Rams win vs Cowboys 35-30, Las Vegas Mass Shooting, Tom Petty, Trump visits Puerto Rico, Trump Says Puerto Rico while Using Hispanic Accent, Rex Tillerson over / under, Grammy Organization Webinar, Phish New Years Run, Gun Safety, Chlesea, Bill Maher, Adult Bat Mitzvah, Xfinity Live, Rams vs. Seahawks, Guns N Roses
Now this has been an incredible week. Incredibly horrific, incredibly hard, and at the same time, Incredibly weird as far as week's go.
I woke up at around 330AM last Monday to see that there was tumult happening in Las Vegas. I tend to leave the TV on by mistake when I fall asleep but usually when I wake up in the middle of the night, I see that a replay of Chris Hayes, the 11th Hour and Rachel Maddow happens over night and most nights.
It was live footage of what had just gone down in Vegas.
I was still in a great space after seeing the Los Angeles Rams come off with one the biggest wins the team has had in probably 15 years. Big in so many ways because they beat the Dallas Cowboys 35-30 and even though it was not perfect, it was a great win.
The NFC Offense Player of the Month and the now NFL Player of the Week, Todd Gurley tore it up big time vs. the Cowboys. (Jared) Goff did well too. Gurley though was just as great out of the back field than he was on the ground. He also had his biggest runs and catches with runs after it in two years. He totally took control of the game in the second half. He had a career topping 215 yards from the line. He had that 53 yard catch with an amazing run after it for a touchdown. That was sick and evidently he has now scored with receptions for the third straight game this year.
That is all Sean McVay.
And, it is all about having Jared Goff in the game.
I said it so many times last year during my frustrated rants that when you have an effective passing game, it opens up the avenues for a great running game. And, Visa verse. And, that offense 101. I don't even want to talk about last year. That was a wasted year and a wasted season.
Therefore, this new scheme and coaching staff has not only rejuvenated the ground game out of the back field, it has also opened up the passing game.
The other thing that got turned around at the half was the entire defense. Although I was a bit nervous at the end of the game but again, the D came up big when all is said and done. The problem is league wide because it is hard to be a Defensive Back and moreover, it is very hard being a cornerback in this league today. I guess that would be on Wade Phillips. Though again, there is need for improvement with regard to the D backs. Dallas' first four second-half possessions resulted in three punts. Mark Barron added to that an interception before Dak Prescott found a wide open James Hanna for a fourth-quarter touchdown.
The Rams dominated time of possession and the offense did well on third down plays. They pretty much kept the ball on offense for much of the second half.
Anyway, we have the best special teams players by far. Between Johnny Hekker and Greg Zuerlein, not to mention Pharaoh Cooper's big run back in the game, they accounted for most of the big plays in the game. Greg Zuerlein scored on seven field goals (7 of 7) for 23 of the 35 points.
It was the biggest win in years however, the game next week vs. the Seahawks will need to be an even bigger win for the team to be able to play with the big boys.
But then the shooting happened in Las Vegas, it just took the air out of the entire bubble so to speak. Like I said, that was horrifying to watch and obviously I could not go back to sleep. The death total also went from 20 to 50 literally at the drop of the dime by the time the morning hours passed and at the first press conference.
Then, I get to the gym today towards the late afternoon which I am still almost dazed from the day's news in itself when I get a call from one of my best friends out in California. She says something about Tom Petty and that was it or she may have thought I knew what was up.
I knew that it was not good that second because why would she call saying the words 'Tom' and 'Petty' unless she was telling me he was coming over to my house or something, or that he was dead? She then tells me he is in the hospital basically in a coma and that they were about the pull life support. I was so shaken up that my entire body went limp. My hand was so shaky because after I hanging up the call saying how I needed to wrap my head around the issue, and this entire day, I held my hand up at eye level and man oh man was it bouncing like a jumping bean.
I tried to work out. It was so half assed.
I was reminded of some stories that date back to my childhood quite frankly, as they flooded in that day. I forgot about so much of my antics back in the day and Howard (Stern) also did a great tribute to Petty this week. Everyone has quite frankly. Lorne Michaels did an amazing thing on SNL this week. He not only had Jason Aldean open the show making a speech about what went down in Vegas last Sunday at his show, Aldean and his band also played "Don't Back Down' by Tom Petty.
It was brilliant.
Petty dying was an odd death. No one expected it and I think most people that dealt with him liked that guy. Plus, he was a huge talent. Yet he was obscure in many ways when it came to mainstream. He had unique vox (which finding anyone with unique and strong vox is a lost art this day and age; everyone sings with their normal voice). His band was exceptional. He was very colorful. He somehow made his music viable on Music Videos while again, he acted in colorful ways (I think some Mad Hatter theme, etc.) and most of all, how about his work with the (Traveling) Wilburys? That was sick shit and you know that they were all just hanging at Dylan's Studio in his old castle in Malibu and honestly, I think it just worked. It was one of those things musically that just seem to work. I think that first album was done in less than 5 days. And at that time especially, I feel that the 'Learning To Fly' album was one of his best projects he did to that day.
Overall, any laws set in place to ban that thing is like putting a band aid on a shot gun wound but at the same time, it is still needed, and it is a start.
There is however, no reason to allow that device on the streets, but what is going on is obvious. The gun industry is seeking ancillary ways to make money.
After all, why would they be trying to pass this law to allow gun silencers?
Why would any normal person not in law enforcement and not at war need a gun silencer?
Why would anyone need to not make a sound when shooting a gun?
Same goes with this Bump Stock attachment.
The dude that killed those people in Vegas this week, had 47 guns and 3 of those Bump Stocks. He also bought 30 of those guns this year or maybe it was within the last year.
There is no reason to have one of those devices unless you want to kill something (setting aside all gun ranges and places to shoot guns for fun which should have anything available to use there). To let normal people have military grade weaponry, will only manifest into trouble. You do not need it to hunt. You do not need that to protect your property. You only need it to kill something fast. What am I saying? It is a way to kill many things fast.
And, so unless you have a group of people entering onto your property with weapons to try to kill you and your family, you probably do not need to have one of them as part of that defense.
Besides, hunters and gun owners in general must really suck at shooting bullets from guns. They sure as hell need a lot of shit to kill something.
Which a real man so to speak, uses its bare hands to kill something and to protect itself.
The NRA has been radio silent so far this week, and overall, they of course want us to be silent.
The irony is that they are just a loud minority of people that are gun lovers. I want to be clear that I can care less about guns. My dad has owned up to three at one time and I am almost sure they still have the one at their jewelry store in Philly. If not, that is a recent thing but I grew up having guns in my house. My dad took me skeet shooting. I have never hunted and honestly, I can care less about guns. It is not fun for me. We had riflery at camp when I was kid and I hated it. It bored me. And, again, I don't kill anything. I have no need for a gun. If someone wants to shoot me using their gun, they are a pussy that cannot fight me with their bare hands or in a fair way. Besides, I am not having a gun fight. So you would just have to shoot me from a far before I can get near you which goes back to that being a total pussy move.
The problem is people with guns have lost their privilege since people abuse it.
And, for that alone, gun lovers should speak out 'bigly' about getting rid of assholes that kill things with no regard for life.
People that need guns also do not impress me. As a matter of fact, I feel they are weak people because after all, why do you need a gun if you were not a pussy that cannot deal by hand? Or, even use a knife. Kill a deer that way rather than from afar and without it being a fair fight.
Then again, it is the American way to take advantage of anything and as much as possible so I get that part of our culture.
A few more people are indeed speaking out this week.
Chelsea has an amazing segment with one of my man crushes as my friends say, Igor Volsky and this Kris Brown whom I don't know, but I now love her. If I could find a woman like that or better yet, how about that chick on Bill Maher's show this week? I have seen her before. She is hot but I forget her name. But anyway, what they are saying on this week's show, is what I want to say but since I am a horrible public speaker, I have to watch in envy. It is also hit or miss whether I remember whatever I see or go through at the end of the weeks.
Especially after this hard and Long week.
Billy Crystal had a great bit on Bill Maher this week about that very subject of our gun culture. Many popular terms we use every day are all about weaponry (i.e.; song goes to Number 10 with a bullet, we want a straight shooter as a politician, etc.). He then points (paraphrasing here) to football saying that they use what is a shotgun offense. And, that he has a rifle for an arm while having many things in his arsenal. He has the receiver in his sites and he hits him with a bullet in his chest.
America has 4.4 percent of the world’s population, but almost half of the civilian-owned guns around the world.
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And, contrary to what the talking points have one thinks, States with more guns have more gun deaths.
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States with tighter gun control laws have fewer gun-related deaths
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It’s not just the US: Developed countries with more guns also have more gun deaths.
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That brings me back to the one thing I say that infuriates all gun lovers which is that there is only one scientific constant in literally every death caused with a bullet and a gun.
It is the bullet and the gun.
100% of every death by bullets and guns uses a bullet and the gun.
Then, it trickles down to that its the person using the gun with bullets which is where the non science and social science comes into play.
With anything social and about behavior, it is not a constant at all.
There are many intangibles that make up that behavior to want to use a gun and a bullet in any way.
The only pure and indisputable scientific thing behind every and I mean every death caused with bullets and guns is the bullet and the gun.
Everything else is based on opinions and social science.
There are polls out there that say that 94% of the people in America want extensive background checks. Even if that is a bold faced lie or wrong or an outlier, we can lower it like 30% and it would still be at a huge majority of 64% of the people wanting it.
Further, 78% of Americans do NOT own a gun.
And 3% of Americans own 50% of the guns sold in the country.
That is the amounts of people in the United States that are dictating all of these absurd gun laws.
Please read my article if you have not done it yet because that came out three days before Hillary Clinton used it on her campaign (which it also became a question a debate when this was not even in the air before I wrote that article and it is still my top read in the last two and half years since I had the blog up).
Colin Jost does a bit on this week's Weekend Update that said it all.
This dude in Vegas had 47 guns.
Think about having 47 of anything he says.
He says (again to paraphrase) that if you had 47 cats, animal control would come to your house to take them away from you. Which would NOT even happen mind you with guns. No one is coming to your house to take them away from you although there is an element that thinks they will.
He also says that there is some law in some town in Texas that forbids you to own more than six dildos. We do not need that many dildos and honestly, if you are in a relationship, you should never even need one. None of the woman I lived with in serious relationships ever remotely used one dildo let alone six of them.
With that said, the Las Vegas shooter used weapons of war to fire high capacity round after round into the crowd. The GOP's talking points of course is to shame anyone who calls for new gun laws, calling that "politicizing a tragedy." They want to scare you and all political leaders whose inclination is to do the right thing which is to help save the majority of Americans lives.
And, Bill Maher reminded me this week how they also say that whomever is their thoughts and prayers as they enact laws to allow the use of everything we spoke about here.
We need political leaders who go beyond kind thoughts and prayers. We need them to act to demand action on guns.
The problem is that if we did not do a thing after 23 kids and teachers were killed in Sandy Hook, I am not sure what this latest mass shooting will bring (There have been more than 1,500 mass shootings since Sandy Hook).
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Here are just some of the leaders refusing to be silenced by the NRA:
Like I said above, this has been quite a week.
We are not even discussing how it broke this week that Rex Tillerson called the POTUS a 'fucking moron' back in July. That does not surprise me but the infighting I guess is pretty rough. The thing is that Trump cannot in any way fire anyone else let alone someone on that scale of where Tillerson is at. He has fired too many people this year but the over / under if you will, is whether Tillerson will still be there by Thanksgiving Day.
There are also rumours that people are pushing to put Mike Pompeo in place which in turn would leave his spot open. I do think I like Pompeau. And Tillerson to me is part of the problem. He is an oil guy. He has capitalized on the plummeting of the earth and ruining parts of our earth forever and as a way to make bank money for himself and for his old company (and Russia).
Saturday, I go to my first adult Bat Mitzvah at the Woodcrest Country Club in Cherry Hill. I do get to hang with niece and nephew which is always the best ever and all I ever care about besides my work.
I woke up at around 330AM last Monday to see that there was tumult happening in Las Vegas. I tend to leave the TV on by mistake when I fall asleep but usually when I wake up in the middle of the night, I see that a replay of Chris Hayes, the 11th Hour and Rachel Maddow happens over night and most nights.
It was live footage of what had just gone down in Vegas.
I was still in a great space after seeing the Los Angeles Rams come off with one the biggest wins the team has had in probably 15 years. Big in so many ways because they beat the Dallas Cowboys 35-30 and even though it was not perfect, it was a great win.
That is all Sean McVay.
And, it is all about having Jared Goff in the game.
I said it so many times last year during my frustrated rants that when you have an effective passing game, it opens up the avenues for a great running game. And, Visa verse. And, that offense 101. I don't even want to talk about last year. That was a wasted year and a wasted season.
Therefore, this new scheme and coaching staff has not only rejuvenated the ground game out of the back field, it has also opened up the passing game.
The other thing that got turned around at the half was the entire defense. Although I was a bit nervous at the end of the game but again, the D came up big when all is said and done. The problem is league wide because it is hard to be a Defensive Back and moreover, it is very hard being a cornerback in this league today. I guess that would be on Wade Phillips. Though again, there is need for improvement with regard to the D backs. Dallas' first four second-half possessions resulted in three punts. Mark Barron added to that an interception before Dak Prescott found a wide open James Hanna for a fourth-quarter touchdown.
The Rams dominated time of possession and the offense did well on third down plays. They pretty much kept the ball on offense for much of the second half.
It was the biggest win in years however, the game next week vs. the Seahawks will need to be an even bigger win for the team to be able to play with the big boys.
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I knew that it was not good that second because why would she call saying the words 'Tom' and 'Petty' unless she was telling me he was coming over to my house or something, or that he was dead? She then tells me he is in the hospital basically in a coma and that they were about the pull life support. I was so shaken up that my entire body went limp. My hand was so shaky because after I hanging up the call saying how I needed to wrap my head around the issue, and this entire day, I held my hand up at eye level and man oh man was it bouncing like a jumping bean.
I tried to work out. It was so half assed.
I was reminded of some stories that date back to my childhood quite frankly, as they flooded in that day. I forgot about so much of my antics back in the day and Howard (Stern) also did a great tribute to Petty this week. Everyone has quite frankly. Lorne Michaels did an amazing thing on SNL this week. He not only had Jason Aldean open the show making a speech about what went down in Vegas last Sunday at his show, Aldean and his band also played "Don't Back Down' by Tom Petty.
It was brilliant.
Petty dying was an odd death. No one expected it and I think most people that dealt with him liked that guy. Plus, he was a huge talent. Yet he was obscure in many ways when it came to mainstream. He had unique vox (which finding anyone with unique and strong vox is a lost art this day and age; everyone sings with their normal voice). His band was exceptional. He was very colorful. He somehow made his music viable on Music Videos while again, he acted in colorful ways (I think some Mad Hatter theme, etc.) and most of all, how about his work with the (Traveling) Wilburys? That was sick shit and you know that they were all just hanging at Dylan's Studio in his old castle in Malibu and honestly, I think it just worked. It was one of those things musically that just seem to work. I think that first album was done in less than 5 days. And at that time especially, I feel that the 'Learning To Fly' album was one of his best projects he did to that day.
It was a such a surreal two days because after the Rams won on Sunday, what went down affected my life, yet it was from a far because I did know any of the 58 people shot in Las Vegas. And, I have seen Petty a few times in the modern years but not in years now that I think of it.
Then on Tuesday, our POTUS went to visit San Juan, Puerto Rico and it was another odd situation. First, he did that round table thing where everyone had to praise him in some way (like when he had his cabinet do it this year). He then started throwing paper towels while handing out cans of chicken much like King Midas would do with his peasants.
Both situations were very awkward to watch in real time.
That was after he said how Puerto Rico had thrown the US budgets 'out of whack' and it was after he lambasts the mayor calling her a nasty woman for basically when she asked for help.
After 8 days, he went down for some weird photo opp when he started to throw the 6 paper towels out to the people in that audience in San Juan.
That was all before he referred to the catastrophe in Puerto Rico as not a real one compared to say, Katrina where there were thousands of deaths. That comparison is stupid since Katrina's catastrophe was neglected by us humans. The levees were breached which is why that city went under water. It was not because of the storm itself. That was a mere part of the mishaps by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that would have happened anyway at some time. And there would have been no deaths basically if those dams did not break.
He (Donald J. Trump) is an idiot. He is a buffoon. He is class A dork. He is do odd.
And, those are his not so bad traits considering how reckless, scary and dangerous he can be with his words and actions.
The thing about him is that everything he does or says has this scorecard type of mentality. Everything he does or says is about a grade he gives oneself. He even makes things seem like the worst thing ever which is a manipulation to make him seem like he swooped into save the day.
And, everything he says then becomes self serving which it is. Nothing he ever says and no matter the situation, does not come back to him in that sentence. He manages to make natural disasters about him. He manages to make the Vegas shooting about him. Everything he says is self serving as a way to bring himself into it in a way where he grades himself.
Actually, he does not grade himself, he always just gives himself the best grades in the history of mankind.
On Wednesday, we got our Phish ticket requests fulfilled for the Garden shows at the end of the year and that was joyous. But I did not even feel happy because I guess of the week so far and most likely because of that Harvest moon. That was also surreal because of what was happening this week and so I therefore took for granted that I got 2 sets of floor tix for every show. I was very lucky. And, it got me psyched for New Years even though it is not for another 5 months or so.
My god kids are going to the show on NYE this year. That is going to be great phun.
Regardless of the week so far, I had a really good kick boxing class at night and you know what what was weird about it, (this has happened the last few YOGA classes I was in this week), it went by so fast.
BTW, I think I am going to revisit listening to every Baker's Dozen show in a row until it's done. This entire year has been all Garden shows. Aside from Dick's, Nutter, Pitt and Chicago, every other show has been at the Garden this year. The New Year's run will make 17 total shows there for the year. Plus, they played last December 28th through December 31st into January 1st to end 2016 and to begin 2017.
I have a webinar with the Grammy Organization about the Advocacy and Public Policy work I will be dealing with starting this month.
As the District Advocacy & Public Policy representative for the Grammy Organization and for the Recording Industry Association of America (R.I.A.A.), I have taken on work on behalf of the Fair Play, Fair Pay Act and fought to obtain royalty rates for artists across all radio platforms while trying to close the Pre-1972 loophole that does not have the same law as Federal Copyrights and is to pass the BOTS Act aka the Online Ticket Sales Act. Our advocacy work is to now help implement the Allocation for Music Producers (AMP) act which adds producers and engineers on certain copyrights and it establishes certainty for their royalty payments. Another goal is to update all outdated consent decrees by way of a Litigation with the Department of Justice and he will start to work for more transparency with regard to Music Licensing issues by pushing for the newly written Music Licensing & Ownership Act.
By now though, there is some talk about moving with some gun safety issues. The talking points on the GOP side are the same. 'It is not the time to discuss gun safety laws' and how they never heard of a 'bump stock' (This AR-15 rifle is fitted with a "bump stock." The stock uses the recoil of the semi-automatic rifle to let the finger "bump" the trigger, making it different from a fully automatic machine gun).
Both situations were very awkward to watch in real time.
That was after he said how Puerto Rico had thrown the US budgets 'out of whack' and it was after he lambasts the mayor calling her a nasty woman for basically when she asked for help.
After 8 days, he went down for some weird photo opp when he started to throw the 6 paper towels out to the people in that audience in San Juan.
That was all before he referred to the catastrophe in Puerto Rico as not a real one compared to say, Katrina where there were thousands of deaths. That comparison is stupid since Katrina's catastrophe was neglected by us humans. The levees were breached which is why that city went under water. It was not because of the storm itself. That was a mere part of the mishaps by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that would have happened anyway at some time. And there would have been no deaths basically if those dams did not break.
He (Donald J. Trump) is an idiot. He is a buffoon. He is class A dork. He is do odd.
And, those are his not so bad traits considering how reckless, scary and dangerous he can be with his words and actions.
The thing about him is that everything he does or says has this scorecard type of mentality. Everything he does or says is about a grade he gives oneself. He even makes things seem like the worst thing ever which is a manipulation to make him seem like he swooped into save the day.
And, everything he says then becomes self serving which it is. Nothing he ever says and no matter the situation, does not come back to him in that sentence. He manages to make natural disasters about him. He manages to make the Vegas shooting about him. Everything he says is self serving as a way to bring himself into it in a way where he grades himself.
Actually, he does not grade himself, he always just gives himself the best grades in the history of mankind.
On Wednesday, we got our Phish ticket requests fulfilled for the Garden shows at the end of the year and that was joyous. But I did not even feel happy because I guess of the week so far and most likely because of that Harvest moon. That was also surreal because of what was happening this week and so I therefore took for granted that I got 2 sets of floor tix for every show. I was very lucky. And, it got me psyched for New Years even though it is not for another 5 months or so.
My god kids are going to the show on NYE this year. That is going to be great phun.
Regardless of the week so far, I had a really good kick boxing class at night and you know what what was weird about it, (this has happened the last few YOGA classes I was in this week), it went by so fast.
BTW, I think I am going to revisit listening to every Baker's Dozen show in a row until it's done. This entire year has been all Garden shows. Aside from Dick's, Nutter, Pitt and Chicago, every other show has been at the Garden this year. The New Year's run will make 17 total shows there for the year. Plus, they played last December 28th through December 31st into January 1st to end 2016 and to begin 2017.
I have a webinar with the Grammy Organization about the Advocacy and Public Policy work I will be dealing with starting this month.
As the District Advocacy & Public Policy representative for the Grammy Organization and for the Recording Industry Association of America (R.I.A.A.), I have taken on work on behalf of the Fair Play, Fair Pay Act and fought to obtain royalty rates for artists across all radio platforms while trying to close the Pre-1972 loophole that does not have the same law as Federal Copyrights and is to pass the BOTS Act aka the Online Ticket Sales Act. Our advocacy work is to now help implement the Allocation for Music Producers (AMP) act which adds producers and engineers on certain copyrights and it establishes certainty for their royalty payments. Another goal is to update all outdated consent decrees by way of a Litigation with the Department of Justice and he will start to work for more transparency with regard to Music Licensing issues by pushing for the newly written Music Licensing & Ownership Act.
By now though, there is some talk about moving with some gun safety issues. The talking points on the GOP side are the same. 'It is not the time to discuss gun safety laws' and how they never heard of a 'bump stock' (This AR-15 rifle is fitted with a "bump stock." The stock uses the recoil of the semi-automatic rifle to let the finger "bump" the trigger, making it different from a fully automatic machine gun).
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There is however, no reason to allow that device on the streets, but what is going on is obvious. The gun industry is seeking ancillary ways to make money.
After all, why would they be trying to pass this law to allow gun silencers?
Why would any normal person not in law enforcement and not at war need a gun silencer?
Why would anyone need to not make a sound when shooting a gun?
Same goes with this Bump Stock attachment.
The dude that killed those people in Vegas this week, had 47 guns and 3 of those Bump Stocks. He also bought 30 of those guns this year or maybe it was within the last year.
There is no reason to have one of those devices unless you want to kill something (setting aside all gun ranges and places to shoot guns for fun which should have anything available to use there). To let normal people have military grade weaponry, will only manifest into trouble. You do not need it to hunt. You do not need that to protect your property. You only need it to kill something fast. What am I saying? It is a way to kill many things fast.
And, so unless you have a group of people entering onto your property with weapons to try to kill you and your family, you probably do not need to have one of them as part of that defense.
Besides, hunters and gun owners in general must really suck at shooting bullets from guns. They sure as hell need a lot of shit to kill something.
Which a real man so to speak, uses its bare hands to kill something and to protect itself.
The NRA has been radio silent so far this week, and overall, they of course want us to be silent.
The irony is that they are just a loud minority of people that are gun lovers. I want to be clear that I can care less about guns. My dad has owned up to three at one time and I am almost sure they still have the one at their jewelry store in Philly. If not, that is a recent thing but I grew up having guns in my house. My dad took me skeet shooting. I have never hunted and honestly, I can care less about guns. It is not fun for me. We had riflery at camp when I was kid and I hated it. It bored me. And, again, I don't kill anything. I have no need for a gun. If someone wants to shoot me using their gun, they are a pussy that cannot fight me with their bare hands or in a fair way. Besides, I am not having a gun fight. So you would just have to shoot me from a far before I can get near you which goes back to that being a total pussy move.
The problem is people with guns have lost their privilege since people abuse it.
And, for that alone, gun lovers should speak out 'bigly' about getting rid of assholes that kill things with no regard for life.
People that need guns also do not impress me. As a matter of fact, I feel they are weak people because after all, why do you need a gun if you were not a pussy that cannot deal by hand? Or, even use a knife. Kill a deer that way rather than from afar and without it being a fair fight.
Then again, it is the American way to take advantage of anything and as much as possible so I get that part of our culture.
A few more people are indeed speaking out this week.
Chelsea has an amazing segment with one of my man crushes as my friends say, Igor Volsky and this Kris Brown whom I don't know, but I now love her. If I could find a woman like that or better yet, how about that chick on Bill Maher's show this week? I have seen her before. She is hot but I forget her name. But anyway, what they are saying on this week's show, is what I want to say but since I am a horrible public speaker, I have to watch in envy. It is also hit or miss whether I remember whatever I see or go through at the end of the weeks.
Especially after this hard and Long week.
Billy Crystal had a great bit on Bill Maher this week about that very subject of our gun culture. Many popular terms we use every day are all about weaponry (i.e.; song goes to Number 10 with a bullet, we want a straight shooter as a politician, etc.). He then points (paraphrasing here) to football saying that they use what is a shotgun offense. And, that he has a rifle for an arm while having many things in his arsenal. He has the receiver in his sites and he hits him with a bullet in his chest.
America has 4.4 percent of the world’s population, but almost half of the civilian-owned guns around the world.
It is the bullet and the gun.
100% of every death by bullets and guns uses a bullet and the gun.
Then, it trickles down to that its the person using the gun with bullets which is where the non science and social science comes into play.
With anything social and about behavior, it is not a constant at all.
There are many intangibles that make up that behavior to want to use a gun and a bullet in any way.
The only pure and indisputable scientific thing behind every and I mean every death caused with bullets and guns is the bullet and the gun.
Everything else is based on opinions and social science.
There are polls out there that say that 94% of the people in America want extensive background checks. Even if that is a bold faced lie or wrong or an outlier, we can lower it like 30% and it would still be at a huge majority of 64% of the people wanting it.
Further, 78% of Americans do NOT own a gun.
And 3% of Americans own 50% of the guns sold in the country.
That is the amounts of people in the United States that are dictating all of these absurd gun laws.
Please read my article if you have not done it yet because that came out three days before Hillary Clinton used it on her campaign (which it also became a question a debate when this was not even in the air before I wrote that article and it is still my top read in the last two and half years since I had the blog up).
Colin Jost does a bit on this week's Weekend Update that said it all.
This dude in Vegas had 47 guns.
Think about having 47 of anything he says.
He says (again to paraphrase) that if you had 47 cats, animal control would come to your house to take them away from you. Which would NOT even happen mind you with guns. No one is coming to your house to take them away from you although there is an element that thinks they will.
He also says that there is some law in some town in Texas that forbids you to own more than six dildos. We do not need that many dildos and honestly, if you are in a relationship, you should never even need one. None of the woman I lived with in serious relationships ever remotely used one dildo let alone six of them.
With that said, the Las Vegas shooter used weapons of war to fire high capacity round after round into the crowd. The GOP's talking points of course is to shame anyone who calls for new gun laws, calling that "politicizing a tragedy." They want to scare you and all political leaders whose inclination is to do the right thing which is to help save the majority of Americans lives.
And, Bill Maher reminded me this week how they also say that whomever is their thoughts and prayers as they enact laws to allow the use of everything we spoke about here.
We need political leaders who go beyond kind thoughts and prayers. We need them to act to demand action on guns.
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Elizabeth Warren (D-MA-SEN) -
"Thoughts and prayers are NOT enough.. We need to have the conversation about
how to stop gun violence. We need it NOW."
Bernie Sanders (D-VT-SEN) - "It
is long past time for Congress to take action on gun safety to save innocent
lives."
Chris Murphy (D-CT-SEN) - "It's
time for Congress to get off its ass and do something"
Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8) - "Las
Vegas isn't the first US city to experience terror of a mass shooting but it
should be the last. Congress must act to end gun violence."
Jeff Merkley (D-OR-SEN) - "How
many more parents need to bury their children before Congress acknowledges the
need to take action to reduce gun violence?"
Al Franken (D-MN-SEN) - "We owe
it to the victims of the Las Vegas attack and their families to address gun
violence."
Cory Booker (D-NJ-SEN) - "We are
not powerless. We must take common sense, widely supported steps to reduce such
violence, agony, and grievous loss."
Ro Khanna (D-CA-17) - "The four
worst mass shootings in U.S. history has occurred within the last decade.
Thoughts and prayers are not enough."
Randy Bryce (Candidate-WI-1) -
"Can we please do more than offer thoughts and prayers? In favor of background
checks, waiting, training."
Richard Blumenthal (D-CT-SEN) -
"Still, Congress refuses to act. I am more than frustrated, I am furious."
Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-7) - "The
weapons used in Las Vegas are designed to do a massive amount of damage. Prayer
alone can't stop that. Only Congress can help stop it."
Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7) - "This
is a crisis with a clear solution – yet so many in Congress, backed by the gun
lobby, refuse to lift a finger. Enough is enough."
Stacey Abrams (Candidate-GA-Governor) -
"We must grieve...And take action: background checks, sensible
restrictions & political courage."
Ed Markey (D-MA-SEN) - "Enough is
enough. It is time GOP stops blocking gun control legislation."
Katie Porter (Candidate-CA-45) -
"273rd mass shooting this year. The deadliest in history. How many
people have to die before Congress takes passing gun safety leg seriously?"
Ben Cardin (D-MD-SEN) - "Actions
speak louder than thoughts and prayers."
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY-SEN) -
"This senseless violence must end - thoughts and prayers are not enough."
Brian Schatz (D-HI-SEN) - "Warm
words are not enough. It's time for Congress to finally stand up against gun
violence and take action so this never happens again."
Mark Pocan (D-WI-2) - "We must
take action to end these tragedies."
Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12) -
"There is nothing left to debate, GOP. The line has to be drawn, not simply
prayed upon."
Tommy Valentine (Candidate for County
Commissioner, Athens, GA) - "Thoughts and prayers are not enough."
Don Beyer (D-VA-8) - "We have a
moral duty to honor their lives with action."
Jared Huffman (D-CA-2) - "More
blood on hands of heartless NRA and soulless gun industry. When will it be
enough?"
Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY-12) -
"Time for us to get serious about gun safety. Congress is failing."
Gwen Moore (D-WI-4) - "As members
of Congress, all of us have a responsibility to enact legislation that ensures
the safety of our constituents."
Mike Thompson (D-CA-5) - "If GOP
Congress does nothing, its leadership is complicit."
Andy Kim (Candidate-NJ-3) -
"Thoughts and prayers are not enough."
Like I said above, this has been quite a week.
We are not even discussing how it broke this week that Rex Tillerson called the POTUS a 'fucking moron' back in July. That does not surprise me but the infighting I guess is pretty rough. The thing is that Trump cannot in any way fire anyone else let alone someone on that scale of where Tillerson is at. He has fired too many people this year but the over / under if you will, is whether Tillerson will still be there by Thanksgiving Day.
There are also rumours that people are pushing to put Mike Pompeo in place which in turn would leave his spot open. I do think I like Pompeau. And Tillerson to me is part of the problem. He is an oil guy. He has capitalized on the plummeting of the earth and ruining parts of our earth forever and as a way to make bank money for himself and for his old company (and Russia).
Saturday, I go to my first adult Bat Mitzvah at the Woodcrest Country Club in Cherry Hill. I do get to hang with niece and nephew which is always the best ever and all I ever care about besides my work.
Tomorrow I have the Rams Seahawks game at 4PM my time. I am going to Xfinity Live in Philadelphia at the Stadium complex to watch the game which is going to be a scene considering the Eagles are playing at 1PM my time.
And, then after the game Sunday Night at 730PM, we have to waltz on over to the Wells Fargo Arena for the Guns N Roses show!
