I thought I'd found a life to fit my style.

 As we all know by now, there's been another mass shooting. I reported yesterday that it took place in Boulder, Colorado, and at the time we only knew of six victims. Four more have been reported, bringing the total up to ten, including a cop. The rest were people at a grocery store, either trying to make their paycheck or shopping or just getting lunch. Just folks being folks when some dickhead decided he had the right to chose who lived and who died.

 I'll go into more detail in tomorrow's news about the particulars. In a nutshell, we know all the names of the victims as well as the shooter, who was taken into custody. He was injured in the leg and has been charged with ten counts of first-degree murder. The shooter in question has an Arab-sounding name but was born and raised in Colorado. Either way, it doesn't appear to be a matter of race or even political ideology that was at the root of this shooting. According to his siblings, he had "mental problems" and suffered from delusions of persecution, so this is the first time in a long time that particular well-worn excuse might fit.

 In any event, the facts need a little more time to marinate and I'll most likely look into it for tomorrow's News. One thing that struck me was the flag outside the White House had been lowered for last week's mass shooting up until early Monday. It was raised back up and stayed up for 10 whole hours. Ain't that a helluva note.

 Another interesting aspect of this case is the paucity of news-worthy mass shootings - and we all know there's a difference between what happened in Colorado and what happens between friends and families all the time - during the last year. That's been, rightly or wrongly, attributed to the COVID pandemic making people spend more time indoors and away from each other. Another helluva note there, if that's what "getting back to normal" means.

 Naturally, this has reignited the whole "do we have too many guns, not enough, too much access, not enough freedom, etc." argument we have every time this happens. It's almost as predictable as, well, senseless mass shootings. I know I've said it here before, but I don't see how that argument wasn't lost when that kid shot up 20 toddlers with a high-powered rifle while they were at school. We spent more time arguing whether or not it was a "false flag" designed to confiscate guns. People who are considered worth paying attention to by a sizable portion of the population actually claimed that.

 Of course, the gun nuts are wetting themselves and are sure this is the excuse Comrade Biden will use to confiscate every white person's guns and give them all to minorities, or whatever the hell they fret over. Personally, I doubt anything will happen, though, nothing significant. Maybe a tightening of background check laws, as this guy had enough black marks on his books to at least make the Powers That Be wary of letting him have a high-powered semi-automatic killing device. Still, I wouldn't hold my breath.

 This is the "new normal" and kids today will never know what it's like to have a school shooting be something that stops a country in its tracks. They'll never know what it's like to go to the grocery store or a movie or a country music festival and not wonder, even if in the back of their mind, if some jackass won't decide it's their time to die because he's not getting laid, doesn't like Mexicans, or just feels like doing it.

 Look, for what it's worth, I don't give a shit about the Second Amendment. It's defined these days - and only since the early Aughts - as an individual right to bear arms rather than a group right, and I think we've all seen just how useless that whole "well-regulated militia" is as a concept. There's an argument going on in conservative circles that it's a strong right than voting because they're pretty down with authoritarianism and think way too many of the wrong sort are allowed to vote, anyway.

 Fact is, your rights last only as long and go as far as the Powers That Be let them. If they wanted to take away our guns or our votes, the fight wouldn't last long and plenty of us would be fine with it, regardless. As a whole, I don't give a damn about gun ownership. I own guns, maybe a dozen shotguns and rifles used for hunting in a gun safe in my basement plus a loaded 12-gauge over my front door.

 I grew up around guns, for hunting and enjoyment. My cousin's oldest boy puts guns together from kits and wants to run some sort of business geared to that. I got family who often goes out with a sidearm, for whatever reason, and "family" includes the folks who make up my little rural community. I trust them, mainly because I know they know what they're doing with guns. They know how to store them and maintain them and, most importantly, how dangerous they and what they're made for. Killing stuff. Everything a gun has a use for revolves around how well it ends a life, and that is it.

 I know people in other towns I've lived, from Athens to New Orleans, who dig on guns and I know they know what they're doing just as well. So, them I trust, too. The rest of y'all? Hell, no. That ship has sailed, son, and the benefit of the doubt is non-existent. I see someone packing, I am moving the other way as quickly as possible, especially those goobers who must have a rifle slung across their backs to make a Wal-Mart run.

 And if this hurts your feelings, tough. If you're going to fight any and all gun legislation, clean up your own backyard first and quit expecting me to just assume you're a "good guy with a gun." Most of these mass shootings were committed by people who didn't break a single law until they made their first kill, and I see no point in running the risk just to keep your delusions of security.

 That's just how it is.

All caught up in a landslide.

 Man, what in the hell is going on in Michigan? Don't they know these "protests" were AstroTurf by not just conservative groups, but conservative groups tied to Erik Price and Betsy DeVos? Is it just an excuse to cosplay armed loonies or what?

 Before we get started, I want to emphasize one thing because ammosexuals are the most delicate little flowers on the planet and cannot handle anything uncomplimentary said about their precious shooty-bang penis extensions. You may not believe it, but I don't care enough about your opinion to argue it.

 I don't have a problem with gun ownership. I don't have a problem with any reasoning one uses for owning a gun. You hunt? Fine, that's where my guns came from. You want to protect yourself and/or your family in this mean old world? Fair enough, it is a booger out there. You're defending freedoms from a government that's always just far from going full tyranny? Sure, pal, whatever you have to tell yourself. You just like guns and the noises they make? There are worse obsessions.

 That being said, I don't give a shit why you have guns, how many you have or what you do with them. I'd say all I care about is you making sure you store them properly and operate them wisely, but as long as you stay away from me, I don't really care. If I'm so inclined, I will make fun of you because I don't have any special respect for you and you will just have to suck it up, buttercup.

 I don't particularly care for people who decide they can't go to the grocery store without being loaded for bear, open or closed carry, but that's the world we live in. It's like knowing industrial companies will poison the environment for profit or that powerful men will use their weight to coerce sex out of subordinates. It's part of society and all we can do is legislation. Why we don't, I don't know.

 Frankly, gun worshipers, you pissed away your benefit of the doubt. The El Paso shooter, the Vegas shooter, the Sandy Hook shooter, all of them were behaving legally until they first pulled the trigger. And your reaction every time has been "don't take away my guns". Fair enough, that's what you care about. I'm just not obliged to respect you or act like you're anything but a joke. Deal with it and cry more. As the man said, you make no like it but you have to learn to love it. Besides, you're the one who's heavily armed, what are you crying for?

 Now that we've established that, I don't care about gun owners owning guns. The Second Amendment as interpreted by D.C. v Heller, I may not agree with it but it is the law of the land. Should there be more stringent gun control legislation? Man, we are way past the point of that in this country. When 20 preschoolers were gunned down by a guy mad at his mom and we had "serious political commentators" arguing that it was a "false flag" operation, that argument was done, son.

 I just don't understand why y'all get so butthurt about people thinking you bringing a high-powered instrument capable of dealing death on a large scale is a bit unhinged. If you're protesting the state's lockdown policies during this epidemic, why do you need to be heavily armed and wearing combat gear? And why do you get so pissy when someone suggests you're trying to intimidate your political opponents when there's no other reason to be so heavily armed for this fake protest designed mainly so rich folks can make even more money?

 You have the guns. Nut up, man. Quit your crying and convince me you're not a flea-brained dingbat. Or just deal with the fact that I'm going to point and laugh at you. Okay, well, enough of that. There are times when living far out in the boonies and fairly well set up so that I don't have to deal with the rest of this sick, twisted, pitiful, depressing culture. Glad I don't have kids, glad I don't have to interact with people to make my bread and salt, glad I'm not tied to anyone that would cause me to give more of a shit than I do.

 Yeah, I'm in a bad mood today. Sorry. Tried a new CPAP mask but still didn't sleep for shit. The weather's gorgeous, though, so me and my buddy Otis, the Jack Russell, had a pleasant constitutional. I've hit my groove with the XCOM games and have been thoroughly enjoying stomping a mudhole in it. I also just finished an enjoyable Weird Western called Skin Medicine by Tim Curran, which combined mountain folk magic with Lovecraft that worked very well.

 Anyhow. That's the night. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Keep the faith.

Monday, January 20, 2020

 Really not up for, well... anything today. We are in the grip of some Serious Dumb, friends and neighbors, and despite the bright, shining sun, I am not optimistic about our chances for smartening up anytime soon. Regardless, Work is Work, we'll knock this out quick and go back into hiding.

And it was such a nice day.

 I've been trying to process this all weekend. I still haven't wrapped my head around it, not really. I was driving to the Speedee place to get my oil changed, and realize I needed to be on Elysium rather than Esplanade, I cut through Treme, right through this neighborhood. It was really close.

 You know, as this was going on - and after I'd already called her for the day - my mother texted me and asked if we were close to these shootings. It had already made the national news. I texted her back and lied, writing that, no, I was nowhere near where that was going on, when in fact, I was very close indeed. 

  I also didn't tell her about the guy who got mugged a month or so back on my Otis-walking route, nor did I tell her about the dude who was shot last year right down the street trying to break up a car jacking. I don't tell her that as often as not I hear gunshots, especially when I'm staying in the Bywater but also when I'm at my place in the Point. I really don't want her to worry.

 This has apparently shocked New Orleans, which in and of itself is pretty goddamn shocking. This is a town that wears its inherent dangers almost as a badge of honor, and at the very least it's an accepted if regrettable part of life in the town. But this event has people angry and scared. Maybe something will come out of that. Maybe it will shake the town and the government out of its complacency and start doing something constructive. Maybe.

 I remember not long ago discussing "beefs" with the lads, and how that the second line used to be one of the few places even someone with an active beef could go and they probably wound't be shot.  The lads were saying how that's no longer the case, that you could get shot just as easily at a parade or a second line as you could outside the club. I guess not.

  The NOPD say they have a suspect they're looking for and there's a picture and I'm sure he'll be caught soon. What were you thinking, kid, whatever convinced you this was a good idea. Could we please just stop with the guns and killing, just for a little while? This really doesn't even fall into the whole nation-wide debate we're having over how terrified some folks are that we might think their penises are tiny, it's more just a plea for a friggin' break, you gutless wonders. Stop shooting people.

 Thankfully, most importantly, no one was killed.