Archive for News
Do You Detect A Pattern?
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Is it just me, or does it seem the GOP has an agenda to weaken the political influence of large cities where people tend to vote Democrat? No, I’m not just talking about North Carolina.
Charter school bill passes first test in Nashville
A bill allowing charter school applicants to apply directly to the state passed its first hurdle in Nashville Tuesday, potentially setting up a way for the suburbs here to have charter schools outside the control of the Unified Shelby County School Board.
The bill would allow charter school operators in Shelby and Davidson counties freedom to apply to the state to approve their charter applications instead of the local school board.
[...]
Rep. Joe Pitts, D-Chattanooga, challenged White on why the law should apply only to Memphis and Nashville.
“That’s where the activity in charters is going on. We thought it best to start the discussion there,” White said.
Would that would be a discussion like the “negotiations” over Asheville’s water supply or over Charlotte’s airport?
I just spoke with a town clerk on the other end of the state. When I told her about the NC Senate and the House bills aimed at placing the Charlotte airport under state control, she gasped, “That’s just not right.”
Celebrity Murder In A Gun-Friendly Zone
Posted by: | CommentsYour Sunday Afternoon Talking Points:
- If only the “American Sniper” author and decorated ex-Navy SEAL had a gun on him when he was murdered. At a gun range. By his guest, a former Marine.
- PTSD killed Chris Kyle, not any gun.
- Gun possession had nothing to do with this tragic murder.
“Overwhelming sadness about this,” among military friends and colleagues — ABC News
STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Authorities say a 25-year-old military veteran used a semi-automatic handgun to kill former Navy SEAL and “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle and his friend at a Texas gun range.
And so it goes. Time to run out and buy another firearm.
Accidents Happen
Posted by: | Comments4 injured after firearms go off at N.C., Indiana gun shows
Raleigh yesterday:
CNN reports:
Meanwhile, in Indianapolis, a man walking out of the Indy 1500 Gun and Knife Show shot himself in the hand as he was loading his .45-caliber semi-automatic firearm, Indiana State Police said in a statement.
UPDATE: Oh yeah, NSFW.
The Justice of the Blinded
Posted by: | CommentsI really didn’t follow the career of Aaron Swartz, but his apparent suicide made news and brought details to light that had fallen down my memory hole (if they were ever in memory). Including his passion for making public information public … and accessible. That got him in trouble with the law in 2011. The New York Times explains:
In an effort to provide free public access to JSTOR, he broke into computer networks at M.I.T. by means that included gaining entry to a utility closet on campus and leaving a laptop that signed into the university network under a false account, federal officials said.
Mr. Swartz turned over his hard drives with 4.8 million documents, and JSTOR declined to pursue the case. But Carmen M. Ortiz, a United States attorney, pressed on, saying that “stealing is stealing, whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data or dollars.”
Except stealing isn’t stealing in this country. And torture isn’t torture. That is, if you’re powerful enough to be above the law, as Swartz clearly was not. The same U.S. Department of Justice Ms. Ortiz works for has decided that if criminals are well-connected and powerful, bank fraud, massive fraud, shift the Earth on its axis fraud is not something this country prosecutes. Instead it negotiates. It holds meetings, like this recent one.
“The Administration does not support blowing up planets.”
Posted by: | CommentsIn case you were wondering:
[h/t/ BuzzFeed]
Silencer Night, Holey Night: “Think of the children”
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Because at this special time of year every all-American kid dreams of being an assassin.
Semiauto handgun? Check. Bushmaster? Check. (Picked it up at Walmart’s everyday low prices.) High-capacity magazines? Check. Silencers? Doh!!
Not to worry, though. The NRA — yes, Wayne LaPierre’s NRA — is hoping to get silencers deregulated as wholesome, kid-friendly, essential firearm accessories. As seen in Newtown! Salon reports:
In case you’re wondering, the answer is yes, the gun lobby’s grand strategy rests grotesquely on fake concern for child hearing health. Among the opening shots in the campaign was a feature in the February 2011 issue of Gun World, “Silence is Golden,” penned by the veteran gun writer Jim Dickson. “One only has to look at children in the rest of the world learning to shoot with silencers, protecting their tender young ears, to see what an innocent safety device we are talking about here,” writes Dickson. “To use an overworked propaganda phrase, legalize silencers ‘for the sake of the children.’” [Emphasis Salon's]
Homecoming Job Fair Next Thursday
Posted by: | CommentsCourtesy of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce:
2013 Homecoming Job Fair
Date: Thursday, January 3rd 2013
Time: 10:00am to 3:00pm
Location: Biltmore Square MallDescription:
The 7th Annual Homecoming Job Fair presented by SunTrust Bank will host Asheville regional employers to promote employment opportunities in advanced manufacturing, health care, and other growth industries in Western North Carolina. Residents, students, graduates, former residents, and friends and family visiting over the holidays are encouraged to attend this one-stop opportunity to meet directly with representatives from companies that are hiring, will be hiring in 2013, or companies promoting awareness of their organization to potential future employees.
More information at the link.
These fairs are a handy indicator of the health of the local job market. I have attended most of them, usually held between Christmas and New Year’s Day. This time, sadly, I’ll be out of town when the fair takes place. Hope it’s a fruitful opportunity for local people needing work.
Firefighters Ambushed in Webster, NY
Posted by: | CommentsVirginia Tech; Fort Hood; Tucson; Seattle; an Aurora, CO movie theater; a Sikh temple in WI; Sandy Hook Elementary in CT. Now firefighters under fire in upstate New York on Christmas Eve.
WEBSTER, N.Y. — A gunman ambushed four volunteer firefighters responding to an intense pre-dawn house fire Monday morning outside Rochester, N.Y., shooting four and killing two before ending up dead himself, authorities said.The gunman fired at the firefighters when they arrived shortly after 5:30 a.m. at the blaze near the Lake Ontario shore in Webster, town Police Chief Gerald Pickering said. The first Webster police officer who arrived exchanged gunfire with the suspect, authorities said.
If America’s last few years were a movie, Keanu Reeves or Tom Hanks or Nicolas Cage would be risking life and limb investigating whether these seemingly random acts of gun violence were actually the result of Satanic forces at work attempting to bring about the end of the world or something like it. Meanwhile, in a dark crypt hidden deep below the national headquarters of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre is in blood-soaked robes conducting an even darker ritual…
Wayne LaPierre & Friends Are Way Better Than You Wusses
Posted by: | CommentsOr these test subjects. VIDEO: 2009 ABC News Experiment Demonstrates More Guns Unlikely to Stop Mass Shootings
Candlelight Vigil Tonight
Posted by: | CommentsTonight at 7pm Asheville will come together to hold a candlelight vigil for the victims and families of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Please join us at the Asheville Jewish Community Center.
As the darkest night of the year approaches, we will gather as a community – to mourn, to pray, to sing, to offer our support, and to further our resolve to send our light into the world that needs it now more than ever.
