Gawd! SHUT UP, Rand!

Perpetrators of this myth (4.00 / 1)

belong together with perpetrators of the Nigerian Letter scam.

It is mail fraud, pure and simple.

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by: Sue Prent @ Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 15:03:24 PM UTC

What frightens me (0.00 / 0)

is the possibility, however remote, that a sitting United States Senator might actually, like, BELIEVE this.  

"That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the State ..."- Vermont Constitution Chapter 1, Article 16

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by: kestrel9000 @ Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 15:07:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

but, the tactic can be very effective with the elderly (4.00 / 1)

As people age, some subset will lose their ability to discriminate between viewpoints, particularly individuals in the early stages of a dementia such as Alzheimer's.  When such folks receive begging mail explaining how dangerous such a treaty would be, they often don't have the ability to research the issue and realize they are being sold a bill of goods.

My aunt went through this in a very major way.  For an extended period of time, she was capable of all daily living activities, but there was absolutely no way to convince her that donating to such causes was not in her best interest, and that the ultimate aims of the groups ran counter to all her long term beliefs.  We might discuss it with her and she'd understand in the short term, but then the next piece of mail would come, or 10 minutes would pass, and she'd be writing yet another check.

Fortunately, she had in the past given my sister a power of attorney that included her financial affairs, and ultimately we were able to gradually assume responsibilities for her financials.  However, to get a real declaration of incompetency, you have to petition for guardianship, which means you have the bring the ill person in front of a judge, and tell the judge, with the relative standing by, all the reasons why you don't think he/she is competent any more (at least, that his the situation in NC).  Early dementia patients often do not have a ability to understand how much their capacity has been effected by the disease, so a guardianship proceeding can be very traumatic and alienating to the individual. After all, why would you trust anyone in your life who told a judge that you weren't competent?   To this date, my aunt is still competent in the eyes of the law, even though she is now in a locked memory care unit.

The bad mail period went on for around 3 years, with my aunt sending money to causes she never would have supported previously.  She was writing 25 checks or so per day, fortunately only for small amounts. While many of the worst offenders were the right wingnuts, there were definitely outfits that were non political or more leftish leaning in the mix.

As long as the tactic is effective, organizations will continue to use it.  Please be aware of the risks with people in your own family, and realize that a willingness to believe these types of mail solicitations may be an early warning sign of dementia.

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by: vtleslie @ Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 18:25:54 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Direct Marketing Association's Caregiver Option (4.00 / 1)

Since this problem is so large, the Direct Marketing Association has created a method for caregivers to request cessation of direct marketing mail to the person(s) for whom they provide care:

http://www.ims-dm.com/cgi/dncc...

The form is a little confusing - the caregiver's info goes in the "Information About You" section near the bottom, and the care recipient's info goes in the fields at the top.

This can dramatically reduce the problem. You do not need to be guardian, as long as you have power of attorney.

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by: simplify @ Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 19:51:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks! (4.00 / 1)

This is great.. I just hope the worst of the offenders respect it.  Do you know whether it applies to member companies/non profits that have a "relationship" with the individual registering?  I'm thinking of that huge hole in the Do Not Call list, where companies that have a relationship with you can keep calling, even if you are on the list.  

I'll have to check with my sister and see if we had every registered my aunt.  Having moved my aunt within her retirement community and not forwarding her mail with her has solved the problem -- any mail that still comes through goes to my sister, who tosses it with the reverence it deserves into that old standby, the circular file.

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by: vtleslie @ Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 20:12:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I actually know about this (4.00 / 1)

Everything Rand Paul says is a lie.

The Small Arms Treaty is strictly aimed at large shipment of fully-automatic assault rifles crossing state (national) borders.

There is NOTHING in that treaty that will affect in any way American's ability to go buy a semi-atuo handgun or rifle, or even a semi-auto AK-47-style or AR-15 rifle.

AynRand Paul is lying in order to scare up more money for his off-shore bank account.

The USA is the single biggest exporter of fully-automatic assault rifles on the planet, so this is aimed at US businesses whose income is dependent on encouraging civil wars across the world and profiting from human misery and death.

Here:
*** Enact tougher licensing requirements, making law-abiding Americans cut through even more bureaucratic red tape just to own a firearm legally;

Unless you are trying to buy a fully-automatic assault rifle, which is already severely restricted for sale in the USA, this does NOT apply to you.

*** CONFISCATE and DESTROY ALL "unauthorized" civilian firearms (all firearms owned by the government are excluded, of course);

Unless you own a fully-automatic assault rifle and do NOT live in the USA, this does not apply to you.

*** BAN the trade, sale and private ownership of ALL semi-automatic weapons;

This is pure BS.  The Small Arms Treaty does not regulate semi-auto. It regulates fully-auto that have a semi-auto switch (3-round burst/fully auto).

*** Create an INTERNATIONAL gun registry, setting the stage for full-scale gun CONFISCATION.

The gun registry is only for military-grade, fully auto assault weapons.  If you aren't a war lord in a third-world country using your private army to round up and massacre unarmed civilians, then you have nothing to worry about.

The USA has spent many years watering down this treaty to make it as ineffective as possible.  If you own a semi-auto hunting rifle, shotgun, semi-auto handgun, or want to purchase these in the future, this treaty will have NO effect on you.

AynRand Paul is either ridiculously incompetent or brazenly lying for profit-taking.  

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by: Comrade Rutherford @ Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 15:22:16 PM UTC

This is how the firearms industry dodges the recession (4.00 / 2)

Obama was a godsend to the firearms and ammunition industry. A (supposedly) liberal dark-skinned Democrat with a foreign sounding name.

You'd think that when the economy really went south that people would stop buying firearms and ammo and concentrate on food, rent/mortgage, and everyday things like that. But no.

After a rapid fire burst of propaganda from the industry and its disinformation arm (NRA, etc) ammunition sales went up by a double digit percentage. Empty shelves from panic buyers created a feedback loop of apparent shortage. Firearms sales are steady. There is no economic downturn for the bangstick makers.

The only thing Obama has done in regards to firearms is to sign a bill allowing them to be carried in national parks. The less he does and the less he says on the subject, the more frantic and insane the spew from the industry becomes. They are really desperate. If the NRA rank and file actually thought rationally about it for a minute they'd say to themselves, "Y'know, I think 9,000 rounds of ammo and six assault rifles is more than enough." The industry would contract by a third.

The problem for the firearms industry is that most of them actually manufacture quite durable products. Keep a gun clean and oiled and it will last a century and more. Keep ammunition in a cool dry place and it will do the same. I have fired ammunition made in 1907 in a rifle made in the 1930s. So no planned obsolescence for gun makers. The only answer is to keep the punters panicked and buying more, more, more.

Minor Heretic
"Damned for 25% of eternity"

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by: Minor Heretic @ Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 17:00:32 PM UTC

Yep (0.00 / 0)

and LaPierre is pretty damned creative when he wants to be :)

"That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the State ..."- Vermont Constitution Chapter 1, Article 16

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by: kestrel9000 @ Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 17:36:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

how ironic (0.00 / 0)

the guy who dies with the most ammo wins...

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by: pete_n_vt @ Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 19:11:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

In a post-apocalypse world (0.00 / 0)

You can't eat bullets.

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by: Comrade Rutherford @ Tue Jan 31, 2012 at 00:23:47 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Who do they really represent? (4.00 / 1)

And here is a sad truth about groups that pretend to represent gun owners: they actually represent the firearms industry.  Worries about losing markets (be they Mexican drug cartels, scare-mongered Americans, or Somali pirates) is their real concern.

AynRand Paul is either ridiculously incompetent or brazenly lying for profit-taking.

"Both of the above" has my vote.

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by: Michael Inners @ Mon Jan 30, 2012 at 20:31:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

"Both of the above" has my vote. (4.00 / 1)

I was going to add 'a little from column A and a little from column B...'

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by: Comrade Rutherford @ Tue Jan 31, 2012 at 00:29:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

All Caps (4.00 / 2)

Any missive that uses all capital letters in key words for emphasis, is the work of an intellectually underdeveloped writer, or of a mentally unstable person.  

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by: Russell60 @ Tue Jan 31, 2012 at 00:40:50 AM UTC