Monday Reading

With the student leaders from Margery Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL spending their summer organizing get-out-the-vote rallies for gun safety measures for the mid-terms, California is taking action in another way to limit gun violence:

"Sold from vending machines in Pennsylvania, feed depots in Nevada, pharmacies in Georgia and jewelry stores in Texas, ammunition is in many states easier to buy than cold medicine. But in California, which already enforces some of the nation’s most restrictive gun laws, there is a movement underway against the unfettered sale of bullets. 

[snip] 

Beginning next year, ammunition dealers across the state will be required to maintain logs of all sales — one of many steps California has taken to limit access to bullets. The efforts come as federal lawmakers fail to break the stalemate that for decades has blocked any new major gun control measures, despite a nationwide groundswell from students pushing for more restrictions in the wake of multiple massacres on high school and college campuses."

Paul Waldman, writing for The American Prospect, wonders whether Trump administration officials who are publicly complicit in his malevolent policies will ever be held accountable, noting the furor over the anonymous writer's op-ed piece in the New York Times:

"There are reasonable arguments for why the act of speaking out anonymously can be viewed as heroic or villainous. But the more important question is what kind of accountability will come to those whose identities we know: all the people who joined this administration, defended this president, and enabled this degraded period in American history to take place.

Imagine it's ten years from now. We don't know the extent of the damage Trump will have caused, or in what manner he will depart office. But what are we likely to say about those who are now laboring in his service? Will they have trouble getting other jobs or running for office? Will they find that wherever they go, people will say to them, 'You went to work for Donald Trump. How can we possibly trust your judgment?' Will the words 'former Trump administration official' carry the appropriate stigma, like 'convicted felon' or 'sex offender'?

Because that's certainly what should happen. In a just world, everyone who made the decision to work for Trump or publicly advocate his cause would find themselves a personal and professional pariah for the rest of their days." (our emphasis)

Billionaire greed head Elon Musk may have lost some investors after poor business decisions and his weed-smoking performance the other day, but it bears noting that, despite his visionary rhetoric, he's a union buster at heart. From The Guardian:

"Tesla and its billionaire owner, Elon Musk, have earned a reputation for union-busting efforts over the past few years. In February 2017, Musk accused a factory worker who outlined several issues within Tesla in a Medium blogpost of being a 'union plant'. In an email, Musk also promised workers free frozen yogurt in a letter to employees that framed unionization efforts as an effort against Tesla by big car companies. The same month, Tesla employee Michael Sanchez alleged he was asked to leave the Tesla factory by security for handing out pro-union flyers outside to fellow employees."

As always, please read the entire articles.