What Gabby says

 From our friendly gun shot survivor, former congresswoman, Gabby Giffords... 

"A decade ago, it would’ve been nearly impossible to imagine this kind of victory. For decades, the NRA had an iron grip on our politics and avoided accountability.

But thanks to our movement and our tireless organizing, we’ve toppled the NRA from their seat of power. They are a shell of the organization they once were, entrenched in scandal and extremism.

And this is just the beginning. Legislative victories like the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act marked a turning point for our movement to save lives, proving that we can end the NRA’s toxic grip on Congress.

But we cannot get complacent. The NRA still has millions of members and tens of millions of dollars. They are still fighting in the courts and at the state level to overturn our progress — including overturning the Republican-backed legislation that was passed after Parkland."

I just early voted in our local primary last week. Those judges are important seats in carrying forward ethical justice.

After the shooting in Uvalde, TX

"UVALDE — The U.S. Justice Department has released its long-awaited report into the worst school shooting in Texas history, calling the delayed response by law enforcement a "failure" with no one taking full command to stop the gunman who was slaughtering 19 students and their two teachers..."

"Law enforcement response and Robb elementary school on May 24 and in the hours and days after was a failure that should not have happened," Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters and Uvalde community members at a news conference explaining the department's findings in the town's civic center. "We hope to honor the victims and survivors by working together to try to prevent anything like this from ever happening here or anywhere..."

"In its exhaustive analysis of the top-to-bottom failures by law enforcement that combined to make the shooting one of the worst in history, the report aims not only to help prevent further shootings, but also to guide, unflinchingly, the next American community to face a similar tragedy on how to best respond..."

"The Uvalde victims' families were first provided a copy of the report ahead of its official release Thursday morning, a DOJ official confirmed to the Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network.

“The goal is that this report provides answers to those directly impacted, while also conveying recommendations and lessons learned to the nation," the report states."

Go to the link below to see more of this report.

SOURCE: Microsoft START Daily

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Well they just review the evidence and make the report. The families who lost their loved ones probably don't feel any better.

Blaming the lack of speed in trying to secure the gunman, might make a family member say, well train them better, give them better weapons.

But none of the report that I've read, mentions that gun laws in Texas are just still out of the old west. The cowboy mentality supports open carry. I am not in a position to review their laws, but I sure do know the attitude. When children are killed by guns, these people say it's the fault entirely of the man, nothing to do with how he got the gun, what kind it was, whether he was ever evaluated for mental stability, etc.

I continue to hold a place in my heart for all the mass shooting victims...from whenever the hell they started in our sad country. I think a movie theatre in Colorado was the first I heard of.

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Today's quote (on another subject, please!)

The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same. -Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle), novelist (1783-1842)

Gabby Gifford's story...not just her's.

 Our lives can change so quickly. Mine did 13 years ago today when I was holding a meeting with constituents at a local Safeway in Tucson and a shooter opened fire.

I was shot in the head, and then the shooter turned on my staff and constituents. Eighteen people were shot, and six innocent lives were lost in the attack:

Christina-Taylor Green.

Phyllis Schneck.

Gabe Zimmerman.

Dorwan Stoddard.

Dorothy Morris.

Judge John Roll.

I will carry their memories with me forever, and I will always hold a special place in my heart for the survivors whose lives changed so drastically—just like mine.

The anniversary of this shooting is a painful one, but it also serves as a reminder of the way that the Tucson community came together in the wake of tragedy. I learned how to walk, talk, and become a stronger Gabby—a healing journey that I continue on to this day.

Then, two years after I was shot, another life-altering shooting occurred—this time at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, where 20 children and six adults were murdered.

I knew in that moment I had to do something, and so I founded GIFFORDS with the mission to end gun violence and create a safer future for our nation’s communities.

Over the past 11 years, we’ve reinvigorated the movement to save lives and take on the gun lobby. But there’s still a lot of work to be done. Just like my recovery, progress happens step by step. I know that together, we can continue to save lives and make a difference in the fight to end gun violence.

Thank you for continuing to stand by my side in this crucial fight.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the NRA!!

Gabby Giffords just posted this...(last evening around 8 pm)

 Wayne LaPierre, longtime CEO and Executive Vice President of the NRA, just announced that he is resigning from his position. This announcement comes just days before his corruption trial in New York begins.

Today, we’ve defeated the man in charge of one of the largest special interest groups in the country. It’s more evident than ever that our movement to end gun violence has the momentum to drown out the gun lobby and their dangerous “guns everywhere” agenda.

Riddled with scandal, fraud, and misconduct, the NRA is the weakest it’s ever been. In 2018, the NRA had 5.5 million members. But since its 2019 corruption scandal, NRA membership has dropped to 4.2 million members, the lowest since 2012.

Our efforts to take on the gun lobby are working. The NRA is a shell of what it used to be. We can and will defeat them. 

The Giffords contact for donations is here.

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Everytown for Gun Safety posted this:

Everytown was founded as a counterweight to the NRA and played a key role in their downfall:

• Our investigations have exposed their shady practices
• Our lawsuits have called them out in court
• The media attention we generated through relentless research and endless conversations transformed their public image from a political powerhouse to a disgraced incompetent gang of self-dealing freeloaders

His legacy will be one of corruption, mismanagement, and destruction, and our supporters like you have worked TIRELESSLY over the last 10 years to make this happen.

This is a testament to the strength of our movement, and we need your support to keep up this momentum with a contribution today.

In three days, LaPierre and his cronies will stand trial in Attorney General of The State of New York v. NRA, which centers on blockbuster allegations that NRA leaders, including LaPierre, improperly diverted millions of dollars from the non-profit to benefit themselves.

And LaPierre's unceremonious resignation is just the latest sign that the NRA is locked in a doom spiral that shows no sign of letting up.

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But wait there's more, and it doesn't ask for any contributions!!

Everytown has ranked all the states' gun laws...and found

"states with strong gun safety laws have fewer gun deaths. Iowa, the site of yesterday's school shooting, ranks 31st of the 50 states on gun law strength, and voted in 2021 to eliminate both its permit-to-purchase and concealed carry permitting requirements."

Our latest research shows that nearly 300,000 lives could be saved over the next decade if every state in the country had the gun death rates of the eight states with the strongest gun safety laws.

When legislators start taking action to prevent gun violence, our communities see the impact. Failure to take action can be measured in constituent lives.

And this year's gun law rankings show the increase or decrease of states' rankings that illustrate shifts in gun policy.

Michigan and Minnesota—two states with newly-elected gun-sense trifectas who took swift action to pass life-saving legislation—saw some of the biggest increases in their state gun law rankings.

By contrast, Florida's 2024 gun law ranking decreased from 19th to 22nd after passing gun lobby-backed legislation that allows concealed carry of loaded handguns in public without a permit, criminal history check, or safety training.

One critical piece of our strategy to stop the death and trauma caused by the gun industry's dangerous agenda remains in these state legislative fights. For far too long, gun manufacturers and lobbyists have flooded our communities with guns and been able to get away with it—in part due to the weak gun laws they helped to create.

Look at your own states' gun laws (if you live in the US, sorry Canada, I don't know if stats have been taken, but I also don't hear of mass shootings there!)

Here's the article with lots of charts about these gun laws as compared to gun deaths.

Gun Safety Policies Save Lives

The top 50 laws we focus on represent a wide range of interventions. Some block gun access by people who pose a threat with a firearm while others focus on limiting gun violence in public. Some seek to increase police accountability and protect civil rights, while another set targets bad actors in the gun industry.

All states should start with a core group of five foundational laws—passing background checks and/or purchase permitting, along with Extreme Risk laws and secure gun storage requirements; and rejecting Shoot First (also known as Stand Your Ground) and permitless carry laws. While each of the top 16 states in the gun law rankings has all five of these policies in place, only one of the bottom 18 states has even one of these critical protections.

• Passing background checks and/or purchase permitting
• Extreme Risk laws 
• Secure gun storage requirements
• Rejecting Shoot First (also known as Stand Your Ground)
• Permitless carry laws

High gun ownership rates also play a role in strong states where deaths are higher

Access to a firearm drastically increases the likelihood of suicide and a gun in the home is associated with more gun homicide.

Federal laws help prevent gun violence nationwide

All 50 states can rely on a backbone of federal laws to help keep guns out of the wrong hands. Yet the federal system is far too weak overall—for example, failing to require background checks on all gun sales and giving special legal immunity to the gun industry. State policymakers should protect their residents by filling the many gaps in federal law, and must also take action where state power is at its strongest, such as requiring a process for domestic abusers to turn in guns when they become prohibited from having them.

Yet another gun tragedy!!

OK guns kill people.

Guns in the hands of mentally unstable people, that is. 

But how do we find them ahead of their killing sprees? I'm following this development to catch Robert Card, as much as others are following the wars on the news. But this is something closer to home. It's in America for Heaven's Sake!!

NOTE: ADDED 10/27/23 at 10:25 am (was in comments, but it's better to be first thing you see...)

"A worldview that requires the government to work for the people, rather than handing power to individuals to impose their will on the majority, supports the idea of gun safety laws. Such laws are very popular: in April 2023 a Fox News poll showed that at least 80% of Americans want criminal background checks on gun buyers, better enforcement of existing gun laws, a 21-year age requirement for gun purchases, and mental health checks on gun buyers. Seventy-seven percent wanted a 30-day waiting period to buy a gun; 61% wanted to ban assault rifles and semiautomatic weapons.

"Those eager to dismantle the government have stood in the way of such measures, but the heartbreaking news out of Maine has changed at least one lawmaker’s stand. Representative Jared Golden (D-ME), who represents Maine’s conservative second district, which includes Lewiston, today apologized for his previous opposition to gun safety laws.

“'The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure, which is why I now call on the United States Congress to ban assault rifles like the one used by this sick perpetrator of this mass killing,' Golden said. "To the families who lost loved ones and to those who have been harmed, I ask forgiveness and support as I seek to put an end to these terrible shootings.'"
From Letters From an American

Giffords sent this email at 5:20 pm 10/27/23

In an interview with FOX News, new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said this in regards to the recent shootings in Lewiston, Maine:

“The problem is the human heart. It’s not guns, it’s not the weapons.”

Mike Johnson, we ask you these two questions:

Did the human heart kill eight people at a restaurant, and seven others at a bowling alley, within a matter of minutes?

Did the human heart injure dozens of other people at two separate locations, all in one night?

It’s the guns!

MAGA extremists will blame gun violence on anything but the problem itself: unfettered access to guns.

Why? Because protecting the gun lobby is their main priority.

We live in a country where extreme politicians would rather stand with the gun lobby than pass legislation that would save their constituents’ lives from gun violence.

Until our leaders listen to the vast majority of Americans to take meaningful, commonsense action on gun safety, more and more communities nationwide will join Lewiston and the countless other towns who have been ripped apart by the scourge of gun violence.

We know times like these are tremendously difficult, but now is the time we must turn our anger, frustration, and sadness into meaningful action. We cannot rest until our elected officials stand up and do what is right to end America’s gun violence epidemic.

--------------------------

Here's the first broadcast I heard on Oct. 26, published at 7 am about the killings in Lewiston ME.

From NPR HERE

"Here's what we're following:

• The suspect: A 40-year-old man, Robert Card, of Bowdoin, Maine, was named by police as the subject of the manhunt.
• Lockdown: Police have issued a shelter-in-place advisory as they search for an "armed and dangerous" gunman still at large.
• Victims: Eight of the 18 victims have been identified, but officials have yet to release their names as an investigation continues."

The President had already ordered Federal flags to fly at half staff in mourning for those killed.

----------------

Updated at 1:45 pm from NPR:

"The New York National Guard confirmed to NPR that the suspect in Wednesday's shootings, Robert Card, was removed from a military training camp in July after he was seen "behaving erratically."

Here's the full statement that was sent to NPR:

On July 16, 2023, leaders of the Army Reserve’s 3^rd Battalion, 304^th Infantry Regiment, which was billeted at the Camp Smith Training Site while training at the United States Military Academy, informed garrison staff that Army Reserve Sgt. 1^st Class Robert Card was behaving erratically. Out of concern for his safety, the unit requested that law enforcement be contacted.

New York State Police responded and transported Card to Keller Army Community Hospital at the United States Military Academy for medical evaluation.

A spokesperson for the National Guard said he could not yet confirm what happened after Card was admitted for evaluation."

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Gabby Giffords, a former US Representative who has endured gun violence personally says:

"Including last night’s mass shooting in Maine, there have now been 565 mass shootings in the United States this year. 565 mass shootings in 299 days.

I wish that I could send this message to you and say that scenes and stories we've read last night and today are unthinkable or unimaginable.

I wish I could say it's hard to believe we're waking up to read stories of parents corralling their young children into corners to protect them, and others racing down a bowling alley and diving behind pins to escape gunfire. but it is neither unthinkable nor unimaginable.

We are all too familiar with these horrific scenes.

We will see parents in parking lots crying, desperate for information about their kids. We will see loved ones talk about how their lives are forever changed because of senseless violence enabled by weapons of war. We will keep reading about how gun violence is the number one cause of death for America's kids.

But we do not have to.

We can decide we have seen enough.

We do not have to accept these horrific acts of violence as routine, and we must never stop demanding that our leaders not only acknowledge this devastating problem, but take long overdue action to keep our children safe.

My heart breaks for the Lewiston community, the victims, and the survivors. Earlier this week, I visited Uvalde and met with the families and survivors of that mass shooting.

I’m angry that yet another community has to experience this pain.

Our leaders must act."

Several other newsletters came in...Gavin Newsome is pushing for a Constitutional Ammendment.

Last night, a gunman with a history of mental illness and easy access to a weapon of war walked into a bowling alley and a bar, shot and killed 18 people and injured 13 others.

It was the 10th deadliest mass shooting in modern American history and the worst since the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde last year.

And you want to know something else?

Literally hours before the shooting, the U.S. Senate voted to pass an amendment allowing veterans found mentally unfit to still be allowed access to guns.

You can't make this stuff up.

Listen, there are some issues in Washington, D.C. and states across the country that are tricky and tough to fix.

This one isn't.

The data is clear, and it is conclusive: states with strong gun laws — like California — have lower per-capita gun homicide and suicide rates. States with weak gun laws have higher gun homicide and suicide rates.

So if Congress won't act...

And if the courts prevent states like California from doing what has to be done to save lives...

Then we need a Constitutional Amendment to make our communities safer from gun violence.

My state — California — was the first to adopt a resolution calling for one. Now we need 33 more.

Will it be easy? Of course not.

But will it happen? I believe it will and that we are on the first ones on the right side of history.

I am committed to making sure similar resolutions are introduced, and passed, in more states across the country. If you think that is a fight worth fighting, I am asking for your help today:

Can you please use this link to contribute $3 to my Campaign for Democracy PAC? My promise to you is that we will put every dollar donated directly toward our work passing a Constitutional Amendment on guns.

 

Moms Demand Action in OH

March 22, 2023 Ohio Advocacy Day at the Statehouse in Columbus OH

My daughter-in-law is active in this group, front row bending forward on left.

 "We're fed up.

And what are our leaders doing about it?

Well, today gun lobby-backed Republicans in the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing they say was about preventing crime—but instead of meeting at the U.S. Capitol, they turned democracy into a roadshow and held the hearing in New York in a stunt to appease Donald Trump.

Every day more people are killed or wounded by guns. Our kids are being traumatized. Yet gun lobby-backed lawmakers are busy staging political stunts and turning their backs on us. We've had it. Everytown and Moms Demand Action are organizing in communities across the country to demand life-saving action.

We'll never back down from the hard work it will take to end gun violence. But taking on the gun lobby and fighting gun extremism takes a lot of resources. That's why we rely on grassroots donors to keep us going: Donate today to help us take on gun extremism and fight for a future free from gun violence in America >>

Source: Everytown and Mom's Demand Action news posted April 17, 2023 in my in box.

"As a movement of Americans fighting for common-sense gun policies, we depend on contributions from supporters like you to fund important work to reduce gun violence. Contributions to Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund are not tax-deductible as a charitable contribution or as a business expense under IRC Section 162(e). A gift may qualify you for annual membership in the Action Fund. If you are interested in other ways to give, including making a tax-deductible gift to the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, please click to learn more or call 202.630.8673."

Today's quote:

You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free. -Clarence Darrow, lawyer and author (1857-1938)

The gun lobby’s fear mongering is killing our nation’s young people

 Our country’s young people are being traumatized and killed by gun violence.

In Kansas City, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot in the head after ringing the wrong doorbell when trying to pick up his younger siblings. Now, just like our founder Gabby Giffords, he will face a long road of recovery for the rest of his life.

Just days later in upstate New York, 20-year-old Kaylin Gills was shot and killed after she and her friends accidentally turned into the wrong driveway.

These shootings are the product of years and years of gun lobby fear mongering. They’ve peddled their scare tactics and propaganda to promote a worldview in which everyone is the enemy and you have to take up arms against them. Just last week, the NRA held their convention and spread more lies and fear.

We cannot become complacent. This should not and cannot remain the status quo in our country.

Black teens should not have to live with the fear that they will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell. Young women should not have to be scared for their lives if they drive up the wrong driveway.

Please, continue to stand with us in our fight against the gun lobby as we work towards a future free from gun violence. Our nation’s children, communities, and future generations are depending on us to break the cycle of senseless violence.

- The team at Giffords

SOURCE: the above information is a quote from Giffords PAC.

GIFFORDS PAC works to end gun violence by empowering voters with information and supporting candidates who will fight for safer gun laws. A contribution to GIFFORDS PAC goes directly towards our work to save lives.

It was started and sponsored by Gabby Giffords, a former US Congresswoman  and victim of gun violence.

"Though a moderate on the issue during her time in Congress, Giffords has since become an ardent advocate for gun control. In January 2013, she and her husband launched Americans for Responsible Solutions, a non-profit organization and Super-PAC which later joined with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence to become Giffords. She is married to former Space Shuttle Commander Mark Kelly, a United States senator from Arizona."

Wikipedia

This is one of the organizations that I believe can help make a difference in gun control laws, which may indeed save lives. Eventually!

The price of my life!

Before starting in on factual complaints...must share gratitude for the lovely mural which I've been watching. Here's how it looked Mon. evening.

Again I was along in this lane, with a red light ahead of me, so I did the slow down and snap routine.

Love the darker turquoise background! I will see what happens the next time I get a chance to drive by. OK I admit, I do sometimes go out of my way a bit. Lots of us Black Mountainers know some short cuts to avoid the light in the center of town, which goes through a long cycle that's even longer if the pedestrians have pushed for a cross walk light.

Here's the little gas station, and yes, on Tues afternoon, I captured the mural also. Looks pretty much the same though!

 Energy Pricing:

I must whine a bit right now. I drive an older Toyota, with a 10 gallon gas tank, or maybe 10.5. The other day I filled it up, and it cost $40. The price had been 4.69, but I had coupons for 15 cents off a gallon...and there I was. Liquid gold it has been called before. And I feel for the big SUV's with big gas guzzler engines!

I posted in my facebook account that Heather Coxe Richardson had given a good synopsis of what's happening with the US gas prices.

"What appears to be driving U.S. gas prices is the pressure investors are putting on oil companies, whose officers answer to their investors. Limited production creates higher prices that are driving record profits. In a March 2022 survey of 141 U.S. oil producers asking them why they were holding back production, 59% said they were under investor pressure. Only 6% blamed “government regulations” for their lack of increased production."

And I remember many a day and night in the last month when I could have windows open to cool mountain air until around 10 am, then closed them for the next 8 hours. Thus my elec. bill was $43. It will likely be higher now that I'm hermetically sealed and air conditioned...I'm so grateful!

Gun control

The there's the gun problem...another facebook post...

Our idiot representatives in government have some stop-gap gun-purchasing measures that will pass probably. They are not anything like this. Nor like the way the UK or Australia, or who knows what other countries are doing WHO DO NOT HAVE EXTREME GUN VIOLENCE KILLING CITIZENS AND CHILDREN!

I'm so ashamed of us. We have such a good idea, a democracy. We are so far from living up to the standards which are possible for us.

I avoid spending money because I want to be economical and get the best deals.

But I also want a recliner to replace my love seat. The love seat is an overstuffed brown leather. It's really comfy for just sitting back and relaxing. I advertised on my local group of FB to give it away, but that 2 strong people would have to carry it out and down 4 steps and 50 feet to the parking lot. I didn't have a single person interested!

The loveseat had been freely given by a friend, and I'd love to send it to another home free as well.

So no recliner at this point.

I am thrilled that this last weekend we had cooler weather come through our mountains. Nights were so cool I turned my little split heater on. I imagined a cat curled next to me, to no avail!

I also need to get on the phone to all my medical providers to get statements sent to me for use as a deduction on my rent (a subsidized situation which makes it affordable!)

Today's quote:

It's like, at the end, there's this surprise quiz: Am I proud of me? I gave my life to become the person I am right now. Was it worth what I paid? -Richard Bach, writer (b. 23 Jun 1936)

From another blogger...

 who has some legal experience...

Fair warning, this is about gun violence!

But after President Biden gave a speech Thurs. evening, I'm gladly posting this. I got permission from the author, when I said I couldn't find the words to say this, because I'm too angry. I think a lot of us are!

Don’t Play Their Game

Posted on June 2, 2022 by Hecate Demeter | 

Picture found here.

Lawyers know that if you can control how the issue for trial is presented, you can likely control the outcome. Thus, the first part of a good legal brief often spends some time phrasing the issue in a manner most helpful to that side. If we can make the trial about how much compensation this poor widow deserves for the loss of her beloved husband, instead of whether the estate of a negligent worker is entitled to burden a productive employer with excessive costs, well, guess which side is likely to win. Similarly, if one side can force the other to use up its allotted words chasing several “red herrings,” well, advantage them.

Gun fetishists know this, too. And they’re very good at immediately shifting the subject for debate. And too many of us are far too willing to go along with them. If you’re like me, you get a nice little endorphin hit from tearing apart a faulty argument. But we’ve got to quit seeking those endorphin hits because the gun nuts are using them to manipulate us.

How?

Let’s look at some of their responses to the massacre in a Texas schoolhouse. “It’s mental health, not guns!” “We need to ‘harden’ schools!” (Note the use of militaristic, not to mention sexually-charged lingo. “Harden” means “lock the doors,” but that doesn’t give the gun-nut base the same little sexual charge.) “We need to arm teachers!” And so on. Each new massacre of schoolchildren gets a slightly different reaction but the common denominator is that they (1) take the emphasis away from gun safety protections and (2) send us off down the rabbit trail because it will make us feel so good to show how they’re wrong.

And, of course, we all know that, for example, locking up the schoolhouse will make it more difficult to exit during a fire, isn’t a good way for our children to live, can be undone by shooting off the locks, etc., etc., etc. But I’m going to suggest that you not respond by providing all the logical and factual arguments against the distraction du jour. Because that’s what they want you to do. When you do, when your play their game, the argument can spiral through dozens of even more insane iterations until, once again, we just give up until the next massacre.

If you’ve ever had training in dealing with disturbed people (or very young children), you may have learned the technique of simply repeating your demand, over and over and of not responding to all of the “distraction” arguments.

“I need you to put down the knife.”

“No! You always side with him! He’s your pet.”

At this point, what you do NOT do is start to try and show that you are objective and don’t have a pet. Because that’s not your goal. Your goal is to get the person to put down the knife. And even if you were able to show that you’re not being unfair, it would only lead to the next distraction.

“Everyone here hates me!”

You don’t respond to the distraction. You calmly repeat your demand. “I need you to put down the knife.”

Similarly, we don’t need to respond to the pro-massacre side’s distractions with anything more than, “That’s just a distraction. We need to [outlaw AR15s, pass red flag laws, require gun owners to carry insurance — whatever our current, specific demand is.]

“But you’re politicizing a tragedy.”

“We need to outlaw AR15s.

“Let’s arm teachers so they can protect the children!”

“We need to outlaw AR15s.

“You hate Americans and our freedoms.”

“We need to outlaw AR15s.”

Don’t play their game. They’ve gotten too many of us to play it for too long and children are dead as a result.

Reposted with permission from:

https://hecatedemeter.wordpress.com/2022/06/02/dont-play-their-game/

Church in Madison County NC

I'm adding this since Tuesday's news was so awful when I learned about Uvalde TX kids in a primary school being shot and killed by another young man with guns. 

First I am sad, and feel such despair that parents and teachers and staff of elementary school kids have again had this happen...AGAIN!! I wish I could send hugs to all those crying in Uvalde...this should never have happened, and it's terrible that it did. Many good people died yesterday...many children who had their whole lives ahead of them. I can't send thoughts and prayers any more, not one more time. 

Maybe Biden's anger at the politicians and the gun lobby will help some law get passed to restrict those automatic weapons. If they decide instead (probably) to put into effect a law that people with mental illness should not be allowed to have guns, I will not be happy at all.  Many people who have high anxiety or depression, or another diagnosis, may have a gun to protect their families and homes. They are not likely to go shoot kids at school. 

The problem is availability of guns. The Problem Is AVAILABILITY! That must have a law against it. MUST HAVE A LAW for our nation's children's sake.

 For this week's Skywatch Friday.

The trip to Vicki Lane's house...

We left Vicki's home and drove a different way, for a while anyway. I wish I knew the name of this sweet church!

The highway cut right between the church and one of its cemetaries.

There were more old graves beside the church as well.

I found it on Google Maps, and there even was a 3D shot from the road, much as mine.

...but still no name. It's at the junction of Walnut St/Rd. and something else.

Today's quote:

Your worth- it is an immeasurable and unchanging manifestation of your eternal and infinite oneness with the universe. It represents the cornerstone of the dual foundations of optimism and self-belief. Your worth cannot be taken from you or damaged by life's rigors, yet it can easily be forgotten or even actively ignored. By regularly acknowledging your self-worth, you can ensure that you never forget what an important, beloved, and special part of the universe you are.  

Daily Om