kpete
kpete's Journal
BAN IT!
BAN IT!
Abortion?
BAN IT!
Gay marriage?
BAN IT!
Guns?
Look, banning things never works. People will find ways to get them.
https://twitter.com/BlunderingIdiom?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The man reportedly targeting the LA Pride festival had an NRA symbol on his car
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-gay-pride-la-weapons-20160612-snap-story.html
Someone said it.
http://liberalsarecool.com/post/145836347471/almost-1000
http://liberalsarecool.com/image/145809131991
Savannah Guthrie burns Trump for self ‘congrats’: ‘Literally everybody predicts another attack’
During an interview on the Today Show on Monday, Guthrie threw cold water on his self-congratulations.
“To a lot of people, that struck them as unseemly,” she explained to Trump. “That at this moment that 49 people lay dead, you were focused on yourself and giving yourself congratulations.”
The presumptive GOP nominee argued that Guthrie claim was “completely false” because the tweet went on to say that he would rather have “toughness & vigilance” than “congrats.”
“But you did stop and say, ‘Oh, I acknowledge and collect your thanks,'” Guthrie observed. “And then you later say in this statement, ‘I predicted this.'”
“Which in fairness,” she continued, “literally everyone predicts that there will be another terrorist attack. There’s no one that doesn’t recognize that that’s the world we live in.”
“Why are you giving yourself credit for predicting something that everyone knows will happen?” the NBC host wondered.
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/savannah-guthrie-burns-trump-for-self-congrats-literally-everybody-predicts-another-attack/
The Discredited Nonsense That Gave America The ‘More Guns, Less Crime’ Myth
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Indeed, research by Yale law professor Ian Ayres and Stanford law professor John Donahue corroborates this insight that the “more guns, less crime” hypothesis only stands up if you apply it to a limited time frame. Lott and Mustard’s original study only examined data from 1977 through 1992. Ayres and Donahue examined data from the late 1990s, after the wave of crack-related violence began to ebb, and found that crime dropped dramatically in urban areas without permissive carry laws. They conclude that “no longer can any plausible case be made on statistical grounds that shall-issue laws are likely to reduce crime for all or even most states” — and, indeed, their research suggests that permissive carry laws may increase crime rates.
So What Does The Data Really Show?
Even if Lott’s research is difficult to trust, the real answer to the question “do more guns lead to more crime” is surprisingly hard to determine. This is due, in no small part, to the fact that federal law imposes strict limits on federally-funded research into the causes of gun violence.
The data that does exist, however, suggests that Lott isn’t simply wrong, but that the opposite of his conclusions are actually true. Although the 2004 National Research Council report found that there is insufficient evidence to determine the impact of carry laws on crime, a subsequent study by Stanford researchers determined that “right-to-carry gun laws are linked to an increase in violent crime.” This study indicates that right-to-carry laws increase the rate of aggravated assault by 8 percent. Though it also suggests that such laws “are associated with an increase in rape and robbery,” this evidence for this claim is less strong.
Similarly, a 2013 report by the Center for American Progress found a strong correlation between lax gun laws and more gun violence. According to that report, “the 10 states with the weakest gun laws collectively have a level of gun violence that is more than twice as high — 104 percent higher — than the 10 states with the strongest gun laws.”
More guns, in other words, lead to more crime.
Way more, plus links:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/06/13/3787491/discredited-nonsense-gave-america-guns-less-crime-myth/
Queer Muslims exist – and we are in mourning too
Samra Habib
This can’t be turned into a story of us v them – because the real world is far more complicated than that
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There will be no shortage of voices in the media in the days and weeks ahead analyzing the links between Islam, terrorism and homophobia. Political candidates will likely use the incident to gain support for their platforms in the upcoming election.
We are now used to the fact that, every time a criminally misguided Muslim commits an act of violence, the entire religion and all its followers are questioned and placed under suspicion in a way that isn’t replicated with other faiths. We – and this of course includes queer Muslims – have to take extra care walking down the street at night and entering our mosques for fear of Islamophobic attacks. Muslim organizations and activist groups are tasked with the responsibility of releasing public statements, apologizing for the actions of terrorists and reminding the world that Islam promotes peace so innocent Muslims who are just trying to go about their daily lives don’t suffer repercussions.
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Much has been written about what drives someone to kill innocent people. Arie Kruglanski, a psychology professor at the University of Maryland, studied the final words of suicide bombers and discovered a pattern: their motivation is personal significance and a search for a meaning that they are brainwashed into believing can only come with death. This is not the typical Muslim experience, but an aberration.
Our thoughts must for now be with those in Orlando. But over the next few days, as we try to recover from this atrocity and begin to piece together what it all means, it’s important to remember that Islam is exploited by religious extremists all over the world, often in attacks committed against other Muslims. One such incident occurred recently in Gulshan-i-Iqbal in Lahore, Pakistan – a park I used to love visiting with my family as a kid. Nothing made me feel freer as an 8-year-old than rushing down the slides with my younger sister. More than 70 people, mostly women and children, were killed by jihadists who claimed to be targeting those celebrating Easter. However, the majority of people killed were Muslims – something the terrorists would have known full well.
MORE:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/12/queer-muslims-mourning-orlando-nightclub-shooting?CMP=fb_cif
Today, we mourn together.
Jacob Tobia
9 hrs ·
It does not matter if the Orlando shooter was Muslim
His identity does not justify islamophobia
Our fear does not justify islamophobia
Our trauma does not justify islamophobia
Our sadness does not justify islamophobia
Our heartbreak does not justify islamophobia
Today, it is our obligation as a queer community to remember that islamophobia, homophobia, and transphobia work together.
Today, it is our obligation as queer people to proclaim that the same forces that marginalize queer people in the United States are used to marginalize Muslims.
Today, we need to remember that joy, love, and celebration are still possible; that queer and allied Muslims are an integral part of the queer community.
Today, we must stand together against the wave of prejudice, hatred, and violence sweeping our country.
Last night, just three hours before the attack began, I stopped at the bodega in my neighborhood for some ice cream. The Muslim couple who run the bodega were sitting behind the counter: the husband speaks English, and his wife is still learning. After I made my purchase, the husband translated on behalf of his wife:
"What lipstick are you wearing?" he asked
"It's from Sephora, it's my favorite!" I responded
His wife said something to him in Arabic, the same language that my grandparents spoke when they immigrated to the United States from Syria in the 1950s, the language that I do not speak but wish I could.
He turned to me: "She says that she likes your lipstick. She thinks that you look beautiful!"
Today, we mourn together.
https://www.facebook.com/jacobtobia4real/posts/1138004256219645
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Member since: Fri Sep 17, 2004, 03:59 PMNumber of posts: 72,032
