Shootings are only possible when access to guns
is made easy. I have no objection to
possession of guns for hunting, target shooting, or when licensed for personal
or business protection. But there is no
other justification for the possession of weapons other than by law enforcement
personnel.
The Second Amendment, only included in the Bill
of Rights because slaveholding States back in 1789 feared a federal military assault
on their right to own slaves, has been grossly misinterpreted since 2008 when
D.C. vs Heller was decided by the Supreme Court. Justice Antonin Scalia’s opinion in that case
has resulted in the proliferation of weapons in this country and thousands of
unnecessary deaths. Despite whatever good the man did in his life, that is all
that he will be remembered for.
It is time for gun control legislation to be removed from State legislatures, bodies that often seem to cater to the right-wing, and vested in the federal government. Why? It’s a national problem, transcending State borders.
Too many Americans mistakenly believe that guns in the hands of
individuals can prevent the federal government from becoming tyrannical. That’s malarky! The only route to change, in
any direction, is by voting for candidates who will work for change, and not by
carrying a gun and threatening the government with it!
I urge the support of gun control at every
opportunity that presents itself! There
is no reason for any American not to! There are many organizations working toward
ending gun violence. They are not trying
to take away any of your ‘freedoms.’ In
fact, they are working to protect your freedom to go to work, to school, to
shop, without fearing an attack by some misguided person whom the Supreme
Court’s 2008 decision has allowed to be armed.
Find and check them out online and consider
donating to them. Good ones to start
with are everytown.org, bradyunited.org, and giffords.org.
JL
*
* *
I try to include the following children’s story
on Jackspotpourri during the holiday season.
It is the only piece ever published on this blog that some readers have
asked to see again.
Santa’s Belt
Jack Lippman
It was that time of the year when
things were getting hectic at the North Pole. Santa and the elves had
been working overtime to make certain that everything would be ready to go on
Christmas Eve. After all, children of all ages throughout the world were
waiting for Santa to bring them the gifts which they had been wishing for,
gifts to make their dreams come true.
“Rufus,” Santa called out. “Are all of the presents ready
to load into my bag? Have our helpers down on Earth, the toy
manufacturers, gotten their toys and games ready for the kids? And how
about their families? You know, they all must do their part too!
Moms and Dads and everyone else! Hey, we
only have a few days left!”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Claus,” Rufus replied. “There won’t be
any foul-ups this year. The toys are all ready to go!”
“And is my sleigh ready? Are the reindeer in good shape?”
“Don’t worry, Santa,” Rufus reassuringly replied. “The
sleigh has been repainted, the runners greased and the harnesses
repaired. And the reindeer are just fine. Comet and Cupid are over
their colds and the others have even gotten used to Rudolf, who wasn’t even in
that poem about us. Even Donder and Blitzen have calmed down.
Santa, you must stop worrying. Everything is going to be fine!”
It had been three years since Rufus had been promoted to the
position of Chief Elf in Santa’s workshop. Of course, he had been helping
out there for many years but only recently had Santa learned of Rufus’ prior
experience working closely with Merlin the Magician centuries ago. Some
of Rufus’ innovations, obviously learned from that apprenticeship with the
ancient wizard, had greatly increased the efficiency of Santa’s
operation. For example, it was Rufus who had developed the mathematical
formulas which, when put into practice, enabled Santa to defy mere physical
laws and be in many different of places at the same time. Rufus had
solved the problem of running out of toys with a procedure which in effect,
cloned one toy from another, so Santa’s bag was never empty. And of course, he
used a lot of old Merlin’s techniques to ease Santa’s trip up and down chimneys
throughout the world, without his red outfit ever getting dirty. Finally,
it was Rufus who convinced Santa to include intangible things such as peace,
love, brotherhood, and wellbeing among the gifts he left on Earth for those who
deserved them.
It was just a few nights before Christmas when Rufus encountered
Santa in a state of real panic.
“Santa, what’s the matter? Why are you holding your waist
like that?”
“Can’t you see, you darn fool! I’m holding my pants
up! If I let go, they’ll fall down. It happened this morning.
My suspenders snapped and I don’t have a belt big enough to fit around me to
hold my pants up. Rufus, they keep falling down and if we can’t fix them,
how can I go out on Christmas Eve? Rufus, do something to help me!
You must!”
“Now, Mr. Claus” the elf answered, holding back a snicker.
“I can see how this happened. Come to think of it, I should have seen it
coming and done something about it. I’ve watched the way you’ve been
eating all of that delicious food Mrs. Claus prepares for you. Pies and
cakes, chickens and steaks, soups and puddings, pizzas and knishes, pasta and
dumplings and on and on. I’ve seen you put away enough for an army at one
sitting and top it off with a banana split and a chocolate bar.
What did you expect?”
“Stop your preaching, Rufus! What would your Merlin
do? Come on. Think of something so that I don’t disappoint all the
children who’ll be waiting for me on Christmas Eve! I can’t go out there
with my pants falling down!”
“Santa, I don’t think suspenders will do the job for you any
more because of the pear shape you’ve developed! We must get you a
belt big enough to hold up your pants!”
“What do you think I’ve been doing all day? I’ve been
looking for one and there just aren’t any made that big.”
Rufus thought for a minute and stroked his chin. He then
turned his eyes upward and look toward the stars, fixing them on the
constellation Orion the Hunter. In an instant, using a mystic incantation
remembered from his days with Merlin, he turned himself into a thunderbolt and
flew up into the heavens directly at the strip of stars which formed Orion’s
belt. Grasping as many as he could, Rufus flew back to Earth and
fashioned a belt from them for Santa. The old man, finding for the first
time since his suspenders had snapped that he was able to keep his pants up,
was ecstatic.
 |
| Constellation Orion. Note that Rufus left just three stars remaining in Orion's belt. |
A few nights later, Santa was able to travel his appointed rounds delivering gifts to children of all ages throughout the world. As he headed back toward the North Pole, he smiled up at the constellation Orion the Hunter, whose belt, as you can see on any clear Winter evening when you look up in the sky, consists of only three stars, all that Rufus left up there.*
Circling the Earth, Santa made a promise to go on a diet.
He had learned his lesson. Soon, recognizing the welcoming lights of the
workshop far below, the reindeer guided the sleigh into a slow descent and the
jovial old man once more waved his hand to the world, crying out, “Happy
Holidays to all, and to all a good night, especially to you, Rufus!”
* * * *
*The constellation Orion is only visible in the northern hemisphere during Winter months, so those in the southern hemisphere must just take my word for what Rufus accomplished.
JL
* * *
Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri
Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com.
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If you want to send someone the
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think this is the best method of forwarding Jackspotpourri.
There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it though! Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible. If you click on the tiny envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses to which that blog posting will be forwarded, along with a comment from you. Each will receive a link to the textual portion only of the blog that you are now reading, but without the illustrations, colors, variations in typography, or the 'sidebar' features such as access to the blog's archives.
Either way will work, sending
them the link to https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com, or
clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting, but I
recommend sending them the link.
Again, I urge you to forward
this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it.
JL
* * *
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