America's gun problem

America has a gun problem. We can file that under "obvious" but let me elaborate. I have absolutely no issue with someone owning a gun. But let's keep it sensible, folks. There's no legitimate reason why the average individual would need something more than a pistol, handgun or shotgun. If your intention is hunting, protecting your property or taking out the occasional critter on your property (skunks, raccoons, etc.) then those three options seem perfectly logical.

A good portion of my friends and extended family members hunt and what they bring home is pretty damn tasty. Not my thing, personally, but it's their hobby and I have no issues with it. I have other friends who love shooting for sport. Most of it is trap shooting or basic target practice. They enjoy the sport aspect of it but they are often in the group who stands in protest every time someone mentions gun control and/or bans on assault weapons. Hey, I'm not coming for your guns and I'm fairly certain that the government couldn't get its shit together to come for your guns either so settle down.

The problem, as I see it, is that the average consumer can stroll into a gun shop or sporting goods store and, after a quick background check, pick up a rifle with a 30 round magazine. While those are perfect fine for sportsmen who want to spend a Saturday afternoon firing off a few hundred rounds at a shooting range, a 30 round magazine can also do some serious carnage in the wrong hands. That's where we stroll into a gray area. Should 30 rounds be deemed too many for the average consumer? I'm leaning a bit beyond maybe. While it's fun for a day at the shooting range, what the hell else is a rifle which a 30 round magazine good for? I guarantee that no sane person is taking an AR-15 out to the woods in November in Minnesota to hunt deer. When a weapon akin to an AR-15 or its competitors is taken out of a shooting range, that's when things go wrong.

A "tricked out" AR-15 was used in the recent Dayton, OH shooting. An AK-47 was used in the El Paso, TX shooting. Both fall into the "assault rifle" category. This isn't a coincidence. They can fire off a round per second, sometimes more. They are designed for maximum firepower in the shortest amount of time possible. In these cases, they were used for maximum carnage in the shortest amount of time possible.

Background checks were done on both weapons which were purchased legally. Making background checks more stringent isn't going to do anything to mitigate our increasingly common issue of mass shootings. The cure is multifaceted. And banning assault rifles will never happen as long as the National Rifle Association (NRA) exists and continues to line to pockets of politicians. The most vocal NRA members are convinced that they need assault rifles to protect themselves and their families from the politicians whose pockets that the NRA isn't lining. They have sewn the seeds of divisiveness. Until the NRA is forced into the dark corners of the world where they continue to exist as an even more dangerous and violent fringe group, mass shootings will continue to be common.

The second issue is the increasingly divided political climate in America. Why does it have to be an increasing divide between neighbors, families and friends? Everyone has their own unique interests but we also have plenty of things in common. Nobody is standing on there porch screaming to anyone who will listen that they wish their families were less safe. To say that your neighbor who would like to see less (or no) access to assault rifles automatically means that they wish that their family was less safe is ludicrous. 99.9% of people in America want their families to be safe. Hell, that may very well be 100%. No matter what people believe and say, we do have plenty in common with our neighbors. Stop being so damned divisive and, instead, find the common thread that unites us.

The third issue is our gun culture in general. America was founded by a group who believed in being independent. They fought and shed blood to gain their freedom. Our history as a nation is violent. We can't run from that and never should. That doesn't mean that we can't evolve and move beyond our nation's violent past. Just like people can change, so can the culture of a country. While we have plenty who are spreading their hatred of immigrants and a small fringe who justify their mass shootings as stemming the tide of immigrants, there are just as many who are still welcoming of immigrants. My Grandpa was an immigrant. My family is relatively new to America. While being the  second generation born here is far from a struggle, we are a country of immigrants and being afraid of a non-existent wave of "brown people" from "shithole countries" who are all "murderers and rapists" is stupid. Today's immigrants simply want better lives like our ancestors wanted. They just happen to come from different areas of the world. The fact that people in positions of power have advocated shooting immigrants only further empowers our nation's gun culture. It's not necessary to shoot someone who looks different than you or speaks a different language than you do. Killing out of fear should never happen. Again, try using words and find the common thread that connects you.

The final issue is hatred in general. We live in a country that sees hatred of misunderstood segments of the population splashed on the front of websites, perpetuated on billboards and spoken about openly by politicians and people of influence. Why does it happen? It happens because hate speech is not only allowed, it is almost encouraged by a president who is a blatant racist. His speeches and his very public tweets are analyzed to no end and are publicized by those who support and oppose his statements. His ultimate goal is to further divide out nation so that he can profit from it. He gets off on being in the headlines. He is the product of an immigrant and two of his three wives are immigrants themselves yet he spreads his hate for immigrants openly and does so frequently. Sometimes it is veiled hatred, other times it is blatant hate speech. He sought out to divide the country for his own gain and has managed to succeed. Our only hope is years – likely generations – of acceptance to roll back this hatred and bury it while learning from it and growing out of it. This hate speech has been tied directly to violent acts including at least a few of the mass shootings in recent history. Violent and unstable, hate-filled men who are empowered by the man who calls himself our president. Violent and unstable men who justify their actions based on the very words spoken by our nation's president.

We, as a country, have a multitude of problems to address but our gun problem – especially after the events of the past week – needs to be priority number one. Take away platforms where hate speech flourishes. Punish and sew shame upon those who perpetuate and spread hate speech. Put an end to glorifying guns – don't shame gun owners or drive them underground but instead praise responsible ownership, education and gun safety. Empower those who legitimately oppose hatred and violence and teach our youth that there is no shame in peace, safety and education. Make access to assault rifles far more difficult than it currently is – tie the purchase to mandatory training and extremely thorough background checks, waiting periods and the same type of screenings which employers perform on potential employees. Make those things legal and mandatory and it could stem the tide of mass shootings and unnecessary violence in America.

Build a wall?

"We need to build a wall!"

That was the rallying cry by Donald Trump during numerous campaign rallies leading up to the 2016 election. A wall on our nation's border with Mexico to k eep out illegal immigrants, drug dealers, cartels, drug runners, etc.

The cost was $7 billion, $10 billion, $15 billion or $20 billion depending on the day he was speaking. It continued as his rallying cry after taking the oath of office. Mexico would pay for the wall, he said. The trade agreement will pay for the wall, he said. I never said that Mexico would pay for the wall, he said.

In the end, to distract the nation from the Mueller investigation, Donald Trump held up government funding to force lawmakers into providing $5.7 billion in funding for a wall. A wall which he clearly stated would cost $7 billion or $10 billion or $15 billion or $20 billion.

Cost forward 35 days and the partial government shutdown drags on. 800,000 government workers have now missed two paychecks. But they'll receive back pay when things are settled. Yes, WHEN things are settled. but when will that be? It doesn't look like it will be in the next 14 days so that's another missed paycheck. How would you be doing in terms of cash flow if you missed three consecutive paychecks? I know that I'd be completely fucked but that's probably because I voted for Hillary in 2016. I'm sure all of the MAGA mouth breathers out there wouldn't miss three consecutive paychecks what so ever.

But the biggest question is this: will a southern border wall solve anything? The likely answer is no. This is all grandstanding. Donald Trump gets a Viagra-induced boner over building big, shiny things. Lawmakers will continue to become increasingly divided on the issue of a southern border wall. Trump will continue to tweet and give out folksy and insulting names to those who disagree with him and the shutdown will drag on.

Today though, air traffic controllers at New York City's LaGuardia airport called in sick (as they rightfully should after 35 days of no pay and no end in sight) leaving flights to be grounded as the ripple effect begins to delay and cancel flights across the country. This is good. This is what would happen in any other industrialized country where workers aren't getting paid. A sick-out or an all-out strike is logical and the right thing to do. Delayed or canceled flights get attention. The person responsible gets even more scrutiny fo this actions. Reporters put the screws to him and his spokespeople. It may not end the current government shutdown any sooner but it may actually wake up some of the borderline Trump supporters and change their minds about who they voted for. Sure, he'll likely win a second term in 2020 but if being shamed into doing the right thing actually works, then a pile of inconveniences is a small price to pay.

How far our country has sunk with Trump as president

In what was the only post I made in the past year-plus where I talked politics, I wished the United States of America's new president – Donald Trump – the best. Reflecting on his very polished victory speech where he spoke in an almost vanilla and unifying tone, I came to the realization that maybe things would work out and America would come out looking quite well in the eyes of the world.

...if he leads like he spoke during his almost vanilla acceptance speech early this morning, he will be at least a middle-of-the-road president who can at least keep America on track and remaining as the most powerful country in the world.

Oh, how things have changed rather quickly. In a short nine month span we have seen allegations – which seem to be rather true – that Russia at least meddled in, if not flat out influenced, the 2016 presidential election. Meetings between Trump, his family, his advisors and Russian officials happened. That tidbit alone should send up thousands of red flags but through Trump's continual and almost masterful way of distracting the country via his Twitter tirades, we are instead now a divided nation over NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem (which itself is utter bullshit due to the fact that NFL players didn't even come on to the field during the anthem for some games until only a few years ago.)

This summer alone we've had alt-right (Neo-Nazi) protests take place on American soil with Trump failing to stand up against their hate-speech. We've seen women's rights be stripped with employers now able to opt-out of providing birth control coverage in insurance plans on the grounds of their religious beliefs. We've seen a president who has failed to help residents of Puerto Rico and instead opted to call San Juan's mayor "nasty" and that she exhibits "poor leadership".

Rather than unite in the face of tragedy and take a stand against hate speech, Trump has instead found a way to further divide an already divided country on nearly every issue.

But that, I feel, was his goal all along. As a private businessman, he likely sees the presidency as yet another avenue to eventually profit from. Whether it's his foreign-made Make America Great Again hats or conducting foreign policy meetings at his New Jersey golf courses or his Florida resort, he is mixing government business with his private business ventures. How he is still managing to get away with his is beyond me.

His continued cries of "Fake News" are yet another issue. Whenever he disagrees with factual new reporting from a news outlet that isn't Fox News Channel, it's fake news. It's yet another tactic in dividing the country's citizens. It's not just left versus right, it's friend versus friend, neighbor versus neighbor and America versus the World.

His continued threats toward obviously insane North Korea leader Kim Jong Un could very well lead us to a short-lived nuclear war at the worst or World War III at best. Trump continually chooses divisiveness over diplomacy. He chooses divisiveness over unity. He chooses to put himself first because he knows that he and his family will ultimately reap huge profits from his time as president.

If we make it to the 2020 presidential election without starting a wide-scale war, I can only hope that Americans have opened their eyes to the fact that the man who promised to Make America Great Again spent four years tearing down years of progress so he could have even a chance to live up to his 2016 campaign slogan. A man with no previous experience in government, as we now know, has no business having the most powerful political position in the country.

To the 49% of American voters who are responsible for electing Donald Trump as America's president:  YOU WERE DUPED. You believed a man who is nothing but a divisive, pathological liar hellbent on making himself richer on the backs of people whom he doesn't give two shits about. You believed lies and became a vehicle for his hatred of minorities, women and anyone whose beliefs don't fall squarely in line with his own. The 49% of Americans who voted Trump bought a truckload of lies because they couldn't bring themselves to trust a smart and experienced woman to be president. In short, the 49% of republican voters in this country are no better than the hate-filled, racist president we are now stuck with.

The Twin Cities... FROM SPACE

As the space station passed over Minnesota earlier this week, a United States astronaut tweeted a photo of the lights of the Twin Cities and portions of greater Minnesota which is particularly interesting. Hey, we've all seen satellite photos but the most striking thing about this photo is how easily you can depict the various cities which flank the metro area. Also quite visible are the various highways and a handful of natural features in the good old state of Minnesota.

Good morning USA! Twin Cities, Minneapolis - St Paul, Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/fHAXLuA6mg

— Shane Kimbrough (@astro_kimbrough) January 19, 2017

Inspired by Bob Collins at the Newscut blog, I took the liberty to further notate the cities, highways and features shown in this nighttime photo of Minnesota. Enjoy!

Looking back at 2016

When I look back at 2016 at a personal level, I am truly thankful for everything I have and what I have been able to do. Sure, I fell short of almost every goal I set forth for myself earlier this year but in terms of the big picture, I as well as my family are truly better off.

We were able to take our first true family vacation in the form of a road trip to Montana and back through Wyoming and South Dakota where we made what are hopefully countless memories for our two kids. To make that a safer trip, we bought our first brand new vehicle a few weeks before leaving for the mountains of the west. Six months later it still has hints of that much-talked-about new car smell.

We also celebrated the missus beginning a new job. Still in a management role, she was able to find a job which sparked her interests without having to take a hit in the wage department. After a staggering 12 years as a restaurant manager with a stellar track record she moved on to become production manager at an up and coming  company in the same town she has worked for the majority of her career.

The boy began his educational journey ass he began preschool in September. Barely three years old, we rolled the dice and outside of a couple hiccups in the first few days of school, he is doing surprisingly well. He knows the names of almost everyone in his class and claims those that he knows as his friends. Not bad for a kid who h as never spent a day in a traditional daycare.

The girl began second grade this year and after a few notes from the teacher regarding her need to be constantly talking, she is hitting her stride. She is reading basically a full grade level above her classmates and is billed as the top reader in her class. She is also kicking ass in the area of spelling – even without really practicing spelling any of the words the is tested on.

All told, 2016 has been pretty damn good to us even though my onion crop went to hell after being hailed on in May. I am just hoping that 2017 is even better. After all, that is the American dream...