Another horrific mass shooting in Texas over the weekend added to the grim tally of some 200 nationwide so far this year. As with other massacres, the shooter wielded an AR-15 and gunned down people in a public place, this time an outlet shopping mall in the town of Allen outside of Dallas.
It wasn't that many years ago that we wondered how those in the middle east could live with frequent suicide bombers. Anyone considering traveling there seemed out of their mind. Welcome to America where our government sits on its hands while our people are regularly slaughtered at the hands of our own homegrown terrorists who don't have to sit in basements wiring explosives. Just stroll into any gun store or show and load up. Pick your soft target and start blowing people away. If there were bombs wrapped around their chests we would be legislating the crap out of it looking for a solution. We'd have the feds running surveillance, confiscating supplies, and profiling the would-be killers before they can strike. Instead, we buy the mental illness bullshit and drop to our knees in front of an amendment that has no place in modern society.
I noticed there has only been one poorly organized press conference about this shooting mostly asking for more prayers. No discussion of who this terrorist was affiliated with. I feel Texas is doing that on purpose, they don't want to advertise that their "gun laws" allow for killers like this guy to take over their state. This is all so frightening. I was talking to a high school Foreign Exchange Student from Germany the other day, and she said there are no guns in Germany. She asked, "What do you need them for ?" She was blown away by the active shooter drills on campuses as well. She couldn't believe that this is a norm in the USA. It is tragic how the 2nd Amendment has been misinterpreted by a large population of our citizens! Nowhere does it mention "guns" or "own", let alone AR-15s.
Excellent discussion in the threads today. I don’t have time today to respond the way I’d like to (I’m in rehearsals on new show here in Dayton) but the thoughtful and many times impassioned comments give me hope that we can join others in a community of the informed and active.
The GOP shows the banality of cruelty in their insistence of every person owning an arsenal large enough to wipe out small towns, and yet feigning sympathy with “thoughts and prayers.” The total lack of empathy of one party in this country is a socio/psychopathic disease that has infected the body politic and is especially toxic to those who already are narcissistic and deem themselves victims who carry out these “fantasy or performance acts” to get attention.
We lose nearly as many people killed by gun violence each year as were killed during the entirety of US service members killed in Vietnam over a decade. That is just mind boggling.
I’m beginning to become uncomfortable with the term ‘mass shooting’. I understand the point is to highlight the gun problem we have in this country, but it seems to me that it is a way of sanitizing the horror of what is, in fact, mass murder.
Finding it odd that Tarrio and Fuentes are (were?) leaders of these so-called RWDS groups while belonging to one of the 'hated' groups themselves as Latinos and 'brown-skinned.' What am I missing here? Is there no whispering among the ranks about their ethnicity?
A few years ago, a day after one of the many, many, MANY mass shootings (I believe it was El Paso) I was at a flea market in rural southern NJ. There were lots of Latinos there, families, women, children, and while I waited for the rest of my family, I sat and observed. They were just living their lives, just like the victims of the shooting the prior day. I smiled at these sweet, lovely families as they sat nearby me, their children with their beautiful, shiny black hair, and black eyes, and I suddenly felt fear. I am a child of Sicilian immigrants, and I, too, have dark brown hair and black eyes. I had a bit of a tan after spending the day outside. I began to feel ashamed that had some RWNJ arrived with an AR, I might've been taken down just because of my appearance. I realized that these lovely people had targets on their backs just because of their ethnicity. I had to leave the area because I became so overwhelmed with sadness, ashamed because I couldn't stop the tears. These people, all people who are in the 'crosshairs' of the RWDS, are just living peacefully, spending their day in the sunshine and enjoying their families. And they're getting killed for it. And it seems like there's not a f**king thing we can do to stop it.
This is one of the most chilling posts you have written, Jay. The NRA and it's cultists give them license to easily annihilate their perceived enemies in moments. We're all sitting ducks.
Einsatzgruppen, often called “mobile killing units,” were known for their role in the murder of Jews in mass shooting operations during the Holocaust. Pogrom, the Russian word meaning “to wreak havoc, to demolish violently.” Historically, the term refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries. The first such incident to be labeled a pogrom is believed to be anti-Jewish rioting in Odesa in 1821.
On March 16, 2023, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine released a report that found Russian forces in Ukraine violated international humanitarian law and conducted “indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks” against civilians.
INDISCRIMINATE !
Tell me that's not what this is.
"Civilians must be protected from the effects of all military operations and that attacking civilians with any weapon is categorically prohibited"
Important background on the RWDS "group" of terrorists, Jay! You did it again ... opened our eyes. It seems to me, though, that extreme terrorism is actually here, not just imminent? Do you think there is more (bigger, badder) on the horizon? Thanks!!
"The public, especially all law enforcement, should take note of the connection between RWDS and right-wing militias," but aren't some law enforcement members also members of white supremacist terrorist groups?
Recently, while pulling together a news summary for my daily report on Ukraine, I found a story: a teacher in the Czech Republic told her students war in Ukraine was a fabrication, that she had web cams in Kyiv, showing there was nothing going on there. When the children told her they have seen documentary footage showing fires and missile craters in Kyiv, she told them to "look for other sources of information". The parents reported the teacher to the police, she was arrested and charged with "promoting acts of genocide and war crimes and distributing dangerous misinformation". That is an actual crime in the Czech Republic - and not a petty one. It carries with it a hefty fine and a prison term 3 - 5 years. Like several other countries, Czech Republic, through its bitter history with the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, had learned what happened if hate speech and ideas of racial supremacy went unchecked. So, over there, they got serious about not letting it happen again.
But in the US? Individuals and organizations spewing that kind of dangerous poison wail about their freedom of speech the moment anyone tries to check them. January 6th insurrection is the first time we have seen serious consequences for a significant number of participants. And how many are still walking free? WHY did we have to wait for THAT to happen? HOW is a man who said about Charlottesville that "there were very fine people on both sides" is still considered a viable presidential candidate? When is it going to sink in - it's not freedom of speech, it's domestic terrorism, and we are all being held hostage. It's not freedom of ANYTHING when we are no longer free to safely go to school, to the mall, to a movie theater, to a sporting event... Heck, I live in North Carolina, and I am uneasy whenever I am in traffic anywhere near a car with a confederate flag and "don't tread on me" stickers. It's not freedom when one group of people can do whatever they want, and those of us who are not like them are waiting in line to become the next statistic.
The media all over - not just in Texas - vastly downplays the white nationalism and organizations that these shooters are involved with. I don't understand it.
It wasn't that many years ago that we wondered how those in the middle east could live with frequent suicide bombers. Anyone considering traveling there seemed out of their mind. Welcome to America where our government sits on its hands while our people are regularly slaughtered at the hands of our own homegrown terrorists who don't have to sit in basements wiring explosives. Just stroll into any gun store or show and load up. Pick your soft target and start blowing people away. If there were bombs wrapped around their chests we would be legislating the crap out of it looking for a solution. We'd have the feds running surveillance, confiscating supplies, and profiling the would-be killers before they can strike. Instead, we buy the mental illness bullshit and drop to our knees in front of an amendment that has no place in modern society.
Law enforcement should also look within.
I noticed there has only been one poorly organized press conference about this shooting mostly asking for more prayers. No discussion of who this terrorist was affiliated with. I feel Texas is doing that on purpose, they don't want to advertise that their "gun laws" allow for killers like this guy to take over their state. This is all so frightening. I was talking to a high school Foreign Exchange Student from Germany the other day, and she said there are no guns in Germany. She asked, "What do you need them for ?" She was blown away by the active shooter drills on campuses as well. She couldn't believe that this is a norm in the USA. It is tragic how the 2nd Amendment has been misinterpreted by a large population of our citizens! Nowhere does it mention "guns" or "own", let alone AR-15s.
Excellent discussion in the threads today. I don’t have time today to respond the way I’d like to (I’m in rehearsals on new show here in Dayton) but the thoughtful and many times impassioned comments give me hope that we can join others in a community of the informed and active.
The GOP shows the banality of cruelty in their insistence of every person owning an arsenal large enough to wipe out small towns, and yet feigning sympathy with “thoughts and prayers.” The total lack of empathy of one party in this country is a socio/psychopathic disease that has infected the body politic and is especially toxic to those who already are narcissistic and deem themselves victims who carry out these “fantasy or performance acts” to get attention.
We lose nearly as many people killed by gun violence each year as were killed during the entirety of US service members killed in Vietnam over a decade. That is just mind boggling.
I’m beginning to become uncomfortable with the term ‘mass shooting’. I understand the point is to highlight the gun problem we have in this country, but it seems to me that it is a way of sanitizing the horror of what is, in fact, mass murder.
Finding it odd that Tarrio and Fuentes are (were?) leaders of these so-called RWDS groups while belonging to one of the 'hated' groups themselves as Latinos and 'brown-skinned.' What am I missing here? Is there no whispering among the ranks about their ethnicity?
A few years ago, a day after one of the many, many, MANY mass shootings (I believe it was El Paso) I was at a flea market in rural southern NJ. There were lots of Latinos there, families, women, children, and while I waited for the rest of my family, I sat and observed. They were just living their lives, just like the victims of the shooting the prior day. I smiled at these sweet, lovely families as they sat nearby me, their children with their beautiful, shiny black hair, and black eyes, and I suddenly felt fear. I am a child of Sicilian immigrants, and I, too, have dark brown hair and black eyes. I had a bit of a tan after spending the day outside. I began to feel ashamed that had some RWNJ arrived with an AR, I might've been taken down just because of my appearance. I realized that these lovely people had targets on their backs just because of their ethnicity. I had to leave the area because I became so overwhelmed with sadness, ashamed because I couldn't stop the tears. These people, all people who are in the 'crosshairs' of the RWDS, are just living peacefully, spending their day in the sunshine and enjoying their families. And they're getting killed for it. And it seems like there's not a f**king thing we can do to stop it.
We live a short drive from the Allen mall. Our kids school district (Frisco) alerted us of a threat to the schools today, so our kids are home.
It won't stop. It is a money maker for the Republicans. They care one hell of a lot more about money than kids.
This is one of the most chilling posts you have written, Jay. The NRA and it's cultists give them license to easily annihilate their perceived enemies in moments. We're all sitting ducks.
My post yesterday:
Einsatzgruppen, often called “mobile killing units,” were known for their role in the murder of Jews in mass shooting operations during the Holocaust. Pogrom, the Russian word meaning “to wreak havoc, to demolish violently.” Historically, the term refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries. The first such incident to be labeled a pogrom is believed to be anti-Jewish rioting in Odesa in 1821.
On March 16, 2023, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine released a report that found Russian forces in Ukraine violated international humanitarian law and conducted “indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks” against civilians.
INDISCRIMINATE !
Tell me that's not what this is.
"Civilians must be protected from the effects of all military operations and that attacking civilians with any weapon is categorically prohibited"
https://www.icrc.org/.../treaties.../geneva-conventions
Important background on the RWDS "group" of terrorists, Jay! You did it again ... opened our eyes. It seems to me, though, that extreme terrorism is actually here, not just imminent? Do you think there is more (bigger, badder) on the horizon? Thanks!!
"The public, especially all law enforcement, should take note of the connection between RWDS and right-wing militias," but aren't some law enforcement members also members of white supremacist terrorist groups?
Recently, while pulling together a news summary for my daily report on Ukraine, I found a story: a teacher in the Czech Republic told her students war in Ukraine was a fabrication, that she had web cams in Kyiv, showing there was nothing going on there. When the children told her they have seen documentary footage showing fires and missile craters in Kyiv, she told them to "look for other sources of information". The parents reported the teacher to the police, she was arrested and charged with "promoting acts of genocide and war crimes and distributing dangerous misinformation". That is an actual crime in the Czech Republic - and not a petty one. It carries with it a hefty fine and a prison term 3 - 5 years. Like several other countries, Czech Republic, through its bitter history with the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, had learned what happened if hate speech and ideas of racial supremacy went unchecked. So, over there, they got serious about not letting it happen again.
But in the US? Individuals and organizations spewing that kind of dangerous poison wail about their freedom of speech the moment anyone tries to check them. January 6th insurrection is the first time we have seen serious consequences for a significant number of participants. And how many are still walking free? WHY did we have to wait for THAT to happen? HOW is a man who said about Charlottesville that "there were very fine people on both sides" is still considered a viable presidential candidate? When is it going to sink in - it's not freedom of speech, it's domestic terrorism, and we are all being held hostage. It's not freedom of ANYTHING when we are no longer free to safely go to school, to the mall, to a movie theater, to a sporting event... Heck, I live in North Carolina, and I am uneasy whenever I am in traffic anywhere near a car with a confederate flag and "don't tread on me" stickers. It's not freedom when one group of people can do whatever they want, and those of us who are not like them are waiting in line to become the next statistic.
Still too many in law enforcement that are aligned with these fascist radicals.
Yet more parallels to 1930s Germany 🫣
The media all over - not just in Texas - vastly downplays the white nationalism and organizations that these shooters are involved with. I don't understand it.