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Let me tell a family story before I dive into answering the rest of your question. In the picture above is my mom's brother, my uncle. My uncle suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. He is 64 now and has had the diagnosis since he was discharged from the Army at age 22. He was in and out of psych hospitals and on and off medication for a period of approx. 25 years between the late 1970's and around the year 2001. In 2001 my mom's dad, my grandfather passed away, and ever since then something clicked in my uncles mind and he's been better about taking his medication, he's received injectable medication once a month, and has been a responsible member of society, living his best life. For the 20 years prior to 2001, his life was a mess. The only reason he wasn't homeless during that time period is because he had VA benefits from the Army that gave him money to subsist and because people like my mother, chased every mental health professional and social worker in the State of Michigan around to ensure her brother had a place to live. When he was doing ok and on his medication he'd go stay at my grandfather's house. When he was off his medication and in a state of paranoia or delusion or having an episode, he'd have to get kicked out of the house because he'd get angry, aggressive, belligerent, unstable, and violent. He threatened suicide on a couple of different occasions and also threatened violence against others in his family living in my grandfather's household, most notably my grandfather himself, his older sister who lived there and his younger brother who lived there. He used to pace the hallways at night with a baseball bat, knife, lead pipe, whatever he could get his hands on, forcing my family to have to barricade their doors at night time just to hide from him. Guess what, like a bunch of irresponsible morons, my grandfather, grandmother, and aunt who all lived over at the house owned guns. A house full of people ranging from a child with my aunts son on up to my grandparents owned guns with a mentally ill and unstable person living with them. One day, back in the mid-1980s, while my one of my mom's other sisters was up visiting from the Atlanta area, my uncle had a violent episode at my grandfather's house right in front of everyone living their, including my visiting aunt. He came up from the basement, where his temporary room was at, and had a double barrel shotgun in his hand. Right in front of my grandfather, grandmother, and my mom's two sisters, he racked that shotgun and started cackling with laughter. He looked over at my mom's sister (the one visiting from Atlanta) and said to her "I'm not going to shoot anyone, but I bet I scared you all didn't I." Thank god he didn't shoot anyone. But in the wake of that incident and many like it that families and people all across our country have had to deal with, why in the hell was a gun allowed to be unlocked, much less in the home, where a mentally ill person lived? Now onto your question, what Australia did in 1996 is what needs to be done here in America. We need a gun buyback program. But since you asked the question and said without doing a gun ban/buyback as Australia did, you need rigorous background checks, red flag laws, and mental health screenings among other things to prevent mass shootings from happening. I'll go through this one by one though. Longer, tougher background checks that include a social media sweep First, we need longer background checks. I mean background checks that take weeks to complete and are inspected by multiple individuals, not just a guy behind the counter at a gun store. Law enforcement and legal experts should review each and every background check. The check needs to be long enough in length so that an adequate professional has had the time to run a full and complete investigation into your past. That includes a sweep of your social media and online postings, which should be required to be reviewed. Any criminal past that comes up on your record that involved violence or violent behavior should prohibit you from owning that gun. Any social media posts that are deemed threatening or violent in any nature should also prohibit you from owning a gun. Additionally, if you want to own a gun, every single person listed at your residence should have to go through a background check and if anyone living at your home address has a criminal background that involves a violent past, that would prohibit you from being a licensed gun owner. As well, if someone new moves into your domicile, they are required to have a background check and if they fail the background check, you would be forced to turn your guns over or have that person leave and no longer live at the residence. Those individuals social media should also be required to be swept and if their social media contains violent or threatening posts, again, either you give up your guns or they must leave the residence and no longer live there. Registration requirements and criminal liability Every gun you own should have to be registered to you directly and you should have to be fingerprinted at the time of purchase. If that gun gets used in a crime, by someone other than the owner, than the owner of that gun should also be held criminally liable. If the gun was stolen than it needs to be reported to proper law enforcement agencies as stolen. Failing to do so would make you liable in that person's crime as well. Mental health evaluations Everyone living in your residence as a gun owner, including you, should be required to take a comprehensive mental health evaluation from a licensed mental healthcare doctor or professional. If you have a son or daughter or someone at your residence who has a brain health issue related to mental illness, you would be prohibited from buying and owning a gun. Adam Lanza, who shot up Sandy Hook Elementary, had a diagnosable mental illness, Asperger's Syndrome, as well as suffering from anxiety and depression. His mother was reckless and irresponsible with her guns and as a result, 28 people lost their lives that day in Newtown at Sandy Hook. Adam Lanza, Ethan Crumbley, my mom's schizophrenic brother, and many others like them should not be living in homes with such ease of access to guns. Requirement for gun safes with combination or key locks and locks on all guns Guns stored in a home should be required to be locked up in a combination or key safe where only one to two persons have access to that safe. If your gun is used in a crime than law enforcement would have the right to inspect your home and see what, if any, gun safes there are in the home. They would also be able to look at any and all gun locks. Any gun not currently in use should be required to have a lock on it at all times, without exception. If someone breaks into your home, well then, you're going to have to get the lock off your gun first. Again, as with the safe issue, if you are found to have guns not under a lock at your home, you will be held criminally liable for your negligence.

Hello, Friends!

Cudos to my family members who felt it was in our best interest in calling off a gathering this weekend. I think we are all vaccinated, but one of my sisters and sister in law made the call that it was just too dicey to have a bunch of people in a smallish house. TBH it is bittersweet since part of the gathering was to remember my youngest brother who passed away last month after a lengthy illness. But we'll still see him in our dreams....

Shortly after doing the last post and while cleaning up after breakfast I had this wild thought..... Why can't we make gun ownership as difficult as adopting a puppy from a rescue group. Pages of questioners, home inspections, interviews... Sorry you can't have that beagle mix, but take this SIG Sauer as a consolation prize

I believe Kroger is a union shop. They should build one field hospital in each state. Staff it with the unvaxxed health care workers. All the other hospitals set a number of covid patients they will accept in their hospitals, say 40% of existing beds, after that number is reached anyone who shows up to ar hospital because of covid that is unvaccinated gets sent to this field hospital, wherever it is in the state and they get billed for the transport.

as you've probably all heard by now (so just for posterity, I guess):

I got my booster and flu shot yesterday. Other than being slammed against the car door due to the magnetic pull, I'm doing pretty well.

Because dogs are the best....

Every off-season, the Lions expect the fans to drink their special blend of Kool-Aid. After a few years of SOL, they change coaches and say "this time it'll be different, we're really going to try". A few more seasons and they fire their GM and say "this time it'll be different". But it's never different, we're losers mostly every season. Meanwhile, with revenue sharing, the Lions value increases at an amazing rate. So win or lose, they're making boatloads of money. But yeah, sure. Campbell and Holmes are the answer. Just like Quinn and Patricia were. Just like.....every coach and GM for the last 64 years. So yeah, many fans are quite cynical. GO RAMS!!

I agree that Detroit is not considered a football town because they never win at football, but I think - similar to New Orleans (who did not win a playoff game from 1967-2000) - if they ever got good, football would be the city's identity, much as hockey was for much of the 90s (though I think to an even greater degree if that is possible). I agree that WCF did not value winning, and I think Martha couldn't have cared less about the team... I don't see any reason as to why that should be automatically assumed to be the case for Sheila though. I enjoyed seeing her in the locker room hugging Campbell after the Vikings game, and I've heard her earnest comments about understanding the fans skepticism that this regime will be different. Maybe I'll be the sucker at the end of the day, and Sheila is just trying to improve the family and brand image rather than success (though I think she is smart enough to know that winning = money). I think she is worth a shot though. God knows I'm not entirely like my parents LOL.

I never knew how much of a Lions slappy you were. It is weird how much you deny it though....just own it. Nothing wrong with it...

I totally disagree with this. There are football towns and there is Detroit. We have a decent fan base considering how god awful they have been for 60 years, but real solid football towns create a culture of wining...get this, by actually winning. Doing what it takes to win. Also a lot of those real football towns are not 4 sport towns...so football just naturally means more to them...that goes for ownership as well. I know most people like to take the lazy cliche and say that the owners of teams treat the team like a throw away or some kind of fancy hobby, but believe it or not...winning creates more money and the owners like making money so they naturally do what it takes to win. For some people/owners...winning just means more..the Fords do not really care about it...at least they do not appear to care or you would have to have a couple playoff wins in 60 years... The Bobby Lane curse ended like 13 years ago...there is no curse...there has just been poor decision after poor decision from top to bottom here which is why most people point to ownership because it is the only constant...I mean honestly how bad do you have to be in order to not get lucky at least ONCE in 60 years?

At this point in time last year, did anyone expect Trey Lance would be drafted 3rd overall? At the same time, I don't think many expected Fields to slide. If the Lions draft a QB, I feel it will be a trade up from the Rams pick.

So sad we are left with talking about toaster buildings and vegetables.....

the lions left hall of famers' careers incomplete because they have always failed to hire a management team that could bring them sustained organizational success. period. the term "ruined" is open to interpretation. the sentiment of making fun of the lions' organizational ineptitude by stating that you dont want players you like to come here because the organization will always be a failure should be a joke we can all share in. its the nature of internet message board posters to argue incessantly over what the term "ruined" means. that silliness aside, realizing the lions have left talented players' careers unfulfilled in terms of organizational success is not disputable.

here's my pitchbot attempt whether its wired earbuds or hundreds of texts planning a coup, both sides have cell phone issues

Australian School!

he might have been more famous, but for his failure to communicate.

i saw fieger once in court. he was walking in the hallway in a purple suit with sunglasses on surrounded by about five young lawyers trailing in his wake and basking in the glow of his slimy smug satisfaction. juries like him though. he gets the biggest verdicts in michigan (most of which are reduced substantially on appeal). him getting the democratic nomination foe governor in michigan has to be the lowest point in democratic politics since the state voted for george wallace.

I was 100% rooting for the Rams last night. Mainly because I want all the ridiculous Stafford haters to shut up. I would love nothing more than for LA to win it all while Stafford has a top 10 SB performance for a QB in SB history. Again...mostly just to shut the fans up with their lazy takes about it was "all Stafford" or "Pat Statfford" for our team blowing every year.

Thanks! The other thing for me too, is even though I had voted Republican in the past (ie Ron Paul and also McCain in 08) I could neve side with the crazier elements of the Republican Party. I'm not the least bit religious so the Christian Conservatives and their need to regulate behavior so it falls inline with their religious beliefs was always a turn off for me. The Tea Party was a turn off too as I never bought into their idea that Obama was a Muslim terrorist from Kenya. I also saw the Tea Party folks as phony libertarians who were only against the government when it suits them. Look no further than Rand Paul who spent several years in the Senate railing against disaster relief funding, only to come begging for it hat in hand when tornados hit Kentucky. All the craziness of the religious right and Tea Party finally gave way to a President who matched their values. For years the George Bush's, Dick Armey's, Tom Delay's, William F. Buckley's, and George Will's ran the party from a political and intellectual perspective. They've gotten overrun now and Donald Trump, along with the likes of Lauren Bobert, Louie Gomert, Mark Meadows, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Dan Bongino, are the culmination of their radicalization and conspiracy-laden mindset. We're only lucky that Trump and his cohorts are as big a clods and feckless as they are. Someone with Trump's selfishness and narcissism, who could effectively govern and run an organization, would be far more dangerous to this country than Trump himself. I'm glad as a former libertarian, as I'm sure you are too as a former Republican/conservative, to be standing on the right side of history against the Trump movement. Standing in support of our democratic institutions and freedom from authoritarianism.

I’m not a big fan of the “they have always been bad so will continue to be bad,” argument. I think it’s lazy and doesn’t provide nuance. The lions have been bad forever. Their past failures have nothing to do with how Sheila runs the team. If Sheila turns out to be awful then that’s unfortunate, but it’s a separate failure than what has been. If Holmes turns out to be a world beater drafting GM the lions will have a good football team. If he drafts like Millen or Quinn they will be bad. Regardless of the past there is reason to be optimistic. In the next two drafts we get 4 1st round picks and will also pick at the top of the 2nd. If Holmes gets it right the lions will be good. That’s how it works.

I passed through that phase of my life. When I was in college and after graduation I went through my Ron Paul/libertarian phase. For me it was about 07-2013ish. I was a big Ron Paul fan back in 2008 and 2012 and voted for him in both primaries. I still respect the guy for his honesty, opposition to the Iraq War, opposition to the Patriot Act/domestic spying, and a few other issues I agree with him on. I've read all the libertarian authors and political commentators too from Ayn Rand to Fredrich Hayek to Ludwig Von Miss to Milton Friedman to Murray Rothbard. I used to read all the think tank publications too like Cato, Mises Institute, Reason Magazine, and Heartland. What got me off the libertarian wagon though was related to what happened to my dad. When he lost his house to foreclosure during the recession and when he came clean to be about being joke broke, I couldn't sit there and continue railing against the very social programs and safety nets that were keeping him subsisting (Social Security, Medicare, and VA Assistance). Government money was the only thing keeping food on my dad's table, clothes on his back, and giving him the medical care/prescriptions he needed to live. How could I be so strident against the very social welfare that was keeping him alive and was keeping him from not having to live with my sister or I? The other thing that really worked for me is that I left the vortex of libertarian media and the libertarian echo chambers online and in research. Instead of sitting there sifting through Reason Magazine articles and Cato research all day I forced myself to listen to other points of view, hear out other people (most notably my own mother whose always been a progressive), watch other sources for my daily news, research opposing view points, and just take a cruise around Metro Detroit to see how others outside of the middle class enclaves of Canton Michigan actually live. The thing about libertarianism is, when you leave no checks and balances in place, when you strip away all regulations and you rely solely on the nature of others to do good in a situation, you create chaos and destruction. What libertarianism doesn't or refuses to account for in the bad nature of others. That bad and unethical behaviors like callousness, greed, manipulation, selfishness do exists and without proper controls placed on those behaviors, they will run roughshod over people all in the name of self interest. Whether that self interest is that of a company trying to maximize its profits or someone refusing to look out and take care of their fellow human being. Libertarianism in some cases makes false assumptions that people will naturally do good because it is in their own self interest to do so. In other instances, like Ayn Rand and her sociopathic theory of objectivism, doing good for others or caring for those around you matters not. In Rand's case, only looking out for yourself and treating yourself as the king above all else, breeds a degree of selfishness and greed that is downright destructive to people and the planet. Besides, who wants to live in a world where you're stepping over bodies and walking around a burning planet all so you can maximize your own gratification and self interests for a short amount of time. Life is about far more than that and there is a certain nobility and positive impact you get to make in life by being a caring, compassionate, kind, selfless human being.

My favorite ever Wikipedia edit was when Paul Ryan showed up on the list of invertebrates.

Me too, which surprises me, because I am usually left of Lenin when it comes to these kinds of quizzes. Must be getting more right wing in my old age. 😅 Although I gotta tell ya, this quiz hit one of my pet peeves pretty hard with one of the questions: synonymizing "great/greater/greatest" with "good/better/best". Here's the question: Because the United States is indisputably the greatest nation on Earth, in terms of scope, reach, influence, etc., but there is more of a debate to be had as to whether it is the best country on Earth, since based on some measures that is more of a subjective call , and based on others it is demonstrably untrue.

For the record: libertarianism sucks.

They aren’t hurting anything. It’s not like it prevents seating areas or blocks potential amenities.

I don't remember seeing it here, but Andrew Romaine retired last week. Some comments about filling some big shoes in Detroit...

Best I have ever heard a Mariah Carey song sound.

Thank you. Campbell knows he has Goff for this season and next. He also knows Goff took a team to a Super Bowl... or maybe a team took Goff to the Super Bowl, but at least Goff held up his end of the bargain. Campbell needs to figure out whether they have to spend draft capital on a QB or whether they can get away with using their 1sts on defensive difference makers. He can't afford to have that assessment clouded by an OC that is working his own agenda.

One of us complains about Texas because they actually live in this state and are subject to the policies of the government here. And yeah, while the administration (under the auspices of the Texas Department of State Health Services) does advocate for vaccination and runs ads to that effect, it's not exactly surprising that message is undermined by the various statewide elected officials going out and vice signaling on cable news and conservative radio shows. Second of all, to the extent that the Governor is advocating for the vaccine, that support is also undermined by the fact that he wishes to impede the choices that businesses or local governments would otherwise make in terms of vaccine mandates. These guys all scream bloody murder about big government when in Washington, yet locally, they have absolutely no problem sitting in Austin and issuing dictates telling private businesses how to run their shops. Again, taking into account these actions, not exactly surprising that, to the extent the advocacy exists, it's overshadowed by actions that come across to a lot of people as being hostile toward getting as many people vaccinated as possible.

I stated my position over 15 hours ago. It's a shame you didn't read it, accused me of being contrarian and defending the Lions no matter what, and continued a conversation you complain is still going. It was over and done with and you come along and lecture me on my posts. I'm dumbfounded that the position of Stafford, Johnson, and Suh being great picks, and good players who had great careers is contrarian.

BECAUSE LIKE MOSES AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OUR FOUNDING FATHERS DECREED THAT EVERY MAN HAS A GOD GIVEN RIGHT TO OWN GUNS AND PUT THAT IN THE CONSTUTUTION WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN AMENDED BEST THAT I CAN TELL. THAT COMES FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD!* *AND NEVERMIND THAT OTHER STUFF ABOUT THE BLACKS AND WOMEN NOT VOTING, ETC. look AWAY