"O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?"

Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

May 9, 2023

Let it be this if you take nothing else away from this post, remember this. James 2:14-17

14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

How often have you heard people offering "thoughts and prayers" when others are hurting? More people dying and being wounded, along with being tariffed because someone decided they wanted to kill as many strangers as possible, as fast as possible? 

I'm sure you're tired of hearing it as much as you are repulsed by the fact their thoughts do not prove they are thinking about solutions. It proves their prayers are not really for the lives but more so for what they want to protect. Guns and the expanded ability of anyone to get them, load them, and aim them at everyone in their path, matter more than people just trying to live their lives.

How often have you heard people claiming that the problem is mental illness and not guns used to kill others? For whatever reason, they turn around and, not only protect the guns but unconscionably expand the ability for more people to obtain them.

These same people refuse to fund mental health agencies to care for those with that illness. The result is, more people facing mental health challenges they would not have had had it not been for the mass murderers given the ability to traumatize them. We have an ever-increasing population of people with #PTSD and will keep claiming more lives because hope has been taken from them due to the lack of deeds.

All too often, these same people turn around and claim to be Christian leaders, yet show nothing Christlike in their deeds. Most people see them for what they truly are. They are usurpers of faith and what they view as power over the people they are supposed to be serving.

Some people will assume they are to be believed because they show up at church, or, just say the words they believe. Never once allowing the simple truth that people can claim to be/believe anything they want to say, and yet, scriptures point out that is not what we should pay attention to.

"34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." 

Matthew 12:34-35

If they were speaking the truth, they would prove it in what they do. It is up to you to prove what it is you value more with your own deeds. Contact them since you pay for their offices, phone lines, computers, and staff to respond to you. If they do not change their ways, change their jobs by voting them out of office. Stop supporting those that use your true faith as a weapon of power for themselves.

We either choose to act out of evil or to act out of love

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 11, 2023

There comes a time when all of us need to open our eyes so we can see what causes us to believe what we do. That time should come as soon as we are no longer children. We either choose to act out of evil or to act out of love. 

Today I see far too much evil being supported by people I know. I refuse to believe they are evil. I believe they have simply closed their eyes. I do believe that the NRA has been operating for evil purposes, putting profits and power over everything, and everyone else. While they inflict fear into the minds of gun owners that their rights will be taken away, the rest of the people in this country are inflicted with fear that no matter where we go, no place is safe. 

Discover more at Books2Read 

Some friends of mine are turning against all gun owners, even though most of the owners want limits on who should have the right to have them. They wonder why responsible, law-abiding citizens do not stand up and demand members of Congress do something to stop the slaughter of kids going to school, people going to work, and in the community after community feeling as if they cannot even attend events or even houses of worship.

I believe the goodness within gun owners lives within their souls. They just don't know what to do to use the power they have for the sake of what is right.

So far this year, there have been 11,630 deaths by guns. 6,666 of them were suicides. Another 8,895 were injured. There were 146 mass shootings and 14 mass murders. 71 children below the age of 12 are gone and 404 children from 12-17 are gone. You can read more grim facts from Gun Violence Archive.

While we cannot prevent all gun deaths, as long as there are guns, we can reduce the ability to murder as many as possible, as fast as possible.

Kids are supposed to listen to their teachers. They are supposed to be listening to their parents. They are supposed to be listening to their friends. They are not supposed to have to listen to something like this in far too many cases it is the last sound they hear.

How many kids will spend the rest of their lives with #PTSD because of what could have, and should have been prevented, when we can't even manage to take care of adults now?

While non-gun owners no longer feel safe, a lot of gun owners don't feel safe either but they have been convinced that their only solution is to arm themselves. After all, the NRA stops Congress from taking action, and that fear increases gun sales. Having more people with more guns increases gun sales. Causing the thought of fear the owners will have their guns taken away, increasing gun sales, and even more, money going to the NRA so they can support politicians who will serve them.

"We also have a responsibility to help keep our families and communities safe. Right now, we’re facing a real crisis in America: too many are losing their lives or loved ones to gun violence. But the vast majority of gun owners agree that there are responsible measures we can take to save lives." Gilford's

The 13th Minister Of Salem is about being unwilling to accept the premise that gun owners are all evil. The problem is when evil people get guns to slaughter others because good ones do nothing. A man, who at one time was a good preacher, decided to kill Chris for speaking the truth.  So why was his mind fixed on that instead of leaving it up to God to handle? Why would he be so willing to support a liar, a thief, and a child rapist, that he was willing to kill for him? I wonder why so many good people are willing to support those that do not value life enough to make sure evil people are not able to get their hands on weapons intended to slaughter?

Chris was struggling with writing his new book about kids and gun violence when he was shot because he was hated for doing what he was created to do with love and compassion. He wanted to give hope to others because he knew what it was like to lose all hope until others gave him back more hope than he ever dared to dream of.

Chris's battles were growing. He was learning the hard way to be careful about what he wished for. He became so famous that he had to hire security just to go out in public. After taking down Haman Cain, he was getting death threats from his cult. He hated the fame his books brought him, as much as he hated the changes coming non-stop. The series from his first book, making wedding plans were only the beginning of his torment. He was shot and feared he'd never be able to use his hand again.

Master Ministers were on high alert and ready to battle the dark forces gathering to destroy Chris. The book forces of darkness feared most of all was in his hands.

The worst came when he received a Master Minister of the Mystery warning. "Dark forces are already at work writing your wedding dirge. Your assailant has been chosen but so has your avenger."

That is how the 13th Minister Of Salem begins. It is the 3rd book in the Ministers Of The Mystery series. I wrote them because I am damn tired. Tired of hearing people claim to be Christians when there is nothing they do that proves they follow Jesus. They lie, support, and cover up for other liars. They claim their faith is being challenged because others do not want to have their own faiths controlled by them. They quote scriptures from the Old Testament while avoiding the New Testament which is all about the life and teachings of Jesus. I came to expect no less from the quasi-Christians regarding the Bible as a deli menu, so they can pick and choose what they want to digest while avoiding anything that would leave a bad taste in their mouths.

When they seek to control what others do in their personal lives, that is not what Jesus taught. Screaming and supporting reprehensible people, calling themselves pro-life does not prove they are Christian. It proves they are pro-birth and want the power to control it by taking away the rights of others. Once a birth happens, they have nothing to actually do themselves, other than pat themselves on the back.

The Ministers Of The Mystery series is based on scriptures they ignore because they do not fit into their narrow view of what Jesus taught. Most of the time with the way things have been, I kept thinking about the Salem Witchcraft Trials and how it was caused by pure hatred among those who claimed to be Christian against innocent people. The thing is, Jesus warned all of us that what they say does not prove what they believe. It is what they do that proves it. 

When lawmakers defend guns above the targets of mass murderers, it proves what they are. When they blame people with mental illness, that does not make someone a mass murderer or evil, yet have no problem with letting them get weapons to kill as many as possible, as fast as possible, it proves what they are.

So much has been accepted because people fail to prove what it is they value and love.  So what is it you really value? Are you willing to risk your own children by sending them to school when it could happen to them? Are you willing to risk the lives of your family going anywhere in public? I've heard some say that they want guns to protect themselves. What good is your handgun when you are face-to-face with a murderer with an AR-15 and in full body armor? What good does it do to have a gun at home when your child is in school?

“Thoughts and prayers are useless to dead children"

Nashville police: School shooter planned attack for months

AP
By TRAVIS LOLLER, JONATHAN MATTISE and KIMBERLEE KRUESI
April 3, 2023

The crowd outside the Capitol echoed chants such as “thoughts and prayers are not enough” and sang along to songs like “All You Need is Love” – adding to it, “and action!” At one point, they sat for a moment of silence, raising posters above their heads that read, “Thoughts and prayers are useless to dead children,” “Book bags not body bags,” and “2nd graders over 2nd amendment.” Some students wore orange shooting-target stickers on their shirts.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — As students across Nashville walked out of class on Monday to protest gun violence at the Tennessee Capitol following a school shooting last week, police said the person who killed six people, including three 9-year-old children, had been planning the massacre for months.

Police have not established a motive for the shootings at The Covenant School, a small Christian elementary school where the 28-year-old shooter was once a student, according to a Monday news release from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. Both Nashville police and FBI agents continue to review writings left behind by Audrey Hale, both in Hale’s vehicle and home, police said.

“It is known that Hale considered the actions of other mass murderers,” police said.

The three children who were killed in the shooting were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney. The three adults were Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of the school, custodian Mike Hill, 61, and 61-year-old substitute teacher Cynthia Peak.
read more here

When will it ever be enough? When will people understand that doing nothing to prevent children from being killed in school is part of the cause?

We are raising multi-generational survivors of mass murderers who were given the guns to do it. There is absolutely nothing any politician can say, no one else to blame, no other finger to point toward anyone else but themselves. Tennessee just made it easier for them to get more guns!

Thoughts and prayers change nothing when they are not followed by action. The next time you hear one of the lawmakers say thoughts and prayers, try chanting that our thoughts will be known with our votes and we pray you never hold office again! When all those kids walked out of classes to stand up for themselves, they showed more courage than the cowards too afraid of the NRA to take a stand for the sake of the children they claim to care so much about. Remember these are the same freaks screaming about books to fear, drag shows to be horrified by, births they want to force, and words they don't want to hear. Parents have words they don't want to hear too. Like their child will not need to worry about their grades anymore because they didn't make it home from school alive!

We hear them say the empty words "thoughts and prayers"

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 28, 2023

Yesterday another school shooting and yet again, politicians offered empty thoughts and prayers. 

Thoughts and prayers without action are as worthless as thinking and praying you'll win the lottery but never buy a ticket!

That's all they did. What is more appalling is that they are the ones passing laws to remove all restrictions. We need to ask ourselves what it will take for them to actually care enough to save the kids. Will it take it happening to one of their children or grandchildren before they decide to value their lives enough to do something?

This is a poll from The Hill taken in February.

Among political party lines, 54 percent of Republican or Republican-leaning Independent respondents said they are satisfied with the nation’s laws and policies on handguns, while 44 percent of those surveyed expressed their dissatisfaction with current law.

On the other side, 84 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents expressed their dissatisfaction with the nation’s laws and policies, while 14 percent of those surveyed said they are satisfied with the nation’s current policies.

Around 60 percent of Independent respondents express their dissatisfaction with the nation’s laws and firearm policies, while 36 percent of those surveyed said they are satisfied.

As you just read the majority of people in this country want the laws changed, but Republicans, on the other hand, are satisfied. Seriously? Satisfied with what? Of the results?

Over and over again, we hear them say the empty words "thoughts and prayers" from Republicans but have no desire to do something about proving they care. Why should they when the majority of their party is happy with the results?

Aren't they the same people screaming about moral values? Moral values when it comes to wanting to control what you do in your own private life? Moral values when they want to control what your kids read in schools and in the local library but not the number of bullets that can be shot into their bodies while in those schools? Moral values when they want to prevent your right to free speech when you say things they don't want to hear? Moral values when they want to control what you believe because you don't have the same "faith" they do? Moral values when they want to control who gets to be able to vote and if that vote gets counted should it go against them?

These same politicians seem to have no problem blaming mental illness to explain why mass murders happen but never seem to be able to explain why on earth would they want to expand their ability to purchase weapons created to kill as many as possible as fast as possible. Not that that is an acceptable excuse since mental illness is a human illness and is across the globe but we are the only country that allows our kids to be slaughtered to the point where parents cry dropping them off at school because they don't know if their kid will go home again.

So what do we do? Do we turn our thoughts and prayers into action? Do we flood their offices, emails, and social media accounts with demands they do something about this or do we just toss our hands in the air and say it isn't time to talk about it? Guess they're too busy offering thoughts and prayers while loading their own guns!

The Daily Mail covered this guy's Christmas card and added what he said about the Covenant School shooting. Stunning!

The Covenant School was already full of thoughts and prayers since it is a private Christian School.

This is from NPR

Mayor John Cooper said Nashville was joining the "dreaded, long list" of cities and towns that have suffered school shootings.

"My heart goes out to the families of the victims," Cooper said. "Our entire city stands with you."

Tennessee state Rep. Bob Freeman, whose district includes the school, said it was "an unimaginable tragedy for the victims, all the children, families, teachers, staff and my entire community. I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there. I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this," WPLN reported.

State Sen. Jeff Yarbro, who represents Nashville, said on Twitter: "My heart breaks for the families at Covenant. As a parent, I both ache for them and rage with them that fear of this kind of tragedy is just accepted as just part of what it means to raise kids these days."

Tennessee more afraid of books than bullets in schools?

Feel free to use this!

Consider this!

Pulitzer Prize-winning novel banned:'Maus' sales soar after book is banned by Tennessee school board

On April 28, the Tennessee House and Senate passed legislation that gives Tennessee control over what books are offered in schools. This gives school boards the power to veto and alter curriculum decisions.

That was from USA Today about when libraries were fighting back against the school board banning books they didn't like.

Think about how much time they took to review the books they didn't want anyone else to read. Now think about how much time they didn't use to protect kids in schools from being shot to death!

It happened again today in Nashville Tennessee. This time it was an elementary school. Not just a school for little kids, but a private Christian school. The same people use their "moral values" to attack personal choices and then say the problem in schools today is God was kicked out of public schools can no longer use that as something to hide behind.

The fact that we are supposed to be free from any politician pushing their own faith over everyone else has no longer dawned on them they not only have no right to control the faith of anyone else, but God also gave all of us the free will to decide for ourselves.

When they are so afraid of words in books but not bullets in guns, they have no moral values!

Now consider this, Gun bill that allows for long gun carrying, lowers permit age to 18 passes House committee was reported on March 16, 2023 by WKRN News!

This week House Bill 1005 by Rep. Rusty Grills (R—Newbern) would allow Tennesseans with an enhanced or a concealed carry permit to carry long guns, including AR-15 rifles or shotguns. Currently, state law prohibits people with those permits from carrying anything more than handguns. The proposed bill would replace all instances of “handguns” in the code to “firearms.”

6 killed in Nashville Christian grade school shooting; police believe suspect was former student

WCBV
NASHVILLE, Tenn. —
A female shooter wielding two “assault-style” rifles and a pistol killed three students and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville on Monday in the latest in a series of mass shootings in a country growing increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools.

Police said they believe the 28-year-old female shooter was a former student at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school founded in 2001. Police shot and killed her. Investigators were searching her Nashville-area home.

The attack at The Covenant School — which has about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade, as well as roughly 50 staff members — comes as communities around the nation are reeling from a spate of school violence, including the massacre at elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, last year; a first grader who shot his teacher in Virginia; and a shooting last week in Denver that wounded two administrators.
read more here

A decade after Sandy Hook, grief remains but hope grows

Raised with trauma, Sandy Hook survivors send hope to Uvalde “I think what happened changed my entire life.”

Associated Press
By DAVE COLLINS and PAT EATON-ROBB
September 7, 2022

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — The survivors who were able to walk out of Sandy Hook Elementary School nearly a decade ago want to share a message of hope with the children of Uvalde, Texas: You will learn how to live with your trauma, pain and grief. And it will get better.

They know what’s ahead. There’s shock, followed by numbness. There are struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder. Anxiety. Survivor’s guilt. Anger that these shootings continue to happen in America. Reliving their trauma every time there’s another mass shooting.

They know it will be hard to say they are from Uvalde. That well-meaning adults will sometimes make the wrong decisions to protect you. That grief can be unpredictable, and different for everyone.

Children who survived the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting have grown up reliving their trauma with each new mass shooting in the U.S. Emotions well up especially when the shooting involves another elementary school like in Uvalde, Texas. (Sept. 7) (AP Video: Joseph B. Frederick, Julia Nikhinson)

read more here

But it wasn't just what happened at Sandy Hook that day. It was what came afterward that added to the agony.

Alex Jones trial: Sandy Hook parents have PTSD, live in terror, psychiatrist testifies

Austin American Statesman
Chuck Lindell
August 1, 2022

Criticized by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and confronted by some of his followers, the parents of 6-year-old Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis have developed post-traumatic stress disorder and live in constant anxiety and terror, a psychiatrist testified Monday.

Forensic psychiatrist Roy Lubit, a specialist in emotional trauma, said the parents' troubles were not caused by their son's violent death in the 2012 school shooting but by Jones' repeated portrayals of the attack as staged or faked on his InfoWars program.

"It's more than just interfering with healing, it has pushed them back ... into some of their earlier pain," Lubit said in a downtown Austin courtroom.

Later this week, a jury will be asked to determine how much Jones should pay to Jesse's parents, Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, for defamation and emotional distress after repeatedly portraying the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which killed 20 students and six educators, as a hoax meant to justify a government crackdown on gun rights,

Heslin has had bullets fired at his home and car, and people who deny that the Sandy Hook attack took place have made threatening phone calls and sent harassing emails to both parents, Lubit testified.
read more here

But they will not let that defeat the hope that they will heal enough to make a difference in this world to others. That as they still grieve, they do something to make sure others do not grieve alone.

A decade after Sandy Hook, grief remains but hope grows

Associated Press
By DAVE COLLINS
December 13, 2022

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — They would have been 16 or 17 this year. High school juniors.

The children killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012 should have spent this year thinking about college, taking their SATs and getting their driver’s licenses. Maybe attending their first prom.

Instead, the families of the 20 students and six educators slain in the mass shooting will mark a decade without them Wednesday.

December is a difficult month for many in Newtown, the Connecticut suburb where holiday season joy is tempered by heartbreak around the anniversary of the nation’s worst grade school shooting.

For former Sandy Hook students who survived the massacre, guilt and anxiety can intensify. For the parents, it can mean renewed grief, even as they continue to fight on their lost children’s behalf.

In February, Sandy Hook families reached a $73 million settlement with the gunmaker Remington, which made the shooter’s rifle. Juries in Connecticut and Texas ordered the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay $1.4 billion for promoting lies that the massacre was a hoax.
read more here

What will you do when the gun turns on you?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 6, 2022

If you are a gun owner and believe that everyone should be able to buy whatever gun they want, or have as many as they want, have you ever asked yourself, "What would you do when the gun turns on you?"

Most people that own guns have a handgun for protection in their homes. Some carry one when they are out. These guns increase the odds of survival if an unarmed person breaks into your home while you are there. If you are not, then the gun you have for your own protection can end up in the hands of the criminal that broke into your home. It is a risk you are willing to take.

If a person breaks into your home and is armed, at least your odds of stopping them are equal. What if they break in with an AR15? Is your handgun going to stop them from obliterating your whole family? That is the chance you take if you are supporting the rights of anyone to get their hands on this type of weapon.

Most of the people I know have guns. They are responsible people. Over the years, I've asked them a lot of questions. I have always been a curious person, so they were used to it. They told me they keep their handguns near the bed when they go to sleep. If they had kids, then the gun was locked away.

You want to make sure your kids can't get their hands on it because you know that it is dangerous for them to get their tiny hands on it. You've read enough reports of what comes after they do get ahold of them.

On June 9, 2022, a one-year-old was shot by her brother. On May 26, 2022, in Florida, a Dad is dead and Mom has been arrested after their two-year-old son got his hands on the gun and shot his Dad. In April, in Philadelphia, a "4-year-old girl is dead after her younger brother apparently shot her by accident inside a car parked at a gas station." You can sadly find more of these reports because parents were irresponsible. You know what can happen, so you are careful.

If your handgun is locked away, where is your key? If someone breaks in, do you have time to find the key, unlock your gun, take it out, find the invader, aim and shoot before they do? Do you have time if they have an AR15 or similar type of weapon? Huge difference in your odds.

If the answer is no, then why would want this type of weapon to be allowed for anyone to purchase? They are being used for mass slaughter on our streets at parades, in schools where your kids go, as a matter of fact, they are used wherever you are but so far, you've been lucky enough to not be there when it happened.

Aside from the fact that none of the attendees at the July 4th celebrations where chaos was caused, especially at the parade in Highland Park, will ever be the same, the slaughter was caused by one of these guns and not a handgun you keep for self-protection.

The debate around the country is the wrong one to have for one simple reason, the AR15 is not considered an "assault weapon nor assault rifle.

Definition of what’s actually an ‘assault weapon’ is a highly contentious issue
CNBC

POINTS
Exactly what constitutes a so-called “assault weapon” is a highly contentious issue and something that riles up some gun advocates.
Some gun control backers pushing for an assault weapons ban include the AR-15-style rifle used in recent mass shootings. But the firearms industry insists the AR-15-style rifles are technically neither assault weapons nor assault rifles.

Following last week’s Florida school killings, there’s movement by gun control advocates in some states to ban so-called assault weapons.

Yet exactly what constitutes an “assault weapon” is a contentious issue and something that riles up some gun advocates. In fact, many of the large gun groups consider “assault weapon” a made up and ambiguous term invented by the anti-gun lobby in the 1980s, maintaining that guns don’t actually “assault” people.

That said, the gun industry’s traditional definition of an “assault rifle” is a weapon the military generally uses and has “select fire capabilities,” or the capability to switch between semi-automatic or a fully automatic mode. However, the civilian AR-15s do not have the select fire capabilities, only semi-automatic settings, so the firearms industry insists they are not an actual assault rifle or assault weapon.

And that dear readers, is the problem. It's time for all of us to think beyond our own narrow view of gun rights. There are people out there that should never get their hands on any kind of weapon. I happen to be one of them. No, I'm not deranged or anything like that. I happen to be a klutz. Ask any of my friends and they'll confirm that one. You also wouldn't want me to hold a gun if you ever saw me throw something, including a frisbee. (I hit a priest in the head with one at a cookout.)

I am not against all guns for all reasons. I just want to see my friends stay alive and have their kids survive getting through school, being able to go to movies, shopping, and worship services, and be able to regain what it is like to want to celebrate the freedom that was hard-won with their service to this country. I want my friends on the police force to be able to confront these criminals with their "legal" weapons of slaughter to have a chance to stop them because these weapons are off our streets, instead of becoming one more death the suspect is charged for committing.

If you are finished reading this, do you know now what you would do if the gun turned on you?

Gun maker used child and Bible to sell guns!

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 7, 2022

I don't have time to read much that does not involve #PTSD but considering all these mass murders are creating more survivors with PTSD, I've been reading these reports more lately.

I was sent a link to a Tweet about a gunmaker using a child and a Bible passage to sell guns. I totally lost my mind!

Gun-Maker Posted Chilling Ad Of Child Cradling Firearm Before Uvalde Tragedy

Huffington Post
Mary Papenfuss
May 27, 2022

Daniel Defense posted a Twitter ad with a young boy cradling a gun like the one used in the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

The Georgia gun company that manufactures the AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle used in the horrific attack at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, posted a disturbing Twitter ad featuring a young boy holding a similar type of weapon.

The ad by the Daniel Defense gun company, one of the largest private gun-makers in America, featured a child holding a huge scoped firearm in his lap with an ammunition clip in front of him. An adult’s hand with a finger pointing at the boy appeared in the foreground.
read more here

Evidently, it was not well received considering he blocked people from seeing it after 19 children and 2 teachers were slaughtered.

Daniel Defense quickly blocked the public from its Twitter account after the mass shooting on Tuesday, and the ad was reportedly pulled. It can still be seen on screenshots and archives captured by The Wayback Machine.

I have a Bible passage too! How about Matthew 7:15-20 for starters?

You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

The fruits of these people are rotted to their core! Here is the rest of the passage so you can see what they decided to leave out in order to support their wickedness.

The Value of a Good Name
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
Loving favor rather than silver and gold.
2 The rich and the poor have this in common,
The Lord is the maker of them all.
3 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself,
But the simple pass on and are punished.
4 By humility and the fear of the Lord
Are riches and honor and life.
5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards his soul will be far from them.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower is servant to the lender.
8 He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow,
And the rod of his anger will fail.
9 He who has a generous eye will be blessed,
For he gives of his bread to the poor.
10 Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave;
Yes, strife and reproach will cease.
11 He who loves purity of heart
And has grace on his lips,
The king will be his friend.
12 The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge," But He overthrows the words of the faithless.
13 The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside!
I shall be slain in the streets!”
14 The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit;
He who is abhorred by the Lord will fall there.
15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of correction will drive it far from him.
16 He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches,
And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.

Time for the majority to use their power

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos 

June 3, 2022

The majority of Americans own guns. The majority of Americans are also supporting gun law restrictions. So why are the members of the GOP in the Senate and House against them?

The answer comes from FORBES.

The poll found a combined 59% think it’s important for elected leaders to “pass stricter gun control laws,” including 83% of Democrats, 52% of Independents, and 37% of Republicans.

Just 37% of Republicans? Seriously? I know a lot of them and they are great people, love their families and friends, and would not want to see any harm come to them, especially from a bullet. They are responsible gun owners. Well, there was one time when we were in a truck following our husbands on a ride from Florida to Washington DC for a Memorial ride. We stopped for lunch with the guys and had a great time. We drove for about twenty minutes when one of the women realized she left her purse behind. We were in the passing lane, so we missed the next exit, had to drive more miles, and turned around while she tried to calm down. She ran in and thanked God a waitress found it instead of an unethical person, or, God forbid, a child got their hands on it. (I don't own a gun for a simple reason. I'm a klutz. Ask anyone I know and they'll agree that is the last thing that should ever be in my hands.)

The other thing is, most of the people I know are Republicans and I never once worried about being around them with their guns. They must be in the 37% of the Republicans thinking there should be stricter gun laws. I can't imagine any of them being in favor of anyone getting their hands on an AR15, or any other weapon, considering all of them obey the law and treat their weapons with respect.

So when do the majority of people in this country actually act like they are? When do we use the power of our numbers instead of just shutting up, living our own lives, worrying about our own problems, and shaking our heads because we don't think there is a damn thing we can do about any of this?

The minority has more power because they scream about what they want and demand it. The minority of people acting up always get the attention of the media, including social media because the majority think there is nothing they can do, so we allow them to do and get whatever they want.

I was talking to a woman yesterday and she said it seems like everything is just too much. She ran down the list of everything that is wrong. I told her I felt the same way, but take comfort when I see enormous groups of people joining together to fight for what is right and let their voices be heard. I take comfort when I hear politicians and members of the press showing the emotional turmoil they are in when they talk about the children massacred in Robb Middle School in Uvalde, Texas. 

That is another problem for the members of the GOP in Congress because they keep saying the way to address it is by arming more teachers and putting armed guards into schools. After all, as they say, "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." The truth, however, is not a movie. There were plenty of armed "good guys" outside of Robb but nothing while the murderer was murdering more kids.

Let this headline sink in for a second from People.

Police Knew Texas Shooter Was in Room with Kids, Undermining Claim They Thought He Was Barricaded: Witnesses

Read the rest of this and then try to figure out how you can use your own voice to stop all this. If you read Wounded Times because of #PTSD, then know this, when we do nothing, we increase membership into this club no one wants to join.

There are about 393 million privately owned firearms in the US, according to an estimate by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey -- or in other words, 120 guns for every 100 Americans. That's the highest rate of any country in the world, and more than double the rate of the next country on the list.

A number of polls and surveys conducted in recent years share some insights on gun ownership in the United States.

What studies reveal about gun ownership in the US

CNN
By Harmeet Kaur
June 2, 2022

(CNN)As the nation continues to endure devastating mass shootings and increasing homicide rates, guns remain a fixture of American culture.

Many Americans consider the right to bear arms sacred, seeing guns as key to their identities and individual freedoms. Some keep guns for protection, hunting or sport, while others see guns and the lax regulations around them as a threat to life and safety. Recurring tragedies involving guns contribute to a climate of fear in which those positions become more entrenched.

Understanding gun ownership in the US can help inform debates about firearm laws (or lack thereof). Obtaining a precise picture, however, is challenging because no definitive database of gun sales exists. What we have to rely on then are polls and survey data from think tanks and academic researchers, which vary somewhat in their estimates. Still, there are some broad trends that stand out.
read more here

Beslan school attack: understand how a demon took control of Russia

If you are wondering how Putin could hate so much, he'd willingly slaughter babies and children in Ukraine, he didn't care about then in his own country. 

Beslan school attack

Britannica

The siege began on the morning of September 1, 2004, when at least 32 armed individuals stormed the school and took more than 1,000 hostages, including pupils in both primary and secondary grades and their teachers, as well as parents and relatives who had gathered to celebrate the opening day of the new school year. Some people died in the initial attack, but most were herded into a gymnasium, which the attackers rigged with explosives. The hostages were refused water or food; after two days passed, some of them resorted to drinking urine. The siege ended on the morning of September 3, when explosions inside the school prompted Russian special forces to enter the building. Many hostages were killed by explosions or in a subsequent fire in the gym.

Watch this on PBS and understand how a demon took control of Russia.

Arnold Schwarzenegger message to Russian soldiers

To readers in Russia, Arnold Schwarzenegger has an important message for you.

This is his video, without being cut or edited by news media stations. Listen to the whole message and then think about what is going on inside of you. That sickening feeling you have over what you are doing is not hatred of the Ukrainina people. It is hatred of what you are becomming. I pray you find the strength and courage to do the right thing. God will show you the way to end the slaughter of the Ukrainian people. What you choose to do this day, will in fact last the rest of your life. Do you want to find mercy from God? Do you want to find redemption for what you have done? Do you want to be able to look at your own children and say that you did all you could to save the lives of Ukrainian childen? Or, do you want to spend the rest of your life hating what you have become aqnd explain to your children how you participated in the slaughter of other children just like them?

Arnold Schwarzenegger message to Russian Soldiers
I love the Russian people, that's why I have to tell you the truth. Please watch and share.

Ukraine video shown to congress, stunning

If you just watched President Zelensky deliver his speech to Congress, you saw the video of what Putin is doing to the Ukrainian people. If you have a heart, it just broke.

PBS NewsHour
Warning: Some of the video shown during this speech contains graphic imagery.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver a virtual address Wednesday to Congress, the latest in a series of appeals the leader has made to world leaders for more assistance as Russia's invasion continues.

The shooting in Lakeland Florida has left a lot of questions

The shooting in Lakeland Florida has left a lot of questions, but apparently the press is not asking the questions we are.

The murderer, was high on meth. How did he get a job working for a security firm? Do they do any background checks or drug testing?

How did he end up doing security for a church, where he supposedly heard God telling him to go to the house, where a who was supposedly trying to kill herself lived? 

Top that off with she didn't live there. Why did he bring the weapons to murder the people who did live there? Why did he kill the adults? Why did he kill the infant? Why did he shoot the 11 year old? Why did he shoot the dog?

The other question is, how does someone go from serving seven years honorably into committing mass murder?

If you think this has anything to do with PTSD, it doesn't even though he may or may not have it. This is more about meth and being armed while hallucinating than it does anything else. If you know anything about Lakeland FL, you are already aware of the meth problem there. 

"The Polk County Sheriff’s Office had a huge win with the largest meth seizure in county history. According to Sheriff Grady Judd, the mastermind of the operation was running the drug ring from inside prison."

Here are some of the reports about the shooting.

Shooter in Lakeland, Florida kills 4, including infant, shoots 11-year-old girl multiple times, sheriff says

Judd said Riley was a Marine Corps veteran and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He spend four years in the Corps before being honorably discharged. He then spent another three years in the reserves.  

He worked at ESS Global Corp., providing executive protection and security. According to his girlfriend of four years, whom he lived with in Brandon, Riley had PTSD and was occasionally depressed but never violent.

The article also reported;

She said he worked security at a church in Orlando a week ago and came home saying he could speak directly to God.

Sheriff identifies 'survivalist' on meth arrested after 4 people shot to death in Lakeland 

Judd said the suspect is a self-described "survivalist" and told deputies he was on meth.

Deputies said Riley also shot and killed the family dog. The dog was named after a Polk County Sheriff's Office K-9.

Judd called Riley "evil," sharing that Riley said, "They begged for their lives and I killed them anyway."

Mass murders stopped in minutes because of law enforcement

Open your eyes to what law enforcement also does

Wounded Times
Kathis Costos
June 8, 2020

According to reports from the AP there were at least 11 protestors killed during the protests for George Floyd as of June 2, 2020. We all saw the horrible images of looters, rioters destroying property, as well as what happened when police responded to protestors. We saw them being attacked, vehicles destroyed and every other horrible thing that happened.

The thing is, we also saw humanity at its best. Officers joining protestors, walking and praying with them. We saw protestors protecting officers. We saw a lot, but as much as we were affected by the images, we tend to forget that they are also affected by what they see on a daily basis. They see the bad results of what people choose to do, as well as when they choose to respond with acts of kindness.

Right now there are government officials talking about defunding law enforcement. It is almost as if they think there is no need for them to be there. It isn't as if everyplace is like Mayberry with Andy and Barney being able to protect the community.

Instead of getting rid of officers, how about we do the smart thing and get rid of bad ones at the same time we get those who need help to heal because of their jobs actually get it?

In 2019 at least 228 current and retired officers committed suicide. So far for 2020 there were 63.

We tend to forget all the times they have been putting their lives on the line to protect people.

According to statistics reported to the FBI, 89 law enforcement officers were killed in line-of-duty incidents in 2019. Of these, 48 officers died as a result of felonious acts, and 41 officers died in accidents. 

According to Officer Down it was 147. For 2020 so far it has been 97.

From 2008 throughout 2010, I trained to help first responders heal because of their jobs. Crisis Intervention Teams seemed to focus on the victims, more than the responders but the need was clear to me.

Please take a serious look at just a few of the times when they showed up to mass shootings and notice how fast they responded. As bad as the incident was, it would have been much worse had they not been on their jobs willing to die for others.

Pinterest

Sandy Hook Elementary School and slaughter 26 children and educators last Dec. 14, and finally kill himself.

•9:35:39 The first 911 call to police was received.

•9:36:06, a dispatcher broadcast that there had been a shooting at Sandy Hook school.

•9:39:00 The first Newtown police officer arrived at the school. Two more officers arrived 13 seconds later. Gunshots were heard.

•9:39:34, a police officer encountered an "unknown male" running along the east side of the school.

•9:40:03, the last gunshot was heard.

USA Today

Pulse Nightclub (CNN)Here's a timeline of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, when a gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53

1:58 a.m 320 people are enjoying a "Latin flavor" event at Pulse

2:02 a.m. ET: An officer working extra duty in uniform at the club hears gunshots and engages the shooter. Some 100 officers from the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Orlando Police Department respond to the chaotic scene over the next 45 minutes.

Mandalay Bay Resort 58 people were killed and more than 850 injured when a gunman opened fire at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip on October 1, 2017. 

Using multiple rifles, Paddock opened fired on the crowd of 22,000 people below him, from a distance where he would have had no ability to distinguish individual targets.

10:05 p.m.: Paddock starts shooting out the window.

10:12 p.m.: Police inside the hotel start to close in.

10:15 p.m.: Paddock stops shooting out the window.

There are many more of these times, but I am sure you noticed how much worse it could have been. Consider that the next time you want to approve of law enforcement being off the jobs they do.

5 dead, 21 others shot in Texas...will the Senate ever do anything?

update

Odessa news station evacuated mid-broadcast due to shooting Odessa, Texas, CNN affiliate KOSA-TV was forced to evacuate their studio in the middle of a live broadcast due to their proximity to the shooting that left at least five people dead.Source: CNN

update Hero cop shot multiple times in Texas rampage

One of the three law enforcement heroes injured in Saturday’s mass shooting in Texas was identified late Saturday on GoFundMe — Midland Police Officer Zack Owens.

Shooter killed in West Texas after 5 people died, at least 21 injured, police say

CNN
By Ed Lavandera and Ralph Ellis
August 31, 2019

(CNN)A gunman in West Texas who killed five people while firing from his vehicle and then from a hijacked mail truck was fatally shot by police in a gun battle in a movie theater parking lot, authorities said Saturday.

At least 21 people were injured, including some who were wounded by the shooter, Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said at a news conference. Gerke said three law enforcement officers were injured: one from the Department of Public Safety, one officer from the Midland Police Department and one officer from Odessa Police Department. Gerke said the shooter was identified as a white male in his 30's. His name and a motive were not given. Midland Mayor Jerry Morales told CNN the chain of events began when a Department of Public Safety officer pulled over a vehicle on an interstate highway Saturday.

"That's when he shot the officer and then took off and started shooting randomly," Morales said. "Everything happened after that."

At one point, the shooter ditched his vehicle and hijacked a US Postal Service truck, authorities said. Law enforcement officers "trapped him in the parking lot of the Cinergy theater, and that's when they were able to engage him," Morales said.
read it here


Mitch McConnell is the head of the Senate and has blocked anything that the people of this country have been begging for! When he took over the Senate, he gleefully stated that the "number one priority was to make Obama a one term president, even if that meant everything else could go to hell.

While McConnell did not achieve that goal, he saw gains with the Republican takeover of the House in 2010. Two years later, despite the Democrats’ push for gun control legislation after the December 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, McConnell voted against a 2013 bill that would have expanded background checks for gun purchases.

So who is Mitch McConnell working for?

Should military execute death row inmates again?

Resuming federal executions unlikely to affect military death row

STARS AND STRIPES
By NANCY MONTGOMERY
Published: August 12, 2019

The Trump administration’s plan to begin executing federal death row inmates for the first time in 16 years will have little effect on the four soldiers sentenced to death, military lawyers and the Army said.

Master Sgt. Timothy Hennis and his wife, Angela Hennis, walk to the Fort Bragg, N.C., courthouse for his murder trial Thursday, April 8, 2010. Hennis was found guilty of the May 9, 1985, murder of Kathryn Eastburn and her two children. STEPHANIE BRUCE, THE FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVE/AP

They include Ronald Gray, a former cook who was convicted three decades ago of multiple rapes and four murders near Fort Bragg, N.C., and was scheduled to be executed in 2008. The case remains ongoing in Kansas federal district court, with no clear end in sight.

Also on death row is former Sgt. Hasan Akbar, convicted in 2005 of killing two officers and wounding 14 other soldiers two years earlier in Kuwait; Timothy Hennis, a master sergeant convicted in 2010 of the 1985 rape and murder of a woman and murder of her two children; and Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist convicted in 2013 of killing 13 people and wounding numerous others on Ft. Hood in 2009.

All “are in various stages of legal action,” Army spokesman William Sharp said in an email. When and how those actions might conclude is unknown.

Presidents must approve the execution of those sentenced to death at court-martial, after receiving a recommendation from the secretary of the associated service branch. The Navy has not executed any of its members since 1849.
read it here

Virginia Beach Victims identified, employees and contractor getting permit

update Virginia Beach attacker, who had served in National Guard, notified boss of plans to leave job

Officials ID Virginia Beach gunman as city employee

Associated Press
Ben Finley
June 1, 2019

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — The gunman who killed 12 people in a Virginia Beach municipal building was identified by police Saturday as a 15-year city employee who had served in the military and was described by neighbors as quiet and rarely smiling.

Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera identified the gunman as DeWayne Craddock, who was employed as an engineer with the city's public utilities department. Cervera declined to comment on a motive for Friday's rampage that ended with Craddock dying in a gun battle with police. .

Authorities used a Saturday morning news conference to focus on the victims, saying 11 of them worked for the city. Another victim was a contractor trying to get a permit. They projected photos on a screen and gave each victim's name along with biographical details.

The 11 city employees who died were identified as;
Laquita C. Brown of Chesapeake,
Tara Welch Gallager of Virginia Beach,
Mary Louise Gayle of Virginia Beach,
Alexander Mikhail Gusev of Virginia Beach,
Katherine A. Nixon of Virginia Beach,
Richard H. Nettleton of Norfolk,
Christopher Kelly Rapp of Powhatan,
Ryan Keith Cox of Virginia Beach,
Joshua A. Hardy of Virginia Beach,
Michelle "Missy" Langer of Virginia Beach
Robert "Bobby" Williams of Chesapeake
The 12th victim, Herbert "Bert" Snelling of Virginia Beach, was a contractor filling a permit.
read more here

Hate denied by love defined at Christchurch

Time a time again, someone decides to act out of hate against people who have nothing to do with what is a boiling rage against them. 

Yet, time and time again, we see that one act followed by hundreds of acts based on love.

All too often, when something like this shatters the "normal" life experience, we ask "Where was God" but if you look, you can see Him everywhere.

You see him when someone else puts their own life on the line, sacrificing themselves to save another. You see it when, with every reason to fear another attack, people show up in case they can help someone else.

You see it when a Father saves his son from bullets, so he may live on. When police officers rush to help, not knowing if they will ever return to their own homes. Other first responders run toward the wounded, not knowing if they will be next to need rescuing.

When you go to the link, there is a video and a young woman, crying, says "This is not who we are. This will not define us." And it won't because in return for the one action of a person filled with hate, love responded.

New Zealand Attacks: Quick Action, Near Miss and Courage in Christchurch

The New York Times
By Damien Cave
March 17, 2019

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Abdul Aziz was praying with his four sons in the Linwood Mosque when he heard the gunshots. Rather than run from the noise, he ran toward it, grabbed the first thing he could find — a credit card machine — and flung it at the attacker.

The man dropped a shotgun, and Mr. Aziz picked it up. “I pulled the trigger, and there was nothing,” he recalled. The gunman ran to his car, where he had other weapons, and Mr. Aziz followed, throwing the shotgun at the vehicle and shattering a window.

Mr. Aziz’s actions, which he and others described in interviews, may have prompted the gunman to speed away rather than return to kill more people. Minutes later, two police officers from another town who were in the area rammed the suspect’s car into a curb and took him into custody, ending the worst mass murder in New Zealand’s modern history.

But interviews with dozens of survivors, and an analysis of a video recorded by the attacker as well as one made of his arrest by a bystander, suggest that the violence ended after a near miss by the police at the first mosque — and acts of courage during and after the attack on the second.

If not for the two police officers, who have not been publicly identified, and Mr. Aziz, 48, a ponytailed furniture shop owner who fled Afghanistan a quarter-century ago, the slaughter might have continued. The suspect had two other guns in his car, the police said, as well as two homemade explosives
read more here

Marine Vet Would Have Tried to Help Shooter Heal PTSD

Slain Marine Vet Would Have Tried to Help Shooter if He Could, Friend Says

Military.com
By Hope Hodge Seck
November 10, 2018

"I know that if the shooter -- it's hard to even say he's a Marine, it hurts -- If Dan and I knew this guy needed help, we would be like, 'hey, dude, what can we do for you,'" Andrade said. "We clicked with veterans fast, quick. Dan would have helped this guy."

An hour and change before Dan Manrique's life was brutally cut short in a mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California Wednesday night, he had been in a meeting with fellow members of veterans organization Team Red White and Blue, brainstorming about how to improve community within the group and connect better with veterans in need.

Rudy Andrade, far left, stands next to fellow Marine Corps veteran Dan Manrique, who was killed in a mass shooting Nov. 7 at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California. 

(Photo courtesy of Genevieve Urquidi)

So when Rudolph Andrade, a Team RWB chapter captain for Los Angeles, got a text message the following day asking if Manrique had been in the vicinity of the shooting, Andrade's first response was reassurance.

"Dan was with me last night when all this happened," Andrade said he replied.

Days later, the shock of processing the loss of Manrique, a close friend as well as a teammate, is still setting in for him.

In fact, there were at least three members of Team RWB at the scene horrific shooting that claimed 12 lives, according to Andrade and postings on the Team RWB Ventura County Facebook page: Manrique, on full-time staff for the group as the Pacific Regional Manager; Justin Meek, a promoter at the bar killed in the shooting, who'd reportedly planned on joining the Coast Guard after college; and Fernan Diamse, another chapter member who made it out alive, but sustained a cut on his arm from broken window glass in his effort to escape.
read more here