Wednesday Break and Evening Reads
Posted: July 25, 2012 Filed under: 2012 elections, 2012 presidential campaign, Gun Control, Mitt Romney, open thread, Political and Editorial Cartoons, racism, SDB Evening News Reads | Tags: Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora Shootings, FBI, University of Colorado 30 Comments »
Good Evening
Here are a few news links and political cartoons for you.
To catch up on the latest in Colorado…
EXCLUSIVE: Movie massacre suspect sent chilling notebook to psychiatrist before attack | Fox News
When I first read this report, I thought it was possibly another news reporter jumping to conclusions. But now other news media are reporting the same thing:
Source: Tip from accused Aurora shooter leads FBI to package – U.S. News
The FBI recovered a package that apparently was mailed by James Eagan Holmes after the shooting suspect told investigators to look for the item on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News on Wednesday.
The source told NBC that the package contained writings about killing people, but could not go into more detail.
[...]
Police recovered the package on Monday after getting a search warrant for the medical center mail room and then getting a second warrant to actually open the package, the law enforcement source said.
Police found the package as Holmes described it, including his name in the return address, and it’s now being analyzed, the source said.
It was unclear how long the package had been in the mail room before its discovery.
In response to reporters’ queries about the package, the Anschutz Medical Campus issued a statement saying it could not comment on anything regarding the ongoing criminal investigation into the theater shooting, under order of Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester.
If this package was sitting there days before the shooting, the university may have some explaining to do…
There is this news about the medical bills of the victims: No Medical Bills For Some Colo. Shooting Victims : NPR
Three hospitals taking care of people wounded in the Colorado theater shooting said Wednesday they will limit or completely wipe out medical bills for the victims.
Some victims, many of them young, are uninsured and face mounting hospital bills.
Children’s Hospital Colorado announced it would use donations and its charity care fund to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured. For those who do have insurance, the hospital says it will waive all co-pays for shooting victims it is treating.
“We are committed to supporting these families as they heal,” according to a statement from the hospital, which treated six shooting victims.
Another Aurora link: Romney Falsely Claims Colorado Gunman Obtained Weapons Illegally | ThinkProgress
Mitt Romney revealed that he is unfamiliar with the details of the largest mass shooting in American history, during an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams. The former Massachusetts governor claimed that alleged gunman in the Aurora, Colorado massacare, James Holmes, illegally obtained his weapons, when in fact Holmes legally purchased the firearms through various national gun chains.
So does this mean he doesn’t even pay attention to something as tragic and important as this?
Damn.
The rest of tonight’s reads are cartoons.
Cagle Post » Penn State Sanctions
Cagle Post » Romney Takes London
Cagle Post » Thank You Sally Ride
This is an open thread…
Sima
dakinikat
ecocatwoman
fiscalliberal
grayslady
mablue2
NW Luna
peggysue22
quixote
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
This is interesting: Rise in Weather Extremes Threatens Infrastructure – NYTimes.com
What Romney and Obama Aren’t Talking About: $7.25 vs. $4326 Per Hour Wage Gap | TaylorMarsh.com
VOA is reporting the package was sent a week prior to the shootings…Officials: US Shooting Suspect Sent Warning Before Attack at Theater
This is hilarious:
7/26 Mike Luckovich cartoon: Gay marriage | Mike Luckovich
Are you feeling any better JJ?
Yes, I am…but still can’t seem to get my sleep pattern back to normal.
Great roundup, jj. Here are a couple of links related to some of the topics you’ve written about as well as a couple I stumbled on today:
From Alternet, one of the shooting victims has been put into an induced coma & his bill could be about $2 million: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/1048778/uninsured_aurora_victim_faces_up_to_%242_million_in_medical_bills
I thought it was strange that the Penn State cartoon showed a white child. I thought that Sandusky’s victims were African American boys. Anyway this, also from Alternet, about the atmosphere at Penn State & in the town extended past football: http://www.alternet.org/story/156154/one_woman%27s_account_of_how_abuse%2C_corruption_and_silence_at_penn_state_perpetuate_a_poisonous_culture
NPR Talk of the Nation did a story on the drought & the rising cost of food. One of the guests, talking about the price of eggs & comparing today’s cost vs cost over 40 years ago compared to pay/hour made a comment that floored me. She said today’s average pay/hour is $23.00. WTF???? How does she arrive at that astronomical figure? No one on the show even questioned it.
The big story today that I found troubling was the unprecedented melting of Greenland’s ice. Here are a couple of links: http://news.yahoo.com/record-greenland-ice-melt-happened-days-232307293.html and http://www.boston.com/news/weather/2012/07/24/nasa-strange-and-sudden-massive-melt-greenland/kfIScQfhxf7hCzYtnipwfO/story.html
One final thing & I never thought I’d post something from Bill O’Reilly (and think he was being relatively reasonable), but here goes: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/bill-oreilly-jason-chaffetz-gun-control_n_1701289.html?utm_hp_ref=media O’Reilly actually thinks that there should be an FBI list of people buying “heavy weaponry” like assault rifles as well as those buying massive amounts of ammo. A Big Whoa!
I thought the same thing…but he also molested his adopted son, and he is white.
How do you know the race of the victims?
The early coverage I heard talked about Sandusky’s charity for low income boys. I thought it was mentioned in a couple of stories that the young men were African American. I had forgotten that his adopted son had come forward late in the trial process.
I saw it mentioned on one of the articles when the trial was going on.
Just saw that link of the ice melt. Wow, thanks for those…
JJ….Loved the Cartoons, especially the one with the guy giving the reasons he “hates” Obama. The only thing he missed was Obama is a “Reptillian Alien Overlord from another galaxy”.
I think the anglo-saxon comment by the Romney adviser pretty much pulls the curtain back on the nutbase right wing teabots. The fact that Romney surrounds himself with these people and bows and scrapes to that part of the base has totally destroyed the myth that Mitt Romney is a moderate.
I liked that one too mouse…
Nice news round up.
I saw the Fox news item about the notebook Holmes sent to someone on staff at the medical school — but I refused to read the Fox link and instead went to one of the alternative links.
Strange. But somehow rather typical — the treatment model for mental illness seems to be drugs and more drugs. We still don’t have enough information — and from comments I’ve been reading the majority of people are completely ignorant of schizophrenia and other forms of mental illnesses.
Then we have Michelle Bachmann who seems to be deliberately targeting a group of people — she might not do the physical damage but she sure as hell is yelling fire in a darkened theater and some of the armed nutjobs might start firing.
Lawrence O’Donnell is discussing Brian Williams’ interview with Mittens. Lawrence has used the words inane & nonsense for Romney’s answers. Here’s a link to the full interview: http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/extended-interview-brian-williams-speaks-with-mitt-romney/6p3ub7f?from=
From NY Magazine, a similar viewpoint on Romney’s answers to Brian’s questions about the Aurora tragedy: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/07/romney-gun-control-aurora-illegal.html
Jon Swaine names a couple of the advisors in this piece from the Telegraph.
David Cameron ‘angered US conservatives’ with ‘unprecedented’ election-year embrace of Barack Obama
Apparently the Tories don’t care for the Teahadists.
The advisor said Britain is our ” oldest friend”. Wtf? They are our oldest enemy … the French,Germans and Dutch supported our revolution. The French are our oldest friends. This foreign policy advisor needs some history lessons. I wonder if this is the one who thinks Russia is still the USSR and overlooked the Norman invasion?
Hey Dak, that is what I thought when I saw that quote about the USSR…exactly what I thought.
I need a break from the political bilge. I have been following the latest Jackson Family saga that never ends.
Somebody needs to seriously consider setting aside some big bucks for the psychiatric care these 3 kids are going to need one day in the future. Talk about a dysfunctional group!
None of those 3 kids actually know their true parentage. Prince bears a resemblance to Dr. Arnie Stein, the skin specialist who has since lost his license to practice due to his over prescribing of prescription drugs to Michael.
Paris bears the features of the vessel mother, Debbie Rowe once Stein’s medical assistant. Neither kid appears to be African American.
I have no idea who poor Blanket’s mother is nor does anyone else yet these kids, with a bizarre beginning in life, are now in the custody of this family whose “issues” are overwhelming.
The poor grandmother is 82 yrs old and should not be expected to “raise” 3 kids at this stage of her life and the other named guardian, Diana Ross, is herself aged 70 and dealing with an alcohol problem. Both are of an age when dealing with teens may be too much.
With a “screw loose father” who kept their faces covered by heavy veils, to a family where apparently “anything goes” as the foundation for their upbringing, it does not take a rocket scientist to be able to suggest that their adulthood will be equally unsettling particularly when they come into the millions that are supposedly waiting in trust.
One thing for certain, life is never dull when it comes to the Jackson family.
Pat, do you know what Jermaine named his son? Jermajesty
Jermajesty (Jermaine Jackson) – Top 10 Wacky Celebrity Baby Names – TIME
The Sendate passed the Democrat’s middle class tax cuts and Obama stepped up in a speech to the Urban League.
Obama Calls For Government Action On Guns In The Wake Of Colorado Shooting
Obama is here in New Orleans
I’m impressed that Obama is climbing out on that limb. I know he didn’t say much concerning gun control, but to say anything about guns during a campaign when more people are listening takes some guts.
I thought what Obama said about Planned Parenthood was a good thing. Obama gets personal on Planned Parenthood – POLITICO.com
What a rational statement. Glad to hear that from Obama.
The Landsat satellite has been photographing the Earth for 40 years. The data has been released & using Google technology researchers have chronicled the changes to our planet: http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/dramatic-time-lapse-videos-show-changes-earths-surface-using-40-years-satellite-images.html
That is the coolest thing Connie, wow…