Tag: mass killings

Afghanistan earthquake exposes disaster caused by decades of US occupation

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

by Jean Shaoul, WSWS, Jun 24 2022

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in a remote area of Afghanistan has killed at least 1,000 people and injured at least 1,500. While the worst affected area is the mountainous Paktika province, deaths have also been reported in the eastern provinces of Khost and Nangarhar. Many more bodies are thought to be buried in mud as heavy rain hampers rescue efforts.

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With the ever-expanding US war against Russia, the US is preparing to bring the type of devastation wrought upon Afghanistan and Iraq to Europe, at an even greater cost in lives and treasure.

Afghanistan earthquake exposes disaster caused by decades of US occupation

The Contagion Effect: From Buffalo to Uvalde, 16 Mass Shootings in Just 10 Days

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)2 Comments

The latest mass shootings in Texas and New York highlight the frequency of such attacks — and how they can spread like a disease

The Contagion Effect: From Buffalo to Uvalde, 16 Mass Shootings in Just 10 Days

Related:

Our Narrative of Mass Shootings Is Killing Us

Mass Shootings Are Contagious:

The idea that violence might be contagious is not new. Suicides often cluster, in a phenomenon known as suicide contagion, in which vulnerable people are inspired to take their own lives after reading about the details of previous suicides. In an attempt to stop the contagion, many media outlets abide by voluntary reporting standards to not sensationalize suicides.

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“The contagion that appears to be apparent in the mass killings and school shootings may have something to do with the media coverage,” Towers said.

This doesn’t mean the media shouldn’t report on mass shootings, Towers said. But voluntary efforts to de-emphasize the killer’s name and portrait might help stave off additional shootings.

Re-post of The Rifle on the Wall: A Left Argument for Gun Rights (Reprise)

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

My personal notes:

Republicans will blame gun violence on mental health, psychiatric medications, or violent video games, yet they aren’t willing to support solutions, such as affordable healthcare, affordable prescriptions, or defund the military industrial complex! As for Democrats, all they will offer is banning guns!

Speaking of mental health, and psychiatric medications, Peace Labor May made some good points in her most recent YouTube video (you may have to turn your volume up).

Re-post of The Rifle on the Wall: A Left Argument for Gun Rights (Reprise)

In light of the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, and because I’m a glutton for punishment, I’m re-posting a link to my left argument for gun rights from 2017. (One among many. See links at end of article)

Some points covered in the article:

The class concept of the state. It’s not a neutral arbiter to be trusted with a monopoly of armed power. “The concentration of wealth and the concentration of armed power in the hands of a few, are both bad ideas—and the one has everything to do with the other.”

The net effect of eliminating the right of citizens to possess firearms will be to increase the power of the armed capitalist state. Whatever strict gun-control regime is instituted, ruling-class families and institutions will still have all the guns they want.

But what about horrible mass shootings? Recognize that *gun homicides have declined even as gun ownership has increased,*. that mass shootings are a small portion of gun deaths in the US & a lousy index of the social problem of gun violence. But they do grab one’s attention.

For the full argument, go to the article:

The Rifle on the Wall: A Left Argument for Gun Rights
(Reprise)
Click on each photo to enlarge.

Related (including some random archived links that I noticed were behind paywalls and/or 404):

A Marxist-Leninist response to Gun Control

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