Category Archives: Politics

“Two 3-year-old boys were shot by another toddler who found and inadvertently fired a gun at the home of their babysitter in Dearborn, Mich.”

Washington Post: American toddlers are still shooting people on a weekly basis this year.

“The Dearborn boys are at least the 42nd and 43rd people to get shot by a child under the age of 4 this year, according to a database of accidental child-involved shootings maintained by Everytown, a gun violence prevention group. On average, someone gets shot by an American toddler a little more frequently than once a week, similar to previous years.”

“It’s a public safety issue, and something needs to be done already.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live: Jimmy Kimmel on Mass Shooting in Las Vegas. (YouTube, 9:54min)

It’s incomprehensible to this European why gun laws have not been changed in the US a long time ago and why they probabbly won’t be changed after this tragedy.

Washington Post Opinion: Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue on guns was very powerful. It’s not enough, Jimmy.. By Greg Sargent.

“Polarization in Congress is worse than at any time in memory, and negative partisanship is on the rise. GOP lawmakers risk angering their own voters if they moderate or compromise. Then there’s the “minority rule“ problem. Gerrymandered districts and population clustering mean GOP lawmakers have to worry less about mainstream public opinion. And recall: In the Senate, a majority did vote after the Newtown shooting for expanded background checks, but it was filibustered by then-minority Republicans. (This is another way guns are different from health care, on which a Senate majority did carry the day.) If Dems take back the Senate, 60 votes will be needed for gun reform again. The problem is not the NRA’s money. It’s the self-reinforcing interaction between GOP ideological conviction, minority rule, and structural malaise.

It is important that Kimmel is mobilizing people. The best hope for countering these things is for Democrats to win more elections, and getting the base fired up is key to that. It would also be folly to expect Kimmel to turn his show into a political science seminar by discussing these dreary problems. But if there is anyone who might find a way to make them more entertaining and accessible, it’s Kimmel. Maybe he should try.”

“Was the Cat in the Hat Black?”

Letter to First Lady Melania Trump from Liz Phipps Soeiro, School Librarian, Cambridge, MA.

“Dear Mrs. Trump,
Thank you for the ten Dr. Seuss titles that you sent my school library in recognition of this year’s National Read a Book Day. (Sent second-day air, no less! That must have been expensive.) I’m proud that you recognized my school as something special. It truly is. Our beautiful and diverse student body is made up of children from all over the world; from different socioeconomic statuses; with a spectrum of gender expressions and identities; with a range of abilities; and of varied racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds.”

“Universal health care isn’t a policy conversation. It’s not a political talking point.”

Medium: Why I Believe in Universal Healthcare. By Jenny Nicholson.

“I was a junior in high school when my mother had her first heart attack. She was in her bed, moaning, crying that she couldn’t breathe.

We were too poor to have a phone, so I ran barefoot to the neighbor’s house, 1/4 mile down the road. I’ve never moved so quickly in my life.

It was a 30-minute drive to the hospital and, as we followed the ambulance, I prayed the whole time that my mother wouldn’t die.”

Link via MeFi Projects.

Wahl in Deutschland

Update: If you prefer news about the German election, I recommend this MetaFilter thread: Upset in German federal election.

Die Wahlergebnisse und andere Neuigkeiten zur Wahl kann man ja überall im Web lesen. Hier daher nur eine winzige Auswahl:

n-tv: AfD: Was erwartet den Bundestag? “Die Nazi-Keule ist das Dümmste”.

“Laut den Umfragen könnte die AfD drittstärkste Kraft im Bundestag werden. Und das, obwohl die Partei zwischenzeitlich in den Umfragen abgestürzt war. Was erwartet das Parlament, wenn die Rechtspopulisten mit 50, 60 oder vielleicht 80 Abgeordneten einziehen? Werden die neuen AfD-Abgeordneten konstruktive Arbeit leisten oder weiter provozieren? Im Interview mit n-tv.de gibt Parteienforscher Timo Lochocki einen Ausblick.”

Deutsche Welle: Was hat der Abgang von Frauke Petry zu bedeuten? “Zuletzt war es ruhig um die AfD-Chefin Frauke Petry geworden. Auch am Wahlabend spielte sie nur eine Nebenrolle. Nun, am Tag nach dem Wahlsieg, kündigt sie für sich eine neue Rolle an und überrascht die Partei damit.”

“Die deutschen Rechtspopulisten sind in einem Punkt auf jeden Fall ähnlich den anderen populistischen Parteien in Europa: Sie haben die Tendenz zur Selbstzerstörung durch mörderische Machtkämpfe an der Parteispitze. Beim “Front National” geht das sogar bis zur Ebene der Familie Le Pen. Nun hat die AfD-Co-Chefin, Frauke Petry, in Berlin ein Drama aufgeführt, was in die Annalen der Parteigeschichte eingehen wird.

Als erste Partei am Tag nach der Wahl trat die AfD vor die Presse. Und zwar als Quartett aus den beiden Spitzenkandidaten des Wahlkampfs, Alice Weidel und Alexander Gauland, und den beiden Parteivorsitzenden Jörg Meuthen und Frauke Petry. Doch schon nach zehn Minuten platzte die Bombe.

Frauke Petry tritt aus der eigenen Fraktion aus”