America's Second Amendment.

The sun rose today in America - so did mass killings

If you are a writer and can't come up with a newsworthy item, America's gun sickness is always a fallback. I have resorted to it several times. People - except those who experienced the loss of loved ones - are now at the yawning, "what else is new?" stage. "Imagine all the people Livin' life in peace ..."

It has always been tough to actually do something about guns in America. I want to say gun problem - so does virtually every other country on earth - but most who own guns don't see it that way. The odd time people who have lost family members join the hue and cry - but they still won't give up their own guns.

We have all heard the same old comebacks which owners try to push and will never change. Guns don't kill people - people kill people. I have never seen a robotic gun wander into a store, home, hall etc. on its own and then slaughter a bunch of people. It might come one day and I have no doubt the same proud owners will buy one. But right now it is always a person who is operating those killing machines. NRA loved to push stopping bad guys with guns with more good guys with guns. They would be delighted if clergymen and clergywomen hid guns under their garments in church while preaching, performing marriages, or funerals. We all know why - it sells more guns.

I live in Canada and apparently 

Freedom of the Press

Bang Bang Chitty Twitty Bang Bang!

The earth just shook, or was it the arrival of you know who back on Twitter. Now he has some competition in the form of its new owner. Is Elon trying to restore the internal workings of the Donald's fav. platform with a little Musk oil or is it really snake oil in disguise?

If you Google musk oil there is a lot to read. I digress - get used to it now that The Donald is back. This is a link that talks about the original oil from the glands of the Himalayan musk dear, a practice banned since 1979. However the more recent artificial varieties claim to cure as many things as good old snake oil did.
Musk Essential Oil: Benefits, Uses, and Precautions - Naturally Daily

For those who think that like musk, a man's sweat turns women on, read this one! Once it turns foul, and it does very quickly, it turns everybody off!
The Smell Report - Sexual Attraction. (sirc.org)

Many including me blame social media as a catalyst for today's rage. Without doubt this is true. But social media is just an instant version of slower media forms of the past like radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines. The constant throughout is that bad news sells better than good news. Tabloids often outsold more academic papers because they were all that the common working person could handle. These people had a need to become emotional about something - usually sex or bad news! Sad but true.

This claim is proven by the number of traditional newspapers that have shut their doors. The entire model is too slow including the advertising that was their lifeblood. It is sad but at least everybody is better off without the wasted paper - unless you were in the logging or pulp and paper business.

The Steve Bannons, Donald Trumps, and right winged extremist groups have known forever that bad new sells. If there is none just make up something. Media barons like the Hearsts and the Murdochs made their fortunes with the same insight. I would maintain that throughout history those who were permitted to learn how to write including priests, knew how to bamboozle the few with basic reading skills. It is still a fact of life today.

Social media takes advantage of individual laziness and apathy towards articles that make you think. People would rather be entertained.

So I have always wondered whether a newspaper or web company could make a profit by establishing a reputation for publishing or broadcasting only good news. That is naturally very subjective but its team of editors would have to agree that items published passed their internal standard. They had to be uplifting. They had to foster hope.

Again I Googled "Good News Media" and found that others did have the same ideas and beat me to it back in 1997! See About GNN - Good News Network. I shall have to read some of their materials to see if my mood changes for the better. Check it out for yourselves.

I don't know what their fact checking and editorial processes are but there is always a danger that fake news can creep into good news sites as well. That is ironic but sadly true. Congratulations to the founders. They have been around a long time.

I bet most of you had not heard of them or visited their website either. I'll let you know how I make out.

#thebrewsterblock

Republican Wave just a Ripple

Trump Gives America an Early Christmas Present

Let's face it, these mid-term elections fooled everybody, including me. Some counts are still ongoing today (Nov. 12) but the big red sweep just didn't happen. Many blame Trump and the continuation of the Big Lie. I agree with that but hopefully it goes deeper.

We hear it daily now - that perhaps DJT is fast becoming just an image in a rear view mirror - you know the ones - that appear larger than they really are. We can only hope. The tantrums, name calling, and blaming of everybody else has ramped up once again but it appears that many American voters on both sides have had enough. He has lost too many times for his party and many of its members are recognizing it. His MEGA base never will. They really don't follow politics, policies, or platforms. They only follow Donald.

It has been written here more than once that I think the great American experiment with democracy is failing and might even crash with more clashes of violence like January 6th. That could still happen and those who claim to be religious or people of faith can only pray that it doesn't. 

Many of those people of faith are the same ones prepared to use their assault rifles against anyone they don't like. They have even threatened to torture individuals in lowly positions like school boards and election counters. But maybe - a great big MAYBE - the overall country has had enough of the school yard antics displayed by their elected and publicly funded leaders. 

A telling point will be when Steve Bannon gets back to stoking his hatred. For now though this election provides some optimism. Those who are trying to save face by saying that it is nuts for Democrats to celebrate losing anything  just don't get it. Actually they probably do - they are just loath to acknowledge reality.

You absolutely know that sore losers in normally red districts are going to holler that the fix is in again. It has already started. This time however, there were lots of observers of both parties in key counting stations. 

Gerrymandering is still alive and well - see The 12 Most Gerrymandered Districts In America (ranker.com). or These maps show how Republicans are blatantly rigging elections | US voting rights | The Guardian. Despite this voters smacked Trump's tactics down. What remains to be seen is whether certain states now try to overturn results by hook or by crook.

Hopefully Lady Liberty is wearing a slight smile way up there where we can't really see it. Biden certainly is and probably DeSantis. I am no fan of Ron but would take him over The Donald any day. We can only hope that many of the more traditionally minded Republicans feel the same.

C'mon Liz Cheney. Start that new party. You will surely do better than the Tea Party did. At least it will split the Red vote and once that happens many of the GOP's best will jump on board. The country needs it. 

A lot of Americans who still love their country feel that they just received an early present. Open it early and celebrate.

#thebrewsterblock