East Lothian-based Brightwater aims to recruit thousands of SME customers. “A successful cleaning entrepreneur has joined the battle to win business customers from Scottish Water with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises. Roger Green founded the Brightwater supply operation with e-commerce veteran Richard Rankin…”
“Domestic terrorism” means activities with three characteristics.
It’s been a very newsworthy period, and I haven’t been able to write about any of the polly ticks of it. I was mourning my friend. I’ve been ill.
So here is a potpourri of stories, some of which I think are interrelated.
I have been told to my face, “Racism will go away if we would only stop talking about race!” Exhibit #666 to the contrary is Rick Tyler For Congress, a third-party candidate from Tennessee, who has an unapologetic racist campaign. He has borrowed Donald Trump’s slogan and “improved” on it. There’s been outrage over the candidate’s “Make America White Again” billboard, which he has, reluctantly, taken down.
“In 2008, 47 such students were admitted who had lower grades or test scores than Fisher. Forty-two of them were white. Only five were people of color.
“Fisher and her lawyer Blum were not challenging the admission of the 42 white students.
“Instead, Fisher’s argument was narrowly that she should have been admitted instead of one of those students of color. It was the case that collapsed any distinction between opposing affirmative action and demanding that white people be given preference.”
There were huge Google spikes in search inquiries for “What is the EU?” in the UK, after the polling closed but before the results were announced. Of course, this doesn’t mean it was just the folks who voted for the annoying portmanteau Brexit who were looking it up; it may also been the 28% who didn’t bother voting at all. The fervent nationalism, anti-immigrant and anti-elite drove the anti-EU agenda.
After the massacre in Orlando, there was a boring conversation about whether the events constituted terrorism. Naturallymit does. From the FBI:
“Domestic terrorism” means activities with the following three characteristics: Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law; Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.
SO the church shootings in Charleston, SC: terrorism. But one should balk at limiting the term to those actions perpetrated by a Muslim.
This is clear when you hear the primary complaint about the sit-in, which is that it was just a publicity stunt. Obviously, they are not versed in non-violent direct action, for OF COURSE it was a publicity stunt. Most protests are.
Another complains that the Democrats didn’t have a sit-in for other issues. True enough. But sometimes things just reach a tipping point. As Lewis said, “The time to act is now. We will be silent no more. The time for silence is over.”
Forty-nine people were murdered at the Pulse nightclub primarily from a Sig Sauer (modeled in the AK-47, for the pedantic who try to negate the gun control debate with semantics.) Then a Senator from Connecticut, who filibustered for four bills to be voted on; there was a vote, and they were all defeated. The sit-in created a tipping point.
The flaws in the various bills can be discussed. But I think there’s some reasonable bill that would ban assault weapons, get background checks for those buying weapons at gun shows, have a seven-day background check for those who are on the no-fly list to ascertain if they really represent a risk – the aforementioned John Lewis was once on the roster. The NRA has essentially blocked the Centers for Disease Control from getting funding to study the issue of gun violence on communities. A bill would require what has become a dirty word; compromise.
That the Democrats used the opportunity to raise money is definitely true, as I got my fair share of solicitations. But I’m used to both parties using any opportunity to pass the hat; I wish I could be more outraged. I think is true: House Democrats Didn’t Win The Battle, But They Are Preparing To Win The War.
This is a picture of the remains of a banner set on fire on the front lawn of the Albany (NY) Damien Center’s temporary home at the city’s First Lutheran Church this past week. As the Facebook comment read: “In the wake of the Orlando tragedy, it is very disheartening to have this happen in our local community. We appreciate all of our community’s support and love extended and stand in unity with our LGBT community during this time.”
My current pet peeve in news articles is the use of the phrase “that no one talks about” or the variation, “that no one is talking about.” For instance, ‘Richard Burr’s the most vulnerable Republican Senator that no one’s talking about’. It seems arrogant. The words suggest that Everyone Else has missed this important angle of a larger narrative, but that writer, singularly, is sage enough to have unearthed it.
I WATCH the usual suspects saying WORN out statements.
I WAKE up Sunday morning and check my news feed. From the Los Angeles Times, 20 dead from at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and 42 WOUNDED. But the information is sketchy, as it is WONT to be early in an incident.
WENT to church. Put this event on the prayer list. WEIRD, because most people hadn’t heard the news yet.
Go home, check the news again. Now it’s reported that 50 are dead, and 53 WOUNDED. WOW, America, WE have a WINNER! WORST mass shooting in modern American history.
I peruse Facebook and comment on nothing, even though I WEEP inside. I become WARY of early reports about terrorism. I WATCH the usual suspects saying WORN out statements, WARNING us to be WATCHFUL, and that WHAT WE need is more guns, or fewer guns.
Someone or other says, “This cannot become the new normal.” Yet, at the end of the day, I figure that nothing will change. People will offer their thoughts and prayers, and WONDER if now might be a good time to talk about gun control. But it’s never the right time; we need to WAIT.
There are always those WTF statements about how the shootings were “God’s retribution” about same-sex marriage, WHICH are trotted out with almost every tragedy that fits a certain narrative. I just can’t WASTE my outrage on this WARPED thinking.
There is a new twist, though. Will the terrorism angle WIN out over the attack on the LGBT community as the most important narrative? OMG, I have to stop WATCHING this stuff. I understand WHY people turn off the news.
I’m pretty much staying off Facebook for a bit, because it’s toxic usually, it is more so now, and it makes me WEARY. Consider this my blanket statement of appreciation for every heartfelt response of WARMTH and compassion, and sympathy for those who mourn.
