Trump, Iran Nuclear deal, presidential 2016 election politics, ISIS, illegal immigration, latest release of Clinton emails, random nationwide shootings, Black Lives Matter, etc. seem to continue to dominate our headlines.
Out of this cacophony of the sometimes 24/7 repetitive media blitz, persons who REALLY CARE about the real world around them, instead of an often pre-occupation with a "parallel universe," should check their moral compasses about what's taking place in Syria, continued nationwide gun violence, income inequality, and the repetitive use of lethal force by police in their confrontations with Black Americans.
The humanitarian crisis of persons seeking refugee status in other countries away from Syria should shock our national conscience. Most of us forget that it was the U.S. that directly and indirectly tried to oust Assad, President of Syria, and aided and abetted the overthrown of Gaddafi in Libya. We cannot ignore and distance ourselves from the human refugee crisis now unfolding in Syrian and in Libya.
Domestically, however, no issue seems more intractable and persistent than the continuing deaths from wanton gun violence. Far too little attention and effort are being given to addressing this issue. Former Tuscon, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark, the New York group EVOLVE, and the Massachusettes and California group LIPSTICK should be commended and celebrated for their efforts.
Rebecca Bond of EVOLVE works tirelessly in meeting with gun manufacturers, gun owners and members of the NRA to enlist their support for background and safety checks for guns kept in homes with children in gun owners' families.
Operation LIPSTICK just released a Report on the role of young women in enabling the purchase of illegal guns for their boyfriends or Significant Other father of their children.
The study was prepared by Operation LIPSTICK, Ladies Involved in Putting a Stop to Inner-City Killings, based on media reports and other publicly available information sources. LIPSTICK will also launch the first online database of straw purchasing by women at operationlipstick.org."
"Women Commonly Provide Guns Used in Crime, Study Shows"
(Boston) Women play a significant role in providing the guns used in homicides, carjackings, robberies, and other violent crimes, a groundbreaking new study shows.
"Women and Crime Guns: Stories Lifted From the Headlines" details how women are commonly exploited to buy guns for men who can't get guns legally. The practice is known as a "straw purchase." It's one of the main ways guns are diverted to illegal markets."
The Black Lives Matter Movement needs to continue its efforts to raise the national conscience about the excessive use of lethal force in the shooting of Blacks by police. Income inequalities, unequal educational opportunities, humanely resolving the issue of illegal immigration are all-important. But nothing in our opinion is MORE important than challenging the world and our country not to sit idly by while a humanitarian crisis unfolds in Syria; or, while gun violence continues every 24 hours across our nation.
If not now when?
If not us, who will do something about it?