Tighter Gun Control?

US passes tighter gun control law

The US Congress has approved the first major gun control law since 1994, improving background checks on buyers.

The bill was prompted by the deaths of 32 people at Virginia Tech University in April, when a mentally ill student used two guns he had been able to buy.

The law clarifies what mental health records must be included in checks and gives funds to states to help automate the processing of records.

It has been widely welcomed but critics say it will do "more harm than good".

Continue news story here -

This is something that cuts both ways. There is an obvious gap in
the head-space spark gap of some human beings. In my region, we have had several gruesome murders over the past month. The weapon of choice was a firearm for the many. Gasoline and a match was the second . All the perpetrators had access to fire arms in the face of some giant red flags. There have been thwarted firearms incidents in several high schools. The level of stupidity has been monumental. The level of outrage is just missing among the rabid defenders of unlimited access to guns.

I grew up with unlimited access to firearms and ammunition. There were still gun incidents in the community but none seemed to rise to the level of those are now being seen.

I believe that firearms familiarization and training should be more institutionalized than it is. Ability and respect for the power of the weapon seems to be more effective than the glorification of the "cold dead hand" method sought by the NRA. Something is missing.

I looked at what training is available in the State of Florida that is provided by the NRA. It seems that there is no institutional training, there is only for profit training. Check here.

None of the shooters or gun concealers and flashers in recent incidents seem to have been on anybodies "heads-up" list. They all had perfectly legal guns or perfectly illegal guns. None seem to have had access to firearms training. Most were children of broken homes, failed educational attainment and histories that would block their participation even in military training.

I am a supporter of the prevention of invasion of privacy from the top
of government down. I am a supporter of people knowing what is going
on around them at the family, clan and village level. The worst cases
have arisen in situations where some family member, extended family
member or fellow village person knew of some aberrant behavior of the
eventual shooters. They knew that the person had firearms. They
chose however to admit to, ". . . didn't want to get in their
business." The outcome was tragic.

The story continues.

Lantern Bearer

Please, be attentive, be intelligent, be reasonable, be responsible.

You have no business to believe me.

I ask you to believe nothing that you cannot verify for yourself. . .

If you have not a critical mind, your visit here is useless.

G.I. Gurdjieff

What Makes A "Good" Christmas?

Ben Stein Says It's Not What is Under Your Tree But What's In Your Heart

Some of the best Christmases I have had have been in places where people know very little about Western Christmas. I have experienced the time without the hustle and bustle of getting everything just right in a commercial way. I have had very good "Season of Joy" without being reminded from every media source that the reason of the Holiday is spending.

We tend to forget that there is a Spirit that we celebrate. That Spirit is best expressed in people around the world in the ways of their native culture. In the US, our celebratory theme is a direct lift from Pagan practices of Roman and Teutonic antiquity. Now, some may consider that a slap in the face of conventionality, but to me it serves to remind us that humans have been seeking and celebrating the coming of the Infinite for a long time.

I read a particularly biased blast at Kwanza this past week. I had to respond in a pointed comment that the Entity which is the object of the season was first honored and celebrated in Asia and Africa before it was relayed to Anglos and Teutons. The most ancient traditions relate that the first visitors to the events were Wisemen, Kings of Knowledge from the East and that one of their number was a black African.

I also viewed a presentation called Nativity: The Art and Spirit of the Crèche. That theme is reproducible across a wide swath of cultural expression. It can be very anatomically correct or it can be very impressionistic. It is an expression of diversity and simplicity in a world of seeming empire and rigid dominion for-your-own-good. It is the very antithesis of the dominion of the Temple, of the City of Rome, and the terror of the conventional thought.

The season as expressed by the Crèche is the lesson. It is not parochial or sectarian. It is ancient and universal. It is a lesson of acceptance and perseverance in the face of seeming dominion (enrolling in the census) , persecution (killing of newborns) and lack (being born in a place where animals are quartered).

I have been accused of being too grumpy and not a good participant in the season. I find that my joy is within and needs no promiscuous displays of convention to fuel that joy.

Go! Be joyful!

I AM

Lantern Bearer

Please, be attentive, be intelligent, be reasonable, be responsible.

You have no business to believe me.

I ask you to believe nothing that you cannot verify for yourself. . .

If you have not a critical mind, your visit here is useless.

G.I. Gurdjieff