US Gun Violence by the Numbers

(Older but relevant)

5 Average number of child deaths in gun-related accidents or suicide EVERY DAY

9 Number of kids under 19 years old killed by guns EVERYDAY

32 Number of states in the US that allow ANYONE to purchase firearms without an ID or criminal background check
40 Percent of gun sales in the US occur without an ID or background check requirement

40 Percent of American households that contain both children and guns

83 Average number of Americans killed by guns EVERYDAY

1,260 Average number of annual firearm homicides in the European Union (pop 376 million)
10,821 Average number of annual firearm homicides in the US (pop 282 million)
34,000 Average number of Americans killed by guns EVERY YEAR

$33,000 Average medical cost (80% uninsured) of a gun related death

$300,000 Average cost (80% uninsured) of a gun related injury

70,000 Average number of gun-related injuries EVERY YEAR

655,000 Number US service men and women killed in all Foreign Wars combined
1,035,000 Number of gun deaths in the US over the past 30 years

$4 million NRA contributions to George W. Bush's 2004 campaign

$18 million NRA contributions to Congressional candidates in the last four election cycles

$40 million NRA promised contributions to John McCain's 2008 Presidential campaign

$34 billion Annual US medical and productivity costs of gun injuries and deaths


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-rosenthal/us-gun-violence-by-the-nu_b_139879.html

The gun crime map of America: interactive

What do the latest US crime figures tell us about gun crime? Which states have the most firearms murders, robberies and assaults? Click on a state to explore it - or use the dropdown menu to choose different ways of seeing the data


http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2011/sep/27/gun-crime-map-statistics





You HAVE to go to the page to view the map and crunch the numbers. It's quite chilling in it's detail. These are the numbers the gun lobby will hide and argue till they have shouted you down, but there is no changing the numbers, the numbers don't lie. If we weren't awash in guns, we wouldn't have this problem.


How bad is gun crime in the US? The latest data from the FBI's uniform crime reports is out and it provides a fascinating picture of the use of firearms in crimes across America.

At the beginning of the year the shooting spree in Tucson, Arizona, that targeted congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords left six dead, including a nine-year-old child. But since then, the issue has been given scant attention.

However, the figures themselves are astounding for Brits used to around 600 murders per year. In 2010 - the latest year for which detailed statistics are available - there were 12,996 murders in the US. Of those, 8,775 were caused by firearms.

The FBI crime statistics are based on reports to FBI bureau and local law enforcement. The figures are not complete - there are no stats for Florida on firearm murders and the data for Illinois is "incomplete". But even so it provides a detailed picture of attacks by state.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/10/gun-crime-us-state

Full spreadsheet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AonYZs4MzlZbdGhycDRPQlN1dTBoMzJWOTk0Uk9DRVE&hl=en#gid=9

TSA – Grope & Pillage

First they came for the SUVs, then the Ferrari's, after that, the pick up trucks

but they weren't happy with their catch so they took the BMW's, Benz's, Audi's and Jaguar's. Pretty soon, the Corvette's were gone too. By then everyone drove little jelly beans that looked like their neighbors. And it was deemed good.


But then, in the middle of the night in the distance came a roar. Some nights it lasted for hours. The CO2 sensors went off the charts, but by the time the eco police arrived, all that were left were tire tracks and wine bags (cans and bottles long since gone the way of the outdoor barbecue).


Not in my lifetime. Let the exhaust pipes scream.

WAHHHHHHHHHHHH

Treat your employees well and profits will follow

Renowned business builders carefully watch over their employees, like a shepherd over a beloved flock. They are kind, respectful, encouraging and highly supportive. They value their team and have learned that happy employees are the key to a first- rate business. This attribute is one of the powerful characteristics of award-winning entrepreneurs.

I am pleased to share with you a powerful business model called the Service Profit Chain, authored by three Harvard professors. Its premise is that if leaders honor employees, profits will be the ultimate result. It is the opposite approach from leaders who have money as his or her number one goal and for whom people are dispensable.

The model focuses first and foremost, on providing high-quality service to employees as well as to customers, with financial reward as a byproduct. It's a model used by many of the world's top companies. The points and sequential steps are as follows:

Conversely, consider a poor leader who hires the wrong people, promotes a vile culture, continually criticizes employees and they, in turn, mistreat customers who never return to shop and tell their friends to do likewise.

http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/04/03/treat-your-employees-well-and-profits-will-follow


Too too many business try to cut expenses to profitability rather than make a profit on what they sell or take care of their most valuable asset, their employees. Sadly most of us work for dolts who could give a shit about our lives, our families, our health.

The honeybees are still dying

The eerie mystery of the vanishing honeybees has not been put to rest.

In the last few weeks, three separate studies explored the effect of insecticides on honeybee and pollinator health. One paper linked neonicotinoids, a new class of systemic insecticides that have come into widespread use in recent years, to impaired honeybee navigation; a second noted the effects of low levels of the pesticides on bumblebee reproduction.

The most talked about study, from a Harvard team, found that the colonies fed neonicotinoid-laced corn syrup collapsed in a manner that appeared to mimic the effects of Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD—the mysterious phenomenon in which otherwise-healthy bees simply vanish from their hives. Neonicotinoids, declared the Harvard team, were “the likely culprit in sharp worldwide declines in honeybee colonies since 2006.”

Dramatic headlines soon followed: “Mystery of the Disappearing Bees: Solved!” announced a Reuters headline. Ah, if only that were true. Even if neonicotinoids were banned tomorrow, honeybees would still be in big trouble.

The recent studies add to mounting evidence that low levels of neonicotinoids may have “sub-lethal” outcomes—long-term effects on pollinators that haven’t been measured in chemical-company testing submitted for EPA approval. What those papers don’t prove, unfortunately, is that “neonics,” as they are called, cause CCD—or explain the troubling colony losses we’ve seen in recent years.

http://boingboing.net/2012/05/07/the-honeybees-are-still-dying.html

Well, our worst fears are realized, but Bush and Cheney will NEVER be prosecuted

we all know that, at least not while they are alive. At least while a LOT of people are still alive. It will take a generation to right the wrongs they caused. Those withut power have no voice today.


Sad that these men of power can tear down institutions with impunity, and the Administration we hold as our own will never move on those two.



Have a nice weekend.