture?
I still don’t understand.
Update:
You can read a terrible one-act play by the shooter here.
A few years ago, just as Luna was throwing in the towel, Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, two of the members from Luna, joined together to make an album. It was spectacular. They recently put out a new album, which I haven’t heard. But, I just got to see the two live last night in Portland.
Britta and Dean make music that lulls you into a lucid state of euphoria. The show was one of the most relaxing nights I have had in a while. To sit and listen and be taken on a little sonic adventure was just what I needed. Check out a video from ther last album:
Neon Bible, the newest album from Canada’s Arcade Fire, has been on constant loop in my car since its release. I only take breaks for NPR. (You hear that Terry Gross?) Here is my favorite song from the album live from France. It’s called Ocean of Noise.
And here, a noise of ocean…
Speaking of Terry Gross, listen to KISS front-man, Gene Simmons, give an interesting and catty interview. Pretty much, he’s a huge misogynist. At one point, Gross is totally speechless. I believe ‘hedonistic’ is the best way to describe him. But really, in the end, it is an amazing interview, which is more credit to Gross.
Kill the next half hour and watch Pimp My Ride uk. All the MTV fast-cuts are there, but it is just a little awkward at times. Much better than any US MTV though. The Brits do most things better, culture-wise. Not so much militarily anymore.
Sod – This word has many uses. My father always used to say “Oh Sod!” or “Sod it!” if something went wrong and he didn’t want to swear too badly in front of the children. If someone is a sod or an “old sod” then it means they are a bit of a bastard or an old git. “Sod off” is like saying “piss off” or “get lost” & “sod you” means something like “f*** off”. It also means a chunk of lawn of course. You can usually tell the difference!
Sod all – If you are a waiter in America and you serve a family of Brits, the tip is likely to be sod all or as you would call it – nothing. Because we don’t know about tipping.
Sod’s law – This is another name for Murphy’s law – whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.
“Mehh! Man, I am bored. Bored, bored, bored. Is that a squirrel? Here little squirrel, come here. Man, Is he still taking about that Iraq crap. I need to pee. I wish I had my gun, I would shoot that squirrel. Boy, would I. Meh! Bored.”
WTF is our VP doing over there in the bushes?
Where am I?
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