An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
Morning Coffee 06/27/08
After Supreme Court Ruling, N.Y. Gun Laws Eyed
The immediate effect of yesterday’s decision, legal experts say, will be to unleash numerous gun cases before the federal courts, as challenges are brought to establish what, if any, gun rights belong to nonviolent felons, illegal immigrants, and those convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse.
Gun ownership is widespread in this country, with about 300 million firearms in the hands of some 57 million Americans, according to a 2004 Harvard University survey.
Excuse me, but I take issue with an ILLEGAL “immigrant” having fire arms. No, I don’t think he/she has a Constitutional right to anything! The others? I’d say look at each case individually. Besides, if they didn’t care about the law before, why would they care whether or not they could legally possess? Side note: I got a HUGE chuckle out of D.C.’s mayor yesterday. He said something to the effect that now there will be even more guns in “his” city. I guess since there’s been a ban on guns, D.C. has been the model city. *snicker* And a question for those anti 2nd Amendment yahoos: If there are 57,000,000 people in possession of 300,000,000 firearms, legally, why aren’t those 57,000,000 out there shooting up their neighborhoods?
Herenton says prosecutors, business, media out to oust him
Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton charged Thursday that a powerful alliance of federal prosecutors, business interests and the news media is engaged in an all-out campaign to drive him from office
Citing recent investigations of one of his appointees and into his business dealings, the city’s first elected African-American mayor cited what he called a dual system of justice manipulated by racially and politically motivated enemies.
“It is abundantly clear to me that there is a very serious effort that is ongoing to remove Willie Herenton as mayor by any means necessary,” said a calm but forceful Herenton during a free-wheeling, hourlong question-and-answer segment with reporters. “You can’t beat Willie Herenton in an election, so let’s use the justice system and ink in the paper.”
The man’s arrogance and ego knows no bounds. He SAID he was going to retire. He wanted to be the school superintendent again, even though, as I understand it, the schools went down hill with him at the helm. He didn’t get the job, no one wanted him. Now, he says he didn’t really mean it when he said he was retiring. Having watched him on the news, I often question the man’s ability to lead.
Obama Donates $4,600 to Clinton Campaign
Barack Obama announced Thursday that he will help pay off Hillary Rodham Clinton’s more than $20 million debt, personally writing a check in a gesture meant to win over her top financial backers.
Yep, that’s gonna put a dent in her debt alright!
Voters led to polls in Zimbabwe 1-candidate runoff
Marshals led voters to polling stations and bands of government supporters harassed people in the street Friday as Zimbabwe held an internationally discredited, one-candidate presidential runoff marked by intimidation.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who withdrew from the runoff citing a campaign of state-sponsored violence, said the results of the election would “reflect only the fear of the people of Zimbabwe.”
If the Useless Numnuts really wanted to do something, they should start by rounding up Mugabe’s thugs, the Mugabe himself. Without his storm troopers, he would be powerless. THEN have an election. A REAL one!
Gaza truce broken yet again as 2 mortar shells hit w. Negev
Thursday’s attack prompted Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to issue an uncharacteristically sharp demand for an immediate military response and Deputy Premier Haim Ramon urged the cabinet to convene once more to discuss the truce agreement.
Reality check! It takes TWO sides sticking to the agreement to have a truce. This is NOT a truce, so they might as well stop calling it that. Hamas agreed to the truce. Yet, it’s not Hamas firing the rockets. Ya think maybe Hamas is pulling some strings with the other terrorists?
Tenn. lawmaker to stay tough on child rapists
A Tennessee legislator who sponsored a measure authorizing the death penalty for child rapists said Thursday he will likely ask for “extremely long prison sentences” now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled capital punishment unconstitutional for child rapists.
Efforts to make child rapists eligible for the death penalty failed in the Tennessee legislature last year, largely over cost concerns.
Cost concerns? I’d say a bullet is a WHOLE lot cheaper than room and board for 25 years!
State offering reward in death of black bear
The state is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of the killer of a black bear.
State wildlife officials say the bear was killed either late Monday or early Tuesday in West Carroll Parish.
Bear hunting is illegal in Louisiana — and the black bear is considered a threatened species. The state estimates that fewer than 500 black bears exist in Louisiana.
The bear was found dead in an area where sightings have been common in recent years.
Now there’s something ya don’t often see. Usually, rewards are offered in the murder of people.
“It’s really not anything we didn’t know,” said Trevor Putnam, vice president of Coal Creek Armory in West Knoxville. “The right to self-defense existed before the Constitution. All this does is reaffirm what we knew 200 years ago. It goes beyond anything written on paper. It goes back to the beginning of time.”
Yep. It reaffirms what we been telling you anti gun fanatics for years. We DO have a right to defend ourselves from the trash of society!
Pakistan Taleban ‘execute spies’
The pair were alleged to have helped an American missile strike that killed 14 people in a border village last month.
Correspondents say that the brazen nature of the killings - one man was decapitated and another shot - show the Taleban’s growing power.
They were kidnapped, their heads covered. How do the the cheering crowds know they were spies? These people are pigs! Hmm….now there’s a thought. How many pigs can be rounded up and sent to their little village to be let lose?
Mars lander finds salty environment in taste test
The Phoenix lander’s first taste test of soil near Mars’ north pole reveals a briny environment similar to what can be found in backyards on Earth, scientists said Thursday.
The finding raises hope that the Martian arctic plains could have conditions favorable for primitive life. Phoenix landed a month ago to study the habitability of Mars’ northern latitudes.
“There’s nothing about it that would preclude life. In fact, it seems very friendly,” mission scientist Samuel Kounaves of Tufts University said of the soil. “There’s nothing about it that’s toxic.”
Primitive life? Oh goody. I can think of a few people who should be on that first manned shot to Mars.
Democrats Offering ‘Sham’ Energy Legislation, Republicans Say
As oil prices set yet another record, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insists that Democrats are doing something to reduce prices at the pump, “here and now.” Republicans scoff at the notion. They say Democrats are offering nothing but sham legislation, blame and excuses.
On Thursday, Pelosi outlined what Democrats have been doing lately:
“First, we put oil speculators on notice,” Pelosi said in a news release. The House on Thursday passed a Democrat-sponsored bill directing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to use its emergency power to curb speculation in energy markets. The vote was 402-19. The bill now goes to the Senate.
Well the Moon Queen has spoken! Y’know, if the “speculators” KNEW that the U.S. was opening up all the areas that actually have oil, then they wouldn’t be speculating that the U.S. was going to do NOTHING, and perhaps the price would start inching down? Just a thought. Oh, and I was wondering….has anyone done a poll the Moon Queen’s approval ratings? I’d venture a guess that they were lower than a well digger’s ass.
Public schools condemned for wrong emphasis
A large majority of Americans think schools are placing too much emphasis on the wrong subjects, and more than half think they’re doing just a fair job in preparing children for the work force or giving them the practical skills they need to survive as adults, according to an Associated Press poll released Friday.
You’d think with all the money that is continuously thrown at the public schools, kids would be prepared for REAL life. How can the richest country in the world produce some of the dumbest kids?
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“How can the richest country in the world produce some of the dumbest kids?”
By wasting time teaching fairy tales as science. http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1214544197127670.xml&coll=1
@grumps:
I guess you have issues with presenting ALL sides, and allowing people to decide for themselves.
Fairy tales? Darwinism is a THEORY….that’s why they call it the “THEORY of evolution”.
I’ll get you a dictionary for Christmas. You can look up that word and see what it means for yourself.
When it comes to the way the world was created ID is no more a “side” than is the Flying Spaghetti Monster or The Battle of the Titans. Will you be teaching the story of Ymir and Ygdrassil as another “side” of the Creation? It’s certainly as valid as the Garden of Eden. It’s even got a tree at its heart. That should be satisfying.
If you want to teach the Bible as part of a Comparative Religions class then, by all means, ask for that. But to hope that it would be taught as a text is just the tiniest bit hubristic in a world where huge swathes of folks believe it is something less than a literal text.
@grumps:
I have several, thanks for the offer though.
And the answer to your question: Yes.
Do you think that knowledge is a bad thing? Even knowledge of the Bible? Oh, sorry, I sometimes get the impression that you do….my mistake. If you choose not to believe in what It teaches, that is your precognitive. It is a Book rich in history, and most assuredly should be taught.
Hmm…. I guess you believe you just popped into existence?