mass shootings & gun control

The US - my country - needs to address its gun death situation. In 2017, there have been roughly one "mass shooting" every day of the year.

Might be, that is a problem.

I grew up hunting. Guns are a part of how I grew up. I have guns; I know how to handle them, clean them, and use them responsibly. I expect to pass this down to my children.  What guns were not to me is a religion. They didn't keep me safe versus the Army or the police. People who talked like they did were the fringe and were a little unrealistic, I always thought. Guns are like a sharp knife: a tool, not a talisman.

Later in life I saw people open carrying in sleepy rural suburbs. Not "long rifle in truck" during hunting season, but carrying a pistol and walking their dog. Others would take pistols to potluck dinners.  What?!?, I thought, there's no measurable threat of violence. I have no problem if there's a reasonable threat of violence and someone wants to have a weapon in self defense. I talked to a friend who was big into guns. They explained - it's a talisman, a thing to display your allegiance to guns and the second amendment.

This mentality of talismanic gun ownership isn't reasonable. It's a tool. If you want to commit rebellion against the government, guns can be used usefully. It's not healthy to have massive amounts of gun ownership preparing against the day of Communist takeover. If that's you - think about this- wouldn't the totalitarian figure out how to get you on his side first? The best totalitarian thought is the one where the majority of the society agrees with it!

Seems to me like the US needs to tackle two things:

• Removing the talisman from the culture. 
• Hollywood should stop glorifying gun violence as being useful and effective.
• Regulating gun ownership via:
• Instituting mental health checks on gun owners past and present
• Requiring licenses for ownership past 5 guns
• Banning open carry within city limits
• Requiring concealed carry permits for pistols
• Requiring membership in the national guard (or a state equivalent) for owning weapons of war (actual weapons of war, not ones people ignorant of guns fear).

All of those, to the best of my knowledge, cohere with the Second Amendment and the general understanding of the Constitution, while preserving the ability for the community as represented by local police and licensing authorities to monitor them.

Monday morning brief, oct 2

Good morning.

It's midnight in Pyongyang.

More ripples in Twitterverse of Trump undercutting Tillerson. Hawks eating up Trump's gesture towards military force. When the POTUS says these things, it will factor into NK's risk profile if it sees a US force coming towards it, whether peaceful or not.

The Warmbier torture story is still going around and around.. It is being used and will be used as a bolster for war. "Look at the grieving parents".  Remember that the medical examiners found no evidence of torture - and noted that he'd been well cared for. Something had previously aphyxicated him. The coroner also noted that many things can cause pain and don't cause lasting damage. So on balance, don't believe the propaganda, but do remember something happened, whether self inflicted or not.

The Wall Street Journal has a column today focusing on deterrence and containment rather than simple acceptance or simple war. The writer reminds us that this is the strategy used for the Soviet Union. My estimate is that this is probably where the bulk of the realpolitik types in the USA fall. But I am afraid I've never heard of North Korea trying to spread Communism, unlike the USSR. So perhaps "Deterrence" alone is all that is needed. I would rather avoid war, myself.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/between-war-and-acceptance-a-third-way-on-north-korea-1506956016

Summary: the full effects of Trump's lack of leadership skill are still sinking in. I anticipate later today or tomorrow we'll start seeing the diplomatic shadows visibly shift as various statements are made and emissaries go from place to place. Tillerson's resigning is still definitely a potential outcome. Non-Trump conservatives are looking for options besides war. 

DPRK morning briefing

Good morning

It is 11:41 PM Seoul Time

US & Japanese forces are doing tactical training together, according to US Pacific Command

A report claims is China enforcing sanctions vs NK
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2017/09/28/0200000000AEN20170928011800315.html?sns=tw

South Korea expects more provocations mid-October - the 10th and the 18th. I believe these are important dates to North Korea.  In any case, the current macho/braggadocio situation has no diplomatic offramp yet: face must be saved on both sides.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-southkorea/south-korea-expects-more-provocative-acts-by-north-korea-in-mid-october-idUSKCN1C3073

A report by South Korean state media (Yonap) claims that NK foreign ministry rejects claims of torture of Warmbier. The coroner's statements support this claim by North Korea.
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2017/09/28/0200000000AEN20170928012200315.html?input=rss

A Twitter account suggests Warmbier tried to hang himself, causing the brain damage, etc. No citations. I wonder if this is supported by the evidence. It seems at least a plausible narrative. But I won't believe it until a medical team makes the claim and releases a detailed report.

US State Bureau of East Asia and Pacific affairs reiterates that the US is willing and committed to defending itself and allies from any attack.

A report exists claiming that North Korea claims that many North Koreans volunteered for the army because they were angry at the US. Uh-huh. I think at work we describe that state as "voluntold", not "volunteered". But it's a sign that NK is doing something with a reserve force, I think. But I wouldn't per se trust that, as it's a propaganda claim by a famously hyperbolic state.

Also, US Sec of State Tillerson is meeting with the Vatican's foreign minister in an effort to resolve issues with NK. Curious. I wonder if the SoS is leaning on the Vatican as a staffed diplomatic service, because the US State Dept is inadequately staffed.
https://twitter.com/statedeptspox/status/912739952911425536

I don't have time this morning to do a full sweep of the twitter hashtags, but activity seems higher than it did yesterday. Some level of pro-war bots. Some level of pro-war blogging by conservatives. (are these bots? unsure), This means I should probably dig up a tweet-reading library and get some heuristics going.

Same for US media, no time to do the full sweep. No chance on MSNBC. CNN doesn't mention it. Fox does, and is starting to beat the pro war drum, partially based on the false reports relating to Warmbier. This is your regular reminder that Fox is not a reliable news source: they are an ideological outlet, not a news outlet.

Summary: China is apparently getting real. US conservatives will be getting all fired up to go after the "terrorist state of North Korea".

Next update this evening, as little is likely to happen overnight on the Korean Peninsula.

DPRK morning brief

Morning round-up.

It is now 1:30 AM in Seoul

US looking at deploying resources to South Korea later this year or early next year (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2017/09/27/0200000000AEN20170927012300315.html)

US military chiefs are willing to back Trump up if military option becomes reasonable. But, a former CIA director suggests that while NK is doing what it usually does, Trump is provoking right back.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-09-27/military-chiefs-back-trump-on-north-korea

USA Secretary of Defense visited Afghanistan and India over the past 24 hours.

The #DPRK and #NoKo hashtag is full of pro-war Twitter accounts.  There's an account arguing that North Korea was a terrorist training center.

The Bulletin suggests that China's big interest is preventing another war. The Korean war took a heavy toll on them. China's big ask here is:

We hope that the United States will incorporate the following four “don’ts” into its relevant policies regarding the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: [D]on’t seek regime change; don’t incite a collapse of the regime; don’t seek an accelerated reunification effort of the peninsula; and don’t send its military north of the [38th] parallel.

http://thebulletin.org/north-korea-don%E2%80%99t-expect-china-change11145

More actual fallout from Warmbier - an adjunct prof of anthropology was harsh towards Warmbier and didn't get rehired. A new front in the culture wars just opened up, I think.... https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/06/26/university-delaware-cuts-ties-professor-who-said-warmbier-deserved-die/427846001/

Some breakdown of NK consumer tech. Baaasically, Big Brother, bro! https://dprktech.info/

Seeing NK as backwards, dumb, etc, causes major interpretive issues. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/world/asia/north-korea-missiles-fuel.html?_r=0

Stand in solidarity with your society.

One big thing I argue for repeatedly on the Mastodon fediverse is to not disengage from the social systems and big institutions. They are required for a high-complexity society such as ours, and one of the major keys to keeping them working is engagement and accountability, so that you can trust them, because you're involved and because you can believe in the accountability structures.

A canonical error of thinking is the Occupy Wall Street-style thinking of "the elites hate us", or the "elites want to oppress us". That's not how it typically works outside of very unusual confluences of history. Thinking that the 1% are out to get you is conspiracy theory thinking.  The elites are not a homogeneous force. They are human, with all the fractiousness that implies. They have an interest in maintaining the status quo. But, many elites throughout history understand the balance between their interests and the interests of the total society. Britain in the 1800s, for instance, transitioned from a monarchy to a Parliament, and by the time World War One had ended, the king had no power. This took a lot of work - a lot of protests and social tension - and many people had to be persuaded - or outmaneuvered - but it happened. The aristocracy chose (in total) to allow change rather than, like Tsarist Russia, suppress change.

Now, that is not to say there aren't groups working to discredit and damage Western society and your particular small group. There are significantly organized nasty actors out there. To name a few.... Hoover's FBI. Some CIA. Some FSB. AQ. AfD. KKK. ISIL. Etc. Disorganizing and disengaging from your society and becoming insular or non-participatory gives them power to coopt your society. The TV show South Park is a poison in this regard - it discourages participation, and gives a handy narrative to mock people who care about their place.

The last 30-40 years of Boomer and Gen X disengagement and cynicism have given us Trump and the alt-right/alt-light/KKK resurgence, because many of the chaos people - the Chaotic Neutral, the Chaotic Good, the Neutral Good - they walked away, because '60s dogma said "be yourself". That was a terrible mistake. The people left over in power are more authoritarians, you see. You can't just be yourself and encourage everyone else to be their own cell. That's not how societies work. There are family structures, justice structures, plumbing structures. By walking away from organizing, collective action, and institution building, you both make yourself vulnerable and make your society worse. One human, one individual is an assailable island.

Solidarity is a big deal, folks. Unions are built out of that principle. So are armies. A company is a group of people in common purpose. Think about that, and the power of mass action. 

Engage, fight for accountability, fight for your principles. Demand transparency. Remove corruption, even when it benefits you.