They know they don't have to be logical

 

Funny then that the government has cut - and the Republicans never support - funding for mental health care.

Cruel and inhumane

 

Time for phone calls and letters, once again, to your representatives in Congress.

What a novel idea

Instead of just blaming gun violence on the mentally ill as the GOP is wont to do, we could actually provide mental health services?

Another day, another American mass killing

Hundreds of terrified shoppers fled in panic after a man stepped out of a silver sedan and opened fire at the Premium Outlets mall, a sprawling outdoor shopping centre in Allen [Texas], a community of about 100,000 people.

The gunman killed eight people and wounded seven, three of those critically. He was shot dead by a police officer who happened to be nearby, authorities said.

  Guardian

Not near enough.

The Republican Texas governor, Greg Abbott, who has signed laws easing firearms restrictions after past mass shootings, called it an “unspeakable tragedy”.

[...]

Abbott has supported keeping guns as accessible to the public as possible. That is the case even as a recent poll commissioned by Fox News, whose viewers are largely Republican, found that American voters favour gun control measures and worry that they will be victimised by firearms violence.

Too bad.  So sad. We can't do anything about it. We've tried nothing, and we're all out of ideas.

Ken Fulk, the mayor of Allen, told a news conference: “We all want the victims and their families impacted by this tragedy to know that we will wrap our arms around you and we are here for you. We know you are grieving. We are grieving. Rest assured, the nation and the world are also grieving.”

Well, that's helpful, isn't it? That should fix the problem.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 01:40 pm:

The people want a quick solution, and why shouldn't they have it?  It's called "gun control," asshat.  Start with a ban on AR-15 style assault weapons.  See if that helps.  

Until legislators enact gun control measures, they are complicit in these nightmare mass killings.  Vote them out.

UPDATE 02:05 pm:  Also...

UPDATE 03:16 pm:

It has been a very, very long time indeed since Republicans cared what the majority of Americans wanted.

Checking in on John Fetterman

Wishing Senator Fetterman health and strength.

My granddaughter tells me this is not a stigma among the younger generations.  If there's hope for this country, it's the younger generations.

UPDATE 02/17/2023:

The real problem in Fulton County

It's got nothing to do with MAGA election claims.

Finally

Biden administration tackling the issues

President Biden is directing $2.5 billion in funding to address the nation's worsening mental illness and addiction crisis, an official from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tells Axios.

[...]

The funds will be broken down into two components by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

$1.65 billion will go toward the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant, which gives the receiving states and territories money to improve already-existing treatment infrastructure and create or better prevention and treatment programs.

$825 million will be allocated through a Community Mental Health Services Block Grant program, which will be used by the states to deal specifically with mental health treatment services.

[...]

A survey conducted last year and published in August 2020 by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 41% of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance abuse related to the pandemic or its solutions, like social distancing.

  Axios

This is what defunding the police means

Own up

Yes, the narrator is Sam Elliott.  He's doing voice-overs for LP ads.

The guy who posted this tweet got roundly knocked in the comment section.

It looks appropriate, and something too many men were deprived of.

My god, these statistics

One in four young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 say they've considered suicide in the past month because of the pandemic, according to new CDC data that paints a bleak picture of the nation's mental health during the crisis.

[...]

While 10.7 percent of respondents overall reported considering suicide in the previous 30 days, 25.5 percent of those between 18 to 24 reported doing so.

[...]

Roughly 30.9 percent of respondents said they had symptoms of anxiety or depression. Roughly 26.3 respondents reported trauma and stress-related disorder because of the pandemic.

Another 13.3 percent of respondents said they have turned to substance use, including alcohol and prescription or illicit drugs, to cope with stress from the pandemic.

More than half of respondents who identified as essential workers reported some kind of adverse mental health or behavioral health condition related to the Covid-19 emergency.

[...]

The CDC study analyzed 5,412 survey respondents between June 24 and 30.

  Politico

At least New York's governor is being presidential

In your face, Great Patriot Farmers

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue went out to Wisconsin and told a whole lot of dairy farmers that they were SOL as regards both their immediate and longterm futures. From the Washington Post:

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters following an appearance at the World Dairy Expo in Madison that it’s getting harder for farmers to get by on milking smaller herds. “In America, the big get bigger and the small go out,” Perdue said. “I don’t think in America we, for any small business, we have a guaranteed income or guaranteed profitability.”

It takes a rare fella to say so plainly that America is essentially a monopoly culture, and that the ultimate goal of a free market is to achieve the absolute minimal amount of actual competition—especially to an audience of people whose livelihoods are being destroyed by those very dynamics.

[...]

Wisconsin, which touts itself as America’s Dairyland on its license plates, has lost 551 dairy farms in 2019 after losing 638 in 2018 and 465 in 2017, according to data from the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The Legislature’s finance committee voted unanimously last month to spend an additional $200,000 to help struggling farmers deal with depression and mental health problems.

I'd like to think this will have some effect on the way people in the dairy counties of Wisconsin will vote a year from now, but voter depression is as dangerous to democracy as voter suppression, and some folks simply give up.

  Charles P Pierce

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Name that tune

Trump condemned the “two evil attacks” and vowed to act “with urgent resolve.”

He outlined a number of possible steps, including so-called “red-flag laws,” that focus on better identifying mentally ill people who should not be allowed to purchase firearms.

“Mental illness and hatred pull the trigger. Not the gun,” said Trump, who was flanked by Vice President Pence and did not take questions from reporters.

  WaPo

No shit

Florida public schools moving in the right direction

The Florida State Board of Education voted this week to require public schools to provide students with mental health education.

Under the new directive, the department said in an announcement that schools will be required to “provide students in grades 6-12 at least five hours of mental health instruction” on an annual basis.

The instruction will be related to youth mental health awareness and assistance. It will also focus on providing students with an “awareness of signs and symptoms, process for getting or seeking help for themselves or others,” as well as an awareness of accessible mental health resources, including the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, the department said.

  The Hill