#KSleg – Holy Overreaction Batman! Guns and School Employees

Here’s the headline:

KS legislature would allow school employees to carry guns

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/03/12/4116802/kansas-is-contemplating-arming.html

Insert heavy sigh….

Let’s play the fact game shall we?

Fact by the a study out of the University of Pennsylvania studying 677 shootings over 2.5 years:

People carrying guns were 4.5 times more likely to be shot.

4.2 times more likely to be killed.

The conclusion was there a hyper-confidence when it came to people carrying guns that people who were not armed didn’t have.  They were more likely to put themselves in dangerous positions on purpose, increasing the likelihood to be shot.

It is more likely that my kid will be killed by lightning than shot by a mass shooter.

I know, this doesn’t work when it comes to the NRA lobby wanting everyone to have a gun.

According to the National Weather Service – 54 people are killed by lightning strikes each year.

Mass shootings by year and number of people from Alan Fox, Northwestern University Lipman Family Professor of Curriculum Law and Public Policy:

2009 –  27

2008 – 29

2007 – 23

From the American Academy of Pediatrics:

This statement reaffirms the 1992 position of the American Academy of Pediatrics that the absence of guns from children’s homes and communities is the most reliable and effective measure to prevent firearm-related injuries in children and adolescents.

Some more interesting stats: In 1997, 306 (7.2%) children and adolescents younger than 20 years killed by firearms died as a result of unintentional firearm-related injuries.

 

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/105/4/888.full

Let’s just ignore those silly docs and all those facts showing that kids are more likely to die from accidental shootings from guns and do the opposite by adding MORE guns to places that our kids frequent – schools.  Makes perfect sense  (more sarcasm).

From that liberal and non-credible  institution called Harvard:

To begin with, having a gun in the home is a risk factor for serious accidental injury and death. As Hemenway points out, death certificate data indicate that 680 Americans were killed accidentally with guns each year between 2003 and 2007. Half those victims were under the age of 25.

I’m sure that having guns in schools will in no way increase the possibility that my child will die from an accidental death from a firearm vs. a mass shooting. (sarcasm)

Now I can already feel pro-gun lobbyist typing out their response to me – “but it’s a deterrent to ward off would be gunmen.”

I’ve noticed how we don’t have any first degree murder now that we have the death penalty.  Deterrents work so well.  Also, since we have all decided that mass gunmen suffer from extreme forms of mental illness, I’m sure they are in their right mind enough to conclude deterrents when they are figure out where their next mass shooting should be.

Adding guns to schools by arming school employees actually increases the likelihood that my child will die from a shooting-an accidental shooting from school employees.  

More guns equal more chances my child will get shot.  Hey – I’m pretty good with math.  I credit great, unarmed teachers!  I understand that we all want to keep kids safe.  That is a great goal, but arming school employees isn’t the answer.  We need to keep our eye on the statistics and not over-react.  Just say no to this legislation!

 

 

 

 

 

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#KSleg committed to debating vaginas

Great things are happening at the Kansas legislature!

Yesterday it was passing a huge abortion bill. 

Today it was debating new stripper laws.

What do both of these things have in common?

If you said the focus on a woman’s vagina – you are correct!

It seems that the Kansas legislature is obsessed with the female anatomy.  Both inside and out.  (Ba dum tshhh…Thanks..I’ll be here all week.  Don’t forget to tip your waitresses and try the Prime Rib!)

“We can’t seem to stop talk about the female body.  Yes, we realize that there are other things that need to happen in Kansas.  Our kids need to get educated.  We know we need to attract new business to Kansas. But hey, we are men.   One day it’s abortion and the next day it’s lap dances. Give a fella a break.” anonymous source.

Now the “lap dance” legislation was struck down today, but not after much debate and many twitter jokes.  

“If we are really considering becoming a state without income tax, we need our strip clubs to attract people.  Why else would people come to Kansas?  We don’t have oceans like Washington and Florida.  We can’t compete with Nevada with Vegas.  The best we can do is offer some great strip clubs.  Every year we debate strip clubs so we can attract the stripper lobby to Topeka.”  

What’s on the agenda for next week for our hard working Kansas lawmakers?  Probably some great boob or ass legislation.  

VAWA – KS and MO Reps for violence!

Dear Reps in Kansas and Missouri:

I am writing to those of you who voted against the bill known as VAWA.  In case you were confused on what you were voting for earlier this week, let me lay it out for you – it stands for VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT.

Here is the list of shame, I mean a list of people who voted against VAWA:

Representing the great state of Missouri

Rep. Blaine Leukemeyer – R

Rep. Billy Long – R

Rep. Ann Wagner – R (on the voting record it listed only as Wagner. I hope, and I mean seriously God I hope, I have the wrong Wagner.  You would be the only woman I found voting against VAWA).

Representing the great land of Oz

Rep. Mike Pompeo – R

Rep. Tim Huelskamp – R

From what I understand the Republicans who voted against VAWA said they disagreed with the bill because it extended protection to the LGBT community, illegal immigrants and Native Americans.

I guess violence against white women is bad, but gays, Indians and illegals – you’re on your own.  Suck it up people.

Quick question GOP – how’s that re-branding of your party as a more compassionate and inclusive party going?  Just curious.

Sorry..don’t mean to get off track.

I’m guessing that our KS and MO representatives voted against VAWA just because it went with our general Midwestern theme lately of upholding our 2nd amendment rights above all else.  We’ve got a pro-violence theme going on here in the Midwest.  VAWA just doesn’t jive well with that.  We wouldn’t want to look soft now would we?  We are a bunch of bad asses.

I just want to provide an extra gold star shout out to Rep. Huelskamp from my state of Kansas who was one of only NINE GOP Congressman who opposed the Violence Against Women Act in its entirety.  Well done!  One of nine.  That’s something Rep. Huelskamp.

Attention Kansas voters – file that one away in the things we’ll remember for the next election cycle.

Anyway, I think your GOP re-branding strategy is going swimmingly.  I can’t wait to see what is up next.  Maybe there will be some new bill about killing puppies and bunnies or making it illegal for kids to have ice cream that you all can get behind.

Keep up the good work.  The votes for candidates with a D after their name are counting on it!

Sincerely,

Aimee

 

KS – Repealing Child Labor Laws

A new report came out Monday that showed during Governor Brownback’s tenure, child poverty rates had increased.  Child poverty rates have increased and those receiving temporary assistance had dropped.  http://www.kckansan.com/

There has been a 38% decrease in the number of families receiving assistance.  

The Kansas City Star reported during the weekend that the child poverty rate in Kansas had increased from 14.5 percent in 2008 to 18.8 percent.

Brownback said that the reason for the decrease was because families didn’t comply with the requirement of looking for a job.

“I think that is a pretty modest requirement,” Brownback said. “The best way to get out of poverty is a job,” he said.

Because of that, and Brownback’s continued belief of personal responsibility instead of government handouts, Kansas is about to take the drastic yet needed step of repealing child labor laws.

“Single mothers of very young children usually represent the poorest of the poor in Kansas.  These women can’t be out looking for jobs when they have young children to take care of.  There tend to be multiple children in these households.  To combat that problem we are asking that the oldest children in their households go out and look for work.  If they can walk, talk and tie their shoes they are fit for some sort of work.  It continues to send the message that government handouts are a thing of the past in KS.” Representative of the Task Force to Reduce Childhood Poverty

This step will increase the workforce in Kansas and make potential businesses consider moving to Kansas to take advantage of this young and vibrant workforce.

“Really it’s a win-win.  Kids get out of poverty and learn the long-term lesson of supporting their families.  It breaks that cycle of poverty.  It also shows the nation that we are a pro-work state and are willing to do what it takes to bring new business to Kansas.”  Governor Brownback

“This drastic step of repealing child labor laws goes along with the trend in Kansas to take us back to the good old days of simpler times.  Now that we encourage people to carry firearms daily and get back alley abortions, having our children back in the factories seemed like the next logical step.”  State Senator who wished to remain anonymous.

Until the new legislation can pass through the House and Senate in Kansas, families and children will continue to go hungry in Kansas.

“We will just call this a teachable moment.” said Governor Brownback

Rep. John Bradford KS – A Few Lessons About Facebook

Dear Rep. Bradford,

First, congratulations on winning your campaign in the KS House 40th District!  Now that you are a public figure, things are changing a bit.  I’m sure you learned a few lessons about being a public figure when you ran for office.  I was reading KSHB 41′s website and noticed you are coming under fire for your Facebook page.

According to the article you said, ”I don’t think I would ever put anything on there that was intentionally offensive to anyone,” he said.

Read more: http://www.kshb.com/dpp/news/political/newly-elected-kansas-politician-possibly-violating-facebook-rules-over-posts-about-the-president#ixzz2Bikmt5W4

Like any concerned citizen would do, I went ahead and checked out your Facebook page for myself.  To me, like our glorious American system lays out,  you are innocent until proven guilty in this country.

https://www.facebook.com/john.bradford.752

I’m back after a quick browse and I have a few observations. I get that our politics don’t match.  No biggie here.  I’m all about building bridges now that the election is over.  This isn’t a Democrat vs. Republican thing just some constructive criticism so please take it as it is intended.

1. You posted this video:  

I watched the whole video.  It starts with some disturbing video of the Holocaust.  It is narrated by a sweet, young child’s voice equating Nazi Germany and mass genocide of 11 million people with not balancing the US budget and lying by American politicians.  Like I stated before, I’m no PR expert, but people can be a bit sensitive when it comes to equating mass genocide and anything that has to do with balancing a budget.  I am happy to include myself in this category.  I’ll just sum this up as a “teachable moment”.  No problem.  Everyone has to learn sometime.

2.  Another article about Nazis.  This one about Hitler Youth.  This time it’s FEMA:  http://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-conservative/2012/10/homeland-security-graduates-first-corps-of-obamas-brown-shirts-homeland-youth-2503808.html

From what I gather from this article, FEMA hired and trained a group of people that were in the age range of 18-24.   This article from a source called “Before It’s News” equates this new group of FEMA graduates with Hitler Youth.

Rep. Bradford, just between you and me.  Here’s another great “teachable moment” Rep. Bradford – Just an FYI,  Nazi Germany and the Holocaust was a horrible scar on history.  People take offense to it.  There is also a delete button on your Facebook page so you can actually delete posts.  Once someone educates you that mass genocide can be offensive, you can actually delete offensive posts.  I know..right…it’s amazing.  It took me a while to figure that out as well.  It’s that little tiny x at the top right of the box.  I wasn’t posting Holocaust stuff, more like Honey Boo Boo jokes that weren’t really funny, but I have hit the delete button more than once in my life.  Don’t even get me started on all the silly stuff I’ve put out on Twitter.

3.  Finally there is this great pic.  I’ll just recognize this as a difference of opinion on gun control.  Just remember we seem to have a bunch of mass shootings made easier with weapons like these.   Right or wrong (mostly right) people also can be a bit  uptight about “funny” pics like these as well.

I hope you have found this little Facebook 101 sensitivity training helpful.  Remember, no Nazi jokes, no genocide jokes and no mass shooting jokes and you should be fine.  I’ll be sure to remember to stay away from Honey Boo Boo jokes just to be safe.

I’ll leave you with this catchy phrase I just made up..”If you don’t want to take the political heat, just remember to hit delete.”

Your new Facebook “friend”,

Aimee

Pro-Life Candidates Get Biggest Message From Campaign

So it’s over.  50% of the country is celebrating and the other 50% is trying to figure out what the hell happened.  Let the campaign analysis begin.  Mittens lost.  Did Obama out campaign him?  Did his own party blow it for him?  Was it Sandy’s fault?  Christie’s fault?  The flag pin’s fault?  My fault?  Mitt was so close.  He was never close really.  I guess it depends who you ask and who you want to believe.

The one thing we can all agree on as a nation is the whole campaign system is broken. The good news is it goes well with our broken economy.  Kinda like the shoes matching the belt.   The reality is it isn’t changing anytime soon.  So here is my big take-away from this whole thing.

A very strong and direct message was sent to the Pro-Life Movement yesterday.  Now that this election is over, I feel like I can lay it all out here.  See, we all know what Akin said.   I think he never really believed that the female body had a way of “shutting the whole thing down” when it came to pregnancy.  I believe extreme Pro-Life candidates like Aiken who said OUTRAGEOUS things about women’s reproductive systems were really saying, “I am pro-life in all cases even rape and incest.”  They just didn’t have the real guts to lay it out so concretely.

Instead of just saying that, they knew that it would be highly unpopular with moderate Americans.  So they started tap dancing to try to cover-up these extreme views.  In fact, there was more tap dancing around this than the talent portion of the Miss Glitter Pageant of Toddlers and Tiaras.  The more they danced the worse it got.  By that time you had statements like Akin’s and Mourdock’s who had just justify pregnancy somehow so they blamed God or excuse me, said pregnancy from rape was what “God intended”.

What once was a movement that seemed unstoppable, the Pro-Life movement, suddenly came to an abrupt stop or at the very least hit an enormous speed bump.  It wasn’t that people reacted to how stupid these statements were and didn’t vote for these candidates.  That conclusion is far too simplistic. I believe there was also a reaction to the intent of the statement – the statement being abortion in all circumstances, even in times of incest and rape was unacceptable.  The American people stopped this type of candidate.  To be perfectly clear, I’m not saying the American people all became pro-choice and everyone now has a Planned Parenthood bumper sticker on their car, but they certainly sent a strong message that pro-life in all circumstances regardless of how the pregnancy occurred did not appeal to them.

As I sit in KS, or as Fox News abbreviated it last night – KA – the hub of Pro-Life extremism, I sit satisfied that what used to be the unstoppable Pro-Life movement finally received a strong message from their own party.  There are limits.  The American voter has limits.  Abortion in all circumstances is not something the American people ultimately believe in.  Abortion in times of rape and incest and in times when the mother’s life is at risk is something the American people find acceptable.  Akin’s loss was more about his intention behind his stupid statement and not just based on his statement alone.

Time will tell if the GOP will take this message to heart and really try to change things before 2016.  I have some ideas about changing the whole campaign  system.  For example – the primaries?  That process sucks if you are the running against an incumbent.  Lengthening the presidential term.  Four years isn’t enough.  Look at how long FDR had to get us out of the Great Depression.    Don’t get me started on the Electoral College.   Somebody in charge of this stuff give me a ring if you want some ideas.

In the meantime, the campaign is over….now what?  Ping-pong anyone?

Kinzer, I know you’re giving JC a high five, but take a sec and read this

Kansas made the national news yet again this week. Was it for our amazing ability to be innovative and create new jobs? No. Was it because we are tops in the nation at providing a 1st class education to all of KS children? No again. Could it be that our KS reps were hard at work rolling out legislation that would reduce taxes, but still provide great services to our hard working citizens while still balancing the budget? Strike 3!

You probably know why. It’s a broken record here in KS. We made the news, because our legislature pasted the most restrictive abortion bill in the nation from our abortion Czar Rep. Lance Kinzer. I figure someone working this hard not to honor our nation’s Supreme Court ruling and thumb his nose at our Founding Fathers should be giving some awesome title like Czar. So by the powers granted to me by the world of Pleasantly Eccentric, I now name you, Representative Lance Kinzer, Abortion Czar of the state of Kansas.

I have a feeling that Representative Kinzer is currently in his place of worship today, Sunday, and giving Jesus Christ a virtual high five today for accomplishing what he believes is what JC would have wanted. WWJD or in this case WWJW. Here’s a little reality check for Czar K to bring him off of his legislative high from the past week.

See, you can continue to not honor the Supreme Court decision of Roe V. Wade and make laws like the one that Gov. Brownback is getting read to sign off on, but that doesn’t make the need for abortion go away. You can disregard our federal system all you want, by enacting all of these state laws, but the harsh reality is you are driving women to the underground of secret abortion and women are gong to die in the process.

Is there such a thing? You bet. Just out of curiosity I googled abortion pills one day and I was shocked at what I found. Just like a guy who is having problems with his Johnson, can order his little blue pills from Canada, girls can order RU 486 from the internet with no medical supervision at all. I couldn’t believe what I read, but sure enough for about $300, women can order their abortion pills that come in “discreet packaging” with a list of instructions to induce their abortions. Discreet packaging – sounds like a woman is ordering porn, not about to induce a medical procedure that should be supervised by a clinician.

Along with all of this information came a bunch of warnings about fake websites that provided fake RU 486. Not only that, but on these websites there were warnings about signs of infections and how a woman should follow up with a doctor if she shows any sign of infection. Self diagnosis? Seriously? Like this isn’t ripe for problems. I don’t know Czar Kinzer – what do you think? Currently RU 486 requires 3 visits to the clinician to complete the procedure. Online ordering means a woman determines the gestational age, administers RU 486 herself and has no idea if the termination is complete.

So Czar Kizer, you take away the safe options for women who seek abortion away. You push these women into the option of ordering from the internet for the pills with no medical over site. Do I really need to lay out for you what the end result of this is going to be? If you said women dying, ding ding ding – give that man a prize!

Before you high five JC, take a moment and think about this. I’m not asking you to give up your pro-life beliefs. Be as pro-life as you want. Pray for it, shout it from the rooftops, do what ever you want. Just stop abusing your position of power by writing whatever laws you want about abortion and fast tracking it to the Governor’s desk. Just because you cut off access doesn’t mean the need for the service goes away. Don’t drive women into the virtual back alleys with no appropriate medical guidance. Don’t be responsible for women dying when they don’t have to.

To the few KS lawmakers who stood up to this bill, thank you. It takes a lot of courage to speak up and vote against this outrageous legislation. To those who voted for it, you may be giving Jesus Christ a high five today, but don’t bet that he is offering his hand in return.