Turkey is opposing the added members to NATO because of the Russian tourism.

June 3, 2022

By Peter Kenyon

Last year, (click here) most foreign tourists in Turkey came from Russia, Germany and Ukraine. Two of the countries are at war. Visitor numbers are down — meaning tough times ahead for Turkey's tourism industry....

Finland and Sweden as well as the USA and quite possibly the EU should visit President Erdogan to help him understand the importance of Sweden and Finland to NATO. Turkey cannot rely on Russia for tourists anymore. It also cannot have a faux sense of economic stability in relying on Russia. It needs a better economy than it has now.

I am quite sure Ukrainians would love to be on vacation in Turkey rather than facing genocide at the hand of Vladimir Putin. there is too much on the line for Turkey to prevent other European countries from becoming members of NATO. I don't believe any country is secure from Russian wrath. The stronger the alliance the greater the security of the world, quite frankly.

Turkey may be receiving Russia grain stolen from Ukraine and that should be prohibited by NATO. Turkey, itself has issues with Russia as it becomes more unsettled over Syria. Turkey needs a few meetings to help it set goals without causing chaos with international stability.

June 3, 2022

The Turkish government (click here) is asking that the country be called by its Turkish name, a change which the United Nations has now adopted.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Going overseas to Turkey now, a country that has long sought to enhance its reputation as an international destination. The latest rebranding move - a new name. The U.N. has agreed to register Turkiye as the country's official name. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports that locals aren't sure what difference it makes.

PETER KENYON, BYLINE: The promotional campaign for the name change has been underway for some time, with videos like this one from Turkish Airlines featuring people saying the new name over and over.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Hello, Turkiye.

(CHEERING)

KENYON: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government hopes the rebranding will give a boost to the economy as visitors start to return in large numbers after two pandemic-depressed tourist seasons. Some also wish to dissociate the country's name from the bird that traditionally appears on American dining tables at Thanksgiving and from the slang definition of a turkey as something that doesn't work or is foolish. It's not that much of a change for locals. The new name for Turkey is simply the way it's always been spelled and pronounced in Turkish. One observer noted it would be similar to calling Germany Deutschland. Turkish foreign policy analyst Yoruk Isik says this looks to him like a move to distract people from the long list of problems facing the country....

President Biden (click here) may want to begin the "We the People" webpage again to allow people to make suggestions that could be very helpful to them. Without a measure like this there is still another link removed to the people in communication with their President.

The "Contact" page (click here) is available, but, the petition page provided a place where changes in policy received support rather than just suggetion.

There was a suggestion by a gun organization for a White House Office on Gun Violence to remain open and involved on a daily basis to report, maintain statistics and organize policy that is effective as viewed in the States for federal application. It seemed like a reasonable conclusion to provide a regular measure of the violence in the country and where exactly it is worse or eliminated. 

Gun violence is a public health issue. It has to be reported to the American people no differently than the virus in the country. Public health threats are important to the people.

There is something that bothered me in regard to any language barrier when it comes to public health. Is the information on how to understand the influence of donors on candidates in regard to public health available for voters of all language? I think reporting corruption is important and some Americans may not understand the issue or how to report it, especially if it an ethical problem, too.

Keeping legislators responsible for their vote and how it effects the lives of Americans should be part of any public health issue.

The Congressional Budget Office provides evaluation for the cost and Inspector Generals monitor the government to keep people honest, but, there is no Inspector General (click here), currently found in the Department of Homeland Security, reporting on the influence on policy of political donors (ie: K Street). It is time for a change in the name of American lives.

Congress (click here) enacted the Inspector General Act of 1978 to ensure integrity and efficiency in government. Both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Act and this Office of Inspector General (OIG) were established by Congress in 2002. The OIG is led by an Inspector General who is appointed by the President and subject to Senate confirmation...

Accurate and detailed information is needed. The American people need standards to form policy and this type of confusion only adds to the exploitation by the NRA.

This particular article sees 18 and 19 year olds differently than children. Well, I find the entire aspect of gun violence that causes deaths of young adults just as horrifying as that of younger brother and sisters.

This is a horrible public health issue and needs daily vigilance through an office that reports to the President. Given the brain drain, it can be considered a national security issue.

June 3, 2022
By Joe Murphy

Medical journals and news reports (click here) have stated that guns now kill more of America’s youth than do motor vehicles. President Joe Biden repeated that claim during his speech Thursday night. But a closer look at the data shows that while gun deaths are close in number to vehicular deaths, much depends on how the numbers are sliced.

While gun and motor vehicle deaths increased substantially in 2020, the latest year for which final numbers were available, claims that more children and teenagers die due to guns than motor vehicles only hold up when 18- to 19-year-olds are included, a group that accounts for nearly as many gun deaths as 1- to 17-year-olds combined do, according to an NBC News analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The gap between vehicular deaths and firearm deaths is narrowing among 1- to 17-year-olds, and may close entirely, according to the CDC’s provisional and incomplete 2021 data.....

There is no place for assault weapons in American society.

These are weapons of war. There is no place for them anywhere in the USA society. There are plenty of guns for sport, this is not one of them. When guns are being turned on innocent children, it is time they be put where they belong, in history.

Tourniquets. Right. That will be an amazing lesson. What are we doing our children?

"Look, kids. This is just a method of surviving the assault weapon attack we know will occur in your American school classroom. Just as a side note, it will save your life so you don't bleed out, but, it probably won't save your arm or leg."

All of these issues should have been explored before the assault weapon ban was allowed to sunset. Nothing was done and what resulted is predictable. The change that has to occur won't happen with politicians owned by the gun lobby. It just won't.

 

There is nothing to fear except the guns themselves. There is proof.

When are Americans going to put life before hate, anger and violence? Stop putting corrupt politicians back in office.

3 June 2022
By Rachael Bunyan

A 68-year-old man has been shot and killed (click here) at the home of a former judge in rural Wisconsin by a militia member with a hit list, according to local news. 

The man was killed in New Lisbon, 70 miles northwest of the state capital, Madison, said local media.

Police were called to the property at 6:30am after a person fled the home, and reported hearing two gunshots.

Negotiators then attempted to talk to a person inside, but entered the property at 10:17am and found one man people dead - the 68-year-old.

A 56-year-old was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and was treated at the house before being taken to hospital, where he remains in a critical condition. 

'There were two individuals found inside the property, one was deceased, and one had a self-inflicted gunshot wound,' said Attorney General Josh Kaul.

He said there was a list of targets, and those on the list had been warned.

The dead man was on the list, and local journalist John Mercure reported that Governor Tony Evers was also on the list. 

Kaul said a caller said there was 'an armed person, and two shots fired'....

No more quality control hearings, NOTHING works. End the sale of Assault Weapons NOW.

NOTHING WORKS! 

BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS NOW!

NOTHING ELSE WORKS!

That is the only question Americans have to answer this year at the election booth, "What works to end mass murder in the USA?" There is only one answer, Assault Weapons Ban works and NOTHING else does.

Untried suggestions that have no proven record to end the violence is not an answer at all.

End the violence. 

End the violence. 

End the violence with PROVEN METHODS WE KNOW WORKS. No more unproven methods that are nothing but guess work.

June 3, 2022

Tony Plohetski, NIki Griswold and Austin American-Statesman

Pete Arredondo, (click here) chief of the Uvalde school district police department who oversaw the law enforcement response to a shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers, arrived at the scene without his radio and other equipment, two law enforcement sources told the Austin American-Statesman of the USA TODAY Network.

The two officials were briefed on the matter but not authorized to speak publicly. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, told KABB-TV he was informed Friday by law enforcement officials that Arredondo "did not have his radio or comms on him during the incident."

The revelation also comes after Gutierrez said Thursday that the 911 calls from terrified children inside Robb Elementary School were not relayed to the chief, raising questions about when and what information Arredondo knew during the attack....

This method of Trump's has been in play for a long time.

It was all premeditated. 

"It is unfair." Aw, so very unfair. Poor man. 

They scream unfairness while breaking the law. Denial works. Frequently. The question is has the American people had enough of the denial?

Michael Cohen predicted all of it in his testimony to Congress.

June 3, 2022

By Alan Feuer and Luke Broadwater

Peter Navarro, (click here) a White House adviser to former President Donald J. Trump who defied a subpoena to provide information to the House committee investigating the Capitol attack, was indicted on Friday by a federal grand jury on charges of contempt of Congress.

The indictment, handed up in Federal District Court in Washington, marked the first time that an official who served in Mr. Trump’s White House during the events of Jan. 6, 2021, has been charged in connection with the investigation into the attack.

Prosecutors charged Mr. Navarro, 72, with what amounted to a misdemeanor process crime for having failed to appear for a deposition or provide documents to congressional investigators in response to a subpoena issued by the House committee on Feb. 9. The indictment charges him with two counts of criminal contempt that each carry a maximum sentence of a year in prison, as well as a fine of up to $100,000.

Mr. Navarro, who was arrested and taken into federal custody, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He appeared in court on Friday afternoon, speaking on his own behalf and telling a federal magistrate judge that the congressional subpoena he was served with was “illegal” and “unenforceable.”

A shooting incident commander...every number they knew...and an underfunded mental heatlh program.

Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez is left off the committee investing the shooting (click here). It is all about politics and Republican fear for being exposed as incompetent while practicing chronism. Basically they are worried about Quid Pro Quo when found covering up for the NRA and it's inappropriate influence on legislative decisions.

Where there are Republican majorities in any legislature there is corruption. It is provable.

The Robert's Court is a political entity and as corrupt as it gets. They are unable to make rational decisions about the law and it's impact on Americans. They are living in Cloud City and liking it there.

When law doesn't work for Americans people begin to believe in dictatorships such as Trump and hope something finally helps them. Revolution is not far away if this trend continues. We are already witnessing a huge belief in that government and "the system" is not working for Americans and people are taking the law into their own hands and killing each other or people that are an object of their frustrations. 

June 3, 2022

Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (click here) raised questions in a news conference on Thursday about whether information on 911 calls from inside Robb Elementary School was relayed properly to responders at the scene of the shooting.

Gutierrez said he spoke with the agency that regulates the 911 calls, the Commission on State Emergency Communications, and was told the 911 calls were handled by and relayed to the city's police force on the scene. However, what is unclear, is if that information was relayed to the school district police chief who was the incident commander on the scene.

"They were being communicated to a Uvalde police officer and the state agency that I have spoken to has not told me who that is," Gutierrez said....

...One warrant, signed Wednesday by Uvalde County District Court Judge Camille DuBose, allows law enforcement to perform a forensic download of Ramos' iPhone 13 Pro Max, which was found next to his body after he was fatally shot by police.

During the bloodbath, (click here) a negotiator tried to call the shooter, but he didn't respond, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin told reporters Wednesday.

"They tried every number they could find that he was associated with," McLaughlin said.

Now, this city engulfed in grief is also tormented by shifting police narratives, unanswered questions and the horror of knowing 21 victims were trapped with a gunman for more than an hour -- despite repeated 911 calls for help from inside the classrooms....

The mental health program in Texas was cut and it was never deployed to assist the safety within minority communities who are most at risk for hate crimes.

Abbotts impeccible logic is "If someone is going to kill someone there is a mental health issue." If that is the case then why are murderers in prison and not a mental health facility. The facts are obvious, none of this works and all of it is nothing but a distraction for Republicans to deliver to the public.

May 30, 2022

By Mary Claire Patton

“We as a state - we as a society - (click here) need to do a better job with mental health. Anybody who shoots somebody else has a mental health challenge. Period. We as a government need to find a way to target that mental health challenge and do something about it.”

Those are the words of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott just days after an 18-year-old high school student massacred 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

Abbott has doubled down on his stance that mass shootings are an issue of mental health and not gun access following the Uvalde massacre.

However, in April, Abbott slashed nearly $211 million from the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), which oversees mental health services in Texas....

It is time the truth needs to be told. The Republicans are endangering life in the USA to facilitate profits for their cronies. It needs to appear in offical reports as often as it applies and in bold print. It may be that the DOJ will need to prosecute those that cause these conditions to exist. We have proof that when assault weapons are banned for the USA the killing is reduced in large protions.

Enough is enough.

There is not one gun law that will pass congress that will survive the Supreme Court.

Anyone get the feeling that the law doesn't work for them anymore, except the gun lobby?

June 2, 2022

By Andrew Chung

As President Joe Biden and Congress (click here) ponder how to respond to the latest U.S. mass shootings, the Supreme Court is due to decide a major case that could undermine new efforts to enact gun control measures while making existing ones vulnerable to legal attack.

The justices are expected to rule by the end of this month in a challenge by two firearms owners and the New York affiliate of the National Rifle Association, an influential gun rights group closely aligned with Republicans, to that state's restrictions on carrying concealed handguns in public....

Americans now settle scores with guns. Do Red Gun Laws include disarming men of their guns if they have ongoing surgical pain? It sounds like the man needed a lawyer that can sue for malpractice. Oh, wait. That is virtually meaningless, too.

June 2, 2022

by Celina Tebor, N'dea Yancey-Braff and Ryan W. Miller

Police released new details (click here) Thursday about what led a gunman to kill four people in a shooting at a medical center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the latest in a wave of deadly gun violence occurring across the United States.

Tulsa Police Department Chief Wendell Franklin identified the four people killed as Dr. Preston Phillips; Dr. Stephanie Husen; a receptionist, Amanda Glenn; and William Love, who was with a patient. Franklin said the gunman, identified as Michael Louis, recently had surgery and targeted Phillips, who performed the surgery.

"We also have a letter on the suspect, which made it clear that he came in with the intent to kill Dr. Phillips and anyone who got in his way," Franklin said. "He blamed Dr. Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery."...

Military assault weapons have no place in the USA democracy. They cause problems with law enforcement.

May 31, 2022

Governor Kathy Hochul, (click here) Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie today announced that ten bills have been introduced in both the Assembly and Senate that would tighten New York's gun laws, close loopholes and directly address the gaps in our laws exposed by the horrific shootings in Buffalo, Texas, and around the country. The bills would: require information sharing between state, local and federal agencies when guns are used in crimes; make threatening mass harm a crime; require microstamping for new guns; increase accountability for social media platforms; eliminate grandfathering of large capacity ammunition feeding devices; prohibit the purchase of body armor for anyone who is not engaged in an eligible profession; strengthen the Red Flag law by expanding the list of people who can file for Extreme Risk Protection Orders, and other measures; require that an individual obtain a license, with a minimum age of 21, to purchase a semiautomatic rifle; and close the "any other weapon" loophole....

...New Yorkers deserve to feel safe in schools, in grocery stores, in movie theaters, in shopping malls, and on our streets -- and we must do everything in our power to protect them....

Nice sentiment, however, New York it going to have the same problem it has today, without effective federal gun laws, I-95 will be traffiking the assault weapons anyway.

Sure, sure it is illegal. So what. Show me a State Trooper that will be safe at any time while they are willing to enforce the laws of New York State?

The article below is outdated.

Law Enforcement Trainer Volume: 12 Issue: 6 Dated: (November/December 1997) Pages: 34-36

By A J Westrick'

This article examines (click here) the types of weapons that have most often been used to kill police officers and draws implications for the kind of body armor officers should wear.

Officers are killed overwhelmingly by low- and medium-power firearms. Soft body armor provides an effective defense against those weapons. The use of concealable body armor threat IIIA will not defeat center-fire rifle threats, however. Many tactical teams are using level IIA/II tactical vests with optional plates in an effort to protect officers while supplying them with lightweight armor in which they can maneuver. There is a growing need for lightweight (hard) armor that can defeat 7.26x39, .223, and .308 bullets. Although blunt trauma is apparently a non-issue with low- and medium-velocity firearm projectiles on soft body armor, there is evidence that the hydrostatic shock involved with high-velocity (center-fire) projectiles is a survival issue, even if soft body armor could stop high-velocity projectiles. Body armor technologies are progressing at a fast pace toward thinner, lighter, and more comfortable protection. The manufacture of a small, thin, insertable (hard) plate for concealed and tactical body armor will provide a higher level of protection and assist in quelling officer fear of assault weapons....

The system is corrupt! It doesn't work for the people anymore.

On American Legislative Exchange Council (click here) task forces, corporate lobbyists and special interests vote as equals with elected representatives on templates to change our laws, behind closed doors with no press or public allowed to see the votes or deliberations. Members of ALEC’s Public Safety and Elections Task Force were in charge of writing, adopting, or voting on all bills involving guns. Corporate members of the task force have included the National Rifle Association (NRA), Wal-Mart, Reed Elsevier, the American Bail Coalition, Koch Industries, the Heartland Institute, and Corrections Corporation of America....

Racism is not a mental health issue.

Otherwise there would not be a slew of racists in the prisons across the USA. There is a trend as of late that the mass murders were based in racism. There are already hate crime laws, but, that doesn't stop them either. The murderer in Texas was only 18 years old. The real problem is the exposure of young men to hate as an adolescent. They are recruited by racists and when they are old enough they kill. That is exactly what occurred in Texas.

The local police authorities didn't respond to the murderer who was slaying children because they were not equipped to do so. They waited for the Border Patrol to respond. This is not the first time police on duty refused to respond and place themselves in the line of fire to divert attention from the children. The local police like the job enough, but, are not willing to enter into combat for anyone.

The police are out gunned and it is directly a result of assault weapons that should be banned. If the assault weapon ban is not reinstated these deaths will continue and get worse. 

Worse?

Yes, worse.

The recruit of the White Supremacists/Ntionalists successfully killed 19 children and 2 adults. In Buffalo the racist successfully killed. The White Supremacists/Nationalists are being successful.

The Buffalo shooting (click here) has roots in “accelerationism,” a neo-Nazi idea linked to a wave of recent hate killings.

The enemy is well armed and seeking to end the lives of those that are different than him. We know that mimics happen all the time when violence manifests. The White Supremacists/Nationalists are perfectly happy with what is occurring. They aren't going to stop. They are successfully recruiting teens and as soon as they can purchase weapons of war, they kill the people that define their hate. Where do they get the money?

That killer in Wisconsin received his gun illegally, but, that was erased as an issue by the judge. Rittenhouse was handed an AR-15 and he killed with it.These killers are all young, Caucasian men. Tney are provided weapons of war to help define their masculinity of hate and violence. I don't care if Rittenhouse shot and killed Caucasian men, he was there because of minority protests. There were Caucasian men there to prevent minorities from being slain. The reason Rittenhouse was there was due to minority demonstrations.

January 10, 2022

The man who bought an AR-15-style rifle (click here) for Kyle Rittenhouse pleaded no contest Monday to a reduced charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in a deal with prosecutors to avoid prison.

Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder accepted Dominick Black’s plea during a six-minute hearing. Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger dropped two felony counts of intent to deliver a dangerous weapon to a minor as part of the deal....

The gun culture in the USA FEEDS the racism that kills. And. Ah. Who exactly do they identify with for political purposes to maintain their ability to obtain weapons of war and the killing paradigm? Republicans would lose their elections without this corrupt electorate.

And what industry can't be sued to shut down the production of weapons of war? And why?  Why can't they be sued? Who protests the industry that kills Americans?

15 May 2022
By Adam Manno

The gunman (click here) who killed 10 people in a racist attack at an upstate New York grocery store appears to have had the name of a white woman who was run over at a Christmas parade in Wisconsin last year scrawled on his gun.

Photos of the rifle used by Payton Gendron, 18, in the live-streamed massacre show the misspelled name of Virginia Sorenson.

Sorenson, 79, was at the Waukesha Christmas parade to perform as part of the 'Dancing Grannies' troupe when a man in an SUV plowed into the crowd, killing her and five others....

The killers STUDY their victims.

They like the deaths that are accomplished.

They don't care about laws or prosecution because they die. 

The only way to end this carnage in the USA is to end the availability of assault weapons. No sales or resales. NONE. That isn't going to happen because the Republicans would lose their votes.

The gun manufacturers are making very big profits because they have monopolies of the markets.

May 26, 2022

...In addition, (click here) only a small number of gun-makers dominate the market. The top five pistol manufacturers alone controlled over 70% of all production in 2020: Smith & Wesson; Sig Sauer; Sturm, Ruger & Co.; Glock and Kimber Manufacturing. Similarly, the biggest rifle manufacturers – Sturm, Smith & Wesson, Springfield, Henry Rac Holding and Diamondback Firearms – controlled 61% of that market....

May 29, 2022

Mass shooters (click here) have exploited gun laws and loopholes before their carnage. A look at how suspects in recent mass shootings obtained guns, based on police accounts, court documents and contemporaneous reporting:

Salvador Ramos legally purchased two guns in the days before the attack that killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School — an AR-style rifle from a federally licensed gun dealer in the Uvalde area on May 17 and a second rifle on May 20. Ramos made the purchases just days after turning 18, the minimum age under federal law for buying a rifle. He also purchased several hundred rounds of ammunition. At least one of the rifles was a DDM4, made by Daniel Defense and modeled after the U.S. military's M4 carbine rifle, though without the M4's ability to switch to fully automatic or fire a three-round burst....

I told you so.

This is the contorted thinking of Trump/Barr and it is malpractice. Durham should never have filled the legal proceedings in the first place. I hope all those parties vindicated today sues all those that maliciously prosecuted.The malicious practice of law matters and there needs to be accountability for this farce.

Reputations have been damaged.

May 31, 2022
By Charlie Savage

Michael Sussmann, (click here) a prominent cybersecurity lawyer with ties to Democrats, was acquitted on Tuesday of a felony charge that he lied to the F.B.I. about having no client in 2016 when he shared a tip about possible connections between Donald J. Trump and Russia.

The verdict was a blow to the special counsel, John H. Durham, who was appointed by the Trump administration three years ago to scour the Trump-Russia investigation for any wrongdoing.

The case centered on odd internet data that cybersecurity researchers discovered in 2016 after it became public that Russia had hacked Democrats and Mr. Trump had encouraged the country to target Hillary Clinton’s emails.

The researchers said the data might reflect a covert communications channel using servers for the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, a Kremlin-linked bank. The F.B.I. briefly looked at the suspicions and dismissed them....

It is Memorial Day Weekend…

 …to commemorate the fallen soldiers that defended this country.

We are fighting a new domestic war. The war against racism. The current bloodshed in the USA is based in hate and facilitated by gun laws that allow it.

It is time to say what it is, hate and those that allow the liberal gun laws are wrong and contribute to the hate. They may very well encourage it.

Young white men are recruited from an early age to hate and kill. The latest attack on minority children was a direct result of the hate found online to kill at will and first opportunity. The murderer simply couldn’t wait to carry out his fate.

Where does an 18 year old get the money to purchase these weapons? Why not drop out of learning to empower the future when the short term goal doesn’t require it?

Those that facilitate these gun laws as well as the hate have no place in any seat of power.

There is financial liability and quite possibly prosecution for negligent homicide by the police but the focus belongs on the weapon and the ease of which it was obtained without any education, permit or plausible reason to own it.

Maybe suing legislators that pass laws that kill along with the manufacturer may stop irresponsible laws intended for profit at any cost. Sue the legislative body as well as the individuals.

Quiz pro quo. Donations resulting in profits have to be viewed as a danger to the people and the Constitution (state and federal).

Good night.

So, what do you think?

It seems to me guns are more important to the Republicans' than children, yes?

WHY?

It would seem some people that are decision makers do have their limit to violence and the death of children.

May 26, 2022

By Andrew Mark Miller

The company (click here) that manufactured the rifle used in a school shooting in Texas on Tuesday has canceled its plan to appear at an upcoming National Rifle Association meeting.

"Daniel Defense is not attending the National Rifle Association (‘NRA’) meeting due to the horrifying tragedy in Uvalde, Texas where one of our products was criminally misused," Steve Reed, Vice President of Marketing for Daniel Defense, told Fox News Digital in a statement Thursday. "We believe this week is not the appropriate time to be promoting our products in Texas at the NRA meeting."

It was revealed this week during a press conference from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that 18-year-old Salvador Ramos used a Daniel Defense DDM4 V7 rifle that retails for just under $2,000 when he opened fire at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday and killed 19 schoolchildren and 2 faculty members....

Oh, yeah, let's arm teachers. The problem is that is a heck of a gun for show and tell. Where do you put it when there is playground duty?

185 dead. What is the big deal? It isn't like genocide or something.

Americans are not seeing the war zone, the flag draped coffins or the bullet riddled bodies. It isn't real. It is someone else's problem. Oh, ya know, it is Texas again. I look at it this way; when parents in the USA lose a child to violence they become activists. Sooner or later there will be enough to turn the tide. 

May 25, 2022
By Alyssa Rosenberg

It is just another school shooting in the USA. (click here) 

Click here for the speeches to calm the crowds and ensure the gun manufacturers are protected and profits are still rolling in.(click here)

On the surface, contemporary America (click here) seems very distant from the world of Greek tragedy or the Toltec capital of Tula in 950 A.D. But our societies have something in common. We all practice child sacrifice.

The latest young victims of the ritual slaughter our culture permits are the 19 children shot to death inside their school in Uvalde, Tex., on Tuesday.

The massacre brings the total number of children killed in school shootings since the 1999 Columbine attack to 185. That figure doesn’t account for all the other settings in which children have been the victims of mass gun violence. And it doesn’t include the 311,000 children who were injured in school shootings, witnessed their classmates and teachers being shot, or sought shelter in barricaded classrooms, bathrooms and closets.

Given the lack of action after these spasms of butchery, there is only one possible conclusion: We are willing to tolerate the murder of children. We accept events that will gravely wound the bodies and psyches of many others....

It isn't as though it is Palestine or something. We still have law and order yet. 

Boys watch as the body of 18-month-old Palestinian boy Eliyan al-Bashiti is carried during his funeral procession in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunes 08 May 2003. The toddler died yesterday hours after being shot in the neck, as Israeli forces guarding a Jewish settlement opened fire on a refugee camp in Khan Yunes, where the houses are riddled with bullet holes and scars from shell fire. The boy's death brought to 3,211 the number of people killed since the Palestinian uprising against occupation erupted in September 2000, including 2,421 Palestinians and 730 Israelis, according to an AFP count.

The Grand Ole Party ain't so grand. They are a lot of do nothing to protect cronies.

They are very invested in doing nothing. The plans they have made are more important than the country.

May 26, 2022
By Catie Edmondson

Senate Republicans (click here) on Thursday blocked action on a bill aimed at strengthening the federal government’s efforts to combat domestic terrorism, rejecting a measure put forward by Democrats in the wake of a racist massacre in which a gunman motivated by white supremacist ideology killed 10 Black people in a Buffalo supermarket.

Democratic leaders had framed the procedural vote as the best vehicle for quick action on gun violence prevention measures in the wake of the elementary school shooting this week in Uvalde, Texas, where an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers.

If Republicans allowed it to move forward, said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, he would open the bill up to proposed changes from both parties to address gun violence.

“It’s a chance to have a larger debate and consider amendments for gun safety legislation in general, not just for those motivated by racism — as vital as it is to do that,” Mr. Schumer said, imploring Republicans to allow the debate to open. “I know that many members on the other side hold views that are different than the views on this side of the aisle. So let us move on this bill. Let us proceed.”

But Republicans voted against even considering the measure, arguing that the bill was unnecessary and defined extremism in a way that could be too broadly construed by law enforcement. The vote was 47-47, leaving Democrats short of the 60 needed to move forward on the bill....

Nothing is going to happen on gun control either. It is Sandy Hook all over again and nothing ever changes. The GOP is corrupted to the core and it shows with these efforts and the abortion legislation. Nothing ever is resolved to help the people. The Democrats always have to have controlling majorities otherwise nothing gets done.

May 26, 2022
By Carl Hulse

The calculation behind Republicans’ steadfast opposition to any new gun regulations — even in the face of the kind of unthinkable massacre that occurred Tuesday at an elementary school in Texas — is a fairly simple one for Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota.

Asked Wednesday what the reaction would be from voters back home if he were to support any significant form of gun control, the first-term Republican had a straightforward answer: “Most would probably throw me out of office,” he said.

His response helps explain why Republicans have resisted proposals such as the one for universal background checks for gun buyers, despite remarkably broad support from the public for such plans — support that can reach up to 90 percent nationwide in some cases.

The reality is that that 90 percent figure probably includes some Republicans who are open to new laws, but would not clamor for them or punish a lawmaker for failing to back them, and the 10 percent opposed reflect the sentiments of the G.O.P. base, which decides primary contests and is zealous in its devotion to gun rights....

Two years ago…

…George Floyd was murdered. It is a death not easily forgotten.

Gun deaths vary from state to state.

...The rate of gun fatalities (click here) varies widely from state to state. In 2020, the states with the highest rates of gun-related deaths – counting murders, suicides and all other categories tracked by the CDC – included Mississippi (28.6 per 100,000 people), Louisiana (26.3), Wyoming (25.9), Missouri (23.9) and Alabama (23.6). The states with the lowest rates included New York (5.3), Rhode Island (5.1), New Jersey (5.0), Massachusetts (3.7) and Hawaii (3.4)....

I find that impoverishment can have an impact on violence. The reasons are many, but, a focus on what is occurring in states that basically have high poverty rates and high gun deaths need to be known. Three of the top gun death states include Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. They also have very high poverty rates. Mississippi has the highest poverty rate in the country with 19.78 percent. 

Poverty (click here)
is defined as not having enough income to meet basic needs. This goes beyond just not having enough money for a new vehicle, smartphone, or to take a vacation. Instead, people who live in poverty struggle to keep a roof over their heads, put food on the table, or even purchase basic items like clothing, shoes, and hygiene items....

That does not mean the gun lobby has no fault in the level of mass shootings in the country, they do. What accompanies these shootings are very loose gun laws in the same states that are impoverished. The masculine culture in these states also propagate violence. The less a man can state he is the bread winner the more likely men are to emphasize strength as a characteristic of their masculinity. 

Gun culture is huge when it comes to the male identity in right wing politics. One might note that the states with the least gun deaths also are wealthier and enforce gun controls of one kind or another. I strongly believe how masculinity is defined state to state makes a difference in gun violence. The statistics prove it out. Gun control statutes work as do male cultures that are somewhat removed from the gun culture that prides itself on being strong and powerful. The gun culture in the USA is more than the number of guns sold, it is about how the owners of those guns THINK ABOUT THEIR REAL WORLD USE.  It ain't just hunting anymore.

I also want to point out that population density has a reverse pressure on stress. It would seem the more people in a state, the less gun violence. That might be because of the pressure on legislators to protect populated areas from weapons that penetrate walls. 

Population density in the U.S. by federal states including the District of Columbia in 2021 (click here)

I might point out that Wyoming has the lowest population density, but, is considered among the top five in gun deaths.

The masculine culture of poverty is very different than the masculine culture of the middle class or wealthy. I think that has a great deal to do with the permission men have to kill. 

Mass murders are committed by young men, not women.

There is a lot wrong within the gun culture and how American men identify with killing.

The Russian soldier understands his crime far too late.

A young man's life destroyed because his country's leadership is full of hatred and bitterness at the loss of communism as a legitimate governance. Communism does not work. Everywhere one looks to see communism as a governing strategy there is failed society and economy. Communism has proven to be among failed governance. It's failure is more and more apparent every day.

May 23, 2022
By Elena Becatoros, Oleksandr Stashevskyi and Ricardo Mazalan

Russian Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin listens to his translator during a court hearing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, May 23, 2022. The court sentenced the 21-year-old soldier to life in prison on Monday for killing a Ukrainian civilian, in the first war crimes trial held since Russia's invasion.

Kyiv - A Russian soldier who pleaded guilty (click here) to killing a civilian was sentenced by a Ukrainian court Monday to life in prison — the maximum — amid signs the Kremlin may hold trials of its own, particularly of the captured fighters who held out at Mariupol’s steel plant.

Meanwhile, in a rare public expression of opposition to the war from the ranks of the Russian elite, a veteran Kremlin diplomat resigned and sent a scathing letter to foreign colleagues in which he said of the invasion, “Never have I been so ashamed of my country as on Feb. 24 of this year.”

Also, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for “maximum” sanctions against Russia in a video address to world leaders and executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

And on the battlefield, heavy fighting raged in the Donbas in the east, where Moscow’s forces have stepped up their bombardments. Cities not under Russian control were constantly shelled, and one Ukrainian military official said Russian forces targeted civilians trying to flee....

A rude awakening at Davos this year. The faith of instilling capitalism to resolve the world's ills is not a realistic point of view. It was used by communists as a tool in hopes of destroying freedom and democratic governance. I hope this lesson becomes policy to all the businesses that attend. Caution needs to serve the corporate bottom line as much as zealous resolve to profits.

Those attending the World Economic Forum this year have witnessed a small miracle with the people of Ukraine standing up for their land and freedom. They should learn to appreciate it and realize what governments are truly a part of their profit structure.

Capitalism works when democracy ensures choice. Those at Davos also need to appreciate Earth's status as a homeland and work diligently to end the climate crisis. There is no other option.

May 23, 2022

Analysis by Ishaan Tharoor

DAVOS - Before the pandemic interrupted (click here) the ritzy gatherings of the world’s political and business elites in this Swiss mountain town, Russia occupied a central space — literally. Anyone strolling along the main Davos promenade would encounter a wooden building that, if you squinted, seemed sort of like a traditional dacha. “Russia House,” as it was called, was part of the Kremlin’s soft power play at the World Economic Forum and served as a venue for boozy cocktail parties and cheery panels on investment opportunities and tourism in Russia.

This week, as the Forum convenes after a more than two-year gap, Russian businesses and political authorities are explicitly not invited — a consequence both of the Western sanctions that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as the principled stand taken by the Forum. No Russian oligarchs will be jetting in on their private aircraft. No Russian delegations will rub shoulders with their governmental counterparts at the forum’s fresh juice and espresso bars....

Bloomberg (click here)

So what are Americans to make of the radicalization of the Republican Party?

Social platforms since the organization of Facebook present dangers to democracies. Movements have been built on social platforms that cause average citizens pause in deciding about a topic that leads to a political decision. People running for office are now judged in ways that may be more anti-social than political and that leads to a break down of leadership with strong beliefs in democracy.

We have witnessed the undermining of the American democracy with Former President Trump in leadership. The breakdown was profound, fought at every turn and gratefully so, but, it ended with a sincere attempt at a coupe of the presidency of January 6, 2021. To that end Trump could not carry out his hatred of this country without the use of social media.

Social hierarchies in democracies and authoritarianism: The balance between power asymmetries and principal-agent chains

Rationality & Society
March 13, 2020; Issue published: August 1, 2020
Volume: 32 issue: 3, page(s): 334-366
Author: Björn Toelstede,
Linköping University, Sweden
Department of Economics, Linköping University, House A Campus Valla, Linkoping 581 83, Sweden.

...During the last decade, (click here) the people of several countries fought for freedom and democracy (e.g. in the Arab world or in Hong Kong). Their countries had different starting points and they took different courses. We could observe not only regime break downs (e.g. Tunisia/Libya), revolutionary threat-driven reforms (e.g. Morocco/Saudi Arabia), popular pro-democratic movements (e.g. Tunisia/Hong Kong) but also civil warfare and authoritarian restoration (e.g. Libya/Syria). These incidences motivated me to think about the movement of countries between democracy and authoritarianism depending on their respective degree of social hierarchy.

Recent approaches on this subject focus either on the distinction between hierarchical/horizontal societies or on the pro-/anti-sociality of the same. They describe social hierarchies as ambivalent (Van Vugt et al., 2008), divide them into productive or dominance hierarchies (DHs; Rubin, 2000) or functional and dysfunctional hierarchies (Anderson and Brown, 2010). Henrich and Gil-White (2001) distinguish between two behaviors, dominance and prestige. Democracies rather reward prestige and punish dominance meanwhile authoritarian systems do the contrary. Dubreuil (2010) writes that “the [hierarchical] state can be simultaneously the most efficient and most dangerous tool under human control” (p. 230). Magee and Galinsky (2008: 21f.) define hierarchies as “differentiation across individuals or groups on any (commonly) valued dimension” which can differ between cultures (Bowles, 2009; Dubreuil, 2010: 176). For Lake (2009: 264), hierarchies are any form of social differentiation and stratification as well as differences in authority over others (here: power asymmetries). All these approaches distinguish either between pro- and anti-sociality or between hierarchical and non-hierarchical societies.

The combination of both, the degree of pro-sociality and the degree of social hierarchy, can be found in Aristotle (2009: 100f.). He distinguished between governments whose objective is the “common interest” (pro-social) and those who are “directed to the [selfish] interest” (anti-social). Furthermore, he defined three degrees of social hierarchy between non-hierarchical and strongly hierarchical. In short, he combined different degrees of power asymmetries with the pro- or anti-social use of power.

The question about social hierarchies is also present in contemporary political discussions. When talking about democratic transitions, the common standpoint often endorses the (immediate) establishment or extension of institutions and hierarchical escalation. For example, Tharoor (2014) and Friedman (2019) claim the missing hierarchy in Hong Kong’s pro-democratic protest movement as the main reason of its alleged failure. Another example for the endorsement of more power asymmetries is France’s reaction on the 2015/2016 terror attacks. Immediately after the attacks, the country responded by increasing the number of security forces (Toelstede, 2019a, 2019b). The widespread endorsement of hierarchy-reinforcing responses on public goods problems justify a model that allows to categorize countries according to their degree of social hierarchy....

The attempted coupe that would have lead to the end of democracy in the USA was based in social content far different than ever before attempted. It was penetrating and dangerous to the point where it forced every person that loves this country to become a cog in the wheel that would end Trump's reign. The desire for American power in the hands of one man is more than evident with CPAC and it's recent convention in Hungary. Viktor Orban is the least of the hatred spewed at that convention.

21 May 2022

By Flora Garamvolgyi and Julian Borger

A notorious Hungarian racist (click here) who has called Jews “stinking excrement”, referred to Roma as “animals” and used racial epithets to describe Black people, was a featured speaker at a major gathering of US Republicans in Budapest.

Zsolt Bayer took the stage at the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Hungary, a convention that also featured speeches from Donald Trump, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

The last featured speaker of the conference was Jack Posobiec, a far-right US blogger who has used antisemitic symbols and promoted the fabricated “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory smearing prominent Democrats as pedophiles....

CPAC spoke loudly and in one voice, it wants the end of democracy in the USA and wants to deceive the American people in the same way Viktor Orban deceives the people of Hungary. That is not even remotely American, it is out of an ideology that kills relentlessly and without apology.

The Republican leadership that heils to Trump is not based in the best outcomes for the USA nor is it a new spiritual reality lead by shaman and demons, this ideology is as old as the modern era and it is taking place where people measure their words and deny self-expression.

The ideology of Trump is simply bad. Period. No discussion. Those that see Trump as a new kind of leadership have invested heavily in the idea of having a man in the White House that bows to their desires and not that of a democratically lead country where every person has a voice in their votes through fair and open elections.

The dangers are real as demonstrated by Orban. Those that saw the end of Trump's reign need to be careful of those that are his minions with unproven ability to govern benevolently and uphold the Rule of Law with deep and unwavering loyalty to the USA Constitution. This is not simply flag waving, this is knowing the history of the demon and being willing to end it's power and influence.

The elections in the USA going forward will require special attention to detail to insure the best outcomes for the people as they are oppressed by those that would control ethnicity and destroy diversity.

The people of Hungary are not free. They ingest the propaganda for smiles and approval that will carry out still yet another election of the king of Hungary who embraces killing in any country. The GOP is following the methodology of Orban in his disintegration of democratic authority.

April 4, 2022

By Zack Beauchamp

On Sunday evening, (click here) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán won reelection for the fourth time — emerging with control of over two-thirds of the country’s parliamentary seats in defiance of close pre-election polls. This fourth consecutive victory means he will remain the third-longest-serving current leader in Europe at nearly 16 years in power, behind only Belarus’s Aleksandr Lukashenko (28 years as president) and Russia’s Vladimir Putin (23 years as president or prime minister).

That Orbán’s peers in longevity are outright dictators is appropriate, as Sunday’s election was anything but free and fair. For the past 12 years, Orbán has systematically worked to turn Hungarian democracy into a sham: one where elections seem fair, but take place on uneven playing ground. Through tactics ranging from extreme gerrymandering to media control to unfair campaign finance rules, he has made it unthinkably difficult for the opposition to defeat his Fidesz party at the ballot box....

Putin wants to end NATO. With Trump, he nearly did. This will continue until the Kings of Putin realize they will never succeed. The American people have a responsibility to carry out their own aggression in the face of fascism. What did our fathers and grandfathers die for? The rule of Putin's kings?

Who was Margaret Sanger? An Icon of change for women. A pacifist. A mother.

In the early 20th century, (click here) at a time when matters surrounding family planning or women’s healthcare were not spoken in public, Margaret Sanger founded the birth control movement and became an outspoken and life-long advocate for women’s reproductive rights. In her later life, Sanger spearheaded the effort that resulted in the modern birth control pill by 1960.

Born September 14, 1879, in Corning, New York, the sixth of eleven children born to Michael Hennessey Higgins, a stonemason, and Anna Purcell Higgins, a devoutly Roman Catholic Irishwoman. Sanger’s life course was shaped by the poverty of her childhood and the death of her mother at age 50, which Sanger understood resulted from the physical toll of eleven pregnancies. Sanger later became a nurse, attending Claverack College and Hudson River Institute in 1896 and completing the nursing program at White Plains Hospital in 1902. That year she married William Sanger, an architect, and moved to Hastings, New York, where the couple had three children....

The modern day word for her would be activist. She wanted to end the poverty women faced in the 19th Century with having many children. She became iconic in the USA and Europe. Her criticism reached into the vestiges of World War II. She was vocal about USA neutrality. She was welcome in circles of power. Was she successful in her pursuits of influencing that power? 

In favoring neutrality she could be viewed as a Nazi sympathizer. It was never an obvious character trait, but, there comes a time when a country has to take a stand or be willing to surrender before the war is even begun for them. If Margaret Sanger had her way, the USA would be run by Nazis and there would be no freedom. The question is not about contraception or elevating poor women out of poverty or even population growth; the question is did Margaret Sanger and her influence change the course of history for democracy? The answer is no. The USA entered the war and fought along side allies to the end of Nazi power that committed genocide.

She had conflicting values due to the love of her sons. That is legal and it is important because it creates an intolerance of war that buffers the blatant power the USA has in it's own right. She is important to history and very important to the women's movement even today. No one needs demonize her for the love she held dear of her sons.

...February 3, 1942
Last night I dreamed of Hitler (click here) – Saw him in a room so close that I could see his eyes wink ... house I was in with others raided by Nazis. I hid under a table with others but one womans leg was discovered then we all were brought forth. Hitler came in to execute war plans & operations using this house as his base. A bird flew into the room from the window & lighted near me – It was white & a dove – Hitler caught it, held it up high over my head & told me to pick out a feather – I did so & awakened. (Journal Entry, MSM S70:513-514)

May 1942
Grant in Navy! ... expects to be called Somewhere any day. God forbid– (Journal Entry, MSM S70:570)

January 26, 1943
Millions of Women in Industry, Defense & other National Activities are needed unencumbered & unhampered for the duration as much as their husbands or brothers are needed as free men on the battle fronts. (MS to Kenneth Rose, MSM S22:108-109)

March 22, 1943
I do not know whether or not you listened to Churchill's speech yesterday, but I was never more disappointed in his views, expressing, as they did, the whole Tory clique of the City of London. It was what I call a nationalistic, jingoistic brain storm! (MS to Margaret Valiant, MSM S22:373)

August 12, 1943
Stuart may have to go Overseas – God knows I'll be crushed over that. It will be the end for me! (MS to Florence Rose, MSM S23:0062)

March 10, 1944
Planned Parenthood must be an important plank in the post war platform if enduring peace is to prevail. Global war demands global peace, and the gains which we are struggling to achieve in this country must be extended throughout the world if they are to be effective for us. In the United States we have achieved a favorable balance between population and resources which has contributed greatly to the raising of our national standard of living. But it will avail us little in the long run if European and Asiatic countries continue to overrun their boundaries, and to breed themselves into greater poverty, famine and ultimately into war. Therefore the fight for planned parenthood must encompass the world. ("Children of Tomorrow" speech, MSM S72:380)

May 10, 1944
What an amazing experience for you, as you say, to have two human beings fall through the air from that height – it is all too ghastly and horrible. I keep wondering what is going to happen after the war to men who live through experiences of that kind. (MS to Stuart Sanger, MSM S23:954)

September 19, 1944
Stuart is in France having left England with the others without a days vacation. I think the American Army is treating the American boys as if they were children, not letting them get away in case they get into trouble when not with his Uncle Sam. (MS to H. G. Wells, MSM S24:323)

October 27, 1944
Grant is out in that Philippine battle in a carrier ... its too horrible being at the end of a phone waiting. (MS to Margaret Valiant and Florence Rose, MSM S24:395)

August 10, 1945
Atomic Bomb over Japan startled the World. (Calendar Entry, MSM S80:647)

August 30, 1945
Stuart has come back from France but is not out of the Army. Grant was still in Okinawa the last we heard, we only hope he will not be sent in Japan. We as everyone else are terribly thankful that the war is over. (MS to Marion Willis Brock, MSM S24:1148)

October 25, 1945
Isn't it true, General, that until America, with her present power, stands for the rights of parents everywhere in the world to voluntary and healthful reproduction, neither a large standing army or the atomic bomb can save us from another war? (MS to General Douglas MacArthur, MSM S25:213)