Obscanity: You'll know it when you see it

I could go off on a long rant about gun control here, but I’ll just share some scattered thoughts on yesterday’s shooting in Santa Monica, which hit way too close to home in every respect.

How come people only freak out and demand gun control legislation after one of these massive shootings in a usually-quiet neighborhood? Isn’t gun violence also terrible when it happens on a daily basis in cities across the nation? At our old house, we used to hear gunshots fairly frequently. The first time it happened, we tried calling the police. They brushed us off. And it really sucked when a guy was murdered in a drive-by shooting a few houses down from us because some gang members thought he was a member of a rival gang. He wasn’t. But nobody made any demands for gun control then. I don’t even think they published the guy’s name in the newspaper. You had to try really hard just to find the inch of column space the shooting received. This happens every day. Why are we letting this happen every day?

Why is it that the same people who bitch and moan about the constitutional notions of “separation of church and state” and “fundamental right to privacy” do a full flip-flop when it comes to the alleged unequivocal constitutional right to personally own military-style weaponry with virtually no governmental regulation or interference? Have they read the full 2nd Amendment?

How many more mass shootings is it going to take for us to make a change? When is enough enough? If a classroom full of murdered kindergarteners wasn’t enough… what is?

If we can regulate and track the sale of pseudoephedrine, why can’t we regulate and track ammunition sales? As with ammunition, mere purchase of pseudoephedrine is not illegal, nor is possession. But if somebody lives in the middle of a densely-populated city with virtually no open land for hunting and they suddenly start stockpiling ammunition meant for semi-automatic weapons, it seems like we ought to care as much as we do if somebody goes to four different pharmacies and buys out their supply of Sudafed. And yet somehow we don’t.

Required viewing.

Longtime White House correspondent Helen Thomas retiring – CNN.com.

Wow. I had no idea. Does she realize that many Jews never left Israel, or never left the Middle East, or did not move to Israel from Europe but from Africa or Asia, or that Germany and Poland were never our true home? We were always from the Middle East. When we were in Europe, most people there hoped we would go back to where we came from, if not simply perish. So to say we should “go back to Germany/Poland” is to completely misunderstand the Jewish people as a whole. I don’t know if “Go back to Africa” is really an accurate analogy; that would be closer if she had said Jews should get out of America and go back to Israel. A better analogy would be if a community of freed slaves – or even their ancestors today – returned to their homes in Africa only to be told to “Go back to Virginia.”

Iran ready to protect Gaza-bound ships – UPI.com.

Faaaantastic. So now Iran gets to do what it’s been DYING to do for years, with an excuse that makes it look like it’s not the aggressor. If Iran hadn’t been supporting Hamas financially and militarily all this time, perhaps there wouldn’t be a need for a blockade in the first place.

Iran Red Crescent to send aid to Gaza – CNN.com.

If I never hear the word “flotilla” again it will be too soon. If Israel wouldn’t allow ships from a friendly nation to break the blockade, what makes them think it’s going to allow “aid” from Iran without inspection? Doesn’t Gaza get enough “aid” from Iran through its underground tunnels? In any event, Hamas has alrea…dy announced that it is holding all flotilla aid itself hostage by refusing to allow it into the country unless Israel meets demands. All that aid from those other ships is just sitting there because Hamas refuses to touch it.

Kenyan Police Disperse Gay Wedding – NYTimes.com.

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan police officers broke up a gay wedding on Friday and arrested several wedding guests, saying they had to intervene before an irate mob could stone the wedding party to death…

Actor David Carradine found dead – CNN.com.

Holy crap.

Random creepy feeling that this was a murder, not a suicide. But what do I know?

Slain girl’s family express ‘shock and disbelief’ at neighbor’s arrest – CNN.com.

"There was some speculation early on that [the suspect] would be a man," Sheneman said Saturday. "It's unusual for a woman — statistically, according to the FBI — to be involved in anything like this."

That’s why it’s interesting that I’ve seen more than a few commenters on news articles speculate that she might be covering for somebody. It just seems a little… off. I have the feeling there will be more to this story.

Pam’s House Blend:: Freepers debate whether women should be able to vote.

Um….. no, I’m pretty sure I can think of more horrific episodes in American history linked to excessive mixing of church and government (from Salem right on up to Tweedle Dubya). Racism has been a pretty active player too. But the female vote? Sorry, no. The only bad thing that ever came from the female vote was Prohibition, and frankly I think that had just as much to do with the fact that women were sick of being beaten by their drunkard husbands. And oh yeah – also because Jesus hates the booze. Bit of a religion thing after all.

Pam’s House Blend:: Louisiana: unarmed, black, 73-year-old cancer survivor shot dead by police.

Dad marries girlfriend, 17, to ‘fulfill a wish for Haleigh’ – CNN.com.

Creepy, yes. But a little less creepy once you do some digging into past stories and realize that “Dad” is only 25 years old. Aged 17 and 25, and getting married? My eyebrows are raised very, very high. But it’s still not quite as scummy as it seems at first glance.

Shooter planned ‘to go out in grand style,’ investigator says – CNN.com.

Call me heartless, but why can’t these people just KILL THEMSELVES FIRST instead of taking out so many people on the way? They always die in the end anyway. Not that I wish them dead, but if they’re going to kill themselves anyway, can’t they just skip right to the big finish instead of tearing families apart and slaughtering people who didn’t want to die?

I edited this from the original post to include my comment to the person who commented below, because I think it’s important to address this issue.

I understand that people “made fun of him” and that this may have contributed to his actions. I really do. I don’t condone it, but I understand it. That said, much of the time, the people who get killed are not the people who were responsible for creating a monster. Look at Columbine. Yes, some of the people killed were athletes who had tormented Harris and Klebold. But many of them were not. In this case a baby was shot, and a toddler killed. Did these children participate in any behavior that warranted a bullet? Really?

I don’t think mockery warrants capital punishment. And believe me – I know what it’s like to be made fun of by a lot of people, and I know what it’s like to be the target of everybody’s negative attention. But wouldn’t it be just as effective to go on to be more successful than the people who mocked you? Or take them to court for harassment? Or just tell them to fuck off? Why is killing them the logical answer? What is so fragile about the male ego that injuring it warrants capital punishment? You’re talking about the same sort of “shame” that makes men in Muslim countries throw acid on the faces of women who reject their marriage proposals. And god forbid a gay man should accidentally mistake a straight man for gay and say something even remotely suggestive – suddenly the gay man finds himself dead on a fence post. Why is it that men think they can excuse murderous behavior by saying they did it because their feelings were hurt?

In any event, killing people does not teach anybody to be nicer. It just gives people more reason to ostracize and avoid those who seem like they might “snap.” These people do worse for the fate of all outcasts than any athlete or smartass could possibly do, by becoming what everybody fears. You think things got any better for high school outcasts after Columbine? Fuck that. They got worse. The same will happen for people like this guy. People hate what they fear, and they oppress what they hate. This man just made things a lot worse for everybody else like him.

Ex-president of Israel blasts legal ‘lynching’ after rape indictment – CNN.com.

“The attorney general, the state prosecutor’s office, the police, politicians and journalists have shed my blood daily. For 32 months my rights and my honor have been trampled on and the lynching will not stop.”

K, I don’t know much about this guy, but it seems to me that a right-wing Israeli politician being accused of rape does not get to speak in lynching metaphors or claim his “blood” is being spilled by the press. Nuh uh.

The girl in the window – St. Petersburg Times.

Give yourself a little time to read this one.

War message found inside Lincoln’s watch – CNN.com.

I love random history articles. At least we know what he meant by his inscription, thanks to his interview! (or at least, what he wanted people to think he meant)

Exxon Valdez oil could persist for ‘decades and possibly centuries’ | Greenspace | Los Angeles Times.

The “stunning” legacy of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska is the persistence of oil along the beaches of Prince William Sound that in places is “nearly as toxic as it was the first few weeks after the spill,” says a new report from the group charged with monitoring the cleanup.

Clinton criticizes Israel plan to raze Palestinian homes – Los Angeles Times.

What could Israel possibly be thinking?

I’ve always wondered what the big fight is over east Jerusalem. Jerusalem belongs to all of us. I do not understand why Israel is unwilling to relinquish the eastern section, which if I remember it correctly is already predominately, if not entirely, composed of Arab residents.

So You Want to Boycott Israel?.

Pam’s House Blend:: More Racist Emails from Florida Republicans.

The GOP committeewoman thought it would be hilarious to make some jokes about the large number of black people going to the inauguration and how it proves they should have been able to get themselves out of New Orleans for Katrina.

Read the email – and then read her “apology.” How is this “joke” even funny? I mean, the woman demonstrates in one fell swoop her 1) racism; 2) class insensitivity; 3) able-ism; 4) ignorance of massive government failure; and 5) stupidity: making a racist comment to 5 people as opposed to 500 doesn’t make you proportionately less racist; it just means you’re proportionately less likely to be exposed. But guess what? OOOOPS.

Talking Points Memo | Neanderthal Party.

The Republican Theme Song: “We’d like to thank you Herbert Hooverrr, for really showin’ us the waaay, we’d like to thank you Herbert Hooverrr, you made us what we are todaaaay.”

How I Made a 1,474-Megapixel Photo During President Obama’s Inaugural Address | David Bergman — ALL ACCESS — sports, concert, and music photographer.

107-year-old: ‘Nothing but the greatest!’ – CNN.com.

😀

Congratulations, America!

List of rocket and mortar attacks in Israel in 2008.

So like… just how many are they expected to tolerate before retaliation is finally allowed? Bear in mind that Israel is TINY – not much larger than Riverside County, or about 1/3 – 1/2 the size of San Bernardino County. It’s not a large country. So tell me – how many rockets does this tiny country less than half the size of the fucking 909 have to put up with before it’s allowed to fight back without people accusing it of being a big bad imperialist?

Israelis strike homes of 2 top Hamas figures; at least 1 killed – CNN.com.

Rayan had urged Gazans not to abandon their homes during the Israeli air attacks, even if they received threats to evacuate, Arab media reported.

Well isn’t that nice. Israel goes out of its way to warn Gaza civilians of impending strikes so as to reduce the loss of life, and this Hamas leader essentially goes, “No, no, stay in your house. You know, so we can blame Israel when you die in the airstrike…”

Will Hamas find a way to blame this one on Israel as well? Israel opened the borders to humanitarian aid, and what did the militants do? They kept firing rockets into Israel – even if some of them didn’t make it all the way there. Surprise? No. A damned shame? Yes. These children are proof that these militants have little regard for the lives of the people around them, even while they claim to be fighting for them.

Rocket kills 2 children after Gaza border reopens – CNN.com.

JERUSALEM (CNN) — A rocket fired by Palestinian militants fell on a Gaza home and killed two children, Palestinian sources said Friday, the same day Israel opened three Gaza border crossings for the first time in 10 days.