…and madness
Your Eyewitness is familiar with the expression, “There’s a method to your madness.” Meaning, even though a person’s behaviour may be strange and inexplicable, there might be some reason behind it. Now this unique American practice of “mass shootings” is definitely madness – and he defies anyone to prove otherwise. He’s just trying to find the “method” behind it.
We might as well start with US President Donald Trump. After the Florida killings, he suggested Americans should “tackle the difficult issue of mental health.” Yep…The President who just witnessed the latest in a string of mass killings – defined as more than four victims but the American average is 11 – thinks the problem is “mental health”.
But this is actually an empirical question – we can look at the medical history of the mass killers over the past half-century, for instance. And not surprisingly, someone has done so…and mental health is right down there at the BOTTOM of a very long list. But one question that Trump and the rest of his Republicans avoid is if mental health is such an important public good, how come they only bring it up when mass killings are committed. Shouldn’t they have increased mental health funding after say, the 100th mass killing?
And mass killings have been growing exponentially. According to your friendly Wiki, “Between 1982 and 2011, a mass shooting occurred roughly once every 200 days. However, between 2011 and 2014 that rate has accelerated greatly with at least one mass shooting occurring every 64 days in the United States.” Now coming back to that “long” list of why folks go on these killing rampages, the one that’s never taken seriously by the Republicans is the incredible availability of guns. And this is the method to the madness!!
It’s not just Americans who get frustrated and angry or have mental health issues – it’s a human thing. But the crux of the matter is what those folks do about their anger. In the US, it’s firstly part of the “American Way” to settle disputed with guns. Remember how the West was won? In fact, if you dare bring up the subject you’ll be told the “right to bear arms” is constitutionally protected.
Never mind the right was enshrined when the whites were committing genocide of the “Red Indians” to “open up” the American West and slavery had to be enforced to farm the American South. So will there be any move towards “gun control”? Not in this lifetime.
Closer home, we should be concerned about the number of weapons flooding our country and ending up in the hands of criminals.
Maybe soon, WE will also all have to bear arms?
…missing in sugar factory re-opening
The Finance Minister just announced Government will borrow $10-15 BILLION to keep Skeldon and Enmore going at a lower rate of operation so that they won’t look too run down when investors start looking at them in a year. Can you believe this level of insanity or inanity? Wasn’t this the same recommendation of the very expensive CoI back in 2015?? Why wasn’t it acceptable in 2015 and not in 2018? What exactly is going on?
As your Eyewitness has been pointing out, dear readers, don’t look for the answer in economics: it’s all politics!! First of all, the Finance Minister is so full of it to say Enmore won’t be producing sugar but molasses!! Does he not know that molasses is a BY-PRODUCT of sugar production?? You can’t have molasses without most of the sugar being crystalised out.
Now if the Government plans to sell what’s called “first syrup” to DDL, does he know whether DDL will be willing to pay the price of the “sugar enhanced” product??
No wonder Guyana’s already dying from Dutch disease!!
…in stop and search
The new East Coast Police Commander says he’ll increase stop and searches of vehicles. He insists the Police must have “reasonable cause” to do so.
So who decides what’s “reasonable”?
