Simple Minded wrote: Off the record, parts of NYC, Detroit, DC, Chicago, Baltimore, etc. are kinda like giant, free range, insane asylums our elites have set up for some of the more problem prone/emotionally unstable Merikans.
Simple Minded is correct. There are areas of the US inner cities which even armed police avoid. They are gang occupied war zones.manolo wrote:Simple Minded wrote: Off the record, parts of NYC, Detroit, DC, Chicago, Baltimore, etc. are kinda like giant, free range, insane asylums our elites have set up for some of the more problem prone/emotionally unstable Merikans.
SM,
A dislike of metropolitan areas is a common conservative mindset. I suspect that some liberals have a similar caution regarding the redneck backwoods.
Alex.
More like a factor of 2, from what I've read.Demon of Undoing wrote: . . .
As has been pointed out, these types of fatalities are statistically insignificant. There were more than ten times as many people that died last year due to adverse drug reactions when taken as prescribed. That's right, not abuse, but as prescribed.
Yes, but the goal of a hospital is to help sick people recover, not to kill them.Demon of Undoing wrote: Fun fact: the AR15, Ak and all other assault rifles are massively safer than your local hospital.
Agreed.Demon of Undoing wrote: If we were serious about ending most gun violence, we would decriminalized drugs.
I don't think so.Demon of Undoing wrote: The only reason this stuff even gets political attention is because the left in the US wants to emotionally manipulate the easily malleable into cheering for their team.
manolo wrote:
SM,
A dislike of metropolitan areas is a common conservative mindset. I suspect that some liberals have a similar caution regarding the redneck backwoods.
Alex.
manolo wrote:Demon,
Fact. A biker friend of mine (many moons) went over to the USA to look up some relatives. He was not out of the airport (NYC) more than 2 hours when he was in a bar and unfortunately it turned ugly and he was shot in the 'ass'. We (his friends) all thought this quite funny as he had been an obsessive about this US thing and even made up a fake American accent. He came back with his tail between his legs and was easier company after that. He lost the accent.
Alex.
noddy wrote:.
australia, the model of sensible gun laws just had a 15 year old iranian kid shooting some police IT guys down in the street.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/parramatta-sh ... k0jze.html
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Mr Scipione said police were a "long way from establishing a full picture of the boy" but said he was of Iraqi-Kurdish background ..
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Simple Minded wrote: Off the record, parts of NYC, Detroit, DC, Chicago, Baltimore, etc. are kinda like giant, free range, insane asylums our elites have set up for some of the more problem prone/emotionally unstable Merikans.
YES!! Everywhere progressives go tragedy is sure to follow.Typhoon wrote:Simple Minded wrote: Off the record, parts of NYC, Detroit, DC, Chicago, Baltimore, etc. are kinda like giant, free range, insane asylums our elites have set up for some of the more problem prone/emotionally unstable Merikans.
If that is indeed the case, don't you think that it is a bit of a problem that significant parts of all your major cities are uninhabitable except by anyone who is either too dumb to live or batsh*t crazy?
I would not say all the major cities, but some areas are similar to the no-go zones in France.Typhoon wrote:Simple Minded wrote: Off the record, parts of NYC, Detroit, DC, Chicago, Baltimore, etc. are kinda like giant, free range, insane asylums our elites have set up for some of the more problem prone/emotionally unstable Merikans.
If that is indeed the case, don't you think that it is a bit of a problem that significant parts of all your major cities are uninhabitable except by anyone who is either too dumb to live or batsh*t crazy?
Thank You Very Much for your post, Simple Minded.....Simple Minded wrote:I would not say all the major cities, but some areas are similar to the no-go zones in France.Typhoon wrote:Simple Minded wrote: Off the record, parts of NYC, Detroit, DC, Chicago, Baltimore, etc. are kinda like giant, free range, insane asylums our elites have set up for some of the more problem prone/emotionally unstable Merikans.
If that is indeed the case, don't you think that it is a bit of a problem that significant parts of all your major cities are uninhabitable except by anyone who is either too dumb to live or batsh*t crazy?
It is a problem, and if I were to sum it up in one word, that word would be freedom. It is not really all that unusual for individuals, families, corporations, towns, counties, and other organizations/institutions to adopt self-destructive cultures.
Everyone has a “right” to live their lives as they see fit, and if their ideology means they are dis-functional, well….. that is still their right. Pretty soon we get back to "am I my brother's keeper.'
Recall that we have cultural pockets in the US that believe “tiger moms” or parents with standards that are higher than society’s standards should be punished, and those who don’t think AGW is sound science should be burned at the stake along with their published material.
My wife’s family is from a county in upstate NY, where the locals for decades have been anti-business (as is much of NY state itself). The result is predictable, costs go up, revenues go down, the kids with ambition move out. Cities and counties going thru boom and bust phases is actually pretty common in the US. Sometimes it is related to local industries, sometimes to local culture. Often it is a desire for more "free services" and when cities/counties are prosperous, why not? Eventually their cost base get higher than other areas, people and businesses leave of their own free will.
When I got out of high school, you would have been considered nuts to say you were moving to the cesspool of NYC, but very intelligent to be moving to the booming city of Detroit.
On a bigger scale, we have seen this movement between Europe, the US, Japan , China, Korea, Vietnam, India
How to survive long term prosperity seems to be the problem. Rags to riches to rags in three generations applies to more than just individuals. Doesn't strike me as a political or economic problem, but an innate aspect of human nature. Cycles of growth and decay.
In the long run we're all dead. So people find those who claim to be able to fix things now, very appealing....... and if they are right for a couple decades, they are happy.
What has posterity ever done for us?
would say "Immortality"........ 
You're talking about the northern reaches of Idaho, right? Typhoon would be risking his life traveling to towns there.Simple Minded wrote:I would not say all the major cities, but some areas are similar to the no-go zones in France.Typhoon wrote:Simple Minded wrote: Off the record, parts of NYC, Detroit, DC, Chicago, Baltimore, etc. are kinda like giant, free range, insane asylums our elites have set up for some of the more problem prone/emotionally unstable Merikans.
If that is indeed the case, don't you think that it is a bit of a problem that significant parts of all your major cities are uninhabitable except by anyone who is either too dumb to live or batsh*t crazy?
Of course. We've known it all along: conservatives mean something very different than the rest of us when they talk about "freedom" and "liberty"...It is a problem, and if I were to sum it up in one word, that word would be freedom. It is not really all that unusual for individuals, families, corporations, towns, counties, and other organizations/institutions to adopt self-destructive cultures.
"Freedom" and "liberty" are code words for an Antebellum sort of existence. We made a mistake in letting Americans think they have a "right" to live their lives as they see fit, worship freely, and vote according to "their" interests.Everyone has a “right” to live their lives as they see fit, and if their ideology means they are dis-functional, well….. that is still their right. Pretty soon we get back to "am I my brother's keeper.'
Yes, we do have such cultural pockets -- they're called "Flyover Country." The blue regions of the country -- "Real America" or "Paradise", if you prefer -- are the exclusive domains of "tiger moms". Out in the hinterlands, achievement of any kind is not in vogue. And immigrants of any kind are despised.Recall that we have cultural pockets in the US that believe “tiger moms” or parents with standards that are higher than society’s standards should be punished, and those who don’t think AGW is sound science should be burned at the stake along with their published material.
SM,Simple Minded wrote: I expected you to reply with something from the movie Deliverance!
SM,Simple Minded wrote: It is a problem, and if I were to sum it up in one word, that word would be freedom.
manolo wrote:
SM,
I've travelled widely all over Europe, and felt free enough in every 'rough' area. There was a slight shiver when I came across the corpse of a man in the docklands of Barcelona. My spirits were raised again in the next street by a lively group of transvestite prostitutes.
You are rapidly approaching noddy in terms of me assigning you "my hero" status yet there are those for whom wealth remains the only measure that matters. rich = good + free + happymanolo wrote: But there is one 'no -go' area that does defeat even me. It is a road near my home which is inhabited by wealth. The houses have high fences and obscured gates, with entry phone systems. There are security cameras all over, some hidden in the trees. All the properties have scary 'keep out' signs, the worst of which is a repeater sign saying 'Keep out, fierce dogs running free!'
I have only walked in that road once, with my wife, and we both agreed that those houses taught us something about freedom and confinement.
Alex.
Typhoon wrote:
Abortion is currently the law of the land. There is no waiting period.Typhoon wrote:
SM,Simple Minded wrote:
And as Frankl said "Between stimulus and response, man has the ability to choose."
Zack Morris wrote:For me, it depends on who is administering the wand.
Nice corollary.manolo wrote:SM,Simple Minded wrote:
And as Frankl said "Between stimulus and response, man has the ability to choose."
As someone said (don't remember) - "Action and reaction, the oldest couple in the universe."
Alex.
On the plus side of the gun debate and the abortion debate, as Typhoon has pointed out it is rare to be shot by a stranger, and no one is never aborted by a stranger.Doc wrote:Abortion is currently the law of the land. There is no waiting period.Typhoon wrote:
Though SIZE REALLY DOES MATTER>
