I was in community college the day after the Las Vegas massacre when the active shooter warning/alarm went off, and it was not a drill. Our very full Intro to Psych class had 3 solid walls, so the only way out other than the doors we couldn't lock were windows we couldn't open, facing the same direction. The two guys who were just-outta-military offered up their services, and by that I mean they rigged their belts up on the industrial door closer with might-as-well-try energy, and then moved to put two of the oh-so-not-heavy-duty tables up against the doors for good measure. The professor had her phone out to get the police report, while everyone else took theirs out to send the obligatory "If anything happens, I love you" texts. News from the report: the guy seen stalking campus with a rifle was specifically seen stalking the area next to the soccer field. OMG you guys, that's a few hundred feet from us! Great. A SWAT team was being sent in. I wish I could say the energy in the room was one of rising adrenaline and agitation, but except for that one girl who was going full horror-movie hysterical, the energy could best be summed up as... bummed. "I guess it's us today. That sucks. I had some things I was really looking forward to."
Anyway, turns out some idiot had decided it would be a great idea to bring a Nerf foam-dart gun to campus - specifically, a Nerf gun they had painted to look more real - the day after the Las Vegas massacre, and a jumpy janitor saw and called it in. Once the truth was discovered, we were given the rest of the day off. The announcement was a formality though: Tthe students had already made that grimly silent collective decision for themselves. The look on that poor bus driver's face when dozens upon dozens of uncharacteristically unsmiling people were all waiting to board at once...
You don't forget the feeling of being a sitting duck. But the feeling, although sharper, did not entirely have the shock of the new. Growing up in 21st century America, you are always a little bit of a sitting duck.
You know what I am also thinking of while I'm typing this? The stove in my family's kitchen. It's one of those electric ones with the flat glass top. I appreciate what it does for us in a Marie Kondo way, but I can't imagine becoming super attached to it, or any stove. But apparently some people have VERY strong preferences, because the actual frigging President had to come out and assure everyone last week that the government was not going to be too picky about the safety rules around stoves, and that the gas ones aren't going anywhere, despite the fact that we now have found out that they are directly causing thousands upon thousands of kids to contract asthma.
My Mom has severe asthma. It causes her daily pain and discomfort, has dwindled what she can feel comfortable doing in her middle age, and now thanks to Covid, has become a source of frankly justified existential fear. I would give anything to rid her of it. But there are people in this country who would rather tens of thousands of children live their lives with that same constant lack of breath than be forced - FORCED I TELL YOU!!! - to use a different type of stove to warm their leftovers. Their stove preference is more important.
These folks are so righteous in the prioritization of their own sense of persecution, that anything and everything that they are used to has become a symbol of their "way of life," and any commonsense improvement to any of it, no matter how necessary the change or how immaterial the difference to their daily life, is somewhere from an imposition that will not stand to a full-on declaration of (cultural) war. My uncle has lost both his legs to diabetes, but these same folks would rather millions of kids have diabetes in their lives, if it means unhealthy foods they like the taste of stay on the shelves. They would rather keep spewing a torrent of fuel into the air until no children born today have any clean air in their lives, if it means the car they like the sound of stays on the market. And they would rather have innocent fellow citizens needlessly have their lives ripped from them in a randomized burst of violence each and every day if it means they can keep amassing the metal contraptions that give their uber-libertarian wild-west fantasies some more heft.
They'll be outraged no matter what, so let us give them something to REALLY be outraged about: November '24. A half-dozen congressional seats (looking at you, NY&CA), one more anti-filibuster senator (looking at you, AZ), the re-election of a still-spry fighting Irishman to the presidency, and soon after the strict federal gun control laws we need. Then we can live in TRUE freedom: freedom from this fear that affects the citizens of no other developed country, yet here has plagued a generation.
Eyes on the prize, and in the meantime stay angry. And stay safe.
Thanks, Margaret. I'm not good at taking compliments, so y'all are giving me a challenge! I am glad I have decided to contribute more often when I really have something to add. I tend to use up a lot of words each time, so I am all right stepping back the rest of the time and listening and learning from others. Cheers!
Here's wishing your Mom the best Will. I never had asthma but my little sister did. One never knew when she would be hit by an attack and stop breathing well. It was scary all the time.
Thanks, Mike. It is bewildering to me how people do not take asthma seriously enough, considering how common is is. People think you get, what, a little bit short of breath and can use your inhaler thingy, right? Uh, hello, that's to make sure she does not DIE, and she's already used it. Now what? She can tell if a person in the same row as her in the movie theater has a cat at home, so no, just kinda brushing yourself off is not going to cut it. And when we say she can't have tomatoes, we don't mean just take them off the salad before you bring it out. We mean don't have the veggie of death in the same damn building as the rest of the salad, unless you're willing to cough up the hospital bill while she's coughing in the hospital, mmkay thanks.
And... I don't like to say such things... Given my nice, polite English upbringing, I don't like to upset good, friendly people who are hurt enough already...
BUT... when I see news of the latest random American Amok, the latest haphazard obscenity, the latest... now "traditional" Human Sacrifice...
I WANT TO H O W L
This time, I'll spare you the full range of my thoughts -- which do not spare the pathetic mess English people have made of the United Kingdom -- but it is enraging, it is horrible, it is humiliating, to grow old amidst such degenerate barbarism and to see a country I criticized yet still respected, cared for, expected great things from... so tied up in knots of its own making that there is neither the will nor the way to do anything about anything...
Congress taken hostage by jailbirds-in-waiting who would be plain jailbirds in any respectable country -- or headless in Saudi -- a cult of death by bullets banned by the Geneva Conventions, idiot demons armed to the teeth in every corner of the land and dreaming of killing the neighbors, the worship of meaningless abstractions, adoration of Mammon and vile sidekick your New Improved MACHINEGUN MOLOCH...
Supine, supine, supine, yet daring to damn wretched Russians for failing to rise up against Putin, when any of that crime boss's subjects can be swept up at any moment for not looking obedient enough or, more likely, for no reason at all... and dumped in a vile hell-on-earth jail or sent to the front to get killed... for nothing...
Still free, still free... yet behaving like...
There...
I've gone and said too much... yet still expressed so little...
And you good people, grinding your teeth in frustration... and ruminating revenge like Hamlet... will be glad to see this Fool fall silent.
Beautiful writing, Peter, and I agree with every word.
Here in the US, we are still free. Most of us know that it's a slow and uncertain process, but politics is the best way to change society for the better. But we're stuck in a culture we helped create - one of consumerism, prejudice, poisonous religion and economic inequality. And we could fix it, but we either like it too much or depend on the status quo for our identities.
Truth is, we make ourselves filthy even thinking about these evils and those who do them.
At least full political commitment means getting down under the vehicle and dirtying oneself greasing axles, jumping into a trench and freeing the blocked sewage outlet with one’s bare hands, acting, getting something done—nobler grime. All my howling could ever achieve might be to awaken some sleeping Paul Revere spurring him to ride.
But you’ll need a million and more Paul Reveres today. And where are they? Where are the likes of the men who followed Washington? Where are those who, in the Civil War, learned the hardest way of all that no external foe can match one’s own brethren?
Now the filth is everywhere:
False identities—we take ourselves for everything and anything save what we are: all human beings.
And even then, we don’t begin to know what that means.
False gods, tinsel gilding, promising gold; gold and the Big Rock Candy Mountain. But delivering guaranteed dissatisfaction to pauper and to billionaire—we all know why those who starve aren’t satisfied but why do you think that superbulimic billionaires want more and more and more? Poor superjunkies, paranoid scroogery’s not enough for them. And because, like the song, they “can’t get no satisfaction”, the poor buggers get as rancorous and resentful as the poor and downtrodden and try to take it out on others…
It’s all too much like the Fisherman’s Wife of the folk tale, who found dissatisfaction in everything until she wanted to be God… and ended up back in the ditch where she’d begun.
False religion with false values, false preachers who milk the “successful”—i.e. the materially well-to-do—in exchange for selling them the “word” that they’re God’s anointed (while the poor will go to hell)…
Shopping malls, temples selling “the Meaning of Life” while those who cannot buy look on hungrily like wandering ghosts.
And it goes on and on and on.
How do people call themselves Christians, call themselves Jews, call themselves Muslims, when all they can do with Gospel, with Torah, with Qur’an is cherry-pick pretexts for their next crime? If they can read at all. Read AND think… for themselves, thought not predigested.
You’d have thought that Isaiah 6:9-13 was plain enough.
Here endeth the Second Rant.
With apologies. Yes, I am sorry, for all these raging words do nothing to assuage the pain, nothing to wash away the shame. And I have seen proud Americans, men who made great contributions to their country and the world, reduced to shame.
Well Peter, your post mirrors my frustration. Human behavior and motivation has fascinated me so much so that it sent me back to school and come out as mental health therapist, my third career, at the age of 50. Excuse me for being simplistic, but basically the motivation for these mass shootings is a combination of mental illness, hate, and anger (or any fear-based emotion). Easily acquired firearms just make it happen. I was at a city council meeting here in Philadelphia and all of these gun owners were in a complete tizzy because they were only allowed to buy one gun a month! I am very intrigued to find out the motive of the shooter in CA. As far as I'm concerned, the only motive a 72-yr old Asian man would have to do this is being overcome with jealousy...let's see....
"Mental illness" is bullshit. It's vague and does nothing other than criminalize millions of people who are mentally ill. If you don't know just what "mental illness" mass shooters suffer from, just keep quiet. "God speaking to you in the divine language of coincidence" is also bullshit.
Aside from air pollution as a cause of asthma, there is also substantial evidence that young children in modern "advanced" countries are not exposed enough to the natural world. Such exposure in effect "primes" the immune system for its later appropriate performance; without the priming, it does not perform as well. This idea was originally promulgated as the "hygiene hypothesis" (Bach, N. Engl. J. Med., 347, 2002) and later elaborated as the "old friends hypothesis" (Rook et al, Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health [2013] pp. 46–64), the old friends being the organisms and other products of nature with which people have evolved over the millennia. A brief summary is in Scudellari, PNAS | February 14, 2017 | vol. 114 | no. 7 | 1433–1436. As infectious diseases have declined over the past decades, autoimmune diseases (asthma, eczema, ...) have increased. This trend has not appeared in Africa, for example. Who knew?
Addendum to my previous post: A lot of autoimmune conditions and diseases, therefore, could be prevented by taking young children out into the natural world. Also, there is evidence that exposure of young children to peanuts will prevent peanut allergies (has to be done carefully, of course). These measures will not cure people who already have the conditions, and will not solve the problems of air pollution, gas stoves, and the rest. It's purely preventative and has to be done with very young children.
I think it's very true that many if us don't take asthma seriously enough. In my case, it is mostly out of ignorance of it's severity. I don't know anyone who suffers from it so thank you for educating me on the subject. I truly appreciate it and will be much more mindful from now on.
Will, there's no substitute for personal experience. One of my best childhood friends had asthma. I've never forgotten how he struggled. Best to your mom.
I've taken asthma seriously since, as a teenager, my beautiful neighbor, mother to a young child who I babysat, died from it. It was terrible. So, when my son was born with it, I understood immediately that it could kill him. No one should have to live with asthma if it can be prevented. I'm so sorry for that your mom has to do so.
Thank you, Susan, for your kind words, but my Mom HAD to live with it. A long life, much pain, maybe more damage done to her body by the cortisone that got her through attacks than by the illness itself.
I have also seen two people cured of it by unconventional methods, one, only just in time. But such approaches may still be hard to come by.
This is part of the high price we pay for what's usually called "progress"... which is fine, but never comes free... and always brings with it some corresponding regression.
Anyway, may your boy and all like him enjoy robust health!
And... the bad things, too, come with something good: awareness of what it means to suffer, feeling for the pain of others.
Many more poor people in inner cities develop asthma because that's where the industrial parks are. And those who live in the North East have a higher rate of asthma thanks to the midwest power plants sending their smoke east.
Having worked in a major medical center (though generally not involved with direct patient care) I can attest that one of the most fearful thing is the inability to breathe! Often people are sedated because this is so traumatic to them.
I am so sorry to hear that her condition is so severe.
I have to add - my daughter is VERY allergic to peanuts, peanut oil, peanut butter etc etc. When she was young it was thought to be asthma - and youre right - its treated by many as "no biggie". As is the peanut allergy still. Very scary - I really feel for your mom - there are so many people with a huge number of allergies - I think a lot has to do with all the preservatives - additives - plus the crap in our air, water & environment.
Oh boy my cousin has the peanut & nut allergies. Those are no joke. Big strong football player, but one half a peanut in that piece of candy and it's Christmas in the hospital.
I'm not sure diet has that much to do with it (although what do I know, diet along with sleep and exercise does seem to affect everything). Mom has always theorized that in her case it somehow stemmed from anorexia in her early adulthood, as her asthma developed late in her 20s and many of her allergies are the things she limited herself to eating during that period. We give our bodies too much or too little... best we learn to listen to them instead.
I read somewhere (!) that there is some thought that if babies are given some form of peanuts in very small amounts it might prevent the full-blown allergic reactions. This was a while ago - I never saw where it was successful. I think your mom could be just as correct as anyone else regarding allergies. I could be wrong, but I dont think theres a lot of research into them. Or maybe someone here has seen more information.
'Most people know about pollen, dust mites and mould as triggers of their child’s asthma symptoms. But recent findings suggest that cooking with gas stoves, or exposure to other gas appliances, may be associated with new asthma cases and asthma exacerbations. Scientists have found that around 12 per cent of childhood asthma in Australia can be attributed to the use of gas stoves for cooking.'
'Why is it a problem?'
This is a problem for several reasons. Firstly, cooking is a daily occurrence and cooking with gas is common in Australian homes. In fact, it is estimated that 38 per cent of Australian homes cook with a gas stove.2 Secondly, cooking is normally done indoors, where irritants from gas cooking can accumulate, especially in winter as we keep our doors and windows locked. And lastly, it’s an issue that has had little coverage beyond academic circles, so most people are still unaware of the risks that cooking with gas may pose.'
'How does gas combustion lead to asthma?'
'Cooking with gas releases chemicals such as nitrogen dioxide3 and formaldehyde, which can cause inflammation in the airways and may worsen asthma symptoms.'
'Measures to reduce exposure'
There are a variety of simple measures you can take to reduce the effect of gas cookers on your child’s asthma symptoms. These include:
Using a range hood when cooking, noting that high efficiency range hoods which are vented outside are better than those that simply recirculate air
Opening windows during and after cooking. This is especially true if your home doesn’t have a range hood
Opening windows on opposite sides of the kitchen can help remove pollutants more quickly.' (National Asthma Council, Australia)
References:
Knibbs, L. et al. Damp housing, gas stoves, and the burden of childhood asthma in Australia. Medical Journal of Australia. 2018 (7): 299-302.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Energy use and conservation survey, 2011
To any who think gas stoves are best, my experience—I have cooked on an electric induction cooktop for the past ten years. I would never want anything else. Before that I had electric coil. Terrible compared to induction or to gas for speed of response.
Oh but Carol, with the coils you also get all the gunk that gets stuck under the coils! And how after a few years they all find ways to have themselves be at slightly different angles!
And the drip pans under the coils rust out in a couple of years, if things boil over now and then. But if you have a boil over with induction you can use a towel while still cooking. Or you could put the towel under the pan the first place. It will not catch fire, the induction works as usual.
I had not noticed the tilted coils, but now that you mention it. . . yes. And if the pan got too hot you could lift the pan off the coil and put it somewhere. . .instead of touching the control panel. Those were the days.
Then there are also those like my neighbor who does not have a a good sense of smell. Another neighbor happened to come over and smelled gas, so averted something that could have gone bad. And now the neighbor in question finally has an electric stove.
iI have not found evidence for your claim with reference to electric toasters, on the other hand, inhaling harmful smoke from burned food can inflame your lungs and airway, causing them to swell and block oxygen. This can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome and respiratory failure.
Nol, I do not have hours to comb through this article in which very careless cooking cleanups took place and claims were not verified, such as, “The scariest thing in this house is probably the toaster,” Erin Katz, another student volunteer, said “I just had no idea that toasters emitted so many particles.”, The article did not indicate what type of toaster was used, the nature of the 'particles', methods of data collection or substantiation of claims. I believe that kitchens may often be 'danger zones'. In this case the source was weak in substantiating claims.
I'm a 73 y/ o retired psych RN. Over the years those of us in this field have laughed about the patients running the asylum. I never thought it would become truth! I know that my years are limited but worry about my children and grandchildren. I have a trans grandchild who just finished high school and is a National Merit Scholar with a $40,000 scholarship. MIT, Harvard and numerous other universities want her. I pray that her gifts will be allowed to blossom for the benefit of us all.
I am 79, approaching 80 in a couple months, and have no children, but I worry about all younger people especially those in my family. I do hope that your grandchild blooms, but I understand your concern. Such hatred all around us.
We witness acts of unkindness nearly every time we are out driving somewhere. This weekend we were on our way to the grocery store when an obviously homeless man walked against the light and traffic had to wait a minute or so while he crossed. But the the jerk next to us had to blow his horn to express his having to wait for a moment.
I maintain that the most revealing interaction a person can have is how they treat a homeless person. It seems to always lay bare so much about the other person involved. No one who is homeless is living a great life, period, it doesn't matter how they got there. Someone who responds with sadness to the man with the dirty cardboard is someone I can trust to be friends with. Someone who responds with contempt (or honks)? Not so much.
We had a few names for the person in the next car. I believe he was in a hurry and since it's a main thoroughfare, ended up at the next red light, not making a lot of headway. I not sure the man even knew he was walking against the light. But once he steps onto the street, he has the right of way. Same thoroughfare is(was?) closed further down at a huge intersection today because of an attempted car jacking. So everyone near there was stuck no matter how much of a hurry they were in. We also had 4 homeless people killed in their tents by someone who was speeding and ran over them a while back. He has just been sentenced.
Bless your grandchild for having the courage to live as her true self in a world where so many still don't understand, let alone managing to excel to such a degree simultaneously. That alone is a big clue she has the strength to do anything. So inspiring.
Thank you for this post, Will. Nothing like that personal experience. I live in the community where there was a mass high school shooting, and I know a number of people who were impacted directly by that incident, from a co-worker whose child was shot and survived to other co-workers who had to investigate the homicide scene where the shooter killed both his parents (the HS was in a city jurisdiction and the homicide was in the county jurisdiction). The only thing in that incident that kept the death toll to two (directly; I believe there have been suicides of survivors in later years) was that the shooter had a .22 rifle, and not a .223 semi-auto with large capacity magazines.)
Ally, there is something powerful about being there, first hand experiences as you describe. Perhaps the lack of empathy, imagination prevents people from understanding. The terror isn't always about being in the room at that moment. In 2011, at our local elementary school of 400 students, at around 10:00 a.m., the custodian shot and killed the Principal in his office while students were in class. Except for one student in his office who witnessed this cold blooded murder. Children were in lockdown in their classrooms until 4:00 p.m when parents were allowed on campus. The teachers are heroes. I wasn’t there as I retired the year before, but i was called and talked to teachers who were in their classrooms with the children. Keeping children safe and following the practiced lockdown procedures for hours. Sitting on the floor, in a circle, lights out, windows covered, no leaving room for any reason. Including to the bathroom. Practiced. Because every school and teacher must be prepared for disasters. I retired the year before but i too was traumatized. Students and teachers and staff had counseling for two years but many are still there as if it’s now. PTSD. Forever.
Thanks for sharing this story. I met with the teachers at the elementary school in the little town where I was the contract deputy the day after Sandy Hook doing a debriefing of sorts with them. I stayed pretty present at the school for about a month, at various times of day so that students, staff, and parents could see me as a normal part of the school day.
PTSD is in fact the “gift that keeps on giving. Thanks for what you did.
If these stories aren’t enough to change minds and gun laws, then we are all going down together in the same armed ship. Sandy Hook couldn’t change gun laws. What possible disaster will?
The things that teachers are expected to do that is well above their meagre pay grade is astounding. Everyone who teaches public elementary should be paid as much as a brain surgeon.
Don't get me started on the suspicion increasingly directed towards "what they're teaching" these last few years. Most people have neither the desire nor wherewithal to spend the day with their own kids, the least you could do is show a little support and respect to those who are educating and raising them all at once during their most formative years for most of the day. Geez.
Thank you, Will, teaching is one of the most critical and criticized professions. And Early education, the most important and underpaid. One reason is that there are so many women in early grades. Patience, empathy, compassion, knowledge of prenatal through college curriculum, learning styles , modalities, development, a specialized level of teaching that often is underpaid and sometimes staffed with teachers untrained for that specialty. I realized that many parents felt they knew as much as a trained teacher because they were once students. And then there’s the salary schedule. That’s for another day.
Ally, I remember that incident well. For some reason we were in Oregon City when we heard about it on the car radio. We were shocked. And the parents, who knew he had problems, had bought him the rifle. Thanks god he had only a .22 rifle. And yet now we have LE not wanting stricter gun laws.
Ally, Monday, we have another Mass Shooting in HALF MOON BAY CALIFORNIA on the San Mateo coast, 7 deceased at two (2) locations. No facts yet to offer situational context.
Thank you, Heather, for your photo and thank you Will for your words.
I have lived with asthma my whole life and it can be terrifying to others, and myself, during a full-blown 'attack', appropriately described. It is controlled now by an inhaler with a retail cost of $425 a month without insurance, however Medicare (that is under threat by the GQPs also) pays all but the deductible. Still it's way too expensive. Under insured or those without must suffer horribly. It breaks my heart to think of children suffering with asthma and the constant threat of guns. A shooter was stopped at my granddaughter's school... So much is broken in this fine country. I am angry too, but must just take exception at the use of any f-word beside our President. He is doing the best he can with the cards he has.
Oh I am an unabashed supporter of our President, make no mistake. My colorful consternation was over the idea someone with so many more important things to do - and someone doing them so well - even felt the need to take any time at all to think about this, such was the outsized outrage.
My very angry, frustrated thoughts put succinctly..in your words. Even at my very senior age, I can continue to do my part towards “2024”....and your words are like my marching orders!
And then there is something not as life threatening that has "popped" up lately. Wouldnt most of us agree that it might possibly be "time" to physically DO something about government documents & how they are handled? Because it sure seems obvious to me after the former administration's intentional screw-ups and now not just this administration, but apparently Congress (Biden's senatorial days) need to have SOME kind of firm regulations/LAWS as to how to handle these documents - classified or not. The lack of any simple kind of organization & follow-up amazes me.
There are so very many ways that our government is so lax - it boggles the mind. Thats how dumpty got away with so much with absolutely NO oversight or attempt to stop him. Thats how we have these supposed "congress people" who not only have no idea of how a government works (or in this case, doesnt) but are still allowed to do as they please. For instance, the metal detector removal? A "representative" who should not have even been allowed to run for the office? And yet - there he is and on committees!
Sorry Will, didnt mean to change the subject but there is so much to be said, right?
Thank you for posting. I am sorry that the you went through the feeling of being a sitting duck. I agree with everything you have said. Every time we have a shooting in Portland, which happens way too often, people wring their hands and say what can we do. Well, we can do something about the freaking guns for starters. And now we have people saying that no one will take their gas stoves out of their cold dead hands. And yes, any of us could be in the wrong place at the wrong time and be part of some shooting. Well said, Will.
I garner from what personal information has been shared, that many (most?) of the readers here are in their senior years (age, not school year!) We don't have a lot of lifetime left, nor a lot of physical energy, but we do have more "free time" to volunteer and a lot of that can be done from our own homes.
I have a lot of faith in the younger generations, I feel terrible that it comes down to all of you and I am well aware of how difficult just surviving is for you all!
Thank you, Miselle. Rest assured anything is appreciated... all ages of people are equally valuable! Even just well wishes go a long way in this time when so many feel alone! I felt bad last fall about not feeling able to do more, but my Dad reminded me that even making a few days of phone calls still put me in the top few percent of people in terms of those who volunteer. I wish that wasn't true, but he knows I'm a numbers guy and that would make me feel better.
Of course! Let it be known my rambles are always free to share! We are living in the post-"Celebrity Nude Phone Leak" world, so if I am not comfortable with something I type or a photo I take being theoretically splayed on a public wall, I refrain.
"We need to put on the record..." This simple phrase, more than anything else you have written, grips my mind with the realization that we are living the writing of history...that this is the record on which future generations will form an opinion of us.
We will be seen as a time of apathy, as drunkenly sunk into our own lives and willing to ignore violence as the Russians who bought liquor (intentionally priced cheaply by the state so they would not have the coherence to revolt against the ruling classes). We stupefy ourselves with materialism, with individualism, with political correctness, while money controls our leaders. Children, churches, middle class shoppers, young dancers, and parade goers. There is no safety in this apathy. There is only shame that will live on into the future.
Spot on, Kem. Carter's Crisis of Confidence speech is more prescient by the day. Serving primarily our own immediate needs and gratification is a dead end, and those who see it as a virtue have the whole idea of freedom twisted into the least edible pretzel. Apathy is the true enemy, and knowledge is the most vital power. More people have that power than ever before. Get rid of the apathy and we can weild it more collectively!
We, Americans, are imprisoned by our guns and our neighbors' guns. We are killing each other, just as the country's 'owners' knew we would. We are killers and 'they' put us up to it. We are the dying of America's history.
WHAT TO DO WITH MY BODY IN THE EVENT I DIE IN A MASS SHOOTING
BY TOM MCALLISTER
February 15th, 2018
'Take that body and don’t even clean the blood off the skin, don’t wash it out of my clothes. Don’t change my facial expression or adjust my posture. Don’t do anything to hide the reality of my death. Let people see me exactly how I was in my last moments, my face twisted in horror and confusion, my body curled unnaturally as if hunching my back could ever protect me from the bullets (nothing can protect you). I want them to see my mouth agape, my eyes feeling betrayed but also weary, because in those final moments, I know I would be shocked but not surprised (you can’t be surprised by something that happens every day; nobody is surprised to see the sun rise in the morning).'
'After I’ve been executed for the crime of being in a public place, my final wish is for the people who enabled this crime, again and again and again, to have to face my anger and explain themselves. Lift my body off the ground and haul it from the site of my death straight to the Capitol. Parade me through the halls and bang on doors and demand that they look at what the bullets did to me. Tell them where my blood spilled, and make them stick their fingers into the wounds like Thomas into Jesus’s side. Don’t waste time trying to convince them that I was better or more worthy of dignity than any other person, because then you’re wasting your breath on a game you cannot win (all they want is win, there’s going to be so much winning). Don’t allow them to rank the victims in terms of their value and don’t allow them to engage in any conversation aside from this: Right here is a body that you killed, and I want to know what you’re going to do about it. They’ll arrest you and they’ll vilify you and they’ll threaten you with their guns. Keep going back, keep showing them my body.'
'Every day, pile more bodies in the halls so they can’t go anywhere without stepping over the victims. Force them to look down at a dead body and lift their leg over it as if stepping over a puddle. Don’t join them in their prayers (the god they pray to doesn’t exist). When they step over my dead body, I want them to look down into my vacant eyes and reckon with the way it ended. I want them to be transported into my mind and feel what I felt after being shot. In those final moments—as I bled out onto the tile floor of the mall, or onto the grass outside a summer concert, or in the dirt of the center city beer garden, or in the middle of my fucking classroom—I would be thinking of all the ways my own country has abandoned its people (for profit, for spite, for no reason at all). I would be lying there, remembering all the murders I’ve cheered for in movies, all the thousands of dead bodies I’ve digested and forgotten, and I would look up at the ceiling searching for meaning and finding nothing at all. I would be thinking: is this really all there is?'
***
Tom McAllister is the author of the novels The Young Widower's Handbook and How to Be Safe (forthcoming in April 2018). He is the Nonfiction Editor at Barrelhouse, and co-host of the Book Fight podcast. More from this author →
"After I’ve been executed for the crime of being in a public place" -- this is horrifying. This is what the United States has become. Anyone who isn't occasionally uneasy in large crowds, for example, isn't living in our current terrible reality.
It struck me while reading this that this piece is really about apathy, just as Will from Cal's eloquent earlier comment was. Apathy is a luxury we can't afford. Apathy is the opiate of our masses. Apathy allows us to move through the world, seemingly protected from too much, too often.
I am too small to truly take in even one death, too big to be overlooked by a random universe. My apathy will not protect my body, will not preserve my sanity, cannot keep my loved ones or community safe.
I will accept my limitedness and vulnerability. Every day there is too much, too often. Every day there is more than I can handle. However, there has never been more than WE can handle. Because I am small, I must pick my battles (really, what I can love and try to understand) carefully. I work with a few, and in concert with many others. Choose what to love, and leave the rest for others to love. Love melts apathy. And if no one has said it to you today, know that I love you.
NO, Steve, WHAT TO DO WITH MY BODY IN THE EVENT I DIE IN A MASS SHOOTING, is not about 'apathy', which is real but the umbrella above lies, myths, anger, grievance, greed, power, mental illness, neglect, loss of community, having been screwed by technology, lack of support, hopelessness, cornered, drugs, alcohol, homelessness -- violence in response? It's not all about 'apathy', which is a response of 'contempt'. I don't buy it.
Fern, unless I'm misunderstanding you, I think Steve was referring not to the problems of shooters but the apathy of legislators and the inaction by people inured to what so far in 2023 has turned into daily mass shootings.
By the way, I got a notification that you replied to a comment of mine, but either my computer or Substack is acting up, and I can't find it.
It is in the reading of MCALLISTER's piece, to quote, '(all they want is win, there’s going to be so much winning)'. '...I would be thinking of all the ways my own country has abandoned its people (for profit, for spite, for no reason at all).' and Steve's interpretation of it, that you and I differ, Mim.
Yes. In that hard-hitting piece—only a fraction of what McAllister proposes should be enough to scare and disgust law-abiding Americans into banning the ownership by civilians of military assault weapons—it was the words “all they want is win, there’s going to be so much winning” that hit me hardest in the gut.
So many corpses swept under hypocrisy’s fine rug that it’ll soon be pushing up the ceiling.
And, as in too many other instances, the Supreme Court of the United States, sitting somewhere in the empyrean—Looking Glass Land? A parallel universe? Anyway, not on this earth—is clearly guilty of far more than aiding and abetting this ocean of crime. Those distinguished jurists actually enabled it.
They have made the legal saw "Lex asinus est" a grave insult to donkeys. With this and judgements like Citizens United, they have brought both Law and expertise into disrepute.
I who say this have always had so much respect for the distinguished jurists I have met. As for lawyers representing criminal interests, I never could have imagined that the highest courts of law in a civilized State could be packed with men and women uncomfortably resembling those employed by the mafia. At least in America you have political hacks and operatives for whom the end justifies such means as lying one’s way into high office rather than a Russian-style judiciary whose verdicts and sentences are determined in advance by the Executive.
One should be thankful for small mercies.
Having said all this—and I begin to wonder whether I shall be allowed to enter the United States after casting such aspersions on the country’s august institutions—I’d be most grateful if some skilled jurist can show me the error of my ways, justifying the possession and use by civilians of weapons of war and explaining how the Justices can in no way be blamed for transforming the Second Amendment into institutionalized terrorism.
Thank you, Fern, but the scandal is so great. And all the more obscene for having been accepted by citizens as "normal" in peacetime.
At least there was some meaning when priests cut out men's hearts atop the Aztec pyramids. The only meaning of human sacrifice in today's America is that human life has no value for those who count in the land: forces human and non-human bent on subverting the Republic and replacing it by despotism.
And, as Montesquieu showed, the guiding principle of despotism is fear.
Thanks, Fern, for this powerful piece by McAllister!
Yes! I would love to make the lawmakers al have to climb over the bodies of the slain to get into and out of their offices! Let them see, smell and touch the gore they seem so comfortable with!
Sadly, what remains of their bodies. Some parents were left to identify their child's remains based on the shoes they were wearing when they left the house that day. As tragic as these images are, they should be required viewing for the Texas Legislature, which is in session through May 29. Several bills have been filed to address gun violence, but it'd be a miracle if they make it out of committee - requiring senators and representatives to watch the DPS video taken inside the classroom might be the impetus needed to propel us on an effective, safe path forward.
Facial expression, see anger, parade the wounded body: the weapons some people want to ban tear heads from bodies, too savagely destroyed to be viewed in published photos, old and young, small children…
all defenseless, to be mourned in anguish without ‘closure’ by those who loved them, and some offer their thoughts and prayers, unspecified, and declare something must be done… for how many years?
Thank you, Fern. I shared this excruciatingly painful essay on Facebook, prefacing it with this: "This essay was posted in a Substack comment this morning, responding to the author's sad commemoration of yet more mass murders. (There have been a horrifying 33—33!!—in the last 22 days in this country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2023). It is excruciatingly painful to read, but please read it and share it. Maybe somehow it can penetrate the heartless souls of those who refuse to demand and refuse to enact strict gun control laws."
What is the half-life of a crime scene? As long as we keep cleaning away the evidence of murders and mangled bodies and tortured spirits, we no longer need be reminded of the hollowness of our defense of the gun. Were, as McAllister leaves me wondering, we forced to see the taped shapes of the killed and maimed for that half-life, this surreal won't become true enough to get us to change. No. That won't happen. A few news reports. Some candles and wreaths or crosses placed. All only for some prescribed time and then cleaned up least we not get to forget.
NYT Morning, by German Lopez, graphically makes the case about why there are more murders and deaths by guns in the USA. An abundance of accessible weapons for which Americans choose the gun as their favorite tool, used and useful for everything. Let's swape hammers for guns or pickles for AK-15s and who know what will happen. Condiment fights?
It seems appropriate to equate peace with an an empty beach; no bipeds to foul up the peaceful scene. As for me, my favorite way of contributing to peace is to stay home. No contact, no conflict.
I include destinations within walking distance as "home". It's mostly woods and a few congenial neighbors, as many dogs as persons, and wild critters who share the space as well.
What can I do locally to promote peace? Here are a few things that have occurred to me.
1) grow something. Then give it away. It's harder to hate someone when they are offering you something fresh to eat.
2) tend some soil. Dirt becomes soil when microbes and carbon are added. Plants, even little ones, put down roots (carbon) into soil. Decaying roots are carbon storage. They stay for quite a while. More carbon can be stored in soil than in the living plants above it. Once you learn about it, healthy soil is a very soul-satisfying thing to have around you. Little critters love it as well. They live in it, dig in it, make their homes in it. They don't attack you, hate you. In fact, they make it possible for you to feed yourself on a small patch of soil; as little as your urban yard.
3) turn your trash into good soil. Get a compost tumbler. get a paper shredder. turn paper and cardboard into shredded paper. Even the colored advertisers. Toss it into your tumbler, along with your kitchen scraps. Then buy a small package of fishing worms; the red wigglers. Watch them go to town, turning all paper and wood fiber trash into compost. It's amazing how fast they do it. They don't mind being tumbled every so often. They live through hot summer and frozen winter. Toss in a a spade or two of dirt now and again, to add microbes. When it's full and looks like soil, dump the compost anywhere you have plants. Don't over-think it. Just turn your kitchen food waste and paper trash into compost. It doesn't stink. it builds soil. it makes your yard healthier. The plants grow better. They store carbon in their roots and fallen leaves. You're doing something for the planet, even if you aren't a gardener. Storing carbon is a form of peace-making.
4. Turn your yard into a meadow. Find a place in your yard, or along a path you walk regularly, or in any bit of soil you encounter in your neighborhood. Order some locally appropriate wild-flower seeds. Toss them onto the surface and cover them with a bit of compost, or mulch. Or nothing, for that matter. Watch what happens as winter turns to spring. Watch what shows up when the wildflowers bloom. Count the number of different insects you see gathering pollen on your wildflowers. Look for birds feeding on insects. realize that you have created an instant ecosystem. Feel the peace that creates inside you.
5) grow something on your windowsill. Find a few old potatoes in your refrigerator veggie drawer that are sprouting. Chop them into a few pieces. Plant them in a few pots that will fit on a windowsill. Water them occasionally. Watch how fast they grow. Then transplant them into an outdoor planter. Later this year, when the leaves finally die back, harvest a few potatoes from that planter. No muss, no fuss. You'll enjoy watching them grow. you can add soil and they will continue growing, make more potatoes in the soil you add. If you leave a single potato behind, they'll sprout again next year. How hard can that be? breathe in a little bit of home grown oxygen. Feel a little bit of peace as you promote a bit of life. Don't worry about whether you get a harvest or not. Just enjoy watching life happen in front of you.
6) Turn off the TV. Choose to get your news-feed a little less often. Tune out the chaos on which the world feeds. Don't glorify it with your participation.
Unfortunately, the majority of people do not have your option. Children and teachers have to go to school. Most people have to go to grocery stores. Some people must ride on public transportation to get to work. Others to to church or synagogue. Some even choose to go to a movie theater to see the latest, highly rated film. (I don't do that any more.) We shouldn't have to live a solitary life to feel safe. I'm glad that you have found your safe place in this world, but most people don't have that choice.
I do most of those things you mentioned, as necessary. I do choose to stay home more often than not regarding large public gatherings. Put people, revelry, along with things like alcohol, heat, divisive social issues together in one place and bad behavior tends to happen.
I certainly am on the same wavelength as you about cherishing "alone" time. I also do not care for large groups, especially where some of the guests are drinking (too much). The only large groups that I choose to attend are concerts, and some movies. I hope that you didn't feel that I was criticizing you, because I wasn't. My best to you, Kathy
Nathan, shooters into crowds don't know everyone they kill, sometimes they don't know any of them. They don't hate them. They don't even care who they are. Their minds are vacant, their hearts exist only for their own body's needs. If their guns were not available, would they build bombs? Probably. But the underlying tragedy is that they believe two things: First, that there is no goodness to hope for. Second, that they will be transported from the hell of hopelessness by doing violence to others. It does not matter if those who die are not the people who cause the hopelessness, if those who die are the people who offered them an education, a smile, a vegetable or a flower. All that matters to them is that they feel justified in hurting and killing others. And in that way, they are the same--exactly the same--as those who feel justified in being paid to keep us in fear and servitude, because they benefit from it.
How about at a 4th of July parade (or a celebration of the Lunar New Year if your family is AAPI)? Or dropping off a child at school? Or passing through a mall on the way to the grocery store? Or simply walking to class across a college campus? What if there is a house fire and someone opens fire on the first responders? We cannot make the mistake of blaming the victims for having a life that crossed the path of a shooter. And even if it is not said with blame, we cannot say "It couldn't happen to me, here." Because it has, and it does, and it is happening more frequently. Sooner or later, what happened to someone else becomes more likely to happen to us. Imagine all those parents who thought they were keeping their children "safe" in the suburbs at Sandy Hook...
I don't advocate withdrawing from life altogether. I get out, volunteer in two separate programs, shop, worship, enjoy coffee dates. If I could wish all the guns away, I would. A very few people need them, a precious few more feed themselves and their families by hunting, they make sense for law enforcement, militias (National Guard, Coast Guard, etc.) I hid two firearms for years, then got rid of them when I realized they were not making our home safer. There is literally only one solution to this problem, since we can't change the basic nature of human beings; less guns.
I won't drill down here on the merits of "banning" so-called "assault rifles" as that is a very hard term to define... they are known as "AR" guns but at the end of the day, it is a hard term to define. Rifles, by definition, are guns. They either are able to chamber one or several rounds (bullets) and that is the focus of the machine.
Many mass shooting episodes have been the product of a weapon that is capable of rapid re-chambering rounds; an automatic rifle. But the ability of that weapon to do that mechanical process is the presence of more cartridges to chamber and fire.
When we struggle to make something "illegal" to prevent another "mass-shooting" we focus on the weapon, but the weapon, the gun, is not the problem. The issue is the magazine of cartridges that drive the weapon.
A hunting "gun" may have a capacity of 3 cartridges in its inventory available to the shooter. Likely a hunter that shoots, will not get another "shot" at the target (animal) but with an inventory of another two cartridges, the shooter has another chance...
Nobody who has ever shot at a deer, moose or other large target has ever needed more than two "bullets" to prove their point. That is the way it is.
We need to get beyond the idea that gun control is a threat to hunting, and to lawful gun ownership. its not about taking weapons away so much as understanding who has them and how they may do harm with them. I have many guns and would proudly declare them if asked and, frankly, if i could have saved one child at Sandy Hook by giving mine up, i would have.
Many say that an unarmed America is a vulnerable one; i say that an armed America is only killing us.
You miss one crucial point that is often forgotten in gun safety discussions. The projectiles travel at much higher speeds than normal bullets so that their shock waves will destroy tissue and organs even if the projectile itself does not hit anything vital. These projectiles were designed to disable or kill people (make no mistake, they were specifically designed to kill people) even if they don't hit any vital tissue. Banning high-speed projectiles is at least as important as banning rapid-firing arms and high-capacity clips.
Thank you for this information and perspective, H. Alan. My impression is that anyone speaking of cracking down on guns also considers cracking down on the ammo, magazines etc. an equal part of the proposal. Saying "gun control" has become shorthand for "reasonable and comprehensive regulation of all armaments," but you are correct that shorthand can and does omit important points.
I was recently reading about gun ownership in the Czech Republic. They have one of the few other constitutions that considers arming yourself a protected right. But they do not have our problems with violence, as attaining a weapon requires a strict and comprehensive regimen of testing and training; their law wisely does not perceive this requirement as interfering with the individual right and ability.
I support anyone's wish to shoot their own dinner. But you don't need an AR for that, or a whole arsenal. A trusty rifle or two will do. Preferably one that is respected and handled properly.
H. Alan, the really weird part is most Americans DON’T own guns. The 400+ million guns owned privately in the United States are owned by a small fraction of 330 million citizens. I saw the statistic recently and was shocked. The massive power of the semi and automatic weapons of war are what is bringing this terrible reality to surface. “I say that an armed America is only killing us.” I agree....
Of course most Americans don't have a gun. For almost everyone, it isn't a thing you need! Or want! The only purpose a gun has is to kill and/or maim. It literally can't do anything else. When people say they need it for protection, they mean they want to be able to kill/maim someone who is trying to do the same to them, with the assumption that the "good" person will win the duel. But a) that is not how it might play out, b) you are unlikely to be at gunpoint in your life, and c) the easiest way to make sure you aren't at gunpoint in the first place is to make sure the "bad" person doesn't have a gun either.
Whether guns at home or nukes in an arsenal, you can either build up or draw down capability for destruction. Those who live with fear and suspicion as their guide choose the former. Those who live with empathy, foresight, and true guts choose the latter.
HAK, my understanding is the weapon(s) used were not AR, not an AR-15 nor a "military assault style" rifle. Sherriff Lamb wisely did not provide the details at the Press Conference. I ask that no else out the details here.
Yes. My hunter friends left the NRA years ago because of its promotion of assault weapons (and they only need one bullet to down a deer). This country needs an American Rifle Association, not the Russian one.
The documentary JUSTICE, just shown at the Sundance Film Festival, provides overwhelming evidence that Kavanaugh, at his 2018 Senate justice-appointment hearing, was a bold-faced liar about his boozy, penis-waving youth. Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and other women were victimized and the FBI ‘investigation’ was overly brief, deeply flawed, and guided by the White House.
There is absolutely no doubt that this was a travesty of justice. The Trump White House steamrolled this appointment and the FBI, in their purported four-day ‘investigation,’ deliberately refused to interview witnesses who had first-hand information on Kavanaugh’s scummy sexual deeds. [Susan Collins’ ‘blessing’ on the thoroughness of the ‘investigation’ was just one of many travesties in these proceedings.]
JUSTICE has prompted an avalanche of calls with further evidence on this Kavanaugh crapola performance. The film’s director states that now he is pursuing these leads to update his stunning indictment of the Senate misjustice (6-3) that propelled Kavanaugh on to the Supreme Court.
(This was reported in the January 22nd Washington Post.)
Anybody with half a brain knew it, but thanks to those who dotted the “i’s” and laid it out. Of course repub evil will blather on about witch hunts, blah, blah, blah…
An interesting thing, this phrase "witch hunts." It alludes to the legal persecution, prosecution, and execution of women who a) were rarely witches, and b) were entirely harmless. These people in Congress who use this phrase are not witches either: they are devils.
I was interviewed by the Secret Service when my ex husband was being considered for a big government position. I told them the truth about his lying, cheating ways and they couldn’t be less interested in that. My view is that if you’d lie and cheat to the person closest to you and risk harming your own children’s futures in the process, you’d lie to anyone at any time. Did he ever use drugs? That seemed to be their only concern during the interview. A couple years later he was indicted for lying to federal authorities. He explained it away as someone was out to get him. Lady Liberty’s blindfold certainly means something different to me than it used to.
Deborah Looking for integrity and truth in a government employment interview? Huh? Back when I was interviewed for the Foreign Service (1961) the State Department gum shoes were still steeped in McCarthy muck and were folks to avoid.
After passing my Foreign Service written exam,`I got a call from a State Dept security agent (from his basement office). He gruffly told me that he had my file and that I wouldn’t obtain a Foreign Service security clearance.
At that time I was a civil servant working in the Dept’s COMINT (communications intelligence) office with a TOPSECRET/CODEWORDclearance. I told him that, since he didn’t have the clearance to visit my office, I’d come down to the basement.
There he told me that, because I had met Egyptian communists while researching my book NASSER’S NEW EGYPT: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS (1960, NY, London), I was a security risk. I suggested that getting to know our’ enemy’ might be helpful in a battle for men’s minds, a thought he promptly rejected. Repeating an Egyptian communist’s regular greeting to me “Hello, you running dog of imperialism,’ (before we hugged and had a beer) also left him non plus.
Somehow the fact that he was taking a course on Soviet communism with Professor Stefan Possony (lt. Gen equivalent rank in AF intelligence) prompted me to say that Stefan was an active board member of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, for which I wrote my book.
Once I could provide details on Stefan’s mistress, my security clearance was a slam dunk.
P. S. Did you see that the retired FBI chief of counterintelligence in New York City has just been arrested for taking large bribes from an Albanian intelligence officer and ‘untoward’ other dealings with the Soviets? Looks bad for him, since he doesn’t know Stefan’s mistress.
P. P. S. Because I was truthful and had 1st rate integrity, I did encounter some problems with my Foreign Service colleagues and, especially, with some CIA operatives. Such qualities are not considered useful assets at times in government and elsewhere.
P. P. S. S. I have never been audited by the IRS. could that be because I knew Stefan’s mistress?
Janet Kavanaugh with Ford, Ramirez, and others seems a reprise of Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill. Looks like a pattern for what seems the most’ deformed or corrupt Supreme Court’ in American history.
Combine this with the patently false new ‘originality’ doctrine and you’ll be back in the 19th century before you can say Merrick Garland (an excellent nominee who was sandbagged out of the Supreme Court by Turkey-chin McConnell.)
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire
When people are convinced that others (who are deemed the enemy) are less than human and responsible for all their problems, then it is all too easy to justify their annihilation. Add easily obtainable guns and you have the makings of a possible mass shooting. Riling up people against a made-up enemy is profitable—just look at Otter News. It’s a perfect storm and far too many people are its victims.
Everyone, please stay safe. Phone your Congress Critters and tell them that more actions need to be taken.
I'm pretty sure Mary meant Faux News, and made a hilarious slip, because there is no news network named Otter News, but I highly suggest you look up Otter News anyway, because I just did and hoo boy you're gonna love what you'll find provided you have two eyes and a sense of cute.
Another mass shooting, another mass murderer consumed with obsessive, personal grievances, suicide inside a "White Van" not suicide-by-cop. Monterey Park (MP) is between downtown LA and Pasadena, California. MP has their own PD. The first "ballroom", STAR BALLROOM that was attacked is only minutes from a major LA County Sheriff station. Ultra fast coordination with sherriff, state, FBI & other Federal units was noted. Superb mobile, digital communications likely by the LASD was also noted. Cautious approach to the "barricaded" perp in the van with mobile bomb-shielded vehicles blocking any movement by the "White Van" was very good tactics. Best of all the classic 10 am Press Conference" focused on the 20 or more VICTIMS & mention of 2 brave citizens,1 was BRANDON TSAY, who rushed the attacker at a second site, another "ballroom" in Alhambra, disrupting more violence while obtaining DNA & other direct evidence. There is a major story here about "crowd sourcing" as a bulletin with photos of the perp's body type, clothes & beanie was rapidly posted. Jobs (plural) well done. Have you ever been in a hospital presenting with severe trauma physical & emotional? Last time I was taken to a trauma center, I was unconscious for 9 days. It's tough. Those recovering & the AAPI Community need our love and assistance.
Not highlighted here until late yesterday is that the Monterey Park shooter had an automatic pistol (not an AR style rifle) with an illegal - in California - high-capacity magazine. So much for outlawing high-capacity ammo... /s.
I think the takeaway here is not that the CA ban is not worth having (it is), but that no ban can be effective if it is merely part of an uneven patchwork.
There are times federalism is the only effective approach. This is Exhibit A.
Correct Judith & thank you for the critical detail. Two (2) alert & proactive citizens ( 1 an on duty worker one foot shorter than the Perp) disarmed the shooter at the 2nd "ballroom" in nearby Alhambra. The Shooter fled to Torrance CA in his white, nondescript van.
I'm still waiting to learn about the referenced second alert & proactive citizen. Although news reports keep saying there were two, the video I've seen shows only one person and that person was interviewed on news programs this morning, no mention of second person that I've seen.
Yup, one ( just uno) on-duty worker didabled the Attacker single-handidly & pointed the Perp's gun at the Attacker who fled. Had the Attacker continued to resist, this young man would have shot the Perp then & there. This very brave young man said he reacted instinctively. He demonstrated remarkable situational awareness. MONDAY UPDATE: msnbc's "Deadlinne Whitehouse" has the interview at the top of the Show. The struggle with the Attacker was intense & "went out to the Hallway" before that young man, BRANDON TSAY, forcefully got the drop.
No civilization can survive this level of mayham and violence, in the long run.
When future historians examine the this fraught era, the deliberate misinterpretation by the odious enablers of this carnage, such as Supreme Court's radical, right-wing "justices" and feckless, obscene politicians, will be consigned to the everlasting infamy and shame they so deserve.
I do not see a good end to this level of insanity, violence and this country's acceptance of such .
I am with you when you say you don't see" a good end to this level of insanity ,violence and this country's acceptance of such". The number of guns out there would make it almost impossible to any effort to reign in and curtail them. I also think of the costs to society from all of this bloodletting-the lost wages, the loss of a parent(or child or whoever), the amount of money that insurances have to pay out, the loss of revenue due to fear of leaving the house and attending a concert, movie etc., and the list goes on and on but you catch my drift. As long as the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop trump legislating any good sense gun regulation, we will keep reliving this nightmare over and over again.
I have wondered that as well…..or how those that have that experience feel about our gun laws/regulations. I applaud those who have come forward, despite their heart rending loss, to work tirelessly for sane regulations. It seems that folks don’t question their beliefs until they are personally impacted by tragedy. Then there is Congressman Steve Scalise’s opinion, even tho’ HE was shot: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/12/steve-scalise-shooting-gun-rights-interview I also applaud the swift actions of both Australia and New Zealand following mass shootings there, wish we were as sane & logical!!!
This is why my wife and I have retired in France. One cannot buy a gun here. If you want to own a weapon, you have to apply for a permit, and you will be interviewed by the authorities. Ownership is rarely granted. We can walk late at night in the streets without fear. After the mass murder in Highland Park ,Illinois last July 4th, I realized that even upscale communities are not immune. HCR reported in a post last year that since the time that the Republicans under Bush II chose to let the automatic weapons ban lapse, the number of these guns went from 400,000 to 20 million, so that means that someone in your neighborhood has one. Democrats have been spineless in their pursuit of gun control legislation, an issue on which the Republicans could be easily crucified. Edward
Just waiting for a chain store Guns ‘R Us selling rocket launchers & bomb-enabled drones, oh, and maybe tanks & such. You know, to “harden” your home & neighborhood & gives so many more photogenic options for family holiday cards! /s
If you thought the US was the only racist country... think of this: The Norwegian government in 2023 was funding a multi-year research project to find out if white paint is racist. A grant funded by the Research Council of Norway explores the impact of titanium white paint — a Norwegian invention — on a variety of factors including national identity and social views of race.
and the US government is presently working on it's federal budget... and making Biden and the dem's look bad. But : Roughly 25% of the nation's debt was incurred during the Trump Administration.
and did you ever wonder if The "AR" in AR-15 stands for assault rifle ... but no, It does not. AR stands for ArmaLite Rifle, reflecting the company name (ArmaLite) of the original manufacturer of the weapon.
and speaking of assault weapons, A rampage at a ballroom dance venue in Monterey Park, California, that killed at least 10 people on Saturday was one of the most deadly mass shootings in the state's modern history. A former Marine combat veteran killed 12 people in a bar in Thousand Oaks. He then killed himself.
the total of killings in the US for January was 54. According to the experts there have been 33 mass shootings so far in 2023. The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group, defines a mass shooting as involving at least four people killed or injured. It counted 648 mass shootings last year.
Now do we Americans have more to be proud of than anyone? Or is it about time to grow up and make some logical changes....
As long as it is as easy as it is for guns to be in the wrong hands, this will never end. Ever.
Last week, in my hometown of Syracuse NY, an 11 year old girl walked out of a neighborhood store with a carton of milk she bought and was shot dead. There were eye witnesses, yet there are zero leads to the cold blooded murder.
What the hell is wrong with US? The grossly inconsiderate misinterpretation of our Second Amendment means that, for some, the freedom to access and wield weapons increasingly means a lack of freedom for the rest of US to go about our lives without fear of being gunned down. And the worse it gets, the worse it gets.
I was in community college the day after the Las Vegas massacre when the active shooter warning/alarm went off, and it was not a drill. Our very full Intro to Psych class had 3 solid walls, so the only way out other than the doors we couldn't lock were windows we couldn't open, facing the same direction. The two guys who were just-outta-military offered up their services, and by that I mean they rigged their belts up on the industrial door closer with might-as-well-try energy, and then moved to put two of the oh-so-not-heavy-duty tables up against the doors for good measure. The professor had her phone out to get the police report, while everyone else took theirs out to send the obligatory "If anything happens, I love you" texts. News from the report: the guy seen stalking campus with a rifle was specifically seen stalking the area next to the soccer field. OMG you guys, that's a few hundred feet from us! Great. A SWAT team was being sent in. I wish I could say the energy in the room was one of rising adrenaline and agitation, but except for that one girl who was going full horror-movie hysterical, the energy could best be summed up as... bummed. "I guess it's us today. That sucks. I had some things I was really looking forward to."
Anyway, turns out some idiot had decided it would be a great idea to bring a Nerf foam-dart gun to campus - specifically, a Nerf gun they had painted to look more real - the day after the Las Vegas massacre, and a jumpy janitor saw and called it in. Once the truth was discovered, we were given the rest of the day off. The announcement was a formality though: Tthe students had already made that grimly silent collective decision for themselves. The look on that poor bus driver's face when dozens upon dozens of uncharacteristically unsmiling people were all waiting to board at once...
You don't forget the feeling of being a sitting duck. But the feeling, although sharper, did not entirely have the shock of the new. Growing up in 21st century America, you are always a little bit of a sitting duck.
You know what I am also thinking of while I'm typing this? The stove in my family's kitchen. It's one of those electric ones with the flat glass top. I appreciate what it does for us in a Marie Kondo way, but I can't imagine becoming super attached to it, or any stove. But apparently some people have VERY strong preferences, because the actual frigging President had to come out and assure everyone last week that the government was not going to be too picky about the safety rules around stoves, and that the gas ones aren't going anywhere, despite the fact that we now have found out that they are directly causing thousands upon thousands of kids to contract asthma.
My Mom has severe asthma. It causes her daily pain and discomfort, has dwindled what she can feel comfortable doing in her middle age, and now thanks to Covid, has become a source of frankly justified existential fear. I would give anything to rid her of it. But there are people in this country who would rather tens of thousands of children live their lives with that same constant lack of breath than be forced - FORCED I TELL YOU!!! - to use a different type of stove to warm their leftovers. Their stove preference is more important.
These folks are so righteous in the prioritization of their own sense of persecution, that anything and everything that they are used to has become a symbol of their "way of life," and any commonsense improvement to any of it, no matter how necessary the change or how immaterial the difference to their daily life, is somewhere from an imposition that will not stand to a full-on declaration of (cultural) war. My uncle has lost both his legs to diabetes, but these same folks would rather millions of kids have diabetes in their lives, if it means unhealthy foods they like the taste of stay on the shelves. They would rather keep spewing a torrent of fuel into the air until no children born today have any clean air in their lives, if it means the car they like the sound of stays on the market. And they would rather have innocent fellow citizens needlessly have their lives ripped from them in a randomized burst of violence each and every day if it means they can keep amassing the metal contraptions that give their uber-libertarian wild-west fantasies some more heft.
They'll be outraged no matter what, so let us give them something to REALLY be outraged about: November '24. A half-dozen congressional seats (looking at you, NY&CA), one more anti-filibuster senator (looking at you, AZ), the re-election of a still-spry fighting Irishman to the presidency, and soon after the strict federal gun control laws we need. Then we can live in TRUE freedom: freedom from this fear that affects the citizens of no other developed country, yet here has plagued a generation.
Eyes on the prize, and in the meantime stay angry. And stay safe.
Reading, reading again. Bittersweet. The truth to the sadness, although your final words give such hope.
So profound. So touchingly, beautifully written words. May 2024 be the year of the wave, for the "still spry fighting Irishman" .
Thanks, Margaret. I'm not good at taking compliments, so y'all are giving me a challenge! I am glad I have decided to contribute more often when I really have something to add. I tend to use up a lot of words each time, so I am all right stepping back the rest of the time and listening and learning from others. Cheers!
Will, beautifully put.
Loud and clear, Will. Loud and clear.
Salud.
🗽
Here's wishing your Mom the best Will. I never had asthma but my little sister did. One never knew when she would be hit by an attack and stop breathing well. It was scary all the time.
Thanks, Mike. It is bewildering to me how people do not take asthma seriously enough, considering how common is is. People think you get, what, a little bit short of breath and can use your inhaler thingy, right? Uh, hello, that's to make sure she does not DIE, and she's already used it. Now what? She can tell if a person in the same row as her in the movie theater has a cat at home, so no, just kinda brushing yourself off is not going to cut it. And when we say she can't have tomatoes, we don't mean just take them off the salad before you bring it out. We mean don't have the veggie of death in the same damn building as the rest of the salad, unless you're willing to cough up the hospital bill while she's coughing in the hospital, mmkay thanks.
People. I swear.
Will, in my schooldays -- middle of the last century -- I met TWO kids with asthma.
Later, it was my own mother. After moving to a very big city.
Now... every other kid seems to suffer from it.
I HAVE SEEN THE PRESENT, AND IT DOESN'T WORK.
And... I don't like to say such things... Given my nice, polite English upbringing, I don't like to upset good, friendly people who are hurt enough already...
BUT... when I see news of the latest random American Amok, the latest haphazard obscenity, the latest... now "traditional" Human Sacrifice...
I WANT TO H O W L
This time, I'll spare you the full range of my thoughts -- which do not spare the pathetic mess English people have made of the United Kingdom -- but it is enraging, it is horrible, it is humiliating, to grow old amidst such degenerate barbarism and to see a country I criticized yet still respected, cared for, expected great things from... so tied up in knots of its own making that there is neither the will nor the way to do anything about anything...
Congress taken hostage by jailbirds-in-waiting who would be plain jailbirds in any respectable country -- or headless in Saudi -- a cult of death by bullets banned by the Geneva Conventions, idiot demons armed to the teeth in every corner of the land and dreaming of killing the neighbors, the worship of meaningless abstractions, adoration of Mammon and vile sidekick your New Improved MACHINEGUN MOLOCH...
Supine, supine, supine, yet daring to damn wretched Russians for failing to rise up against Putin, when any of that crime boss's subjects can be swept up at any moment for not looking obedient enough or, more likely, for no reason at all... and dumped in a vile hell-on-earth jail or sent to the front to get killed... for nothing...
Still free, still free... yet behaving like...
There...
I've gone and said too much... yet still expressed so little...
And you good people, grinding your teeth in frustration... and ruminating revenge like Hamlet... will be glad to see this Fool fall silent.
But Truth will out.
And...
The Truth will make you free.
If you still want to be free.
Beautiful writing, Peter, and I agree with every word.
Here in the US, we are still free. Most of us know that it's a slow and uncertain process, but politics is the best way to change society for the better. But we're stuck in a culture we helped create - one of consumerism, prejudice, poisonous religion and economic inequality. And we could fix it, but we either like it too much or depend on the status quo for our identities.
Horrible writing, Marycat, horrible.
Truth is, we make ourselves filthy even thinking about these evils and those who do them.
At least full political commitment means getting down under the vehicle and dirtying oneself greasing axles, jumping into a trench and freeing the blocked sewage outlet with one’s bare hands, acting, getting something done—nobler grime. All my howling could ever achieve might be to awaken some sleeping Paul Revere spurring him to ride.
But you’ll need a million and more Paul Reveres today. And where are they? Where are the likes of the men who followed Washington? Where are those who, in the Civil War, learned the hardest way of all that no external foe can match one’s own brethren?
Now the filth is everywhere:
False identities—we take ourselves for everything and anything save what we are: all human beings.
And even then, we don’t begin to know what that means.
False gods, tinsel gilding, promising gold; gold and the Big Rock Candy Mountain. But delivering guaranteed dissatisfaction to pauper and to billionaire—we all know why those who starve aren’t satisfied but why do you think that superbulimic billionaires want more and more and more? Poor superjunkies, paranoid scroogery’s not enough for them. And because, like the song, they “can’t get no satisfaction”, the poor buggers get as rancorous and resentful as the poor and downtrodden and try to take it out on others…
It’s all too much like the Fisherman’s Wife of the folk tale, who found dissatisfaction in everything until she wanted to be God… and ended up back in the ditch where she’d begun.
False religion with false values, false preachers who milk the “successful”—i.e. the materially well-to-do—in exchange for selling them the “word” that they’re God’s anointed (while the poor will go to hell)…
Shopping malls, temples selling “the Meaning of Life” while those who cannot buy look on hungrily like wandering ghosts.
And it goes on and on and on.
How do people call themselves Christians, call themselves Jews, call themselves Muslims, when all they can do with Gospel, with Torah, with Qur’an is cherry-pick pretexts for their next crime? If they can read at all. Read AND think… for themselves, thought not predigested.
You’d have thought that Isaiah 6:9-13 was plain enough.
Here endeth the Second Rant.
With apologies. Yes, I am sorry, for all these raging words do nothing to assuage the pain, nothing to wash away the shame. And I have seen proud Americans, men who made great contributions to their country and the world, reduced to shame.
Horrible.
Well Peter, your post mirrors my frustration. Human behavior and motivation has fascinated me so much so that it sent me back to school and come out as mental health therapist, my third career, at the age of 50. Excuse me for being simplistic, but basically the motivation for these mass shootings is a combination of mental illness, hate, and anger (or any fear-based emotion). Easily acquired firearms just make it happen. I was at a city council meeting here in Philadelphia and all of these gun owners were in a complete tizzy because they were only allowed to buy one gun a month! I am very intrigued to find out the motive of the shooter in CA. As far as I'm concerned, the only motive a 72-yr old Asian man would have to do this is being overcome with jealousy...let's see....
"Mental illness" is bullshit. It's vague and does nothing other than criminalize millions of people who are mentally ill. If you don't know just what "mental illness" mass shooters suffer from, just keep quiet. "God speaking to you in the divine language of coincidence" is also bullshit.
Aside from air pollution as a cause of asthma, there is also substantial evidence that young children in modern "advanced" countries are not exposed enough to the natural world. Such exposure in effect "primes" the immune system for its later appropriate performance; without the priming, it does not perform as well. This idea was originally promulgated as the "hygiene hypothesis" (Bach, N. Engl. J. Med., 347, 2002) and later elaborated as the "old friends hypothesis" (Rook et al, Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health [2013] pp. 46–64), the old friends being the organisms and other products of nature with which people have evolved over the millennia. A brief summary is in Scudellari, PNAS | February 14, 2017 | vol. 114 | no. 7 | 1433–1436. As infectious diseases have declined over the past decades, autoimmune diseases (asthma, eczema, ...) have increased. This trend has not appeared in Africa, for example. Who knew?
Addendum to my previous post: A lot of autoimmune conditions and diseases, therefore, could be prevented by taking young children out into the natural world. Also, there is evidence that exposure of young children to peanuts will prevent peanut allergies (has to be done carefully, of course). These measures will not cure people who already have the conditions, and will not solve the problems of air pollution, gas stoves, and the rest. It's purely preventative and has to be done with very young children.
I think it's very true that many if us don't take asthma seriously enough. In my case, it is mostly out of ignorance of it's severity. I don't know anyone who suffers from it so thank you for educating me on the subject. I truly appreciate it and will be much more mindful from now on.
Will, there's no substitute for personal experience. One of my best childhood friends had asthma. I've never forgotten how he struggled. Best to your mom.
I've taken asthma seriously since, as a teenager, my beautiful neighbor, mother to a young child who I babysat, died from it. It was terrible. So, when my son was born with it, I understood immediately that it could kill him. No one should have to live with asthma if it can be prevented. I'm so sorry for that your mom has to do so.
Thank you, Susan, for your kind words, but my Mom HAD to live with it. A long life, much pain, maybe more damage done to her body by the cortisone that got her through attacks than by the illness itself.
I have also seen two people cured of it by unconventional methods, one, only just in time. But such approaches may still be hard to come by.
This is part of the high price we pay for what's usually called "progress"... which is fine, but never comes free... and always brings with it some corresponding regression.
Anyway, may your boy and all like him enjoy robust health!
And... the bad things, too, come with something good: awareness of what it means to suffer, feeling for the pain of others.
Many more poor people in inner cities develop asthma because that's where the industrial parks are. And those who live in the North East have a higher rate of asthma thanks to the midwest power plants sending their smoke east.
Having worked in a major medical center (though generally not involved with direct patient care) I can attest that one of the most fearful thing is the inability to breathe! Often people are sedated because this is so traumatic to them.
I am so sorry to hear that her condition is so severe.
I have to add - my daughter is VERY allergic to peanuts, peanut oil, peanut butter etc etc. When she was young it was thought to be asthma - and youre right - its treated by many as "no biggie". As is the peanut allergy still. Very scary - I really feel for your mom - there are so many people with a huge number of allergies - I think a lot has to do with all the preservatives - additives - plus the crap in our air, water & environment.
But thats another whole thing.
Oh boy my cousin has the peanut & nut allergies. Those are no joke. Big strong football player, but one half a peanut in that piece of candy and it's Christmas in the hospital.
I'm not sure diet has that much to do with it (although what do I know, diet along with sleep and exercise does seem to affect everything). Mom has always theorized that in her case it somehow stemmed from anorexia in her early adulthood, as her asthma developed late in her 20s and many of her allergies are the things she limited herself to eating during that period. We give our bodies too much or too little... best we learn to listen to them instead.
I read somewhere (!) that there is some thought that if babies are given some form of peanuts in very small amounts it might prevent the full-blown allergic reactions. This was a while ago - I never saw where it was successful. I think your mom could be just as correct as anyone else regarding allergies. I could be wrong, but I dont think theres a lot of research into them. Or maybe someone here has seen more information.
Oh, you are probably right. It would make sense... Like an inoculation of sorts.
Bodies: finding weird ways to defeat themselves since the dawn of time!
'FACTSHEET'
'Gas stoves and asthma in children'
indoor pollution healthy home triggers
'Most people know about pollen, dust mites and mould as triggers of their child’s asthma symptoms. But recent findings suggest that cooking with gas stoves, or exposure to other gas appliances, may be associated with new asthma cases and asthma exacerbations. Scientists have found that around 12 per cent of childhood asthma in Australia can be attributed to the use of gas stoves for cooking.'
'Why is it a problem?'
This is a problem for several reasons. Firstly, cooking is a daily occurrence and cooking with gas is common in Australian homes. In fact, it is estimated that 38 per cent of Australian homes cook with a gas stove.2 Secondly, cooking is normally done indoors, where irritants from gas cooking can accumulate, especially in winter as we keep our doors and windows locked. And lastly, it’s an issue that has had little coverage beyond academic circles, so most people are still unaware of the risks that cooking with gas may pose.'
'How does gas combustion lead to asthma?'
'Cooking with gas releases chemicals such as nitrogen dioxide3 and formaldehyde, which can cause inflammation in the airways and may worsen asthma symptoms.'
'Measures to reduce exposure'
There are a variety of simple measures you can take to reduce the effect of gas cookers on your child’s asthma symptoms. These include:
Using a range hood when cooking, noting that high efficiency range hoods which are vented outside are better than those that simply recirculate air
Opening windows during and after cooking. This is especially true if your home doesn’t have a range hood
Opening windows on opposite sides of the kitchen can help remove pollutants more quickly.' (National Asthma Council, Australia)
References:
Knibbs, L. et al. Damp housing, gas stoves, and the burden of childhood asthma in Australia. Medical Journal of Australia. 2018 (7): 299-302.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Energy use and conservation survey, 2011
National Asthma Council, Australian Asthma Handbook-Managing avoidable triggers. Available at: http://www.asthmahandbook.org.au/clinical-issues/triggers/avoidable-triggers
To any who think gas stoves are best, my experience—I have cooked on an electric induction cooktop for the past ten years. I would never want anything else. Before that I had electric coil. Terrible compared to induction or to gas for speed of response.
I also have an induction stove and do just fine with it. I have never had a gas stove and am glad of that. Gas scares the heck out of me.
Oh but Carol, with the coils you also get all the gunk that gets stuck under the coils! And how after a few years they all find ways to have themselves be at slightly different angles!
Why would you ever wanna give that up?
And the drip pans under the coils rust out in a couple of years, if things boil over now and then. But if you have a boil over with induction you can use a towel while still cooking. Or you could put the towel under the pan the first place. It will not catch fire, the induction works as usual.
I had not noticed the tilted coils, but now that you mention it. . . yes. And if the pan got too hot you could lift the pan off the coil and put it somewhere. . .instead of touching the control panel. Those were the days.
Then there are also those like my neighbor who does not have a a good sense of smell. Another neighbor happened to come over and smelled gas, so averted something that could have gone bad. And now the neighbor in question finally has an electric stove.
The other culprit of indoor particles is the toaster believe it or not.
iI have not found evidence for your claim with reference to electric toasters, on the other hand, inhaling harmful smoke from burned food can inflame your lungs and airway, causing them to swell and block oxygen. This can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome and respiratory failure.
See https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/08/the-hidden-air-pollution-in-our-homes
Nol, I do not have hours to comb through this article in which very careless cooking cleanups took place and claims were not verified, such as, “The scariest thing in this house is probably the toaster,” Erin Katz, another student volunteer, said “I just had no idea that toasters emitted so many particles.”, The article did not indicate what type of toaster was used, the nature of the 'particles', methods of data collection or substantiation of claims. I believe that kitchens may often be 'danger zones'. In this case the source was weak in substantiating claims.
So I shouldn't trust any of these sources? https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/the-dangers-of-indoor-air-pollution/
Here's another one.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200909-why-indoor-air-pollution-is-an-overlooked-problem
I heard a story on NPR about a study to measure indoor pollution, and the toaster came up as a culprit.
When forwarding a claim, it is best to check for evidence before passing on an unsubstantiated hazard.
I heard these people interviewed on NPR. Should I not trust them?
I'm a 73 y/ o retired psych RN. Over the years those of us in this field have laughed about the patients running the asylum. I never thought it would become truth! I know that my years are limited but worry about my children and grandchildren. I have a trans grandchild who just finished high school and is a National Merit Scholar with a $40,000 scholarship. MIT, Harvard and numerous other universities want her. I pray that her gifts will be allowed to blossom for the benefit of us all.
I am 79, approaching 80 in a couple months, and have no children, but I worry about all younger people especially those in my family. I do hope that your grandchild blooms, but I understand your concern. Such hatred all around us.
We witness acts of unkindness nearly every time we are out driving somewhere. This weekend we were on our way to the grocery store when an obviously homeless man walked against the light and traffic had to wait a minute or so while he crossed. But the the jerk next to us had to blow his horn to express his having to wait for a moment.
I maintain that the most revealing interaction a person can have is how they treat a homeless person. It seems to always lay bare so much about the other person involved. No one who is homeless is living a great life, period, it doesn't matter how they got there. Someone who responds with sadness to the man with the dirty cardboard is someone I can trust to be friends with. Someone who responds with contempt (or honks)? Not so much.
We had a few names for the person in the next car. I believe he was in a hurry and since it's a main thoroughfare, ended up at the next red light, not making a lot of headway. I not sure the man even knew he was walking against the light. But once he steps onto the street, he has the right of way. Same thoroughfare is(was?) closed further down at a huge intersection today because of an attempted car jacking. So everyone near there was stuck no matter how much of a hurry they were in. We also had 4 homeless people killed in their tents by someone who was speeding and ran over them a while back. He has just been sentenced.
Bless your grandchild for having the courage to live as her true self in a world where so many still don't understand, let alone managing to excel to such a degree simultaneously. That alone is a big clue she has the strength to do anything. So inspiring.
Will, please run for political office. Amazing reflection on the state of the country and beautifully written.
Wow, wish I had said all that; no, I wish the MSM had said all that, even better Rupert (I dream)
Thank you for this post, Will. Nothing like that personal experience. I live in the community where there was a mass high school shooting, and I know a number of people who were impacted directly by that incident, from a co-worker whose child was shot and survived to other co-workers who had to investigate the homicide scene where the shooter killed both his parents (the HS was in a city jurisdiction and the homicide was in the county jurisdiction). The only thing in that incident that kept the death toll to two (directly; I believe there have been suicides of survivors in later years) was that the shooter had a .22 rifle, and not a .223 semi-auto with large capacity magazines.)
Ally, there is something powerful about being there, first hand experiences as you describe. Perhaps the lack of empathy, imagination prevents people from understanding. The terror isn't always about being in the room at that moment. In 2011, at our local elementary school of 400 students, at around 10:00 a.m., the custodian shot and killed the Principal in his office while students were in class. Except for one student in his office who witnessed this cold blooded murder. Children were in lockdown in their classrooms until 4:00 p.m when parents were allowed on campus. The teachers are heroes. I wasn’t there as I retired the year before, but i was called and talked to teachers who were in their classrooms with the children. Keeping children safe and following the practiced lockdown procedures for hours. Sitting on the floor, in a circle, lights out, windows covered, no leaving room for any reason. Including to the bathroom. Practiced. Because every school and teacher must be prepared for disasters. I retired the year before but i too was traumatized. Students and teachers and staff had counseling for two years but many are still there as if it’s now. PTSD. Forever.
ofhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-school-shooting/janitor-shoots-california-school-principal-to-death-idUSTRE71195820110203
Thanks for sharing this story. I met with the teachers at the elementary school in the little town where I was the contract deputy the day after Sandy Hook doing a debriefing of sorts with them. I stayed pretty present at the school for about a month, at various times of day so that students, staff, and parents could see me as a normal part of the school day.
PTSD is in fact the “gift that keeps on giving. Thanks for what you did.
If these stories aren’t enough to change minds and gun laws, then we are all going down together in the same armed ship. Sandy Hook couldn’t change gun laws. What possible disaster will?
Thank you, Ally, for your good service.
I know some people who have PTSD long after they were in the military.....fireworks, for example, is not good for them.
And you never know when it is going to rear its ugly head...
My LMT was in the navy on an aircraft carrier and I have learned a lot about it from him. He does address it and is not in some kind of denial.
The things that teachers are expected to do that is well above their meagre pay grade is astounding. Everyone who teaches public elementary should be paid as much as a brain surgeon.
Don't get me started on the suspicion increasingly directed towards "what they're teaching" these last few years. Most people have neither the desire nor wherewithal to spend the day with their own kids, the least you could do is show a little support and respect to those who are educating and raising them all at once during their most formative years for most of the day. Geez.
Thank you, Will, teaching is one of the most critical and criticized professions. And Early education, the most important and underpaid. One reason is that there are so many women in early grades. Patience, empathy, compassion, knowledge of prenatal through college curriculum, learning styles , modalities, development, a specialized level of teaching that often is underpaid and sometimes staffed with teachers untrained for that specialty. I realized that many parents felt they knew as much as a trained teacher because they were once students. And then there’s the salary schedule. That’s for another day.
Ally, I remember that incident well. For some reason we were in Oregon City when we heard about it on the car radio. We were shocked. And the parents, who knew he had problems, had bought him the rifle. Thanks god he had only a .22 rifle. And yet now we have LE not wanting stricter gun laws.
Ally, Monday, we have another Mass Shooting in HALF MOON BAY CALIFORNIA on the San Mateo coast, 7 deceased at two (2) locations. No facts yet to offer situational context.
I was just there. Today is Monday. Now. Insanity. Here is the news report. 7 or more dead from tonight Monday. https://apple.news/APOWzNifmTeyVLBIWpMta4A
"...and survived."
Two of the best words in the English language. (Usually.)
Thank you, Heather, for your photo and thank you Will for your words.
I have lived with asthma my whole life and it can be terrifying to others, and myself, during a full-blown 'attack', appropriately described. It is controlled now by an inhaler with a retail cost of $425 a month without insurance, however Medicare (that is under threat by the GQPs also) pays all but the deductible. Still it's way too expensive. Under insured or those without must suffer horribly. It breaks my heart to think of children suffering with asthma and the constant threat of guns. A shooter was stopped at my granddaughter's school... So much is broken in this fine country. I am angry too, but must just take exception at the use of any f-word beside our President. He is doing the best he can with the cards he has.
Oh I am an unabashed supporter of our President, make no mistake. My colorful consternation was over the idea someone with so many more important things to do - and someone doing them so well - even felt the need to take any time at all to think about this, such was the outsized outrage.
Understood, great!
My very angry, frustrated thoughts put succinctly..in your words. Even at my very senior age, I can continue to do my part towards “2024”....and your words are like my marching orders!
Totally agree
I agree with all of the above.
And then there is something not as life threatening that has "popped" up lately. Wouldnt most of us agree that it might possibly be "time" to physically DO something about government documents & how they are handled? Because it sure seems obvious to me after the former administration's intentional screw-ups and now not just this administration, but apparently Congress (Biden's senatorial days) need to have SOME kind of firm regulations/LAWS as to how to handle these documents - classified or not. The lack of any simple kind of organization & follow-up amazes me.
There are so very many ways that our government is so lax - it boggles the mind. Thats how dumpty got away with so much with absolutely NO oversight or attempt to stop him. Thats how we have these supposed "congress people" who not only have no idea of how a government works (or in this case, doesnt) but are still allowed to do as they please. For instance, the metal detector removal? A "representative" who should not have even been allowed to run for the office? And yet - there he is and on committees!
Sorry Will, didnt mean to change the subject but there is so much to be said, right?
Thank you for posting. I am sorry that the you went through the feeling of being a sitting duck. I agree with everything you have said. Every time we have a shooting in Portland, which happens way too often, people wring their hands and say what can we do. Well, we can do something about the freaking guns for starters. And now we have people saying that no one will take their gas stoves out of their cold dead hands. And yes, any of us could be in the wrong place at the wrong time and be part of some shooting. Well said, Will.
I garner from what personal information has been shared, that many (most?) of the readers here are in their senior years (age, not school year!) We don't have a lot of lifetime left, nor a lot of physical energy, but we do have more "free time" to volunteer and a lot of that can be done from our own homes.
I have a lot of faith in the younger generations, I feel terrible that it comes down to all of you and I am well aware of how difficult just surviving is for you all!
Keep posting, Will.
Thank you, Miselle. Rest assured anything is appreciated... all ages of people are equally valuable! Even just well wishes go a long way in this time when so many feel alone! I felt bad last fall about not feeling able to do more, but my Dad reminded me that even making a few days of phone calls still put me in the top few percent of people in terms of those who volunteer. I wish that wasn't true, but he knows I'm a numbers guy and that would make me feel better.
Will, do I have your permission to share this?
Of course! Let it be known my rambles are always free to share! We are living in the post-"Celebrity Nude Phone Leak" world, so if I am not comfortable with something I type or a photo I take being theoretically splayed on a public wall, I refrain.
Still, nice to be asked I guess lol.
"We need to put on the record..." This simple phrase, more than anything else you have written, grips my mind with the realization that we are living the writing of history...that this is the record on which future generations will form an opinion of us.
We will be seen as a time of apathy, as drunkenly sunk into our own lives and willing to ignore violence as the Russians who bought liquor (intentionally priced cheaply by the state so they would not have the coherence to revolt against the ruling classes). We stupefy ourselves with materialism, with individualism, with political correctness, while money controls our leaders. Children, churches, middle class shoppers, young dancers, and parade goers. There is no safety in this apathy. There is only shame that will live on into the future.
We know the perpetrators, yet they go unpunished. The media “both sides” us to DEATH. We live in a shooting gallery and we are the ducks…
Spot on, Kem. Carter's Crisis of Confidence speech is more prescient by the day. Serving primarily our own immediate needs and gratification is a dead end, and those who see it as a virtue have the whole idea of freedom twisted into the least edible pretzel. Apathy is the true enemy, and knowledge is the most vital power. More people have that power than ever before. Get rid of the apathy and we can weild it more collectively!
We, Americans, are imprisoned by our guns and our neighbors' guns. We are killing each other, just as the country's 'owners' knew we would. We are killers and 'they' put us up to it. We are the dying of America's history.
So well said, KEM… regretfully.
Truth. I am heavy with sadness, unsure how to move forward to effect the change that has to happen.
My favorite internet meme today? "Murica: We have gun care and health control"
accurate
😢
That is good
WHAT TO DO WITH MY BODY IN THE EVENT I DIE IN A MASS SHOOTING
BY TOM MCALLISTER
February 15th, 2018
'Take that body and don’t even clean the blood off the skin, don’t wash it out of my clothes. Don’t change my facial expression or adjust my posture. Don’t do anything to hide the reality of my death. Let people see me exactly how I was in my last moments, my face twisted in horror and confusion, my body curled unnaturally as if hunching my back could ever protect me from the bullets (nothing can protect you). I want them to see my mouth agape, my eyes feeling betrayed but also weary, because in those final moments, I know I would be shocked but not surprised (you can’t be surprised by something that happens every day; nobody is surprised to see the sun rise in the morning).'
'After I’ve been executed for the crime of being in a public place, my final wish is for the people who enabled this crime, again and again and again, to have to face my anger and explain themselves. Lift my body off the ground and haul it from the site of my death straight to the Capitol. Parade me through the halls and bang on doors and demand that they look at what the bullets did to me. Tell them where my blood spilled, and make them stick their fingers into the wounds like Thomas into Jesus’s side. Don’t waste time trying to convince them that I was better or more worthy of dignity than any other person, because then you’re wasting your breath on a game you cannot win (all they want is win, there’s going to be so much winning). Don’t allow them to rank the victims in terms of their value and don’t allow them to engage in any conversation aside from this: Right here is a body that you killed, and I want to know what you’re going to do about it. They’ll arrest you and they’ll vilify you and they’ll threaten you with their guns. Keep going back, keep showing them my body.'
'Every day, pile more bodies in the halls so they can’t go anywhere without stepping over the victims. Force them to look down at a dead body and lift their leg over it as if stepping over a puddle. Don’t join them in their prayers (the god they pray to doesn’t exist). When they step over my dead body, I want them to look down into my vacant eyes and reckon with the way it ended. I want them to be transported into my mind and feel what I felt after being shot. In those final moments—as I bled out onto the tile floor of the mall, or onto the grass outside a summer concert, or in the dirt of the center city beer garden, or in the middle of my fucking classroom—I would be thinking of all the ways my own country has abandoned its people (for profit, for spite, for no reason at all). I would be lying there, remembering all the murders I’ve cheered for in movies, all the thousands of dead bodies I’ve digested and forgotten, and I would look up at the ceiling searching for meaning and finding nothing at all. I would be thinking: is this really all there is?'
***
Tom McAllister is the author of the novels The Young Widower's Handbook and How to Be Safe (forthcoming in April 2018). He is the Nonfiction Editor at Barrelhouse, and co-host of the Book Fight podcast. More from this author →
This is a truly gnarly and relentlessly confrontational piece of writing.
Perfect for today. I approve. I must find further work of Mr. McAllister's.
"After I’ve been executed for the crime of being in a public place" -- this is horrifying. This is what the United States has become. Anyone who isn't occasionally uneasy in large crowds, for example, isn't living in our current terrible reality.
It struck me while reading this that this piece is really about apathy, just as Will from Cal's eloquent earlier comment was. Apathy is a luxury we can't afford. Apathy is the opiate of our masses. Apathy allows us to move through the world, seemingly protected from too much, too often.
I am too small to truly take in even one death, too big to be overlooked by a random universe. My apathy will not protect my body, will not preserve my sanity, cannot keep my loved ones or community safe.
I will accept my limitedness and vulnerability. Every day there is too much, too often. Every day there is more than I can handle. However, there has never been more than WE can handle. Because I am small, I must pick my battles (really, what I can love and try to understand) carefully. I work with a few, and in concert with many others. Choose what to love, and leave the rest for others to love. Love melts apathy. And if no one has said it to you today, know that I love you.
NO, Steve, WHAT TO DO WITH MY BODY IN THE EVENT I DIE IN A MASS SHOOTING, is not about 'apathy', which is real but the umbrella above lies, myths, anger, grievance, greed, power, mental illness, neglect, loss of community, having been screwed by technology, lack of support, hopelessness, cornered, drugs, alcohol, homelessness -- violence in response? It's not all about 'apathy', which is a response of 'contempt'. I don't buy it.
Fern, unless I'm misunderstanding you, I think Steve was referring not to the problems of shooters but the apathy of legislators and the inaction by people inured to what so far in 2023 has turned into daily mass shootings.
By the way, I got a notification that you replied to a comment of mine, but either my computer or Substack is acting up, and I can't find it.
It is in the reading of MCALLISTER's piece, to quote, '(all they want is win, there’s going to be so much winning)'. '...I would be thinking of all the ways my own country has abandoned its people (for profit, for spite, for no reason at all).' and Steve's interpretation of it, that you and I differ, Mim.
Yes. In that hard-hitting piece—only a fraction of what McAllister proposes should be enough to scare and disgust law-abiding Americans into banning the ownership by civilians of military assault weapons—it was the words “all they want is win, there’s going to be so much winning” that hit me hardest in the gut.
So many corpses swept under hypocrisy’s fine rug that it’ll soon be pushing up the ceiling.
I'm not finding comments from people in response to mine, either. So frustrating!
And, as in too many other instances, the Supreme Court of the United States, sitting somewhere in the empyrean—Looking Glass Land? A parallel universe? Anyway, not on this earth—is clearly guilty of far more than aiding and abetting this ocean of crime. Those distinguished jurists actually enabled it.
They have made the legal saw "Lex asinus est" a grave insult to donkeys. With this and judgements like Citizens United, they have brought both Law and expertise into disrepute.
I who say this have always had so much respect for the distinguished jurists I have met. As for lawyers representing criminal interests, I never could have imagined that the highest courts of law in a civilized State could be packed with men and women uncomfortably resembling those employed by the mafia. At least in America you have political hacks and operatives for whom the end justifies such means as lying one’s way into high office rather than a Russian-style judiciary whose verdicts and sentences are determined in advance by the Executive.
One should be thankful for small mercies.
Having said all this—and I begin to wonder whether I shall be allowed to enter the United States after casting such aspersions on the country’s august institutions—I’d be most grateful if some skilled jurist can show me the error of my ways, justifying the possession and use by civilians of weapons of war and explaining how the Justices can in no way be blamed for transforming the Second Amendment into institutionalized terrorism.
"Lex asinus est" a grave insult to donkeys.'
Peter, your sharp thrusts, hit the mark with with uncommon acuity. Thank you.
Thank you, Fern, but the scandal is so great. And all the more obscene for having been accepted by citizens as "normal" in peacetime.
At least there was some meaning when priests cut out men's hearts atop the Aztec pyramids. The only meaning of human sacrifice in today's America is that human life has no value for those who count in the land: forces human and non-human bent on subverting the Republic and replacing it by despotism.
And, as Montesquieu showed, the guiding principle of despotism is fear.
Strangley, poetic, brutal and quite powerful, as it was intented.
No, I don’t “like,” but it’s the truth laid bare
Thanks, Fern, for this powerful piece by McAllister!
Yes! I would love to make the lawmakers al have to climb over the bodies of the slain to get into and out of their offices! Let them see, smell and touch the gore they seem so comfortable with!
2 DOZEN GRADE SCHOOL CHILDREN MUTILATED BY A CRAZY PERSON WITH A MILITARY WEAPON DESIGNED SOLELY FOR EFFICIENT MASS KILLING.
If that didn't make our bought off politicians uncomfortable, nothing will.
And it happens AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN.....
Photos of the Uvalde children's bodies piled in a corner of their classroom. Post it on billboards all over the country. Let everyone drive by that.
Sadly, what remains of their bodies. Some parents were left to identify their child's remains based on the shoes they were wearing when they left the house that day. As tragic as these images are, they should be required viewing for the Texas Legislature, which is in session through May 29. Several bills have been filed to address gun violence, but it'd be a miracle if they make it out of committee - requiring senators and representatives to watch the DPS video taken inside the classroom might be the impetus needed to propel us on an effective, safe path forward.
Facial expression, see anger, parade the wounded body: the weapons some people want to ban tear heads from bodies, too savagely destroyed to be viewed in published photos, old and young, small children…
all defenseless, to be mourned in anguish without ‘closure’ by those who loved them, and some offer their thoughts and prayers, unspecified, and declare something must be done… for how many years?
Thank you, Fern. I shared this excruciatingly painful essay on Facebook, prefacing it with this: "This essay was posted in a Substack comment this morning, responding to the author's sad commemoration of yet more mass murders. (There have been a horrifying 33—33!!—in the last 22 days in this country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2023). It is excruciatingly painful to read, but please read it and share it. Maybe somehow it can penetrate the heartless souls of those who refuse to demand and refuse to enact strict gun control laws."
What is the half-life of a crime scene? As long as we keep cleaning away the evidence of murders and mangled bodies and tortured spirits, we no longer need be reminded of the hollowness of our defense of the gun. Were, as McAllister leaves me wondering, we forced to see the taped shapes of the killed and maimed for that half-life, this surreal won't become true enough to get us to change. No. That won't happen. A few news reports. Some candles and wreaths or crosses placed. All only for some prescribed time and then cleaned up least we not get to forget.
Yes, Fred, some of us continue in pain; others are dead with numbness, and without massive action, we are dead all together.
NYT Morning, by German Lopez, graphically makes the case about why there are more murders and deaths by guns in the USA. An abundance of accessible weapons for which Americans choose the gun as their favorite tool, used and useful for everything. Let's swape hammers for guns or pickles for AK-15s and who know what will happen. Condiment fights?
It seems appropriate to equate peace with an an empty beach; no bipeds to foul up the peaceful scene. As for me, my favorite way of contributing to peace is to stay home. No contact, no conflict.
I include destinations within walking distance as "home". It's mostly woods and a few congenial neighbors, as many dogs as persons, and wild critters who share the space as well.
What can I do locally to promote peace? Here are a few things that have occurred to me.
1) grow something. Then give it away. It's harder to hate someone when they are offering you something fresh to eat.
2) tend some soil. Dirt becomes soil when microbes and carbon are added. Plants, even little ones, put down roots (carbon) into soil. Decaying roots are carbon storage. They stay for quite a while. More carbon can be stored in soil than in the living plants above it. Once you learn about it, healthy soil is a very soul-satisfying thing to have around you. Little critters love it as well. They live in it, dig in it, make their homes in it. They don't attack you, hate you. In fact, they make it possible for you to feed yourself on a small patch of soil; as little as your urban yard.
3) turn your trash into good soil. Get a compost tumbler. get a paper shredder. turn paper and cardboard into shredded paper. Even the colored advertisers. Toss it into your tumbler, along with your kitchen scraps. Then buy a small package of fishing worms; the red wigglers. Watch them go to town, turning all paper and wood fiber trash into compost. It's amazing how fast they do it. They don't mind being tumbled every so often. They live through hot summer and frozen winter. Toss in a a spade or two of dirt now and again, to add microbes. When it's full and looks like soil, dump the compost anywhere you have plants. Don't over-think it. Just turn your kitchen food waste and paper trash into compost. It doesn't stink. it builds soil. it makes your yard healthier. The plants grow better. They store carbon in their roots and fallen leaves. You're doing something for the planet, even if you aren't a gardener. Storing carbon is a form of peace-making.
4. Turn your yard into a meadow. Find a place in your yard, or along a path you walk regularly, or in any bit of soil you encounter in your neighborhood. Order some locally appropriate wild-flower seeds. Toss them onto the surface and cover them with a bit of compost, or mulch. Or nothing, for that matter. Watch what happens as winter turns to spring. Watch what shows up when the wildflowers bloom. Count the number of different insects you see gathering pollen on your wildflowers. Look for birds feeding on insects. realize that you have created an instant ecosystem. Feel the peace that creates inside you.
5) grow something on your windowsill. Find a few old potatoes in your refrigerator veggie drawer that are sprouting. Chop them into a few pieces. Plant them in a few pots that will fit on a windowsill. Water them occasionally. Watch how fast they grow. Then transplant them into an outdoor planter. Later this year, when the leaves finally die back, harvest a few potatoes from that planter. No muss, no fuss. You'll enjoy watching them grow. you can add soil and they will continue growing, make more potatoes in the soil you add. If you leave a single potato behind, they'll sprout again next year. How hard can that be? breathe in a little bit of home grown oxygen. Feel a little bit of peace as you promote a bit of life. Don't worry about whether you get a harvest or not. Just enjoy watching life happen in front of you.
6) Turn off the TV. Choose to get your news-feed a little less often. Tune out the chaos on which the world feeds. Don't glorify it with your participation.
I did much of that when I had a yard, do have a window in assisted living. It’s me and my cats, and the tv just broke. Maybe there is hope.
You go, girl with your mighty pen! 👏🥰
Beautiful, Nathan. Here in northern CA our family yard has been barren for ages. The recent storms have caused much damage, true, but...
The yard is becoming green again. Without our help at all, just the first good soak in forever.
Life is resilient. That includes us.
7) Vote in every election for truth, honesty, justice and the real American way.
Fabulous, inspiring, invigorating stream of suggestion, Nathan. Thank you.
Salud!
🗽
Unfortunately, the majority of people do not have your option. Children and teachers have to go to school. Most people have to go to grocery stores. Some people must ride on public transportation to get to work. Others to to church or synagogue. Some even choose to go to a movie theater to see the latest, highly rated film. (I don't do that any more.) We shouldn't have to live a solitary life to feel safe. I'm glad that you have found your safe place in this world, but most people don't have that choice.
I do most of those things you mentioned, as necessary. I do choose to stay home more often than not regarding large public gatherings. Put people, revelry, along with things like alcohol, heat, divisive social issues together in one place and bad behavior tends to happen.
I certainly am on the same wavelength as you about cherishing "alone" time. I also do not care for large groups, especially where some of the guests are drinking (too much). The only large groups that I choose to attend are concerts, and some movies. I hope that you didn't feel that I was criticizing you, because I wasn't. My best to you, Kathy
Nathan, shooters into crowds don't know everyone they kill, sometimes they don't know any of them. They don't hate them. They don't even care who they are. Their minds are vacant, their hearts exist only for their own body's needs. If their guns were not available, would they build bombs? Probably. But the underlying tragedy is that they believe two things: First, that there is no goodness to hope for. Second, that they will be transported from the hell of hopelessness by doing violence to others. It does not matter if those who die are not the people who cause the hopelessness, if those who die are the people who offered them an education, a smile, a vegetable or a flower. All that matters to them is that they feel justified in hurting and killing others. And in that way, they are the same--exactly the same--as those who feel justified in being paid to keep us in fear and servitude, because they benefit from it.
That may all be true; I won’t claim to know the mind of a mass murderer. I do know you won’t find me in a crowded night club…ever.
How about at a 4th of July parade (or a celebration of the Lunar New Year if your family is AAPI)? Or dropping off a child at school? Or passing through a mall on the way to the grocery store? Or simply walking to class across a college campus? What if there is a house fire and someone opens fire on the first responders? We cannot make the mistake of blaming the victims for having a life that crossed the path of a shooter. And even if it is not said with blame, we cannot say "It couldn't happen to me, here." Because it has, and it does, and it is happening more frequently. Sooner or later, what happened to someone else becomes more likely to happen to us. Imagine all those parents who thought they were keeping their children "safe" in the suburbs at Sandy Hook...
I don't advocate withdrawing from life altogether. I get out, volunteer in two separate programs, shop, worship, enjoy coffee dates. If I could wish all the guns away, I would. A very few people need them, a precious few more feed themselves and their families by hunting, they make sense for law enforcement, militias (National Guard, Coast Guard, etc.) I hid two firearms for years, then got rid of them when I realized they were not making our home safer. There is literally only one solution to this problem, since we can't change the basic nature of human beings; less guns.
I won't drill down here on the merits of "banning" so-called "assault rifles" as that is a very hard term to define... they are known as "AR" guns but at the end of the day, it is a hard term to define. Rifles, by definition, are guns. They either are able to chamber one or several rounds (bullets) and that is the focus of the machine.
Many mass shooting episodes have been the product of a weapon that is capable of rapid re-chambering rounds; an automatic rifle. But the ability of that weapon to do that mechanical process is the presence of more cartridges to chamber and fire.
When we struggle to make something "illegal" to prevent another "mass-shooting" we focus on the weapon, but the weapon, the gun, is not the problem. The issue is the magazine of cartridges that drive the weapon.
A hunting "gun" may have a capacity of 3 cartridges in its inventory available to the shooter. Likely a hunter that shoots, will not get another "shot" at the target (animal) but with an inventory of another two cartridges, the shooter has another chance...
Nobody who has ever shot at a deer, moose or other large target has ever needed more than two "bullets" to prove their point. That is the way it is.
We need to get beyond the idea that gun control is a threat to hunting, and to lawful gun ownership. its not about taking weapons away so much as understanding who has them and how they may do harm with them. I have many guns and would proudly declare them if asked and, frankly, if i could have saved one child at Sandy Hook by giving mine up, i would have.
Many say that an unarmed America is a vulnerable one; i say that an armed America is only killing us.
You miss one crucial point that is often forgotten in gun safety discussions. The projectiles travel at much higher speeds than normal bullets so that their shock waves will destroy tissue and organs even if the projectile itself does not hit anything vital. These projectiles were designed to disable or kill people (make no mistake, they were specifically designed to kill people) even if they don't hit any vital tissue. Banning high-speed projectiles is at least as important as banning rapid-firing arms and high-capacity clips.
Thank you for this information and perspective, H. Alan. My impression is that anyone speaking of cracking down on guns also considers cracking down on the ammo, magazines etc. an equal part of the proposal. Saying "gun control" has become shorthand for "reasonable and comprehensive regulation of all armaments," but you are correct that shorthand can and does omit important points.
I was recently reading about gun ownership in the Czech Republic. They have one of the few other constitutions that considers arming yourself a protected right. But they do not have our problems with violence, as attaining a weapon requires a strict and comprehensive regimen of testing and training; their law wisely does not perceive this requirement as interfering with the individual right and ability.
I support anyone's wish to shoot their own dinner. But you don't need an AR for that, or a whole arsenal. A trusty rifle or two will do. Preferably one that is respected and handled properly.
H. Alan, the really weird part is most Americans DON’T own guns. The 400+ million guns owned privately in the United States are owned by a small fraction of 330 million citizens. I saw the statistic recently and was shocked. The massive power of the semi and automatic weapons of war are what is bringing this terrible reality to surface. “I say that an armed America is only killing us.” I agree....
Of course most Americans don't have a gun. For almost everyone, it isn't a thing you need! Or want! The only purpose a gun has is to kill and/or maim. It literally can't do anything else. When people say they need it for protection, they mean they want to be able to kill/maim someone who is trying to do the same to them, with the assumption that the "good" person will win the duel. But a) that is not how it might play out, b) you are unlikely to be at gunpoint in your life, and c) the easiest way to make sure you aren't at gunpoint in the first place is to make sure the "bad" person doesn't have a gun either.
Whether guns at home or nukes in an arsenal, you can either build up or draw down capability for destruction. Those who live with fear and suspicion as their guide choose the former. Those who live with empathy, foresight, and true guts choose the latter.
Thank you, Will, for a spot-on response. I 'collect' pertinent and poetic quotes; your closing paragraph goes into my collection. Thank you.
HAK, my understanding is the weapon(s) used were not AR, not an AR-15 nor a "military assault style" rifle. Sherriff Lamb wisely did not provide the details at the Press Conference. I ask that no else out the details here.
Yes. My hunter friends left the NRA years ago because of its promotion of assault weapons (and they only need one bullet to down a deer). This country needs an American Rifle Association, not the Russian one.
PRICK JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH
The documentary JUSTICE, just shown at the Sundance Film Festival, provides overwhelming evidence that Kavanaugh, at his 2018 Senate justice-appointment hearing, was a bold-faced liar about his boozy, penis-waving youth. Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and other women were victimized and the FBI ‘investigation’ was overly brief, deeply flawed, and guided by the White House.
There is absolutely no doubt that this was a travesty of justice. The Trump White House steamrolled this appointment and the FBI, in their purported four-day ‘investigation,’ deliberately refused to interview witnesses who had first-hand information on Kavanaugh’s scummy sexual deeds. [Susan Collins’ ‘blessing’ on the thoroughness of the ‘investigation’ was just one of many travesties in these proceedings.]
JUSTICE has prompted an avalanche of calls with further evidence on this Kavanaugh crapola performance. The film’s director states that now he is pursuing these leads to update his stunning indictment of the Senate misjustice (6-3) that propelled Kavanaugh on to the Supreme Court.
(This was reported in the January 22nd Washington Post.)
Anybody with half a brain knew it, but thanks to those who dotted the “i’s” and laid it out. Of course repub evil will blather on about witch hunts, blah, blah, blah…
An interesting thing, this phrase "witch hunts." It alludes to the legal persecution, prosecution, and execution of women who a) were rarely witches, and b) were entirely harmless. These people in Congress who use this phrase are not witches either: they are devils.
I was interviewed by the Secret Service when my ex husband was being considered for a big government position. I told them the truth about his lying, cheating ways and they couldn’t be less interested in that. My view is that if you’d lie and cheat to the person closest to you and risk harming your own children’s futures in the process, you’d lie to anyone at any time. Did he ever use drugs? That seemed to be their only concern during the interview. A couple years later he was indicted for lying to federal authorities. He explained it away as someone was out to get him. Lady Liberty’s blindfold certainly means something different to me than it used to.
Deborah Looking for integrity and truth in a government employment interview? Huh? Back when I was interviewed for the Foreign Service (1961) the State Department gum shoes were still steeped in McCarthy muck and were folks to avoid.
After passing my Foreign Service written exam,`I got a call from a State Dept security agent (from his basement office). He gruffly told me that he had my file and that I wouldn’t obtain a Foreign Service security clearance.
At that time I was a civil servant working in the Dept’s COMINT (communications intelligence) office with a TOPSECRET/CODEWORDclearance. I told him that, since he didn’t have the clearance to visit my office, I’d come down to the basement.
There he told me that, because I had met Egyptian communists while researching my book NASSER’S NEW EGYPT: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS (1960, NY, London), I was a security risk. I suggested that getting to know our’ enemy’ might be helpful in a battle for men’s minds, a thought he promptly rejected. Repeating an Egyptian communist’s regular greeting to me “Hello, you running dog of imperialism,’ (before we hugged and had a beer) also left him non plus.
Somehow the fact that he was taking a course on Soviet communism with Professor Stefan Possony (lt. Gen equivalent rank in AF intelligence) prompted me to say that Stefan was an active board member of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, for which I wrote my book.
Once I could provide details on Stefan’s mistress, my security clearance was a slam dunk.
P. S. Did you see that the retired FBI chief of counterintelligence in New York City has just been arrested for taking large bribes from an Albanian intelligence officer and ‘untoward’ other dealings with the Soviets? Looks bad for him, since he doesn’t know Stefan’s mistress.
P. P. S. Because I was truthful and had 1st rate integrity, I did encounter some problems with my Foreign Service colleagues and, especially, with some CIA operatives. Such qualities are not considered useful assets at times in government and elsewhere.
P. P. S. S. I have never been audited by the IRS. could that be because I knew Stefan’s mistress?
Yes, knowing Stefan’s mistress was key 😉 Ah, life. Thank you so much for your wonderful note, Keith!
Deborah What a joy that Heather provides a wondrous umbrella on which we can sprinkle our personal drops of rain. I cherish these personal exchanges.
Janet Kavanaugh with Ford, Ramirez, and others seems a reprise of Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill. Looks like a pattern for what seems the most’ deformed or corrupt Supreme Court’ in American history.
Combine this with the patently false new ‘originality’ doctrine and you’ll be back in the 19th century before you can say Merrick Garland (an excellent nominee who was sandbagged out of the Supreme Court by Turkey-chin McConnell.)
Janet Just got as nasty e-mail from ‘Turkey lovers of America.’ Trump wouldn’t have pardoned this turkey on Thanksgiving.
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire
When people are convinced that others (who are deemed the enemy) are less than human and responsible for all their problems, then it is all too easy to justify their annihilation. Add easily obtainable guns and you have the makings of a possible mass shooting. Riling up people against a made-up enemy is profitable—just look at Otter News. It’s a perfect storm and far too many people are its victims.
Everyone, please stay safe. Phone your Congress Critters and tell them that more actions need to be taken.
I have not heard of Otter News but I will take a look.
I'm pretty sure Mary meant Faux News, and made a hilarious slip, because there is no news network named Otter News, but I highly suggest you look up Otter News anyway, because I just did and hoo boy you're gonna love what you'll find provided you have two eyes and a sense of cute.
Thanks for the levity in this comment, Will. I do so like otters. Well, and foxes, as well, but not the noise over on Faux.
Foxes are adorable hyper little whippersnappers.
If only THEY could sue class action for the defamation of their name.
Copyright infringement!!!
Will I found OTTER NEWS otterly delightful! What lovely counterpoint to the day’s news.
Another mass shooting, another mass murderer consumed with obsessive, personal grievances, suicide inside a "White Van" not suicide-by-cop. Monterey Park (MP) is between downtown LA and Pasadena, California. MP has their own PD. The first "ballroom", STAR BALLROOM that was attacked is only minutes from a major LA County Sheriff station. Ultra fast coordination with sherriff, state, FBI & other Federal units was noted. Superb mobile, digital communications likely by the LASD was also noted. Cautious approach to the "barricaded" perp in the van with mobile bomb-shielded vehicles blocking any movement by the "White Van" was very good tactics. Best of all the classic 10 am Press Conference" focused on the 20 or more VICTIMS & mention of 2 brave citizens,1 was BRANDON TSAY, who rushed the attacker at a second site, another "ballroom" in Alhambra, disrupting more violence while obtaining DNA & other direct evidence. There is a major story here about "crowd sourcing" as a bulletin with photos of the perp's body type, clothes & beanie was rapidly posted. Jobs (plural) well done. Have you ever been in a hospital presenting with severe trauma physical & emotional? Last time I was taken to a trauma center, I was unconscious for 9 days. It's tough. Those recovering & the AAPI Community need our love and assistance.
Beautifully said, Bryan. Thank you. I’m just weeping here-no words.
Not highlighted here until late yesterday is that the Monterey Park shooter had an automatic pistol (not an AR style rifle) with an illegal - in California - high-capacity magazine. So much for outlawing high-capacity ammo... /s.
I think the takeaway here is not that the CA ban is not worth having (it is), but that no ban can be effective if it is merely part of an uneven patchwork.
There are times federalism is the only effective approach. This is Exhibit A.
Correct Judith & thank you for the critical detail. Two (2) alert & proactive citizens ( 1 an on duty worker one foot shorter than the Perp) disarmed the shooter at the 2nd "ballroom" in nearby Alhambra. The Shooter fled to Torrance CA in his white, nondescript van.
I'm still waiting to learn about the referenced second alert & proactive citizen. Although news reports keep saying there were two, the video I've seen shows only one person and that person was interviewed on news programs this morning, no mention of second person that I've seen.
Yup, one ( just uno) on-duty worker didabled the Attacker single-handidly & pointed the Perp's gun at the Attacker who fled. Had the Attacker continued to resist, this young man would have shot the Perp then & there. This very brave young man said he reacted instinctively. He demonstrated remarkable situational awareness. MONDAY UPDATE: msnbc's "Deadlinne Whitehouse" has the interview at the top of the Show. The struggle with the Attacker was intense & "went out to the Hallway" before that young man, BRANDON TSAY, forcefully got the drop.
Mr. Tsay is a hero, full stop.
I just wish we stopped making heroes out of people who should be otherwise just going about their day.
Here's the (gifted) NY Times article confirming that it was a single person who stopped the attacker at the second location. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/us/monterey-park-hero.html?unlocked_article_code=mA6jWZJZ8SpNV8rO99uV851Px7sV-_l1LW5AaFfU1c0KbtYz8hPMYe2oWy-zM4Jhh8kxi2sTO2-WZMl7YfHohxuFwmaeEbOvdgOOpDMDrIJr0yyShKT08ho8c_g4OlAyE5su_1xwUXh2Hef1FjZAaZL5Xb2g0UU-4JxnLWWG2shc62dZRF6cXKxtn2Bqnp5A31FQg3n2-Mbkol_yAnadLnDW2F4drviXgkLr4Ed6nutcPzffeyAf2NPMJ3ikJvY40ytz3LxXq2I2K_OgFYwh3iXRTwG1BLhC_2S7flk3Lkk7uRINmWcMaxsjza44G6JfMo_aAqLsFg&smid=share-url
The young man, BRANDON TSAY, was interviewed by Lester Holt & no doubt will be featured on Lester's national show or available via multiple platforms.
No civilization can survive this level of mayham and violence, in the long run.
When future historians examine the this fraught era, the deliberate misinterpretation by the odious enablers of this carnage, such as Supreme Court's radical, right-wing "justices" and feckless, obscene politicians, will be consigned to the everlasting infamy and shame they so deserve.
I do not see a good end to this level of insanity, violence and this country's acceptance of such .
I am with you when you say you don't see" a good end to this level of insanity ,violence and this country's acceptance of such". The number of guns out there would make it almost impossible to any effort to reign in and curtail them. I also think of the costs to society from all of this bloodletting-the lost wages, the loss of a parent(or child or whoever), the amount of money that insurances have to pay out, the loss of revenue due to fear of leaving the house and attending a concert, movie etc., and the list goes on and on but you catch my drift. As long as the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop trump legislating any good sense gun regulation, we will keep reliving this nightmare over and over again.
It seems the people most pro-gun never lose their children to gun violence. Could that be true?
I have wondered that as well…..or how those that have that experience feel about our gun laws/regulations. I applaud those who have come forward, despite their heart rending loss, to work tirelessly for sane regulations. It seems that folks don’t question their beliefs until they are personally impacted by tragedy. Then there is Congressman Steve Scalise’s opinion, even tho’ HE was shot: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/12/steve-scalise-shooting-gun-rights-interview I also applaud the swift actions of both Australia and New Zealand following mass shootings there, wish we were as sane & logical!!!
I agree with every word you wrote.
This is why my wife and I have retired in France. One cannot buy a gun here. If you want to own a weapon, you have to apply for a permit, and you will be interviewed by the authorities. Ownership is rarely granted. We can walk late at night in the streets without fear. After the mass murder in Highland Park ,Illinois last July 4th, I realized that even upscale communities are not immune. HCR reported in a post last year that since the time that the Republicans under Bush II chose to let the automatic weapons ban lapse, the number of these guns went from 400,000 to 20 million, so that means that someone in your neighborhood has one. Democrats have been spineless in their pursuit of gun control legislation, an issue on which the Republicans could be easily crucified. Edward
Your last sentence boggles me…
What if we called assault weapons "bombs" instead. Assault seems too petty. Ouch.
Just waiting for a chain store Guns ‘R Us selling rocket launchers & bomb-enabled drones, oh, and maybe tanks & such. You know, to “harden” your home & neighborhood & gives so many more photogenic options for family holiday cards! /s
If you thought the US was the only racist country... think of this: The Norwegian government in 2023 was funding a multi-year research project to find out if white paint is racist. A grant funded by the Research Council of Norway explores the impact of titanium white paint — a Norwegian invention — on a variety of factors including national identity and social views of race.
and the US government is presently working on it's federal budget... and making Biden and the dem's look bad. But : Roughly 25% of the nation's debt was incurred during the Trump Administration.
and did you ever wonder if The "AR" in AR-15 stands for assault rifle ... but no, It does not. AR stands for ArmaLite Rifle, reflecting the company name (ArmaLite) of the original manufacturer of the weapon.
and speaking of assault weapons, A rampage at a ballroom dance venue in Monterey Park, California, that killed at least 10 people on Saturday was one of the most deadly mass shootings in the state's modern history. A former Marine combat veteran killed 12 people in a bar in Thousand Oaks. He then killed himself.
the total of killings in the US for January was 54. According to the experts there have been 33 mass shootings so far in 2023. The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group, defines a mass shooting as involving at least four people killed or injured. It counted 648 mass shootings last year.
Now do we Americans have more to be proud of than anyone? Or is it about time to grow up and make some logical changes....
Send Rupert and the NRA to the trash bin and the job half done…
Thank you Heather.
This seems to be an ideology that escapes us.
As long as it is as easy as it is for guns to be in the wrong hands, this will never end. Ever.
Last week, in my hometown of Syracuse NY, an 11 year old girl walked out of a neighborhood store with a carton of milk she bought and was shot dead. There were eye witnesses, yet there are zero leads to the cold blooded murder.
Be safe. Be well.
Thank you Heather.
Peace, peace when there is no peace.
Jer. 8:11
I read your post from a flat in London, UK.
What the hell is wrong with US? The grossly inconsiderate misinterpretation of our Second Amendment means that, for some, the freedom to access and wield weapons increasingly means a lack of freedom for the rest of US to go about our lives without fear of being gunned down. And the worse it gets, the worse it gets.
I suspect that chaos leads to control.
Exactly
So much heartbreak.
Thank you Heather,  for writing, even during the darkest of times.
America! Where it rains bullets!