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Driving Drunk Is Not Easy
Sd, just came across this. Although nobody mentioned would dare entertain the notion that maybe it's biology, biology is why this might have a chance of actually working. LA tries test to find kids likely to join gangs By CHRISTINA HOAG, The Associated Press 1:00 p.m. August 2, 2009 Gang prevention cop Jeff Norat drives a bunch of sullen teens through the gang-riddled streets of a Los Angeles neighborhood, not because they're in trouble with the law – but so they'll stay out of it. "These kids are all at risk of joining gangs – look where they live," said Norat, motoring through Boyle Heights where some gangs are in their third generation. "But some kids don't." What prompts some kids to join gangs and their neighbors not to join is a question that has long baffled experts. City officials, who have made little headway denting the ranks of street gangs, now think they'll find the answer through a multiple-choice test. "If you could identify who those at-risk kids were, then you could microtarget them with resources," said Jeff Carr, director of the mayor's office on gang reduction and youth development. That premise marks a new strategy in the city's fight against gangs, which claim roughly 40,000 members in Los Angeles, making it the nation's gang capital. The city spends about $20 million a year on gang prevention and intervention. Until now, much of that funding has gone to what the anti-gang czar calls a "shotgun approach" to prevention – flooding gang-infested neighborhoods with social programs under the theory that any kid raised in these "hot zones" could wind up a tattooed gangbanger. But Carr points to research showing only about 15 percent of kids in a given neighborhood join gangs, according to University of Southern California social psychologist Malcolm Klein and others.— August 3, 2009 5:41 a.m.
Driving Drunk Is Not Easy
Storyteller, I agree. SD, to me culture is another misunderstood concept. "Nurturers" would argue people are a product of their culture, but the truth is, culture is a product of the people in it. Cultures are a reflection of the differences between different groups of people. Why is the culture of the Zulu different from the culture of Greece? Because the people are different. Why is the culture in the inner-city different from the culture in the suburbs? Same answer. It's all biology, just us monkeys doing what comes naturally.— August 3, 2009 5:07 a.m.
Get a Leg Up
Storyteller, BS claims like that make the rates go up for all of us. Just let them fix your car and quit trying to get over. Josh, is this story true, or are you just........wait for it..........pulling my leg?— August 3, 2009 4:56 a.m.
Facebook Requests and Answering Machine Messages
You're right, I should have played that into the voicemail over and over.— August 2, 2009 5:28 a.m.
I was a safety ambassador in downtown San Diego
Pete, like Dr said, no city is perfect, but this one will get just a little better than it already is whenever you go back under whatever rock you crawled out from. It can't happen soon enough.— August 2, 2009 5:23 a.m.
Driving Drunk Is Not Easy
Sd you're exactly right about me. I don't believe in environmental causes. Everything is biology. We all are who we are, monkeys acting on our impulses. Go sit and watch the apes at the zoo for five minutes and tell me it doesn't look like most reality shows on TV. We humans give ourselves way to much credit for being thinking, rational animals. There's way to little thinking and rationality to go around. So yes, the occasional person can learn from "counseling", but most of us have to learn from our mistakes. As someone said, wisdom comes from the bad choices we make. But then some are incapable of even that much. I again reference Pete. I could go on and on with the nature/nurture debate, and my contention that it's ALL nature, but the problem is, I can never prove it, because anything I point to as being biology someone else will argue is environment. So either it becomes obvious to you or it doesn't. People will believe what they choose to believe-what lines up with their world view.— August 1, 2009 8:02 p.m.
Facebook Requests and Answering Machine Messages
I had a laundramat change machine jip me out of five bucks once, and could get no satisfaction from the owner, so I used to call and fill up his voicemail with radio noise. I'd just call over and over, figuring he'd have to waste his time listening to them. I would have been more satisfied to just get my five back, though. BTW, it's the laundramat in Poway next to Round Table Pizza. If anybody lives in Poway, don't go there. PS: Why are women like donuts? I really want to know!— August 1, 2009 7:33 p.m.
Another John Bobbitt?
You gave it a kiss? That's some flexibility!— August 1, 2009 7:25 p.m.
911 -- What's Your Emergency?
You've got to listen to the 911 tape, Josh. She says #1 that the slimeball paparazzi was looking in her window, freaking out her and her daughter, and #2 that the officer she had talked to previously about this told her to call if this happened. And keep in mind this is happening to her after she already had her privacy violated by being taped while in her motel room. She didn't do anything to bring this down on herself. I hope the cops came and arrested the slimeball. As for the crappy drive thru service, you're only allowed to call 911 if they also put pickles on your burger. THAT'S a crime.— August 1, 2009 7:16 p.m.
Biker Man Takedown
Hopefully this is his third strike. One less thief walking around making the world just a little bit crappier.— August 1, 2009 7:07 p.m.