Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It is impossible to get water over 212 F unless it is under pressure - like a pressure cooker. I have a hard time believing that lycra melts at 212 F. Correct me if I am wrong.
We appear to be off by a couple hundred degrees. But this shouldn't be a problem for those who believe that kerosene/jet fuel melted steel beams. Nothing to see here....
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkpunk
Some of that is gross negelence. Take the McDonald's coffee lawsuit. On the surface we think we are sorry that the woman burned herself as the lycra melted to her skin, but McDonald's will not be on the hook. HOWEVER McDonalds was quite a bit above the average coffee temperature so it made it a bigger risk. Say it happened at Starbucks which was say average, it wouldn't have been a win for the woman.
This post is occasioned by innocuous events of the last several weeks that points to some glaring problems, all involving over-regulation. These rules and procedures are costly, inefficient and provide few benefits.
Security desks and entrance regulations at schools - A few days ago I went to drop a cell phone off for my son at his high school. He had called and I said I would leave it at the principal's office. I was greeted at the front door by a friendly and pleasant security guard. I had to leave it with him. We got to talking. I pointed out that back in the day I visited my high school alma mater and went right to teachers' offices, and to my old club offices. Now that would be impossible. He pointed out that there used to be all kinds of entrances and exits that people could use. Now every entrance is a cluster and a delay, all because of the one-off incident in Sandy Hook. We went centuries before Sandy Hook without such rules; are there suddenly hundreds of monsters out there that would kill children? Remember most such tragedies, such as Columbine, involve current students, not outsiders.
Cell phone and texting restrictions while driving - I get that people can be distracted by such activities. But wouldn't it be better if people could alert their destination that they were running late rather than speeding?
Security at office buildings - Right after 9/11 we began seeing almost all office buildings having restricted access for "security" reasons. Any reason a terrorist bent on making a statement couldn't just blow himself up anywhere he sees a line, such as a theater entrance or subway station? We have made it impossible for people such as myself, for example, who are looking for jobs to simply show up, hand in a CV and demonstrate motivation and drive. Or for spouses to surprise each other at work? Or close friends similarly? How many terror attacks are really prevented this way?
Security at airports - We have made air travel cumbersome. Thus, for example, I am planning to travel to Washington, DC a few weeks from now from the New York City area. Train travel is ridiculously expensive for a trip of about 5 hours. If I take a plane, back in the day it was a shuttle that was about a one hour flight. Now, adding security time at airport, it's 3 hours. Maybe I'll just drive. Heck, gas is cheap these days. Imagine the financial impact this must be having on the air industry? It would make far more sense to do spot checking, behavioral profiling, and the random use of sky marshals. But hey, it's racist to target people at war with us.
Low speed limits - See this thread (link). Low and arbitrary limits are only selectively enforced on a "shooting fish in a barrel" basis. They contribute nothing to safety since in general traffic flows at around 70 on highways, and 40 or 45 on most secondary roads.
All of these rules, and more that other think of, are annoying at best. At worst, they detract from productivity and waste valuable time and resources.
I have to dissagree with you there. Please do not text and drive, weather it be legal or not, just don't do it. I have been on my motorcycle and almost ran off the road by someone wandering into my lane, while texting. Also after they finish texting, they look back at the windsheild and suddenly change lanes ?
First, for some of this there is in fact no national regulation, as far as I know. I think driving while on a cell phone is still legal in most places, for instance.
Second, confronted with a problem - usually only after a disaster has occurred - there's a tendency to hope to close the barn door. Since men are in charge, the impulse it to address the problem with technology.
Third, from what I've read, lower speeding limits have in fact made tremendous difference.
Fourth, some of it exists because people allow it to exist. When the airports started doing the X-ray scans, if everyone - or even 30% of travelers - had opted for a pat-down instead, they would have abandoned the system within a month because of the bottlenecks.
Where did that come from ? can you explain what you mean a little better ? Men in charge, technology ?
Your status tag says "left wing Democrat". I wish more left wing Democrats thought like you!
I'm going to add: I think a lot of the reason for all these ridiculous rules and regs boils down to two simple things: lawyers and insurance. Without threat of lawsuits, bureaucrats would be slightly more relaxed.
My kid's elementary school is like a locked-down prison. Parents can't go inside; we can enter one side of the building (used to be either side), wait in this crappy little anteroom to either be buzzed in or just have to stand there like a delivery person. God forbid we should be wandering the halls of our own child's school.
You can blame the Gun nuts for school lock downs especially after Dubya let the assault weapons ban expire where mentally disturbed people have access to guns and can mow down a classroom of kids in seconds. But hey what's more important right? The Second Amendment apparently.
You can blame the Gun nuts for school lock downs especially after Dubya let the assault weapons ban expire where mentally disturbed people have access to guns and can mow down a classroom of kids in seconds. But hey what's more important right? The Second Amendment apparently.
This list doesn't even include serial killers who in some cases did not even use guns.
The real reasons for mass shootings are more complex and seem unrelated to gun control, more related to prevalence of mental illness, tolerance of hyper-violence in mass media, deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, and the sheer size of our country which means a certain percentage of mentally unstable people is always going to exist.
Many of the mass shootings have taken place in highly gun controlled areas (New York, San Francisco, Connecticut, LA, etc.). What's more, many if not most gun homicides apart from mentally ill rampage shootings take place in black inner city ghetto areas and are mainly black-on-black gang related shootings (some 8000+ out of about 16,000 fatal shootings per year according to bjs.gov). Many of these ghetto areas are actually in strict gun control places like Chicago, LA, NYC, D.C., Baltimore, Philly, and Detroit. How does gun control even figure into this equation, other than depriving respectable citizens of a means of self-defense?
If you want to dramatically reduce the number of gun fatalities in the U.S., start by going into these inner city areas and treating the causes: declare tax-free and light-regulation zones that are super-friendly to businesses, attract light manufacturing and service businesses to set up shop with 10-year no-tax deals, keep the unions and city regulators out of their hair, and thus provide thousands of real jobs for inner city youth as an alternative to gangs. We could cut the gun murder rate in half with these kinds of bold measures. Too bad our current leadership would rather blame guns, hence these kinds of silly posts such as the above that thoughtlessly blame "gun nuts", and actually makes the problem worse, not better.
Also, I would re-fund institutions to house and treat the mentally ill, and have more scrutiny of kids with problems starting in junior high school. If someone exhibits anti-social and violent behavior, don't just let them drift and fend for themselves. Provide counseling and treatment and possibly a bed in an institution for their own safety and that of others. Many if not most of the homeless in America are mentally ill, plus some drug addicted (or drugs plus mental illness), plus some destitute families, and we could greatly reduce homelessness by offering them an alternative to living on the street or in charitable homeless shelters that do nothing to really help their problems.
I have to dissagree with you there. Please do not text and drive, weather it be legal or not, just don't do it. I have been on my motorcycle and almost ran off the road by someone wandering into my lane, while texting. Also after they finish texting, they look back at the windsheild and suddenly change lanes ?
I gave in on the texting issue. I think calls on hand-held cells should be allowed though for precisely the purpose of alerting to lateness.
You can blame the Gun nuts for school lock downs especially after Dubya let the assault weapons ban expire where mentally disturbed people have access to guns and can mow down a classroom of kids in seconds. But hey what's more important right? The Second Amendment apparently.
Can you blame Dubya for Colombine, which happened in the spring of 1999?
[quote=blisterpeanuts;40256318] This list doesn't even include serial killers who in some cases did not even use guns.[/quote}There was a recent mass knife attack on a bus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts
The real reasons for mass shootings are more complex and seem unrelated to gun control, more related to prevalence of mental illness, tolerance of hyper-violence in mass media, deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, and the sheer size of our country which means a certain percentage of mentally unstable people is always going to exist.
Add to that teen hormones.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts
Many of the mass shootings have taken place in highly gun controlled areas (New York, San Francisco, Connecticut, LA, etc.). What's more, many if not most gun homicides apart from mentally ill rampage shootings take place in black inner city ghetto areas and are mainly black-on-black gang related shootings (some 8000+ out of about 16,000 fatal shootings per year according to bjs.gov). Many of these ghetto areas are actually in strict gun control places like Chicago, LA, NYC, D.C., Baltimore, Philly, and Detroit. How does gun control even figure into this equation, other than depriving respectable citizens of a means of self-defense?
I'm not sure gun control is much of a factor either way. In theory a legal and sane person owning a gun could stop a massacre but I'm sure that's rare. Too much has to go right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts
If you want to dramatically reduce the number of gun fatalities in the U.S., start by going into these inner city areas and treating the causes: declare tax-free and light-regulation zones that are super-friendly to businesses, attract light manufacturing and service businesses to set up shop with 10-year no-tax deals, keep the unions and city regulators out of their hair, and thus provide thousands of real jobs for inner city youth as an alternative to gangs. We could cut the gun murder rate in half with these kinds of bold measures. Too bad our current leadership would rather blame guns, hence these kinds of silly posts such as the above that thoughtlessly blame "gun nuts", and actually makes the problem worse, not better.
On that we wholeheartedly agree. Add environmental laws. Much of the so-called environmental "progress" of the 1970's was eventuated by factories deciding to shut down rather than face the high capital costs of complying with new laws and EPA regulations. We need the factories back, for all lower-middle class and lower class kids. Back in the day parents could tell their kids to go to the factory gate for a job or clear out. Now there is no such employment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts
Also, I would re-fund institutions to house and treat the mentally ill, and have more scrutiny of kids with problems starting in junior high school. If someone exhibits anti-social and violent behavior, don't just let them drift and fend for themselves. Provide counseling and treatment and possibly a bed in an institution for their own safety and that of others. Many if not most of the homeless in America are mentally ill, plus some drug addicted (or drugs plus mental illness), plus some destitute families, and we could greatly reduce homelessness by offering them an alternative to living on the street or in charitable homeless shelters that do nothing to really help their problems.
Add to that making it easier to get them committed.
Can you blame Dubya for Colombine, which happened in the spring of 1999?
I'm not sure gun control is much of a factor either way. In theory a legal and sane person owning a gun could stop a massacre but I'm sure that's rare. Too much has to go right.
It's rare because few respectable law abiding citizens are willing to suffer the complications and possible prosecution if they whip out a firearm and shoot a demented gunman.
I agree with you that everything has to go right, but there have been situations where a law abiding gun owner has stopped an armed crook. These events tend not to be reported widely.
Quote:
Add environmental laws. Much of the so-called environmental "progress" of the 1970's was eventuated by factories deciding to shut down rather than face the high capital costs of complying with new laws and EPA regulations. We need the factories back, for all lower-middle class and lower class kids. Back in the day parents could tell their kids to go to the factory gate for a job or clear out. Now there is no such employment.
Add to that making it easier to get them committed.
The EPA is the Inquisition of our time. They can attack any company they choose, with virtual impunity. Inspection followed by massive fine.
The anti-business public loves it and sees no possible problem with prosecuting your neighbor's employer, throwing hundreds or even thousands of fellow citizens out of work because of some punitive fine of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Just this week, in a sudden (and temporary) attack of common sense, the Supreme Court disallowed the EPA from banning power plant mercury emissions. The power plants argued it would be too expensive to comply, and for once the Court seems to agree with the economic picture. The EPA claims they have the right to ban or fine whoever for however much they feel like. Yeah, we all want less pollution, but this will at least force them to become more reasonable and work with these companies to reduce pollution instead of bashing them over the head.
I wish we could have our factories back. That's 20 million jobs that fled overseas. Now everything we buy is made at foreign factories on a different continent. You bring this up to the liberals and whom do they blame? American management. It's never the unions; it's never the EPA, or the IRS, all of which have destroyed manufacturing in this country through their excessive actions.
And don't get me started on manufacturing. Oops, you already did!
I don't hear anyone in the Democratic party talking about this stuff. Hillary's kick-off video showed two guys holding hands, and talked about how the top earners make too much money. That's her economic plan -- to tax the rich and, I don't know, be nice to gay couples, I guess.
I totally support equality for gays but come on already, the gay/lesbian population is less than 2% of the U.S. Why can't we pay attention to the 26% of us suffering from mental disorders, the 14.5% of us living under the poverty line, and the millions who are unemployed or under-employed? There's so much more we could and should be doing.
I totally support equality for gays but come on already, the gay/lesbian population is less than 2% of the U.S. Why can't we pay attention to the 26% of us suffering from mental disorders, the 14.5% of us living under the poverty line, and the millions who are unemployed or under-employed? There's so much more we could and should be doing.
You're forgetting the rights of transvestites. You're also ignoring the rights of people who think of themselves as females in male bodies, or blacks wrapped in white skin. That's gender or race dysphoria. These are all very serious problems topping the need of some rich fascist pigs to bring factories back to put actual people back to work.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
