And Baby Makes Nine.

Hello, Brigid.

Happy Birthday.

Your mother and I have been waiting for you to arrive.

Welcome home.

Election Day

Benny Napoleon is running for Mayor of Detroit.  He is making the case that until Detroit has a "Law and Order" mayor, a mayor who understands public safety, Detroit will continue to have lots of murders.  Benny is the former police chief for Detroit PD and Wayne County Sheriff.

I can't believe that Benny can say such symbolically racist things as a political candidate.

Benny Napoleon:  Symbolic Racist

I agree that public safety should be important to Detroit citizens.

I guess that makes me a symbolic racist too.

UPDATE:   I've been informed that since Benny has some melanin, he is incapable of being racist, symbolically or otherwise.  Only those without significant levels of melanin can be racist.  How this theory isn't racist itself, has yet to be explained.

UPDATE II:  Mike Duggan has won the mayoral race.  Good luck, Mike.  Hopefully you can help turn around Detroit.

UPDATE III:  Mike Duggan stated that his first priority is reducing response times for emergency calls.  Well Benny,  it seems like Mr. Duggan has the right idea.  Response times for priority one calls is now averaging 11 minutes.  Let's see what happens in six months.

Own a Gun = You're a racist! Symbolically of course.

This is what passes for science?

A published study by K. Obrien, W. Forrest, D. Lynott and M. Daly, has some wonderful statements of "science."  Below are direct pull quotes from their study.

1. "The public health importance of gun reform in the US is clear..."

Really, gun control is a public health issue?  Inanimate objects do not affect public health. Behavior does, smarty pants.

2. "Blacks are disproportionately represented in US firearm homicides...and would benefit most from improved gun controls."

The authors have not studied Chicago and D.C.  365 homicides in Chicago alone this year.  These communities have some of the strictest gun control in the nation, yet remain some of the most violent.

3. "..measures of explicit and implicit racism measures predicted opposition to Obama's health reform.."

Is it safe to assume, that measures of explicit and implicit misogyny measures predicted opposition to Hillary's attempted health reform in the '90s?   It's never about the policy.

4. "There is substantial evidence that whites associate blacks with crime, and especially violent crime." 

See FBI statistics here.  Blacks accounted for 37.9 percent of murders in 2012, 37.7 percent in 2011, and 38.2 percent in 2010.  Blacks account for 13.1 percent of the population per the 2012 census.

The authors think this is evidence of a racist mindset, I'd say the data tell the story.

5. "...conservative ideologies and racism are inherently related..."

Nothing footnoted on this statement.  Unsubstantiated charge that everyone just knows is true, right?  I mean everyone just knows that conservatives are racist.

6. "...simply owning a firearm may lead whites to develop more negative attitudes towards blacks..."

That's right, guns are so evil, just owning one may twist your white mind and make you hate blacks.  No word on how gun ownership affects those of Hispanic or Latino descent.  Again nothing in the study backs this statement up.

7. "There is some experimental research showing that participants who have recently held a firearm produce enhanced salivary testosterone levels and display increased aggression toward others."

Not only does the gun twist your mind to hate blacks, it will turn you into a drooling rage monster.

I saw this the day it was published (Halloween).  I noted that all the authors were from the UK and Australia, two countries that have banned private ownership of guns.  I think they're just jealous that we haven't disarmed ourselves yet.

I forwarded a copy to Momma Fargo and made the prediction that this study will be cited in an effort to paint opposition to gun control as racist.

Didn't take long.  Here's an article from today referencing the LAX shooting.

"As we digest the news of yet another high-profile gun crime, the conversation inevitably comes back to the question of why stricter gun-control laws are so difficult to pass in this country.

There are a variety of explanations, of course, including the political clout of the National Rifle Association. But there are also deeper, psychological reasons why so many Americans would rather endure mass shooting after mass shooting rather than agree to any restrictions on gun ownership.

And one of them, it appears, is ingrained racism."

You see, the only reason you're not submitting to being disarmed is because you're a symbolic racist.  It's not your fault, you're just a victim of your lack of melanin.

“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”

Well, white gun owners, you are now the target....and how does that make you feel?