As mentioned in my reply to JD’s post of
Here’s the bothersome (at least to me) slideshow I put together of the NRA’s efforts at “grooming” or indoctrinating children into the gun culture:
Aug 052023
Aug 052023
Yesterday, It was fairly quiet. Actually, it was really quiet around here – and there wasn’t that much in the news. Of course Thursday was the big news day. After that, most other news is going to be anticlimactic. I did manage to find a couple of things to say, though. WRT the FFT, ordinarily I’d put it in the video thread. But the success story, which I covered here, but not from this angle, is a victory most of us, maybe all of us were part of, as he points out.
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Short Takes –
The 19th – Young Americans who identify with gun culture are more likely to believe in male supremacy, research shows
Quote – Pasha Dashtgard, the director of research at PERIL and an expert on male supremacy and online radicalization, said one factor propelling this sentiment is a shifting economic landscape in America. “In places of economic instability, men are shifting from this attitude of man as provider to man as protector,” he said. “You may not be able to, as a man, be the primary breadwinner, but you can — through acquiring guns and the willingness to use guns for violence — reclaim your masculinity as a protector.” Even in young people, this sentiment was notable and behind many of the things that participants expressed to the researchers during interviews. Dashtgard said this speaks to a larger cultural dynamic at play currently, where many White men are feeling unsure of how to articulate themselves as men in current society. As a result, many young men are turning to guns as an “unimpeachable access to masculinity.”
Click through for details. “What a surprise!” said no one ever.Apparently we need to provide education to teach people who don’t realize it that a gun and a penis are not the same.
Colorado Public Radio – ‘I Am the Bridge’: How a poem being presented at an African cultural event in Arvada was created by 50 people from different ethnicities and cultures
Quote – Words of resilience, marginalization, trepidation and community were spoken when about 50 people showed up on July 1 at a spiritual center in Arvada to brainstorm lines for what eventually became “I Am the Bridge: A Poem By All Of Us.” It’s a four-page poem with contributions from local Native Americans, Asians, Hispanic people, Jewish people, European people, Black Americans and African immigrants. It will be performed by seven people, one representing each of these groups, at the Arvada Center on Saturday evening.
Click through for a few quotes and more information. It isn’t Amanda Gorman, but it is powerful nevertheless.
Food For Thought
Jul 152023
Yesterday, for about a second, I considered referring to Saturday morning cartoons in connecion with having selected two short takes involving children. But there is nothing cartoonish about either of these children, nor about the situations in which they have found themselves. And I really hold MAGA – which means, ultimately Trump** – responsible for both. Not that the NRA and poisonous homophobes didn’t help … but both have become attached to and more or less claimed MAGA as their own. I’m not trying to be depressing. It just kind of turned out that way. Also, yesterday, the House passed a defense bill with restrictions on medical care, and PCCC emailed a video of Katie Porter using her whiteboard as a JeoparDOD board (I bumped another satire to get it into today’s video thread, so any Darth Vader “fan”s will have to wait a day.)
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Crooks & Liars – Armed 8-Year-Old Arrested After Carjacking And Police Chase
Quote – Maj. Saba Coleman said officers responded to a robbery call in the 000 block of West Fairview Avenue shortly after 11 a.m. Officers soon learned a child had carjacked someone at gunpoint. She said officers tried to pull the stolen vehicle over shortly after in the area of East South Boulevard and Norman Bridge Road, but the driver refused to stop and a pursuit ensued. Coleman said the fleeing vehicle crashed into another vehicle in the area of West Fairview Avenue and South Court Street. No injuries were reported.
Click through for story. Frankly – it’s a miracle he’s alive.
The Daily Beast – A Mom Who Is Actually for Liberty Shames Tennessee School Board
Quote – Those are some of the things that Tennessee mom Lindsey Patrick-Wright says were shouted at her sixth grader, Pippy, at West Wilson Middle School in Mount Juliet this year. Patrick-Wright recited the list during the public comment session at the Wilson County School Board meeting over the weekend. She later told the Daily Beast she left out one comment. “My mom says it’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!” Patrick-Wright says Pippy replied, “Well, I’m a lesbian, so I don’t want Adam or Steve.”
Click through for details. In all honesty. the headline isn’t quite accurate because these people have no shame. But she certainly would have shamed them if they had any. I left out the actual list because of its ugliness. But it’s there at the site.
Food For Thought
Jun 012023
Glenn Kirschner – Trump lawyer says he was BLOCKED from searching Trump office at Mar-a-Lago for classified documents
Thom Hartmann – The First Fascist State In America Revealed?
Farron Balanced – Fox News Raided Tucker Carlson’s House And Took His Filming Equipment
From TikTok via Twitter – possible hanky alert
This moved me to tears. pic.twitter.com/7URbXPY5dj
— ✭ 🅑🅤🅑🅑🅐 ✭ (@BubbatheOG) May 29, 2023
Cat stops would-be burglar | ‘Binky went after him’
Beau – Let’s talk about the GOP coming for no fault divorce…
May 312023
Talking Feds – New Trump Lawyer Story REVEALS Shape of DOJ’s Obstruction Argument (Glenn may have posted after I put this up, but see the Open Thread – I had something else to think about.)
PoliticsGirl – Don’t Be Fooled
The Lincoln Project – Cut the Crap
MSNBC – Mississippi police shoot 11-year-old boy after his call to 911
Baby Chipmunk Burrows Into Giant 115-Pound Dog’s Fur (hanky alert)
Beau – Let’s talk about Texas teachers and me missing something….
May 022023
Yesterday, it being May Day, my mind filled up with associations, such as the fact that May 1 is the big labor holiday internationally (and once was here as well.) That led me to think of Odgen Nash’s poem about the man who hated spring – a psychological illness which had begum when someone told him to “Come down to Union Square, it’s Mayday,” and he had misheard it as “Come down to Union Square, it’s payday,” and the disappointment was more than he could handle (it ends with his wife shooting him, and his last words are “Thank you, honey, it was thoughtful of you to use the autumn-atic.” Which leads right in to the second short take.) Then my mind turned to Walpurgis – actually, I think, Mayday Eve – one of the four great pagan festivals which Christans, of course, associated with witchcraft. And then they associted witchcraft with people, especially but not exclusively women, who wanted to harm children. And that seques naturally into the first short take and comes right back the the Labor Day thought I started with.. I swear I did not plan any of that. It just happened. Coincidence actually is a thing. Also – I’m sorry to report that Gordon Lightfoot has died.
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Letters from an American – April 28, 2023
Quote – Those in favor of the new policies argue that fewer restrictions on child labor will protect parents’ rights, but in fact the new labor measures have been written by the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), a Florida-based right-wing think tank. FGA is working to dismantle the federal government to get rid of business regulations. It has focused on advancing its ideology through the states for a while now, but the argument that its legislation protects parental rights has recently enabled them to wedge open a door to attack regulations more broadly. FGA is part of a larger story about Republicans’ attempt to undermine federal power in order to enact a radical agenda through their control of the states.
Click through for full article (you may have to click on “Keep Reading.”). This a few days old, but any time is the time to address this (so close to Mothers’ Day, too.)
Colorado Public Radio News – Here’s why voters are unlikely to have a direct say in an assault weapons ban
Quote – In theory, a group can work to place a ballot initiative on the statewide ballot. That process involves taking a proposed initiative to the Secretary of State, agreeing on the language that would be on the ballot and gathering valid signatures as a sign of support. Then, and only then, will voters have a chance to have a say on a possible assault weapons ban. Non-fiscal ballot measures like gun control rules can only be considered in even-year elections.
Click through for details, including the difficulty of defining an “assault weapon,” which is a huge problem no matter who is pushng the legislation. Legislators and activist really need to drop the term and think in terms of characteristices which make some weapons so deadly and legislate those, without ever giving any weapon a name. Also , this is Colorado, but most if not all states have some kind of process which is analogous.
Food For Thought
Apr 252023
Yesterday, There was a fair amount of news which was not all that encouraging. One exception was Tucker Carlson’s departure (and I put up a news alert on that as soon as I saw it). But another exception was in an EarthRights International email. There is a Big Oil accountability case going on in Colorado, and Exxon abd Suncor had petitioned SCOTUS to hear it. SCOTUS just told them to pound sand. That doesn’t mean the case is over, but it does mean that it will be proceeding in Colorado’s State Court system. And that is good news. i’m sorry I don’t have a short take which is as good, but it is what it is.
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Letters from an American – April 23, 2023
Quote – About 100 U.S. troops used three helicopters to evacuate about 70 U.S. personnel from the [U.S. Embassy in Khartoum], getting them out of Sudan to Ethiopia without major incident. Such a military evacuation is unusual, but the fight between two rival Sudanese leaders has closed the main international airport and given armed fighters control of the roads leading out of the country, making it impossible for U.S. personnel to leave by civilian routes. Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Saudi Arabia helped to get the Americans to safety. There were no major incidents associated with the evacuation. Other nations have also evacuated their embassies, and the United Nations staffers left by road on a 19-hour trip.
Click through for details and more. Been there, done that, and yes, this is a major undertaking, not just for the evacuators and those being evacuated, but for support personnel in more stable areas who contribute in various ways to readying the team. I had no idea it was this bad.
NBC News – Capitol rioter shot at local deputies after FBI informed him of Jan. 6 charges
Quote – Nathan Donald Pelham, of Greenville [TX], who initially faced four misdemeanor charges tied to the insurrection, faces an additional felony charge of being a felon in possession of firearm after the incident April 12, a criminal complaint filed this week shows. An FBI special agent wrote in a filing that he had called Pelham on April 12 and asked him to surrender in a few days. That evening, according to the agent, local authorities went to Pelham’s home after his father requested a welfare check. When the deputies arrived, Pelham fired several shots toward them, prosecutors said.
Click through for story. Pro tip: Shooting at law enforcement when you are already under indictment will never make things better for you.
Slate – Chief Justice John Roberts’ Mockery of Stalking Victims Points to a Deeper Problem
Quote – The reasonableness of that fear was vividly illustrated by the Supreme Court oral arguments in Counterman v. Colorado on Wednesday morning, as members of the highest court of the land joked about messages sent by a stalker to his victim, bemoaned the increasing “hypersensitivity” of society, and brushed aside consideration of the actual harm of stalking to focus on the potential harm of stalking laws.
Click through, but have antacid at hand. This was an egregious stalking case whch happened in Colorado. It had gotten to the point where a message of “Hi. Have a nice day” would be perceived as a threat by any rational person.
Food For Thought
Apr 232023
Glenn Kirschner – DA Fani Willis seeks to kick lawyer off fake electors cases; moves forward in Georgia Trump probe
The Lincoln Project – Bullies
Thom Hartmann – WAR on America Declared By Our Own People? WTF
Friend Dog Studios – GOP Jesus (not new but oh so on target)
Dog Is Obsessed With Watching TV With His Human Sister
Beau – Let’s talk about 3 unrelated but similar incidents….