Tag Archives: Jen Senko

Mass shootings are about more than guns

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Gun violence in the U.S. has gotten so bad it’s hard to keep up with all the senseless killings. Already this year, we’ve had over 200 mass shootings (defined as more than four people injured or killed). Some say the answer is gun control. Others insist we need better mental health services.

My contention? We need both, and so much more. A 2022 report on mass shootings by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is a helpful guidepost. It analyzes 53 years of gun violence, from 1966 through 2019.

Quoting the report: “In public discourse, mass shootings are often blamed on mental illness. But the research indicates the role of mental illness in mass shootings is complicated, not clear-cut. … [P]sychosis play[ed] a minor role in nearly one-third of the cases, but a primary role 10% of the time.”

So, to those who are against gun control and instead try to blame gun violence strictly on mental health problems — nope, you’re wrong. 

The report also points out that most individuals who engaged in mass shootings used handguns (77.2%). Twenty-five percent used assault rifles.

Think about that. If you want more gun control and your focus is banning assault weapons, you’re missing the biggest part of the problem. Don’t get me wrong. I support an assault weapons ban, or at minimum, much tighter restrictions. But as indicated in the NIJ report, simply banning assault weapons won’t substantially reduce the number of mass shooting victims. Continue Reading →

Charles: Why I’m a vegan. Ed: Why I’m not.

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Are you tired of being hit up for money by politicians? Me too. Sure, a handful of candidates are worth supporting. But 3 or 4 times a week? That’s beyond asking for support. That’s groveling.

Once a year, you’ll get an appeal from me asking you to donate to the Fallon Forum. Our team works hard to analyze and expose important stories the Mainstream Media miss, and we hold politicians across the spectrum accountable.

So, I hope you’ll take a couple minutes to donate $25, $50, $100, or more if possible, either online or by check. We can’t do this without you and our small business and non-profit sponsors. Continue Reading →

Psychologist: It’s ok if disruptive climate activists aren’t popular

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Margaret Klein Salamon and I worked together in 2015 before the Iowa Caucuses, organizing volunteers to bird-dog Democratic and Republican presidential candidates to raise the profile of climate change. Our campaign never employed civil disobedience, but a handful of us did get thrown out of a Trump rally sporting signs and chanting “MOBILIZE NOW.”

Margaret appeared in a recent NY Times story, “These Groups Want Disruptive Climate Protests. Oil Heirs Are Funding Them.” She’s a clinical psychologist, founded The Climate Mobilization, and wrote Facing the Climate Emergency: How to Transform Yourself with Climate Truth. She now directs the Climate Emergency Fund, which supports many climate organizations, some that employ civil disobedience.

Margaret contends that civil disobedience — or “disruption,” as it’s sometimes called — is necessary to shock people out of the delusion that what we’re experiencing with climate change is normal and acceptable. Continue Reading →

The Brainwashing of My Dad

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I feel like a broken record (broken in several places, perhaps), but I’ll keep saying it: We’ll never restore democracy in the US until we break up corporate media conglomerates.

Worst of all is radio. The airwaves used to be public. Now they’re almost the exclusive domain of a handful of big players who present a thoroughly lopsided view of our country’s challenges.

I’m all for balance, for providing a forum for differing perspectives. But on commercial radio stations, that doesn’t happen anymore. It’s one-sided, Republican-good-Democrat-bad blather 24-7.

You’ll appreciate the first conversation on this week’s program. I talk with Jen Senko about her film, The Brainwashing of My Dad, and about her book by the same title. Continue Reading →