Sunday, February 14, 2016
Kvelling For Bernie Sanders
“Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is already a historic figure. He is the first Jewish candidate to win delegates in a presidential primary or caucus – in fact, the first non-Christian presidential candidate to win a delegate." Bernie Sanders Made Jewish History, Yet No One Seems To Be Kvelling ☀
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Bernie Sanders on Reperations
“Perhaps when Sanders says that reparations would be divisive, he doesn’t mean that they would damage his campaign or the Democratic coalition by dividing its supporters––the plausible interpretation that Ta-Nehisi argued against in his critiques––but that it would divide Americans of different races against one another in a manner likely to cause more harm to vulnerable minority groups than good, or necessitate a divisive process of bureaucrats defining who qualifies as black. Maybe he was thinking that reparations poll dismally when their terms are undefined, and that hashing out specifics (I’m not sure if Ta-Nehisi wants Sanders to embrace the policies suggested by his 2014 article, or as popularly defined) would be divisive even among those on the left who favor reparations in the abstract." Why Bernie Sanders Is Right to Oppose Reparations ☀
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
President Obama on Gun Control
I applaud and support President Obama's stance and objectives and speech on gun control. No machine should ever be put above Human life nor give anybody a superior feeling of power. I say this as an FOID card holder and gun owner in IL.
I like Obama's quote on what former and late President Reagan said about gun control.
There are apx 88 guns for every 100 Americans in this country, we are well armed as it is. Too many needless deaths though, our gun culture is inferior compared to Japans, Canada's, Sweden, Israel and Switzerland.
An exception is that citizens in major city's that have gang activity and are not affiliated with any gangs and are in good standing, etc should be required to concealed carry guns at all times.
I like Obama's quote on what former and late President Reagan said about gun control.
There are apx 88 guns for every 100 Americans in this country, we are well armed as it is. Too many needless deaths though, our gun culture is inferior compared to Japans, Canada's, Sweden, Israel and Switzerland.
An exception is that citizens in major city's that have gang activity and are not affiliated with any gangs and are in good standing, etc should be required to concealed carry guns at all times.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
List of Right Wing Shooters
..."we can categorically REJECT the notion that any of the shooters in question has been shown to be a registered Democrat on a case by case basis.
1. Nidal Hasan (the Ft. Hood shooter) lived in either Virginia (his state of residence prior to being sent to Ft. Hood) or Texas, neither of which has partisan registration. Therefore the claim that he was a "registered Democrat" is false. I do not know if he voted or how he voted, but I do know that unless he was registered in a state in which he did not reside, that the claim that he is a registered Democrat is FALSE.
2. Since Virginia does not have partisan registration there is also no way to tell whether Seung-Hui Cho was a Democrat, but again because there is no partisan registration in the state we can say that the claim that he is a registered Democrat is FALSE. (Update: A more obvious point is that Cho was a resident alien, not a US citizen, so he was not eligible to vote in the US)
3. The false allegation that James Holmes was a registered Democrat was based on a Breitbart blogger named Joel Pollack, who found voter registration records for a DIFFERENT James Holmes who was approximately the same age as the shooter James Holmes. Alex Jones’ Infowars and other right-wing websites then incredulously repeated the false information without verifying it. It was later determined that the Colorado Theater Shooter James Holmes was NOT registered to vote, as evidenced by this retraction: {Newly-released information on the suspect’s birthdate (which, as indicated in our initial report, was a slight mismatch), combined with new details Breitbart News has obtained about the suspect’s likely addresses, together suggest that the suspect may, in fact, not have been registered to vote.}. However, most conservative bloggers continued to promote the lie without printing the Breitbart site's retraction. The claim that James Holmes was a registered Democrat is FALSE.
4. The claim that Adama Lanza is a registered Democrat has been suggested based not on any evidence that he was registered as one, but on the rather dubious claim that because Connecticut has almost 2 to 1 Democratic registration over Republicans, he was probably a Democrat. (Claim: "Adam Lanza, NewtownConn murderer. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by about a 2-1 ratio in Connecticut. The odds are therefore that the Lanza family are (sic) Democrats.") This of course is a bogus argument to begin with, but even if we were to make the claim that a mass shooter’s political affiliation must be the same as the majority of the people in his area, we can debunk this foolish idea by taking this shoddy analysis down to the local level. Yes, Connecticut voted for Barack Obama, BUT the city of Newtown voted for Mitt Romney. If we look at the results we find that Mitt Romney defeated Barack Obama in Newtown by 7451-6784 votes or 51.7 percent to 47 percent. Republican Senate candidate and Tea Party favorite Linda McMahon carried the city over Democrat Chris Murphy by an even larger margin. Add in the other information we have that Lanza’s mother was a “doomsday prepper” and a home schooler in a Republican-leaning city and we can pretty well dispense with the erroneous assumption that Lanza must have been a Democrat (UPDATE: According to at least one media source, Nancy Lanza was a registered Republican. The source does not provide a link, but the author of this article is seeking further confirmation). We can therefore claim that with no evidence to support the claim, the assertion that Lanza was a Democrat is not demonstrated and that in the absence of any evidence it is likely FALSE.
5. Klebold and Harris of course were not old enough to vote and they had no apparent political affiliation. Allegations that they came from families of Democrats or liberal progressives appear to have no sources to substantiate those claims. What little ideology the boys demonstrated owed mostly to an admiration for Timothy McVeigh not Ted Kennedy. Harris’ father was a retired Air Force pilot and Eric Harris wanted to join the Marine Corps. The boys lived in Littleton, Colorado a relatively conservative and affluent suburb of Denver. The claim that their parents were Democrats is UNSUBSTANTIATED. Any suggestion that the two boys were Democrats is demonstrably FALSE.
Interestingly, Hedgecock and those on the far right have conveniently overlooked a number of cases where ideology is clearly right-wing. The acts below are instances of right-wing violence that are unequivocally committed by people who are openly hostile to liberalism. While this does not mean these killers are Republicans, it is quite clear that they are RIGHT-WINGERS and that they have far more in common with Mr. Hedgecock, Alex Jones and the other gun-toting conspiracy nuts on the right than with any evils associated with the Democratic Party or liberalism. In addition, to the list below is the obvious case of Timothy McVeigh, who I have not included because his crime was not committed with firearms. It was however, committed by a right-winger and the carnage was on a massive scale.
For example, on July 18, 1984 James Oliver Huberty, who told his wife he hated “children, Mexicans and the United States” opened fire inside the McDonald’s Restaurant in San Ysidro, CA using a Browning P-35 Hi-Power 9mm pistol, Winchester 1200 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun, and an Israeli Military Industries 9mm Carbine (Uzi) – all legally acquired. He killed 21 and injured 19 before he was shot dead by police.
On Aug. 10, 1999 White supremacist Buford O. Furrow, Jr., fired 70 rounds with an Uzi-type submachine-gun inside the lobby of the Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, CA wounding three children, a teenage counselor and an office worker. He then carjacked a woman’s Toyota at gunpoint, dumped it behind a motel and murdered US Postal Worker Joseph Santos with a Glock 9mm handgun.
On July 27, 2008 Former U.S. Army private, Jim David Atkinsson, who hated Democrats, liberals, African Americans and homosexuals, using a Remington Model 48 12-gauge shotgun, murdered two people and injured seven others inside the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, TN.
The day after Obama’s inauguration, white supremacist Keith Luke went on a killing spree in Brockton, Massachusetts. His goal was to kill as many Jews, blacks and Hispanics as possible. When questioned by investigators, the deranged gunman who had stockpiled hundreds of rounds of ammunition, proclaimed that he was fighting the extinction of the white race.
A little over a month later, Dannie Baker, a former Republican campaign volunteer shot five Chilean immigrants in Florida. Those who knew him said he was obsessed with the fear that illegal immigrants were taking over the country.
In April of 2009, Richard Popalowski, a white supremacist in Pittsburgh, shot and killed three police officers following a domestic disturbance call. He apparently thought that Obama was part of a government conspiracy to seize all guns, and he feared the government would take his guns away.
Later the same month, a Fort Walton Beach Florida man who thought the Obama administration was conspiring against him, shot and murdered two sheriff’s deputies.
On May 31, 2009 Dr. George Tiller was murdered in his own church by a right-wing “pro- life” gun man who decided to express his belief in the sanctity of human life by executing a medical doctor.
Eleven days later a right-wing white supremacist and Holocaust denier walked into the National Holocaust Museum and killed an African-American security guard. Two weeks later, three Neo-Nazis were arrested for bombing a diversity office in Scottsdale, Arizona.
On April 20, 2010 a member of the Sovereign Citizen movement was arrested after a failed attempt to take over a Tennessee county courthouse.
Exactly one month later, in West Memphis Arkansas, Sovereign citizens Jerry and Joe Kane murdered two police officers before they themselves were shot and killed in the ensuing shoot out with police.
On July 18, 2010 Byron Williams, an angry unemployed man, was arrested by police after they discovered a car full of weapons and ammunition that he had planned to use to kill progressives. He was on his way to the non-profit Tides Foundation Center, a favorite target of vitriol from Glenn Beck’s radio show.
On Jan. 8, 2011 22-year old Jared Lee Loughner killed six people, including a judge and a nine-year old child, and wounded 13 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), using a 9mm Glock 19 pistol during a public meeting in a supermarket parking lot near Tuscon, AZ.
On Aug. 5, 2012 Wade Michael Page, a 40-year old white supremacist and U.S. Army veteran murdered six people and wounded four others inside a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, WI with a Springfield XD(M) semi-automatic pistol." Via The Examiner
1. Nidal Hasan (the Ft. Hood shooter) lived in either Virginia (his state of residence prior to being sent to Ft. Hood) or Texas, neither of which has partisan registration. Therefore the claim that he was a "registered Democrat" is false. I do not know if he voted or how he voted, but I do know that unless he was registered in a state in which he did not reside, that the claim that he is a registered Democrat is FALSE.
2. Since Virginia does not have partisan registration there is also no way to tell whether Seung-Hui Cho was a Democrat, but again because there is no partisan registration in the state we can say that the claim that he is a registered Democrat is FALSE. (Update: A more obvious point is that Cho was a resident alien, not a US citizen, so he was not eligible to vote in the US)
3. The false allegation that James Holmes was a registered Democrat was based on a Breitbart blogger named Joel Pollack, who found voter registration records for a DIFFERENT James Holmes who was approximately the same age as the shooter James Holmes. Alex Jones’ Infowars and other right-wing websites then incredulously repeated the false information without verifying it. It was later determined that the Colorado Theater Shooter James Holmes was NOT registered to vote, as evidenced by this retraction: {Newly-released information on the suspect’s birthdate (which, as indicated in our initial report, was a slight mismatch), combined with new details Breitbart News has obtained about the suspect’s likely addresses, together suggest that the suspect may, in fact, not have been registered to vote.}. However, most conservative bloggers continued to promote the lie without printing the Breitbart site's retraction. The claim that James Holmes was a registered Democrat is FALSE.
4. The claim that Adama Lanza is a registered Democrat has been suggested based not on any evidence that he was registered as one, but on the rather dubious claim that because Connecticut has almost 2 to 1 Democratic registration over Republicans, he was probably a Democrat. (Claim: "Adam Lanza, NewtownConn murderer. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by about a 2-1 ratio in Connecticut. The odds are therefore that the Lanza family are (sic) Democrats.") This of course is a bogus argument to begin with, but even if we were to make the claim that a mass shooter’s political affiliation must be the same as the majority of the people in his area, we can debunk this foolish idea by taking this shoddy analysis down to the local level. Yes, Connecticut voted for Barack Obama, BUT the city of Newtown voted for Mitt Romney. If we look at the results we find that Mitt Romney defeated Barack Obama in Newtown by 7451-6784 votes or 51.7 percent to 47 percent. Republican Senate candidate and Tea Party favorite Linda McMahon carried the city over Democrat Chris Murphy by an even larger margin. Add in the other information we have that Lanza’s mother was a “doomsday prepper” and a home schooler in a Republican-leaning city and we can pretty well dispense with the erroneous assumption that Lanza must have been a Democrat (UPDATE: According to at least one media source, Nancy Lanza was a registered Republican. The source does not provide a link, but the author of this article is seeking further confirmation). We can therefore claim that with no evidence to support the claim, the assertion that Lanza was a Democrat is not demonstrated and that in the absence of any evidence it is likely FALSE.
5. Klebold and Harris of course were not old enough to vote and they had no apparent political affiliation. Allegations that they came from families of Democrats or liberal progressives appear to have no sources to substantiate those claims. What little ideology the boys demonstrated owed mostly to an admiration for Timothy McVeigh not Ted Kennedy. Harris’ father was a retired Air Force pilot and Eric Harris wanted to join the Marine Corps. The boys lived in Littleton, Colorado a relatively conservative and affluent suburb of Denver. The claim that their parents were Democrats is UNSUBSTANTIATED. Any suggestion that the two boys were Democrats is demonstrably FALSE.
Interestingly, Hedgecock and those on the far right have conveniently overlooked a number of cases where ideology is clearly right-wing. The acts below are instances of right-wing violence that are unequivocally committed by people who are openly hostile to liberalism. While this does not mean these killers are Republicans, it is quite clear that they are RIGHT-WINGERS and that they have far more in common with Mr. Hedgecock, Alex Jones and the other gun-toting conspiracy nuts on the right than with any evils associated with the Democratic Party or liberalism. In addition, to the list below is the obvious case of Timothy McVeigh, who I have not included because his crime was not committed with firearms. It was however, committed by a right-winger and the carnage was on a massive scale.
For example, on July 18, 1984 James Oliver Huberty, who told his wife he hated “children, Mexicans and the United States” opened fire inside the McDonald’s Restaurant in San Ysidro, CA using a Browning P-35 Hi-Power 9mm pistol, Winchester 1200 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun, and an Israeli Military Industries 9mm Carbine (Uzi) – all legally acquired. He killed 21 and injured 19 before he was shot dead by police.
On Aug. 10, 1999 White supremacist Buford O. Furrow, Jr., fired 70 rounds with an Uzi-type submachine-gun inside the lobby of the Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, CA wounding three children, a teenage counselor and an office worker. He then carjacked a woman’s Toyota at gunpoint, dumped it behind a motel and murdered US Postal Worker Joseph Santos with a Glock 9mm handgun.
On July 27, 2008 Former U.S. Army private, Jim David Atkinsson, who hated Democrats, liberals, African Americans and homosexuals, using a Remington Model 48 12-gauge shotgun, murdered two people and injured seven others inside the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, TN.
The day after Obama’s inauguration, white supremacist Keith Luke went on a killing spree in Brockton, Massachusetts. His goal was to kill as many Jews, blacks and Hispanics as possible. When questioned by investigators, the deranged gunman who had stockpiled hundreds of rounds of ammunition, proclaimed that he was fighting the extinction of the white race.
A little over a month later, Dannie Baker, a former Republican campaign volunteer shot five Chilean immigrants in Florida. Those who knew him said he was obsessed with the fear that illegal immigrants were taking over the country.
In April of 2009, Richard Popalowski, a white supremacist in Pittsburgh, shot and killed three police officers following a domestic disturbance call. He apparently thought that Obama was part of a government conspiracy to seize all guns, and he feared the government would take his guns away.
Later the same month, a Fort Walton Beach Florida man who thought the Obama administration was conspiring against him, shot and murdered two sheriff’s deputies.
On May 31, 2009 Dr. George Tiller was murdered in his own church by a right-wing “pro- life” gun man who decided to express his belief in the sanctity of human life by executing a medical doctor.
Eleven days later a right-wing white supremacist and Holocaust denier walked into the National Holocaust Museum and killed an African-American security guard. Two weeks later, three Neo-Nazis were arrested for bombing a diversity office in Scottsdale, Arizona.
On April 20, 2010 a member of the Sovereign Citizen movement was arrested after a failed attempt to take over a Tennessee county courthouse.
Exactly one month later, in West Memphis Arkansas, Sovereign citizens Jerry and Joe Kane murdered two police officers before they themselves were shot and killed in the ensuing shoot out with police.
On July 18, 2010 Byron Williams, an angry unemployed man, was arrested by police after they discovered a car full of weapons and ammunition that he had planned to use to kill progressives. He was on his way to the non-profit Tides Foundation Center, a favorite target of vitriol from Glenn Beck’s radio show.
On Jan. 8, 2011 22-year old Jared Lee Loughner killed six people, including a judge and a nine-year old child, and wounded 13 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), using a 9mm Glock 19 pistol during a public meeting in a supermarket parking lot near Tuscon, AZ.
On Aug. 5, 2012 Wade Michael Page, a 40-year old white supremacist and U.S. Army veteran murdered six people and wounded four others inside a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, WI with a Springfield XD(M) semi-automatic pistol." Via The Examiner
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Japan Gun Laws
Japan Gun Laws:
Those disqualified from possessing a gun according to Article 5 of the Law include
(1) a person less than 18 years of age (a talented athlete of age 14 years or over may be excepted);
(2) a person who has declared bankruptcy and the restrictions have not been removed;
(3) a person who has lost or may lose full mental ability through mental illness or specified health problems, or who has dementia;
(4) a person addicted to alcohol, narcotics, cannabis, opium, or stimulant drugs;
(5) a feebleminded person;
(6) a person without a fixed abode;
(7–11) a person whose license was revoked and a specified period has not elapsed;
(12) any person who has been sentenced to imprisonment and five years have not elapsed since his or her sentence was completed or remitted;
(13–14) a person who violated this Law or a related law and a specified period has not elapsed;
(15) a person who stalked another person and received a warning or restraining order;
(16) a person who behaved violently and received a restraining order under the Domestic Violence Prevention Law;
(17) a person who is recognized by the [Public Safety] Commission as one who has committed violent acts as a member of a group or repeatedly; and
(18) a person who can be reasonably expected to harm another’s life, body, or property, [be a threat to] public safety, or commit suicide.[39]
In addition, if a relative, including a de facto spouse, living with an applicant can be reasonably expected to pose a threat to the life or property of other persons or to public safety by using a gun or sword, the prefecture’s Public Safety Commission may not permit the possession of a gun or sword.[40] There are exceptions and additional restrictions.
In order to possess a hunting gun or air gun, one must attend classes, held by the prefecture’s Public Safety Commission, concerning the laws and regulations on possession of hunting or air guns and the methods of their use and safe storage.[41] In addition, in order to prevent a person without the skills to handle a gun from obtaining one,[42] the law requires an applicant for a gun-possession permit to take a skills test or complete shooting classes.[43] In the case of a rifle, permission for possession is not granted unless the person is a professional hunter; will use it to exterminate harmful animals and birds for the protection of his business; or has had a permit to possess a hunting gun for more than ten years.[44
Those disqualified from possessing a gun according to Article 5 of the Law include
(1) a person less than 18 years of age (a talented athlete of age 14 years or over may be excepted);
(2) a person who has declared bankruptcy and the restrictions have not been removed;
(3) a person who has lost or may lose full mental ability through mental illness or specified health problems, or who has dementia;
(4) a person addicted to alcohol, narcotics, cannabis, opium, or stimulant drugs;
(5) a feebleminded person;
(6) a person without a fixed abode;
(7–11) a person whose license was revoked and a specified period has not elapsed;
(12) any person who has been sentenced to imprisonment and five years have not elapsed since his or her sentence was completed or remitted;
(13–14) a person who violated this Law or a related law and a specified period has not elapsed;
(15) a person who stalked another person and received a warning or restraining order;
(16) a person who behaved violently and received a restraining order under the Domestic Violence Prevention Law;
(17) a person who is recognized by the [Public Safety] Commission as one who has committed violent acts as a member of a group or repeatedly; and
(18) a person who can be reasonably expected to harm another’s life, body, or property, [be a threat to] public safety, or commit suicide.[39]
In addition, if a relative, including a de facto spouse, living with an applicant can be reasonably expected to pose a threat to the life or property of other persons or to public safety by using a gun or sword, the prefecture’s Public Safety Commission may not permit the possession of a gun or sword.[40] There are exceptions and additional restrictions.
In order to possess a hunting gun or air gun, one must attend classes, held by the prefecture’s Public Safety Commission, concerning the laws and regulations on possession of hunting or air guns and the methods of their use and safe storage.[41] In addition, in order to prevent a person without the skills to handle a gun from obtaining one,[42] the law requires an applicant for a gun-possession permit to take a skills test or complete shooting classes.[43] In the case of a rifle, permission for possession is not granted unless the person is a professional hunter; will use it to exterminate harmful animals and birds for the protection of his business; or has had a permit to possess a hunting gun for more than ten years.[44
Monday, October 5, 2015
President Obama on Gun.Control
“We collectively are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones because of our inaction. When Americans are killed in mine disasters, we work to make mines safer. When Americans are killed in floods and hurricanes, we make communities safer. When roads are unsafe, we fix them to reduce auto fatalities. We have seat belt laws because we know it saves lives. The notion that gun violence is somehow different, that our freedom, our Constitution prohibits any modest regulation of how we use a deadly weapon, when there are law-abiding gun owners all across the country who could hunt and protect their families and do everything they do under such regulations. Doesn’t make sense." President Obama ☀
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Guns in America
“How madmen can gain access to guns continues to baffle the world, why Americans are intoxicated on the right to guns mystifies our world’s neighbors, and how such a gun culture has been embraced by our society beggars intelligence." Jesus Creed ☀
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