Even the most stupid person should have noticed in the meantime that prayers don't seem to help against guns. And that a party who supports weapons is not really "pro life".
Weirdly your comment was in my 'Spam' filter. That's NEVER happened before. I'm going to have to check that more often I think.
It's true what you say: Thought's and prayers are all very well but ACTION, actually *trying* to do something about the issues is MUCH better. It's also VERY difficult to understand that Republicans in particular are VERY keen on seeing children born but then seem completely indifferent to what happens to them afterwards - until (I'm guessing) they manage to reach voting age. It's pretty disgusting to learn that today the biggest threat to life of a child/teenager in the US is dying in a gun-related incident. Amazing.
Maybe they didn't like the topic. ;) Or they think I comment too much. LOL
Anyway, it's not just about the shooting. Republicans are very keen on babies being born but after that it's not their problem anymore. No support for single mothers, no insurance etc. As you said, they just want voters. And somehow people still believe in them. Incredible.
I do struggle to get my head around why people - especially POOR people - vote Republican. But then again I'm a Socialist and not understand why ANYONE could vote Conservative here in the UK... Unless you're actually RICH. Then I *totally* get it.
Same here, Kitten, I don't get it, either. I guess they mostly get then over the "religious" way, claiming they are the "better" party. But if you look at what they say and what they do and then look at the bible, there is no resemblance. Those people are all brainwashed.
Tuesday was so horrifically traumatic. We had our own lockdown last week when an angry parent was in the building (but not armed, luckily). My team and I were on the other side of the building but the whole time we were in the room with 20 terrified kids, all I could think was that I might never see Eleanor again.
Then Uvalde happened and it was such a punch to the gut. So many students and teachers were just kind of in a fog on Wednesday. Looking at news stories over and over again and seeing the faces of all those babies who were murdered, I couldn't stop crying. Those babies look just like the babies I teach every single day. The thought of this happening to any of them just made me lose it.
To make everything worse, now finding out law enforcement waited to go in, as children are inside calling 911 for help and parents are outside getting pepper sprayed and handcuffed makes me so fucking angry. How many lives could have been saved had they gone in right away and not waited for the tactical team? Because all the tactical team did was find a janitor key to open the fucking door. And fucking idiot could have done that.
I'm absolutely livid. And nothing will ever change. When nothing changed after Sandy Hook, I knew we were lost for good.
So I just wrote this whole long comment and somehow Blogger ate it. Maybe it will appear later somehow. Just know that I am livid and we are all traumatized and it's horrendous but that when nothing changed after Sandy Hook, I knew nothing ever would.
Sarah, I always think of you (and kiddo!) every time something like this happens (again!). It's just crazy that you have to go through lockdowns and 'active shooter' drills. CRAZY. The fact that you require armed guards on schools and supermarkets - INSANE. I really don't understand why so many Americans seem able to put up with it. I guess that after a long enough period it just becomes 'normal' no matter who crazy it looks from outside. Here when we had a real problem in the 80's with terrorist bombings we had armed police (with machine pistols strapped across their chests) in London that stopped people in their tracks in shock/surprise. But even after a few days people just accepted it as normal and unworthy of comment. We're a very strange species sometimes!
The police response in Uvalde was a complete clusterfuck. After it's properly investigated I hope that those responsible get very publicly nailed to a wall for it. Its unforgivable what they did - or *didn't* do! If having an 18 year old with an AR and hundreds of rounds of ammo wasn't bad enough the police actually made it worse! Incredible.
I don't know if anything will change. I thought it would after Sandy Hook or after Parkland. I'm not holding out any great hope. Maybe, just maybe, you'll get Universal Background Checks - maybe. I guess we'll see in the next week or two.
BIG, BIG hug for both you and Eleanor from me. Use your anger as productively as possible. If enough people channel that anger in the right way and to the right people there's a chance that real change can happen. We can only hope so and work towards it.... either that or move to Canada. How far is the border from you guys?
Blogger flagged your comments as SPAM - as it had done to previous comments on this post. No idea why. I never really monitored the SPAM filter until recently. I'm checking it several times a day now.
Weird thing about the spam folder, it flagged comments on my blog as spam too from people it had never flagged before - but then did not flag others on the same post.
Thanks for your support. It's fucking terrifying. Sending Eleanor to school on Wednesday was awful, it had me in tears and I did not want to let her go.
The thing about gun control is, no one is suggesting we take away ALL guns, but that is how the Right frames it. There are so many loopholes that could be closed to prevent things like this. For instance, at gun shows private sales can go through without background checks. How is that even okay? But because the NRA owns the GOP, nothing will change. It breaks my heart.
The FBI has been in Uvalde since Tuesday and there is a lot of talk about an independent investigation. New articles I read this morning confirm that the police chief thought the murderer had barricaded himself in an empty classroom. This makes no sense, considering the fact that multiple children called REPEATEDLY from inside those two rooms. And seeing officers standing around doing nothing, how do you live with yourself, hearing gun shots, and not acting. An officer who wanted to remain anonymous was quoted in one of he articles saying he and some others considered going in anyway, but never did. Fucking cowards. There's also reports that some officers went in and got their OWN children, but I can't confirm it. I am so livid and disgusted.
But nothing will change for two reasons - the GOP are as cowardly as those officers who did nothing, and these babies were not white. It's sickening and fucking infuriating.
This was in the Spam filter too! I wonder if its only THIS post??
I was going to say "I can imagine" how you felt/feel - but I can't really. Apart from not having any children to worry about, the American situation is just SO bizarre, so outside anything I've heard of or experienced, that I just can't get my head around it.
It's amazing that politicians, especially Republicans, won't even TALK about it and when they do they say either that nothing can be done (which is just crazily false) or that the answer is MORE guns. Because, as everyone knows, the answer to house fires is throwing on more fuel.
I do hope that they have a FULL investigation of what went wrong in Uvalde - over and above the obvious insanity of an 18 year old being allowed to buy assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition whilst not being allowed to drink, smoke or buy two packets of pain killers in a pharmacy....
It might have been said before but I think the NRA have a pretty good template for change. I understand they rank lawmakers from A to F on their support of the 2nd Amendment. Maybe, going forward people should start checking out where their representative stands on gun safety/control and ensure that their *F* rated opponents win.......!
It's difficult to say anything as an outsider, only that I think about all my American friends with kids. Unfortunately, I also know people with kids or grandkids who demand more guns. Give the teachers guns. What if one of them starts shooting? Give the kids guns? No, the answer to this dilemma is certainly not MORE guns, on the contrary. But that's not going to happen as long as people like the former president (he who shall not be named) run around and brainwash people.
As to the spam filter. I've had it for a while now that messages from members who comment often appear in my list of comments but not on the post itself. I found out that I have to approve them first. While I did put my blog on "approve comments on older posts" (because I did get a lot of spam on some), anything from the last two weeks should go through without any problem. Those are people who I follow officially, so the program should "think" that I approve their posts. I have no idea what's going on only that I need to be more alert.
Marianne, I have the VERY same thought about arming teachers - apart from the fact that its plain crazy and don't they have ENOUGH to do already (plus I *bet* that they wouldn't get paid any more for it!). Expecting teachers to also be armed guards is insane.
The spam thing is very strange. I only noticed it a few days ago and it only seemed to affect a few posts. I'll keep an eye on things to see if it persists. I'm guessing that Blogger had an update or something, maybe?
That's for sure. They will not pay them more and they are totally underpaid in the States already. As in many countries but definitely in the States.
Funnily enough, for me it is one or two other bloggers with whom I communicate often and they are also on Blogger. It's such a nuisance that they keep changing stuff all the time. Have programmers never heard of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule?
As to Harry Potter, I always use that word for people whom I don't want to give too much credit on the internet. The 46-1 guy in the US, the leader of our country in the thirties and forties, the currrent leader of a country to the East of us ... etc. Since "he who shall not be named" is the worst person in the Harry Potter novels, these are the worst people in real life.
It happened to me also, but not with any of my most recent comments - and two blogger buddies who I am in contact regularly. So freaking weird. Blogger needs to get its shit together.
Honestly, I am glad you can't imagine it - I wish no one had to think daily about what it would be like. Even all these days later when these babies are being laid to rest, I can not stop consuming articles on the latest updates because I have to make it make sense. And the thing is, I know it never will make sense, but I keep trying anyway. Those kids are a year older than Eleanor, and even typing that sentences makes me want to vomit. I think about her and a situation like this and it makes me sick.
The Republicans are owned by the NRA and even the most moderate in the GOP would be risking their seats if they spoke out in favor of more strict gun laws. Again, more cowards. Just what we need. I have no intention of supporting taking away all guns. However, there is no fucking reason a regular ol' citizen needs a semi-automatic weapon, bump stock, or the like. I hear all the idiots talking about hunters and I tell them they're idiots because no hunter would go out to shoot an animal with a semi-automatic weapon. There would be no meat left! Completely asinine.
The investigation is underway now and even today, the info we are getting is making it worse. Now there are reports that the chief in charge of the scene did not have radio contact, so did not know students were calling 911 begging for help. There is also now a question of whether or not he was originally on the scene as it unfolded. And still more about how the Border Patrol tactical team DEFIED orders and went in anyway to engage the murderer. That terrifies me. If those officers had not gone in when they did, how many more would have been injured or killed? Of the 17 who were injured and survived, how many would have bled out before they could be rescued? It is sickening and every single person in charge should be fired immediately. There is no excuse.
I really hope that the age will be bumped up to 21, it's a good place to start. But people also need to be 25 to rent a car, so why not make it 25 to own a weapon like that as well, if we are not going to stop the sale of them. If we treated guns the way we treated cars, with insurance and registration and training, etc, things could be a lot different. Not to mention if we simply had uniform gun laws across the entire country. Idiots always like to point out how Chicago has super strict gun laws and still lots of gun crime. They forget the fact that Indiana has some of the most lax gun laws in the US, and that's where many of Chicago's guns come from.
It is true about how the NRA ranks lawmakers, and is always brought up at election time. With midterms coming up in November, I am curious how that will play into it, but not hopeful because American is also trash.
14 comments:
Even the most stupid person should have noticed in the meantime that prayers don't seem to help against guns. And that a party who supports weapons is not really "pro life".
Weirdly your comment was in my 'Spam' filter. That's NEVER happened before. I'm going to have to check that more often I think.
It's true what you say: Thought's and prayers are all very well but ACTION, actually *trying* to do something about the issues is MUCH better. It's also VERY difficult to understand that Republicans in particular are VERY keen on seeing children born but then seem completely indifferent to what happens to them afterwards - until (I'm guessing) they manage to reach voting age. It's pretty disgusting to learn that today the biggest threat to life of a child/teenager in the US is dying in a gun-related incident. Amazing.
Maybe they didn't like the topic. ;) Or they think I comment too much. LOL
Anyway, it's not just about the shooting. Republicans are very keen on babies being born but after that it's not their problem anymore. No support for single mothers, no insurance etc. As you said, they just want voters. And somehow people still believe in them. Incredible.
I do struggle to get my head around why people - especially POOR people - vote Republican. But then again I'm a Socialist and not understand why ANYONE could vote Conservative here in the UK... Unless you're actually RICH. Then I *totally* get it.
Same here, Kitten, I don't get it, either. I guess they mostly get then over the "religious" way, claiming they are the "better" party. But if you look at what they say and what they do and then look at the bible, there is no resemblance. Those people are all brainwashed.
Tuesday was so horrifically traumatic. We had our own lockdown last week when an angry parent was in the building (but not armed, luckily). My team and I were on the other side of the building but the whole time we were in the room with 20 terrified kids, all I could think was that I might never see Eleanor again.
Then Uvalde happened and it was such a punch to the gut. So many students and teachers were just kind of in a fog on Wednesday. Looking at news stories over and over again and seeing the faces of all those babies who were murdered, I couldn't stop crying. Those babies look just like the babies I teach every single day. The thought of this happening to any of them just made me lose it.
To make everything worse, now finding out law enforcement waited to go in, as children are inside calling 911 for help and parents are outside getting pepper sprayed and handcuffed makes me so fucking angry. How many lives could have been saved had they gone in right away and not waited for the tactical team? Because all the tactical team did was find a janitor key to open the fucking door. And fucking idiot could have done that.
I'm absolutely livid. And nothing will ever change. When nothing changed after Sandy Hook, I knew we were lost for good.
So I just wrote this whole long comment and somehow Blogger ate it. Maybe it will appear later somehow. Just know that I am livid and we are all traumatized and it's horrendous but that when nothing changed after Sandy Hook, I knew nothing ever would.
Sarah, I always think of you (and kiddo!) every time something like this happens (again!). It's just crazy that you have to go through lockdowns and 'active shooter' drills. CRAZY. The fact that you require armed guards on schools and supermarkets - INSANE. I really don't understand why so many Americans seem able to put up with it. I guess that after a long enough period it just becomes 'normal' no matter who crazy it looks from outside. Here when we had a real problem in the 80's with terrorist bombings we had armed police (with machine pistols strapped across their chests) in London that stopped people in their tracks in shock/surprise. But even after a few days people just accepted it as normal and unworthy of comment. We're a very strange species sometimes!
The police response in Uvalde was a complete clusterfuck. After it's properly investigated I hope that those responsible get very publicly nailed to a wall for it. Its unforgivable what they did - or *didn't* do! If having an 18 year old with an AR and hundreds of rounds of ammo wasn't bad enough the police actually made it worse! Incredible.
I don't know if anything will change. I thought it would after Sandy Hook or after Parkland. I'm not holding out any great hope. Maybe, just maybe, you'll get Universal Background Checks - maybe. I guess we'll see in the next week or two.
BIG, BIG hug for both you and Eleanor from me. Use your anger as productively as possible. If enough people channel that anger in the right way and to the right people there's a chance that real change can happen. We can only hope so and work towards it.... either that or move to Canada. How far is the border from you guys?
Blogger flagged your comments as SPAM - as it had done to previous comments on this post. No idea why. I never really monitored the SPAM filter until recently. I'm checking it several times a day now.
Stay safe.
Weird thing about the spam folder, it flagged comments on my blog as spam too from people it had never flagged before - but then did not flag others on the same post.
Thanks for your support. It's fucking terrifying. Sending Eleanor to school on Wednesday was awful, it had me in tears and I did not want to let her go.
The thing about gun control is, no one is suggesting we take away ALL guns, but that is how the Right frames it. There are so many loopholes that could be closed to prevent things like this. For instance, at gun shows private sales can go through without background checks. How is that even okay? But because the NRA owns the GOP, nothing will change. It breaks my heart.
The FBI has been in Uvalde since Tuesday and there is a lot of talk about an independent investigation. New articles I read this morning confirm that the police chief thought the murderer had barricaded himself in an empty classroom. This makes no sense, considering the fact that multiple children called REPEATEDLY from inside those two rooms. And seeing officers standing around doing nothing, how do you live with yourself, hearing gun shots, and not acting. An officer who wanted to remain anonymous was quoted in one of he articles saying he and some others considered going in anyway, but never did. Fucking cowards. There's also reports that some officers went in and got their OWN children, but I can't confirm it. I am so livid and disgusted.
But nothing will change for two reasons - the GOP are as cowardly as those officers who did nothing, and these babies were not white. It's sickening and fucking infuriating.
This was in the Spam filter too! I wonder if its only THIS post??
I was going to say "I can imagine" how you felt/feel - but I can't really. Apart from not having any children to worry about, the American situation is just SO bizarre, so outside anything I've heard of or experienced, that I just can't get my head around it.
It's amazing that politicians, especially Republicans, won't even TALK about it and when they do they say either that nothing can be done (which is just crazily false) or that the answer is MORE guns. Because, as everyone knows, the answer to house fires is throwing on more fuel.
I do hope that they have a FULL investigation of what went wrong in Uvalde - over and above the obvious insanity of an 18 year old being allowed to buy assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition whilst not being allowed to drink, smoke or buy two packets of pain killers in a pharmacy....
It might have been said before but I think the NRA have a pretty good template for change. I understand they rank lawmakers from A to F on their support of the 2nd Amendment. Maybe, going forward people should start checking out where their representative stands on gun safety/control and ensure that their *F* rated opponents win.......!
It's difficult to say anything as an outsider, only that I think about all my American friends with kids. Unfortunately, I also know people with kids or grandkids who demand more guns. Give the teachers guns. What if one of them starts shooting? Give the kids guns? No, the answer to this dilemma is certainly not MORE guns, on the contrary. But that's not going to happen as long as people like the former president (he who shall not be named) run around and brainwash people.
As to the spam filter. I've had it for a while now that messages from members who comment often appear in my list of comments but not on the post itself. I found out that I have to approve them first. While I did put my blog on "approve comments on older posts" (because I did get a lot of spam on some), anything from the last two weeks should go through without any problem. Those are people who I follow officially, so the program should "think" that I approve their posts. I have no idea what's going on only that I need to be more alert.
Marianne, I have the VERY same thought about arming teachers - apart from the fact that its plain crazy and don't they have ENOUGH to do already (plus I *bet* that they wouldn't get paid any more for it!). Expecting teachers to also be armed guards is insane.
The spam thing is very strange. I only noticed it a few days ago and it only seemed to affect a few posts. I'll keep an eye on things to see if it persists. I'm guessing that Blogger had an update or something, maybe?
Oh, LOVE the Harry Potter reference.. [lol]
That's for sure. They will not pay them more and they are totally underpaid in the States already. As in many countries but definitely in the States.
Funnily enough, for me it is one or two other bloggers with whom I communicate often and they are also on Blogger. It's such a nuisance that they keep changing stuff all the time. Have programmers never heard of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule?
As to Harry Potter, I always use that word for people whom I don't want to give too much credit on the internet. The 46-1 guy in the US, the leader of our country in the thirties and forties, the currrent leader of a country to the East of us ... etc. Since "he who shall not be named" is the worst person in the Harry Potter novels, these are the worst people in real life.
It happened to me also, but not with any of my most recent comments - and two blogger buddies who I am in contact regularly. So freaking weird. Blogger needs to get its shit together.
Honestly, I am glad you can't imagine it - I wish no one had to think daily about what it would be like. Even all these days later when these babies are being laid to rest, I can not stop consuming articles on the latest updates because I have to make it make sense. And the thing is, I know it never will make sense, but I keep trying anyway. Those kids are a year older than Eleanor, and even typing that sentences makes me want to vomit. I think about her and a situation like this and it makes me sick.
The Republicans are owned by the NRA and even the most moderate in the GOP would be risking their seats if they spoke out in favor of more strict gun laws. Again, more cowards. Just what we need. I have no intention of supporting taking away all guns. However, there is no fucking reason a regular ol' citizen needs a semi-automatic weapon, bump stock, or the like. I hear all the idiots talking about hunters and I tell them they're idiots because no hunter would go out to shoot an animal with a semi-automatic weapon. There would be no meat left! Completely asinine.
The investigation is underway now and even today, the info we are getting is making it worse. Now there are reports that the chief in charge of the scene did not have radio contact, so did not know students were calling 911 begging for help. There is also now a question of whether or not he was originally on the scene as it unfolded. And still more about how the Border Patrol tactical team DEFIED orders and went in anyway to engage the murderer. That terrifies me. If those officers had not gone in when they did, how many more would have been injured or killed? Of the 17 who were injured and survived, how many would have bled out before they could be rescued? It is sickening and every single person in charge should be fired immediately. There is no excuse.
I really hope that the age will be bumped up to 21, it's a good place to start. But people also need to be 25 to rent a car, so why not make it 25 to own a weapon like that as well, if we are not going to stop the sale of them. If we treated guns the way we treated cars, with insurance and registration and training, etc, things could be a lot different. Not to mention if we simply had uniform gun laws across the entire country. Idiots always like to point out how Chicago has super strict gun laws and still lots of gun crime. They forget the fact that Indiana has some of the most lax gun laws in the US, and that's where many of Chicago's guns come from.
It is true about how the NRA ranks lawmakers, and is always brought up at election time. With midterms coming up in November, I am curious how that will play into it, but not hopeful because American is also trash.
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