03/28/23

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, March 28th.

Respect Your Cat Day.

You know, as opposed to every other day. And this isn’t just cats. Although they are the ones that just EXPECT it. But like – I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is apologize to Ruth for anything I might do during the day that might be preserved as a lack of respect.

And I think that’s normal.

And now, the news.

Preventable Tragedy in Nashville

-via CNN

As we do in a country that treats the 2nd Amendment as the most important thing… we start in Nashville, where six people, including three nine-year-old children, were killed by a 28-year-old shooter.

March 27th was the 86th day of the year, and 129th mass shooting of the year.

We don’t know much, as the shooter is also dead. But the woman, believed to have been a student of the school at some point, was armed with a handgun and two AR-style weapons. All legal and legally obtained.

A manifesto is being reviewed by police, so that instead of wondering how this has happened 129 times this year without one single change being made to prevent the 130th time, we can all look at the manifesto and read between the lines to wonder how we could have prevented this one.

The deadly day renewed calls for action on gun reform. To which the Republicans said “all guns matter” and tuned into Fox News, where they had a retired FBI special agent on talking about how the problem is that the side door to the school was unlocked.

So… thoughts and prayers until they can finally legislate the side doors. Because that’s the thing. That’ll fix it.

Our thoughts ARE with the families of those who died, as well as all students at the school. Teachers. Staff. Parents who have kids at the school. Anyone who has ever been through a mass shooting and has now been retraumatized today.

I’m sorry this country won’t do anything substantial to prevent the next one.

You deserve better. We all deserve better.

Last year both Senators from Tennessee, who send their thoughts and prayers, voted against a bipartisan gun control bill saying, among other words, that the bill would not make Tennesseans’ any safer.

Idaho Bans Gender-Affirming Care for Minors

-via NPR

Because we’re all going to take that last story and act like there’s nothing to be done, and then turn around and act like this next story is the biggest threat to kids… let’s talk about gender affirming care.

(And by “we’re all” I mean… Republicans)

Idaho state senators passed a mill on Monday that would make it a felony for doctors to prescribe gender-affirming medications for minors. And although the legislation’s sponsors admit that gender-affirming surgeries aren’t performed on minors in the state, they don’t care… who has time to worry about the particulars? Because THIS is the thing sneaking into the unlocked side doors of schools and killing our kids. If we just get THIS legislated…

Six other states have a similar law on the books.

Dozens of studies show that gender-affirming care leads to lower rates of suicide and depression, but let’s ignore that.

Because what Idaho State Senator Chris Trakel wants you to think is that it’s actually the media that pressures youths into making what he believes is a choice. And “If my parents would’ve let me make those kinds of decisions, I’d have been Batman and probably got killed by now.”

So that’s an elected official.

Let’s definitely not use the data that shows that gender-affirming care saves lives. Because we can’t truth data. If we trust this data, what’s next? Are we going to trust the data that shows that guy safety laws work and ALSO save lives?

Then what happens? People are just… alive? And safe? And happy?

Netanyahu Delays Judicial Reform

-via Washington Post

After a day of tense protests, capping three months of protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he will delay his plan to overhaul the judicial system, which would have essentially resulted in the government being able to override the Supreme Court with a vote in parliament.

And just to be clear, when I say nationwide strikes, I mean… Flights were grounded, university classes were cancelled, military reservists were threatening to boycott duty, and hospitals even canceled non-urgent treatment. This was a general, national, strike. The likes of which had never been seen in Israel.

It’s unclear what will happen next, but with Monday’s announcement that he will not move forward with the proposed Court reform, tensions seem to have, if not resolved then, at least… I don’t know. Taken a breath? A deal will still need to be worked out when it comes to the judiciary though, and no one knows what that looks like yet.

And that’s it. That’s the news.

Did Kelly Clarkson announce a brief Vegas residency yesterday? Yes, of course. But I’m not ready to talk about that until tickets have been secured. If I can’t get tickets, I’m going to pretend the whole thing isn’t happening. Because I’m an ADULT.

I’m proud of… people who want to actually HELP people. Who want to do work that might take a while, and certainly won’t be easy, but will at least make a difference. That will save lives. Who didn’t see the news in Nashville and say “nothing to be done” while also cheering the news out of Idaho.

And for those reasons… because I know you, and I know you know that fixing big problems takes time but you’re not afraid to get in there and do the work anyway… I’m proud of you.