Category: Political / Governments / Nations / Countries /

What a week so far and I am still reeling

Son of a bitch!  I am so drifting I wrote an entire fucking post and at the end lost it.  I will try to resurrect it.  I cannot believe after two hours of work, I lost it all.   But that is how foggy and tired I am.   

But I went to bed instead.  

I am trying to finish writing this Thursday morning at 5 am.   I have allergy shots at 10:10 am.

So Sunday night I couldn’t sleep.  I woke about 1 and tried to sleep but about 2:30 I got up.  Typical Monday morning, but I got a lot done.  Then I had a 9 AM appointment with the pain clinic and I got some steroid shots.   I think they were eight in total.   At home I tried to do the dishes, but my back was wrecked so I took more medications.   That gets important later.  That night after needing extra medications all day I was tired and not fully functioning.  But I stayed up later than normal for me.   Sadly when I went to bed I was unable to sleep, so after four hours of tossing and turning I got up. 

Now it is Tuesday morning and I have not slept since 1 AM Monday morning.   Plus I am groggy from needing extra morphine and baclofen.  Add to that I have very high blood sugar even trying very hard not to eat carbs because of the steroids, along with the steroids pushing me to be aggressive.   So I was not my really sweet normal self and barely tracking.   By Tuesday afternoon, I was so punchy I was not making sense on anything.  I was trying to talk to Ron about politics and was so disjointed I sounded like I had been drinking or something.  I was listening to a podcast earlier that mentioned an interview that Biden did with Jack Hardwick that only got 117,000 views, but was super informative of what Biden was doing for the country.  Then I read on Jill’s blog about Jill and Annie talking about posting snippets of what I thought was the same interview.  I was so out of it I couldn’t understand two different events.  Ron convinced me they were and informed me I really needed to go lay down for a while.   I did.  No sense fighting with Ron when he is right and in that mindset.   

But it was in vain.  I slept from 7 PM to 9 PM and was awake all through the night.  I again got up about 2:30 frustrated as possible.   I started to watch videos and read news articles.  I did some postings.  We got some great news in the morning when the roofing company called saying they were ready to put the new very expensive metal over roof on.  They will start on the 11th.  It is a very well constructed roof that goes over the existing structure already there, molded to include gutters, with a lifetime warranty.  We are getting some skylights added and moving some vents.  

Ron decided to put up my dry erase whiteboard in the Playtime Pink Palace even with my not tracking correctly and being so groggy.  We are mounting it on the wall, as I don’t have room in here for the stand.  It was slated for the west wall over the computers but I realized it would be hard to write on there.  Then I also realized that I have that big open spot where the door swings back to.  It has no shelves as it would prevent the door opening all the way.  But the whiteboard is thin, so it won’t bother that.  But that is the only wall that Ron has not removed or rebuilt in the years we have been here so the studs are not right.  Ron fixed that with a small cleat that is hardly noticeable.  I love it.  Below are some pictures.  Hugs

Here is the wall that the white board was slated for.  

IMG_0556

Here is the whiteboard put up.  I was too punchy from days with no sleep, I forgot to get a picture of the wall first.  The door is off because Ron is going to use that between the new living room that used to be my office before the hurricane tore the roof off the room, and it was slated to be James new room when the inner roof was put on.  James moved out, I got his old room, Ron gets a new living room, and the house gets a new dinning room where the living room is now.  Since the door that was on this room had lots of window panes and I don’t need that, Ron is getting a cheaper solid core interior door for me, and using the other door for the new living room.  Below are three pictures of the whiteboard on the wall.   

IMG_0557IMG_0555IMG_0554

Liberal Redneck – McCarthy Ousted

Kevin McCarthy is shocked to find that the “ruin everything” contingent of his own part has ruined everything for him. Weird.

Let’s talk about the GOP majority of the majority….

Florida’s Republican House Reps Trash Matt Gaetz

Florida’s Republican House Reps Trash Matt Gaetz

 

Politico reports:

Florida’s congressional Republicans are done with Matt Gaetz. They left the House chamber last night furious after Gaetz led seven other GOP members — and Democrats — to eject former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his leadership post.

They called Gaetz divisive. Disrespectful. Selfish. No other Florida Republican voted to oust McCarthy. Florida’s GOP delegation see Gaetz as carrying out a personal vendetta, accusing him of an overzealous bid for attention and of trying to position himself to become the state’s future governor.

“Gaetz has very few friends in the conference,” Rep. Carlos Gimenez said. “Gaetz maybe has a couple of friends in the delegation. But I’m not one of them. He’s about clicks,” Gimenez said. “He’s about how many cameras he can get shoved in his face and he’s a historical figure because he caused for the first time in history and all that. I think he gets off on that.”

Read the full article.

liondon#traitortrash3 hours ago

We saw and heard the same things about Ted Cruz. How much everyone hates him….but like Ted this is what the Republican voters want.

clay  liondon#traitortrashan hour ago

Haven’t Ted’s elections been getting tighter?

Buford  liondon#traitortrash3 hours ago

Notice, too, that they are criticizing Gaetz for doing the same stuff they praise from Trump…!??!

Florida’s GOP delegation see Gaetz as carrying out a personal vendetta, accusing him of an overzealous bid for attention and of trying to position himself to become the state’s future governor.
 
Rambie  liondon#traitortrash3 hours ago

Exactly! They may not like him but he’s one of them so they’ll not do anything to punish or expel him.

Buford 3 hours ago edited
…Gaetz led seven other GOP members — and Democrats — to eject former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy

God, I hate sloppy reporting. Gaetz did not lead Democrats to do anything. Democrats voted to eject Kev because after they saved his ass on Saturday by supporting his bill to prevent the GOP shutdown, he blamed them for the shutdown in Sunday interviews.

TrollopeReader  Buford3 hours ago

yes — if the D’s tried to get rid of Pelosi — why the R’s would have rushed to yell AYE before the clerk called their name .

Elston  Buford3 hours ago

In addition, it is the responsibility of the party in power to select their leader, speaker, whatever. Played more than a few years of sports ball (rugby). I never participated in the selection of the captain for the opposing team. SMH. McCarthy was not entitled to a vote from any democrats.

Elagabalus3 hours ago
They called Gaetz divisive. Disrespectful. Selfish.

 

Um, I thought that’s why Floridians elected him.

Dwight Williamson  Elagabalus21 minutes ago

It’s the fucking panhandle

Paul  Elagabalus3 hours ago

He had a very credible primary challenger in 2022: Mark Lombardo, a Marine combat veteran and former FedEx executive.

Lombardo was a self-identified conservative who called out Gaetz for basically being a sex-trafficking drama queen. Still, Gaetz got 70% in the primary. His constituents love that he’s as asshole.

“The people of Northwest Florida need a Congressman who will put them first,” Lombardo said in a released statement.

“Matt Gaetz is a professional politician who has dishonored his constituents with unnecessary drama, childish gimmicks, and is reportedly entangled in a federal investigation for sex-trafficking a 17-year-old girl to the Bahamas. Displaying the highest level of arrogance imaginable, he hired pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s attorneys and used the money from his hardworking America First donors to pay the bill. His actions are disgraceful and do not reflect or represent the conservative values of Northwest Florida.”
 
Gebildet3 hours ago edited

“Gaetz: I’m gonna oust McCarthy for working with the Dems!

Also Gaetz: votes yes with the Dems to oust McCarthy.”

ChristopherM3 hours ago

When Florida Republicans think you’re a scumbag, you really can’t get much lower than that.

alguien 3 hours ago

i have the sense that we may be seeing a re-opening and acceleration of his past trafficking scandal.

clay  alguienan hour ago

Isn’t the House Ethics Committee already doing that?

Ray Bluth 3 hours ago

Gaetz is a tRump wannabe. He seeks attention all the time. I call him an attention whore.

TrollopeReader3 hours ago

That’s the way to become governor — piss off everyone ..

(well, DeSantis seems to have done well with that, too)

 

‘He’s about clicks’: Florida Republicans furious at Gaetz

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/04/florida-republicans-matt-gaetz-furious-00119865

It is clear that Gaetz has ambitions for higher office.   He has already hinted that he will run for Florida governor.   So everything he is doing will set him up for that.  But Florida Governor is term limited, so what then.  Well historically governors have the best shot for president.  Sometimes senators will win election, but it is rare.  And I can not find in searches that representatives ever have.  So Representatives have only two choices to advance, run for the Senate or run for governor.  Gaetz has made his calculations and decision.  tRump has already shown being a divisive disruption with extreme hate / bigotry positions was a way for republicans to get votes from the lowest of the lowlifes of the Republican Party.  There are videos at the link I can not get to work on the post.   Hugs.

They called him divisive and an attention-seeker.

Rep. Matt Gaetz pointing while speaking with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol.
 

Florida congressional Republicans called Rep. Matt Gaetz divisive and selfish. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

By KIMBERLY LEONARD and MIA MCCARTHY

MIAMI — Florida’s congressional Republicans are done with Matt Gaetz.

They left the House chamber last night furious after Gaetz led seven other GOP members — and Democrats — to eject former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his leadership post.

They called Gaetz divisive. Disrespectful. Selfish. No other Florida Republican voted to oust McCarthy.

 

Florida’s GOP delegation see Gaetz as carrying out a personal vendetta, accusing him of an overzealous bid for attention and of trying to position himself to become the state’s future governor.

“Gaetz has very few friends in the conference,” Rep. Carlos Gimenez said. “Gaetz maybe has a couple of friends in the delegation. But I’m not one of them.”

As a sign of how unpopular Gaetz’ move to unseat McCarthy was, hours before yesterday’s vote, the GOP conference blocked microphones on the Republican side of the chamber, forcing Gaetz to debate from the Democratic side. But Gaetz was never known as a people-pleaser. The son of a prominent and wealthy former Florida Senate leader, Gaetz made headlines as a young Florida House member when he defended the state’s “stand your ground” law in 2013. He was first elected to the U.S. House in 2016 and, among other things, survived a federal sex trafficking probe.

 

McCarthy told his conference last night that he won’t be seeking the speakership again. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) has become the interim speaker. Gaetz left that meeting toward the beginning while other Florida members exited it later with somber, defeated faces.

“You got to go one first down at a time,” Rep. Brian Mast said. “Matt Gaetz wasn’t happy with anything less than a Hail Mary 99 yard pass to the endzone.”

Members who are usually chatty had few words to say. Others looked visibly upset and appeared to be holding back tears.

Yet representatives from Florida said Gaetz probably won’t face expulsion from the chamber, even though some lawmakers on the Hill have already started talking about it.

They did, however, seethe over Gaetz fundraising off of removing McCarthy from his perch — many calling it “disgusting” and “inappropriate.” Only Rep. Cory Mills came to Gaetz’s defense, saying that he would need “monetary capital” to defend himself against “a lot of swampy people in D.C.”

Republicans further lamented that lawmakers weren’t closer to their goals of cutting the deficit and improving border security.

“It’s absolute horse s— that we’re jumping on a plane when our work isn’t done,” Rep. Kat Cammack said, referring to lawmakers returning to their home districts. The House will adjourn until Tuesday.

Rep. Michael Waltz, who is also eyeing a 2026 gubernatorial bid, said that he agreed with Gaetz’s frustrations but not his tactics. “At the end of the day, we’re doing this, we’re not passing appropriations bills,” he said. “We’re not dealing with the border. We’re not dealing with inflation.”

Gaetz remained defiant and described his colleagues’ criticisms as part of the “stages of grief.”

“It’s to the benefit of this country that we have a better speaker of the House than Kevin McCarthy,” he said. “Kevin McCarthy couldn’t keep his word.”

Christian Ziegler, chair of the Republican Party of Florida, perhaps summed it up best on X: “Some supported it and others opposed it, but no one can deny that FLORIDA — once again — is at the center of the political universe.”

Alabama sent ‘woke’ pre-K books that cost thousands of dollars to a dump

https://www.al.com/educationlab/2023/10/alabama-sent-woke-pre-k-manuals-to-dump-at-loss-of-thousands-of-dollars.html

 A quote below is the reason.  We can not have anything not supporting racism and Christian nationalist 1950s strict gender roles in society / public view.   We really must stop this religious racist take over of the country.  Again a person born in the early part of the last century making decisions against modern society.  Governor Ivey was born October 15, 1944.  She is 79 years old.  She can not accept the changes in society, in medical science, in the understandings we have learned since she was in her prime.  She is extremely against the LGBTQIA and doesn’t support them having any rights.  She believes that the nation was a founded as a religious nation and that attempts to stop the push of Christianity on kids in public schools via government is “destroying our nation’s religious heritage.”  So, another Christian nationalist.  Hugs

Emails show that during the legislative session in April, the Governor’s office received a document, created by Rep. Jamie Kiel, R-Russellvillle, that highlighted passages from the book referencing systemic racism, white privilege and LGTBQ families.  

“I have been told by multiple education groups that ‘divisive concepts’ are not in our schools, yet the material I read was offensive to me and the majority of the people I represent,” Kiel said at the time.

————————————————————————————————————————————
 
Dozens of teacher training textbooks are scattered across the cement floor of a junkyard warehouse.

AL.com received this photo of disposed teacher training manuals, which was taken at a Montgomery waste recycling plant on May 2, 2023. Gov. Kay Ivey disavowed a teaching manual from the National Association for the Education of Young Children in April 2023.

By Rebecca Griesbach | rgriesbach@al.com

After Alabama’s governor ousted a top state official over a “woke” pre-K training manual, officials dumped dozens of the books, totaling thousands of dollars, in the trash.

 

A photograph shows more than 100 manuals, newly bought from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, scattered across the floor of a Montgomery waste recycling plant about 5 miles from the offices of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education.

 
 

The photo was taken May 2, a day after ADECE Secretary Barbara Cooper left office amid legislative pressure.

 
 

The person who took the photograph requested to remain anonymous. AL.com has confirmed the date and location of the photo. The books and registrations cost $165 apiece, according to officials. AL.com estimates the materials in the photo initially cost the department at least $16,500.

 
 

Read more:

 
 
 
 

Just a year ago, officials spent $37,950 to buy 230 book registrations of the fourth edition of NAEYC’s Developmentally Appropriate Practices manual.

 
 

The books, a common teacher development tool, are not meant to be read as curriculum, but are supposed to help early childhood educators hone their skills in the classroom. Some passages of the manual’s fourth edition encouraged educators to consider their own biases and the social and cultural backgrounds of their students.

 
 

NAEYC is a leading national preschool group that accredits hundreds of high-quality early childcare facilities. Cooper, who was also a member of the group’s governing board, praised the new manual in a review, stating that it “fully supports our practice in the field of early learning and care.”

 
 

But months later, a complaint from a lawmaker forced a complete cleanout of the books – and Cooper’s sudden departure.

 
 

Emails show that during the legislative session in April, the Governor’s office received a document, created by Rep. Jamie Kiel, R-Russellvillle, that highlighted passages from the book referencing systemic racism, white privilege and LGTBQ families.

 
 

Kiel said he created the document after receiving a complaint from an educator.

 
 

“I have been told by multiple education groups that ‘divisive concepts’ are not in our schools, yet the material I read was offensive to me and the majority of the people I represent,” Kiel said at the time.

 
 

On April 13, Liz Filmore, the governor’s chief of staff, shared a copy of the document with Cooper, asking her to review the materials. Filmore called the complaint “obviously concerning!”

 
 

In a memo released a day later, Cooper disavowed the books, calling them “unacceptable” and asking staffers to promptly return the materials to their supervisors.

 
 

Then on April 21, a week later, Ivey abruptly announced Cooper’s resignation.

 
 

“The education of Alabama’s children is my top priority as governor, and there is absolutely no room to distract or take away from this mission,” the governor wrote. “Let me be crystal clear: Woke concepts that have zero to do with a proper education and that are divisive at the core have no place in Alabama classrooms at any age level, let alone with our youngest learners. We want our children to be focused on the fundamentals, such as reading and math.”

 
 

Ivey later told reporters that the two had “mutually agreed” to part ways after a conversation about the “direction” the department was going in.

 
 

But the extent of the fallout from Cooper’s ousting – including what actually happened to all of the tens of thousands of dollars worth of manuals and other NAEYC products – is unclear.

 
 

Neither Gina Maiola, a spokeswoman for the governor’s office, nor Samuel Adams, a spokesman for ADECE, initially responded to questions about where the books were stored, or whether officials had taken any steps to resell or donate them.

 
 

After AL.com presented officials with the photo of the books at the scrap yard, Maiola issued the following response:

 
 

“The governor immediately directed the department to disavow and discontinue the book,” she said. “That was done.”

Australia rejects stricter age verification rules for access to porn, shunning global trends

Australia rejects stricter age verification rules for access to porn, shunning global trends

 

Home » Safety » Regulations » Australia rejects stricter age verification rules for access to porn, shunning global trends
 
RegulationsSafety

Australia rejects stricter age verification rules for access to porn, shunning global trends

 
Jamie F Jamie F  September 4, 2023
0
 
 
Australia rejects tightening porn age verification rules.

In the US, UK and across Europe rules around age verification to access porn sites are tightening. But the Australian government has just bucked the trend by saying it won’t force porn sites to implement age verification – yet.

Australia’s Communications Minister Michelle Rowland suggested that concerns about privacy, plus any age verification processes needing to be robust and hard to circumnavigate, meant that it was not currently appropriate to force sites to adopt age verification in the country.

In the US, Pornhub, one of the world’s biggest porn sites, has blocked access in states such as Virginia and Mississippi, in reaction to tougher age verification rules being introduced there. France and Germany are steaming ahead with age verification measures, and the UK’s Online Safety Bill, expected to be passed soon, is designed to make it tougher for minors to access online porn, among a raft of other unrelated measures.

The Australian government said that rather than passing porn age verification laws, it would introduce a new industry code based on educating parents about how to prevent their children accessing porn, including the use of filtering software. Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, the government agency for online safety, has been charged with working with the porn industry to create the code.

Texas anti-porn bill violates First Amendment free speech laws, judge rules

https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/09/01/texas-anti-porn-bill-hb-1181-injunction/

I wonder what really is driving these ultraconservative republicans?  It has to be religion!  It can not be conservatism because some of the deepest red states have the highest level of porn usage.  The republicans love to watch people have sex, and from the statistics, these red states love trans and gay porn.   So it has to be religion and forced control over others to follow their church doctrines, regardless of their own personal beliefs.  They seem to want a national Christian Taliban.   Hugs

A Texas judge has halted the state's anti-porn bill.

A Texas judge has halted the state’s anti-porn bill. (Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

A federal judge has ruled that Texas’ anti-porn legislation violates the First Amendment, halting the bill just one day before it was set to go into effect.  

The bill, known as HB 1181, was due to be implemented on Friday (1 September) and would require adult websites to use “reasonable age verification methods”, such as government ID, to ensure users who are accessing explicit content are aged 18 or older. 

Alongside this, porn websites would have been forced by the legislation to display health warning on their website in 14-point font, which reads: “Pornography is potentially biologically addictive, is proven to harm human brain development, desensitizes brain reward circuits, increases conditioned responses, and weakens brain function.”

If adult websites fail to adhere to these regulations set out in the law, HB 1181 would enable the Texas attorney general to sue such sites for $3 million a year. 

On Thursday (31 August), however, senior US District judge David A. Ezra of the US. District Court for the Western District of Texas issued a final-hour preliminary injunction against the bill, describing it as “unconstitutional on its face”. 

Ezra’s decision comes after Pornhub – alongside several other adult sites such as FakeTaxi.com, BangBros.com and SpiceVids – and the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), filed a lawsuit against Texas over the bill. 

The judge described the legislation as “not narrowly tailored” and “chills the free speech of Plaintiffs and adults who wish to access sexual materials”. 

“The state has a legitimate goal in protecting children from sexually explicit material online,” Ezra added. 

“But that goal, however crucial, does not negate this Court’s burden to ensure that the laws passed in its pursuit comport with established First Amendment doctrine.”

Texas’ defence was based in ‘ideology and politics’

In response to the ruling, Alison Boden – executive director of Free Speech Coalition – said in a statement: “This is a huge and important victory against the rising tide of censorship online. 

“From the beginning, we have argued that the Texas law, and those like it, are both dangerous and unconstitutional. 

“We’re pleased that the Court agreed with our view that HB 1181’s true purpose is not to protect young people, but to prevent Texans from enjoying First Amendment protected expression. 

“The state’s defense of the law was not based in science or technology, but ideology and politics.”

Bolden added: “The ruling rebuffs nearly every argument made by state legislatures, and not only in Texas. 

“While Texas presented the most straightforward path to securing a ruling like this, the issues are the same whether in Utah, Louisiana or Virginia. Anyone who attempts to bring a case in those jurisdictions faces little hope of success. 

“We are thrilled with the decision and thank our co-plaintiffs for joining this battle and defending the industry. We are confident that the law will ultimately be struck down permanently.”

Mike Stabile, director of public affairs at FSC, told Rolling Stone the ruling would have an impact on other state’s which are seeking to pass similar laws. 

“The court said in no uncertain terms that this scheme in Texas is ineffective and unconstitutional, and it rejected nearly every single argument the state made,” Stabile explained. 

“Unfortunately for the religious groups pushing this legislation, the copycat legislation in Louisiana, Utah, Virginia and other states suffers all the same inherent problems,” he added.  

“There’s been a lot of murmuring on the right that they’d finally found a way to censor adult content online. This ruling shows that their confidence was entirely misplaced, and is unlikely to survive a court challenge.”

Currently, there are a number of anti-porn laws being discussed in states across America, which are copycat bills of each other and seek to restrict access to explicit materials across the board.

In the same week, a judge in Texas blocked an anti-drag bill, shortly before it was set to ban performances across the state.

North Dakota Republican Calls for Total Criminalization of Adult Content

https://www.xbiz.com/news/277046/north-dakota-republican-calls-for-total-criminalization-of-adult-content

Another Christian nationalist who is desperately driven to push his religion, his faith, his church doctrines on everyone.  Mandatory worship of only his god, and everyone must live according to the views of his church.   What is happening in the US?  No freedoms and everyone go back to living in the times when the church was the highest authority in all things.  Hugs

A quote from the article.  “Every conservative state should put into code that Jesus Christ is King and dedicate their state to Him,” he added. “Force RINOs to say no to Jesus and then brutalize them in elections. We need a government of Christians, not fakers.”

North Dakota Republican Calls for Total Criminalization of Adult Content

BISMARCK, N.D. — A North Dakota Republican lawmaker took to Twitter over the weekend to call for the total criminalization of adult content and for all politicians to submit to “the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

State Rep. Brandon Prichard began his social media tirade, which continued into Monday, by stating his belief that “pornography should be illegal. Conservative legislatures should wield their power and ban porn for both children and adults. It serves no positive benefit in society, destroys men, and treats women as objects. It’s not enough to stop at banning porn for children…

“Remember Christ spent his time on earth with the prostitutes and sinners,” he added. “You deserve better.”

Prichard added on Saturday that “conservative states should start banning Only Fans, for everyone.”

He continued by proposing that “conservatives states that want to tackle mental and behavioral health problems need to invest in programs to combat pornography addictions. This can include an anonymous hotline to call, cheap state services to block inappropriate content on personal devices, etc.”

Prichard also called for every member of the House and U.S. Senate to be subjected to a test to verify that they “submit to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

“Every conservative state should put into code that Jesus Christ is King and dedicate their state to Him,” he added. “Force RINOs to say no to Jesus and then brutalize them in elections. We need a government of Christians, not fakers.”

Prichard was elected to the North Dakota House of Representatives in 2022 and represents a district in the state capital, Bismarck. A 2019 high school graduate, Prichard is fully aligned with former President Trump’s MAGA movement and is sometimes at odds with older local GOP leaders.

A North Dakota journalist reported on Monday that several Republican lawmakers have expressed concern about Prichard’s posts, which are also blatantly and proudly anti-LGBTQ+ rights. The reporter noted, however, that “at least one of his colleagues, Republican Rep. Matthew Heilman of Bismarck’s District 7 and another recent high school graduate, was endorsing Prichard’s messages.”

As of the 2020 census, Prichard represented an average of 8,295 residents of District 8. He received 4,910 votes, only 124 more than his more mainstream Republican colleague, who was also elected to the State House

Gun deaths among US kids continue to rise; Southern states have worst rates

https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/09/gun-deaths-among-us-children-reached-new-record-high-in-2021-study-finds/

Guns remain the leading cause of death among American children and teens.

 – 

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.
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.
Getty | Michael M. Santiago

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.

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).
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).
Pediatrics | Roberts et al.

“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.