With the failure (once again) to pass any sort of meaningful new gun safety laws in the wake the Orlando shooting, the president should declare the NRA a domestic terrorist organization. This should extend to all gun rights groups and activists as they are essentially accessories to terrorist attacks on home soil.
He should direct Attorney General Loretta Lynch to use the FBI to investigate and possible arrest high ranking members of the NRA for aiding and abetting enemy combatants who seek to murder US citizens. If they are found guilty, they should be sent to Gitmo. Since we can't seem to close it, why not use it for the purpose intended?
The NRA and gun rights supporters are unmoved by the piles of dead bodies we accumulate every day. They feel that their entitlement is more important than US security. They have created a country that has zero domestic tranquility and an incredibly warped reality where we actually bear little children gotten shot in the face. US citizens need to understand that we can't negotiate with these guys. They essentially have the same level of ideological intransigence as the fucking Nazis. They only understand one thing: force.
So, let's start using it.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Missing Their Opportunity
I haven't said this in a while but I really love Quora. Why? It's because of questions like this that produce a veritable treasure trove of wonderful answers for tens of thousands of people to see. Here are a few choice cuts...
Until the GOP really tries to shed itself of the policies that help perpetuate racism and poverty in America, they will have a difficult time attracting significant numbers of black or minority voters.
Yep.
They keep doing stuff like gerrymandering districts to minimize the effects of black voters, and passing voter suppression laws aimed at discouraging blacks from voting, and so on. They're actually proud of it. So there you are. The only black Republicans are so enthused by conservative ideology that they're willing to overlook the howling racism in their party.
Howling racism? Ah, Ernest...so many followers and so many views on your answers. I'd be jealous but you are saying all the things I would say anyway and so much more eloquently.
A signal doesn't clearer than that. As such it is no wonder that white supremacists and other racists naturally flock to the GOP, while blacks and other minorities find in the Democrats a more welcoming home.
Ooo...that one had some stank on it!
It will never cease to amaze me just how much the GOP is in denial about the racism in their party. They could attract so many more voters if they ejected the angry old white people by the wayside.
Until the GOP really tries to shed itself of the policies that help perpetuate racism and poverty in America, they will have a difficult time attracting significant numbers of black or minority voters.
Yep.
They keep doing stuff like gerrymandering districts to minimize the effects of black voters, and passing voter suppression laws aimed at discouraging blacks from voting, and so on. They're actually proud of it. So there you are. The only black Republicans are so enthused by conservative ideology that they're willing to overlook the howling racism in their party.
Howling racism? Ah, Ernest...so many followers and so many views on your answers. I'd be jealous but you are saying all the things I would say anyway and so much more eloquently.
A signal doesn't clearer than that. As such it is no wonder that white supremacists and other racists naturally flock to the GOP, while blacks and other minorities find in the Democrats a more welcoming home.
Ooo...that one had some stank on it!
It will never cease to amaze me just how much the GOP is in denial about the racism in their party. They could attract so many more voters if they ejected the angry old white people by the wayside.
The Trumps Can't Do Basic Arithmetic
Mother Jones is running a series of articles about Donald Trump called the "Trump Files," which is pretty hilarious if you're a Democrat, and downright depressing if you're a Republican.
In one of his many, many appearances on the Howard Stern show (in which Trump usually talked about inane things like his wife's poop), Trump and his kids said they got into the Wharton School on their own merits, and not because of who their fathers were. Stern didn't buy it.
To test them, Stern asked them a basic math question: how much is 17 times 6? They couldn't figure it out. The boy variously offered 94 and 96, and the girl didn't even try, saying it wasn't a "practical application." Trump said it was 112. Even after Stern revealed the answer -- 102 -- Trump insisted it was 112; no wonder he thinks he's so much richer than he actually is.
Like the girl, many people may not think basic math is practical in this day and age of smart phone apps and Google. And, yes, the math itself is irrelevant. What's important here are the extremely useful skills of problem solving and BS detection.
There are two easy ways to solve this basic problem. Both involve breaking it down into components that you can easily answer. The first way is to realize that 17 is 10 + 7. You multiply 10 by 6 = 60, then 7 by 6 = 42, and then add them up to get 102. The other way is to realize that 17 is 20 - 3. Multiply 6 by 20 = 120, and then subtract 6 x 3 = 18 from 120 to get 102.
This mindset is essential to solving any complex problem. We can't solve modern society's problems with one masterstroke -- every problem this country faces requires addressing a bunch of smaller problems that we can solve.
Most of these problems involve numbers -- big ones: the federal budget, the deficit, the debt, tax policy, the GDP, the balance of trade, the influx of millions of immigrants, the outflow of millions of jobs to Asia, millions of unemployed people.
If you have a basic facility with numbers, you can use that a BS detector when someone spouts numbers at you. If their basic numbers don't add up, you know they're lying. If you can't understand basic numbers, you can't tell when people are lying to you.
Trump can't do basic arithmetic, and is surrounded by people who can't do basic arithmetic. If he and his people can't handle small numbers, they will be incapable of handling big ones. This is clear from his tax proposals, which are giveaways to billionaires, and would leave a giant hole in the budget, bankrupting this country.
Worse, Trump thinks it's okay. He's fine with the United States defaulting on the debt, and forcing creditors to "take a haircut." Yeah, Donald Trump wants to make America great again by copying Greece's economic model: low taxes and debt default.
A recent analysis by Moody's Analytics found that Trump's economic plan would be a disaster for the United States. Instead of being a stable haven for the world's wealth, the United States would become third-rate junk bond market. Just like the several casinos Trump used to own that went bankrupt because he borrowed money at high interest rates.
The mantra at Trump University was "OPM" -- Other People's Money. This was how Trump survived his catastrophically stupid business decisions: he used other people's money to prop up his casino corporation, then he loaded his personal debts onto the corporation, then he declared bankruptcy, leaving himself richer and all his investors poorer.
Now, the Other People are us, the US taxpayers. If we give Donald Trump our money, we know exactly what's going to happen to it.
In one of his many, many appearances on the Howard Stern show (in which Trump usually talked about inane things like his wife's poop), Trump and his kids said they got into the Wharton School on their own merits, and not because of who their fathers were. Stern didn't buy it.
To test them, Stern asked them a basic math question: how much is 17 times 6? They couldn't figure it out. The boy variously offered 94 and 96, and the girl didn't even try, saying it wasn't a "practical application." Trump said it was 112. Even after Stern revealed the answer -- 102 -- Trump insisted it was 112; no wonder he thinks he's so much richer than he actually is.
Like the girl, many people may not think basic math is practical in this day and age of smart phone apps and Google. And, yes, the math itself is irrelevant. What's important here are the extremely useful skills of problem solving and BS detection.
There are two easy ways to solve this basic problem. Both involve breaking it down into components that you can easily answer. The first way is to realize that 17 is 10 + 7. You multiply 10 by 6 = 60, then 7 by 6 = 42, and then add them up to get 102. The other way is to realize that 17 is 20 - 3. Multiply 6 by 20 = 120, and then subtract 6 x 3 = 18 from 120 to get 102.
This mindset is essential to solving any complex problem. We can't solve modern society's problems with one masterstroke -- every problem this country faces requires addressing a bunch of smaller problems that we can solve.
Most of these problems involve numbers -- big ones: the federal budget, the deficit, the debt, tax policy, the GDP, the balance of trade, the influx of millions of immigrants, the outflow of millions of jobs to Asia, millions of unemployed people.
If you have a basic facility with numbers, you can use that a BS detector when someone spouts numbers at you. If their basic numbers don't add up, you know they're lying. If you can't understand basic numbers, you can't tell when people are lying to you.
Trump can't do basic arithmetic, and is surrounded by people who can't do basic arithmetic. If he and his people can't handle small numbers, they will be incapable of handling big ones. This is clear from his tax proposals, which are giveaways to billionaires, and would leave a giant hole in the budget, bankrupting this country.
Worse, Trump thinks it's okay. He's fine with the United States defaulting on the debt, and forcing creditors to "take a haircut." Yeah, Donald Trump wants to make America great again by copying Greece's economic model: low taxes and debt default.
A recent analysis by Moody's Analytics found that Trump's economic plan would be a disaster for the United States. Instead of being a stable haven for the world's wealth, the United States would become third-rate junk bond market. Just like the several casinos Trump used to own that went bankrupt because he borrowed money at high interest rates.
The mantra at Trump University was "OPM" -- Other People's Money. This was how Trump survived his catastrophically stupid business decisions: he used other people's money to prop up his casino corporation, then he loaded his personal debts onto the corporation, then he declared bankruptcy, leaving himself richer and all his investors poorer.
Now, the Other People are us, the US taxpayers. If we give Donald Trump our money, we know exactly what's going to happen to it.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Hold Them Accountable
When United States citizens are polled on guns, a majority (57%) want more strict gun laws and that includes Republicans. A massive majority (89%) want background checks on all gun purchases. A majority wants a ban on assault weapons (57%). With voting set today in the Senate on four separate pieces of gun safety legislation, keep track of who votes and how they vote.
Hold them accountable.
Hold them accountable.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
The Trump News Network
Remember back when email started? It was right around that time when that crazy uncle you have got on the computer machine and started in with the email forwards about how Bill Clinton was building an army of robots that were going to steal our luggage.
And take away all the guns.
Now, with the age of social media, Facebook has become the new haven for the "email forward" crowd. These mentally unbalanced conservatives have concocted all sorts of bizarre nonsense about Barack Obama, liberals, and Hillary Clinton. This is Donald Trump's crowd...the voters that have propelled him to the GOP nomination...and he knows it.
So, when he says, "I hear that ______________" he's talking about this network of insanity that bears no resemblance to reality. He's getting his information from people just making shit up on the computer machine! In fact, the political pundits of Morning Joe think that Trump isn't really serious anymore about running for president. He's merely priming these people for being the future audience of his own news network.
Makes sense now, doesn't it?:)
And take away all the guns.
Now, with the age of social media, Facebook has become the new haven for the "email forward" crowd. These mentally unbalanced conservatives have concocted all sorts of bizarre nonsense about Barack Obama, liberals, and Hillary Clinton. This is Donald Trump's crowd...the voters that have propelled him to the GOP nomination...and he knows it.
So, when he says, "I hear that ______________" he's talking about this network of insanity that bears no resemblance to reality. He's getting his information from people just making shit up on the computer machine! In fact, the political pundits of Morning Joe think that Trump isn't really serious anymore about running for president. He's merely priming these people for being the future audience of his own news network.
Makes sense now, doesn't it?:)
The Arrogance of the Gun Cult
Here's a great example of the arrogance of the Gun Cult.
“I think a lot of the fear comes from something [people] don’t understand,” said Maxwell. “They don’t understand that there is a sport that revolves around shooting. They just know that [the AR-15] looks scary on TV.”
What's not to understand? It's a toy. You guys like it a lot. And, like children, you don't want it to be taken away.
Further, it's not the gun that scares us, asshole. It's the mentality behind it...a mentality which continues to allow events like Orlando to happen on a regular basis and is directly responsible for murder.
“I think a lot of the fear comes from something [people] don’t understand,” said Maxwell. “They don’t understand that there is a sport that revolves around shooting. They just know that [the AR-15] looks scary on TV.”
What's not to understand? It's a toy. You guys like it a lot. And, like children, you don't want it to be taken away.
Further, it's not the gun that scares us, asshole. It's the mentality behind it...a mentality which continues to allow events like Orlando to happen on a regular basis and is directly responsible for murder.
Friday, June 17, 2016
An AR-15 Owner Has Had Enough
Daniel Hayes' recent piece says it all. He's an AR-15 owner and he's had enough. His solution?
There’s a saying that goes “when seconds count the police are only minutes away.” It’s meant to enforce the truism that we are all ultimately responsible for our own defense when the chips are down. But what it really reinforces is the importance of time. Time matters immensely when you’re defending yourself. You need time to do so. You need opportunity. Ban magazines over ten rounds. Give potential victims time and opportunity and in giving them that time we will deter murderers from attempting these mass shootings. They will fear that they won’t be able to kill enough to make their point before they are crushed by their chosen victims. They are cowards. Give them reason to fear.
My only quibble is that non gun owners have, in fact, been calling for this for quite some time. So, a little bit of the gun owner condescension aside, he's right that this would make an immediate impact. Of course, we have to do more.
There’s a saying that goes “when seconds count the police are only minutes away.” It’s meant to enforce the truism that we are all ultimately responsible for our own defense when the chips are down. But what it really reinforces is the importance of time. Time matters immensely when you’re defending yourself. You need time to do so. You need opportunity. Ban magazines over ten rounds. Give potential victims time and opportunity and in giving them that time we will deter murderers from attempting these mass shootings. They will fear that they won’t be able to kill enough to make their point before they are crushed by their chosen victims. They are cowards. Give them reason to fear.
My only quibble is that non gun owners have, in fact, been calling for this for quite some time. So, a little bit of the gun owner condescension aside, he's right that this would make an immediate impact. Of course, we have to do more.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Heed This Warning
A recent answer on Quora struck a similar tone to what I have been saying in terms of the Gun Cult giving a little now to save a lot of pain later.
Indeed.
I think the pro gun camp is making a mistake. They are letting the anti gun camp look like the reasonable side and they are letting the anti gun camp control the message. The pro gun camp is looking more and more like a bunch of gun crazy conspiracy theory nuts.
I think the pro gun camp needs to take a step back and stop being so defensive. They need to calm down and start sounding reasonable and controlling the message. Most gun owners want there to be common sense regulations for guns. The second amendment and the Heller decision allows for those regulations so the pro gun camp should be the ones proposing the reforms that will help decrease these big mass shootings.
If they don't, I suspect that the pro gun camp is going to create exactly what they fear the most by being defensive and obstinate. They are going to let the anti gun camp win.
Indeed.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
The State of Gun Violence in the United States
The video below is a fairly unbiased look at gun violence in the US. They do a great job of explaining the proportions of mass shootings to suicides etc while illustrating just how grave the problem is and how it's gotten worse.
Monday, June 13, 2016
Orlando: Homophobia, and not Islamic Terror?
Republicans like Trump are framing the Orlando massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub as an act of radical Islamic terrorist. The fact is, these murders had nothing to do with Islam: it was an act of hatred aimed at a social minority, motivated by conservative and religious intolerance of people who are different.
This attack is like the church shooting in Charleston last year, the abortion clinic shooting in Colorado Springs last November, the bombing of the Otherside Lounge (a gay bar in Atlanta in 1997), plus numerous other attacks on gay bars over the last 50 years.
The Orlando shooter was a nut who hated gays, just like the Charleston shooter was a nut who hated African Americans, and the Colorado Springs shooter was a nut who hated people involved with abortion.
It looks like Mateen was a lone wolf who had nothing to do with ISIS/ISIL/Daesh. Yes, he called 911 to proclaim his allegiance to them. But why?
Mateen's choice of targets tells the real story. He was an American, born and bred, and he knew that if this was written off by the media as an attack on gays by a homophobic nutjob, it would be immediately forgotten and he would lapse into obscurity like the dozens of conservative Christian nutjobs who have committed the same crime.
But when he pledges allegiance to ISIS he suddenly becomes an infamous Muslim terrorist and can sow terror and fear into the hearts of every American, not just the small percentage of Americans in the LGBT community.
By attacking a gay nightclub, Mateen made it clear he was motivated more by the recent flurry of bathroom bills in Florida, rather than a radical Islamic agenda.
This attack is like the church shooting in Charleston last year, the abortion clinic shooting in Colorado Springs last November, the bombing of the Otherside Lounge (a gay bar in Atlanta in 1997), plus numerous other attacks on gay bars over the last 50 years.
The Orlando shooter was a nut who hated gays, just like the Charleston shooter was a nut who hated African Americans, and the Colorado Springs shooter was a nut who hated people involved with abortion.
It looks like Mateen was a lone wolf who had nothing to do with ISIS/ISIL/Daesh. Yes, he called 911 to proclaim his allegiance to them. But why?
Mateen's choice of targets tells the real story. He was an American, born and bred, and he knew that if this was written off by the media as an attack on gays by a homophobic nutjob, it would be immediately forgotten and he would lapse into obscurity like the dozens of conservative Christian nutjobs who have committed the same crime.
But when he pledges allegiance to ISIS he suddenly becomes an infamous Muslim terrorist and can sow terror and fear into the hearts of every American, not just the small percentage of Americans in the LGBT community.
By attacking a gay nightclub, Mateen made it clear he was motivated more by the recent flurry of bathroom bills in Florida, rather than a radical Islamic agenda.
Orlando Falllout
Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS, official says
"In the beginning he was a normal being that cared about family, loved to joke, loved to have fun, but then a few months after we were married I saw his instability. I saw that he was bipolar and he would get mad out of nowhere. That's when I started worrying about my safety," she said.
When you support our nation's current gun laws, you allow someone like this to acquire a firearm. Thus, you are just as responsible as he is. Thankfully, there are members of Congress who agree.
“This phenomenon of near constant mass shootings happens only in America – nowhere else,” Murphy said Sunday. “Congress has become complicit in these murders by its total, unconscionable deafening silence. This doesn’t have to happen, but this epidemic will continue without end if Congress continues to sit on its hands and do nothing – again.”
It's bizarre, really, because we're talking about a threat to our national security and yet they do nothing. As a side note, it's interesting how the ISIL angle is being played up but not the mental illness nor homophobia. At this point, it seems like the ISIL connection was after the fact and merely thrown in as an excuse by Mateen in the hopes of denying his individual problems.
As mass shootings plague US, survivors mourn lack of change
"The deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history has people around the world wondering why mass violence keeps happening in America."
Uh...because a third of our country (gun owners) has a totalitarian stranglehold on the rest of us, peddling ideological nonsense based purely on their need for empowerment?
"In the beginning he was a normal being that cared about family, loved to joke, loved to have fun, but then a few months after we were married I saw his instability. I saw that he was bipolar and he would get mad out of nowhere. That's when I started worrying about my safety," she said.
When you support our nation's current gun laws, you allow someone like this to acquire a firearm. Thus, you are just as responsible as he is. Thankfully, there are members of Congress who agree.
“This phenomenon of near constant mass shootings happens only in America – nowhere else,” Murphy said Sunday. “Congress has become complicit in these murders by its total, unconscionable deafening silence. This doesn’t have to happen, but this epidemic will continue without end if Congress continues to sit on its hands and do nothing – again.”
It's bizarre, really, because we're talking about a threat to our national security and yet they do nothing. As a side note, it's interesting how the ISIL angle is being played up but not the mental illness nor homophobia. At this point, it seems like the ISIL connection was after the fact and merely thrown in as an excuse by Mateen in the hopes of denying his individual problems.
As mass shootings plague US, survivors mourn lack of change
"The deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history has people around the world wondering why mass violence keeps happening in America."
Uh...because a third of our country (gun owners) has a totalitarian stranglehold on the rest of us, peddling ideological nonsense based purely on their need for empowerment?
Sunday, June 12, 2016
The 28th Amendment
I was planning on putting up a post this week on how a 28th amendment should be added to the US Constitution that rewords the 2nd Amendment. Today seems a good day to do so given what has happened in Orlando. Thanks in advance to John Paul Stevens, former SCOTUS judge, for the inspiration.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, while serving in a militia, shall not be infringed.
Unless you regularly train for active shooter situations, other forms of combat, and get regular mental health and background checks, no guns for you. This would drastically reduce gun violence in our nation and would clearly have prevented this event.
I’m past the whole “shocked, outraged and saddened” tripe. Events like the Orlando shooting happen on a regular basis in the United States and it’s entirely the fault of the gun lobby and its supporters. Worse, international terrorist organizations are now exploiting this.
As a citizen of the United States, we are at continued security risks as long as we have a completely warped view of firearms. The shooter in this case was on an FBI watch list but because gun rights activists have used their power to maintain lax gun laws, this guy was able to procure guns.
The Gun Cult is, once again, criminally responsible for this. We need to stop them before they allow more people to be killed.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, while serving in a militia, shall not be infringed.
Unless you regularly train for active shooter situations, other forms of combat, and get regular mental health and background checks, no guns for you. This would drastically reduce gun violence in our nation and would clearly have prevented this event.
I’m past the whole “shocked, outraged and saddened” tripe. Events like the Orlando shooting happen on a regular basis in the United States and it’s entirely the fault of the gun lobby and its supporters. Worse, international terrorist organizations are now exploiting this.
As a citizen of the United States, we are at continued security risks as long as we have a completely warped view of firearms. The shooter in this case was on an FBI watch list but because gun rights activists have used their power to maintain lax gun laws, this guy was able to procure guns.
The Gun Cult is, once again, criminally responsible for this. We need to stop them before they allow more people to be killed.
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Friday, June 10, 2016
Wednesday, June 08, 2016
Mocking The Disabled
When I watch the video below of Donald Trump mocking a disabled reporter, it reminds me a lot of the bullying that goes on in the comments sections of blogs. Childish...insensitive...someone who was obviously bullied themselves... and much more.
The people that run these blogs and the commenters that follow them finally have a candidate that represents their values.
I'm going to truly enjoy watching them get their ass kicked in November.
The people that run these blogs and the commenters that follow them finally have a candidate that represents their values.
I'm going to truly enjoy watching them get their ass kicked in November.
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