Ah, Friday. Always a good thing. But this Friday is tempered with a bit of sadness. My XBOX 360 is dead. Actually it’s been dead for a few days now (probably longer. I haven’t really used it in a while). I went to play something or other last week or something, and right as I was attempting to shoot some guy in the head, it froze up on me and needed a reboot (at which point, I quit ‘cuz I had shit to do). I figured the disc was beat or something. So I tried it again a couple days later, and damned if it didn’t do the same thing. So I gave it the boot, and, well, eventually it wouldn’t even turn back on. Flashing red rings of death. Well that sucks. I figured it was probably off warranty (didn’t really remember how long I’ve had it), but I checked the manufacturing date, and, damn, it’s over five years old (where has the time gone?). So, they’ll either fix it or give me a refurb (90 day warranty either way) for $99 (but of course I have to deal with shipping it and all that. So, on the one hand, I have this boat anchor that I don’t really use much at all, and find it hard to justify spending a hundred bucks to fix. On the other, I have several games, a racing wheel and pedals, and a Kinect invested in this thing that are basically useless without it. Oh, what’s a boy to do?
There is some good news today, though. Paul “Eddie Munster” Ryan says not to worry about those defense cuts looming on the horizon. He and his man Mitt have a plan to retroactively undo those cuts once they get into office, and will instead cut food stamps and other aid for poor people. So that’s cool, and it truly exemplifies that Catholic moral compass that Ryan has.
Speaking of being Catholic, Ryan says he’s personally opposed to abortion even in the case of rape and incest, but now that he’s Mitt’s running mate, he’ll stand behind Romney’s position that abortion rights should be conferred to rape and incest victims, and mothers whose lives are at stake. Wait, what? You’re gonna stand by a baby killer? WTF? Hey, either it’s murder or it isn’t, fella.
I’d ask Romney what he thinks about all this, but he refuses to take questions on abortion. Or Akin. Or Bain. Or his taxes, Swiss bank accounts, tax amnesty, dressage, Shamus….
Oh well, time to get this week over with. And it looks like a hot weekend ahead.
10 shot, 2 dead in front of Empire State Building.
COMMONWEALTH NATIONAL PODCAST
Chris Hayes: America After Meritocracy (7/11/12)
Thanks, Vern. I had a good time listening
Magic Vagina Death Venom Bottle (AisFor.org)
http://www.aisfor.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/venombottle1_2002.jpg
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down.” -Rep. Todd Akin
“secrete a certain secretion…” -Pennsylvania Republican Stephen Freind
“Concern for rape victims is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami.†-Judge James Holmes
“The facts show that people who are raped — who are truly raped — the juices don’t flow, the body functions don’t work and they don’t get pregnant. Medical authorities agree that this is a rarity, if ever.” -Rep. Henry Aldridge
Unless you’ve been in a soundproof booth for the past three days (lucky you), you’ve probably heard a lot about this mysterious chemical that women can produce on demand to prevent them from becoming pregnant. For centuries, women have, according to anti-choicers, been able to ward off becoming impregnated by their rapists by emitting this substance during their rape. Despite being a miracle of science and biology, we’ve never known its name.
Until now.
Now you can have your very own Magic Vagina Death Venom bottle! (Does not contain actual venom.)
Makes a terrific holiday gift for the conservative in your life who just doesn’t understand how a woman’s body works! Please allow up to 14 days for manufacturing and delivery.
Proceeds from the sales of Magic Vagina Death Venom bottles will help the A is For campaign continue it’s work in educating the public about reproductive rights, and our financial support of our on-the-ground partner, The Center for Reproductive Rights. All donations made to A is For are tax deductible. A is For is a project of Project Noise, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said all nine bystanders wounded in Friday’s Empire State Building shooting had been hit with police gunfire
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/25/empire-state-building-shooting-nypd-bullets-shot-all-nine_n_1830007.html
Arms and the Duck
By GAIL COLLINS
Published: August 24, 2012 398 Comments
We had a shooting near the Empire State Building. An aggrieved ex-employee of an apparel company killed his former co-worker, and was himself killed by police. Except for the famous-landmark location, it was not actually a very big story. Remember the mass shooting at the lumberyard in North Carolina earlier this year, or the one last October at the California cement plant? No? Neither does anybody else except the grieving families.
Nine passers-by were also wounded, and it seems almost certain that some or all were accidentally hit by the police. This isn’t surprising; it’s only in movies that people are good shots during a violent encounter. In 2008, Al Baker reported in The Times that the accuracy rate for New York City officers firing in the line of duty was 34 percent.
And these are people trained for this kind of crisis. The moral is that if a lunatic starts shooting, you will not be made safer if your fellow average citizens are carrying concealed weapons.
This is not the accepted wisdom in many parts of the country. (Certainly not in Congress, where safety was cited as a rationale for letting vacationers take loaded pistols into federal parks.) Shortly after the mass murder at the movie theater in Colorado, I was waiting for a plane at a tiny airport in North Dakota, listening to a group of oil rig workers discuss how many lives would have been saved if only the other theater patrons had been armed. “They could have nipped it in the bud,†one man told another confidently.
People, try to imagine what would have happened if, instead of diving for the floor, a bunch of those moviegoers had stood up and started shooting into the dark. Or ask a cop.
We are never going to have a sane national policy on guns until the gun advocates give up on the fantasy that the best protection against armed psychopaths bent on random violence is regular people with loaded pistols on their belts.
Is there anything the other side can concede in return? Well, gun control advocates have to be careful not to say anything that demeans hunting. Virtually every politician in America has already gotten that message. (See: Senator Chuck Schumer holding dead pheasants.) But it’s true that some city-dwellers can be snotty on this point.
“You don’t mess with hunting and fishing because that’s part of who we are,†says Kathy Cramer Walsh, a professor at the University of Wisconsin who specializes in civic engagement. “A lot of times, talk about regulating guns and ammunition is seen as the outside trying to change who we are.â€
I’ve been thinking about guns and Wisconsin lately, especially since Paul Ryan, a big fan of the arm-the-world theory of public safety, was picked to be a vice-presidential nominee.
Wisconsin has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country. (The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence gives it 3 points out of a possible 100.) It was also, of course, the scene of a terrible mass shooting this month by Wade Michael Page at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee.
Page had a high-capacity magazine, which allowed him to shoot at least 17 bullets before reloading. Those magazines tend to be a common theme in all our worst mass shooting incidents. The gunman at the shopping center in Tucson where Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot had one that held more than 30 bullets. The Colorado movie theater shooter had a 100-bullet magazine.
The magazines used to be illegal before Congress let the assault weapons ban elapse. Getting rid of them again would not stop mass shootings, but it would limit the number of victims. And you do not need a high-capacity magazine for hunting. In fact, many states outlaw them for hunting because they don’t want one person mowing down an entire flock or herd.
Under federal law, you only can use guns with a maximum three-bullet capacity if you’re hunting migratory birds. Even the most completely mindless faction in the National Rifle Association appears willing to give that a pass.
“Hunting’s a different thing,†said Jeff Nass, the president of Wisconsin Force, an N.R.A. affiliate. “The ducks and geese can’t shoot back.†Mass shootings, Nass contended, do not occur because crazy people have access to weapons that allow them to hit a large number of people in seconds. “Mass shootings come into play because nobody’s there defending themselves,†he said. “The solution is self-defense.â€
So the guy driving toward the Sikh temple with the high-capacity magazine on his gun was legal until he started shooting. The guy sitting in the duck blind, no. Mull that one over the weekend.
Here’s another one you might like, Sue. Just be aware that you have to listen to the actual b’casts since it is not available as a podcast so you will have to stream it real time during one of its 3 airings listed below, one being this afternoon.
Hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available.
Airs on KQED Public Radio Tuesdays at 8pm Pacific
Next Broadcast:
Gail Collins
Since 1995, Gail Collins has contributed political commentary with keen insights and considerable wit to the Op-Ed page of The New York Times. In 2003, she published “America’s Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines” about impressive females in American history. Collins herself could have served as a subject. In 2001, she became the first woman ever appointed to the Times’ editorial page. Her latest book, “As Texas Goes: How the Lone Star State Hijacked the American Agenda” considers that state’s inimitable politicians and its central role in creating our national identity. Collins appeared in conversation with KQED’s Belva Davis on June 13, 2012.
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 — 1:00pm Pacific
Tue, Aug 28, 2012 — 8:00pm Pacific
Wed, Aug 29, 2012 — 2:00am Pacific
Thanks vern. I’ll have to listen tomorrow .
Kristapea, wherever ye roam…
:cake: :cake: :cake:
Happy birthday KP
Because I didn’t sleep much last night, I was up early and listening to Gary Weiss, the author of Ayn Rand Nation, describe Alan Greenspan’s involvement and belief in Rand’s Objectivism. I did not know Greenspan was an adherent. I didn’t know anyone took her seriously. It’s really scary to know the the head of the Federal Reserve was a devoted Rand nut.
Interesting given the Ron/Rand Paulist hatred of the Fed and also Greenspan’s special relationship with a certain MSNBC host. I was always more of a Volcker fan myself.