And another day of asking “Why only in America?” comes to a close:
"This is not a time for 'moments of silence', this is a time to be loud". -- Jimmy Kimmel
“We are very good at getting angry. Now we need to become very good at staying angry.” — Don Winslow
“Nothing says ban assault rifles like cops being scared of the shooter who has one.” -- Kevin Sixx
“Many members of the “‘pro-life party’ do not seem to view the murder of children who are out of the womb as an issue that cries out for a legislative solution.” — Max Boot
Deaths
US: 1,030,775 (+360)
World: 6,307,781 (+1582)
Cases
US: 85,570,755 (+130,415)
World: 530,313,294 (+611,700)
Chris Murphy Has Seen the Aftermath of a School Massacre. He Wonders if America Should Too. “Would people be moved to action if they saw what a kid looked like after, you know, 12 or 15 bullets went through their body?” — After grisly images from Vietnam appeared on our television sets every night, the public turned against the war.
What Steve Kerr and Beto O’Rourke are exposing for all the world to see. Make no mistake, this is about guns. But this is also about much more than guns. The normalization of mass shootings and horrific violence is unfolding amid growing authoritarian, racist, anti-democratic and oligarchical tendencies that are harming America’s identity as the world’s leading democracy. Violence and hate against Black, Jewish, Asian American, Latinx and LGBTQ communities, especially over the last seven years, further erode America’s democratic promise. Legislative efforts to suppress women’s reproductive and bodily autonomy, voting rights, the teaching of racial justice and Black history in schools, and help for immigrants seeking sanctuary from crises at times stoked by US foreign policy, are also a form of political violence that has horribly weakened our country. The same party that is advocating placing control of women’s bodies in the hands of local and state governments decries any such restrictions on the rights of citizens to own, operate and utilize weapons of war. The rise of social media misinformation, racist hate, the Big Lie regarding the 2020 election and growing economic inequality threaten to put a stake through the heart of freedoms long taken for granted. This is the death of democracy via a thousand cuts...When children can be mercilessly slaughtered in school and the majority’s political will to take constructive action is stymied by a small group of politicians, donors and special interests, we cannot expect our democracy to survive. We cannot endure political business as usual.
Gunman entered Texas school unobstructed and started shooting, officials say. Contrary to earlier information from authorities, the shooter was not confronted by a school police officer before he walked into the elementary school.
Senate Republicans blocked a domestic terrorism bill that would have opened debate on gun measures after the deadly Texas school shooting. But the vote failed nearly along party lines, raising fresh doubts about the possibility of robust debate, let alone eventual compromise, on gun safety measures. The final vote was 47-47, short of the 60 needed to take up the bill, with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine the only Republican to vote in favor.
Police: Texas gunman was inside the school for over an hour. The gunman who massacred 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school was inside for more than an hour before he was killed in a shootout, law enforcement authorities said Thursday amid mounting public anger and scrutiny over their response to the rampage.
Abbott said the shooter had a 'mental health' issue. A month ago, he slashed funding to help. In addition, Texas ranked last out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia for overall access to mental health care, according to the 2021 State of Mental Health in America report…“There is no evidence the shooter is mentally ill, just angry and hateful,” said Lori Post, director of the Buehler Center for Health Policy and Economics at the Northwestern University School of Medicine. “While it is understandable that most people cannot fathom slaughtering small children and want to attribute it to mental health, it is very rare for a mass shooter to have a diagnosed mental health condition.” David Riedman, founder of the Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s K-12 School Shooting Database, said, "Overall, mass shooters are rational. They have a plan. It’s something that develops over months or years, and there’s a clear pathway to violence.” The much bigger problem, they said, is Texas and many other states are awash in weapons.
‘Why only in America?’: Ted Cruz storms out of Texas school shooting interview. The Texas senator became irritated after a journalist pressed about why mass shootings seem to happen so often in America…“Why only in America? Why is this American exceptionalism so awful?” Mr Stone asked. — If only American journalists would be so relentless when questioning our leaders.
Mass Shootings and Our Never-ending Doomcycle. In the 15 years, that I have been old enough to pay attention to the news, this is the only story arc I have known. With mass shootings, but also, it feels, with almost every other issue that has become a point of political contention, from police brutality to LGBTQ discrimination to whatever the culture war du jour is. The problems differ, but the pattern is the same: public outrage and political will swell, wane, and then little changes. The doomcycle repeats itself...The inevitability of the future being better isn’t a given in the way that it once was assumed to be. Saying that “the arc of history is long and bends towards justice” in 2022 sounds more like a desperate grasp for past hopes than a bold prediction. The only difference in the cycle is the growing sense of disenfranchisement every time. Each iteration reinforces the feeling that we are locked into an increasingly immutable series of events. There is not a sense of total futility yet, but there isn’t optimism either: An April Harvard youth poll found that most Americans under 30 don’t believe that politics provides a path out of our current challenges. There is not a clear way forward, at least through the traditional avenues that the old guard prefers. Non-traditional avenues are flanked and shut down by political wings concerned with electability.
After the Uvalde shooting, even parents can't enter Buffalo schools without notice. "Any person who wishes to enter a school MUST call ahead and obtain prior approval to enter the building," Buffalo Public Schools announced on Wednesday. "This includes parents, caregivers, siblings, and vendors; NO EXCEPTIONS will be made." All school doors will remain locked during the school day, the district announced, and there will be an increased security presence at schools, including Buffalo Police Department officers. -- America is anything but “free.”
Trump judges, citing militias, have ruled against gun purchase limits for older teens. In the last year, two separate federal appellate courts, in opinions both written by Trump appointees, struck down restrictions that limited firearms sales to young adults. The most recent, from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, said that California had violated the Second Amendment with its law prohibiting the sale of semi-automatic weapons to those under 21. — Elections matter. Never vote Republicans into office again.
America doesn’t take care of its kids. The US is failing children on guns — and so much more. But this country’s inability to support and protect its own kids extends far beyond gun deaths, which can also be seen as part of a broader failure to prioritize the well-being of children and families. “From the very beginning of life, we expect families to take care of their own children,” Jessica Calarco, a sociologist at Indiana University who studies child and family policy, said. “The government is essentially telling families: You’re on your own. We don’t care.” Many of these failures are long term. But the past few months have made them inescapable. Less than six months ago, Congress allowed the expanded child tax credit — one of the most successful policy experiments in reducing child poverty in US history — to expire. Children are still waiting for a Covid-19 vaccine, as frustration with the regulatory agencies overseeing that process grows. And America is currently importing baby formula from Europe because its own market has allowed an enormous shortage to develop in the last year, putting the health of infants and children at risk…The consequences of the collective policy shortcomings are everywhere. One is the terrible annual toll of US children and young adults killed by guns: 10,186 in 2020. Another is that one in five children in the US live in poverty, comparable to Chile and Romania, and double (or more) the rate of child poverty of Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany. Infant mortality is higher than in the rest of the wealthy world…The reasons for this uniquely American failure are multifold. The solutions will not be easily attained. But until we resolve to fix it, our future will be that much dimmer…Taken together, the federal welfare programs for children and families — everything from food stamps to cash assistance to health coverage — are a pittance compared to what our economic peers spend. Australia spends about 2.1 percent of its GDP on public policies and programs that support families. Norway spends 3.2 percent, as does the United Kingdom. The US spends 0.6 percent, less than Costa Rica and Mexico…Then there is old-fashioned American racism, which almost every expert I spoke cited as an influence. There is a perception, even among white working-class families who also rely on government benefits, that these social programs primarily benefit Black and brown families. Sawhill said she had participated in focus groups in which that sentiment became apparent. Though they might not articulate it in exactly this way, she said, she got the impression that many white people, even poorer ones, thought that “we wouldn’t have so much poverty and inequality if we weren’t such a heterogenous country.”…One explanation won’t suffice. But what is clear is that the structural forces that stand in the way of so many policy reforms have also made America a worse place for our children. — Read the rest.
States divided along partisan lines in response to shootings. But gun control measures are likely going nowhere in Congress, and they also have become increasingly scarce in most states. Aside from several Democratic-controlled states, the majority have taken no action on gun control in recent years or have moved aggressively to expand gun rights. That’s because they are either controlled politically by Republicans who oppose gun restrictions or are politically divided, leading to stalemate. -- If we want change, then we must never vote Republicans into office again.
NRA stages marketing event as Texas mourns school shooting. The National Rifle Association begins its annual convention in Houston on Friday, and leaders of the powerful gun-rights lobbying group are gearing up to “reflect on” -- and deflect any blame for -- the deadly shooting earlier this week of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Former President Donald Trump and other leading Republicans are scheduled to address the three-day firearms industry marketing event, which is expected to draw protesters fed up with gun violence. -- The NRA is a terrorist organization.
Dominant coronavirus mutant contains ghost of pandemic past. The coronavirus mutant that is now dominant in the United States is a member of the omicron family but scientists say it spreads faster than its omicron predecessors, is adept at escaping immunity and might possibly cause more serious disease.
Brain fog, other long Covid symptoms can last more than a year, study finds. The new research is the longest follow-up study of the neurological symptoms among long Covid patients.
Millions risk losing US healthcare when Covid emergency declaration expires. When the US federal government’s pandemic health emergency declaration expires, millions of Americans are at risk of losing healthcare coverage through Medicaid with potentially devastating consequences. According to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, an estimated 5.3 million to 14.2 million could lose their Medicaid coverage when the Covid-19 public health emergency ends on 15 July if it is not extended. — Healthcare is a human right, not a privilege.
Trump loses appeal, must testify in New York civil probe. Former President Donald Trump must answer questions under oath in the New York attorney general’s civil investigation into his business practices, a state appeals court ruled Thursday, rejecting his argument that he be excused from testifying because his answers could be used in a parallel criminal probe. -- We’ll see.
Countries are limiting food exports. It may make global hunger worse. The problem isn’t production. Even with the war in Ukraine — one of the world’s leading wheat producers — there’s actually enough wheat to feed everyone in the world. The USDA projects that 2022/2023 production will be down 0.6 percent from 2021/2022 — not good, but not catastrophic in itself. Major producers beyond Ukraine, including India, Argentina, Australia, and Canada, can actually make up for most of the wheat lost or restricted by Russia’s war. The problem is that it is getting more expensive than ever to move the wheat to where it needs to be, and that problem may only get worse.
We’re Living Through the Backlash. Two years on, George Floyd's death has culminated in stalled reforms and a reinvigorated, revanchist right. But for all the cries of the dangers of defunding the police, and of the radical agenda set off by the rage of two summers ago, we have not seen much concrete progress. In fact, we’ve often seen the opposite. Just as the radical edge of the 1960s sowed fear and spurred on the organization of a conservative movement—one that arose in the 1970s and attained full power in the next decade—we are again seeing the rise of a political force ruthlessly opposed to any attempt to create a different, more equal America. That is to say, two years on, it’s clear: The backlash has arrived.
Oklahoma’s Republican governor signs bill banning trans kids from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity. Stitt signed the law on Wednesday (25 May), which applies to pre-kindergarten through to 12th grade public and public charter schools in Oklahoma. In the event that a transgender student refuses to use the restroom matches the sex shown on their birth certificate, the school would need to provide “a single-occupancy restroom or changing room”.
CEO pay rose 17% in 2021 as profits soared; workers trailed. Even when regular workers win their biggest raises in decades, they look minuscule compared with what CEOs are getting. The typical compensation package for chief executives who run S&P 500 companies soared 17.1% last year, to a median $14.5 million, according to data analyzed for The Associated Press by Equilar. The gain towers over the 4.4% increase in wages and benefits netted by private-sector workers through 2021, which was the fastest on record going back to 2001. The raises for many rank-and-file workers also failed to keep up with inflation, which reached 7% at the end of last year. -- Capitalism isn’t the answer.
Monkeypox cases have been identified in Massachusetts, Florida, Utah, Washington, California, Virginia and New York, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says. All of the cases “are within gay, bisexual men and other men who have sex with men,” she said.
Monkeypox: Expert explains why it isn't a 'gay disease' and warns of risk of stigma. Right now, experts are still trying to figure out exactly why it is that monkeypox appears to be spreading among queer men. There is no evidence to suggest the virus is sexually transmitted, but that misconception is already rife among many people because of the way media outlets are reporting on the unfolding situation.
Kevin Spacey charged with sexually assaulting three men in the UK from 2005 to 2013, British prosecutors say. Spacey, 62, “has also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. The charges follow a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation,” Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said in a statement.
More than three centuries after she was wrongly accused and sentenced to hang, the last Salem "witch" has been formally pardoned. Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday formally exonerated Elizabeth Johnson Jr., clearing her name 329 years after she was convicted of witchcraft in 1693 and sentenced to death at the height of the Salem Witch Trials. Johnson was never executed, but neither was she officially pardoned like others wrongly accused of witchcraft.
Winnie the Pooh Enters the Public Domain, Immediately Becomes a Serial Killer. It’s been said that you can make a movie out of basically anything, and it’s hard to refute that claim after the success of seemingly silly movie ideas involving comic strip characters or restaurant mascots. But can you do it with a horror version of Winnie the Pooh? That’s what we’re due to find out pretty soon. Now that early stories of A.A. Milne’s creation have entered the public domain after being previously owned by Disney, someone’s decided to test this theory by splicing Winnie into a movie where he’s a serial killer. Outstanding.
RIP Ray Liotta. He was 67.
RIP Andy Fletcher. He was 60.
RIP Alan White. He was 72.
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
