WHAT WE CANNOT DO IS USE THIS TRAGEDY AS ONE MORE OPPORTUNITY TO TURN ON EACH OTHER….
“….Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let’s use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together….”
Read the whole of the president’s speech here.
NEW REPORT DETAILS THE COST OF INCARCERATION FOR AMERICA’S CHILDREN
In our nation right now, 1.7 million children have a parent in prison.
Using expert analysis and first-hand testimony from children, parents and care-givers, a new report from Justice Strategies details the affect on a kid of having a parent behind bars..
Find the report here.
This is from the summary:
The report details the challenges faced by children of incarcerated parents whose experience of grief and loss is compounded by economic insecurity, family instability, a compromised sense of self-worth, attachment and trust problems, and social stigmatization when their parents are incarcerated. The report outlines the ways in which parental incarceration can influence negative outcomes for youth, including mental health problems, possible school failure and unemployment, and antisocial and delinquent behavior.
As with the punitive consequences of our mandatory sentencing and mass incarceration policies, the impact of parental incarceration falls disproportionately on children of color. African American children are seven times and Latino children two and half times more likely to have a parent in prison than white children. The estimated risk of parental imprisonment for white children by the age of 14 is one in 25, while for black children it is one in four by the same age.
LASD DEPUTY MOHAMED AHMED CONSIDERED AN ESPECIALLY PROMISING OFFICER
The LA Times’ Robert Faturechi and Andrew Blankstein have a good story about the sheriff’s deputy, Mohamed Ahmed, who was shot in the face by a suspect in Boyle Heights on Tuesday night.
Ahmed is still in critical condition and will likely lose an eye but he is definitely expected to survive.
Mohamed Ahmed was new to the streets. Nestor Torres was a far more familiar, some say infamous, presence when their lives collided at a dark East Los Angeles intersection.
Ahmed was a deputy in training, just a few weeks on the beat, learning the ropes in a rough stretch of the Eastside with a veteran deputy. A Somali immigrant, the 27-year-old Ahmed was seen as a promising young deputy in the department, and supported his six younger siblings and his mother with his salary.
[SNIP]Baca said he saw Ahmed as a future leader in the Sheriff’s Department, noting that his Muslim background could help build bridges. He said Ahmed believed in the “American dream” and preached religious tolerance, volunteering his time at local Islamic community centers and doing outreach for the Sheriff’s Department with the Muslim community.
On Wednesday, doctors at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center were treating Ahmed’s wounds as investigators pieced together what happened at the intersection. Ahmed’s condition is not considered life-threatening, but doctors said he suffered a severe wound to one of his eyes and to other parts of his face.
When he awoke Wednesday morning, his mother told officials that he asked about the condition of his partner and the welfare of his brothers. He also asked when he could return to work.
CALIFORNIA JUDGE WILL HEAR THE ARIZONA SHOOTING CASE DUE TO CONFLICTS
The AP has the story:
A federal judge from southern California has been appointed to the case against the man accused of shooting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a federal judge and other federal employees.
The appointment of Judge Larry A. Burns came Wednesday after all federal judges in Arizona recused themselves.
The recusal order says the Arizona judges’ impartiality could be questioned because U.S. District Judge John Roll was killed during the rampage. Roll was the chief federal judge for Arizona.
THE INHUMANE TREATMENT OF BRADLEY MANNING
In the emotions of the past few days this LA Times editorial about the appalling treatment of Pfc. Bradley Manning while Manning is in prison got lost, but it is worth reading:
Pfc. Bradley Manning, the 23-year-old Army intelligence analyst suspected of providing documents to WikiLeaks, can’t reasonably complain that the military has him in custody. But the conditions under which he is being held at the Marine detention center at Quantico, Va., are so harsh as to suggest he is being punished for conduct of which he hasn’t been convicted.
Manning has been charged with unlawfully downloading classified information and transmitting it “with reason to believe that the information could cause injury to the United States.” He has been incarcerated at Quantico for five months and has yet to receive the military equivalent of a preliminary hearing.
[SNIP]
Some see Manning as a whistle-blower who deserves leniency for exposing official duplicity; others believe that, like anyone who engages in civil disobedience, Manning, if guilty, should accept punishment for his actions. But regardless of one’s view of his alleged conduct, the conditions under which he is being held are indefensible.
Photo by Gina Ferazzi, LA Times
Nicely put by Obama/ “….Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let’s use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together….”
Think Bill Maher might not agree, but hey, it’s the republicans that are the haters right?
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Bill Maher is pretty much the only media figure on the left who possesses the rhetorical talent to do battle with the Rush Limbaughs and Glenn Becks of the world.
(Related: CNN would have solved a lot of their problems by giving, really convincing, Maher to take the 8pm slot.)
Last night he blazed through the Tonight Show — in the face of a rather stunned looking Jay Leno — announcing among other bon mots, that Fox News has no intention of changing its rhetoric because “the go-to rhetoric for the right-wing is ‘wouldn’t it be fun to kill the people we disagree with.”
Bill Maher has done network before. Think he learned his lesson.
And to be fair to SF, Bill Maher delights in being the provocateur. That’s pretty much understood by by folk who see his comedy for what it is.
Jon Stewart routinely fillets Beck and Limbaugh rhetorically. Stephen Colbert skews them by parody.
One thing that I find disturbing is that sales of the 30 round extended clip for Glocks have spiked since the shootings.
For the record, although I don’t own one now, I grew up around guns. My dad collected and we had several .22 smallbore rifles, a couple of 20 gauge and one double barreled 12 gauge shotgun, a couple of Remington gold plated 150th anniversary commemoratives, a Czech Army automatic pistol, a Colt 45 revolver and a Sako (Finnish made) deer rifle. All were purchased at the Rod & Gun Club when my dad was stationed in Germany and we were living there. I used to skeet shoot and do the occasional target practice at ranges when I lived in Alabama.
That being said, I believe that for anyone outside of law enforcement, if you need a 30 shot magazine to defend yourself, then maybe a pistol is not the best choice for you.
We have to respect the 2nd amendment, but I think considering the times we’re living in, and not to mention, Saturday’s events, we need additional scrutiny as to who’s buying guns, who’s possessing them, and giving government perhaps more power to take guns away from those who clearly bought them to do harm. Nobody’s calling for an end to the 2nd amendment. Just some realistic measures to keep guns out of the hands of unstable people, like the kinds of people you see on t.v. attending these rallies today. When someone clearly isn’t sane, they shouldn’t have a gun.
Bill Maher is a truly nasty guy who says truly nasty things, but he’s not very smart, neither are his followers. His comedy is stale, same rap for a long time now, what’s funny about the same old same old day after day? Stewart and Colbert are nothing like him, both are funny. Yeah, there’s no way he’d go to network.
If the 2nd Amendment protects the right of private persons to own the weapons that any self-respecting militia in the present day needs to equip itself, that should include fully automatic assault weapons, anti-tank weapons and anti-aircraft weapons. Otherwise how the hell do we protect ourselves from a Kenyan Islamic Socialist who commands the world’s most powerful army ?
All the rest, and anything less, is dick-wagging bullshit by loudmouths compensating for small members…
Home protection is best done with a shotgun, which anyone who can pass a background check for felonies or lunacy should be allowed to own, along with other hunting rifles and small arms.
Let “Patriots” step up to defending that consistent interpretation regarding “militias” of the 2nd Amendment in the context of the21st Century, if they really think like the cretin Sharron Angle or Gifford’s electoral “enemy” they need to be personally armed as private citizens in their capacity as part of a militia for protection against their own government’s
“tyranny.” This isn’t even a little bit of a joke. Words have meaning. “Strict construction” “is” or it “isn’t.” If the NRA and other such weasels really believe this shit, they should have the balls to actually make the argument. Moderation in defense against Kenyan Islamic Socialism is no vice.
Ooops – that should read “extremism in defense against Kenyan Islamic Socialism is no vice.”
What-TF was I thinking ???
Yet he talks about my posts?
“All the rest, and anything less, is dick-wagging bullshit by loudmouths compensating for small members…”
Dick wagging and small members in the same line, wow.
Weak shot…
Would you like to respond to the substance of my comment. I would love to hear your deep thoughts…
There rarely any substance to your comments Reg, no difference in the one you want me to comment on. It’s meaningless tripe that you post to bash the right, not have a serious debate about.
I will call you out on your idea that a shotgun is the best weapon for the defense of your home. I’ll take my handgun with several clips and a much greater chance of hitting your target ( with minimal training) than a shotgun with a scatter effect good only at a short distance unless your using slugs. For females in particular the handgun is a no brainer.
Yeah most shootings are close up but much easier to use a handgun than a shotgun regardless.
For Pokey – somewhere, I’m not sure which thread, I think I asserted that you were wrong in stating Sheriff Dupnik ever mentioned “Rush” by name. I’ve since seen a later statement where he did single Limbaugh out for his rhetoric. You were right on that score, I was wrong.