It’s not rhetoric, but action that proves how different the two parties are. Can we PLEASE stop treating them as if they’re two sides of the same coin? It’s not only lazy, but dead wrong.
Enlarge/ Students from Launch Charter School gather for a rally for National Gun Violence Awareness Day at Restoration Plaza on June 2, 2023, in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn borough in New York City.
As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in 2020, so did another grim reality: For the first time, guns became the leading cause of death for American children and teenagers, surpassing car accidents, the long-standing leader.
In 2021, youth firearm death rates did not fall to pre-pandemic levels as hoped, but instead continued a sharp rise to hit a new record high. That’s according to a recent study led by researchers in New York and published in the journal Pediatrics. The study was based on national mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nationwide, there were 4,752 firearm deaths of American children and teens (ages 0 to 19) in 2021, translating to a rate of 5.8 gun deaths per 100,000 people. The deaths represent a nearly 9 percent increase from 2020 (4,368 or 5.4 deaths per 100,000).
The study looked for disparities and trends in the data. As before, firearm deaths were largely in older teens, with 83 percent of deaths in teens ages 15 to 19. Most were among males, who accounted for 85 percent of the deaths. Black children remained disproportionately affected, with the gap widening—50 percent of the deaths were among Black children. The death rate among Black children and teens increased from 16.6 per 100,000 in 2020 to 18.9 per 100,000, the largest increase among the racial categories.
As for intent, 64 percent of the 2021 firearm deaths were from homicides and 30 percent were from suicides, with the remainder from unintentional shootings. Homicide rates increased across all age groups, which was part of a multi-year trend. Between 2018 and 2021, homicides increased 66 percent in the 0–4 and 5–9 age groups. For kids ages 10–14, homicides increased 100 percent and 62 percent in teens 15–19.
The racial disparity in homicides was stark, with the rate of deaths among Black children being 11 times higher than that of white children. For suicides, white children accounted for 78 percent of the deaths.
Regarding where children and teens had the highest rates of firearm deaths, the study found that places where baseline death rates were already high got worse—namely in the South.
Enlarge/ Pediatric firearm mortality rate by state and year from 2018 to 2021. States with absolute mortalities <20 are grayed out because of unreliable crude death rates (these include Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming, and District of Columbia).
“In 2021, firearm mortalities were largely concentrated in Southern states,” the authors wrote. “Louisiana had the highest death rate per 100,000 persons (17.0), followed by Mississippi (14.8), Alabama (11.4), Montana (11.1), and South Carolina (10.2).”
The authors speculated that this could be due to “variability in social determinants of health, inequity, firearm access, legislation, and access to preventative strategies (violence intervention, suicide prevention, firearm safety).” State poverty levels were also tightly linked with pediatric firearm death rates, the study found.
In all, the authors called for more data to understand the deadly trend and develop prevention strategies.
“These findings highlight the necessity and urgency of real-time epidemiologic surveillance of this epidemic and implementation of evidence-informed strategies to prevent pediatric firearm fatalities among children and adolescents at highest risk,” the authors wrote.
Jon Stewart confronts Republican Senator Nathan Dahm on the insane record of dead children due to gun violence and the lack of gun control in America in general.
And of course the Proud Boys which are gang thugs carried guns and got to stay while grieving parents holding small signs got removed. The police stood by and let the gang thugs harass women and anti-gun people. Well it has come out that a large number of the police are white supremacist bigot gang thugs themselves. Birds of a feather type thing. The country is fast becoming over run by authoritarian cops and fascist politicians that are backed up by gang thugs. Welcome to the fall of the US democracy. Hugs
Families close to a Nashville fatal school shooting broke down in tears after a Tennessee Republican leader ordered state troopers to remove them and others from a legislative hearing room while they waited to testify in favor of gun control measures. https://t.co/ru3b5UdMS9
BREAKING: Drama in Tennessee House subcommittee as protesters are removed by state troopers. Their violation: quietly holding up signs. pic.twitter.com/uESCjA0Pyj
While our supporters of clergy marched and prayed over our Capitol to end gun violence, the @tnhousegop and their extremist supporters, the proud boys, threaten our democracy with their terrorism. This is what we are fighting against every single day and why we will never quit! pic.twitter.com/jyMU5XaH9E
The p-boys were back again today. I’m pretty sure we can go ahead and call this stalking now. They kept following me to the restroom, weird, huh. The troopers were pretty fed up. Grieving parents can’t have notebook paper signs, but are these guys armed? pic.twitter.com/p40eh53LcT
This nonstop transanity doesn’t sell, and it’s damaging our state’s efforts to safeguard young Hoosiers. My office will continue working daily to protect our children and uphold parental rights. https://t.co/kzTNpgOdDv
Indiana's attorney general is leading seven states expressing legal concern that Target’s ‘LGBTQIA+ Pride’ campaign is damaging efforts to safeguard citizens. https://t.co/ED1UvcZTbo
A lawsuit seeking to invalidate a Wisconsin statute from 1849 outlawing abortion will proceed, after the presiding judge on Friday denied a motion to dismiss the closely watched legal action. @cnsjkellyhttps://t.co/LKqYBXBoJc
Patrick Henry: “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity,…
You will be unsurprised to hear that Patrick Henry never said this. It comes from a 1956 article in a magazine called The Virginian. But what's a fake quote between friends? https://t.co/PZCEhfNlqW
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) July 5, 2023
15 hours and this fake quote is still up. Christian Nationalists' identity depends on deliberately spreading disinformation about American history, especially the founders and the founding. https://t.co/z6bRSUYnQW
Christian theocrat uses a fake quote to make his case. Many of the founding fathers were deists and the constitution establishes a secular government. Your version of christian Saudi Arabia is authoritarian and unpopular. Give it up https://t.co/SCu5MFAWjg
Next time, instead of arguing whether America was founded on ‘christianity”, ask them why it is so important for them to make their (incorrect) point. Okay, we were founded on Christian principles of slavery, and women as chattel with no vote, natives were stripped of their land and other rights, and only white male property owners could vote. Not to mention child labor was rampant, the majority of the country were small farmers, divorce was nearly impossible and so on. Hurray! What is you want NOW? You want to reinstitute all of that? No, they will likely say, they just want “Christian principles” reinstitute. Like what? Name them, specifically. They will be likely more in line with Christian nationalism — no LBGT rights, minorities voting is restricted, reduction in social safety net, more deregulation and so on. So now you can drill down — what does Christianity have to say about laws that control pollution, radioactive waste, plastics in our food, chemicals in the water you drink? They will give you mumbo jumbo about freedom, and all that. “”So why do we have to be a Christian nation” to achieve your goals of less regulation? What it will likely come down to is morals and values. Again, we can hit hard back — you mean no divorce? Because Jesus had a lot to say about it. Premarital sex? Birth control? IF you want to talk about morals, let’s talk about children going to bed or to school hungry, of which millions do. What about the homeless? Again, we don’t need Christian nationalism to tackle those issues. It wil come down to nothing at all — just a vague desire to make people go to church more, pray more, and be more aligned with god or something. “So you want to force people to pray?” I could go on, but you just have to nail them down on specifics. Hawley is just about control — they don’t want drag queens, people having wanton sex, abortion, and all that. Force them to admit that.
I remember in 2020 when they used the flag of the Russian Federation to decorate the Republican National Convention, which inspired me to make this meme.
GQP ads constantly have Russian troops, ships and MiGs because they use creative agencies in Russia, because few US agencies often full of GQP intended victims will do work for them.
Creative houses use the stock images they have on hand. That’s why so much Russian stuff shows up in their ads.
Early data shows globe just had its warmest June on record by far, and July 3 and 4 set a record for the hottest days yet recorded (since 1979). I suspect July 5 will be added to that list… https://t.co/EkJtXJhBO9
When children first are taught the letters of the alphabet, the letters are capitalized. Maybe the MAGAs never got farther than that.
Snow White is a 19th century German fairy tale. The name literally refers to the character’s skin color. This is what actual cultural appropriation looks like. Probably the most blatant case we’ve seen yet. https://t.co/erALE33kj0
Meet the cast of Disney’s new woke Snow White film. Snow White is Columbian now and the 7 dwarves look more like the 6 normal sized hipster pedos and 1 dwarf from Portland. Snow White no longer has "skin white as snow". Absolutely ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/DKZInYty89
So they have one little person playing a dwarf to be more “politically correct?” So 6 other little people didn’t get the job or the check and somehow this is more “sensitive?”
Elagabalus2 days ago Reminds me of the time Megyn Kelly got so flummoxed that Santa Claus was presented as black because in her worldview, Santa Claus was clearly white. What is it with conservatives and fictional characters?
If you read the articles on this it says that trump did not argue that the evidence was not there to show he committed a crime but that it was improperly gained. His lawyers are admitting to the crime basically. Hugs
Federal judge also orders far-right also-ran Mark Finchem and their famed lawyer Alan Dershowitz to split some costs — though Dersh has a lighter share.
A DeSantis staffer has reportedly been caught on camera saying he is telling voters “eat my balls” if they are upset by being asked to support DeSantis. “I’m a little stoned, so I don’t even care.”
ICYMI: "Broward County has lost more than a half-dozen conventions as their organizers cite the divisive political climate as their reason to stay out of Florida."https://t.co/V6sDOmAX6I.
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani 🔨 (@AnnaForFlorida) July 8, 2023
According to @alltherooms, the Orlando DMA for Air BnB is down 35% from May 2022 to May 2023. Per @VisitOrlando: rentals in Orange County, occupancy year-to-date so far 60.9%, down 10% from 2022. The average daily rate through May 2023 is $175, a 7% increase from 2022. @MyNews13
— Spectrum News Asher Wildman (@AsherWildman13) June 29, 2023
— The Florida Phoenix (@FLPhoenixNews) July 5, 2023
"Black engineers and “Game of Thrones” fans are the latest groups canceling Orlando events and attributing their decisions to Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s political climate."
Kirk Cameron demands investigation of American Library Association for religious discrimination https://t.co/ls3wyqeBP6
— The Christian Post (@ChristianPost) July 9, 2023
“Library staffers were deluged with harassment and a bomb threat.”
Oregon Public Broadcasting's @_jlevinson revealed that the mayor of Newport, Ore., had for years been posting hateful memes on a private FB group for law enforcement officers.
“But when you’re asked to take the word of a fugitive making videos for the New York Post over career prosecutors making sworn statements with their entire careers & livelihoods on the line…I gotta be honest. I’m leaning toward trusting the government.” https://t.co/Axhv3CyOnO
In May, one of the informants in the Republican-led investigation into the Biden family went missing. That informant was later revealed to be Gal Luft, who is now charged with acting as a foreign agent for China. https://t.co/ErabfF07tq
Another Hunter Biden whistleblower bites the dust. James Comer's whistleblower, Gal Luft, has just been indicted by the DOJ for arms trafficking, violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, making false statements to federal agents, and being a Chinese spy.pic.twitter.com/yQK2pNkNCs
“Several lawyers who have had business before the supreme court…paid money to a top aide to Justice Clarence Thomas, according to the aide’s Venmo transactions. The payments appear to have been made in connection to Thomas’s 2019 Christmas party.” https://t.co/NIpf6mHBgN
Abortion should be freely available at any stage of pregnancy, on demand, without apology.
Reposting:
“The very concept of sin comes from the Bible. Christianity offers to solve a problem of its own making! Would you be thankful to a person who cut you with a knife in order to sell you a bandage?”
― Dan Barker, Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist
Farmers Insurance announced today they're pulling out of Florida, the 4th major insurance co to leave Florida since @rondesantis took over
THAT's the economy of DeSantis, too busy screaming hysterically about some made up "woke" boogeyman to give a shit about actual people
While Florida’s property insurance market was BURNING 🔥, Ron DeSantis used GOP supermajorities to obsess over wokeness, drag queens, and pronouns.
Now 100,000 Floridians will lose coverage, but at least no one is talking about gay in school. pic.twitter.com/8kgBrSIdYJ
— Carlos Guillermo Smith (@CarlosGSmith) July 11, 2023
Gov. DeSantis and his allies in the Florida Legislature chose to focus on culture wars, instead of addressing the issues facing everyday Floridians, during the 2023 session.
How many of our congress is on the payroll of Russia. Hugs
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) on Tuesday introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would require transgender men to register for the draft:
Indeed trans men should sign up for selective service when they turn 18, just like all cis men. But then trans men should be able to use the men’s room, just like all cis men do.
The current law states that all persons either born in the US or (with few exceptions) legally resident when they turn 18, and identified as male at birth are required to register for the Selective Service when they turn 18, no exceptions. If you are an American citizen living abroad, you must still register. If you are a legal resident alien, you must still register. If you are in a prison or mental asylum, you must still register. If you are here under a diplomatic passport (say, a parent works at an embassy or consulate) or have a tourist or student visa, you do not need to register. People who were identified as female at birth are NOT required to register for the Selective Service, and in fact trying to register can get you in legal trouble for filing a “frivolous” legal document (not sure if it has ever been prosecuted, but it is in the regulations.)
If they are going to make transmen register, then they must also make transwomen exempt. They will also need to clarify at what point relative to the age of 18 this will kick in: is it enough to identify as trans, or will they need to have passed some benchmark in transitioning? What if a person comes out as trans after they are 18, but before they turn 25 (the age that your registration remains in effect)? And if transwomen are not exempt, they they should make registration mandatory for ALL 18 year olds regardless of gender identity: there is no longer any restriction from women serving in combat, after all. Maybe if their precious daughters are required to register, and fact the very serious penalties for not registering, we can finally get rid of this whole Selective Service idiocy once and for all.
BREAKING: ARIZONA AG Kris Mayes has APPOINTED a team of PROSECUTORS to investigate republican attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state. MI and NM referred their findings to the DoJ, and GA will make charging decisions in August. https://t.co/lEijrZczDF
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) July 13, 2023
I guess it was done the same way the former idiot allowed a bunch of Russian spies into the building.
#Hungarian authorities issued a 12 million (EUR 32 000) fine on a book publisher, based on the homophobic „child protection" law.
Reason: stores displayed Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper in the youth section, and the books – that "depict homosexuality+ were not in closed packaging. pic.twitter.com/S0N6Q8JV8r
This is the country and leader the republicans love almost as much as Putin.
Because if you don’t acknowledge LBGTs exist, kids will stop being gay
Clay’s policy is to place a temporary ban on all challenged books until they complete the challenge process (which can include an appeal to remove to the Board).
With 350+ challenges and growing, this temporary ban could last years. https://t.co/Sjcbx5Si8f
— Florida Freedom to Read Project (@FLFreedomRead) March 29, 2023
This year in the U.S. the majority of books most often banned are by LGBT writers and writers of color.
Here’s a good report from the writers’ organization PEN on the state of censorship in the U.S. https://pen.org/report/bann…
New: The Texas Department of Agriculture renounced a mandatory workplace training on Wednesday that mentioned gender identity definitions.
The same state agency in April ordered employees to dress “in a manner consistent with their biological gender.” https://t.co/6sUlMTHF0n
Oh my God, I'm so sick of this christian bigotry. This is the exact reason the EEOC laws exist. And it's training.. good grief. For a bunch of tough men you'd think they could handle some words about gender.
How did people get it in their heads that they have a “right” to never be offended? That is not a right and never has been. Freedom of speech, remember?Astonishing how the “fuck your feelings” crowd so quickly turn around to demand safe spaces where their precious feelings are prioritized so much.
Didn’t a black woman in Texas get five years for voting just once? I think they claimed she was ineligible for some reason.And it was a provisional ballot and was not counted. Further it was a poll worker that told her to fill out a provisional ballot.
Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina argues against humanitarian aid for women and children in Afghanistan because it is not mentioned in the Constitution.
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) July 14, 2023
Jesus isn’t in the Constitution either. Let’s start there.
Gov. Newsom slams "cancel culture" and "radicalized zealots" at Temecula school board, vows state action over Harvey Milk issue https://t.co/3y6aekUGDY
They’ve already grabbed lots of the courts, then they want to control education (‘member how so many righties loves to quote hitler on this…) & inject religion into the schools – while wiping out all dissenting ideas & critical thinking – fast forward 10 years and VOILA – you have a whole generation of little christo-fascists that taxpayers are footing the bill to educate with xtian nationalist dogma. These wack job conservatives (an extreme minority) are proving too damn good at a multi-decade slow play here. People have to wake up.
GOP attorneys general tee off on large corporations over diversity policies https://t.co/A3QkBLHhWD
🚨BREAKING: After Randy Fine didn’t make the cut, the state has stepped in and halted the hiring process for the next FAU President https://t.co/HvOW1pdQor
— The Space Coast Rocket (@CoastRocket) July 8, 2023
The DeSantis state regime is launching a full-scale investigation into why their bigoted GOP ally Randy Fine wasn’t selected as a finalist to be FAU’s president…and why an applicant may have been asked their preferred pronouns.
— Carlos Guillermo Smith (@CarlosGSmith) July 14, 2023
Philanthropist Dick Schmidt, whose family has donated more than $47 million to FAU, served on the search committee. “I feel personally outraged and slandered by the implications of the chancellor’s letter on me and my colleagues…”https://t.co/xkJXqXgu0f
— Carlos Guillermo Smith (@CarlosGSmith) July 14, 2023
Rep. Jill Tokuda, Democrat of Hawaii, “admonished her Republican colleagues for the tenor of the debate. ‘From the backwards, racially insensitive comments spoken on this floor, it seems D.E.I. training would be good right here in the halls of Congress’” https://t.co/0kTcKpUNsh
219-210: The House passes the National Defense Authorization Act.
The House GOP added a raft of conservative policy to the traditionally bipartisan legislation, including limiting abortion access and transgender health care for service members and banning Pentagon DEI trainings. pic.twitter.com/Tdge06jwyB