Zipp0

The safe answer is - when retreat is not possible, and you believe that you or someone in your vicinity is about to be killed or suffer serious physical harm at the hands of a criminal. In most areas, you cannot shoot someone to protect property, only life. As far as armed or unarmed muggers - I would consider any mugger a threat to my life, and would probably pull my gun. I'd only shoot if the threat continued or became more serious. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

The news has said that he lit a dorm room on fire and was accused of stalking several women, all of which seems to have had little or no law enforcement follow-up. Setting fires and stalking women are crimes, both of which would stop or bring into question the qualifications of someone to buy a gun, however, if campus law enforcement failed to press charges or file state police paperwork to report this unbalanced and illegal behavior they should be asked why. The problem is, many or most colleges try to play down or deny crime problems on campus in order to preserve the image of the school as a safe place. If this happened in this case, the results were indeed tragic. When the whole story comes out(if it does) I am willing to bet that there were plenty of warning signs that were ignored that could have prevented all this. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

Thanks for your honesty.

Oh Okay. Well, it seems that you are saying that blacks have some kind of genetic pre-disposition to be criminals. Is that what you are saying? Because if it is, I'd like you to show me THAT study. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

That's half of what you said. The other being it's not about race. Like I said, it's taboo. The incidence of gun related fatalities for blacks is nearly three times higher than for whites. The incidence of gun related non-fatalities for blacks is nine times higher than for whites. Granted this is a complex issue and not as black and white as some try to make it. However, claims that race is irrelevant are not supported by the facts. If all of those blacks were rich, the crime rate would be near 0. That's why the issue is NOT race, but income inequality. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

For me, breaking the 200 mile barrier is a huge factor in a buy decision. I would keep a gas car, but only for when I need to pull my boat or some other extraordinary circumstances. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

That would guarantee a severe beat down by the "let's roll" passenger types. BTW, does the "may not be worn in flight" rule change if the plane is going down? -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

Could you give some actual examples of this??? OK, you wanted an answer.... I don't have the time to cite studies for every argument that I make that you happen to disagree with. In this case, the actual example is me being an observant, thinking human. I saw it, and now I am calling it like I saw it, and I am not going to do a damn study and submit it to peer review just so I can win this argument. If you want, you can look up historical gas prices and correlate them with news stories of impending hurricane doom and you will see what I am talking about. Screw it... it took me 3 seconds to find it - http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_history.html -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

How about we just go ahead and deal with one thread at a time, mmmmm-kay champ? Great. I said the issue is poverty, and the studies I cited back me up 100%. As far as the race goes, that's an issue for racists and bigots, so I'll leave it to them. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

Who wouldn't buy one of these?? 99.9% of my driving is 40 miles per day or less(usually less). I could even get to the beach for the weekend with the 250 miles range. An investment in this car company could really pay off in a few years, don't you think? -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

No problema. Fajnzylber, P., D. Lederman and N. Loayza, 1998, "What causes violent crime?", The World Bank, Office of the Chief Economist, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, processed. This cross-country study of the determinants of violence finds that income inequality raises crime rates, deterrence effects are significant, crime tends to be counter-cyclical, and criminal inertia is significant. This study uses a new data set of crime rates for a large sample of countries for the period 1970-1994, based on information from the United Nations World Crime Surveys, to analyze the determinants of national homicide and robbery rates. A simple model of the incentives to commit crimes is proposed, which explicitly considers possible causes of the persistence of crime over time (criminal inertia). Several econometric models are estimated, attempting to capture the determinants of crime rates across countries and over time. The empirical models are first run for cross-sections and then applied to panel data. The former focus on explanatory variables that do not change markedly over time, while the panel data techniques consider both the effect of the business cycle (i.e., GDP growth rate) on the crime rate and criminal inertia (accounted for by the inclusion of lagged crime rate as an explanatory variable). The panel data techniques also consider country-specific effects, the joint endogeneity of some of the explanatory variables, and the existence of some types of measurement errors afflicting the crime data. The results show that increases in income inequality raise crime rates, deterrence effects are significant, crime tends to be counter-cyclical, and criminal inertia is significant even after controlling for other potential determinants of homicide and robbery rates. Hsieh, C. and M.D. Pugh, 1993, "Poverty, income inequality, and violent crime: a meta-analysis of recent aggregate data studies", Criminal Justice Review, 18(2): 182-202. This paper reports on 34 aggregate data studies that almost all find a positive correlation between violent crime on one hand and poverty and income inequality on the other. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, several important reviews of the literature failed to establish a clear consensus on the relationship between economic conditions and violent crime. The research presented here applies the procedures of meta-analysis to 34 aggregate data studies reporting on violent crime, poverty, and income inequality. These studies reported a total of 76 zero-order correlation coefficients for all measures of violent crime with either poverty or income inequality. Of the 76 coefficients, all but 2, or 97 percent, were positive. Of the positive coefficients, nearly 80 percent were of at least moderate strength (> 0.25). It is concluded that poverty and income inequality are each associated with violent crime. The analysis, however, shows considerable variation in the estimated size of the relationships and suggests that homicide and assault may be more closely associated with poverty or income inequality than are rape and robbery. Kennedy, B.P. and I. Kawachi, D. Prothrow-Stith, K. Lochner and B. Gibbs, 1998, "Social capital, income inequality, and firearm violent crime", Social Science and Medicine, 47(1): 7-17. This paper finds that income inequality and social capital are highly correlated with firearm violent crime rates. Studies have shown that poverty and income are powerful predictors of homicide and violent crime. The authors hypothesized that the effect of the growing gap between the rich and poor is mediated through an undermining of social cohesion, or social capital, and that decreased social capital is in turn associated with increased firearm homicide and violent crime. Social capital was measured by the weighted responses to two items from the U.S. General Social Survey: the per capita density of membership in voluntary groups in each state; and the level of social trust, as gauged by the proportion of residents in each state who believed that "most people would take advantage of you if they got the chance". Age-standardized firearm homicide rates for the years 1987-1991 and firearm robbery and assault incidence rates for years 1991-1994 were obtained for each of the 50 U.S. states. Income inequality was strongly correlated with firearm violent crime (firearm homicide, r=0.76) as well as the measures of social capital: per capita group membership (r=-0.40) and lack of social trust (r=0.73). In turn, both social trust (firearm homicide, r=0.83) and group membership (firearm homicide, r=-0.49) were associated with firearm violent crime. These relationships held when controlling for poverty and a proxy variable for access to firearms. The profound effects of income inequality and social capital, when controlling for other factors such as poverty and firearm availability, on firearm violent crime indicate that policies that address these broader, macro-social forces warrant serious consideration. --------------------------------- Boo-Yah, beotch. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

Yes. You never hear of redneck kids going on a killing spree with their deer rifles. It's always some freak in a trench coat trying to be a bad ass or emulate some pop culture icon. I think, if anything, we should lock up anyone considered a 'loner'. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

In the context of America's generally appalling firearms homicide rate isn't this thread still extremely relevant? And let's break it down by race. Or is that taboo? Not taboo, just irrelevant. As I have stated before, it is not an issue of race, but of poverty. Rich minorities do not kill each other any more than rich whites. Most homicides in the USA are a direct result of stupid drug laws. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

Not really. Maybe it's just that I don't pay any more attention to the far lefties than I do to the far right folks. I read Al Franken's books, and they are on the shelf beside my Rush Limbaugh books. I enjoyed both of them, but found Franken's more persuasive overall, and more entertaining. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

In the context of the current tragedy, isn't this thread null and void, considering the gunman is a S. Korean national, not a US citizen? -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

Rosie O'Donnel is pretty far out there. Other than her, there are few lefties who approach Coulter's wackiness. Who would you point to ' Franken? He isn't even close. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

Guns are not the problem. The problem is suicial people who feel the need to take others with them. There are literally hundreds of ways for this to happen. If this guy didn't have a gun, what prevents him from filling 10 wine bottles with gasoline with rags in the top, putting them in his backpack, and roaming the halls tossing them into classrooms? The same goes for pipe bombs. We can't outlaw pipes and gasoline, can we? This guy planned this out for a while. He got a gun, filed off the ser#, got ammo and magazines for his planned rampage, and probably practiced with the weapon. He was determined to kill lots of people. If he didn't have the gun, he would have found a way. The bottom line is, no government official can guarantee your safety, so protect yourself, or take your chances. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

She is shit. Her rhetoric is pure vitriol that serves no purpose but to keep her on the radar of those to the right of your average skin head, or the holier than thou crowd who buy in to the 'Godless sodomite' crap she spoon feeds them. Good sources tell me that she is the weekly target of a Limbaugh, Delay, Rove, Cheney, and every dude at Fox News bukakke party. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

Her time....But I think you may be correct on the rest. No, HIS was correct. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

Why can't something like this - http://www.teslamotors.com/ be produced for $50,000 or less? I don't need a super sports car, just something that can go 200 miles or so before a recharge. That way, I could still drive it to the beach, or the occasional road trip. If I could afford the $95,000 price tag, I would order one today. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

I know that's the standard BS answer, yes, but I just don't buy it. Here's why: So they forecast a bad hurricane season, and prices rise for weeks in anticipation. We then pay higher prices for nearly the entire season, and the hurricanes never come. Now, in a free market, there should be a backlash resulting in the bottom falling out of the prices. It never happens though, and they move on to the next excuse to raise prices based on some imaginary threat, and we are paying high prices for some Iran BS that may never happen. We end up paying for the artificially inflated gas that the retailer paid too much for, so we pay for the gas already in their tanks, unless they think the price might increase, in which case we pay for the future guess gas price. What should happen, is that when there is no hurricane destruction, the retailer and the oil industry, and especially the futures fuckwads lose their ass for guessing wrong and ripping us off for their crystal ball disaster outlook crap. It's the biggest flim-flam in the history of the world. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

I had always thought you were a civil liberatarian - in favor of maintaining or increasing privacy rights. I'd expect to see things about opening investigations and examining private files from the Bush Administration, but not from you. However, here are some other proposed solutions to this problem: 1) Buy vehicles that use less gasoline; 2) Buy oil stock. You know, there will be winners and losers in everything. You might as well get in on it. Come on, the minute I buy oil stock they will find a trillion barrels flowing out of the rocky mountains! As far as privacy and civil liberties go, I think gasoline and heating oil are different than other products. For just about every American, they are an absolute necessity, the same as water and food. We need to know for sure if there is collusion in the marketplace, and until we get certain information, we will never know. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

Gouging is illegal and not a part of capitalism, as are cartels. I call bullshit. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

The author of this oped makes some interesting points - http://thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070416/OPINION/704160329/1014. Gas prices were lowest right before the mid term elections, and they have climbed steadily up ever since. Coincidence? I think not. I think an investigation is now in order. If the prices are fluctuating due to normal market forces, the execs in Big Oil have no worrries. But until we see their files, and ask them, we will continue to be at their mercy. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

They just finished tearing up my yard to put in FIOS....isn't that a replacement for DSL? How much does it cost you vs DSL or cable options? marc It's a DSL alternative. It's a bit more expensive than DSL, but it's not worth it for me right now. Plus, if I put 50MBS into my old ass computer, it would probably detonate. With fiber optic, they can offer phone, TV and internet, all over the one fiber line. That's the long term plan, I'd guess. -------------------------- Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.