Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Mandela Memorial: Obama Speaks and Soweto Cheers

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Previous Related Posts:
R.I.P. Nelson Mandela - "He Belongs to the Ages
Obama in Africa: Capetown to Tanzania

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President Obama and every other living President except George H.W. Bush attended the Memorial Service for Nelson Mandela in Soweto, South Africa. Speaking in the rain to a packed stadium, President Obama had the crowd fired up and cheering, as he often does in our own country. His was by far the most dynamic speech. Most of the tributes could have been edited intensely and no one would have noticed. However, Mandela's grandchildren were wonderfully poetic!

Click Here for Complete Text of President Obama's Eulogy

Excerpts:
. . . Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit. There is a word in South Africa -- Ubuntu -- a word that captures Mandela’s greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.

We can never know how much of this sense was innate in him, or how much was shaped in a dark and solitary cell. But we remember the gestures, large and small -- introducing his jailers as honored guests at his inauguration; taking a pitch in a Springbok uniform; turning his family’s heartbreak into a call to confront HIV/AIDS -- that revealed the depth of his empathy and his understanding. He not only embodied Ubuntu, he taught millions to find that truth within themselves.

. . . Over 30 years ago, while still a student, I learned of Nelson Mandela and the struggles taking place in this beautiful land, and it stirred something in me. It woke me up to my responsibilities to others and to myself, and it set me on an improbable journey that finds me here today. And while I will always fall short of Madiba’s example, he makes me want to be a better man. He speaks to what’s best inside us.

After this great liberator is laid to rest, and when we have returned to our cities and villages and rejoined our daily routines, let us search for his strength. Let us search for his largeness of spirit somewhere inside of ourselves. And when the night grows dark, when injustice weighs heavy on our hearts, when our best-laid plans seem beyond our reach, let us think of Madiba and the words that brought him comfort within the four walls of his cell: “It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”

What a magnificent soul it was. We will miss him deeply. May God bless the memory of Nelson Mandela. May God bless the people of South Africa.












Mandiba's Grandchildren - He Would Be Proud!

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Friday, December 6, 2013

RIP Nelson Mandela - "He Belongs to the Ages"

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Previous Related Post:
Obama in Africa: Cape Town to Tanzania











Must-See Video of Mandela Dancing:








President Obama's Full Statement on the Death of Nelson Mandela:

5:25 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: At his trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela closed his statement from the dock saying, “I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

And Nelson Mandela lived for that ideal, and he made it real. He achieved more than could be expected of any man. Today, he has gone home. And we have lost one of the most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth. He no longer belongs to us -- he belongs to the ages.

Through his fierce dignity and unbending will to sacrifice his own freedom for the freedom of others, Madiba transformed South Africa -- and moved all of us. His journey from a prisoner to a President embodied the promise that human beings -- and countries -- can change for the better. His commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to, whether in the lives of nations or our own personal lives. And the fact that he did it all with grace and good humor, and an ability to acknowledge his own imperfections, only makes the man that much more remarkable. As he once said, “I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”

I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela's life. My very first political action, the first thing I ever did that involved an issue or a policy or politics, was a protest against apartheid. I studied his words and his writings. The day that he was released from prison gave me a sense of what human beings can do when they’re guided by their hopes and not by their fears. And like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set, and so long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him.

To Graça Machel and his family, Michelle and I extend our deepest sympathy and gratitude for sharing this extraordinary man with us. His life’s work meant long days away from those who loved him the most. And I only hope that the time spent with him these last few weeks brought peace and comfort to his family.

To the people of South Africa, we draw strength from the example of renewal, and reconciliation, and resilience that you made real. A free South Africa at peace with itself -- that’s an example to the world, and that’s Madiba’s legacy to the nation he loved.

We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela again. So it falls to us as best we can to forward the example that he set: to make decisions guided not by hate, but by love; to never discount the difference that one person can make; to strive for a future that is worthy of his sacrifice.

For now, let us pause and give thanks for the fact that Nelson Mandela lived -- a man who took history in his hands, and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice. May God Bless his memory and keep him in peace.

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Friday, November 22, 2013

50 Years Ago ~ the Kennedy Assassination

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I was just over 3 years old when President John F. Kennedy was shot, so I barely remember the day. What I do remember is the overwhelming grief that adults expressed even years after it happened when we would see the anniversary in the newspaper or on TV.

So handsome, so gifted, so well-meaning - and much too young to die. At my house we didn't talk about all the conspiracy theories when I was a child - my parents were too grief-stricken - but as I got older, especially at school, we wondered why so many others were shot soon after: Robert Kennedy, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King. Here in the south there was an feeling of fear that anything could happen at any time, that things had gone too far towards chaos. I was in second grade when M.L. King died, and while I was still too young to fathom the politics, I was ashamed and shocked that the shooting happened in Tennessee. So I have an inkling about how those in Dallas, Texas must have felt then and feel today over the assassination of John Kennedy. Things like this should never happen in our backyards, in the United States.

And yet there are those today who sit around on the internet, on Twitter and Facebook and every forum, seething and screeching and threatening Barack Obama, calling for someone to "stop his tyranny" through any means possible. That horrible type of madness just never goes away it would seem. The John Birch Society of that time has become the Tea Party of today.

What the Tea Party needs to understand is that the death of John F. Kennedy didn't stop progress or change from happening to our country. President Johnson and millions of others carried out the reforms of the Great Society. The Koch Brothers, whose father founded the John Birch Society, may still try to suppress the vote, but minorities and women are voting in ever higher numbers and showed last year that they will stand together for hours at the polling places in the name of Evers and King. We just re-elected Barack Obama, an African-American President. Many old enough to remember the death of John F. Kennedy never thought that day would come, and yet it did.

Peaceful change is the best revenge for all those deaths.

This week Caroline Kennedy became Ambassador to Japan. Standing with her was her son, who looks very much like her father and her late brother, John Kennedy Jr. History changes, and Teddy Kennedy may be gone forever now, but the legacy continues, both of blood and values.

The deaths of great people are not in vain. They inspire us and lead us beyond death.

























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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Remembering 9-11


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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Stunning New Ad Against Stand Your Ground Laws

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Previous Posts:
Marching for Trayvon to Change Stand Your Ground Laws
Snark in Pictures - George Zimmerman Found Not Guilty
Florida Gun Owners are NOT Freelance Cops

This is a shocking new public service announcement from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence based on the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman in Florida. One reason it is so chilling is that it accurately recreates the night of the shooting through the use of witness testimony and actual 911 recordings.

My heart nearly stopped when the gun went off.


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Thursday, August 8, 2013

RIP ~ Captain Kangaroo's Sidekick Cosmo Allegretti


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Left-Cosmo Allegretti as Mr. Bainter the Painter
Middle - Bob Keeshan as Captain Kangaroo
Right - Hugh Brannum as Mr. Green Jeans

One of my earliest memories is eating my cereal - probably in a high chair - while watching Captain Kangaroo. I loved the Dancing Bear and Grandfather Clock. I loved Bunny Rabbit and especially Mr. Moose, who dropped the iconic ping-pong balls on the Captain's head day after day. All of those characters and more were the creation of actor and genius Cosmo Allegretti, who died this week. :( Farewell, faithful sidekick who made Mr. Moose so entertaining, and snarky ~ the boomers will remember you forever!!!

From E-Online
The actor and puppeteer, responsible for such characters as Mr. Bunny Rabbit, Grandfather Clock and Dancing Bear on the classic children's show, died July 26 in Arizona. He was 86 and had emphysema, friend and attorney John Munzel told reporters.
Allegretti was working as a set painter on Captain Kangaroo but ultimately became talent after he volunteered to create a replacement for someone else's puppet.

. . . In addition to creating the hand puppets Mr. Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose, Allegretti was also either the voice or hand (or both) of Dennis the Apprentice, Miss Frog, Mr. Whispers, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock and Uncle Ralph. He was also TV Fred, who appeared behind the blackboard in the Captain's Treasure House, and the artist behind the Magic Drawing Board.

. . . "We had a meeting and we were listening to a record that we'd just received," Keeshan said. "Believe it or not, it was a record, not a tape or a CD, but it was a record called the 'Dancing Bear.' We just sat around and said, 'How do we do this?' Somebody said, 'How about Gus in a bear suit?' Gus being Gus Allegretti. Gus said, 'Yeah, I'm game,' and so we had a nice bear suit made that Gus crawled into.

"It was not a lot of fun but he is a great talent. Then we just had him dance to this record, the 'Dancing Bear,' and that was that. Then we got mail. A lot of people said, 'Oh, we love that dancing bear. Let us see him again.'"






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Sunday, July 21, 2013

Marching for Trayvon Martin ~ Change the Stand Your Ground Laws

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source: @urbansoldier33 in Savannah, GA

This weekend, thousands of people in 100 cities are marching or rallying in memory of Trayvon Martin. And on Friday, President Obama made an impromptu, historic and heartfelt speech about race relations in America.












































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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Snark in Pictures ~ George Zimmerman Found Not Guilty

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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Discovery Channel Plans Tribute to Stormchasers Killed by Tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma

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RIP Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras, and Carl Young ~ Team Twistex

Discovery Channel Storm Chasers Tribute Premieres
Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 10e|9c

From the Twistex Facebook
Information about the funeral services for Tim, Paul, & Carl -- and where to send sympathy cards:

The service for Tim and Paul will be held Thursday at 1pm at Mission Hills Church, 620 SouthPark Drive in Littleton, CO.

Sympathy cards should be sent to Jim Samaras, 7985 Witney Place, Lone Tree, CO 80124.

Carl's service will be held Saturday at 12 with burial at 3pm at McFarlane Mortuary in South Lake Tahoe, CA.

Sympathy cards should be sent to Bob Young, Box 8604, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158.

Memorials for Carl should be sent to Ventana Wildlife Society.


From Discovery Channel:
We are deeply saddened by the loss of Tim Samaras, his son Paul and their colleague Carl Young who died Friday, May 31st doing what they love: chasing storms.

Chasing storms had been a part of Tim Samaras's life for over 25 years. Ten years ago, Tim developed his own tornado probes to record meteorological data inside of tornadoes.

Inspired by a two-month adventure chasing storms across the Great Plains, Carl Young left a career in Hollywood to study tornado dynamics and ultimately earn a masters degree in atmospheric science from the University of Nevada, Reno.

While attending a meteorological conference, Carl met Tim, who encouraged him to collect meteorological data from inside tornadoes as the principal focus of his thesis research.

Every spring since 2003, the two headed out together and tracked down over 125 tornadoes. Their mission was to help understand why tornadoes form in order to increase warning times in Tornado Alley.

Tim and Carl's work was the subject of Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers series, which premiered on October 17, 2007 and ran for five seasons.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Tim and Carl's friends and families.



From National Geographic
Tim Samaras, one of the world's best-known storm chasers, died in Friday's El Reno, Oklahoma, tornado, along with his 24-year-old son, a gifted filmmaker, according to a statement from Samaras's brother.

"They all unfortunately passed away but doing what they LOVED," Jim Samaras, Tim's brother, wrote on Facebook, saying that storm chaser Carl Young was also killed. "I look at it that he is in the 'big tornado in the sky.'"

. . . Samaras's interest in tornadoes began when he was six, after he saw the movie The Wizard of Oz. For the past 20 years, he spent May and June traveling through Tornado Alley, an area that has the highest frequency of tornadoes in the world. He worked with his son Paul, who was known for capturing cyclones on camera.

From CNN
Friday's tornado took a sudden turn that surprised many observers, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.

"It was a wobbler. And it was big. ... I think the left-hand turn made a big difference on how this thing was chased as well and why people were killed and why people were injured in their vehicles," he said. "A vehicle is not a place to be in any tornado, especially a big one like that, and those men doing their job, those field scientists out there doing their jobs, were killed in the process."

Tim Samaras founded TWISTEX, the Tactical Weather Instrumented Sampling in Tornadoes Experiment, to help learn more about tornadoes and increase lead time for warnings, according to the official website.

. . . Doug Kiesling, a videographer who chases storms and calls himself "The Weather Paparazzi," said the three men were more than storm chasers. "They're researchers," he said.

"This thing is really shaking up everyone in the chasing community," he said. "We knew this day would happen someday, but nobody would imagine that it would happen to Tim. Tim was one of the safest people to go out there. ... He's had close calls, but he's always had an escape route."








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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Deadly Day in Moore, Oklahoma

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My prayers go out to the families of Oklahoma City after the deadly F-5 tornado passed through the suburb of Moore yesterday. When they announced on MSNBC last night that a "couple dozen" third graders were found dead in Plaza Towers Elementary, I just lost it - broke down and wept. Why did that have to happen? Why those innocent children? Why those families? Didn't they suffer enough by losing their homes, their school, their community? There are no answers.

The death toll continues to rise, and we still don't know exactly how many people are missing or have perhaps sought shelter in a place where there's no phone lines, electricity or cleared roads. It's going to take days to asses the million small tragedies of this storm, and years to understand how more lives might have been saved. Right now we can just use the trite term "Act of God" and pray that the living can continue to cope with the disaster, the stuff of nightmares.



Huffington Post
The Oklahoma state medical examiner's office said 24 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage of Monday's storm, down from the 51 they had reported earlier. The earlier number likely reflected some double-counted deaths, said Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer for the medical examiner.

The 2-mile (3-km) wide tornado tore through Moore outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, trapping victims beneath the rubble. One elementary school took a direct hit and another was destroyed.

Thunderstorms and lightning slowed the rescue effort on Tuesday, but officials lowered the number of bodies recovered.

"We have got good news. The number right now is 24," Elliot said. "There was a lot of chaos."
She said additional bodies could yet be recovered.

Firefighters from more than a dozen fire departments worked all night under bright spotlights trying to find survivors at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit. Rescuers were sent from other states to join the search.














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Sunday, April 21, 2013

West, Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion

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In the midst of the manhunt for the Boston Marathon Bombers, another disaster happened in the tiny town of West, Texas. A fertilizer plant caught on fire and exploded like a nuclear bomb with a literal mushroom cloud, leveling homes, destroying apartments, and devastating a tightly-knit community. Volunteer Firefighters who had rushed to put out the initial fire were among the dead, caught unaware after assurances from the plant owners that the materials inside weren't explosive.

Such an unecessary tragedy! West could be the poster child for why government regulation is a good thing.

The town had grown up around the plant, which was originally just a feed store selling fertilizer. Lax zoning laws allowed homes, schools and even a nursing home to be located just across the street from this ticking time-bomb. People who should have been evacuated due to the fire were caught completely by surprise, and are now among the dead or missing. According to reports (see below) the plant hadn't been inspected correctly since 1985 - how did that happen? Senator Ted Cruz and Governor Perry are asking for funds from the Federal Government, which many see as hypocritical considering how the Governor loves to shout "Secession!" and the fact that Ted Cruz voted against giving money to New Jersey for Hurricane Sandy Relief.

My question - when will the investigation into this criminal act start? Lives have been snuffed out and negligence is the key. Who is responsible? They should pay more than a fine - someone should go to jail.

From Think Progress
A day after the explosion in West, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report documenting a widespread lack of workplace inspections by state OSHA programs. After surveying 22 state-run programs, it found that the agencies had problems with hiring and retaining inspectors, in part due to low pay. State budget cuts have had a big impact, leading to funding problems, and the federal agency often hasn’t taken over state plans because its own budget is too tight. This has meant that a workplace only gets a visit from OSHA inspectors every 99 years on average, with some state programs even worse. In Texas, a plant can only expect an inspection every 126 years.

. . . The plant in West was inspected in 2011 by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), which issued a fine of $10,100 for missing placards and “not having a security plan” in violation of Hazardous Materials Regulations. A compromise was reached in 2012 after corrective actions were taken, which included the plant admitting to the violations and paying a lowered penalty of $5,250.

From Raw Story
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) says that he is prepared to make “all available resources” available from the federal government to assist in the recovery after an explosion at a fertilizer plant in Texas — but the senator voted against aid for victims of Hurricane Sandy earlier because he said it was “pork.”

The Dallas Morning News reported on Thursday that Cruz had reacted to the fertilizer plant explosion that killed dozens in West, Texas earlier this week.

“We are in very close touch with officials on the ground and we’re monitoring the tragic accident closely,” Cruz said in Washington. “It’s truly horrific and we are working to ensure that all available resources are marshaled to deal with the horrific loss of life and suffering that we’ve seen.”

Politicus USA
The stunning hypocrisy doesn’t end there. It probably would have been helpful if Senator Cruz were familiar with where his own state fell on the FEMA hand out chart. See, Cruz represents the state with the most FEMA-declared disasters since the start of 2009, according to an iWatch News analysis. “The top two states, Texas and Oklahoma, combined for more than a quarter of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s declared disasters since Jan. 1, 2009.”

Here they are in order:

Texas, 75
Oklahoma, 45
California, 24
New Mexico, 13
Arizona, 12
Tennessee, 12
New York, 11
Kansas, 10
Nebraska, 10

. . . Wait a minute, hoss. If Senator Cruz is really in DC to “save this country”, his prinicples will hold steadfast, and he will hold up relief for his state until offsetting cuts are found. Or at the very least, offer millions in “pork” to blue states in order to avoid a filibuster.

Facebook Page to Honor Lost Responders to West, Texas Blast
Slideshow of pictures from StateImpact.NPR.Org
Slideshow from USA Today










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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Praying for Boston and the Victims after the Marathon Bombing

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It's been a horrible 24 hours since the bomb explosions at the Boston Marathon. We've seen nightmarish photographs of fire and smoke in the air, of broken glass, of human blood smeared on the sidewalk. We've read stories of human bodies torn apart by twisted shrapnel, of double amputations, of first responders and hospitals overwhelmed by injuries only seen on the front lines during wartime. All of us wonder what kind of evil coward builds a bomb and plants it beside a group of happy, innocent people, families and children, athletes and tourists, on a beautiful spring day? Who plans out such carnage then steps back to watch the chaos?

I'm very glad that I can't understand the mind who carried out this evil. All Americans are Bostonians now. We are torn apart with grief. We will find out who did this unspeakable act and justice will be served.

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Friday, April 5, 2013

R.I.P. Roger Ebert ~ Movie Lover and Progressive Hero

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There are really no words. Did you know that Roger Ebert was the FIRST film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize? I think many people forget that because he was a humble person and didn't blow his own horn too much.

I grew up watching Ebert and Siskel on our local PBS station. Back then we didn't have 500 reviews online for every movie. You either read an odd review now and then in the newspaper or you had to buy Newsweek or Time. So thanks to television and PBS, Ebert and Siskel because THE movie critics of America, the only ones who really mattered. I always stayed up after 11:30 to see their show on Sunday nights, even when my husband grumbled or if I had to be at work early on Monday morning. I enjoyed it most when they disagreed and got fired up about movies they cared about - that's what a real fan does, and above all, they were movie fans.

Gene Siskel was more of a macho guy who liked "The Deer Hunter," "Raging Bull" and "Saturday Night Fever", while Ebert was the nerdy, intellectual guy who loved nostalgia and Stephen King movies. I remember his review of "Star Wars" back in the seventies, talking about the "old universe" it portrayed, and the classic coming of age story - I couldn't wait to go see it after hearing his review.

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I remember when my kids were little how much I appreciated it that Ebert would seriously review movies like "Babe" and "Free Willy" and "Toy Story." Before there was an internet, he introduced his audience to the work of the Japanese master Miyasaki, showing clips of "My Neighbor Totoro," a movie I would never have chosen for my children at the video store without his review. My kids went on to become Japanese movie junkies, and they may not realize that it all goes back to Ebert.

I also remember when he praised "Dirty Dancing," saying it reminded him of being young and in love, and I used his review to help my husband understand why I liked that movie so much. I remember he usually loved musicals, unless Madonna was the star, LOL.

But Ebert was more than a movie critic. He was also a Kick-Ass Democrat who campaigned for President Obama tirelessly last year on Twitter, and who made time each day to push Progressive causes that mattered the most. That's his most lasting legacy, I think. Cancer had stolen his ability to speak on television, but Twitter gave him a new voice and a platform with millions of new readers and fans. And now we all mourn the loss of a a great writer, communicator and powerhouse Progressive. But above all he was a really, really nice guy, certainly someone you would love to see a movie with, and go for a hamburger afterward to analyze every scene.

And like the movie heroes he loved, he was brave - he stood up for what he believed, and he fought cancer like a boss. R.I.P., Dear Critic from Chicago - I wish we had hundreds more just like you.

Roger Ebert's Last Column: "A Leave of Presence"
 
Fans and Celebrities React to the Death of Roger Ebert 

LA Times Hero Complex: A Look Back at 5 Fan Favorite Reviews by Roger Ebert





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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Chris Dorner Stand-Off in Big Bear Causes More Than One Death

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I watched hours of live video streaming from a local CBS station in California yesterday as police engaged in a firefight and stand-off with Chris Dorner, a revenge cop-killer who has been on a rampage threatening to shoot anyone who ever wronged him.

Dorner's Complete Manifesto PDF via LA Times

From USA Today
Investigators were picking through the rubble of a burned-out cabin in California's San Bernardino Mountains on Wednesday, trying to piece together details of the violent last stand for a fugitive former Los Angeles police officer whose life apparently ended hours earlier in a barrage of bullets and blazing fire.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office said charred human remains were found in the rubble where Christopher Dorner is said to have been cornered Tuesday. "We have reason to believe that it is him," sheriff's spokeswoman Cynthia Bachman said.

A wallet with a California driver's license bearing the name Christopher Dorner also was found . . .

. . . Los Angeles Police Department Cmdr. Andrew Smith said it was "highly likely" that Dorner had been inside when authorities heard a single gunshot and saw the cabin burning in Seven Oaks, a small community in the San Bernardino Mountains, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles.

But Smith said that until Dorner's body is positively identified "or he's in shackles," the LAPD is continuing under "tactical alert ... as if he's still out there." Police will continue to protect dozens of officers and others threatened in Dorner's online manifesto.

SWAT teams had fired tear gas inside of the cabin as part of a "tactical operation" and were tearing down its walls to flush out Dorner, who had reportedly been driven back inside by police when he tried to flee out the back.

Police have not explained what started the fire in the cabin. Officers had thrown tear gas canisters into the cabin and shouted to Dorner to surrender.

Prior to the fire, Dorner's vehicle had been found burned out over the mountain from the cabin. He then took two women in another cabin hostage and stole their car, wrecked that and stole a truck from a man. When wildlife and game officials stopped Dorner, he fled into the woods, ending up at the cabin where the firefight occurred.







Reporters got dangerously close to the violence yesterday while bullets were flying and two wildlfe and game officers were shot. One later died, while the other is in critical condition. Before dark smoke began to rise from the cabin, and as of today, the body has been identified as Chris Dorner. But I'm sure the story isn't over. There will always been those who think Dorner got away, or at the best think it was wrong to burn up the cabin if he was in there alive.





More background on Dorner:



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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Newtown Parents: "Change That Will Outlast Any Legislative Careers"

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"Sandy Hook won't be remembered for the tragedy, but for what started here."
~ David Wheeler, Ben's father



Rachel Maddow did an incredibly moving interview in Newtown, Connecticut with the parents of seven-year old Benjamin Wheeler, a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre. They were among the parents who met to start Sandy Hook Promise, a group pledging to take a measured approach beyond politics to make children safe from gun violence.

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"It's really not about your party, right now. I really feel like it's about our children. At this moment my gut's telling me that we have to keep talking about the children. They are the future of this country. They're going to be the next set of parents and they would want the same things we want - protection and safety."
~ Francine Wheeler, Ben's mother

The policy debate may move quickly, but we all know that legislation does not move quickly, and we know that government doesn't move quickly. We know that culture and societal change moves much slower than that. It's glacial.
So there may be quick moves in legislation here and there. There may be quick policy announcements or quick policy stances taken by many different people. But what this group is talking about is change that may outlast a great number of legislators' careers.
So this may go through a few generations of people in positions of representation. If that's what it takes, that's what it takes, because we are in it for that long.
~ David Wheeler, Ben's father

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Wisdom of Youth: Teens React to Newtown

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Out of the mouths of babes. These teenagers make so much sense, which begs the question of why grown-ups are so stupid sometimes?

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Monday, December 24, 2012

Bill Moyers: "The Bells Rang for the Lost" in Newtown

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First-graders. Six and seven years old. Pledge Allegiance to the flag. Lock and Load. Our new Head Start.


BILL MOYERS: Welcome. The bells rang for the lost: Charlotte Bacon, Olivia Engel, Ana Marquez-Greene, Dylan Hockley, Madeline Hsu, Catherine Hubbard, Jesse Lewis, James Mattioli, Emilie Parker, Jack Pinto, Noah Pozner, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Avielle Richman, Benjamin Wheeler, and Allison Wyatt. All were six years old.

Daniel Barden, Josephine Gay, Chase Kowalski, and Grace McDonnell were 7.

Six adults died with them: Mary Sherlach, Anne Marie Murphy, Dawn Hochsprung, Lauren Rousseau, Rachel D’Avino, Victoria Soto.

It helps to say their names, to rescue them from the statistical anonymity that always settles over these awful events. It helps those of us distanced from the loss to imagine, even grieve, the emptiness in the homes and hearts of those who loved them. They will never forget. We mourn, move on, and too soon forget. And then it will happen again one day, and we will scratch our heads and ask ourselves, “Was the last time Newtown? Or Columbine? Was it Aurora? Or that college in Virginia?” And once again we will mourn, move on, and too soon forget.

There is an old Hassidic saying that, “In remembrance is the secret of redemption.” But America forgets quickly, and gives no lasting indication it seeks redemption from its fetish with guns, its romance with the free market of violence. With the sport of it all. The show must go on. It’s our right. At any price. What were their names again? Oh, yes, Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Dylan, Allison, Dawn. Poor things, such a tragedy. Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition.

And so we make our peace with violence. And make ourselves over in its image. A state senator in Missouri, a life-time member of the National Rifle Association, is pushing a bill to require that all first graders be enrolled in the NRA’s gun safety course. First-graders. Six and seven years old. Pledge Allegiance to the flag. Lock and Load. Our new Head Start.

A state senator in Tennessee’s Republican legislature says he will introduce a bill that would allow the state to pay for secretly armed teachers in classrooms. Saintly Miss Simpson, packing heat. Hey, Mr. Russell, it’s show and tell, can we see your Glock 9? After the Newtown killings, a sixth-grader at an elementary school near Salt Lake City brought a gun to school, saying he wanted to protect himself and his friends. Instead, allegedly, he used it to threaten some classmates. As The Good Book says, get with it, “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Ready. Aim. Fire.

And for the child who has everything this season, how about body armor? A Utah company named Amendment II offers a new line of it for kids. Mother Jones Magazine reports sales have tripled in one week. A Massachusetts company is promoting The Bullet Blocker, a “rugged computer backpack designed for work or play.” Made of the same materials used in bullet-proof police vests, currently on sale for the holidays for $199.99. And on Facebook, an outfit called Black Dragon Tactical that sells vests and other combat gear sent this message: “Arm the teachers, in the meantime, bulletproof the kids.”

This market never closes. America’s turned violence into a profit center. And if you haven’t finished your Christmas shopping, no need to wait for Santa; his sleigh couldn’t even hold the heavy weapons. Step this way. Black Friday is every day. And we have something for everyone, from cradle to grave. From cradle to grave.

Surely this can’t go on. This spilling of innocent blood, this bleeding of democracy’s soul. We’re losing faith in ourselves, acting as subjects, not citizens, no longer believing that it is in our power to do the right thing. We Americans are not smarter than other people, and certainly no more virtuous. Our exceptionalism is our capacity for self-correction. To reach the bridge of the ship, point to the iceberg dead ahead, and demand of the captain a change of course before it’s too late. “They,” the gun industry, its profiteers, zealots and apologists, its political stooges, fabulists, and constitutional originalists, who would have us think the “well-regulated militia” of a sparsely-populated frontier nation in the 18th century really means tolerating a perpetual wild west here in the 21st century. “They” say, “don’t tread on us, get off our well-armed backs, there’s nothing you can do.”

Of course there is. Register all guns. License all gun owners. Require stringent background checks. Get tough on assault weapons of any kind. Crack down on high-capacity ammunition as the President has now proposed. And then, enforce the laws. Yes, I know, determined killers will always find a way. But we can minimize the opportunities, and scale back the scope of destruction. Why do we accept the need for driver’s licenses? Or submit to the sometimes humiliating body scans at airports? Because it’s the law, and deep down we know we’re safer for the inconvenience of the law.

Good laws are hard to come by. Civilization, just as hard. The rough and tumble of politics makes them so. But democracy aims for a moral order as just as humanly possible, which means laws that protect the weak and not just the strong. Lest we forget.
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Sunday, December 23, 2012

Enough! Demand a Plan

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Fantastic Public Service Announcements for Demand a Plan against Gun Violence. These gave me chills - I just pray it doesn't happen again before something can be done.

Many more Videos Here on YouTube






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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Changing the Gun Culture

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President Obama spoke today about creating a task force headed by Joe Biden to figure out ways to stop gun violence.


Of course the President has the best of intentions, but with Congress out of session for the holidays, and the President's Inauguration early next year, the timeline for working out a plan will take until at least the end of January. Many are worried that it will take too long to get legislation going, or that the will of the people will dry up at the grassroots level, allowing the NRA to usurp the message after their press conference on Friday of this week.

But I don't think so - not this time. Things are happening all over the country that are fundamentally different in a way we've never seen before and people are taking action - Check it out:


New Jersey Has Record-Setting Gun Buyback
"A lot of people said they don't want the guns around the house now," said state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa as he announced the result of the program held Friday and Saturday at two Camden churches. The state brought in 1,137 guns, surpassing the previous record of 700 weapons from a 2009 Essex County event. Among them were scores of rifles, shotguns and pistols, sawed-off shotguns, a century-old antique weapon, a rifle used for hunting elephants and five fully automatic weapons. Some 90 percent were in working condition. Many were illegal weapons under state laws; some were so-called community guns stashed around neighborhood. Nearly all are to be destroyed.
. . . The state had $110,000 in cash to give to those who turned in guns, along with $6,000 in gift cards left over from a previous program.
"At 2 o'clock," he said, "we were out of money."



From Gawker:
Stephen Barton, one of the 58 movie-goers injured during the mass shooting in Aurora that claimed the lives of 12 people, appears in a new non-partisan PSA asking voters to demand a plan from both President Obama and his GOP rival Mitt Romney to curb gun violence.
"I was lucky," Barton, who was struck by 25 shotgun pellets, says as he sits inside an empty movie theater. "In the next four years, 48,000 Americans won't be so lucky because they'll be murdered with guns in the next president's term — enough to fill over 200 theaters."
The push for a "plan" is backed by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of 725 mayors called who have set up an online petition that has received over 250,000 signatures to date.



Danbury, CT, Gun Show Cancelled
The Danbury Gun & Knife Show scheduled for Jan. 5-6 has been canceled. The show’s promoter, Big Al’s Silver Bullet Productions, announced the cancellation on its website, as did Mayor Mark Boughton on Twitter.
The show was to include ”Premium Knives, Firearms, Gun Accessories, Ammo, Tactical Clothing, Hard-to-Find Items, Tactical Gear and more!”
A call to Big Al’s was picked up Tuesday afternoon by a person who responded, “No comment,” when asked why the gun show was canceled.

Florida Pawn Shop Owner Stops Selling Guns
“Dropped her (his daughter) off yesterday, saw the children, came to work prepared to display our firearms, and the first one I display is a Bushmaster AR-15," James said. "I said to myself, 'that’s it; I just can’t hang this on my wall.' ”
James said he is still a firm believer in the Second Amamendment. He’ll continue to carry a firearm, and he will have them in his home, but he can no longer fathom the possibility of a gun he sells end up in the wrong hands.
“It would have been devastating," he said. "I think of that scenario every day."
James and his daughter have tacked up green and white ribbons in place of the guns to honor the victims of the Connecticut shooting.
James said he’s not sure what he’s going to do with all of the guns, and since gun sales were such a large part of his business, he will have to make some changes in order to keep the store open.

Private Equity Firm Cerberus Sells Bushmaster Gun Stake
Calling the deadly assault "tragic and devastating," private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management said Tuesday that it will sell its 95% stake in Freedom Group Inc., which makes the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle that police said was used in the attack.
The massacre was a "watershed event that has raised the national debate on gun control to an unprecedented level," Cerberus said.
. . . The California State Teachers' Retirement System said Monday that it would review its holdings in Cerberus in early January because of its link with Bushmaster. Through its investment in Cerberus, CalSTRS owns 2.4% of Freedom Group.

Dick's Sporting Goods Pulls Guns from Shelves
Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc., the largest U.S. sporting-goods chain, suspended sales of modern sporting rifles nationwide in the wake of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, as the massacre’s victims are mourned.
Sales of all guns have been stopped at its store closest to the shooting, the Coraopolis, Pennsylvania-based company said today in an e-mailed statement.
. . . “We are extremely saddened by the unspeakable tragedy that occurred last week,” the company said in the statement. Dick’s is removing the guns “out of respect for the victims and their families.”

Coach Pat Kelsey Demands Action on Guns
The last thing I want to say is I'm really, really lucky, because I'm going to get on an eight-hour bus ride, and I'm going to arrive in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and I'm going to walk into my house, and I'm going to walk upstairs, and I'm going to walk into two pink rooms with a 5-year-old and a 4-year-old laying in that pink room, with a bunch of teddy bears laying in that room," he said, concluding his remarks in the wake of a 65-55 loss at No. 7 Ohio State.
"And I'm going to give them the biggest hug and the biggest kiss I've ever given them. And there's 20 families in Newtown, Conn., that are walking into a pink room with a bunch of teddy bears with nobody laying in those beds. And it's tragic."


. . . "I know this microphone's powerful right now, because we're playing the (seventh)-best team in the country," he said. "I'm not going to have a microphone like this the rest of the year, maybe the rest of my life."
"I don't know what needs to be done. I'm not smart enough to know what needs to be done, OK?" he said. "I know this country's got issues. Is it a gun issue? Is it a mental illness issue? Or is it a society that has lost the fact, the understanding, that decent human values are important?"
Kelsey called on political leaders to get past petty differences and accomplish something.
"I didn't vote for President Obama. But you know what? He's my president now. He's my leader. I need him to step up," he said. "Mr. (John) Boehner, the Speaker of the House ... OK, he needs to step up."
"Parents, teachers, rabbis, priests, coaches — everybody needs to step up. This has to be a time for change," he said. "And I'm going to be an agent of change with the 13 young men I get to coach every day and the two little girls that I get to raise. But hopefully things start changing, because it's really, really disappointing."
His voice rising, and with his eyes welling, he finished by saying, "I'm proud to grow up American. I'm proud to say I'm part of the greatest country ever. And that's got to stay that way. And it'll stay that way if we change.
"But we've got to change."

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