Connecticut Shooting

I am exhausted.

As an American living in Europe, I feel I find myself almost monthly having defend my homeland's high gun death rate.  And then there's the latest high body count...  Europeans will not even LISTEN to you when you start to speak about the Second Amendment or the politics of Gun Control or the NRA or the fear of tyranny ...and the list goes on.

I find myself simply exhausted, tired, drained, etc.

There IS violence here, make no mistake, but someone with a grudge or a mental illness or just plain evil in his heart has a harder time acting on those impulses and harming the rest of us.

After spending so much time here, the situational awareness that I had when leaving the USA has disappeared.  I no longer look over my shoulder or even scope out potential danger spots in my neighborhood.  I am safe to walk my city at all hours of the day, even in some cases after a few drinks, without a heightened level of fear.

I used to think the above was making me frighteningly vulnerable, like a soldier who losses his edge at home before heading back to war.

Again, I find myself exhausted when I have to explain this to anyone here.  They just don't get it.  I hit them with the facts (and you can see the fear and disbelief in their eyes)...

a) The USA is saturated with firearms.  We have more than 300 million of them and more than 4 million more come into circulation every year.  Eradication is impossible.

b) There ARE gun laws.  But the gun show "loophole" allows gun sales WITHOUT a background check. SO the laws on the book become meaningless.

c) The mentally ill have a great many laws on their side and ability to buy guns is one of them.  We take medical privacy very serious in the USA, even to the point of making it easy for psychopaths and the violently deranged to gain weapons.

d) People have every right to defend themselves, their family and their property.  If people were shooting back in the Conn. tragedy perhaps less children would have been killed.  Law-abiding citizens need to be allowed to end these situations BEFORE they escalate especially in a gun saturated nation as ours.

I love my country.  I can not help but feel hot tears when I think of the senseless deaths visited upon her every day.  Now the evil death of children.  The greatest nation on earth has one of the highest levels of gun deaths in the world, and the highest in the Industrial World.  I know I will have to spend time this coming week explaining all of this to my students and friends.  And to myself.

I will soon be traveling to the USA and Canada for the holidays.  I hope to not be looking over my shoulder like a scared tourist.  Nor giving shrill denunciations at the dinner table.  

Again, as I reread what I have just read and I see the photos of the grieving and terrified parents, I feel exhausted.

Right State

“Right State”

by Mat Johnson and Andrea Mutti

Lean, mean and ingenious, this near-future political thriller should appeal to devotees of “Homeland.” It’s 2020, and the (unnamed) president is still black. The primary terrorist threat, however, comes in a different color. Right-wing militias, the festering die-hards of Tea Party-style conservatism, thrive in remote, impoverished rural areas. The comic’s story — illustrated with accomplished, if not dazzling skill by Mutti — begins with Asif, a Muslim secret service agent, hot on the trail of a renegade fed who has defected to lead the insurgency. To get inside the compound run by the group, Asif enlists a veterans’ advocate and conservative talk show pundit named Akers, who then emerges as the protagonist. Much of the piquancy and intelligence of “Right State” arises from the fact that Akers is not entirely unsympathetic to the complaints and demands of militias, and this lends depth to the expected, if enjoyable, exploits that follow: shootouts, drug trips, betrayals and red herrings. Good, smart fun.

 

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Fact of the Day

Women now attend college at rates higher than the male population and are the primary breadwinners for 60% of all families.

 

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Issue of the Day

Puerto Rican Statehood

Moreover, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has little incentive to address the topic. According to exit polls, 83% of boricuas on the mainland voted for Barack Obama. Statehood would add two Senate seats and a House delegation of five, the same size as Oregon’s and probably as reliably Democratic.

Unless the island holds another vote that yields a different result, however, Puerto Rico has now officially requested statehood. If Democrats retake the House in 2014, they would be well-advised to try to add a 51st star to the flag.

 

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Fact of the Day

The United States gained control of Puerto Rico in 1898, following the Spanish-American War. Puerto Rico set up its own government in 1952, and its residents do not pay federal income taxes to Washington on their local earnings. Nonetheless, it is still effectively a colony: boricuas are subject to American law even though they cannot vote for president or Congress.

 

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Americans Need More Vacations

As an American living in Spain, I know all ALL about the difference in our two countries in the area of holidays and vacations. Here is a great article by Robert Reich on the subject. Reposted and enjoyed.

 

By Robert Reich, RobertReich.org

This originally appeared on Robert Reich’s blog.

Back from three weeks off grid, much of it hiking in Alaska and Australia.

When I left the U.S. economy was in a stall, Greece was on the brink of defaulting, the eurozone couldn’t get its act together, the Fed couldn’t decide on another round of quantitative easing, congressional Democrats and Republicans were in gridlock, much of the nation was broiling, and neither Obama nor Romney had put forward a bold proposal for boosting the economy, slowing climate change, or much of anything else.

What a difference three weeks makes.

Here’s a bold proposal I offer free of charge to Obama or Romney: Every American should get a mandatory minimum of three weeks paid vacation a year.

Most Americans only get two weeks off right now. But many don’t even take the full two weeks out of fear of losing their jobs. One in four gets no paid vacation at all, not even holidays. Overall, Americans have less vacation time than workers in any other advanced economy.

This is absurd. A mandatory three weeks off would be good for everyone — including employers.

Studies show workers who take time off are more productive after their batteries are recharged. They have higher morale, and are less likely to mentally check out on the job.

This means more output per worker — enough to compensate employers for the cost of hiring additional workers to cover for everyone’s three weeks’ vacation time.

It’s also a win for the economy, because these additional workers would bring down the level of unemployment and put more money into more people’s pockets. This extra purchasing power would boost the economy overall.

More and longer vacations would also improve our health. A study by Wisconsin’s Marshfield Clinic shows women who take regular vacations experience less tension and depression year round. Studies also show that men who take regular vacations have less likelihood of heart disease and fewer heart attacks.

Better health is not just good for us as individuals. It also translates into more productive workers, fewer sick days, less absenteeism. And lower healthcare costs.

In other words, a three-week minimum vacation is a win-win-win — good for workers, good for employers, and good for the economy.

And I guarantee it would also be a winner among voters. Obama, Romney — either of you listening?

Robert Reich, one of the nation’s leading experts on work and the economy, is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. Time Magazine has named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written 13 books, including his latest best-seller, “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future;” “The Work of Nations,” which has been translated into 22 languages; and his newest, an e-book, “Beyond Outrage.” His syndicated columns, television appearances, and public radio commentaries reach millions of people each week. He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine, and Chairman of the citizen’s group Common Cause. His widely-read blog can be found at www.robertreich.org. More Robert Reich.

 

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Bed Bugs and Travelling

 

In any race, there’s a loser as well as a winner, and Philadelphia tops this year’s list of the most bed bug-infested cities in the U.S. Terminix, the world’s largest pest control company, annually ranks major cities based on the number of infestations confirmed by their staff. This year’s rankings have Cincinnati coming in second and New York City — the most-infested city for the past two years — coming in third. Cleveland, Miami, Houston, Indianapolis and New Haven joined the top 15 this year.

Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) are parasites that feed on human blood and prefer to live in beds or other household furniture. Victims are often attacked in their sleep, unaware that they are being bitten.

Symptoms of bed bug attacks include itchy red welts on the skin and, for some patients, allergic reactions triggered by the insects’ saliva. Because the bites remove some of the victim’s blood, prolonged exposure can in rare cases lead to anemic conditions.

Terminix warns that the national bed bug epidemic, which began a few years ago, will likely spread to more cities as pests hitch rides with unknowing summer travelers. To be on guard against the pests, the company advises travelers to check hotel mattresses, headboards and box springs for bugs, bug exoskeletons and dark blood spots. To avoid picking up the parasites, you should hang all your clothing — don’t store any items in drawers or lay them out on the bed or furniture. Luggage should be kept on the luggage rack or as far away from the floor as possible.

To avoid spreading the bugs after a possible exposure, travelers should immediately vacuum their suitcases and wash their clothing in hot water upon returning home. In neighborhoods already known to be infested, it might be advisable to take even more defensive measures, such as covering mattresses and box springs with a bug-proof plastic cover.

 

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Women and Money

American women earn on average 23 percent less than men – which adds up to an average loss of $383,000 in income over a working lifetime.

 

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Bill Kristol on 47%

It’s worth recalling that a good chunk of the 47 percent who don’t pay income taxes are Romney supporters — especially of course seniors (who might well “believe they are entitled to heath care,” a position Romney agrees with), as well as many lower-income Americans (including men and women serving in the military) who think conservative policies are better for the country even if they’re not getting a tax cut under the Romney plan. So Romney seems to have contempt not just for the Democrats who oppose him, but for tens of millions who intend to vote for him.

 

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Republican Weakness

Republicans need to win 2/3s of the white working class vote in a pres election to compensate for its weakness in almost every demographic category.

 

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Memorial Day numbers

1.5 million US soldiers in war zones or on combat missions.

For Your Consideration...

In the runup to this fall’s U.S. elections, activist Susan McMillan Emry has created a women’s rights group:  Rock The Slut Vote, inspired by the Limbaugh incident and a string of others that caused feminists of the country to cry foul.
Rock The Slut Vote.  Go here for more.