I wasn't sure where to put this, so please move if there's a more appropriate place.

15-16 year old kids were in a rowing regatta in California and someone took potshots at them with a rifle.

Oakland teen rowing team startled by gunfire on Sacramento River – NBC Bay Area

We live in a sick society and it's just getting sicker.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

More than fifty years ago, FDNY firefighter Dennis Smith wrote, in Report from Engine Co. 82, that "we have unlearned the value of human life". That seems to be even more true today.

All across American society, at every socioeconomic level, among all demographic segments of our population, people do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it, with no regard for whether they're breaking the law, or endangering other people.

It's very disheartening, but it seems the horse has left the barn, and I don't know what we can do about it...

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Where Law Ends, Tyranny Begins

I'm glad none of the kids were injured.

From the article:
Typical anti-gun rhetoric that you'd expect from the media, especially in California.

Evil has existed since the beginning of time and I'm not sure things are getting worse. What has changed is the speed and scope of these reports due to technology.

Look for the bad and you'll find plenty of bad. I think it's better to focus on the good, but prepare for the worst.

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"I also cook."

They are still looking for the yahoos who have been shooting up the burros and wild horses over the last 10 years or so.

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Release the Kraken

I remember the big scare when I was a kid on Halloween, somebody was putting razor blades in carmel apples and popcorn balls. I loved carmel apples and popcorn balls but my mother would double check to make sure if they had been messed with along with eating most of the carmel, etc. That story has been debunked and proven effective for mom's to get their hands on all the good stuff, Mounds...etc.

I firmly believe that the breakdown of the family unit has had a profound impact on society. If people are not taught to obey the basic principles of respect for authority, civic duty, accountability for one's actions, what you reap is in direct correlation to what you sow, manners and on and on.

When you look at some of the parents you realize we are in the 2nd and even 3rd generations of familial failure. People blame being poor, but you don't have to have money to have manners or respect authority.

I am afraid the scales have already tipped. And ironically, looking at birth rates of those that maintain the family unit are dramatically lower than those who are not.

Dirtbags have always been around. When I was a kid the neighbor’s kid shot me with a BB gun while I was mowing the yard. My 5 year old brother was also outside. I don’t think they took any shots at him.

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Common sense isn't so common.

I seem to recall some history when the Mt Palomar observatories 200 inch telescopes mirror was transported, they shipped it by rail, with a steel case to protect it from gunfire way back in the 1920's.
At the end of the delivery, they did find a dent in this protective shroud.

stay strapped or get clapped .... it's been that way since Cain and Able

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it just needs more voltage

In my thirty year fire service career, I saw firsthand everything you describe above, and I couldn't agree more. The nuclear family, which has shaped and sustained civilization for millenia, is under attack from a variety of sources these days, with tragically predictable results.

But with respect, the problem I was writing about goes far deeper than that. An attitude has taken hold in this country of total disrespect for lawful authority and civilized conduct, and we see that attitude demonstrated everywhere...even on this Forum.

All across our society, people perceive the right to do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it...and that doesn't bode well for the future of our country.

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Where Law Ends, Tyranny Begins

That was a great book. I read it not long after it came out. Quite the eye-opener for a junior high kid from the sheltered suburbs.

That book changed my life. I was 19 years old, with no goals, no aspirations...and when I read the last page of Report from Engine Co. 82, I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life...

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Where Law Ends, Tyranny Begins

Evil seems more common and more lethal now.

Don't know about it being any more or less lethal.
Mildly murdered and seriously killed bear a striking resemblance to each other.
Frequency ..... Yeah, we have quite a freak show strutting around lately.

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it just needs more voltage

I'm of two minds on this. It does seem at times humanity is dissolving and evil prevails. But in this information age, we are bombarded constantly with the lurid and violent stories. A car chase or crime spree in California can be a top story, with film, in Cleveland. It makes it seem the whole country is falling apart.
Back in the 1970s I had a conversation with my grandfather who was an attorney. He handled a lot of criminal defense work during the "roaring" 20s up to the 1950s. We were talking about all the violence, crime and societal collapse going on at the time. Crime was off the hook. He offered that nothing that was going on at the time was new. His words were to the effect, "Everything people do today they did in the 1920s to the same degree, sometimes worse. It just wasn't reported to the general public like everything today is. We had just as many perverts, dopers, rapists and murderers." While I truly believe human nature hasn't changed, we have strayed from faith and family as a nation. The media/political cultivation of fear we are experiencing certainly isn't for our benefit. We can only resolve to be strong...spiritually, morally and politically...like our forefathers. It is a daunting task, but it was also a daunting task for previous generations.
A final note... When I get all bothered by the news, I just stop watching it for awhile. Amazing how things return to calm in short order. I go to a quiet room, say a prayer and refresh the spirit. There is hope.

Think of another idea. In 1964 the population of the US topped 200 million...what now? 375. But the loss of family units from mostly divorce and no care for common decency possibly. Not a racist idea but the black and white family units have plummeted partially from Welfare....and government spending for the nanny state. We have less than half of the children being taught manners and right from wrong by THEIR PARENTS The parents themselves lack discipline and respect for others and even for the law

More lethal in terms of 10-20 dead now instead of 1-2.