Travelogue – a clear day

Friday July 22
As I left Detroit the sky was clear, so I could identify various Michigan cities – Jackson, Marshall, Battle Creek, and Kalamazoo – before the plane headed across Lake Michigan. Across the country there were some areas of cloud cover, though some clear areas as well. I had the screen on the seat-back in front of me set to display the plane's location, so I'm pretty sure I identified the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and the Columbia River in central Washington. Mt. Rainier poked up through the clouds with Mt. Hood behind it. I had a good view of Lake Washington as we flew the length of Seattle for the landing.

I took the Link train from the airport. I think this train was in planning stages when I was last in Seattle in 2008. I got off in Chinatown for an inexpensive hotel also close to the train station. The Panama Hotel is considered a historic landmark and is full of antique furniture. The “desk” clerk actually spends a lot of time on the front sidewalk to help carry luggage up the two flights and to warn new guests that the rug was put down in the 1930s, so guests are not allowed to roll their luggage on it.

I guess another way to look at it: For $200 more I could have had a toilet and shower in the room (instead of down the hall), springs that didn't squeak and sag, and a bit of space to turn around. Hotels in Seattle are expensive. But it was for only one night. And about as close as I could get to the train station.

Saturday, July 23
I didn't attempt to try to adjust to local time. I was up at 5:00 to be out of the hotel by 6:50 to walk back down the hill to the train station. The deli I had tagged to supply breakfast was closed for the weekend (a detail I forgot to check) and the hotel didn't serve breakfast until 8:00. So I ate from my jar of peanut butter. The train left at 7:45 with every seat full.

The train from Seattle to Vancouver was pleasant. I was surprised how much of the route is right along the water. One would think such real estate would go for cottages with a view of the water rather than of the water and the train.

At 10:30 I decided the peanut butter wasn't going to be enough and walked nearly the length of the train to the snack bar and bought a burger. That threw off my meal schedule for the day, but allowed me to get from the train (which arrived at noon) to my hotel while not feeling starved.

Because of the number of days of the trip and all the different things I'll be doing I took my big suitcase and packed it full. I think at the airport it came in at 47 pounds. Pushing it along on its four wheels isn't easy because it tends to want to go at an angle to my desired direction. It is a bit heavy for pulling on two wheels. Even so, I pushed it uphill for the 3 blocks to the Seattle hotel and got it on the Link in Seattle and the Skytrain in Vancouver. However, when I get back to Seattle I'll go over a mile from the train station to the car rental. My original thought was a mile on foot, no problem. Given Seattle's hills and this suitcase, I think a cab will be a fine idea.

I'm on the 23rd floor of my Vancouver hotel! That gives me a great view of … other skyscrapers. That includes a new Trump Tower, which will open at the end of summer and is the tallest building in Vancouver. Those who paid millions to buy an apartment in what is now the second tallest (a mere block away) are quite annoyed.

Though it was now afternoon, I wasn't hungry. I walked from the hotel to the Burrard Inlet and around the Convention Center where I'll be spending lots of time starting Tuesday. I also found the bike rental shops and the seawall trail. From there I walked down to Gastown and its famous steam clock. Though I had lunch in the area (at 2:30) it didn't take long to figure out the shops were for tourists. Time to move on.

Nearby was a famous Chinese garden. Right next door is a free Chinese park. I wandered the park and decided not to pay admission to the garden. I guess I won't know whether that was a big mistake.

I walked back towards downtown to Vancouver Lookout a tall building (once tallest, now 6th tallest in the city) with windows offering a full circle of view. I got about 3/4 around when they announced a guide will be explaining some of the sights. See that cluster of tall buildings in the distance? That's not Seattle. That's the suburb of Burnaby, only 6 miles away. Apartment prices are only slightly cheaper than downtown Vancouver.

The guide said Vancouver was holding a fireworks contest. Tonight would be a show put on by the Netherlands (the guide thought it was New Zealand). Wednesday night would be Australia, and next Saturday would be America (with the show created by Disney – want to guess who will win?).

From the hotel I walked towards English Bay where the festivities would be held. I walked along Robson Street and found supper (though it was only so-so). A few blocks farther was Davie Street, which looks to be the local gayborhood. There were rainbow flags in practically every shop window. From there I went on to the bay. Along the way I saw lots of apartment buildings. The older ones were 3-4 stories, newer were 12-25 stories. I saw very few houses and those I saw had historical designations.

I sat on the crest of a hill above the bay – until a test shot showed trees would block my view. So I moved to another hill to get a clear view. Around me were lots of people and there were lots of boats in the bay. The sky still had a glow when the show started, even though sunset had been an hour before. Fireworks were set off from a barge in the bay. Once it was well underway there were almost always streamers shot off in patterns filling the lower part of the sky while the bigger chrysanthemum displays went off above. As each exploded I could hear the same pattern of echoes off the tall apartment buildings. The pattern started to my right, moved away behind me, with a last echo from my back-left.

Traffic was banned for several blocks around the bay When the show was over there were streams of people walking down the streets.

I don't know if I'll be able to see the Australian fireworks display. I won't go to the Disney display because my train leaves at 6:30 the next morning.

Up at 5:00, to bed by midnight. A good day, though 19 hours.

Sunday, July 24
The sky was clear and I could see the mountains across the inlet, so I scrapped my plans to spend the day in museums. Instead I took the free shuttle up to Grouse Mountain. On the way the bus driver talked about the development of the high-rise condos on the waterfront. He said he took his cat to see one. The cat said no – not enough space for the litter box.

I took the aerial tram up to the crest of the mountain. This turned out to be a very good day to go because the visibility was great! I could look over the city and see the silhouettes of the Olympic Mountains in Washington.

From another spot I could see Mt. Baker with a few other mountain peaks nearby, though none of the staff knew the names.

The top of Grouse Mountain is quite a tourist draw. There are the usual restaurants and shops. There are also helicopter rides, ziplines, and parasails. One could also see a few shows, both live (birds and lumberjacks) and on screen (more birds and bears). One could go to the large pen holding two orphaned grizzly bears. One could take guide led hikes (maybe a mile), take a chair lift to the peak, or even go to the top of the wind turbine. I stuck to the stuff included in the aerial tram price.

I did the nature hike. The guide talked about the size of British Columbia (more than twice the size of Texas) and how it is mostly mountains and the western edge is a rain forest. The population of the province is 4 million, with 2.5 million south of where we stood just north of Vancouver. The guide also talked about how the new Canadian Prime Minister campaigned for increased immigration – and won. Perhaps there will be more immigration after November. Canadians think American politics is so strange and fascinating.

I watched the lumberjack show in which Johnnie and Willie demonstrated several lumberjack skills while joking with the audience and emcee. One more character showed up and climbed the 60-foot pole and did a bit of balancing at the top – doing several things that made us think he was about to fall. The whole show was scripted – and they joked about that too (though I'm sure they didn't script who won each little contest, such as throwing an ax at a bulls-eye).

I felt four hours up top was enough, and it seemed everyone else had the same idea. Though the tram could take maybe 50 people at a time and departed every 4 minutes, I stood in line for a half hour.

Not too far from the base of the tram is a famous suspension bridge for walking over a valley (I think). But I was too tired to include that in my day.

Back at the hotel I asked the concierge for restaurant suggestions. Alas, for the one that sounded intriguing she had the location off by several blocks. I'll try that one tomorrow. In my wandering I found a Tesla automobile display room (only one car on display). I also found the local Anglican Cathedral. The signs around it use rainbow colors to emphasize inclusiveness. It uses the slogan, “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.” I hope they live into that slogan more accurately than the United Methodist denomination, which is also using it.

Monday, July 25
I rented a bicycle by 9:30 this morning. The shop was on the water side of the Convention Center. I rode the seawall route along Coal Harbor (now with lots of fancy condo towers), around Stanley Park, back into the city along English Bay and False Creek to just before the Science Museum at the East end of False Creek. Then I took the seawall route back to Stanley Park to where it was one-way and I could not enter. I took a few trails through the park looking for some of the big old-growth trees still there.

Then I went along Lost Lagoon, to the seawall route along Coal Harbor, and back to the rental shop. Total time about 2:40. I don't know the miles or kilometers.

Vancouver treats its cyclist well. This seawall route was paved and had distinct lanes for bicyclists and pedestrians for almost the entire route. Sometimes these were even separated by greenery. When I got back to Coal Harbor at noon I saw the need for this – both the pedestrian and bicycle lanes were well used.

I had heard Stanley Park is famous for its trees. I hadn't realized that implied much of the park is forest, and old-growth forest at that. Since I listen to Canadian radio when in Detroit (among other listening options) I had heard of the huge windstorm about 10 years ago that blew down thousands of trees. I heard laments that Stanley Park would never be the same. To me the place still looks like a forest. It was hard to see where the downed trees would have been. Then again, I actually saw very little of the park.

The entire distance along False Creek was lined with these high-rise apartments. With a view of the water I'm sure they were pricey. The east end of False Creek was the site of the 1986 World Fair. I attended with my brother and family when his older daughter was a year old. We stayed in North Vancouver and crossed Lion's Gate Bridge every day. We were so busy with the Fair (and traffic) we saw little of Vancouver (I also saw little of Vancouver in 2008 when I bustled through from train station to cruise ship dock with Mom and Dad in tow). False Creek has changed a great deal since that first visit.

I needed a rest before I showered. By the time I was ready to venture out for lunch it was 2:00. I thought of heading to the Space Museum and wasn't so sure of eating museum food. So I got a burger at a restaurant/grocery store near the hotel.

By the time I got back to the hotel and checked with the concierge the museum was just 20 minutes from closing. Next option was Granville Island. I didn't feel up to walking there, so took a cab.

The big thing on Granville Island is the Public Market. It is part Detroit's Eastern Market, with fresh fruits and vegetables and meats for sale, and part artist colony – there's a shop in the Ten Thousand Villages chain nearby. Add in an upscale food court for ready-to-eat meals and live entertainment. I should not have had lunch before I came. Even so probably very little of it fit into my diet, so perhaps just as well. I explored the rest of the island, which was mostly artist shops. One of those was a musical instrument shop with lots of signs saying, “Please ask before you play!” In the window is a sound cradle. It has a place to sit and more than a dozen harp strings to the right on the outside. The person to be comforted sits in the cradle and another plays the strings.

In many previous trips I bought a bell or a pretty or unusual mug. I've now got quite a few of both. There were lots of mugs and a few bells at some of these shops, some quite pretty or cute. It seems spending a year cleaning out Dad's house has taken the charm out of collecting more stuff.

I was tired and done looking a bit after 4:00. I found a shady seat where I could look across False Creek and listen to some of the live entertainment (a guy singing songs from James Taylor and Karen Carpenter) and enjoy the pleasant breeze. I opened my book and read. Around 5:00 I was hungry and found a frozen yogurt vendor. I sat and enjoyed that, then read some more.

Close to 6:00 I took the False Creek Ferry to the downtown side and walked to the Thai restaurant I didn't find yesterday. It was very good, though the waiter didn't ask how spicy I wanted it. I'm sure it was medium, not the mild I usually request.


Tomorrow is the start of the handbell symposium, my reason for being here. I'm not sure when I'll post again.

Leaving on a jet plane

I'm starting my vacation tomorrow. I fly to Seattle, then in the morning take the train to Vancouver BC. I'll be there for a week, mostly attending the International Handbell Symposium. Then the train back to Seattle and exploring the state of Washington for a second week. I'll post my adventures as time (and internet connection) permits.

When one is semi-retired, a vacation is when one actually leaves the house and travels.

I need to be Top Dog

A friend (not the debate partner) responded to my post that gave a reason why Hillary Clinton is disliked. He wrote:

I’d like you to review the reasons Hillary is disliked. It’s too simplistic to say “Hillary is polarizing because she advocates eradicating it.”

That "it" being bigotry.

Yes, that is simplistic. But I don't think it is far off the mark.

My friend continued:

She has been hated by some since her term as First Lady.

Note: 60% say “Clinton does not share my values”.
64% say “She is not honest or trustworthy”

To a large extent, these are the consistent charges levelled against her for years by Republicans.
The dishonesty doesn’t need to be proven, just repeated until people start thinking “Where there’s smoke there’s fire” Changes from Whitewater to Benghazi might clear her, but the taint remains.

These explanations for their dislike of Hillary don’t address her stand on issues (or what she advocates). Of course, I think some is a cover for Anti-Woman, just like there is a cover for Racists disliking Obama. More interesting to me is “Why has it gotten worse?” Trump has been relentless with “Crooked Hillary”. That actually has traction with many, ludicrous as it may be.

I think my friend has covered a good deal of the reasons. And I think a good portion of the view of Hillary is "Anti-Woman" as my friend put it. I've been reading a lot of Melissa McEwen of Shakesville (as I've mentioned in this blog many times of late). She traces a great deal of the negative view of Hillary to misogyny (not that I can pull up a specific post of hers).

Over the last couple years I've come to understand the depth of the drive behind misogyny and racism (which have the same root). It is all based on a desperate need to declare oneself to be better than others. This need is so strong that people kill to maintain their status on top (or to try to gain status). So, yeah, I can believe that is a great part of the reasons why Hillary is disliked. She may have had a high approval rating as Secretary of State, but she wasn't much of a threat to male egos there – with Hillary following Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice teenagers began to think Sec'y of State was a woman's job. Now she is running for Top Dog. A lot of male egos can't handle that.

Another big reason for the high disapproval rating is the GOP belief that they are supposed to be in control. I see two components of that. One part leads back to the desperate need to be on top, a place white males are having a hard time hanging onto as the demographics of the country changes. The other part is the GOP corporate backers need to prevent Hillary from winning. But even the need for control by corporate leaders is part of this need to be on top and prevent others from challenging their top status.

My friend provided a link to a New York Times article speculating on why Hillary is disliked. I thought it was lame, so won't link to it. The central idea is that Hillary is disliked because she is a workaholic, always on the job. We are never told how she relaxes.

Back to where we started: Hillary is polarizing because she advocates eradicating bigotry. Yeah, it may be simplistic, but it's about right.



A few days ago I wrote about the new Trump-Pence logo and how many saw gay innuendo. That logo is now gone from the campaign website. Gone within 24 hours.



In that link about the GOP belief they are supposed to be in control, I had written "Keep the fear high -- the masses need the GOP to keep them safe." From what I understand this is what this evening's topic at the Republican Convention is all about – not that I'd would watch it.

Pain level = tiny

Windows 10 has now been out for almost a year. And all that time it has bugged me to upgrade. A couple months ago I heard that the free upgrade would end on July 29, when I'll be traveling. If I'm to upgrade (for free) I would have to do it today.

In the last few months I had heard from users of my music editing program, a major factor in my choice of computer tools. Compatibility of this program is a big concern of mine because the version I'm using is no longer supported and other users aren't big fans of the latest version (which came out 3 years ago). These friends said that an upgrade should not interfere with the operation of that program. The upgrade verification tool said the same thing.

So today I did a backup (yikes! it had been a year (one day short) since my last backup). Then I clicked on the update icon and let it do its thing.

Thankfully, Windows 10 is about the same. Yes, things look a bit different – and I have a taskbar at the bottom edge of both screens – but otherwise things seem pretty much the same. The music program works, and the image I use for background is still there. This had a whole lot less pain than building this system two years ago.

I'm assured that if I don't like it I can go back to Windows 7 if I do so within 30 days.

Lesbian bishop!

The Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church has elected a lesbian as their new bishop! Details are in my brother blog.

Clarify control = seize control

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as VP to Trump? Melissa McEwen of Shakesville, who lives in Indiana, tells us all we need to know about Pence.

Glenda Ritz, a Democrat, was elected in 2012 to be Indiana's Superintendent of Public Instruction. She was a huge underdog–but defeated the incumbent because a majority of Hoosiers, both progressive and conservative, supported her willingness to challenge Republican proposals that would destroy public education in Indiana.

Ritz was the first Democrat to serve as Superintendent in 40 years.

Governor Mike Pence was elected during the same election. One of his first acts as governor was to remove Ritz from the union-centered Educational Employment Relations Board. The Republican-controlled House Education Committee then proposed a bill to "strip the superintendent's position as chair of the State Board of Education. …The bill would allow Republican Gov. Mike Pence's 10 appointees to the 11-member board to elect their own chair."

In other words, as soon as a Democrat was elected to an influential state position (with 53% of the vote, higher than Pence received), the Republican governor and legislature set to rendering her office utterly without power and empowering themselves to oust her and prevent the reforms she was elected to champion.

The Republicans claimed their power grab, with Pence leading the charge, was merely intended to "clarify control of education policy."

Which is quite an extraordinary euphemism for "seize unilateral control of education policy, in direct contravention of the will of the voters."

This is how Pence does business.

I won't bother linking to the disaster last year when Pence badly fumbled the hastily passed and signed law that was a license to discriminate against LGBT people.

Many people took one look at the new Trump-Pence logo and saw gay innuendo that Pence would no doubt want to make illegal.



With about 3.5 months to go I've already reached my fill of the prez. campaign. My choice is obvious. So don't be surprised if I say nothing more about Hillary or Donald for the rest of the season. Of course, if something really fascinating is said or done I might make a comment. But there is now a quite high bar on what is considered fascinating.

I'll have recommendations on Michigan races when the state gay newspaper publishes its voter guide.

Government schools

I've been hearing a lot in the news – even NPR does it to some extent – about how high the unfavorable ratings of both Clinton and Trump are. Melissa McEwen of Shakesville strongly objects to the equivalency.

Donald is disliked, in large part, because he is a bigot and a bully. And Hillary is disliked, in some part, because she refuses to alienate the same marginalized people that Donald targets.
…
I cannot put this any more plainly: Donald is polarizing because he traffics in bigotry. Hillary is polarizing because she advocates eradicating it.
(emphasis in the original)
…
What I'm saying is that the unique (as we keep hearing) levels of dislike for her are not simply attributable to policy differences. And that the reasons she is disliked to the degree that she is are not at all the same reasons for why Trump is.

And I really wish the media would stop pretending otherwise.

The GOP in Kansas has put such a squeeze on the state budget that funding for public schools has collapsed. The state Supremes demanded the schools be funded, but the "solution" is quite temporary.

But that's OK. Because public schools are being rebranded as "government schools." As in, you know, Reagan's famous phrase, "Government is the problem." As in schools where kids get free or reduced cost meals.

As in those people are given an education. This is a part of that old Southern Strategy where gov't is associated with helping the "undeserving" – anyone who isn't white.



The GOP in Texas passed a new law requiring universities to allow guns on campus, including in classrooms. The day before five police officers were killed in Dallas, three female professors at University of Texas at Austin have files suit in an attempt to block the law. Their reasoning:

In the suit, professors say they teach courses that touch emotional issues like gay rights and abortion. The possibility of guns on campus could stifle class discussion, which is a violation of the First Amendment, the suit says.

I'm reminded of my days of teaching in a college classroom. Though I wasn't teaching emotional issues, such as abortion, I would not want a student questioning a grade while it was obvious a gun was within reach. That would be a reason for me to leave that school or decide it was time to retire.



I mentioned yesterday that the new GOP party platform was more conservative than the 2012 platform. Jim Burroway of Box Turtle Bulletin says it is the most anti-LGBT GOP platform ever (though, to be fair, back before 1965 the platform didn't need to be anti-LGBT because the whole society was). It is also a lot more anti-LGBT than the party's prez. candidate.

Commenter SharonB summarizes with what must be a tired refrain:

Again, not all Republicans hate me, but everyone who hates me is Republican.

They're not going

The GOP has been working on their party platform. Yeah, it is as nasty as one would expect. It is more conservative than the 2012 platform – talk of "traditional" family structure, reinstituting the ban on women in combat, describing coal as "clean," declaring porn as a "public health crisis" (not guns?), adding more disapprovals of LGBT people, encouraging teaching the Bible in schools, and demanding that lawmakers be guided by religion. It seems in their efforts to prevent Islamic Sharia law in America they want to institute the Christian equivalent. And don't forget Trump's wall.



Four years ago Wall Street went to the GOP convention and schmoozed, putting perhaps $60 million into Romney's campaign. This year? They're not going.



They Anglican Church of Canada voted whether to allow same-sex marriage. The process required two-thirds approval by each of lay, clergy, and bishops. The clergy category missed getting enough by one vote. Because it was so close delegates asked for a hard copy of the voting records. One clergy vote was counted in the wrong category. So they got their two-thirds! The resolution in favor of same-sex marriage passed.



Twitter user Buxy tweeted:

I've been waiting for Obama to take my gun for 7 years and all I got was health insurance, marriage equality, a job and cleaner energy.

With all the terrorist bombings around the world getting lots of attention someone decided to present a different perspective. Follow the link to a map showing all the car bomb explosions in Baghdad since the USA invaded in 2003.

Taxes and regulations are hurting us

The GOP likes to say that high taxes and excessive gov't regulations are hurting small businesses. David Akadjian, writing for Daily Kos, says that what is hurting small business isn't taxes and regulations. What is hurting small business is big business. He counts the ways:

1. A lot of small towns now look like ghost towns. I noticed this in the town where I was born, 15 miles south of Sandusky, Ohio (still have relatives in the area). Nearly all the storefronts along Main Street have signs saying, "Available." On the edge of these ghost towns or in a neighboring town sit WalMart, Home Depot, Best Buy, or Bed Bath & Beyond.

Not only have the local merchants been run out of business, but the big box store owners don't live upstairs. They are not connected to the community, they have no responsibility to the town, and ignore pressure to pay decent wages and not pollute.

2. Technology improves productivity for the owners. The bigger the company the more they can invest in tech. All the worker gets out of it is the gig economy, one or more part-time jobs without benefits. The company gets increased profits, the worker gets all the risks.

3. Globalization is something big companies can do. Small companies then have to compete against cheaper labor costs. The lack of local wage-earners is a lack of customers for the small businesses.

4. Big businesses can afford to buy Congress and do so routinely. What they want out of Congress is tax loopholes and the end of regulations to benefit themselves, those things they claim are hurting small business.

What big businesses are after is more power, more profits, and less responsibility. It is big business that is hurting small business.

Cleaned out

Last Tuesday evening I got a note from my credit union saying they would be offering a shredding service today at a nearby branch. I've got stuff to shred, so I put it on my calendar. Alas, I had just been to Dad's house so couldn't take a few bags of his shredable stuff.

A few months ago as I realized the extent of what Dad had left behind I began looking at my own files. Over about a month I sorted through the stacks of papers. In doing so I realized how old some of them are. I don't need to follow one trait of Dad's.

So when I got this notice of a shred event I knew I had stuff that could go. I checked online for recommendations on how long to keep stuff. The maximum would be seven years for papers that might be involved in taxes (though many documents could be eliminated a whole lot sooner). I went through those folders I had created a few months ago and pulled out everything dated before 2010. Then I went through a few more drawers of papers and added those to the bags (those drawers are almost empty now). Some of those things, such as pay statements, dated back to (and sometimes before) when I moved into this house at the end of 1991. I'm pretty sure any documents before then never got unpacked from my previous residence and were lost in the basement flood 4 years ago.

Two paper grocery bags of stuff from my files. A third grocery bag of recent stuff, such as checks incorrectly written, that had been sitting there getting full (actually overflowing).

I drove to the shredding site and as I approached I saw a traffic backup. Part of it was people lined up to turn into the collection area. Another part was because a six-mile section of northbound highway I-275 is now closed for replacement and this road is the first major north-south road to the east of the highway. I didn't realize it then. I did realize it when I tried to head north on the first major north-south road to the west of the highway to do some grocery shopping.

It is good to get rid of it all.



I'm annoyed with the Adobe Flash program that is used by so many websites (especially ads). A few weeks ago I was told it was time to update, so I did. I wasn't on top of things enough to remember that Adobe always defaults to also installing the McAfee antivirus program. I already have a security program and don't want another possibly interfering. So when I saw McAfee installing I cut power to the computer. This wasn't the first time.

When that happens I get a notice on my browser that the Flash program was out of date. Do I want to allow for this webpage? For a while I just lived with the notice because most things I wanted to do worked fine without it (even, alas, most ads).

While I do housework I frequently put on a podcast to listen to. Lately it has been the More Perfect series from Radiolab which I've mentioned before (the episode I listened to today was about the death penalty and why lethal injection drugs are no longer available). At the top of that page was a note saying I really should update Flash.

So I did (remembering to say no to McAfee). When I restarted my browser it started reloading the Adobe page. I got an error box that said something like, "A plugin script is not working. Would you like to: Continue | Stop Plugin." This would appear for a moment then vanish. In the meantime the browser appeared to be hung. Then the error box would come back. Maybe after a dozen appearances I got another box that offered the option to debug the script. I clicked on that. I could use the browser again, but no longer do anything with that page. I finally got rid of both Adobe pages, but then had the same trouble on the More Perfect page. I went into my browser controls and shut off Flash. Problem gone and I could hear my podcast. I ended up fussing with that for half an hour. Grr!

Look at the evidence

When Colombia and a few more states in Mexico achieved marriage equality we passed a milestone: more than 1 billion people live in states and countries with legal same-sex marriage. That's pretty good in 15 years (Netherlands began same-sex marriages in 2001). Even so, 1 billion is only 14% of the world's population.



A sweet five minute film in which the dad is getting a boutonniere ready for his son's prom and the son says his date is another guy.



Just before the end of the legislative session, lawmakers in North Carolina fixed the nasty bathroom law. Notice I didn't say "repeal." The original bill blocked those discriminated against from filing claims in state court. Those claims can now be filed in state court, though with a statute of limitations of a year. Before this bill was passed, the statute of limitations was three years. Those affected by this change are mostly straight people. All better now. NOT!

In addition the lawmakers needed a half-million dollars to pay for the legal defense of this nasty bill. They found that money in the state's disaster relief fund. Better hope for no hurricanes.



Bill Maher, in an 8 minute video, repeats a frequently touted phrase that states are laboratories of policy. Try something and see if it works. He then asks an important question: Isn't someone supposed to look at the evidence produced by these laboratories?

Case in point: the experiment to see if cutting taxes on the rich improves the state economy and raising taxes on the rich hurts the economy. Evidence: GOP-run states such as Kansas and Louisiana are "failing catastrophically." Democrats control the state government in California. They raised taxes on the rich and the place is booming. This one state has risen to be the sixth largest economy in the world and closing in fast on the UK for fifth place.

So what was that bit about the definition of insanity is keep doing the same thing and expecting different results...

Another blow

My brother Dan reports his wife Karen is in hospice. Her decline has been rapid and the latest symptom was the loss of the ability to swallow. Her doctor said not to bother with a feeding tube.

Dan works for an international company. His first foreign postings were in London and Paris, where his daughters grew up. After a few years at home and their daughters now grown Dan and Karen took a posting to Malaysia. From there he visited contacts from Australia to South Korea. Karen accompanied him on every business trip, as he worked she explored whatever city they were in. One year my Christmas gift was a donation to an organization in Cambodia dedicated to removing land mines.

Two years ago Karen had a few weird memory incidents, then had a seizure. They were in Singapore at the time so were able to use its fine medical facilities. The diagnosis was a brain tumor, a particularly nasty form of cancer. Karen went through the surgery, the radiation, and the chemo. The doctors pronounced her one of the few lucky ones to survive this kind of cancer. Her hair grew back.

This past winter they accepted a new assignment, a posting to Munich, Germany. They looked forward to exploring Central Europe the way they had explored Southeast Asia. About three months ago, shortly after settling in, Karen began feeling sleepy and showing signs of unsteadiness, first in walking, then in standing. The cancer was back. This time not as a tumor, but as a "fog" through her brain. Surgery was not possible. There wasn't one small area for radiation to strike. And in her frail condition chemo did more harm than good.

Karen was soon in a wheelchair. When they went for a doctor visit and Karen couldn't hold her head up the doctor sent her to the hospital. At the end of her time in the hospital Dan's visiting mother-in-law made it clear Dan would not be able to care for Karen on his own and recommended a nursing home. When Karen couldn't swallow the home said they were no longer able to care for her and recommended a hospital able to handle hospice care (quite close to Schloss Nymphenburg!).

After Dan got past the "Who is paying for this?" he discovered the staff at the various care facilities have been wonderful, providing care well beyond the job. He contacted an English-speaking Methodist Church and their pastor has also come to sit with them. His employer has firmly told him his first priority is his wife.

Dan was quite scared when he realized Karen couldn't swallow. He remembered well my stories from last summer when Dad's swallow reflex was damaged and had a feeding tube installed.

Coming so soon after my brother Tim's death at the end of May (Karen was already unable to travel so they did not attend) and less than a year after Dad's death this is hard to take. My sister Laney said it well: Enough! Stop! We don't want any more deaths in the family for at least 20 years! It is one thing to say goodbye to a father in is late 80s. It is quite another to say goodbye to a brother just a few years older and a sister-in-law who is a few years younger.

Fill your own shoes

The United Methodist Church has a system where pastors in local churches are appointed by the bishop. This saves a congregation from having to deal with an interim pastor while working out what kind of replacement to call. The flip side is our pastors tend to stay less than a decade in one spot.

This year our beloved Pastor Jeff was asked to move on. He had been at the church only seven years (I knew him for two) and because of the great job hew as doing we assumed he would be with us a few more. But the bishop called him last March with an offer of a move (he knew that it would be a really good idea to take it). So through May and June he gave a series of sermons to emphasize the basic messages he had developed with us. The first of the series was, "All means all." When this church says it welcomes all, it really does mean all.

Two weeks ago we said goodbye to Pastor Jeff. We set an attendance record of over 350 people. Last Sunday we had a guest preacher, a retired pastor who has been attending (and had been a mentor to Pastor Jeff).

And today we welcomed Pastor Ben. He'll do just fine. He got a laugh when he told the story of the personal turmoil he went through ten years ago – as a senior in high school – trying to decide what his direction in life should be. Yes, he is that young.

As part of introducing the new guy and his wife to the congregation the leadership team presented them with a few gifts, such as a gift certificate to the diner that has become an extension of the church (I think that's where the men's Bible study meets).

And a gift for Pastor Ben that I thought was very wise and meaningful – a pair of shoes. The leadership explained, "We don't want you to try to fill Pastor Jeff's shoes. You have your own shoes to fill." I appreciated this gift because at my previous church many members grumbled when a new pastor didn't try to fill the previous pastor's shoes. I'm delighted the church leadership understands that and used a powerful symbol to tell both the new pastor and the rest of the congregation (though I doubt this church will do much grumbling).

High likelihood of winning

I mentioned yesterday that nasty Right-to-Discriminate law in Mississippi was struck down minutes before it was to go into effect. Jim Burroway of Box Turtle Bulletin has details. What Judge Carlton Reeves did was actually an injunction. This isn't the final ruling on the law; that's still to come. The injunction keeps the law from hurting people until that final ruling.

Reeves did that because he said those seeking to strike down the law have a very high likelihood of winning their case. From the length and detail of his injunction we can see why he thinks that. There's almost enough detail for it to be the final ruling – except he had a deadline. I'll let you explore his reasoning on your own.

Gossip is an authoritarian's playground

The July 1 print edition (not online yet) of The Washington Spectator has an article about gossip columns written by Rick Perlstein. He looks at when gossip columnist Hedda Hopper appeared to rule Hollywood as the Queen of Mean. He mentions how she dissed "social problem" films and labeled certain actors as "homewreckers." Hopper was a pal with J. Edgar Hoover.

Perlstein explains:

Celebrity gossip is a fundamentally right-wing mode of discourse. … [T]he genre's work, fundamentally, leverages the pleasure of titillation in the service of policing "proper" decorum, a threat held above the head of anyone who would traduce the gossiper's arbitrary standards—a cynical manipulation of the mass amygdala, simultaneously enshrining the most conventional narratives of what counts as success in a capitalist society while dangling evidence of its precariousness for those who would dissent from the sanctioned canons of behavior. Ownership of a gossip sheet is an authoritarian's playground.

From there we move to the Trump campaign. Trump is a friend of David Pecker, current publisher of the National Enquirer, the gossip mag that doesn't seem to care a whole lot for truth. How friendly?

A year ago, when Trump entered the race for the GOP presidential nominee, the Enquirer had an article on Jeb Bush. There was another in September. Jeb's campaign seemed to never ignite. In October, Ben Carson briefly passed Trump in the polls. An article about Carson appeared in the Enquirer soon after. Bye Ben. Another appeared about Carly Fiorina after she had a great showing in a debate. Farewell, Carly. And one appeared on Ted Cruz just a couple days before the Indiana primary, after which Cruz dropped out.

Will Hillary Clinton be dragged through the pages of the Nation Enquirer in, let's see, October? Will it have any effect on the election? Maybe not, if the Enquirer readers are mostly Trump supporters anyway. Besides, the GOP has been hammering Hillary for 20 years now and she still manages to be ahead.

Manufactured case

I listened to another episode of More Perfect, a series about cases before the Supremes put together by the same folks as Radiolab. I listened to it online. In 63 minutes this episode tells two stories.

The first is a look at Lawrence v. Texas, the case that went to the Supremes and overturned state sodomy laws in 2003. Though John Lawrence and Tyron Garner say they weren't having sex together, the arresting officer claims he caught them in the act. An LGBT community organizer had been looking for a case to challenge the Texas sodomy law and latched onto this one, even though Lawrence and Garner were not ideal plaintiffs. But by the time the case got to the Supremes five years later there wasn't much of either man in the story presented to the Justices. This was the case in which Justice Scalia dissented and in that dissent predicted it would lead to the Court legalizing same-sex marriage – which it did 12 years later.

The second story is about Edward Blum. When he ran for Congress a couple decades ago he decided he would visit every home in the district to introduce himself. In doing so he realized the district lines were quite weird – specifically including this apartment block and excluding that one. He also realized that a good number of the district residents were black. With a bit of digging he discovered that it was a district created as minority-majority. According to the Voting Rights Act there had to be districts with enough minority residents so they could elect one of their own. This district was one of them.

Though Blum lost that election, he found his life mission. Splitting up neighborhoods on the basis of race wasn't right. So he and friends sued. I'd have to listen to the episode again to remember how this case came out. Blum went on, with significant conservative backing, to guide the case Shelby County v. Holder that overturned a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in 2013. Blum was also behind the case *Fisher v. University of Texas* on affirmative action that the Supremes ruled on last week – thankfully against Blum. Blum has now guided 20 cases, six of them before the Supremes.

Some people in this episode are aghast that Blum seemed to manufacture the case against UT. To challenge a law there must be someone harmed by the law. It also helps that the situation could not easily be remedied through popular vote, meaning tyranny of the majority. Blum created a website and video asking upset white students if they think they were discriminated against through UT admissions. Out of 170 responses he chose the one he thought would have the best chances.

Feeling bad about conservatives manufacturing a case? Ah, but it was a common tactic in many civil rights cases, a famous one being Plessy v. Ferguson of 1896. Louisiana had enacted a law requiring that blacks and whites must travel in separate cars on a train. Those who wanted to overturn the law hired Mr. Plessy, who was 1/8 black, to get a ticket in the white car. When the conductor asked for his ticket, Plessy announced, "I'm one-eighth black and I'm staying right here." Plessy was arrested by a security guard (also hired by the legal team) and the legal work began. Alas, when this one got to the Supremes, it backfired. This was the case where the Supremes ruled that separate but equal was just fine with them.

Straight pride

As we ended LGBT Pride month there again came a call for Straight Pride events. I've heard two great responses. (1) Straight Pride? That gets celebrated every day! (2) Straight people should be thankful they don't need one.

The Gay Times UK explains that second response:

Pride month is the time we, and our LGBT allies, come together to celebrate diversity, community and unity in the face of oppression and hatred. In the wake of events like Orlando, ‘religious freedom’ laws being passed in the US and countries around the world still punishing homosexuality with the death penalty, Pride month is just as important as it ever was.

Commenter gldstndrd wrote:

dear 'straight pride' people: i'll trade you. you can have the damn parade, and i'll be safe, accepted in society, and have my basic human rights given to me without question.

Commenter JT:

Breaking News: You're not being oppressed when another group gains rights you've always had!

Commenter Rebecca Gardner adds:

Straight people worry about sharing a bathroom. Queer people worry about being murdered for existing.

april lavalle suggests that one can see a straight pride parade at every Trump rally.



In other Pride news, Hillary Clinton marched in the NYC Pride Parade, the first nominee for prez. to do so.

Judicial emergency

The United Nations Human Rights Council has independent experts for various issues. One has now been added for LGBT affairs. This person will keep the international spotlight on LGBT issues and see that these issues are integrated into what public officials and diplomats do.

The resolution creating this post has a few amendments, proposed by Pakistan. One adds respect for local values, "religious sensitivities," or domestic politics. Another condemns "coercive measures" in an attempt to change national values through such things as reducing international aid.

Even with this watering down, it is good to have someone manning that spotlight.



On the one-month anniversary of the Orlando attack the GOP members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have scheduled a hearing on a First Amendment Defense Act. Yup, they've invited several conservative witnesses to testify for the need for a Religious Freedom Act (by another name). At the very least they're tone deaf.

The National Organization for Marriage (theirs, not yours) is lamenting their recent rally was a bust and they're out of money. Even so the GOP still does their bidding.



Sen. Mitch McConnell, the guy who is saving the empty seat on the Supremes for Trump to fill, isn't able to answer the question, "Is Donald Trump qualified to be President?" There's a red flag on that play.

Meanwhile the Senate Judiciary Committee has essentially shut down the confirmation of any judge that Obama has nominated. That includes 12 vacancies just in Texas, where the workload has been designated a judicial emergency. Senators Cruz and Cornyn have publicly supported Obama's 5 nominations for Texas courts, but are now blocking the process.



Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the military's ban on transgender service members has ended. It will take a while to implement the various pieces of the policy. Immediately, transgender service members will not be discharged. Then comes training for doctors in transgender care. Then comes working out how to allow service members to transition while in the military. All that should happen within a year.



Minutes before Mississippi's religious freedom law was to go into effect, US District Judge Carlton Reeves struck it down. This was the worst of the religious freedom laws to be enacted, granting broad permission for discrimination, including against unmarried straight people. Reeves wrote:

The State has put its thumb on the scale to favor some religious beliefs over others. Showing such favor tells ‘nonadherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and . . . adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community.

Therefore the law violated the Equal Protection Clause.



Headline of the day (from a few days ago): "House Republicans Spent Millions Of Dollars On Benghazi Committee To Exonerate Clinton."

The church must apologize

This got a lot of coverage in gay blogs.

“I think the church must not only apologize … to a gay person it offended, but we must apologize to the poor, to women who have been exploited, to children forced into labor, apologize for having blessed so many weapons” and for having failed to accompany families who faced divorces or experienced other problems.

The Catholic Church apologizing to gay people. Great idea! Jim Burroway of Box Turtle Bulletin says we've been here before. Francis has said lots of nice things. But that doesn't mean the hierarchy from Cardinals to local priests will change the way they do things. Catholic parishioners ignore the Church's teaching on contraception because the priest isn't in the bedroom.

But it won’t get far with LGBT people because those in charge can — and do — deny marriage rites, baptisms, school enrollment, health insurance, adoption services, and even a spot in the church choir. Far worse still, many of them openly endorse ex-gay programs for LGBT youth.

Burroway says that while these pronouncements by Francis are great to hear, but the novelty has worn off.

Only to add an undue burden

The Supreme Court ended its term today by issuing rulings in the last of its cases. The big ruling was on abortion rights. It was good to see an 8-member court didn't need that 9th member. The vote was 5 to 3. The ruling tackled restrictions place on abortions to protect the health of the woman who experience complications, as the law in Texas put it. Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan, Breyer, and Kennedy concluded that reasoning was bunk and only served to add undue burden to getting an abortion.

Two provisions in the Texas law were struck down – an abortion clinic must meet hospital standards and the doctor must have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. There are 23 other states with one or both of those provisions (Michigan has one of them). All these state are affected by this ruling.

Now on to tackle the waiting requirement that women must be given pre-abortion "counseling" much of which is inaccurate or outright lies. Those kinds of laws are in 27 states. But that will take another case.

When the Texas law went into effect about 20 abortion clinics closed. That was about half of the clinics in Texas. If the Court ruled in favor of the law Texas would have been left with only 8-9 clinics. Those that closed will not necessarily reopen, at least won't do so quickly. For example, the staff may have gotten other jobs.

Lyle Denniston of SCOTUSBlog explains the ruling. Thomas had dissented, arguing that the Court had a tendency of treating abortion rights more favorably than other rights. I'm not sure what that means and Denniston doesn't provide details.

The dissent by Alito and joined by Roberts and Thomas was mostly that the Court shouldn't have taken the case. This case went before the Fifth Circuit and failed. Some of the same doctors filed a new challenge. This dissent argued because some of the same doctors were involved it should not have been allowed to proceed. This follows the old judicial doctrine that when one loses one can't sue again. The majority rejected that idea for this case.

Melissa McEwen, writing for Blue Nation Review, has a full-throated defense of the right to abortion. We value lives differently – we value citizens over non-citizens, free citizens over inmates, wealthy over poor, those with health insurance over those who don't. And we value the life of the fetus over that of the mother, "a living, breathing, thinking adult woman whose life is considered to be worth less than a potential life."

I've read enough of McEwen's writings to know that while she recognizes society values the life of a wealthy person over the life of a poor person she certainly does not agree that such difference in value is a good thing or healthy for that society.

Teaching boys about rape

The Good Men Project has an article about the way we accidentally teach boys about rape culture. We wouldn't teach our sons that rape is okay. Not directly. But here are six ways we teach them indirectly.

1. Saying "boys will be boys" teaches them they are above the rules. Boys are capable of respecting other people's bodies.

2. Forcing kids to hug and kiss others teaches consent can be overridden.

3. Asking, "What did you do to make him it hit you?" teaches both victim and aggressor that a person can force another to make a bad choice. This is like blaming the victim.

4. Saying boys hit girls because they like them teaches that love equals suffering. Hurting others is never okay.

5. Slut-shaming or implying a victim "deserved it" teaches a boy he is entitled to do it. Nobody deserves rape, including when drunk or high.

6. Saying girls should be pure before marriage teaches that girls who aren't pure don't deserve to be protected from rape. It also allows youth to confuse love with lust.

You say you've experienced discrimination?

An interesting bit on NPR this morning. There are a few Evangelical pastors in Orlando who are reconsidering their position on LGBT people after the massacre there two weeks ago. Well, yeah, they are still declaring homosexuality is a sin. But the demonization appears to be gone, replaced with support for the shooting victims and perhaps even a call for state-wide or even national civil rights protections for LGBT people. This is a big improvement! We don't know yet how much of a long-term commitment is behind these words. We hope the change of heart lasts longer than the raw emotions still felt in Orlando.



Beautiful! An Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Washington DC wanted to show support for those killed in Orlando. They did that by spending an evening at a nearby gay bar. They happened to choose one with a predominantly black clientele. Yes, this was foreign territory for most of those who made the trip. They talked. They lit candles. They shared a few Jewish blessings. They bought a round of beer. They shared in the pain. Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, who led the visit, wrote:

I learned that when a rabbi and members of an Orthodox synagogue walk into a gay African American bar, it is not the opening line of a joke but an opportunity to connect; it is an opportunity to break down barriers and come together as one; it is an opportunity to learn that if we are going to survive, we all need each other.

The FBI heard the claims that the Orlando shooter might have been gay, that he used gay hook-up apps, that he had a "friend with benefits." The FBI reports they did not find such an app on the shooter's phone and after searching his computer did not find photos, text messages, or gay porn. They say they have found no evidence the shooter had a secret gay life.



Senator Susan Collins of Maine produced a compromise bill for gun control. This actually has a chance of passing – if it ever came up for a vote. So how to handle that without allowing Dems to gloat over the GOP and run with a campaign issue? To table a bill means to postpone or suspend it. So the Senate voted to not table it. Yes, that means a vote is supposed to be scheduled. So, the GOP will do that … um … never? Which means they won't go on record voting against it.



This is why Trump has gotten as far as he has. A new poll shows 72% of Republicans believe discrimination against whites has become as bad as discrimination against blacks and other minority groups. Among Trump supporters that number is 81%.

Um, guys, you don't have a clue about what discrimination actually means and how it is experienced daily by minorities.

Hunter of Daily Kos wrote:

This isn't about flippin’ economic insecurity or disillusionment with government functions. This is a great wide fart of racism and xenophobic paranoia, writ in nice big block letters for everyone else to see.

Trump is doing such a bad job of raising money, including money the Republican National Committee can use to fund down-ballot races, the party is getting nervous. Various candidates also don't want to be seen with Trump and are afraid his loose mouth will tarnish the whole party.

That is why Melissa McEwen of Shakesville is sure the GOP will find a way to dump Trump.

But seriously: This is why I continue to be gravely concerned that the Republicans are going to try to find a way to push Trump out of the race. It's not just the White House that the GOP stands to lose, but their Senate majority, House seats, governorships, all kinds of offices up and down the ticket. Naturally, that prospect couldn't make me happier, which is exactly why I'm pretty sure it's never going to happen!

Ludovico Einaudi performed a piece titled "Elegy for the Arctic." This performance is a bit different. The piano is on a raft in a Norwegian Fjord. The raft is covered to look like an ice floe. All around the raft are chunks of ice calving off the nearby glacier – and at one point falling ice adds to the soundtrack. The video was made on behalf of Greenpeace.

Unwarranted luck and short bursts of vigor

I've finished the book Danubia by Simon Winder. It is a history of the Habsburg Dynasty that lead the Austrian Empire and served as the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1452 to 1918. The title comes from the Danube River the main river flowing through the empire.

I found the book during my trip to DC at the end of April (didn't start reading it until the end of May). It caught my attention because I studied German history in high school and lived in Germany for two years. In that class I learned about the two great powers in German history, the Hohenzollerns with their capital in Berlin and the Habsburgs in Vienna ruling an area from modern Austria to what is now western Ukraine and southern Poland to northern Serbia.

Winder is not a typical historian. He definitely doesn't just recount events. He talks to the reader and shares stories of his own travels to the various towns and cities in Central Europe. He includes descriptions of artwork that relates to the topic at hand (I didn't sit at the computer as I read and search for images of what he was describing – he could have added either more photos or an index of the art so I could do that now). He does a lot more explaining than recounting. He also has a skeptical view of his subjects, the Emperors. His take on them is most were incompetent or worse. From the introduction (I like his style):

The Habsburg's influence across Europe was overwhelming, but often the 'great events' of the continent's history were generated as much by their uselessness or apparent prostration as by any actual family initiative. Indeed it is quite striking how baffled or inadequate many of the Emperors were, and yet an almost uncountable heap of would-be carnivorous rivals ended up in the dustbin while the Habsburgs just kept plodding along. Through unwarranted luck, short bursts of vigor, and events way outside their control they held on until their defeat by Napoleon. Moving fast, they then cunningly switched the title of Emperor so it referred to what could now be called 'the Habsburg Empire', meaning just the family's personal holdings, itself still the second largest European state after Russia. They kept going for a further, rather battered century, until final catastrophe as one of the defeated Central Powers in the First World War.

Winder cautions us not to look at the grand sweep of history and interpret it to mean what came before as driving toward what we have today. History isn't that purposeful. Since this family stayed in power more than 450 years it could be said, especially in the middle of this time, that this empire was what history was driving towards, the high point, the culmination.

A great deal of this story is about the ethnic strife in Europe. The southeast area of this empire was the battle ground between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans (also Russians to the northeast, Germans to the northwest, and Italians to the south). When one side or the other swept through and captured an area whole towns would be razed with entire populations massacred or sold into slavery. The winning side would have to repopulate the towns – hey, free land and extra privileges, though you'll need to watch for marauding armies. That meant there were German-speaking settlements throughout the area, interspersed with local Silesians, Bohemians, Czechs, Poles, Slovaks, Ruthians, Hungarians, Romanians, Serbians, Croats, and Slovenes, to name a few. Various groups would start an uprising, to be (mostly) put down by the emperor and his army.

The empire existed for so long because it could (mostly) balance these ethnic tensions. It could tell restive groups they were better off under Habsburgs rather than under the Ottomans or Russians. But with the collapse of the empire in 1918 those tensions exploded. Many times in the 20th Century whole towns were dislodged and relocated because they were not of the right ethnicity – if they weren't killed. These tensions only began to die down around 1990 (though with Britain leaving the EU there are signs they aren't gone).

A political Court

I'm a fan of the radio program Radiolab heard on NPR, though I listen to it through the internet. Today I heard an episode of a series titled More Perfect, stories of the Supreme Court. This episode featured the case Baker v. Carr of 1961-62. The audio is about 50 minutes.

The state of Tennessee (and others in the South) hadn't redrawn its congressional district maps for 60 years. But population had shifted from the countryside to the cities. Things had gotten so out of whack that city districts had 23 times more people than rural districts. The reason for this system was simple: racism and Jim Crow. Cities tended to be more liberal and tended to have a more mixed race population. Legislative leaders knew the current districts supported their power and redistricting would change that power which, in their eyes, was not for the better.

City voters sued, saying the rural focus of the legislature hurt the infrastructure of cities.

The main characters on the court were:

Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Justice William Douglas on the left, and quite the bully.

Justice Felix Frankfurter on the right, and even more of a bully.

In between was Justice Charles Whittaker, the swing vote.

The main idea from Frankfurter was that how states draw their political maps is a political issue and the Court should not get involved. Yes, the situation in Tennessee is vile. But taking this case means the Court will have to decide all sorts of political spats. We shouldn't go there.

Douglas responded by saying if the Court doesn't tackle this political injustice it cannot be fixed. Tennessee has rigged it so those in power benefit from this injustice and have no intention of undermining their own power.

When the justices went into conference (in which the room is closed to all but the justices) both Douglas and Frankfurter harangued Whittaker in hopes of getting his vote. Whittaker was distraught over the decision. Before the case was decided Whittaker had a nervous breakdown and soon resigned.

Other justices ended up supporting Douglas and the case was decided 6-2 in favor of intervening in Tennessee. Shortly after that Frankfurter had a bad stroke and also resigned. President Kennedy filled the two vacancies with a moderate and a liberal – forming the famous Warren Court that was so interventionist in the '60s.

The defeat of the idea that the Court should stay out of politics led to many wonderful decisions, including "one person, one vote." It also led to … Bush v. Gore.

Up on care and fairness

Brian Dickerson, editorial columnist for the Detroit Free Press, is well aware of the size of the political chasm in America. He encounters it every time he writes an opinion piece and lots of readers call and write to tell him how wrong he is. Though he is good at defending his position he is pretty sure he hasn't changed any minds.

Since dealing with this chasm is important (see: state of roads, schools, and gov't institutions) Dickerson is now exploring why we're so antagonistic. He says he'll explore that idea over the summer perhaps with "moral psychologists" as guides.

This first article takes a look at The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt. Through his studies Haidt has found five foundations to moral systems that are pretty consistent in cultures around the world. These are:

The Care/Harm Foundation. For us to survive as a species we must protect the youngest and most helpless. That became the idea we have a duty to protect each other from death and injury. We admire those who are generous and condemn those who are cruel.

The Fairness/Cheating Foundation. Groups that collaborate have an advantage over those who don't. Problems arise when some either do extra work or reap extra rewards. That became the idea we encourage cooperation and discourage exploitation.

The Loyalty/Betrayal Foundation. Those same collaborative groups can be enhanced through loyalty and damaged through betrayal. This becomes loyalty to family, country, political party, and religion. Betrayal can be treated harshly.

The Authority/Subversion Foundation. Collaborative groups have leaders and develop a social hierarchy. The group works better when that hierarchy has clear lines of authority that are respected.

The Sanctity/Degredation Foundation. Defining one food as sanctified and another is degraded is an easy way to keep our early ancestors from eating toxic food. Defining a behavior as degraded can help avoid incest. The catalog of which food/behavior is good and which is not can lead to the sanctification of that catalog – such as the Bible or Bill of Rights.

Haidt explains out political divide by noting the different weights progressives and conservatives place on each of these five foundations. Progressives emphasize care and fairness. Conservatives emphasize loyalty, authority, and sanctity.

What happens when a person doesn't quite fit? That's a situation many LGBT people encounter. Here's a milder example: What to do with a child who colors the sky green? Praise the child for creativity? Punish the child for defying authority? Experiences like that teach a child which of the five foundations will guide his morals.

Dickerson suggests heading to the Your Morals site to see where you fit in. Warning: once you register there are two dozen different surveys you can take. The one that matches Haidt's book is the Moral Foundations Questionnaire. It rated me high (higher than progressives) in Care/Harm and Fairness. It rated me low (lower than progressives) in Loyalty, Authority, and Purity (Sanctity). My rating in Purity is quite low – all of that driven by what church people say about LGBT people. Yeah, in my opinion their purity codes – Would you avoid doing something "unnatural"? – are a lot of bunk.

Democrats with spine

Yesterday I mentioned that Democrats were occupying the US House floor to demand a vote on gun reforms. I had just a snippet of the news yesterday. I have a much fuller report now.

The leader of the effort is Rep. John Lewis of Georgia. In the 1960s he was one of those beaten at the start of the march to Montgomery. He's been a stalwart defender of civil rights his whole life.

The sit-in started about 11:30 am. yesterday. The Speaker controls the CSPAN cameras, so those were turned off. The House was supposed to be called into session long enough to go on its July 4 break. The Dems sitting in the well of the floor chanted, "no bill, no break."

Senator Chris Murphy, the one who led the filibuster in the Senate and who got the Senate to take a vote (which failed), joined the crowd in the House floor. As did many other senators, even Harry Reid.

In addition to turning off the TV cameras the Seargeant at Arms has refused to allow the public into the galleries and has ordered House members to stop sharing photos and video from the House floor. That demand was ignored. Dems held a press conference outside the House chamber. This isn't controlled by the Speaker so C-SPAN covered it.

C-SPAN didn't like Speaker Ryan's refusal to allow them to film the sit-in. Rep. Scott Peters (CA) streamed video onto Periscope. C-SPAN tapped into that Periscope feed to show action in the House chamber.

Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) tweeted:

Calling this a sit-in is a disgrace to Woolworth's. That sit-in was for rights. Dems are "sitting-in" to strip them away.

Joe Meldelson responded:

John Lewis would probably be happy to educate you on sit-ins. Perhaps you could ask him?

Here's a bit of background on Lewis:

Rep. Walker appears to be unaware that former Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee chairman John Lewis, Freedom Rider, man who spoke alongside Martin Luther King Jr. on the day King gave his I Have a Dream speech, man whose skull was fractured by police beatings on Bloody Sunday, may know a little something about what the civil rights sit-ins were about.

A meeting between Lewis and Walker might provide a bit of quality television.

Speaker Ryan tried to break the sit-in by bringing up another bill for a vote. That meant the cameras were on showing a chaotic chamber. Ryan can't be heard over the chanting by Dems and those in the Gallery. Even so, the vote proceeded.

Whoever chose this bill as the one to attempt to break the sit-in must be completely tone-deaf. This vote was to repeal a fiduciary rule, one that says investment advisers must give advice in the best interest of their clients, not on whatever product gives the adviser the best kick-back. Meaning it's a bill to allow Wall Street to swindle seniors. The nature of the bill meant a 2/3 approval was necessary. Didn't happen.

A huge crowd gathered outside the House chamber chanting, "Do your job!"

The Dem sit-in continued overnight. As for Republicans... they decided it would be a real good idea to start their July 4 break on June 23 and fled.

On to the analysis. Why go through all this effort knowing Ryan won't allow a vote and if he did the vote would fail? Isn't this contributing to Congressional dysfunction or violating the sanctity of parliamentary process?

Why the effort? Because political theater, especially with the public on your side, is very powerful. It shows the obstruction, as of now, is solely on the GOP side. If the Dems retake the Senate (possible) and House (a much longer shot) then they can get stuff done – such as these gun bills. For this bit of theater the Dems are keeping the message quite focused. The GOP refused to allow a vote on this.

Accusing Dems of adding to the Dysfunction? After years of what the GOP has been doing?

More analysis: Ryan is screwed. Can you imagine the storm if he ordered Lewis to be physically removed? The GOP has no good out. And the story overshadowed Trump's latest attempt at a speech – in which fact-checkers found 30 gigantic lies in a 40 minute speech.

And more: Ryan said the sit-in is nothing but a "publicity stunt" about "trying to get attention." Well, yes it is, which isn't a bad thing. And the attention they're trying to get is yours. They want you to see the vast majority (90%) of voters want meaningful action on guns.

The sit-in has ended. For now. It will likely resume after the July4 recess.

I have a blog tag, used to categorize posts, that says "Democrat Wimps." I'm not using it today.

Direct line to Trump's ear

I mentioned yesterday that Trump was meeting with 900 top conservative Evangelicals. After that meeting Trump announced the formation of an Evangelical Executive Advisory Board. Over 20 of the top homophobes will have a direct line to Trump's ear. Strange that those on this board don't actually have to endorse Trump

Not all of the attendees think the Donald is wonderful. Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association (theirs, not yours) said:

He did say he is for religious freedom, but I don’t think he really understands that issue. Either he doesn’t understand it or he doesn’t agree with us and he doesn’t want to tell us that. I think that’s his weakness.

… I think his strength is on judges, which is very, very important. He said his judges will be screened by the Federalist Society, [which is] a bona fide constitutional, conservative group. So if they put their seal of approval on a candidate, then you can go with it.

So, yeah, Wildmon is saying Trump will nominate judges that have the approval of the Federalist Society, an extremely conservative group. That seems like all they want from Trump anyway.

Jerry Falwell, Jr. posed for a photo with Trump in what must be Trump's office. One tiny problem. The May 1990 issue of Playboy is clearly visible on the wall behind them. It is there because that issue contains an article featuring Trump.

House filibuster

About 40 Democrats of the US House, led by Civil Rights veteran John Lewis, have occupied the House floor, about as close as they can get to the equivalent of a Senate filibuster. They are there to force a vote on gun bills.

Their timing is a bit off... the House is on break (thus the sit-in isn't being televised, and Speaker Ryan could let them sit there until the end of the break).

It is also true those bills have also been voted down in the Senate. But the goal here is also to prove to voters who is obstructing gun control and get their votes on record.

Yesterday I wrote that the GOP is pleasing their corporate masters by voting against sensible reforms. Another way to say that is the NRA is holding the GOP hostage. Cartoonist Keith Knight takes that idea literally.

A self-financed campaign

A few days ago I responded to Trump's claim that he's the best candidate for gay people. Another response right here: Trump is meeting with 900 conservative Evangelical leaders. The roster includes the top of the anti-gay political activists, including Jerry Falwell, Jr., Ralph Reed, Ronnie Floyd, Robert Jeffries (mentioned before), Jay Strack, and Jack Graham.



It seems the Trump campaign is in full meltdown. He fired his manager and an adviser resigned. Hillary is outpacing his fundraising at about 40-1. That was something about paying for the primary campaign out of his own pocket, but not the general. It seems there is a combination of few people wanting to donate and not wanting to lower himself to beg for money. But I doubt his ego would let him bow out.

A couple reasons why people are reluctant to donate: First, while Trump donated money to his primary campaign, he also loaned money. The campaign is to pay him back. Which means money donated to the campaign may go straight into Trump's pocket, though he says he won't do that. Second, Trump routinely flies on his corporate airline, holds events at his corporate properties and resorts, and serves his corporate food (Trump wine, for example) at these events. Of course, the corporations bill the campaign to the tune of millions. And again the money goes (indirectly) into Trump's pocket.



The Senate voted on four pieces of gun reform. Yup, all four failed. Pleasing their corporate masters, in other words keeping their jobs, is more important than the lives of anyone else.

Obsolete

Melissa MCEwen of Shakesville is annoyed with news sources that seem to obsess over whether Prince died of a drug overdose. She says Prince died of a disease that was painful and difficult to treat. The difference is important and removes the stigma.



The Conservative Party in Canada has officially removed opposition to same-sex marriage from the party policies. The term used is "obsolete." Keep in mind that same-sex marriage was made legal in Canada 11 years ago. And that the Conservative Party lost power to the Liberals last year. They're starting the work they'll need to do if they want to get back in power.



I'm quite late for telling you about the winners of the 2015 Bulwer-Lytton contest, the one that awards prizes (a pittance) to people who craft the worst sentence supposedly from a novel. The 2016 winners should be announced in about three weeks. A winner in the Vile Puns category (and my favorite for the year) is by Matthew Pfeifer of Beaman, Iowa:

Old Man Dracula forgot to put his teeth in one night, and so had to come home hungry, with a sort of “nothing dentured, nothing veined” look on his face.

It's their fault

Terrence Heath had gathered together the worst of what conservatives have said about the Orlando Attack. He did it so you don't have to. He even grouped the responses into five broad categories.

* Many can't seem to say "gay," that gays were the target.

* Those who can say the word "gay" declare that gays had it coming.

* It's Obama's fault.

* Guns don't kill people, people kill people (though someone with an automatic weapon can kill a lot of people and do it a lot faster than someone with a knife).

* It's the fault of the Muslims.

But there are some sweeties out there. Utah's Republican Lt. Governor Spencer Cox attended a vigil and said:

Over the intervening years, my heart has changed. It has changed because of you. It has changed because I have gotten to know many of you.

Make a man out of him

It's been a hectic few weeks with lots of turmoil, so it is only now I can tell you about a book I read in May. The book is The Prince of Los Cocuyos (of the fireflies) by Richard Blanco. He is the youngest, first immigrant, first Latino, and first gay poet to present a poem at a presidential inauguration, which he did for Obama in 2013. This book, however, is a memoir, not a collection of poems.

Blanco's parents and grandparents escaped Cuba in 1968. He was born in Spain while his family worked out the paperwork to come to Miami, where they became a part of the Cuban community.

The first few chapters describe when he was a child trying to be American as his parents and grandparents were trying to remain Cuban. He learns about Thanksgiving in school and wants his family to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but none of them have any idea what these foods are. His grandmother takes him to a Cuban grocery store and he wants to experience the American foods in the big American supermarket. It doesn't go well.

There is the trip to Orlando to see Mickey, very much an American experience. During the trip Blanco and his brother use a bit of power over their parents. The boys speak English, the parents are pretty bad at it. The boys order extra food beyond the budget at a fast food place (boys are always hungry) and the parents don't want to make a scene speaking Spanish.

In his mid-teens Blanco began working at a Cuban grocery store owned by an uncle. It is there and during a family picnic he begins to deal with being gay. That is difficult because his grandmother has long been working to make a man out of him. Through his childhood she had thrown away some of his things because they weren't manly enough.

Blanco is a good storyteller. The stories are humorous, sometimes almost absurd from our point of view. Blanco eventually shows us the American/Cuban conflicts are within his own thinking. I very much enjoyed it.

Look, son

Recently Donald Trump made a play for the gay vote, "So you tell me: Who is better for the gay community and who is better for women than Donald Trump?"

To help you answer that question (in case the answer isn't blindly obvious) note later that same evening Trump was photographed with Robert Jeffries, pastor of First Baptist Church, who is notoriously anti-gay and has lamented that people aren't noticing how gays are persecuting Christians (that whole thing about demanding cakes for their weddings). And it was Trump who thinks states should decide whether they allow marriage equality.

I saw a long post in which various LGBT people responded to the Donald. Alas, I didn't keep it nor can I find it. Most of the replies were short videos rather than written text.



Here's a beautiful 3 minute film titled Golden. It made the rounds of LGBT film festivals. The maker decided to post it online after last Sunday's attack.



A lot of the press about Hillary seems to be "a cultural inventory of villainy rather than a plausible depiction of an actual person," as Henry Louis Gates wrote. Michael Arnovitz provides an example:

To conservatives she is a radical left-wing insurgent who has on multiple occasions been compared to Mikhail Suslov, the Soviet Kremlin's long-time Chief of Ideology. To many progressives (you know who you are), she is a Republican fox in Democratic sheep's clothing, a shill for Wall Street who doesn't give a damn about the working class. The fact that these views could not possibly apply to the same person does not seem to give either side pause. Hillary haters on the right and the left seem perfectly happy to maintain their mutually incompatible delusions about why she is awful.

Melissa McEwen of Shakesville has a two-tweet summary of the way lots of people think about this election. Those two tweets include her response.



Saleem Haddad neatly sums up why last Sunday's attack is not part of a war with Islam.



It appears that in California primaries all the R and D candidates are lumped into one big pool. The two top vote-getters, no matter which party they are from, go on to the general election. This fall the two candidates for the seat being vacated by retiring Senator Barbara Boxer are both Democrats and both women of color. They're current Attorney General Kamala Harris (who performed the ceremony for the first same-sex wedding in Calif. last summer) and Rep. Loretta Sanchez, who might be the first Latina in the Senate.

Yes, this system can backfire. Consider a case where a seat has two GOP candidates and four Dem candidates. There may be more Dem voters but if their candidates split the vote they could all fall short of the GOPs.



The cast of Kinky Boots (which won Best Musical in 2013) created a response to the North Carolina Bathroom Law – a fun little song and dance. The lyrics include, "I'm me! I don't need ID to tell who am I and where I oughta pee!"



The Black Youth Project has a report on the nine most segregated metropolitan areas. The divide used to be mostly about race. Now it is about income, though there is still a strong racial component to income segregation. The ratings are based on the percentage of population living in segregated areas. The data includes black and white poverty rates and unemployment rates.

Second from the top is Detroit-Warren-Dearborn with 51.9% living in segregated areas. Yes, Detroit is predominantly black and Dearborn is predominantly white (though with a large Arab community). I wonder if the data includes only those cities or includes all of Detroit's suburbs.

At the top of the list is Cleveland-Elyria with 55.1% living in segregated areas.



On the day before the Calif. primary, Hillary Clinton said:

And I do think it will make a big difference for a father or a mother to be able to look at their daughter, just like they can look at their son, and say, 'You can be anything you want to be in this country, including President of the United States.'

That prompted a comment from phoquess, responding to Clinton saying men bring their daughters to meet her. phoquess wrote:

I want to hear about men bringing their daughters, yes, but I also want to hear about men bringing their sons and saying, "Look, son, the future President of the United States. Look, son, we are about to make history. Look, son—the highest authority in the country will be a woman and she'll do a hell of a job at it, and that's going to make things better for EVERYONE."

Shareholder value

In the last few decades there has been a shift in the purpose of a corporation. Now the mantra is a corporation must maximize shareholder value. Everything else is secondary. The radio program Marketplace has now concluded a week long series discussing how we got to this point and what are the consequences. The audio for the series is about 35 minutes. If my summary sometimes seems repetitive it is because ideas were mentioned as part of segments aired on different days.

Back in February I had written about why increasing shareholder value is a bad idea.

When candidates for president talk about bringing back jobs, keep out immigrants, drop out of trade agreements, reduce the power of Wall Street, reform campaign finance laws, retrain American workers, and cut taxes on job creators, they're talking about a time before shareholder value was king.

IBM used to take very good care of its employees. The company even owned golf courses. Good care of employees, according to Thomas Watson Senior and Junior, meant good productivity. An insecure employee didn't perform so well. So make them to feel secure. Yes, profits were good, but so was support of employees.

There were three sources of power: corporation leaders, government, and labor unions. The society was better when all three worked together. But in the 1970s corporations stagnated because of inflation and the cost of the Vietnam war. Corporations rethought their strategy – and decided that the bottom line was all.

In the 1980s IBM didn't see the popularity of the PC and defended the mainframe market. That didn't go well. An outsider was brought in to lead the company. And he repudiated all of Watson's employee protections.

In the 1970s Milton Friedman stated a corporation has only one responsibility, to increase its profits. He said this because the old corporate model was crumbling from inflation and weak growth. Corporations were taking on too many social responsibilities, such as full employment, pollution (!), and ending discrimination. Corporations became bloated. And a claim was made that the shareholder suffered because of the excessive executive perks. The idea of business for shareholder profits caught on and stuck.

Yes, shareholders were happy – stock prices shot up 12-fold in the '80s and '90s. For each dollar in profits, 80 cents went to shareholders.

Executives found the fastest way to boost profits was to cut employees. The corporate social contract was shredded. Along with it went generous employee benefits.

About this same time activist investors would buy shares to force corporations to shift to the shareholder first structure. This was easily done by threatening the senior leadership. If you won't do it we'll get someone who will.

However, there is no law that says the shareholder comes first. Even Justice Alito affirmed that idea just a few years ago. Though it wasn't actual law, it was acted upon as if it was law.

The emphasis on shareholder value has led to disasters, such as Enron and the BP oil spill.

Back to those 1970s pronouncements. The actual text was to "act in the best interest of the shareholders," which doesn't always mean maximize profit. It might, for instance, mean investing in the future of the company, so that its profits can continue for a longer time. In addition, those who made the pronouncements are having second thoughts.

The pharma industry is an example of what happened. In the first half of the 1900s George Merck, head of Merck & Co. said that profits would follow from how well their product benefited people. And the corporation did well.

But now the big pharma companies don't create the drugs, they buy them from elsewhere. That saves on development costs. Then they try to find new uses for the drugs. A second component of profit is taxes. A move to Ireland will help that along. And third is prices. It's no longer what is appropriate for the patient. It's how high to price the drug to boost income. The drive isn't to help patients, it's to help investors.

Those "activist investors" mentioned before are now usually hedge fund managers. Many times these guys will force a corporation to make some changes (see those threats mentioned above). Then once the stock prices has risen, they cash out. But the changes they forced on the corporation usually lead to big long-term problems.

Alas, one of the big sources of hedge fund money is us – in particular, public pension plans in our names. That's because the plans were set up with the expectation of high returns. Failure to meet those returns mean the plans are underfunded (and that usually implies the gov't entity that created the plan underfunded it at the start). These funds must pursue high returns to meet oblications. The other big source of money now in stocks is our 401(K) accounts and the mutual funds we invest in. But we're usually silent investors – do you know all the corporations in your accounts? And that allows the activist investors to speak with a louder voice.

Recently, many corporations have done stock buy-back programs. Yes, they are spending money to buy themselves. The reason is simple. It increases the value of the company in the eyes of the shareholder. But that value is only gained when the stock is sold.

A side effect of a buy-back is that it attracts shareholders who are in it for the short term. Those activist investors look for corporations with lots of cash on hand. They buy stock, raise hell, the management does a stock buy-back, and the investors cash out. That's essentially a wealth transfer from the corporation to the investor. Alas, that means the corporation no longer has that money for useful things like investing in their future – including stabilizing their workforce with higher wages and better benefits and also withstanding economic slumps. It also means the decisions are driven by the people who matter least – shareholders in it for a short time.

I know you would have never guessed this one... When the focus is on shareholder value, who loses? Yes, of course. Workers. The big way to make shareholder value go up is to reduce assets. And workers are assets. But the work still needs to get done. The result is the temp worker.

I remember when I worked for the auto industry (gosh, I left 9 years ago!) many of my colleagues were temp workers – even though many of them stayed for years and held important institutional knowledge. The reason is simple – it was a lot easier to reduce the number of workers by canceling temp contracts.

But it also means lower wages and skimpier benefits. And no permanence. Just try to buy a house when you list a temp company as your employer.

We've been hearing the GOP bellow for years that tax breaks should be given to the "job creators." But modern corporations see no value in creating jobs. Adding jobs reduces shareholder value.

Keep the heartbeat alive

On Sunday we saw how beastly some people can be. Here's a story about how beautiful people can be. I won't try to summarize it. Just read it. Have tissues handy.



Thirteen years ago Barbara Poma opened the Pulse club in Orlando (the site of Sunday's attack) in memory of her brother who had died of AIDS. The name was chosen because "we just wanted to keep the heartbeat alive." She will reopen. She's got another 49 heartbeats to keep alive.



Catholic Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburgh, FL wrote a surprising op-ed for the Washington Post.

…sadly it is religion, including our own, that targets, mostly verbally, and often breeds contempt for gays, lesbians and transgender people. Attacks today on LGBT men and women often plant the seed of contempt, then hatred, which can ultimately lead to violence.
…
Singling out people for victimization because of their religion, their sexual orientation, their nationality must be offensive to God’s ears. It has to stop, too.

Richard Kim explains the popularity of places like Pulse:

Gay bars are therapy for people who can’t afford therapy; temples for people who lost their religion, or whose religion lost them; vacations for people who can’t go on vacation; homes for folk without families; sanctuaries against aggression. They take sound and fabric and flesh from the ordinary world, and under cover of darkness and the influence of alcohol or drugs, transform it all into something that scrapes up against utopia.

Westboro Baptist Church were prompt in declaring their intent to protest at the funerals of those killed in Sunday's attack. As these funerals take place hundreds of residents are showing up to form human screens so that the mourners can't see the WBC people – who haven't actually shown up yet. But the screens will continue, just in case they do.

No-gun culture

I've been hearing a lot about this over the last couple days. There is now strong evidence that the Orlando attacker was a regular at the Pulse club, the place he later attacked. There is also some evidence he used a gay hook-up app.

Melissa McEwen of Shakesville walks us through the implications. It may mean the attacker had been so immersed in homophobia that he couldn't tolerate himself and couldn't tolerate gay people who were happy and well adjusted, able to have fun. Evidence of that immersion is a father who said, "God will punish those involved in homosexuality." It may mean the attacker wanted to be known as an ISIS terrorist or a "lone wolf" rather than be known as queer. This may explain. It does not excuse. It also indicts all those still spewing homophobic garbage at us.



McEwen again: We well know of the gun culture in America. These are people who grew up around guns, know how to use them, and think owning guns is natural. But some of us live in a no-gun culture. We don't own guns. We don't know how to use gums. We want nothing to do with guns. Many of us are frightened by guns. We don't see guns as solving the problem of self defense. We would rather the robber steal from us than to be responsible for his death. We don't want to walk in public and see guns. We don't want to face down a barrel during a case of road rage.

Where is the balance between the gun culture and the no-gun culture? Why is my right to life less important than your right to a gun?

So lets start with a ban on assault weapons, such as the one this attacker used.

If we can't even agree on that, especially after the horrific shooting in Orlando, then this isn't a conversation about guns anymore. Not really. It's a conversation about power and control.

I suspect that it always has been, but I would be thrilled if gun-owners would prove me wrong.

Scroll down in McEwen's post to where a commenter posted what Samantha Bee has to say about gun control and the effectiveness in prayer after a mass shooting. Her wonderful rant is 8 minutes.



Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut (home of the Sandy Hook shooting) and fellow Democrats are staging a filibuster demanding action on bills to address gun violence. Even if a vote is held, passage isn't a sure thing. And then there's the House...