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Some ‘Why?’ Questions – Part 3 of a Cultural Comparison: Gun Violence in the US and Europe

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Continued from Part 2
By Frank Thomas and John Lawrence

WHY does America’s weakly regulated gun culture vs. that in Europe correlate to out-of-sight gun homicide rates in the U.S.? One WHY answer is that there are higher levels of U.S. criminality compared to England, Switzerland, Norway, and other EU countries … illustrated by the number of U.S. citizens in prison per 100,000 population of  750 ± vs. 100 ± in the EU! (see European Institute for Crime Prevention & Control, “International Statistics on Crime and Justice,” 2010).

Our sub-cultures of violent and less violent crime justify for many Americans the constitutional argument of self-defense, thus allowing high cartridge capacity, semi-automatic firearms of all sorts to roll off gun manufacturers’ production lines. We are at a crossroads … where it’s not only the high gun ownership level that contributes to high homicide rates but also the high level of crime and military-style killings by the emotionally unbalanced (as occurred in Newtown) that motivate more people to acquire guns for self-defense.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Junior Seau Autopsy Confirms Brain Damage: Is this the Beginning of the End for Pro-Football?

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Former San Diego Charger Junior Seau was suffering from chronic brain damage when he committed suicide, according to reports on ESPN/ABC news this morning. The deceased linebacker’s brain was examined by researchers with the National Institute of Health (NIH) who concluded he was afflicted with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease that can lead to dementia, memory loss and depression.

Seau’s ex-wife told ESPN that the family was informed the disease resulted from “a lot of head-to-head collisions over the course of 20 years of playing in the NFL. And that it gradually, you know, developed the deterioration of his brain and his ability to think logically.”

INSIDE: Carl DeMaio: He’s Baaack, The Science of Trolls, Did the AIG Lawsuit Have Merit?   [Read more…]

Sex in San Diego: US Supreme Court to Take Up Gay Marriage March 26-27

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Agence France-Presse

The US Supreme Court will hear arguments on March 26 and 27 on the sensitive topic of gay marriage, one of the thorniest social disputes in modern America.

Same-sex marriage is currently barred by a federal law, yet legal in nine states and the capital, Washington.

The court’s announcement last month that it would take up the issue received cheers from opponents and advocates of the practice alike, who said a ruling by the justices could help settle the topic.   [Read more…]

The United States has a Massive, Crippling Spending Addiction…Or Not

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Government spending is at historical low levels despite hysterical insistence to the contrary

Last week Congress struck a deal on the fiscal cliff deal that staved off tax increases to the still-struggling middle class. It wasn’t exactly the deal most Democrats expected, but it did at least temporarily solve a self-inflicted crisis. But the fight over the fiscal cliff tax rates was only the beginning of the battle for America’s fiscal soul, and the lines are already being drawn via Republican puffery on the debt ceiling and the sequestration cuts that were put off for two months. The arguments on the Republican side are getting more and more ridiculous, and sounding more and more desperate.

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The Starting Line – The Sound of One Hand Clapping at UT-San Diego

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We’ll start off today by talking about UT-San Diego, always one of my favorite topics. With advent of the New Year there are changes afoot at our local daily newspaper, changes that have me scratching my head… But hey, they’re the experts, right?

I learned via Twitter yesterday that Manchester’s minions are now required to gain management approval should any TV or radio station ask them to comment on pretty much anything. It seems as though UT-San Diego has done a deal with Clear Channel, one of the mega-corporate media meisters. Although they operate a half-dozen or so outlets locally, what we’re really talking about is giving KOGO (home to Rush Limbaugh and other righties in San Diego) and XTRA Sports radio first shot at any UT staffers.

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Some Factual Gun Statistics – Part 2 of A Cultural Comparison: Gun Violence In The US And Europe

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By Frank Thomas and John Lawrence

Continued from Part 1

In almost every measurable statistic whether it be gun ownership, gun homicide rate or total firearm-related deaths including suicides and accidents, the US leads the world in deadly gun violence. Although statistics show that a firearm in the household is more likely to be used on a family member than an intruder, the NRA promotes gun ownership as a means of self-protection and as a crime deterrent.

Britain has a much stricter gun control culture with relatively few guns in households.   [Read more…]

A Cultural Comparison: Gun Violence In The US And Europe (Part 1)

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Editor’s note: Originally published on Jan. 8, the San Diego Free Press is republishing this three-part series in honor of the one year anniversary of the Newtown school shooting, which claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults.

By Frank Thomas and John Lawrence

While US gun crime and all crime levels are slowly but almost imperceptibly declining, they still remain relatively astronomically high compared with Europe. In this article, we compare US and European levels of gun violence and gun control to see if we can make any sense of the gun debate in the wake of the increasing frequency of mass murders as well as the almost mundane everyday killings in urban areas like Chicago and Detroit. Frank is an ex-pat who has lived in Europe for over 30 years. John has lived in San Diego for over 40 years.

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The Starting Line – Pushback on Gun Control Proposals Reveals Sad Truths About the U.S.

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Like many Americans, news of children being killed at an elementary school, was overwhelming for retired teacher Roseanne Holliday a resident of Del Mar. She wanted to do something, anything, to make sure a tragedy like the Sandy Hook shootings never happened again.

After several days of thinking it over, she posted a sign on her property with the message “Stop Del Mar Gun Show and Sale”, and included her email address. Feedback from that sign led to a meeting with over 50 people and launching of a petition urging the Del Mar Fairgrounds to drop its involvement with the Crossroads of the West Gun Show.

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Grassroots Democracy Takes Patience at the Ocean Beach Planning Board

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The meeting room at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center was quickly filling up last Wednesday night, the 2nd of January, as the monthly meeting of the Board was about to begin. No “OB-time” here, as the Chair, Jane Gawronski, gaveled the meeting to order right at 6:00 pm. In the audience was a “who’s-who” of the community’s merchant establishment and friends, and it included the heads of the OB Town Council; the merchants’ group, the Mainstreet Association; the local non-profit OB Community Development Corporation.

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The Starting Line – Both California Senators Blocking Filibuster Reform

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Two of the leaders of the effort to reform Senate filibuster rules, Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Tom Udall of New Mexico, are now saying that 48 senators have confirmed their support for making the filibuster a real, talking filibuster. Further, all 48 have committed to reforming the filibuster by using the “constitutional option”—that is, by changing the rules of the Senate with a simple majority of 50 votes plus the Vice President.

There are seven Democratic members of the Senate who have not yet committed to reforming the filibuster in this way: Sens. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein of California, Carl Levin of Michigan, Max Baucus of Montana, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, and Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
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Inside.. The UT’s Gospels of Fear and Falsehoods, Gun Control Proposal, Nurses United and much more…   [Read more…]

Qualcomm Lobbies Government To Get Out of Paying Taxes

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Qualcomm Corporation headquartered in San Diego has been lobbying Congress for a “tax holiday” that would allow it to “repatriate” millions of dollars held offshore in tax free jurisdictions like the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who oversees the New York State Common Retirement Fund, has sued Qualcomm over disclosure of use of stockholder funds for political purposes.

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Obama’s Fiscal Cliff “Victory”: Winning a Battle in the Midst of Losing the War?

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Grover Norquist is happy. After the fiscal cliff deal was passed in the House, he pointed out that Obama blinked on his $250,000 line in the sand on taxes and that, by locking in the Bush tax cuts for 98% of Americans, the Democrats’ ability to defend the legacy of the New Deal has been greatly diminished. He’s right.
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