"http://dddavidsghostcams.org/Privacy_Policy.html"
The Anatomy of Thoughts and Sporadic Opinions: 2015
http://www.wedrankfromthegardenhose.com/Privacy_Policy.html
A submarine was salvaged from the Chicago River in 1915
In November 1915 a diver named William Deneau discovered what he claimed was a lost submarine on the bottom of the Chicago River. It was brought out of the water that December The sub was put on display on State Street in January 1916, then appeared with a carnival in Iowa that spring. An advertisement in the Chicago Examiner indicates the submarine was back in Chicago on exhibit at Riverview in June, 1916.
The following is from an article in the Chicago Examiner when the sub was discovered which appeared on November 24, 1915:
CHICAGO READY FOR WAR? LOOK!
Why, There's Been a Submarine in the River for These Fifteen Years
"The con man," as Persuadem Lorgan used to say, "can't lie all the time — no matter how hard he tries."
For a long time it has been one of the favorite devices of the confidence fraternity in Chicago to lure their victims by the bright promise, "Just let me show you our submarine down by the river." But a confidence man is not always to be blamed for telling the truth. How could he know that the Chicago River actually does contain a submarine?
It was found yesterday, half buried in the mud at the river bottom near the Wells street bridge.
A diver, William M. Deneau, laying cables for the Commonwealth Edison Company, was the discoverer. As he groped along the slimy bottom he stubbed his toe.
To curse is impracticable when one is at the bottom of a river. So Deneau did the next best thing — he investigated. He felt all around the thing, learning that it was made of steel, that it was shaped something like a Zeppelin, and that its engine was not working. He came up then, to ask questions.
"Why didn't somebody tell me I was working in the war zone?" he demanded. "A man ought to get extra pay when he has to run the risk of submarines every time he dives, oughtn't he? It's dangerous. And are there any mines in the river?"
Photos from the Chicago Daily News and The Chicago Examiner.
Was an evil looking black-eyed ghost captured on film during a Christmas party?
Two teenage girls say they spotted the demon after taking the picture at a pub.
Sophie Killip and Kayleigh Lomas, both 19, had met up for a festive get-together, but they were horrified when the spectre appeared at one of the party tables in the photograph.
In the photo a dark-haired child appears to have marks on her head and wearing old fashioned clothing, and sunken eyes.
Sophie, a student, said: "The table was just one down from us and nobody was sat there so we took a photo of the decorations because they were really nice."
"There was nothing there at the time but when we looked back at the photo we couldn’t believe it."
"It was pretty scary and I felt creeped out."
"It looked like a little girl staring directly back at us."
"I didn’t believe in ghosts until I saw this photo."
"No-one was sitting at this table yet there is most definitely something paranormal in the photo."
“No-one was sitting at this table yet there is most definitely something paranormal in the photo.”
The pair took the photo at Harry’s Bar and Grill in Newcastle. And Sophie sent it to a friend who “reads” ghost photos.
The friend admitted it was the “clearest evidence she had ever seen”.
It was reported that last year (2014) many black-eyed ghost of children tormented people across Britain, particularly those living in Cannock Chase, Staffs – said to be the UK’s most haunted area.
The two girls took the photo at Harry’s Bar and Grill in Newcastle. And Sophie sent it to a friend who “reads” ghost photos.
The pal admitted it was the “clearest evidence she had ever seen”.
Last year black-eyed child ghosts tormented many people across Britain, particularly those living in Cannock Chase, Staffs – said to be the UK’s most haunted area.
Stories about strange activities around places like Cannock Chase or Dudley Castle have been around since time immemorial, and sceptics would suggest such locations are tailor-made for a fertile imagination.
It is said that the spirits of Black-eyed children is an urban legend of supposed paranormal creatures that resemble children between the ages of 6 and 16, with pale skin and black eyes, who are reportedly seen hitchhiking or panhandling, or are encountered on doorsteps of residential homes. Tales of black-eyed children have appeared in pop culture since the late 1990s.
I had sensed spirits in the room, so I turned on the camera, and started recording. Do you feel their presence too? Let me know, and please "like" and Subscribe for more!!!
This is the beginning of my most recent Christmas display. Please follow along as it grows until it's lighting on Thanksgiving night. I am always looking for inspiration, so if you have any ideas please send them to me via my Google+ page. Just find the google+ icon on my YouTube Channel.
Mason Jar lights have become very popular, and I wanted one for a Fall/Thanksgiving display I have outside my front door. After pricing them in stores, and online, I decided to do one myself. It went so well I thought you might like to try one for your home as well. As it turns out, the final cost was Free! Please "like", and share, as well as Subscribe for more of my life stuff. Thanks
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (a contraction of "All Hallows' Evening"), is also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve is one of the world’s oldest holidays, and is still celebrated today around the world.
Halloween is a yearly celebration observed in many countries on the 31st of October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It initiates the three-day religious observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers. Within Allhallowtide, the traditional focus of All Hallows' Eve revolves around the theme of using "humor and ridicule to confront the power of death."
In Mexico and other Latin American countries, DÃa de los Muertos—the Day of the Dead—honors deceased loved ones and ancestors. All Souls’ Day, which takes place on November 2, is commemorated with a three-day celebration that begins on the evening of October 31. The celebration is designed to honor the dead who, it is believed, return to their earthly homes on Halloween. Many families construct an altar to the dead in their homes to honor deceased relatives and decorate it with candy, flowers, photographs, samples of the deceased’s favorite foods and drinks, and fresh water. Often, a wash basin and towel are left out so that the spirit can wash before indulging in the feast.
In countries such as Ireland, Canada and the United States, adults and children alike revel in the very popular Halloween holiday, which is derived from ancient festivals and religious rituals. Traditions include costume parties, trick-or-treating, pranks and games. In Ireland, where Halloween originated, the day is still celebrated much as it is in the United States. In rural areas, bonfires are lit as they were in the days of the Celts, and all over the country, children get dressed up in costumes and spend the evening “trick-or-treating” in their neighborhoods.
A traditional food eaten on Halloween is barnbrack, a kind of fruitcake that can be bought in stores or baked at home. A muslin-wrapped treat is baked inside the cake that, it is said, can foretell the eater’s future. If a ring is found, it means that the person will soon be wed; a piece of straw means that a prosperous year is on its way. Children are also known to play tricks on their neighbors, such as “knock-a-dolly,” a prank in which children knock on the doors of their neighbors, but run away before the door is opened.
According to many scholars, All Hallows' Eve is a Christianized feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain. Other scholars maintain that it originated independently of Samhain and has solely Christian roots.
Today's Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by folk customs and beliefs from the Celtic-speaking countries, some of which have pagan roots, and others which may be rooted in Celtic Christianity. Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain", which comes from the Old Irish for "summer's end".[ Samhain (pronounced SAH-win or SOW-in) was the first and most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. It was held on or about 31 October – 1 November. Samhain and Calan Gaeaf are mentioned in some of the earliest Irish and Welsh literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century, and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names for Halloween.
During the early modern era in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales, the festival included mumming and guising, the latter of which goes back at least as far as the 16th century. This involved people going house-to-house in costume, usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food. It may have come from the Christian custom of souling, or it may have a Gaelic folk origin, with the costumes being a means of imitating, or disguising oneself from, the Aos SÃ (Comparable to the fairies or elves. They are said to live underground in fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans). In Scotland, youths went house-to-house on 31 October with masked, painted or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed.
In England
On the evening of November 5, bonfires are lit throughout England. Effigies are burned and fireworks are set off. Although it falls around the same time and has some similar traditions, this celebration has little to do with Halloween or the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The English, for the most part, stopped celebrating Halloween as Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation began to spread. As followers of the new religion did not believe in saints, they had no reason to celebrate the eve of All Saints’ Day. However, a new autumn ritual did emerge. Guy Fawkes Day festivities were designed to commemorate the execution of a notorious English traitor, Guy Fawkes.
On November 5, 1606, Fawkes was executed after being convicted of attempting to blow up England’s parliament building. Fawkes was a member of a Catholic group who wanted to remove the Protestant King James from power. The original Guy Fawkes Day was celebrated right after his execution. The first bonfires, which were called “bone fires,” were set up to burn effigies and symbolic “bones” of the Catholic pope. It was not until two centuries later that effigies of the pope were replaced with those of Guy Fawkes. In addition to making effigies to be burned in the fires, children in some parts of England also walk the streets carrying an effigy or “guy” and ask for “a penny for the guy,” although they keep the money for themselves. This is as close to the American practice of “trick-or-treating” as can be found in England today. Guy Fawkes Day was even celebrated by the pilgrims at the first settlement at Plymouth. However, as the young nation began to develop its own history, Guy Fawkes was celebrated less frequently and eventually died out.
China
Mainland China has been less influenced by Anglo traditions than Hong Kong and Halloween is generally considered "foreign." As Halloween has become more popular globally it has also become more popular in China, however, particularly amongst children attending private or international schools with many foreign teachers.
Japan
Halloween arrived only recently in Japan, mainly in the context of American pop culture. Western-style Halloween decorations such as jack-o'-lanterns can be seen in many locations, and places such as Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan put on special Halloween events.
Philippines
In Philippines, Halloween is celebrated as All Saints Day 1 November, immediately followed by All Souls day (Araw ng Patay) on 2 November.
Singapore
Singapore Chinese celebrates "Zhong Yuan Jie / Yu Lan Jie" (Hungry Ghosts Festival, some sort of Chinese Halloween) during lunar seventh month. It is believed that the gates of hell are opened and the spirits come back to visit their families.
Australia and New Zealand
While not traditionally a part of Australian culture, non-religious celebrations of Halloween modeled on North American festivities are growing in momentum in Australia, in spite of seasonal differences and the transition from spring to summer. Criticism stems largely from the fact that Halloween has little relevance to Australian culture. It is also considered, by some Australians, to be an unwanted American influence; although Halloween does have Celtic/European origins, its increasing popularity in Australia is largely as a result of American pop-culture influence.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, vignesh Halloween was not celebrated until recently. For the past few years, it has been popular among younger generations. Halloween is a work day in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since wearing masks has become highly popular among children and teenagers, e.g. in many Bosnian schools, both elementary as well as high schools (gymnasiums and vocational), students will usually wear costumes and masks on Halloween. There it is called Noc vještica (English translation: Night of Witches).
Germany
Halloween was not generally observed in Germany prior to the 1990s, in part due to the opposition of the Lutheran Church. It has been increasing in popularity, however, with a fifth of Germans now telling pollsters they celebrate Halloween. Halloween has been associated with the influence of U.S. culture, and "Trick or Treating" (in German,"Süßes oder Saures") has been occurring in some areas such as the Dahlem neighborhood in Berlin, which was part of the American zone during the Cold War. Complaints of vandalism associated with Halloween "Tricks" are increasing, particular from many elderly Germans unfamiliar with "Trick or Treating.
Romania
Halloween in Romania is celebrated around the myth of "Dracula" on 31 October.[citation needed] The spirit of Dracula is believed to live there because the town was the site of many witch trials; these are recreated today by actors on the night of Halloween. The most successful Halloween Party in Transylvania takes place in Sighisoara, the citadel where Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) was born. The prestigious Fodor's travel guide placed Halloween in Transylvania on a list of Top Ten Must-Do-Adventures.
Sardinia
In the town of Gadoni on 2 November, torches made of sheafs of asphodel stems 2–4 m (7–13 ft) long, are brought through the streets of the town by the young people at dusk.[citation needed] The meaning of this ritual is to accompany the wandering souls and spirits far from the town.[citation needed] Out of the windows are put sas Concas de Mortu (Head of the deads), carved pumpkins that look like skulls, with candles inside.
Switzerland
In Switzerland, Halloween, after first becoming popular in 1999 is on the wane. Switzerland already has a "festival overload" and even though Swiss people like to dress up for any occasion, they do prefer a traditional element, such as in the Fasnacht tradition of chasing away winter using noise and masks.
Russia
Halloween in Russia is not quite the same as it is elsewhere. You will not see gleeful kids trick-or-treating on the Moscow streets – simply because Halloween is not celebrated among children in Russia. The holiday, originally brought to North America from Ireland, found its way into Russian night clubs about eight to ten years ago. Halloween remains new for the majority of Russian society, yet signs show that the holiday is gaining popularity among young adults.
Today's Halloween customs are also thought to have been influenced by Christian dogma and practices derived from it. Halloween falls on the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows' Day (also known as All Saints' or Hallowmas) on 1 November and All Souls' Day on 2 November, thus giving the holiday on 31 October the full name of All Hallows' Eve
By the end of the 12th century they had become holy days of obligation across Europe and involved such traditions as ringing church bells for the souls in purgatory. In addition, "it was customary for criers dressed in black to parade the streets, ringing a bell of mournful sound and calling on all good Christians to remember the poor souls." "Souling", the custom of baking and sharing soul cakes for all christened souls, has been suggested as the origin of trick-or-treating.
The custom dates back at least as far as the 15th century and was found in parts of England, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Italy. Groups of poor people, often children, would go door-to-door during Allhallowtide, collecting soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the dead, especially the souls of the givers' friends and relatives. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593). The custom of wearing costumes has been explicated by Prince Sorie Conteh, who wrote: "It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes to disguise their identities".
Anglican colonists in the South and Catholic colonists in Maryland "recognized All Hallow's Eve in their church calendars", although the Puritans of New England maintained strong opposition to the holiday, along with other traditional celebrations of the established Church, including Christmas. Mass Irish and Scottish immigration during the 19th century increased the holiday’s celebration in the United States. "In Cajun areas, a nocturnal Mass was said in cemeteries on Halloween night. Candles that had been blessed were placed on graves, and families sometimes spent the entire night at the graveside." Confined to the immigrant communities during the mid-19th century, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and by the first decade of the 20th century it was being celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial and religious backgrounds.
Symbols
Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. Jack-o'-lanterns are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows' Eve in order to frighten evil spirits. There is a popular Irish Christian folktale associated with the jack-o'-lantern, which in lore, is said to represent a "soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell".
As the legend goes:
On route home after a night's drinking, Jack encounters the Devil and tricks him into climbing a tree. A quick-thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark, thus trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his soul. After a life of sin, drink, and mendacity, Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies. Keeping his promise, the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him. It was a cold night, so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest.
In Ireland and Scotland, the turnip has traditionally been carved during Halloween, but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which is both much softer and much larger – making it easier to carve than a turnip. The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837 and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.
Traditionally, the back walls of churches are "decorated with a depiction of the Last Judgment, complete with graves opening and the dead rising, with a heaven filled with angels and a hell filled with devils," a motif that has permeated the observance of this triduum. One of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne, who, in 1780, made note of pranks at Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "Bogies" (ghosts), influencing Robert Burns' "Halloween" (1785). Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween. Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, and mythical monsters. Black, orange, and sometimes purple are Halloween's traditional colors.
The best of the early 1900's Halloween costumes from the U.S. Russia, and more. The horrifyingly creepy, and extremely morbid taste of the day. You have nothing on these people.
Let me know what you think of this video. This is a video recording of a room in the basement.
If you can, watch this video full screen, and pay attention to the bottom half of the screen, and the chair in particular. There seems to be a small person, or child in the video, and possibly more than one.
It was a night like many other nights is the large old Haunted House. I have been in this castle like Victorian House for 11 years now, and have gotten use to the strange goings on. Sounds, voices, movements, and knockings, among numerous other things, but this night was a little different, and I'm not sure why. Not that it was more startling, or scary, but it was the number of voices, and the fact that, from what I could hear, they were all children. Children in a state of celebration, and fun.
I had gone to sleep that night. Me, and Wesley (my Boston Terrier) on the bed as normal. I had actually woken up from a strange dream I had. It was of a lady who had 2 bears in her house (one large, and one cub), and Wesley and I were visiting??? I don't know where that came from... We were taken there by someone else, and that someone had left. When I found out that we were going to have to stay in the bear occupied home for the night, I decided to take Wesley outside to go to the bathroom, while out there we saw a group of rats ran under the neighbors houses, and then came running back, and one of them bit Wesley. That is when I woke up. It wasn't a scary dream, just very annoying.
It was when I awoke from this dream that I heard the children, and not just a few of them. There were a large group of them and they were laughing, and cheering, as if some great fun were being had. They were really in a grand mood, and I thought to myself....this is a little weird, even for my house.
It was coming from the bedroom adjacent to my bedroom. The rooms are connected with double doors, and I keep them closed, and locked at night. I do that to either keep my room cooler, or warmer, depending on the season.
I lay there listening, and it just kept going. They were really having fun. At this point I noticed that Wesley too was awake. I assume that he too had heard it. So now we were just laying in bed waiting for it to die down (at least I was), but it wasn't, so I decided to get up, and that is when it stopped. No more laughing, cheering, and playing. No more celebration. Just silence. I walked around the room, went to the bathroom. All in silence. They were all gone now.
I am not sure why that night was a special night, but I feel that it must have been from something that had happened in the past, Some special night that was once again being brought back to life. Why? I will probably never know.
Donald Trump has been found in many places, and in many of those has come out a winner, but now we will see how he does in nature with these candidates. Who will win?
In this part of the on going Paranormal Investigation in the house, we find ourselves in one of the bedrooms upstairs with a infrared camera, and a spirit box, and the ghostly sounds of a baby.
NASA's Three-Billion-Mile Journey to Pluto Reaches it's Historic Encounter
After a decade-long journey through our solar system, NASA's New Horizons has made its approach to Pluto.
New Horizons is showing us it's approach to Pluto, and Pluto's surface, along with it's moon Charon.
Flowing ice and a surprising extended haze are among the newest discoveries from NASA's New Horizons mission, which reveal distant Pluto to be an icy world of wonders.
Sunlight streams through the atmosphere and revealing hazes as high as 80 miles (130 kilometers) above Pluto's surface.
The hazes detected are a key element in creating the complex hydrocarbon compounds that give Pluto’s surface its reddish hue.
Models suggest the hazes form when ultraviolet sunlight breaks up methane gas particles, a simple hydrocarbon in Pluto's atmosphere. The breakdown of methane triggers the buildup of more complex hydrocarbon gases. As these hydrocarbons fall to the lower, colder parts of the atmosphere, they condense into ice particles that create the hazes.
The New Horizons mission also found evidence of exotic ices flowing across Pluto's surface and revealing signs of recent geologic activity.
The new images show fascinating details within the Texas-sized plain, informally named Sputnik Planum, which lies within the western half of Pluto's heart-shaped feature, known as Tombaugh Regio. There, a sheet of ice clearly appears to have flowed,and may still be flowing,in a manner similar to glaciers on Earth.
New compositional data from New Horizons’ Ralph instrument indicate the center of Sputnik Planum is rich in nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane ices.
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has spotted multiple craters and canyons on Pluto's big moon Charon, including one chasm that appears to be longer and deeper than Arizona's Grand Canyon
Surface temperatures can reach as low as 33 K
(-240 °C or -400 °F).
Not only does water freeze solid at these temperatures, but other liquids and gases that are present on Pluto’s surface – such as methane (CH4), nitrogen gas
(N²), and carbon monoxide (CO) – also freeze solid.
While Pluto has a thin atmosphere, it consists mainly of nitrogen gas, methane and carbon monoxide, which exist in equilibrium with their ices on the surface.
New Gun Laws Proposed for the United States
The single biggest gap in the United States gun laws is the lack of a background check requirement when a gun is sold by an unlicensed individual. Unlike licensed gun dealers, unlicensed “private” sellers are not required to conduct background checks on gun purchasers.
Buyers that purchase firearms through private sales in the U.S. don't have to pass a background check before obtaining possession of the weapon. This includes sales to criminals, felons, and people with a history of severe mental illness.
As of December 2014, 18 states have extended a background check requirement to at least some unlicensed gun sales.
Here are some common sense approaches that would be a very good start in changing Gun Laws In the United States.
* End all open carry laws and outlaw all semi-automatic weapons.
* A universal background check.
* Complete reporting of all people prohibited from possessing firearms because of mental illness under federal law.
* Authorizing law enforcement officers to remove dangerous people’s access to guns, under court or administrative agency oversight.
* Requiring schools, including colleges and universities, to report people identified as violent or suicidal to a court or administrative agency charged with reviewing these reports.
* Allowing courts to issue “gun violence restraining orders” when concerned community members bring dangerous or suicidal people to their attention; and, Temporarily prohibiting people involuntarily hospitalized for mental illness.
* No Guns for those convicted of domestic-violence misdemeanors
* A 10-round magazine maximum.
Of all the pro-gun arguments used most often, the weakest is the constitutional one. said Chief Justice Warren Burger, a conservative appointed by Richard Nixon. When speaking of the misuse of the Second Amendment to support private gun ownership, Justice Burger said:
(The Second Amendment) "has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word 'fraud,' on the American public by special interest groups I have ever seen in my lifetime.
In the article:Gun use in the United States: results from two national surveys Concluded:
Guns are used to threaten and intimidate far more often than they are used in self defense. Most self reported self defense gun uses may well be illegal and against the interests of society.
This is what we know about guns in the United States. You may or may not like the data, but you cannot dispute the data, because facts are just that, facts. Facts are not emotional, and facts don't take sides. Let's get started.
We know American gun ownership by far surpasses gun ownership in other countries. “With less than 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States is home to 35-50 percent of the world’s civilian-owned guns,” according to the Small Arms Survey.
Approximately 20% of gun owners own 65% of the guns. The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms reports that about 5.5 million new firearms were manufactured in America in 2010. 95% of these were for the U.S. market.
While the number of firearm homicides dropped dramatically over a 20-year period ending in 2011, the percentage of violent crimes involving firearms has stayed fairly constant, according to the 2013 survey.
In 2015 gun deaths are expected to surpass car deaths in the United States. That's according to a Center for American Progress report, which cites CDC data that shows guns will kill more Americans under 25 than cars in 2015. Already more than a quarter of the U.S. teenagers, 15 years old and up, who die of injuries in the United States are killed in gun-related incidents, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Every day in the U.S., an average of 289 people are shot. Eighty-six of them die: 30 are murdered, 53 kill themselves, two die accidentally, and one is shot in a police intervention, the Brady Campaign reports.
Guns and kids:
82 children under five years old died from firearms in 2010 compared with 58 law enforcement officers killed by firearms in the line of duty (sources: CDF, CDC, FBI)
More kids ages 0-19 died from firearms every three days in 2010 than died in the 2012 Newtown, Conn., massacre (source:CDF,CDC)
Nearly three times more kids (15,576) were injured by firearms in 2010 than the number of U.S. soldiers (5,247) wounded in action that year in the war in Afghanistan (source: CDF, CDC, Department of Defense)
Half of all juveniles murdered in 2010 were killed with a firearm (source: Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention)
Shooting sprees are not rare in the United States.
Mother Jones has tracked and mapped every shooting spree in the last three decades. "From 1982 through 2012, there have been at least 61 mass murders carried out with firearms across the country, with the killings unfolding in 30 states from Massachusetts to Hawaii," they found. And in most cases, the killers had obtained their weapons legally. 15 of the 25 worst mass shootings in the last 50 years took place in the United States.
Harvard University researchers say U.S. mass shootings have surged in recent years, contradicting earlier studies.
The Harvard researchers said the rate of mass shootings has increased threefold since 2011, occurring on average every 64 days, compared with an average of every 200 days in the years from 1982 to 2011.
The researchers used a database created by Mother Jones to look at mass shootings, which they defined as attacks that "took place in public, in which the shooter and the victims generally were unrelated and unknown to each other, and in which the shooter murdered four or more people."
Gun Violence in the Home
Claims that guns are used defensively millions times every year have been widely discredited. Using a gun in self-defense is no more likely to reduce the chance of being injured during a crime than various other forms of protective action.
Guns kept in the home are more likely to be involved in a fatal or nonfatal unintentional shooting, criminal assault or suicide attempt than to be used to injure or kill in self-defense. That is, a gun is more likely to be used to kill or injure an innocent person in the home than a threatening intruder.
Though guns may be successfully used in self-defense even when they are not fired, the evidence shows that their presence in the home makes a person more vulnerable, not less. Instead of keeping owners safer from harm, objective studies confirm that firearms in the home place owners and their families at greater risk.
Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that living in a home where guns are kept increased an individual’s risk of death by homicide by between 40 and 170%.
Another study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology similarly found that “persons with guns in the home were at greater risk of dying from a homicide in the home than those without guns in the home.” This study determined that the presence of guns in the home increased an individual’s risk of death by homicide by 90%
The following report which used data from 2012, the most recent year for which national data is available. In that year, 1,706 females were murdered by males in single-victim/single-offender incidents. That's 33 victims every week and more than four every day.
Just as in previous years, it was found the most common weapon men use to murder women is a gun. For homicides in which the murder weapon could be identified, 52 percent of victims were shot and killed with a gun. The most common firearm was a handgun, used in 69 percent of the homicides committed with guns.
States with stricter gun control laws have fewer deaths from gun-related violence.
In 2011 economist Richard Florida studied the correlations between gun deaths and other kinds of social indicators. Some of what he found was, perhaps, unexpected: Higher populations, more stress, more immigrants, and more mental illness were not correlated with more deaths from gun violence. But one thing he found was, perhaps, perfectly predictable: States with tighter gun control laws appear to have fewer gun-related deaths.
Make no mistake about it. The first and foremost reason that I don't like this Anti Vaccine rant by Jim Carrey is that I really hate it when entertainers get political...on anything. I hate it even more when those entertainers are comedians. It just makes them instantly unfunny to me for ever more.
I can't say that I was a huge fan of Jim carrey to begin with, his comedy is slapstick, and I like dry humor. So...to be truthful he will lose no money on me, but not so for the masses. He may have just retired with his weird ravings on vaccines. Science says that he is confused, and wrong, and I will always put my money on science.
In his own words:
Jim Carrey ?@JimCarrey Jun 30
California Gov says yes to poisoning more children with mercury and aluminum in manditory vaccines. This corporate fascist must be stopped.
Jim Carrey ?@JimCarrey Jun 30
They say mercury in fish is dangerous but forcing all of our children to be injected with mercury in thimerosol is no risk. Make sense?
Jim Carrey ?@JimCarrey Jun 30
I am not anti-vaccine. I am anti-thimerosal, anti-mercury. They have taken some of the mercury laden thimerosal out of vaccines. NOT ALL!
Jim Carrey ?@JimCarrey Jun 30
The CDC can't solve a problem they helped start. It's too risky to admit they have been wrong about mercury/thimerasol. They are corrupt.
Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. said that Mr. Carrey’s insistence on making an issue out of a non-issue, like the "supposed" dangers of the preservative thimerosal actually is an anti-vaccine position, Offit explained. By Offit's count, there are several high-quality studies that show thimerosal in vaccines does not cause autism or developmental delays in the children who receive them.
Some vaccines, including certain flu vaccines, still contain trace amounts of thimerosal. Carrey likened this chemical to the methylmercury found in fish, which is a neurotoxin and can cause serious damage to people if ingested in large amounts.
Methylmercury and the ethylmercury used to preserve vaccines are two very different things, said Offit. For one, everyone is exposed to methylmercury. It builds up in the body over a lifetime of exposure, and too much of it can cause nervous damage and permanent disability. Ethylmercury, on the other hand, is a byproduct the human body makes when processing thimerosal. It does not remain in the body for long amounts of time.
In the year 2000, because of reaction to parental outrage over mercury in vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that they were removing the chemical in most childhood vaccines. Dr. Offit, who served on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices at the time, voted against it. In caving to unscientific fears about thimerosal, said Offit, the CDC’s decision to remove the additive may have actually alarmed parents more, not reassured them, when it came to vaccination safety.
"I think they unnecessarily scared the American public about thimerosal,” said Offit. “They caved to the perception that mercury just doesn’t sound good, instead of trying to educate the public that the quantity of mercury you’re being exposed to in a vaccine is infinitely less than anything that you’re exposed to elsewhere.”
In short, and to agree with Dr. Offit: Jim Carrey is not a doctor, he is not a scientist, he is an actor. Personally I believe that he is an actor using his prestiguese to wrongly influence people, and that is dangerous.
