Citizen Crane1
Member since Jul 9, 2012
Recent Comments
Re: “Can We Ban Assault Guns?”
The "idiot on the plaza" was not breaking any laws on Halloween. The ban on open carry for long guns went into effect on Jan 1, 2013.
Re: “Can We Ban Assault Guns?”
Throughout most of my adult life, I never owned a gun. They were made to kill people and I was basically a pacifist and couldn't imagine ever taking someone's life. That changed when I got married and had a child. I now own a 12 gauge shotgun and .38 revolver that I have a carry permit for. I am not a big guy, I don't know martial arts and I see a firearm as a way to protect my family from those folks who mean to do them harm. When I was younger, I couldn't bear the thought of taking another persons' life… today I can't bear the thought of someone doing harm to my family while I am unable to protect them. Priorities change. Regarding bans on guns, I really think this is just a knee-jerk reaction to a terrible incident, that even if passed, will do absolutely nothing to stop something like this happening in the future. There are hundreds of millions of guns in America. There is NO WAY to remove enough of them to make any significant impact on a crazy (or evil) person's ability to obtain one. Sure, you can ban assault weapons or large clips, but do you really think that will do anything??? A handgun with a 10 round clip will be almost as deadly. You can change clips in a heartbeat. You can also modify a 10 round clip into a 50 round clip with very minimal skills. There really isn't much to a firearm. Criminals do not obey the law. They will always have access to guns and always have the ability to murder dozens of people if they are so inclined. This may be with an assault rifle, a handgun, a pipe bomb, or a 4x4 truck driving through a crowd. This simply CAN NOT be stopped and in trying all we are doing is stripping the freedoms from those who actually abide by the law. The only way to stop a guy on a shooting spree is by shooting him. That is just the sad truth of it. Statistics get warped on both sides of this issue, but there certainly is no good study that shows a ban like this has any significant impact on violent crime. Most studies actually show the opposite is true. States that have allowed citizens to carry guns show a decrease in violent crime. It really just makes sense if you think about it from a criminals prospective. Would you rather rob a person in a county that freely issues concealed carry permits or rob someone in a county with a complete gun ban? So, I own guns. I don't really like guns, but I see them as a necessary evil. This, of course, doesn't even take into account that pesky U.S. Constitution that guarantees the citizens' right to have them.
Re: “A Loleta Divided...”
Gotta agree with bad decisions on this one. The store has been there 80 years and never bought the building??? If the equipment is built in and so difficult to move, that is all the more reason to protect your business by either buying the building or working out a long term lease. Obviously the owners of the meat market did neither. It is the same as buying a house to protect yourself from increasing rent and the whims of your landlord. Now, that said, I am also fine with people protesting the bakery's decision. While the building owners have every right to evict their tenants (the meat market), the people of Loleta have every right to voice their concern and threaten to boycott the bakery if they follow through with the eviction. Who knows, perhaps that will make the bakery reconsider there options. Hopefully, both businesses will figure out a way to survive.
Re: “Legalized It”
BTW- I find it SO sad the California failed to be the first state to legalize cannabis. Oh, but we did pass Prop 8 banning gay marriage! Oh California... what has happened to you???
Re: “Legalized It”
So, I have a question regarding drug testing. Will businesses in Colorado and Washington still be able to drug test for cannabis? I would think not. At least not with the current method of urine testing that does not test if you are under the influence (legitimate), but rather if you have used any in the last month. And what about neighboring states? Can I lose my job if I am drug tested in California and fail for Cannabis when I happened to be in Washington last week partaking in a perfectly legal activity? These questions will probably be dealt with in court cases, but I certainly hope the ambiguity will help lead to a full national legalization.
Re: “Propping up Schools”
Gina, According to the latest OECD's (your own credible source) PISA testing, the United States was ranked as follows... Reading 17th Math 31st Science 23rd Seeing as there are 34 First World countries, this does indeed put the United States in the bottom half of the group. At the same time the OECD's report states that the United States spends more per student than ANY other country except Luxembourg. So, if you consider spending the second highest amount per student in the world, but only achieving rankings of 17th to 31st acceptable, then by all means, give the government more money to piss away without requiring them to achieve any measurable results. Now, in regards to your question about what to do? How about modeling ourselves a little more like Europe and come up with more trade schools. Currently, we are cranking out college graduates that oft times have very little real world skills, yet causing them to incur massive debt. I know many college graduates that can't even craft a coherent paragraph. Not everyone should go on to higher education. BTW- The students from your "for profit vulture" private schools consistently turn out better test scores for less money than their public counterparts.
Re: “Arcata Cop In Parking Space Fracas Exits Force”
Just read the entire complaint. What disgusting behavior these "officers" displayed. Stonebarger was certainly the worst of the bunch, and in my opinion, not only should he have been removed from the DTF (as he was), but he should also be dismissed entirely. We DO NOT need cops with this kind of attitude on the force! Massaro should also be disciplined in my opinion. He is the one that parked his vehicle in a private, posted NO PARKING zone so he could go have lunch. This is unacceptable. Sheriff Downey should have written him up and forced Massaro to pay a tow fee to the tow truck driver that came out there on a very legitimate call and ended up getting harrassed and stiffed of his fee. It is stories like this that make me understand why so many people hate cops. The one bright spot in the story was the way Chief Chapman handled the situation. Thank you Chief for standing up for what is right and not just covering this up. Thank you for attempting to insure your officers behave with respect and integrity when in the field. We need more you like you Chief!