This opinion piece is so full of false dichotomies and blatant lies, it had to be fisked. The writer is using the modern version of the bloody shirt, a poor kid who was killed at Sandy Hook, Noah Pozner.
Noah Pozner did nothing to change my mind, except die. Before he died, I believed a few sensible gun laws could save children like Noah Pozner. After he died, after he and his Sandy Hook classmates were mowed down by a man with a gun, I changed my mind. You have the unfettered right to change your mind, just as I have the same right not to change mine.
After he died, I realized an old custom had to die with him, so a nobler one could take its place. Before Noah Pozner died, I thought there was nothing wrong with the Second Amendment a little common sense couldn’t fix. After he died, I’ve come to believe “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms” no longer promotes our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but daily threatens them. How free are we when more people are shot and killed each year in America than populate the towns in which many of us live? How free are we when a backpack that unfolds into a bulletproof covering is a must-have item for schoolchildren? "Common sense" is that concept that the thinking of the social body is more valued than the individual's rights. It is a flim flam used by grifters to take property, that the grifters don't like and that doesn't belong to them in the name of "public safety". If this Quaker was aware of how the concept of "public safety" is consumed by the state's ongoing need to take blood and property by violent means, maybe he would rather advocate for taking guns away from governments and their employees as a "common sense" solution for gun violence. Guns are about freedom. Having your rights taken from you could focus your attention on the notion that, if you are afraid of people owning guns, the only solution is to get a gun, and defend yourself. And let others around you do the same. Stop giving the state far more power than it should ever have.
“A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”
While I concede that a well-regulated militia might be necessary to the security of a free state, that role is now ably served by our military, professionally trained and highly disciplined, drawn from the ranks of our families and friends, from whom we have nothing to fear. We no longer need Minutemen. The British have not surrounded Concord. This is not “Independence Day” and we’re not under alien attack. I cannot imagine any circumstance in which our government would urge us to arm ourselves in defense of our country. Our nation has outgrown its need for an armed citizenry. The disadvantages of widespread gun ownership far outweigh any perceived advantage. Ask the parents of Noah Pozner. Ask African-American residents of Ferguson, Missouri. Ask what America’s love affair with guns has meant to them. Keeping and bearing arms is about countering the very same government that trains the military, police and security services, some of which have been used against citizens in the past; and are being used to threaten citizens as we speak. America doesn't have a "love affair" with guns, but we do have a "love affair" with freedom, hence guns. the problem with Ferguson can be laid at the feet of the very government you would use to take personal property away from people. Your Golden Boy, Michael Brown was a violent thug, who resisted police and got shot for his troubles.
The merit of a position can be gauged by the temperament of its supporters, and these days the NRA reminds me of the folks who packed the courtroom of the Scopes monkey trial, fighting to preserve a worldview no thoughtful person espoused. This worship of guns grows more ridiculous, more difficult to sustain, and they know it, hence their theatrics, their parading through Home Depot and Target, rifles slung over shoulders. Defending themselves, they say. From what, from whom? I have whiled away many an hour at Home Depots and Targets and never once come under attack. I have always said the making of a show of gun ownership, such as having the AR or AK slung over your should, while it may be your right is inappropriate, and unnecessary in most instances. But I don't think those guns should be stolen using the power of the biggest thug on the block: government. Your idea that NRA supporters are loud and vociferous in their views could be turned around, using this very article as an indicator that gun thieves' and fascists' advocacy of theft and murder "grows more ridiculous, more difficult to sustain, and they know it, hence their theatrics..."
They remind me of the Confederates who fought to defend the indefensible, sacrificing the lives of others in order to preserve some dubious right they alone valued. They would rather die, armed to the teeth, than live in a nation free of guns and their bitter harvest. You can have my gun when you pry it from around my cold, dead fingers, their bumper stickers read. How empty their lives must be if life without a gun is not worth living. We have new Confederates now. They advocate using the raw power of the state to steal property from people who own them, killing them in the process if necessary. And backing them and shouting them on are fascists such as the writer of this article. I can think of nothing less odious than a man who asks me to give up my rights in favor of a group, which, if not placated, will send armed thugs to steal the property anyway. Turn this thing around. A large group of people wish for you to be disarmed and will make the state send thugs after you if you don't. You are one of those people, no better than the armed thugs who will try to kill you if you resist. Wouldn't you want to at least have a chance to take one of those bastards with you? Wouldn't you want your friends to follow up with the people who made this happen?
The first thing Hitler did was confiscate guns, the gun lovers warn, a bald lie if ever there was one. But let’s suspend reality and imagine it was true. Where is the Hitler in Canada, in England, in Sweden, in every other civilized nation whose citizens have resolved to live without guns? Let the NRA trot out its tired canard about the housewife whose husband thoughtfully armed her, who shot the intruder and saved her family. I will tell you about the father who mistook his son for a burglar and shot him dead, about the man who rigged a shotgun in his barn to discourage thievery and accidentally slew his precious little girl when she entered the barn to play with her kittens. Sucks to be those people. Bad decisions happen all the time. It's called freedom for a reason,. What you want is fascism. I won't have it peaceably, and you should be aware that through your advocacy you also become a participant in any resulting violence. Seriously, man, defend yourself: get a gun and learn how to use it.
What drives this fanaticism? Can I venture a guess? Have you noticed the simultaneous increase in gun sales and the decline of the white majority? After the 2010 census, when social scientists predicted a white minority in America by the year 2043, we began to hear talk of “taking back our country.” Gun shops popped up like mushrooms, mostly in the white enclaves of America’s suburbs and small towns. One can’t help wondering if the zeal for weaponry has been fueled by the same dismal racism that has propelled so many social ills. Racism goes both ways. The "white majority" is declining because whites aren't reproducing faster than other races. The wherefores don't matter. It just is. You may have have a pet theory... Wait a minute. You're a fascist. And all fascists have a favorite race theory. It's what they do.
When I was growing up, our schools and colleges were unmatched, our medical care unrivaled, our infrastructure state-of-the-art, our opportunities unlimited. America set the gold standard. We can be great again, but not without addressing the fear and ignorance that feed our gun culture, for no nation can ascend until it cures the virus of violence. We cannot let the most fearful among us set our nation’s tone, lest we descend to that sorry state we labored centuries to rise above. It is time for America to grow up, to become adults, so that children like Noah Pozner have a fighting chance to do the same. Phil, you are part of the fear, in case you or your readers haven't noticed. You are fueling the violence the state will visit on people who own guns And you haven't gotten to that higher level of thinking that, if you are afraid of people who have guns, get a gun and learn how to use it. A Quaker pastor, author and speaker, Philip Gulley received his masters of divinity degree from Christian Theological Seminary, and is co-pastor of Fairfield Friends Meeting in Camby, Indiana. He is also the author of “Living the Quaker Way: Timeless Wisdom for a Better Life Today” by Convergent Books.
#1
Before you hit the Quakers, know that General Nathaniel Greene who orchestrated the brilliant Southern Campaign in the American War of Independence that move Cornwallis up to Virginia to meet his fate and General Jacob Brown who would end up as the commander on the Niagara front in the War of 1812 giving the British as good as they dealt out were from such stock. Just a socialists have completed the long march in the Donk party, they've done the same here.
Hey pastor - read the law, 10 U.S. Code § 311 - Militia: composition and classes -
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and (2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
#2
I read an interesting thing once that said (with statistics, but I didn't verify them) that if you took the crimes of the predominantly black areas out of US stats the US is generally the same as Canada when it comes to gun crime.
So in effect it is gangs and some verify high profile nut jobs.
#3
There was a time way back in the late 40s and early 50s when rifle clubs were common in middle schools. Kids were taught about the proper use of firearms and gun safety. There were no mass shootings to my recollection. There were no shrill screams from the extreme left for gun confiscation (that is the ultimate goal of the "gun control" crowd). There was virtually no left. The communists were our enemies. My how times change--not always for the better.
#6
Face it, the people have already lost the right to keep and bear arms. At the time the Constitution was written, one had the right to keep and bear the most advanced arms available -- rifles. To be able to wage an effective insurrection today you would need AK-47's, shoulder launched surface to air missiles and anti tank missiles, etc. And those are all illegal. Second amendment advocates have already lost the battle.
Although I've got to admit that even I would be against individuals owning atomic bombs, or chemical weapons, etc, since one crazy armed with those is no doubt far more dangerous to the general welfare than a tyrannical government.
#8
Salon needs to rebrand as "Troll" as a truth in advertising thing.
Posted by: regular joe ||
11/15/2014 19:11 Comments ||
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#9
Well, I hope his book is written better than this crap. In his effort to slalom platitudes, he threw in Furgoson, which is a government vs. citizen killing, and the local agitators' 'they shooting us down in the streets'.
That there is a Kennedy-level ski accident to this whole coming out statement, but to continue:
Do you think 1930's Germans knew to to elect Hitler, because he is a Hitler? How about a Baghdadi? I hear there is a mayor from Mexico looking for a job...can't remember his name, but it isn't Hitler so he should be a swell guy.
The British have not surrounded Concord. You putz, eveyone was British there back then. S'why Paul Revere's network was saying 'The Regulars are Coming!'. S'why everyone was in shock of their own government sending troops against its own citizens.
#3
Obama and Fauxchahontas are cut from the same ideological cloth. Warren is a way left wignut extremist. However, it is difficult to image her being worse than what we currently have. A conservative Democrat hasn't existed for a long time--they went out with the Dodo bird.
#7
I don't read Noonan anymore. She was a Champ supporter in 2007, and that level of misjudgment from someone who worked in the Reagan whitehouse is too much to forgive.
[DAWN] THERE will be zero tolerance towards "all forms of terrorism" was the gist of the conversation at the first meeting at the ISI HQ between army chief Gen Raheel Sharif and his handpicked intelligence head Lt-Gen Rizwan Akhtar.
Given the mass murder and mayhem everyone in Pakistain has witnessed over the past several years, with thousands personally affected too, there wouldn't be a single soul in the country who wouldn't wish all success to those who express such a resolve.
Even then many observers will ask whether "all forms of terrorism" was mentioned to send a chill up the spine of hard boyz of different hues active in the country or placate the army chief's hosts as he heads to the United States for talks.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] I became personally aware of the way intelligence agencies dabbled in elections during the 2002 polls. A very close friend was contesting a Lahore constituency on a PPP ticket, and I stayed with him for part of his campaign.
Another friend who happened to be a key adviser to Musharraf in those days asked me to pass on a message to my host: run from some other constituency as his opponent, Tahirul Qadri ...Pak politician, and would-be dictator, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran and Pakistain Awami Tehrik. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him... , was going to win. He wouldn't go into any reasons except to say it "had been decided". In the event, my friend was declared the winner in the unofficial first count; soon afterwards, the result was reversed, with Qadri emerging as the ultimate winner.
In the same elections, I heard of candidates being pressurised by spooks to switch sides, or sit the polls out. They were threatened with exposure of false tax returns and other shenanigans.
Ever since Khan's political star came into the ascendant, there have been rumours about covert backing from the army. According to Javed Hashmi, PTI's ex-president, a 'third force' was behind Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... 's destabilising drive. And certainly, Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... 's government has been greatly weakened as a result of the PTI campaign, an outcome that could not have displeased the army's top brass.
Khan's grasp of international relations was displayed with his campaign to block NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... containers transiting through Pakistain to Afghanistan. These supplies were being moved under an agreement between Pakistain and NATO, and their blockage embarrassed the government. Unruly PTI goons roughed up drivers and damaged trucks.
The result? Since January, there have been 10 US drone strikes in Fata without a squeak from the fire-breathing Khan. In a further display of diplomatic finesse, the PTI dharna and general lawlessness in Islamabad blocked the visits of the presidents of China and Sri Lanka, both important friends of Pakistain.
And of course we have followed Imran Khan's defence of the Taliban with growing bemusement and dismay. He delayed military action against the holy warriors using North Wazoo as a sanctuary. By cosying up to groups such as the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... , he has aided and abetted growing radicalisation in Pakistain.
What we were unaware of is Khan's standing as an educationist. Here's an email I received recently: "As a teacher, I am alarmed by Imran Khan's announcement that once in power PTI will have one education system in the country by 'combining the syllabus of the madressahs, Urdu medium schools and English medium schools'. Teachers in Pakistain have to stop him before he completely destroys an already compromised education system...
"[With the money being spent on his sons' education in England] he can open a model school on his Bani Gala estate to experiment with his ideas before thrusting them down our throats."
Already completely isolated, Khan is showing signs of desperation as his exhausted, disillusioned followers return to their homes. While his campaign has shown that there is a huge appetite for reform among large sections of Pak society, people won't be taken for an unending ride by charlatans chanting slogans for change. This is especially true when the messiah chooses to surround himself with dubious political hacks who have profited from the very system he wants to overthrow.
This is Pakistan, so of course they will. Over and over and over again.
Ever since he was captain of Pakistain's cricket team, Khan has been known for his stubborn, uncompromising streak. While this was mostly an asset on the cricket field, it is a major flaw in a politician. The art of compromise and give-and-take is an essential component of politics. Without it, the system goes into gridlock.
So while I support Khan's demand for electoral reform, there's not much else I can agree with him about.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/15/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
"While his campaign has shown that there is a huge appetite for reform among large sections of Pak society, people won't be taken for an unending ride by charlatans chanting slogans for change. "
-- why should they be any different there than anywhere else? I'd say people being taken for an unending ride by charlatans chanting slogans for change is the most likely outcome. In Pakistan and anywhere else you'd care to name.
Glenn Renolds So how are things going for feminism? Well, last week, some feminists took one of the great achievements of human history — landing a probe from Earth on a comet hundreds of millions of miles away — and made it all about the clothes. They took ten to fifteen years of science (maybe even "settled" science) and had a hissy fit over the only thing that sort of woman understands, which is clothes.
Yes, that's right. After years of effort, the European Space Agency's lander Philae Sounds like it's related to "philander." Expect another hissy fit when the grrrlz notice.
landed on a comet 300 million miles away. That's further than from here to Takoma.
At first, people were excited. "I am so excited!"
Then some women noticed that one of the space scientists, Matt Taylor, was wearing a shirt, made for him by a female "close pal," featuring comic-book depictions of semi-naked women. "The horror! [sob!] The horror!"
And suddenly, the triumph of the comet landing was drowned out by shouts of feminist outrage about ... what people were wearing. "Hello. I'm Mizz Evileth..."
"Who?"
"Evileth."
"I didn't quite catch that!]"
"[Growls like a German Shepherd. Eyes turn deep red. Twitches previously inconspicuous tail.] Evileth. Evil-eth. [Snorts sulphurous fumes]"
"[Unobtrusively tucks clove of garlic into shirt, adjusts cross around his neck] Hokay."
"It's about your shirt. In fact, it's all about your shirt!"
"What about sending a space probe further than Takoma?"
"How many womyn do you employ? How many are in management positions? How does their salary compare with yours? Do they have to pay for their own birth control?
"Well, one of them did, but that was kinda a Fluke..."
It was one small shirt for a man, one giant leap backward for womankind. "Is free abortion available on demand? What's the average square footage in womyn's cubicles compared to men's? Have you ever had sex with someone who was drunk and on drugs? Was it Lena Dunham?"
The Atlantic's Rose Eveleth tweeted, "No no women are toooootally welcome in our community, just ask the dude in this shirt." "[SCREECH!] I curse you! I curse the cubicle you work in! I curse the patriarchal non-entity who fathered you in your poor unthinking mother's womb while she drunk and whacked out, which is the only way womyn get pregs! [HIIIISSSSS!]
Astrophysicist Katie Mack commented: "I don't care what scientists wear. "But then, I'm a scientist. I got better things to do."
But a shirt featuring women in lingerie isn't appropriate for a broadcast if you care about women in STEM." Why didn't you just stop with "a shirt featuring women in lingerie isn't appropriate for a broadcast." When I take a job I don't get dressed thinking about the women in the Blank Health System, which is most of them. I get dressed thinking about whether the blue tie goes better with my jacket and if the whole thing will make me look professional to the client.
And from there, the online feminist lynch mob took off until Taylor was forced to deliver a tearful apology on camera. They had the stake set up and they were heaping the faggot around it... Oh. I probably can't say that anymore, can I? Make that "bundles of brushwood." No, in the interest of brevity and accuracy, make that "fasces."
It seems to me that if you care about women in STEM, maybe you shouldn't want to communicate the notion that they're so delicate that they can't handle pictures of comic-book women. Will we stock our Mars spacecraft with fainting couches? "[PUSH! SHOVE! CARRY! GRUMBLE! You're sure you need this much smelling salts just for one trip to Mars, Cap'n?"
Not everyone was so censorious. As one female space professional wrote: "Don't these women and their male cohorts understand that *they* are doing the damage to what/whom they claim to defend!?" You're not under the illusion they'll defend anything they don't understand, are you? They've probably declared it an environmental hazard by now and they're complaining about the clutter of space junk we've left 300,000,000 miles out in the solar system as a hazard to navigation.
Their reservations are overcome by the desire to feel important and powerful at others' expense.
No, they don't. Or, if they do, their reservations are overcome by the desire to feel important and powerful at others' expense. Thus, what should have been the greatest day in a man's life — accomplishing something never before done in the history of humanity — was instead derailed by tiny little people with their own axes to grind. As Chloe Price observed: "Imagine the ... storm if the scientist had been a woman and everyone focused solely on her clothes and not her achievements." "She wore that pantsuit to work? Haw haw haw!"
Yes, feminists have been telling us for years that women can wear whatever they want, and for men to comment in any way is sexism. But that's obviously a double standard, since they evidently feel no compunction whatsoever in criticizing what men wear. News flash: Geeks don't dress like Don Draper.
#2
By the way, they lost contact with the probe.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/11/15/no-signals-heard-from-comet-lander-saturday/19082073/
#4
"Then some women noticed that one of the space scientists, Matt Taylor, was wearing a shirt, made for him by a female "close pal," featuring comic-book depictions of semi-naked women."
Had the shirt been presented to him by a male "close pal," it would have been dismissed as "irony," or some other such truck and left to drift away without a murmur.
Now a scientist with poor "dressing for successing" skills is wondering if he is now considered to be "sexist" by his professional community and can, of course, kiss future government grants goodbye.
"The United States of America does not have a shortage of workers. It has a shortage of jobs. The irresponsible immigration policy has created a surplus of workers. Illegal alien amnesty will make that surplus much worse. Legalize twelve million illegal aliens and another twelve million will come. Those who can’t find jobs, will find gangs. Those who lose jobs to them will also find gangs."
#2
Maybe CNN viewers heads would really explode if all of these songs were included:
1. America the Beautiful
2. America, My Country 'Tis of Thee
3. Battle Hymn of the Republic
4. God Bless America
5. God Bless the USA
6. Halls of Montezuma
7. The Stars and Stripes
8. Yankee Doodle
Posted by: Barbara ||
11/15/2014 13:31 Comments ||
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#5
Should be a warning before u turn on CNN regardless. Can't figure out why anyone would watch the network.Their "news"is usually old by the time they get on it .
Posted by: chris ||
11/15/2014 13:38 Comments ||
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#6
I like CNNs rule of only playing The National Anthem in its entirety. A note that what was playing is a snippet was hardly necessary tho.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Wazoo
So how are things going for feminism? Well, last week, some feminists took one of the great achievements of human history — landing a probe from Earth on a comet hundreds of millions of miles away — and made it all about the clothes.
