Boebert Is the New Gohmert 0
We are a society of stupid.
Misdirection Play, Polite Society Dept., One More Time 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Michael Spivey runs the numbers and finds the correlation. A snippet:
(snip)
The correlation in Figure 2 does not even approach statistical significance. The prevalence of mental illness in a state does not appear to be playing a role in the prevalence of guns deaths in that state.
Follow the link for the more numbers and the figures to which he alludes.
The Privatization Scam 0
Jeff Shapiro looks at the latest antics of Virginia’s Governor Trumpkin as he seeks to undermine public education.
A Tune for the Times 0
Mangy comments at the Youtube page:
Totally convinced that if background checks were instituted, it could have severe, long-term negative effects on gun sales, (and subsequently on NRA lobbyist donations to campaign funds) NRA poster boys like Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz boldly say NO MORE. (No more questions that is.) A lot of the dead children in school shootings were probably going to expire soon anyway from diseases George Soros manufactured in China with Bill Gates, right?
Power Trippers 0
F. T. Rea gets to the gist:
Here’s what I see: Possessors of assault rifles adore the thrill of shooting those weapons of war.
Follow the link for the rest.
Ragged Individualism 0
University of South Florida Professor Murad Antia notes that, the United States had 12.5 times more deaths from COVID-19 than did Japan as a percentage of population. Indeed, he notes that Florida, with a population about one-fifth Japan’s, had more deaths than Japan.
He looks at some of the cultural issues which he suggests contributed to this. Here’s a snippet:
Here, on the other hand, we have a lot more freedom to do as we like, with dire consequences sometimes. Americans seem to favor individual rights over collective rights. In times of collective crises like World War II, collective rights have taken precedence, but only temporarily. In a nation where “rugged individualism” is infused in its DNA, individual rights eventually take precedence. We witness it in debates over gun control, education, climate change and health care.
(Broken tag fixed.)
Dirty Laundering 0
Thom and his guest discuss Donald Trump’s history of organized criming.
Misdirection Play, Polite Society Dept. 0
Mark Follman disagrees with the popular notion that mass shooters are mentally ill persons who suddenly “snap.” Here’s a bit of his article:
(snip)
In 2018, a deep investigation of 63 rampage shooters conducted by experts with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit showed that only a quarter of the offenders were known to have been professionally diagnosed with a mental illness of any kind. While it’s possible that some suicidal attackers may have gone undiagnosed, only three of the 63 perpetrators, or about 5 percent of the total examined, had a known psychotic disorder.
Elsewhere, Chris Williams argues America’s refusal to do anything to stop the shootings could almost be classified as “grooming.”
Clearly, mass shooters are somehow not right in the head, but I believe that citing “mental illness” as the reason for their behavior does indeed count as a misdirection play, as it diverts attention from concrete actions, particularly limits on the types of weapons that can be sold and who can buy them, that could, if not prevent them completely, greatly reduce their frequency.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
I remember the days of water fountains labelled “white” and “colored,” bathrooms ditto, even separate schools.
And there those who would bring those days back.