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.