Category: Red Flag

Head for the bunkers

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Ghost Guns… Why are they legal?

Color me sheltered, I had no idea.  These are deadly weapons that anyone can buy online.  They are unregulated,  no serial numbers, untraceable, anyone – and I mean anyone with a credit card or PayPal account can buy one online.  I am betting an untraceable Visa/Mastercard gift cards would work just fine too.  Wow! This is so very WRONG.  Now here is something I would classify as sinful, the marketing of such merchandise.  What is the lowest level in Dante’s Inferno?

More information available at BradyUnited.org

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God, Guns & Trump: A Jeremiad

I was in Memphis, TN this weekend and saw this bumper sticker – God, Guns & Trump – on the back of a small, older pickup truck with Mississippi tags.  The sad reality is that I could have seen this sticker many places; they are just more common in that part of the country.  I live in St. Louis which is not what I would call a particularly liberal or progressive area, but it is an island of sanity in the red cesspool of MAGA Republicans of rural Missouri and southern Illinois.  I see many bumper stickers of a similar ilk around here too.

God, Guns & Trump…To me this encapsulated the sickness that is currently inflicting our country.

God:  While I understand people’s need for religion, I am not a big fan. My personal opinion Continue reading “God, Guns & Trump: A Jeremiad”

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Flags Half Mast

When I was young it seemed to be an extraordinary event when the United States flag was flown at half mast.  It was especially so back then as it did not happen that often.  It is still a big deal to fly the flag at half mast, but it seems to be happening all the time now.  Often it seems to be for victims of yet another mass shooting incident which are  an absolute pandemic in this country.  After the recent FedEx shooting in Indianapolis, there were two more of ONLY 3 or so people, one in Wisconsin and one Texas, this past weekend.

I am going to suggest that it would be easier and saner to leave the flags at half mast all the time until we do something about the availability of guns in this country – especially assault style rifles – and gun laws in general. The fact that we have failed to act on gun legislation, that guns have become so prevalent in our society, that mass shootings are so common, that guns are especially problematic in inner cities (there is nearly a gun death a day in St. Louis), is reason enough to be flying the flag at half mast.  I am not so sure that we should not be flying it upside down as a signal of dire distress.

And so it goes.

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Me siento avergonzado

Or in English, I feel embarrassed.

Since the events at our national capitol that the Military Joint Chiefs  are calling sedition and insurrection, I have talked to two gentlemen in Central America.  The young Mexican man living in Honduras was just incredulous.  He could not believe such a thing could happen here. For many people in that part of the world, the United States is their dream.

The gentleman I talk to in El Salvador is a little more seasoned.  He asked me if I felt like I was living in the middle of a Mad Max movie, referencing the Viking helmeted man.  I told him I felt a little like I was living in a república bananera, banana republic.  He agreed that it did seem that way right now to a lot of people living in real banana republics.

The new face of America is a 33 year old, wanna-be actor living at home with his mother.  If you do an image search you will find this individual’s picture in a multitude of foreign news outlets.  How very distressing.

Supposedly Trump made a comment about the insurrectionist wishing they looked a little classier.  I immediately wondered, have you not been looking at your rally audiences for the last 5 or 6 years.  He is not that much different from many of the folks I have been seeing at them.

I’ve been saying for years that we have become a lowest common denominator society. I am beginning to feel we are trying to divide by zero.  As every programmer knows, if you do not handle this error it crashes the program.

What a sad, sad time for our country.

And so it goes.

Keep well.

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Cynical Corporate Courage

I cannot begin to tell how glad I am that they are finally banning Trump from all these social media platforms.  However, the cynical part of me is not applauding these corporations.  They waited until it was obvious to even a blind, deaf and dumb Dungeons & Dragons wizard that  Trump was not going to be able to steal the election.  That is not my definition of courage.  It is not my definition of being socially responsible.  And so it goes…

Keep well.

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How They Stormed Congress

If you got 30 minutes or so here is a very well done report and analysis of the mobbing of our Capitol Building from a New York Times podcast, The Daily. Spoiler alert it was not spontaneous.   They warn you and I will too, there is strong language in the podcast.

How They Stormed Congress

The other mind blowing thing I came across today was a poll by YouGov as reported in Newsweek.

45 Percent of Republican Voters Support Storming of Capitol Building: Poll

I have almost never agreed with Republicans, but I used to respect them even with their differing opinions.  That is not so anymore. We need to get back to teaching Civics and History.  Hell we need to get back to teaching manners.

Just as aside,  surely it is just not me? When I look at the Proud Boys and other MAGA mobsters in their paramilitary (and worse) grab with their phallic symbols dangling over their shoulders, I am reminded of a bunch of 12 year old boys playing army in an empty lot.  Time for the Lost Boys to grow up.

And so it goes.

Keep well.

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Marching to a Theocracy

When the Founding Fathers spoke of Religious Freedom, what they really meant was freedom from religion. They were very adamant about avoiding what was so common in Europe at the time, state sponsored religions. There was a very strong push in the infancy of our country to set up a state church.  Fortunately, we more or less escaped that calamity.

I have always thought of the United States as a religiously diverse country.  This belief arose because there are so many different protestant religions in this country.  The reality is that, according to the Pew Research Center, the United States is around 78% Christian1.  This puts us in the middle of the pack as far as religious diversity is concerned.

Some 223 years after our constitution went into effect; Continue reading “Marching to a Theocracy”

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Sidewalk Battle for America’s Soul

The title may be a bit overly dramatic, but perhaps not.  I really do believe there is an ongoing battle for the soul of the United States.  If the GOP prevail, we will most likely have an authoritarian, racist future dominated by the super rich and corporations where the poor and old struggle to survive.  With the Democrats, hopefully, we will have a kinder, gentler future with a country willing to accept all and support all where moneyed people and corporations are not the ultimate arbitrators of policy.

I ride my bicycle for exercise in several places, but frequently in Creve Coeur Park.  The park has several miles of paved trails that folks use for bicycling, running, walking and in-line skating.  The last few weeks I have seen anti-Trump slogans written in chalk appearing on the trail.  They include such things as Continue reading “Sidewalk Battle for America’s Soul”