DL Open Thread Wednesday April 19 2023
What happens when you get a bunch of old dumbfucks all juiced up on fear and racism, then shove guns in their hands? America happens.
Shoot first….for FREEDOM!
Amid a nationwide rise in homicides, a new study has found that “stand your ground” laws – which allow people to respond to threats with potentially lethal force without fear of criminal prosecution – are linked to increased homicide rates, amounting to hundreds of additional deaths per year.
States saw an average increase of 8-10% in monthly homicides between 1999 and 2017 after the enactment of such laws, according to the study published Monday in JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed journal.
“Stand your ground” laws garnered national attention in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death in 2012. George Zimmerman shot Martin but was acquitted on second-degree murder charges in part because he claimed self-defense under Florida’s law. Saturday marks 10 years since Martin’s death.
“There is consistent evidence that the laws are potentially hazardous,” said David Humphreys, an associate professor at University of Oxford who co-authored the study. “Part of the justification of these laws is that they can be useful in helping people protect themselves and improving public safety more generally, and we just don’t see any evidence of that.”
Somehow Carney’s ultra-secret campaign to bribe companies to come to Delaware failed to snag the Amazon HQ. We really dodged a bullet on that one.
When trying to lure Amazon to Virginia, the state offered the tech giant financial incentives to choose the Commonwealth for its HQ2. Now, four years later, Amazon is requesting its first payment.
Amazon formally requested the first installment of the $750 million in economic incentives offered by Virginia, asking for $152 million dollars of it by the close of 2026.
So… Is Sean Hannity being forced to walk the length of Broadway in the nude while people throw garbage at him and yell “Shame!” part of the settlement? No? That sucks. What about a sincere apology? What would a sincerely contrite statement from Fox News sound like? I asked ChatGPT that question.
A Sincerely contrite statement from Fox News
“Fox News deeply regrets having reported on baseless allegations that Dominion voting systems were involved in stealing the 2020 presidential election from former President Donald Trump. We recognize that our reporting and commentary on this issue has contributed to the spread of misinformation and undermined faith in the democratic process.
We acknowledge that Dominion voting systems are a reliable and secure means of conducting elections and that the allegations made against them have been thoroughly debunked. We apologize for any harm caused by our reporting on this issue and pledge to do better in our reporting going forward.
Fox News is committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism and reporting the facts accurately and impartially. We understand that our audience expects and deserves nothing less from us, and we will work to regain their trust and confidence.”
– Via ChatGPT
What you can do…
Dominion, Fox, and Us
Today on TAP: Despite today’s settlement, Americans of goodwill should still pressure cable TV to drop Fox News, and pressure the feds to deport Rupert Murdoch.
…
Lachlan Murdoch, the top dog at Fox News, is an Australian citizen who’s here on some kind of green-card arrangement. Australian native Rupert, who is the pit bull atop Lachlan, wrangled an American citizenship in the mid-1980s as he was first attempting to buy some U.S. television stations. At the time, the law required that a noncitizen of the United States could own no more than 20 percent of a TV station.
America has deported resident aliens and immigrant citizens for far less than the damage that the Murdochs have brought down upon the United States. Indeed, it’s hard to think of any other immigrant to this country who’s done even remotely as much as Rupert to tear his adopted nation apart. (Among the native-born, you almost have to go back to Jefferson Davis to find someone who sundered the union on so massive a scale.)
So in addition to pressuring the cable companies to dump Fox News, we should also consider strategically located demonstrations demanding at least Rupert’s deportation, in the process also affirming our support for democracy and factually based reporting, and providing wholesome outdoor fun for Americans of all ages.
And another “I was terrified” attempted murder overnight. This time a Texas Cheerleader approached the wrong car in a parking lot:
https://abc13.com/woodlands-elite-cheerleaders-shot-shooting-at-heb-in-elgin-texas-payton-washington-pedro-tello-rodriguez-jr-arrested/13150502/
I know this isn’t the point of this post, but these girls are driving 1000 miles a week for cheerleading practice? That’s approximately the distance from Wilmington to State College, Pa.
To paraphrase Dickens: It was the best of gun slaughter, it was the worst of gun slaughter. Believe we all knew “Stand your ground” laws would be used as an eternal excuse for opening fire, no matter how brainless or evil the intent. Much like the carnage of banning abortion these laws came from out trigger happy brethren in the south, now say it with me: We Really Fucked Up in 1861, as we could have been done with them then and there.
I’d argue we really fucked up in 1877. If we occupied the South for 50 years and wrote a new Constitution we’d be in a marginally better place.
I’m happy we fought and won the Civil War.
Sorry REV, have reached the point of conceding there’s no fixing it. The civil war solved or fixed nothing, and thanks to Jim Crow laws modified slavery went on for another 100 years. All the attacks on democracy, civil rights and now all things gay or trans comes from the south. To which I add Florida, Texas and Arizona. As in do we really need this? Would suggest that the primary reason secession is not happening is that the corporation refuse to see their markets decreased or changed.
No need to apologize. I’m correct.
Im also on team “kick those fuckers out”. I’ll happily make it my life’s work to relocate good people trapped in Christistan to America, but I dont want to live in the same country as Margorie Taylor Ham any more than it wants to live in the same country as me.
Waiting for a woman to use stand your ground as a defense against homicide prosecution for a medication abortion after 6 weeks. In this case the intruder is already in the house and a true threat (where even a “perceived threat” has been accepted as justification for male shooters).
doubt it’d work. she’d have to use a gun.
Nearly six years after a large gathering of white nationalists in Charlottesville erupted in violent clashes with counterprotesters, a grand jury in Virginia has indicted multiple people on felony charges for carrying flaming torches with the intent to intimidate.
New goal in life – set up a meeting between Ben and Empty G to broker the national divorce.
if thats the case, I’m demanding the acronym back. TrueNerds like me will always see MTG as Magic The Gathering and i want it back.
she can have western Sussex.
The stand your ground rules are probably most effective when some jehovahs witness/mormon/christian bible thumper shows up at my door. those are the ones who are the most threatening
Amanda Marcotte points out that DeSantis’ feud with Disney isn’t the savvy political play some pundits would have you believe.
“The simplest explanation for why Republican politicians behave like a bunch of bigots is that they are, in fact, a bunch of bigots.”
https://www.salon.com/2023/04/19/ron-desantis-disney-obsession-why-he-cant-let-it-go/
Everyone in Christina School District please vote for Douglas Manley for school board Tuesday 5/9 7am-8pm, and tell all of your friends and family in CSD to do the same. He is big on improving student outcomes in the classroom and through improved school infrastructure. His opponent, Christine Gilbert, on the other hand, is posting QAnon hashtags from her campaign social media accounts. If you can donate or volunteer for the Manley campaign, that would be even better!
Helpful links to check out and share:
List of polling places:
https://elections.delaware.gov/school/christina/board/2023/index.shtml
Campaign website: http://www.dougmanley.com
To donate: https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/145748
To volunteer: Email campaign@douglasmanley.com.
I’m planning to knock doors Saturday. If you go to his website, just check out his common sense answers on the ‘twin scourges’ of school bathrooms and transgender athletic participation.
Punctures the overheated memes coming from the haters.
I’ll see you there Steve! Thanks for knocking.