Absolutely agree. I woke up thinking about the right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness and read this post: “There are a lot more than 21 victims in Uvalde. The media seems to gloss over the fact that fifteen victims were hospitalized, as if the fact that they survived is some kind of exhale, a happy ending.
My brother survived and has lived with a bullet in his brain since he was shot at seven years old. He can’t hold a job, can’t leave the house, suffers from severe PTSD and traumatic brain injury.
My best friend Dani survived and lives with PTSD and a body full of shrapnel from being shot five times at close range with hollow point bullets.
I have two friends who survived Columbine and now are confined to wheelchairs for the rest of their lives, dealing with the many medical complications that come from living with paralysis. They are also plagued by pyscho Columbine killer fans who stalk them, and gun nuts who accuse them of being crisis actors.
Pat, a boy I dated in high school, was an EMT who airlifted kids out of Columbine. The trauma from that day destroyed him. He suffered terrible PTSD and lost his career. He was in a tailspin for years.
We often hear about the 45,000 Americans killed by guns every year, but rarely do we hear about the more than 100,000 gunshot victims who survive, and the family members whose lives are shattered.
We don’t hear about the grueling trials, medical bills, the lifelong physical and emotional complications, the inability to work.
We don’t hear about those who survive the loss of a loved one; the grieving parents, widows, and children left behind.
The media rarely reports on the trauma experienced by the witnesses, the EMTs, the police, the people who clean up the blood and the mess.
We don’t hear about the marriages that crumble in the aftermath, the parents who die of heart attack or cancer, or suicide, after the loss of a child.
We don’t hear about the mothers who give up their own lives and lose their careers so they can care for an incapacitated child, or the community members whose sense of safety and justice has been forever shattered.
The victims of Uvalde are countless. Think of the children and teachers who witnessed the deaths, the ones who attended the dying, who attempted and failed to save lives. Most, if not all of them, will live with PTSD, nightmares, and depression. Most of them will likely never feel safe in school or at any public event again. It will affect their work lives, their relationships, the way they raise their children.
Gun violence is a monster with vile tentacles that reach far and wide. It is a public health crisis of epic proportion to which our nation’s GOP legislators have turned a blind eye, while offering nothing but hollow “thoughts and prayers.”
So what can you do? I am begging you to VOTE in every election. Every single one.
To SPEAK UP against this sick gun culture, even when it’s uncomfortable.
To hound your Senators to pass sensible gun reform.
Put this number for Congress in your cell phone (202) 224-3121. Use it often. You will be able to reach your two Senators and your member of Congress.
Tell them to pass Universal Background Checks. To ban assault weapons (we did it before, we can do it again). To pass Ethan’s Law (Safe Storage).
And lastly, do not give up hope. We fought the tobacco lobby and eventually overcame. We fought the religious lobby and eventually passed marriage equality. '
We can topple the gun lobby, but it will take all of us. We can’t afford for anyone to sit on the sidelines.
At the scene of every mass shooting, witnesses say, “I never thought it could happen here.”
Sharing this from a post from a friend on Facebook.
I think it would be great if California can be the front runner in pushing back against the selfish and evil intent behind the laws like those made in Texas that say our children and others do not deserve protection. The very least Texas could do is compromise and support firearms legislation that removes high powered weapons of war from the market as long as just anyone can get these killing machines. They should be reserved for military or regulated use.
Sounds good. How do we get California to do this? Are there people in the legislature willing to introduce legislation? Have you contacted your representatives?
It's time to boycott the guilty banks no matter what Texas wants, or any other selfish greedhead state legislators want to do to have their ill gotten gains.
Social responsibility? How can anyone receive millions in annual benefits and claim to be socially responsible? Foundations are required to give 5 % +- to nonprofits each year. What cash grants are banks required to give?
Yes, California should join with other states to find as many ways as possible to squeeze the gun industry.
"But secondly, no firm should be penalized by pro-gun states like Texas for trying to be socially responsible. How to counter Texas’s law? Lawmakers in progressive states like California (whose bond market is even larger than Texas’s) should immediately enact legislation that bars the state from dealing with any firm that finances the gun industry. "
Besides your JPMorgan example, there are also many large corporations that have made public pledges to support efforts to achieve racial justice, and do so, but also contribute to politicians who espouse the great replacement conspiracy theory. It seems that many (most?) large corporations can’t make themselves adhere to principle if it might cost them some money.
Vote out the elected influenced/bribed by the arms industry-gunmakers-NRA lobbyists to pass such legislation. This requires we find a way to expose such deals to those of us who care about sending our loved ones to places which are just about everywhere a mass killing or any gun killing can occur-schools, shopping centers, mass transit etc. You get the point.
Thank you for alerting us to what the GOP in Texas as enacted so as to coerce banks to support the gun industry. It's hard to see these things clearly since they are written about in obfuscating language.
There are more of us than just bond holders in the country. We need to sever our ties with JPMorgan-Chase (as I have) and even Texas as much as possible. We need to practice the Amish skill of shunning for all those who revere guns over human beings except for their use as targets.
Or, for those who just feel we cannot escape this tar pit, we need to mass produce T-shirts for our children with targets on their backs.
It takes about 10 solid years to make a 35 year-old experienced trauma surgeon. It takes an 18 year old about an hour with an AR-15 to fill up his or her dance card for a full month.
Robert raises an interesting example. There have been other attempts (some successful, some not) to deploy government and pension investments for political/policy purposes. The coal industry in WV and oil in TX are at play on this too. It will take large states like CA and NY to battle on this.
Seems like capitalism faces a lot of foes, or should that be flaws? Meanwhile, unbridled profiteering finds another means of digging out the dollars.
Meanwhile, if we want to see change, we have to fight for a Democrat Congress in 2022, fight for Democrat voices at Statehouses (even in Texas), and be prepared for virtually anything in 2024.
Having had an inspiring/motivating evening with my grandchildren, I’m “Fired Up, Reday To Go!” I’m attending a fundraiser tonight.
It seems we are riddled with corruption, money & profits at it's roots. Whatever happened to a modest profit? indeed, to a modest way of life? Quietude offers so much more than ill-gotten glitter. Thank you, Robert, for all your research & teaching.
Absolutely agree. I woke up thinking about the right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness and read this post: “There are a lot more than 21 victims in Uvalde. The media seems to gloss over the fact that fifteen victims were hospitalized, as if the fact that they survived is some kind of exhale, a happy ending.
My brother survived and has lived with a bullet in his brain since he was shot at seven years old. He can’t hold a job, can’t leave the house, suffers from severe PTSD and traumatic brain injury.
My best friend Dani survived and lives with PTSD and a body full of shrapnel from being shot five times at close range with hollow point bullets.
I have two friends who survived Columbine and now are confined to wheelchairs for the rest of their lives, dealing with the many medical complications that come from living with paralysis. They are also plagued by pyscho Columbine killer fans who stalk them, and gun nuts who accuse them of being crisis actors.
Pat, a boy I dated in high school, was an EMT who airlifted kids out of Columbine. The trauma from that day destroyed him. He suffered terrible PTSD and lost his career. He was in a tailspin for years.
We often hear about the 45,000 Americans killed by guns every year, but rarely do we hear about the more than 100,000 gunshot victims who survive, and the family members whose lives are shattered.
We don’t hear about the grueling trials, medical bills, the lifelong physical and emotional complications, the inability to work.
We don’t hear about those who survive the loss of a loved one; the grieving parents, widows, and children left behind.
The media rarely reports on the trauma experienced by the witnesses, the EMTs, the police, the people who clean up the blood and the mess.
We don’t hear about the marriages that crumble in the aftermath, the parents who die of heart attack or cancer, or suicide, after the loss of a child.
We don’t hear about the mothers who give up their own lives and lose their careers so they can care for an incapacitated child, or the community members whose sense of safety and justice has been forever shattered.
The victims of Uvalde are countless. Think of the children and teachers who witnessed the deaths, the ones who attended the dying, who attempted and failed to save lives. Most, if not all of them, will live with PTSD, nightmares, and depression. Most of them will likely never feel safe in school or at any public event again. It will affect their work lives, their relationships, the way they raise their children.
Gun violence is a monster with vile tentacles that reach far and wide. It is a public health crisis of epic proportion to which our nation’s GOP legislators have turned a blind eye, while offering nothing but hollow “thoughts and prayers.”
So what can you do? I am begging you to VOTE in every election. Every single one.
To SPEAK UP against this sick gun culture, even when it’s uncomfortable.
To hound your Senators to pass sensible gun reform.
Put this number for Congress in your cell phone (202) 224-3121. Use it often. You will be able to reach your two Senators and your member of Congress.
Tell them to pass Universal Background Checks. To ban assault weapons (we did it before, we can do it again). To pass Ethan’s Law (Safe Storage).
And lastly, do not give up hope. We fought the tobacco lobby and eventually overcame. We fought the religious lobby and eventually passed marriage equality. '
We can topple the gun lobby, but it will take all of us. We can’t afford for anyone to sit on the sidelines.
At the scene of every mass shooting, witnesses say, “I never thought it could happen here.”
Sharing this from a post from a friend on Facebook.
I think it would be great if California can be the front runner in pushing back against the selfish and evil intent behind the laws like those made in Texas that say our children and others do not deserve protection. The very least Texas could do is compromise and support firearms legislation that removes high powered weapons of war from the market as long as just anyone can get these killing machines. They should be reserved for military or regulated use.
Sounds good. How do we get California to do this? Are there people in the legislature willing to introduce legislation? Have you contacted your representatives?
It's time to boycott the guilty banks no matter what Texas wants, or any other selfish greedhead state legislators want to do to have their ill gotten gains.
Social responsibility? How can anyone receive millions in annual benefits and claim to be socially responsible? Foundations are required to give 5 % +- to nonprofits each year. What cash grants are banks required to give?
Yes, California should join with other states to find as many ways as possible to squeeze the gun industry.
Go for California. I live in Texas and the only way to get to a Texan is to play their own game.
I like your idea very much:
"But secondly, no firm should be penalized by pro-gun states like Texas for trying to be socially responsible. How to counter Texas’s law? Lawmakers in progressive states like California (whose bond market is even larger than Texas’s) should immediately enact legislation that bars the state from dealing with any firm that finances the gun industry. "
Well, it certainly shows what is truly important to Texas and it isn't the lives of its citizens.
Besides your JPMorgan example, there are also many large corporations that have made public pledges to support efforts to achieve racial justice, and do so, but also contribute to politicians who espouse the great replacement conspiracy theory. It seems that many (most?) large corporations can’t make themselves adhere to principle if it might cost them some money.
Isn’t this law a form of corporate regulation? Play our way or don’t play at all? I thought the GOP was all about deregulation and small government.
Vote out the elected influenced/bribed by the arms industry-gunmakers-NRA lobbyists to pass such legislation. This requires we find a way to expose such deals to those of us who care about sending our loved ones to places which are just about everywhere a mass killing or any gun killing can occur-schools, shopping centers, mass transit etc. You get the point.
This highlights how difficult it will be to change the gun culture in this country. California's laws should be the precedent, however.
Thank you for alerting us to what the GOP in Texas as enacted so as to coerce banks to support the gun industry. It's hard to see these things clearly since they are written about in obfuscating language.
There are more of us than just bond holders in the country. We need to sever our ties with JPMorgan-Chase (as I have) and even Texas as much as possible. We need to practice the Amish skill of shunning for all those who revere guns over human beings except for their use as targets.
Or, for those who just feel we cannot escape this tar pit, we need to mass produce T-shirts for our children with targets on their backs.
It takes about 10 solid years to make a 35 year-old experienced trauma surgeon. It takes an 18 year old about an hour with an AR-15 to fill up his or her dance card for a full month.
Robert raises an interesting example. There have been other attempts (some successful, some not) to deploy government and pension investments for political/policy purposes. The coal industry in WV and oil in TX are at play on this too. It will take large states like CA and NY to battle on this.
Seems like capitalism faces a lot of foes, or should that be flaws? Meanwhile, unbridled profiteering finds another means of digging out the dollars.
Meanwhile, if we want to see change, we have to fight for a Democrat Congress in 2022, fight for Democrat voices at Statehouses (even in Texas), and be prepared for virtually anything in 2024.
Having had an inspiring/motivating evening with my grandchildren, I’m “Fired Up, Reday To Go!” I’m attending a fundraiser tonight.
It seems we are riddled with corruption, money & profits at it's roots. Whatever happened to a modest profit? indeed, to a modest way of life? Quietude offers so much more than ill-gotten glitter. Thank you, Robert, for all your research & teaching.