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Yesterday's massacre at that Connecticut elementary school was the second such incident to have occurred this week. Seem likewise worth mentioning that if it weren't for the overwhelming level of socioeconomic injustice & inequality in this society, and if our current generation of young working class adults weren't so terribly screwed out of any means of self empowerment, we wouldn't have so many young men losing it, popping their corks, crazy enough to take a bunch of innocents down with them in a blaze of carnage. It never ends. I view this as one of the uglier symptoms of a country & society that has become so deeply dysfunctional, the very basics of what keep us civilized are seriously challenged, stretched almost to the breaking point.
How easy it is to simply dismiss these guys as cowards, monsters or whatever. They obviously are mentally ill and need help... help not forthcoming in a country where mental health services are such low priority... not to mention the horrible way such care is often administered! But that's a subject for another blog... - Aliceinwonderland
Gun control makes perfect sense. It wouldn't infringe on legitimate gun ownership any more than registering for a driver's license deprives us of the privilege of driving. Like owning & driving a car, gun ownership needs to be a privilege that is earned rather than a right we inherit at birth. Since both cars and guns have the potential of being very lethal weapons, it seems reasonable that one be required to demonstrate soundness of mind and some measure of emotional stability along with adequate motor control. Ms. Rieman may be correct about the obstacles, but to do nothing about this problem isn't an option.
Right on Sinsibilitty! You rock.
Absolutely, No Fraud. You're spot-on.
Jon Stewart recently had a show where he brilliantly addressed this problem and asked "when is it the right time?" I was commenting on a Washington Post article about this issue and of course someone commented that out of respect now is not the right time. So, I comment saying then when is it the right time? Out of respect for those who died it is exactly the right time so that their lives were not lost in vain. These mass killings are becoming more frequent with 2012 being a record year with 7 to date and 2 of those just in the past week. It is beyond the time to start the conversation.
The wheels on the bus go round and round...
I share your feelings.
We can be better.
Spoiler???Isn't that the point!?!?
It's that ol "spoiler" fear rehtoric that keeps us staying the course; along with - like you point out - the system is fixed to maintain a Plutocracy for the Oligarcs.
However its WE the People - politicaly speaking - they fear...Our forefathers fought to be independent and to not live under tyranny.
Our obligation is not to the government; our obligation is to the principles that our country is supose to stand for. The government is a artificial creation...This is what the Declaration of Independence says...It says that Governments are set up by the people to acheive certain ends: The equal right to Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. When Government becomes destructive of those ends, it is the right of The People to alter or abolish the Government.
"Obedience to Government is the sign of a Totalitarian State." (howard zinn)
If We the People need to get radical in order to level the pillars of injustice...Then lets exercise our rights.
Profiteering,synonym for capitalism! I am all for turning the volume down on military profiteering. I heard people I know saying they were voting for Romney because he would increase defense spending. They all work for one of the big defense contractors in my area, and want to keep their good paying jobs.
The lesson I take from this is good paying jobs need to come from industries that support increasing the quality of life here in this land as opposed to decreasing the quality of life anywhere, or ever. They don't seem to extrapolate this thinking to it's inevitable result, that we forever exist in a state of perpetual war.
How about some "right to earn" legislation, some "CEO pay to worker pay ratio laws", some laws that say if your employees need government programs to afford food and housing, you will be taxed at a level that takes into account the added burden your "jobs" put on the system.
On another note... if corporations are "people", they oughta be subject to the death penalty like us. What's "good enough for the goose..."
I totally agree with "Sinsibility's" assertion that greed is the root of all evil. Yeah the banksters, the food industry... You can add healthcare profiteers to that list! Everything that ails our society & culture can be traced back to plain old simple greed. If we don't find a way to contain it, we are doomed.
Have a nice weekend, folks. - Aliceinwonderland
P.S. Dave Abbot - BRILLIANT. Should you decide to run for prez in four years, you'll have my vote.
I didn't think Ron Paul was so great, by the way. Much as I liked his positions on foreign policy and the "war on drugs" (HUGE issues!), I just couldn't get behind his candidacy. Not after checking out his website. He was so into stealing more of the commons and privatizing everything... AND forcing women into childbirth against their will, AND (as if that wasn't bad enough) in a society where health care isn't even guaranteed as a right! More poverty, more disempowerment, more austerity... No thanks.
Like "Sinsibility", I love the idea of a system based more on cooperation than competition, on need not greed.
As to the fate of your friend's wife- my condolences. I think we could be approaching an era where more of us self-employ, going into business for ourselves; maybe even barter more. Wouldn't it be cool if we could then, collectively, thumb our noses at the Almighty Oligarchs, when their goods & services are no longer needed! (Oh well, I can dream can't I?)
Mom was a progressive with strong opinions, and a political animal like me. She called Nader a "spoiler" and accused him of dividing the liberal vote. When it came to the opposition, we saw eye to eye; in candidate Bush we saw nothing but trouble. I would have much preferred Gore over that toxic brat, but I liked Nader better than Gore. I could see Mom's point... but after eight years of Clinton & Gore, I - like you - wanted real change rather than just more of the same.
I keep going back and forth with this, election to election, and it gets old. Our "democracy" is a joke.
It isn't because people don't make better choices; it's because of how the system is rigged. There was simply too much at stake for me to throw away my vote on a candidate stuck in the margins, who was bound to lose. Romney & Ryan were just too dangerous. We had to beat those guys, even if it meant having to "stay the course". Believe me, I'm no happier with it than you are. But like ole Ma used to say, "There's always a bottom below!"
It's like one big-ass, convoluted, f##ked-up chess game, and I HATE it. Such a no-win... at least for us peons. And No Fraud, I SO understand where you're coming from because I've been on your side of this quandry. You've got my sympathy. Back in election year 2000, I voted for Ralph Nader instead of Al Gore, and for the same reason you picked Rocky Anderson. I remember the debates I had with my mother over this, when I used many of the same arguments you've used in this discussion.
Okay No Fraud, I plead guilty to a fear-driven vote. It's just that Romney & Ryan terrified me... ESPECIALLY the prospect of Romney picking our next several Supreme Court justices!! Unhappy as I've been with Obama, I do not believe he and Romney are from the same league. When it comes to psychopathic tendencies or capacity for evil, they are far from equal. What Romney had in store for us and our country was WAY worse. Trust me.
My favorite candidates were Rocky Anderson and Jill Stein. I agree; either of them would have been a great alternative to Obama. But in reality, No Fraud, neither of them was really a viable choice because neither had a prayer of a chance. And that is the harsh reality my friend, whether we like it or not.
It's not entirely gun control discussion...it should also be focused on psychological health care. Isn't that the most expensive type of helth care on the market? Isn't the fact that these shooters have some sort of psychological instability a part of why this happens?
But no, we can't talk about it. The Lame Stream News can parade around it, poke and prod at the emotionally distraught families to advertise their pain and suffering, but we can't discuss about it
Kend and Global - The main objective of Gov. Snyder is to privative as much of the state as possible to generate profits for the Corporations that are waiting to swoop down and turn all the commons into private businesses run by the Corporations that fund the re-election of conservative Republican politicians. The Koch brothers and billionaires like them are just waiting to gain control and turn the workers into drones for profits. A perfect example is how the states have privatized prisons and halfway houses so as to have complete control of the revolving door in our nation for greater profits. First they gain control of the prisons and make sure there is no rehabilitation of the prisoners and once released they serve a mandatory length of time in the privatized halfway houses (which make hundreds of millions of dollars a year in federal funds) and make sure the paroles receive little if any assistance in rebuilding their lives, release them into society and wait until they fail and resume a life of crime. The corporations have a revolving population that is again housed in privatized prisons and the cycle begins again. Of course being conservatives that feel the cuts in prison funding has no real effect on society and the prisoners do not deserve any rehabilitation, your views are part of the problem.
Gary Riber & Mark S., your theory basically has one big flaw. The corporations and major companies are not going to allow ownership or partnership of the workers and therefore your theory that the Unions should push for more ownership of the companies simply does not apply in our present society. How would you propose unions and workers gain a greater stake in the workplace and share the profits of their work, when it is evident ownership would mean having access to major funds or funding by the banks? The banks are part of the power structure that works together with the corporations to keep wages stagnate. You think the Union and workers should take charge of the workplace and determine their own fate and income through the profits generated by their work. Just how would you generate the capital needed to fund such an endeavor on a scale needed to provide a successful outcome. We have seen that most companies and corporations favor bankruptcy over sharing the profits with the workers that are represented by the Unions. Partnership of the employees through representation of the workers has worked in places like Germany, but the mindset of the corporations and companies is completely different here in America. If we had a history of such corporation of management and labor from the beginning it might have a chance of working. But look around you in the real America and you will see it has been a battle between labor and management from the inception of Unions in America. We cannot even get a consensus on health insurance for the workers and citizens because it is blocked by all the small and large businesses across America, based on the greed and need for greater profits for the owners and shareholders. The only chance American workers have of obtaining a livable standard of living in America is through the Unions and the threat of disruption of profits for the small and large businesses and corporations. And the idea that a form of socialism is feasible for the American workplace is nothing more than a theory of hope and has been crushed by management from the beginning of the unionization of the workforce. Not only that, most production has been moved offshore for greater profit through lower costs of labor. And I highly doubt there will be any move to bring production back to the shores of America. And, we have heard over and over again how we have to embrace new technology and adapt to the new age. Problem is there are just not enough jobs generated by new technology to sustain a growing workforce, even with training of new and existing workers. Basically your theories are great on paper but will not work in the real world. Management and our government encourage cheap illegal workers to migrate to this country for greater profits for the companies and corporations that hire them. What jobs are left are being outsourced to countries like the Philippines and Vietnam, not just China. And corporations are bringing in white collar workers from places like India to boost the profit margin of the corporations. Basically the time of the American worker has passed due to the laws passed by Washington such as the free trade agreements at the request of the corporations. The corporations are only concerned with immediate profits not realizing the American consumers will eventually run out of credit and savings to purchase these goods that are made outside of the U.S. and they will see their profits disappear due to their own greed.
"America appears to be caught in a resonant cavity reflected political standing wave of corruption driven by military profiteering."
Snap, crackle and pop!
You the ones need common sense. Austerity, cutbacks and low wages only hurt an economy more. You gotta invest in it not take money out.
Ken, that common sense stuff don't work around here, you got to dig deep and radical. Does Michigan have an employment problem? I mean unemployment problem. Are property values and property tax collections taking a hit? I think they should just stay the course and get in line for an Obama bailout.
Children, especially young children, should not have to wear bullet proof vests and arm themselves. In fact, putting a loaded gun in a child's hand would probably land you in jail for endangerment. Pre-school children should be given weapons training? You are talking about toddlers whose motor skills are not fully developed. They could seriously harm (or kill!) themselves or those around them. Society combating violence with violence is not the answer. Certainly, teaching our children that violence and living in fear, to the point that you feel they should be carrying guns, is not the answer.
Can't you build on the talking points just a little, just to make it sound good? What does this have at all to do with the state going broke?
Kend- Bug off. Go mind your own back yard. You contribute nothing of value to this conversation, and this isn't your country anyway.
Drill baby, Drill, or is America going out of business? Depends on what we drill for! Let’s drill for intelligent education; the Internet can be combined into new age refineries.
The Michigan legislation, politically slant drilling, seems to be just a centuries old “Edict”. The Michigan legislation the Right-to-Work-for-less laws in Michigan is likely and simply a political schism. Screw the citizen, tyranny at its best. Leadership without constitutional respect is wide open in your face book unregenerate conservatism. The Michigan leadership is the finest in lost spirituality yet banners missions accomplished for the religious right.
It is unfortunate our young people see and despise this woeful and obstinately wrong political agenda in a metaphysical way by taking actions with fatal random deeds, personally martyr themselves as in the now Connecticut massacre. From my point of view the young are sending a message. Whether we think the young are insane or not, the message is vectored not well. As once was the Kent state massacre.
My personal message to the young men; please endure this leadership it will change. That which is animal therefore does not perceive the things that are of God cf. 1 Cor 2:14.
Ladies and Gentlemen of America my view is simple and somewhat derived through the notion of an Eisenhower Republican though being an Independent my thoughts are with Ike, that military industrial complex warning haunts me. More over the CIA secret assassinations America keeps secret for tens of decades at one end to now the increasing frequency of indigenous young in fatal combat with the current system at our other end. It is as though America appears to be caught in a resonant cavity reflected political standing wave of corruption driven by military profiteering. Both political parties engulfed knowing exposure will end in a horrible criminal embarrassment mess. Likely the only way out.
Or, now being bombarded with the ultimate capitalism, the Binary economy needs to be talked about. Making sure this is not just Cyber punk mathematics. We need to debate, is Binary economics o.k. or an Aesop's Fable the sophist line of Baines capital Ying Yang Canary cage money laundering. The new advanced form of “Ferengi” buy out?
My wife is an Academic Interventionist grades K-2nd. She didn't hear about the tradgedy until the end of the school day. She came home crying with a sense of shock and disbelief. She refuses to watch the reports on TV which is OK with me because I truly do not watch Television anyway. So at least in our household little is being said right now, but we're both for major gun control laws.
Right after the Giffords shooting I got a call from the NRA, a real person, not a robo call. I figure I got on their list via a military history magazine subscription I have, mostly ancient history. Anyway the first thing the caller said pertained to 2nd amendment rights being under attack. I went into my, you're just the gun part of the rightwing God, Guns, and Gays, rant. He got so mad he put another guy on the phone, his supervisor, who eventually just hung up on me. I told my wife to expect that same call again in a couple days, I just hope I'm the one getting to the phone first!
The lawmakers need to talk soon about real reform in gun control laws. Get rid of the high- capacity clips and more!