Monday, February 19, 2018
After the school shooting in Florida, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he wants the Justice Department to study how mental illness and gun violence intersect.
http://www.theitem.com/stories
After the school shooting in Florida, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he wants the Justice Department to study how mental illness and gun violence intersect.
http://www.theitem.com/stories
Sessions and his ilk, however, have refused to permit study of the elementary issue of how gun
ownership and gun violence intersect. In 1996, Congress passed the
Dickey Amendment which mandated that "none of the funds made available
for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may be used to advocate or promote gun control."
In what might have been an excess of caution, studies of gun violence
disappeared, because recognizing the connection between gun
ownership and gun violence was taken as advocacy.
. . .
. . .
An opinion piece by Ross Douthat, one of the New York Times's conservative court jesters, evoked a sure-to-be ignored letter to the editor from me this weekend. "Ross Douthat says that 'I am not a gun owner but I can
imagine many situations and political dispensations in which a morally
responsible citizen should own a weapon.' He fails to identify any such
situation and certainly none that most urban Americans removed from a
Randolph Scott or John Wayne movie might relate to. In fact, he has not
persuaded himself, likely a morally responsible citizen, to own a gun,
any gun. There is no morally responsible reason for any American
civilian to own an AR-15 or the like at any time at any age. In this
case for Mr. Douthat: Do as I do, not as I say."
. . .
. . .
If you like charts and lists, as I do, the following should interest you. https://www.nytimes.com/intera
The
data was gathered from 170 members of the American Political Science
Association’s Presidents and Executive Politics section. Maybe Donald
Trump's position at the bottom or near the bottom of every ranking would
have been elevated if more shared Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch's
view that
Trump was the “greatest president in the history of our country,”
better even than presidents Washington and Lincoln. Actually, that's
what Trump said Hatch said, and if you can't believe the president . . .
https://www.thewrap.com/trump-
. . .
. . .
And
now to chew on something else -- Chinese food. Stony Brook Steve and I
celebrated the Year of the Dog, in part, by going to lunch at Zai Lai,
Homestyle Taiwanese, 1000 Eighth Avenue, stashed at the southern end of
the Columbus Circle subway station, right next to the beloved Bolivian
Llama Party (August 24, 2016).
As with many of the other operations down there, you take your food
from Zai Lai's tiny counter and find a seat at the block-long collection
of tables in the subway corridor.
From the very limited menu, we both ordered a scallion pancake ($3) and Mama's Special Chicken rice bowl ($12 for the regular size, $9
for "Petite"). The pancake was very good and the tasty bowl had
chicken, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and eggplant over rice. Three other
rice bowls are available at the same prices, Ama's five spice pork,
Chef's Lion's Head Meatballs, and Ayi's bamboo eggplant. If I return to
this feeding area, however, I probably would choose the Bolivian food
over the Taiwanese food, because Bolivian joints are hardly a peso a
dozen.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
For
about two months, I haven't read any fiction aside from statements from
the White House. In fact, I chose thoughtful storytelling over
illogical, ahistoric, reality-denying bleats from on high. It's just
that I used another medium to arouse my curiosity and stimulate my
imagination. I binge watched. Specifically, I watched the 86 episodes
of "The Sopranos" in order.
While
binge watching seems to imply uninterrupted, hypnotic attention to a
video screen, the 86+ hours needed for "The Sopranos" takes time. I
gave over an hour or two many weekdays, normally reserved for reading,
to those happy warriors of north central New Jersey and it was
wonderful. While I often wanted to take in more at a time, eating,
drinking, sleeping, marriage kept Tony and friends on a somewhat
restricted schedule. Now, I have to steel myself from returning to
"Breaking Bad."
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
I will remember Billy Graham as an anti-Semite or as a toady to power, or both.
. . .
With the temperature at 77°
(25°C), a record high, I enjoyed walking the mile and a third to
Ollie's Sichuan Cuisine, 411 West 42nd Street, to meet Mark Nazimova for
lunch in furtherance of Chinese New Year. This Ollie's is the most
formal of a four branch chain, but still quite casual. We fit right in.
We shared one plate of crispy orange flavor beef, one of 18 lunch specials at $9.25,
including hot and sour soup and brown rice. We added a small order of
spare ribs (4 pieces, $12.25) and Singapore chow fun ($11.25). The menu
lists Singapore mei fun only, but, as often necessary, you patiently
explain to the waiter that you want the wide noodle. You will then get a
good, large bowl of chow fun, shrimp, pork, eggs, bean sprouts and
green onions cooked in a dry curry sauce. The food was more or less
reasonably priced considering the real estate.
Thursday, February 22, 2018
The ever-civic minded National Rifle Association outlined the causes of the Florida school shooting today, including the FBI, families and the failure of school safety. I have a few more items for this list:
Genetics
Unrequited love
Neurosis
Sadism
. . .
The
great urban warrior sitting in the White House has suggested arming
teachers as a response to school shootings. According to a 2014 study
in the International Journal of Police Science & Management, at 18-45 feet, trained law enforcement officers hit their target 37.95% of the time.
http://www.forcescience.org/ar
http://www.forcescience.org/ar
An earlier study found that, in cases where New York City police officers intentionally fired a gun at a person,
they discharged 364 bullets and hit their target 103 times, for a hit
rate of 28.3 percent. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12
With respect to gun control, I am heartened by the response from high school students. Lets hope they keep up their resolve to affect change.
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