Hasta La Gadget!

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The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

While there have been countless debates, tests and judgments that have defined and re-defined how to interpret this amendment, the current prevailing interpretation and belief in America is that individual gun ownership is a constitutional right. As a result, America has seen a steady and consistent stream of deregulation around gun ownership, even as mass shootings appear to be on the rise. As progressives get increasingly concerned about the gun culture in America, as a tactic, they try to make their case by comparing gun ownership to other safety-related, common-sense laws:

While certainly humorous while making a practical point, this tweet burn completely misses the larger point: people don’t have a constitutional right to buy Sudafed. You simply cannot compare a constitutional right to anything else not on the fundamental rights playing field.

This lack of focus on the constitutional argument is where progressives have lost their way. They have been so focused on the practical utility of public policy that they end up losing the larger fights that define America. Constitutional interpretation lends itself to a more strategic (and philosophical) debate platform than arguing the facts and stats on how laws can and should protect people. Constitutional theory the debate platform that conservatives have been playing on for decades while progressives get frustrated and lose ground.

The remarkable irony is that the wording and intent within the Second Amendment is actually on progressive’s side. In fact, the Second Amendment is a progressive’s dream: the third word in the amendment is “regulated” for heaven’s sake.

No matter the interpretation of every other word and phrase after the first three words, the entire context of the amendment is that it will be a regulated right. Through this lens, the Second Amendment is barely even comparable to the First Amendment in terms of what rights it enables. There is simply no language in the First Amendment that regulates the right to free speech… and yet we still regulate speech despite the unassailable strength of the the First Amendment constitutional language

The upshot? Even in today’s hardcore gun rights environment and culture, the Constitution itself provides the guidance — and mandate — to not just regulate arms, but to regulate them well.

How our culture defines “well” can and will certainly evolve over time, but we shouldn’t let gun rights ideologues and arms industry special interests continue to convince the public that they’re the only ones who have the Constitution on their side in this debate.

Yes, current Supreme Court interpretation is that every citizen has the right to bear arms. But it’s also constitutionally mandated that we regulate these arms well. Seeing as the right to bear arms has been implemented pretty effectively in America, perhaps now it’s time to start implementing regulation well too, as the Constitution also mandates.

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It’s 2008 and Stephen Curry, best known as Steph Curry is embarking on the journey of his life. As a stand-out basketball star at Davidson College, a small North Carolina school with an undergraduate population of 1,674, he is about to witness history. The Wildcats have just taken out Georgetown, Wisconsin and the number 1 seed at the time, Kansas Jayhawks. Life is good and the whole world has finally been able to meet Stephen, the oldest son of NBA Legend, Dale Curry.

It’s also 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio and 23-year-old Lebron James is at the peak of his career. James, the number one draft pick overall in 2003 from St. Vincent-St. Mary is living the life every young basketball star dreams of. He has come into the NBA without the “one and done” rule and has proven to the world that it doesn’t take a year of college basketball to prove you are ready for the NBA. While still fairly young, Lebron has just been named NBA Scoring Champion, All-NBA first team, NBA All-Star Game MVP and the 2008-2009 MVP.

Life is going pretty well for both Lebron and Steph. While living in two very different worlds both of these talented basketball stars have now garnered the attention of the entire world and there is no denying either of their talents.

It’s now 2016, 8 years later and both basketball stars have once again garnered the entire world’s attention. This time the two basketball powerhouses are intermingling in the same world, the NBA Finals. While this isn’t the first time the two stars have met on the court for the NBA Finals (the first time being in last year’s NBA Finals) this series has by far been the most intense. Many basketball correspondents and fans are comparing the rivalry to Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, Magic and Bird, and a host of other NBA rivalries. But this rivalry is a little different. In a new social media generated world fans across the world are forced to pick a “team” either you’re #TeamLebron or #TeamSteph there’s no in between and after Thursday night’s showdown in Cleveland, the beef just got more real going into game 7.

As Game 6 ended Lebron James and Steph Curry fans took to social media to vent their frustrations on what they believed to be a “plethora of bad calls” or to victoriously celebrate “Steph’s meltdown after being handled by Lebron.” It was as if fans had suddenly pledged allegiance to either Lebron or Steph and there was no turning back.

While the back and forth between fans of Lebron and Steph was nothing short of entertaining it did become a bit personal when fans began to attack the family of Steph Curry specifically. This is about basketball, nothing more, nothing less. As I began to read through social media’s reaction of last night’s game I began to reflect back to 2008. Just 8 years prior the world was united by celebrating BOTH Lebron James and Steph Curry but yet today basketball fans are at odds. Sure, basketball rivalries are fun but do we really have to focus on why we love or hate both players? Rather you admit it or not there are 10 amazing things #TeamSteph and #TeamLebron can all agree on:

Lebron and Steph Are Both Well Rounded
There is absolutely nothing worst than a basketball player who is talented on the court but has no personality off the court. Steph and Lebron have both proven just how well rounded they are as not only athletes but individuals through their interview skills, social skills and charitable contributions.

Lebron and Steph Have Both Set Records
Lebron James is the first basketball player to make it to six consecutive NBA finals since Bill Russell’s Celtics team. Stephen has also been a record setter by breaking his own record of the most 3 pointers made in a season.

Lebron and Steph Have Big Hearts
Both of these NBA ballers are teddy bears at heart. They have granted several Make A Wish wishes over the last few years.

Lebron and Steph Have Defeated The Odds
Steph came to the NBA from a very small college in North Carolina and Lebron came into the NBA straight from high school. Many questioned if they would be able to perform at such a high level; however, they both proved to the world they could.

Lebron and Steph Have Both Lost Their Composure During Games
Everyone has been criticizing Steph for throwing his mouthpiece but let’s not forget in 2010 Lebron was seen knocking over the Gatorade stand after an unfair call vs. the Timberwolves.

Lebron and Steph Are Both Married To Outspoken Women
Many critics have compared Savannah and Ayesha Curry for their level of outspokenness or lack of. While Savannah has been quiet during the finals she has been vocal throughout Lebron’s career. She was actually cited for being very vocal in Lebron’s first departure from Cleveland due to her strong dislike for Miami.

Lebron and Steph Have Both Openly Confessed Jesus Christ
Steph has been known to openly confess Jesus Christ but Lebron has been vocal as well. In 2010 after a heartbreaking loss to the New Orleans Pelicans he exalted the name of Jesus Christ.

Lebron and Steph Are Two of The Best Players in the NBA
Enough said.

Lebron and Steph Are Both Great Dads
We have all watched Steph and Lebron parent their sons and daughters in public and who doesn’t love those picture perfect moments.

Lebron and Steph Don’t Hate Each Other and You Shouldn’t Either
Lebron and Steph aren’t enemies. In fact, Lebron was seen supporting Steph on the sidelines in 2008 when Davidson played NCSU.

So is it safe to say that you can be #TeamSteph and #TeamLebron at the same time? Leave your comments below.

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A couple of months ago, former Twitter exec Michael Sippey unveiled Talk Show, an app that let you broadcast your text conversations in public. Now there’s yet another app in town that does something very similar. It’s called Public, and the creator…

The latest Street Art Fairs International opened in Downtown LA’s Fashion District this week with a sprawling exhibition of top artists, running through June 18 from noon to 6 p.m., with free admission on Saturday.

Hosted in the showroom of famous jacket designer and artist Jeff Hamilton at 935 Wall Street off Olympic, the art show is a unique opportunity to experience the impact that street artists can bring to the safe confines of a display booth.

Street artists generally focus their work on being as attention-getting as possible, creating an atmosphere of art overrunning its environment in the show, as artists were allowed to do whatever they wanted with their exhibition space.

While personal styles vary from booth to booth, the use of bold colors, famous personas, and unique abstraction presents a convention-like context of contemporary artists working in one of the most popular fields of art right now.

Some of the 70 artists featured in the show include Shepard Fairey, Rolland Berry, Bourn Rich, Kid Wiseman, Goop Masta, Art Lord, PHree, John Born, Emil Armendariz, Angelonce, TAHE, Karlos Marquez, Karen Bystedt, Brains and Noodles, Sean From Texas, Stone Malone, Teachr, Blakhat, Royal, The PSA Crew, Skatehead, Dylon Thomas, Banksy, and more.

Teachr, an established artist on the streets of L.A., says he has enjoyed cutting stencils while visitors pass through, “It’s been a great experience meeting lots of fans and making new fans.”

He has been working on a stencil of Doug Hughes, the activist who began serving a four-month sentence this week for landing a gyrocopter in front of the U.S. Capitol to protest money in politics.

Also spreading the message about getting money out of politics at the Street Art Fair was the Stamp Stampede, with a station set up to let attendees stamp their own currency with messages like “NOT 2 B USED FOR BRIBING POLITICIANS” and “STAMP MONEY OUT OF POLITICS.” This form of spreading an idea through public messages is similar to street art’s success in reaching a broader audience.

John Wellington Ennis’s new book Where Else But The Streets: A Street Art Dossier covers L.A.’s top political street artists.

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U.S. B61 nuclear missiles. Photo Credit U.S. D.O.D. (SSGT Phil Schmitten)

June 17, 2016

Since 1983, Sharon Tennison has worked to develop ordinary citizens’ capacities to avert international crises, focusing on relations between the U.S. and Russia. Now, amid a rising crisis in relations between the U.S. and Russia, she has organized a delegation which assembled in Moscow yesterday for a two week visit. I joined the group yesterday, and happened to finish reading Sharon Tennison’s book, The Power of Impossible Ideas, when I landed in Moscow.

An entry in her book, dated November 9, 1989, describes the excitement over the Berlin Wall coming down and notes that “Prior to the Wall’s removal, President Reagan assured Secretary General Gorbachev that if he would support bringing down the Wall separating East and West Berlin, NATO would not move ‘a finger’s width’ closer to Russia than East Germany’s border. With this assurance Gorbachev gladly signed on.

Little could he or the world have guessed that this promise would soon be broken during the next administration – and that the redeveloping distrust between the countries would threaten to become a second cold War, due to NATO’s expansion up to Russia’s borders.”

Today, NATO and U.S. troops will conclude 10 days of military exercises, Anakonda, on Russia’s western border, involving 31,000 troops. The operation was named after a snake that kills by crushing its prey. Ongoing deployment of 4,000 additional NATO troops has been announced. U.S. and South Korean military exercises just completed at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea were dubbed “Decapitation” and mobilized 320,000 troops.

Conn Hallinan, in “Bear Baiting Russia,” notes that “Russia has two bases in the Middle East and a handful in Central Asia. The U.S. has 662 bases in foreign countries around the world and Special Forces (SOF) deployed in between 70 and 90 countries at any moment. Last year SOFs were active in 147 countries. The U.S. is actively engaged in five wars and is considering a sixth in Libya. Russian military spending will fall next year, and the U.S. will out-spend Moscow by a factor of 10. Who in this comparison looks threatening?”

It’s important for U.S. people to learn more, from ordinary Russian people, about their responses to troop build-up and new bases on their borders, threatening military exercises, and antagonistic arsenals of nuclear weapons on high alert. As President Vladimir Putin begins summoning a new Russian National Guard that could include 400,000 troops, it’s important to hear how Russian people feel about this development.

Rather than foster cartoonized versions of foreign policy, the media should help people recognize complexity in Russian society and include awareness of desires to live in peace on the part of people in both countries.

U.S. people committed to peace making might help ordinary Russians sense the complexity of U.S. society and better understand how U.S. military spending and build up toward war adversely affects civil society in the U.S.

Suppose someone in Russia were to ask me what I was doing before coming to Russia. In honesty, I’d explain that the previous week companions and I finished a 150 mile walk to a supermax prison in my home state of Illinois which could eventually subject 1900 people to tortuous years of solitary confinement, doubling the number of such cells in the U.S. Like the military-industrial complex in the U.S., the prison-industrial complex is now rooted in government salaries and corporate profits, and it’s hard to uproot it.

Before joining the walk, I lived for several weeks in late May and early June with young volunteers in Kabul who long to “live without war.” 15 years into the U.S. war in Afghanistan, the U.S. has “succeeded” in creating conditions for ongoing war.

NATO and U.S. officials claim that their military exercises in countries around the world will enhance international security, but those of us who are members of the delegation here in Russia believe that it’s essential to swiftly reverse the present trend toward Cold Wars with Russia and China. The fantasy of world domination endangers people throughout the world and within the U.S. as people again shudder over the possibility of war between nuclear armed powers.

This morning, Dmitri Babich, an active journalist for over 25 years focusing on Russian politics, said it’s important to name the problem we face, and he believes the fundamental problem is the U.S. insistence on being institutional supremacists, – exceptionalists.

In other words, the policy fantasy that stands in the way of addressing major world problems cooperatively is the idea that the United States can retain and expand the boundaries of “sole superpower” domination. United States policy should stop poking and provoking Russia and China along their frontiers, and instead seek negotiated peaceful coexistence.

Missiles fitted with thermonuclear warheads and on battle-ready status are unstable, and, at any time, can result in the catastrophic destruction of cities on both sides, and even the ending of civilized life on earth.

With active cooperation among the great powers and large reductions in wasteful competitive military spending, all countries could cooperatively address the threats from climate change, water shortages, regional underdevelopment, and economic pressures caused by population growth.

Ordinary people everywhere should do all that we can to demand that all international disputes be resolved by non-military means, avoiding all wars and achieving the deactivation of all nuclear weapons.

Sharon Tennison’s work to develop citizen-to-citizen diplomacy, since 1983, suggests that people could work together to tackle such problems.

But, informed public opinion in the U.S. and in Russia will be crucially needed.

My friend Brad Lyttle, a lead organizer of and participant in the “San Francisco to Moscow Walk” (1960 -1961) recently wrote to President Obama that there is no reason why the U.S. and Russia should continue to jeopardize the very existence of the human species with their huge nuclear arsenals. “Work with President Putin to reduce and eliminate these,” wrote Brad. “Emphasize a trustful and positive approach. Don’t assume that the future needs always to be as bad as much of the past.”

Kathy Kelly (kathy@vcnv.org) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence www.vcnv.org

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