Things Noticeable this week

[Devius]

Local media are reporting that eight people are dead
The local CBS affiliate KDKA reported the suspect was “white male [with] a beard” and said he “walked in yelling ‘All Jews must die’”. A reporter described “an exchange of gunfire between the police and suspect on the third floor” and “two officers shot in that exchange of gunfire”. The gunman was injured and surrendered after negotiation, the station said.

In Washington, Donald Trump tweeted that he was “watching the events unfolding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Law enforcement on the scene. People in Squirrel Hill area should remain sheltered. Looks like multiple fatalities. Beware of active shooter. God Bless All!”

Vice-President Mike Pence said on Twitter he was “praying for the fallen, the injured, all the families impacted, and our courageous first responders. God bless them all.”

Full details:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...gogue-shooting

[scoundrel]

Just waiting for the NRA to tell us that the worshippers at the synagogue are to blame for not being armed with AR-15s when they pray at their holy place. Mr Pence has already done the "thoughts and prayers, God bless America" routine.

I can't remember the last time a nutter walked into a British synagogue, temple, church or chapel and randomly shot up the congregation. This happens in the USA all the time.
https://psmag.com/news/church-shooti...ch-more-common

Can anyone suggest an underlying reason for the difference?

[SanteeFats]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

J

Can anyone suggest an underlying reason for the difference?

Ummm guns

[KissArmy]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

Just waiting for the NRA to tell us that the worshippers at the synagogue are to blame for not being armed with AR-15s when they pray at their holy place. Mr Pence has already done the "thoughts and prayers, God bless America" routine.

I can't remember the last time a nutter walked into a British synagogue, temple, church or chapel and randomly shot up the congregation. This happens in the USA all the time.
https://psmag.com/news/church-shooti...ch-more-common

Can anyone suggest an underlying reason for the difference?

I think I can. I think it boils down to three things:

First, America is swimming in guns. Millions of them, and they're easy to get.

Second, we can't control our mentally ill. They have more rights than we do.
To include the angry bigot who, while able to function in a civil society, still clearly has some screws loose.

Third, it's very easy to connect with like-minded, angry bigots nowadays. If you hate group [X], there are multiple web sites and chatrooms that fan your anger and bigotry.

When you combine the three, I fear that the Pittsburgh nut is the new normal here in the States and has been for a while. I don't have a solution. I don't think anyone does. This is going to happen regularly now.

[Greenman]

Many years ago our local synagogue was daubed with swastikas and slogans-having been newly painted. This was partly due to the National Front sympathisers. Over the years we've had people try to get in and cause problems with 'suspect' packages but I've never heard of anyone actually using a gun on people here-and I sincerely hope I never do...security around it and other synagogues has been stepped up and is always stepped up around the New Year and Yom Kippur(which was last month)

[charliels531]

Originally Posted by wildtig2013

Or people have died or lost all their limbs getting flesh eating bacteria just dipping their bodies in rivers or oceans (a guy who went crabbing got it, a lady who got mud in her eyes got it): people been swimming in rivers and ponds and lakes and oceans forever and only recently do we hear about stuff like that.

You can thank the excessive use of antibiotics, especially in the meat industry.

Or here in the USA we had Ebola outbreak which I may be mistaken, never happened before.

Two health care workers who had done a rotation in West Africa caught it there immediately before returning to the U.S. One died. One health care worker in Texas caught the disease from the guy who died. Hardly an "outbreak".

Many parents (especially foreigners) do not get their kids vaccinated or you don't know what they are bringing into this country coming from Asia or south of the US border in one of those Banana republic countries where they don't practice good hygiene or have access to hot and cold indoor running water and are now here attending our schools.

If you are looking for an excuse for your xenophobia, find a better one. Quite the opposite is true. The U.S. has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the world, so emigrants from the U.S. are a serious threat. Pakistan, where vaccination teams are occasionally killed by religious extremists, has a higher rate of polio vaccination than Marin County, California.

[charliels531]

Originally Posted by wildtig2013

Where are these fatal diseases coming from?

I am an informed person, I follow the news every day for decades, I have never heard of these diseases that seems to have come out of nowhere recently and are killing children:

https://www.fatherly.com/news/doctor...ccid-myelitis/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...cility-n925131

Remember the old medical saw, "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras"?

The science of medical diagnosis and differentiation has made great strides in the last fifty years. I can remember half a century ago hearing older relations talk about being diagnosed with "heart palpitations". Although heart diseases have been described for at least 1,500 years, it wasn't until the development of electrical instruments that these disorders could be differentiated. In the U.S. a number of drug companies have begun advertising drugs to treat atrial fibrillation. Although the condition was identified in the late 19th Century, no treatment was available until recently, so suddenly advertising makes us aware.

Likewise, as older, more widespread diseases (like polio) have vaccines or successful treatments, less-common diseases stand out.

[Mal Hombre]

Originally Posted by wildtig2013

It's a Jewish Synagogue.

Did the shooter thought it was maybe Muslim and/or Islamic?

There's more than enough hatred to go round in the US these days..

[Wendigo]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

There's more than enough hatred to go round in the US these days..

Trump that if you can ..... fake news !!!!!

[trailmaster]

In America(in Illinois) Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday November 4,2018. This is great. I get either an extra hour of sleep or get to stay up an extra hour, and the Sun will come up an hour earlier, but set an hour earlier.