SGTex speaks out about gun control....

My response to one of those "luckily, a passerby happened to be armed" stories, because I believe in gun control but think good gun control would be consistent with some qualified "good citizens" permitted to possess and carry loaded weapons:

I believe the sensible corollary to sane gun control is an armed public, i.e., many "law abiding" carrying and able to act as lay peacekeepers. Why can't 2nd-amendment zealots see that a gun-control agenda, even a leftist one, does not entail disarming good people. You could have an armed public and many a fortuitous "passerby was carrying" story and still go forward with strong laws attempting to restrict some weapons and modes of ammunition, stringent clearance requirements for purchase of same, and much stepped-up regulation such as licensing and registration, even inspections by public safety officers to be sure gun owners are properly storing and keeping their piece or arsenal. Then maybe there would be measurable curtailment of the shooting folks in movies thing, and ghouls coming to slaughter first-graders. But in this we liberals are the sensible ones, with the right wing clearly the ones getting wild-eyed and unreasonable.

SGTex, Native Texan, SGI Buddhist Hippie

****

No, we do not agree...

...with those who are voicing their angry opinons and demonstrating their hatefulness at the undocumented, hopeful immigrants coming to our southern borders these days.

It occurs to me that some people from other parts of the planet might see all of this on the news and be shaking their heads at it all.

Really, you must wonder what is really going on here and imagine what people really feel.  Can we believe what we're shown on the news or what we see on television or hear on the radio?  Probably only some of it.

What it is, is a big crying shame.

My husband and I feel like those who are yelling and screaming and banging the US flags on the buses and shouting angry words and making ugly scenes on our southern borders need to just basically shut up and go home.   Seriously.

We don't want our laws to be broken and we don't believe that everyone should get a free ride or just have the blessings of living in the USA just handed to them....

....any more than what benefits were handed to our own ancestors who came to these shores and were given a decent life here on this continent all those many years ago....at the expense of the honorable, beautiful indigenous people who had been here for ages.

Makes you stop and think, doesn't it?

Shawn
****

Independence Day 2014....

....for Raju, this precious elephant soul, seen here being cared for at long last.  Raju was captured as a baby 50 years ago and held by 20-some different owners, the last of which was a drug-addicted fiend who beat and mistreated him, keeping him in chains while he begged.



A year to the day this project to help him started, he has been rescued at last by Wildlife SOS heroes with the help of conservationists with a court order by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, he is now safe from abuse. When he saw that he was going to be released from his chains the tears ran down his face and he cried, along with those who were rescuing him from the hell he'd been living.


We are so glad to have had a small part in facilitating his release and will continue to send what support we can to make his life more comfortable, now that he is in good hands and getting medical care and in a loving environment.


Be blest, Raju. Rest and be restored.


Shawn & SGTex

****