Friday, June 12, 2009

Ok when I first read that Chastity Bono was changing genders my mouth fell open and in slow motion said...whaaat the fuuckk.lol

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

From CREDO Action

Today's shooting was a tragedy. The gun violence has to stop.
It's time to close the gun show loophole.
close the gunshow loophole! Criminals and corrupt gun sellers can avoid the background checks required by the Brady Bill at gun shows and other events. Rep. Bright should take swift action to close this egregious loophole.

take action now!


First the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-choice extremist. Now the murder of a security guard at the Holocaust Museum by a white supremacist.

These are two horrifying acts of right wing domestic terrorism in as many weeks. No wonder the Department of Homeland Security issued a report last month labeling "rightwing extremism" the "most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States."

And, as we all know, these acts of terrorism were carried out with guns. Scott Roeder, who's being held for the murder of Dr. Tiller, has a history of mental illness and threatened violence against abortion providers a week before he allegedly shot Dr. Tiller. James W. von Brunn, who allegedly killed a security guard at the Holocaust Museum, has his own white supremacy website and is a convicted felon (he stormed the Federal Reserve Bank in 1981).

Why is it so easy for domestic terrorists to get hold of guns?

Here's one way to make it harder. The Brady Bill requires criminal background checks before the purchasing of guns. But there's a tremendous loophole for gun shows and similar events — a loophole that criminals know only too well how to exploit.

Currently, there's a bill in Congress to close this loophole — H.R. 2234, "To require criminal background checks on all firearms transactions occurring at gun shows." We need this law to reduce future attacks like those on Dr. Tiller and at the Holocaust Museum, but it won't go anywhere without significant support in Congress — and right now it has only seven sponsors.

Click here to tell Rep. Bright to co-sponsor H.R. 2234. We need swift action to keep criminals from getting more guns.

Thank you for working to build a safer world.

Kate Stayman-London, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

P.S. If you're on Facebook, please help us spread the word on this important action by posting it to your profile. Just make sure you're logged in when you sign the petition, and click "Tell my Facebook friends about this petition!" to post it to your feed.

Racism, the Law, and Class Privilege

Reading an article in the local paper about a homicide/assault case that involved a boating accident, I started to think about what was being implied in the case being presented before the public(through the article) and the rhetoric, if you will, behind the legislation involved. Firstly, I noticed that some prominent society names were involved-Tatum, Cumbie... these are people with some social standing in the South(at least in this region). That led me to considering, as I read further in this article, how this case,and more pertinently the defendant, was being handled. So, apparently one person died instantly in the boat collision, caused by one Mr. Cumbie who was driving a boat while intoxicated and crashed it into a boat belonging to the Tatums (said victims). The other person suffered in the hospital, unconscious, until she died several moths later. What the prosecutors have chosen to do in this case was to charge Mr. Cumbie with homicide by vessel-which carries a sentence of 1-5 years in prison and in the second case, charge him with second-degree assault, which carries a sentence of 1-10 years. The prosecutors decided to only pursue the second degree assault charge. The first question that burdened me was why would they pursue a less severe sentence in the second charge? Is this due to this person's class status? If he were black, I have no doubt that the book would have been brought down on him harshly. The second question that burdens me is, why does the "crime" or homocide-by-vessel only carry a sentence of 1-5 years? Is the person no less dead? Is this not a homicide--at least in the second degree? Might the reasoning for this be perhaps that the people who most likely would be found in these types of predicaments come from certain backgrounds with certain class standings...It is always interesting, and really pertinent to think about these things. It is definitely something to ponder....

Monday, June 08, 2009

In the midst of doing some research about my uncle's presence in Autauga County, Alabama, I ran upon this newspaper clipping concerning Stokley Carmichael's visit to Prattville Alabama. Look at the web image of it here