What Good is This Practice Violence?

Last year was apparently the worst year for school shootings in the US, with 23 incidents which left 113 people killed or injured. Because our relationship to firearms in this country is what it is (unlike, say, in Australia, or in Scotland, or in New Zealand) we have addressed mass shootings with training in the schools to habituate students to the idea that school is a place where they can die, and that it is pretty much on them to try and do something about it. 

That might sound like a cold and biased interpretation of what some people surely believe could be a lifesaving education in survival. I just think that there are reasons to believe this security theater is innately harmful. What is this telling kids about their world and themselves? What is it telling them about what school is when this stressor is added? School should be a place of safety and learning, but this demonstration not only informs them that school is an unsafe place, but fear interferes with learning, and the lesson plan is revelatory about one's own stress-reactions, and not in a helpful way. The "Hide, Run, Fight" recommendations don't always address how human nervous systems respond to confrontations, which naturally tend to "fight, flight, or freeze", leaving kids feeling inadequate when they react with natural fear and surprise in the ways their bodies were almost hard-wired to do.  The scenarios don't address how marginalized students might uncover how much worth the school system thinks they have in the cruelest possible way.

But the most unconscionable story I have heard regarding this conditioning experiment in getting teachers and students alike to assume that schools should necessarily be a place of violence as well as learning, was this story from an Indiana school where teachers were taken in groups to be shot "execution-style" with Airsoft guns, causing bruises and even drawing blood. And potentially setting up the psychological PTSD hellscape where these teachers now view their job as a place where they were violated and no longer feel safe, because their school system did this to them. And their students may very well draw a similar conclusion.

The trauma that school shootings do lives long after the event has passed. Just this week, a student from Parkland who survived the mass shooting killed herself because she found the classroom setting too fraught to keep up in, and felt survivor's guilt.

You can't drill that away.  Why in the world would we be going out of our way to create better victims, when we could be trying to prevent shooters at all?

The Sins of the TrumpWorld Grab-Bags

One of the things I do kind of love about the Trump family is their enthusiasm and loyalty. I would. And for what it is worth, while much is made of the puzzling pair of Javanka and the weird nepotism of their even being White House advisers, and having security clearances (especially Jared, amirite?), it's the contributions to our culture made by Donald Jr. that truly fascinate me.  

It looks like Don Jr. is once again the focus of the collusion question, because WikiLeaks definitely decided that the way to the father was through the son.  (Not sure where Assange got that idea.) The messages in Jr's DM's, while not necessarily responded to, did apparently result in Trump Sr. pushing WikiLeaks info. 

(FWIW: there is a lot of examples of  Trump referencing WikiLeaks.)

The thing with Don Jr's involvement in coordinating with WikiLeaks is that no one can just decide that he was a low-level volunteer. Unlike George Papadopoulos, who definitely conveyed to WH Senior Advisor Stephen Miller that Russia had "dirt" on Clinton. His position, being the person currently charged with running his father's business, should be clearly seen as important. 

But what does this mean, besides the links between the Trump campaign and various Russian cut-outs becoming more obvious? Well, it might mean statements that make no sense and are, whether intentionally or unintentionally, degrading to our intelligence community coming from the White House and POTUS himself. Or it could mean poor national security decisions. 

It does not mean anything good. As I keep saying--it looks bad because it is bad. 

It also will not mean Julian Assange is Ambassador from Australia. WTF? No, this silly boy is staying at the Ecuadoran Embassy until they get sick of his pasty ass and put his bunk out on the street with him in it. Which will be a day.

Trump Did Not Have A Great Day

Just for the record, April Fool's Day is still April 1st and has not been moved up to February 1st, no matter what kind of fooling went on this Wednesday. For one thing, it was the first day of Black History Month, so our President, Donald Trump, sat between Omarosa and Dr. Ben Carson to say some very important and historical things.  Here's a sample:

“Last month we celebrated the life of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., whose incredible example is unique in American history. You read all about Dr. Martin Luther King a week ago when somebody said I took the statue out of my office. And it turned out that that was fake news from these people,” Trump said during his introductory remarks, gesturing at the pool reporters who had been allowed in to view the start of the meeting. “Fake news. The statue is cherished ... but they said the statue, the bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, was taken out of the office. And it was never even touched. So I think it was a disgrace. But that's the way the press is, very unfortunate.”

This is how you know he's genuine--he thinks the bust of Martin Luther King, Jr belongs in the Oval Office. And the lying media tried to own him over it--so who is really very discriminated against, anyway? Also, too:

I am very proud now that we have a museum on the National Mall where people can learn about Reverend King, so many other things. Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I noticed. Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and millions more black Americans who made America what it is today. Big impact.

I wonder if he knows Frederick Douglass from Morgan Freeman. Nota bene: One of them is alive, and has played a president more believably than Donald Trump. I'm just saying.

But Trump went on from there to do a little statesmanship. Before his graham crackers and nap, apparently. He seems to have possibly suggested marching federales into Mexico (possibly the same or different from the ones he's marching into Chicago) to address "bad hombres".  Which is kind of condescending and threatening of their sovereignty and gross-- and then he called Australia and boasted about his electoral win (which isn't that boastable TBH) to Malcolm Turnbull, and ragged him over a refugee deal Trump pretty obviously only just found out about. 

This being the same day we all realize just how screwed up his first ordered attack in Yemen was, and have a picture of how personally liable he is as POTUS, reminds me of how much respect I have for this office because of the stakes--and how serious it is that the holder of that office be competent to serve.

Australian PM Julia Gillard calls out the Oppostion's Misogyny

It's a shame I didn't get to this sooner, but it's a fierce, well-spoken, detailed and particular call-out regarding   the bullshit she and other women have put up with from the sort of jackass who needs to drag gender up and throw shade at women for being in politics whilst female, amongst other grievance.

She's not perfect, nor necessarily a feminist role model, and she falls short in my book for not supporting marriage equality (but perhaps there's room for evolution?)--but I don't follow Australian politics closely enough to say anything other than I really do admire this dressing-down, and Tony Abbot is truly only smiling on the outside as the recipient of the brunt of it.