I’m writing for tomorrow and am pleased to announce that the heat wave is over, and I am enjoying the cooler temps. I’m waiting for my groceries to arrive from Safeway and expect them within the next hour. I could not order from Store to Door this week, because my Urologist appointment conflicted with their delivery time. Day 13.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:05 (average 4:49). To di it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Concord Monitor: The latest skirmish over the nation’s first smart gun, marked this week by death threats against a Maryland gun dealer who wanted to sell the weapon, has raised doubts about its future and prompted some gun control advocates to back away from legislative efforts to mandate the technology.
Engage Armament, a Rockville, Md., gun shop, endured an outpouring of vitriol from gun-rights activists who fear the technology will be used to curtail their Second Amendment rights by limiting what kinds of guns they can buy in the future.
The protests echoed those against the Oak Tree Gun Club, a Los Angeles-area store that offered to sell the smart gun and – like Engage Armament – quickly dropped the idea after opposition mounted. Electronic chips in the Armatix iP1 can communicate with a watch that can be bought separately. Then the gun cannot be fired without the watch.
Chris Hayes also covered this:
I would never have imagined a day in which Republican gun nuts would threaten the life of a gun dealer for wanting to sell a gun! What hypocrites! The gun industry fears that this technology could eventually become a legal requirement for new gun sales. That would cost them their cherished profits in the criminal market and the mentally-deranged market.
From Alternet: The United Nations human rights office on Friday condemned the bungled and chaotic execution of an Oklahoma death-row inmate, which left him thrashing on the gurney during a chaotic process that lasted nearly two hours.
A spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights in Geneva said that the process to which Clayton Lockett was subjected on Tuesday may have amounted to "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" under international human rights law, and may have violated the US constitution.
Barack Obama admitted on Friday that the manner of Lockett’s execution was "deeply troubling" and said he had asked the US attorney general, Eric Holder, to provide a review of the issues raised by it. "I do think as a society we have to ask ourselves some difficult questions," he said.
I’m disappointed that, in spite of Obama’s encouraging language, he has called for an investigation into the process only, not the barbarity of the death penalty itself. An the other hand, Republicans want to leave the methods in place and sell popcorn.
From Crooks and Liars: Elizabeth Warren’s new book is proving to be extremely popular, providing an excellent opportunity for Democrats to change the narrative going into the 2014 election.
Warren has made it clear that she will not run for President in 2016. I would not want her to be on the ticket at all, in that case, because, assuming the best we can hope for, we will need her fully in Hillary’s face for the entire Clinton administration.
Cartoon:
They were heroes,
18 Responses to “Open Thread–5/4/2014”
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3:11 Can't beat the TomCat when he's going after a big dog.
3:10 Me neither!
3:10 I think we got in each other's way.
I'm glad I didn''t eat my fish!
Concord Monitor ~ I read about this a few days ago somewhere else and couldn't put my mind around it. I still think the manufacturers would welcome an innovation like this. If it was the law to only sell this type of weapon, people would have to buy more guns from them. More money! The people would still have all the arms they now have in their overstocked arsenals anyway.
Alternet ~ I think if Pres. Obama had raised the issue of the death penalty itself it would have started another firestorm of criticism against him by the popcorn selling TeapublicanTs. GW wouldn't have even blinked an eye.
Crooks and Liars ~ I agree we need her strong voice in the Senate.
Cartoon ~ The real heroes of the Civil Rights movement were on that bus and in many more vehicles heading South.
TY TC – kidney stones again…. sigh!
I'm so sorry, Pat. I know how painful they are.
5:11 I woke up in the middle of the night thinking "Lynn promised to share the feast! But that fish is poisonous!" I looked back and was kind of relieved to see Critter got there first. I'd hate to lose all of you!
Concord Monitor – Sure, what good is a gun if you can't kill with it? I am concerned about the rash of homeowners who think it is a good idea to set a "burglar trap" and then shoot anyone who falls into it – besides the guy who is convicted this week there is a newer case which I can't find right now but where the homeowner and his common-law wife set it up, the victim was a foreign exchange student and a friend of the nephew of the Kossack who diaries as "Hunter." How many other copycats will there be on this? Can it possibly even vhange the conversation?
Alternet – Not only do the Rethugs see profit from selling popcorn, but the pickpockets who would show up and make out like bandits, as they did at public hangings, are their core constituency.
Crooks and Liars: I think we can't afford to lose Warren in the Senate for the next four years regardless who wins. Remember elections are held because we DON"T KNOW in advance who will win. I feel that pushing Warren to run is too much like throwing her under the bus. I kind of feel that way about Sanders also though I think he has a better chance. But the the whole 2016 Presidentla election has me shivering. It's not supposed to be this way. It's supposed to be a time for optimism.
Cartoon – I was 15 and in high school. I would have needed parental permission to go. My heart was there.
Funny JD! I didn't know the fish was poisonous. Hope you were able to get back to sleep.
Frankly, I wouldn't have known either, except I always read the extended description, and it was mentioned.
4:57 – Puzzle 🙄
The NRA is evil…
Elizabeth Warren is one of my favorite champions for the working poor middle class… She is right on in her words about Conservatives, "I've got mine – good luck to the rest of you as you're on your own."
I just learned that today is actually National Star Wars Day – no, really – it's true.
So in its honor …
Puzzle — 3:10 Me neither!
Concord Monitor — Listening to the interview Chris Hayes did with the "gun nut" and reading other things, it sounds like paranoia is alive and well amongst the pro gun faction. People are suspicious of the government. I am certain that this fire is being stoked by the NRA etc. I do not understand this 2nd amendment obsession. This is not the "wild west" anymore. And for the pro gun people to threaten gun sellers . . . unbelievable.
Alternet — To me, it seems that spending the rest of one's life behind bars without any hope of parole is severe punishment. The botched execution is, in my mind, cruel and inhumane, and I agree with the UN human rights office. What is additionally reprehensible is the conduct of the people conducting the execution. One report I read indicated that prison staff were almost making light of the botched job and showed no remorse. It beggars belief.
Crooks and Liars — Keep Elizabeth Warren where she is most effective . . . in the Senate for now. If I recall correctly TC, you previously opined "Warren in 2020 or 2024".
Cartoon — I was 9 years old in 1961 and of course living in Canada. We heard some about the Freedom Riders but in Canada it wasn't a big issue. I am very lucky that I was raised to respect everyone and had people from all over the world spending time with us. And yet today, some people and politiciansin the US would still roll back the clock to a time befor the Freedom Riders. Argh!
Alternet: The death penalty needs to be eliminated, period. That man died a horrible death, and if it had happened in another country we would hear the outcry against them.
Crooks and Liars: I , too, think Warren needs to stay in the senate for now, she is keeping both parties honest on any issue she is involved with. Although, I must admit, a ticket with her and Bernie Sanders would be great.
Cartoon: Those people were true heroes.
Thanks evereyone. I overslept again!