Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Lilacs and a Rant (warning: obscenities)

First, my lilac out back has blossomed. The sweet scent will be wafting into the kitchen for at least a week.






Now for the rant. It'll be nothing new to any of you, I'm sure. It won't be the first time you've heard it from others, and it won't be the last. Next week it'll happen again, and the week after. Probably a year from now it'll be even worse.

Yesterday a young man with a gun walked into a high school in Portland Oregon and opened fire, killing a student and wounding a teacher, then was either killed or or killed himself. A few days before this a young man walked into a university in Seattle and started shooting a shotgun, killing one student and wounding two others. He was captured, a rarity in these cases.

Since the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school there have been almost 40 other shootings in schools, most of them K-12. This number is only at schools, there have been far more that don't include schools....malls, public buildings, on and on. The US has the highest rate of gun deaths per capita in the 'industrialized' world, exceeded only by places like Somalia. The US rate per 100,000 is 3.9. The UK is 0.3.

When we look back the months since Sandy Hook we see a lessening of public reaction with each incident. The US was in a mild state of shock for a week after Sandy Hook, with much public debate about guns. The shooting in Seattle barely made the news outside the Pacific Northwest, and was absent from the news after 2 days.

Which brings us to the National Rifle Association (NRA). They morphed from a hunting-based organization that talked about conservation into a lobby and supporter of the gun industry in the 1970's, and have been wildly successful in stifling debate about guns and deflecting the issue from guns to a variety of other issues. They, with Supreme Court justice Anthony Scalia's help, have made the 2nd amendment into a holy-of-holy biblical commandment. There isn't a politician of national importance that will go up against them about any aspect of gun control, however minor.

A week or so ago a spokesperson for the NRA made a statement that called the Texas 'open carry' loonies "weird". This small venture into rationality was quickly reversed by the NRA with a statement that said "We support the right of any citizen to carry a gun anywhere."

One would think in any right-minded society this group would be relegated to the dust bin of history. Not in the US, here we read it and move on. No comment from any politician.

A year ago a columnist for a gun magazine wrote that "high-capacity assault rifles have no place in hunting." Under pressure from the NRA he was quickly and publicly fired. He also got death threats, as have most public officials that have the temerity to suggest any minor alteration to gun laws, like background checks.

The NRA is directly responsible for these gun deaths by quelling any discussion about gun control, in any meaningful venue.

I could go on and on; the spinning of the 2nd amendment by the Supreme Court, the political parties unwillingness or inability to address the issue, on and on. But what's the point? The motherfuckers have won. We're screwed.

Coming soon to a cafe near you: guys with assault rifles walking in and proclaiming their right to brandish guns trumps your worries about your families, and the grieving of parents and families everywhere.

36 comments:

  1. This will not be fixed. Guns already outnumber the country's population.We will become Somalia, as lunacy outstrips sense. Asking for a return to sanity makes no sense to people who display a weapon to secure their superiority. All we have are rants.

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    1. Actually, I think it will be fixed, maybe in our grandchildren's time.

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    2. Hold that thought. I like to believe we can overwhelm them with sanity, but the bad guys beget as many grandchildren as the good guys, maybe more.
      I forgot--beautiful lilacs.

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    3. Loony's can have kids that differ....trust me on this, I know. My mom was a total whackout, a racist, she'd be right there in the tea party mosh pit were she alive. I turned out a bit different....so we can't always be sure cause of heritage.

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    4. So, what we should hope for is that the whackadoos are bad parents, too.

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    5. What are you doing, Kate? Prowling? Shouldn't you be fawning over my adorable grandchild? This is all your mother's fault, I raised you in a strict, religous house.........

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  2. It's frightening. I don't know how anything in our screwed up country is ever going to be put right again.

    On a happier note, your lilacs are beautiful!

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    1. One can smell them yards away. Thanks for stopping by.

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  3. I am afraid .........all the time!

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    1. Is this you, L? My goodness......

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    2. Actually, not, but s/he certainly reflects my thoughts - craziness indeed and lunacy for sure - and yes, NRA is evil and is leading the nuts and lunatics -
      The lilacs are beautiful, and yes, I am jealous - L

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  4. You comment is right on the money. The NRA and the gun freaks are absolutely nuts.

    And, yes, your lilacs are beautiful.

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    1. I'll go with crazy for the gun freaks, the NRA is evil I believe.

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  5. Rant on, friend. Maybe if enough of us rant, together, consistently, we can effect a real change.

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    1. PS: my lilacs were frizzled by unseasonable hot weather the same day they bloomed. I can almost smell yours; lucky duck!

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    2. Perhaps so, Martha. I guess our kids or grandkids will know.
      We haven't hit 75 yet this year, a day ago it was 38f at 7am.

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  6. I heartily endorse your rant. Of course, the other thing that's seriously worrying is the militarization of police forces across the country - not only the proliferation of swat teams but also the fact they have been up-armoring to an extraordinary degree. A lot of the people in the US who insist on carrying major league weaponry have convinced themselves they're preparing for war. It's insane.

    ps: The lilacs bloomed in my best friend's garden the weekend my son was born. I awoke in the hospital room to find a huge bouquet at my bedside and have loved them ever since.

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    1. I'm friends with the captain of the SWAT team here, we talk often. He feels it's necessary to be able to deal with the threats they face. Anyone can have an AK47, and high-capacity assault rifles, thanks to the NRA. It's survival for them, at least the ones in this small town. It truely sucks, for us, for them, for everyone. It's hard to blame them when they'd just like to go home to their kids at night. It's a self-feeding circle, just like everything else in politics.

      I love lilacs, my favorite time of year.

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  7. It is a shame what is happening. I don't think it will changr.

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    1. Steve
      Probably not in our lifetime, you're right.

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  8. Just found you through Pearl. The number of school shootings since Sandy Hook is 74. There is a site( i forget) that has all the #,s..I cannot make a wise comment as this boggles my peace loving mind. your new lurker from Alabama.

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    1. You're correct, I was referring to the one's where someone was killed.
      Welcome to lurk all you please.

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  9. Right on. You and I are in full agreement.

    I live in a city, and have never noticed anyone carrying a gun. If I come across one in plain view, I don't know how that will change my life. I don't enjoy the idea that someone could carry the weapon of my demise -- from who knows how many paces? -- legally and in broad daylight.

    We're a strange, unhappy people...

    Pearl

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    1. It's interesting, I live in a much, much smaller town than the Twin Cities area, and in Montana a lot of people, perhaps the majority of households, own guns. Hunting rifles or shotguns for hunting mostly. I don't remember seeing anyone packing unless in the woods.

      Full disclosure: I own guns, have all my life. I hunted for decades. When I was in high school over 50 years ago it was not unusual to see kid's pickups with gun racks and rifles in the parking lot. Nothing was thought about it. At some point, everything changed.

      I have a bumper sticker that says "Gun Owner in Favor of Stricter Gun Laws".

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  10. We are all in the psychopath pit together. As you know I am writing about the RC church and the traumatization of their followers. The NRA and their followers - same kind of cultish behaviour, especially from the wingnuts in the political corridors, scared their bribe money will be terminated.
    Arghhhhh - I will borrow some of your hope.

    XO
    WWW

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    1. Anybody of any religious stripe should read your last three posts and think.
      Nice goin'

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  11. I couldn't agree more, but have really lost all hope that this will ever change. If a bunch of tiny children getting slaughter won't do it, nothing will. I live in the same town Pearl does, and while you may not see it openly, even in this relatively liberal city I know people who are packing handguns in the glove boxes of their cars and in the backpacks they carry to work. It's a genuine tragedy we can't get a handle on this insanity.

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    1. It's odd isn't it? What the Sandy Hook murders of children did was, it seems, desensitize people, instead of provoking the appropriate response.
      Yeah, a tragedy.

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  12. As for the nuts who follow the NRA, I think these are the same people who do things like take the bible literally. It's about not understanding context. I myself am very frequently guilty of black-and-white and literal thinking, but it's not a LOT of nuance to understand that the second amendment was meant to be taken as a whole. You can't take just part of a sentence, and then - .

    You can't read Paul's Epistles, and assume that each verse was written A: to stand alone, B: to the whole world (or why would each be addressed to a specific group at a specific time) and C: by someone who wasn't an asshole. Similarly, you can't take the right to keep and bear arms without accepting that that right is within the context of keeping a WELL REGULATED militia. The founders* also lived in a time of muskets, but even then, they knew that regulation is key.

    *I hate saying that, because I don't approve of the Founding Fathers fetish that many conservatives with pulpits have. Times change, and we should be at least willing to adapt.

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    1. The 'founding fathers' is an interesting issue, and their words are spinned however fits one's agenda.

      Your analogy is apt, sweetpea.

      Dad

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  13. I think the problem with gun violence is way more complicated then just gun ownership. We have mental health issues that are not addressed, and we have a value system that has deteriorated for many reasons. We tend to lack respect and people will not accept any hint of "Disrespect." Gun control laws will not stem the tide of violence.

    However it surely will not increase it and it is a first and necessary step. Ownership should at the minimum require a license indicating the skill and the safety knowledge to own a gun. Background checks should confirm personal stability and proof of no criminal record. Ownership should extend to hunting or target weapons. Assault or other type of guns should require a more stringent test to allow a license.

    I do not own a gun, I do not like guns, I do not believe we need to own guns to protect us from government and I have no idea how the NRA commands so much respect and control of government leaders.

    Right to carry laws will make me feel LESS safe!

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    1. Of course it's more complicated than just guns, but that seems to be the major sticking point. In ways you probably don't intend, your point somewhat mirrors the NRA's. They seem to be settling on mental health issues as the culprit, and downplaying, actually totally dismissing, the gun causality altogether.
      As to assault rifles, they have but one purpose: it's in the first word, 'assault'. They are made to kill people, several at a time, quickly. That's it, the only purpose. They have no place in anyone's hands except the military.
      You're quite correct in feeling less safe. .

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  14. And a good rant it was...
    I pretty much agree with everything you said. I like guns and I have guns and I think we need stricter gun control. I think we REALLY need back ground checks. The whack jobs who think they need guns to protect themselves from the government are the LAST people I want owning guns. I'm sure there are a lot of them who couldn't pass a psychological screening anyway.

    In this country, It is already a felony to own an automatic weapon of any type. The media almost always reports the assault weapons owned by citizens as "automatic." They are NOT automatic. They are semi-automatic. Almost all hunting rifles are also semi-automatic. Compared to most hunting rifles, an assault rifle has less stopping power and aren't anywhere near as accurate. That is why hunters DO NOT USE assault rifles to hunt with. So to me, the main issue is magazine capacity. Assault weapon magazines can carry many more rounds than hunting rifles. My state has already changed the law regarding capacity. Not only are they smaller, now you can't simple pop an empty magazine out and pop in another. There is a mechanical mechanism that takes both hands to allow a magazine to be taken out of the weapon.

    I'm not sure that any of this really has anything to do with Sandy Hook, or any other similar incident. This is about mentally ill people who see themselves as (and usually are) outsiders. They feel like outcasts who have been bullied and/or wronged and they have no voice. They feel invisible. They see the news just like the rest of us. They media has given them a voice. The media will make sure they are heard. All they have to do is go into a public place and start shooting people.

    I wish I had the answer to this entire mess.

    I almost forgot, I WAS a member of the NRA until the early 1970's. They started hitting up their members for donations to "protect" our rights and blah blah blah. That is when I had my epiphany! The NRA doesn't give a rat's ass about gun owners or Second Amendment rights. They now exist (as you said) to lobby for firearm and ammunition related industries.

    I'm sorry this is so long and disjointed.

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  15. I'm also sorry that my comment is so full of typos. I should have reviewed what I wrote. Oh well...

    One more thing just popped into my head. You know from my blog that we spend a lot of time in the deserts or Arizona and California exploring. A lot of that time is spend very close to the border with Mexico in areas that are used by smugglers. We are in one of those areas right now. I'm not worried about the illegal immigrants or even their guides, because they are not armed. The thing we have to worry about is the drug smugglers. Many times they are armed. I'm not going to be anybody's victim down here, so you better believe that I am also armed. Having said that, I still feel the need for stricter laws.

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    1. Pat
      I'm not sure that the mag capacity is going to cure the issue, but I also don't think it'd hurt, and might help. I don't think much except Canada-style gun laws will make much of an impact. I'm willing to comply with that.

      It's an interesting dichotomy, the thing about guns and people like us. I too have guns, and frankly, I enjoy them. It's just what's being done with them that has turned my stomach.

      Yeah, when I was in my truck camper down at Organ Pipe Cactus park, I slept with a .45 nearby. I hope that doesn't make me one of the loonies, but perhaps it does. But I'd give it up in a New York minute to have sane gun laws.

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  16. Well written rant...... and I agree.

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