I need you RIGHT NOW!

All right, audio now. I hope. Good thing you jumped on, otherwise I would have sat here talking to myself for God knows how long. Um, and then I'm gonna sweat to death in my jacket because I'm all worked up. So crazy. Does it work now? Yes? No? Give me a thumbs up. Did we work— fix it? Somebody says something or I'm gonna— ah, excellent! I finally know what 5x5 is and it is actually has to do with a radio. Very cool. All right, um, I got curious about it from watching vampire movies though, to be fair. All right, um, so I gotta start all over. I don't know how to fix this when I get on here. All right, so why do I need your help right now? I need folks to write testimony about this act declaring gun violence as public health. Let me just throw this up here real quick. Um, What's up, peeps? Where am I? There I am. Okay, let's go. Okay, this: an act declaring gun violence a public health crisis and establishing the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and Advisory Council on— and Advisory Council on Gun Violence Prevention and Intervention. All right, folks, here is the public hearing testimony. There is one person, and guess what? Karen, she's all for this. She thinks that she is 100% G2-3. I'm going to say no. I want everybody to write in, anyone from Texas to California. I don't even care whether they're going to listen or not right away, because the fact that the only thing that, um, that this person is putting forward, and it's the only one that is up there. Now, I know for a fact there are other folks who have actually submitted testimony, and maybe it's just not up. But as I am finishing up my testimony to submit it, and I go here, oh, I'm gonna go see what everybody else is writing, there's one. There is stinking one, and it's for making— spending $5 million to create a new advisory council and establishing an office that is not needed. This is going to be in public health, and public health already has the ability to take that $5 million and put it towards actual programs that are already proven. So, um, I went over all this yesterday and, um, talked about it, and basically the short version of this is Honestly, really and truly, all they're trying to do is create a whole stinking new piece of new arm of government that we do not need. Um, so yeah, so that's why I need you now. I need y'all to shout from the rooftops. I need you to go to— ready? Prepare your written testimony. Email your written testimony to phtestimony@cga.ct.gov. The bill you are writing against. There are actually two of them. The one that I'm just railing about right now is HB 5397. And here's the thing, G23, the reason I think yes, even you can write in is because look at it this way, uh, last testimony we did, we had John Lott in there. It doesn't mean you have to be from the state. You can point, um, I mean, obviously you're not going to vote for these people, but still have your voice heard. CNT, by all means, feel free to do the same. I don't know who else is watching because y'all are quiet, but I see there's more eyeballs on here than just the two of you. Oh, so anyway, I was really tired. I was ready to go take a nap, and I just want to get through writing my testimony. And, um, when I went to look and see, oh well, what kind of testimony is on here, and there was none except for one supporting it, um, a little distressed. So just outta curiosity, let's check out if there's anything here, right? So if I go to SB number 477, which is a mostly good bill, by the way, I had a friend of mine look at it who's into dementia, um, training and that sort of thing. So when I click on this, zero, 0, 0, 0 testimony submitted. So here's the thing, I am hoping this is a clerical error, and I really hope that come Monday the folks that are on the Public Health Committee will fill this stuff up because I know that other people have submitted stuff. But right now I'm distressed. I am most definitely distressed. So anything you can do, drop a link for it. Yes. What am I dropping a link for? I can drop a link for all of it. So let's go with, uh, C&T. Do you want the link to where you're sending stuff, which is here? Actually, I'll just kind of grab this because you don't care who you're, um, if you're out of state, you won't care. Reps. So section— all right, so section 7 of this one. So basically, you're just gonna have to go to the actual bill. And I'll just cut and paste that. And section 7 starts on page 8. Because yesterday, when I did this, I had a heckin' doggo time of trying to find that for y'all. Because, you know, I'm trying to get good with all this cool stuff, but I am not there yet necessarily. But yeah, so Section 7 starts on page 8. So just so you know, pages 1 through— actually, 1 through 7 are really talking about Alzheimer's residents what care should be given, what things should be available, and that sort of stuff. So as far as we know, Sections 1 through 6 are perfectly fine, um, according to one of my friends who works in the industry. So she's like, yeah, the race Bill 477 is good for healthcare. Um, where it goes wrong is right here, Section, uh, line 229, Section 7, established of a commission on gun violence intervention and prevention. To coordinate the funding and implementation of evidence-based, evidence-informed, community-centric gun programs. Here's the deal, folks, they already exist. So CNT, that was what you're looking for, I'm assuming. And I realize that I'm not posting up my stuff because I'm just on fire here. So I really am talking to live folks for those of you who are watching on YouTube. So see, can you drop a link? There's a real person there. G23 asks, does it matter what state you're in? I'm gonna go with no. Anybody who sees this before 9 AM Monday morning Eastern Standard Time, write in, tell them why this is just so nutty. Um, obviously it's way more important if you happen to live here in Connecticut to get this. And then I forgot to— I just unmute. Yeah, anyway, I'm just like, oh, I cannot believe that there is no testimony up here and the one— hey, it's Harding! Hey hun, thank you, um, for letting me know you're here. So I don't know, you should have gotten my, um, DC project because you're on the DC project list. So did you get the alert yesterday that I sent out with the quick cut and paste one, which actually was incorrect by the way, and I apologize? So Yeah, so just Section 7 of this particular one is garbage. Um, the things— I'm going to go over them real quick just because the things that are garbage is: A, we do not need a new commission. The last thing Connecticut needs is any more politicians to pay. And to be fair, there's only going to be 3 people that are paid. The person who runs it and their two administrative assistants. So most of the people are doing this as a volunteer thing. However, they're going to be appointed people from the House of Representatives by the Speaker. So the Speaker's got a choice of who they like. And then President Pro Tempore of the Senate— I always think that's going to be like, we should go out for lunch. Then there's two that the majority leader of the House, which in Connecticut, those are some Democrats. And then the majority leader of the Senate, which here in Connecticut are some Democrats. And then two appointed by the minority leader House of Reps, which are Rep— are Republicans. And then two appointed by minority leader Senate. And then two appointed and then two appointed and one appointed and two appointed. So here's the thing, they're not telling you what any of the requisites are for being on this thing. They are— oh, and Harding, it's okay you didn't go online. Good for you, by the way. Um, the thing about this is there's no need for this. At the end, when we get into the funding of this, they're going to, um take $5 million— no, not this one, sorry. Um, they're gonna have a person leading it, and then there's going to be $250,000 appropriated to the Department of Health Fund. And it's just like, we already have a public health fund. We do not need— oh, not Section 8, my bad, read the right stuff. Um, we just don't need more of this. That's kind of what I'm trying to say here. So, um, I need you right now. I need you right now to write something to our Senate, our Senate, our legislative body. And in order to do that, here, I will do just this part. Ready? phtestimony.gov. This is who you're writing to, um, and it should pop up in a second. So this is, this is super important. Guns are not violent. They just aren't. People are violent. I know I have students that come in here and they'll see a number of guns that equals more than one, and they say, ooh, I feel scared just because there's more than one gun here. And the truth of the matter is The gun cannot do anything to you. Um, violence comes from a person. It is not a thing. Violence is a problem for sure. Do we need to invest in violence prevention? Without a doubt. Do we need to create a new branch of government to do this? No, we do not. Our federal government has already done this. They already have programs that actually work. So please, please, please share this anywhere that you think someone cares. It's super important that our voices are heard until we as human beings start focusing on violence prevention. And you know, my big thing is suicide prevention because 2 out of every 3 gun deaths you hear about are suicide. Until we start looking at violence prevention, That's how we save the kids from the gang violence. That's how we help people before a gun is ever involved in violence. And to focus so hard and waste so much time and money on guns is brutal, and it doesn't make sense. If you want to save lives, I don't care if you don't have a gun. I don't care if you don't like guns. It's not about the guns. That's the whole point, is that I guess Guns and Barbecues is back to having actual internet. It's not about guns. Violence is a verb. A gun is a noun. Violence is something you and I as humans do to one another. And unless we're going to actually talk about violence as a whole, the weapons don't matter. If I take my pen and I stab you in the eye with it, my eyeliner, whatever, The pen becomes a weapon. So I'm 100%, 1000% for violence prevention. This garbage of creating more bureaucracy, spending more money on something else that has already been done for decades and decades and decades across our country, not just here in Connecticut, Um, our politicians, love them to pieces, I do. They have a thankless job, I get it. It's why it's so important for you and me to write in and let them know that we need to address violence. In my testimony, which is a very rough draft still, it talks about the federal government already gave away over $400 million to violence prevention programs. Doesn't it make sense that if they've already vetted them and they've already found them, there's no reason we shouldn't just go ahead and instead of take a $5 million chunk and put it towards whatever we feel like, put it to stuff that— oh, um, yeah, sorry, I have to actually go into the bill because it says over and over again, and I think it's right in the beginning, um, implementing evidence-based, evidence-informed, community-based programs and strategies. Evidence-based, evidence-informed, community-based programs. They don't have to research this. The research is done. They don't have to go find some. Well, they can find some. There's lists and lists of them that have been proven. So anyway, write, write, write. phtestimony@cga.ca. Ct.gov and Guns and Barbecue. If you are late to the show, yes, even folks from Pennsylvania should write in. I am asking for that just because I cannot believe that there is only a single piece of testimony currently on the website for this public hearing that is starting at 11 AM tomorrow morning. So with that, I'm hoping that when they come into the office tomorrow morning to update the website, because they're not working on the weekends, that this page will be flooded with testimony. All right, rant is over for now. So make sure that you put number section. Yeah, it's definitely important that you're specific on that bill because the whole bill is not garbage. Like I said, I have a friend of mine who actually works in the dementia care unit, like she used to manage it, and I had her read through it. She's like, is this garbage? Is this good? Do we want to say, hey, you guys did something good here, section sections 1 through 6. And she's like, yeah, it's fine. It's about better care for patients. It's what they're already doing. They're just kind of legal— not legal, um, finalizing it, I guess, or making it so that it is just standard practice. So yes, uh, and on HB 477, absolutely. And it can be that simple. Um, it can be Dear Public Health Committee, I would like you to remove Section 7 from HB 477 and then just kick to the curb HB number 5397. And so you know what I'm looking at, um, because this one is just total and complete junk and garbage. And for those of you just joining us, I am so gonna throw that link up here. So this is our garbage bill, um, because they want to create the Office of Gun Violence and Advisory Council, which is a waste of time and money when we can just go ahead and put the $5 million price tag that's on this baby directly to actual prevention programs that have already been, um, brought up and proven and have been successful across the country in other cities and towns and that sort of thing. So— oh my goodness, see the problem with having them. All right, hola Gun Websites and Tara, nice to see you. Um, and that's kind of it. I don't know. So I need you right now. I'm gonna recap this like 5 million times because, you know, because why not? And I'm going to learn how to use StreamYard eventually, so I stopped cutting myself out of here. So, um, here's what I'm asking everybody to do, even if you don't live in Connecticut, I don't care anymore. Just write in, uh, to public health testimony. Where is it? Oh, copy. I can do this. I know I can. And tell them that these bills are stinky, stinky. Um, if you actually want to know more about them, I did do a Facebook YouTube live yesterday with the action alerts, and you can learn more about them. That video also has stuff. Yeah, so I hate it. And this is the thing, is they chase themselves in circles. It's, it's one of those things where when Obama came out with the Affordable Care Act, I was not against it because Obama. Um, it was, I am so sick and tired of our politicians recreating the wheel and wasting time and recreating the wheel and wasting time. It's like, if our Medicare and Medicaid systems are broken, and you know they're broken, be a mechanic, fix the broken parts. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. And this is what we heard in testimony when Barbecue did his all-day-long testimony with us watching. That is time and time again like, oh, we don't know these numbers, oh, we don't know these numbers. I'm like, yeah, they're out there. Just because you don't know how to look for them does not mean they're not available. And so, and also we see it in legislation after legislation, is they come forward with stuff that is already on the books and they haven't bothered to take the time to look back and realize, oh, we don't need red flag laws, we already have TROs. Um, we don't need this because we already have that. And so all they're doing is like, oh well, I think this is a good idea, I'm sure no one else came up with it because I'm so smart. Yeah, no, that's why we always need to write in and give them our opinion, because our education is also something that can help them. Um, just like in GT3's, um, interview with Mike Sodini and GT3— who was that other really cool veteran dude that you had on there? I don't want to mess up his name. Um, I can't think of his name, but anyway you don't know what you don't know, and it's always a different perspective. Um, so as a politician, like, if I was in the Capitol right now, I'd be rocking on, you know, gun rights stuff, right? I got that down cold, or at least so I think, but it's not true because I still ask you guys, right? Um, in live, real person is like, I don't know everything about guns, not even close. Oh yeah, so anyone who wants to check out Mario Mosin, spectacular veteran doing crazy work. Um, GT3, I give you your link or your wrench so you could even drop Mario's, uh, um, channel down here for everybody to see. So I would be pretty decent and If I were a senator or a representative, I also have an amazing group of friends, right? I could call Clover Tack, I could call Barbecue, I could call G-Webs, I could call Kay Miklik. I can call people that I need to know about gun stuff. But like this dementia stuff that's in this bill, do I know anything about that? No. I need to call on someone else. And this is how this stuff is done. So believe it or not, your voice is important. No matter what. So feel free, and it'll be awesome because I would love to go in there tomorrow evening and go look through the testimony and see Tara Smith's Kitchen. Well, I'm sure that's not how you'd actually put your name down, but, uh, GT3s and Guns and Barbecue, I'd love to see your stuff showing up on Connecticut legislative, uh, website. I think that'd be really fun. It's like, oh, I did that. So Oh, thank you all for listening to me. I cannot believe I've chatted for 23 minutes. For those of you who haven't watched the replay yet, apparently skip the first 2 or 3 minutes because luckily GT3 hopped on and let me know I had no audio. So anyway, um, write in, ask me questions, uh, share, share, share everywhere, anywhere that you go. Um, You're awful, G-Webs. All right, all right, I'm really gonna go because I do actually have to finish my testimony, but I'm just like, holy heck, I can't believe there's a single testimony up there and it's for this ridiculous, horrible bill. All right, and wasting more of our taxpayers' money, which, you know, enough already. It's like, we have the resources, we have the ability to start these programs and put them forward without creating a new commission. All right, love y'all. Thank you for letting me say goodbye like 10 times before I actually go anywhere. Wait a second, Smith is her middle name, Kitchen is her last? For real? Okay, good to know. All right, have a great night, you guys. Uh, see you tomorrow. If you want to check out the YouTube channel, um, oh yeah, here, let me drop that so you guys who are gluttons for punishment and want to, um, see what is going on tomorrow, uh, where the heck is it? One more. All right, so tomorrow 11 AM, if you would like to find me, this is where we'll be sitting here at the public testimony for public health. Ta-da! So in theory, tomorrow 11 o'clock That's where we're all going to be. All right, for real now, I've dropped enough stuff. I think you're all good and ready to kick me to the curb. I appreciate you. Share, share, share, and, uh, I will figure out how to say goodbye. Goodbye.