Opening ceremonies took place today. CNN reports: And here’s a later update.
China opened the 29th Olympic Games on Friday with stunning fireworks as the Asian nation kicked off the biggest and most scrutinized Games in history.
Olympic.org has wonderful photos and the latest news.
My sincerest wish is for games that are safe and free from political strife.
What’s your opinion of the Olympics? Do you love the games like I do? Please leave a comment.
I’ve written about guns before, here and here. Plus, in the comments of this post, which wasn’t specifically about guns, there developed a great debate about them.
My frequent commenter Bob S. left a request on my About Page. Here’s the gist of it:
Something you’ve said a couple of times has stuck with me
“I just go by what seems to make sense to me.
What I’m going by is just common sense as I see it. What makes sense to me is fewer guns means fewer shootings.”
I’m not trying to start a fight, far from it. I’ve heard this on other sites also. My problem is that I’m on the other side. I can’t see many common sense arguments against having firearms.
I was wondering if you could help me out by discussing, either in email or on a post, where common sense would say it’s not preferable to have firearms.
I can think of a couple; immature young people, felons convicted of violent crimes, felons in jail, certain courtroom situations (divorce court, criminal proceedings).
So, if you are willing, where else does common sense say it isn’t appropriate to have a firearm?
Well, Bob, how about alcoholics. Sober alcoholics in recovery, let’s say, who decide to take a drink. Should they have easy access to guns? I say no. That goes even more for alcoholics who are not sober. People who abuse drugs in any form, the same. Depressed people, who might from time to time consider suicide, should not have guns. Those prone to road rage or who lose control of their anger at home with the wife or girlfriend. Children. You might want to say, who would give guns to kids? I’m talking about the kids who steal daddy’s or big brother’s gun and take it to school. It’s on the news every once in a while. You may have seen it. What about the men who are insecure and have the inferiority complex that only a gun can cure? Perhaps you know the type. Although they may not represent an immediate threat like some of the other groups I mentioned, I don’t feel comfortable with their being armed.
Last week Weer’d Beard, whom I now consider an internet friend, left me a comment including the following: “I’ve never seen an argument or harsh words (even about gun-banning politicians), never seen a fight or an argument, never seen a gun drawn in anger.” He was talking about the several hundred shooting range friends he has. I think upon closer scrutiny, or just using that famous common sense that I like more than statistics, even he would be forced to admit that some percentage of his shooting buddies fall into those categories I mentioned above.
Now, all these people are among the “good guys.” What about the criminals? I believe the proliferation of guns has become so widespread that some small percentage ends up in the hands of the criminals. Houses and cars are broken into. Guns are pawned in tough times and end up who knows where. Teenagers who are going bad have been known to sell off parts of the family arsenal, adding to the swirling black market.
There’s much more. I just wrote off the top of my head without researching what the “professional” gun control people have to say about it. And let me repeat, I’m not talking about legislation or taking your guns away. I’m just talking theory not solutions.
CNN reports the story of the conviction of Osama Bin Laden’s driver, Salim Hamdan. He was convicted of providing material support to al Qaeda, but cleared of terrorism conspiracy charges. Now, this man was held in Guantanamo prison, where the human rights violations were so numerous that the entire world was talking about them. As if holding people indefinitely without charging them or telling their families or countries was not enough, the reports of torture became so widespread the government, our government, instead of putting a stop to it, made it legal.
Here’s a good article on the World Socialist Web Site.
The whole world knows that the US is employing torture and other illegal means, including abductions, secret prisons, imprisonment without charge or legal recourse, in the name of its global “war on terror.”
What I’m wondering is, what kind of a fair trial did Mr. Hamdan get.
According to this story in CNN, the Canadian bus cannibal is asking to be killed himself. In my last posting about this case, we engaged in a great discussion about gun control, whether an armed passenger might not have been able to save the day. I guess today we could discuss the death penalty again, one of our favorites. I personally don’t condone the death penalty in any case, but when there’s obvious mental illness, to me it’s a no-brainer.
A Chinese immigrant accused of stabbing, beheading and cannibalizing a man on a Greyhound bus in Canada pleaded in court Tuesday for someone to “please kill me,” and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
I wonder what the evaluation will show.
According to this article in CNN, the government is about to close the Anthrax case. The incredibly (and I mean that literally) convenient suicide of Bruce Ivins made it all possible.
Does this attitude make me a conspiracy theorist? I hinted at it in my other post about this. Maybe it’s like that old joke: “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not really out to get you.”
The LA Times reports on the emotional state of Ivins:
Details of Ivins’ disturbed emotional state, including his possession of firearms and a makeup kit and his obsession with a sorority, were presented Wednesday as the Justice Department explained — first to those directly affected by the anthrax attacks, then to the public at large — the government’s case against him.
I’m going to apologize to my gun advocate friends. That’s the LA Times saying, “possession of firearms and a makeup kit” constitute evidence of his emotional disturbance. Even to me that sounds a little crazy, but I guess the whole point is the guy was really nutty, was indeed responsible for the anthrax attacks and in the end killed himself. There goes another conspiracy theory.
The New York Times reports the use of military forces within the cities of Italy.
It seems the main target of this additional police presence is the immigrant community. By the look of things on the street, Italy has become a melting pot the likes of which has not been seen since lower Manhattan in the 1850s. Courageous people from the Balkins and North Africa have swarmed into Italy over the last decade or so. More recently Eastern European immigration has become the most prominent. No one seems to know how all the Chinese got here, but some reports say they are the largest immigrant population.
I’m absolutely opposed to this transparent attempt on the part of the Berlusconi government to appease the conservative fears and xenophobia of their constituents. These new arrivals to Italy are among the bravest people I’ve ever seen, people who took tremendous risks and went to incredible lengths to get here. It’s been on the news almost daily for the twenty years that I’ve lived here.
Italy is changing and by breaking a few heads, literally and figuratively, the government is not going to stop it.
Please let us know what you think by commenting.
Today the top story in CNN is about the execution in Texas of Jose Ernesto Medellin. What did he do to earn such a fate?
…he participated in the June 1993 gang rape and murder of two Harris County girls, Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16. He was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to death.
It’s a sad story for several reasons. First of all, for those of us who are opposed to capital punishment, state sanctioned murder is just as wrong as the murders the condemned man himself committed. Secondly, the two young lives of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena, snuffed out before they even had a chance to do something with those lives. And thirdly, in this case, the Bush Administration found a way to ignore international law and treaties concerning foreign detainees.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 2004 that the United States had violated the rights of the prisoners, in part because officials and prosecutors failed to notify their home country, from which the men could have received legal and other assistance. Those judges ordered the United States to provide “review and reconsideration” of the convictions and sentences of the Mexican prisoners.
Bush said he disagreed with the international court’s conclusions, but agreed to comply with them.
But, the trick he used in order to avoid compliance was to turn it back over to the sovereignty of the States. This is how the Federal Government operates, when convenient they let the States have the autonomy, in other cases not.
Please let us know how you feel about this by leaving a comment.
He’s definitely one of my favorite actors. By now everyone’s heard he was in a bad car accident. At the mention of his name I think of Driving Miss Daisy and Seven, and of course his Oscar-wining performance in Million Dollar Baby.
May he make a full recovery.
This video really got me thinking.
What’s with this Robin Meade? Is she a regular on TV? Not living in the States spares me from having to know some of these nearly insupportable characters. It seems to me she’s got a touch of the Bratz Doll trying to talk like a Valley Girl. “It was like he was two different people.”
But the real problem I have with this report is it’s Bruce Ivins’ therapist who’s quoted. Apparently the therapist is not bound by confidentiality. Is that because the patient recently died, supposedly by suicide?
The LA Times has the story as written by David Willman.
Ivins died Tuesday at Frederick Memorial Hospital after ingesting a massive dose of prescription Tylenol mixed with codeine, said a friend and colleague, who declined to be identified out of concern that he would be harassed by the FBI.
Over at Hullabaloo, dday sums it up like this:
There’s clearly going to be a sustained effort to close this case, finger Ivins as the killer, and turn away from any of the lingering questions. That would be a huge mistake.
The new Batman movie seems to be destined to break all records. This story in the showbiz section of CNN describes its phenominal success.
In the Palangkaraya Post blog there are the rest of the stats, which are the kind I like. Unlike statistics which supposedly prove that guns don’t kill people, people kill people, ot that women really do receive unequal pay for equal work, these movie-box-office-receipts stats speak for themselves. This movie is hot.
Mikeb302000 