Clackamas County Parks to visit

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The parks we visit are either state or city parks. These (click photo) are county parks. We've yet to visit these any of these parks. Stay tuned for photo essays when we do

Texas school shooting

 Updated: About my career and about the Mason Mental Health Center ||||| My political stories are here || Open just this page

I thought my version of the NRA logo might be too extreme for Facebook, Twitter

Below: Before I added the dollar signs.

From Sweet Free Clip Art

When I added the little crying boy to my version of the NRA logo which I originally made just by adding the AR-15's  I thought it might be too extreme to post on Facebook and Twitter. Then I looked at the images posted on the Duty to Warn page on Facebook. Yesterday I used the illustration in my diary The NRA, Jesus, and a stark reminder of US gun obsession on the way for lunch in lovely Estacada, OR.

Some of the editorial cartoons about the NRA and the GOP are far more graphic than my image. 

Knowing that my idea wasn’t particularly brilliant and others may have modified the logo in a similar way, I figured I might as well do my very small bit.

By using some of the hashtags that came up when I typed #NRA into Twitter I increased the chances people might see it.

The NRA, Jesus, and a stark reminder of US gun obsession on the way for lunch in lovely Estacada, OR

Above, just before turning off the main road to go to the lovely out of the way village of Estatada, a 45 minute drive along a scenic winding road from where I live we pulled up next to this car at a traffic light. Sitting on the passenger side I saw the logo and managed to take one quick iPhone photo before the light changed to green. While non-members of the organization may not easily recognize the NRA logo just from the colors I was pretty certain this is what it was so I took the photo and then enlarged it and sure enough that is what it was.

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Yesterday, for relief from the news coming out of Texas, it seemed like a good idea to visit Estacada for lunch at New Panda, a favorite Chinese restaurant, and to walk around to browse and shop at the variety of boutiques, arts and crafts, and gift stores there.

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(See photos from Estacada on my blog taken on a previous visit.)

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Seeing the NRA sticker was a stark reminder of what my friend and I were trying to escape. We wanted a respite from the tragic news and the right-wing bullcrap coming from the likes of Gov. Abbott, Sen. Cruz, and Tucker Carlson who said this:

Tucker Carlson reacts to President Joe Biden's address to the nation following the school shooting in Texas: "The President of the United States, frail, confused, bitterly partisan, desecrating the memory of recently murdered children with tired talking points of the Democratic party, dividing the country in a moment of deep pain rather than uniting. His voice raising and amplified only as he repeats the talking points he repeated for over 35 years in the United States Senate, partisan politics being the only thing that animates him. Unfit for leadership of this country." Real Clear Politics

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Along the way to Estacada this little sign on a utility pole made me think about how religious beliefs won’t do a damn think to stop gun violence. For believers hopefully it is some solace to trust that the souls of their lost children are resting in Heaven, but not to be too cynical it is a stretch to trust Jesus to do anything to change the minds of Republicans about pandering to the NRA let alone passing legislation that might actually have an impact on such shootings.

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Addendum:

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Here’s the NRA logo which has an eagle grasping two two rifles in its talons. 

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The guns in the logo bear only slight resemblance to the muskets being used when the Second Amendment was written in 1791.

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I expect that some cartoonists have already redrawn the logo to show the old fashioned rifles replaced with modern military style guns and, as an afterthought I added the little crying boy. I can’t draw well so here’s the version I created with InPixio:

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