Tuesday, June 12, 2018

More guns adds up to more suicides


According to the CDC, "Suicide rates have increased in nearly every state over the past two decades, and half of the states have seen suicide rates go up more than 30 percent." And based on "A study by the Harvard School of Public Health of all 50 U.S. states," there is "a powerful link between rates of firearm ownership and suicides." Who would have thought? The Harvard study proclaims, "Guns and suicide: A fatal link" The CDC's "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" found that...
"Guns were the most common method used for suicide, accounting for almost half of the people who died."
These are the kind of facts that have been hidden at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta due to the National Rifle Assn.'s success in ramming legislation through a paid off Congress that has made the information unavailable until now. And "54 percent of the people who killed themselves didn't have a previously known mental health issue, but 50 percent of these did have a gun. The Harvard study also found...
"that in states where guns were prevalent—as in Wyoming, where 63 percent of households reported owning guns—rates of suicide were higher. The inverse was also true: where gun ownership was less common, suicide rates were also lower."
...proving that, in spite of the NRA's proclamation that "guns don't kill, people do," guns do kill, simply because of their availability. The CDC study asserts, "American suicide is predominantly a firearm issue. Anytime we want to resolve something that involves firearms, we've need to talk about firearms explicitly." But that has been impossible up to now due to the fact that the NRA's head gun nut. Wayne LaPierre, will talk of nothing that restricts gun ownership in any way. You have to understand this radical thug actually reps gun manufacturers right to sell as many guns as possible.

The Harvard study adds...
"The lesson? Many lives would likely be saved if people disposed of their firearms, kept them locked away, or stored them outside the home. Says HSPH Professor of Health Policy David Hemenway, the ICRC’s director: 'Studies show that most attempters act on impulse, in moments of panic or despair. Once the acute feelings ease, 90 percent do not go on to die by suicide.'”

Read more: CDC: U.S. Suicide Rates Have Climbed Dramatically
                   Guns and suicide: A fatal link
                 

Suicide rates are up 30 percent since 1999, CDC says

Monday, June 11, 2018

Donald Trump has 1,655 false statements...so far


This is my new series focusing on the lies and misstatements Donald Trump has made since entering office.

His presidency has been one consisting of a common denominator...lies. The Oval office lunatic has made 1,655 false statements to date. And, we are still counting. The Toronto Star is keeping track of every false claim because...
"We think dishonesty should be challenged. We think inaccurate information should be corrected. And we think the sheer frequency of Trump’s inaccuracy is a central story of his presidency."
And so far, it hasn't been grounds for impeachment by a U.S. Congress that doesn't have a clue how much damage this idiot is doing to our country. It is as if T-rump is seriously on a rampage to sabotage America. But, back to the lies and misstatements now, starting with Canada...
"We lose a lot with Canada. People don't know it. Canada is very smooth. They have you believe that it's wonderful. And it is -- for them. Not wonderful for us; it's wonderful for them."     But...
"The U.S. has a trade surplus with Canada when trade in goods and trade in services are both counted. Trump's own Council of Economic Advisers said as much in its annual report."
Re. guns...
T-rump said, "But when the press covered it, the headline was, 'Trump wants all teachers to have guns.'"
Not true! "in fact: No major news outlet, and possibly no news outlet at all, ran a headline saying Trump wanted "all" teachers to have guns. Media outlets correctly reported that he wants some teachers to have guns."
Re. Barack Obama...
"The 13 Angry Democrats (plus people who worked 8 years for Obama) working on the rigged Russia Witch Hunt, will be MEDDLING with the mid-term elections, especially now that Republicans (stay tough!) are taking the lead in Polls."
"in fact: No part of this claim is fully accurate. There is no indication that people involved with the probe (Robert Mueller) will be nefariously "meddling" with the midterms. Republicans do not lead in a single one of the credible "generic ballot" polls of midterm voting intentions. They briefly led in one, but it promptly bounced back to a Democratic lead."
Re. immigration...
"So they go. And they take this man (Sayfullo Saipov), right? And he got here and he's got 22 people that came in -- his mother, his father, his grandmother, his uncle, his brother, his sister. He got -- 22 people come in for this one guy. That's called chain migration -- 22 people."
This is completely false. "in fact: There is no indication that Saipov, the alleged perpetrator of the terror attack in 2017 on Manhattan's West Side Highway, brought 22 relatives into the U.S. Even Trump's own aides have declined to endorse this claim, and even anti-immigration advocates say it is wildly improbable that one man with a green card could have sponsored 22 people."
Folks, there are over 1,600 of these and some of the best are yet to come. For the first time in the history of the United States, there is someone in the White House that has based his entire presidency on dishonesty and misleading the American public. Stay tuned.

Mick Mulvaney insists on dismantling your consumer protection

Mick Mulvaney, the destroyer
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was originally proposed in 2007 by Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren. In July 2010 Congress made it official and President Barack Obama announced the appointment of then Richard Cordray as Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to set up the new agency. After repeated GOP objections, Richard Cordray was eventually named acting Director; that was nixed but he would eventually become CFPB's first Director.

Through the years Republicans have done everything in their power to thwart the agency, and then Donald Trump on Nov. 25th of his first year as President described the CFPB as “a total disaster.” After repeated efforts to dismantle CFPB, he did the next best thing by nominating Mick Mulvaney as the interim director after Richard Cordray stepped down. True to form, Mulvaney has now dissolved the agency's Consumer Advisory Board. 
"It's quite clear that we've been fired," said Kathleen Engel, a law professor at Suffolk University and a member of the CFPB's Consumer Advisory Board.
NPR describes the group as, " The board is designed to help consumer groups work with the CFPB to identify problems facing Americans who are treated unfairly by financial firms." In other words, Mulvaney completely did away with the people who bring consumer problems to the forefront to be considered. It should also be noted here, "when he was in Congress, Mulvaney sponsored legislation to abolish the bureau." If Republicans had it their way the consuming public would have no avenue available on which to lodge a complaint against big business.

Here's what Ann Baddour, who chaired the board said...
"Firing the current CAPB members is another move indicating Acting Director Mick Mulvaney is only interested in obtaining views from his inner circle, and has no interest in hearing the perspectives of those who work with struggling American families."
The American public's rights could be in ruins if we don't get rid of the Oval Office lunatic soon.

Read more: Mick Mulvaney Effectively Fires CFPB Advisory Council
                 
                   Trump Wants to Dismantle Elizabeth Warren's Agency. Good Luck With That.

Friday, June 8, 2018

Government's largest conglomeration of idiots ever led by Betsy Voss


In a comparison to Sarah Palin, I don't think Betsy DeVos knows just how stupid she is. Ill prepared in most every confrontation with Congress, the general consensus is that she is just, well, stupid. Now she told the Senate appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday that the Federal Commission on School Safety, which she chairs, "will not look at the role of guns in a recent spate of school shootings." OK, let's step back and look at that statement; Betsy DeVos says she refuses to explore the very component that has school children so scared they are afraid to go to school.

Brilliant!

I might remind you here that it is Betsy DeVos who also wants to get rid of the public school system. That should have been the clue that this person is not fit to be head of education in this country. But wait, Republicans are in control of the government so keeping her around makes perfect sense. The day after this ludicrous performance before Congress by DeVos, "A school shooting survivor and several students urged a White House school safety commission on Wednesday to include guns in its discussions." Once again, it is the young people who display the brains.

Donald Trump wants to arm school employes, which, according to former Sandy Hook teacher, Abbey Clements, it “sends the message that adults can’t solve the problem of gun violence in America.” Well, the problem here a firm WE CAN'T, and that is due to the interference of the National Rifle Assn. blocking the passage of reasonable gun control legislation. Here's what Clements said about arming school employees...
“I would like to make something perfectly clear — had school employees been carrying guns at Sandy Hook, it wouldn’t have made us safer. It very well might’ve made things worse.”
To compound DeVoss' stupidity, this commission she heads up for school safety was "formed after the mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla." And yet Betsy DeVos exclaims the commission "Won’t Look At Role Of Guns In School Shootings," adding, "The secretary of education is not charged with focusing on firearms." Where the hell do we get these people?

Read more: Betsy DeVos Says School Safety Commission Won’t Look At Role Of Guns In School Shootings

                   ‘You must understand how fast shootings happen’

Robert Kennedy shooting pulled NRA's chain


Typical NRA gun nut
Robert Kennedy was assassinated on June 5, 1968, and, while some have raised doubts recently about who the assassin was, Sirhan Sirhan is still the choice of most historians. John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King had been killed in 1963, all by guns. Bobby Kennedy had just won the California primary in the 1968 presidential election. Reactions were quick...
"President Lyndon B. Johnson called for a sweeping gun control law. Anti-gun protesters picketed the Washington headquarters of the National Rifle Association as public sentiment zeroed in on guns as a major problem."
Sirhan was 24 at the time and in the passageway through the kitchen, he shot Kennedy numerous times from a snub-nosed revolver. The presidential candidate was hit in his brain, his neck, and one shot grazed his forehead. Conspiracy theorists were abundant in a copycat of John Kennedy's killing. Journalist Jules Witcover, who was there with Bobby Kennedy at the Ambassador...
“His hour of political triumph became another hour of mindless tragedy in a nation that cannot or will not keep weapons of death from the hands of madmen who walk its streets.”

It was four months after Robert Kennedy's assassination and, having waning powers with Congress, primarily due to the Vietnam War, Johnson was able to pass a watered-down gun control bill. Key provisions like national registration of guns and licensing of owners was missing, thanks to the National Rifle Assn. lobbying. And then it happened...
"The 1968 bill marked the beginning of the NRA’s transformation from a gun enthusiast organization focused on marksmanship and gun safety to a political lobbying group focused on opposing gun control."
The gun nuts stumbled along for several years until Wayne LaPierre joined the NRA in 1977, becoming the head gun nut in 1991. It is LaPierre who has championed the 2nd Amendment crusade with success in convincing his gun hugging membership that the government wants to take away all their guns. The organization is responsible for keeping assault weapons on the street, which makes the NRA culpable for the 346 mass shootings in 2017 alone. Worse, there have been 23 school shootings in 2018, one a week, again thanks to LaPierre's proliferation of guns.

So, it was a combination of Bobby Kennedy's assassination and President Lyndon Johnson's determination to pass meaningful gun control legislation that prompted the bizarre demands of Wayne LaPierre's National Rifle Assn. today, an insistence that has caused the loss of thousands of innocent lives. With so much blood on their hands, you would think the NRA would be a leader in some form of responsible gun control. But it's not going to happen, and I am coming to the conclusion the only answer is to take away all guns and start over again.

Read more: The Shooting of Robert Kennedy and the Transformation of the NRA
                    The Biography of NRA Director Wayne LaPierre
                    Mass shootings in the U.S.: 346 mass shootings occurred in 2017
                    There has been, on average, 1 school shooting every week this year

Thursday, June 7, 2018

Oval Office lunatic doesn't give a fuck about the people, says LeBron James


Yes, that's right, he is laughable
Lebron James' Cleveland Cavaliers and Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors have already said a resounding NO to any potential invite from Donald Trump to visit the White House, whoever wins the NBA finals. James said it was because of Donald Trump's uninviting the 2018 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. I posted on this June 6, indicating the Eagles might as well go to Disneyland instead. James' comment on the White House visit was...
"I know no matter who wins this series, no one wants an invite anyway. It won't be Cleveland or Golden State going."
I am reading a little disgust into his statement for the Oval Office lunatic, but, then, that's me. However, to lend validity to my observation, here is a comment by Lebron James to ESPN...
"The number one job in America... is someone who doesn't understand the people, and really don't give a f--- about the people.”
And that pretty much establishes James'--and probably millions more Americans--opinion of Donald Trump. It is a tragic point in the history of this country when one of the top figures in sports says the President of the United States doesn't give a fuck about the people, some of which elected him. And if Trump's stupidity weren't enough, Fox News printed misleading pictures of Eagles players kneeling in prayer, indicating that the player was protesting the National Anthem. I alluded to this "news network" regularly skirting the facts in its reporting...
"Didn't know Fox needed anything to corroborate their 'facts,'"
But when you look at the people who populate Fox News, there's no doubt in your mind...You'll never get the truth.

Read more: LeBron James, Stephen Curry agree that next NBA champs won't visit White House
                    LeBron James Says Donald Trump 'Doesn't Give a F---' About the People
                    Fox News ripped for misleading photos of Philadelphia Eagles players kneeling

UPDATE: Democrats voting in November lead 50% to 40%

UPDATE: New NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll has Democratic leaning voters 10 points more than Republicans, 50% to 40%.

The economy is doing well, unemployment low, new jobs being added, average earnings up and domestic product growth at more than 4.5 percent. Gotta give the GOP credit for passing the tax bill that helped in this general improvement of things, but we mustn't lose sight of the fact that its primary purpose was to reward big business and the wealthy. There are actually three ways the tax plan does not live up to the promises that Trump made to the American people...
1. The cuts for the middle class are meager and temporary
2. There will be significant tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy
3. Individual income rates will not be simplified and are higher than promised
First, the answer to #1: "Middle-income Americans will benefit by around $1,000 initially, according to Tax Policy Center estimates. But by 2027, the majority of middle-class households would get no tax cut, and some would actually pay more." #2: The largest cuts as a share of income will go to taxpayers in the 95th to 99th percentiles of income distribution. #3: "In the final bill, the United States has the same number of tax brackets it had previously: seven." In other words, Trump's tax bill is a ruse for the average American.

But in its design to reward big business and the wealthy, the economy has improved, and the disguised drawbacks to average American benefits are simply left unsaid by Republicans. As one writer put it, "Congress upended the tax code, ladling out oodles to the rich, but also offering a sop to those in the heartland at the expense of the deep blue coasts." But even with all this good news...
"Democrat Conor Lamb pulled off the year’s biggest upset in March and snatched a congressional seat in western Pennsylvania last held by a Democrat more than 15 years earlier."
Added to this: "In the past eight special elections, Democrats have overperformed by an average of 9 points." The Dems have been chipping away at Republicans recently with a blueprint that seems to be working. It can only get better before November.

Read more: TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES: GOP TAX BILL FILLS WEALTHY PEOPLE’S POCKETS, TAKES MONEY FROM MIDDLE CLASS, POOR

Read more: Who has the edge for 2018: Republicans or Democrats?

Donald Trump Says He Will Be Indicted On Tuesday

  THAT'S TODAY... Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has brought the case to this point, now looking at a possible indictment. Trum...