Implicit in a Feb 6 post, “LADIES PLEASE conceal and carry” [FN1] is handguns “work” as a means of self-defense. Before you [FN2] buy a weapon lethal to you or a loved one, you should research guns and alternatives for self-defense. “Let the people know the facts...”1/10

Peer reviewed studies of gun violence as health risk were prevented, as a practical matter, from 1996 to 2022. The NRA paid for members of Congress to block funding of such studies [FN3] by NIH [FN4] and CDC. [FN5]…

Latest from Lewiston, Maine: 20 people died when one of those “lone gunmen” went nuts w/an assault style weapon. We all should be thankful for the NRA bribing public officials on a scale sufficient to ensure at least two other shooters did not cut loose in other places. 1/7

In post-Citizens United America, the NRA does not have to waste its valuable resources & stuff cash into public officials’ pockets. SCOTUS Associate Justice Clarence Thomas sets a great example of efficient…

100 years ago on this date, D.C. Stephenson was formally inducted “as Indiana Grand Dragon” of Indiana’s KKK. Madison, “The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland,” 2020, p. 129. In “My Indiana,” Irving Leibowitz, a reporter for The Indianapolis Times, wrote: Stephenson promoted 1/5

himself to Grand Dragon of the Klan in Indiana. [H]e arranged at Kokomo’s Malfalfa Park on July 4, 1923 the greatest gathering of the Klan ever held in the state” 200K kluxers assembled for the konklave...” (p.…

Last Tuesday, during “smalltalk,” a 2-minute segment that appears on John Schmitz’s Facebook podcast “Mouthwash,” that also airs on Mondays on WHMB, Ch 40, at 9:30 pm. The topic was “hatred.” I said we should address hatred as carried out in shootings, and said majority of 1/6

shooters in mass killings are from right-wing groups. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tracks mass shootings. In “Murder & Extremism in the United States, 2021" (ADL report) validates my statements on…

Elementary & secondary education today is different from our experience. Kids know a lot about tech & probably chuckle as someone (like me) tries to share a video (like the public service ad (PSA) I hope you see. Kids’ knowledge of tech is cool. Kids are familiar w/PSA’s topic. 1/6

What isn’t cool: kids have to know ways to survive mass shootings. Congrats go to Guy Relford, host of “The Gun Guy” on Indy station WIBC, who advocates gun culture & a view of the 2nd Amendment…

I congratulate Guy Relford, host of “The Gun Guy” (spiffy play on words) on WIBC, where he advocates a culture of concealed-carry & a 2nd Amendment the 1st Congress never intended. For every mass shooting in the U.S., Mr Relford should feel good. 5 more are dead in Texas. 1/5

Laughs & chuckles abound on his show & in ads for gun shows, like the pooka (seven-foot-tall imaginary rabbit) from the movie “Harvey” getting shot & a one-liner about the Brady Bill (named for…

One reasonable restriction on guns is to limit the number of firearms one person may own. If a person has too many guns to keep track of or use, that would mean “bad people” can more easily get a gun. But gun manufacturers need markets in which to sell their gadgets of death. 1/5

Guns are durable & can last 100 years or more. Harvard public health researcher Deborah Azrael, who surveyed gun owners in 2016, says the annual attrition rate of guns in the U.S.is about 1%. Gun makers…

NRA’s annual fete is in Indy 4/14-4/16/23. U.S. civilians hold an average of 120.5 guns/100 ppl, “the highest rate in the world by a factor of more than two.” U.S. News & WR, 1/20/23. We are the only country w/more civilian-held guns than citizens. Guns did not make us free. 1/6

After mass shootings, ppl “for” gun control (as favored by GOP Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush I and II) are told stfu, that guns won “us” freedom fr England & that we should thank guns & the…

We’ve seen this movie: would-be-military groups who “parade to incite terror & claim to be sole voices of a greater power.” Those who fail to study history have to repeat the class & drag the rest of us along. The evils don’t recur all at once & some have an illusion of time-outs. 1/6

For example, public school students were required to salute the flag, by extending the right arm, palm upward, and declare: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…

Grace & civility R qualities all-too-rare. Online ppl sometimes aren’t real & this can lead to real ppl being treated as objects. Friday 9/16 I addressed folks who commented about my speaking on 9/15 at the Governor’s Mansion where ppl protested IN’s absurd abortion law. 1/3

Photographer Leif Ostara wrote several such comments. On 9/18 he posted this: “I’m sorry you were so offended. I think you’re very interesting and I meant no offense. I’m a bit of a wingnut myself.” I…

Several ppl expressed dismay, after the protest outside the Governor’s Mansion on 09/15/22, that I do not have a platform. One person wrote “Yikes.” In February I posted my platform on my blog & Twitter in February. So, here are the issues I listed w/my stand. 1/5

1) Women’s reproductive rts: codify provisions of Roe. 2) Education: restore academic freedom of our pub school teachers & end vouchers. 3) Economic policies: repeal IN TIF statute + stop public subsidies to pro…

Basis for Indiana’s Open Door Law, enacted in 1977 & amended several times, is in American const’l representative gov’t, the ppl are entitled to full & complete info on affairs of gov’t & official acts of public officials and employees. I.C. 5-14-3-1. But the door’s not so “open.” 1/5

Example: a public agency can publish its agenda ahead of a scheduled meeting, but an agenda is not required. I.C. § 5-14-1.5-4. Both the Hamilton County Commissioners and the Hamilton East…

More on IN AG Todd Rokita & a 10-yr-old Ohio rape victim, who came to IN for an abortion. Rokita swore to fight to the end & implied he’d yank the license of the IN Dr who performed the procedure for failure to report. But: rape was reported in OH; a man was charged. 1/5

That I.C. 33-35-1, et seq, was met, probably makes no difference to Rokita, in the Top 5 of U.S. Most Insufferable Pricks & always after higher office. Pregnancy from rape is traumatic, then Rokita crawls…

Todd Rokita, Indiana’s AG, has weighed in on the case of the 10-year-old Ohio rape victim, who had to travel to Indiana to obtain an abortion. Rokita said “we’re going to fight this to the end, including looking at [the doctor’s] her licensure if she failed to report.” 1/5

That’s bad enough, but then he added: “This is a child, and there’s a strong public interest in understanding if someone under the age of 16 or under the age of 18 or really any woman is having abortion in our…

Person w/Facebook home page photo of confederate stars on bars superimposed on a U.S. flag, said “I have no problem with blacks or mexicans.” I said: “If you have the Confederate ‘X’ of stars across an American flag logo, then you have a problem with Blacks.” He replied: 1/4

“yeah keep thinking that boy now go play with your barbies.” Me: “you rack up points for stupidity. The Confederacy fought to keep slavery. That's about as racist as things get. And what"s this with ‘barbies’? Of…

A majority of people in the USA opposed overturning Roe v Wade. CNN’s polling, since 1989, never has shown more than 36% favoring overturning Roe. Gerrymandering, packing the Court and less-than-candid testimony by GOP nominees to the Court ended with Roe’s reversal. 1/5

People who do not face crises of unwanted pregnancies can be self-righteous. But 1 in 4 women have an abortion at some point. I’ve met none who either were glib about the experience or who regretted it. Their reasons…

If Roe v Wade had not been handed down, violent crime would not have dropped in 1991. Males around 18 yo commit a significant percentage of violent crime, some of which are murder of real human beings, not fetuses. Donohue & Levitt’s conclusions are confirmed by other studies. 1/4

One in four women have abortions. This country has lousy health care, no day care, and squeezes people who want a higher education. If a woman survives pregnancy and gives birth, and if she is alone…

With a nod & a wink they assure you. Christians stick together, right? They’re Christians. If you don’t believe it, ask them. They get your vote. Then you find out they don’t believe you really are a Christian. You “sprinkle” instead of fully immersing for baptism. Or you worship statutes. 1/6

The Framers of The Constitution wanted to separate church & State, not because of any beliefs but Christianity. A lot of people in Europe died because of The Reformation, in which…

Majority rule is anathema to this iteration of the Republican Party. After all, its candidates for the Oval Office lost the popular vote eight of the last 10 elections. Despite its losers, the GOP has named six of the nine Justices on a Roberts Court that is as redolent as the Taney Court. 1/7

IN GOP Rule 1-6. If an individual openly supports a candidate after the primary who opposes a GOP candidate, they are not in good standing in the GOP & may be removed for cause. That’s the…