The AP carried a story about a 5-year-old boy accidentally shooting his 2-year-old sister to death in rural southern Kentucky. It seems that he had received the gun as a gift last year. The gun was a Crickett, a company that specifically makes guns, clothes and books for children. A little gun for a little kid and the little kid, who was used to shooting the little gun, picked it up and killed his little sister.… [Read more]
From May 3rd through May 5th, the National Rifle Association will hold its annual meeting in Houston, Texas. According to the NRA website,
With over 550 exhibitors covering over 400,000 square feet of exhibit hall space, educational seminars, celebrities, and fun filled special events, bring the whole family – there will be something for everyone! Spend the day exploring the products from every major firearm company in the country, book the hunt of a lifetime in our exclusive outfitter section, and view priceless collections of firearms in our gun collector area.… [Read more]
I’m from North Carolina, home of state legislators who want to legislate a state religion, declare Islam a terrorist organization, require drug tests for some public benefits, and other craziness such as the U.S. Constitution not counting here in the Old North State. So, in an effort to get away from name-calling (NC state republicans deserve it), I’m going to write about how our two senators voted on the Manchin/Toomey background check measure.… [Read more]
This item on Sulia.com piqued my interest because it was so misleading. Actually it aggravated me a great deal. People who should know and understand our Constitution and laws write or broadcast erroneous information that other people then accept as the truth without attempting to verify the accuracy of what they read or heard. This is wrong, so wrong!… [Read more]
It’s the end of a week that’s ‘one for the books.’ Endless news coverage has reminded us that we’re living in times during which not much can be taken for granted. It has been exhausting.
The week brought a vote by the House of Representatives to invade citizens’ privacy on one end, and a win by the National Rifle Association against all voices in support of sane gun control legislation on the other.… [Read more]
The last couple of days have been difficult for many Americans, especially those who have either lost a loved one or know someone who has been affected by gun violence. We watched as the United States Senate failed to pass background check legislation that could have helped curb the death, human destruction and financial costs of the one million plus men, women and children who have been senselessly killed by guns since 1968.… [Read more]
Four Democrats helped kill the gun reform legislation supported by nearly 90% of the American public yesterday in a 54-46 vote. Those Democratic Senators who voted against the Toomey-Manchin bill were: Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Max Baucus of Montana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. Senator Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, voted against the bill but that was for ‘procedural reasons’ in that in order to re-introduce the bill at a later date, as leader of the House he is required by rule to vote against it.… [Read more]
After countless gun-related tragedies which include a massacre at an elementary school, the US Senate has arrived at a day of reckoning.
Today at 4pm ET, the senators are expected to vote on a gun control background check bill that would expand background checks to more gun purchasers, increase aid for school safety and strengthen existing gun trafficking laws.… [Read more]
“And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
I can remember April 4, 1968 as though it were yesterday. … [Read more]
Let’s face it; the past few months have been bad for conservatives and Republicans. After a fairly good shellacking in the Presidential and Senatorial elections last November, which many pundits didn’t even see coming, Republicans have good reason to be retrospective. The recent election postmortem by the Republican National Committee underscores the sober reality that the Republican band is damaged from excessively rounding “an ideological cul-de-sac.” This has led the GOP’s to lose influence among many, including minorities, women, young adults, and the gay community (while still doing well in the “old white guy” demographic). … [Read more]
On December 14, 2012, 26 lives were lost in one of the most horrendous acts of terrorism America has had to endure. The terrorist was not of a different nationality, nor did he speak with a foreign accent or have a ‘different sounding’ name, he was a home-grown, middle-class suburban white kid. He did not strap on a bomb and blow himself up or detonate a truck bomb.… [Read more]
On any given day I could write a tome on the ways that we infantilize rather than elevate teachers. Little respect for their expertise. Forcing them to teach subjects they weren’t trained to teach. Micromanaging their professional day. Over time, like water wearing away stone, we lose sight that teachers are professionals – not children – and deserve to be included in decisions that impact their lives, as any professionals should be.… [Read more]
Bill Schmalfeldt was otherwise occupied this week having his foot surgically removed from the descending colon of a wingnut lawbreaker. So this week, his space is occupied by a guest columnist.
by Lester Smelgerson
Public Affairs Spokesman
Howard County, Maryland, Tea Party Splinter Group
That Splintered from Real Tea Party Upon Learning
Actual Tea Party is a Tool of the Left Being Used
to Make People Hate Conservatives
Our worst nightmares are coming true.… [Read more]
In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, a steady stream of Republican lawmakers is rallying to arm teachers, volunteers and, in some cases, students to defend against would-be attackers. As I’ve written about before, the concept of arming teachers and others in schools as a primary strategy to prevent gun violence is driven by the fantasy that inexperienced civilians can be trained to deliver a kill shot.… [Read more]
In February 1995, a 13-year-old boy walked into Andy Pope’s classroom at Nebraska’s Chadron Middle School and shot the social studies teacher and basketball coach. Fortunately, the bullet hit a rib, missing his heart by an inch. He survived and returned to the classroom less than a week later. Later the same year, in what would become one of his more famous paranoid pronouncements, Wayne LaPierre referred to federal agents as “jackbooted government thugs” in a National Rifle Association fundraising letter.… [Read more]
“Dirty” Harry Callahan had his .44 Magnum while James Bond preferred the sleeker Walther PPK. John Rambo and Tony Montana preferred larger automatics—the M60 E3 and M16 respectively. Omar Little and Ash Williams touted shotguns. And countless other action icons wield some type of Glock as their go-to firearm.
For decades now, possessing the bigger and badder gun has been a sign of toughness in American culture, most often associated with “manliness.” Real men not only own guns, they own the biggest, most effective ones; they master their uses; they fetishize them.… [Read more]
If you’ve never read Superman comics or watched “Seinfeld,” let me tell you a little about Bizarro World.
In Bizarro World, up is down, black is white, ugly is beautiful. Listening to the Google+ “Fireside Hangout” on Thursday afternoon with Vice President Joe Biden got me thinking about this inverted universe, where everything is the opposite of the real world.… [Read more]
by Shiloh Marie Schmalfeldt
German Shepherd, Age 6
Daddy too busy write column. Shiloh write column. Daddy watch football, do podcast. Daddy nice.
Why for people not nice? Why for people mean to each other? Why need guns? Guns scare Shiloh. Guns scare Raven, too. She my big sister, border collie, 8 years old. She pretend brave, but Shiloh know better.… [Read more]
In ancient Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. And, like Eve, the first woman in the much more recently written Judeo-Christian mythos, Pandora was responsible for changing the world.
Eve ate her apple, having been prompted by a serpent, and Pandora opened her pithos, a large, ancient Greek earthenware storage vessel, having been prompted by her own curiosity.… [Read more]
Dear Mrs. Vera,
What do you think of the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) characterization of the brand new gun control legislation in New York State as “draconian?”
Dr. Dudley Damocles, Des Moines
Dear Dr. Doomoines,
Thank you for your etymologically adjectivalicious inquiry. I am assuming that this legislation refers to neither flame-throwers and fire breathing dragons, nor to Ann Coulter and whatever local Moat Builder’s Permits, Regulations and Statutes that may apply.… [Read more]
