Andy1

Commercial!

The Bills needed to get bigger and more physical on offense. After 2 rounds, Bean is getting it done.

One of the beautiful things about this pick is that with every 1st down and TD Kincaid gets, I will be smiling knowing that we robbed him from Dallas. 😁

Glad we got a guy with great hands as a weapon for Josh. The offense will need to evolve to make the most of this pick. I’m so glad we didn’t get a Smurf receiver. We needed to get bigger and more physical on offense. He also fits as a player who will work when the snow flies.

Bean moving up

In 10 years, all this anti trans stuff will look even more ridiculous than it does today. It will be like looking back at all the protests over gay marriage. Today, no one cares about it anymore. Gen Z is coming and views all this as stupid.

Teaching the whole truth does not mean America is an evil place. It just means that we are a nation founded on ideals that we haven’t always lived up to in the actions of those who came before us. Working towards achieving those ideals is an ongoing process. It’s what makes America exceptional.

No one silenced Tucker. His employer made a business decision based upon his actions.

A part of me is really hoping somehow Bean figures a way to draft Washington. We need a big physical mismatch type player on offense. He’d also be a great help in run blocking too.

Please Ted, tell us more about this Commission.

Content in textbooks has always been an issue. When I went to school, they never taught about the massacre at Black Wall Street in Oklahoma or a whole bunch of other uncomfortable truths in our history. Heck, in Catholic school, Jesus was always a white guy. Teaching and healthcare are two fields where instead of bitching about it, go submit an employment application. Both fields can certainly use the help. It’s easy to complain but much, much harder to do the work.

Gun Violence Is Actually Worse in Red States. It’s Not Even Close. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/23/surprising-geography-of-gun-violence-00092413 It’s a long read but an interesting explanation on how Americas historical geography and regional cultural differences influence gun violence and gun laws in the nation.

Now you can’t cure stupid but these laws modify the behavior of good gun owners who try to do the right thing. 34 States have - Child Access Prevention Laws: laws designed to prevent children from accessing firearms, including laws imposing crimimal liability when a child gains access to a firearm as a result of negligant firearm storage, laws preventing people from providing firearms to minors, and laws requiring safe storage of all firearms in the state. State definitions of "minor" may range from children under 14 to those under 18. 14 States have - Safe Storage or Gun Lock Requirements: laws designed to limit access to guns by unauthorized users, including minors, by requiring that guns be kept locked in a secure place or requiring a firearm locking device. Massachusett and Oregon require that all firearms be stored with a lock in place; California, Colorado, Connecticut, and New York impose gun locking requirements in certain situations. State laws may apply to cetain types of guns only, such as handguns or assault weapons, and may be required during gun sales by dealers and/or private gun sales. In five states (CA, CT, MD, MA, NY), locking devices must meet state standards, or be approved by a state agency for effectiveness. https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/firearms-and-children-legislation/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel={"colId":"Location","sort":"asc"}

From a 2023 report by the ATF: The ATF found that 54% of traced crime guns were recovered by law enforcement more than three years after their purchase. Those guns were legally purchased, but were later used in crimes, the report indicated. A huge way those legally purchased firearms get into the hands of criminals is through theft, the ATF said. In five years, there were more than 1 million firearms stolen from private citizens and reported to authorities. Research done in recent years has emphasized the importance of safely storing guns. Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for gun control, reports that "households that locked both firearms and ammunition were associated with a 78 percent lower risk of self-inflicted firearm injuries and an 85 percent lower risk of unintentional firearm injuries among children and teens, compared to those that locked neither." Roughly 4.6 million children live in a home with loaded and unlocked firearms, studies have shown. And over 80% of mass shooters at K-12 schools stole guns from family members, according to research funded by the National Institute of Justice (a program of the U.S. Justice Department) that examined mass shootings that took place from 1966 to 2019. Along with the huge bump in gun sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a subsequent increase in unintentional shootings by children and gunfire on school grounds, according to the Be SMART campaign. The organization, launched to raise awareness on the importance of gun storage, says keeping guns locked, unloaded and away from ammunition can help save children's lives. https://www.npr.org/2023/02/10/1153977949/major-takeaways-from-the-atf-gun-violence-report My takeaway from this is there are a whole lot of irresponsible gun owners just leaving their guns around the home. People are buying guns with no understanding of the responsibility that goes with gun ownership. Safe storage laws would be a good place to start as most responsible gun owners should support that concept. The gun industry should be pushing safe storage in their media too.

No laws stop illegal behavior from occurring. They are passed to establish the rules by which civil society operates and to establish the penalties for violation. With a problem as complex as gun violence, there is no one solution. If 10 things can be done which each reduce the incidence by only 5%, then you get progress. The criminals will get an illegal gun argument only applies to criminals who use guns in violence. There are plenty of legally purchased guns used in violence also.

This is an interesting explanation I have never seen before but makes sense. A lot of behavior is learned by children from adults. Poor life choices by parents leads the kids to repeat the cycle of poverty, abuse, crime, etc. Immigrants with nothing see and think about a better future and often succeed.

This is so unAmerican. This is what private schools are for.

The total number of gang homicides reported by respondents in the NYGS sample averaged nearly 2,000 annually from 2007 to 2012. During roughly the same time period (2007 to 2011), the FBI estimated, on average, more than 15,500 homicides across the United States (www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-1). These estimates suggest that gang-related homicides typically accounted for around 13 percent of all homicides annually. https://nationalgangcenter.ojp.gov/survey-analysis/measuring-the-extent-of-gang-problems

So here is what the Republican platform is so far. Guns for everyone. Oppose any sensible restrictions on access. Open carry and stand your ground laws. Tell teachers how to teach American history Defunding libraries and book banning Increasingly extreme anti abortion laws Telling corporations how they can communicate and market their products Fighting a battle against Mickey Mouse Defending J 6th Defending Trump in every case Restricting voting access for Gen Z Their main media outlet has admitted to repeatedly lying to the public on election fraud Make America Great Again

There is a strong correlation between gun violence and poverty. Most people think of poverty in urban areas, but rural poverty is real too. It’s just not as visible to most people. https://cepr.net/poverty-correlates-with-the-recent-increase-in-gun-violence/

If there were no gun, there wouldn’t be this tragedy. People aren’t perfect.

True, BUT cars are a necessity for most of us in society. We take drivers licenses away from people who are too old, frail, mentally unfit to drive. You need to periodically take vision test to prove your ability to operate the vehicle safely. Police are monitoring our operation of autos and finding those who are irresponsible in their use. We are required to have insurance on the car if we injure anyone. You need a key to operate the car. The purpose of cars is not to kill. Guns are made to kill. The gun industry/right wing media is selling a culture of fear to persuade people to buy guns to “ensure their safety”. Many people buy the guns, don’t have a clue on their safe use or storage. When their mental state deteriorates, or the parents aren’t home, the gun is there providing the opportunity for the tragedy to occur. No gun, no tragedy. Now of course the gun lobby says bad person is the cause, but that logic requires people to be perfect, which we all know is not human nature. People get angry, experience rage, become mentally unstable, paranoid, etc., and reach for their gun, not their car for the solution to their problems. To be clear, I’m talking about instances where law abiding people end up in horrible circumstances because of their gun ownership.

This is f’d up. If they need labor, pay a living wage so adults will take your lousy jobs.

I wonder what the statistical likelihood is of a gun owner with no criminal history being involved with gun tragedy (suicide, homicide, accidental shooting, threatening behavior, child shooting, gun stolen and used in crime, etc) vs the number of those who used their guns for legal self defense. Safe gun ownership requires the owner to have a brain that is rational, clear thinking and of sound judgement 100% of the time. One mistake by the owner and they and the victims lives and families are changed forever. Problem is, people aren’t perfect and the gun is always waiting to deliver tragedy.