National Parks, Assault Rifles, and Abortion

Neesa and I are in the Grand Canyon National Park. Given the Republican's views of government and the market, I wonder if there would be such a park if the Republicans had their way or would developers run rampant creating another tragedy of the commons. In hearing the debate, I noticed that Romney does not think the government should take AK47's out of the hands of potential mass killers. I wonder if he thinks every citizen should have the right to carry such weapons in our national parks. Wouldn't that make us feel safe?

Of course, the Romney-Ryan duo believe that government can do something right, namely prevent women from having abortions except in the case of rape, incest, or the life of the mother is at stake. Abortions to protect the health of the mother would apparently be wrong in ways not present in the other three cases. I am mainly out of touch on this trip, but I know that Biden has veen criticised by at least one Bishop for his position on abortion and told he would not be welcome to take the Eucharist in some diocese somewhere. Given that Ryan's position departs from the Bishops' teachings, I have been waiting  for some Bishop or Bishops to lay a similar whammy on Ryan. He was criticized by  the Bishops for abandoning social justice in his budget. If he has not been criticized by the Bishops for his position on abortion, I wonder if it could have something to so with the fact that he is now on the Bishops' favorite Presidential ticket.

Comments

[Ted Harrison]

Isn't it the nuns, not the bishops, who are disappointed with Ryan?

[Jimbino]

Do me a favor: perform a visual survey, counting the Black and Brown faces you see there. Does it support my contention that the Grand Canyon (typical of national parks and forests) appears not to allow our ethnic minorities, except for Asians, to visit?

[Steve Shiffrin]

Ted, thanks for the comment. I think
both nuns and the Bishops criticized the Ryan budget.
Jimbino, I think anyone who reflected on your contention while
noticing the demographics of the population in the Grand Canyon
National Park would have to regard it as way off the mark.

[Jimbino]

Sorry Steve,

But I am a scientist who has just performed a visual survey of some 20 national parks, forests, BLM lands and Western state parks and beaches.

Of some 4000 visitors, only 4 were Black, all at the Grand Canyon (none at Zion, Yosemite, Sequoia, King's Canyon, Mesa Verde, Organ Pipe, etc.).

Some of those may in fact have been non-citizens, just like most of the 85% Asian visitors at Yosemite.

Government racism is a plague, well-recognized by the Dept of Interior itself, which you would appreciate if you cared to research it.

You must be a superstitious believer, rather than a scientist, in order to tolerate your totally unsubstantiated declarations of faith.

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[Steve Shiffrin]

Your expertise in physics is not
relevant to this. But, assuming I credit your report which is far
off at the Grand Canyon, what is your explanation?On 10/22/2012

[Jimbino]

You must have a poor understanding of science in order to maintain that physics does not concern itself with observation and analysis of the natural world.

I don't think, however, that I need to come up with an explanation for the observed pervasive de facto racism in our national parks and forests any more than I need to come up with an explanation for the superstition of the 80% of Amerikans who declare themselves religious.

What I do know is that the gummint has no right to tax poor young Black Amerikans to support the National Country Clubs of rich retired old White Amerikans and Asian tourists.

When de facto segregation was found in Brown v Board of Education, the gummint at least mandated buses to assist Blacks in participating in Amerikan life. Do we need buses for Blacks from Chicago to Yosemite, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon?

No, better would be to sell of those racist institutions and return the stolen patrimony to our deprived minorities, most of whom are too busy struggling to put food on the table and find their kids a decent school to have time to play in the forests.