Joe Walsh

I don't like to be cynical, but I can't help but think that Robert's just gave Trump the biggest gift that he could give him. The nation watching thousands and thousands of telegenic, articulate and often accentless young people get deported right before the election wasn't going to do anything positive for Trump's reelection chances.
 
 
Don't get me wrong. I would not have had the decision go the other direction just to bolster the chances of Trump losing, even though if reelected he may deport the kids latter. I am elated that they are getting to stay in the US for now, and if Trump loses they won't have to worry about it latter. I am just questioning Robert's motives, that is all.
 

Around here I'd say it's the decided exception when someone does NOT wear a mask.  That said, it still is extremely disheartening to see people refusing to take a *basic* step.  Even if it's no more than 1 in 50, at a guess.

 

I am astounded with what is happening in the USA for the past week. 
 
Growing up in the 1970's I looked at the US with envious eyes.  It had all of the things that I admired and wanted.  It was shining beacon of hope and optimism (even amidst the whole vietnam thing).  America was the bastion of the free west and Russia was an omni-present threat.  Obviously I was growing up in a white privileged world where I was oblivious to why the Cold War was not cold and many people (not white) were dying all over the Southern Hemisphere.
 
Still - modern, wealthy, optimistic with access to all of the good things in life.  People there seemed to get on with life better, produce better things and better tv programmes.  The US also seemed to have a better outlook on life and to be aiming higher when the UK was aiming and failing just to stay the same.  America in the late 70s seemed to be heading for the stars while we were sinking into potential for urban decay and uprising.  Obviously I was growing up in Scotland during the Thatcher years where immediate relative poverty was omnipresent and there was nothing new or shiny in my life. I could only dream of growing up to move to move to America where my cousins in Long Island seemed to live an idyllic life.
 
Over the years it is amazing how that changed.  I still admired the core American Dream - I even came over and worked and lived in the US for a few years but my life, my awareness and my priorities were changing.  I came back from the US because, after growing up within the security of a national health service, America seemed a dangerous place to be sick and too many people seemed to get caught in the financial nets of the health insurance people.  I also watched as the number of school shootings became more and more commonplace until they were not worthy of top billing on news programmes and did not think I wanted to send my children to school in place where they were in danger of being shot.
 
Even after all that I still saw America as a much better place to be, it was just my lack of robustness that led me to want to stick to the health safety of the UK. 
 
Now, as I watch the videos rolling out of the US every day with a sick fascination I am beginning to think that I was lucky not to have stayed.  People getting huge bills for getting sick during a pandemic, police on the streets seemingly relishing spraying people with pepper spray and groups beating individuals with batons.  I look at a population no longer scared of being killed by the police but accepting that this is the risk they live with every day and they might as well face it while shouting that it is not right than hoping it happens to someone else with the same colour of skin as they have. 
 
My experience of prejudice is anti-Irish, anti-catholic prejudice in the UK in the 70's and 80's.  That lead to bombs and underground armies.  I then look at the proliferation of weapons in the US and while the looting is bad, I cannot help but wonder how long it will be before a small group of people so sick of the disparity between armed police and unarmed protestors decide to switch it around.  How many men with automatic weapons would it take to cause an atrocity?  What would happen then?  Are there enough cool heads to stop police and armed forces going out and killing many more?  Enough to stop white folks going out with their own guns and killing more?? 
 
It really scares me.  It is the first time in my 55 years on this planet where I would absolutely prefer to be in the UK than in the US (and that is in the context of Boris and Brexit which makes it even more poignant for me).
 
I hope this current issue fades away but I do not see any hope that the underlying causes will be addressed and that the deployment of men with guns only deals with the immediate symptoms and that the next time, or the one after because there will be more, will be the one where the country goes up in flames.
 
I mourn for the American Dream I admired so much when I was young...I miss it and I think the world does too  😞
 
Doc

Yeah.  As frustrated I am at the damage, the tactics being used on the protesters is a lot scarier to me.

I wrote this on my FB page after somebody asked me my thoughts on the riots. I didn't even need to mention Trump....
 
SPOILER ALERT: This is a potentially socio-political post regarding the recent riots. If this offends you....well...you've been warned. This is also a very long post.
I am a student of history. As such, it is inevitable that I place events like this in such a context and compare them to past events. By doing so we put them in a perspective that makes it easier to explain what is going on.
1) The riots aren't about another police murder. That was just the spark that set off the massive powder keg. That "keg" is the society that we've built. A society of exploitation, income disparity, and social injustice that has been around practically since the country's inception. How did we get there? Well....
2) America doesn't fix problems; it hides them. America has at virtually all times in its history either denied problems or ignored them. It's practically a second job. We never even resolved the lingering issues from the Civil War for pity's sake. We won the military conflict, but we never solved the social issues that caused the war to begin with. We reconstructed the South physically when what we needed to do was reconstruct it socially. By not doing so we have perpetuated the inherent bigotry which still reigns over the nation. America is like a person with a deep knife wound which we've covered with a band aid. America goes....see...problem solved. The problem is the wound is still there...festering. If the wound starts to seep....we slap another band aid on it. We never treat the infection. Well...why haven't we fixed this yet? Well....
3) America has evolved into a country not willing to make sacrifices. At this point, fixing our many problems (bigotry,vast income disparity, corrupt government, unviable political structures) would require a degree of sacrifice that most Americans aren't willing to make. Minorites don't want to...they're already suffering. White Americans don't want to...they're safely insulated against the worst abuses. The 1% certainly don't as they benefit from the current status quo.
4) " Well...violence isn't the right response." Indeed? Let's start with....the American Revolution. " Well....that's different. " Is it though? Apply some of the arguments against the riots into that context. " Well, those colonists are just making things worse...vandalizing property and such. I mean...if they'd just be patient and work with the system...things would.....eventually....get better. Really...they're just a bunch of criminals. They should be shot. "
5) The riots are happening because peaceful protests aren't working. The "Establishment" loves peaceful protests. They get to sit back and carry on business as usual. White Americans love them because there's no risk (also no reward...but hey...they don't need anything). " But...they really are just hurting their own communities...." Their "communities" are a social construct created by the society that continually oppresses them. They're not as attached to them as you might think.
6) The riots aren't about the act itself. Riots are a "lashing out". They're a way to make people see the pain they're feeling. They're born out of emotion and frustration. " Well...I still don't condone breaking the law. "
7) When that society treats you like animals on a continual basis, you feel less inclined to obey those laws. Again...the Revolution example...guess those upstart colonists should have just buckled down and worked with the system, eh? " So...you bring up the Revolution a lot. Do we need another one? " In a word...yes.
 American society needs to change or it will no longer be viable as a country. The changes needed are massive and to be honest...I have my doubts that they can be achieved without some sort of conflict. The political/social structures holding us back are just too entrenched to be removed by passive means. " Well....I don't like the sound of that. Any other way? "
9) Sure, but it may not be much better. Most significant change in America comes from catastrophe. That's why things never change after a mass shooting or a random minority murder. Too small scale...they don't affect enough people. Things that did create massive social change affected the entire country at once (The Great Depression). The riots right now are in medium scale. They could be a catalyst for change if they got worse, but I doubt that will happen. Instead, things will settle down until the next crisis. It's what we do. " You talk an awful lot about change. What changes do you mean? "
10) For starters...
a) Bridging the social/economic gap in the country.
b) The end of the two party political system.
c) Money out of politics. Period.
d) Focus on quality education for all.
e) The end of absurd spending by the military/industrial complex.
f) Owning up to our nation's failures unanimously and publicly and making sincere and legitimate attempts to fix them.
The storming of the Bastille and the riots of St. Petersburg both led to significant social change. Our situation definitely parallels that of France and Russia before their respective revolutions in many ways. We need to decide how we want this to go down. We have a lot of history to draw from. Let's try to learn from it. Nuff said.

I love inflammatory op-eds with zero evidence to back up their assertions. 

I mean, propaganda works.
 
 
If people want to continue to compare deaths to natural causes - the Spanish Flu's US death toll was 0.7% of the total population in a year.
 
Heart disease is 0.2% and cancer 0.18% of the population every year.
 
So, something that hit us so hard it won't leave our memory, the Spanish Flu, was still 'only' twice as much as our two normal/natural leading killers in this country put together.

Rumor is that Hell is busily remodeling the Malebolges to create a new level for politicians and physicians who betray their constituents, their oaths of office, and their oaths as healers for power.  They foresee a massive influx, I'm told.

Which is so strange to me. We allow "free speech zones," libel laws, and all kinds of restrictions on other rights. But somehow guns rights are supposed to be absolute.
 
The only difference I can see is that guns are a product, and there's an industry that wants no restrictions on its ability to sell its products.

Which is so strange to me. We allow "free speech zones," libel laws, and all kinds of restrictions on other rights. But somehow guns rights are supposed to be absolute.
 
The only difference I can see is that guns are a product, and there's an industry that wants no restrictions on its ability to sell its products.

China’s New Outbreak Shows Signs the Virus Could Be Changing
 
Please take serious note of the word, "could."  The article describes the other factors that could explain this data, and that even if it's true it need not be disastrous.

At the same time, essential workers should be paid accordingly and given every reasonable protection.

At the same time, essential workers should be paid accordingly and given every reasonable protection.

From Science: About superspreaders

Which is so strange to me. We allow "free speech zones," libel laws, and all kinds of restrictions on other rights. But somehow guns rights are supposed to be absolute.
 
The only difference I can see is that guns are a product, and there's an industry that wants no restrictions on its ability to sell its products.

"Regulated" in the 18th century was often synonymous with "trained" or "functioning according to its purpose." Like a well-regulated clock. Something that is regular, in the positive sense. Here is a link to Wikipedia which discusses this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Meaning_of_"well_regulated_militia"
The Second Amendment could be rendered:
"Because of the need to be able to muster an effective, disciplined force of lawful civilians into a defensive force to protect the community in times of civil disorder or external threat, the government shall not unduly restrict the natural right of the citizens to have and use personal weapons suitable for that purpose."
 
Which is why I believe the Second Amendment probably means the government cannot simply ban semiautomatic rifles, because those are the basic, modern type of personal firearm one would use for defense and order. However, I believe the second amendment allows, and perhaps demands, that someone exercising that right not be someone who would be excluded from being deputized or drafted, whether due to serious felonies or inability due to serious psychological or mental inability. I think the question can be posed, "Do you need a 30 round magazine to use on a regular basis, in order to meaningfully exercise that right?" And I think the answer is probably not, you can probably participate in suppressing a riot five rounds at a time. I think it's reasonable the government insist on some limits on items that are more likely to be used for mass murder than a reasonable, lawful act. So, for instance, high capacity magazines might require a special license. Because your use and training in a semiautomatic rifle could be of use in a "militia," said if you were deputized, or joined a service branch, I think a case could be made for "will-issue" licenses to people without a criminal history. That is, if you pay the license and fulfill the other requirements, the government probably can't restrict you from owning such a weapon and practicing with it on a firing range.
 
Arguably, your Second Amendment rights could be modeled after European models, where rifles are assigned to people and the keeper practices regularly at a training center. But that does cut against a substantial amount of precedent.
 
Notably the Second Amendment concerns the natural right of self-defense and community defense, not some abstract need to at a later date possibly dismantle the government itself.
 
 

Which is so strange to me. We allow "free speech zones," libel laws, and all kinds of restrictions on other rights. But somehow guns rights are supposed to be absolute.
 
The only difference I can see is that guns are a product, and there's an industry that wants no restrictions on its ability to sell its products.

Just spitballing here, but have you guys considered nationalizing your healthcare industry?

"Sorry old chap, I only speak the Queen's English. Still, it's possible the two may have enough similarities for the purpose of simple communication."