Again? RT @hartfordcourant: #Newtown groups of students, some crying being escorted away from the school — Michael van Poppel (@mpoppel) December 14, 2012 BREAKING — Newspaper says a child, apparently seriously injured, being carried from Newtown, CT elementary school — Michael van Poppel (@mpoppel) December 14, 2012 Elementary #school #shooting in #Newtown, CT.Responders on scene are reporting several injured.Will update … Read More
This Week’s Mass Shooting: NYC Edition
Gunman this morning opened fire at the Empire State Building this morning at 9 am. One woman killed, four nine others shot (not life threatening). Gunman killed in police fire. Early reports say he was upset over losing his job. UPDATE: AP is reporting that some of the shooting victims may have been hit by the police's bullets.
Another Mass Shooting
Here we go again — only seven days after the last mass shooting, which itself was a mere two weeks after the mass shooting before that.: COLLEGE STATION – Multiple people, including at least one officer, were reported injured in a shooting near the Texas A&M University campus Monday afternoon. Police said the suspect, who was taken into custody, was firing shots from a house … Read More
Nope, No Right-Wing Extremists Here
A couple of years ago, The Department of Homeland Security released a report entitled Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment, the thrust of which was that the nation faces an internal threat from domestic terrorists with right-wing political ideology. The right blogosphere howled, but, as I discussed here as well as here and here, they simply were … Read More
Concealed Carry
I was going to write a post about all the imbeciles out there saying, "if only the moviegoers had guns, this wouldn't have happened", but Tbogg wrote the ultimate post on the subject: This weekend I spent an indecent amount of time on teh internets debating arguing with people men regarding their belief that, if only one person had been packing heat at Batman, … Read More
How Not To Respond To A Tragedy
From Steve Benen: In the wake of tragic gun violence, most politicians realize the decent, responsible thing to do is send sympathies to those affected while leaving politics out of it. Others aren't as sensible. After the Columbine massacre, for example, then-Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) blamed science textbooks for the murders: "Our school systems teach the children that they are nothing but … Read More
Fast And Furious Exposed
Forbes, a magazine not known for its liberal leanings, does an old-school journalism investigation of the "Fast and Furious" scandal, and — wait for it — finds it to be little more than Republican hype. The facts that the wingnuts have been presenting — much of it picked up by Fox and even more balanced mainstream media — turns out … Read More
Amendment One Sign Wars
Like California's Proposition 8, the Amendment One measure in North Carolina would amend the state constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman — but it would also ban gay civil unions and domestic partnerships. On my way in to work, I count the number of AGAINST AMENDMENT ONE signs on peoples' lawns, compared to the … Read More
This Is How Screwed Up Florida’s Laws Are
So… the Republican National Convention is being held in Tampa this election cycle. And the organizers want to make the convention safe for the conventioneers as they elect Mitt Romney to run against Obama. Unfortunately, they can't override Florida's ridiculous gun laws. So at the end of the day, here's what is permissible and impermissible at the convention site: IMPERMISSIBLE … Read More
Obama’s Pitch Perfect Comment On Trayvon Martin
He couldn't (and shouldn't) get into the details of the incident (it's under investigation), but he had to something…
Girls With Guns
Perhaps you've heard this story by now: A young Oklahoma mother shot and killed an intruder to protect her 3-month-old baby on New Year's Eve, less than a week after the baby's father died of cancer. Sarah McKinley says that a week earlier a man named Justin Martin dropped by on the day of her husband's funeral, claiming that he … Read More
Short Takes
* Britney Spears – who used to be famous – is engaged. Uh, to be married. Uh, again. She's 16 years old still. * Naughty Republicans — the mayor of Grandaven, Mississippi for 14 years — a guy named Greg Davis — re-ran for mayor in 2008 on a family values platform. You know where this is going, right? He's in … Read More
The Reason For The Season
The Scottsdale (AZ) Gun Club is inviting people to enjoy Santa and Machine Guns.The family event allows people to take a holiday card picture with St. Nick — and a high-powered fire arm.Santa poses against a backdrop of an $80,000 Garwood minigun.Families can choose to pose with other firearms, ranging from pistols to modified AR15s. They also get a chance … Read More