And the states with most gun violence are...

... Surprise, surprise: the pro-gun states.

This fact is nothing new but the right-wing media would lie and tell you the exact opposite. Moreover, the most violent gun states are all Red States. Finally, the most violent gun states are also among the poorest -- but if you read me often then you already know there's a strong correlation between poverty and Red States:

Gun-related homicide rates in all but three of the 10 states with the most firearm death rates were above the national rate of 3.6 homicides per 100,000 residents. Louisiana, the only state on this list where homicide accounted for more gun-related deaths than suicides, reported 9.4 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2011, more than in any other state.

So here are the top 10 most violent gun states:

10. South Carolina  (also 9th poorest state)

9.   New Mexico  (2nd poorest state)

8.   Alabama  (7th poorest state)

7.   Arkansas  (4th poorest state)

6.   Montana

5.   Oklahoma  (15th poorest state)

4.   Wyoming  

3.   Alaska

2.   Mississippi  (the poorest U.S. state)

1.   Louisiana  (3rd poorest state)

So Fox and talk radio would like to sell you the lie that guns are only a problem in inner cities like Chicago, DC, New York and LA, when in fact the most gun violence happens in less populated, more rural, poorer, conservative Red States.  (We can just say "Red States" for short.)  

States With the Most Gun Violence

By Thomas C. Frohlich

June 26, 2014 | 24/7 Wall St.

URL: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/06/26/231958/#ixzz36E7LfGFd

NSA's domestic spying is legal, that's what's scary

It's funny how America's Left and Right are shaking out over the whole NSA-FBI-Google-Verizon spying thing, and how some politicians and talking heads are completely changing their tune now that a black Democrat is overseeing the spying on us.

Yet many folks on the right like David Brooks or Lindsey Graham who distrust Big Government still trust our military and spy agencies to spy responsibly, because such people feel a "spirit of solidarity with the state," as Woodhouse puts it.  Granted, they feel solidarity with only parts of the state.

I would have lot more faith in the good intentions of those who feel solidarity with America's state security apparatus if they were able to demonstrate a more realistic perspective about the threats to American citizens. 

I mean, we have 11,000 gun deaths a year in America and yet our government, from the local to the national level, is OK with that.  Certainly conservatives are OK with that.  It's "the price of liberty," they say.

But when it comes to Islamic terrorism, all bets are off, no price in tax dollars or privacy is too high to prevent every single attack.  It's nuts.  Even if we flung open America's doors to terrorists, 99% of us would never be touched. 

I'll say it again: we need to suck it up and stop being so scared.  Yeah, sure, some attacks will get through.  So what?  That's the price of us flexing our military muscles all over the world.  That's the "price of liberty," or something.  

Personally, I'd rather take that 1 in 20,000,000 chance of being killed by a terrorist than accept a 100% chance that my own government is spying on me constantly for no good reason!

NSA Surveillance Is Legal, and That's the Worst Thing About It

By Leighton Woodhouse

June 12, 2013 | Huffington Post

URL: http://huff.to/1bxIfeo