I have had a gun held on me when I was in a Popeye’s organization” in Baltimore, the retired neurosurgeon told Karen Hunter on Sirius XM Radio, referring to the fried chicken fast-food chain.
“Guy comes in, put the gun in my ribs. And I just said, ‘I believe that you want the guy behind the counter
Ben Carson – Demonstrating a biting quick wit and self preservaton
Look at the Harvard social scientist David Hemenway’s work on gun violence to see how simple it is; the phrase “more guns = more homicide” tolls through it like a grim bell. The more guns there are in a country, the more gun murders and massacres of children there will be. Even within this gun-crazy country, states with strong gun laws have fewer gun murders (and suicides and accidental killings) than states without them. (Hemenway is also the scientist who has shown that the inflated figure of guns used in self-defense every year, running even to a million or two million, is a pure fantasy, even though it’s still cited by pro-gun enthusiasts. Those hundreds of thousands intruders shot by gun owners left no records in emergency wards or morgues; indeed, left no evidentiary trace behind. This is because they did not exist.) Hemenway has discovered, as he explained in this interview with Harvard Magazine, that what is usually presented as a case of self-defense with guns is, in the real world, almost invariably a story about an escalating quarrel. “How often might you appropriately use a gun in self-defense?” Hemenway asks rhetorically. “Answer: zero to once in a lifetime. How about inappropriately—because you were tired, afraid, or drunk in a confrontational situation? There are lots and lots of chances.”
Note that Fantasy line in there – http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-simple-truth-about-gun-control
I was taken aback by the fact that these women would openly acknowledge what I thought we were too old to admit in college: These men were popular. And that made them powerful. And if we rocked the boat, we could be shunned.
http://jezebel.com/welcome-to-derby-days-the-most-spectacular-con-in-all-1733644115
The Stephen Harper era has made us too partisan, extremely fearful of our neighbours, cheerleaders in world affairs, less tolerant to new immigrants and refugees and mere observers in the affairs of our country – instead of active actors. We have let our government create two-tier citizenship for us all.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/samuel-getachew/why-i-quit-the-conservative-party_b_8198508.html
The best long-term solution to this dynamic is to strengthen the government safety net to the point that getting benefits from one’s employer seems like a weird, outdated anachronism. We’re not close to that yet. Until we get there, keep in mind that corporate enthusiasm for the “gig economy” is the same as corporate enthusiasm for robbing Americans of their livelihood.
http://gawker.com/the-gig-economy-is-picking-your-pocket-1733613647
I cook for Ryan five nights a week: It makes me feel like a housewife; I love that. I know it sounds old-fashioned, but I like the idea of women taking care of their men. I’m so in control of my work that I like coming home and serving him. My mom was like that, so I think it kind of rubbed off.
Kaley Cuoco – Not a Feminist and No Longer Married after a marathon not even 2 year marriage
