At 8 pm this 22nd day of January, I shall interview two women who were at the Indiana Supreme Court this past Thursday for oral argument in Med Lic Bd v Planned Parenthood, 22S-PL-338, in which the constitutionality of IN’s “near-total” abortion ban was argued. 1/3

Monique Rust is an artist and long-time activist in Indianapolis. Kim Saylor also has long been active for peoples’ rights in Indy. They will describe how ppl who wanted to watch who wore green to support women’s rights…

The Constitution created a framework for gov’t. The first 10 amendments, called the Bill of Rights, were added soon after The Constitution was ratified to allay the fears of some who felt a Bill of Rights was necessary. The Civil War amendments, 13-15, broadened protections. 1/6

The First Amendment (“1A”): (a) protects us from & practice of religion; & (b) protects speech & right of association. 2A protects the right of the people to have armed militias. Recently 1A &…

Hey! It’s another sunny Saturday afternoon and, since I’ve not heard that hell has frozen over or that pigs have acquired the ability to fly, this iteration of the GOP has not announced any plan to eliminate, or even simply reduce, mass shootings. We should be real on this issue. 1/5

The people yelling loudest about rights to guns in many instances are trying to deprive women of reproductive rights, deprive many of us our right to be free from one specific religion, and the whole…

Just in case one wondered, this iteration of the GOP has not announced any comprehensive plan to address mass shootings. An October, 2015, article in Rolling Stone noted “Republican presidents from Richard Nixon – who wanted a federal ban on handguns... 1/4

“to Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush all voiced support for gun control. George H.W. Bush was so furious at the NRA’s extremism that he renounced his lifetime membership during his term in the White House.” Guns kill people. Gun…

When people die from gun violence, opponents of gun culture are supposed to feel guilty for not giving thanks to guns for U.S. independence from the British. We owe no such thanks for several reasons. First, there is no quality of guns, unique to the colonists, that brought victory. 1/4

In fact the British had more guns. Second, a lot of guns, cannon & ships used against the British were French and in French hands. Third, distance played a greater part than guns in the outcome.…

No one in the bar had seen the 3 before they parked their cycles (2 Harleys & an Indian nice & shiny like off a showroom floor) at the curb. None of the 3 wore “colors” or other finery of a motorcycle club. They went to back to play pool. 2 of the 3 had handguns on their belts. 1/6

It’s reasonable to presume that a minimum of 25% of the habitues of any bar in IN are packing. People just don’t make a show of it. These guys walked out of the bar and dawdled. The shortest of the…

Amer Psych Assoc, 2013: In ‘93, New England J of Med (NEJM) published “Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home,” by Kellerman, et al, w/results of research funded by the CDC. The study found keeping a gun in the home strongly & independently associated 1/5

w/increased risk of homicide. The article concluded that rather than confer protection, guns kept in the home are associated with an increase in the risk of homicide by family member or intimate acquaintance.…

The question is simple: what will it take for a person to accept that trump criminal acts as he tried to hold onto the presidency? It’s an important question because it shapes what people believe as they vote in the November mid-term elections. Nixon still had 27% approval Aug 1, 1974. 1/5

Categories & if talking w/them is time wasted. 1) “Nothing will convince me.” They are the same ones of whom trump said he could shoot somebody in the middle of 5th Avenue & not lose votes.…

In photos posted on social media these people smile, weapons on the ground or firmly grasped. If “gun loving” households thwart thieves, gun zealots should want to let us know. If a person in one of these photos is shot, commits suicide or shoots a loved one, we have a right to know. 1/4

By publishing photos they waived objection to public interest in what their guns do. Since mid-1990s NRA effectively has barred CDC from sponsoring peer reviewed studies of gun violence. People have a…

What: Indy’s March for Our Lives, to protest gun violence Where: Tarkington Park, Meridian & 40th When: today, June 11 at noon. I’ll wear an orange “We Can Stop Gun Violence” t-shirt. The steps we can take to reduce gun deaths are not difficult & can reduce 43,222 dead (2020). 1/6

Host of a gun show on WIBC, in the dunes of the IQ Desert, said I want to repeal the 2nd Amend. I’ll be charitable & infer he said this from ignorance. I’ve never said 2A should be repealed. It’s…

Machines built so well they last 100 years is a great idea for consumers, but not 4 manufacturers. If markets don’t exist, businesses die. U.S. gun makers might be ghoulish, but they make goods that live a long time. Estimated life of an AR-15 replaceable barrel is 20K rounds fired. 1/5

Someone who shoots that often knows how to switch barrels. Other people would have an AR15 for life. Gun culture ramps up desire for more guns. An Indy radio show host Saturday bragged about how great…

On 6/4 on Indy radio show “Gun Guy” the host opened by recalling how, as a kid, he listened to the Indy 500 on radio. He pivoted to “causation” of mass shootings and says ppl 4 gun control or Democrats need to ask would what you advocate have prevented this particular outcome. 1/6

He then says, “If the answer to that is ‘no,’ then you’re an idiot.” He adds that the Uvalde shooter passed 2 background checks. The flawed reasoning of his conclusion that background checks don’t work has a…

When someone pontificates about honoring veterans on Memorial Day weekend, I wonder what the person thinks. We shove military personnel into conflicts that have little to do with liberty & more to do w/corporate profit. Guy Relford, the gun guy, responded to my earlier blogs. 1/5

Military personnel enter environments laden w/toxins. Agent Orange, in Vietnam, exemplifies the problem. Burn piles distribute this crap into the air & we deny benefits to our people. Worse, we engage…

Indianapolis’s WIBC carries a radio show, “Gun Guy,” hosted by a lawyer named Guy Relford, on Saturdays. Today’s lineup of shows was missing that auditory gem. WIBC had not lapsed into good taste in respect for the shooting victims in Uvalde but has Indy 500 programs. 1/4

Deluges of right wing misanthropy need to be offset. This week the NY Yankees & the Tampa Bay Rays replaced play-by-play texts of a game w/statistics related to gun violence. Garnered my respect, but won’t grab…

Former high sch classmate posted on FB: “That’s how this great nation came to be. With the use of GUNS.” No. USA is not/inherently could not be great as long as slavery was legal (1789-1865), voting & equal rights were denied or we killed to expand fr sea to shining sea. 1/4

Guns were used to stop slave revolts. Unless one says guns were pivotal in winning The Civil War (& most right wing ppl embrace the Confederacy), guns have not played a role in securing freedom. otoh…

High % of ppl from all sides agree: pro sports receive too much $ in subsidies. Indy has Colts, Pacers, Indy 11 & The Indy 500. We shouldn’t subsidize billionaires’ hobbies, but that train has sailed (or the ship departed the station). However, taxpayers of any jurisdiction that...1/4

pays public $$$ to subsidize a sport shouldn’t have to pay a 2nd time to watch that specific sport on TV. Example: Colts either be on a regular network or The Colts pay for people to have free…

When we have to guess whether what we do is illegal (e.g., can I light up a cigarette within so many feet of a school?), ours is not a free society. How adults choose to relax, whether with a shot of single malt or a joint, should not be subject to criminal penalties. The default...1/3

position should be that unless something is intrinsically wrong, e.g., outright murder of a human being, that thing should be legal. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson smoked pot: drugs were legal.…

Aircraft carriers are big & cost lots of money. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should teach several lessons (e.g., the whole good vs evil thing). We should realize that large pieces of military gear are vulnerable & obsolete. Small missiles take out tanks. Several yrs ago China developed...1/3

a thousand-missile anti-capital ship system. U.S. Navy carriers will be among the first targets in any major (i.e., w/Russia or China) conflict we might have. We’ve done a lot to starve…