The General Chat Thread (2023)

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caseydog said:
This is close to home... way too close. 8.2 miles close.

CNN — Eight people were killed and at least seven others injured when a gunman opened fire at an outlet mallnear Dallas Saturday afternoon, marking the latest act of gun violence to shatter an American community as they are enjoying activities in public places.

As the sound of gunfire began to resonate through the Allen Premium Outlets parking lot, panicked shoppers screamed and ducked behind rows of cars as others sprinted across the lot, one witness video shows.

I've mentioned buying my Le Ceuset at an outlet mall. This is the one.

A photo obtained by CNN shows what appears to be the gunman lying on the ground after being shot, with an AR-15-style firearm nearby. He is clad in black body armor and appears to have several extra magazines strapped in his chest gear.

Time for another round of "thoughts and prayers for the victims and their families." Nothing else is going to happen, especially in a Red State like Texas.

CD :eek:
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We got that on the news the other night. And a spiel on the NRA's funding of the governor. And saying it wont stop.
I feel for your countrymen.

Russ
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Sounds like its not quite the plain sailing one would hope for.
Still early days though, hope it starts behaving soon! 🤞
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Yeah, very early days. My doctor is pleased with the progress. It's better than first time round (with the other hip) and I made remarkable progress then, so I'm fairly happy & optimistic. I just don't know what's going on with the lump. I've got and also previously had ganglions so they are nothing new. Usually they are not an issue, nor of an annoyance, but I've 2 pressing on nerves in my right wrist and this one catching my underwear on the scar tissue from this surgery. I've had septic bursitis previously and needed emergency surgery to prevent sepsis and an 8 day stay in hospital on strong antibiotics that murdered my veins and needed an be cannula every 6hrs!. My doctor wants me to raise it with the surgeon which I totally understand. So we'll see what he says tomorrow afternoon.
 
Update: The names of the deceased from the Allen mass shooting are coming out.

Three members of a family of four were killed, Mom, Dad and 3-year-old son. Their 6-year old son is still in the hospital.

A mother of two is in critical condition in a hospital. Her two daughters, age 8 and 11, are dead.

The other two dead were young adults.

The shooter is also dead, but who cares about him.

Governot Abbott says the problem isn't guns, it is mental health. Texas ranks LAST among states in access to mental health care, and Abbott signed a $211-million cut to mental health spending just last year.

The killer's guns were purchased legally.

CD
 
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My stoep chair was replaced at the weekend. The old one was taken away to be refurbished. It happens about every 3 or 4 years.

Out with the "old"................

Old chair s.jpg

In with the "new".................

Refurbished chair 2023 s.jpg
 
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caseydog said:
In this case, my first thought was "Holy $#%!, I shop there!" I have a kitchen full of stuff from that mall. I got my Nike shoes there. I have shirts in my closet from there.

I went to Walmart today for some bread rolls, and I looked around the parking lot for anything suspicious. I didn't plan to do that, I just did.

Update: The shooter is a 33 year old man with a hispanic name, but who left a trail of Neo-Nazi and white supremacist posts all over social media. But then again, I have an Italian name, and I'm forth generation American. It is quite common in Texas to meet third or fourth generation Americans with latino names. Some of them look down on recent immigrants, especially those who are here illegally.

CD
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Update: Rep. Keith Self, who represents the district where Allen is in the US House of Representatives, was asked on CNN about people who note that prayers have not solved mass shootings in America, lashed out and said...

“Those are people that don’t believe in an almighty God who is absolutely in control of our lives,” the Republican congressman said. “I’m a Christian. I believe that he is."

This is the mentality I live with here in the buckle of the bible belt.

CD
 
caseydog said:
In this case, my first thought was "Holy $#%!, I shop there!" I have a kitchen full of stuff from that mall. I got my Nike shoes there. I have shirts in my closet from there.

I went to Walmart today for some bread rolls, and I looked around the parking lot for anything suspicious. I didn't plan to do that, I just did.

Update: The shooter is a 33 year old man with a hispanic name, but who left a trail of Neo-Nazi and white supremacist posts all over social media. But then again, I have an Italian name, and I'm forth generation American. It is quite common in Texas to meet third or fourth generation Americans with latino names. Some of them look down on recent immigrants, especially those who are here illegally.

CD
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As a woman, I do that every time I go to Walmart or just about anywhere. I also keep my doors locked while sitting in my vehicle. Several times over the past 25 years I have been sitting in my vehicle and had strange men approach my car and try to get me to roll down the window or get out of the car, and two of those times the men actually tried to open my car door. I had my cell phone in hand and yelled I was calling 911 (that was in the past 10 years) and they quickly left. I have known many other women who have had the same or similar thing to happen to them. I have always told my daughers to be aware of their surroundings, keep their doors locked, and whenever possible, do not go shopping alone, and stay out of unstaffed parking garages (especially at night).

But yeah, I am pretty reluctant to go inside of shopping venues at all lately because of the shooting situations. Here in Missouri City, Texas, I wanted to go shopping at a few stores nearby while my SIL is visiting her mother in Puerto Rico, but I am a little wary of doing so now. It is Texas, after all.
 
So yesterday I was cleaning my sister-in-law's refrigerator. It made her laugh so she snapped a photo of it and sent it to my brother, who is working out of town. He told her to tell me to just relax...then he told her to not let me run out of cleaning supplies--or wine! :laugh:
 
JAS_OH1 said:
As a woman, I do that every time I go to Walmart or just about anywhere. I also keep my doors locked while sitting in my vehicle. Several times over the past 25 years I have been sitting in my vehicle and had strange men approach my car and try to get me to roll down the window or get out of the car, and two of those times the men actually tried to open my car door. I had my cell phone in hand and yelled I was calling 911 (that was in the past 10 years) and they quickly left. I have known many other women who have had the same or similar thing to happen to them. I have always told my daughers to be aware of their surroundings, keep their doors locked, and whenever possible, do not go shopping alone, and stay out of unstaffed parking garages (especially at night).

But yeah, I am pretty reluctant to go inside of shopping venues at all lately because of the shooting situations. Here in Missouri City, Texas, I wanted to go shopping at a few stores nearby while my SIL is visiting her mother in Puerto Rico, but I am a little wary of doing so now. It is Texas, after all.
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Yeah definitely, though the street harrasment has been different depending on my body size. When I was younger and still thin but with big boobs, I would have strange men just relentlessly walk up with me trying to get my phone number or otherwise being intimidating. Or catcalling, honking car horns or yelling 'hey girl, come here' by a group of them. This started as soon as I had boobs, at age 11!

When I got fat I got yelled at for eating ice cream, or when jogging that I was going to slow, or being laughed and pointed at by groups of guys. But ignored I've only been the past 5 years, which kind of correlates with me being more confident and mature I guess. I can't remember any recent incidents like this, though it also helps that I don't go out at night by myself at all anymore.
 
caseydog said:
“Those are people that don’t believe in an almighty God who is absolutely in control of our lives,” the Republican congressman said. “I’m a Christian. I believe that he is."
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So according to Mr Self (ish), God thinks its perfectly fine to murder innocent women and children and leave the rest of the population in a state of permanent terror. Must be very frustrating.
I get much of the same institutional obduracy over here, except it's not "God" and he's not watching over us. Anything that doesn't work out is because of the here "Evil Empire" - which at any given moment, might be the USA, the UK, or Spain. Maduro is about as religious as a cockroach, but is quite happy to start new, impossible projects and declare that they will bring everyone a "New Venezuela, Thank the Lord!"
I've just blanked it all out. I take no notice. I don't stress about it, because there's nothing I can do.
I DO take a careful look around the car parks when I go to a shopping mall, however...
 
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