SUENOSDEUOMI'S RUMINATIONS: Image off fb

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What We Can Be

"What We Can Be" by fervent Bernie supporter Chris Lockett

Bernie heads a moral movement with roots in Occupy, and prior the labor - and social justice movements. Bernie supporters are not free loaders, are not simply upset about not having gotten a raise or not having advanced in to the middle class or up from wherever they find themselves on the social climbing pole, for laughing out loud.

I believe the US needs a fundamental change, a re-evaluation of our values. Corporate control has to be reigned in. Citizens United has to be reversed.

US manipulation in foreign affairs for it's own good has to come to an end. Unquestioned support of Israel has to give way to a more fair appraisal with an insistence that Palestinians are given a fair shake. Money funneled in to the military complex, 601 Billion in 2015, more then 50% of the overall US budget, should be drastically reduced.

Let us redirect those funds in to a commitment toward a fossil fuel free, green, sustainable future that advances alternative sources of energy. The US could and should lead in it's scientific research, it's implementation and creation of green product lines. I would like nothing more then for the focus of our nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory to shift from the defense industry to developing green energy. Climate change is real and Bernie is the one that makes it his top priority.

Let us be bold and rebuild our crumbling infrastructures and create jobs for Americans. Let us create social support systems such as a single payer health care system for people in need rather then profit for the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.

Let us make education a priority and start with free access to Community Colleges. Let's stop the profiteering of loan sharks from students. There ought to be a cap in the single digits of what is legal and fair profit made off the poor.

Last but not least, as a 'Recovered Catholic' I am so very grateful that Bernie Sanders unlike every repugnant Republican presidential nominee, has not forced religion down our throats. I can relate to his sense of us being in this together, of feeling the pain of another and of synchronicities that seem to guide his seeking the presidential nomination.

What I can not relate to, is Republicans taking away women's health care with their unwarranted attacks on Planned Parenthood, with closures of abortion clinics, with wanting to take away women's choices in pushing to make abortions illegal, going as far as even wanting to criminalize the women choosing an abortion. While the loser finds a return to coat hangers acceptable, women find the repugnant Republican stance on women's rights absolutely unacceptable. We are moving forward, not backward!

Thankfully Bernie polls best in defeating the repugnant current front runner for the presidency. Imagine vane, vindictive and thin-skinned Drumpf in control of nuclear power and the most powerful military in the world! Strangely this option is not an April 1st joke.

Change is possible. It will not happen over night. It's a process that asks for our engagement and the political will to carry it forward.

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." Arundhati Roy

(All images off social media.)

Relevant!

16 US Mass Shootings in 2012

Japan has the second lowest murder rate in the world! Thile the US had over 12,000 firearm-related homicides in 2008, Japan experienced only 11 and in 2006 an astounding 2. By comparison 587 Americans were killed in 2008 just by guns that had discharged accidentally.

"To get a gun in Japan, first, you have to attend an all-day class and pass a written test, which are held only once per month. You also must take and pass a shooting range class. Then, head over to a hospital for a mental test and drug test (Japan is unusual in that potential gun owners must affirmatively prove their mental fitness), which you'll file with the police. Finally, pass a rigorous background check for any criminal record or association with criminal or extremist groups, and you will be the proud new owner of your shotgun or air rifle. Just don't forget to provide police with documentation on the specific location of the gun in your home, as well as the ammo, both of which must be locked and stored separately. And remember to have the police inspect the gun once per year and to re-take the class and exam every three years."

"Japanese police receive more hours of training than their American counterparts, are forbidden from carrying off-duty, and invest hours in studying martial arts in part because they "are expected to use [firearms] in only the rarest of circumstances"

"American law is designed to enshrine access to guns, while Japan starts with the premise of forbidding it"

"Though it's worth considering another police state here: Tunisia, which had the lowest firearm ownership rate in the world (1 gun per 1000 citizens, compared to America's 890) when its people toppled a brutal, 24-year dictatorship and sparked the Arab Spring."

Above parts were taken out and highlighted by me from The Atlantic.

"In 2010, there were more than 30,000 deaths caused by firearms when the number of homicides, suicides and accidental deaths are tallied." - CNN

Juan Cole in Truthdig asks some pertinent powerful questions like:

- Why doesn’t anyone blame George W. Bush for these mass shootings? He’s the one who led the charge to let the assault weapons ban expire.

- Why aren’t the politicians in Congress who take campaign money from assault weapons manufacturers ever held accountable by the public?

- A relatively small number of corporations produce and market semiautomatic weapons for the civilian market. Why aren’t they named and shamed?

- Juan Cole states that firearms are used in 300,000 crimes a year in the U.S.

We can not afford to sit on the sidelines any longer. Demand change, act, contact:

National Rifle Association: 1-800-672-3888
Speaker of the House, John Boehner: 1 (202) 225-0600
Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid:
1-866-SEN-REID (736-7343)

The White House Comment Line: 1-202-456-1111

Join a Gun Control Group :
*Brady Campaign bradycampaign.org
*Coalition to Stop Gun Violence csgv.org/index.php
*Violence Policy Center vpc.org/index.htm

Sign petitions on SignOn.org and another and tell the NRA Enough!

Finally there is a lovely suggestion of committing to acts of kindness for every child that perished in this recent senseless act of violence, which of course can be extended to include the adults, the heroic teachers and please, let's not forget all the children and all the victims of US drone attacks!