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I suspect people who object to "Black Lives Matter" are subconsciously (or intentionally) adding in a word that isn't there, they think it means "Only Black Lives Matter". Of course that isn't what the expression says, or means. It does not mean "white lives don't matter", or "blue lives don't matter", or any other group of people anyone might care to reference. It isn't necessary to state "white lives matter" or "blue lives matter" because they have always mattered, at least in the US. It is necessary to proclaim that Black Lives Matter, because so much US history has emphatically stated that black lives don't matter.

I'm increasingly disinclined to allow any distance between those two positions. If you're willing to appeal to and align yourselves with Nazis in order to gain power, is there much practical difference in being a true believer? I say nah.

From a comment on a YouTube video: Grand juries pond'ring compelled testimony Pages of filings that call out baloney Judges who cut through conspiracy rings These are a few of my favorite things FBI warrants that find stolen files Porn stars that clap back with humor and smiles Well-served subpoenas that make Corcoran sing These are a few of my favorite things When the news slows, nothing happens, and I'm feeling sad I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel... so bad

Well, to his credit, this is the first time he's won the popular vote!

Hi Joe, I'm thinking we should make 30 March a National Holiday. Jerry Baumchen

Just like any other country and bank system actually. Nothing to be proud of either. banks insurance companies pharma weapons industry The list goes on. Find a way to make money, get any system corrupted.

Also in Florida: DeSantis announced his plans to gut First Amendment rights in Florida by making it easier to sue people for defamation. The standard is now pretty high for reporters and the like - the defendant has to prove that they knew they were wrong and were doing it to harm the defendant. By reducing that threshold it makes it easier to (for example) sue CNN if CNN says that Trump lost the election. DeSantis put it this way: "It’s our view in Florida that we want to be standing up for the little guy against some of these massive media conglomerates." Unfortunately there is now a little guy (Dominion) suing a massive media conglomerate (FOX News) for defamation. And there is growing concern that the next Dominion will be able to sue FOX in Florida - and have a much easier chance of winning. Trump's GA Bill Barr put the concerns of FOX News consumers like this: "For the foreseeable future, we will likely be on the wrong side of the culture-setting consensus. There are precious few conservative news outlets as it is. Why make them more vulnerable to the multitude of left-wing plaintiffs’ lawyers?” Many conservatives hate it when the laws they pass to own the libs turn out to apply to them as well.

And in Florida news: DeSantis announced his plan to cancel Disney a while back, and they have since gotten into gear trying to do everything they can to destroy the "woke" company that dares to (for example) put a black mermaid in a movie. Or more importantly, opposes teacher gag orders. They have recently run into a problem. Turns out that, right before any of those plans to cancel Disney went into effect, Disney had a meeting with the outgoing board and changed a few things, including much of the details of who controls the Reedy Improvement District where Disney resides. Some of the new provisions last for 30 years. Some last until "21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England." A new board member put it this way. "This essentially makes Disney the government. This board loses, for practical purposes, the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintaining the roads and maintaining basic infrastructure.” So why didn't DeSantis stop this meeting or put restrictions on it? Because he didn't know it was happening. Disney did all the notifications required under the law, including notices in all the local papers that the meeting was occurring. Desantis, and his new board, missed them. A Trump spokesman put it this way: "Ron DeSantis just got out-negotiated by Mickey Mouse."

Those tough Texas cops in Uvalde sure showed how it can work.

How can anyone possible remember the tens of thousands of children in America killed by gun violence. Or even 4,500 every year now? Lets get this thread back on track. 45,000 killed annually and about 10% of those are children. Nothing can be done to fix the problem. Nobody wants to get serious about it. Rinse and repeat after every death.

No, they're fully opposed by all rational people. The problem is that they are fully supported by everyone who thinks we can do nothing. What we need is a movement like when we marched against the Vietnam War. But you would need to be there, some Brent-likes would need to be there, it would need to be seen as a statement of our society such that our minority party rulers might realize it's now a different world. KLM, Kids Lives Matter, if you will. That's surely worth marching for.

Hi winsor, And, I think it is step in the right direction. So, who, to you, is more credible, Chris Rock or me? Jerry Baumchen

Well for once I agree with Trump. When the US elected Trump the USA effectively became a banana republic. If the US doesn't want to be a banana republic then Trump should be tried for his alleged crime and if found guilty jailed. Failure to hold politicians to account is the sign kf a corrupt system.

OK, one indictment done, now we need Georgia and the DOJ to do two more.

How are you planning on paying for that? Not being snarky, honest question. The NG is not an 'armed guard' force. It has a lot of roles, but that really isn't one of them. The other problem is that, despite the "huge" number of these types of shootings, they are really not common. Any particular location is highly unlikely to see one. So, the knee-jerk reaction is to hire guards. And pay them. And when nothing happens in that particular school for a year, 5 years, 10 years, everyone will ask 'why are we paying for this. We can use that money better somewhere else. Volunteers? I'm sure there are lots of qualified adults (former cops, military, security guards) who'd be willing to show up... For a while. But not forever. I'm not saying 'do nothing'. I AM saying 'don't do something that will look good but accomplish nothing'.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, are you really that disconnected? It happens because we glorify guns and have too many, and too many of the worst kinds, of them flooding society. We do not need armed camps for schools. We need serious gun regulations, some guns confiscated, huge taxes on gun sales, red flag laws that count, and major campaigns to show people what bullets actually do to kids bodies. We do not need idiot, freaked out armed guards in schools as a first effort.

Switzerland made out like gang busters in WW2, and after by helping re-locate Nazis. It facilitates money laundering and tax evasion. For a place that claims to be "holier than thou" it's pretty despicable.

And then there is this. https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2015/10/22/religion-and-views-on-climate-and-energy-issues/ So it is no wonder we have trolls claiming climate science is a religion. Superstition and religion are the only way they are capable of seeing the world. Change and new ideas are frightening and must be resisted in the scary world they inhabit.

I'm not even worried about that. I don't think school shooters do much thinking before they head to the school. I am more worried about some clueless rightie passing a law that says schools have to have at least one armed guard per 200 students (or something equally absurd.) So a school of 450 suddenly needs 3 guards. Where do they come from? Do they hire cops who work part time at the school? They cost $$$. Do they hire from reputable guard companies? They cost $$, and the school already can't afford textbooks. So they let one teacher go and hire two full time guards from the pool of people who couldn't make it as cops or actual employed armed guards. Then they get a part time guard and hope that flies with the local government. The part timer is a kid who dropped out of school two years ago because he was beating other kids up and torturing animals. But he was never convicted of anything, and heck, now they are going to PAY him to carry a GUN! He's ecstatic and shows his gun to all the kids in school who seem very impressed. Sure, he occasionally leaves it on the sink when he's taking a dump in the school bathroom, but it's between classes when no kids are supposed to be in the bathroom anyway. And he's not a fan of all that loser lib gun safety stuff, because he's smart enough to know when it's loaded and when it's not. And then a kid is accidentally shot at that school. And they fire that guard, and the conservatives think-and-pray themselves a bit, while patting themselves on the back that they did something to protect kids. And another kid is dead. But at least they sold more guns, I guess.

That's perfect. And when one of those underpaid armed guards goes postal and takes out a second grade, we can get national guards to watch the armed guards. There is no possible downside to this.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. So it seems the self evident and inalienable rights of these victims are really only subordinate to the 2nd Amendment rights of the gun nuts, and the government chooses not to secure them - in fact it seems deliberately destructive of those ends. Maybe it's time......

“‘No way to prevent this’ says only nation where this keeps happening.”

There is significant debate to be found around the impact of the assault weapons ban if you have any interest. But considering your responses here I have absolutely no interest in having any of that debate with you. The fact remains is that you object to Biden, who at least is trying to do something, and support Republicans who are unwilling to do anything to try and reduce mass shootings. Personally I don't think a ban is going to be effective, but significant regulation is required.

You may find this hard to believe, but many people have trouble with the concept that you can actively seek out trouble and then be absolved from getting into trouble. Specially since the crowd that is loudly cheering about this has a pretty decent overlap with the "she asked for it with that short skirt" crowd.

Good to know Ukraine is keeping their sense of humor:

You mean other than the events? So was OJ, but he’s obviously a murderer just like Rittenhouse is. Its really odd that you think the shooting of several people is a nice controlled, in-hand situation, by the way.

Believing that renaming a military base erases history is fucking ridiculous, because books still exist. Q) If no new military bases are built and all the existing ones were named after civil war generals - would post civil war history exist? A) Of course it bloody would and no one in their right mind would suggest otherwise. Here’s the thing, naming a military base (or anything else) after someone is not a necessary part of remembering that the wars they were involved with happened. Naming things after someone is an honour, and it is absolutely right and proper that society should be able to decide who is and who is not worthy of honouring.

Joking about racist murderers really brings out your best side.

Hi Keith, Re: our politicians are just fucking inept. Both of ours. Far too much of a generalization to be taken serious. With some politicians, yes for both parties; i.e.: - Dianne Feinstein should have been sent into retirement 20 yrs ago - Donald Trump should never have been elected President We both could go on for a very long time. For me, it is the same way with T's & P's. For some people, this is very sincere & appreciated. For too many, it is a vacant gesture. Jerry Baumchen PS) Re: get both aisles to sit the fuck down and talk with each other If only. PPS) If anyone thinks that politics frustrates me [ it does ]; well, I just got a Universal Remote to cover all my 'not a lot' electronics; now, that is a frustrating learning curve. But, I am getting there.

I understand. Please understand there's "many a" Democrat, gun-toting, Christian. As long as we continue to point at who's saying it rather than why we need it _as a nation_ and get both aisles to sit the fuck down and talk with each other and not at each other. Nothing. We been talking about this logically for years now, but our politicians are just fucking inept. Both of ours.

Bill is an odd name for a whole duck though rather than just a part of one.

He has it nailed. God is ignorance, RELIGION is power.

It may be; it may not be. That decision ultimately lies with the child and their parents. The only one that should be making that decision is the person that's going to have to live with it for the rest of their life, when both their body and mind are mature enough to do so. Take Chloe Cole for example. She didn't do that to herself, her parents and the professionals they relied on did that to her. Probably wise to just wait several more years and let the child make the decision when they're an adult and responsible for their own choices.

Would that be a peckeroni pizza?