Do you ever deliberately avoid THR topics?

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The Tourist

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We all have our favorite topics here on THR. I always like to see what's going on with custom 1911's, I'm looking forward to a resurgence in 10mm pistols, and obviously I enjoy knives.

Along with that, there are topics I'm beginning to dread, although those very concerns are legitimate and informative to many members. I don't "dread" black powder shooting, I'm just not into it. That's not the type of issue I mean. (In fact, I wouldn't mind owning a stainless Old Army.)

For example, I grab a cup of latte' and flip on the computer. I begin to peruse the topics at THR, and a thread pops up. "Crazed bipolar mad man kills seventeen students." That's a bad day. Fully 2/3s will be innuendo, so I told hso last week I'm going to simply ignore those threads, but I implore you guys to do some serious research.

I'm bracing for the next spate of motorcycle threads. A new show is coming out, "The Sons of Anarchy," and the buzz is that it's pretty good. I caught a preview, and of course, it dealt with stealing and illegal firearms. You can scream your head off that club guys are just Type-T personalities that like Harleys and pretty girls, but I can assure that Biker, Bikerdoc and myself will be shaking our heads for a week after reading some comments.

Another topic is "knife fighting." Ain't no such thing. Yeah, I see all of the DVDs for sale. We all have to learn that knife fighting is usually edged tools incorporated into professional, reasonable and historic martial arts. There are definitely cutlers who build strong knives for wilderness use and the hunting of larger animals. But if you're buying knives with the childish glee for cutting someone, you need a doctor, not a knife dealer.

Finally, I cringe over discussions on the military or law enforcement. This is a very hard time in America. The entire front section of today's Wisconsin State Journal dealt with the stress on military marriages. One of my neighbor's, a retired State Patrol Trooper, has severe PTSD. I am told that fully 30% of today's Iraqi veterans will seek some form of medical attention. I'm trying to figure out a fuel slush fund to get across town, and periodically we have war stories and mall ninja fantasies. Serious issues are on the wind.

So how about you? Oh, I have no illusions, I tick people off on a regular basis, that's a given. But is there a subject, a slant, an urban legend or a concept that bothers or worries you here? Are you afraid misinformation will believed? Has the wide and generic discussion of an issue put you right in the gunsights?

Do you simply have an idea?
 
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THR topics I complety ignore...

What gun should I buy for myself/girlfriend/mother?

I have X dollars to spend...what should I get?

I just bought an X.....did I do good?

Any calliber war: 9mm vs 45ACP, is .380 enough, 5.56 x 7.62, etc

Why glock sucks/why glock is the greatest weapon ever

Which is better X or Y

Open carry vs CCW

I've also reciently started avoiding any of the "what do you carry" threads. I answered the question once and frankly, don't care what anyone else is carrying. Also, there's a tin-foil hat part of me that wonders if our posts are being catalogued somewhere. Crazy, I know.

________________________

Dang, I skip over a lot of threads.
 
I avoid "which AR" threads like the plague. I almost never even look at the revolver or shotgun sub forums. Anything involving the Free State Project making us decent libertarians look like loons. Questions about made up guns and made up cartridges that have no logical use.
 
Are you afraid misinformation will believed?
Click to expand...

I'm more afraid that someone will mistake the views posted as being indicative of all gun owners.

I also try to avoid posts given any indication that the poster may own a copy of Red Dawn.

Oh, and threads where posters who can barely form a sentence try to explain the intricacies and nuances of things like the legal system, natural rights theories, etc.

Edited to add: Oh, and the neverending "Chicken Little" threads.
 
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I'm getting bored W/ the open Vs. concealed carry debate. I don't do Rifle country much at all. I avoid GLOCK threads. I'm starting to avoid the plethora of "how would you handle this no win situation " threads And the " would a .50 cal have turned the tide at Thermopoly" threads.

I'm sure to czech out anything CZ related.

P.S. And I do enjoy arguing about Mall Ninja W/ The Tourist
 
But what would you do if you were chased by hordes of machine gun carrying zombies and only had a toothpick, ice chest, and three eggs?:D
 
The thinly veiled (and not so thinly veiled) political stuff will get me to skip a thread faster than anything: While everything may be politics, not everything is political.

The "coulda-woulda-shoulda" stuff in S&T has long been in my rear-view mirror.

I've also been ignoring any thread that pretends that a BG shooting is an eventuality.
 
Any SHTF thread.

Any video/computer/PlayStation game thread.

Any paintball/airsoft thread that isn't about their use as training aids for FOF.

Anything with a religious link.

Fanboy threads.
 
It's generally about time for me. I don't have time to read all the threads in the general and legal sections, much less the other sections unless I'm asking a question about something specific myself.

I do consciously skip threads that are likely to be pointless bickering, etc.
 
Yup, although I read S&T, I rarely post there because:

a) Many of the scenarios presented are either too far out to comment on or there's no way I could "know what I would do" unless I was "there".

b) In truth, although my tactics have always (almost) worked for me, by THR standards, they really suck and I'd hate to give anyone advice that might get them or someone else hurt or dead.

My stuff is tailored to me and me alone as yours should be to yourself. Know your mental and physical strengths and weaknesses and adjust. I learned the hard way and bled some while traveling that road. Guess I got lucky.

Anyhoozles, as usual, I drift.

I should change my handle to 'Threadkiller'.

Biker:)
 
Any political thread.

What gun for whatever threads.

Help me choose a new gun threads

any thread as soon it degrades to Democrats will take your guns
 
Jorg said:
I'm more afraid that someone will mistake the views posted as being indicative of all gun owners.
Click to expand...

I went back and read your quote a few times to let it sink in. And truth be told, I wonder if that's the core issue of my fears and displeasure.

If ideas are to be shared in the here and now, then I'm an older white guy in suburbia--the voice of your dad.

If we are discussing issues of a life lesson, my view will be very different. One minute I'm sharing a bedroom with my brother and his teddybears eating mom's cooking, and one week later I'm standing amid tear-gas and the buildings are burning down around me.

Clearly, a unique period in history that in most cases will never come again.

To that angle, and in those years, I do not wish younger members to look simply at the venue, disregard a lesson and simply assume I am indicative of all. I might talk about the concept of urban fear and danger, but get a response linking my beliefs to hippies and the war.

As a side note, my humorous treatise was my swan song for mall ninja threads. I've reached a verdict.
 
I really avoid caliber wars, open vs. concealed, SHTF, what would you do, and threads that have been done a thousand times. I have viewed this site for years although I have only been a member a short time. I have never started a thread because every time I have a question the search function gives me hours of reading.
 
I'm starting to avoid a lot of the S&T posts, because I am amazed at the mentality of some of the posters. Leaves me feeling frustrated and not interested.
 
SHTF and caliber war threads are just too silly for me... unless there's a tactical wheelbarrow. THEN I'm interested :)
 
I usually [attempt to] avoid threads having titles that contain egregious misspellings, poor grammar or improper punctuation. Often this indicates that the thread topic itself will be so poorly articulated it'll be pointless ...

I try to avoid threads pertaining to television shows (the horrible anti-gun screen-writing or gun misinformation within) and threads about pro- (or anti-) gun celebrities (I abhor the ridiculous amount of attention our society accords people simply because they make movies or play music for a living) ... although I often get sucked in ...

S & T forum, as a whole, leaves me feeling as though too many people hereabouts suffer a distinct lack of common sense.
 
"Hit this poll!" threads are likely my biggest avoidance. They're completely unscientific, usually badly biased by drive-by voters, most likely don't get used for any purpose. Most of all: they're unfair to the host site (whoever may be), as they're intended to garner participation by honest frequentors, not thousands of drive-by voters who otherwise would never have gone to the site and never will again.

"If you could only have N" threads I usually avoid as they are (A) unreasonable (hey, you CAN have as many as you want! This is the USA!), and (B) a pointless self-indulgence of "this is what _I_ want".

Various "SHTF" threads may get my click, but grudgingly. They're usually just breathless wild fantasies. I may peek therein, but more to see if anything is more realistic than "me, my gun, and a Hollywood camera recording my triumph over the worst nature & man can throw at me endlessly." The occasional gem arises amid the muck, such as the FerFAL Files.

Usually avoid "crazed loon kills N" threads. Short on info, long on rumor, little relevance to most peoples' realities. Much as we want to see the story end with "...and a licensed CCW holder shot the assailant and saved the day", they usually don't.

Others: caliber wars, meaningless titles, paintball, video games.

On a tangent, I often ignore (or take very lightly) posts by those having less than 10, 100, or 1000 posts, as most participants go thru a standard mental process as they post more. Bluntly, it's not until someone has more than 1000 posts here that they probably have something unique/insightful to say, and that in the context of nuances common to THRers. Yes, that's unfair - but I can only read so much, and a very low post count usually means I've seen that post way too many times already. Flip side, posters with >10,000 posts garner greater attention.
 
Perhaps it's worth remembering from time to time that many of the gun experts, legal scholars, political strategists, experts on child rearing, and learned philosophers in this forum seem to have been born between 1980 and 1988. All they can possibly know firsthand about life, the universe, and everything is held within a container defined by three presidencies (George H.W. Bush, William Jefferson Clinton, and George W. Bush) and several years of attendance at institutions. Thus armed, they know what they know. What they know best is the major lesson their immediate elders have drilled into them: challenge authority. Which means that they know not to accept anything anyone else knows. Some forum members are hatchlings about 15 years of age more or less.

There is, however, a bright side. Anyone who plays serious poker is always on the lookout for what we used to call "pigeons." These are people of great certainties but almost no achievement. The best pigeons learned slowly or not at all, and their self-confidence was unshakeable. They knew everything, and we openly admired them. Often.

In my younger days there was a chronic shortage of pigeons. They were an endangered species because it was relatively rare then for parents to teach their offspring to be dependent incompetents. Now, however, the species has recovered and is plentiful. There will be many years in which to harvest the pigeons.

What's your favorite color?
 
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