Blog Heap o'Links for December 2012

Links in this view: 10
3

Defending Ourselves

Since it seems its always criminals that do these shootings, they should pass a law banning criminals. Law abiding people abide by laws, especially when they own guns.

We've tried laws abridging our civil right to carry guns. We've tried 22,000 of them. That's the number of anti-gun laws on the books in America. They don't stop criminals from doing criminal things.

This is my first proposal: What we really need is laws banning murder, attempted murder, and so forth. With punishments! Threatening criminals with punishment will work. It just hasn't been tried yet.

Gun-free zones are great places for criminals to go murdering with guns, which they almost always attain illegally (since they're criminals, you see.) This is probably because they know that it is unlikely that someone who obeys laws will be there to shoot back (since they are law-abiders, you see.) Since 1950, all but one mass killing has happened in a gun-free zone!

My second proposal, then, is to ban gun-free zones. If they do not exist, then the criminals won't know where it is safe for them to go murdering. Since criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot, this may in some way deter them from going for the easy, no-risk murders.

It is also clear that where gun laws are strictest, murder rates by guns are the highest.

Therefore, I believe national, comprehensive guncare is a pressing issue of the highest priority. This is my third proposal. Let everyone who can afford a handgun buy one, or if they don't, pay a fine. And let them pay just a little more to make sure the most vulnerable among us can get affordable guns that will protect them in dire circumstances.

The Affordable Care Act is a good blueprint for what such a law should look like, and I call on Speaker Boner to draft and pass such a comprehensive gun care law for the good of the country- and for the children.

Some say we cannot afford to make everyone in America a gun owner. There are still some 100 million of us unprotected. To those folks, I will simply say we cannot afford to see another criminal in a gun-free zone prey upon the most vulnerable; we cannot afford NOT to act to stop the next Newtown massacre.

6:45pm CST Thu 2012 Dec 20 :MW
2

Marriage Today

It is time for us to pull apart the institution of marriage from the definition of a legal union.

Marriage should be determined by the church, whatever church you belong to. Some religions agree to same-sex marriages, others do not.

On the other hand, the state should not meddle with the definition of marriage, but focus instead on determining the legality and requirements of civil unions.

Marriage -- and the relationship between partners and their God -- should be defined by the church.

Civil unions and their legalities should be defined by the state.

It would breach the idea of freedom of religion to force a priest or pastor who does not believe in same-sex marriage to perform such a union.

The division? The government should issue civil-union licenses that could be referenced for legal/insurance matters. Churches should continue to perform marriages as they see fit. The churches' determinations would not affect couples' legal standing in terms of taxes, benefits, etc.

1:49pm CST Thu 2012 Dec 13 :MJ
3

Human Right

How four justices of the U.S. Supreme Court could have concluded that the Second Amendment does not guarantee the right of individuals to own firearms is baffling and horrifying to me, but that is what they believe.To my surprise the most powerful guardians of the Second Amendment have come not from law schools but from cable television network programming meetings.… By making the widespread ownership and use of firearms acceptable and normal to millions of people who have never touched a gun, these shows have unwittingly saved the Second Amendment.…Top Shot, a reality TV show on the History Channel…allows decorated military veterans, public servants like policemen and firemen and educated and intelligent civilian hobbyists to demonstrate their skill in the shooting sports and their respect for, and love of, firearms., …Sons of Guns is a reality TV show on the Discovery Channel about a custom gunsmith business in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.…American Guns is a reality TV show on the Discovery Channel about a family gunsmith business in Denver, Colorado.…Family Guns is a reality TV show on National Geographic about a father and son who buy, sell and restore rare firearms.…Each of these shows allows people from all walks of life, and especially people in urban areas who have never even seen or touched a real firearm, and who know about firearms only what they see in action movies and in news stories of homicidal maniacs with "assault rifles," to see smart, educated, classy men, women and youngsters using firearms completely safely and purely for sports, fun, and entertainment. These television shows unintentionally have the effect of introducing people to the safe and fun use of firearms.

1:45pm CST Thu 2012 Dec 6 :MJ
2

People Die

Besse Cooper died peacefully… in a Georgia nursing home at age 116. …listed as the world's oldest person…

10:08pm CST Tue 2012 Dec 4 :MW
1

Obamanation

Scary O

He is a Communist without question promoting the Communist Manifesto without calling it so. How shrewd he is in America. His cult of personality mesmerizes those who cannot go beyond their ignorance. They will continue to follow him like those fools who still praise Lenin and Stalin in Russia. Obama's fools and Stalin's fools share the same drink of illusion. [Um... Pravda??]

8:56pm CST Mon 2012 Dec 3 :MW
2

Art of

Peter Jackson's eagerly awaited new film is the first to be shot using high-speed 3D cameras that capture twice the normal number of frames per second. But some viewers said the filming techniques made them feel nauseous and even caused migraines.

8:52pm CST Mon 2012 Dec 3 :MW

Marriage Today

seeking to have his marriage annulled after discovering that his Indonesian wife of 19 years had been born a man. … said that he and his wife had decided not to have children because he had two by his previous marriage and she fooled him by pretending to menstruate, using sanitary towels, "to conceal the truth". … "Even during sex, I never noticed anything."

8:59pm CST Mon 2012 Dec 3 :MW
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Mass Media is Dead

Two local news anchors in Bangor, Maine resigned on air without warning over claims they were not allowed by upper management to pursue their ethical duties as reporters. Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio of ABC affiliate, WVII announced the move at the end of their 6 p.m. broadcast. [video]

12:16pm CST Sun 2012 Dec 2 :MW
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It's All in Your Mind

But researchers still don’t know exactly how the brain’s extra folds and convolutions translated into Einstein’s amazing abilities.

7:23pm CST Sun 2012 Dec 2 :MW

Pop Culture

...for the first time since its introduction in 1953, Bazooka bubblegum... Not only will... lose its popular red, white and blue colour scheme but its iconic comic strip featuring Bazooka Joe will also be replaced.

10:43am CST Sun 2012 Dec 2 :MW