A few things have caught my eye in the past week or so that make me wonder about the future, but in the interest of preserving your sanity, I’ll only share two of them today.
In Wyoming, there is a bill making its way through the state legislature that would raise the legal age to marry to 18, or 16 with parental consent. Now, you might think this is a no-brainer, but it is under attack by the Wyoming GOP who claim it interferes with parental and religious rights. Say WHAT???
According to one legislator …
“The more power we give government to interfere in people’s lives and tell them what they can and can’t do the less liberty we have. I’m here and I was elected because I stand for liberty.”
Bullshit.
Currently there are eight states in the nation without a minimum age requirement for marriage. Unimaginable! But I also found that Massachusetts has the lowest minimum marriage ages with parental consent of 12 for girls and 14 for boys. I am flabbergasted! So, let me get this straight – it’s not okay for children to even hear the word ‘gay’, or learn about Black history, but it’s fine and dandy for them to get married and start spitting out babies before they can even spell the word ‘catastrophe’???
The Wyoming Republican Party sent a letter to constituents saying that preventing children under 16 years old from marrying “denies the fundamental purpose of marriage,” robbing teen parents from the ability to remain together under one roof for any children they might bear together.
Need I say more? 🙄
In Indiana, the state legislature thinks it has the perfect solution to counter school shootings: more guns in schools!!! Yep, folks, the Indiana House recently passed a bill that would provide funding to train teachers who carry guns in classrooms. WRONG ANSWER!!!
Is this a classic case of “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”???
I’ve written on this topic before, so I’ll keep it short. The solution is reducing the number of guns in the hands of civilians, demanding strict background checks and annual licensing, forbidding guns in certain public venues, etc. Adding more guns is only asking for more trouble … it is a recipe for disaster. Teachers are not police officers, nor do we want them to be. They are there to teach our children the things they need to know to become well-rounded adults, but how can they do that if they have to be constantly on the alert for somebody who looks like maybe they are up to no good and ought to be shot?
And then, there’s the accident factor. It isn’t a ‘maybe’, but rather a certainty that if teachers are armed in the classroom, there will be accidents. The gun will be left in an unlocked drawer or on a desk, and a kid who’s angry at another kid, or maybe at the teacher, will get their hands on it, and … BANG!!!
Just last week, a school superintendent in Texas took his gun out of its holster while using the bathroom and forgot to retrieve it as he left. A third-grade student found the gun a short time later and luckily was so scared he immediately ran to tell his teacher, without touching the gun. But what if …
House members passed the bill 71-24. All the ‘no’ votes came from Democrats — what a surprise, eh? The measure now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Has common sense deserted us???
Both completely crazy. As the old saying goes, ‘Only in America’.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Yeah, I once thought that phrase was something good, but now I know there’s an eyeroll and headshake accompanying it!
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More guns? Is that actually possible?
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Apparently so, since the munitions factories keep cranking them out. Last I heard, our population was 330 million and their were 420 million guns in private hands. And consider this … only about 44% of all households own a gun. If a law were passed tomorrow banning all guns in the hands of civilians, they could never confiscate them all, probably not more than 10% of them before enraged gun nuts started shooting anything that came near them.
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That is always going to be the problem. One day you’ll have gun control, albeit probably in a limited way, and then the fun begins.
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Sigh. The future of this country in many ways, including the area of guns, looks bleak to me these days. I know you guys have your problems, but I’d still rather live on your side of the pond than here.
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To be honest, so would I.
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INSANITY!!!!!
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Yep, for sure.
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I made my blog debut writing on the topic of age of consent back in 2013 in response to the story of a rape case in Florida involving two girls, on of whom was under 18 and one who was prosecuted by the girl’s parents as soon as the older girl turned 18, You can find my post at https://madmikesamerica.com/2013/06/age-of-consent-part-one/
I had so much so say on the subject that I was invited to be a regular poster on that site. I invite you and your readers to that posting to avoid redundancy. Much of what you said here was covered there.
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Typo apology – “so say” should have been “to say”.
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I cannot answer to comments for a day because tomorrow is an election day in Wisconsin and I will be working the polls from 5:00 t0 21:00.
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Good job!!!
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No worries … we all make typos nearly every time we write!
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Thanks for sharing your excellent post! Yes, pedophilia is a terrible thing and I notice of late there seem to be more and more religious-affiliated people convicted of it. Several every week, at least. Thanks again for sharing that!
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Jill, picking just one, the head of mental health counseling at a major university told me the following. Allowing guns on college campuses is about an inane idea as possible with the higher propensity for depression on campus than in general society. Extrapolating from that, having guns on high school, middle school and elementary school is also inane as it increases the risk of use by students which could cause accidental or emotional shootings. With the hormones flaring, lack of maturity and brains not fully developed, shootings will occur if guns are present. Keith
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You see this, and I see this … WHY can’t our elected officials see it??? Because they don’t want to. Because it would cut into their personal finances. Because they value their own wealth more than they value the lives of our children. Sigh.
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Teachers will in effect become security guards with guns. Will they be paid more, will they even want to have such a responsibility and why would you want it?
As you point out guns and kids do not mix and will cause more problems.
There is so much that is wrong with this, I could not imagine this stupidity.
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Exactly. I’d guess that at least half of all teachers would leave the profession if forced to carry a firearm. That’s NOT what they studied hard and worked toward! This nation has its proverbial head screwed on backward!
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So, instead of, tackling the, more pressing matters on hand like, gun-control, these people who were, supposed to, represent the voices of people who put them into office, use the congressional sessions to debate whether por not a kid can, legally, marry? That’s a TOTAlL waste, of, people’s, tax dollars all right!
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Yep, that’s about the size of it. This nation has its priorities mixed up, to say the least.
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Oh yes sadly.
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Sigh. Yes, you are right.
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Fraid so, Jill. Fraid so.
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Sigh. Yeah, me too.
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