The general decline in standards today

[LizzieMaine]

There was a time when I thought the only solution to the situation here was to move. But then I said "to hell with that, I was in this neighborhood first."

 

[jamespowers]

And if I lived in a country where I felt I needed a gun to protect myself, I would emigrate.

The US is far too big to worry about that. There is always somewhere to move.

You are where you belong and I am where I belong.

 

[AmateisGal]

That is one thing I think we all need to remember - the size of the U.S. and the different approaches each state takes in terms of their laws. Some states have hardly any crime - others have more. I grew up in a small sleepy western Nebraska town that had two cops - and only one at a time was on patrol. It really was Mayberry. Every place is different, and this nation is so big that saying "The United States is unsafe to live in" is ridiculous (I know that no one is really saying that, but anyway, figured I'd throw it out there).

 

[jamespowers]

There was a time when I thought the only solution to the situation here was to move. But then I said "to hell with that, I was in this neighborhood first."

I understand that situation as well. Being overun is not an option.

 

[jamespowers]

That is one thing I think we all need to remember - the size of the U.S. and the different approaches each state takes in terms of their laws.

Good point. In essence, we have many different countries united under one. It is easy to rule Rhode Island and make it crime free but a land mass double the size of the EU is different. Add to that the border problems etc and you have a very unique situation---in many ways uncomparable to areas that are essentially islands.

 

[sheeplady]

I could counter that with a load of statistics showing the absolute opposite, of course, but more to the point - if you think you are right, why do you people all talk about not being able to move around outside? American seem to live in perpetual fear while people here never worry.

I would totally walk around in my neighborhood at 3am in the morning, in fact, I have a lot. I live in a very safe lower-middle class neighborhood were someone is always watching. We have a local police force (I live next door to a cop, that helps) and they patrol frequently and they respond to calls. However, the next neighborhood over is the second most violent in the city- I would walk through that in daylight and do frequently. The neighborhood south of the that I won't drive through, yet alone get out of my car and walk, because of the gangs and violence (they shot a toddler as a revenge killing last year, that's how bad it is). I've had research participants in that area and one of them walked me out to my car with a baseball bat and told me that if something happened, never, ever get out of my car.

So there are extremely safe areas overall and extremely dangerous areas. Eventually the trash gets sick of terrorizing the innocent people living in the violent areas starts coming into the safer areas that surround the violent areas; and then the middle class individuals who have been in a bubble start to get a rude awakening.

Some people who have really no reason to be afraid, are afraid. There's people who basically have no violent crime in their neighborhoods; don't have to commute through or work in such areas; nor have they ever known or seen anyone who has been a victim of such crimes; and yet they are afraid, sometimes more afraid than the people who have experienced these things. I feel that comes from the media. That's part of the culture of fear; everybody is afraid. And a lot of that fear from people who have contact with this stuff from the media only, in my opinion, is actually focused far too much on "I fear for myself" rather than "I fear for our society, we need to do something." It's less about "let's clean up this place" and more "let's prevent the criminals from coming here- keep them in the inner city" or 'keep the rural meth addicts out of our suburb."

There was a time when I thought the only solution to the situation here was to move. But then I said "to hell with that, I was in this neighborhood first."

Very true. If everybody moves out, the scum wins by default. And those that can't move (the elderly, the poor, etc.) are left to deal with a much more violent neighborhood.

 

[Undertow]

It's one thing to look at crime as an abstraction, to look at charts and say "well, crime is on the decline according to these statistics, so obviously things are getting better, not worse." But when you walk out of the library after looking up those charts and find that someone has broken into your car and rifled the glove compartment looking for drugs (a crime we don't even bother to report any more, it happens so often) you kind of look at things a little differently.

Ah, and this is the rub.

Many police departments have taken to simply not filing reports. This isn't some wild conspiracy theory - in fact, NYPD has been in trouble for this recently.

Here in Des Moines, I had my car broken into about two years ago (one of many times) and I didn't find out until that next morning. I called the police, waited 2 hours for an officer to come by and someone finally made a leisurely stop out; fine, it's not like it was an emergency I guess. When I explained what happened and that it appeared only a flashlight was stolen, he nodded, said it was hard luck and tried to walk away. I requested - numerous times - that he file a report. He dragged his heels, tried talking me out of it, etc.

Finally, he said, "Okay, I'll go ahead and file the report." I eventually got a hold of a detective a few months later who said he had no such reports and in fact, saw little reason for one to be made.

The problem is that when something goes unreported, the "statistics" don't accurately reflect what's really going on. So crime is on the downhill slope while people run amok in society. I wouldn't call that accurate. [huh]

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

During Halloween lot of families in nearby Santa Ana take their kids to my neighborhood to go trick or treating because theirs isn't safe.

 

[AmateisGal]

We knew this was only a matter of time...

AURORA, Colo. — A man who did not sustain injuries but was in the Aurora movie theater when a gunman opened fire last week has hired a lawyer with the intent to sue multiple parties, according to a report.

http://kdvr.com/2012/07/24/report-aurora-theater-shooting-ticket-holder-plans-to-sue/

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Tragedies in the Golden Era: The catalyst that very often brought people and communities together.

Tragedies Today: Let the fingerpointing (and lawsuits) begin!

 

[LizzieMaine]

And like I said, as far as the theatre is concerned, he's got a legitimate case. In a building of that size, there's no conceivable reason for not equipping the emergency exits with "Emergency Use Only -- Alarm Will Sound" crashbars. I'm surprised they're not required by building codes there. I'm pretty sure they soon will be.

Suing Warner Bros, however, is ludicrous. He might as well sue himself for wanting to see the picture in the first place.

 

[sheeplady]

And like I said, as far as the theatre is concerned, he's got a legitimate case. In a building of that size, there's no conceivable reason for not equipping the emergency exits with "Emergency Use Only -- Alarm Will Sound" crashbars. I'm surprised they're not required by building codes there.

Yeah- and if they're not required by every state- they should be. Heck, even the doors in our renovated and even the older buildings on my campus have that. And no security whatsoever- not even someone who was an employee walking the theater who would have noticed the propped open door? Here they check the theater at least every 30 minutes, 2 employees, and they have someone stationed in the hallways where the theaters are taking tickets and checking on stuff. That's bad business practices at best, negligent behavior at worse. What would have happened if there were a fire? The whole place would have burnt down without setting off an exit alarm?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Multiplex theatres are notorious for being nickel-biting, pinchpenny operations -- no doubt one of the corporate bean-fondlers figured they had too many minimum-wage kids running around as it was, and there was no need to pay another one to watch the doors. Our local multiplex is the same way -- you could easily sneak into the place and come and go at will without worrying about getting caught.

There was a case a couple years ago of an elderly man who died of a heart attack in a handicap bathroom in a multiplex, and his body laid there for three days before it was discovered. Nobody cleaned the bathroom, nobody wondered why the door was locked, nobody wondered about the smell, nobody cared enough to do their jobs properly.

 

[John in Covina]

(Emphasis mine).

I don't get it either. I understand entirely that people's kids are important to them (there would be something very wrong if not), but why some folks seem to then think that my would should also bend the knee to little Johnny.... A lot of what I see kids indulged in nowadays amazes me. I'd never have gotten away with the half of it - nor would I have expected to.



I think it helps.

[video=youtube;KsN0FCXw914]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsN0FCXw914[/video]

Eddie would not have survived the camps.

 

[AmateisGal]

There was a case a couple years ago of an elderly man who died of a heart attack in a handicap bathroom in a multiplex, and his body laid there for three days before it was discovered. Nobody cleaned
the bathroom, nobody wondered why the door was locked, nobody wondered about the smell, nobody cared enough to do their jobs properly.

That is HORRIBLE! :eeek:

 

[John in Covina]

We have argued this before so many times.

If you don't like guns I simply ask you to put a sign in font of your home annoucing GUN FREE HOME.

Perhaps that way the bad guys will leave me and mine alone and raid your home.

 

[Feraud]

Here's a bit of celebrity histrionics I had a good laugh over. Alexander is another insulated celebrity glossing over the fact ( to the point of sounding like an idiot I might add..) that firearm legislation exists in this country. He says absolutely nothing about any deeper issues at work in society that result in a person committing a violent crime. Instead it's the same old simplistic mantra, "we need to ban assault weapons". Alexander typed out 1700 words and said nothing of worth. Thanks George.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

There was a case a couple years ago of an elderly man who died of a heart attack in a handicap bathroom in a multiplex, and his body laid there for three days before it was discovered. Nobody cleaned the bathroom, nobody wondered why the door was locked, nobody wondered about the smell, nobody cared enough to do their jobs properly.

Reminds me of a case out here where a woman died of a heart attack at her desk in the Downtown L.A. office where she worked. This had apparently happened on a Friday morning but it wasn't until that weekend that she was found by a security guard making his rounds. As screwed up as it is I could see as how nobody would notice that somebody died in a restroom which is in a sort of out of the way place. But right in the middle of an office during a workday with people coming and going and nobody noticing. Now that really blows my mind.

 

[jamespowers]

Here's a bit of celebrity histrionics I had a good laugh over. Alexander is another insulated celebrity glossing over the fact ( to the point of sounding like an idiot I might add..) that firearm legislation exists in this country. He says absolutely nothing about any deeper issues at work in society that result in a person committing a violent crime. Instead it's the same old simplistic mantra, "we need to ban assault weapons". Alexander typed out 1700 words and say nothing of worth. Thanks George.

:rofl:

 

[John in Covina]

Chances are some one noticed but did not want to go thru the rigamarole of being the person that has to report it. It's more of I don't want to get involved!

There are times when people will choose to not acknowledge something so they don't have to talk to the police, the manager, etc because they feel it is a waste of their time or it is somebody else's job. Like at church in the fellowship hall some people consistantly make messes and never clean up after themselves, it is someone else's job to wipe up those crumbs and spills.