As one who spent most of my pre-teen and teenage years in Huntington Beach, I am less than surprised by both the rioting and the focus on such matters as the attempted theft of a $5000 custom bicycle. Look, I don’t want anyone stealing anything from me, let alone something that costs $5000, and I appreciate that the owner of the store is contributing to the local economy (and the city’s ambiance) and I’m really grateful that some people had the guts to step in and guard against marauding looters and hooligans.
But — well, have you seen any international news lately? I’ll tell you what it doesn’t look like: this.
Guy at left in striped shirt: “Hey, this looks like a GREAT opportunity to punch some valiant defender of commercial personal property in the back of the head!”
“Feel the stinging wrath of my enormous man-muscles, repressive forces of Order!”
“FREEDOM!!!”
“Dude, you sucker punch me in the BACK OF THE HEAD? Really?”
And now, some guest commentary from abroad.
“Frankly, from an Egyption perspective, we are less than impressed with both the means employed and with the stakes. At least you won’t be headlining the evening news shows.”
“Shows how much YOU know! The arrest of Fullerton fire fighter Michael John Lytle, 30, of Anaheim, — THAT’S ME — led off last night’s news!”
“Seriously? OK. We’re kinda busy now. Have fun with your “riot.” … P.S.: You’re pathetic.”
My solution: send the firefighter and the youthful rioters to Egypt and see how well they survive there. The valiant defenders of the bike shop can stay, but they do not get a parade.
The embed codes don’t seem to be working, so OJB brings you the links to videos that matter!
Fullerton Firefighter arrested for alleged participation in Huntington Beach melee as the thankfully competent Huntington Beach City Council how contemplates to keep all of the surfing while not keeping quite so much of the rioting.
The theft of a $5000 bike is averted by a store owner and valiant locals, one of whom got sucker punched in the back of the head. Is this where those four top stills above came? YOU DECIDE!
OK, one last question for you all: would this have been less of a mess had lots of people around there been carrying concealed firearms, or is this a case where we’d really want the more obvious deterrence of “open carry”?
Bikes cost $5,000 now? … I have a friend from Sri Lanka and she has lived in the Middle East over 30 years. She believes that Democracy is not always the way to go for all countries. Egypt is a good example because the Muslim Brotherhood was voted in to rule the country. That group seems insistent to force people to live in the Dark Ages. I don’t know much about that country, and I don’t know if they have a Bill of Rights which is what protects our country from radical groups being voted in, allowing those groups create laws that take away rights of people they hate. Egypt is trying to define who they are and I am thrilled that they threw out President Morsi and didn’t wait it out until the next election cycle. They seem to have passion that Americans do not have.
The brats in HB riot are just that…spoiled brats. They decided to join in in what seemed like fun to them in the moment without thinking about the consequences — I am betting people like them haven’t had to be responsible for their actions — ever and we can thank their parents for that.
Concealed weapons would have turned HB into a blood bath. Shop owners carrying guns is also not a good idea. I don’t have a problem with someone punching someone in the head, if the person they punch is the one trying to loot.
*Where were the cops and their bean bag guns? The Fullerton Firefighter is now on paid leave…….
Don’t bring concealed weapons into this, Greg. Facebook is screwing over the rioters enough with their pictures being blasted everywhere.
To me, it’s a great example of the problem with Concealed Carry or Open Carry laws. So I consider it appropriate to raise. You should have an answer ready.
The privacy implications of a Smartphone and Facebook-equipped society are interesting. I welcome people’s greater interest in them.
and remember, it was a white man who sang, “I shot a man in reno, just to watch him die” which, I guess, proves the point
A post today by HB’s excellent Mayor, Connie Boardman:
The benefit of having really good leaders is even greater than the detriment of fools rioting.