Yet another school shooting in the USA

Boycotting does make you feel like you can do something against the madness of trump and the NRA.

I would, but I've already been boycotting Amazon for years. It is perfectly possible to live without it...

Thank you, Maryeliza! I'll look later when I've got five minutes to myself.

www.channel4.com/news/florida-guns-debate-part-2

Part 2

There you go

www.channel4.com/news/florida-guns-debate-part-1

- part 1

Sue you really should watch it on C4 catch up - it will gladden your heart and bring tears to your eyes simultaneously.

I did think, when Trump called the school security guard a coward that, as my mother would say, 'It takes one to know one.'

maryeliza, no, I haven't read that book but I feel I should get it now.

My daughter in law, who is a rabbi, made a powerful speech at an anti-gun rally in the US this week. The sound quality wasn't good but I heard her say 1963. I thought she meant the shooting of JFK but realised later that of course, she meant the civil right action that began in Birmingham.

I didn't see the C4 item, I rarely watch the news these days - it's too annoying!

Gill it was worse than that - it wasn’t the NRA conference but people from the NRA speaking at the CPAC that DT spoke at - they are inextricably linked. ( that probably means it wouldn’t be worth having separate conferences as they all go to both - IYSWIM)

Yes, DJ he is a coward, among other fatal personality defects of course. Only a draft dodging coward like him could talk about sending other peoples' sons to war against North Korea. Talking of the young people protesting, did you see the reports of the NRA conference, all the usual 'bad guy with gun stopped by good guy with gun drivel'? There was a standing ovation, and not all red necked white men either, there were middle aged women, standing up applauding measures that could cause their children or grandchildren their lives, absolutely unbelievable.

Dodged the draft five times, I think. Who is the coward?

Photo of Trump signing the Executive Order that repealed Obama Era gun checks for people with mental illnesses that made it harder for them to purchase guns. This is the anniversary of that repeal. Irony should lock its fingers around his throat and squeeze. (Photo - Courtesy NPR)

And Trump - how many times did he dodge the draft - sitting in judgement on the man who did not intervene and using that as an argument to arm teachers because they would care?

That article is excellent Sue. I always read Gary Younge’s columns - did you read his book ( the one mentioned in the article)? I well remember the role if the young in the Civil Rights struggles - their bravery and hope and belief that a better world was possible. I remember scenes on TV of young black people walking into just desegregated schools and universities protected by police/state troopers and being spat on by so called adults. I remember the young white men who bravely went down to the South to help with black voter registration - some of whom were murdered. So yes you are right, the young can give us all hope. Did you watch the item ( very substantial) on C4 news - the young people were heartbreakingly amazing - articulate: clear sighted - I’ll try and hope they won’t be hounded out of their wish for change

Have you seen this article in the Guardian? It gives reason to hope. www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/23/young-people-us-gun-law-florida-schoolchildren?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

And yes, being able to take actions like boycotting makes one feel less powerless. I also made a small donation to a group that is campaigning for change in gun culture. To quote a well know supermarket, every little helps.

Boycotting does make you feel like you can do something against the madness of trump and the NRA.
Who wou ld have thought last week that the students would have been able to do what they have done; such a movement now. Like you say, Suedonim, from small beginnings...

From small beginnings, Maryeliza.

I see Trump is now blaming video games for mass murders and is thinking of legislating against them. How bizarre to take action against fictional violence whilst allowing real life violence to continue unfettered.

I would love to think so but the NRA is just so powerful and Trump is so evil - that’s a pretty toxic mix to overcome. But the info dj gives is heartening

I read that Amazon is coming under pressure to rethink their position.

Dare we hope that the tide is turning?

There is also a list of companies which are continuing with the NRA, among them Apple and Amazon.
If you wish to vent your displeasure, you can always boycott them and tell them why.

"Enterprise Holdings, which operates the rental car brands Enterprise, National and Alamo, says it will end its discount program for NRA members next month, along with Avis and Budget. Hertz is out, too.

Other companies ditching the NRA include Chubb, which underwrites the NRA’s Carry Guard firearms insurance; Symantec’s LifeLock, an identity-theft prevention service, and Norton, which offers computer security software; home security system provider SimpliSafe; Allied and North American Van Lines, two moving services; and MetLife, which had offered savings on home and auto insurance to NRA members.

“We value all our customers but have decided to end our discount program with the NRA,” a MetLife spokesman said in a statement."

Huffpost

There is now a long list of companies which are refusing to be associated with the NRA, starting with a Visa company that was giving discounts to NRA members. They are not renewing the contract.
It will soon escalate so that the best advertising is that they are no longer going to be associated with the NRA.

The Florida students asked Marco Rubio (FL senator) if he gets money from the NRA,He refused to answer and this has provoked this response from one of the survivors ‘They should rename AR-15s Marco Rubios because they are so easy to buy’. Heartbreakingly funny and literally right on the money in all senses

The school kids are being accused of being 'actors who have learnt their lines ...'

But more importantly, this needs sharing, again and again:

A little over a month after his inauguration, on Feb. 28, 2017, President Trump signed HJ Resolution 40, a bill that made it easier for people with mental illness to obtain guns. CBS News then asked the White House to release the photograph of Mr. Trump signing the bill, making the request a total of 12 times.

Luckygirl Thu 22-Feb-18 10:04:29

I concur absolutely.

Trump isn’t fit to lick their boots
and with that statement meliza

Just been watching some of them on C4 news - so impressive. Trump isn’t fit to lick their boots - what a truly truly evil man he is

A group of teenage survivors of a US high school shooting this week took command of the national debate over gun control, one of the most contentious issues in American life.

The massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, is the latest in a series of mass shootings in the US. Despite public horror, these attacks have failed to spur significant change to the nation’s gun laws.

But the Marjory Stoneman Douglas student activists, rallying behind the hashtag #NeverAgain, have torn up the familiar script in their push to hold adults — from the gun rights advocates of the National Rifle Association to the US president — accountable.

“The people in the government who were voted into power are lying to us. And us kids seem to be the only ones who notice and are prepared to call BS,” Emma González, a senior at the school, said in an impassioned speech at a rally last weekend that spread quickly on social media.

“They say that no laws would have been able to prevent the hundreds of senseless tragedies that occur. We call BS. That us kids don’t know what we’re talking about, that we’re too young to understand how the government works. We call BS.”

www.ft.com/content/9341021e-1818-11e8-9376-4a6390addb44