L.A. Airport Shooting

[PsYcO aSsAsSiN]

Well, something like this was bound to happen on the fourth of July. Anyway, I will put money down that this was not a terrorist attack, but more likely a retarded fool. No one with half a brain tries to attack the El Al counter at an airport - especially considering that their security is more heavily armed than the LAPD.

But then again, it could be a diversion for something bigger.

Sound off on your reactions to the shooting here.

[Bondo]

Well, I heard just briefly about it but I was going out to have our Independance Day picnic and not doing that would be letting the terrorists win .  I'll go watch the news now so I can have a better reply

P.S.  To those who are offended that I made a joke in such a serious thread, it is my belief that there is no better time, not having a sense of humor would be letting the terrorists win.

P.P.S.  I apologize for the second one.

[Cow]

assassin my friends friend who is going to hawaii who we are meeting there was at LAX and heard the shootings, thats scary =(

[jn.loudnotes]

As I sat with my parents (who let me drink at home) at a dinner party with a bunch of adult neighbors of ours, discussing current events, politics, global understanding, and diversity, I really wanted a martini.

Being under 21, however, all I could think was, "god bless America"

p.s.  I'm not sorry for that
p.p.s.  I'm weird....sue me

[Bondo]

Indeed, legal drinking age should be 18 if not lower like it is in Europe (which oddly has less dangerous alcohol use).

[Brain]

not so odd if you think about it. for them ther is less of a temptation ?to drink ?as a sign of rebellion. it's no longer the forbidden fruit, therefore it no longer is as desireable as it once was

p.s. i also heard a plane crashed in san demis(that's what i thought i heard) today as well
p.p.s. if  anyone has more info on either event, please share it with us

[PsYcO aSsAsSiN]

Yeah Brain...I had just woken up around 11:30 a.m. and flipped on the tube. They were talking about wildfire dangers from fireworks this holiday and then the anchorman at knbc 4 LA kinda jumped in his seat and said their was breaking news - a shootout at LAX. Well, you ugys basically know the story of that so on to the other event - the crash of a Cessna 310 Twin Engine aircraft.

The pilot called in two maydays saying that he had problems gaining altitude so he tried to ditch the plane on a grassy field. The only problem with that is that his wing clipped a tree and came crashing down to the ground - literally on top of a family who was picknicking. As it stands right now, 4 are dead (the two in the plane and two children on the ground) and like 10 more are injured, some critically and some not. The plane crashed approximately one hour after the shootings at LAX so the newschoppers were working double time until they were forced out of airport airspace.

p.s. I was drinking as often as I wanted in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico...for you kiddies, as long as you have $, they ignore their "drinking age" of 18.

[Bondo]

About it not being odd that they don't have the problems, I was being cynical.  Most people would claim that lowering the drinking age would create problems but they ignore the example of Europe.

Being older than 18 I'd rather just go to Canada to do my drinking, not as hot and you can drink the water.

[Brain]

about the drinking age, i think that it should be lowered to 19, that way you dont have high school seniors buying for their freshman 'friends'
and that is the biggest problem that i see with an 18 yr old limit

[Bondo]

Giving alcohol to those under the age limit is illegal regardless of what the age limit is so that is a bad reason.  It isn't like high school parties have a hard time finding alcohol.

[*DAMN Mauti]

Well it seems we went off topic but well I can tell you to drink alcohol isn't really bad as long you don't drive and beat your wife or girlfriend... Legal age in Austria is 16. However there aren't controls - most kids smoke their first cigarette with 12(I don't think it's good at all and please don't think all kids at 12 are smoking in Austria they are usually trying(!) their first cigarette at this time not more - most kids start smoking regulary between 15 and 17) and same with vodka & co.

I think America is so screwed in this case - everyone has the right to own a gun(question at which age can you buy a gun?) but you can't drink alcohol under 21, rofl. What is more dangerous kids playing with daddy's pumpgun or drinking some vodka at a party?

However you can buy cigarettes and alcohol at any age only in clubs and bars you have sometimes age controls but when you are drinking alcohol on the streets or at home nobody cares. It is so funny that you have to hide the alcohol bottles in public - It really makes me laugh. These laws are childish - I'll come to hell if I see a bottle of alc or what!?

In many points America is so conservative - HORRIBLE - Also Bush's statements about sex and how to prevent it completly until you marry ahu forgive me but he is one of the most prudish politicans I know. What the hell is wrong with sex? - Nothing.

Ok I stop before I get a fit of rage...

Bye,

Mauti

[Bondo]

Of Course Mauti is right, America is too conservative and prudish.  What is most glaring is that America condemns sex and nudity and rates things with it strictly, yet violence is largely uncensored.  It is no wonder homosexuality hasn't been accepted to the level it has in Europe (at least to my knowledge of how things are in Europe).

[Grifter]

On topic:
LA Airport shootings... yeah, I figure just a complete wacko that probably missed a flight or got bumped or something.  Maybe someone upset by what's going on right now... but just a complete wacko.

The Cesna that went down... yeah, two mayday calls and he tried to ditch in the lake... but the plane skipped like a stone and ended up on the crowded beach.  I heard the pilot, co-pilot and one little girl on the beach died (the second kid on the beach was alive at the hospital when I saw the news.

Off Topic:

Being one that can remember when the drinking age was 18 in Michigan and 19 in Ohio (both are 21 now) and 19 in Windsor (still).  I'd like to say that it is insurance companies you can thank for the drinking ages going back up... they were the big lobiests of it.  

Myself, I think that 19 is a good age to set it at.  Drunked high school kids in public are annoying.... better to make them wait until post high school... just for us older drinkers.  Seriously, when you are 25, go to a concert and see some 14-15 year old girls falling down, yelling and throwing up all over themselves.  The 16-17 year old boys aren't much better.  Sure, there are guys (and some girls) that can actually handle their liquer and just get a mellow buzz going at a young age, but in America, that's the exception, not the rule.

Mauti, in Michigan, you have to be 21 to get a handgun permit.  It's another thing that's different from state to state.  In Texas, I think they give you one in the crib (ok, maybe not, but close to it)

[Bondo]

Well, I think his point was that if you can get a gun at any age then you should be able to drink at 18 or 16 or whatnot.  In my personal experience if I could drink, I wouldn't much.  I have found one drink that was really good this pink lemonade vodka thing, but most drinks are so nasty I can't see why alcohol should be such a big problem (although it is in the states).

[MrLothario]

    As Grifter said, legal ages for things vary from state to state. In California, you must be 21 to purchase a handgun, but 18 for a rifle or shotgun (which sort of makes sense... but not really). The drinking age in California is 21, and if I recall correctly, the smoking age is 18. It may be 21 these days, I haven't kept up on it since I'm not a smoker myself.

Mauti's comments re: the conservatism of America really rang true for me. I feel the same way. I've discussed morality at length with my friends, with myself being the radical who desires change. Their arguments for the current, conservative system are fairly common throughout America's population.
    Regarding lowering the drinking age, the counter-argument is that if it was lowered, every high-schooler would be constantly drunk, alcoholism would run rampant, and the world would explode into a great fireball. (OK, maybe not that last part.)
    About sex and the legislation thereof... well, to put it mildly, Americans are truly sick and mentally diseased when it comes to the topic of sex. The common American opinion about any relaxation of "morality" laws (I truly hate that term) is like this. If, for instance, the laws governing nudity were relaxed or thrown out the window entirely, then immediately all of America would be filled with wild-eyed, drooling men raping women and children. I am exaggerating the language of the argument, but not the argument itself. Americans have been trained from a very early age to regard sex, or even nudity, as something dirty that is best kept secret, something dangerous and tainted. It honestly disgusts me. Children are taught these things by their parents, who were taught by their parents, and so on. It's a natural consequence that America's laws are as conservative as Americans are.
    Even something as straightforward and logical as legalizing marijuana is met with reactions that border on paranoia.
    The idea of relaxing legal controls on sex, drugs, or alcohol is invariably met with the idea that less legal controls will lead to epidemics of drug use or sexual crimes, whichever is under discussion. That's the American viewpoint, and very few ever question it. So the laws stand for year after year.

    Unfortunately, America is swinging further and further into conservatism. it hasn't reached its limit yet, and it won't for about another decade or so. I'm afraid of what civil liberties and freedoms Americans will voluntarily give up as the slide continues.

[Bondo]

American conservatism is why I think the nation sucks and think Europe and Canada are better, sure, it may be a great place to live economically but no one is more stressed out than americans and no wonder as we are so repressive in thought.

[Grifter]

BTW, since when is not allowing guns liberal??  The whole "right to bear arms" was a pretty liberal measure to insure that if our government ever got out of control, the power would still be with the people....  

People really lose sight about the point of things.

[Bondo]

The only thing guns do is shoot people (outside of hunting), or in other words invade their rights.  Thus every time a gun is sold, someone's rights are violated, that makes it wrong.  And the second amendment doesn't give citizens the right to all have their own guns for protection, it give the citizens the right to have local militia that would have guns.

[jn.loudnotes]

He has a point Grifter.  Maybe we've even got a right to own guns, but I don't see what useful purpose they have.  You don't use a handgun for hunting...and the arguments that it is for "protection" are a little hollow.

Gotta love the middle-aged Christian Coalition GOP soccer Moms packing heat in their minivans  

[Grifter]

Amendment II


A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. [/i]


Again guys, read into the meaning of it.  

First, the militia and people are both spelled out, not joined.  A well regulated militia in 1700's speak equals the Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, etc....  that answer to the government.

The right of the people to keep and bear arms is a different matter.  

That was put in there because the people should always have the power to stand up and protect themselves from the GOVERNMENT....  You have to remember that this was written and formed while we were starting a REVOLUTION.  So, one of our founding principles in this country is just that.  We aren't going to let any rule of force hold down the people if the people don't agree with it.

As for every gun sold infringing upon someone's rights, that's pure Bullshit.  What percentage of guns sold in America have actually been fired at a human being.... let alone hit one?  Not nearly as many as Bondo seems to think.  BTW, my uncle uses a hand gun to hunt with... amongst others...  I own 3 guns (all came to me from my grandfather)... none of those have ever been fired at a PERSON....  a bunch of paper targets and some rabits.... and lots of clay pigeons, but no people.

As it stands today, the constitution is pretty clear that the right to bear arms shall not be infringed upon.... but the States have done a bunch of infringing already (damn conservatives... always wanting to over regulate).  

On a side note... when people all bore arms (usually swords), people were much more polite on the whole.