Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Quarantine

Yesterday a summit meeting was held at the stronghold of the McMillan clan in SecondLife, the Southern Charm sim. The much honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Char and prince of Cascade Falls, had summoned prince Guyke Lundquist to the home sim for a conference.

Prince Guyke is of course best known as The Prince of Claddagh, which is the age old title traditionally granted to the heir apparent of the McMillan clan.

The conference had been called rather urgently by the laird after he had been informed that his stepson had engaged in a battle of abuse with a French in-law concerning "Who are the biggest dickheads of Europe", the alternatives being the French or the Belgians. Both parties showed such unusual linguistic talents and creativity in their insults that the laird was mightily impressed and full of awe while thanking his lucky star that he was not involved.

While the prince of Claddagh only showed a modicum of interest for the discussions with his stepfather, the laird himself struck up a conversation in Instant Message with Dejerrity Mycron, his brother in-law. During the course of this conversation the laird was alerted to the fact that Dej had fallen sick with the same uncommon cold that the laird had just recently survived. It became clear that the contagion must have spread from Lund, Sweden, to New York, N.Y., U.S.A. via the Southern Charm sim.

At this news the laird immediately ordered that Southern Charm should be placed in quarantine with only restricted travel between the sim and the outside world. He also ordered out his lazy nobility to douse every straw of grass, every leaf on every tree and themselves with alcogel to avoid spreading the disease any further into SecondLife.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Greetings from MarsDeb


From: MarsDeb
Sent: December 17, 2012 22:53
To: Bock
Subject: RE: Happy Holidays

Bock – 

So good to hear from you and especially on this date. My son (name) got married on Saturday, 12/15, to his lovely bride (name). The ceremony was beautiful and all our family was able to make it. The newlyweds are in Acapulco for the week enjoying sunshine and relaxation.

I’m happy to hear you are doing well and having good memories of Doug. We talk about him often and always think about him when the family is together. Like you we miss him terribly but it is always happy fun memories when we remember.

Lots going on with our family as well this year. Marie has relocated from Florida to Texas and she and I have purchased a home together in (town). The house is on the water in a community called (X Island)…so we are living in paradise or hope to be once we have the remodeling done. It is a little longer drive to work for me, but I’m planning on retiring in a few years so it is manageable especially considering the relaxing environment once I get home. I've attached a couple of photos of our view and Marie’s boat. We are really enjoying it.

Mom and Dad are still hanging in there. No major health changes, just continuing to progress in age – Dad 86 and Mom 84. Mom’s (health issue) continues to progress but Dad is still managing to keep her at home with help during the week. Marie and I are going to Arkansas to spend the holiday with them.

The others are all doing well with one nephew graduating this past summer and going into the employment world. A big change for him, but he likes what he is doing.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday and healthy and safe New Year. Be sure to tell the SL family hello and send them my best wishes.

Debbie

Religion and I

I found this note somewhere on the Internet a long time ago, it can have been on Apmel´s blog but I cannot really remember. The note accurately expresses my feelings about religion.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Just Talking

Americans and Firearms

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." The second amendment to the United States Constitution (Bill of Rights, adopted 1791)
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The poster above and the information below are from the Brady Campaign's website. The numbers and statistics are from 2010.

Gun Murders by Country
In one year, guns murdered 17 people in Finland, 35 in Australia, 39 in England and Wales, 60 in Spain, 194 in Germany, 200 in Canada, and 9,484 in the United States.


The United States has weak gun laws. The other countries have strong gun laws. 

Gun Murders by Country and Population SizeWhen the countries are compared on the basis of firearm homicides per 100,000 population, the United States remains an outlier.

In one year, the U.S. firearm homicide rate was:

  • 5 times that of Canada
  • 10 times that of Finland
  • 13 times that of Germany
  • 19 times that of Australia
  • 24 times that of Spain.
  • 44 times that of England and Wales
A 2010 study affirmed this pattern: U.S. homicide rates were 6.9 times higher than 22 other populous, high-income countries combined. For a summary of the study, see: http://bradycampaign.org/studies/view/191.

Guns Used in Crime = More Deaths

Research indicates that the overall rate of crime in the United States is comparable to the rates in other developed countries (see Crime Is Not the Problem: Lethal Violence in America). However, in part because of our weak gun laws, guns are used more often in crimes in the United States than in other countries, which means that more people die. This partly explains why, even when our homicide rates are low by historical U.S. standards, they still are far higher than comparable countries.

We Can Do Better 

The U.S. needs to do a better job of protecting its citizens from the dangers of guns by making it harder for dangerous people to get guns. We can start by requiring Brady criminal background checks for gun sales, including those at gun shows. Join us in this fight. Lives are at stake. Go to www.bradycampaign.org and sign up today!
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Addendum 12/16/2012, 05:50 PM
My initial reaction to such tragedies as the Newtown killing spree is always an utter disbelief that such a thing can happen and a then a deep sadness for the fate of the victims, their families and yes -  often enough also - for the perpetrators and their families. The initial shock is then followed by a longer lasting anger and passion concerning how something like this can happen and how we must act to stop it from ever happening again.

It seems like an open and shut case that these killings occur with such regularity in the U.S.A. due to the lack of political will to regulate the owning and selling of firearms, handguns and semiautomatic weapons.

How the American judiciary and politicians (historically and to this day) could interpret the second amendment in such a way as it is implemented today is a complete mystery to me.

Final Countdown for the Phoenix Viewer

"Volterra, Beppo,. an actor" (1996). by photografer Alex Majoli, Italy. 
Bock McMillan16 December, 2012 05:23
Finally! Wonderful news, Tonya, thanks for sharing.

The people who have refused to leave Phoenix are holding the rest of us and our world back. They have had more than ample time by now to make the move to the next generation of viewers. As you say this has been long coming.

You made my day, thanks! ;)

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I left the above comment at Tonya Souther´s  excellent summary and evaluation on her blog The Tigress´s Second Den from a TPV-meeting with Oz Linden yesterday in her post The clock is officially ticking. Go there and read the full post with the happy news from the meeting!

(P.S. T.P.V. means Third Party Viewer, i.e. those non-Linden Lab viewers that are out there to access SecondLife.)