Quickies: White supremacy, misogyny, and gun violence in America

Everything is shit and I am tired.

• A Former FBI Whistleblower Explains Why the Federal Government Is Failing on Domestic Terrorism—And How to Fix It – “It’s a matter of Justice Department policy that deprioritizes this white supremacist violence. As a matter of policy, the Justice Department defers the investigation of hate crimes to state local law enforcement agencies… but we know that only 12 percent of police departments even report hate crimes occurring within their jurisdiction… These are policy decisions the Justice Department makes that they could reverse tomorrow if they were interested in addressing hate crimes.” (Emphasis my own.)
• To Learn About the Far Right, Start With the ‘Manosphere’ – “It draws intellectual firepower from other groups, such as the rationalist and New Atheist movements. These argue that humans are irrational and prone to prioritize feelings over facts, and their adherents sometimes claim that scientific truths are now unspeakable because of political correctness. The leaders of these movements are largely male, which plays into the long-standing association of men with intellect and women with emotion.” I think we know that story very well around here. (h/t to a colleague for the link.)
• The men behind the US’s deadliest mass shootings have domestic violence — not mental illness — in common – “Many of the shooters behind the deadliest mass shootings in modern America … committed violence against women, threatened violence against women, or disparaged women.” (h/t to friend on Facebook.)
• But women aren’t off the hook here. Let’s not forget that the ones “calling the police on Black and Brown folks though? White women.” Look back on a take on that from July 2018.
• These kinds of mass shootings, horrific as they are, are only a small percentage of all gun deaths in the US. And the CDC Could Totally Study Gun Violence—It Just Needs Money – “’The reason for more research is not just more research; we have to get the health research—the health-based research,’ said Gary Slutkin, founder of the nonprofit Cure Violence.”
• Nor is it just homicides. Read how The CDC’s Reluctance To Use The ‘F-Word’ — Firearms — Hinders Suicide Prevention – “Guns in the United States kill more people through suicide than homicide.”

I’m not even sure we deserve cute animals this week, but in the interest of mental health, here’s a therapy dog that was working a conference that I was at a couple of weeks ago…