Wednesday Links and Reads
Posted: December 19, 2012 Filed under: Affordable Care Act (ACA), American Gun Fetish, Gun Control, morning reads, Republican politics, U.S. Politics | Tags: Adam Lanza, e-books, Fox News, Newtown CT, NRA 36 Comments »Good Morning
WordPress is being difficult for me, again, so I will just give you the links to some news articles you may have missed over the last 24 hours.
12/19/12 Luckovich cartoon: The Four Freedoms | Mike Luckovich
Love Luckovich!
Okay, last night Fox came out with this “exclusive” and boy did Drudge hype it up: EXCLUSIVE: Fear of being committed may have caused Connecticut gunman to snap | Fox News
Adam Lanza, 20, targeted Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown after killing his mother early Friday because he believed she loved the school “more than she loved him,” said Joshua Flashman, 25, who grew up not far from where the shooting took place. Flashman, a U.S. Marine, is the son of a pastor at an area church where many of the victims’ families worship.
“From what I’ve been told, Adam was aware of her petitioning the court for conservatorship and (her) plans to have him committed,” Flashman told FoxNews.com. “Adam was apparently very upset about this. He thought she just wanted to send him away. From what I understand, he was really, really angry. I think this could have been it, what set him off.”
We posted the link in the comment section, and I found some interesting tidbits on Joshua Flashman, a wannabe actor “slash” model and gun enthusiast.
Joshua Flashman (JoshuaFlashman) on Twitter
@JoshuaFlashman
Retired Marine Infantryman, aspiring model & actor, fitness enthusiast, Second Amendment expert (feel free to test me on that)
His Facebook page and his CNN iReporter site can be found here and here.
The NRA has also made a statement, which we also linked to last night, but if you missed it:
NRA releases statement on Conn. shooting
In other news related to Newtown…and guns:
Gov. Snyder To Veto Concealed Carry In Schools, Churches | Crooks and Liars
So even Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is having second thoughts about his state’s new concealed carry law after the Newtown massacre – although of course his ALEC masters may try to ram it through at a later date::
One day before the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, the Michigan Legislature passed a bill to specifically allow guns into schools and other “gun-free zones.” This bill joined a so-called “right-to-work” law and an extreme abortion ban, the GOP-controlled legislature rammed through during its lame duck session.
Following the mass-shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, however, Gov. Rick Snyder (R-MI) promised to give the guns bill “extra consideration.” According to the Detroit News, Snyder has now decided to veto the legislation.
Gov. Rick Snyder plans to veto legislation allowing concealed weapons in public schools, according to bill sponsor Sen. Mike Green, R-Mayville.
The bill allowing highly trained gun owners to carry concealed weapons inside public schools was delivered to Snyder’s desk Tuesday.
“He’s not going to sign it,” Green told The Detroit News.
The Connecticut tragedy has already forced many strident gun supporters to re-examine their beliefs. Most notably, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who once cut an ad featuring himself literally shooting a piece of legislation, is now leading the push for gun control on Capitol Hill in Sandy Hook’s wake.
Online Gamers Call For Virtual ‘Ceasefire’ On Friday In Honor Of CT Shooting Victims | Mediaite
Video games have been in the media spotlight following Friday’s tragic school shooting in Connecticut, and while many gamers don’t accept the link between virtual violence and real-world violence, one group of gamers is calling on a gaming “ceasefire” in honor of the shooting victims. Antwand Pearman, the CEO and founder of GamerFitNation, is asking all gamers to put down the virtual guns and stop firing the virtual bullets as a “small sacrifice.”
Republican Lawmaker with Top NRA Rating Blames Democrats for Lax Gun Control | Video Cafe
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) has an A rating from the National Rifle Association but he says that Democrats are at fault for not passing more gun control legislation.
During a Tuesday interview on MSNBC, host Thomas Roberts asked Kingston if he looked at the recent massacre of 20 school children in Connecticut and felt “a sense of guilt” over his tough stance against gun control.
“Where I think we have the guilt is we see a huge problem like this — and it’s a problem that’s happening in other countries as well — and we look for something that, okay, what can prevent it?” Kingston explained. “And I think that’s where we need to go with this discussion is, yes, put gun control — more gun control — on the table. But, also, don’t forget the mental health element. Don’t forget, is there a home situation that we need to learn more about? Was this young man addicted to violent video games? Was there a Hollywood influence? I think that we can’t just stop at guns.”
Here is an editorial from The New York Post: Adam Lanza & gun control—Editorial – NYPOST.com
Has technology rendered the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution obsolete?
That is, has the application of modern military design to civilian firearms produced a class of weapons too dangerous to be in general circulation?
We say: Yes.
Then, from the same paper…you have this: Hillary Clinton’s fishy concussion—Editorial – NYPOST.com
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was set to face a grilling from Congress this week over the terrorist attacks in Benghazi when she started channeling the late poet Shel Silverstein.
“I have the measles and the mumps / A gash, a rash and purple bumps,” said Clinton, in effect, informing the House and Senate (with regrets!) that she was suffering too many maladies to testify as expected about the Sept. 11 attack in Libya.
America’s top diplomat was to provide her first public answers regarding the murder of US Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Now that won’t happen.
When the news came out that Hillary had fainted and received a concussion, my mom and dad and I were watching the report on a cable news station…and we immediately joked about how long it would be before the right-wing accuses her of “faking” injury as an excuse for Hillary not testifying at their Benghazi hearing crap.
One more gun link: Do Your Senators Support an Assault Weapons Ban? | Mother Jones
No need for me to check out what my Banjo playing senators support, but it is interesting to see who does.
From South Carolina, more crap…New South Carolina bill pushes jail sentences for state workers implementing ‘Obamacare’ | The Raw Story
Yeah, believe it?
A Republican lawmaker in South Carolina has introduced legislation that would send state and federal officials to jail for implementing the Affordable Care Act.
According to U.S News & World Report, the proposal, which has been has been prepared by state Rep. Bill Chumley (R) for next year’s legislative session, threatens state officials with up to two years in jail and a $1,000 fine for enforcing the law. Federal officials could be sent to jail for five years and be fined $5,000 for enacting the legislation.
“I think we’re within our rights to do this,” Chumley said. “It’s an obligation, I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and protect the people.”
Chumley said he came up with the bill following the formation of a “little study committee” that included lawyers, doctors and retired political science professors, as well as state Sen. Lee Bright (R), who is reportedly proposing a similar bill.
Assholes, this has already been settled by SCOTUS.
Last month, a group of Wisconsin lawmakers also said they would support nullifying the law and arresting federal officials for trying to enact it. One of them, state Rep. Chris Kapenga (R) openly paid little mind to the court’s decision.
“Just because Obama was re-elected does not mean he’s above the constitution,” Kapenga said.
Damn, they just don’t give up!
And now, one link that has nothing to do with guns, or Republicans…but still deals with assholes…of the publishing kind.
Penguin joins settlement in US e-books lawsuit
Penguin Group has agreed to join three other publishers in a settlement of a US government lawsuit alleging an e-book price-fixing conspiracy with Apple, officials said Tuesday.
The Justice Department said that with four of the five publishers having agreed to a settlement, it will proceed in its case against Apple and the remaining publisher, Macmillan.
The agreement was filed in a US federal court in New York and would end Penguin’s role as a defendant in the civil antitrust lawsuit filed by the department on April 11.
Previous settlements were reached with Hachette Book Group Inc., HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster.
I’m still waiting for the “refund” from overpaying…cough I mean the publishers overcharging, my e-books on my Kindle.
A trial against Macmillan and Apple currently is scheduled to begin in June 2013.
“Since the department’s settlement with Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, consumers are already paying lower prices for the e-book versions of many of those publishers’ new releases and bestsellers,” said Jamillia Ferris, of the department’s antitrust division.
“If approved by the court, the proposed settlement with Penguin will be an important step toward undoing the harm caused by the publishers’ anticompetitive conduct and restoring retail price competition so consumers can pay lower prices for Penguin’s e-books.”
Yeah, undo the harm? Undo this!
Okay, that is all I have today. I hope this mess going on with wordpress stops soon. If y’all can get wordpress to take your comment, please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Sima
dakinikat
ecocatwoman
fiscalliberal
grayslady
mablue2
NW Luna
peggysue22
quixote
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Good morning jj. Sorry you’re having so much trouble with WP. How is your brother doing?
I just wanted to add a link to a Maddow video from 12/17. It’s about 3D printers & how people can make their own guns from specs found online: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#50232154 Granted the printer & materials aren’t cheap, but it scared the crap outta me when I watched it the other night. How could something like this be regulated?
Ya’ll have a good day.
Denny is doing the same, keeps loosening up his arm splint…he goes back to doctor this week to see if they need to do surgery. Thanks for asking Connie.
Good to hear that Denny is okay. My friend Susie (way back in the 3rd grade) needed to have everything unpleasant made into a game. Not sure what game one could make out of keeping a splint on but you never know. P.S. Susie was a downs child as well.
When he went back to the doctors after he pulled his cast off, the radiology tech asked Denny in an upbeat way, “How are you this morning?” and his response was one word, “Shitty.”
I have a few more links for you this morning, when I tried to add them to the post last night, WordPress would not let me log in.
Benghazi attack report says security was grossly inadequate | World news | guardian.co.uk
John Bolton: Hillary Clinton Came Up With ‘Diplomatic Illness’ To Avoid Benghazi Testimony
Conservatives Think Hillary Clinton Is Faking Her Concussion – Politics – The Atlantic Wire
WHEREIN WE PONDER THE MYSTERY OF MEGAN McARDLE GETTING PAID TO WRITE THIS SHIT | Gin and Tacos
There was another shooting in Colorado, Gunman in Colo. murder-suicide had been released hours before murder-suicide that left 4 dead – The Washington Post
And then we have this: Fox’s Gretchen Carlson Breaks Down Asking Guest If Children Killed Will Remember Shootings ‘In Heaven’ | Mediaite
Nuts.
Check this out: h/t maddow: Eagle Flies Off With Baby in Canada — Daily Intelligencer
That is really strange behavior for an eagle – and that’s a huge eagle. Normally they either eat carrion or catch fish in lakes/rivers. You think the Right is going to ban eagles now in public places, since eagles – in their alternate reality – are more dangerous than guns?
That is unbelievable!
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/golden-eagle-snatches-kid-youtube-1497644
Delphyne is right!
December 19, 2012 at 12:30 pm
That is unbelievable!
That is funny!
You folks know your eagle behavior well. Apparently this video was “fake”
http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/19/16021454-that-kid-snatching-eagle-video-fake?lite
Holy Shit: Petraeus: Sex Under the Desk with Broadwell Less Dangerous than Intercourse with the Kagans | emptywheel
Good grief, that is beyond distasteful. Sucking on the tragedy to make money – ugh, spit.
How to “trivialize” a tragedy of this dimension: invite anyone willing to give an interview about the people in Newtown who had passing knowledge of those directly involved in the events.
Hairdressers, babysitters, neighbors, “friends”, former classmates, plumbers, distant relatives, etc., to expound about their “knowledge” while seeking their 15 minutes of fame.
It is impossible to turn on the tv and not find an interview taking place fueled by supposition and conjecture as these families prepare to bury their children and loved ones. The latest being a barber who wished he had “cut the throat” of Adam Lanza had he known what was coming. Sickening.
Cable tv and other news outlets are falling over one another with offers of “insight” from marginal people to fill the time. The morons on Fox News being no exception.
The event itself is tragic enough but the nonstop coverage is obscene. Cameras chasing funeral corteges while these families are dealing with their grief is unbearable. Hours being filled with every Tom, Dick, and Harry who had some contact with the Lanza family offering opinions while the facts are still to be sorted out.
There is something ghoulish about an intervew being conducted with a plumber or a landscaper whose contacts appear minimal but the need to fill the airtime is paramount to common decency as one funeral after another takes place.
What is wrong with this picture?
I thought I’d share this 444 video with y’all this morning because those of us stuck in Banjoville & Bumfuckerville come face-to-face with these religious-zeal-nut loonies on a regular basis.
And we question why so many crazies are affected by this bullshit.
Since he took office the number of threats against him has quadrupled. It is crap like this that triggers the nutjobs to seek “vengence”, especially those who hear the “god’s will” message contained within.
Unfortunately the First Amendment covers this idiot’s hate speech which acts as the fuel thrown on the fire.
Wow and I thought I lived among nutjobs. Haven’t run into one of those though.
Something about the eyes. Whatever it is, it is not benevolent.
Something about his eyes is really evil, maybe he’s the 666 or the 444?
Or maybe he’s just a nutjob?
That guy is certifiable. I can just imagine him as an inquisitor in another lifetime.
Regarding Rep Kingston’s comments – yes mass shootings happen in other countries once in awhile. It appears to happen in the U.S. on a regular basis. How many in the U.S. this year Rep Kingston? Now how many in any other western country this year?
I’m ashamed to live in Georgia sometimes –
And so he’s blaming video games and Hollywood?? How about a paranoid survivalist mother who kept an arsenal in the house knowing her son was mentally ill? And those survivalist types aren’t bleeding heart liberals, either.
Those video games and movies are widely available in Europe. What’s not widely available are guns.
Study after study has shown that playing video games and watching movies do not predict violent behavior in normal people. Are we going to ban them out of fear of a minority of troubled people?
Robert Bork has died at 85.
Hillary took full responsiblity for Benghazi from the beginning, as she does in agreeing to the implementing new measures of security. She is a woman who takes care of business, and I have full confidence that she will address this issue when she is feeling better.
All these people pointing their fingers at her, why haven’t any of them, not one can tell us “why on the anniversary of 9/11 was he in Benghazi?”………………………That’s what I’d like to know.
I don’t believe for one minute that Hillary is afraid of facing questions from the likes of Darrell Issa.
Absolutely right BB. Issa is nothing more than a gnat on a horses-ass. Hillary isn’t afraid of Issa or anyone in the Congress. Hillary is sick & injured, but the rightwingnut jobs just can’t accept that as a real reason for her absence from the hearings. I feel confident she will address this at a later date, but if she doesn’t, so friggin what? Like Fannie said, she accepted responsibility from the beginning. It would be a moot point if not for the rightwingnut jobs who want to find something nefarious and conspiratorial in this tragedy.
I was looking forward to it personally. I imagine she would have made them look like the jackasses they are.
Yep….She will chew them up and spit them out. They’re looking for something to hang on her so they can neutralize her in 2016 because they’re even more terrified of her than they were Obama. They’ve been hating on her for decades. Honesly I don’t think she’ll run in 2016 no matter what they do. If I was her I’d tell them all to kiss my ass and then I’d retire.
She’s fearless, and will look them squarely in the eye, no hestitation to answer any man’s questions, or any woman’s.
Something interesting: Newtown massacre: Man who floated Lanza motive sought for questioning | The Journal News | LoHud.com | lohud.com
I’ve noticed something with the former military rightwingers. Did you see this 25 year old dude calling himself a “retired marine corps infantryman”? Since when did doing a tour and getting out make you retired? That’s weird but a lot of them do that.
I haven’t noticed that, I wonder why they’re doing that? When we quit a job for another job, particulary at 25, that’s not retirement. Someone needs to clue them in.
I suspect they’re looking for credibility. A 25 year old “retire marine corps infantryman” to them commands more respect because the’ve been in a “war Zone” despite the fact they could have spent their entire tour in the green zone peeling potatoes. It’s a macho thing. I was a marine, you weren’t so I’m right. Don’t know if that fits with this fella, however it seems to be happening more and more often. Funny though – most true infantrymen from WW1 and !! will not talk about their experiences at all, ever. They won’t even identify themselves with the millitary.
It was the “retired” part that was so strange. Maybe they think it sounds better than “former”. Wingnuts have been claiming military cred for being part of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders, so they got no credibility with me. In my experience, most are Chicken Hawks.