In the News (with pictures & videos)

[Betty]

83,500 Vintage Sewing Patterns Put Into Online Database From Vogue, McCall’s, Butterick, And Simplicity.

https://www.inquisitr.com/4345306/83500-vintage-sewing-patterns-put-on-an-online-database-from-vogue-mccalls-butterick-and-simplicity/

Searching through these 83,500 vintage sewing patterns may sound like a daunting task, but it is actually much easier than you might think. For instance, if you hanker after a particular era of clothing and a style worn by specific people like Elizabeth Taylor or Audrey Hepburn, for example, you can search the database of vintage sewing patterns by decade.

From the 1920s flapper dress to the slim line sheath and tubular dresses of the 1960s, there is a pattern for everyone in this database of sewing patterns. You can even get the disco look of the 1970s with wrap-around dresses, as well as the once-popular vests and jumpsuits of the era.

http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

[Betty]

You have to be 21 to buy beer or liquor or hard core porn in the USA. 18 to buy cigarettes, lottery tickets, other adult (light core) magazines, or vote. A kid can't legally drive a car or work a cash register.

But a 13 year old can legally & easily buy a gun in the USA.

And NO sane, normal citizen of any age needs a weapon of mass destruction that can fire 72 bullets per minute.

Video: http://unclegadget.com/media/Kidbuys.mp4

[alison m]

In all honesty Betty the boy bought a 22 bolt action rifle.  That means he did not buy a weapon of mass destruction that can fire 72 bullets per minute.  I had my own 20 gauge shotgun when I was that age and bought my own shells and hunted rabbits regularly with the neighbor guys and my family.  When I was a senior in high school a classmate brought a 22 rifle to school on the school bus,  unloaded, breech open and the bus driver laid it up front.  When the student got off the bus he took the gun to the principals office until class time.  He retrieved the gun later went to speech class and gave his demonstration speech on how to tear down and clean a rifle.  On the first day of deer season every year there were a lot of boys absence because they had submitted a hunting excuse to the office prior and were considered excused.  So the problem is not actually guns it is a system that already has laws that does not enforce them.  No 19 year old should be able to buy that many guns in a 12 month period.  The laws are already there, not enforced.  The FBI is also to blame for not taking action on the reported situation. 

[Betty]

Yep. I knew someone would bring that up, that's why I included the picture to show the difference.

However, the point of the video is the double-standard in the USA. If one can only get a limited learners permit or drivers license at 16, can't drink or buy real porn until 21, can't operate a cash register or buy cigarettes & lottery tickets until 18, why can a 13 year old buy & own any gun?

In the USA, it's illegal to carry a folding pocket knife with a blade over 4 fingers long, or about over 3- 3 1/2 inches long.

The times have changed too. People have gotten more violent. Rather than discuss, debate, ignore, or deal with something, people are choosing to hit, stab, or shoot at anything or anybody they don't like, annoys them, or disagree with. We no longer live in the same world or country we did a few decades ago. The idea of a debate or intelligent discussion is almost gone, in favor of just attacking or shooting them. And the one doing the attacking or shooting, is usually not the intelligent one.

Don't blame just realistic violent computer games for desensitizing our society to violence & murder either. On almost any evening on prime time TV on the popular channels, half to more than half the "entertainment" are crime dramas, crime or murder related, or extremely violent. Likewise, look at the best selling movies are at the cinema or on disks & streaming. Lots of crime, violence, & murder. Killing, violence, bloodshed, pain, & misery have become a source of very popular entertainment for our society instead of something bad that we should avoid.

At least some adults will think twice about getting violent or shooting, but a teen is less likely to think about it... especially these days.

A kid who gets too violent or was suspected of being a danger to society got locked away in reform school or a lockdown home for wayward kids until they were 18 or 21 in the old days. Now days most bad or crazy kids just get a slap on the wrist & are let go. As a kid, I had to run away from home because I had been scheduled to be locked away in one of those hell-holes until I was 18-21 just because I was suspected of being gay & a crossdresser (a very serious offense in those days).

Excessive violence also the fault of our defective health care system compared to most other countries. If there is a physical or mental problem causing behavior or other problems in a person, the insurance companies, hospitals, doctors, & medical community will most likely either ignore it or do whatever is the most profitable for them rather than want to help the person or protect society.

By ignoring or mistreating people with physical or mental problems, or that are getting bullied & teased daily for years for being different, small, weak, or handicapped, we cause more violence in our society or force those tormented people to snap more often.

Universal health care for all would go a long way in treating the nut cases, the tormented, & even those violent bullies. Don't forget for each of those tormented nut cases that snap, you can bet there were a few bullies harassing them who were just as nuts (many bullies grow up to be bigger bullies, violent criminals, & abusive to family members or animals).

But in our society we cheer an unstable threatening bully like Trump, but when the protestors get seriously pepper-spayed or beaten just for peacefully demonstrating about it, we say they got what they deserved & laugh.

I'm all for gun rights. But I don't believe everyone & teens should be able to own one or have access to one. Kids can learn how to use a gun, target practice, or hunt with their parents or guardian. There is no reason for a kid to own or have access to guns without a parent's permission & supervision. When not in use, they should be locked in a good cabinet with a good lock.

Never underestimate the ingenuity, & determination of a kid.

Some of those cabinets can be easily opened with a paper clip, or slipped with a butter knife, credit card, or student card. A crappy cabinet is pointless. 

If a person has a criminal history of violence, or robbery they should not own a gun. If a person has a history of serious mental illness they should not own a gun.

If you or your loved ones are suddenly taken surprise by an attack by a drug crazed maniac, bear, rabid animal, or in a home invasion or car-jacking, will you be able to take them down with the first shot in the sudden emergency? Probably not. So to able to get off a few shots in a few seconds may be handy. But nobody needs to fire off 72 rounds a minute unless they're in a war or are a mass-murderer.

In a constantly changing world, times are always changing. Standards or rules of 50-60 years ago may not be realistic in modern times. Long ago smoke alarms in every home & seat belts in every car were not required. But the fact is, they saved a lot of lives, pain, & misery. Not all inconvenient change is bad, even though change just for the sake of changing is not usually a good idea.

We don't have to do any studies or research on gun control & universal health care. Fortunately other countries have been way ahead of us on this for decades. All you have to do is look at their data & evidence for proof that it works very well, & how to do it.

[Betty]

Former chief justice Warren Burger knows something about firearms and the law -- and that knowledge has led him to a strong conclusion about the National Rifle Association. In a taped interview Mr. Burger says he is "outraged" by the NRA leaders' conduct. Noting that he is a gun owner and hunter, Mr. Burger says that the NRA officials "have trained themselves and their people to lie,"

http://unclegadget.com/media/nra.mp4

[Betty]

Greatest Country?

http://unclegadget.com/media/greatest.mp4

[Betty]

Trump finally gets his Parade -- in Italy, including a 5 story high Warrior God of Trump. Is this what 'Making America Great" means?

Incredible parade. Must see.

Share, like, or repost. It's my job. If you don't like, share, or repost, I don't get paid. Video & music personally edited & mixed by me.

https://youtu.be/Rd-kkik1ps0

[Betty]

Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning was jailed on Friday after refusing to answer questions from a federal grand jury in Virginia looking into the release of documents to WikiLeaks.

U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton told Manning that she would remain in federal custody “until she purges or the end of the life of the grand jury,” a statement from her representatives said.

Earlier in the day, Manning told reporters that she was prepared to go to jail following the closed contempt hearing over her resistance to provide testimony because she doesn't believe in the grand jury process.

On Wednesday, Manning appeared before the same grand jury, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, but refused to answer any questions.

"I responded to each question with the following statement: ‘I object to the question and refuse to answer on the grounds that the question is in violation of my First, Fourth, and Sixth Amendment, and other statutory rights," Manning said in a statement.

"All of the substantive questions pertained to my disclosures of information to the public in 2010... answers I provided in extensive testimony, during my court-martial in 2013," the statement said.

Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking a trove of military intelligence records to the anti-secrecy website Wikileaks. Her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2017 after seven years behind bars.

On Tuesday, a judge in the Eastern District of Virginia denied a motion filed by Manning's attorneys challenging a subpoena calling her to testify, according to her lawyers.

[Betty]

Casimir Pulaski was one of many men who helped win the Revolutionary War. A Polish nobleman, he fought to protect the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russian domination, then later traveled to America to become a general in the Continental Army.

He is considered the “father” of the American cavalry and was one of George Washington’s top commanders. Pulaski was gravely wounded at the Battle of Savannah in 1779, and died shortly thereafter.

Now, researchers, examining a burial site at Pulaski’s monument in Savannah say that they have confirmed via DNA testing that his remains are located under the monument.

One thing puzzled researchers, however: an examination of the bones revealed details more likely to be found in female remains, including changes to the pelvic bones, a rounded jaw line, and an otherwise delicate face.

While many have mischaracterized these findings to declare Pulaski a woman, even referring to him with female pronouns, Pulaski was baptized as a male and had both facial hair and signs of male-pattern baldness, leading researches to argue that Pulaski may have instead been intersex.

“Intersex” refers to people who are born with sexual characteristics that don’t fit societal or medical norms for male or female bodies. This leads to discrimination and stigma, even from birth.

[Angela M...]

Hey Betty, how are you doing these days? This picture looks familiar but I don't recall reading anything about Pulaski until now. I wonder if there were others like him and I have read about some woman passing themselves off as male during the wars.