NRA gun violence takes its 3rd suicide victim

JeremyRichman, Sandy Hook father

First it was two Parkland survivors, taking their life after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder from the mass killing of 19 fellow students. And then yesterday, the father of a Sandy Hook victim where 20 children died from mass gun violence, Jeremy Richman, was found dead in his Connecticut office building.

Continued "thoughts and prayers" and "guns don't kill, people do" bullshit from Wayne LaPierre's National Rifle Assn. and a cowardly U.S. Congress continue to add to the misery. To say that these suicides are by-products of the mass killing spree that has been going on for some time would be true but tragic.

What is even more tragic is the fact that nothing is being done. Yes, despite the fact that 69 percent of Americans, including 85 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Republicans, want strong or moderate restrictions placed on firearms, there is still that fear of the NRA, thus, nothing is done about gun violence. And here's the worst...

"Among those who want tougher gun laws now, only 14 percent said they were “very confident” their representatives understood their views on firearms, and just 8 percent felt “very confident” their elected representatives would do anything about it."

As long as gun nuts control this country, there is no hope of controlling gun violence.

Trump drives U.S. to recession

Manufacturing is down to its weakest position since June 2017, most likely due to T-rump playing games with China in the trade dispute. This is the second major program he has failed on; the first was his tax reform law that bombed. Here's one outlook...

"The New York Federal Reserve’s projections for Q1 2019, growth will average about 1.29 percent, which is well short of the 2018 growth figure of 2.9 percent."

 And Bloomberg prompts, "Bond Market Flashes Recession Warning Before Round of Auctions," while "investors are about to absorb $131 billion of Treasury note auctions at the lowest yields in months." Yet, Trump has expanded the deficit by $234 billion, which is the largest deficit ever. If we did have a recession, with this deficit "the government would be unable to raise funds for economic stimulus from debt markets due to its already overextended position."

Economists say this is all unsustainable, but if the administration did try to put the clamps on the deficit, we would most likely experience a recession now. Politically there is only one choice for the Oval Office lunatic, but the future won't look pretty. 

Welcome to rampant racism for the ages

U of GA Tau Kappa Epsilon racism

The U.S. doesn't have an exclusive on racism; it is worldwide, says the site Global Issues. It also suggests an interesting concept that racism is a "misunderstanding of Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution." It goes on...

"Some took Darwin’s theories to imply that since some races were more civilized, there must be a biological basis for the difference. At the same time they appealed to biological theories of moral and intellectual traits to justify racial oppression. There is a great deal of controversy about race and intelligence, in part because the concepts of both race and IQ are themselves controversial."

I do not believe the xenophobic red necks who hate anyone who is different than them are smart enough to figure out the above, thus, it is most likely attributed to their double-digit IQs. In other words, they can't rationalize the difference between a white and a black person so the black must be bad. And then there are those with a slightly higher IQ like the University of Georgia fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon.

I am originally from the South and experienced the worst kind of racial hatred, including KKK lynchings. And then along came the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and many of us believed we had solved the problem. Not so, and my gut tells me that today it is worse than those earlier times and for much of this we can thank Donald Trump.

Bernie's weekend in California a YUGE success

Just received an email from the Bern with the interesting news that "in 2020 California voters will receive their ballots in the mail right around the time people in Iowa head out to caucus." It is important that Sanders' supporters continue to stand behind their man. He took his campaign to California this past weekend with a gungho crowds in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Bernie has already accumulated 245,000 supporters in the state.

In San Diego, where President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a speech to the people of that city 82 years ago., The Bern attracted 6,000 people; in Los Angeles, 15,000; and San Francisco brought out 16,000, with a total of 37,000. He also stopped by the Islamic Center of Southern California to talk about the recent New Zealand mosque shooting, more encouragement that Sanders is firmly behind gun control for 2020.

Mueller Report release ends further indictments, but...

New York Attorney General

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has said after the release of the Mueller report, "There is still ‘significant evidence of  collusion.’" House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) ays he "doesn’t need the Mueller report to know whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia." The Hill says if Democrats feel "emboldened" to take it further, it could "look like overreach to many Americans." My gut tells me that only the radical conservatives will take the latter position, with Mueller's remarks leaving open the extent to which Donald Trump should be held accountable. 

But the Mueller Report is, perhaps, the least of Donald Trump's worries. The New York Attorney General is investigating T-rump on several fronts. His business deals, various projects, his finances, and in the latest has issued subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Investors Bank for records relating to the financing of four major Trump Organization projects. The state of New York will not be impeded by a Republican Congress that has protected Trump during all of his administration, so far. There has to be an end to this, and it isn't likely to be favorable to Donald Trump.

Your political bullshit of the day

TRICKLE DOWN BULLSHIT

 
Facebook still getting away with murder re.its handling of privacy...Trump's own economists now agree that his tax cuts were a failure...Anti-vaxxers have caused so much of a health problem multiple states are considering restricting vaccine exemptions...Poor babies Olivia Jade and Isabella Giannulli could be banned from USC for life...And, GoFundMe has banned all anti-vaxxers who raise money to spread misinformation...

I'm in for Bernie's 2020 run

Bernie Sanders in 2020

Bernie Sanders has officially declared for the 2020 presidential campaign and both my wife and I are now satisfied that he does genuinely support gun control. This is his most recent position:

"Sanders supports a ban on assault weapons, a ban on high-capacity magazines, and expanding background checks. However, his record on gun control has been mixed, and he has admitted that he comes from a state with little gun control legislation, though many of the guns used there are for hunting."

OK...this is at least a start.

The above is from Elle magazine where you can also find out where he stands on Taxes, Income and wealth distribution, plus other issues. I was particularly encouraged by the recent Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez comments on confronting the NRA and banning assault weapons. If you really look into what Bernie Sanders stands for, his slate is the most diverse of policies that appeal to Progressives, and they are the issues that are most important today to get this country back where it belongs...a humanitarian nation.

Now it's time to start making our donations to the Bern.