Protesters gathered in front of the convention center this morning in response to the NRA meeting. The "Body Count" protest honored the lives of children lost to gun violence.
Over 1600 names were called of those lost, while protestors laid down as a demonstration. pic.twitter.com/BJHJz7drb4
— WRTV Indianapolis (@wrtv) April 15, 2023
Kristi Noem says the NRA isn’t just a bunch of old white guys.
CSPAN cuts to NRA audience made up of old white guys. pic.twitter.com/UGfjmB7WjA
— Heidi (@HeidiOCanada) April 14, 2023
To be fair, there are also a couple of young white guys, and at least one young woman (probably there to make sure Granpa doesn’t wander off and get lost).
Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), addressing the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum, says her nearly 2-year-old granddaughter “already has a shotgun, and she already has a rifle.” pic.twitter.com/d7V4Kslmo3
— The Recount (@therecount) April 14, 2023
The kid also, I suspect, ‘owns’ at least one Bible (the other essential token of clan membership), and she’s never left unsupervised around that either.
Wayne LaPierre says at the NRA event that "gun hating politicians should never go to bed unafraid of what this association and all of our millions of members can do to their political careers" ?? pic.twitter.com/UzQSHJkZU4
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2023
Predictably, a GOP casting call took place.
nightmare rotation pic.twitter.com/w0iUQrNsXC
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2023
DeSantis is doing a video message to the NRA forum instead of being there in person. Low energy. pic.twitter.com/mfXe2SZ1jG
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2023
Chris Sununu's jabs at Trump (who he does not name) at the NRA forum are being met with complete silence pic.twitter.com/uaYeQvOBYz
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2023
this is apparently an applause line at the NRA forum pic.twitter.com/i1701TMmVy
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2023
unvarnished fascism pic.twitter.com/nM843T7DKH
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2023
Been a while since I listened to Dolly’s version of the Woodie Guthrie classic…
SFAW
Dolly certainly has a beautiful voice.
I can’t stand country music, but I could listen to her for hours.
Jeffro
I’d be interested in hearing from GOP reps on the following:
“The former president* was speaking at an NRA convention, which one would think is held to discuss preserving and expanding gun rights. He said “we will carry out the largest deportation operation in our country’s history”. Why would that message draw applause from those in attendance? What’s the connection?”
And then just let them talk…
Jeffro
Also, for chrissakes, Sununu (and others): YOU WILL NOT BEAT TRUMPOV BY RUNNING OBLIQUELY AT TRUMPOV, OR ALLUDING TO TRUMPOV’S VARIOUS FLAWS.
(your base has been conditioned to bow to the strongest, dirtiest fighter in the tribe and they will not entertain this kind of nonsense for a moment)
dmsilev
@Jeffro: Yeah. Just look at how he won the 2016 primary, beating out Please Clap Jeb and all the rest.
Scout211
I keep getting distracted by Trump’s fluffy, blonde mop top. Is that cotton candy on his head?
Cameron
@Scout211: Couldn’t be – he’d be attracting bugs, like Pence.
kindness
Saw a Cliff Notes version of Trump’s speech. He was demanding and promising full fascism. And to think what my WW II vet Republican father would have thought of that all. Spinning in his grave he’d be.
sdhays
@Jeffro: They’re all extremely weak, dull-witted people and they are afraid of getting in the kind of dirt that Trump has always loved to wallow in. But it would be refreshing to see them have the self-awareness to recognize that and not waste people’s time pretending as if their Presidential aspirations are going anywhere.
Just tell your diary what a great candidate and President you’d be if Trump died and then go to Denny’s for brunch with your piece on the side.
kalakal
Isn’t the NRA bankrupt?
Urza
@kalakal: Depends how much Russian money has been able to get to them the last year.
Sure Lurkalot
Sometimes, I feel the need to get out of here.
Another Scott
@kalakal: The NRA tried to declare bankruptcy, and a judge said no.
Here’s a summary from NY AG James as of September 2022 – I’m not sure how much has changed since then.
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
Anotherlurker
The NRA needs to stick to their guns, literally , and allow universal open and concealed carry at all their conventions.
These assholes need to put their $$ where their mouth is.
Chetan Murthy
@Anotherlurker: Then send in pushers with free testosterone pills (or cream, or however it’s delivered), step back, and watch the festivities!
West of the Rockies
@kalakal:
Morally, yes.
Chetan Murthy
@kalakal: I think they were trying to file for BK only to avoid legal judgements coming from AG James in NYS. At least back then, they weren’t *actually* BK. Though gosh, we all wished that Putin’s war would have cut off their funding ….. sigh.
HumboldtBlue
Ok, my family did a zoom call with dad today (91 in May), and he has decided to enter hospice tomorrow after he was taken to the hospital twice in the past week due to failing health. We are extraordinarily fortunate that he has full use of his mental faculties and is able to make this decision on his own with a clear and uncluttered mind and, if by some miracle his health improves, he can always remove himself from hospice, but we all agree that is rather unlikely.
I know many of you have had to deal with this end of life scenario, so if you can provide me with some of the things we will be facing in the coming weeks (hopefully months) I’d certainly appreciate it. I’ll be traveling south in the next few weeks to ensure I see him one last time before he passes and to be honest, it’s very comforting knowing he is able to take this head on and make decisions for himself about his end of life care.
What does hospice entail? What can I do remotely to make it easier for him? What can I expect as his health declines, and while I know there is no way to predict when or how the final day will come, is there a point where the end seems all but certain?
Any advice youse can provide would be more than welcome.
Poe Larity
What? I guess ex-Gov. Huckabee makes more from Relaxium ads to be bothered with NRA appearances.
Jackie
@SFAW: This song was my Dad’s life working the orchards and fields during the Depression. Listening to the words; I can hear Dad’s stories while he reminisced about his childhood/young adulthood.
Jackie
@HumboldtBlue: Sorry to hear this. Hospice is WONDERFUL! My Dad only lived days after home hospice, but he was HOME. He died peacefully in his own bed, snuggled with his beloved cats and surrounded by his family. He was 99 and it was a peaceful ending for him and us.
Matt McIrvin
Perhaps the gun industry has concluded that their best market expansion opportunity is for their support group to be so terrifying that it motivates the rest of us to buy their product.
lgerard
No thread on an NRA Convention can be complete without Jason Selvig’s epic in your face trolling of Wayne LaPierre at last years convention.
https://twitter.com/TheGoodLiars/status/1531019935308304386
hotshoe
@HumboldtBlue:
Do you or your father have a reason to believe he is going to die sooner rather than later?
You say you’re planning one last visit, so that sounds pretty grim …
One thing you probably need to do while your father is still, relatively speaking, healthy and of sound mind: make sure you and he have a firm understanding of what care he wishes to receive. Hospice will not call ambulance/transport to hospital, that’s part of what ya agree to when ya enroll in hospice — but there are still plenty of care options that ya might want or might not want, which you need to discuss/put in writing.
My mom took months longer to die than she had wished, sadly because her health directives specified no invasive procedures (again, not part of hospice anyway) but no one thought to ask if she wanted to continue taking medicine to prevent heart attack, medicine to treat the pneumonia she developed from a simple cold, etc … and the hospice nurse simply prescribed all the medications as if her goal was to live forever and the caretakers simply dosed her morning and night.
The caretakers were lovely, and genuinely loving, and hospice was supportive in such things as providing diapers and bed pads.
But without all that medication, Mom almost certainly would have died without suffering through five months of being bedridden, depressed, unable to read, mostly unable to talk, unable to understand why she was still alive when the pneumonia should have killed her …
StringOnAStick
@HumboldtBlue: I only have a little experience with this, but it really helped my husband and his brother when they were able to talk with the hospice person in charge of their father’s case. They are pros who will answer all your questions and some you didn’t know you had.
I wish you peace and comfort in the coming days.
Soprano2
@HumboldtBlue: I think every case is different. My mother was in a hospice facility because I was her only living daughter and didn’t feel able to care for her at home. My one regret is I wasn’t able to bring her cats for her to see one last time.
Hospice is comfort care, no heroic lifesaving measures. I’ve read that sometimes people seem better at first as they quit taking some meds, but I don’t think that lasts long. They took good care of my mom. Does your dad have an advanced directive? He needs one, and you need to have it there for medical personnel. Does he have a will or trust? If not he at least needs a will.
I’m glad you can go see him, and that he could make that decision so all of you didn’t have to. I was lucky my mom had a trust and a health directive so I knew what her wishes were. I’m sorry you have to go through this.
HumboldtBlue
@hotshoe:
Thanks, he has his affairs locked down tight, there will be no issue post-death, and he meets with hospice folks tomorrow to hammer out the details of what sort of care he wishes to receive. He’s rather tired of living the way he is, and again, his mental faculties are sharp, so it’s now just the final details.
I’m going down to see him at least once due to my personal circumstances and that may turn into another trip, we’ll see how it plays out.
Lyrebird
@HumboldtBlue: Do any other family members live closer to where your dad is? Asking around about experiences with the local hospice service can be key. Our recent experience was the opposit of what @hotshoe: ‘s family dealt with. Here, they figure that once you sign on with hospice that means the sooner you expire, the better, & even though our family member had not ruled out antibiotics, they would not issue them, just more and more oh pium derivatives. ETA: following our loved one’s wishes, we never signed on with the hospice group in her area because they were so regimented and locally considered to just help hurry people along even if they werent ready. In another state, I dealt with a totally different hospice group, provided wonderful support without insisting my grandparent give up basic meds when death was near anyhow.
I also recommend Googling for info about stages of dying, end of life, etc. This UK link has some good info. I would be ahppy to email with you if you like. Just ask Anne Laurie for my email, I am good with that.
HumboldtBlue
@StringOnAStick: @Soprano2:
Thanks, guys, his affairs are in order, he’s taken care of that, will and trust are no issue, at this point it is simply how much longer he wants to live and under what conditions.
He’s been living with my brother and SiL for four years, and I have another sister three hours up the coast in Simi who sees him regularly. My oldest sister regularly flies in from WV, she’s there now, and another sister from Florida will be visiting as well, so he will be comfortable and well cared for whatever happens.
@Lyrebird:
Thanks for the help. If anyone wants to contact me offline, email is humboldtblue65 at gmail dot com.
All in all and considering the circumstances, he’s in about as good a position as he can be, and we are very fortunate for that.
Brachiator
@Another Scott:
Thanks for the info on this. I also had wondered about the bankruptcy thing.
Wapiti
@HumboldtBlue: My Dad’s second wife had Parkinson’s, and when she could no longer read or even hear books on tape she deliberately stopped eating and drinking. Hospice provided palliative care (pain relief). They checked on her daily, and provided counselling to the family.
HumboldtBlue
@Wapiti:
Thanks.
Steeplejack
@HumboldtBlue:
I hope you have a peaceful road ahead with your father. 🙏
kalakal
@HumboldtBlue:
I’ve had 3 experiences of hospice care and 2 were very favourable. My father had terminal cancer and wanted to die at home. With a lot of support for my mother he was able to do so on his own terms surrounded by the family.
My MIL came to live with us after she was tboned by an idiot running a redlight. She was 98 and after about 6 months suddenly went into a severe decline, after a lot of tests the hospital took the point of view ( correctly we think ) that any heroic measures would be both futile and cruel so she came back home with us. The hospice were wonderful, we had a night nurse so my wife and I could get some sleep as she needed 24 hour care and observation. She was comfortable throughout and we had time to get family down before the end. The hospice were great with medication, lifting aids etc.
The third was awful but not the hospices fault. My mother had vascular dementia and declined gently but mostly happily for years but towards the end she was basically a husk and had to live in a hospice. The staff were great but the experience was awful.
It’s good your father is doing this on his own terms and has his affairs in order.
One bit of advice I will give is that the prognosis (a month, 6 weeks etc) is usually pretty accurate. In my head, and my families, it was always 6 weeks away until suddenly it was today. Make sure you get to see him soon as you can. There is a point when death feels certain but for the family it’s usually in the last couple of days. Before that you know it but you don’t know it.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@HumboldtBlue:
Sorry for you and your family for going through such a rough time.
My grandfather passed away about 5 years ago at the age of 88 and had been suffering from dementia for at least 5 or 6 years before that. He was functionally dead and I really didn’t have the chance to say a proper goodbye to him. Cherish the time you have with your father
TriassicSands
Morally, if not financially.
HumboldtBlue
@Steeplejack:
Thank you.
@kalakal:
Thanks. The doc’s prognosis was six months, so I’ll be down in the next few weeks.
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Thanks
Edmund dantes
My mother had terminal cancer. And had caught a bad infection from when she went into the hospital after a bout of cancer issues forced her in there once again. She and us eventually realized the time was right to move into hospice as I think she was tired of fighting the same cancer off and on for 7+ years of it doing things they hadn’t seen uterine cancer do. She had bouts of remission then it would show up elsewhere in her body (still the same uterine cancer even though her uterus was long gone from the initial treatment).
we transferred her over, and they did a wonderful job taking care of her. She did very well there, but she held on long enough for all her children to make it back to see her one more time. My brother was the one we were least sure of. As he was in Afghanistan as an army reserve diesel mechanic. They got him back to see her in a couple of days (he got lucky catching transport out of Afganistán to Germany right at the time to catch a flight almost immediately from there back home).
she got to see and talk with him(they had some argument before he had left). He was the last of her kids, and then she just gave up her last bit of fight and died within less than a day of seeing him.
she lasted longer than the doctors expected her to when they suggested to move her over to hospice, but I think that was purely her just burning all her life force to make sure she got an opportunity to talk with all of us at least one more time.
All I can hope is your father gets what he needs to pass along peacefully Humboldt
scribbler
@HumboldtBlue: What a hard situation for you and your family. No advice here, just the hope that you, your Dad, and your family experience peace, love, and warmth through this difficult process.
Ruckus
@HumboldtBlue:
If it is a good facility the care will be good. In this world money can make it decent but even more important is the people that work there. My dad lived the last 12-14 yrs in a home – with Alzheimer’s. He was physically strong though and we found him a place run by 2 Vietnamese sisters who owned 5 homes that their extended family members staffed. Less expensive than any complex and far better care. Those women came to his funeral and were amazing. It’s been so long ago – 22yrs that he passed that I have no idea how to contact them or the children to see if it still exists. But a good facility really, really made a difference. I’d say get references from families about the care. The response will be likely some what slanted because they are not likely going to send you any negative references.
HumboldtBlue
@Edmund dantes:
My mother battled cancer two times, at the age of 77 she was diagnosed with yet more cancer and decided she did not want to endure another round of treatments. She died at home surrounded by family.
@scribbler:
It’s hard because the end is final, but fortunately this isn’t tragic. It’s much more sad than hard, if that makes any sense. It’s a comfort knowing dad has made his peace and made HIS decision on his end of life terms, and while I choke up a little each time I take the time to dwell, I remember I got 57 years with him and they were pretty damn good years.
@Ruckus:
He is at home, and he will hospice at home, we’re fortunate to have that option.
sab
@HumboldtBlue: My feeling on hospice is I wish we had done it sooner. They are better on palliative care than the previous docs.
Mom was only in hospice care for a few days before she died at home. Dad has been under hospice care in his nursing home for about six months (with dementia) and he is still going strong at 98. My husband’s two oldest siblings were in hospice care for their last few weeks with terminal illnesses.
The hospice people reevaluated the list of medications they were all on. Older people and ill people tend to be over medicated. They get put on a medication to address one health problem, and then added another to address side effects of the first medication and on and on. Hospice people are good with pain medications.
Hospice is good at working with the patients and families in addressing end of life issues and questions. They also have experienced religious people available. Dad isn’t religious and so not interested, but a pastor came around a few times and was a huge comfort to our nurse’s aide. The religious support was a huge comfort for my husband’s dying siblings and the relatives.
Dad has a social worker who comes every week just to talk to him and play games to keep him alert and involved, and as a soundimg board for the nurse’s aide. I think the nursing home actual nurse wanted them involved because she was overwhelmed by his dementia when the nurse’s aide has a day off.
My oldest sister was very upset about dad and hospice. She thought it was a sort of death sentence. It hasn’t been that at all. It is just better help in a new probably last phase of his life.
Years ago the comic pundit Art Buchwald went into hospice, came out of hospice much healthier, and lived for several more years.
Danielx
@Jeffro:
that’s the truth.
Danielx
@HumboldtBlue:
No answers, but…good thoughts. Wish I had more.
HumboldtBlue
@sab:
We are very fortunate that as brothers and sisters were are united firmly behind dad’s choices, and for my family it would be pretty damn odd were we not.
@Danielx:
Your good wishes are plenty. Thanks.
Matt McIrvin
My grandmother chose hospice care when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer at 96. It was the obvious best choice for her and I’m glad she was fully able to choose.
Shalimar
@HumboldtBlue: I had a horrible experience with a hospice doctor. My father had surgery twice previously to empty fluid out of his lungs that made breathing very difficult. He then signed the hospice care agreement to get nursing care multiple times per week, though they promised it would not be a waiting-for-death situation.
He was having breathing troubles again about 9 months after his previous surgery, we took him to the hospital, and they recommended surgery again to remove the fluid from his lungs. The hospice doctor overruled them through a phone consultation without ever seeing him in person, said he was dying, and he was sent home, where he died in serious pain 3 days later gasping for breath.
Maybe he would have died anyway soon. He was already 90 with long-term heart problems so he most likely didn’t have a long time left to live. But I still believe to this day that doctor killed him.
artem1s
@Edmund dantes:
Both of my parents hung on long enough for all of us to get home and see them before they went. It’s important to note that it’s often a conscious decision for those who are preparing to die. Sounds like your father is preparing his family and himself to let go. My father had lung cancer and we all understood the inevitability of it. My mother had been in relatively good health until she wasn’t anymore. I’m not saying they went quietly or anything like that. It’s a struggle. Biologically we are programmed to try to survive and help those in our clans survive. My father went fairly peacefully. My mom fought and was pretty pissed about it all. Watching hurts. It can be easy to blame yourself or hospital and/or hospice workers for their pain and suffering. No matter how fast or slow or peaceful or painful it is. There is no way to do it and not reflect on your own mortality. Be as easy on yourself as you can. No matter what happens, take it as a joy that he has decided to discuss it with you all while you still can. Peace.
Tony G
Unsuccessful assassination attempt on the Japanese prime minister yesterday. In the United States the attempt would have been made with a semi-automatic pistol or rifle, and it probably would have been successful. The obvious point: There are crazy people in every country, but only in the United States do they have easy access to powerful guns.
mrmoshpotato
You misspelled Klan.
mrmoshpotato
WEAK. SAD. POOP.
Ruckus
@kindness:
My parents would have been livid. Not necessary loudly vocal but they would have been lividly pissed off. Mom was always a staunch democrat and dad ran his business with men of all colors and backgrounds and paid for their knowledge and skills, color, origin, language be damned. My parents taught me by example that it is your humanity, not your skin color, or you accent/language that determines who you are, nor your skills at work. I’ve worked beside men of ages from 18 to 70, with all shades of skin, from pale white to darkest black. We all have our proclivities, our strong points and our weaknesses but we are all human. In my life I’ve met some real assholes and some of the best people anywhere. Two of my measuring methods is do they like or hate those who don’t look or sound like them and/or look at their imagined bank account and determine their acceptance.
Ruckus
@HumboldtBlue:
My sister tried that but he required so much around the clock care that it just wasn’t possible. His Alzheimers got to the point that he could do absolutely nothing for his own care, like go to the bathroom or even tell anyone he needed to, but physically he was still very strong. My sister found out, because she wouldn’t listen, that caring for a parent who can’t for themselves is very, very, very hard. She had to change his diaper and clean him and that was one of the most difficult emotional times for her. And she’d done the same for her child. It is an entirely different concept and I’m sure there are people that can far more than adequately care for a parent. But if that parent has always been there for you, always been a great parent, it is not something that you ever imagined having to do. And the reality is far different and harder than she imagined. She lasted 6 weeks. I think it made her a better person but is an extremely hard thing because you know the end and the person you are caring for may no longer be able to see that.
Ruckus
@Shalimar:
My next door neighbor went through something like that. At the end he was being drained 3 times a week of fluids (I’m not sure it was lungs) and his wife asked me to help several times. But the closer it got, the far more difficult it got because it became less he could do for himself. I’m a normal sized human and trying to lift more than my own weight that could do nothing for himself to help just didn’t work. I believe he was thankful for the end of this seemingly never ending, every day getting worse and weaker situation. I live in a seniors apt complex, one has to be over 55 to live here and we go from that to 96 as the oldest that I know of. People die here every so often. It’s sad, it’s also life, the beginning, the middle and the end. And not everyone has someone to care for them when they get to step 3.
pieceofpeace
@HumboldtBlue: Is there music he has especially enjoyed during his years from which you could record and have played as he would like, for his pleasure and state of mind. Age 91 – Big Band era? Rock and Roll?, esp from the 50s, early 60s. Or jazz, blues, gospel? Friends of a dying mutual friend had monks sing, and a guitar trio play – all outside her bedroom window.
Give and get from and to him and yourself, while the opportunity exists. This is where you are, for now. Good fortune to you.
HumboldtBlue
@Ruckus:
My brother and sister have had to help at times, again, he’s fully cognizant, aware, competent, it’s his body that is failing. As I told him last week, he sounds a helluva lot better than he looks.
@pieceofpeace:
Thanks. He’s at home with his books and music, we just have to wait it out.