These weapons are military weapons. They belong in accountable hands, controlled hands and trained hands. They should not be in the hands of private citizens to be used against police, neighborhood intruders or people who don’t agree with you. These are the weapons that maniacs acquire to wreak murder and mayhem on innocents. They are not the same as handguns to help homeowners protect themselves from intruders. They are not the same as hunting rifles or sporting rifles. These weapons are designed for harm and death on big scales.
Morgan Freeman doesn't want a Black History Month because "Black History is American History."
On Sixty Minutes, Mike Wallace asked Freeman how we could solve America's race problem? Freeman's answer: "Stop talking about it. I'm going to stop calling you a white man, and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man."
I like this approach immensely, since there is no scientific basis for "race." I also offer a slightly different suggestion: All of us should acknowledge that we are all from Africa. Whenever people ask me about my ancestors, I tell I'm "African," because it is true, despite my outward appearance.
Specialists in race, both geneticists and anthropologists, maintain that modern ideas of race are . . . primarily historical constructions that reflect the pattern of contact between previously distinct populations in the colonial period.
Given recent findings, though, I shouldn't merely say that I'm "African." I should add, "With a touch of Neanderthal." And I should add one more thing to be even more accurate: I'm a descendant of many other critters, including sponges, fungi and bacteria.
It's amazing how so many of us still put any emphasis on "race." It's time to admit that it was a ridiculous category to create in the first place, and that it has caused only mischief ever since. The characteristics associated with "race" are a infinitesimally small part of what it means to be a physical human being. It's time to bring our culture in line with our physical reality.
Last year I expressed great frustration with corporations who have no compunctions hoisting their own profit-tool logos on the same flag poles as American Flags. And they choose to do this on America's most holy of civic holidays. I first noticed this crass display last year at the biggest Fourth of July celebration in Fair St. Louis.
What's the problem with allowing corporate logos to flap in the wind right next to Old Glory? I can't think of a bigger insult to the People of the United States at a time when big money, mostly corporate money, has essentially purchased Congress, divesting ordinary people of the ability to run their own country. If there is anything that the Fourth of July is supposed to represent it is the notion that the governed should be self-governed (but do also check out this excellent recent article by Mark Tiedemann, who considers what it really means to be patriotic).
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