A professor in Michigan called for more gun control after the mass shooting at Michigan State University. He taught two of the three students killed there. My guess? It won’t be long until the school announces the professor has taken “administrative leave” and is off the campus for awhile.

Gods forfend we should have a rational conversation in this crazy-assed conservative country…

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It’s a feature of our fascist nation that large corporations like to privatize profits but socialize risk and responsibility. We’re seeing that, now, in New Palestine, Ohio. A train carrying vinyl chloride, a carcinogenic chemical derailed and caught on fire. No one was reported injured in the initial crash but the chemical was leaking out. This was going to create an environmental disaster. No one knew where the chemical would run to – nor, amazingly, how to clean it up and get rid of it.

Concerns it might disperse into ground water and spread to unknown locations grew so the company came up with a plan. “Let’s just, you know, set it on fire.” And that’s what they did. Setting vinyl chloride on fire allows it to release hydrogen chloride into the air. Good thing nobody relies on THAT. It DOES sound like a great plan. After all, wind is FAR more predictable than water flow so they can know exactly where the toxic cloud will…wait…what’s that? Wind is LESS predictable? Well, what does that mean to the residents of New Palestine? Corrosive, huh? That doesn’t sound good.

Officials are running around testing everybody’s homes and the town and everything around it and reassuring everyone everything is a-okay. It’s likely they’re not telling anyone what the find, just reassuring everyone everything is okay. (Remember how they told New York the air was just fine after the second World Trade Center attack? THAT kind of “reassurance.”)

It turns out, shipping chemicals is dangerous. The companies who make the chemicals and the companies that ship the chemicals don’t worry about that too much. The chemicals never get anywhere near any “important people.” Just a few, defenseless rural towns here and there. Still, it turns out that people don’t like being gassed or poisoned for profit. Why, it’s almost as if they love their children more than the margins of some gigantic corporate monstrosity out there. Their priorities are clearly misplaced.

This isn’t the first time a train derailment has “enhanced” a community with vinyl chloride. It happened in 2012 in New Jersey. THOSE selfish, “oh, we love our children” types pushed for greater regulation on trains shipping deadly chemicals. They got it, too. Trains that moved dangerous chemicals were required to have a better braking system than the standard system. As you can imagine, that cost extra money. Sure, it brought extra safety but, let’s focus on the important stuff: it cost the corporation extra money, slightly reducing shareholder value. Cry me a river. But not a river of vinyl chloride. We’ll set that stuff on fire!

So, the companies made sure their priorities were in the right place and lobbied hard to have that rule revoked. Guess who facilitated the companies. Go on, guess. Yep, the trumpster himself. You know, because he’s a man of the people. (The very, very rich people but still…) I find myself wondering how they voted in New Palestine in 2016…so I looked it up. They largely voted for the Former Guy – the guy who signed off on allowing the kind of train that crashed in – and poisoned – their once-lovely little community.

Now I wish I didn’t know. They’re living their best, “free market,” deregulated life there. Their dream has come true for them and has been laid right at their front doors – literally. NOW I think they should just STFU and step outdoors an inhale a great, deep breath of their newfound “freedumb.”

I’ll probably have to do some time in purgatory for that…

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When Jeffery Epstein’s pervert island was raided, it was reported that a cache of DVDs was discovered with labels that identified the man on the disc and the (likely underage) girl he was with. It could just be me, but I think Epstein was just an evil delivery guy and we should know to whom the deliveries were being made. Has anybody seen a verified list of the names on those discs? These are a bunch of rich and powerful men. They shouldn’t be allowed to maintain positions of responsibility and we should know who they are.

I’ll tell you this: that’s a list you’re NEVER going to see. The important part of the statement is that these are rich and powerful men. It says a lot about the pretended “rule of law” in this once-great nation that such men can buy their own laws. BTW, in saying so, I suddenly feel a need to add that I have no intention of hanging myself…

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The cons think Ukraine is the aggressor in the Russia/Ukraine conflict. I mean, of course they do. So, as usual, the best answer is to simply ignore the cons. They have no idea what’s happening in the real world. For thinking people, though, this war that PUTIN initiated is starting to drag on FAR longer than many would have hoped. Putin took his shot. He tried to claim Kyiv in a Russian version of the blitzkrieg and failed. He should have turned tail and gone home when he failed but he has not done so.

I think the Ukrainians have home field advantage in this fight. That is, they’re fighting for their homes. The Russian soldiers are fighting mostly because they’ve been ordered to – and threatened as a backup to the order. The Russian soldiers hearts just aren’t in it like the Ukrainian fighters are. But Ukraine was never a military powerhouse and they’ve struggled to defend themselves from Putin’s illegal invasion. Aside from the difficulty getting military ordinance there, they have another limitation that is going to keep this war going and going like that stupid pink bunny. I know. I’ve seen a version of this movie before.

It’s called “limited warfare.” One country decides to fight to a certain point – but no further. The US tried the stupid policy in Korea and Vietnam. It was SO bad that when MacArthur violated the limited warfare order and nearly won the war for the allies, he was fired. That’s where the phrase “Old soldiers never die. They just fade away.” comes from – MacArthur’s farewell address. Now the Ukrainians are holding back, trying only to defend it’s own borders. Limited warfare.

I’ll tell you this: there’s only one definition that truly fits the term “limited warfare.” It’s “A fighting style that ensures one can never win.” I guess that’s good for the profits of weapon-making corporations, though, so, there’s that…