One of the best shows I ever attended was a twin-bill at Bottom Of The Hill in San Francisco in the mid-Nineties.It was the Billy Nayer Show and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy. I didn't know a lot about "the Ledge" before that show. I'd heard Paralyzed on the radio, but that was about it. After that show, I was a fan for life.
Imagine, if you will, that you have a dog. You love this dog. But he's become rabid. And your family is in danger. Imagine saying "one of us has to keep an eye om the doggy door at all times and warn us if he tries to get in." And imagine saying "kids, when you come home from school, go straight to your rooms and lock the doors. Don't come out until you have your attack-dog-training suit on."
And imagine someone saying to you "maybe you should just get rid of the dog." And imagine replying "Hey, dogs are gonna bite. That's not the issue. The dog is not the problem. We just need to mitigate the damage the dog does when he attacks. Maybe get another, bigger dog to fight him."
That's pretty much the logic on display with the NRA's achool shield program.
Here's their lying lie of a mission statement:
We Have A Singular Mission: To Protect Our Children
School security is a complex issue with no simple, single solution.
Okay, I suppose that's true. Although, you know where it is less complex? England. And France. And Germany. And every other civilized nation on Earth that doesn't let kids get their hands on weapoms of death.
The National School Shield® program is committed to
addressing the many facets of school security, including best practices
in security infrastructure, technology, personnel, training, and policy.
Through this multidimensional effort, National School Shield® seeks to engage communities and empower leaders to help make our schools more secure.
You know. . . just when I thought these guys couldn't get any more disgusting.
First they make money by flooding the country with guns. Then when those guns inevitably kill a bunch of innocent kids, they step in to market "solutions." They're profiting off of murder coming and going.
There's an informative video on the site, but I can't get it to play, which is probably best for my fragile sanity anyway, but here are a few highlights from the text portion of the site:
Does the NRA support armed school personnel to protect students? The NRA believes every option should be considered when it
comes to protecting our children. When a threat occurs, a quick and
timely response by law enforcement professionals is what everyone hopes
for. However, in these situations - when time is clearly of the essence –
we strongly believe that trained school personnel can also serve a
vital role. As the first to face the threat, they can lead and implement
protocols designed to save lives.
Yeah. . . except. . . Santa Fe High had two armed law enforcement officers on campus, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas had at least one. None of them were particularly effective in preventing these killings. But I'm sure if you train the gym teacher thoroughly enough, he'll turn into John McLane and save the day.
Also. When you say "every option should be considered?" You know we know you're full of shit, right? Because you've been pretty adamant about not ever considering the most obvious option.
Oh, and here's a valuable service they provide:
The National School Shield’s Security Assessor Training seeks to
facilitate a partnership between schools and local stakeholders in a
shared commitment to more secure schools. At the conclusion of our
training, participants will be adequately primed to conduct standardized
school vulnerability assessments and assist schools in recognizing
strengths as well as potential vulnerabilities
Oh great! The NR fucking A is going to train completely unqualified randos to be "threat assessors." So get ready to see guys like this touring your kids' school!
And, not at all surprisingly:
Donate to National School Shield
Support the ongoing development and deployment of comprehensive tools
and resources designed to enhance the capacity of our nation’s schools
in identifying and managing security risks. Donate Now
Because if you've spent the last half hour reading about how every school is constantly under threat every minute of every day and no child is ever safe, you're probably going to be willing to fork over a few bucks to the ghouls who help to keep it that way - I mean, the competent professionals who can keep your child safe!
Actually, I really do wish I could get the video to play, but since I can't, I Googled the School Shiled program and found these interesting tidbits:
(via Mother Jones) The
report identifies perimeter fencing, made with material that “clearly
demonstrates territorial ownership,” as the “first physical and
psychological barrier that a violent individual must overcome.”
According to the report, the fences should not send a psychological
message that the school is vulnerable, like this (ordinary school)
fence: Instead, the fence should look more like this prison yard-style fence:
Holy God! This is the future these sick fucks envision. They want schools to look like prisons. They want kids going to school in America to feel like kids in the occupied territories or something, only feeling safe behind prison-like walls.
Research shows that students learn better and are less stressed when they can see some greenery
outside the classroom window. But according to the task force, trees
and bushes on school grounds should instead be viewed as major security
threats. They supposedly provide too many opportunities for a shooter to
stash weapons and hide from surveillance cameras. Shrubbery, according
to the report, is particularly bad if positioned next to the
aforementioned fence, lest all that foliage provide cover to someone
cutting through the fence or climbing over it.
This is not a forward operating base in Fallujah. This is school!
If a school insists on landscaping, the NRA recommends very kid-friendly “thorn-bearing and sharp-leaved plant species to create natural physical barriers to deter aggressors.”
What????
I get planting cacti or Mother in Law's Tongue by your windows at home to prevent burglaries, but school shooters just come in the front door, don't they? They aren't sneaking in like cat burglars, are they? This isn't going to make it harder for the shooters. All this would do is make it more difficult for kids to escape out the windows during a shooting.
The report does urge school leaders to keep in mind that such prickly
barriers might also prevent people from escaping a mad shooter.
According to the task force report, schools should be designed with an
eye toward 1970s-era post-riots urban architecture. Windows, if allowed
at all, should be designed solely with surveillance in mind. They should
be only large enough to peep out of to assess ongoing threats. “Design
windows, framing, and anchoring systems to minimize the effects of
explosive blasts, gunfire, and forced entry,” the report urges.
Sooooo. . . now it's a firetrap. Great going. Not only are these kids sitting perpetually frightened in a hot stuffy windowless room, now they have little chance of escaping safely from a fire. Or a shooter, for that matter.
The authors do acknowledge that this advice may conflict with the
school’s need to provide people fleeing a shooter with a secondary
escape route, noting that many people survived the Virginia Tech
shooting by climbing out windows.
So they know this. And they're recommending it anyway. Because they will do ANYTHING other than address the issue. THE DOG IS SICK! It's not going to get better. And you need to worry more about protecting your kids than about how much you love Fido.
So President Personality Disorder was giving a speech trying to whip up support for Republican candidates in the midterm, and this came out of his mouth hole:
"But if Democrats gain power, they will try to reverse these
incredible gains. These are historic gains. They will try and reverse
many of them. So your vote in 2018 is every bit as important as your
vote in 2016 -- although I'm not sure I really believe that, but you
know. (Laughter.) I don't know who the hell wrote that line. I'm not
sure. (Laughter and applause.) But it's still important."
He just can't help himself.
He just can't bring himself to just read the words on the screen without ad-libbing if those written words don't sufficiently puff up his own fragile ego.
He can't say that the 2018 election is just as important as 2016 because he's not running in 2018 so how could it possibly be as important if it doesn't involve him?
This is something beyond narcissism.
They're going to have to invent a new term for this kind of pathology.
Years from now, psychology students will be learning about "Il Douche Syndrome" or whatever they're going to call it and they'll raise their hands and ask the professor "was this based on a real person?" And the professor will say "God, I hope not!"
Televangelist Jim Bakker calls his Missouri cabins the safest spot for the Apocalypse
How?
How could they possibly be. . .? You know what, let's see.
Televangelist Jim Bakker suggests that if you want to survive the end of
days, the best thing you could do is buy one of his cabins in
Missouri's Ozark Mountains. And while you're at it, be sure to pick up
six 28-ounce "Extreme Survival Warfare" water bottles for $150.
Okay, but. . .I mean. . .it's the end of the world. Fire and brimstone. Stars falling from the heavens, seas turning to blood, complete destruction. How would you surv -- actually, why would you want to survive? Wouldn't you want to go to Heaven? God is destroying the Earth, killing everyone in sight, the righteous are going to eternal Paradise and you think you're gonna want to wait things out in Missouri? See how things play out? I mean, sure, Heaven sounds boring. ( h/t )Sitting around playing harps all day. Every day. Day after day. But it's got to be better than riding out the APOCALYPSE in some dumb cabin in the Ozarks watching the world burn and everyone die. Right?
Now, surrounded by buckets of food and "warfare" water bottles in the Ozarks, Bakker is in front of the cameras once again, preparing his viewers for the Apocalypse. "Where are you going to go when
the world's on fire? Where are you going to go? This place is for God's
people. ... We need some farmers to move here," Bakker said on Tuesday's
show.
You know, I'm no fancy big city theologian, but I seem to recall a place that was supposed to be for "God's people," a place where God's people were supposed to go at the end of the world. A little place by the name of . . . HEAVEN! Why would the Jim Bakker audience want to avoid going to Heaven? Maybe because they would miss seeing Jim Bakker?
Also, why would you think that this would work? Why would someone who believes in the all-seeing all-knowing almighty God of the Bible think that they would be able to hide from Him? Like he's going around raining fire and brimstone on everybody and the angels are like "Hey, Lord, there's some cabins down there in those hills," and God is going to say "Ah, there's probably no one in there. This place is so remote, I can't imagine anyone actually living there," and then you'll be all "Jokes on you, God! We were here the whole time!"
How is any of this supposed to work?
Later in the show, Bakker says the Ozarks is "the safest place to live"
versus living in large cities elsewhere in the country, like Chicago and
New York, The Christian Post reported.
Okay. I could see that. Probably a lot less crime in the Ozarks.
A lot more bears, though.
And a lot more guys who think you have a real purty mouth.
But on balance, sure. It's probably safer to live in a cabin in the woods with no hospital nearby or any doctor. really. And no ambulance service. But you probably won't need any of those things, you'll be so robustly healthy on your steady diet of Jim Bakker's dehydrated potato glop and $150 warfare water!
"Do you know the people from the government, from NASA, the research
from so many of them, they have said in their research that the safest
place to live in troubled times is right here. That's why God brought us
here," Bakker said.
No.
No, that is NOT what NASA does. Not even CLOOOSE to what NASA does. I don't know what you're thinking of, but it is definitely not NASA.
Also, the research you mention. Not only was that not NASA, but it was not any government agency because you made it up and it never happened and you're lying.
How is there not some kind of law against this? This is nothing but a swindle. And it's one thing to grift in the name of the Lord, but once you invoke NASA in your bullshit sales pitch, couldn't they at least sue you? Or something? He's robbing people blind. And yes, they should know better. They should know that he's already done time for fraud, and even if they don't their bullshit detector should be blaring every time this little prick speaks, but I'm just tired of living in a society in which it's considered okay to fleece someone because they're stupid and gullible.
