Violence in Oakland

I think it's a funny correlation and a funny time for layoffs. To be honest, I don't know much about it, but I had a similar reaction. Although I suppose layoffs are not a snap decision, but are generally a long time coming...

Interesting that 1. Violence spikes in the summer and 2. It seems to be taken as status quo rather than something that needs to be fixed.

Is it normal for crime to spike in the summer in other places as well?

You know the other weird thing is that Oakland is trying to get ahead of the whole Marijuana legalization thing and the amount that they think they can get in tax revenues is the exact amount that they need to keep the 80 cops they just laid off. I'm not usually a conspiracy theory sort of a guy, but its weird that these stories came out all at around the same time.

I think that good hot weather and crime do go together actually--soemthing about people all being outside or something. I know that there a lot of studies about social behaviors that have to do with things like that. Like a spike in suicides in the spring, or baby booms nine monthes after major black outs.

Haha, I love the baby booms nine months after major blackouts theory.

On the note of marijuana, I was just on the East Coast and explaining the whole marijuana legalization process (not to mention regaling my friends with the stories of some of the parties I have been to that involve the aforementioned). Needless to say, they were shocked, and I was reminded of how different the attitude toward 420 is out there...

I know. We seem like a bunch of nuts out here to people in the east. I remember that twenty years ago the conservative talk show host and columnist William F. Buckley came out for the legalization of marijuana after living around here for a while and people just passed it off as him having spent too much time out here. Sooo funny.

I don't think anyone remembers William F. Buckley any more. Robin Williams did a spot on impression of him on Bill Maher last year, and Maher had no idea who he was imitating. But I guess intellectual Republicans are really in these days.