Bob Dylan's Question Still Unanswered

"How many deaths will it take til he knows that too many people have died?" Dylan's question could be directed at any law maker and should be. The recent events in California continue the horrific number of mass shootings of 2022 which saw nearly 700 such event.

2023 already has more than one mass shooting every day, and it's not even February.

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In the Heller case, Antonin Scalia, the patron saint of conservative justice, wrote:

"There seems to us no doubt, on the basis of both text and history, that the Second Amendment conferred an individual right to keep and bear arms. Of course the right was not unlimited, just as the First Amendment’s right of free speech was not, see, e.g., United States v. Williams, 553 U. S. ___ (2008). Thus, we do not read the Second Amendment to protect the right of citizens to carry arms for any sort of confrontation, just as we do not read the First Amendment to protect the right of citizens to speak for any purpose."

When Congress banned assault weapons, mass shootings decreased markedly. When the GOP controlled Congress let that bill lapse, mass shooting increased exponentially. Clearly, Scalia knew that the right to bear arms is not sacrosanct, that some sensible regulation is possible, and has been done in the past. We don't have machine guns in the general public because they were effectiveley limited in 1934

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If you need an assault style rifle to hunt, to fire multiple shots with high velocity ammunition that actually does more damage to your prey, than you aren't a very good hunter. As one doctor described the child victims of Uvalde, TX, "They were decapitated." 

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The states with the highest per capita rates of gun violence are those state with the most lax gun laws. Nine of the top ten of those states are completely controlled by GOP legislatures and governors.

Of course no gun legislation can stop all gun violence, but we can and must reduce the deaths and injuries.

There is no conceivable justification for weapons of war to be in the hands of regular citizens, but getting them all off the street is not a feasible option. Registering the ones out there is. Banning the manufacture and sale of new ones is. 

Limiting the magazine capacity it feasible. Hunters who need more than one shot to bring down a deer is not a good hunter. 

Rigorous background checks, mental health checks, and lengthy waiting periods are also feasible. Red flag laws also can make a difference. 

I'm not naive enough to think that all such gun violence will end, but how many more have to die? Dylan asked that question over 60 years ago. When will somebody have the answer?

#gunviolence #guns #sensiblelaws 

Unpopular Music Opinions

The recent passing of David Crosby brought out the usual praise and bereavement statements of those know knew him and loved his music. He was involved in the Byrds and more importantly with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Those two groups were important in the history of 60s and early 70s music, and Crosby was a major cog in those wheels.

But...

I don't think he was all that great as a songwriter. One member of a Facebook group to which I belong posted a YouTube video of one of Crosby's songs, "Music is Love"

Uh, the first three minutes of the song is just repetitive and not very poignant.

A lot of people are devastated by Crosby's death. The tributes are appropriate and heartfelt. I'm just not feeing it. 

Another performer everyone seems to love is Joni Mitchell. I admit she sounds okay, but it's not something that gets to me. Yes, she, too, is important in music, 

But...

Pick a tuning already. And yes, she has a nice voice, but it doesn't suit my ears. Her songs don't move me like others do. I guess she just rubs me the wrong way. 

I'll listen to Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, but there not my go to group from that era. Maybe the Byrds, but more likely Buffalo Springfield. For a female singer from that period, I'd go with Janis Jopliin for raw power and emotion.

For some people, Cosby carries a strong emotional attachment. They have been deeply moved by his passing. He was part of the soundtrack of their lives.

I wept when John Prine passed. I wept when Pete Seeger passed. Their music meant more to me and who I am as a person today. I'n just old, I guess.

Next Man Up

 One of my favorite poems is "London" by William Blake.

I wander thro' each charter'd street,

Near where the charter'd Thames does flow. 

And mark in every face I meet

Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every Man,

In every Infants cry of fear,

In every voice: in every ban,

The mind-forg'd manacles I hear 

How the Chimney-sweepers cry

Every blackning Church appalls, 

And the hapless Soldiers sigh

Runs in blood down Palace walls 

But most thro' midnight streets I hear

How the youthful Harlots curse

Blasts the new-born Infants tear 

And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse 

The poem focuses cruelty and injustice occurring in society, particularly felt by the lower classes. The "mind forg'd manacles" can be viewed as the mental oppression imposed on the marginalized members of society.

We still live in a manacled world. We stop at the stop sign at 2:00 a.m. even though there is no one around is a simple example, but society's marginalized today have it ingrained that they can't get out of the circumstances of their lives. And their circumstances sadly continue.

Which brings me to the title of this post.

During the football season, numerous players suffer injuries. Some are minor. The player leaves the field, sits out a couple of plays, and returns to the game. Some injuries are season ending, some career ending. Some, like what happened to Damar Hamlin, are life threatening.

When an injury takes a player out of a game for an extended period, his teammates are invariably asked how the team will do without him. A common response is "Next man up."

I've heard that phrase numerous times during this dismal season of the Chicago Bears. They lose a lineman or running back. The teammates say, "Next man up."

I heard that phrase during the last Super Bowl season of the Green Bay Packers. They, too, had a seemingly insurmountable number of injuries at various positions. And the teammates said, "Next man up."

Other than quarterback, most of a football team's roster is comprised of interchangeable parts. A lineman goes down, put somebody else in there. Same thing with running backs, linebackers, defensive backs, and receivers. A team with enough depth can still succeed. Somebody goes down, "Next man up."

If a team can't find a replacement on the 55 man roster, they bring somebody off the practice squad or find somebody who had been released by another team.

"Next man up" simply means that players are expendable. The teams treat them as expendable and players accept it. Fans want to see the big hard hits, the long passes, the diving catches. It doesn't matter who's playing. For an average 3.3 years of a career, NFL players gladly wear their manacles to be the next man up. The NFL and fans treat them like chattel.

Next man up. What happens when no one is left?