I got a Masters in Information Systems, then worked for IBM 1997-2004.   Then last contract assignment I had IT ended in 2007.  2010 in May I landed a part-time janitor position which went 3 days and was sent home because of my back.  I have not done anything since then due to back issue.  Found out I had a degenerative disk in the back that will have to be taken out.  Hope things go ok.  No ETA on the return.  As of now, I have no idea if I will ever land a job again.  Maybe I find another way to get money in, but it may not be a job.  Being an artist and selling IP isn't a job, it is hustling.

Same point pretty much, just one is more of a practical reminder to me to avoid it.  Nothing good comes out of it at all.  Even the Occupy fiasco (train right off a cliff) reminded me of that.  It was a prolonged flash mob that did shift political debate on income inequality, but sustainably it really isn't going anywhere.  I could go into horror stories I ran into locally with it.  People are still addicted to consensus twinkle hands in a group, but don't actually occupy anything.  Being a vagrant and taking up space isn't the type of occupying that is needed.

Coming soon to an area to you.  A May 1st general strike?  Occupy's name nowhere on it.

Because the NRA isn't frantically trying to justify the 40-something shootings on the South Side of Chicago? The Black community has made efforts against black-on-black violence, but what it really amounts to in the end is poverty. In this case there's an element of preventability if Florida wasn't trying to make itself into the mythic version of the Old West (because hey, in the actual Old West, you had to check your rifles at the entrance to town. Back then they had this crazy idea that guns killed people).

You know better then to try and use one instance as an excuse to justify a political position.

Additionally, interestingly poverty rates and crime rates don't seem to correlate as much as you would think.

Additionally, since ruled unconstitutional... shootings have gone down in Chicago and Washington DC... although to me it looks like gun ownership seems to have had no effect on any of it in general.

The data seems greatly against your point.  Would this kid have not been shot?  Maybe, maybe not, and perhaps someone somewhere else gets shot because of lack of gun ownership.

All in all it seems pretty unrelated if you go based on the rational data, and likely the NRA is only trying to defend it, because people are bringing it up despite their not really being a legitamite reason for this to be so.

It really seems like a moot point.

The media is obviously blowing something up, like they did with the Casey Anthony thing. That's most likely what it is though, we lost Casey now we "must" have something else to talk about.
It sucks that I live in Florida, it seems like our media likes making us look like horrible people who kill our children and try to kill people because of race. Oh Florida Media, will you ever learn?

In the world of the Internet, you have 15 minutes of fame break out.  People look for anything to jump on and it blows up too early.  Look into Linsanity as an example of this.  Jeremy Lin of the Knicks had a real good early run as a starter and made the cover of Sports Illustrated two weeks in a row.  He tailed off a bunch since then, but became the top selling jersey in the NBA for a brief stint and it went nuts.

The case actually took like a month to blow up, and then became flavor of the week.

Yeah. The usual suspects in the outrage industry definitely waited for the NRA to weigh in on the matter before sounding off on it. That's what Al Sharpton is known for, after all: waiting and seeing before losing his fucking shit delivering a measured response.

I'm not sure why you think this was preventable when violence on the South Side isn't. If Chicago has been unable to control gun violence with its unconstitutional gun control laws, what hope does Florida have?

The point is that there is the idea that this particular incident was preventable, because it is likely that Zimmermann would not have used deadly force if he hadn't thought the law was on his side. Though he seems like the kind of person prone to abuse of power, so he may have done so anyway and just come up with some other statute that he thought was applicable, because it's fairly clear even under stand your ground that he started this altercation, so who knows...

By the way, if there is an interest in doing more than just wishing me well, I could see a few things that would be of interest to me, and if interest to others also, help take part of it. In short, things that can help me get to where I can make a living and do the thing I am at least marginally decent at, which is designing games.

Ideas:
* Let's get a shout out to people into retro gaming and boardgame stuff on here (throw in new stuff like retro also), and see who would want to chat about that. Maybe there can be a forum on here for retro gaming that can get busy.
* Check out what I have done up on boardgame geek (see the half checkerboard) as an example of stuff. I can give a few designs. Look at them and see if you like any of them. I have done over 60 games in my lifetime, and more on the way. My profile on geek, with the games, is here: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/8933/richard-hutnik
* If you want to try one of my designs online (need another player), try this variant of Connect Four with simultaneous turn selection: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/41491/simultaneous-captains-mistress
It is playable online here: http://games.wtanaka.com/simfour
* If you are on Boardgame Geek, go on there and give W.W.B a 1 rating (this is the worst). The game was designed by me to be the worst ever, and would like it to get rated that. Honestly, it is horrible, and only serves as a bad example. Here is the URL: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/99918/w-w-b
* Let's get a PGA for Pacman going. How about pushing for a Major League Gaming thing for retro stuff and stuff on the iPad (casual/boardgame stuff)?
* Feel free to join the CADERS group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/106867759357692/

Anyone know the best place to do a retro gamer shout out on here?

And pardon the URL plug. Just throwing out stuff that would be of help to me if people would do any of it.

It's possible that Zimmerman instigated it, but far from clear that he did. If what Zimmerman claims is true - and so far his injuries seem to be consistent with his story - then Martin was the one who flipped and attacked him. Despite all the uproar, nobody was there so nobody knows.