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Mar 20 randoma commented on Because Guns Make Us Safer.

I'm a little surprised that no one has offered any culpability to the adult that provided enough alcohol to a teenager that he couldn't even recognize his own house.

Mar 20 randoma commented on NRA Is Going to Win Again.

Raising the minimum wage to $15-25/hour and ending the 'War on Drugs' would go a very long way towards reducing violence in this country. Reducing hospital/doctor costs to what Medicare pays and creating a working single payer health system (or any other system with reasonably priced coverage for all) would also help dramatically.

The direct link to this Time magazine article on health care costs is behind a paywall - however, it is reproduced here:

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/…

@18 Statistically speaking, over the last decade you were more likely to win a million dollars in the lottery or get hit by a bus, or struck by lightning, than you were to be the victim of a mass shooting.

Mar 19 randoma commented on A $22 an Hour Minimum Wage.

@39 - also, while I doubt that the owners of your cafe really can't afford to pay more in wages, the price they can charge is set by competition. So, if everyone's cost goes up, they won't actually lose business (and will likely gain business) when they raise their retail prices (because everyone else will be raising their prices a similar amount).

And yes, a coffee shop, particularly one that has 'baristas' rather than 'clerks' is patronized by people with disposable income. More people with disposable income == more people buying lattes.

Mar 19 randoma commented on A $22 an Hour Minimum Wage.

@39, In the restaurant industry, wages make up about 20-30% of the cost of the product. A 100% increase in wage (from $7.50 to $15) would require a 20-30% increase in the price of the product (in reality the cost increase is a bit less). However, the buyers, in general, would have significantly more disposable income, which would enable them to purchase more even at the higher rate.

The argument that businesses can't afford to raise the minimum wage is a short sighted fallacy, which does more harm to business owners in the long run.

Mar 14 randoma commented on Washington State's Pro-Suicide House.

Goldy, how exactly does HB 1588, a bill for Universal Background Checks (not waiting periods) have anything to do with suicide? Despite the MJ article, which appears to provide no references to the data used, how exactly would a background check reduce the number "impulse" buyers?

17 states require a background check on private purchases of handguns, 11 states require a background check on all firearms. Out of those 17 states, 11 also have a waiting period of some sort.

Incidentally, Oregon requires a background check on private handgun sales, but no waiting period - how's their suicide rate? In 2010 (only data I have handy - you can look up other years), Oregon's suicide rate, not including 'assisted' deaths (Oregon's DWDA) was even higher than Washington's:

http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/news/2010news/…

Mar 13 randoma commented on Washington State's Pro-Suicide House.

@27, The bill that Goldy is bemoaning the loss of did not involve waiting periods.

Mar 13 randoma commented on Washington State's Pro-Suicide House.

Actually, there is a much better correlation between percentage of rural population and suicide than there is between firearm ownership and suicide. Which is to say that states with relatively high gun control, that are also rural, have similar rates of suicide to that of states with relatively low gun control but similar amounts of rural residents.

I've provided links to data in the past. You can find 'em or you can find your own.

As far as using Mother Jones as a reference - in their original data on "assault weapons" used by mass shooters, they included ALL long guns, including bolt-action rifles as "assault weapons". Which says that they have even less journalistic integrity than, say, the Seattle PI.

Mar 13 randoma commented on The Growing Isolation of the Gun Nuts: Evangelicals Agree With Obama on Universal Background Checks.

Is there any reason why Goldy, Charles and the rest of The Stranger staff can't start some funding for firearms research? Just because the Fed hasn't been funding research doesn't mean that anyone else with a few dollars can't fund it. Goldy was perfectly happy to drum up funding to buy movie props - you'd think funding some research wouldn't be that hard!

Mar 13 randoma commented on Universal Background Checks Bill as Dead as a Person Shot With a Gun Purchased Without a Background Check.

Goldy, do you really think the only problem in the case you keep referring to was the shooter's ability to purchase another firearm? Or that he wouldn't have easily been able to find a seller willing to sell to him without a check? (Despite his wife's assertions to the contrary, it would appear that he already owned firearms and did not turn them in on the Judge's demand)

http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdo…

Here's a couple quotes:
"Haughton ultimately was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct/domestic abuse. The case was dismissed when Haughton's wife and a police officer on the scene did not show, according to records."

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"Zina Haughton told police her husband had no guns, but one of the officers on the scene knew from past calls that he was a Marine veteran, who may have had a gun and knew how to use one.

That's when officers spotted Radcliffe Haughton standing in a window.

"He slid open the curtains," the complaint says. "The defendant pointed a long-barreled black object out the window. He aimed this long-barreled object at Zina Haughton who stood three feet away from officers outside.""

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Mar 9 randoma commented on Low Wage Sea-Tac Workers Earn Forty Percent Less than in 2005.

@7 - you really should learn to read before you spout off. Cheryl Friedman, the "wheelchair attendant and security officer" works at Philadelphia International Airport, not Sea-Tac. The tip-off, for most people would probably be this line:

"Cheryl Friedman, who works as a wheelchair attendant and security officer at the airport, would be getting a raise if Mayor Michael Nutter decided to sign the bill into law."