August, 2014 archive
What’s Wrong with This Picture, Border Patrol Dept. 0
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness promotes creativity.
Elisabeth Koulouris, 55, and daughter Anne-Marie, 23, had been struggling over the loaded rifle when it went off, the County Court heard yesterday.
The bullet went flying into a neighbour’s bedroom, just missing the two terrified occupants.
Jim Crow v. 2.0 0
Juan Cole wonders whether the bigots, empowered by Nixon’s odious Southern Strategy (now relabed the “Tea Party”) and the Roberts Supreme Court, may have succeeded in rolling back the most important gain of the Civil Rights Movement.
Read it.
And weep.
Gassed 0
Under siege last night in Ferguson, Mo.: It’s a painful listen, but you need to listen all the way through.
You can see a snippet of video here.
Race or Class? 0
Steven M. wonders whether Americans cannot seem to shake racial hatred because of race or because of class. He thinks it may be a some of both. A nugget:
My money’s on a symbiotic relationship between the two: race is used to bolster class; feelings of class are influenced by race. I’ll quote Lyndon Johnson again:
As long as the less-privileged fight amongst themselves, the privileged and the plutocrats are safe in their catbird seats.
“Phone Home” 0
I’m not sure how I feel about this:
Otherwise all other apps and phone functions will be locked. However, even when the phone is locked, the child will always be able to call 911 in case of an emergency.
I’m not sure where this falls on the scale from motherly (and fatherly) concern to neurotic manipulation, but it does not awaken within me sanguine feelings.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Spray that politeness around.
(snip)
The homeowner was struck by a bullet in his behind. Sedgwick County Officers said it came from across a farm field behind his backyard. Five men ages 18-20 were shooting several rounds from the other side of the field. They were aiming at a dead stump with no back stop.
More gun nuts too stupid to have guns.
War and Mongers of War 0
Dan Simpson wonders who influenced President Obama to authorize increased involvement in Iraq.
It is hard to imagine that he pays any attention to people like Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., or Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., the Bobbsey Twin advocates of any war they can find. Or, perhaps, more credibly, Mr. Obama is listening to the representatives of the U.S. military-industrial complex who he hopes will help finance the Democratic 2014 and 2016 campaigns rather than having them try to kick out the Democrats in favor of a Republican Congress and then a Republican White House, both of which would love whatever wars they can tee up to improve their profits.
Read the rest.
The truth that Americans don’t want to admit is that we can’t “fix” other countries by force. Choosing war is admitting failure.
Re-Frame-Ups 0
There is a difference between the cause of a situation and the tactics employed as the situation develops.
In Ferguson, Mo., Michael Brown was not murdered by an MRAP or a grenade launcher. He was murdered by a uniformed man with a gun for the crime of being while black.
Steven M. suggests that the discussion of events in Ferguson is devolving into a discussion of the (admittedly outrageously over-the-top) police tactics after Michael Brown’s death, thereby taking attention away from what caused it. He notes that
Conservatives are starting to frame the debate on policing, and racism is being deemed irrelevant.
Racism informed the tactics, as well as the original crime. Does anyone seriously think that a crowd of white folks protesting the killing of a white kid by that same cop would have been met with a mob of cops with armored vehicles and machine-guns?
The whole shebang is infused with white racism.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Another polite guy with a gun:
Police said the bullet came from a small-caliber handgun carried by a 53-year-old man from Jasper, Ga. The gun accidentally discharged, and the bullet traveled across Helen’s tourist-laden Main Street and struck the woman in the side.
More persons packing heat will, no doubt, prevent such things from happening in the future.
