NEON GODS

Maybe all's well that ends well. Maybe.

This shouldn't be news.  It shouldn't have happened in the first place.  When new people suddenly appear at a house that's been on the market for weeks or months, generally the neighbors assume the house has finally been sold and the new people at the house are their new neighbors.  Evidently in rural Georgia (and other places in America) if the new people are dark-skinned, the neighbors assume the worse and arrive armed and ready for battle.

In this case the new owners spent the night in jail because their neighbors, and the cops who were summoned, assumed black people couldn't possibly afford a house and so they MUST be up to no good and so the new owners of the house were arrested and thrown in jail!

That being said, it looks like the white neighbors, Rob and Branden Canole, understand the trauma they caused and decided to reach out and try to make up.  That because they are good folks at heart...or maybe they are trying to avoid going to jail. 

I firmly believe most people in this world are basically good people and therefore I believe the Canoles were sincere in their apologies.  I just wanted to post this as an example of how some of us have to make asses of ourselves to learn life's important lessons.

Now, about the f*ckin' cops who refused to call the realtor to check the owner's story, and instead arrested them, and made them spend the night in jail....please tell me when they drop by to apologize and ask for forgiveness.

--Trakker

ALEC is going down

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a right-wing lobbying group funded by a lot of big American corporations.  According to the Washington Post,

ALEC has had a significant impact in statehouses since it was founded in the 1970s by conservative activist Paul Weyrich. ALEC funders include the National Rifle Association, which led the way to passage of the Stand Your Ground law in Florida and other states. ALEC officials have said they were not directly involved in the Florida effort, but their organization’s Web site touts similar ALEC-backed legislation passed in other states.

Because of ALEC's role in Florida's Stand Your Ground law that allows armed cop-wannabees to shoot unarmed innocent but "suspicious" citizens minding their own business, and insist it was in self-defence, civil rights groups, gun control groups and thousands of concerned citizens have been targeting corporations like McDonalds and Wendys, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola and asking them to decide if ALEC is a lobbying group they want to fund (ALEC also writes legislation for states that make it much harder for women to get legal abortions and to humiliate those who do).

Many of these large corporations have now dropped out of ALEC.  I suspect they were only aware of the pro-business laws ALEC has been pushing for them and were appalled when they realized they were funding radical social legislation as well.

Ron Scheberle, executive director of ALEC, is furious that big corporations have dropped his radical group and yesterday issued a press release that includes the following:

ALEC is an organization that supports pro-growth, pro-jobs policies and the vigorous exchange of ideas between the public and private sector to develop state based solutions. Today, we find ourselves the focus of a well-funded, expertly coordinated intimidation campaign. ...

For years, ALEC has partnered with legislators to research and develop better, more effective public policies – legislation that creates a more transparent, accountable government, policies that place a priority on free enterprise and consumer choice, and tax policies that are fair, simple and that spur the kind of competiveness that puts Americans back to work.

Pure bullshit of course. "Policies that place a priority on free enterprise,..." consumer choice and fair tax policies?  Really?  Where do gun laws fit here?  Abortion laws?  Did Trayvon Martin's death promote free enterprise?  Do restrictive abortion laws promote consumer choice?  No, of course not.  This is just a front group that takes corporate money and writes typical pro-business laws and typical Tea Party anti-women, pro-gun crap.

I have seen listings of the extreme right-wing ALEC laws that have been passed nearly verbatim in red state's legislatures.  I think there were 70 such laws identified so far, but there are probably more.  I think this could explode into something big if the protest groups demand that corporations explain why they supported ALEC's anti-women and Stand Your Ground laws around the country.

Trayvon Martin's life was snuffed out because of a culmination of right-wing gun laws and a southern state's apparent unconcern for black victims.  The death of an unarmed teen was shocking enough, but when Americans realized the shooter was almost certainly going to go free, we began looking more closely at how it could happen and finally the spotlight has been aimed at the NRA and ALEC, two radical organizations that put profit before people.

--Trakker

The NRA's America would be a nightmare.

I apologize for not posting more often these past few weeks.  I've been busy with other stuff, plus the weather here (Washington DC) has been spectacular, and what fool would rather be inside writing when they could be outside enjoying the renewal of nature? 

Yesterday I spent my afternoon on Mason Island (a large wooded island in the Potomac where the Teddy Roosevelt National Monument is located), then wandered into Rosslyn and Georgetown to enjoy a different kind of nature.

I've flagged a lot of articles I've wanted to write about but they pile up so fast.  The Trayvon Martin shooting still leads the pack because it exemplifies the kind of country the Republicans are trying to turn America into: a nation that is always armed in public - even when the threat of violence is nil - and has been given permission to shoot to kill when the armed citizen FEELS threatened.

There is so much about this case that is sickening that I can't possibly cover everything, but a few things stand out.  Let's start with George Zimmerman.  We've all known people like him, cop wanna-bees, who want to carry a gun and arrest bad guys but either aren't smart enough, or don't possess the self-discipline to become a real cop (or are deemed too crazy to be accepted), so in states like Florida the cop-wannabees can act like one anyway, in fact Florida gives citizens more latitude to kill and walk away free than they give cops!

Anyway, George Zimmerman appointed himself as the "captain" of his gated community's "neighborhood watch" committee, evidently a committee of one.  He never registered with the national Neighborhood Watch group and ignored their suggestions.  We're told that Zimmerman's community had suffered 7 or 8 burglaries in the past and that's why he was patrolling the neighborhood.  But it is a gated community and thus there is a much higher likelihood that anybody in the neighborhood has a good reason to be there than in your average neighborhood. Plus there was absolutely no history of violence in the neighborhood, SO WHY WAS HE ARMED?  The national neighborhood watch program is very explicit, you should not be armed when you are watching the neighborhood.  If you see something suspicious, you call the real cops to check it out, and make an arrest if necessary.

But that's not the kind of America the NRA wants.  They want all Americans armed at all times and ready to shoot.  They even tell us that cops in America are never around when you need them, so every citizen must arm themselves and act as cops for society.  Forget the fact that real cops are screened to weed out the psychotics, are highly trained and retrained periodically, and are accountable to society for every shot fired, and even after all that they make mistakes, and even often miss their targets when they do have to shoot at human beings.  The last thing I want in my life is a bunch of untrained, psychologically unscreened, George Zimmermans walking around me supposedly "keeping the peace."

I'm certain the founding fathers never intended what the NRA and other gun nuts are trying to foist on America, a society of people armed with firearms with the power, accuracy, and ability to shoot 15 to 30 rounds in just seconds - firepower unimagined in 1790 - with fewer and fewer restrictions on gun ownership and less requirements for training.  Such a society is doomed to live in fear of it's armed nuts, bullies, and bigots, and that is not an America I want to live in.

--Trakker

Racism is alive and well in America.

I am still mourning the death of Trayvon Martin.  But I'm mourning my country as well.  Since the election of our first (half) African American President, the racists around the country have become increasingly bold in their expressions of hatred for blacks.  They don't even care if people know they are seething with racial hatred.  Back in February I posted about comments left at the Fox News website in response to Whitney Houston's death.  Whitney Houston! 

Recently I read on Booman Tribune that when Fox News finally decided to cover the Trayvon shooting, some of the comments left at their website were sick (e.g., "The little thug ghetto monkey should have been home doing his homework, not out gang bangin.").  I found it hard to believe, even for Fox, so I went to the Fox News website and sure enough, the sickos were well represented.  Here are some screen captures (click on the image to read the comments):

Two is enough, the rest would just make you sicker.

Fortunately, Charles Pierce got fed up with this shit, too, and went off!  Fortunately he can express himself far better than I.

Well I certainly don't feel calm and measured, and it's not because my kids "could have been Trayvon." No, they could not have. My kids are white. They lived in the suburbs. They could wear their pants anyway they liked...They didn't have to worry about running into some trigger-happy, half-mad wannabe on the way home from the convenience store. And that's what keeps me from being calm and measured.

I am sick to death of people who celebrate "the family" making excuses about why other people's children are expendable. I am sick to death of politicians who are more concerned about protecting zygotes than about the teenagers on whom they seek to balance their budgets and advance their careers...I am sick to death of opportunistic yahoos who can look at this country's unhealthy attachment to firearms and declare that the actions of George Zimmerman, while unfortunate, were pretty much what the Founders had in mind.

What alarms me is not that Zimmerman hasn't yet been arrested, but the awful feeling that the Florida legislature, with the approval of the people of Florida, may have passed a law so idiotic that it prevents local law-enforcement from arresting him at all...And what makes me angry down to my soul is not that my children could have been Trayvon, but that, because of the way we have ordered our politics and our society, only someone like Trayvon could have been Trayvon.

I'm sure I'll be writing more about this, because I'm almost certain Florida will find there's nothing to disprove Zimmerman's insistence that he shot Trayvon in self defense.

--Trakker

The murder of Trayvon Martin, and my response to the NRA and the gun nuts

Back in the good ol' days of America Online and dialup Internet connections I used to argue with gun zealots (aka gun nuts) online.  Two things stood out to me, 1) gun zealots, at least the ones online, were inordinately afraid of black guys, and 2) how much they wished they could use their guns on those black guys when they felt threatened (which was most of the time). 

Obviously, the NRA finally gave them their wish by pushing something called the "Stand Your Ground" law on the states that allow gun owners to use deadly force when they "reasonably" feel that their life is in danger or that they might suffer serious bodily harm. 

If you want to see this law in action, look no further than the murder of Trayvon Martin three weeks ago in Sanford, Florida.  Much has been written already about this murder of an unarmed teenager by an armed police-wannabe, so I won't go into a lot of detail, but the bottom line is that over the years the NRA has successfully made it easier for more and more citizens to carry guns in more and more public places with less and less oversight into who can carry guns in public.  At the same time they have made it easier and easier for people carrying guns in public to kill people who they get to judge as "threatening" and walk free with almost no questions asked.

Granted, the homeowner's association that sponsored the Neighborhood Watch program under which the shooter was operating deserves some of the blame. The Neighborhood Watch program is sponsored by the National Sheriff's Association and they publish a handbook that clearly states, "It should be emphasized to members that they do not possess police powers and they shall not carry weapons..."  The Neighborhood Watch person who shot Trayvon clearly violated that guideline, he was armed with a 9mm handgun which he used to shoot Trayvon.

But the bigger issue here is guns.  The ultimate goal of the NRA appears to be to allow, even encourage, every American to carry a gun in public in all 50 states with no restrictions on who can own guns, who can carry them in public, or where in public they can be carried.  At the same time the NRA wants to make it as easy as possible for gun owners to act as judge, jury, and executioner when they feel threatened, and society must respect their judgement.

What really pisses me off is that gun zealots not only want the right to be judge, jury, and executioner, they want me to recognize them as some kind of exalted protector of society.  I'm supposed to be relived to know they are walking among us, protecting me.  They insist I must acknowledge and be grateful that their presence makes me safer.

BULLSHIT!  To them I say, "I don't know who you are, I don't know what kind of training you've had, I don't know how sane you are, I don't know how you handle fear and anger, and I don't know why you feel the need to carry a gun, so fuck off!   Don't I have the right to live my life and manage my safety without you bringing your gun into it?  People should be allowed to prohibit people from carrying guns into their school, their neighborhood, their towns, their counties, or even their states if they choose.  Your right to own a gun isn't a right to bring it wherever you damn well please. 

Do you think the parents of Trayvon Martin and other parents of black kids feel safer with armed assholes who may also be flaming bigots running around knowing they have the right to blow away people who make them scared?  Should we arm all black teens and tell them they have the right to shoot any white guy who starts following them, challenges them, or makes them scared?  Because that's the next logical step if Trayvon's killer goes free.

--Trakker

A new 'Morning in America?' The old one turned out to be 'Twilight in America'

I'm still not pleased with the job President Obama has done.  He is still too timid on important issues, and can only be described as an early 1990s Republican (without the Southern strategy of course).  But the polls show he's beginning to pull away from all four Republican candidates in national polls and in many critical state polls, and I'm pretty sure he will continue to increase his lead because the people are beginning to recoil in horror at what the Republicans are trying to do, women especially!

My daughter is a teacher and Girl Scout leader.  She's busy all the time and doesn't have much leisure time but she has become outraged at the right's war on the Girl Scouts and women's health issues.  In her latest post she linked to this article on a blog that recounts the experience of one woman whose daughter would have died if the Rick Santorums of this world had their way.  What's even more striking is that all of her Facebook friend are leaving angry comments too.  Typical is one friend who commented, "I am sharing [this article]. Women's healthcare is being assaulted by one party. Period."  These are people who just a month ago spent most of their time discussing their spring garden plans, cats, or kids.  The Susan G. Komen flap started it off, but the new Virginia law requiring some who want abortions to have a probe stuck up their vagina really struck a chord.

Another issue that is getting some attention is guns.  People are fed up with the ever-present gun violence, cops and kids getting killed and the murder-suicides where women and children are shot by irate, depressed fathers/lovers who then turn their gun on themselves.

I think the right has blown past the line of common sense and is quickly alienating a lot of voters who used to vote for them most of the time.  I also feel a new confidence in the Democrats.  The tide is turning on gay marriage as more and more people come to the conclusion that even if homosexuality makes them very uncomfortable, it's only fair to let people who love each other marry.  And they see which party has been leading the fight to secure those rights and which party is still demonizing gays.

I think Obama's bailout of the auto industry and how well it has turned out (GM has reclaimed the mantle of #1 auto manufacturer in the world) has also impressed people.

I'm getting more optimistic by the day that we will see the Democrats in Congress and in the states growing more assertive and getting more support.

--Trakker

Another example of how Christians gain converts: the Puckle Gun

The Puckle Gun was invented in 1718 by (you'll never guess!) James Puckle (1667–1724) a British inventor, lawyer and writer.  And evidently a religious nut.

[The Puckle Gun] is a tripod-mounted, single-barreled flitlock weapon fitted with a multishot revolving cylinder. ... It had a pre-loaded cylinder which held 11 charges and could fire 63 shots in seven minutes—this at a time when the standard soldier's musket could at best be loaded and fired three times per minute.

Okay, sounds like a pretty nasty weapon for it's time, but here's why Puckle was so enthused about his gun:

Puckle demonstrated two versions of the basic design: one, intended for use against Christian enemies, fired conventional round bullets, while the second variant, designed to be used against the Muslim Turks, fired square bullets, which were considered to be more damaging and would, according to the patent, convince the Turks of the "benefits of Christian civilization." The square bullets, however, were discontinued due to their unpredictable flight pattern.

Ah, yes, if you shoot people and really, really hurt them bad, they will want to worship your God.  Strangely, turns out the Christian "God" wasn't good enough at doing God things to make those square bullets behave on their way to killing or converting those damn Muslim Turks.  What a missed opportunity.

--Trakker

Gun owners have their priorities

A guy goes into a gun shop to buy a .50 caliber Desert Eagle pistol.  The dealer says to him, "Tommy, man, you already bought 24 handguns this year and the state just passed a law that says if you buy more than 24 handguns a year they have to castrate you."

Tommy stops and thinks for a moment and says, "Damn! I'm really gonna' miss my nuts, man."

--Trakker

"Excuse me, Mr. Bad Guy, I need to get my gun out of my fanny pack so I can shoot you."

Good Morning, America.  Let's see what's in the news this morning.  Oh, this is nice:

A South Carolina sheriff is urging women to get concealed weapons permits and carry guns to protect themselves.

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright made the suggestion Monday while discussing the arrest of a suspect in an attempted rape last weekend.

Wright suggests that women carry a .45-caliber weapon because he says they wouldn’t have to be accurate, just close to the target. He showed reporters at a news conference a fanny pack women could use to carry a handgun while jogging.

The sheriff encouraged women to walk in groups. And he said it’s better to carry a gun than mace.

Carry a gun in a fanny pack when you run?  For protection?  "Excuse me, bad guy who just tackled me from behind, would you stop pulling at my running shorts for about 20 seconds so I can get my .45 out of my fanny pack so I can point it at you and scare you off, or maybe shoot you?  Thank you, it'll just take a second...oh crap my hands are shaking so bad I can't open my pack."

Yes, gun owners tend to have trouble with reality.  In their make-believe world, guns magically find their way into their owner's hands when the owner is in danger, and those who threaten them are always easily shot or captured.  Earth to gun nuts: this only happens in movies, and movies are FICTION!

This is right wing America's wet dream, a populace fully armed and ready to shoot.  Instead of news of muggings in the newspapers every morning, we'll read more stories of angry fathers/husbands/boyfriends/ex-boyfriends/fired employees/angry paranoid people shooting the objects of their anger - and gobs of innocent people who happen to be nearby.

But in America, guns have become religious objects, and their owners, regardless of how many innocents they may shoot someday, are all considered American patriots.  "God, Guns, and Guts..." right? ... (though it's been my experience that those who worshi guns the loudest are also the ones with the fewest guts.).

Oh well, all we can do is bitch.  The gun nuts have the drop on us.

--Trakker

Gun owner shoots at kids getting out of school

You will be thrilled to know that yesterday afternoon a patriotic, law-abiding gun-owner used his firearm in self-defense against a bunch of thugs. 

Well, no, that's not what happened.  What really happened was that a gun owner, in fact, used his firearm to shoot at little boys and girls getting out of school.  Yes, these are the people the NRA works so hard to make sure no one hinders their ability to get their hands on a gun.

NEW YORK — Someone with a gun opened fire on a street as students were let out of school Friday afternoon, killing one parent who had tried to shield children from harm and injuring an 11-year-old girl and another parent, police and school officials said.

The shooting happened at about 2:30 p.m., ...

A 34-year-old woman, Zurana Horton, who had hovered over students to protect them as shots were fired, was struck in the face and chest and was pronounced dead at the scene. A 31-year-old woman was hit in an arm and the chest and was hospitalized.

Zurana Horton is the hero here, not the fictionalized law-abiding gun owner of NRA lore.  We're told these things wouldn't happen if everyone was armed and could shoot back at the bad guys.  Complete and utter bullshit.  That's right up there with the right wing's insistence that keeping taxes low on the wealthy creates jobs.

--Trakker