[Magdalen] Applebee Project

[Jim Guthrie]

From: M J _Mike_ Logsdon

>Someone earlier wondered just how the current gun craze-culture came about (or 
>something like that).  My take on it is that in a land that at least in our own 
> >heads (collectively speaking) is the ultimate terrestrial "last frontier", 
>letting go of how we actually *did* the westward migration, -- for those 
>already gun->oriented --, is hard to let go of.  The result?  "Militias" of all 
>stripes, and my favorite current saint of the mindset, Cliven Bundy and his 
>"sheriff's the highest >[only?] authority" bunch.  Last year's standoff at 
>gunpoint with federal officers over Bundy's theft of federal monies (unpaid 
>grazing fees) made me more sick >than (though not always, so don't worry) 
>listening to The Donald today.

Contemporary Americans have no concept of the "last frontier." But many have 
been convinced there are loads of African-American "Bad Guys" ready to loot 
their homes and rape their wives -- thanks in large measure to media coverage of 
urban unrest, starting with Watts and a lot of other racist stuff they either 
see on TV or interpret as such. I can't think of very many gun owners/collectors 
I now who don’t have a racist streak -- ranging from mild to virulent. When I 
was in Philipsburg three weeks ago and made a crack about the NRA, there were 
several in the audience who later unloaded as to how they need "protection" from 
those [N-word] coming up from the city.

In the local Times Tribune here in Scranton, all the Civic-minded and 
Charity=minded people in photos (I counted 1400 locals in photos one week -- a 
great print business model) but save for the occasional high school football 
star, the only photos of persons of color or Latinos happen to be perps -- thus 
reinforcing the notion that people need "protection."

As ugly as it gets, I think.

Jim Guthrie