Category: Uncategorized

I Can’t Stop 🤬 … Luckily, Max Boot Can!

I appreciate Max Boot’s comments, but take exception to that expression, the ‘umpteenth time’.

No. It is not the umpteenth time.

Texas has had eight mass shootings in the last thirteen years. Here’s a timeline. Sorry, you’ll need to copy and paste it.

https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2019/texas-10-years-of-mass-shootings-timeline/?fbclid=IwAR1_ESbLx4qlO6OeAjDT4XUT9ByQMxUZdt-QhVxCz5T51hSOfYweF9sg-CY

Yet, Governor Abbott bemoaned that the Robb Elementary school shooting in Uvalde was unpredictable. Sure, it was if you deliberately keep your head up your ass. It’s as unpredictable as snowstorms around Boston, MA, in the winter, or hurricanes threatening Florida.

Nationally, there have been eighteen mass shootings since Columbine in 1999, accounting for 169 people dead. These were the ‘deadliest shootings’, where four or more people were killed.

https://apnews.com/article/list-of-deadliest-us-school-shootings-f25dad31e68c8acbdbcb952352df9249

But when you remove that ‘four or more’ qualifier and just list school shootings, my, how the list grows.

Thurston High School.
Columbine High School.
Heritage High School.
Deming Middle School.
Fort Gibson Middle School.
Buell Elementary School.
Lake Worth Middle School.
University of Arkansas.
Junipero Serra High School.
Santana High School.
Bishop Neumann High School.
Pacific Lutheran University.
Granite Hills High School.
Lew Wallace High School.
Martin Luther King, Jr. High School.
Appalachian School of Law.
Washington High School.
Conception Abbey.
Benjamin Tasker Middle School.
University of Arizona.
Lincoln High School.
John McDonogh High School.
Red Lion Area Junior High School.
Case Western Reserve University.
Rocori High School.
Ballou High School.
Randallstown High School.
Bowen High School.
Red Lake Senior High School.
Harlan Community Academy High School.
Campbell County High School.
Milwee Middle School.
Roseburg High School.
Pine Middle School.
Essex Elementary School.
Duquesne University.
Platte Canyon High School.
Weston High School.
West Nickel Mines School.
Joplin Memorial Middle School.
Henry Foss High School.
Compton Centennial High School.
Virginia Tech.
Success Tech Academy.
Miami Carol City Senior High School.
Hamilton High School.
Louisiana Technical College.
Mitchell High School.
E.O. Green Junior High School.
Northern Illinois University.
Lakota Middle School.
Knoxville Central High School.
Willoughby South High School.
Henry Ford High School.
University of Central Arkansas.
Dillard High School.
Dunbar High School.
Hampton University.
Harvard College.
Larose-Cut Off Middle School.
International Studies Academy.
Skyline College.
Discovery Middle School.
University of Alabama.
DeKalb School.
Deer Creek Middle School.
Ohio State University.
Mumford High School.
University of Texas.
Kelly Elementary School.
Marinette High School.
Aurora Central High School.
Millard South High School.
Martinsville West Middle School.
Worthing High School.
Millard South High School.
Highlands Intermediate School.
Cape Fear High School.
Chardon High School.
Episcopal School of Jacksonville.
Oikos University.
Hamilton High School.
Perry Hall School.
Normal Community High School.
University of South Alabama.
Banner Academy South.
University of Southern California.
Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Apostolic Revival Center Christian School.
Taft Union High School.
Osborn High School.
Stevens Institute of Business and Arts.
Hazard Community and Technical College.
Chicago State University.
Lone Star College-North.
Cesar Chavez High School.
Price Middle School.
University of Central Florida.
New River Community College.
Grambling State University.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ossie Ware Mitchell Middle School.
Ronald E. McNair Discovery Academy.
North Panola High School.
Carver High School.
Agape Christian Academy.
Sparks Middle School.
North Carolina A&T State University.
Stephenson High School.
Brashear High School.
West Orange High School.
Arapahoe High School.
Edison High School.
Liberty Technology Magnet High School.
Hillhouse High School.
Berrendo Middle School.
Purdue University.
South Carolina State University.
Los Angeles Valley College.
Charles F. Brush High School.
University of Southern California.
Georgia Regents University.
Academy of Knowledge Preschool.
Benjamin Banneker High School.
D. H. Conley High School.
East English Village Preparatory Academy.
Paine College.
Georgia Gwinnett College.
John F. Kennedy High School.
Seattle Pacific University.
Reynolds High School.
Indiana State University.
Albemarle High School.
Fern Creek Traditional High School.
Langston Hughes High School.
Marysville Pilchuck High School.
Florida State University.
Miami Carol City High School.
Rogers State University.
Rosemary Anderson High School.
Wisconsin Lutheran High School.
Frederick High School.
Tenaya Middle School.
Bethune-Cookman University.
Pershing Elementary School.
Wayne Community College.
J.B. Martin Middle School.
Southwestern Classical Academy.
Savannah State University.
Harrisburg High School.
Umpqua Community College.
Northern Arizona University.
Texas Southern University.
Tennessee State University.
Winston-Salem State University.
Mojave High School.
Lawrence Central High School.
Franklin High School.
Muskegon Heights High School.
Independence High School.
Madison High School.
Antigo High School.
University of California-Los Angeles.
Jeremiah Burke High School.
Alpine High School.
Townville Elementary School.
Vigor High School.
Linden McKinley STEM Academy.
June Jordan High School for Equity.
Union Middle School.
Mueller Park Junior High School.
West Liberty-Salem High School.
University of Washington.
King City High School.
North Park Elementary School.
North Lake College.
Freeman High School.
Mattoon High School.
Rancho Tehama Elementary School.
Aztec High School.
Wake Forest University.
Italy High School.
NET Charter High School.
Marshall County High School.
Sal Castro Middle School.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Great Mills High School
Central Michigan University
Huffman High School
Frederick Douglass High School
Forest High School
Highland High School
Dixon High School
Santa Fe High School
Noblesville West Middle School
University of North Carolina Charlotte
STEM School Highlands Ranch
Edgewood High School
Palm Beach Central High School
Providence Career & Technical Academy
Fairley High School (school bus)
Canyon Springs High School
Dennis Intermediate School
Florida International University
Central Elementary School
Cascade Middle School
Davidson High School
Prairie View A & M University
Altascocita High School
Central Academy of Excellence
Cleveland High School
Robert E. Lee High School
Cheyenne South High School
Grambling State University
Blountsville Elementary School
Holmes County, Mississippi (school bus)
Prescott High School
College of the Mainland
Wynbrooke Elementary School
UNC Charlotte
Riverview Florida (school bus)
Second Chance High School
Carman-Ainsworth High School
Williwaw Elementary School
Monroe Clark Middle School
Central Catholic High School
Jeanette High School
Eastern Hills High School
DeAnza High School
Ridgway High School
Reginald F. Lewis High School
Saugus High School
Pleasantville High School
Waukesha South High School
Oshkosh High School
Catholic Academy of New Haven
Bellaire High School
North Crowley High School
McAuliffe Elementary School
South Oak Cliff High School
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Sonora High School
Western Illinois University
Oxford High School
Robb Elementary School

Umpteenth time? No, it’s very well documented. We know exactly how many have been killed, when, where, and how. The common denominator remains a gun in someone’s hand, a gun that the GOP keeps in those hands, and pious ‘thoughts and prayers’.

Now that we’ve addressed the school shootings, shall we hold our breaths and wait for another mass murder at a church, or another Vegas style massacre, such as the one in 2017 where sixty were killed?

jilldennison's avatarFilosofa's Word

For over 24 hours I have been alternately growling, grumbling, and had @#$%& coming from my mouth over Tuesday’s school massacre in Texas and the horrid responses of some public figures.  I tried twice to put my words to paper, but I ran out of symbols 🤬 and quickly realized that my anger might be just as toxic as the responses that were driving it.  Then I came across an OpEd by The Washington Post’s Max Boot who said most of what I was trying to say, but did so without nearly as many 🤬

The deceitful dodges Republicans use to resist gun controls

By Max Boot, Columnist

May 25, 2022

We are now embarked upon a distinctively American ritual such as the Super Bowl or the Fourth of July — only much, much grimmer. We are, for the umpteenth time, in the immediate aftermath of a mass…

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Monday’s Theme Music

We’ve been plopped into a Monday, in a very merry month of May, on a day — 23 — in a year — 2022. For most of us, it feels about the same as the day before, except, you know, the ones who lost something or someone the day before, or the ones whose crimes were revealed, whose cheating was exposed. Also different for those who awoke to gunfire and explosions.

Here in Ashland, the sunrise came at 5:43 and sunset will take place in our valley at 8:33 PM. It’s 57 F and a high of 77 is anticipated. Clouds? Yes, we have no clouds. The cats are happy. This is floof weather.

The morning neurons didn’t drop a song into my morning mental music stream. I went looking for one. I’d met to do this before, but one thing led to another, and the next thing that I knew, a few weeks had shot by underfoot. Remembering today, I sought out “Hey, Hey, Rise Up” by Pink Floyd. Released in 2022, it’s base on the Ukrainian anthem, “Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow“, and features the Ukrainian singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk. David Gilmour wrote the song to support Ukraine and its people as they fight against the Russian invasion.

Stay positive, test negative, and so on. Rise up, vote, make a difference. Help set us on a better path, one where equality, freedom, and rights are respected. And yes, I’m pro-choice: her body, her choice. Not my business.

Forward, he cried from the rear. Forward. Now, I’m off for coffee. Can’t move forward without my coffee. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

I let Papi out at 6:10 this morning. Sunrise had taken place fifteen minutes before, and sun and ‘ shadows stretched across the backyard. The ginger cat stalked a leaf. Pouncing on it, he batted it into eleven dimensions and then bolted across the yard. A tree was climbed halfway. Jumping down, he sat and gazed around him.

Hi. Today is Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Steadily creeping up, the temperature has gone from 37 F to 48. We expect to reach 60. No rain or snow in today’s forecast. The cool, rainy days has left all the plant life green and thriving. Sunset will come at 8:21 this evening.

With all this sunshine, the neurons have sunshine music playing in the morning mental music stream. The song is “The Sound of Sunshine” by Michael Franti and Spearhead. When I first heard it back in 2010 or 2011, I thought it was another Jack Johnson song, because the voice is similar, as in the guitar style and reggae mix. Than I sort of drifted to the opinion that it could be John Mayer, mostly due to voice and content. When I learned the truth, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s an energizing song, good for walking when you’re in sunshine, or you’re upbeat, drinking morning coffee as you plan to conquer the world.

Say positive, test negative, and so on. We know the routines. Hopefully, complacency won’t sabotage our efforts. Now, to the coffee, and the music. Cheers

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It can change

Yep. Believe in change – positive change. Someone once said, “Yes, we can.”

fauxcroft's avatarfauxcroft

We can send people to the moon

Yet people starve through lack of food,

People explore into space

Yet they are denied a living place,

Hungry, homeless people struggle

In societies that just don’t care,

And if we voice this truth, as if we dare,

For others to oppose

They’ll blame these down and out people

Because it’s easier I suppose,

To look at ourselves to see if we could do more

Meanwhile our governments plough millions into wars,

And many fat cats who are greedy

Cause hunger, homelessness and misery,

Treat all life like it’s all commodities

And people are simply assets to use or throw to throw away,

Like it’s some kind of game and they have no shame,

But it doesn’t have to be this way, it can change.

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A Pessimistic View of the Mid-terms

Jeff’s post and pessimism is a mirror to my views. The way the GOP behaves shocks me, but the Democrats react with such ineptitude. Oddly, while Republicans want to curtail rights and end government programs, effectively dragging the United States back several decades, it’d the Democrats who are using political strategy and tactics from the 1950s to counter the GOP’s machine. Make no mistake, it is a calculating and cunning machine that the GOP uses to throttle freedom, democracy, and equality, while blaring that they’re all about freedom, democracy, and equality. The truth is outed by the GOP’s actions (and lack of it), but as Jeff points out, and others highlight in comments, soundbites, amplified, repeated, and distorted, rule US politics.

Brookingslib's avatarOn The Fence Voters

I try like hell to be an optimist. I keep thinking my fellow Americans will ultimately do the right thing when it matters most. When they see the clear difference between our two political parties, they will surely choose the one that gives us the best chance of continuing to live in a democratic society and address the vital issues confronting us in the 21st century.

Unfortunately, of late, I’ve failed to maintain that positivity. I find myself increasingly in the category of folks who say the November mid-term elections will be a catastrophe for Democrats. Our current president has done a lot to move the country forward. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to matter to folks.

The American people are pissed. About everything, it seems. And, if I’m to be completely honest with myself, why shouldn’t they be? Inflation is out of control; the pandemic is still lurking, although…

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