You are all aware of the horror of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentines Day, and with the deluge of two weeks of related news may feel like shutting it all out. But following the horror there has also been a deluge of hope that America is waking up to the need for gun sense, thanks largely to the words and actions of the Parkland students. It's been five years since the massacre at Sandy Hook, after which Congress passed not one bill to decrease gun violence. Those poor elementary aged survivors did not have the ability to speak and advocate for themselves as these older children and young adults are able to, and I believe that has made the difference we're now seeing.
The NRA, which since 1977 has morphed into an extremist right-wing fear-mongering group, bent on jacking up gun sales, is feeling the heat. Companies are disaffiliating from the NRA, and some like Dick's Sporting Goods are instituting their own policy changes on gun sales. Politicians are starting to listen to the uproar from their constituents and are proposing new gun laws, some of which are laudable (raising age limits for purchase, banning the sale of assault weapons, universal background checks) and some of which are foolish and shortsighted (arming teachers).
In Rhode Island, Governor Gina Raimondo signed an executive Red Flag order, which will remove guns from those reported to be a probable danger to themselves and/or others. A bill like this would have prevented many shootings regardless of number of victims. The RI bill will still need to go through the House and Senate but it's anticipated to be an easy pass. ( Btw, Gov. Raimondo, Moms, and RI supporters were on the front page of the Providence Journal, and in the New York Times!)
In the week following the shooting, Moms Demand Action gained 75,000 new members, and I'm sure that number is even higher in the week since. Here in RI we had multiple meetings around the state for new members to learn how to become involved, and a couple of us RI Moms even helped out at an inaugural meeting for southeastern Connecticut, where 20 people showed up, eager to help! I'm very happy that some of my CT co-workers are in that group!
On a lighter note, and back to knitting, I finished Shellseeker and am super happy with everything about it. Will get modeled pictures without a cat sooner or later.
I am so close to finishing the Venezia Open Front Cardi, only the sleeves to finish up and then the seaming. The sleeves are much farther along than shown.
This is the world's greatest eyeliner, L'Oreal HIP Color Rich Cream Crayon eyeliner. It stays on all day long but washes off easily. It was discontinued years and years ago. When I found out it had been discontinued, I bought up what I could on Ebay and elsewhere, until I was down to this:
I wear either the blue or green almost every day, and the browns I would often use on my lids when I had visible lids, but don't bother with that any more and will probably end up tossing them. Last week I searched again online, and found several browns available, but only 2 greens, and NO blue! The 2 greens were on Ebay with an asking price of $45! The seller also had a 'Make an Offer' button, which I did for considerably less. The seller accepted, so now I possess probably the last 2 green L'Oreal HIP Color Rich Cream Crayons (gotta say the whole mouthful) on earth. So what if they're maybe 20 years old. I may have let my hair go, but allow me my eyeliner vanity. By the time these run out I'll be too old and wrinkly to care any more.
I am so happy you found the eyeliner, green is such a good colour! I like the knitting and cat modelling. Congratulations on your work against gun violence. I am sorry to report that OUR state government has offered a secret deal to gun owners to roll back our gun laws. It is the election tomorrow and so it was a bolt from the blue. I had a rather big cry and rang A Lot of politicians. I think they will win. I am very sad.
But happy for you!! And your young people.
Posted by: 2paw | March 02, 2018 at 02:32 AM